chickens!

Welcome to the chickens!
Our 3 new feathered friends arrived over the weekend, and they are charming, from their freakishly large and scaly feet to their fluffy little butts.

Things I can't do in Italy

It's a pretty long list.
- Speak Italian
- Inflate a bicycle tire
- Open the doors of the house I'm staying at
- Find the @ sign on keyboards (I cut and paste it)
- Read Italian
- Make capuccino
- Start a burner
- Charge anything

Things I can do in Italy:
- Smile
- Wait
- Nod/Gesture
- Eat
- Order cappuccino (fingers crossed)
- Operate a flashlight
- Ride on trains
- Eat some more
- Walk
- Bike up hills
- Swim

The swimming in Italy is especially good. This is our third day here and we're going to set forth after a few more cappuccinos to explore the medieval town of Orvieto. Central Italy, in case you were wondering, was settled by the Umbrians sometime around the 8th century BC, a 'peacable farming tribe' according to my EyeWitness guidebook. They were then were conquered by the Etruscans, a long time ago. In the 13th Century the independent provinces fell one by one to the papcy, who pretty much owned everything and controlled everythign else. Then the area joined Italy proper in 1860, when Italy was unified.

Let's talk more about the house. It sits on lake Cordova, which is calm and pretty and attracts a lot of birds and bugs. One bird has a call that sounds a lot like a cat meowing into a microphone. It travels, that sound. You can't swim in the lake, because it's a reservoir, but you can admire it, and see fireworks across the way, and sometimes hear people partying, or camping, as the sounds of voices carry, indistrinctly, over the water.

Each night we stay up late, trying to digest the 6-course dinners that Lorenzo and his handsome American minions (aka culinary students) prepare for us. The portions are much too large and Lorenzo, who Roger calls 'Chef', glowers at us when we don't finish. We all try to exercise more so we don't earn his wrath. Needless to say, each night seams are split. Dessert wine is uncorked. I resort to lie-downs with a finger of Frenet Branca. (Thank God for digestifs.)

It's a quiet spot, with a lawn for Ruth and Roger's young son and daughter to run around, kick soccar balls, ride bikes, and general be adored and adorable. In the evenings a not-very-stray dog comes and visits us, begging food but otherwise keeping her distance. Duncan, Liz's husband, chases her off. The company is excellent, the food is divine, the drinking is non-stop, and we're all having a lovely time.

Last night, we had a fire in the open pit and watched the nearly-full moon rise. Roger used his iPhone app to locate the big dipper and identify the stars. We have an excellent view of the hill town of Todi, and the lights blinked off through the hours until there was just a single string that defined the battlements that kept the Visigoths (perhaps) at bay.

Italy-bound

Two things never to take for granted: the kindness of strangers, and the generosity of good friends. Some old friends invited me to join them in their house in Umbria in June, so I'm heading to Italy for a week. Super excited to have a trip! It's been years since I traveled and it's remarkable how much things have changed. Guide books, for example, go light on accommodations information, because it can all be found (up to date!) online. I'll also be traveling with a computer, so can make arrangements as I go.

Things have come together in the past week -- my guidebooks and Eurorail passes arrived. Checks came from my freelance clients so I'll have a bit of spending money. And this morning, I tried on all the clothes I planned to take, then cut them in half, then added in a few. Packing light truly is an exercise in discipline.

A huge congrats to my friend Ginger, who bought a bike on Friday. It's a Novara - REI's brand -- and is a fabulous green color. It's chromolly steel, but light and very classic. Kinda makes a girl think about a second bike, with fenders and a chain guard and a front basket for carrying strawberries and daschunds.

Today we're setting up the chicken coop in the back yard, in preparation for getting 3-4 feathered friends in July. But first, a long lope up a hill to feed a friend's bunny rabbit. Go Hoppy!

Stage Dive

The best cocktail in the Science of Cocktails 2011 exhibit at the SF Exploratorium earlier this year. Yum!

