Every three months I telephone my favourite handyman and arrange for him to come and do a day's work around the property. Over the preceding months I collect a list of the things that need repairing or replacing or servicing. I really enjoy the result when all those annoying little problems disappear; I even feel virtuous despite having done nothing beyond making a telephone call and communicating a list of problems. Whatever floats your boat I guess! Just recently,...
Read More
Two friends regularly send me articles and links to websites about climate change. Independently of these friends, I have long subscribed to the Alternative Technology Association's Renew magazine. Many Renew stories are about home innovation, with a smattering of policy analysis on the broader implications of new technologies. A few days ago the two sources merged in a very interesting article by Alan Pears, a favorite Renew analyst. His article, written for the blog One Step Off the Grid, calls for 'voluntary...
Read More
I'm sorry I had to delay this post by a week but we offered to take a 'quick' road trip to Darwin, a total of 3,634 kms according to Google maps! The task at hand was to deliver our nephew's car to him and then fly home. Definitely not a low carbon trip but a trip of kilometer after kilometer of truly stunning landscapes, that I hadn't seen before. In the week prior to our Darwin...
Read More