This is not my... Week 43
27/11/06 - Canada, free energy...
This Section; Background; The point
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What did I tell you.
They are so hot right now... |
A wee while back there was general excitement from the This is not my camp about the wonders of the blimp.
With the high levels of pollution brought about by planes jet setting about is not the most environmentally friendly of pursuits.
But so many of us do want to travel.
Which is an issue.
And one which could be helped by both a little bit of restraint and - the joys of alternative transport.
The airship/blimp/dirigible - whatever you want to call it - is definitely the way forward.
Not only is it more energy efficient than your common a garden plane but - the largest airship in the world is getting down with the kids with it's own myspace page!
The Spirit of Dubai is sooooo hot right now.
And hovering above Paris.
Designs for vertical ones which glide you past Everest and over the wonders of the world are also getting off the ground - if you will excuse the pun.
As for other transport, electric cars, vans and bikes are starting to look A-mazing too!
So all we need to do now is do ourselves a favour, get rid of the old gas guzzlers and speed straight on into 2007.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/moretax4guzzlers/
The future is bright, the future is green.
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27/11/06 - Canada, free energy...
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and power tools run on macaroni!
Lara has been getting up to amazing things across the atlantic... |
What do Canadians do when it gets to minus 35 and all the power goes out so there is no heat and no electricity for three days?
Who knows, but one of them made his own natural battery from energy that he harnessed from the atmosphere, and those types of batteries are still powering his house 7 years later.
I spent my afternoon yesterday in a friend of a friend's apartment. His living room had been transformed into a theatre with an invite only audience consisting of friends, family and electricians.
We were all gathered at the apartment to see what my friend told me was a light show and that the rest would be a surprise (he knew that my questions would take him hours of explanations).
And a surprise it was.
I only wish that I had known about electricity beforehand in order to really understand what I was watching.
Apparently what I witnessed yesterday was paranormal.
Nothing that was done can be proven by science or logic.
I witnessed a man sending 80 amps through his tongue ( I think, saying that it could have been watts and it could have also been 160, I am terrible with these things). Regardless, I watched a man power tools such as electric saws and drills on a battery that he made himself with macaroni, very thin copper wires and sometimes a booger or two.
I have never seen a group of men so in awe of one individual. An individual who powers his house on his own natural batteries.
The electrical company which is run by the state was so confused as to why his energy bills were always $0, that they dug a moat around his house twice thinking that he was stealing their electricity and now charge him a minimum monthly fee, which never goes up, because he simply does not use their power.
He has been institutionalised periodically throughout his life because no one can explain what he does and they think he is crazy.
With good reason, he is paranoid of once again being locked up so I am not going to give you too much of his personal information (sorry!).
D is autistic, has the emotional sensibilities of a 12 year old (he could not handle the skeptics and kept trying to get naked in order to show us that he was not hiding any wires, remote controls or other electrical devices) but he has the mind of a genius.
I do not know anything about electricity but this is what was explained to me:
1. For any form of electricity to work, there has to be a positive and a negative.
2. There must be a full circuit.
3. AC can not be run on DC and DC, likewise, DC can not run AC
4. The battery needed to power a power tool would be about the size of a car battery, if not bigger.
What I witnessed yesterday was:
1. Electricity working with no negative
2. No full circuit boards, the wires would not all meet up
3. The AC and DC thing reversed
4. A small homemade battery powering things, that even if was a normal battery, would never be able to power them.
I know this is all very vague, but I can not even begin to explain what I saw. I so I am going to do some research and get back to you on it, hopefully by the end of the week. it is something called "Free Energy".
For over a century a select few have claimed to be able to take energy from the atmosphere and put it where they want to.
A scientist named Tesla was one of the first in the 1880's and even now, there are two other people who are known to be doing what this man who I saw yesterday was doing, one a small girl in London and the other a man in the United States.
The interesting thing about all three is that they do not know each other, but apparently all of their devices look very similar.
