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dam cavalier attitude

In late February, Dallas Erickson presented to the Bitterroot Amateur Radio Club a view of the risk behind the Painted Rocks Dam. Nature has a way of returning these canyons to their original state. The transformation is usually spectacular… particularly to those humans who live in the path or know someone who did.

On February 23rd I wrote about the risk potential: Dam Threatens Darby, Conner, Hamilton. I also posted Dallas’ write up here: Painted Rocks Dam. We need to act now.

A dam failure would likely begin with a change in shape of the dam face that can […]

April 23rd, 2014 | Category: community, safety | Comments are closed

wi-fi freeloaders cut off

Out in the boonies, we have only two choices for Internet access. Neither is great, but surprising me, the cell-phone provider from a tower 4.5 miles away is unreliable while the satellite 25,000 miles away is pretty good by comparison. For about the same price, both limit us to 10 gigabytes per month anytime and an additional 10 gigabytes in the middle of the night.

In my case that means I can get a couple hours of bonus bytes between 0600 and 0800 fairly often. I use that for our heavier consumption downloading video news programs like The Kaiser […]

April 22nd, 2014 | Category: security, technology | Comments are closed

growing without pests Day 1

We had a wonderful class. I didn’t know how it would work, if I had enough new information for those attending, and so on. It was the first time I’d used presentation software with a cable to a big screen monitor. I was nervous.

It went great. There is a warm dozen-plus gardeners, knowledgeable and open to new information. They are embracing what I call The Bob Cannard method of growing – but what is in reality my evolution of it.

Some of the 15 who signed up for the class have conflicts with one or more of the […]

April 4th, 2014 | Category: gardening, teaching | Comments are closed

Growing A Healthy Environment

I wrote the following article for the August issue of the Sonoma County Environmental Impact Reporter a couple of decades ago. With a few tiny changes, I re-publish it here as it is still perfectly relevant and accurate.

As you read, keep in mind the target market this was aimed at. Your priorities may vary, but the results are both personal and global anyway. – Ted

Did Johnnie Appleseed leave a path of wormy apples behind in the frontier?

Did the ancient Roman Empire make their wine from rotten grapes?

Did roses flourish before we came […]

April 3rd, 2014 | Category: gardening | Comments are closed