its ours, post tour

ITS OURS
its ours so we need to take care of it
its the only one we have
except
i hear theres one maybe several generations away
in the far bounds of the solar system

we can rule out going there any time soon

we all of us are gradually destroying this earth
the only one we have
thats not replaceable

some countries are doing it faster than others
we in america did our fair share of destroying it
in the past

we are better but still have a long way to go

i went on line at this link www.earthday.org
and
i calculated my foot print

now im a pretty green person
collect rainwater
generate 40% of our electricity with solar
use as much energy saver appliances and techniques i can
drive cars that get 35-38 mpg
generate only 2 trash bags of trash a  month
the rest plastics glass metal metal cans cardboard paper are
all recycled
produce a lot of my own vegetables
and
of course eggs

i am one of the good guys very pro earth
and
i went to the website to calculate my foot print

it would take 4.6 earths to support the world if they all
lived like i do
hate to see what it would be like for someone who didnt care

it would take 20.6 global acres of this earth to support
my lifestyle

well i do have 10 acres here at the country n

so its our planet
only we can save it for our kids

this needs to be apolitical
i do like eg the way the hunters and fishing organization try to
protect the environment
they know the things they like to do for recreation will go away
if its not taken care of

so
lets all save this earth
we dont have another one

POST TOUR
well we did the funky chicken
tour that is

the first stop was at the sunshine gardens
where people can rent space lots to do gardening
there just seemed to be hundreds of them

we poised in front of the portable chicken coup that
was to be raffled off
we were hoping the couple i and s would win the coop

i could have stayed there all day

then there was this interesting space ship one
the hens lay at the top
the little girl was looking underneath at one of the hens
i was looking at the laying boxes

my wife she and i enjoyed this site
it showed we had a bliss of a day
she of course liked it for the big chicken in the front yard

mobile loafs and fishes
this is the place where we spent the longest time

i asked a lot of questions of this poor volunteer
as she seemed to be the brains behind their chicken operation

i really loved this rainwater collection tank
i even hugged it a little
if you have a rainwater tank you understand

its made of ferrocement and wire
it holds about 800 gallons
the water will be used for the chickens and for the garden

then i managed to catch the volunteer gardener
asked him more questions than i did the chicken lady

here is a hugelkultur garden they planted
these are built and are used as a fence around the gardens
logs in the bottom
then leaves newspapers grass clippings  compost dirt
greens and browns greens and browns
note all my garden beds have been made using this method
all the produce from the garden the chicken eggs are used
to feed the homeless

the most impressive of the 14 sites
well maybe the 1st one was that good also

best tour of the many we have been on

learned a lot again
about gardening chickenering composting rainwater
and
caring for our earth
and
its humanity

the organicgreen earth day doctor

rain water heaven, however dont drown turn around

RAIN WATER HEAVEN
i am in heaven
thats rain water heaven
if you are  are a rain water connoisseur then you
know exactly what i mean

we got over 5 inches of rain here last night
i knew when i got up this morning that we
had got enough rain to fill up my tanks
i knew because i could hear the roar of the
river a quarter of a mile from our house

(little did i know that that river almost made a
devastating capture of several lives-see below)

when i went out to look at my tanks i was so
excited
for there was water oozing from the overflow pipes
on every one of my water tanks
that means they are full and cant hold no more

since we have put in all of my tanks and have had
them properly hooked up they have not all been
full before
at least not since we entered the drought

my calculations are that we have about 15 months of
water left without any rain
surely there could not be a drought that bad

heck even the lakes are expected to rise a few feet
with this rain as this time it fell in the right places

then it dawned on me that if it rained again that
i would not capture any of the rain and it would
just run off into the landscape and into that
cave under our property i always dream about

if you are a rain water connoisseur then you know
what this picture is all about

HOWEVER DONT DROWN TURN AROUND
we see this all the time and hear it on tv all the time
dont drown turn around
but people dont listen

my wife she and i understand that urge to not turn around
but we have decided that we will always stand up to
that urge

here is  a low water area on the highway near our house
(those of you who know where we live its the area between
the white country church and the entry to the cemetery)

its the one that has prevented my wife she and i from
going to work sometimes
yesterday it prevented my wife she from going to work

here is picture of the water level sign
see that piece of debris at 4 feet
thats where the water level went to last night

sometime at about 100 am a mother and her three kids
were driving down the road and hit this water
(dont know if they had the barrier up yet)

guess i cant be critical of her for going through there
it was stormy lightning and raining hard
she probably couldnt see where she was going
(early on they dont put up the barriers)
those of us who live out here know not to drive there
when it rains hard
she didnt know as she was from a city 3 hours away

once it rained hard one night for a few hours
i for some reason did not realize it had rained that much
and took off to work in my small car
as i drove through this area i did not see the water on the
road as it was dark
when i hit the water i felt my car momentarily
start to float then
my front wheels hit the pavement and gripped and
pulled me forward
i had a moment of terror hit me
you know you sweat and your heart rate goes up

i can not imagine the horror that that mom and her 3 kids
felt as the water swept them off the road and down the
creek now a raging river spinning around for 3 quarters of
a mile to get lodged against two trees
the car a small suv took in water up above the side mirrors

the mom managed to crawl up on the roof of the car with her
three kids and then called 911
she had no idea where she was
then she lost phone contact (she must have had att)
one of our neighbors could hear them yelling but couldnt
locate where they were because of the rain and storm and
darkness
here is where they were

