rain song

RAIN SONG
sitting here listening to the rain on our metal roof
on our front porch
im thinking and hearing rain songs in my head
like
rain rain
let it rain let it rain
stop the rain

once when living at the country n on a mid july night
my wife she and her mom and her aunt were gone
on a trip

i was asleep in the middle of the night
you know in texas sometimes these storms
just pop up out of nowhere
it can be clear blue skis
then not long it will be raining like cats and dogs

so it was this night
for some reason i had my bathroom window open
what woke me up was hail and rain on our metal roof
if you have ever been in a metal roof building
you know how loud that can be
plus
the wind blew hail and leaves through the window
across the bedroom onto the opposing wall

i woke up with a start
thinking i was in a war and was under attack

as i focused
the rain was the hardest i had ever heard
i quickly turned on the tv
now its about 2 in the morning
it seems tornadoes
like they seemed to do sometimes
went a mile north
another went a mile south
lucky me

im sure if my wife she had been home
well i know she would have
she would have been hunkered down in our concrete
brick shower downstairs
her go to storm cellar
im sure if that house was ever blown away
that shower would have been left in place

the next morning
the river a quarter mile away sounded like a huge ole
freight train coming down the tracks

we got 10 inches of rain in just a couple of hours
it was the most flooded ever in all the years we lived there


scientificamerican.com

so now as i sit here listening to this nice steady slow
rain
i think of our country n and how pleasant it was
to be inside listening to the same type of rain
but
now after realizing living here for the last 8 months
since the huge thomas fire that destroyed the trees
and shrubs and grasses above us
and
the alamo fire north of us earlier in the year
that what we saw as nice steady rains in texas
heck
theres no way in texas we would ever be concerned much
for the rain thats due to hit here in the next 24-48 hrs

the pineapple express
the atmospheric river
moisture off the pacific from hawaii way
will come pouring right over us

if you drive here in santa barbara you realize that
the roads from the mountain side down to the beach side
are a down hill incline that if you were on a bike
or a skate board you could just coast down hill
without pedalling
its easier to walk from our place to downtown
than return back to our condo
you fast walk down
and
slow walk back up to our place

so
does the water do the same
but it gets a head start way up high in the mountain
down the stream beds picking up momentum and
debris and huge rocks as it goes
causing devastation on its way to the ocean
there is in these burn areas and these stream beds
nothing to stop that momentum

thats the way its going to be around here for the
next several years until
the trees and brush regrow
until a lot gets washed down to the ocean

every major rainfall will cause several communities
to evacuate until it passes
this is the third time in the last few weeks

so
what they say in the austin area would be a much needed
rainfall
can be a devastating one for those around here

lucky for us is that the mountains didnt burn above us
the fire was headed that way when it was stoppped
leaving a fire map that to me looks like the map
of montana
with the area above us being idaho

so
yes im enjoying the steady rain
it was nice to sleep to the sound on our porch roof
but
im hoping it slows some
for those under the burn areas

the organicgreen doctor

a muddy beach

A MUDDY BEACH

i read about this in the online paper
and
saw it on the local news

you know when you hear things
sometimes
you just say
that doesnt seem like the right thing to do

now
i am an outsider here
having lived here for only 7 months
and
not having had gone through this history of mud and fires
around here like folks have who lived here for years

still
i think it gives a different perspective on things
when you are new and fresh to things
you sometimes see things differently

so
it was with me

there it was truckloads of mud slide muck being hauled
down to the beach near here
the goleta beach
to be dump right on the beach
not just a few truckloads
tons of truckloads stuff

now
granted from what i read
the stuff is trucked an hour or so south
so the debris in there like metal and rocks and logs etc
are removed
then
off to the goleta beach it goes
to be dumped
to be washed apparently over and over again
by the waves coming in on the beach
you know like when you do a sand castle on the beach
and
the tide comes in and eventually washes it away

