Autumn moonlight–
a worm digs silently
into the chestnut.
October 2009
Monthly Archive
October 6, 2009
October 5, 2009
Nandulal has recently returned from 7 months in Iraq. He had finished his 4 years of active duty and was out of the Marines but then got involuntarily recalled for a year. He did training, went to the sandbox, came back to the US and did a couple of months in California before being released. He then spent a month camping in Yosemite National Park and attended Burning Man before returning to New Vrindaban to visit his mother.
He was in the last Marine unit in Iraq which has been scheduled for withdrawal. Once they leave there will be no more Marines in Iraq. His job was inventorying and scheduling for shipment equipment that had accumulated in Iraq since the invasion.
He now plans to attend college in California.
We invited him and his mother, Paramdhama, over for lunch. He said that in Iraq the mess halls were run by subcontractors who were mostly staffed by workers from India and Pakistan so that once a week they had Indian food day which wasn’t as good as NV cooking but still welcomed. He noted that also on his base were all the fast food franchises like Taco Bell, McDonalds and numerous others.
Besides some regular stuff including fresh garden produce we were able to offer him some things he had never had before like home grown bitter melon.
Just the day before I had gone out with Soma on a gathering mission. He knows where all the paw paw patches are in our part of the Ohio Valley are so we had hit one of those and I had come home with a bagful that I was able to share with Nandulal. He had never had those before.
Soma has also got permission to gather Chinese chestnuts on the grounds of a local tourist attraction, the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex where there is a 47′ (14 m) high Indian mound, one of many original ones in this area that Moundsville is named after. There is a museum there.
We had gathered 5 gallons(19 liters) of the Chinese chestnuts so we were able to roast some of those for Nandulal also.
Soma is really into food bearing tree planting and acquiring the knowledge needed for growing, harvesting, and preserving tree food crops. We have a dream of having 1000 fruit and nut trees planted in New Vrindaban over the next ten years so if devotees ever have to take shelter here we will have a good shot at feeding them.
Vegetable and grain planting can be ramped up as needed but the best time to plant trees is 20 years ago so we need to get started so 20 years from now there will be an abundance in New Vrindaban.
October 4, 2009
New Ford Vehicles Will Be Smart Grid Ready
Posted by Madhava Gosh under Cows and EnvironmentLeave a Comment
The American auto industry is undergoing a rapid transformation and Ford is leading the way. With new fuel and emissions standards announced by the Obama administration and the Department of Energy (DOE) awarding grants that promote the development of vehicle-to-grid infrastructure, 2009 has been a pivotal year.
Ford is moving forward with new Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) that will communicate directly with the smart grid through a smart meter. The cars deliver dramatic fuel economy improvements and reduced carbon emissions without sacrificing the driving experience.
Besides the PHEVs, Ford is also introducing new Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) to the market. BEVs run solely on battery power and Ford plans to introduce a BEV commercial van. In 2012, the company will introduce its next-generation HEV and a PHEV model that is smart grid ready.
Introducing cars to the nation’s highways that run on electricity instead of gasoline requires a transformation of the country’s infrastructure as well. Ford has been working with electric utilities throughout the US in anticipation of this future need. Recently, Ford’s vehicle-to-grid communications capability was introduced to the company’s utility partners at the world headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.
Ford’s PHEV are programmable, allowing drivers to determine when, for how long, and at what rate the battery should recharge. A driver could choose to program his car overnight, during off-peak hours, when rates are lowest or only when renewable power is available.
These specially equipped vehicles are able to communicate directly with the smart grid through a smart meter using secure wireless communications technology. The driver programs the car through a touch screen powered by an onboard computer. The technology is currently being tested in the Escape model in test programs run by Ford’s utility partners.
These utility partners have logged more than 75,000 miles on the hybrid test vehicles over the last two years. Ford is focusing on four major areas in its research: smart grid infrastructure, battery technology, vehicle systems, and on how customers interact with the vehicles.
“Electric vehicles are an important element of our strategy for improving fuel economy and reducing CO2 emissions,” said Bill Ford, Ford’s executive chairman. “This vehicle-to-grid communication technology is an important step in the journey toward the widespread commercialization of electric vehicles.”
Ford is researching on how to speed up the recharging process in a way that benefits customers the most. Consumers will be able to recharge the vehicles at home through a smart meter but there is still work to be done that will determine how consumers will charge their cars when they are away from home. Developments in this area are moving fast but it will be awhile before charging stations are found regularly.
Ford expects to put $14 billion towards making its products more fuel efficient and environmentally-friendly. Ford is using the money to convert two truck manufacturing plants into car manufacturing facilities. The company says it will create around 35,000 “green” engineering and manufacturing jobs also.
October 2, 2009
Ack! I am missing many days of posting. Due to (slowly) deteriorating medical condition I have had to add a new pharmaceutical to my protocol and there is an adjustment period so energy is down plus I was gone a few days plus when I had some energy I took on too many projects plus some other rationalizations. So here is a quickie plucked from an email Laxmi Honest sent me:
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.
My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.
My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.
So I asked, ‘Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!’
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, ‘The Law of the Garbage Truck.’
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.
As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they’ll dump it on you. Don’t take it personally.
Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.
Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so … Love the people who treat you right.
Pray for the ones who don’t.
Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!
Have a garbage-free day!
