5.29.2007

solared power soul

do it

yourself.



















1Gas Generator
The household's seldom-used 5.5-kilowatt generator is a backup to the solar and wind generators.

2Solar Panels
Eighteen photovoltaic cells, mounted on a rack that follows the sun, generate up to 1.8 kilowatts of DC power.

3Wind Turbine
Sitting atop a 65-ft. tower, this turbine starts spinning when the wind hits 7.5 mph. Top output: 900 watts.

4Charge Controllers
Current flows from the wind and solar generators to a pair of charge controllers. They regulate the current to the DC breaker.

5DC Breaker
The breaker sends the current to the battery bank for storage, or to an inverter where it is converted to AC for immediate use.
6Battery Array
The 24-volt, 1100-Ahr battery array has 12 individual 2-volt batteries that can power the author’s home for four to five days.

7Inverter
Current from the DC breaker passes through this 3500-watt power inverter on its way to the house’s AC breaker.

8AC Breaker
Power travels to the AC breaker panel from the AC/DC inverter, then goes on to the home’s 110-volt AC circuits.

from popularmechanics. [Energy Family]

x) perception. x) deception.

But the Lord God called to the Man, "Where are you?" - Genesis 3:9

























He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
And He said, " Who told you that you were naked?..." Genesis 3:10-11

5.25.2007

5.24.2007

5.22.2007

and if your depressed now watch magical trevor!

this does make me feel warm and fuzzy inside

so i was checking out a list of countries by external debt and surprise! the united states is numero uno. ouch. so then i checked over to our trusty treasury department to see exactly how much outstanding debt we've got.

as of may 18th: $8,804,563,826,561.37 (total public debt outstanding)

i dont really know what that means other than it has 4 commas in it. lets see:

the city of lincoln, ne has 95,199 household units in it (2000 census). thats houses, apartments, condos etc. if you've got a front door, you've got a housing unit. lets assume that every housing unit in lincoln is a million dollar home. i think we all know what a million dollar home looks like. so if every front door in the entire city of lincoln is attached to a million dollar home, it would take 92 cities of lincoln to add up to our total public debt outstanding. and you would still have 46 billion dollars left over to buy over 2 million, $20,000 cars.

hot dang.

but maybe that hard to think of lincoln being all $1 million homes. so heres another comparison:
the actual valuation of the city of beatrice, ne is $497,256,258. that means our national debt could buy 16,000 cities of beatrice

or how about this. given that a one dollar bill is about 6 and 1/8 inches long. if you lined up over 8 trillion dollar bills from end to end the money trail would go from san francisco to new york and back 165,526 times

talk about a road trip

5.20.2007

im glad to know im part of the majority

http://ipickmynose.com/

humans get me

i usually just keep hitting zero. but that does not always work.

now you can find out exactly how to get humans everywhere!

http://www.gethuman.com/us/

5.17.2007

i almost made it to kansas

bigger man: hows it going today sir?
me: pretty good.
bigger man: i got you locked in at 80 back there.
me: oh yeah?
bigger man: is there a reason for that?
me: well, theres not to many people out here today and its a nice day out, i was just clippin along, enjoying the weather and it must of got away from me.
bigger man: well sir, it doesn't matter what the conditions are, or if there is anyone else around. you still have to obey the traffic laws.
me, inside my brain: *rolls eyes*
bigger man: where you going?
me: pawnee city.
bigger man: are you in a hurry?
me: not really.
...

and so it went. i was just being honest with the guy.
and yesterday honesty cost me $169

well thats how i view it in my pride tinted glasses. i know i know. i deserved it. but how about this:
what is the point of giving me a fine, steep enough to support a crack habit, THEN thank me for wearing my "safety belt." like "oh sure *smile*, no problem mr bigger-man, i was wearing it just for you. just in case i ran into you so you would appreciate it and thank me. but the fine, oh no thats no problem at all. not a big deal. dont worry about. in fact, pull me over Every time i swing through. cause then you can see that im wearing my safety belt. and maybe give another compliment. ta ta. " why is it that i get recognition for my good deed, because i was stopped for a bad deed?

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. - james 1:2-4

ok oh dear steadfastness and thou effect on me. you do well and good. but will you give me $169?? because im lacking that now.

posting videos is easy.



this actually made me sad. the gregariousness of sheep. and of humans.

no wonder we are called sheep.