now i saw this big ole dumpster there on the dumped on beach
that was partially full of all kind of stuff

no the beaches are not white
they are a mud grey color

one of the justifications for doing it here is
the mudslide stuff is destined by nature to eventually end
up in the ocean anyway

now
when we made our long long trip north then around the mountains
to get to los angeles for my last infusion
we passed what seemed like hundreds of dump trucks in a long
long line waiting to dump this stuff into a quarry up north

the goleta beach i think is sort of a poor mans beach
i havent really read that before
its just seems thats the way it is
theres no tourists here

so i wanted to see all this for myself
so one sunday morning before my wife she woke up
i drove over to see for myself

there was all this yellow and red like tape around the dump areas
warning signs were up
dont swim in this water
its contaminated
worse i think with human bacteria

this beach sits in a cove just south of the ucsb campus
you can see the building of the school on the small bluffs close by
i saw several what looked like students walking and biking
on nearby trails

i walked out on the wharf or pier that goes out quite a ways
i would say over a quarter of a mile
there were a lot of folks even this early
as the sun had just popped over the horizon
fishing off the pier

you cant swim here but you can fish here
seems like
not right to me

i looked back over to see the dark spot in the distance
where the dumpster was and big ole heavy machnery was sitting
i guess they all get sunday off

i then walked back to the shore
climbed down off the pier
onto the shoreline
i guess you call it the beach
a dark grey mud colored one

i walked along the edge of the surf as it wiggles back and forth
sometimes catching my feet off guard
getting them all wet
and
i guess
contaminated

i then walked up to the marked off area
the tide was low so i just walked along the waters edge
into and on top of that dark grey mud colored beach
it didnt sink in
it didnt stick heavy to my shoes like mud
but it felt and looked a different consistency
the beach if thats what you call it
didnt feel right as you walked on it
if i took my shoes off
that wouldnt be sand between my toes

i walked up the beach to the machinery
one of those big monster things
you might see in a quarry

i turned and looked back into the sun at the pier
at the beach not affected yet
there was only one other person beside me walking on it
i was the one that broke around the barrier

so after reading about all this
reading about the bacteria counts
reading about how it not chemically contaminated
i dont believe that one
knowing how things work in this world

all i could think
was
why dump that stuff here
i dont understand why

the organicgreen doctor

the old man of the sea

THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA

nfl.com

last week i told my wife she
dont plan anything for me on sunday
i want to watch both those playoff games

i really wanted to watch the old man play
to see if he could do it again

that old man is
tom brady
in football years
40 is old
unless i guess you are like a kicker or something
but
a quarterback is different
you have to
have so many skills
be mentally fit
good arm strength
have the ability to scramble some
have the ability to hold up to all those crushing blows
that quarterbacks have to take

now
as far as 40 year old quarterbacks go
he seems to be in much better condition
mentally
physically

my guess he is better conditioned than some
of the younger quarterbacks

now
he is known to be in super condition
both
physically and mentally
he eats a well regimented diet

when you look at him play
he dont look 40 years old

i am sure a lot of nfl owner teams
would love to have this 40 year old quarterback

now
unlike a lot of folks
i want brady to win it all again
he can set records that probably no one
will ever break

so yes
im rooting for brady
a player for the ages

then
i sort of like the nick foles story
he is on his 3rd or 4th team
he has had one good year
but
now this is his biggest opportunity coming up in 2 weeks
as
the super bowl quarterback
will he be known as the one that knocked brady
out of his last chance for another super bowl win

many of us who lived in the austin area know foles
he played at drew brees high school
then off to arizona
then got drafted
then his nfl carreer is as above

if he wins
i want be disappointed
since the story line will be a good one
just
not as good or as big as tom bradys

go pats

mudslide update
the 101 is now open to traffic as of yesterday
we will get to drive home that way later this week
when we return home
another victim was found
a 27 year old mother
there are two more people missing
both kids
the real tragedy of this tragic event

