Stuff You Gotta Know!
This could be my miscellaneous category, except you really gotta know this stuff!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Virtues
Many months ago, (heck, it might have been a year or more) I read a news story about a summer “Sunday School” that was non-denominational. Instead of reinforcing the beliefs of a specific religion with children, this school taught the basic beliefs of multiple religions as well as what I think they called a “virtues-based” (maybe it was “character-based”) curriculum. In the article they listed the key virtues that were taught—virtues that exist in some form in almost all religions, and principles that, if lived by, would create the kind of human community that I’d like to live in. I wrote them down at the time and subsequently forgot about the article.
For some reason the current Presidential race in the US caused me to remember this news article and I thought I’d post the virtues from the article here. I’m not sure what the source for this is, so I’m plagiarizing someone—sorry. Image a world where we all lived by these virtues…
Respect: Showing high regard for an authority, other people, self and country; treating others as you would want to be treated; understanding that all people have value as human beings.
Responsibility: Being accountable in word and deed; having a sense of duty to fulfill tasks with reliability, dependability and commitment.
Honesty: Telling the truth, admiting wrongdoing; being trustworthy, and acting with integrity.
Tolerance: Enduring or putting up with practices or beliefs that are different from your own; keeping an open and understanding mind and accepting difference even if you don’t agree with it.
Perseverance: Continuing to do something in spite of difficulties; facing obstacles with determination and patience.
Empathy: Understanding and being sensitive to the feelings, thoughts and experiences of another.
Integrity: Standing up for your beliefs about right or wrong; being your best self; resisiting social pressure to do things that are wrong; showing commitment, courage and self discipline. “Walk your talk”.
Humility: Recognizing and accepting your own talents, abilities and imperfections.
Forgiveness: Letting go of angry feelings; excusing or pardoning an offense.
Compassion: Showing understanding of others by treating them with kindness, genorosity and a forgiving spirit.
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Friday, September 05, 2008
Tropical Storm Watch
Hanna and I have the same birthday. The tropical storm / hurricane was born the same day as I was—31 August. Only, I beat her by 52 years. And, I was not born in the Atlantic Ocean. Still, I guess our paths will cross this weekend. They are calling for wind and rain with likely flooding, thunderstorms, the loss of electricity, etc.
We prepared for Ernesto a couple of years ago—water in jugs in the basement, flashlights with new batteries, butane fuel for the camp stove. All that is still sitting there, so I guess we are ready for Hanna. We’ll keep you informed.
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Monday, June 23, 2008
Obsessions
When we are at the cabin, Lynne accuses me of having certain obsessions. To me, they are not obsessions as much as “practicalities” that need attention in cabin life.
The biggie is electricity. The cabin is powered by solar electricity. We have 8 solar panels on the roof that can generate about 28 Amps of current at 24 Volts for charging eight 6-Volt batteries wired into two banks of 24 Volts. The total capacity of the batteries is about 800 Amp-Hours of use, but to prevent complete discharge and a shortening of battery life, I like to make sure we don’t ever use more than about 400 Amp-Hours of that capacity without recharging. So, I closely monitor the battery Amp-Hour usage, current drains of various tasks, and the battery voltage. Now, that does not sound like obsession, does it?
After all, if we lose electricity, we lose lights (we could use lanterns and candles), we lose TV and Internet (we could read by lantern light), we lose water since the well pump is electric, and we lose the hair dryer (disaster.)
So, I am frequently opening the utility room door and peering at the system statistics. And, I run around the cabin turning off lights if they are not necessary. If we have some electricity intensive activities going on like vacuuming the floor or taking a shower, I will start up our back up generator, especially if the batteries are “running low.” Cloudy days are particularly frustrating for me and for Lynne since my attention to practicalities drives her crazy.
We have a wind generator, but it is not currently installed atop its 64-foot tower and wired into the system since we don’t want to leave it running when the cabin is infrequently used. But, when installed, it provides an extra boost to the electrical capacity of the house—especially since it can run day and night and because we get so much wind here. But, without it, my attention to the solar electric system is even more intense.
I’m accused of other obsessions, too. Things like “chores”—I try to do one or two chores each day, usually in the morning. Chores are things like cutting and splitting wood, painting something, repairing a fence, deep cleaning the cabin (which takes lots of electricity), etc. I think these are necessary practicalities since, left undone, the cabin will deteriorate and life here will be less comfortable. I think Lynne is a bit better with the chores than the electrical system obsession.
On this trip, I was also accused of having an obsession with getting the satellite Internet running. I may post more about that saga later, but I was very focused on getting it to work because I knew we’d actually have a less stressful time if we could check in on our house in NJ, if Lynne could blog, and we could stay in touch with the outside world. Obviously, that obsession eventually paid off, or you would not be reading this message which is being created on my Mac at the cabin. And, since this consumes a few watts of electricity, I will now sign off.
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Friday, May 09, 2008
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
The other night, Andy, Dick and I went to watch the Yankees lose to the Indians at Yankee Stadium. That is not why we went, of course. We went for the hot dogs, popcorn, beer and peanuts. And, we had optimism the home team would win.
This was a special event for me for a couple of reasons. First, this was only the second pro baseball game I’ve ever been to. The first was to watch the Rockies play the Yankees at Coors Field in Denver many years ago (the Rockies lost a lot back then.) The second reason was that this is the last year the Yankees will play in the current Yankee Stadium and I wanted to experience a game there before they tear it down.
The current Yankee Stadium was built in 284 working days in 1922 and 1923 and opened on April 18, 1923 in a game against the Boston Red Sox. Babe Ruth, a recent acquisition from the Red Sox hit a 3-run homer leading the Yankees to a 4-1 win. It was Babe Ruth’s popularity that drew over 74,000 fans to the game at “The House That Ruth Built.”
A new stadium is being built right next to the old one. It looks beautiful. And, I look forward to a game there next year.
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Thursday, March 13, 2008
Shopping Around Pays Off
Since our recent trip to Cancun, we’ve been exploring Mexican food more. And, not the typical Tex Mex or even the food like I grew up on in New Mexico. But, more fish and pork and sauces.
Some recipes call for slow roasting meat wrapped in banana leaves. So, I went in search of banana leaves. I started online, of course (although we did check to see if Goya had any in our local ShopRite.) Banana leaves come frozen in 1 pound packages. The worst deal I found online was for one package for about $5.00 and, since they must be shipped frozen, about $40 in shipping. The best deal I found online was for 3 packages at $3.50 each ($10.00 minimum order….) and $30 shipping. So, that would be just over $40 for 3 one pound packages.
Lynne had a great idea suggesting I check a local Asian food market that is less than a mile from where I work.
Sure enough, they had one pound packages of frozen banana leaves, imported from the Philippines. The woman dug one package out of the freezer and rang me up. $1.29 including tax.
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