(the pink and white item on the roof is one of the girls
small tennis shoe)
eventually the rescuers found then after an hour
but could not reach them as the water was 4 feet higher
than in this picture

her and the kids had to sit on that roof in the cold rain with
lightning and high winds for a total of 3 hours
they were all huddle together on top of that roof with the
rushing dirty cold water at their feet

they had to call in a high water rescue team who arrived and after
two hours were able to rescue all 4 of them

when you read this and if you are like me when i wrote this and
saw the car i got chills all over

PLEASE DONT DROWN TURN AROUND

the organicgreen doctor

no pat thats not right, benefits help, the gospel

NO PAT THATS NOT RIGHT
thanks to joanne my friend for posting this on facebook
pat robertson should have kept his mouth shut

this blog tells a different story

if you have a friend or family member with alzheimers disease
you should read all of this blog
kendavis.com/commentary/what-would-pat-robertson-have-done-with-my-dad/

BENEFIT HELP
in the sunday austin american statesman there was an article about
benefits for seniors
well im not a senior even though i have grey hair
its been there for 30 years

i entered my information and came up with 5 hits of areas that i
might qualify for help
they were pretty generic ones that all of us have access to
mostly educational stuff

so i put my moms information in there just to see what she might
have qualified for when she was living in her house before she
moved to the senior apartment

the site came up with 25 different programs she qualified for
some she was on but most she had not taken advantage of

if your are a senior or have senior parents you might go to this
website www.benefitscheckup.org/ and enter your information or
your parents to see what they may qualify for

no personal information is entered except for the zip code

there may be help available for you or your family member

GOSPEL
my dad preached the religious gospel
i like to preach the gospel
not the religious kind
the gospel of organic green living

one of the gospels is rain water collection
i hope to influence as many people as possible to start
collecting this free water

just start with a five gallon bucket and place it somewhere
under the roof line or a gutter
let it fill up
no explanation will be needed
you will be infected with the rain water virus once you do this

warning!! its very contagious

have four rain water projects in the future

at my wife shes school we donated a 1500 gallon tank that
will be hooked up to water their raised garden beds

at my wifes former high school she worked at the environmental
club has a 2500 gallon tank that we will be helping them set up
they will use it to water the landscape at the school
hopefully some of the kids will get infected with the rain water virus

at the habitat house im helping to build my wife she and i
are donating a 50 gallon tank to the home owner
she doesnt know but she is about to be infected with the
rain water virus

then the best one is one of my former patients who is in elementary
school started putting 5 gallon buckets along the house to collect
rain water and he would like a larger tank
we have an extra 50 gallon tank that well donate to him and
help him set up
hes already infected

why dont you get your inoculation of the rain water virus
we need all the water saved we can

the organicgreen doctor

kids save water, new water tank, school tank, habitat

KIDS SAVE WATER
theres a nearby community that was hit by the fires
that hit here the most notable fire was the bastrop fire
there were several homes burned in the community

then
because of the drought the lake near the community
went dry and the wells where they get their water went
dry as the aquifer level dropped below the well depths

water was having to be trucked in to the city water tanks

the kids in the local elementary had to go on severe water
restrictions both at home and at school
many were hit with the double hit of losing their homes to the fires
and now not having enough water

but as usual kids adapt and do whats right
(they are better than adults that way
think thats why i enjoyed seeing a lot of pediatric patients
in my practice)

in the school eg the faucets were those that do not shut off
automatically so the kids had to learn to turn them on then off
scrub their hands good them rinse off

although im sure this has been stressful for the kids
they are doing whats right when it comes to saving water
some are more worried about the fish than themselves

if we dont get water into the headwaters of the lakes soon a large
part of the population here in this area will have to restrict
their water use
we should be doing it anyway

of course kids are the ones that will probably handle it the best

NEW WATER TANK

this is the picture of my newest water tank
i call it my volcano water tank
since the top looks like a volcano

it sits on a platform to raise it up to the level of the other tanks
so the water will fill each tank equally
its used as a reservoir to water the landscaping in my front yard
and to provide water for my water ponds

from above a metal rain gutter from my upper roof runs down
and drops the water
into the mouth of the volcano
a screen in the opening catches debri form entering the tank

also an arbour that is 50 ft long has metal roofing over half
of its top and catches water also and sends it to the
volcano
one inch rain catches 75 gallons off this arbour
one inch rain catches 500 gallons off this roof

my wife she said i had to stop at this rain water tank
since i have so many now
its an addiction you know
if you get a  50 gallon tank youll find out what im talking about