thatcher update
he gets to go home today
a true miracle child

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

sb country n news-homesteading

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-HOMESTEADING

liberty hill living magazine

now that we have moved
i guess i dont get to homestead anymore
now that we dont live at the country n anymore

now
i get up each morning
go to my garden plot at the gardens
carrying my container of compost materials
say hi to the four chickens there
dump the best of the stuff in the container
over the fence to those chickens
lucky girls
the rest
i dump into the compost piles thats maintained there
its 9 piles that are 4 ft x 4 ft x 4 ft each
i sometimes will stir down into the pile
just to feel the heat and see all the worms working
like crazy

then over to my garden i go
i put my shadow in my garden as much as possible
looking for problems like unwatered plants
insect infestations
varmint damage
lucky for us we dont get too much of either of these
just think you can garden here without
ever stepping onto a mound of fireants
or
get bitten by mosquitoes

after inspecting things well
i hand water my garden
i try to do this at least twice a week
it reduces water use
it makes me come to the garden and make sure
its all ok

ill also harvest things if they are ready
right now thats broccoli swiss chard kale spinach
arugula lettuce mix cilantro carrots beets sweet peas
green onions if i decide to pull them early
before they get big

for onions i planted mostly the texas 1015 yellow sweet onions
they seem to be short light and hopefully will do well
here
i have close to 150+- of the different onions
i have 3 other varieties planted
including a red variety

i also while i am there stroll through the garden
looking at the other 20 plots
sometimes i run into another gardener
i stop and visit with them for awhile

i also commonly will walk down through the orchard
where there are numerous different citruses
bananas mulberries pomegranates avocados to name
some of them
ive been known to reach up and pluck one
for my immediate consumption

fresh flavor is the best

so i can spend a few minutes there
and
i have been known to spend over two hours there

usually once a week
i volunteer there for 2-3 hours
doing whatever the garden manager needs done
like
making a bed to plant
planting veggies
harvesting veggies
putting down mulch
putting out fresh compost
organically treating veggies for insects
enjoying every minute of it

the produce from the central plots are donated to
food kitchens

then im off to do whatever i want the rest of the day

like the new 310 gallons of rainwater catchment at the school where i
volunteer at once a week

recently
i was able to access this article in the liberty living magazine
where they interviewed me about my garden at the country n in texas
here is the link
the section on my interview is about half way down the page

yes
we are no longer homesteading
but
well
we sort of  are
santa barbara style

mudslide update
hwy 101 due to be opened on monday
one local school district carpenteria opened back up
the mudslide area is still blocked off from folks going back
20 dead 3 missing 127 houses destroyed 254 damaged
it will be years before this area will if ever brought back to normal

thatcher update
he is unhooked from everything
he is now in a room with mom and dad

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-trumps memory test

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-TRUMPS MEMORY TEST

ill be the first to admit
i dont like donald trump
but
lets be fair to him regards his memory test

alzheimers starts in the brain 15-30 years before
any symptoms start
before any memory tests are abnormal

there are subtle things that can happen before the
memory tests become abnormal

sometimes the first thing is spatial things
missing things in your peripheral vision
which can show up when driving
sometimes subtle memory things happen
im speaking from personal experience here
things you notice that others do not

eventually when the time comes
the memory tests become abnormal

first let me say
if you are going to need memory testing anytime
soon
dont be reading whats in those memory tests
it affects how accurate they are

now i have personally been administered the same memory
test he had done more than 15 times over the last 8 years
i have personally administered that particular test to
family members and friends several times
i am quite familiar with the moca memory test

when you go to a doctors office
he might administer one of three tests

one is the minicog test
it involves being told three words to remember
then
you are given a time and asked to draw that time
on a clock

if you dont pass that one
you have memory issues
you need more evaluation

its a quick and simple test
its not sensitive though in picking folks up early
with memory loss

