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December 10, 2007

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Solar cooking… first attempt

solar-oven1-5989603

One of the ways I will be cooking off-grid is to use the sun, it’s free, nearly always available where I live, and it works great! My first attempt was about a month ago, it was the last time my husband and I went to our property to take a trailer load of stuff out there. We spent a week there lugging boxes of stuff across the dry creek bed and over to our cabin. My mother in law came out with us, yes we are trying to get her to move out there as well, we figured the best way to convince her what a great place it is was to show her. On one of the days we were there, my husband and my MIL went to our other neighbor’s house around the mountain from us, I haven’t been over there yet, but I understand they have a beautiful rock garden, as my MIL is a major rock hound (she belongs to at least 2 gem and mineral clubs and is very active in them), anyhoo she and my husband went over to see the rock garden, I was left at the cabin on my own, I got a bit bored and decided to work on making a quick solar oven.

I had lots of various materials laying about, I took a medium sized cardboard box, this is a box that reams of copy paper come in, it has a lid that fits over the top and comes completely off, I don’t have the exact dimensions of the box, but it holds standard size copy paper (8.5×11), 2 reams wide and 6 reams deep, I hope that makes sense (grin). I took the lid and cut a flap, I measured in on the top about an inch or so from the edge, I cut three sides and left one side attached, I creased that side so it would open and close. Next I took some clear, heavy duty plastic wrap and lined the opening in the lid, I used heavy box tape to secure the plastic. I had purchased several solar or space blankets, these are silver colored mylar film. I lined the box with the space blanket, I didn’t want to cut it as this was just a temporary oven. The mylar hung over the sides, but that was OK, I put some canned food in the box, placed the lid on the box, propped it up facing the sun and waited. The box heated up pretty well, but I wanted to improve the heating, so I took a black plastic trash bag, I put it inside the box and placed the canned food on it and folded the excess bag over the cans. I replaced the lid and waited again. While waiting, I decided that I wanted some hot water too, I found a half full …

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South Daytona Held Hostage By Power Company?

South Daytona, Fl is having difficulty with their only power company, Florida Power & Light.

According to Daytona Beach News-Journal online that due to the problems they are experiencing the city has hired a consultant to see what options are available to them, including solar and other alternative power.

The news article from Monda, December 10, 2007 states that the city is having difficulty renewing terms with the company among them that the city has the option to buy the utility, and it’s franchise fee of 6% of sales, about $700,000 annually. Previous problems with customer going without power for days due to procedures have already made council members angry at the high handed dealings with the utility.

Believing that the company is playing unfair by contracting all local experts on pr and attorneys on retainer so that a conflict of interest can be made if the city cannot work fast enou

This story just highlights the power utilities have not only over us as individuals but the cities, communities, and states we live in. The customers of these power providers are truly at their mercy and we even have to pay to be that. We are not against mainstream power as much as believe it’s time of need is passed. When producing energy entailed large, dirty machines then yes it should be done for the masses in an offsite facility, but that is no longer the case. As with any technology it has grown to be friendly and clean. We now have the potential for each household to produce the power that they need, with some to spare if need be.

If we continue to rely on someone else to make our energy then we must also accept that we might need to add an extra place at our tables, in our homes, and even in our beds for them. If a city can see that going self-sufficient in energy is a viable option then we as individuals should also be seeing it as one.

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In the beginning…

Hello and welcome all readers, friends, those I have met and those I know through the internet. This is a first for me, blogging, I have resisted blogging ever since I first heard of it, for reasons I can’t explain, most likely because it was the “in” thing to do, and I tend to be anti-trendy. But now, I find that I have a need to write down my new adventures for those who want to keep up with what I am doing, so I am now part of the blogger family.

As to my adventure, well, I am finally doing something that most people only dream about, it was certainly something I have dreamed about for many years… I am moving from the “big city” to a bit of acreage on a mountain side in west Texas (yes, Texas does have mountains). I will be living off-grid, that means I will not be hooked up to any utilities. No electric, no water, no gas, no phone… To some, that sounds scary, to others, it sounds like heaven, I am of the latter group. That doesn’t mean I will be living without electricity, water, gas or phone service, I will just have to make my own electricity, bring in my own water and gas, the phone will be my trusty cell phone. Heat will be generated with a wood stove, I will cook with wood, propane and solar.

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