Your leaking thatched hut during the restoration of a pre-Enlightenment state.

 

Hello, my name is Judas Gutenberg and this is my blaag (pronounced as you would the vomit noise "hyroop-bleuach").

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Like my brownhouse:
   $3.21/gallon
Wednesday, August 31 2005
On her way to the SPCA for her Wednesday volunteer shift in the cat room, Gretchen passed several gas stations posting terrifyingly-high gasolines prices. At the Stewarts in Hurley it was $3.21/gallon, though in other places it had only moved slightly higher and could still be had for as little as $2.69/gallon. Gretchen said that seeing these prices actually made her feel physically ill. American society as we know it cannot persist in the face of such high fuel prices. Maybe the party really is over. This may not be the Escatalogical collapse the Christianists have been warning about, but we might well be on the verge of becoming a much more humble species.
What I'm doing to afford a somewhat comfortable life in the new humble world that's coming is building a solar heating system for the house. Today for this project I built a plumbing assemblage that includes three electrically-controlled valves.
In between showery remnants of Hurricane Katrina, I took a few pictures of and from the deck where the solar panel(s) will go.


The solar deck above the laboratory deck and the peaked laboratory roof.


A view from the solar deck to the east: Shaupeneak Mountain.


A view of the downhill northeast corner of the house, with the stone steps leading to our downhill neighbors (and their pool).


Looking down from the solar deck to the laboratory deck, cluttered these days with soldering equipment and some leftover carpentry things.


Looking down to the west (uphill) side of the house, where we sometimes mow the lawn. I actually mowed it yesterday evening. Note the spiral centered on the peak of the yard's grassy knoll. You can also see most of the stone work I did in the first months of the warm season.

This evening Gretchen and I watched women's basketball because it's the playoffs and they mean a lot to her. If I had my druthers, all I'd be watching is coverage of degrading situation in New Orleans. But I almost never watch teevee unless Gretchen happens to be watching something specific.


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