Stage Dive
by Jared Anderson, 15 Romolo

Collins glass

Ingredients:
2oz hangar one vodka
3 muddled kumquats
3 sage leaves
.5 oz honey
.5 oz lemon juice
splash of soda

Random Greenie Tidbits

Pulled from the many green building pamphlets they circulate up there in the Pacific Northwest.

Event: Coming up this month is the Village Building Convergence in Portland, where urban humanization group City Repair performs "urban alchemy", transforming spaces (like intersections) into places for people to hang out together. Check it out at vbc.cityrepair.org, May 27-June 5.

Get rebates through federal programs for weatherizing homes. MOney for home improvements to the tune of 6 billion is coming through State Energy Program (SEP) and Energy Efficiency and Conservation BLock Grants(EECBG). You gotta be ready to start this Sept, though. Congress also considering Home Star, aka Cash for Caulkers, with rebates up to $4k. See what Portland's offering at www.cleanenergyworksportland.org. Seattle's Earth Advantage is runnin a pilot Energy Performance Score.

Solar water systems can generate up to 60% of energy needs for hot water in the home. Oooo.

Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) of smaller than 800 square feet don't require a permit in Portland for the next 3 years. Great for empty nesters who might want to rent their homes and live in the guest cottage. Read about standards for green homebuilding: Passive House (qualifies for Energy-Efficient Mortgage (EEM) money through fed programs) and the Living Building Challenge.

More about EEMs and Energy Improvement Mortgages...
Available through regular lenders, but not promoted, EEMs give you extra money for home projects based on future energy savings. EIMs make you eligible for tax credits to cover new installations. First step is a HERS energy audit (home energy rating system).

Urban Permaculture

Learning heaps in Eugene, at Common Circle's two-week Urban Permaculture course.
Spent the last 4 days listening to Larry Korn, a 25-year veteran landscaper who studied with Masanobu Fukuoka in Japan, creating a sustainable and productive edible forest. Read more at One Straw Revolution.

Check out this great Permaculture Resource list at Toby Heminway's website, writer of Gaia's Garden. There's everything from soil to water management and aquaculture, Design and methodologies, plant guilds, and composting.

Got to go to Eugene's Center for Appropriate Transport (CAT), where they make custom cargo bicycles (because when peak oil passes and the economic shit hits the fan, we won't be able to source foreign parts anymore) in a youth apprenticeship program. Super cool.

CAT recently got funding in $10 and $25 personal checks as a result of the Superhero ride. Pedal power to the people!

It's halfway through the course and we're all tired, crabby and, apparently, dehydrated. We've also been on a low- to no-fat diet for 8 days. It's remarkable how my relationship to food has changed. I eat like a dog. I don't give it any thought, and then whatever is put in front of me I devour. It's been noted that our living conditions - highly communal with little time for personal reflection; sleep deprivation; very low-calorie diet - maps pretty well to what makes people susceptible to brainwashing. At least we know the course will end, and we'll all go home. Unless someone asks us to lace up the purple sneakers...

Peace and love to all. It's raining in Oregon and the frogs are quiet.

Laundry to landscape greywater notes

If you ever wanted to put in a quick and dirty greywater system, California law now allows you to use washing machine water in the garden. Constraints are: greywater must not come into contact with open air and you cannot store it, because it will smell within 24 hours. Showers are also legal, but are a different gravity feed system. Kitchen sinks are still considered blackwater, and not appropriate for greywater.

These notes are from a workshop with Greywater Alliance, and 10 of us installed a system in an Oakland home in about 3 hours. Most of the work is in digging the trenches (4-6 inches below the surface).

When you're planning where to put your drip lines, keep in mind that the water's going to be delivered to the garden intermittently, and can be a deluge. A typical top-loading washer uses 40 gallons per load, and a water-efficient front-loader 15-20 gallons. If you do all your laundry on the weekends, it can be 100+ gallons in two days, followed by a stretch of a week or more. For that reason, it's best to use this type of greywater system to irrigate trees or blackberry bushes. There are gravity systems for showers/sinks that operate and designed differently.

