Went to concert last night. S. stopped in afterwards and sampled solar baked corn bread and she approved of it. She's intrigued by cooking and not heating up house.
Note for next week: Managed Stores: Picked up extra dry cat food. I had some canned on hand for them; they like canned of course, but it's also wet and a treat in the heat.
Mom is holding her own still this week. Cats are doing okay. Going to San Diego next sunday, July 6 for business with K. I hope that will be the last trip for those reasons!
And I'm feeling a lot better than I was last summer at this time.
cheers,
shamba
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
June 26-27 end of the week
June 26th
Talk about a Dismal Thursday yesterday==DJ went down 350 pts. 1100 pts down in one month. Worst June for the Dow Jones Averages since 1930! L According to www.americanenergycrisis.com.
Oil closed at 19=139.64 after being in the mid 130s for several days.
GM and Ford stock at something like 50 year lows! Bankruptcy in the next 6 -12 months? One commentator who is very accurate these days say there will be a dramatic announcement about them both or one of them right after the election.
June 27th
11355.88 and 1278.82 Oil:: 140.21 first time above 140 to settle according to my observations. Not the first time during day trading though.
It seem so irrelevant who get elected this fall .... as to who could really change the direction things are going in. but, yes, I'll vote.
shamba
Talk about a Dismal Thursday yesterday==DJ went down 350 pts. 1100 pts down in one month. Worst June for the Dow Jones Averages since 1930! L According to www.americanenergycrisis.com.
Oil closed at 19=139.64 after being in the mid 130s for several days.
GM and Ford stock at something like 50 year lows! Bankruptcy in the next 6 -12 months? One commentator who is very accurate these days say there will be a dramatic announcement about them both or one of them right after the election.
June 27th
11355.88 and 1278.82 Oil:: 140.21 first time above 140 to settle according to my observations. Not the first time during day trading though.
It seem so irrelevant who get elected this fall .... as to who could really change the direction things are going in. but, yes, I'll vote.
shamba
June 25 th Little Closer to Doom it seems
Doom also seems closer in the summer heat--I have 3 full mor months of it to go. I count September as summer.
-Dow Chemical is increasing prices 25% on it product; as of June 1st it had just increased them 20%. So 45% increase in about one month! :0 Yikes—this is a lot of cleaning products and makeup products for one thing. I don’t know about hair dye and nail polish—I’m going to miss those two things a lot when they’re not available—sigh,
-Quaker oats processing plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa was closed June 11 because of the flood threats there. That’s why there were so few rolled and quick oat packages available at the store yesterday, I’ll bet.
I wondered what “thing” of the issues surrounding us—climate change, gasoline prices and/or shortages, electricity prices, local government budgets, consumer good prices increasing, food supply issues and prices, housing/real estate issues, financial system issues—would “get us’ first. I’m not sure what I mean by “get us” because as a national economy it’s the financial problems that have actually gotten us first, credit crunch and too much debt, too much leverage, etc.
But my personal “getting” isn’t the price of gas; it’s the price of food and possible shortages. I find this extraordinarily frightening. I suspect my next “getting” will be the price of electricity in my bill for July. New rates go into effect this summer with July and august as the most expensive electric season in my part of Arizona.
-Dow Chemical is increasing prices 25% on it product; as of June 1st it had just increased them 20%. So 45% increase in about one month! :0 Yikes—this is a lot of cleaning products and makeup products for one thing. I don’t know about hair dye and nail polish—I’m going to miss those two things a lot when they’re not available—sigh,
-Quaker oats processing plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa was closed June 11 because of the flood threats there. That’s why there were so few rolled and quick oat packages available at the store yesterday, I’ll bet.
I wondered what “thing” of the issues surrounding us—climate change, gasoline prices and/or shortages, electricity prices, local government budgets, consumer good prices increasing, food supply issues and prices, housing/real estate issues, financial system issues—would “get us’ first. I’m not sure what I mean by “get us” because as a national economy it’s the financial problems that have actually gotten us first, credit crunch and too much debt, too much leverage, etc.
But my personal “getting” isn’t the price of gas; it’s the price of food and possible shortages. I find this extraordinarily frightening. I suspect my next “getting” will be the price of electricity in my bill for July. New rates go into effect this summer with July and august as the most expensive electric season in my part of Arizona.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
June 24th
Went to buy vanilla, some eggs—to do some baking I thought but then I found numerous items at the Safeway for “buy one get one free” –fresh strawberries, some canned fruit, herbal teas—which I use all year round for just drinking general purposes, cold or hot, stewed tomatoes ( which I love).
I have used teas and made by own teas for medicinal purpose—I took a few classes on that years ago and still have the recipes. But then I’d have to have the right ingredients to make them. Often the general public herbal teas in grocery stores serve simple “medicinal” needs.
