Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
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What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
I have wtitten down, I looked again, "Daughter of the Forest," by Juliet Marillier." Did I get it right this time?
Nina wrote: "I have wtitten down, I looked again, "Daughter of the Forest," by Juliet Marillier." Did I get it right this time?"Yep, Nina. That looks right: Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters #1) (1999) by Juliet Marillier.
I see that GR says the author has "Celtic-Gaelic" roots. Jackie would like that.
Super news on the electricity front!!! The average temp was 2 degrees colder this month over the same month last year, but we used only 2/3 the amount of electric!!! Yeah, lots of exclamation points, but since I had 3 bills over $500 (one over $600) last year, this is a big deal. I made 3 changes that account for it.1) The TV. Our 32" CRT died & we replaced it with a 47" LED LCD. I have it hooked to a UPS which showed the CRT used over 60% of the capacity. Now, it's running right around 20% capacity. The cost was $1000 (Add another $300 if you count the sound bar/speaker system I had to add because the new TV's speakers suck.)
2) I made up a metal top for the garage door in my shop to close the gap between the top of the door & the wall. $0 cost.
3) I replaced the 3 - 1500 watt space heaters with a ceiling mount 5000 watt, 220 volt heater in my shop. It uses a timer rather than a true thermostat & is probably a lot more efficient. $300 cost.
It cost me $1600 to make these changes, so I was sure hoping they'd add up to some significant savings & it looks as if they might be. I'll bet the TV is the biggest difference, though. We had the last one for abput 8 years & plan to keep this one as long, so it should pay itself off.
Jim wrote: "Super news on the electricity front!!! The average temp was 2 degrees colder this month over the same month last year, but we used only 2/3 the amount of electric!!! Yeah, lots of exclamation poi..."Interesting, Jim. I'm going to show your post to Eddie. Perhaps it will give him ideas as to how we too can save electricity. Is your house heated with electric heat? Around here that's the most expensive way to heat a house. We switched from electric-heat to oil-heat at one point but I don't know how much money it saves us in the long run.
Our son has two furnaces in his cellar. One is oil-fired and the other is wood-burning. He switches between the two. I don't know how much he saves by doing this.
Speaking of temps. It is sixty eight here today; about half of our trees still have their colored leaves. People are biking in shorts; one lady was out with her easel painting the landscape. A lovely day but I am having company for supper and thought it would be cool in November so I planned on soup. Oh well, squash soup can be good even if it isn't cold outside. It will be soon enough.
It's 67 here, but we have had fierce wind all day. I'm glad it's warm because it keeps blowing the dog door open. That usually doesn't happen unless we're gusting around 40mph.Our house is all electric, Joy. Kentucky has some of the least expensive electric in the country right now because of our coal plants. If the idiots like Gore & Obama have their way, they'll bankrupt this state because we don't have any other good alternative energy. We have a poor rating for both wind & solar according to the government's web site.
I looked into putting in a wind turbine a little. There are some inexpensive ones now that generate a respectable amount of energy at low speeds. I quit when I read how poor our rating was for wind power, though. I probably should do a bit more research. I wouldn't want to use it, but feed it directly into the grid.
Nina, I'm sure your soup will be appreciated.Our temp here right now is around 55 degrees but we've been having near freezing weather at night. I've started wearing my flannel and fleece clothing already. Fleece and flannel are so comfortable and so nice and warm.
BTW, have you discovered "Imagine" organic soups at the supermarket? See the following link: http://www.imaginefoods.com/content/o...
The cardboard-type container is so easy to use. No can to open. Just pull the tab at the top and there is your soup. It's easier to handle than a can and can be used partially and kept in the fridge in the same container by just closing the tab opening.
Other brands have the same soup packaging as well. It's just that this one was easy to find online. I love the ease of preparation and storage.
Jim, what will happen to change the electricity situation in KY? I haven't been following the news. Too busy with books and movies. I do hope that in the future more use will be made of wind power where it's feasible. There's plenty of wind out there!
