Frugal

warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/ecodaddyo/public_html/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc on line 33.
Doing more while spending less money

Moving Images – Part 2 – “The more you drive…”.

Training

Repo Man is a great road movie in the apocalyptic genre that starts in Los Alamos, NM and includes some amazing lines. “The more you drive, the less intelligent you are” has been a constant point of reference for me over the last 6 years while commuting 60 mile each way to my job in Albuquerque. The commitment to a daily fall down La Bajada ( a 2,000 foot drop in elevation South of Santa Fe) was a decision I made weighing commuting times for different urban areas against the quality of life they offered. Compared to many commutes back East, Santa Fe to Albuquerque seemed like a breeze.

Spring?

All that drippy sounding stuff I said in April about spring being here? Forget I ever mentioned it. It proceeded to snow again amidst the usual punishing wind of a New Mexico spring. The only good side to that is that I can make soup without feeling like I’m clinging to the wonders of winter cooking. I really can move forward when situations change, really I can. But soup is so wonderful, what can I say.

A Tale of Two Rush Hours

Rush Hour - Utrecht, Netherlands

Cold Cash for Refrigerators (Furnaces and Clothes Washers)

Old Refrigerator

Act Now! Supplies Are Limited! Unheard of Savings! Operators are standing by (they really are)!
As much as I hate to say it, there is a true 'limited time offer' for New Mexicans starting on April 22 (which is Earth Day, by the way). You can save $200 (or more) off the price of an Energy-Star rated clothes washer, refrigerator or furnace. There is some fine print to read*, but it's not a bad deal - if you need a new washing machine, fridge or furnace.

One pound of pinto beans

Apple Tree in bloom

The birds are singing, La! The fruit trees are blossoming, La! All this April is busting out all over, but the bummer of taxes due remains. And what a bummer it was. We wrote checks, we crammed forms into envelopes, we raised our voices in thanks for TurboTax, and then off to the post office and the bloody things were off. We have made our contribution to civilization.

Why I Garden #14

Winter sown greens sprouting

Gardening last year was pretty frustrating. Weeks of hot and dry weather stunted growth in most gardens in the area. A scorching summer was followed by ravenous grasshoppers that ravaged our fall greens. But, Spring is all about renewal and promise. The very same garden bed that was mowed flat by grasshoppers in the fall is now coated with surprise greens.

Chew Your Food

Defiant Scrub Brush

I have two pounds of sunchokes in my refrigerator and I'm scared of them.

Oh, I'm sure they will be delicious but the cleaning of them puts fear in my heart. Perhaps, like many things in life, if I just had a stiff drink before facing them with vegetable scrub brush in hand, it would go a lot easier.

Home Improvement, but Smarter

Home Improvement TV show

Somedays homeownership feels more like home repair triage to me. Managing and completing our home improvement / maintenance projects can seem never-ending. Adding energy efficiency to our goals makes the task even more daunting. I've been considering a comprehensive home energy audit so I can better understand our energy use. Thankfully, I found a FREE! online tool for evaluating our home efficiency projects. Behold the Home Energy Saver.

Tuesday Night Plumbing Club

My scraped head

How do you have fun on a Tuesday night? I like to unwind with a little amateur plumbing repair. This Tuesday I dismantled the kitchen faucet assembly, rushed over to the hardware store minutes before closing time and pawed madly through the plumbing section for valves and bits. Then I ran back home to reassemble the whole mess and I only had to reverse one valve body! In the process I also banged my head under the sink. All of this so I can stop a maddening drip at the kitchen faucet. Yep, good times at our house.

Carnival of the Green # 210!

Carnival of the Green - logo

Put on your party clothes and grab some beads folks, it's carnival time! Specifically, Carnival of the Green. This is a traveling blog show filled with links about green living, sustainability and whatever else is floating about the 'green blogosphere'. Scroll down, you may find some tips you like, environmental issues, or a discussion you want to join in. Oh, thanks for visiting EcoDaddyo.com where we blather on about practical ideas for sustainable living in the American Southwest!

Syndicate content