Then, I was horrified by some break loaves being 4.59 apiece! Eek! It was bread I like but I didn’t need any loaves of bread so I passed on that. Not all their bread was that high it was something I buy sometimes. My energy bars at the Safeway bakery I love have gone from 50 apiece to 59 cents apiece in the past 4-5 months—I could probably learn to bake those. Also, I was low on whole oats—all they had on the shelves today was quick oats but that could be just today. This was Quaker oats and Safeway brand both that were low. I bought the higher price because I didn’t want Quick oats anyway. Also, got box of cornmeal, corn starch, but forgot the vanilla. Also, got some more butter and olive oil and black tea.
Every time I go to the store, I find these 10 cans for $10.00 or other things like it and I buy 10 things or sometimes only 5 things because I know it can be used and it or similar things will cost more and more in just a few weeks, I know it will.
I was looking at bulk foods online yesterday just to avoid driving to a couple of places in Phoenix that I know of in the heat.
Weather Note: Our record according to last night’s weather news on NBC local was 18 straight days in 1974 of 110 plus temps. Last year we had 30 or so days but not in a row, that was a record, too. As of today we’re running 12 or so days.
Where am I going to put all these cans??? My "canned cupboard" is pretty full.
Cheers,
I have used teas and made by own teas for medicinal purpose—I took a few classes on that years ago and still have the recipes. But then I’d have to have the right ingredients to make them. Often the general public herbal teas in grocery stores serve simple “medicinal” needs.
Then, I was horrified by some break loaves being 4.59 apiece! Eek! It was bread I like but I didn’t need any loaves of bread so I passed on that. Not all their bread was that high it was something I buy sometimes. My energy bars at the Safeway bakery I love have gone from 50 apiece to 59 cents apiece in the past 4-5 months—I could probably learn to bake those. Also, I was low on whole oats—all they had on the shelves today was quick oats but that could be just today. This was Quaker oats and Safeway brand both that were low. I bought the higher price because I didn’t want Quick oats anyway. Also, got box of cornmeal, corn starch, but forgot the vanilla. Also, got some more butter and olive oil and black tea.
Every time I go to the store, I find these 10 cans for $10.00 or other things like it and I buy 10 things or sometimes only 5 things because I know it can be used and it or similar things will cost more and more in just a few weeks, I know it will.
I was looking at bulk foods online yesterday just to avoid driving to a couple of places in Phoenix that I know of in the heat.
Weather Note: Our record according to last night’s weather news on NBC local was 18 straight days in 1974 of 110 plus temps. Last year we had 30 or so days but not in a row, that was a record, too. As of today we’re running 12 or so days.
Where am I going to put all these cans??? My "canned cupboard" is pretty full.
Cheers,
Monday, June 23, 2008
June 23rd
June 21 “Extreme” heat continues—
Funny how we’ve had extreme here all my life and the local media never called it “extreme heat warning” and gave lots of advice on how to handle it. It’s a good idea, I think, especially for all the people who live here from where the heat isn’t so extreme every day but still it strikes me as funny that 111 is extreme heat when we always have our highest temps—from 110-115 in June for a week or two.
Of course, we are a lot warmer at night than we were 30 years ago and don’t cool off as readily anymore because of the amount of asphalt and cement we have here now.
-Chicken tenders are in the solar oven today to see how they will cook. Actually, they are strips of chicken breast that was on special at Safeway last week.
-Rubbed some Mrs. Dash on the chicken and put in a larger pan. I wanted to check on it about every 30 minutes to see how it was doing—I know it takes longer that way! But I want to see what it looks like. It’s different the way it evolves from cooking in the inside oven.
-Two small potatoes, some white onion sliced/chopped. Parsley flakes, some turns of peppercorn, some salt and basted with some butter a little into cooking after the butter melted enough.
-Put the potatoes in an hour after the chicken.
-Temp in the oven for this gets to 250 according to the thermometer in the oven.
-So far, if whatever cooking needs more than 250 degrees, double the time to cook it.
I’ll try to remember to get pictures of this when it’s done. And the cats get some chicken for dinner tonight!
_Took everything out at about 2:00 p.m.
--Little too long for chicken –started somewhere about 12 p.m. or little before. Chick was too dry
--Potatoes were okay, but not as tasty as I thought they might be—little squishy.
Note about potatoes: they were better cold the next day after they were cooked. More flavor completely.
Funny how we’ve had extreme here all my life and the local media never called it “extreme heat warning” and gave lots of advice on how to handle it. It’s a good idea, I think, especially for all the people who live here from where the heat isn’t so extreme every day but still it strikes me as funny that 111 is extreme heat when we always have our highest temps—from 110-115 in June for a week or two.
Of course, we are a lot warmer at night than we were 30 years ago and don’t cool off as readily anymore because of the amount of asphalt and cement we have here now.
-Chicken tenders are in the solar oven today to see how they will cook. Actually, they are strips of chicken breast that was on special at Safeway last week.