The whole idiot carbon tax thing, Joy. KY is one of the biggest coal producing states & that's what most of our electric plants are. The idea behind the tax is to push people to alternative sources of energy, but some states don't have many options.Alternative energy is a nice idea, but there are reasons most haven't caught on - they don't easily & strongly deliver reliable power 24/7. As I'm sure your son knows, heating with wood is cheaper, but a hassle (dirt, bugs, needs attention) in a lot of ways. Solar power isn't very strong in most applications. It costs a lot to just do a little.
But this is because everyone talks about turning everything into electricity. That doesn't make sense to me. Batteries & solar panels are horribly hard on the environment. I guess because all the strip mining happens in China makes everyone feel better about it, though. Coal is right here & is an easy target, like cigarettes, but it makes less sense except to some city dweller who thinks a suburban neighborhood in the middle of a desert or a high rise apartment is a 'natural' environment.
Wind has been used for centuries to lift water into water tanks, but few use it that way any more. How many people have ever heard of a ramjet pump any more? With a very small amount of water & fall, those things can pump lots of water with no use of electricity at all. They're easy enough to build just out of regular plumbing supplies, too.
Back when the EPA & all this hoohrah about oil started, there were programs to help farmers install automatic waterers using existing water sources, but they dried up decades ago, at least in MD. We put in a series of 3 of them that way. Simply dam up a spring & stick in a pipe that leads downhill to a concrete water trough with another pipe in it. Take the run off from that one to feed another & so on until you run out of fields & fall. Ours are 35 years old & still working without any maintenance beyond an occasional cleaning. They don't even freeze hard in the winter & only usually get a skim coat the animals can easily break.
There are very efficient wind turbines that are bird safe - they look like big cans with vanes. They are small & can be mounted on a house or most any structure, but the utility companies & government aren't pushing them. They seem to be ignoring or hampering their deployment. Imagine if you & your neighbors could all generate some of the electric you use & dump it back into the grid.
Things like that are much more efficient, but no one ever seems to talk about them any more. The thing is they're all 'messy'. One size doesn't fit all, so it's easier just to ignore it, I guess. Very sad. More proof of our loss of individuality.
Jim, I'll have to talk to Eddie about the ramjet pump. Sounds interesting.I never realized that coal mining was big in KY. I've always associated coal mining with PA. Years ago I traveled with a friend to see her aunt and uncle in Carbondale, PA. I remember that some houses were collapsing because of coal fires under the ground where the seams of coal had caught fire. Those areas were smokey.
I like the idea of bird-safe wind turbines.
PS-Do you have underground fires like that in KY?
Why are solar panels hard on the environment? I can understand why batteries are... because of the chemicals involved when getting rid of them. No?In the Adirondack Park, environmentalists are against cell towers because they ruin the pristine nature of the area. On the other hand cell towers can save lives in rural areas when people get stranded in bad weather or other adverse conditions. A man died on the Northway here several years ago because he couldn't call for help. I think human lives are more important than aesthetics.
I don't think there are any underground coal fires like in PA, but I don't know for sure. I've seen a variety of stuff on the PA underground fire over the years. It's a pretty famous boondoogle. PA is the largest coal producer, WV is 2d & KY 3d, I believe.Depending on the type, solar panels use various rare earth metals, just like batteries. These metals are mostly mined in China using methods that have been outlawed here for decades. Recycling, creating, or dumping them is very hard on the environment. Solar panels almost always feed into batteries, too. It's a twofer.
My point is that there are a lot of ways to use what nature sends us directly, without conversion & the loss of efficiency & I think we should concentrate more on those methods. Geothermal heating is finally taking off. That's a good example, too.
As for the cell towers in the park, that's always been a point of contention. The way they can disguise them now, I'd say the bigger issue is access - electric & roads to build & service the tower. An environmentalist fanatic might point out that we have plenty of people, but not many pristine woodlands. The man dying in the accident was a long shot, not worth disturbing the environment for, especially when a new method for transmission might be available in a few years.
Jim, thanks for the explanations. I see your points.Do you twitter? I joined Twitter today just to see what it's all about. Can't say that I'm impressed with what I saw. Just another confusing website to figure out. Here's my Twitter page: http://twitter.com/#!/Joy_in_GF
I did manage to personalize the background using a personal photograph of a scene on Lake George.
