Principles

Spiritual
Acknowledge and revere God – worship, study, and meditate

Intellectual
Live a contemplative life – read, write and think

Social
Care for and celebrate with family and friends – create a tradition of celebrations with food

Physical
Live without discomfort – exercise, rest, good food

Material
Less is more – live a simple life without concern for financial matters


Live well, love well, receive graciously, give freely.

For wireless I don't need ...

Here at home I use two laptops, one running XP and one running Linux. (If I had the money, I’d also be running a Mac, but that’s another story.) I have an old Dell wireless card that I’ve been trying to get to work with the Linux machine, but so far I’ve been unsuccessful. Apparently I’m not the only one; these particular cards have a bad reputation on the forums. But it’s just a matter of time – I’ll either prevail or give up and buy a new one.

Friday evening I downloaded and installed Gutsy Gibbon (Ubuntu 7.10), so I’ve been spending some time setting everything up again. I had been using Thunderbird as my email client, but this time I decided to go with Evolution, which came bundled with Gutsy. I generally use web-based mail, but I guess I should have a local email client too. I’ll just wait and see if I end up using it at all. Just for kicks I also activated Pidgin, the bundled internet messenger. To my surprise it came up and worked easily, and I like it’s simple uncluttered interface.

This morning I set up an ssh client for connecting to the AIX system at work. It’s nice to be able to log-in from home to do a scheduled item, rather than to have to drive or ride my bicycle all the way back out to the office.

While I’m in the mood, I may just poke around the desktop (Gnome) a little today. There are a lot of applications I haven’t even looked at yet. Trying to keep up with the GUI stuff and learn the command line stuff is a big job, not to mention keeping up with all the Windows stuff.

Oh, and the wireless? It still doesn’t work (YET!). But that’s ok for now because I’m almost always wired, and if really need to go wireless I can always use the XP box.

More Handles

These happen to be for a bow saw I'm making.
Yeah, I know one's bigger than the other ... they're supposed to be that way.

Wednesday's Tools

Last Saturday I went by a garage sale that didn't look too promising. There were a lot of cool things there, don't get me wrong. It was definitely a "guy's" garage sale ... lots of mechanical junk, rust, grease, wood and metal, and not a doily in sight. It was just two guys clearing out their shed. But most of it was metal-working stuff; these guys were mechanics, not woodworkers.

But after I told one of the dudes what I was looking for, he dug around and found three pretty nice little items pictured above: (1) an apparently unused Norton HM--8 black Hard Arkansas Oil Stone, (2) a good Stanley 36 1/2 L boxwood 12-inch rule, and (3) an old inexpensive Craftsman low-angle block plane. The plane was rusty, but cleaned up and sharpened up real nice.

Also, in the picture above you can see a handle I made with a spokeshave from a chunk of oak for an old gouge I had lying around. Not too shabby if I say so myself.

And last, a little 4-inch divider that I got in the mail today. It's marked S&W Co. , whatever that means (Smith & Wesson?).

New Old Tools

Did I mention that I like old tools? Yeah, I thought I did. I have new tools too, and I like them, but there's something special about old hand tools.

Thought you might like to see my newest additions ... a couple of nice old gimlets, and a fine Miller's Falls No. 2 drill.

Come by the house and I'll let you use them.

Chisel Handles

Oklahoma's weather makes the national news pretty often, it seems. If it's not the heat, then it's either floods, tornadoes, or something else. This time it's a major ice storm. But this past Saturday was a beautiful day, just perfect for leaving the garage/shop door open and working all day making large pieces of wood into smaller ones.
I had several old chisels awaiting new handles, so I set up the old 10-ER as a lathe and went to work. I wanted to experiment with the handle shapes and overall size, so I just started with a picture of some handles I liked, and started turning. The two larger ones are made from hard maple; the smaller one from pecan.

I like the shape of the handles, but I the sizes aren't quite right. I think I'll be better suited to handles sized between the larger and smaller ones. Also, I think I'll stain the next ones dark.

Riding Like a Kid

With the cool, windy weather and my general laziness, I haven't ridden any of my bikes in a while. But today the weather was perfect - 70 degrees, sunny, and no wind. So I took a bike ride.

Now this was no normal bike ride.

I pulled the old Nashbar steel bike out from behind my workbench and aired up the inch-wide tires. I put on tennis shoes instead of cleated riding shoes, because this bike has flat pedals. Instead of skin-tight riding shorts and a jersey I put on an old pair of mountain bike shorts and a bright orange tee shirt. My old sunglasses were nearby (not my fancy prescription athletic glasses), and I pulled a raggedy pair of gloves out of the cabinet in the garage. On my head I placed a retired $20 helmet that I still had lying around.