the next is the mmse
multimental state exam
its scored up to 30
get 30 and you might be ok
but
for those like me when i was first tested
it missed me
i got a normal score on the mmse

the third test is the moca
thats the one that trump took
the best score you can get is 30
a normal score is 27-30

when i was first tested in 2010
my score was 25
which was abnormal
its in the mild cognitive impairment range

the moca test is a more sensitive test to pick
up those early changes
like what you see with early alzheimers or mild cognitive impairment

its not a 10 minute test
its a 20-30 minute test

so with a normal result
a 30 score
as of right now
trump probably doesnt have any symptoms of dementia
or short term memory loss
the first thing that usually shows up in alzheimers disease

my scores earlier this year on one of the moca test
was 30
a perfect score

so why did mine get better
medication ie aricept (donepezil)
supplements
correcting things like cholesterol blood pressure weight exercise
stress sleep staying mentally engaged
all helped to make my scores improved

so i have a perfect score on my last moca test
does that mean i dont have alzheimers disease
no
the diagnosis is made on more than just the moca test

they use
family history
past medical history
risk factors
spinal fluid for tau and amyloid
a pet scan for amyloid the amyvid pet scan
genetic tests
serial memory tests
then
the gold standard
the neuropsychological exam
eg mine is abnormal even though my last moca was normal

the neuropsychological exam is more accurate
if there are memory issues it will show up
yes you can have a normal moca and have
an abnormal neuropsychological exam
it take 2-3 hours to do this exam

the moca test is a screening test
it doesnt rule out alzheimers disease

there is a state
called
prealzheimers or prodromal alzheimers disease
the memory tests are all normal
the scans and spinal fluid levels are abnormal
in this stage
you just dont have symptoms yet

so
trump
either does not have alzheimers disease at all
or
he is in that prealzheimers state or prodromal state
a time that can last 10-20 years

so
as a medical doctor
as a family doctor
as someone who has had this test multiple times
as someone who has administered this test multiple times
as someone who reads 10+ articles on alzheimers disease each day
as someone who has lectured on alzheimers disease multiple times
as someone who has been and is now in two of the most
important alzheimers studies ever done
i feel like
i can speak with some authority about alzheimers disease

so
if i was trumps medical doctor
if i had administered the moca test to him
i would tell him
right now there is no evidence that you have memory loss or dementia

i would tell him to correct those other health issues
like
the what i called heart attack levels of the ldl cholesterol
he is just a point or so away from being labeled morbid obese
get more sleep
get more physical activity
greatly improve his diet
let your calcium score on that heart ct be a warning
if a heart attack or a stroke dont get you
demential or alzheimers might in the future


the posting of the moca test for all to read
i think does a disservice to those who may need a moca test
in their workup for memory loss
practicing or reading the tests affects its accuracy
i am not allowed in my studies to have other memory testing
since it causes what they call testing effect

also
this doesnt mean trump doesnt have mental problems
or psychological issues
this moca test this screening test
doesnt check
for anxiety
for depression
for bipolar disorder
for psychosis
for paranoia
for narcissism

those are tested usually by a psychologist or psychiatrist

so
no he dont appear to have active dementia or alzheimers
manifesting itself right now

lets all move on from this

mudslide update
maybe next week the 101 will be open
no new recoveries no change in the death toll
we saw what seemed to be miles of trucks loaded with mud
and stuff on the freeway waiting to go to a dump place
way north of santa barbara
they are expecting to dump over 20,000 dump truck loads of
stuff in those dump sites

thatcher update
he is awake
playful
tape free
looks like iv free except for the pic line
oxygen free
soon to be moved from icu
you go thatcher

