Kenneth Elwell

I also have a "rag-tag fugitive fleet" of wheelbarrows, and a galactic pile in disrepair to scavenge parts from. I will bring home a "donor" if it has at least two things going for it, a tub and a wheel, a wheel and one handle, two handles... I have also scavenged just the bolts that would come loose from an otherwise lost-cause. Commercial grade wheelbarrows are usually built heavier and with better components than the consumer grade ones, and can be more worth fixing up. Although salvage parts are harder to come by, than with the consumer grade ones.

Wheels are the problem that is impossible to cope with any disfunction. Not really a "wheel" barrow without it!
I like the solid/no-flat wheels for their main attribute, although they are heavy and don't absorb any shock or squish over short obstacles like a pneumatic tire will. Usually, fitting a good quality, new inner tube is all that's needed...IF you also clean the rim and tire of loose rust and debris before reassembly. I like to get inner tubes from a recognizable brand (also in the bicycle or highway tire business) rather than some cheap random unknown or "house" brand, as the quality is better. I have had spotty results with tube/tire patches (likely due to age and a poor quality tube to begin with).

Lina Joana wrote:

Clay McGowen wrote:

For myself, and anyone else like me, who wants a North Star, I back the BEL.

Seems like for you and anyone else who reads and gets lots of value from the boot threads, you would just need to let them know the bel exists, not talk it up, since they already love it.

It it possible to make the tiny add at the bottom of the boots threads am add for the bel? Likewise the ad in any notification emails people get for the bel threads? Seems like that is the lowest hanging fruit, if not everyone who likes those threads is aware of the bel program.

Just the other day, a segment on an NPR show was about subscriptions and the costs to people who don't stay aware of what they're signed up for, or forget to cancel within a grace period. Charges recur or renew automatically if action isn't taken to cancel or opt out. It is an exploitation of human behavior, our divided attention, out of sight - out of mind.

I like the idea of a subscription such as the daily-ish, (which is opt-in/out) that could be a weekly or monthly (options?) email update about the BEL, or a specific project that I want to follow, or even some other forum on Permies for that matter... Maybe there would be a summary of the work progress, or the conversation highlights from a thread. The composing of the summary and email could maybe count towards the # of posts Boots are making? Another option could be "anyone" could compose these emails "from anywhere", and donate credit for making a post to the Boot that reviews and publishes it...as a way of participating/contributing without $ money.)

I regularly (like now, for instance) click-through on daily-ish emails to threads such as this, and am now looking at Permies once again. Either in these emails, or a pop-up once I'm looking at Permies, could be an option to "Donate to the BEL" (or whatever other thing dreamed up, or buy PIE) with some easy choices ($1, $2, $5, $??) including "maybe next time". It would connect the donation to the point of use and not be yet another auto-pay to cancel, possibly even provide a metric of perceived value for the content?

Tiago Simões wrote:You know, we're all just mere humans. Why would we be able to actually understand anything properly, much less make really good decisions about it?

If we humans are lucky enough, maybe some historians and sociologists a couple of centuries from now will have enough hindsight to figure out what we should have done. But who's to tell today that what we permies are doing is actually the best way to invest our time and energy? We can only do our best, and it will have to do. We believe in what we're doing.

Future generations will look back on us mostly like we look back on our ancestors: some really knew what they were doing, but most were clueless to the point of being harmful. What changes is mostly the context (society, ecology, etc.), but humans are and will remain only human.

Have kids, or don't have kids, mostly your decision, depends more on your particular context than on some global ideas about "shoulds". I can't have kids, don't have a choice, and have made peace with that. Not having kids frees up a lot of time to build a better life for me and my wife, make mistakes, figure stuff out, and hopefully serve as an example, but that's just as out-of-my-hands as the hypothetical life choices of my hypothetical kids.

Be the best version of yourself you can in all ways you're capable of, be really useful and caring towards others, and also demanding when that makes sense, keep the humility of remembering you might be wrong at any time... you know, the usual stuff. If you become a really good, strong, happy, fulfilled person, many around you will feel motivated to become like that as well, and the world gets a bit better.

It doesn't matter much whether those people around you are your kids or someone else's. Just be a really good you.

P.s. dear Paul, I write very little here, so please allow me this opportunity to thank you deeply for what you have done with your life so far. You have enabled many to become better humans.

CHOICES. It is ALL about choices... While we hope we are doing right in this moment, we will inevitably discover that something we chose in the past was dangerous, harmful, or misguided. There are a lot of disadvantaged people all around the world, who are presented with poor options to choose from, by a lot of other people who are taking advantage of the resources, people, nature, etc. for their own gain. And there's the rest of us in the middle, kept unaware of and removed from seeing, the cascade of actions made on our behalf for the sake of the trappings of our lives wherever they may be. Year-round fresh fruit, cheap t-shirts, gasoline, lithium batteries, computers, palm oil, canned tuna, etcetera...

