Some top tens worth checking out when you've got spare time.
1.) Ten Most Diabolical Fish (warning, some of 'em look really really nasty)
2.) Ten misspelled tattoos - Oh the horror of immortalizing your thoughts with a spellingly challenged artist
3.) Ten Famous Paintings recreated in Lego
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Walk to the city
'twas a bright and sunny Friday, and temperatures were awesome for a pretty chilly winter. The barometer topped at 17, and it felt an awesome day for another hike. Had always wanted to walk to the city from home, just to see how long it'll take. All in all 16kms were covered in just under 4 hours, and the celebratory lunch in the city was some awesome middle eastern meat ball action. Had good company this time too. Turned out to be quite the feat, too many traffic lights, zooming traffic that made for excess noise, and crowds of people in the way. Will keep the walking wanderings out in the 'burbs or the country from now on.
here're some photos of things along the way!
here're some photos of things along the way!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Blender Action and Ham Burger
Finally got down to getting the blender. No more sugared drinks (I think), and onward with healthy smoothies, shakes and juices. It just doesn't make sense paying $4-5 for one of 'em health drinks in Oz. First project today - Apple/Banana + Honey juice, Served 4 people with plenty to spare. Cost? $2. Well, the blender set me back $55 (thanks to Mum), but here's to good health!
Massively 'seedy' bun with salami, lettuce from the yard, and ham, and a generous going of pepper + cayenne pepper
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Vegie Patch Update
Vegie Patch is alive! Check out the latest of Bob's easy DIYs - roof for the vegies!
A lovely day
Today was a bit nuts, a great day, awesomely beautiful in terms of things that happened, but awesomely cold too. Melbourne's experiencing a massively cold front.
It was a heck of a wandering planet moment. Sent the car to the workshop to get the transmission problem fixed (thanks in no small deal to some support from the bro), then spent the rest of the day hiking (to not spend money, thanks to this new hole in the pocket for the repairs). From Bayswater where the workshop was I trekked to the base of Mt. Dandenong about 10ks away, and back (had to thanks to the rain), and then to Knox City Shopping Centre to get a rest at Borders (and time to browse around for the latest domesticated acquisition - a fruit blender - smoothies and shakes made at home...woohoo!) . All in all, about 30+kms of walking in the cold, and at times heavy rain...
Best thing is, car came back running perfect! Purring like a tiger again. Good things all round.
...and some pictures.
It was a heck of a wandering planet moment. Sent the car to the workshop to get the transmission problem fixed (thanks in no small deal to some support from the bro), then spent the rest of the day hiking (to not spend money, thanks to this new hole in the pocket for the repairs). From Bayswater where the workshop was I trekked to the base of Mt. Dandenong about 10ks away, and back (had to thanks to the rain), and then to Knox City Shopping Centre to get a rest at Borders (and time to browse around for the latest domesticated acquisition - a fruit blender - smoothies and shakes made at home...woohoo!) . All in all, about 30+kms of walking in the cold, and at times heavy rain...
Best thing is, car came back running perfect! Purring like a tiger again. Good things all round.
...and some pictures.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Victoria's Traffic Infringement Madness
This is quite simply, madness, if the report is accurate - Victoria issues an average of 11,000+ traffic/parking infringements a day.
In 2007-08, approximately 4.2 million infringement notices were issued by groups including Victoria Police and local councils, with more than 209,450 notices withdrawn.
Go here for the full report.
In 2007-08, approximately 4.2 million infringement notices were issued by groups including Victoria Police and local councils, with more than 209,450 notices withdrawn.
Go here for the full report.
Recyclable Cars
Never dawned on me this, till I chanced on this article; that cars are the world's most recycled product. Guess it was just something that I never thought about; perhaps cars that pass away go to heaven? Haha.
Read on!
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Recyclable Cars
Cars are (surprisingly) the world's most recycled product. Find out which parts of your car end up as landfill, and which parts don't
By Alison Lakin, Associate Editor, DriverSide.com
Posted 09.05.2009 at 5:18 am
Original article found here.
Each year, around 10 million vehicles are disposed of in the United States. Before vexing your conscience though, you should know that over 95 percent of these “retired” cars head straight to one of the 7,000 vehicle recycling operations around the country and 75 percent of these cars' parts are completely recycled, letting cars claim top spot as the world's most recycled product.
Metals
As the hottest commodity at the moment, steel, iron and other metals comprise about 65 percent of the average vehicle, making the reuse of this product vital to overall automotive recycling efforts. Although reuse of metals started alongside the advent of the automobile, they're more popular than ever before. With construction exploding in rapidly developing countries like China, traders are snatching metals up to sell, and some older cars are now actually worth more for their steel than for their originally intended ‘automotive’ function. Naturally this means, according to the Steel Recycling Institute, that virtually all of this material is recovered for reuse. Wheels, engines, transmissions, wiring and body shells get shredded and filtered by ferrous scrap processors and the material is then sold to steel mills. Your trashed ’79 El Camino could be having a second life as a part of an Indian skyscraper.
Batteries
70 percent of all lead now used in the U.S. is found in car batteries. Fortunately, we’ve known about the toxicity of lead for a while now and recycling systems have been in place for years. Some batteries have enough life to be reconditioned for resale, but the dead ones go to lead reclaiming plants where the toxic substance is extracted to use in new batteries.
