Recycled

Yes, you'll want vents every 10-12 feet around the foundation + black plastic vapor barrier on the dirt. The main concern around here isn't radon or sewer gas, but high moisture levels which promote fungal or insect damage. I've always drilled 8-10 perimeter holes and then chiseled out the center. If you rent a fairly beefy rotohammer, you should be able to knock out a vent hole in 30 minutes or so. Have a sawzall or grinder on hand to deal with any rebar you run into while chiseling.

Coming around a corner on Shuksan NF, looking up and seeing a few 4'x4'x4' blocks coming towards me very fast with only a quiet hiss on the snow. I would have wet myself if I weren't so dehydrated.

This is odd enough to post in spray rather than the usual for sale forum. I've used a stripped out boat in Seattle as a bivy spot a night or two per week for work. I'm working less in Seattle now, so I'm getting rid of the boat. If someone else is in my situation (i.e. working or visiting Seattle on a part time basis), this is a cool way to have a place to crash for now a lot of $. The marina has showers and laundry. Full time live-aboard is not an option here. I'll pass this on to a CC'er for less than the listed price or may be interested in barter for boat work. http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/boa/747819141.html Now y'all can make fun of my boat. This IS spray, after all.

Some ideas: (1) Do the PCT from Harts Pass to Rainy Pass: hard to beat this if you're avoiding a lot of elevation gain, but still want to ridge run in the Alpine. (2) Go to Copper Ridge off Hannegan Pass. Normally this is a good loop trip, but that would involve dropping down to the Chilliwack river and up again. If you don't want to do that, just run the ridge out to the lookout and back. (3) If you have a 4x4, go up to Twin Lakes off the Mt. Baker Highway, then camp out at High Pass and do a couple day trips from there (Larrabee, etc.) Sounds like fun!

I take a different read on this. After decades of free Corps of Engineers work for the sugar industry, along with high tariffs and setting an artificially high US price for sugar, why the hell should any taxpayer actually pay a dime much less than $1.75 BILLION to stop the gravy train. If our legislators had their heads out of their asses, they would just cut off COE support, remove import tariffs and let the US sugar business fail on its own. It could then go in and restore the Everglades to its hearts desire. I think the taxpayers were just sucker-punched by a backroom deal and folks are just eating up the spin. My, I'm grumpy today.

Speaking of booms. This is one of my kid's favorite liveleak vids. Watch to the end to get the rocket fuel plant explosion. Truely amazing. The sound of the shockwave coming would probably make me fill my pants. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3ea_1177022855

$1.2 billion up in smoke. It's hard to believe that the pilots were able to eject at that altitude without injuries. I saw a B-2 flying around Mt. Baker up close a few years ago and couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was very strange looking. It must have been in town for the Abbotsford air show.

There's a hell of a lot of cowering going on there. Very un-Russian!

If anyone needs a ride from B'ham southside/Fairhaven, shoot me a PM with your phone # and I'll call you back around 5:00 to make arrangements. - Jeff

I spell it relief.

Yup, $30 or so in meth money per converter. Mostly a problem for SUVs and trucks as it is too much hassle to get under a car. Some converters in B'ham have been ripped in the mall parking lot. Oh, and don't forget those aluminum rims. They're pretty quick to steal too whether for the metal or for resale on Craigslist.

Welcome to CC Mazegirl. A bit different from ClubTread, eh? I'm curious about what you think about the policy of self-determination and how it applies in Tibet, Taiwan, Quebec, Hawaii, Kosovo? Do you believe that all people should be able to freely and democratically choose their governance (without loading the dice by having "settlers" shipped in) or does nationalism trump regional desires? It's a complicated question, but it underlines that discussions based on who ruled whom 500 years ago should pretty much irrelevant. I don't see much of that issue addressed in the propaganda - those materials seem to focus much more on ownership. Unsurprising, really.

You've got your own virus to worry about: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080509/wl_canada_nm/canada_train_col

I seem to run into a lot of bears - probably because I always scramble solo and don't make much noise. It seems like I run into one or more bears every time I go up towards Hannegan Pass, Cascade Pass, Cheam Peak and the Rexford area. I've probably see about 50 in the past 10 years, but no "encounters." I pretty sure I saw a griz North of Harts Pass. It had all the signs (claws visible from 200 yards, hump, dish face, size) from a distance. It was ripping apart a meadow and I saw some hikers pass unawares about 50 feet from it. It didn't even look up. Moose can be very scary. Our family got trapped on a finger dock at a lake in Homer last year by a crazed moose. We were at least a couple hundred feet from it when it went apeshit. Flying plate-sized feet, bucking, snorting, etc. It saw us and starting coming toward us. Luckily a float plane took off behind us and it went the other way. The best we can figure out is that it bumbled into a wasp nest, got stung, and the first thing it saw was us.

NUTS! The only day I'm NOT in Seattle this week. Hope y'all had fun!

I've never had any problems with ASTM commercial BD. Most problems historically from home-brew by non-chemist hippies. They think it's really cool to make your own fuel (and it is), but they underestimate the complexity of producing clean fuel from variable feedstocks.

