The Future of 3D Printing?

I was thinking about Star Trek today, and gold pressed latinum. I was wondering why anything was rare in a universe with replicators when it hit me... the replicators aren't magic. They can't make something from nothing. What they do is kind of the same as the transporter and they take stuff from one place and arrange it properly 3d printer style somewhere else.

Now I'm not saying there's a ton of liquid Earl Grey tea kept at the perfect temperature.... more that the "recipes" for everything tell the replicator how to arrange the basic elements into what you ask for. That being said, if you don't have latinum (or gold), you just can't get the replicator to make gold pressed latinum. 

This led to thinking about huge blocks of carbon in a storage bay somewhere and the slow creeping realization that since they can sort atoms, there's no such thing as waste. All the carbon and nitrogen and hydrogen and oxygen in the air, or left over on the plates, or in the washrooms, are easily converted into tomorrow's birthday cake.

One thing I am still confused on is dilithium crystals. If they get overworked they get cracked... but why can't they break down the cracked one and replicate an un-cracked one? For that matter, why do away teams need to be rushed to the medical bay? Why can't they just be fixed by using their beaming down patterns as the recipe to rebuild on the way up? Infections and brain damage might not be do-able due to complexity but a giant hole in the gut? easy peasy. They might lose memory of those hours away but that's a small price to pay for not bleeding to death.

What do you think?

Non-Violent Communication Workshop

I was up til 5am listening to this workshop. There's some very interesting ideas here. 

If you don't have 3 hours, would you be willing to book mark it for later? 

There's also many ideas on the website.

When I post something people comment on in my blog I feel encouraged and enthusiastic because my needs for community and contribution are being met.  :)

Inspired and Hired

I found this five minute YouTube video. (Link to extended cut - 10 min version)

I was inspired.

So... I've started to learn yoga with the help of a good friend who's been teaching it for years. I have been practising at least once a week(not daily like I should but it's a start) and I'm honestly shocked how quickly my body is adapting and becoming more flexible/strong. I can touch my toes at the end of a session now.

I'm almost done training for the work-from-home call-center-type job and there is currently a man up my phone pole trying to hook up my new work line.

The final exam is a mock call scheduled for the 15th and my first shift is scheduled for the 17th. I'm a bit nervous but I'm also excited that I'll soon be earning an income again.

Yoghurt and Lessons Learned

So a few days ago I made yoghurt using THIS recipe I found on the Plastic-Free Life blog.

Fresh out of the Thermos. Still warm and smelled oddly like white glue.

After a few hours in the fridge. No longer smelled like glue but was weirdly watery.

Strained out some whey. Thicker and tasty! (bigger bowl)

Next day. Tasty and very creamy... with some weird bits.

I had a small bowl today and it's a lot creamier than the store yoghurt it was cultured from and reminds me of the fancy super creamy greek yoghurts. I think the weird bits may be scalded proteins and I think next time I do this I'm not going to boil the milk. Store milk is highly germ free after going through pasteurization so I'm not worried bad germs will take hold.

Success!

After two hours in the fridge straning out some of the whey, the yoghurt finaly started to resemble yoghurt! Because it finally looked right and smelled okay I was willing to taste test. It's definitely different than the store stuff that cultured it but it's also definitely YOGHURT! 

(I even got John to taste and make sure it wasn't just wishful thinking.)

Maybe Not So Cultured

Yesterday I made yoghurt using THIS recipe I found on the Plastic-Free Life blog.

I put everything together and set it aside to sit at 5pm and this is how it looks when I poured it out at 7am this morning.

It's lumpy and watery and kinda smells like white glue. Sooo... I'm straining some of the whey out to see if I can get a thicker, more... yoghurt-y yoghurt.
Updates to follow.

What sorts of things have you made from scratch? 

What sort of things would you like to?

Make Your Own

I don't usually send people to other blogs but I just read a post about how to make your own seasoning packets and I had to share. Self reliance by Jamie - Tis the seasonings

I knew you could make your own onion soup mix but I had assumed ranch dressing and taco seasoning would have ingredients I couldn't get a hold of.  **happy dance**

The Return of the Cat

Willow's twin, Gracie

There's been another new cat hanging around and I had assumed it was another like Dribble who had been left behind by students. It looked a lot like Willow and had a habit of napping on the neighbour's porch/yard.  A few days ago I found a missing cat poster in the local laundomat and called the number. I got "the voice mailbox you are calling has not been set up yet".

I tried again yesterday and it turned out to be a neighbour from down the street. She came right away and called her kitty over to her. They looked very happy to see each other again.

Or So It Plays In My Head

(cue terribly coloured scenery that was amazing in it's day)

Blogger: Can I believe my eyes? Why have you come back?