So far, I have no followers. I've written (i.e., tweeted) four messages (aka "tweets"). I'm following seven people, mostly public figures from our area. I'm also following three "Lists" which our local public library generates. I see that I can "add to lists" but I'm not sure what that means.
Anyway, maybe someday the site and how it works will become clearer to me. Maybe if I had a follower, I would understand more about how the "following" system works. So far, I understand that if I'm following someone, I can see whatever he tweets. So far I haven't seen any interesting tweets.
Just wanted to let everybody know I'm back online, after several days absence! As some of you know, ever since mid-August, Barb and I have, between the two of us, been providing 24/7 in-house support for our middle daughter and her family (her husband is at home dying of cancer and not expected to live long, and they have four small children). Last Thursday night their 3-year-old, Joel, was taken to the emergency room and diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs; he was in the hospital until about 11:00 this morning. Barb stayed with him almost continuously during that time, except when Deborah relieved her to take naps, do essential errands, etc; and I was on duty at Deborah's house from the time I got there Thursday night until Barb relieved me around noon today. (They don't have a functioning computer at their house.) Thankfully, Joel is now fine, and his usual self. So, I haven't been sulking or ignoring everybody; and I'm glad to be finally able to get back on Goodreads even on the present limited schedule!
Werner, glad to see you back. I was about to PM you & ask how all was going. Seems like about the same with some added drama. As you know, we're all rooting for you. I'm glad Joel is alright. It's tough with little ones like that. They'll go until they drop.------
Joy, I don't Twitter. Never saw the sense in it. I don't text either. I figure email & Facebook are more than enough, not to mention GR.
You're welcome on the explanations. It's a subject fairly dear to my heart. I was raised to be an environmentalist because the farm supported us. If you beat up the land, it won't take care of you. Also, we had limited resources & had to make do with what was available. There isn't a lot of cash in farming - one reason we had a remodeling business - & our electric ran through 1/4 mile of woods, so it was out fairly often for days, especially down at the barns which were on a separate line that failed even more often & was out for longer periods. We all still had to have water, heat, & food, so a lot of the older ways of doing things were handy to keep going. I see a lot of those old techniques getting polished up & resold now as 'environmentally friendly' or 'survival tools'. It's kind of funny, in some ways.
Werner, it's good to hear from you again. Sorry to hear about what your family is going through because of ill health. You must be worn out by now. I remember when my MIL was sick, we were mentally exhausted from the worry and physically exhausted from the travel and from living out of our suitcases. Hope things will improve soon.Jim, your post about the older ways of doing things reminds me of the song:
"Everything Old is New Again".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_EdTl...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAjSWZ...
Love that song!
Anne Murray has such a smooth voice.
And Peter Allen was a such a great entertainer! I feel as though I've been to a party after that YouTube!
Thanks, Joy! It's a grind, but we're hanging in.
I've always like Anne Murray & the Muppets. Together they're unbeatable! Thanks.
Marvelous news about your grandson. But, you all must be exhausted from the worry. Now, you can enjoy Thanksgiving with the children.
Thanks, Nina. I don't have to work on Thanksgiving, and we are hoping that it will be a good day of family time.
Today Eddie had his cataract surgery. He went in at 8:30 AM and it was all done before noon. He's doing well. I'm so glad it's over.
Give him my best, Joy. Send him this link on Ramjet pumps. He'll get a kick out of it.http://www.ncollier.com/rams.html
Thanks, Jim. I sent the link to him. The article looks complicated but maybe Eddie will figure it out. He loves tech stuff.
Hope Eddie is well enough today to enjoy his "new" eyesight.
Nina wrote: "Hope Eddie is well enough today to enjoy his "new" eyesight."Thanks, Nina. It takes a while for the eye to get back to normal but so far so good. We were especially worried because Eddie's other eye has very poor vision caused by past retina detachments. Hopefully, the cataract surgery in his one good eye will improve his vision. We'll have to wait until he gets new eyeglasses to see how improved his vision has become.