There are other forms of free energy as well - which I will come back to you on, the most exciting of which is taking place in Ireland, getting world wide press after the discoverers of the technology, Steorn, took an ad out in the Economist looking for investors to test their devices.
So, I am a little wierded out by what could have been a paranormal experience but maybe we could have christmas lights up all year and heating on all day in winter? We could power villages in Africa and towns in China without worrying about the atmosphere because it is all clean, all natural and produces no waste.
I am going to take a look into the concept and come back to you with a better explanation.
Watch this space.
In the mean time have a great week!
La x
24/11/2006 - Saving money
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Is definitely a bonus but how far do you go...? |
At the moment I must be doing pretty well on my carbon saving and penny saving.
One energy using item in my house manages to break as soon as another is fixed!
First the shower, then the cooker, then the lights, then the shower again and now the heating...
Actually - technically the heating never worked but it didn't matter as it was warm but - dun nun nun nah - there is a distinct chill in the air.
So far - sticking on an extra layer and wrapping up in rugs hasn't been too bad but I had to go to bed fully dressed last night, so figured the time may have come for 'Operation - sort out the central heating'.
Currently my central heating is wonderfully efficient.
I.e. it has seen better days and for some reason wont turn on unless it is on the timer.
Timers are brilliant things.
Sadly though - mine looks like it might have been one of the first ever installed and its retro aesthetic is the only thing it has going for it!
The problem lies in the fact that if you want to set the time the entire clock moves.
If it just moved the once then it we could probably figure it out but slight adjustments or breathing in its vicinity seem to have detrimental effects.
Which is an issue... in a timer.
So my weekends activity is set.
My lovely, ever patient house mate is away and the plan is to have sorted it out by the time she gets back. (And before she packs up her wooly jumper supply and moves somewhere things have been fitted after the Victorian era).
Nothing like a bit of a challenge for a Sunday morning (now where did I put that hammer...?)
Hope that you manage to have almost as eventful a couple of days.
Or, if you are a timer genius, to see you at some point round mine!
Have a good one x
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Batting your eyelids at the police may not get you into no. 10.
But this will.... |
Earlier in the week I got two emails about petitions which I have only just had chance to look at.
They are brilliant though.
If you have something you want to petition about you can just start one on the 10 Downing Street website.
How easy is that?
Not to say that we should just start sending loads. No one would sign them and it would be useless.
"Prime minister - you better do something. Four ladies in Margate are upset about a rusting piece of piping in their local dentistry.." may not get much attention but those with 100,000 signatories presumably wouldn't be ignored?
Anyhow - the two that pinged into my inbox were both great so here they are if you want to stick your name on them.
2 - Tax on inefficient lighting
Sure there are more good ones too so going to have a look (ever distracted!)
It looks like there are a couple which are asking for almost the same thing which is a shame as it decreases their impact but nevermind.
Went to a great lecture yesterday about effective campaigning. Apparently it is all about being specific and asking for one achievable thing.
Which means that the best one so far has to be...
'Change the law to permit our target pistol shooters to prepare properly for international and Olympic competitions'.
Not top of my personal agenda but can't argue with the fact that it is a specific request with a realistic end goal!
Anyhow - best be off - it's sunny and the day awaits.
Have a lovely one x
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I'm having a terrible ethical dilemma... |
Ok so perhaps not terrible but it is troubling me nevertheless.
I don't like shopping.
Probably a direct result of some horrific experiences as a child. (My mother was never shy of a) demanding to see the manager b) making citizens arrests or c) forcing us to buy only the most practical of garments on these feared expeditions) so I haven't been in a while.
But I need to go.
I have been trying to do a bit of exercise but have absolutely no suitable attire.
Currently I am running about the city in either my mate's rejected tracksuit bottoms (problematic as she is almost a foot taller than me) or some old pajama bottoms - similarly lengthy on one leg but ripped on the other where I've trodden on it too much.