I headed down the street and across parking lots to the park and reservoir on our end of town. I rode around the reservoir a few times, down some side streets, and past the new Starbuck's. I have no idea how far or how fast I went, because I had no bike computer to distract me. There were only the canadian geese and turtles and birds and the bike and the road and me.

It was cycling for the fun of it.

And I loved it.

Morning Sunshine

Productive Fun

It was a beautiful Saturday. I started the day in the cool, foggy morning by riding my bicycle around the neighborhood to checkout the local garage sales. By nine o'clock the temperature was perfect for working in the garage/workshop with the garage door open, and it stayed perfect all day.

We hung the plate rack in the kitchen. My lovely wife had done nearly all the painting, and it looks nice.

I had been looking around for an outfeed roller stand to use with my Shopsmith table saw and my bandsaw. The tables on both of those machines are fairly high, and all the roller stands I've seen locally are too low for my use. So, I decided to do the only reasonable thing ... make one. Besides, what's the purpose of a workshop if not to make things. And what better things to make than things to help you make things with.

I drew up quick plans during a break at work last week, started cutting the boards last night, and finished the stand today. Recognize the roller? It's a $ 4.95 rolling pin from the local big box store.

Don't do crack

I always release the tension on my bandsaw at the end of a day of use. The other night I was cleaning up after a good weekend session, and when I went to release the bandsaw tension, I noticed it felt 'funny'. Closer inspection revealed severe cracking in the tensioning block. I'm glad it didn't let go while I was using it! There might have been flying parts, sparking blades and a frightened operator!

I called Grizzly Monday morning and ordered a replacement part, which should be here by the end of the week. Hope the new one lasts longer than the old one (about 6 or 7 years, I think)

Plate Rack in Progress

The simple plate rack is coming along nicely. I essentially finished the woodworking yesterday. It's really just a box with sides, top and shelf held together with nails, and with pegs for the plate rack. I realised that the two rows of pegs called for in the instructions would only support full-sized plates and not saucers, so I added a third row in the middle.

Today will be for painting.

New Project - Simple Plate Rack

My sweet wife found this plate rack in one of her books, liked it, and showed it to me. I ran across the perfect materials yesterday in a corner of the garage/shop, so I decided to go ahead a throw one together. If we like it, I can always make a more finished piece.

Here's a shot of my Shopsmith set up as a drill press to drill a double row of holes for the dowels that hold the plates. I like the picture because it shows a few other interesting items in the background.

Here are the main parts of the shelf: top, bottom and center shelf on the right; sides and dowels on the left. Not shown is the face trim. I should be able to finish the carcass tomorrow evening and it'll be ready for paint Saturday.

Quartz Mountains

This weekend we climbed the New Horizon Trail at the Quartz Mountain State Park in southwest Oklahoma.

Pigsticker

My new (old) mortise chisel arrived today. I like it.

Not to Worry

I'm still around ... just doing other stuff. I'll pick this back up soon, I promise.

What Saturdays Are For

Saturday we spent about 3 hours paddling around Lake Lugert. We launched at Hicks Mountain, skirted the edge of the lake to the southeast, then struck directly across the lake toward the boat ramp on the north shore. It took a while to go across the lake, but we were just leisurely paddling along, stopping every once in a while to chat and take photos. There were lots of folks on the lake, but most were skiing, tubing and pleasureboating near the shorelines. After crossing, we spent a little time watching some folks launching their sailboat, then headed back toward Hicks Mountain.

Yep. That's what Saturdays are for.

It's Simple, Really

I just finished reading the book, Radical Simplicity, by Jim Merkel. I don’t make it a habit of critiquing the books I read, and these comments are not meant to be a review of the book. However, I find the subject very interesting, both theoretically and practically, and the book raised issues that my mind is still processing.

The basic problem is generally understood and accepted – that the resources of our earth are limited, and that our present rate of consumption of those resources is unsustainable.

Merkel explains the problem and his proposed solution by quantifying resource availability and usage in terms of ecological footprint (EF). Accordingly, all local, regional and global energy systems (food, fuel, housing, consumer goods, etc) can be described by their EF. For example, the EF of a head lettuce would be the amount of surface area of the earth that is required to produce it, including growing space, fertilizer, water, storage space, energy to process and refrigerate it, and the fuel required to package, transport and market it. The materials, energy, and time invested in that head of lettuce can be expressed mathematically as a specific amount of surface area (square feet, yard, acres, etc) of the earth. At earth’s present population level there are about 4 acres of surface area available for each human being. The problem is that in the most industrialized parts of the world, such as North America, the average human consumes the earth’s resources at a level of about 26 acres per person. Obviously, that level of consumption is unsustainable.