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

did i or you get faked newsed on facebook

DID I OR YOU GET FAKED NEWSED ON FACEBOOK

during the election i got tired of all the stuff that was
appearing on facebook
from both sides
so
i found an app and put it on my facebook page
it filters out political stuff
especially any mention of trump or clinton
then
if folks got too aggressive on their political postings
i used my darwinian clicker and blocked them
i must admit i blocked more folks who believe
like i did then those who have opposing views from mine
then
if racists or bigoted or homophobic stuff got posted
i blocked that person also
so
what was left was a much more pleasant read each day

when i go on facebook i want to know
how folks are doing
how their family is doing
not that other stuff

then
i started hearing about the true fake news stuff
not trumps fake news he rants about
the real fake news that was mainly put out by
the russian hackers it seems against the clinton
run for president

it seems from court and legal documents that the russians
wanted trump to win
the russians as most agree hate and loathe clinton
so
they did these fake news stories and posted it
mainly on facebook
mainly to folks in areas that determined the election
like
michigan and wisconsin and pennsylvania and a few
other states

after i heard about all this
i no longer click on any news related stories on facebook
ever
i consider anything that gets posted there as
possibly fake news

i get all my news online from 3 different news feeds
that gives me a variety of news sources from
across the news spectrum
then
i decide for myself what to believe
not just what some reporter wrote

so i wondered
did i read fake news on facebook during the election
that may have affected my thinking

so kim komando the computer guru
posted this link that you can click on to see if you
got faked news

here is her article click here

here is the facebook link to see if you got faked

this should disturb you that this has happened to us

no i didnt click on any fake news sites on facebook
according to this link


mudslide update
the hwy 101 is still closed between santa barbara and los angeles
since i have to have an mri at ucla to get my next infusion
i cant get it anywhere else since this is all part of the study
we had to make it down to los angeles yesterday to be here
for our mid morning mri scan today
so off we went north for about an hour up the 101
then up and over the  mountains
a slow trip that was quite curvy
but i must add quite beautiful
the line of cars and trucks seemed to extend behind
us for a couple of miles
all moving slow
lucky for us we seemed to be number 3 in line
then after 3 hours of driving we made it to the
interstate 5 south of bakersfield
then
lucky for us
we drove during the right time of day for the la traffic
missing all the backups on the notorious 405
we made the trip in a little over 5 hours
it could have easily take 7 hours
but it didnt
if we are lucky in 1 week the 101 will be opened some
so we will not have to go back the way we came

the mudslides were the result of a perfect storm
it turned out to be a 1 in 2000 year event
in all my reading on this this morning
there was a flood several years ago
down the creek that is a block away from our condo
it was a 15 foot of mud rocks debri that caused flooding
in the part of santa barbara we live in
yes it closed the 101 then

so in the south
you have tornadoes and floods
we here it seems
have mudslides and fires and i must add earthquakes
although the south is getting a lot of earthquakes now
from all the fracking thats done

there has been no change in the death toll
someone who was displaced in the mudslides
will be staying at our condo while we are gone
our contribution to the cause

THASHER UPDATE
he is extubated
his ivs are out
his pic line in in
his oxygen is off
he smiled
he sucks on his pacifier
he drank a bottle of formula
his parents have got to hold him in a chair
he grabbed his dads hat off his head
the miracle child

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

new tax calculator

NEW TAX CALCULATOR

as we have downsized moving out here to california
we downsized our taxes some
we thought
actually
we downsized or lost some of our deductions
then
trumps tax law wiped out what was left

i ran across this trump tax calculator online
click here 
from clark howard the consumer guru and marketwatch

its fairly straightforward
you only need a little information to do it
since
many of you like us will lose some of the deductions
like
property taxes
sales taxes
medical expenses
mortgage interest
since the trump law increased the amount of standard deductions
you take

i ran my 2016 tax info through
last year we had a lot of medical deductions
along with those deductions above
for us our 2016 taxes were lower because of those deductions
but
if we had ran them through the new tax law
if it had been in effect
we would have still had more deductions than
the standard deductions
but
our calculated taxes would have been higher
we would have fallen in a sort of donut hole spot