“Nearly 90 percent of all lead-acid batteries are recycled,” confirms Latisha Petteway, Spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “Almost any retailer that sells lead-acid batteries collects used batteries for recycling, as required by most state laws.”
Tires
In 2005, the Rubber Manufacturer’s Association estimated, based on U.S. census reports, that 299 million tires were discarded. That's a helluva lot of miles covered. Good news: 86 percent of that number was reused. While today’s tires are complex, they are also extremely recyclable. The rubber from old tires makes it into a multitude of materials, from pavements to playground covering. Some are used to create more tires, 16.255 million in 2005 were retreaded – though very few of those were for passenger cars, due to economic factors. They are also able to fuel cement kilns, boilers and paper mills as well.
Fluids
Oil, that fussy liquid which needs to be changed every few thousand miles, isn't just tossed away at lube shops. 380 million gallons are reused or recycled each year in America. It goes through a refining process and comes out squeaky clean (well, as clean as an oil can be) as a base stock for lubricating oil. The problem is that many do-it-yourselfers change their own oil, and the irresponsible ones send roughly 120 million gallons down the drain instead of taking it to a collection center, local auto parts store or garage.
Used gear oil, windshield wiper solution, brake fluid, power steering fluid, antifreeze and transmission fluid can contain some seriously toxic substances, including lead and the highly poisonous ethylene glycol. But if you drop it off at a collection site, each of these fluids can either be blended and utilized as an alternate fuel source or restored.
Read on!
---
Recyclable Cars
Cars are (surprisingly) the world's most recycled product. Find out which parts of your car end up as landfill, and which parts don't
By Alison Lakin, Associate Editor, DriverSide.com
Posted 09.05.2009 at 5:18 am
Original article found here.
Each year, around 10 million vehicles are disposed of in the United States. Before vexing your conscience though, you should know that over 95 percent of these “retired” cars head straight to one of the 7,000 vehicle recycling operations around the country and 75 percent of these cars' parts are completely recycled, letting cars claim top spot as the world's most recycled product.
Metals
As the hottest commodity at the moment, steel, iron and other metals comprise about 65 percent of the average vehicle, making the reuse of this product vital to overall automotive recycling efforts. Although reuse of metals started alongside the advent of the automobile, they're more popular than ever before. With construction exploding in rapidly developing countries like China, traders are snatching metals up to sell, and some older cars are now actually worth more for their steel than for their originally intended ‘automotive’ function. Naturally this means, according to the Steel Recycling Institute, that virtually all of this material is recovered for reuse. Wheels, engines, transmissions, wiring and body shells get shredded and filtered by ferrous scrap processors and the material is then sold to steel mills. Your trashed ’79 El Camino could be having a second life as a part of an Indian skyscraper.
Batteries
70 percent of all lead now used in the U.S. is found in car batteries. Fortunately, we’ve known about the toxicity of lead for a while now and recycling systems have been in place for years. Some batteries have enough life to be reconditioned for resale, but the dead ones go to lead reclaiming plants where the toxic substance is extracted to use in new batteries.
“Nearly 90 percent of all lead-acid batteries are recycled,” confirms Latisha Petteway, Spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “Almost any retailer that sells lead-acid batteries collects used batteries for recycling, as required by most state laws.”
Tires
In 2005, the Rubber Manufacturer’s Association estimated, based on U.S. census reports, that 299 million tires were discarded. That's a helluva lot of miles covered. Good news: 86 percent of that number was reused. While today’s tires are complex, they are also extremely recyclable. The rubber from old tires makes it into a multitude of materials, from pavements to playground covering. Some are used to create more tires, 16.255 million in 2005 were retreaded – though very few of those were for passenger cars, due to economic factors. They are also able to fuel cement kilns, boilers and paper mills as well.
Fluids
Oil, that fussy liquid which needs to be changed every few thousand miles, isn't just tossed away at lube shops. 380 million gallons are reused or recycled each year in America. It goes through a refining process and comes out squeaky clean (well, as clean as an oil can be) as a base stock for lubricating oil. The problem is that many do-it-yourselfers change their own oil, and the irresponsible ones send roughly 120 million gallons down the drain instead of taking it to a collection center, local auto parts store or garage.
Used gear oil, windshield wiper solution, brake fluid, power steering fluid, antifreeze and transmission fluid can contain some seriously toxic substances, including lead and the highly poisonous ethylene glycol. But if you drop it off at a collection site, each of these fluids can either be blended and utilized as an alternate fuel source or restored.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Truth is just like this.
Had to share, chanced upon this from a buddy's site, and Zen has been something that has been filling my headspace for a while. No us and thems, no then and next. Overheard once, and it made a lot of sense. "We have to question the motives of those who speak and reason in polarities", and this short sentence says quite a lot.
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Original nature has no opposites. Speech and words are not necessary. Without thinking, all things are exactly as they are. Truth is just like this.
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from "Dropping Ashes on the Buddha - the Teaching of Zen Master Seung Sahn" compiled and edited by Stephen Mitchell
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Original nature has no opposites. Speech and words are not necessary. Without thinking, all things are exactly as they are. Truth is just like this.
---
from "Dropping Ashes on the Buddha - the Teaching of Zen Master Seung Sahn" compiled and edited by Stephen Mitchell
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