Laundry-to-greywater is the absolute simplest greywater system. It has no pumps, or filters, because they're a pain to maintain.

A greywater system isn't feasible if you have a high water table -- less than 3 feet below surface, because of the danger of contaminating the groundwater. This system relies on the washing machine pump to deliver water to plants -- so you don't have to deal with the gradient requirements of a gravity (shower) system, which is roughly making sure your pipe drops 1/4 inch each foot, to keep water moving.

How It's Done
1. From laundry machine
Attach three-way joint valve 1” to wall ($30) near and *above* the height of the washer.
This lets you direct the water either out to the garden or into the sewer. You must use a non-salty detergent like Oasis. If you want to use bleach or another non-plant-safe product, you'll want to switch over to sewer disposal.

Going into the bottom of the 3-way joint is dirty wash water.
Output from the T goes either to the sewer or to the greywater irrigation system.

- Sewer PVC pipe goes down (existing) standpipe about 2 inches. Do not make a seal; leaving it open means it won't siphon, pulling dirty water back into the washer.
- Second PVC pipe goes through wall/floor to garden, ideally immediately. To go through the wall, drill 2 test holes 1.5 inches apart using extra-long drill bit, and see if you hit anything. Use circular saw to drill 1 ½” hole, or round hole saw - Milwakee set is a good one.

2. Outside wall
- Install a 1½” Autovent - use 'bushing' to attach to 1” inside female adapter (threads will be on inside) PVC pipe. Autovent is another anti-siphon device, so system won’t pull the greywater back into washing machine.) You'll need to add a 1” barb by male adapter (need more info)

Putting PVC pipe together will require some tools, like a pipe cutter, and glue. For threaded attachments use 1/2 - ¾” teflon tape to seal connection. 3-4 turns. There is a correct direction to put on tape – clockwise and away from you.

Tubing
Schedule 40 PVC pipe above ground in/out house (avoid Class 20 – it’s crap); pipe cutters, Gorilla Glue is less toxic. Use 1.25” plastic straps (not metal) attached to wood wall.

3. In the garden
Blue lock tubing underground (“HDPV” high density polyethylene) Can also use more flexible black tubing, but less resilient/more prone to damage
Dig ditches ~4 inches below surface (may be easier to move dirt than pipe)
1” mains to mulch shield
OR
1” mains to ½” branches to mulch shield
Must have mulch shields at the end of every line.
You can pay $3-4 for mulch shields or you can create your own out of plastic 1 gal pots
Wing it in terms of water flow. There are thingies to put on the end of the line that allow you to slow the flow through the endpoints. You can always pull your lines higher to slow down the flow, or dig deeper to increase output.

Arrived in Eugene

I got to Eugene three nights ago, saw my sister's family, and am now settled into Darmalaya, the retreat center where the Urban Permaculture course is being held. The course is put on by Common Circle, and covers everything from straw bale housing to organic farming, solar installations, greywater use, and so on. THe first two days have been devoted to what they're calling Social Permaculture, i.e. the ability to affect desirable change in people and communities. I'm very excited for the hands-on work to begin later this week.

The retreat center has a greywater system installs, which drains to a small pond along with rainwater. It has composting toilets of four varieties: the $1200 kind with nice seats and heaters to dry up and accelerate the composting process of human waste. Then there's the rustic outhouse that lets nature do the same thing. There's a straw bale structure that houses two 50-gallon drums with toilet seats perched on top of them and a hell of a backdraft. And then there's the berm. For men, it's a pile or leaves. For women's it's a block behind the outhouse. This is for #1 only.

When one of the women arrived here, she asked to use the bathroom. The organizer asked her what she needed to do, exactly. She was then directed to the proper toilet.

So far, Social Permaculture seems to studied by engaging in lot of togetherness exercises. I haven't held hands so much since kindergarten. It's nice, in a way. It's also a step or two closer to woo-woo land than I'm comfortable with. What's that saying? Do one thing every day that scares you. Maybe next time a cuddle circle comes around, I'll dive in. More likely though, I'll save my hands-on experiences for piling up straw bales or pulling weeds...