One thing I've learned is that we all take our good eyes for granted!
I might have told you this before but I understand Eddie's concern as my left eye is listed as legally blind on my driver's license. I can make out night and day and blurs of people but I couldn't recognize them. I have slight periferal vision. I, too, was quite worried when I had the C. surgery but all went well and I am sure his will too. In any case, it is a relief when it's over. Good luck.
I just came across this quote:"Missing someone isn't about how long it has been since you've seen them or the amount of time since you've talked. It's about that very moment when you find yourself doing somethinng and wishng they were right there by your side."
Positive Inspirational Quote.
Nina wrote: "I might have told you this before but I understand Eddie's concern as my left eye is listed as legally blind on my driver's license. I can make out night and day and blurs of people but I couldn't ..."Nina, so you understand the problem, having it yourself. Glad to hear that you're doing well with your eye situation. Yes, it's a relief when all turns out OK.
Nina wrote: "I just came across this quote:"Missing someone isn't about how long it has been since you've seen them or the amount of time since you've talked. It's about that very moment when you find yourself doing somethinng and wishng they were right there by your side." ..."
Nina, that is a GREAT quote! So many times that happens to me. Being reminded about a loved one or a good friend makes one think about them and wish we could be with them once again. People don't really die if they live on in our memories and we think about them, especially with love.
PS - Nina what is the source of that quote?I saved it and when I did, I found this one in the same file:
"Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated."
-Alphonse De Lamartine (1790-1869) French poet, historian
I totally agree with that Frenchman's quote. Under the one I sent to you was written:Positive Inspirational Quote/ Those words weren't mine.
I looked again at that quote and after it read like this: By, Positive Inspirational Quote (PIQ) Does that help?
Nina wrote: "I looked again at that quote and after it read like this: By, Positive Inspirational Quote (PIQ) Does that help?"Nina, I guess that's all we can find. I googled bit for the quote and the only attribution was: "Unknown". One wonders how these things get started. They seem to spread like wildfire online.
Just bought a book by mistake on my Kindle. Still getting used to it. What do you know about the book, "Crossing?" Well, it was only three dollars and perhaps it will be a nice surprise. Wish me luck
My prayers will be with Eddie, Joy. Keep us posted!
Nina wrote: "Just bought a book by mistake on my Kindle. Still getting used to it. What do you know about the book, "Crossing?" Well, it was only three dollars and perhaps it will be a nice surprise. Wish me luck"Haven't heard of the book, _Crossing_, Nina. Who's the author?
Werner wrote: "My prayers will be with Eddie, Joy. Keep us posted!"Thank you, Werner. Eddie is progressing well. He says he sees more clearly than he did before, now that he's had the cataract surgery. When he gets new eye glasses they will correct his astigmatism and reading will be easier.
I bought a new (to me) car yesterday. What a trial! Erin has had her 2001 Honda CRV for 4 years this month & it only has 117K miles on it. Over the past few months, it developed a catalytic converter problem - $800 to fix. We didn't because it wasn't critical. A few weeks later, the A/C pump started making noise & it was going to be $500 to fix that. It was critical because it ran when the defroster was turned on & if it locks up, it would take out the serpentine belt. Luckily, we put it off, because it started knocking a couple weeks ago & it turned out to be the valves. We spent $200 to try to adjust them, but it didn't work.
Apparently this is a known issue & happens at about this mileage on CRV's. The fix is to either replace the engine or the head unit - both cost around $4500. That's what the car is worth if it's in perfect condition. It HAS to be done because it will blow the head gasket. It might last 5 or 5000 miles, but it will blow sometime soon. Ugh.
So I gave her my car, a 2008 Chevy Cobalt, & drove Marg's truck while I looked for a replacement. I bought my car this time last year for $8500 with 35K miles on it. A search for Cobalts within 100 miles brought up quite a few. The cheapest were $8400, 2006 & 2007, with 90K miles on them!!! The used car market is totally goofy.
