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Recently, Barbara picked up a new clock for my nightstand.  It wasn't new-from-the-store, but it was new to me, and looks the same as any new-from-the-store clock would look one month after you took it out of its package.  The clock it replaced was purchased used and then donated to a charity.

January 13th, 2010

6:30 AM  Furnace comes on

6:45 Greg gets up for his shower, Barbara lingers in bed

7:15  I get up and raises the thermal curtains.  Then I call Byron for school.

Dear Mr. Scharfman,

Thank you for sending me the planning survey on Universal Paragon Corporation's plans to develop the Brisbane Baylands.  I was unable to complete the survey the first time it was sent out, and I am glad to have a second opportunity to participate.

I have a few comments on some specific items in the survey that were impossible to answer in the format provided.  I'd like to start with what I view is the most important question on the survey.

Greg really wanted our son to have a lawn to on play in the summer.  When we bring out the sprinkler in the summer for some relief on the hottest days, our back yard just turned into a mud bowl so he finally got me to agree on putting in grass.

Next to food, climate control is usually the next largest area of energy consumption.  This includes heating and air conditioning.  These are the things that keep us comfortable in our homes, workplaces, shopping mall, gym etc.

I don't know what I want for Christmas this year, but I'm starting my 2010 list early.  A few weeks ago I went and saw the Nissan Leaf at Nissan's "Zero Emissions Tour" in San Jose, and I must say I'm pretty excited about it.  It's been a long wait for an all-electric commuter car that can do more than my 80-mile round-trip jaunt to work without the price tag of a Tesla Roadster.  The Nissan Leaf, with an advertise

According to conventional wisdom, tracking the sun with solar panels took more energy than was gained by optimizing the angle to the sun -- or so I thought.  Meca Solar is selling solar trackers that they claim offer a 35% increase in yield over fixed installations.

Neat!

     - Greg

Like many Californians we shop at our local farmer's market, turn off the lights, maintain our home, buy recycled goods and commute.

My husband and I put all of our data into the Cool Climate Calculator and found we are doing really well for an American and even substantially better than the average Californian, but our commutes undid a lot of the CO2 we were saving in other areas.

Back in February, my sister sent me a link to the electric car company Miles EV.  On their website, they featured a 100+ mile range highway-speed fully-electric car with an estimated MSRP under $40,000 that they said would be ready to test drive sometime in August, and would be available for sale sometime early in 2010.  It is now gone from their website, which currently is only featuring a few small low-speed cars and trucks.

I cannot say what it is exactly that makes hanging clothes up on the line such a sublime experience but for me its true.    Gardening is very rewarding but often dirty and hard work and I dont really enjoy housework.  Yet hanging clothes in the cool morning air, watching the pearly steam rising from the warming clothes and listening to world f