SCHOOL TANK
one of the local high schools has a 2500 gallon tank that they use to
have hooked up to some of those temporary buildings
you know the ones that they add as the school outgrows
its building
reminds me of trailer houses that seem to multiply as the kids
move back home on the property and start adding the trailers
then their kids add trailers etc

during recent reconstruction of the school the tank got shoved over
into a corner and just was left there

now the environmental club wants to hook it back together
to use to water the landscaping at the school

luckily years ago i had gone up to the school and taken pictures
of the tank and its connections when i was looking to do my
own system
(one of several places i visited and photographed)

last night i met a student and their advisor at the school
there was that lonely big ole tank shoved under a tree with a
bunch of other tables and benches
the pipes appeared to have been just ripped off
all the down spouts and drain tubes were gone

it all looks salvageable
we will probably be able to hook the tank so the water
will be dropped about a foot into the tank from the gutters
and no extra tubing will be needed
a good savings for the environmental clubs budget

the building is a 50x20 ft building that if all the water is
captured will yield 500 gallons with a one inch rain
5 inches of rain will fill up the tank
they may be able to only catch water off the front side
of the building

will report its progress as we go along

HABITAT
the rain we had put a damper on what was planned
the roof was not completed as hoped yesterday
it was too wet
and muddy
i looked like i had been in a pig pen when i got home
my wife she made me leave my clothes outside

we did do most of the siding and outside trim
so it should be all finished soon
next the roof should be finished so the house will be
all closed in well

my wife she and i have plans to donate a 4 ft square foot
raised garden to the home owner using the method ive
described in past blogs
will add a keyhole component to it
will post pictures when its completed

we also will give her a 50 gallon rain water collection tank
to start out with
we know it will be addicting

the organicgreen doctor

flexes, more taxes, rain

FLEXES
have continued the campaign to beat the flexes
those flex accounts that will try their best to keep your money
its your money not theirs
but they dont act that way sometimes

scorecard
flexes 0
ogd (thats me) 4

i win

i have had several battles with my flex account this year
but after a lot of effort and documentation i finally won
total winnings were $1800
it was my money not theirs but they tried their best to keep it
im glad im retired or i wouldnt have the time to fight this battle

one person i helped had over $3600 dollars they had tied up
in disputed claims
try to talk to a knowledgeable person on the phone
they dont exists
there is not someone who you can talk to that will help you

sir we need the documentation in order to pay

through a lot of effort by this person and myself we finally got
the documentation we needed and found a lot of less known
deductions you could take but we finally got things where
she will not loose all her money

and we were not even talking to someone from india or pakistan

those flexes
we have decided here at the country n that theyre not worth the
   it takes to get your money back
no flexes here next year
ex the flex

MORE TAXES
15% its hard to believe someone making that much money only pays
15%
thats enough to not elect mitt

newt at least paid his share at 31+%
now thats a little better
its a more presidential number
but am concerned where all his money comes from

obama paid 26% on $1.7 million
now thats presidential also

then ron paul
he hasnt released his numbers yet as
he made so little money last year hes embarrassed to release his returns
at least hes honest-wished the other politicians could be like him
bet he paid more % than mitt

RAIN
the problem with rain in central texas is that we either dont get any rain
or we get it in bunches all at once
like tonight
cant wait to see how much rain we have and are getting

i am still only 50% full on all my tanks so i want all the rain i
can capture for my rainwater system
before each rain i adjust my system to maximize my rain collection
all roofs collect rainwater-garage, well house, bbq area, barn, and
even my arbour and of course my house
i also put out all my 5 gallon buckets
and do i have a collection ive accumulated over the years

this collecting rain water takes a lot of effort
but its always worth it when you take a shower or
wash your hair or wash your clothes or take a nice
cold drink of pure water out of the tap

yep its worth it

the organicgreen doctor

germs/iphone4, rain water, banks

GERMS/IPHONE4
there is a blog i follow called lks grab bag
this weeks posting is interesting and funny

did you know that there may be more germs on an atm
machine than on a toilet seat
read more below on her blog unless you are a germophob
then dont read any more

if you are an iphone4 owner or if you want to know more about
the iphone4 then view her video on the iphone4