-Rubbed some Mrs. Dash on the chicken and put in a larger pan. I wanted to check on it about every 30 minutes to see how it was doing—I know it takes longer that way! But I want to see what it looks like. It’s different the way it evolves from cooking in the inside oven.
-Two small potatoes, some white onion sliced/chopped. Parsley flakes, some turns of peppercorn, some salt and basted with some butter a little into cooking after the butter melted enough.
-Put the potatoes in an hour after the chicken.
-Temp in the oven for this gets to 250 according to the thermometer in the oven.
-So far, if whatever cooking needs more than 250 degrees, double the time to cook it.
I’ll try to remember to get pictures of this when it’s done. And the cats get some chicken for dinner tonight!
_Took everything out at about 2:00 p.m.
--Little too long for chicken –started somewhere about 12 p.m. or little before. Chick was too dry
--Potatoes were okay, but not as tasty as I thought they might be—little squishy.
Note about potatoes: they were better cold the next day after they were cooked. More flavor completely.
Friday, June 20, 2008
June 20th Accomplishment finished the past two weeks
These categories are from Sharon Astyk's Independence Days challenge, link to her signt is on the right hand column. The goal is to try and do some tasks in each of these categories every week.
1. Plant something. No food garden. But I have several pots of aloes that have been thriving all by themselves in a portion of the patio. Now with new gates, woodwork on house painted, dead bushes cut down but not cleared away it’s time to do something with these feral (!) aloes.
I don’t think you should just pick pieces of aloes and eat them but I know that aloes like these are very good for rubbing the inside of a piece on a cut or insect bite or a small sunburn.
I’ve got lots of pots of various sizes and I have the right kind of potting soil I’ve had for several months. As soon as I repot these aloes, they’ll be growing like anything. Probably anything else I’d like to plant will never make it in these summer temps, so that will have to wait until mid-September at least.
2. Harvest something. Um, no.
3. Preserve something. No.
4. Prep something. One small bag of clothes to give to St. Vincent de Paul or Salvation Army or Good will.
Also, I cleaned out the shed completely and rearranged everything inside. With the new wall and door, it is more secure than it used to be. I don’t want to put too much inside as everything gets so dirty but all the outside tools can go in there now instead of being under the bed.
Patio is also a much more appealing place and has possibilities to be a very pleasant place with some decent landscaping and the wind bells hung up again.
Best of all, I got my new solar oven. Checked it over and read instructions thoroughly. Also, read instructions that I found online from a solar oven site. Both instructions have several recipes listed. Also made a copy of the instructions from oven manufacturer on my hard drive—the instructions come on a CD. They are written in Hindi English which sometimes sounds funny to my American English native ears—but the instructions are clear enough to follow quite well.
5. Cook something.
Did rice in one pot, and veggies in another pot the night I got the solar oven. I followed instructions I got with the oven and kept checking it every 10 minutes. Of course, to get the best results I’ll have to leave the oven alone once I put something in there, I knew that but it was fun to keep checking it and see how it looked on the patio.
Veggies taste better than if they are steamed. No more mushy steamed broccoli for me! It is also better to cook earlier in the day than at 4-6 in the afternoon here; that is the hottest time of the day in Phoenix.
Also, I can’t burn things in the solar oven easily. Over the years, I have ruined perfectly good pots that way on the stove. I put it on and walk away and don’t come back soon enough.
Corn bread from scratch and it fit in one of the oven pans and it cooked very well in an hour!
A recipe for this was in the oven instructions but I just used another one I already had and figured it would take about twice the time of the oven baked corn bread. I watched it and it was very good at just over an hour in the solar oven.
6. Manage your reserves. listed new items needed for next weeks food shopping trip; coffee, cornmeal, food fresh or dried, and always cat food.
7. Work on local food systems. No.
8. Reduced Waste: No.
9. Learned a skill. Yup, cooked some things successfully with the solar oven.
cheers, shamba
1. Plant something. No food garden. But I have several pots of aloes that have been thriving all by themselves in a portion of the patio. Now with new gates, woodwork on house painted, dead bushes cut down but not cleared away it’s time to do something with these feral (!) aloes.
I don’t think you should just pick pieces of aloes and eat them but I know that aloes like these are very good for rubbing the inside of a piece on a cut or insect bite or a small sunburn.
I’ve got lots of pots of various sizes and I have the right kind of potting soil I’ve had for several months. As soon as I repot these aloes, they’ll be growing like anything. Probably anything else I’d like to plant will never make it in these summer temps, so that will have to wait until mid-September at least.
2. Harvest something. Um, no.
3. Preserve something. No.
4. Prep something. One small bag of clothes to give to St. Vincent de Paul or Salvation Army or Good will.
Also, I cleaned out the shed completely and rearranged everything inside. With the new wall and door, it is more secure than it used to be. I don’t want to put too much inside as everything gets so dirty but all the outside tools can go in there now instead of being under the bed.