It's an issue.
Not only do I trip on them fairly often but they they manage consume puddles which is a bit uncomfy and - if you sit with your legs crossed - means that the damp lower leg hits the top bit and makes you look like you have wet yourself.
Not good.
So yesterday I was walking past a sports shop and bravely headed in.
There - amazingly - they had the tracksuit bottoms of my dreams. I've been needing some for 6 months now so have the 'perfect' pair in my mind - after all it is only the shopping I hate not the actual having new clothes part!
But they are Adidas.
Of all the sports brands, Adidas have the worst ethical rating in the gospel Ethiscore.
What to do?
They are aesthetically and practically just right but haven't been made in a very good way...
Man - life is tricky.
I am considering making the purchase but following it up with a letter to Mr and Mrs Head of Adidas explaining that I wasn't very happy about it!
Anyhow - all that drama aside another interesting event occurred yesterday.
The Carbon Trust announced that they are now offering Carbon Investigations to businesses.
Sounds so much more fun that making Carbon suggestions, or doing Carbon reviews!
Anyhow - they have put out a report of two investigations they did with Walkers and the Trinity Mirror group which have had great results.
So why not give them a call if you want them to come and investigate your company? (0800 085 2005)
Lovely.
Right - best get back to pondering the difficult tracksuit issue.
Have a fabulous day x
This section will be a daily, well - Monday to Friday daily, editorial. (Have to keep some time aside to keep up the ritual wine drinking / dancing as if being chased by bees.)
I promise to make it my mission to investigate something each day on exciting forays to find new stuff, fun stuff, ethical stuff and anything involving break dancing men with extremely toned physiques.
Let me know if you think of something I should go and visit or if you have any great ideas or information. (Any dodgy suggestions will be politely declined... or not so politely, depending entirely on what they are!)
For today, though, please just have a look below to find out how this whole thing came about. I hope that you are having a lovely morning.
See you tomorrow,
Susie x
Background to This is not my...
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What is this site all about?
Well, as all good ventures do, it started in the pub with the ominous words "I know, why don't we...?" |
What was different, though, was that it still seemed like a good plan in the morning (and somewhat less injurious than trying out extreme ironing, the other suggestion...)
Anyway - once again we had been supping beers and putting the world to rights when someone mentioned the unmentionable, despite our disaffection with the state of the world, none of us was actually doing anything positive to change it.
Whether this was complacency or apathy, who knows - but we were definitely leaving it to others to make decisions and take action for us on issues about which we felt strongly.
We live in a free society, but often things seem to happen as a fait accompli. The war in Iraq, ID cards, the fact that we will eventually succumb to watching some of Big Brother no matter how hard we try...
And we just go along with it. But that is ok, right? I mean, we aren't exactly encouraging the abuse of others - are we?
Ok - so maybe my new top might have been made under less-than-perfect conditions and I suppose that means I am supporting those conditions, but - I have to buy something to wear, so what other choice do I have?
And that was the problem. What - and where - are the choices?
So we decided to investigate. Surely in this free society we have other options; we just need to know how to find them.
So we went online. There are some great directories already for ethical and/or environmentally friendly products, but for us these didn't go far enough. We were on a bit of a roll and decided that these products deserved more active promotion.
We wanted to make as many people as possible aware of the practical things they can do to live life in a better way.
So on this site we will provide information about easy, positive and ethical consumer choices. These are choices that won’t necessarily cost you more, either.
In our directories you will find environmentally friendly and ethical companies and products across the following categories:
Clothes
Energy
Food and Drink
Health and Beauty
Home and Garden
Office
Recycling
Restaurants
You will also find debates, downloads, fun stuff and plenty more to lure you back to the site on a regular basis.
We’d love you to get involved with some curious antics to keep important issues in the public eye – and provide us with much entertainment and amusement at the same time.
So - take a look. Explore… investigate… probe away.
We hope you like it; we hope you use it.
