Geocaching

A few months ago, Mindy was telling me about a Geocaching adventure. You use GPS coordinates to find hidden boxes. Some boxes have trade items, others just have notebooks where you can write your name and the date. It reminds me a lot of the Orienteering and Mailboxing that I did when I lived in Ireland. I decided to look into it and thought it might be a fun way to get the girls out hiking. I bought a Garmin Etrex off Ebay for $50 and today we went on our first trial run. We found the cache near the Grays River Bridge and had lots of fun. Check out the pics. 

The Space Between Want and Need

          Lately, Amy and I have put ourselves on the Dave Ramsey "baby step" program to getting totally out of debt -- The Total Money Makeover.  Before I changed careers we had saved a lot of money and had no car payments and no credit card debt. That came in handy when I got laid off and had to pay for nursing school -- and start over at the bottom of the career ladder. When I got my RN, however, I bought a new truck. The old one was 13 years old and had 280,000 miles on it -- and no airbags and no back seats for the girls. We also took a trip to Hawaii. We ended up with a truck payment, credit card debt and student loans. 

Thanks to Amy and Dave Ramsey, we're getting them all paid off. 

However, along the way we've had a lot of conversations about things that we need and things that we want and how to have fun, fix up the house, etc ... without spending money.

It's actually a lot of fun to think this way. Creative thinking. That said, it doesn't mean we have to give up our dreams. We don't really need everything that we want, but it is still okay to want it. There's nothing wrong with aspiration, as long as material things are comfortably ensconced in their proper place.

Most importantly, it's vital not to live your life centered on the yearning for some material thing. Once obtained, it will only disappoint. Even if it is perfectly adequate, practical and as beautiful as you hoped, nothing lives up to the imagined contentment of our desire.

I need nothing that I do not already have. I have a home, a good job, a family -- air, food, water and love.

Wanting, however, has a place. It moves us forward, fuels progress, creates beauty. It motivates. Long days at the library were often punctuated by visits to the dealership to test drive trucks. A new truck wasn't my only motivation, but it was a symbol of the financial security for myself and my family that lay ahead.

Somehow, even in our contentment, I think it is good to see something and want it. I still have this reaction when I see beautiful industrial design or works of art. I often experience the "I want that but I don't have anywhere to put it" sort of feeling. I know I don't need it, can't afford it, can't practically keep it even if I could. 

But I still want it. 

Last summer, a friend offered to give me his sail boat for free. It was a great little sail boat, and it wasn't in too bad of shape. Even the moorage cost was pretty cheap. However, it just didn't feel right. It wasn't the right time, the cockpit was too small and shallow and the girls still too young. I wanted it. I still want a sail boat and I have ever since I was a kid watching the tall ship races during the 1976 bicentennial. 

        Yet, I found I was more than comfortable just wanting it.

I don't know that we have a good way to describe this space between wants and needs -- these aspirations we are content to leave unmet. It is kind of the material equivalent of infatuation. If you can think of a word to describe this feeling, I'd love to hear it.

Meanwhile, I'll be looking at my favorite websites for motorcycles, high tech gear, boats, hot air balloons, airplanes ....

Cleaning Up

We've had sunny -- but cold -- weather here the past few days and I've spent much of it outside cleaning up the stuff that washed up in the flood. I've also started to get to work early on some of the projects around the yard that we want to do next spring. Give that it doesn't stop raining here until July, we've found it's best to start spring projects whenever the weather permits -- even if it is 30 degress. I've taken down the picket fence and cleaned up a lot of the fallen tree branches in the back yard. We've had two big burn piles and I'm working on a third. Amy's dad came over last week and cleaned up the deep silt that was still on our driveway. Pictures later this weekend.

Why the Future is Electric

When gas hit $4.25 a gallon last summer, I started researching alternatives. 

Readers will recall that I was always a big fan of hybrid and electric cars and motorcycles.  Well they are finally coming into their own. 

It's not just the Tesla roadster and competitors that are paving the way for electric vehicles. At the Detroit Auto Show this week the basement is set up as a test track for electric cars and almost every company has an electric vehicle on the display. Chevy has the Volt. Chrysler seems to be staking its whole future on EV dreams.  Ford has plans to have battery electric and plug in hybrid electric cars in every category in a few years and is pushing for government policy changes to help make that happen. (check out Autobloggreen for the best coverage)

A few years ago, battery folks were stone-agers while everyone touted the hydrogen economy. However, hydrogen fuel cells are just a fancy -- and expensive battery. Once that was revealed, the infrastructure costs of hydrogen distribution seemed daunting. Things moved slow.

Meanwhile, batteries kept getting better.

I argued that hybrids were the way to go in the interim because no matter what the power source, the electric drive train was going to be what moved wheels on the road. With electric motors at or in the wheels -- anything could provide the electricity -- hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen ICE, batteries of any kind. Electric motors are flexible in a way that other drive trains are not. They don't care where the electrons come from -- so any source -- even multiple sources can be used.

For example: say I build a electric car with batteries. If I use Lithium batteries it will be expensive, but get good range per charge. For my commuting needs I can just plug it in. If I need more flexibility on range, I can have a range-extending generator on board. This generator could run on hydrogen, gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, natural gas, ethanol, methanol, coal fired steam, kerosene. Heck if it is a sterling engine -- you can run it on multiple fuels.  So long as something charges the batteries, the batteries and the motors don't care -- the driving experience stays the same.

Let's say I add a small gas generator to my electric car to extend the range -- but gas suddenly goes up to $10 a gallon. I can pull out that generator and put in a natural gas generator and bypass the gas stations. The batteries and the electric motors don't care.

Moreover, let's say I build my car with lead acid batteries because they are cheap. 

However a year later, NiCad or Lithium polymer batteries come on the market much cheaper. I can switch out batteries and leave the drive train unchanged.

Today when I plug in my car I charge it up with hydropower and wind power. If I lived on the East Coast it would be coal and nukes. 

It's not just cars. The future is electric in the home as well. A few years ago I wanted to supplement my wood fired heading in my home (stove and pellet). I looked into oil and natural gas and decided on a solid ceramic electric heater instead. These Econo-Heat heaters draw about the same power as a light bulb use convection to heat a room. They work great, have no moving parts and are easy to install.  Best of all, however, is their flexibility. If electricity gets more expensive in the Northwest, I can supplement by adding wind and solar here at the house. The heating system -- the drive train -- doesn't need to change.  

In short, the future is electric because electric devices, drive trains and heating systems aren't picky about where they get their juice. That allows flexibility as we make advances in how we power our world in the year to come. There likely won't be one magic bullet to replace the carbon monster. Electric power allows all options and a mix of options to keep the lights on, the home warm and the wheels on the pavement.