Patio is also a much more appealing place and has possibilities to be a very pleasant place with some decent landscaping and the wind bells hung up again.
Best of all, I got my new solar oven. Checked it over and read instructions thoroughly. Also, read instructions that I found online from a solar oven site. Both instructions have several recipes listed. Also made a copy of the instructions from oven manufacturer on my hard drive—the instructions come on a CD. They are written in Hindi English which sometimes sounds funny to my American English native ears—but the instructions are clear enough to follow quite well.
5. Cook something.
Did rice in one pot, and veggies in another pot the night I got the solar oven. I followed instructions I got with the oven and kept checking it every 10 minutes. Of course, to get the best results I’ll have to leave the oven alone once I put something in there, I knew that but it was fun to keep checking it and see how it looked on the patio.
Veggies taste better than if they are steamed. No more mushy steamed broccoli for me! It is also better to cook earlier in the day than at 4-6 in the afternoon here; that is the hottest time of the day in Phoenix.
Also, I can’t burn things in the solar oven easily. Over the years, I have ruined perfectly good pots that way on the stove. I put it on and walk away and don’t come back soon enough.
Corn bread from scratch and it fit in one of the oven pans and it cooked very well in an hour!
A recipe for this was in the oven instructions but I just used another one I already had and figured it would take about twice the time of the oven baked corn bread. I watched it and it was very good at just over an hour in the solar oven.
6. Manage your reserves. listed new items needed for next weeks food shopping trip; coffee, cornmeal, food fresh or dried, and always cat food.
7. Work on local food systems. No.
8. Reduced Waste: No.
9. Learned a skill. Yup, cooked some things successfully with the solar oven.
cheers, shamba
June 19th
Omigosh, my corn bread from scratch came out great in the solar oven!
Have to leave it in twice as long as I would in an electric oven, but it came out fine. I’m using the thermometer that came with the oven. I set it inside and watch the temp that way.
The batch I made fit perfectly in one of the larger round pans that came with the oven. It took just over 60 minutes to cook between 11 a.m. and noon.
How cool is this, cooking with this thing outside and not letting the heat build up inside the house. And we're running over 110 for the past 7 days and are going to go for another 4-5 the same way. it seems to me it's just our usual high June summer day. Our highest temps are usually in June.
Cheers,
shamba
Have to leave it in twice as long as I would in an electric oven, but it came out fine. I’m using the thermometer that came with the oven. I set it inside and watch the temp that way.
The batch I made fit perfectly in one of the larger round pans that came with the oven. It took just over 60 minutes to cook between 11 a.m. and noon.
How cool is this, cooking with this thing outside and not letting the heat build up inside the house. And we're running over 110 for the past 7 days and are going to go for another 4-5 the same way. it seems to me it's just our usual high June summer day. Our highest temps are usually in June.
Cheers,
shamba
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
June 18th Patio Improvements Finished!
.JPG)
Okay, rice and greeen bean came out very well after one hour and 15 minutes in midday sun in June. it's gong to be 115 today but it's not quite that hot midday. anyway rice just needs less water and more time in oven than it got yesterday afternoon. I could smell the broccoli as I went outside to check on the oven! Picture of oven is above. A success!
New gate and new door to outside shed and painting on the wood on the backside of the house is done! Picture above of the two together.
There are more things to go but at least the list is halved from what it was almost a year ago.
There is one rather small thing that needs to be done but S. will come back next week and fix it and then paint it. It looks so nice, now I have to clean up the rest of it and see what I can do to make it a place you really want to go out and spend time in—of course that might wait until it’s cooler.
I’ve left the small wasps nest alone that’s in the dead pyrancantha next to the gate. It is a very small nest and they don’t bother me or the cats or anyone so I think I’ll leave it alone. I think wasps are pollinators—I’ll trim the dead bush back a little from the gate and leave the part next to the back wall where the nest is alone. The wasps have been there a couple of years and I’m not anxious to do away with them or their nest.
Cheers,
shambaJume 17th
Hearing about corn rationing—just more high prices and hunger to come in this world and probably here in the US. Thought I read somewhere about the US Red Cross disaster fund being exhausted. It wouldn’t surprise me the amount of disasters we’ve had in the past year or so but another “shortage” another empty cupboard. We’re—as a nation and world—are running out of cupboards that have anything in them—food stores, emergency money, money to pay mortages, money to pay debts or all kinds … sheesh!
The guys also came to put in the new gate. Certainly that looks much better and is easier to open and close than the old one—the old one was probably 30 plus years old, too.
And my solar oven came today! I unpacked it and everything inside it, looked it all over and read the instructional CD. Also, copied the instruction manual and recipes to hard disk.
