Our Eden Garden Preparing For Spring

Here is our small garden plot. After watching Back to Eden yesterday, I put on 3" of compost that made behind our garage. I found a source a great well aged wood chips nearby and put a 2-3" layer on top of the compost. I won't plant anything for a while, but this will provide a good start while we wait for spring.

Back To Eden film

I watched a wonderful movie yesterday named Back To Eden. It is free to watch online but I ordered a DVD of it because it was so good. It is a very inspiring account of a man's experience in the garden. It is a great reminder of all of the miracles happening in a garden.

Paul Gautschi is a great teacher with so much enthusiasm for what he is doing. I can't say enough good things about this and I hope the information in it can spread. The results speak for themselves and hard for even a skeptic to challenge.

Trailer is here:
Back To Eden

We have been making compost behind the garage in two piles for the past few years. I started yesterday by putting 3" of it over our garden and I also found a nearby source for free wood chips for covering. The wood chips I found are even well seasoned and not just fresh cut. Tons of it. I am really grateful for finding this film and the free wood chips nearby.

Work

After reading about all of the articles on “finding out what you love to do” and “pursue your passion” I am beginning to wonder about it. It leads us down the path of postponement, continues a cycle to discouragement, and provides no clear answer.

Even if we are in a job at McDonald’s, it can be done with love and passion. If you adopt the attitude that you despise or hate the situation you are in, it will be the mind’s job to prove you are right. The mind will filter out any people or opportunities that are right where you are. We could be in the perfect job for us right now, but we may miss opportunities everywhere in it because we convinced ourselves that we are not pursuing our passion by wasting time at this job.

Even after all of the reading, skill inventory exercises, listmaking and journaling, I still don’t know what my passion is. So instead of pursuing a passion or finding what I love to do, maybe I need to realize that I am already in something I love to do, but just have not realized it yet. I can make use of the wealth of people, excitement, and opportunities right where I am.

Work is always the same. A cup of water in a glass will still be a cup of water even if you put it in a bowl. It is the same water taking form of what contains it. The use of the water to purify and refresh is not altered by the container. It is the same with our work. If drudgery and apathy persist, a change is required. The worker.

Will this lead me to be the next Bill Gates, Walt Disney or Oprah Winfrey? I don’t know. Years ago my uncle worked in a sewage plant, slinging the muck around as a laborer. However, he did it with such enthusiasm and determination that it made him stand out. He was quickly noticed by a VIP and was quickly promoted. Would this have happened if he was so discouraged and down that he was not pursuing his passion by slinging sewage all day?

We can rise only as high as our thinking. Not passionate about anything? Start today to be passionate about whatever you are doing now, no matter what it is. Don’t put off passion until you can someday find it. You may never with that attitude. I am committed to working like no one else at what I do, even if it is cleaning toilets, pushing paper or sanitation engineering. Opportunities don’t just appear. There is no such thing as magic. Opportunities are always right where we are. Our attitude determines whether we see them or not.

Baseball History

We decided last week to buy tickets from StubHub for the Yankees day game on August 25th, 2011. We bought 3 tickets in the upper deck, section 410 for $11 each. We started our drive up to the Bronx at 9AM and arrived around 11AM. For some reason, I decided to take Harlem River Drive after the George Washington Bridge. HRD is a great way to get to the bridge after the game, but I was not familiar with it getting to the stadium. There were no signs to the stadium and we got a little lost. Once we got turned around to head back in the direction of the stadium, we found a parking lot for $25. Normally parking near the stadium is $35 so we decided to park here. It was a bit of a walk but we made it. I probably would never do again though. No other Yankee fans did what we did, so it was probably not a good idea.
We walked to the stadium and it started to rain lightly. We packed a lunch and ate it undercover in a parking garage near Gate 4 of the stadium.
After we ate, we went in and headed for the Yankees Museum. Then we went to Monument Park. It was raining hard all this time. The start of the game was delayed 1.5 hours. When the game started it was still raining lightly. Phil Hughes did not pitch well and got the Yankees into a 7-1 hole. We were disappointed but in baseball, anything can happen. Russell Martin hit a solo home run to make it 7-2. Robinson Cano then hit a grand slam to make it 7-6. Russell Martin hit the Yankees second grand slam to make it 10-7 Yankees. The Yankees would load the bases in this game 16 times. Curtis Granderson later hit the Yankees 3rd grand slam of the day and made baseball history. Of all the major league baseball games ever played, this had never been done before. The Yankees would up winning 22-9 in a game that lasted 4.5 hours. Many fans did not stay to watch the whole game and missed history. They probably will never admit though. We got home around 9PM very tired.

