On the Road Again...

So this is just a quick one, an attempt to get back at blogging. I finished my 6 months in Oregon and returned "home" for a brief visit and then it was on to my new location in central Illinois. It felt strange to leave Oregon; I had made a life and home there. Still, part of my new life necessitates the need to turn and walk away, and just appreciate the time you had.

I've been trying to have a healthier and more frugal life all around, as well as cut down how much plastic I have been using. I have to admit, while not as bad as going to Oregon, I found I had to leave/throw many things... plastics included... when I moved due to space considerations in my car. I will have to figure that one out. My ultimate goal would to be have one permanent "system" of items that all fit into my car and can travel with me, reducing the need to throw away and get new each time.

I did have one new challenge while on the road: produce less waste and spend less money. I'm terrible when I'm in my car- I live on soda, fast food, snacks... anything to make the miles go by easily. Not only is this terrible for my health, it increases my fatigue on the road and costs a TON of money. I set a goal to try and only eat 1 meal a day take out and to make this a salad. I packed all my snacks, breakfast, lunch, containers with me. It looked a lot like this...

The above items include:

• Vacuum seal thermos: These are awesome. Mine will keep coffee piping hot for 12 hours. I usually just filled this once a day at the hotel, but of course gas stations and coffee shops will fill them as well. Plastic waste: 0
• Life factory glass bottles: one of my favorite things. I have three and used them all. I kept them in a cooler with ice and refilled as needed at gas stations and hotels. I always offered to pay at gas stations, but they usually told me I didn't have to pay. Plastic waste: 0
• Celery and carrot sticks: for times I was just "munchy" but didn't want extra calories. Plastic: got one more use out of the containers, but yes these were disposed of in the end.
• Bread: I'm gonna miss Dave's bread in Illinois. (However, I can make my own now... more on that later.) This was used to make PB sandwiches. Plastic: the bread bag.
• Snacks: GORP/trail mix, wasabi peas, grapes. Plastic: I re-wash my plastic bags now and try use them sparingly.
• PB and J: for sandwiches. Plastic: 0
• Cheese: for a snack with the grape. Plastic: the wrappers and bag.
• MIO water enhancer: To wean myself from soda pop... and yes, I am able to resist soda with this. However, optimally, I want to switch to plain or lemon water, because MIO definately fits into the "NOT FOOD" category I want to get rid of. Plastic: the MIO bottle when I'm done, but an improvement over bottled pop/juice.

Other Items used not shown above:

• Cooler: Plastic, but I'm determined to keep track of it and get good use out of it. I got the old-fashioned, hard, durable red and white kind.
• Utensils: I just brought some from home in a cloth bag and washed them as needed at the hotel.
• Ice: Free from the hotels.
• Lindt dark Chocolate bars: In case I got a sweet tooth. I find Dark chocolates nip a sweet tooth in the butt, but they are a food I don't go crazy over. Plus the high-cocoa dark chocolates have some health benefits. Funny though, I only ate a bit of one bar... the trail mix kept me from reaching for sweets.

For my evening meal I got salads from McDonalds. I thought that I would go crazy if I didn't get one "real meal," but honestly I should have just packed that, too. They aren't very healthy, they're expensive, and they're wasteful. Also, after drive 12 hours a day... pretty much anything tastes good and you would rather get to the hotel sooner than waste time getting food. For some reason, cold food tastes good on the road. I think a cold pasta salad would pack great and would be just fine for the evenings. The ice in the cooler stayed all day and night (changed twice daily), so I have no concerns about it not staying cool. Plus most of my hotels had mini fridges. It was definately a success, and I would say I now prefer to travel like this. I felt better hydrated, more alert, and saved a ton of cash.

Other road successes:

• Pod casts
• Books on tape
• The Stooges.... the whole trip was pretty much an Iggy Pop love fest. One of the audiobooks was even on Iggy. I finally bought Metallic KO on the second day to "refresh" my music list.

So, that pretty much covers the road trip from Oregon to Illinois. I've been in Illinois a little less than a week, so I'm still just adjusting. More updates on my new place later!

Ramblin' On...

1,900 miles from Minnesota to Oregon. Part 1.

...And it looked a lot like this. I took a lot of photos on the road, but they really aren't worth posting. You would only wonder why I posted so many photos of the same stretch of road. This was not an interesting drive, at all. It took me three days to complete, and really, I would not do it in any less as a solo driver. I got up early each morning and averaged about 12 hours a day. I took plenty of breaks to avoid too much fatigue on the road.

This sign should be updated to "No sign of intelligent life next 81 miles." And at that 81st mile there was only a diner/gas station combo and one very unfortunate hobo.

These I just found fun to collect...

Beware of Bull

Beware of Pronghorn

Beware of goat (or donkey?)