Then I took it outside after cleaning it up a big, washing out two of the pots and now have just some rice and some green vegetables cooking. I started pretty late today so I hope the sun angle is adjusted right.
I’ll find out in about another 30 minutes.
Fun!
IT WORKED! I got pictures of the oven but forgot about pictures of the food! I had a little too much water in with the rice since I wanted to make sure I had enough—I do that with rice on the stovetop anyway. Threw it in a salad with the sun cooked celery—that was the easiest green veggie to throw in the oven tonight.. Cooked from abou 4:40-6:15 and I think it came out pretty well considering it’s my first attempt. Of course, I kept checking on it every 15 -30 min. It had to be realigned for the sun that time of day. I need to learn to put the pots in and leave it alone!
Cheers,
Shamba
The guys also came to put in the new gate. Certainly that looks much better and is easier to open and close than the old one—the old one was probably 30 plus years old, too.
And my solar oven came today! I unpacked it and everything inside it, looked it all over and read the instructional CD. Also, copied the instruction manual and recipes to hard disk.
Then I took it outside after cleaning it up a big, washing out two of the pots and now have just some rice and some green vegetables cooking. I started pretty late today so I hope the sun angle is adjusted right.
I’ll find out in about another 30 minutes.
Fun!
IT WORKED! I got pictures of the oven but forgot about pictures of the food! I had a little too much water in with the rice since I wanted to make sure I had enough—I do that with rice on the stovetop anyway. Threw it in a salad with the sun cooked celery—that was the easiest green veggie to throw in the oven tonight.. Cooked from abou 4:40-6:15 and I think it came out pretty well considering it’s my first attempt. Of course, I kept checking on it every 15 -30 min. It had to be realigned for the sun that time of day. I need to learn to put the pots in and leave it alone!
Cheers,
Shamba
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
June 17th
Hearing about corn rationing—just more high prices and hunger to come in this world and probably here in the US. Of course, we've always had hungry people in the US wealthiest nation or not, but it's just hard to think we in the US can't have overcome something like food distribution to everyojne in our country in the 21st century with modern technology and knowledge.
Guess we're just subject to nature and the physical laws of the world like all other creatures on the planet. we're especially subject to them, It seems, when we've fooled around with the natural processes of the planet too much.
Not too cheerful but there's a lot of not cheerful out there these days and with good reason, too.
Solar oven should come this week. new door isn't all in yet but the painting is done and the new gate may take until the end of the week. Patio is going to look better when all of this is done.
cheers, shamba
Guess we're just subject to nature and the physical laws of the world like all other creatures on the planet. we're especially subject to them, It seems, when we've fooled around with the natural processes of the planet too much.
Not too cheerful but there's a lot of not cheerful out there these days and with good reason, too.
Solar oven should come this week. new door isn't all in yet but the painting is done and the new gate may take until the end of the week. Patio is going to look better when all of this is done.
cheers, shamba
Junet 16th Monday
Oil Prices still in mid 130s—hasn’t passed 140 yet. Gas prices here have been about the same for a full 7 days.
Midwest Floods have just ruined a lot of Iowa and a chunk of Indiana. Soybean and corn crops particularly were hit with the flood in their fields. All those people didn’t have flood insurance either—is this is a tragedy beyond Katrina? In a way because of the agriculture affected. And we haven’t heard anything about the insurance claims or agents that are out in the area because of the floods. I’ll bet that will rival or surpass Katrina, too.
One blog today said that if oil prices were to double from what they are now that food prices would double as well.
The whole chain of being seems ready to come apart—oil prices, energy prices, gasoline prices, so hauling prices are more, food prices, all other kinds of goods are rising in price, service prices will go up, electricity generating prices go up, so utility bills go up. The Midwest floods will swell the communities below Iowa as the flood waters move down the Mississippi river. Will this cut off transportation because of freight lines and highways being under water?
On the Newes Hours on PBS on June 16th: 20 percent of the corn and soy crops in Iowa are a loss.
Re the impressive Tim Russert: He died of a sudden heart attack last Friday. His dr. said he had some heart disease and diabetes. He had a massive heart attack when placque broke loose in his arteries and clogged the blood flow to the heart. Maybe with a defilbrillator he could have been resuscitated maybe not—it was a sudden cardiac death. I don’t know if Mr. Russert knew how bad it was or was doing anything about it.
On the other hand, if the world is really doing to deteriorate and get really bad, how much do we want to stave off things like sudden cardiac death if there is no Medicare, health care or emergency services?
Shamba
Midwest Floods have just ruined a lot of Iowa and a chunk of Indiana. Soybean and corn crops particularly were hit with the flood in their fields. All those people didn’t have flood insurance either—is this is a tragedy beyond Katrina? In a way because of the agriculture affected. And we haven’t heard anything about the insurance claims or agents that are out in the area because of the floods. I’ll bet that will rival or surpass Katrina, too.