I kept looking & found a 2006 Cobalt for $7000, with 44K miles on it, at the used car lot next to the hardware store. Marg took it into the Chevy place for a used car checkup, a 1.5 hour detailed inspection, & they thought it was practically perfect. They also told us there had been a recall on the power steering pump & this car hadn't had the work done yet, so it was worth $140 since that's another one that can tear up the serpentine belt & strand you.
I told the insurance company to put me down as the primary driver of this Cobalt & let Erin keep my other one, the 2008. This one has manual windows & full size tires which I like better. I don't like automatic door locks & electronic doodads that do stuff without me asking. I will miss the cruise control, though.
The radio doesn't have a place for me to plug in my MP3 player, so that has to be fixed. My daughter's boyfriend has his old car stereo which does have that jack & he's going to give it to me & install it for my Xmas present. I'm not sure if he knows about it yet, but The Little Boss (Erin) has said it will be so. I have no doubt...
;-)
Jim, good luck with the car. Sounds like a good buy. I found some pics of 2006 Cobalts here:http://www.google.com/search?q=2006+c...
It's nothing much to look at, Joy. It's a little commuter car, but that's what I want. My S10 probably reflects my character best. It's the farm truck & ready to work hard, although it's a bit too creaky for doing distances any more. It looks like it's been there & back again, too. ;-)
While looking for cars, I walked by a F250 pickup. It is the limited Harley Davidson edition, which means it's duded up with every accessory known to man & has leather seats. It also has a sticker price of $61,000. I've rarely seen a bigger waste of money. A pickup is a work truck, but this one is just for some guy covering up an inferiority complex. Who would actually use it to do anything with that price tag on it? I'd never dump a load of mulch or firewood in it, so why bother?
Eddie was never interested in fancy cars either. He was more interested in his boat! You can see what he was like by reading the light poem I wrote (about being the wife of a boat owner) at:http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/3...
Speaking of cars, when we were down in NYC during October, we happened upon an electric car festival on a pier on the Hudson River. Our son, Bob, pointed out the the Tesla Roadster which Wiki says has a base price of $109,000 in the United States. Here's a picture of Bob standing next to the Tesla:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Sea1934/...
And here's me, doing the same:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Sea1934/...
That's as close as we'll ever get! LOL
The author of "Crossing," is Andrew Xin Firkuda. So far, it has kept my interest.
Joy H. wrote: "Eddie was never interested in fancy cars either. He was more interested in his boat! You can see what he was like by reading the light poem I wrote (about being the wife of a boat owner) at:http:/..."Sleek car.
Today, Saturday our temp dropped thirty degrees in two hours; from Seventy degrees this afternoon to forty by supper time and down to twenty nine by morning. Brrr. And my blood doesn't know whether it is thin or thick.
We've been bouncing all over temperature-wise, too. Today it was 62, yesterday morning it was 23. Ugh. I'm just feeling worn out & punk.
Maybe that's a let down from car hunting. Hope you feel better by Thanksgiving.
Could be, Nina. That's a traumatic experience, especially to my wallet. It's whimpering, the poor little thing.:)
Nina wrote: "The author of "Crossing," is Andrew Xin Firkuda. So far, it has premisekept my interest."Ah! I found the Goodreads link: Crossing (2010) by Andrew Xia Fukuda. Sounds like an interesting story.
Description from Barnes & Noble:
"Crossing is a thriller about an immigrant Chinese teenager who suddenly finds himself at the center of mysterious abductions occurring in his high school. A loner in his all-white high school, Xing has only one friend: Naomi Lee. ..."
About the author: "Born in Manhattan, raised in Hong Kong, Andrew Fukuda is half-Chinese, half-Japanese. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Cornell University and went on to work in Manhattan’s Chinatown with immigrant teenagers for a number of years, an experience that led to the genesis of Crossing. He currently resides on Long Island, New York, with his wife and two sons."
FROM: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Cros...
We've been due for a new car for several years. Don't know when we'll be able to get one. Eddie doesn't talk about it much. I let him do the worrying about cars. I just hope ours starts every time we get in it.
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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Nina, by any chance could you be referring to: The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory?
I can't find _Lady of the Forest_ written by Philippa Gregory.