Broken Glass

Flat tires on my bike.  What a pain.  This past October I had two flat tires.  Here is the culprit in my flat tires, broken glass.  Once it gets a hold on my tire, it works it's way up through the tire.  When it gets thru the inside of the tire, it punctures the inner tube and the tire goes flat.  This glass seems to be everywhere along the sides of the roads that I ride to work on.

House Renovation Savings - geothermal heatpump payback

In the year 2010 we installed a geothermal heat pump, along with some other energy upgrades.  The upgrades we more attic insulation, blowing insulation into the walls, new cellar windows, cfl lights throughout.  I have been trying to quantify our savings using the new system.
I recently found an online calculator to help me.
Just using the geothermal upgrade, we have a 23% cost savings.
Including upgrades for insulation, cfl lights, and tightening the windows, we are estimated to have a 43% savings.
It has been hard for me to judge, with the varying weather and varying prices of electric and gas.  I know that we are paying less, but have not yet come up with a concrete number for how much less.

Bridge of Flowers

This Memorial Day weekend we visited the Bridge of Flowere, at Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.  The bridge was built as a trolley bridge in 1908, by 1928 the trolley was gone, and the bridge had become an eyesore.  The Sherburne Falls Women's Club sponsored a renaissance for the bridge, bringing in soil, and plants and fertilizer to plant the bridge.

Bicycle paths in Heidelberg Germany

My wife Ginny and I vacationed in Heidelberg, Germany this April.  I took some pictures of bicycle lanes.  Some lanes are next to traffic on the street, some are on the sidewalk.