One blog today said that if oil prices were to double from what they are now that food prices would double as well.
The whole chain of being seems ready to come apart—oil prices, energy prices, gasoline prices, so hauling prices are more, food prices, all other kinds of goods are rising in price, service prices will go up, electricity generating prices go up, so utility bills go up. The Midwest floods will swell the communities below Iowa as the flood waters move down the Mississippi river. Will this cut off transportation because of freight lines and highways being under water?
On the Newes Hours on PBS on June 16th: 20 percent of the corn and soy crops in Iowa are a loss.
Re the impressive Tim Russert: He died of a sudden heart attack last Friday. His dr. said he had some heart disease and diabetes. He had a massive heart attack when placque broke loose in his arteries and clogged the blood flow to the heart. Maybe with a defilbrillator he could have been resuscitated maybe not—it was a sudden cardiac death. I don’t know if Mr. Russert knew how bad it was or was doing anything about it.
On the other hand, if the world is really doing to deteriorate and get really bad, how much do we want to stave off things like sudden cardiac death if there is no Medicare, health care or emergency services?
Shamba
June 12--And hot days beginning here ... but on to other things
Another one of those days when I feel the time when everyone is going to get really bitten or smacked by the edges of our various threats is coming very fast. Prior to last fall, I could feel them coming but couldn’t see them without being able to see over the horizon. All the things I’ve been reading about for the past 3 years were coming closer but still out of sight. But no they—various issues of resource shortages, gas, electricity supply, climate change, local government budget problems, Presidential election stuff—are all around us now and easily visible. I didn’t think food shortages and price rises would be part of this circle of “things” surrounding us. Food issues are is the most frightening though.
Gas is now 4.13-4.15 here. Price of gas is scary and the reported reactions to it worldwide—riots, demonstrations particularly in Spain and Portugal this week. Bangladesh, Nepal, and Egypt various other SE Asian countries have had more riot than demos in the past 2-3 months.
But the food reports are the worst. The US has no reserves of any kinds of foodstuff for various reasons over the past decade and also because we’ve sold a big chunk some of it to humanitarian aid just this past month. Earthquake in china, humanitarian aid situations in East Africa, including Sudan and Darfur,--these are still creating needs for food.
Now with the dreadful rains and flooding in the Midwest, the corn crop and soybeans are not looking good for this year. There have been bad harvests in other parts of the world this year and Australia’s drought has lowered their production the past 2 years.
Gas is now 4.13-4.15 here. Price of gas is scary and the reported reactions to it worldwide—riots, demonstrations particularly in Spain and Portugal this week. Bangladesh, Nepal, and Egypt various other SE Asian countries have had more riot than demos in the past 2-3 months.
But the food reports are the worst. The US has no reserves of any kinds of foodstuff for various reasons over the past decade and also because we’ve sold a big chunk some of it to humanitarian aid just this past month. Earthquake in china, humanitarian aid situations in East Africa, including Sudan and Darfur,--these are still creating needs for food.
Now with the dreadful rains and flooding in the Midwest, the corn crop and soybeans are not looking good for this year. There have been bad harvests in other parts of the world this year and Australia’s drought has lowered their production the past 2 years.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Gate and Door Coming
Gate man came to take measurement this morning. S. called about the price on a new shed door and some painting. Two things almost off the list as of today! yeah!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Carried tote bag with me to WalMart today...
I find that when I do buy something these days I am remembering to take tote bags or other bags to carry the purchases with me. Clerks in retail, not groceries, don’t seem to be surprised that I’m not interested in one of the stores plastic bags. Maybe there are more people doing this kind of thing.
I’ve ordered/purchased a solar oven! The one I was looking at months ago has gone way up in price—I knew I should have ordered it when I was looking at it then! But I got another one that has more accessories and is more expensive but the other one is now almost as expensive so I’m happy with my choice, or at least until I see what I get and try it out.
Got some small hand gardening tools that will help me repot all the aloes in the back patio. I pulledall the plant pots out of the shed and checked them over. I already have potting soil for cactus/ aloes so I think everything I need is here. The small cacti inside the house need to be repotted, too.
Flooding in the MidWest from bad storms the past week to two weeks. Wonder what that will do to crops, if anything? Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin have been socked pretty badly and that part of the country has been having tornadoes early this year. It’s like tornadoes have had a population explosion the past two months and the season runs through August or September I think.
New Hours on PBS tonight had 15 minute segment on oil prices and why this is happening—prices, demand outstripping supply—they gave the usual reasons.
I think I have someone to replace my shed door/door fram and get a new gate for me! Hooray!
Two more things off the big list of things to do.
Cheers,
I’ve ordered/purchased a solar oven! The one I was looking at months ago has gone way up in price—I knew I should have ordered it when I was looking at it then! But I got another one that has more accessories and is more expensive but the other one is now almost as expensive so I’m happy with my choice, or at least until I see what I get and try it out.