WARNING!!!!!! if you dont like to hear 4 letter words than
dont watch the video

i laughed so hard

go to lksgrabbag.com to enjoy this posting

RAIN WATER
this is a rain water update from our last rain
we got 2.5 inches of a nice slow rain over several days
we dont get many like this here in cental texas
usually our rain comes down in buckets so fast that sometimes
it overflows the gutters and drainage system
not this time slow and easy
think we got every drop of rain

we now have over 10000 gallons of rain water collected for
our system for our house
thats half way of our total capacity
thats better than the 50 gallons we had left one day this summer
in the drought
this water would cost us $1000 if we had to have it delivered to
our tanks

it looks like the update on my guttering and drains are working well
and no apparent leaks are noted
now we just need more rain

this capacity will last my wife she and i about 6 months
hopefully well have more rain before then

we also have about 2000 gallons of rain water for our irrigation system
with over twice that capacity available
the garden watering uses that up fast when it s dry
almost all of the plants that we have left on our landscape gets no
supplemental watering
decided to let nature take its course and it did
now we have only the survivors left

BANKS
some of the megabanks got their credit ratings downgraded
well many of us had already downgraded them anyway
sure am enjoying my credit union

the organicgreen doctor

rain water brother, cholesterol

RAIN WATER BROTHER
when i can influence someone to collect rain water
each gallon they collect is one gallon that is not pulled
from the aquifer or the lakes or the city water system
any gallon of water that i can influence someone to conserve
is one gallon of water not pulled from the aquifer or the lakes
or the city water system

we especially need this now in this drought we are having
some cities may have to get even stricter on water conservation
if the drought continues on through next summer
real strict restrictions

this weekend the boy that was shown walking with me at
the walk to end alzheimers in austin put out several containers
to collect rain water off his roof during the recent rains
good job bg

yesterday i spent the day with my older brother who is putting
in a rain water system under the rules of his hoa and his whoa
(wifes hoa)
his tanks have to be pleasant in their appearance and can not
be taller than his six foot fence with none visible from the
street
that means none in the front yard at all
well none that anyone will see

i have helped several people put in these before and i put in
my rain water system that provides water for the house and
the garden (we have no well or city water)

figuring out how to hook everything up and understanding how
water flows with gravity can be tricky
since ive made most of the mistakes that can be made im a good
person to help someone else
so they wont suffer through the mistakes ive made
(its cost me lots of water loss in the past-hundreds of gallons)

when he is finished you will be able to walk into his back yard
and not notice he is collecting rain water
(but his wife hoa will)

he also has constructed a rain water sink by mulching his beds well
with compost and mulch so that when his tanks fill up and a
new rain is coming he dumps his water into this compost mulch
rain water sink which soaks up hundreds of gallons of water in
the mulch
his plants love this method

my front yard is heavily mulched especially around my oak trees
so that when it rains the mulch soaks up gallons of water and
retains it on the yard rather than have it run off the yard into
the pastures

think about this in your landscape
even a small berm will hold back water on your property

he is almost ready for the next big rain
little does he know that when you collect rain water its like
gambling you have to have more tanks so you wont loose
any water
be careful
am sure there is a rain water anonymous

CHOLESTEROL
in our family the males tend to die young from heart attacks or
strokes and if they get through all those they get alzheimers
so many of us have been aggressive about controlling our
blood pressure, our weight, and our cholesterol

our cholesterol we have is the bad stuff
we have what i call the trifecta
low hdl (good one), real high ldl (the bad one) and real
hight triglycerides (the ugly one)

yes we have the good bad and the ugly cholesterol problem

many of us take high dose statins-lipitor or crestor or simvastatin
or lovastatin (i take 40 mg lovastastin)
some of us also take niacin to increase our good cholesterol
(i take 1500 mgm of slo niacin)
some of us take omega 3 fish oil
most of us take aspirin 81 mg a day

interesting it appears now that controlling that trifecta cholesterol
may slow down and possibly prevent alzheimers
time and more studies will show if this is true

we also have high blood pressure and many of us are on
blood pressure medication

so my rain water brother was on a drug for his cholesterol, niacin
for his hdl cholesterol and a high dose blood pressure medication
these controlled everything well for him

however he like many of us was tired of taking all those meds
so
he went on a vegetarian diet with eggs and with fish
he has gotten his bmi to 21 (normal is less than 25)
he has gone off all his medications
his blood pressure runs 100/60 normal is less than 120/80)
his ldl cholesterol is in the 90s (normal is less than 100-130)
his triglycerides are 100 (normal is less than 150)
his hdl is in the 50s (nornal is greater than 40)
all with out any meds
his numbers are actually better than when he was on medications

so diet and exercise can make a huge difference in your cholesterol
levels and your blood pressure readings

you should try it
no copays
no brand drugs
feel better
live longer

the organicgreen doctor