This afternoon -- SWALES! Small ditches that allow you to retain water in a landscape.

on the road

I'm on my way to Portland! Left SF at noon on Tuesday and headed up the I-505. Stopped in Willows. In case you were curious, Tori Burke is the manager at the Walmart there, and she has hung her photo proudly over the paper towel dispenser in the women's bathroom. Took a detour through the lovely green hills east of the Mendocino National Forest, dreaming of goat herds and strawbale barns, clean rivers and chicken coops and beehives.


And when the dream of a compostable agrarian existence begins to tire, you can go to a Republican pancake breakfast at the local school.



It really is beautiful out here. Last stop was the perfectly adequate Mountain View motel in Yreka.

Fun with greywater

If you're local to the Bay Area, you can learn how to reuse household water by taking classes and workshops from the Greywater Alliance. Today, I learned about Laundry-to-Landscape, the simplest form of greywater reuse that involves piping water from your clothes washer to drip irrigation tubes in the backyard.

I'm chomping at the bit to put one into my place. Displacing 180 gallons of wash water each week from the sewer will save us money, and also cut down on water to irrigate our young fruit trees. Very tidy.

Now I just need to run 100 feet of PVC pipe around the back of my building and out to the back of the lot. My yard slopes toward the house, so unless we want to tax the pump on the washing machine to deliver it uphill, we'll need to set it up to work with gravity. Now I just need to find a moonless night to drill holes into the fence we share with the neighbors to support the pipes.

Another tidbit: Read in last week's NY Times that you can make cheese using a pillowcase and couple gallons of milk. So looking forward to an evening's entertainment in May of sitting around drinking and making cheese.

Drip, drip, drip.

Where's the beef?

I'm happy to announce it's been 18 days since Lent began, and my meatless existence has been relatively painless. My protein buddies are tofu, cheese, walnuts, lentils, quinoa, and eggs. I've lost 3-4 pounds and am feeling cleaner and lighter. Finally the flu season is quieting down and folks are out and about again, in the rain, biking and running and feeling good. Yippee!

There was only one transgression: a lovely dinner party with crab and avocado salad and baked chicken with tomatoes. I ate it all, and it was delicious. The meatiness of it neither delighted nor repulsed me. I suppose righteousness of vegetarianism has not yet set in. And I don't want to be that person, who says, "I don't eat that" when offered food by a friend.

We've got tons of veg groups in the Bay Area, and there's often dinner involved in their meetings.

vegnews.com
sfvs.org
bayareaveg.org
living-foods.com/sflife
peninsulamacro.org

National Organizations
chooseveg.com - for beginner cooks and new vegans.
navs-online.org
vrg.org

More about meat

If I ever doubted the power of social media, no more. I posted a snippet on Facebook about considering vegetarianism earlier this week, and instantly everyone knows I'm giving up meat for Lent. Amazing!

Why stop eating meat? Jonathan Safran Foer dissects (no pun intended) our cultural decision to eat meat in his quick and satisfying (sortof like a blt) book, Eating Animals. One read through, and you'll never want to participate in the systematic torture of our furry and feathered friends again.

Now, I will miss meat. Foer states that there is no ethical option for meat-eaters in the U.S. You can't buy meat from animals that were raised in a sustainable, ethical, humane way and also slaughtered without unimaginable cruelty. Foer tells us that no slaughterhouse exists that can reliably knock out animals before separating them limb from limb. If you read his description of a cattle abattoir, where cows are routinely skinned, eviscerated, and have their lower legs snipped off while still conscious, well, you will not contest this. He also raises the overall ethical question of eating animals, period. Why not dogs? Kittens? The thought horrifies us. But give me a chicken sandwich and I'm thrilled. With bacon, please.

He suggests maybe we just don't know how delicious dogs are.

There are also the environment ramifications of factory farming and commercial fishing, as well as the injuries to workers in slaughterhouses, one of the most dangerous jobs in America. It's a well-researched chronicle of the American love affair with animal protein.