Visitor #1: Please, Miss. We've done what you told us. We followed your links, visited regularly for updates, and some of us have even left comments.

Blogger; Oh - you left comments, eh? Very resourceful!

Visitor #1: Yes, Miss. So we'd like you to keep up your end - if you please, Miss.

Blogger: Not so fast! Not so fast! I'll have to give the next post a little thought! Go away and come back tomorrow!

Visitor #1: Tomorrow! Oh, but I want pictures and updates now!

Visitor #2: You've had plenty of time already!

Visitor #3: Yeah!

Blogger: Do not arouse the wrath of the Great and Powerful Gardener! I said come back tomorrow!

Gave Blood

I gave blood and feel like crud. 

The nurses were awesome and everything... I just haven't been in a year and my body's complaining. 

No gardening today... didn't even water anything outside.

Lovely Lilacs and Warm Weather

Mom and lil sis visited town yesterday and we had a great time wandering all over. I took this picture of nice dark, beautifully scented Lilac bush near Talbot on King.

That's my mom's arm holding the branch still in the wind.

This weekend's supposed to be very warm with a bit of rain again.... and John has informed me that the Junebugs are out already. I've decided that since the pepper and tomato plants are getting crowded inside, they will be put outdoors this weekend even though they aren't planned to go out for one to two more weeks. (many pics to follow)

Anxious

• I'm awaiting word on sweetpotato slips from a seller since I can't seem to sprout my own
• I'm waiting for my mom to call so I know when I see her tomorrow(she lives 1 1/2 hrs away)
• I'm waiting for all the little green things in the garden to get big enough to ID as food or weed
• I'm waiting for someone to claim the stray cat that showed up in our neighbourhood last week
• I'm waiting for the salad greens to mature and start to look like leaves not sprouts.
• I'm waiting for various job posters to call me about my resume
• I'm waiting for the day's to get longer and warmer so I can get more into the garden

Walking on the Riverbed

Realizing I may not have another oportunity like this, I decided to walk along the river and see what there was to see. I started by Blackfriar's bridge and figured I'd walk along the edge to down-town.

Facing Blackfriar's Bridge

Facing Toward Down-town

Some industrious person made little stone towers.

I only got about this far before a mother goose in her nest hissed me away. At that point I decided it best to just turn around and go back.

Walking back I noticed something boxy in the river...

Closer inspection revealed it to be a printer! Unfortunately being full with river silt made it too heavy to lift.

The cement curb looking edge I was walking along when I came upon the goose nest is the normal water level for this river, and most springs the park on the other side gets flooded.... so by my non-measured guestimate, I'd say the  river is about 3-5 feet too low right now due to lack of winter snow.

Just Gone, Not Forgotten

Life has been keeping my mind busy with work/school/financial issues and I've been keeping busy(games, videos, reading sci-fi, stumbleupon) trying to avoid that stress load. Unfortunately gardening is new and requires leaving my comfy furniture... those alone put it in the stress category. As such I haven't planted anything new since the last update.

I'm going to work on training myself to see gardening as a distraction instead of a responsibility... but that might take a while.

P.S. I bought an aloe and had to up-pot it as it was already root-bound. This doesn't count as garden stuff because it's not food.

P.P.S. We went to home depot and got the poles for vertical supports but we haven't put them in yet.

P.P.P.S. We priced do-it-yourself and pre-made rain barrels. IT comes out about he same if you don't have access to free supplies for the do-it-yourself model. We're going to get between 1 and 3 rain barrels this summer.

One last thing... I have just updated the calender so it should be accurate now.

Happy Pi Day!

3.14159

Please forgive the delay

I've been trying to decide if the many thing I want to share belong on what I started as a garden blog, or if I want to start a second (or THIRD) blog. I don't want to over commit to writing because I'd run out of time to live a life worth writing about. Pics and proper posts comming soon.

Happy Holidays

Best wishes to you and yours during these festive days and throughout the comming year.

Took Willow to the Vet Today

I've been neglecting my blog because of a few things, one of which being Willow was ill.(the other reasons include scheduling tree pruning, and getting ready for the holidays)

Willow's vet appointment was today and it turns out her on-again/off-again chronic goopy eye and cough were caused by herpes(the cat variety). So now she's got four different medications to help her get through this flare up and might have to go on a long-term preventative medication but is otherwise okay.

Immune booster, antibiotics, eye drops, and airway clearer.

I'm very relieved it's not something life-threatening, or even life-changing. Mixing some meds into her morning wet food is a pittance of change when you think of all the things that could have been wrong. Thanks for understanding and we should be back to our regular programming in a few days.

Saw This In A Window Today