Gerbils Love Crickets

We recently got some new gerbils from someone who did not want them anymore. After doing a little research I discovered gerbils are insectivores. This is great, we bought 1/2 a dozen crickets and put them in the cage tonight. The gerbils devoured them all. Very interesting to watch.

It is that time of year again. The cold weather will be here soon. I have a lot of yard work to do before the cold does finally set in. My raw vegan diet has inspired me to put a 550 sq-ft garden in my backyard, and create an edible landscaping plan for the entire yard. This is a great deal of work. The garden is well on it's way and the soil should be ready/fertile for planting in the spring.

My plan is to remove 2-3 of our existing trees and plant 5 apple trees, some peach trees and pair trees. The rest of the plants will be bushes, shrubs, and vines for growing goose berries, grapes, edible flowers etc...

On another note, I have decided to go back to Virginia Tech and finish my masters degree starting this January. It will be a lot of work, but will be well worth it. I already have three classes out of the way.

I recently started a job with a new company (Lockheed Martin) and am currently working 2.5 miles from home. It is great being so close. I ride my bicycle every day. I may start to jog a few days per week too.

Last week I did hit a giant pothole and damaged my bike. I have to take it in tomorrow to get repaired.

Distilled Water

After reading dozens of articles and reports on public drinking water, and bottled water being unsafe, I decided to buy a distiller. I chose a distiller over a filter because the distiller seems to get more of the junk out.

Public drinking water has all sorts of pesticides, and other junk in when it comes out of the tap in your house. The thought of this makes me sick.

I have been using the distiller for about 1 week now. After you distill a gallon of water, the remains in the distiller is what was removed from the drinking water. It looks like Flem coughed up by a chain smoker. It is absolutely repulsive. Mel took one look at it and got sick to her stomach.

Detox

Now that everyone thinks I am nuts, let me say this, "I really don't care". I feel better now, than I have ever felt in my entire life. This new diet is wonderful and I have so much more energy, and feel much happier.

I was not sure what to expect. I was doubting if I would really feel any different, or notice any changes.

The first little couple of weeks suck, especially when you start going through detox. Your body dumps all the toxins into the blood stream and it can make you a little sick. I had some serious migraines for about 4-5 days. I had some other issues, as well, which I will not be discussing here......lol

Detox didn't seem to last for a long time for me, but maybe I am not through it yet. I just have to continue drinking tons of water. I think I am going to upgrade my steel water bottle so I am able to carry more water to work with me. I may also get a second 32 ounce glass container to fill and bring to work with me.

Vegan

It has been too long since I have posted to this blog. I have been posting to my backpacking blog much more often.

After doing loads of research on health, food, disease, medicine, and human history, I have decided to make another lifestyle change. Not only have I decided to become a Vegan, but I have decided to consume raw foods only.

Being a Raw Vegan has great health advantages. For example, Vegans have 65% less of a chance of getting cancer than someone who eats meat. Raw Vegans probably have even less of a chance than regular Vegans because they don't eat any dairy products. Aside from the health benefits, food prep time is much quicker, and you don't have to worry about cooking. I can grow and dehydrate my own foods too. I will only eat organic food now as well.

My plan is to start juicing, sprouting, and organic gardening. I am hoping to grow veggies, herbs, and spices all year long in the gardens. I am also going to plant some mini-fruit trees.

I never really ate much meat. However, I did eat chicken, and dairy products on a regular basis. So far it has only been just over a week since I have had dairy. I have not had any cravings, or regrets. I am already starting to feel more energetic, and healthier.

I also increased my water intake to 60+ ounces per day. This is necessary to maintain a good health. The majority of people are dehydrated on a daily basis and don't even realize it.

Webmail Encryption

I recently discovered a great encryption tool, which will work with various webmail accounts. Check it out and see what you think: http://www.freenigma.com
I have started using this with my webmail accounts and love it.

Borat

If you like funny movies, you have to see "Borat". It was probably the funniest movie I have ever seen. I could not stop laughing. It was better than "Tommy Boy" with Chris Farley.

It is a stupid humor type of movie though, so if you don't like those kinds of movies you probably won't like it.

Rough week

Well, last week was a rough week. We went to Albany for Melissa's grandfather's funeral. I was out of work all week sick and a good friend of ours (Nicole) had to go to the hospital for surgery.