Got some small hand gardening tools that will help me repot all the aloes in the back patio. I pulledall the plant pots out of the shed and checked them over. I already have potting soil for cactus/ aloes so I think everything I need is here. The small cacti inside the house need to be repotted, too.
Flooding in the MidWest from bad storms the past week to two weeks. Wonder what that will do to crops, if anything? Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin have been socked pretty badly and that part of the country has been having tornadoes early this year. It’s like tornadoes have had a population explosion the past two months and the season runs through August or September I think.
New Hours on PBS tonight had 15 minute segment on oil prices and why this is happening—prices, demand outstripping supply—they gave the usual reasons.
I think I have someone to replace my shed door/door fram and get a new gate for me! Hooray!
Two more things off the big list of things to do.
Cheers,
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Sunday gas price increases
Was 4.13 this morning on my walk. It went up both Saturday (yesterday) and today!
market was down on Friday; I expect it will turn down more Monday ...
Warm day today--104 but the rest of the week will be a little less or the same temps. Just normal for this time in June.
gas prices I've been keeping track of since Katrina, September 2005 at: //http://www.shambalayogi.net/Unknown/oilnew.html
cheers,
shamba
market was down on Friday; I expect it will turn down more Monday ...
Warm day today--104 but the rest of the week will be a little less or the same temps. Just normal for this time in June.
gas prices I've been keeping track of since Katrina, September 2005 at: //http://www.shambalayogi.net/Unknown/oilnew.html
cheers,
shamba
Friday, June 6, 2008
A Warm Day's Walk in June
Temp only about 98 today--we've not had out triple digits much yet. So, midday walking was okay.
Walked up towards the gas station/Basha's store. Gas was posted at 4.05. Every other day the past 10 days it's gone up 3-5 cents it seems. I expected to see $4.00 since it had been 3.97 on wednesday. I filled up at another station for less on Wednesday in Awhuatukee since I was over there to see Lori--That is about 20 miles from where I live.
Watching the gas price at this one station go up the past 2 weeks has impressed me more than a lot of other things how "now" the change coming for the world are here in the present.
On my walk, I saw many purple sages in full bloom, so in bloom that the flowers are weighing the limbs of the plants down. I've never seen purple sages so full of flowers and the ones along the canal were full, full of bees. That, of course, is good, if the bees make it back to their hive okay with their pollen! There were also a mom duck and her 4 ducklings swimming in the canal. I've seen moms and babies in that canal all year round even in November and December. Also, some other ducks were out sitting on the side of the canal where people and cyclist actually go by. they weren't fussed at all about me walking by. I need some pics of these things!
Cleaned up the back patio of the dead cat's claw and cleaned out all the empty plant pots. The aloe are the colorless grey green they get when they're in the sun too much but they are still growing.
cheers,
shamba
Walked up towards the gas station/Basha's store. Gas was posted at 4.05. Every other day the past 10 days it's gone up 3-5 cents it seems. I expected to see $4.00 since it had been 3.97 on wednesday. I filled up at another station for less on Wednesday in Awhuatukee since I was over there to see Lori--That is about 20 miles from where I live.
Watching the gas price at this one station go up the past 2 weeks has impressed me more than a lot of other things how "now" the change coming for the world are here in the present.
On my walk, I saw many purple sages in full bloom, so in bloom that the flowers are weighing the limbs of the plants down. I've never seen purple sages so full of flowers and the ones along the canal were full, full of bees. That, of course, is good, if the bees make it back to their hive okay with their pollen! There were also a mom duck and her 4 ducklings swimming in the canal. I've seen moms and babies in that canal all year round even in November and December. Also, some other ducks were out sitting on the side of the canal where people and cyclist actually go by. they weren't fussed at all about me walking by. I need some pics of these things!
Cleaned up the back patio of the dead cat's claw and cleaned out all the empty plant pots. The aloe are the colorless grey green they get when they're in the sun too much but they are still growing.
cheers,
shamba
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
When will it happen? I think it's here NOW!
Regular gas: 3.97, 4.07, 4.17.
I have decided that all of the signs of the Big Day of Reckconing/downfall of fossifuel society/modern society/The Shit Hitting the Fan--is NOW! My readings in Doom have become main stream current events!
So, many things that I’ve been reading about for the past 3 ½ years were still “over the horizon.” Now, they are easily visible on the horizon and they’ve got us pretty well surrounded! Food prices, energy prices, gas prices, still bad drought in the US West, bees still in low supply this spring, no salmon fishing AT ALL on the west coast because of too small salmon populations—this is commercial fishing, too. Then there’s the daily business world in my state which probably applies to most other states these days: contracting economy, local governments budgets cut this year and facing more severe ones in the next year after that, property taxes revenue falling because of the shrinking housing market ….. which still shows no sign of bottoming out yet. Too much inventory and it’s growing because of foreclosures, new constructions finishing, etc.