Well the good news is that here in the SF Bay Area, we do still have a couple options. Not Niman Ranch, which has gone toward commercial methods to maximize profitability. Bill Niman, however, is now goat farming and you can buy his wares at the Ferry Plaza farmer's market on Saturday mornings. You can also join a csa for monthly meat deliveries from Marin Sun Farms, and get beef from Five Dot Ranch in the Sierras at local stores and restaurants.

For now, I'll see how a vegetarian diet suits me. Garbanzo beans! Tofu! Cheese quesedillas! And it's easy to make the commitment not to buy meat from animals that lived in misery and died in agony, so, no meat from commercial farms. Now, what to do about eggs?

spoofers

OK, I bought this laptop from Toshiba Direct in November, and it's been a non-stop infuriating, energy drain hellhole ever since.

Here's the latest.

The machine has been repaired, twice, and I'm trying to sell it, all loaded up with Adobe software. After two attempts on eBay, someone bought it. She wanted me to ship it to France, so I looked into that. Then she changed her mind and wanted it shipped to Nigeria. (Really?) She sent me an email that "spoofed" the Paypal emails, showing I'd been paid. Great! But, Nigeria?

Here's eBay's response to the matter, which is pretty a 'you're SOL'. Never mind that this person managed to transact without being registered. (Note to eBay: there's no "report fraud" task for sellers on your website. Oops!)


Hello jdemock,

We had to cancel bids for the following buyer because they aren't registered on eBay:

desola4567

Please don't complete the transaction and don't ship the item. You may have received an email saying the buyer has paid. However, that's probably a fake message. To check if you actually received a payment, please log in to your PayPal account. Also, be sure to report fake emails to us. For more information, visit:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/account/questions/report-spoof-email.html

If you've already shipped the item and didn't receive a payment, you can request a final value fee credit for the listing. To find out how, go to:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/credits.html

To help you avoid this situation in the future, consider setting a Buy It Now price and requiring buyers to make an immediate payment. For more information on immediate payments, visit:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/pay/require-immediate-payment.html

Also, please consider taking the following action:
1. Contact the company that was used to send payment to verify whether funds have cleared.
2. If the funds are fraudulent, contact law enforcement in the buyer's area and give them the buyer's name, address, phone number, and any other information that may be helpful. If someone is assigned to your case, please ask them to contact us so that we can help with the investigation.
3. Contact the shipping carrier to find out if you can stop shipment on the package.
4. If you used the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to ship the package, consider filing a complaint at:
https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/MailFraudComplaint.aspx
5. File a complaint with the National Consumers League's (NCL) Fraud Center at:
http://www.fraud.org
If you have any concerns or questions, click "Customer Support" at the top of most eBay pages.
We're sorry for this inconvenience, and thanks for continuing to work with us.
Thanks,
eBay

Yesterday, I tried posting on Craigslist. Same thing! I got an oceanographer who was at sea, and wanted it as a gift for his pastor. I got a university professor in Texas who wanted it shipped to west africa for her son. (I mean, seriously, a university professor who can't spell or use proper punctuation? And what parent wouldn't buy their kid a new laptop *before* they left on a research trip?) And then the poor woman whose father was in the hospital but really wanted the system. They all ask for my email associated with my Paypal account.

It must work, or so many people wouldn't be doing it. What's amazing to me is how much time these people spend, just to try to rip someone off. Imagine what you could accomplish if you harnessed all that energy for a political cause, like ending factory farming. Maybe I'll start writing them back with suggestions about how to better spend their time.

$4.19/gallon

Gas prices have shot up here in San Francisco, none higher than the Chevron on Fell St. Ouch! Who knew 89 octane would be so dear this spring?

Now, you might wonder what the heck I've been doing with myself since I quit the corporate job. The big answer? Loafing. It's been great. Of course, financial pressure will force me back into the fray in the coming weeks. But let's take a quick look at all that I've accomplished after six weeks of self-employment.

