Gardening is a trick of The Devil
Bright and early 9am. 90 outside already. Looking out over the sparse grass that's slowly replacing the oil stains, the caliche' and the weeds that were shoulder high when we moved in to this house, I spot the patch.
Came up with an idea a week or so ago. Save all the lawn clippings from the front yard, which is pretty well off these days, and bury them about 8-12 inches below the areas I want grass to grow. I put about another 4 inches of dirt back on the top of that, water it down, and then place the grass that has decided it's going to grow all over the damned east garden on that base.
Cover that up, throw down a bit more of the clippings, and water again. I'll have to do it tonight also, because this sun out here will bake water out in a matter of hours to a depth of 6 inches, if the dirt isn't packed hard.
And thats just the grass; the broccoli, cauliflower (now deceased) tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupes, squash, beans, and lettuce all have been even more trouble. Digging out the ground, mixing in mulch and manure.Building shade structures to avoid these plants simply being cooked right in the dirt. Farmers and such out here water 4 times a day. If you have a job, you have to get a bit more creative battling the sun.
It also doesnt help that the seeds and seedlings are all shipped out of Georgia for the most part, haveing been developed in a climate that has an average 35% humidity and a top out tempature average of 95. Anything that survives this year, I'm saving a portion for next years seeding
I wonder why I'm even bothering with any of this. We don't own the property. I don't even enjoy the process that much. I like the bucket structures for the tomatoes I built, but that's because it was simple, efficient, and will return the investment in terms of food costs. The rest of these projects are just a huge pain in the ass. I did a cost out, and not including the tomater bukkits, we have spent about $450.00 to grow a pitiful amount of food. Well, watermelons are going to be plentiful, so much so that I will have to be giving them away to avoid them rotting on the ground. Maybe I'll buy a sombrero and sell em on the side of the road come August.
The tomater bukkits, on the other hand, should yield about 15 lbs each, and we have 6. I eat more sandwiches than Elvis, and she's one of those Italians that likes to throw a tomatoe in the jars of ketchup(err.. sauce) she buys at the store. Lot of salads, and just fresh tomatoes are good. We can use about half of the haul just ourselves in our own kitchen. The rest of the family will take the rest I'm sure.
Enough about my exciting garden.
Currently I'm reading "We the Living" by everyones favorite self centered drama queen, Ayn Rand.
In chapter 8, the description of Leo's search for work is astoundingly accurate in it's portrayal of todays job mareket. Be as capable as you want, but if you lack ass scratching as a major skill, you can hang up any hope of landing the job, or keeping it if you do.
Also, "Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons" Interesting fellow. Invented the solid state fuel systems for most of our space program all the way up to the Space Shuttle. Happened to be an occultist as well, and never held any degree, though he headed up several companies, and research programs at Cal Tech. The occult crap is a bit off putting, but overall, a very unique individual, and a man of talent.
Reading a few other Sci-Fi books as well,mostly classic stuff like R is for Rocket, and a few trips into old Mid 70's Analog/Isacc Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. L.E. Modesitt has a great title called "Flash", great in the idea's and speculation on future condition, I did find the character development a bit lacking, and the plot seemed designed to try and attract the "guns and boobies" section of sci-fi.
I think she would have been better served exploring possible plot development based more fully on the concepts of tonal ownership by corporations, and so on, rather than adding the pomp of a rescue of/by A.I., an idea done many times. Most notably, By Robert Heinlein, in "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" If anyone knows of an earlier usage of a randomly occuring A.I. used as a pivotal character in a novel, or even short story that pre-dates this, please let me know.
Please do not include A.I. that are created by man, or from "awakened" robots, as I feel this is a different story type as compared to the naturally occurring development of sentience in a system not designed to house an intelligence.
Came up with an idea a week or so ago. Save all the lawn clippings from the front yard, which is pretty well off these days, and bury them about 8-12 inches below the areas I want grass to grow. I put about another 4 inches of dirt back on the top of that, water it down, and then place the grass that has decided it's going to grow all over the damned east garden on that base.
Cover that up, throw down a bit more of the clippings, and water again. I'll have to do it tonight also, because this sun out here will bake water out in a matter of hours to a depth of 6 inches, if the dirt isn't packed hard.
And thats just the grass; the broccoli, cauliflower (now deceased) tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupes, squash, beans, and lettuce all have been even more trouble. Digging out the ground, mixing in mulch and manure.Building shade structures to avoid these plants simply being cooked right in the dirt. Farmers and such out here water 4 times a day. If you have a job, you have to get a bit more creative battling the sun.
It also doesnt help that the seeds and seedlings are all shipped out of Georgia for the most part, haveing been developed in a climate that has an average 35% humidity and a top out tempature average of 95. Anything that survives this year, I'm saving a portion for next years seeding
I wonder why I'm even bothering with any of this. We don't own the property. I don't even enjoy the process that much. I like the bucket structures for the tomatoes I built, but that's because it was simple, efficient, and will return the investment in terms of food costs. The rest of these projects are just a huge pain in the ass. I did a cost out, and not including the tomater bukkits, we have spent about $450.00 to grow a pitiful amount of food. Well, watermelons are going to be plentiful, so much so that I will have to be giving them away to avoid them rotting on the ground. Maybe I'll buy a sombrero and sell em on the side of the road come August.
The tomater bukkits, on the other hand, should yield about 15 lbs each, and we have 6. I eat more sandwiches than Elvis, and she's one of those Italians that likes to throw a tomatoe in the jars of ketchup(err.. sauce) she buys at the store. Lot of salads, and just fresh tomatoes are good. We can use about half of the haul just ourselves in our own kitchen. The rest of the family will take the rest I'm sure.
Enough about my exciting garden.
Currently I'm reading "We the Living" by everyones favorite self centered drama queen, Ayn Rand.
In chapter 8, the description of Leo's search for work is astoundingly accurate in it's portrayal of todays job mareket. Be as capable as you want, but if you lack ass scratching as a major skill, you can hang up any hope of landing the job, or keeping it if you do.
Also, "Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons" Interesting fellow. Invented the solid state fuel systems for most of our space program all the way up to the Space Shuttle. Happened to be an occultist as well, and never held any degree, though he headed up several companies, and research programs at Cal Tech. The occult crap is a bit off putting, but overall, a very unique individual, and a man of talent.
Reading a few other Sci-Fi books as well,mostly classic stuff like R is for Rocket, and a few trips into old Mid 70's Analog/Isacc Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. L.E. Modesitt has a great title called "Flash", great in the idea's and speculation on future condition, I did find the character development a bit lacking, and the plot seemed designed to try and attract the "guns and boobies" section of sci-fi.
I think she would have been better served exploring possible plot development based more fully on the concepts of tonal ownership by corporations, and so on, rather than adding the pomp of a rescue of/by A.I., an idea done many times. Most notably, By Robert Heinlein, in "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" If anyone knows of an earlier usage of a randomly occuring A.I. used as a pivotal character in a novel, or even short story that pre-dates this, please let me know.
Please do not include A.I. that are created by man, or from "awakened" robots, as I feel this is a different story type as compared to the naturally occurring development of sentience in a system not designed to house an intelligence.