Born As..And Is Now...

There is something to be said for the vivid imagination. Recycling comes in many forms. When you ask a person if they recycle they can answer in a hundred different ways, more specifically what it means to them. Some will say, oh yea, I put the newspapers out every week, or another will say, oh yea, all my leaves are in a pile out back. Still others will tell you that they wash all their cans and go to the recycling center every Saturday.

The kind of recycling I am referring to is the kind that takes something that was made and sold for one specific purpose and has found its way to another lifetime. For example, using shredded paper in the litter box instead of cat litter, using milk crates for the base of a desk top, using an old wooden screen door in the house instead of on the back door to allow for circulation, yet confining four legged creatures to a space in the house. Sheets double as furniture covers, and door hangings (substitute or temporary doors),old bookcases double as cupboards for dishes and vise verse. I had an old Rubber Maid laundry on-the-wall storage cabinet I took the back and bottom off of and used it to cover the doggy door to the outside in my back room, It is great! When I want to keep them in or out I just shut the cabinet doors. In winter keeping them closed keeps the snow out.

Plastic soda bottles with a few hole make great garden watering appliances, old crock pot inserts with a hole drilled in the bottom make great outdoor planters because they are heavy enough for keeping the plant upright in a rain storm. Cardboard boxes were the greatest toy ever invented for both the human child and feline. Old plastic quick microwave meal dishes make great cat and dog dishes.

Old mobile homes painted red equal barn for storage, and unroad worthy semi-trailer trailers equal storage. Old bunk bed under the mattress support pipes equal very nice plant supports. Old tent screen doors make nice replacement screens for windows and doors. I once used the blades off an old celling fan and attached them to a ford tractor generator and made a windmill to generate electric to run a night light.

It does not have to be fancy to do the job. You do have to be over the "gotta have it new" phase, and you have to be willing to hear the "wow, how did you come up with that?"

All these recycling projects will need a tool or two, always use the right tool for the job and use it for its intended purpose. Protect your eyes and ears if using power tools. You only have one set.

.....we're all in this together....

Deb

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Saving On The Electric Bill

I walked around the house the other day assessing what I have plugged in. I have been looking to get control of my electric bill. Some of my plug-ins are no brainers. The frig, and the water pump are necessities. Everything else is a want.

Keeping in mind that some things draw electric even if they are turned off; chargers for the electric drill and cell phone for example, as well as the microwave because mine has the LED clock. My printer, although in the saver mode must be drawing something for the on/off button to blink to let me know it is on power saver mode.

So I went around plug by plug and realized that I was being nickel and dimmed to death. Perhaps some of you are too.I went around and unplugged everything except the computers and the frig (the water pump is wired directly to the breaker box). I unplugged chargers, adapters, TVs, radio's, the dish box, the microwave, coffee maker, anything that might draw electric...or not.

What I discovered is that for the two dozen things I unplugged in a week I have plugged only maybe 6 back in and of the 6 I can unplug them every night before I go to bed, or after I am done using it. I have no idea what I was leaving all that other stuff plugged in for. Since when my electric was restored it blew up my larger TV I am using the portable TV and I am sure it uses less electric than the larger one.

All my clocks are now battery operated, and the alarm clock is a wind up. A little exercise never hurt anyone. I bought a solar flood light and it is mounted on my back door. I bought a set of the string solar yard lights and mounted the solar panel in the side of my back room, drilled a small hole in the wall and sent the wire through the wall, attached the lights in the back room so that at night I can see when I come home. I do not have to leave a light on for hours while I am gone at night. They do not give a 60 watt bright light, but you can see where you are going so you do not fall over the cat or dog trying to get into the house. Did you ever notice how the cat or dog looks at you when that happens?

Another thing I have started to do is go to bed when it gets dark. I know that sounds kind of mid evil but I find that I am getting a good nights sleep because I am going to bed at a reasonable hour and I am not up til 11pm with all the lights burning. In the winter it is a little impractical when it gets dark at 4:30pm, but as the farmer says's you gotta make hay when the sun is shining, aka. save the bucks when you can.

I wash all my clothes in cold water now. I found with the new laundry detergents out there washing in hot water in almost any case is a waste of energy. I also hang my clothes on a clothes line when ever possible and do laundry when the weather is fair. I also never do anything but a full load. The washer exerts the same amount of energy for a low load as it does for a full one and I am out to the the biggest bang for my buck.

I do not run the AC unless my indoor thermometer reads 90 degrees. I open the windows and run a fan when it is below that. I realize that there are people who may have a lower temp tolerance, but my point is know what you can tolerate and use it as a point of reference.

When it comes to my computer I do not always shut it completely down at night. Since I make my living on a computer I have a extensive amount of information on it and it can take up to 20 minutes for it to start up and load. Once or twice a week I take the plunge and shut it down to reboot, and when I do this I do it at night so it will be off all night. The monitors do get unplugged each night as well as the printer and other accessories.

With these changes I have gone from $150.00 a month to under $90.00 a month. Yes it is a little bit of work to remember to shut everything off at night, and yes there have been nights where I have crawled into bed, got comfortable, and almost asleep when I realize I left something plugged in. And yes I get up and go unplug it. I have gotten used to the extra cash in my pocket and I am not giving it up!

....we're all in this together

Deb


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Electric Is On

The electric service is now on in the house. I have to say as a company New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) sucks, their people however make up for it. The guys that worked on my pole were knowledgeable and accommodating. They did everything they could to minimize the time I would be without power.

I think this is a situation where the company does not know the value of customer service, or the people they have working for them. I watched a show on television once about where the President of the company takes a position with the people in his company. The employees have no idea who he is and he gets a good dose of what is going on in the ranks as well as the expectations his company has on the employees. He observes the customer orientation to his company in real time, unbuffered by suck-ups. I think this should be a federal law. I think every pencil pusher should have to perform a duty of their employees every year. I think companies would be run differently, customers would be treated differently and the world would be a better place for it.

So, that said I would like to thank the Employees of NYSEG at the Hammondsport, NY substation for all their help (Ed,Ron & Jeff), and wish Ed a happy retirement and God Speed. Your service to NYSEG, at least from my view has earned you your retirement for sure!

I would also like to thank Ed Hall, the Electrical Inspector for being so helpful and accommodating when it came to coming with lightening speed to inspect the service pole so I could get the electric turned back on as soon as possible.

Major thanks to my parents for helping with the cost of the project until I get the second job to pay them back because the job I have just does not allow for saving anything, and to my brother Ed for the time he took out of his Ice Distribution Business to help set the pole, and to Don Patone, who owns a local tree cutting business for stopping to help with wiring the service box. I would also like to thank Jerry at Empire Telephone for transfering the phone line on his way home from work,(I did not even call them, he saw it was going to need to be done and we had the pole in place and he took the initative to help without being asked...a service so appreciated but lost to so many companies!Hats off to Empire Telephone in Prattsburgh, NY!!!!!) and for the support at Empire afterwords to get my phone and internet up to speed. Thank you too to my employer and my co-workers for their support and understanding as they had to take up the slack for me in my absence.As it is said.......it takes a village.

Thanks again to everyone.

And as it goes..........
Deb