Beware of Horse

Beware of Ram

Beware of Moo-Cow

Beware of Elk

Banjo was a model citizen the whole trip. He just snoozed the days away and thankfully would still sleep most of the night. I can't imagine doing the trip without him. My best friend through it all.

I lived for 2 months in a tiny Motel room. Nothing fancy inside and kinda trashy outside, but it worked. I had a TINY fridge (smaller than most mini fridges) and no kitchen, but I made it work.

I learned to cook a LOT of things on my camping Trangia stove. No fire alarms were ever set off (most likely due to dead batteries.) I am now a gourmet camp chef.

A Change of Heart... and Place.

Greetings from.... OREGON!

I'm sorry it has been so long. I never forgot about my blog, but it had to go on the back burner because of the long hours I was logging at my last job. I then changed jobs... because of the long hours I was logging at my last job. I just couldn't make it work there anymore, I won't blame the job or myself... we will just say that something was not working, and we will leave it at that. 

In an exciting turn of events, I took a travel job last October, with my first placement being in Oregon. When I came out here, I had no internet or functioning computer to blog with. Just last week I received my long awaited new computer, and I am hoping to resurrect Good Gestalt. I am so sad that I wasn't able to blog through this huge transition in my life... so you may see a series of posts about my travels and transition, because I want to record them for myself as well as share them with friends who read this blog.

So far I am loving my new life. It was a little scary packing up my car, dog, and driving 1,900 miles across country alone to a place I'd never been, but there was something deeply rewarding about it. I surprised myself. Sometimes I am still in awe that I had the guts to do it.

It also changed my perspective on what I want in life to a staggering degree. Before moving I was living in a house (rented) with my girlfriend. We painted, decorated, and quickly filled up the space with furniture, crafts, patio furniture, a grill. All of that went lock stock and barrel out of my life when I moved. My girlfriend moved to a smaller apartment, and I could only take what would fit in my car. All of my other possessions were given away or hauled out onto the lawn in one hug garage sale. 

It was strange. All these things that had soaked up my personal spending money now looked like a heap of cheap junk sitting in the yard. I then realized that all things lose there value in time and will someday be discarded. I took what at the time seemed wanted or necessary, but even that seemed to be weighing me down. Since then I've been trying to scrape down to a system of essentials that are needed, used, and cherished. I suspect this will be a subject of future postings. Minimalism apparently is a trend on the internet, so I used some of what I read for inspiration, but I don't really want to adopt a label or set of rules. I just have realized that I have been brash and reckless in acquiring things that I end up not using and just throwing away. With fewer things, life seems lighter, freer, and cleaning is much easier. Plus, there is that whole "gotta fit into my car when I leave," thing. When you move every three months, anything that is not used frequently quickly quires resentment.

So I pardon me a bit as I catch the blog up. As I've said before, the blog is always going to be a personal blog, so I do want to record some things that have passed, but you are all invited along for the ride. And the ride just got a bit more exciting....

How to Peel Garlic

This is a short post, but a good one. How do you peel garlic? Many people don't... they buy it pre-peeled because they don't want to waste their time on it. A few know to put a broad knife over a clove, give it a slight smack to loosen the paper-like wrapping, and then peel. In fact, that's how I did it for years. Then I learn this neat-o method.

Step 1. Break apart cloves in a head of garlic and put them in a bowl.



Step 2. Cover the bowl and shake the daylights out of it.



Step 3. Open the bowl to reveal all your garlic cloves have been peeled! Put the peeled cloves in the fridge to store.


I know... right?!?! Why is this not common knowledge?

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Location:5th St NE,Rochester,United States

Spinning Wheel Bliss

Rebel, rebel, represent... yeh, I got a spinning wheel. I couldn't help myself, I've been obsessing ever since I took spinning classes at Beelighted in Zumbrota, MN. It took a while to afford one. Despite dreams of a forlorn wheel someone would sell of cheap, there is really no such thing. Spinning wheels, even old ones, start at about $300.

The wheel I got (picture above) is a cheaper model by Kromski called the Prelude. It is a single drive wheel with Scotch tension. It comes with 2 extra spindles and a version of a built in Lazy Kate to ply yarns from. The wheel above is unfinished; if you follow the link to the Prelude site above, you will see it stained dark. Eventually I would like to do the same; the wheel looks fabulous dark.

Spinning isn't automatic or easy. At first it's a bit like rubbing you belly while you pat your head... there is a lot going on and hard to keep track of it all. I think I do well for a novice spinner, but I have a lot to learn still. Below is 2 ounces of 2-ply yarn that is Aran weight and made from wool roving. To make yarn, first you spin the yarn (clockwise) into a long, thin, "single ply" strand. Then, if you like, you take the two ends of the strand and spin ("ply" ...used as a verb here) them together (going counterclockwise). The end product is a 2 ply strand that is more like yarn you see in the store and generally more uniform than single ply yarn.

