Solution: Rope extension handle

Pros:

1. Allows me to walk with a normal stride
2. Allows your wrist to rotate in a more normal position

Cons:

1. Doesn’t work going downhill. This didn’t prove to be a problem for me, because most of the time, your strides are shorter going downhill than moving uphill.

Materials:

1. a piece of rope approximately 3 feet long
2. a piece of PVC, approximately 4 inches long

Directions:

1. Drill two small holes at each end of your PVC. The holes should be in from the ends slightly and large enough for your rope to pass through.
2. Pass each end of the rope through the holes and make a knot. I prefer looping the tag end of the rope through the loop twice instead of the usual single wrap. This knot is called a double overhand knot. This creates a knot with a flatter bottom that will sit nicely against the PVC.
3. Lastly, make a larks head knot to attach your new handle to your wagon. Look at photos below to see how a lark’s head knot is formed.

I recently watch part of a webcast with Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose. Tim Ferriss  is hard to define, but dynamic is certainly a good adjective. Kevin Rose, is the founder of Digg.com and is currently the CEO. In this webcast, Kevin quickly pushed the book, REWORK. I had heard of 37 Signals, the company of the authors, but I had not heard of the book itself. I put it on reserve in my local library and waited, and waited. Here in Columbus Ohio, I was 43rd on the reserve list. Luckily, my number was up and I got the book yesterday.

I inhaled the book in less than a couple of hours. Such an easy read and truly enjoyable. First, I can say that the book doesn’t suffer from the more is better type of philosophy. They get straight to the point. If they can fully illustrate their point in one sentence, then that is all you are likely to get. How refreshing. Actually, this ends up being a constant theme throughout the book.

The book is broken up into not so much chapters, but thoughts. Two in particular caught my attention.

1. Customer feedback. Where to store it? Their answer, overly simplified, is don’t. The logic here is that it isn’t necessary, anything worth hearing will be repeated over and over again by your customers.

2. Writing. What we learned in college is crap. Some of education’s misguided lessons.

1. The longer a document is, the more it matters.
2. Stiff, formal tone is better than being conversational.
3. …
4. The format matters as much (or more) than the content of what you write.

Just simply a great read. There really is no reason not to read it. The book covers many topics in business but can be easily applied to many situations in life. Like the tidal wave of movement behind agile programming in software development, 37 Signals embraces quick, shorter, being direct and honest. Don’t create a task list with a thousand items on it. There isn’t a good way to prioritize. Start a new list and put “Read REWORK” at the top.

Go get the new Google Earth and plan a hike today.

Included is Buffalo Wild Wings Medium, Spicy Garlic, Hot and Caribbean Jerk Sauces.

Original recipe can be found at Meemos Kitchen.

So, here we are in late October and the turnips are still growing like mad. In looking back, I really should have harvested them and taken them to a food pantry. But, I really didn’t think about it.

So what happens to turnips that get left in the ground over winter? They continue to grow. The plants never really died. They were green almost all of the winter, even though we had a few nights that approached 20 below zero. The plants really started kicking out new growth in March and are currently about 5 feet tall. Since, I am an avid seed saver, I will have copious amounts of turnip seed in a few weeks. In the mean while, I get to enjoy beautiful yellow flowers. Who knew that turnips were attractive?

The recipe was from a Vegetarian Times compilation cookbook. They actually have two separate loaf recipes but the only real difference between them is one of them contains cashews. My wife isn’t a big fan of nuts in her food so I decided to make the recipe without nuts.

The recipe is mainly lentils (LOVE THEM) and bulgur. I hadn’t worked with bulgur before but it is quite simple. You can cook it like couscous if you want. Just add boiling water and let sit. This recipe suggested cooking for 15 minutes but was totally unnecessary. Don’t confuse bulgur with cracked wheat. They are different, bulgur is wheat that has been steamed, dried and cracked, making it a quick cooking grain. Cracked wheat on the other hand is simply cracked wheat and requires longer cooking times.

Unfortunately, even with the enjoyment of learning about bulgur, the recipe was disappointing. We served it to the kids who were excited because they thought it was meatloaf. They instantly made horrible faces and announced that it wasn’t very good. I figure that I have a more advanced palate. Unfortunately, my reaction was much the same. It was flavorless. It wasn’t dried out but nothing really helped it taste like anything. I tried to melt cheese on top of one slice and that was unsuccessful. I poured copious amounts of hot pepper sauce over another slice and that was decent, assuming that you like hot pepper sauce.

We wont be making that recipe again, but would love to hear from anyone who has a vegetarian loaf recipe that actually tastes like something.

Recipe: Classic Beef Stroganoff in a Slow Cooker

Recipe is adapted from Classic Beef Stroganoff recipe in Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes by Better Home and Gardens. The recipe can be prepped in less than 30 minutes and be ready for you when you get home. Certainly not as good as my mother-in-law’s Stroganoff, but I will let my wife carry that mantle.

Great job to everyone involved.

Here are some photos of a few of our helpers. Unfortunately, I didn’t get pictures of everyone who helped.  Sorry if I missed you.

Here is a before and after sequence of pictures from our day. Amazing!

Papalo, also known as Papaloquelite is said to have a stronger flavor than Cilantro but is similar in taste. Apparently it also keeps its flavor after being dried. It grows 3 to 5 feet tall and has a spread of about 2 feet. The leaves are usually eaten fresh or added after cooking is complete.

Culantro, also known as Mexican Coriander, is also said to have flavor similar to Cilantro. It has serrated leaves and grows to about 1 foot tall. Normal spacing is about 6 inches. It is used widely in the Carribean.

Epazote is one that actually doesn’t taste like Cilantro. Surprisingly however, it also is said to have a taste that you love or hate. Epazote has been used for ages in making beans more digestible. It also figures prominently in authentic taste when preparing Mexican dishes. Epazote, will grow to about 4 feet tall. Lastly, it is said to be toxic in large quantities. What could be better than eating poisonous plants? No one really knows exactly what quantity is takes to be poisonous, but it is universally believed that no one could willing eat that much in a single sitting.

Try one or all of these herbs from South of the Border. Good luck with your gardens.

Some Common Myths

1. Bats carry rabies. Bats don’t carry rabies, but they can like other animals contract rabies. Less than 1 half of 1 percent of all bats actually contract rabies. Raccoons continued to be the most frequently reported rabid wildlife species (34.9% of all animal cases during 2008), followed by bats (26.4%), skunks (23.2%), foxes (6.6%), and other wild animals, including rodents and lagomorphs (1.9%).
2. Bats bite people. Bats like any animal will protect themselves, if threatened, but the thought that bats are interested in people is silly. There are over 1100 species of bats and only 3 are vampire bats. Even vampire bats don’t feed on humans, instead feeding on animals.

Why do you need a bat house?

Mosquitoes! Bats can eat up to 1000 mosquitoes per hour. Since mosquitoes can carry nasty viruses such as West Nile virus besides being just plain annoying, I consider this a very green solution.

For more information, visit, http://www.batworld.org/