In the NBC broadcast news this evening:
Airlines are cutting back severely on scheduled flights for the rest of the year; or after summer vacations. It’s just too expensive to keep flying the current schedules with the price of oil and their fuel needs. Major airports will have cutbacks in carriers and some smaller places will end up with very few carriers, even if they have been regional jets. Two years ago on The Oildrum.com I read some comment about an airline worker(?) at a conference remarking that in 10 years no planes will be flying at all, at least no commercial airlines.
GM is closing 4 plants that make SUV stuff; and they may discontinue the Hummer model! Hummers’ were quite the thing to have the past few years. Truck and SUV sales have not been good since the first of the year.
Quote from: Truck Sales Sink, Shaking Up Auto Market
Big Three Walloped By the Rush to Cars; Honda on the Rise
By JOSÉE VALCOURT and MATTHEW DOLANJune 4, 2008; Page B5 from WSJ
"Ford Motor Co.'s F-150 pickup truck has been the No. 1 seller almost every month over the past three decades. But in May, as consumers flocked to fuel-sipping models, two cars from Toyota and two from Honda Motor Co. outsold the F-150, pushing it down to the No. 5 spot in sales."
Electric cars are in the news again; or they seem to be more in the news to me.
There is some market in electricity prices—forward market?—that shows the fluctuations in electricity supply and prices. These fluctuations don’t appear on customer’s energy bills but it can predict the rise or fall of prices. There was a spike in this prices/supply in Mar/April and it showed a “75%” possible increase in electricity prices this summer. I don’t know if this applies to the whole US or what. It was in the WSJ on June 3 or 4th. I’ll try to find the link to it.
At least the **** Democratic primaries are over! Senator Obama looks like a definite for the Demo nominee; but I wouldn’t rule out senator Clinton trying something eve at the last minute to try again to get the position herself.
It seems quite a turnaround from the way things stood in public discourse and the national outlook and the economy just a year ago.
cheers,
shamba
I have decided that all of the signs of the Big Day of Reckconing/downfall of fossifuel society/modern society/The Shit Hitting the Fan--is NOW! My readings in Doom have become main stream current events!
So, many things that I’ve been reading about for the past 3 ½ years were still “over the horizon.” Now, they are easily visible on the horizon and they’ve got us pretty well surrounded! Food prices, energy prices, gas prices, still bad drought in the US West, bees still in low supply this spring, no salmon fishing AT ALL on the west coast because of too small salmon populations—this is commercial fishing, too. Then there’s the daily business world in my state which probably applies to most other states these days: contracting economy, local governments budgets cut this year and facing more severe ones in the next year after that, property taxes revenue falling because of the shrinking housing market ….. which still shows no sign of bottoming out yet. Too much inventory and it’s growing because of foreclosures, new constructions finishing, etc.
In the NBC broadcast news this evening:
Airlines are cutting back severely on scheduled flights for the rest of the year; or after summer vacations. It’s just too expensive to keep flying the current schedules with the price of oil and their fuel needs. Major airports will have cutbacks in carriers and some smaller places will end up with very few carriers, even if they have been regional jets. Two years ago on The Oildrum.com I read some comment about an airline worker(?) at a conference remarking that in 10 years no planes will be flying at all, at least no commercial airlines.
GM is closing 4 plants that make SUV stuff; and they may discontinue the Hummer model! Hummers’ were quite the thing to have the past few years. Truck and SUV sales have not been good since the first of the year.
Quote from: Truck Sales Sink, Shaking Up Auto Market
Big Three Walloped By the Rush to Cars; Honda on the Rise
By JOSÉE VALCOURT and MATTHEW DOLANJune 4, 2008; Page B5 from WSJ
"Ford Motor Co.'s F-150 pickup truck has been the No. 1 seller almost every month over the past three decades. But in May, as consumers flocked to fuel-sipping models, two cars from Toyota and two from Honda Motor Co. outsold the F-150, pushing it down to the No. 5 spot in sales."
Electric cars are in the news again; or they seem to be more in the news to me.
There is some market in electricity prices—forward market?—that shows the fluctuations in electricity supply and prices. These fluctuations don’t appear on customer’s energy bills but it can predict the rise or fall of prices. There was a spike in this prices/supply in Mar/April and it showed a “75%” possible increase in electricity prices this summer. I don’t know if this applies to the whole US or what. It was in the WSJ on June 3 or 4th. I’ll try to find the link to it.
At least the **** Democratic primaries are over! Senator Obama looks like a definite for the Demo nominee; but I wouldn’t rule out senator Clinton trying something eve at the last minute to try again to get the position herself.
It seems quite a turnaround from the way things stood in public discourse and the national outlook and the economy just a year ago.
cheers,
shamba
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
