Today, like many days that I drive to work, I had to pause at Safeco Field as the commuter train passed by. In the back seat my two dogs Tula and Sweety shared the experience of waiting for the train. I turned off the engine and tried to look inside the windows of the passing Dining, Sleeping, and Coach cars. Silouettes of people standing up and stretching reminded me of similar moments when I was inside the train myself.

I had to leave Tula and Sweety in the back of my jeep, while I went in to write code at work. I think that Tula and Sweety do not mind. They are always happy to see me come back to the car, which I do a few times during the day to take them on a walk.

Miracle on NW 79th Street

There was a beautiful display last Sunday in the early evening. There had been a rainstorm, and just before the sun set, a magnificent double rainbow appeared. Even more amazing, you can see from this photo that it actually sprouts from the steeple at St. John's catholic church up the street!

Awesome Display of Chinese Dominance

While I didn't see the opening ceremonies of the Olympics this summer, I did hear a lot about them. I guess they were quite a spectacle. While one friend called them "terrifying", others were less impressed, observing that one could do a lot with $50 mil.

Anyway, the chatter reminded me of an image I had seen before, of the Chinese putting on a great display of uniformity and cooperation that was surely just as powerful in its day, and definitely did not cost $50 mil. I hunted for the image, and eventually found it in Arthur Toynbee's great work "A Study of History" - this is the 1 volume version with lots of pictures, not the 12 volume unabridged version.

Here is the caption:
The new society? Athletic display in Modern China: Westerners tend to see in China a repulsive modern Leviathan, but behind the ceremonial lies an ideal of mutual solidarity and co-operation from which a fragmented world may learn.

Rainbarrel PSI Issues

There are some things I need to know about how water is used. Like, how much pressure (PSI) is needed to run sprinklers, appliances, faucets, etc. Also, what are some valid techniques for achieving that pressure. For example, if I put my 55 gallon rainbarrel on a tree stump, will I be able to run a sprinkler?

I found a helpful article at http://www.howstuffworks.com/water.htm, and I learned this:

• Each foot of height provides 0.43 PSI (pounds per square Inch) of pressure
• A typical municipal water supply runs at between 50 and 100 PSI
• Major appliances require at least 20 to 30 PSI

That means I would need a 45 foot tree stump!

It is the middle of summer here now, and as usual it has been quite dry. It happened to rain pretty hard today, however, overflowing my 55 gallon rain barrel quickly.

My wife and I are in the process of turning our home in Seattle into a sustainable urban homestead. I decided this morning that I would document this process in my blog. You can expect to see pictures, plans, and hopefully some progress over the coming months.

In Seattle we do receive an awful lot of water from the sky. However, there are a few months in the summer when it is very hot and sunny. People water their lawns, their gardens, etc. A full rain barrel can easily be depleted within a few days if used as a primary watering source.

Water from the city ain't cheap, so I would like to use this rainwater during the dry months. But how to store, how to collect, these are questions that must be answered.