In May 2006, during a work-related trip to New Orleans, I helped build a house thru Habitat for Humanity. It was an amazing experience and I’m looking forward to the chance to do it again in the future. These are the finished products; photos taken by my colleague.
View the larger photos at Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinchin5/sets/72157602812426900/
From a TED talk in 2002… Stephen Petranek reviews 10 possible dooms-day scenarios and some possible solutions. While some generate snickers and chuckles from the audience, there wasn’t one of these scenarios which is DEFINITELY not going to happen. I think it’s interesting that these problems are just as relevant today as they were in 2002.
Apparently I’m not the only geek/gadget-guy in the house… My 3 yr old has figured out how to fly the mini-remote-control helicopter I got for my birthday. No, I did not show him how to do it. He learned by simply watching me. Kids are amazing.
It’s a great idea, but the upfront costs are too high… I visited the Sun Power website and they have a calculator that can help you estimate the cost savings and approx cost of the project. For me they seemed to estimate about $20,000 for the panels minus a $2000 Fed Tax credit. Plus my electric bill would be about the same.
I wish more R&D would go towards funding technological advancements of this technology.
October is a busy month for our family. We have 4 family members with birthdays in October - Lauren, Thomas, Nicholas, and Daddy! Not to mention all the friends and relatives who were born in this month as well… plus the holidays right around the corner.
This year, Lauren and Thomas turned 3 years old. They had a b-day party last year and we invited friends over with their kids, but last year they more played “near each other” than “with each other.” They’re finally at the age where they can genuinely appreciate the FUN of a birthday party with friends, and playing with other kids. Let the fun begin!
Birthday Party #1 - (Oct 6): We hosted a small get together of 40+ friends and family at our house to celebrate… most of the pics in the slideshow are from that event. You can see more here at my flickr account. Food from Buon Appetito (yummy!), 2 cakes from Costco (b/c daddy thinks we shouldn’t jip the kids and make them share a cake), a scavenger hunt produced by Aunt Kristin, cake, and a Doodlebop theme. My favorite pics are from when all the kids discovered the joy of lollypops + watching the Doodlebops… Believe me, the house was pretty quiet at that point.
Birthday Party #2 - (Oct 8): My dad was heading out of town on a business trip, so he was going to miss the kids’ actual birthday. So we decided to go out to eat and “celebrate”… This time to Tyson Buffet - a Chinese buffet restaurant (huge selection)! No singing, but no less a birthday celebration. Aunt Kristin and Uncle Minh brought their gifts for the kids — activity books/marker sets and several classic kids board games — Memory, Candy Land, Cherries something-a-rather… They like playing the games… but don’t understand the part about keeping your playing piece on the board. It’s a constant guessing game to figure out where their pieces go. Oh well…
Birthday Party #3 - (Oct 12): On their actual birthday, we got off work early and went to the kids’ school. We brought store-bought/pre-approved ice cream cups and Hostess cupcakes - b/c you can’t just make your own treats like we did when we were little, thanks to food allergies. We also brought several goodie boxes for the kids… which were also Doodlebop themed. Cute “pom-pom” headbands, musical instruments, stickers, etc. Here’s a picture of the sticker we put on their goodie boxes…
Birthday Party #4 - (Oct 12): Mommy and Daddy are getting a little tired of all the birthday celebrations, so we had a “quiet” dinner at home, inviting just my mom and sister over for dinner. Grandpa was out of town. Of course we still had to sing Happy Birthday, but instead of a full cake, we gave them left-over ice cream cups with whipped cream and a cherry on top — oh and a candle too.
Next year we’re gonna think about a combined birthday party including Nicholas… maybe… we’ll see…
Everybody’s got them… cell phones, cordless home phones, PDAs, rechargeable tools, portable vaccums, etc. They all have one thing in common… rechargeable batteries. Did you know that these batteries can be easily recycled? Check out this ZDNet video, then visit the website for the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC).
Tons of major retailers have collection boxes… and it doesn’t cost you a thing! Find a recycling drop off point near you.
Put in just an ounce of effort, and help preserve the environment. Plus, it just feels good to do the right thing!!
Take a look at these futuristic designs and experimental “tree houses”. While you may think those designs are pushing the limit, it’s that extreme push which helps us have progress. It’s why we don’t live in straw huts anymore.
The major problem I would see with building a permanent residence in the trees is the irreplaceable nature of a living tree. What happens if you get termites in one of those trees? What if someone crashes a car into one of your supporting trees. You can’t simply go buy a new tree in that particular shape with that particular strength that can thrive in that particular type of soil and climate… which makes replacing those trees extremely difficult.
It’s a good thought however…
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