I'm in the without children boat, but agree with the idea that one good way to promote sustainable living and values is to provide an example to others.
One way would be to "create" your own "captive" audience by raising a family. As was pointed out, however, this is a risky proposition, since it might fall on deaf ears, or upon their adulthood these children might not continue that way of life (even rebel?). Even if you had a large family of 13 or more children, you might not have a great effect.
The Gert ideal, is a bit isolationist, and not requiring/asking much "from the world" might lead to fewer interactions. Maybe a fine destination, but a bit too counter-culture to reach the masses.
Co-habitation in intentional communities could be just as cloistered an experience, although with assisted-living facilities mirroring what many co-housing communities have, this idea has more exposure. (Although possibly only to the sandwich generation, literally stuck on a track and not readily able to switch)

I think OUTREACH is possibly a more powerful tool than one's own family. This could take the form of education, governing (setting/changing policy & laws), or business.
Business could be the key. Alternatives to the status quo, providing better products or services, ethical operations, and a taking back of market-share and capital. Also a lever for policy change.
Disrupt the marketplace. Either from global to local, or towards sustainable, or more ethical, or something else that is another example of a better way... and an alternative to switch to... be that a product, service, employment, lifestyle, etc.

We don't need babies, we need baby steps that anyone/everyone can take (and choose, a'la carte - not all or nothing) to get from where they are now to where they might discover is a nice place to end up.

I forgot cone-bottom compost tea brewer, with air-lift pumps using an aquarium air pump...

If they happen to be the style with a side handle, then cutting off the top or bottom (save for another use) will yield either a giant scoop or bin with a handle good for something lightweight/loose, OR a giant funnel with a side handle to hold it steady or mount to *something* could be good for filling birdfeeders, or feed bowls from a sack of grain, or transferring liquids from/to large containers or attach a length of lay-flat hose to the mouth to send it someplace else!
Of course you can make a funnel without a handle if that's the carboy style you have, and you can also make it the full-size, so you could pour a 5 gallon pail into it all at once rather than at the pace of the neck and holding that pail the whole time...

You could make various styles of trap (mice, insects, fish, crustaceans...) and be able to visually inspect without opening or getting close.

Something to do with sound, a listening funnel? a resonating chamber for a loudspeaker?

A weather resistant enclosure. Maybe a safe spot for personal electronics while in the garden? A hood over a spotlight, or a game/trail camera to keep rain/snow off for better operation (possibly painted to reduce unwanted glare, either emitted or received). Maybe a storage for spare clothes/rain gear, tools, flashlight, or a first-aid kit in a remote area of your property.

A shop-vacuum funnel to collect more dust from a saw or sander in the woodshop. Possibly a cyclone separator for the same?

Hamster or gerbil habitat/cage. Observation beehive? A birdfeeder

"windows" or skylights for dark outbuildings

carnival games, like a ring-toss (onto the necks) or toss into the carboys, with varied sizes of openings by cutting neck at different heights. Race to fill a carboy some distance away, using other carboys, or something like plastic soda bottles or Solo cups. Guess how many (insert things here) are in the carboy.

windmill or waterwheel vanes/scoops. Scoop for a Wirtz pump.

Oooh! Look, a chicken!...that is also an enabler?! (I feel weirdly called out...)
Chickens are definitely something that we've been thinking of adding to our farm. I like to get as much information as possible before starting something totally new, so this would be great.

Personally, I'd save them, although I would also save the de-rusting for later... when you are sure to need some, and not much more than you need at that time.
This way, you don't spend time and money on cleaning nails you may never use, or may rust again before then!

Anne's suggestion of selling the "surplus to your needs" portion, might be a good way to lighten your load. Those funds could pay for project materials that you need to go with all the hardware that you have...

p.s. I'm sending a PM since I'm sorta kinda nearby in Boston.

Christopher Weeks wrote:People have talked about the risk of getting a ring caught on machinery or whatever, but one time, my wife closed the car door on my daughter's hand by mistake and her titanium fidget ring held the door apart. She still panicked at being trapped until we got the door open (like 1.5 seconds later), but wasn't hurt at all. So sometimes they can be armor!

Yikes! That was lucky, for a couple of reasons... mostly the titanium is less likely to be bent, and (without knowing your car) modern cars are more lightweight therefore a bit more "flexible" than those from the 1970's for instance, and take less effort to close.

Even without bending/crimping a ring onto your finger while wearing it, trauma to the hand/finger can cause swelling making the ring too tight to remove. This can cut off circulation to the finger which is quite dangerous! Always try to remove a ring immediately when something such as this happens, before any swelling starts, try soap or oil if needed. If it isn't possible to remove, get help right away. Most emergency departments at hospitals (or maybe an urgent care) have a ring saw, or one could try a jeweler's shop (who could also repair the ring)... DIY with wire cutters?

The concern with jewelry and industrial/farm "machinery" is much more serious than any "household/car" hazards. There is NO situation that I can think of where jewelry is safe, let alone be considered "armor".

Maybe a home-made version of those store-bought frozen garlic puree cubes? We keep those and the ginger ones on hand, since they are easy to add to recipes, and quite often the overlooked "fresh" ingredient when shopping. The easier version of the "cubes" is to make a "snake" (narrow "log") in plastic wrap or the bottom of a plastic bag, rolled tightly to eliminate most of the air. Come time to use it, you can just cut/snap off any amount you wish.