Back problems! Debilitating!

Almost 10 days … not crippling, but very distracting. Impossible to concentrate.

The current situation is something I’m trying to look at as an opportunity to much more time improving myself. More meditation, try to work out more, get my body back in shape (once my back is ok 😊), and learn, learn, learn.

I haven’t been able to do many courses online with my back pain issues, but I did find a series on residential electrical wiring on the YouTube channel of TheEngineeringMindset.com … Really well-done set of videos. Relearned a lot of electrical basics. I suspect most of my readers aren’t that into this stuff but still … very worthwhile if one has even the slightest interest. Just search on YouTube for Engineering Mindset.

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I apologize in advance for the following rant but I couldn’t help myself.

I always say that I’m very rarely surprised by the stupidity of politicians. But the actions of most politicians these days, especially he who shall not be named in the White House, are straining my credulity.

The issue is that politicians are inherently incapable of being able to deal with a situation like this. They are short term thinkers whose world views revolve around re-election and deal making. In the first place almost none of them have any scientific background. In the second place, the vast majority are more concerned with getting reelected than with dealing with the crisis. And as a result, they spend the majority of the time trying to abrogate responsibility for decisions that will be unpopular with the voters. They simply don’t have any idea to deal with a virus that could give a rat’s ass about ‘spin’.

I saw the mayor of Las Vegas being interviewed by Anderson Cooper of CNN just recently about the possibility of reopening Las Vegas for business (read ‘get the casinos back online’). In the 10 minutes that I was able to stomach, I lost all respect both for the mayor and, unfortunately, Anderson Cooper. What a pathetic interview. However, bad as it was, it still offered the mayor adequate time to reveal her cupidity and sheer ignorance of science. The one thing that I thought was funny, was that I have taken courses on informal logic. And part of those courses is being able to spot logical fallacies in arguments. I am proud to say that the lessons took, because I was able to spot most of those logical fallacies (and name them) in the few brief minutes that I had to listen to the idiot mayor of Las Vegas. Red herring, straw man, circular arguments, etc.  … she committed most of them.

One of the few bright spots, possibly, from this pandemic, is that I hope the majority of politicians have their reputations absolutely in tatters before it finishes, and the voters and/or people crucify them accordingly.

I have always realized how important scientific knowledge is. But the current crisis is making it blindingly obvious how badly educated most of the world is when it comes to basic science. I just don’t know how strongly I can emphasize that educating your children, each other, and yourself on critical thinking and fundamental scientific knowledge, is paramount in today’s world.

I can only shake my head at the following quote from a major news source (I watched the video clip, painful as it was to see such blatant stupidity on public display ; “At an April 23 press briefing, President Donald Trump mused about the possibility of using “very powerful light” and injecting disinfectant into the body to kill COVID-19 – a suggestion that, in the case of disinfectant, was roundly criticized by experts as dangerous.”

Seriously? His later claim that he was being sarcastic is indefensible. He is the leader of the most powerful nation on earth. He had better BLOODY well BE careful about what he says! My sad conclusion is that he is utterly clueless about anything except how to use social media feeds and self-aggrandizement.

Enough wasting time and energy on idiots … on to more pleasant topics … :-)

Okay. Getting away from stupidity, cupidity, and other subjects of that ilk, I had an interesting idea the other day, at least to me, about my potential house.

In the name of minimalism and flexibility, I could not see any reason to build a house with any more than the bare minimum of walls and built-in fixtures or cabinets of any type.

First precept: Passive

Build a Passive House Plus rated shell. I.e. Well sealed building envelope that requires little, if any, energy cost to keep it at a comfortable temperature year round. The ‘Plus’ refers to using sustainable energy sources such as solar, wind, or geo-thermal to generate more energy than you use. Use of insulated foundations and walls, triple glazed windows, and orienting the building to the path of the sun are techniques that are used here. Shell costs run $50 - $80/ft2. Fabricate all components off site as much as possible so as to simply ‘assemble’ the house on site.

Second precept: Open Plan

Open plan house to greatest extent possible. There would be separate room for the bathrooms of course, but the rest of the building is open space. Screens for are separation.

Third precept: Stay Flexible, Minimal, Movable

Almost all interior furnishings and cabinetry are mobile. I.e. furniture that you could in place within the house where and as you like. Obviously, the toilets, showers, and sinks would have to be fixed.

But everything else, including cooking appliances and storage cabinets could all be along the lines of butcher block tables on wheels, or industrial stainless-steel shelving. The sole exception might be, at least for the kitchen, is some sort of a range hood. That might have to be fixed. For cooking I would just use an induction cook-top, microwave, and a counter mounted convection oven for baking if needed. Build a large induction cook-top into a rolling butcher block that one rolls into place under a built in range hood. And the microwave and convection ovens just rest on another rolling butcher block table.

And I found some beautiful stuff that would be able to outfit a house. This is all based on a very minimal outlook. Rolling shelves for all pantry items. Portable butcher block tables and possibly some shelves on top for a minimal set of cooking implements and utensils. Keep the flatware on some of the rolling stainless steel shelving units that I show in the pictures. A simple dining room table that can be moved with chairs. A movable clothing wardrobe. A simple bed unit. A large communal size butcher block table for eating, meetings, drawing, etc. Anyway – that is my thinking so far.

Another advantage with the movable furniture concept is simply buy what you need to start, then add extra units whenever the need arises.

And another thought. Maybe put some rails on the walls where one could hang cupboard units … As in the picture below. Since the walls will be heavy duty Mass Timber Panels, it would be easy to install steel rails that could safely take the weight of a laden cupboard unit. Although I don’t like doors on cupboards. I want them all open so I can see all contents all the time.