Location, location, location

What if you forget to put your phone on airplane mode before you take off and leave the location settings on?  Will Google ask you to rate the fluffiness of the cirronimbostratus clouds you flew through?  Is there a Elon Musk owned 4G LTE cell tower 130km above the surface of the earth that would offer free WiFi? 

Squatting, Jumping and Standing

Back in my Starting Strength routine after a bearded three week hiatus.  Standing at both my work desk and home office desk.  Can't get more than three double unders in a row.  Lots of crunching happening in right knee.

In my head, Oh Cecilia by Simon and Garfunkel.

Ways to Save Money around the House

It's become a chore rather than fun to post here everyday and this isn't a newsletter, so I'm changing the titles of posts to topical ones rather than calendar titles.

SWMBO mentioned a few weeks ago about someone who knows somebody else who retired early and it made me think about ERE and MMM.  So I bought Fisker's book on Amazon Kindle and have been reading more posts of (finally found out his name!) Mr. Peter Adeney.

Here are some ways that can save money around anyone's home:

1. Shower: don't use much if any soap.
2. Shave: Switch to a safety razor and save hundreds a year on blades.
3. Deodorant: Most deodorants list ingredients like a Chemistry 101 course.  Make your own out of coconut oil, baking soda and lavender oil.
4. Coffee: Don't go to Starbucks.  Buy a French Press, stove-top espresso pot or drip pot and a big Thermos to cart around your own.  Use the psychology of "I already have one of those at home." to not buy one in the drive thru.
5. Not Eating: Try intermittent fasting.  It's surprisingly simple to skip breakfast.
6. Eating: Make casseroles (yes, even men can bake casseroles) to have a huge batch of meals for a week at a time.  Make a meal plan.
7. Computers: Switch to Linux instead of Windows.  Applications are free and so is the OS.
8. Movies: Back up your DVDs with Handbrake.
9. Cars: Buy used and drive to they have undercarriage rust, no A/C and felt hanging down from the ceiling.  My last vehicle was a Dodge Dakota with around 117,000 miles on it that we sold for cash to buy a Toyota Prius.  Quadrupled my gas mileage.
10. Auto service: Find a local mechanic who charges less than the dealership or do the repairs yourself.  There is a hobby shop I go to and only have to pay for shop hours.

Basically the philosophy of the two life-style frugal expert bloggers above is that you don't have to accept what society thinks is the only approach to life's system processes but can find ways that are better for your wallet, the environment and your stress level.

IKEA standing desk

Standing desk from IKEA hack.

Boom.  No Ekby brackets or extra shelf used, but I do have some 50 cent brackets and an unused shelf from Home Depot if I decide to add some space.  Perhaps a hanging shelf underneath for pens.

Update: To get my elbows typing at closer to ninety degrees, added some Ekby brackets (fifty cents a piece) with a shelf cut from a board I bought from Home Depot almost a year ago that had been leaning against the wall in the garage.  Screws were random ones in a drawer in the garage and keyboard/mouse were given to me eleven years ago for free.

I roughly sanded the board with 60 grit and then 280 grit and rubbed some coconut oil on it.  I basically put coconut oil on any wood product or human skin I find lying around.

08 August 2016

IKEA hacking is great, except when you don't measure your existing table or don't have the style of computer in the standing desk example you find online.  Taking kids into IKEA without a strictly defined plan is tantamount to disaster.

To find the balance between (among?) Home Depot HDX shelves, Harbor Freight tool chests and IKEA DIY garage remodeling, I plan to next fins some pallets to make another workbench.

07 August 2016

Circadian rhythms are all messed up, with magnesium, zinc and melatonin battling for primacy.  I have a collection of cheap hotel soaps and shampoos that I plan to donate to the clean the world project.  I couldn't find a new Mach 3 handle so acquired three disposal Mach 3 systems, meaning they don't have the blade release button, forcing me to give more money to Gillette.  Steaming robust coffee sits with a blue mustache.

05 August 2016

The Frey family started the Turkey Hill mega-corporation that has been producing ice cream, milk, iced tea and other treats for eighty five years.  They also had a cider mill, but I believe their inherent Mennonite Christianity wouldn't let them start a brewery conglomerate.  

https://www.turkeyhill.com/about/history