The monthly project report
Before
Got a little done this month. We had started redoing our little back deck before leaving last fall and got it wrapped up this past month. It is not a large area but was of little use as the layout turned out to be a pathway from the back door down some stairs to the back side of the island. Janice brilliantly suggested a more practical place to move the stairs, allowing for the entire area to become what it should have been all along, a seating area.
Who knows: This may be the last gasoline driven car I will ever own
A few months ago, we bought a new (to us) car in Europe. It has more bells and whistles than any car we have ever owned so we are pretty excited. Lately though, I have been reading about how fast the electric car market is growing with many features that even our new-ish car does not have. I like to let the market work out the bugs before I spend my money, so that is why I don't have a so called 'smartphone' yet.
Just kidding people, lighten up!
There is a lot of talk that within just a few years, few people will own their cars but will call for one when needed from the sharing community. I know that many of these ideas seem impossible or far fetched today but I really do think they are onto something here.
Electric vehicles only use clean electricity and not fossil fuels, right? To be honest, I am a little confused. You see, according to the US Energy Information Administration 66% of our electricity is produced by coal, petroleum or natural gas. The rest is nuclear or hydro. Less that 8% is wind or solar. Doesn't that mean that my electric car of the future is really basically powered by coal and fossil fuels?
Hmmmm. I hope they work out the bugs before I buy my next car.
"Hey, where's my library?"
4 or 5 years aog, we installed our "Little free Library". At the time, there were about 2500 of them all over North America. Occasionally, we would hear that the numbers had climbed and that the effort had become truly international. This past week, I read that there were now over 80,000 of them in 91 countries. Curious, I checked how many 'water access only' (read boat access only) libraries existed? To date, just like when we started in 2014, there is only one.
In 2017, the last time the St Lawrence river flooded, we were 6-7 weeks late in being able to install our library for the season. The first boat that came by created such a wake that all the books got wet. This year the water levels are even higher so we don't know when we will be able to put it out there.
Now, just like then, we get good natured complaints from boaters wondering where 'their' library was. To get a sense of just how high the water currently is, look at the top of the speed limit sign on the left side of the photo. As of this writing, it is completely under water and not visible at all.
To each his or her own!
AKA: How we are spending our summer
The kids are beginning to worry about our long term safety and have insisted I
install a bar in the shower. Another job on the honey-do list checked off.