Hobbyzone Champ Radio Controlled Airplane Success

I have loved models planes and cars for a long time now. When I was a kid, radio control was not as common as today. I grew up with Cox .049 gas cars you had to chase after and planes that were flown on a string. Cox did come out with an electric RC plane that I bought but I crashed it on the first flight. There were no simulators back then either. Now that I have a son, I became interested in the hobby once again and loved seeing all the variety of RC models available now. Last year I purchased the Wild Hawk, ready to fly (RTF) electric plane at the recommendation of Dave Powers. After several violent crashes and many hot glue repairs, I was never able to fly this plane. Dave Powers is correct that the Wild Hawk can be easily repaired but I don’t want to keep running back to my garage and fixing it. I just want to learn how to fly it. Next, I bought the GWS Slow Stick after reading several favorable reviews about this being a great beginner plane. I was never able to fly this plane successfully either. This plane survived crashes a bit better than the Wild Hawk. I just could not keep it in the air. I cracked the stock prop even with a prop saver. I kept practicing on the simulator but gave up on these two planes for a while due to shattered confidence. Next I came across the Hobbyzone Champ. I watched videos of it and read many reviews on how good this plane was for beginners. I was hesistant. I went to an RC night at a local school gym and most everyone there had a Champ. Winter came and my interest declined. This spring, my interest started again. I was thinking of buying the upgrade MicroJet V3 motor kit for the Wild Hawk thinking that would solve my flying problems. My Wild Hawk was now all reinforced and I had extension surfaces on tail and rudder. I kept coming back to the Champ as the way to go though. I gave myself 2 weeks. If I still wanted it after 2 weeks, then I would buy it. The 2 weeks passed and I bought a new Champ from a seller on ebay. It came 2 days later. After charging the batteries, I went out early on Sunday morning. It was a beautiful morning with no wind at all. I had the radio set to low rate. I set it down on pavement near a baseball field. I gave it speed and it took off. I was flying! I was flying for more than 1 minute too. Two, three, four, five, six minutes passed by of continuous flying over the baseball field and I was grinning ear to ear. This plane is AWESOME! It flies great and is very forgiving. I mostly flew at half throttle and it was fine. I did not want to run down the lipo battery so I landed it after about 6 minutes. It probably could have gone a little more, but I need to learn more about that. After all these years, I finally had success with an electric rc plane! This is the greatest plane. All the positive reviews are absolutely true about this plane as I can now attest. My only recommendation if you are just beginning would be to first get the free FMS simulator and use it to get practice with orientation, controls, take offs and landings. There is a Champ model that you can import into FMS. Then get the Champ and you will be flying first time. Definitely worth every penny!

Boatbuilder's Brass Bevel Gauge

I made this small brass bevel gauge out of brass plate that I purchased from Lowes. Sanded up to 1000 grit, then polished on buffing wheel with green compound. Used brass hardware and deformed end of screw slightly so nut won't come off when loosened.

The brass plate from Lowes is found in the doorknob aisle. It is a door push plate I think

Twist Lock Marking Gauge

I made a Frank Klausz design twist lock marking gauge. Plan is from American Woodworker, Issue #42 from December 1994.