sand, straw, wood and iron

For a while we talked about "white belt", "green belt", "brown belt" and "black belt".   But then as we discussed things, other stuff kept getting dragged in and it turned into a pain in the butt.

Today I am writing down something about a feature enhancement to the forum software.   I like the idea that we would call these levels:

sand (off white)

straw (yellow)

wood (brown)

iron (black)

Sound okay?

I like them.  

Are we assuming each level takes about one year to complete?  

For me it sounds too arbitrary .
Too much like paper stone scissors
not a clear hierarchy
David

What if there were three levels based on the three little pigs?  Straw, stick and brick.

Maybe not.  It would not tie in with the martial arts theme as well.

Must admit I thought of the same idea but I was too polite to mention it .
I am engish after all

The "sand" level would require 4 to 12 hours to complete for a badge.  

The straw level might take 3 to 10 days.  

The wood level could take a month or two.

The iron level could take 6 to 18 months.

r ranson wrote:What if there were three levels based on the three little pigs?  Straw, stick and brick.

We tried on the idea of "white belt" growing to "black belt" and that led to far too many distractions as people talked about other uses of the same thing.   "You can't ______  because _____ did it like this _______."    I thought it would be cool to say "I have a blackbelt in green woodworking" but it seems that way too many people get weird about this, or compare it to stupid stuff or ...   all sorts of weird crap that I quickly got sick of.  

So we needed something unique.   A fair bit of time was put into this system.   Nobody is gonna try to tell us what is or is not okay.

So I cannot help but think that if we roll along with the three little pigs, it could end up fueling a set of headaches like what came with the belt stuff.

In the end, the idea is that there are people out there that have land and wish to will the land to somebody of substance.  So we need a way to measure that substance.   A PEP4 graduate might have:


iron badges:

lumber woodworking
Green woodworking
roundwood woodworking
proenekke
rocket mass heater
small tool care (sharpening/handles/etc.)
chickens
pigs
woodland care
aquaponics
greywater and poop safety
plumbing and hot water


wood badges:

electricity (including solar)
Food Preservation
Wildcrafting and guerrilla gardening
gardening
cob
metalworking
cattle
commerce
roads, trails and lawns
earthworks
beekeeping
dairy


straw badges:

large tool care (truck/tractor/etc.)
Food Prep
dry stack stone
fiber arts
leatherwork
rabbits
sheep
goats
community living


And somebody with land would look at that and consider whether they think it is somebody they wish to will their land to.   Further, for all of the projects, there are pictures on the internet - so the land owner can get an impression of the breadth and depth of the work.