Fever!!

Cabin fever is spending like wild fire at work and now gasp to my family........... Snow again with 2-5 inches today, 2-5 more tonight and a wind chill of -2 degrees... oh yea Cabin fever time....

Restlessness, moodiness, cranky and just one big downer lately.  I was talking at work with a couple of the ladies I work with and I replied that I felt like I had PMS multiplied 10 times!!!! Then I heard them go OMG Yes....  wow  gee I am sorry if I have been really cranky... nope, they replied that they felt that way too. like on edge and moody..Like extra strong PMS....

Plus it seems that I really have lost my appetite not sure if it is part cold, or my cabin fever or the quit smoking thing.... but I really am having problems with eating to much right now... I eat and feel bloated or things don't taste right.... I still finding my new tastes from the lack of smoking pickling my tonne.... plus trying not to go there.... helps that I banded smoking in my house and tell myself - "You don't want to go outside and freeze!!" when I feel like giving in....... I also found that I am adding more heat to things like tacos, so maybe it is that cold isn't gone 100%......... that is helping make  things tasting bland....


Can the snow and the cold winds bring this horrible fever to the mass of the frozen northeastern Ohio??  Or is this a man made disaster...Or hormonal scramble with the all these females in the same area? Like when our hormones talk to each other and we all get that time of the month together??

I saw get a blog and whine and bitch about it and you will feel a little better.........Oh I just remember I bought some steak at the store...... Maybe a "grilled" steak will help the fever......... yumm with ton of grilled onions... and a baked sweet potato...

Rain and Bottes!

Michelle Kaufmann a eco-friendly architect and designer has the coolest rain chain to help direct the rain for your plants.

I got lost on her site with many ideas on outdoor and indoor fireplaces that are eco-friendly. Decorating ideas..

Then I see a blog on bottles used as building material. Filling up the plastic bottles with mud and using cement to hold them together. How cool is that? It is known that plastic takes thousands of years to decompose so this would be sturdy building! It's as strong as a blick building.  It is also being used in many areas of the world that are in a economical crisis. Jobs and affordable housing....... Sound like a good deal to me...   I have to keep this is mind for my shed is having some problems and many have to rebuild the back wall!!

The Give Love Foundation

The Give Love Foundation is something that I heard about from the wonderful actress Patricia Arquette.The Give Love Foundation is working  with displaced communities and Haitian partners to build container housing. They are using the shipping containers that the supplies are shipped over to Haiti

 Buy this beautiful necklace and all the processes go to the efforts of  Give Love Foundation. I should have had more than 2 girls... LOL I like that necklace but my finances right now are shaky.

Have you seen shipping  container housing?  It not like what you think. It can used to make some very different or very conventional. See many different prefab or container houses here. But the coolest one I saw on Planet Green . I forget the name of the show, sorry. But the house was a prefab house, that can easily be containers, and they over lapped that right in the middle of was a open area with a tree growing there. And outdoor living spaces even on the second floor. Like balconies off the bedrooms, dinning rooms, and living room...

Shipping containers have wooden floors, instillation, and are very waterproof. Windows can be added and modern appliances.  They first their green make-over as storage sheds.There are roughly 17 million  not in use!  But many architects and building designers saw a easy way to build house for less money while reusing materials. There seams to be a architect in many areas, from the West Coast to Japan.

I love the idea of the cabin. Think that could help many areas with a camping area for the girl  and boy scouts camps. Or even quick housing for places like Haiti. Where they need shelter fast.  Second homes in warm climates..... I could go on and on......

The average size is eight feet tall, eight feet wide and either 20 or 40 feet long but many times there number of containers placed together. They are place beside or on top of each other.  To help make the home that seller wants. There is even some free 3D CAD Design Software to help you if you want to explore this eco-friendly housing. Shipping Container House Plans 1.1

A low Impact house of my dreams

I want this house!!
The Hobbit House in Wales. The family build this house out of materials from the site and reclaimed goods from the rubbish pile. Trying to get of grid..........
Oh please go to the site and look around. They include the plans...
The only thing I would change is the composting toilet...... Not sure I can go all there

Still Bugs Me

I had to replace my windshield of my car. When I said something about the windshield becoming a new kitchen back splash or bathroom enclosure, the tech told me that it was going to the landfill...
WHAT?
My daughter told him wrong thing to say to her.........

Oh yea....

Guess Northeastern Ohio needs a glass recycling plant! What a waste that all that glass was just ending up in the landfill. His truck had many broken windshields plus a few new ones that would be replaced by the end of the day...... he tried to explain that there is plastics mixed in and that it wasn't easy to recycle. I just looked at him with this yea right look. I know I have seen products on Planet Green that where made from recycled glass including windshields from airplanes....

Then at work I notice that we recycle plastic and paper but not glass the easiest thing to recycle, there is less carbon footprint and it can be used for so many new things like new bottles...........

The closest I found to dealer that sell recycled glass tiles are Oceanside Glasstile at Virginia Title Co. in Warrensville Heights and Brooklyn Heights

Planet Green Idea CHPs

Combined Heat and Power system.... hummmm

they are about three times more efficient then fossil fuel. CHPs aren't emissions free (they run internal combustion engines with natural gas) but because they capture the heat produced by the power generation, they produce a lot more energy per ton of CO2 released. CO and nitrous oxides that are released is said to be that of your kitchen burner. They can heat the water and make electric at the same time. You can sell your unused electricity back to the grid. Plus if you add radiant heat you can lower your gas usage yea something to dream on..........
But then geothermal would cost $30,000
CHPs well one for my small house would be $13,000
Geo has problems with sanding soil or too much solid rock in some areas, plus the fact the house is already build may cause problems........ so I dream,

Japan has started to use these systems. Japanese government promotes them and they are in use in many factories, commercial buildings, restaurants, spas, hospitals, schools! Right now the states are focusing on commercial and industrial sites not the homeowner. But then again that is quite alot of money. Japanese business joined together to share the cost of improving the system. The gas company working with the equipment manufacturers. That would like Dominion East Ohio working with General Electric. They started big then moved to improve to help produce one for the home.
In my researching this area I have found out that Kent State University right in in Norhteastern Ohio is working on gas-fired electric generators (turbines) with heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) for the University. Great going! This project started in May of 2002... not sure where it has gone from there. I have learned that they capture about 55% of their steam needs. Not sure what are their steam needs but sounds great. Check it out.

Guess if it wasn't much more than replacing your heating system it would pay off in the long run, but not to just get to help the environment most of us couldn't afford. Like replacing your toilet with a low flush that will only run you around a hundred dollars. Maybe when you build your new house??