Merkel is a former engineer, and not surprisingly takes a mathematical approach to solving the problem. Basically, his solution consists of 5 steps:
(1) Calculate your personal ecological footprint using a set of tables and formulas presented in the book.
(2) Determine what you want your personal ecological footprint to be, and reduce your consumption to match that figure.
(3) Calculate the minimum amount of income you can possible live on. (This figure is somehow related to EF, but I missed the connection. The author’s minimum figure was about $5000 per year).
(4) Reduce your expenditures and increase your savings until the interest on your savings matches the minimum income amount you calculated. You can then quit work and live on the interest from your savings.
(5) Get in touch with nature by spending lots of time in wild areas.

I see several flaws in Mr. Merkel’s specific approach:
(1) Most people are not engineers and don’t want to spend days or weeks calculating their personal EF down to the hair on a gnats butt. Besides, he’s already told us that our average EF is about 26 acres – an enormous value.
(2) I don’t want to become so obsessed with money as to be willing to track every penny like a miser. Life is about more than money, and I refuse to give it undue attention, or allow it to rule my life.
(3) The idea of retiring early and living entirely on earned interest is appealing on the surface, but is doomed to failure on a large scale. It could only work for the first few million of us. The idea is based on the expected continuation of our current economic system, which itself is based on and fueled by our consumptive lifestyle. If every person were to quit work and live on earned interest, the system would collapse.

Don’t get me wrong. I firmly believe that living simply and responsibly is good for individuals, families, communities, and the planet. However, I do not believe that the concept of simple living will be accepted by more than a few individuals. There are just too many opposing ideas that we hold dear. Down deep, most of us believe that:
(1) progress is sustainable,
(2) everyone in the world should (and can) achieve and maintain the same standard of living enjoyed by those in the most industrialized nations,
(3) if we don’t use the resources, someone else will,
(4) technology will solve the problems associated with earth’s limited resources,
(5) the gap between rich and poor is normal and natural, and we can’t do anything about it,
(6) we’re entitled to all we have because we’ve earned it.

What do I think is the long-term global ecological outlook ? Whether I like it or not, if I think realistically, I have to accept that:
(1) most people will continue to over-consume the earth’s limited resources until those resources become essentially depleted, or prohibitively expensive,
(2) there will always be a group who will exercise a measure of control over whatever resources remain,
(3) the rich will get richer, but there will be fewer of them
(4) the poor will always be with us, and there will be more of them (us)
(5) history will remember this present age as the apex of average standard of living
(6) the universe will survive - the ebb and flow of life will continue
(7) humanity will survive:
(a) we’re not as smart or powerful as we think we are
(b) we’re not in control of the universe or our destiny
(c) successive generations will face their own unique challenges
(d) humanity is not defined by the level of technology – stone age people loved their children as much as we love ours

So, what should I do personally?
(1) live simply because it’s the right thing to do – for me, for others, for the earth,
(2) recognize that most other people will not agree with me,
(3) remember what makes us human – although our relationship to the earth and it resources is important, materialism is secondary to spirituality,

(4) teach by example – we already have plenty of preachers,
(5) enjoy life.

Patio Cover Update

I know you've been waiting with bated (baited ? ) breath. The exterior of the patio cover is completed, along with a new roof on the entire house. I still need to install the soffits, ceiling, lights and ceiling fan, and do the painting and trimming. But it's usable now, and it's really nice here in what is normally sunny (but recently rainy) SW Oklahoma.

One of the fun things about building projects is that they sometimes provide justification for new toys ... er, I mean tools. Today I used my new Dewalt reciprocating saw for the first time. It's really nice. Didn't take long for me to become comfortable with it.

Here's a pic of how nicely it works. You can see a row of rafters, the ends of which I needed to cut off. It was the perfect tool for the job.

Freewheel 07 is History

Freewheel 2007 is over. We had 8 good days of riding, camping, cold showers, small town atmosphere, friendly folks, and guilt-free food. The bike is still in its box, and the camping gear is still in the bag, but I did get the grass mowed before returning to work. It'll take a few days to get the pictures and notes sorted out. I'll not bore you with a daily journal of the trip like I did last year, but I may post a few pics this week.

Freewheel 2007 Begins

Tomorrow morning I'll head off to Comanche, Oklahoma to start this years Freewheel Oklahoma cross-the-state bicycle ride. We'll ride from Comanche to the Texas border and back tomorrow, then Sunday morning we'll start for the Kansas border, which we're planning to reach next Saturday about noon.

If you care to know where we'll be each day, you can check out the Freewheel website at http://www.okfreewheel.com/.

I plan to be back online around June 18. See you then with a report of the trip.