Each PEX is about
permaculture experiences according to the values of one person.
PEP would be for Paul, PES might be for
Sepp Holzer and PEW might be for Willie Smits.
As we explore an oddball submission, we start with an estimate of the number of hours it would take a professional to get the job done. Then we might carve off some points for "the piano factor" - trying to guage how much value Otis would put on the
project. A thousand hours building a piano would have less value to Otis than a thousand hours building a barn. And we will carve some points off for the PEX factor - how well did the project meet the
permaculture values of "X".
A lot of oddball projects are repairs. Did you use glue? Paint? Plywood? Points off. Did the project take twice as long because you stayed well within the values of "X"? Full points for the extra hours. In other words:
project took 8 hours with plywood and paint: 2 points awarded
project took 16 hours with roundwood from the forest and zero paint: 16 points awarded
Therefore, when starting a project, you might wish to choose between saving time and earning points.
PEX factor becomes a much bigger factor for higher badges. For the above 8 hour example (with plywood and paint), it would be worth:
- 2 points toward a sand badge
- 1 point toward a
straw badge
- 1/2 a point toward a
wood badge
- Zero points toward a iron badge
In this rough/general example, the pex factor cut the final points in half with each badge. This formula is not always the case. It depends. Was the final product beautiful? Did it look like something that is closer to the PEX values even if it really isn't? Were there lots of ways to do this task with the PEX values, or was there just no other way to do this project?
It is possible that "X" might award extra oddball points for an oddball submission or for any
BB for any aspect. These extra points could be for innovation, artistic beauty, elegance of implementation, etc.