1. Fostered a dog - Little Joey came to us with a mild case of kennel cough and intact gonads. Just two weeks later he recovered, got altered, and was adopted. Good boy! The awesome folks at Copper's Dream dog rescue are always looking for help: donations, fosters, towels, whatever you can spare. they visit high-kill shelters in rural areas and get the cutest freaking dogs you'll ever see. Check out their Facebook page for a history of dogs they've saved. Good people! [Editor's note: I'd like to acknowledge the forbearance of Asa, our cat, who tolerated repeated humping attempts by this unfixed 6-pound male chihuahua. A heroic effort all around.]
2. Got into meditation - After only 12 years of an on-again, off-again meditation practice at the San Francisco Zen Center, I've decided to get serious. I've started meeting weekly with a teacher, meditating 3-4 times a week, volunteering in the bookstore on Thursday evenings, attending Saturday Sangha and learning a temple job (I'm doorwatch), and generally being friendly and learning people's names. Even signed up for a 4-day visit to their monastery, Tassajara, in Carmel Valley. Should be gorgeous in May.
3. Urban Permaculture! Ever wanted to learn how to make a composting toilet? Reuse the greywater from your washing machine in the back yard? I have. Now I'm signed up to get a certificate in Permaculture from Common Circle. Of course, I did just learn I'm sleeping in a tent for two weeks. Oh well.
4. Volunteering - Got involved with Edgewood Family and Children Services out here in the Sunset district. Mostly I write press releases for them, but might also help with their website redesign.
5. Personal purge. Like most Americans, I own too much stuff. How many sweaters does one person really need? Not 18. Probably not even 11. Of course, it all depends on what you consider a "sweater."
6. Looking for love - After the abrupt end to my date-a-friend experiment last year, it's time to find a new partner. I tried Chemistry.com and was put off by their kludgey interface and high rate of non-response (it seems like half the folks in their system are not actually members, so can't respond when you ping them). Back on eHarmony.com, I'm swimming in hundreds of matches, some 15 years my senior, and finding some diamonds in the rough. Wish me luck!
7. Waiting for acceptance. This has been the year of joining groups. I've applied for membership to Editcetera and the West Point Inn. One will give me freelance editing work; the other the best view of the SF Bay $20 can buy. Other potential sources of work: KitList and Women in Consulting's newsletters. There are also business referral groups you can join, like BNI and Partner4Leads, although for the money, I think I can start my own. Want to join?
8. House shuffle - We said a sad farewell to our awesome housemate Mary, who moved down the peninsula to be closer to work. Last week we welcomed Sonia and Duke, her dachshund, to the house. So far, Duke and Asa, the cat, seem to be getting along just fine. Until he goes into her litter box in search of tootsie rolls.

Other fun things to get involved in:
Wigg (short for "wiggle") Party
The Green Arcade

puppy power

For anyone thinking of getting a puppy, Ian Dunbar has posted his Before and After Getting Your Puppy books online. You can download the PDFs free here:

http://www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads

I'm now fostering my second puppy, Joey, and boy is it easy to take for granted the things you pick up. This past weekend, I went with dear friends to Tahoe, so re-fosterd the dog with a fellow volunteer for the rescue organization I work with, Coppers Dream. The woman who took him was confused by my instructions that he appeared to be housetrained. "Does that mean," she asked me last night, "that he only goes to the bathroom in the house?" It was a rough weekend for everyone (but me).

Education is a good thing. Also a big thanks to everyone for their fabulous insights and suggestions. G told me about a game where you hide a treat, out of the dog's sight. Then you instruct him to "find it!", giving voice cues: Cold, warm, and hot. Tone is important. Also J showed me how to tip a rambunctious puppy over and rub his belly til he goes limp. Totally chills him out. Now if I could just figure out how to keep him from stealing my slippers...

It's been 10 weeks since I last wrote. (Where *does* the time go?) My freelance work is starting with more of a trickle than a bang. At least this time around, I'm enjoying my free time. Goals: regular workouts, improve diet, reduce drinking, write every day, and meditate at least 3 times a week. How hard can that be?