It turns out she had a tumor in her right lung, which was larger than a golf ball. They ended up removing one of the lobes in her lung and successfully removing the tumor.

Happy Halloween!!!

We started out with 7-8 pumpkins, and are down to about 3. The squirrels seem to be ransacking them. It is an amazing site to watch a squirrel run across the backyard dragging a small pumpkin, or a giant piece of a larger pumpkin.

Now that all, but one of the halloween parties are over, things are slowing down a bit. The weather has been great the last few weeks so we have been able to enjoy the outdoors a bit this fall. I might setup a backpacking trip in the next couple of weeks if the weather stays this nice.

It is that time again, when we all start getting the political phone calls telling us who to vote for. I am ok with one or two phone calls, but when I start getting dozens of phone calls from the same campaign it gets really annoying. Especially when you've already made the decision of who to vote for.

Happy Halloween everyone................

22 bottles later

Well, we had a great Halloween party last night. Over 60 people showed up. After 22 bottles of red wine later most of the women were drunk. Oddly enough most of the men didn't drink and were the Designated Driver's (DD).

The big mistake was the fact that red wine doesn't mix very well with white carpets. Though we were able to get all the spills out without much difficutly. There were a lot more spills than I expected. LOL

Unfortunately the wind was pretty bad out yesterday, which made it much colder and nobody wanted to be outdoors. So everyone hung out inside. The best part is that we were not crowded in the new house. Had we been in the old house, it would have been much more crowded.

The best part was that Melissa had to sleep on the floor because the ceiling was spinning. LOL

Tub ready for use

The hot tub is finally ready for use. We jumped in it tonight and it was great. We turned the temp down from 102* to 100* because it felt a bit too warm.

The lighting system on the tub is pretty cool, it has a variety of settings.

I hooked up some speakers in the backyard next to the hot tub this evening and they sound excellent. I was jamming to a U2 cd with the jets on and it sounded pretty good. I accidentally hit the wrong button on the radio and cranked the speakers to almost full blast. The neighbors dog didn't like that at all and freaked out.

I posted some photos in the Other Stuff album of my photo gallery. I will post some more with the trench filled in later. It was nice jumping in the tub after digging and filling in that ridiculously long trench.

Next I have to build a set of stairs on the other side of the deck, and make the walkway so we can easily access the tub. Even after the stairs are built it will still be a bit of a walk.

Cycles & Bikes & Workout

For some reason I am starting to get the itch for riding a motorcycle again. It has been some time since I sold my last cycle and I haven't really missed it until recently.

I also miss riding my electric recumbent bicycle. I still have it, but since the move I haven't found anywhere reasonable to ride it. Traffic in this area is a joke and without a bike path it is suicide riding on the roads. Nobody obeys the speed limit, they talk on their cell phones while driving, and don't pay attention. I did take the bike for a spin twice last week and hope to in the morning.

After being hit by a car last year, while riding my bicycle, and being run off the road several times, I have gotten cautious. I still like riding for exercise though. Unfortunately I sold my mountain bike so I cannot go off-road riding anymore. It is tough getting a good workout on the street while riding a recumbent. It is still fun though.

Since the bicycle has an electric motor, I never have to worry about being too tired to ride home. If I want a good workout I just leave the motor off and pedal. If I want to go fast, I can hit the throttle and pedal really fast and still get a great aerobic workout.

I recently started running in hopes to get my endurance back so I can go back to Tae Kwon Do (TKD). It has been a while since I have trained, but I really miss it. I miss the incredible workouts too. It will be great jumping in the hot tub after a tough TKD class.

Book

I have recently started writing a novel. I never realized how much work it actually requires. It is difficult creating the characters and getting the plot just right. The good part is that I can work on it anywhere. I don't have to be in front of a computer to be coming up with ideas and story lines. I just make sure I have a notebook within reach.

I have been considering this novel for quite some time. It just took me a while to get the nerve to actually start it. I have been spending some time reading and learning about the best practices. It is also quite a bit of work to get the book published so I am doing research on that as well.

I have a good start so far, but it will be a while before I have anything worth reading.

photos

I have been posting some photo's to this site and am working on editing more for posting. It takes a lot of time to get the photos the correct size and find the ones you like. Though the one's I have posted so far are nothing special.