5.13.2007

5.08.2007

jump maranville and cut



jumpcut rules

5.05.2007

marathon Mix

my friend Christina over at From the Rooftop is running the Lincoln Marathon tomorrow. John H, Gretchen L, Brittany S, and myself put together a killer mix for the run.

the marathon mix:

Oh Timbaland by Timbaland

Heretics by Andrew Bird

Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John

My Love by Justin Timberlake

He knows the Sun by The Legends

Mushaboom by Feist

Trains to Brazil by Guillemots

Times Like These by Jack Johnson

Roscoe (Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve Remix) by Midlake

You Be Illin by Run DMC

Hello Operator by The White Stripes

The Further I Slide by Badly Drawn Boy

I Wish by Stevie Wonder

Love Foolosophy by Jamiroquai

The Frog by Sergio Mendes

Sleep on Needles by Sondre Lerche

Bottom of the Barrel by Amos Lee

Where It’s At by Beck

Do the Whirlwind by Architecture In Helsinki

Rock the Casbah by The Clash

Crooked Teeth by Death Cab for Cutie

Out of Control from 13 going on 30 soundtrack

Silent Sigh by Badly Drawn Boy

End of the Movie by Cake

Lovefool by The Cardigans

The Sound of Settling by Death Cab for Cutie

Angeles by Elliot Smith

Cold December by Matt Costa

Something Pretty by Patrick Park

Such Great Heights by The Postal Service

12:51 by The Strokes

The District Sleeps Alone Tonight by The Postal Service

Its All Over Now, Baby Blue by Bob Dylan

You are a Runner and I Am My Fathers Son by Wolf Parade

Sabotage by The Beastie Boys

Queen of the Rummage Sale by Bishop Allen

The Distance by Cake

Sirena by Calexico

Starman by David Bowie

For the Actor by Mates of State

Here Comes The Summer by The Fiery Furnaces

The Floating Bed from the Frida soundtrack

Fu-Gee-La by The Fugees

Heartbeats by The Knife

Stand Up by Ludacris & Shawnna

Da Funk by Daft Punk

Fraud In The 80s by Mates of State

Hey Ya! by Outkast

American Hearts by Piebald

Little Birdie by Ralph Stanley

Meu Mundo E Uma Bola by Sergio Mendes

Cuss Cuss by Lloyd Robinson

Ill Believe in Anything by Sunset Rubdown

5.04.2007

the dangerous book for boys

Conn and Hal Iggulden wrote a book :

The Dangerous Book for Boys

ive got my copy coming and i can promise you when i have a son, ill have his copy coming too.

watch the "trailer" below. its all smiles and pure joy.

color my world

it just occurred to me, as i filled up my mug with java, that i hate white coffee pots. why do they make white coffee pots anyway? they just get nasty dirty and the jo shows up so easily.

for that matter why do they make white toilets?

they should make brown toilets.

and while theyre at it, lets get some brown diapers and greenish brown kleenex, yellow urinals, red band-aids, and some white pop and tongue colored bubble gum and suckers so our teeth stay nice and mouths dont discolor.

its interesting that anything that involves substance exiting out bodies...we use white. and with things entering out bodies, (pop is a perfect example) we pick yellow #7, caramel coloring, and acid green. where is the caramel colored johnny! or how about this: a toilet that changes colors based on the color of ones excrement!

the chameleon crapper

5.02.2007

jet storm super skittle power pack

for all that voted:

thank you. i treasure your hearts near mine.

to celebrate i am paying for everyones entrance fee to disneyland. meet me at the west entrance in 3 minutes and we will disnify our spirits.

news:voters approve stormwater bond

5.01.2007

i dont ask much

but i ask this: if you live in lincoln, get out today and go vote for the Stormwater bond. basically this bond will keep my job (water resource engineer) secure for another couple of years. if it doesn't pass, well i just might have to get a job as a newspaper boy and throw newspapers through your windows. or else ill become an ice cream man but ill turn the freezer way down so all your kids will walk in the house crying with dripping bon-pops and orange push-ups.

okay. maybe the threats are not a good idea. why dont you just read this article from the lincoln journal star, here are some excerpts:

The rains run off driveways and parking lots, collecting in streets, sewers and streams. Preventing these growing currents from flooding homes takes engineering, and that isn’t cheap. Neither is maintaining, improving or replacing storm structures. As it does every few years, the City of Lincoln is asking taxpayers to pay for its flood protection. Voters will be asked to approve a $8.5 million bond issue Tuesday to finance 27 specific stormwater improvement projects.

If approved, the city would issue general obligation bonds, sort of like IOUs, and levy a property tax to pay off the debt over 20 years. Approval would add $4.53 per year to taxes on a $100,000 home. (me - thats nothing people, ill buy you dinner to even it out!)


The 27 projects are distributed throughout the city.
The money would rebuild undersized storm sewers, stabilize eroding creekbeds, create basins to collect water and develop drainage areas that filter runoff and keep pollutants out of creeks and lakes.

---


The city puts a stormwater bond issue on the ballot every few years. Voters have approved eight such bond issues since 1983.
Some have questioned why bonds are used instead of general funds. Others have wondered why bond issues are proposed so often. City Finance Director Don Herz said that under existing laws the bond method is the most fair.

“Basically what you’re doing is building a capital asset,” he said. Adding stormwater improvement costs to the city’s annual budget would cause the burden to be shouldered entirely by the people who live here now. A bond issue spreads the cost to include everyone who will live here in the next 20 years and benefit from the improvements, he said.

---


In some states, cities charge a stormwater utility fee instead.


Property is evaluated based on how much it contributes to runoff. Laws that would permit those types of fees have not been passed here, Herz said.