Hand spun yarn is more uniform and truer to weight the more experienced the spinner is, but it all has it nuances. Most knitters love the slight variations in hand spun yarn, many pay a premium for it. Spinning won't make you tons of money though, roving itself is costly and with labor on top of that. Most "expensive" hand spun yarns are modestly priced for the materials and the process. Those that do make money are usually starting with fiber produced on their own farms. But if you make it for yourself, chances are you really are doing it because you like spinning as much as knitting, and in the end you will save a little bit of money on the final yarns. (without counting the labor of spinning, fiber IS cheaper than yarn.) I do have visions of getting and Angora rabbit sometime in the future, though. Angoras have long fur that is a good fiber to spin and I have a background in raising and caring for rabbits. I definitely need to find a cute project for the yarn below... ideas welcome!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:5th St NE,Rochester,United States

And Spring gave Summer a miss...

So winter never really came and all of a sudden it seems we are in the middle of June here in Minnesota... very odd in deed. Usually sometime in March we get a "warm spell" of 30-40 degrees or so, just enough to give you hope. Then we are hit with more snow until late April.

But this year the snow never really came and, well, I was counting on a snowy March to finalize my garden plans. No such luck, so I find myself scrambling. We may get a frost yet... but it certainly won't be in May. So I finally find myself "behind" in starting plants that needed starting (tomatoes). Over the weekend I drafted up the page you see above for my square foot garden. It will have a trellis on one side for climbing plants. The idea behind square foot gardening is to plant very compactly, eliminating rows used in traditional gardens.  I ordered the seeds today...




...The order above is from seed saver's exchange in Iowa. There was also $6.00 shipping... so almost 30 bucks. Like most things, the garden is going to be the most costly this year (the first) because materials (and seeds) can hopefully be used next year.

My plan for the bed is to cut two 2"X12"x8' in half, giving a 4x4 bed. Each square you see above is 1 foot x 1 foot. I think plywood will work for the bottom, with some drainage holes. I am going to try raise it off the ground with cement blocks. Then comes the dirt, which I am not excited to see the price for... I expect that to be costly. Now I am not the most mechanical, but I am going to make it myself, or die trying ;).

So I started racking my brain with how much of everything to get, but I ended up deciding that I just wanted to take this as a learning experience, choose a few things I like, and go through the process this year. I can worry about what I want more of next year.

So the varieties I chose are as follows:

Carrots, St Valery See them here
Cucumber, Bushy OG http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=111(OG)
Pepper, Habenero Mustard (for Equah, will be in a separate pot) http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=1306
Swiss Chard, 5 color silverbeet http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=46(OG)
Bean, Black Valentine http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=201
Turnip, Purple Top White http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=201
Bell Pepper, King of the North http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=1343
Tomato, Cherry Roma http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=974
Tomato, Hillbilly Tomato Leaf http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=979

Really, these are chosen by nothing more than the online descriptions and whatever looked like fun to grow. I figured I could wrack my brain and spend hours studying something I knew nothing about, or I could give it a shot and learn as I go. I chose the latter. It's my first vegetable garden and I just want to have fun with it and get my hands dirty. I chose heirlooms, because I'm particularly attached to them. When given the chance I went for striking varieties that would be inspiring to grow. I will likely have stumbles along the way, but hopefully it will be somewhat successful. I also will have some potted herbs and hot peppers (I didn't want to try reaching over these to tend other plants). The seeds are ordered, and hopefully this weekend I will start some indoors and get the bed built. We will see, weekends get busy fast around here.

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Music on Monday: Trampled by Turtles

You would think I'd have been a long time fan... by all reasonable standards I should have been. I was living in Duluth around the time they first started getting noticed, and while living in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, I repeatedly read about them in City Pages and saw their disks at Cheapo in the Local section.

...But the fact is that Trampled by Turtles... well, it just screams crappy punk rock band. I'm sorry, the name is a bit clever, but I couldn't get over that I thought I knew what they were about... and I'm not really a punk rocker. Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of punk rock... but I really just can't be bothered to scrape through the local "scene" because, frankly, some punk rocker types bother me. Some are sweet as pie, and some make you feel like you're just got a snooty cheerleader as your lab partner.

And so I passed them by. BAD choice. They are an extremely excellent... bluegrass... band. Or folk, or whatever label you prefer. They are the type of band that could have gotten away with crappy song writing;  their instrumentation skill is enough to draw a crowd. The cherry on top is that they are indeed strong songwriters. And, oh boy, you must hear that fiddle player.

I missed my opportunity to see them in February, they were sold out by the time I got around to looking up tickets. But they hail from Duluth, as good Minnesota music should, and I'm sure I will find an excuse to visit them and take in the North Shore. I suggest you do the same.

Official website: http://trampledbyturtles.com/

You tube:
 Wait So Long
Victory
Where Is my Mind? (Pixies Cover)