Biondiesel IS more than diesel. BD was $5.15/gallon in B'ham yesterday, vs. about $4.60 for diesel. Don't confuse ethanol with BD. BD can be made from either food or non-food oils and has tradionally been made from off-spec food oils and recovered grease. That is [termporarily?] changing in response to demand, but I expect the shift away from food oils sooner rather than later. That's far different than the corn/ethanol bullshit that's going on in the US.

I personally have not had a tank problem, but then again I was cautious and changed my fuel filters at half the standard interval for the first 20k miles or so. When I had known funky tanks (on a boat), I replaced the tanks before using BD. The fleet companies that I've worked with on BD issues have had some problems but it almost always goes back to not watching fuel filters. I've run BD in rabbits and mercedes (BAD, I know), a 1998 TDI, our two 2004 TDIs with the PD engines, and my F250 with a 7.3 engine. The VW TDIs come ready to run BD - I've never had to replace hoses on them, but you'll be on your own if there are warrenty issues. That was a risk I am willing to take and there have been no problems. I usually run 100% March-October, then 50% November-December to avoid gelling. Also, Wikipedia actually has a very good piece on BD.

I've used BD for about 5 years now. There are pros and cons. The main pro is that it is the only sustainable fuel you can get, except that now you have to pay attention to where it comes from. The folks in their Priuses can't get away from the fact that they are still using gasoline with all the attendant toxic emission, efficiency, climate change (dumping sequestered carbon), foreign policy and other issues. However,.... on the con side, you have to pay attention to blends in the winter, it's more expensive, fewer BTUs per gallon and you have to be really careful using it with old fuel tanks as it will act as a solvent and release a lot of crude. There's been a lot of sometimes justified bitching about biofuels lately. For example, turning corn into ethanol is nonsense. Biodiesel is under criticism for supporting the development of new palm plantations and GMO soybeans, but I think that is a transitory problem. BD has been an emerging technology and unfortunately the soy lobby has been in the driver's seat in North Amercia. Once we shift to algae production, it will make a lot more sense. Nevertheless, I still support the use of BD, as we need to build demand to the point where it makes sense to shift investment into more effective production. That is finally happening. Oh, and there is no "conversion" necessary to use BD. You can use it in any % with diesel. The main issue will be tank cleanout and having to watch/replace rubber hoses as they degrade. The other side issue is that I believe it is only responsible to get a modern (mid-90s up) diesel to burn the BD. Older diesel vehicles are awful and you are doing the world no favors using BD if you are sending it up in clouds behind your 80s Mercedes, Rabbit or Truck. Your intended use also matters. If you run a car like an inner-city taxi, I believe the balance would argue for a hybrid, even with gasoline. If you run mosly long-distance over-the-road mileage, the diesel will make more sense.

I'd vote for Natalie over Clinton any day.

It would suck to be the son. Talk about a prime target - probably as much so as a British royal.

I disagree. Someone posted early that if you don’t convert to Islam than you were put to death. Uh….not so peaceful. Well, to be fair, I believe the Crusaders did the same at the time. Christianity appears to have moved past that, but not necessarily some adherents of Islam.

An interesting "german" perspective: http://justlearningman.wordpress.com/2008/01/15/a-germans-point-of-view-on-islam/

One of my points was that almost any religion/cult/movement has its "fundamentalists." It's up to the majority of moderate adherents to speak up about the excesses of the wingnuts. I haven't heard of that happening to any significant degree w.r.t Islam. I get the distinct impression that the silent assent is a serious problem, whether it's Islam or any other religion (e.g. Morman, Evangelical Christian, etc.). If there's an Islamic groundswell to shut them down, please enlighten me. It's seems to me that it's more common to hear about how we need to change our ways, be more tolerant and stop this nasty free speech thing.

It seems to me that Islam really is different than other religions and that is the source of the friction. As I understand it, the Koran is the direct word of god, as passed on by an angel and recorded by Muhammad and his followers. The Christian hedge of picking and choosing which bible verses to consider currently relevant is not an option in Islam. The Koran is the word of god and is his direct command. Islam is a very effective viral religion. It was a millennia ago and it still is. You’re either one of them via birth or conversion or you are to be destroyed. That worked in tribal times and seems to be the view of many now. I understand that there are many complex nationalistic and tribal aspects to fundamentalism, but it doesn’t seem accurate to simply write off fundamentalists as a subset of a larger peaceful religion. Either you believe the word of god or you don’t. The fundamentalists do, and take it seriously. I have not heard a groundswell of muslim outrage over the excesses of the fundamentalists. Are they marching in the streets, castigating hate-spewing imans, shunning followers and cutting off financing for fundamentalists? Not that I can see. Until the moderate followers explain which “words of god” in the Koran should be ignored and why, and start to counter their fellow religionists, I have a hard time digesting muslim outrage over the movie. Although the movie is very one-sided, perhaps they could enlighten us about why most of the recent world terrorism events (specific targeting of civilians through suicide and other bombs) seem to be muslim-originated.