I am also working on putting up a private blog, which will not be able to be viewed by the public; only by those I invite. If your interested send me a private email message to get access.

Long Week

It's been a long week. I did a bunch of work on the house and yard this week. I am hanging some crown molding in the family room since we finished painting it. I have to finish some paint work in the kitchen tomorrow. The only problem with moving into a new house that you have to customize to your liking. We are going for the cozy look. LOL Things are coming along nicely as far as the house and yard go.

Well, it is very late. I have to get to bed.

Today and the Environment

Today I spent the day chopping trees and branches to make some room for the new hot tub. M dug the trench for the electrical lines. It was a long day and I am a bit soar. I cannot quit yet though. I have to get back out and chop some more tomorrow. I am cutting it all up to use in the fireplace over the winter.

So far I cut down two rather large trees, and several enormous branches in the back. The interesting part is that I did it all with a hand saw. I refuse to purchase a power saw and add more pollution, to our already polluted environment.

I realize a chainsaw is minor, but we have to start somewhere. I have already done a bunch of other environmental stuff. For example, I ride a bicycle, or walk, instead of driving my car when I can to help reduce the amount of CO2 I put in the air. Having an electric bicycle makes riding much more particle over longer distances. I recycle everything possible.

We recently started using a compost pile for table scraps as well. It makes a big difference for the landfills. Food scraps berried deep in a landfill do not biodegrade properly and produce methane gases, which is 1/3 of the ozone pollutants we are currently having problems with.

Yes, I know, cutting down trees isn't the best thing for the environment either. Keep in mind I will plant at least 2 trees for everyone I chop down.

Since I am writing about the environment I might as well mention I just read Al Gore's new book, "An Inconvenient Truth". It is a great read and I highly recommend it. I am looking forward to getting the movie on DVD.

Hot Tub Purchase

Well, we finally made the purchase of a hot tub today. We checked out dozens and the one we decided on was the Hot Springs Envoy (HSE). We chose that over the Thermospa Gold (TG). After we talked the Thermospa salesman down about $4000 and the tubs were roughly the same price we made a decision. The HSE ended up actually being about $2500 less expensive in the long run.

We were able to wet test the HSE, but not the TG. It is always interesting walking into a store in your bathing suit, jumping in the tub and watching everyone's reaction. Many people don't realize the reason the tubs have water while on display is specifically for customer sampling.

Thermospa has a lot of complatins through the Better Business Bureau.

Tivo Sucks

I don't recommend purchasing a Tivo directly from Tivo. Their customer service sucks, there hardware is garbage and it seems to me they try their best rip you off.

We have had a Tivo for about 2 years and it has been nothing, but headaches. I would have never purchased one if I would have know there would be so many hardware failures, and poor customer service.

At one time they had nearly 300 complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau. Unfortunately I realized this "after" I made the mistake of purchasing the lifetime package.

I have spend more time and effort fixing, and talking to customer support than it is worth to me. Anytime I call customer support I end up on the phone for hours because they don't have a clue what is causing the problems.

Then they try to charge you $150 for a new box because the original box was a piece of shit. After fighting with them for about 3 hours we were able to get it covered under the warranty price of $50, which is still a joke. We have gone through 4 Tivo boxes as a result of faulty hardware and are still trying to get this damn thing fixed.

Contracting

I have been between contracts at work for a while now. Sometimes it can get quite slow, and dull so I have to do what I can to keep busy. Even if it means reading books on new technologies. I don't mind because I enjoy learning about new and exciting technologies. I get to choose the subject, which makes it even better.

I got a couple phone calls over the last few days in regards to potential contracts. This morning I got a call for a contract with a position that looks like a good fit for me. It is close to home so the commute should be decent. I might even be able to ride my bike, or jog.

Hot Tub

My wife and I have been shopping for a hot tub. Man, they are expensive; I had no idea. It would be great if we could get a resonable deal on one.

We are still deciding where in the yard we should put it. So far the plan seems to be to put it in the trees with a roof above it. Now I have to find a decent plan for a gazibo I can build.

There is no way I am going to buy a gazibo. They are way to expensive. I don't think it would be very difficult to build. I may have to hire a contractor to lay the cement slab to put the tub on though. I have to get a few estimates. I would do it myself, but I am concerned about getting it level.