now lucky for us
for 2018 all our stuff has been streamlined
since we have removed those things that allowed
us to take deductions
but also removed some taxable income

running our numbers through this trump calculator
we would owe close to $2000
running our numbers through the h r block tax calculator based
on the 2017 law we would have owed no taxes

so we lost
plug in your numbers to see where you will be in 2018

we all know from reading
this law is apolitical
if you are democratic or republican or independent and you
are wealthy
you will make out like a bandit on this new law

for now
many of you will come out ahead under the new law
but your kids and grandkids
they wont


mudslide update
20 people died
3 are missing including a 2 year old whose family died in the flood
155 houses destroyed
its unlikely any of those homes were worth less than a million
many were multimillion dollar homes
close to 250 houses were damaged
the 101 freeway the way folks go south is still closed and will
be closed for at least 1 more week maybe more
folks are traveling via amtrack and boats to get back and forth
a special bus convey is being used to move needed workers
like teachers firemen rescuers medical folks weaving back
and forth with a police escort to get to santa barbara
there is waiting lines on all these
and
the rainy season hasnt started here yet

we have to drive an extra 5 hours by going north then east
then south around the mountains to get to ucla for my appointment
tomorrow for my mri and blood work
i have to have the mri before i can get my next infusion
we have decided to stay there since i have to come back in a week
to get my aducanumab infusion
we are hoping in a week the 101 will be opened
if not
its back the way we came around and across the mountain
at least its a pretty drive

thatcher update
he is extubated
he is able to suck his pacifier
a pic line was placed which will allow some of the ivs to be
removed
his little sister got to facetime him yesterday
he is playful
he is on 100% oxygen to help keep up his levels
he is off some of his drips like the epi drip
he is slowly getting there

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-billy

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-BILLY

thats not really his name
his name is more of what you would find in ireland
which he must be from based on his accent

we met billy not long after we moved in here
he would stand on his front patio
easily viewed across the courtyard from our condo
with his sporty hat on
dressed neatly
standing usually in the sun
he usually liked to talk to the women as they walked by
not in a harassing way though

later after watching for awhile
and
hearing what he was saying
i realized that some of it was gimmerish

i told my wife she after my observations
he has alzheimers disease you know

he lives with his wife
my guess they are in their 70s or early 80s
my impression is that he probably was like
a college professor or something like that
now
i dont know that for a fact
its just the thing that popped up into my brain
when i looked at him across the way
yep
a college professor
like my historian brother and writer brotherinlaw

so i at first sort of ignored him
when i walked by
it was gibberish he was saying
i just said hi and kept on going

then
one day i noticed he was out on the porch
with his hat on
his handy cane in hand
he looked to the left
he looked to the right
then
off he went
over toward us
then
he turned towards the street we live on
a busy one especially during traffic times
he then
turned left towards the bus stop and uptown
he went
maybe i thought he use to be a runner or track star
so
i waited
no wife came out
no caretaker came out

i
having read about and seen first hand
bad things happening to alzheimers patient who wander off
eg once my younger brother wandered off into the woods
near his home before he was eventually found
he was going hunting he said
something he loved to do

so
out the door i went
i turned left
there was billy way down the street
with cars zooming back and forth
he was trying hard to get into this locked car
looking around
then trying another door
so
i walked up to him
billy i said come lets go this way
he muttered some gibberish
he sort of sounded like my younger brother when he got worse
ok i said
its over this way
he looked at me
smiled that cockney smile
ok
off we went
back up the sidewalk
turned right towards our condo
the left towards his condo
there was his wife
all worried looking for billy

here he is i said
hes safe now

i thought
next time
he might not be though

it takes a village to help these caregiver folks out
24/7 duty is what they do

ive noticed folks sort of keep an eye out for him
hes always wandering next door to the condo next to him
then
a few minutes later i see the owner walking him back
to his place

there needs to be some type of system
that you can implant in someone like billy
that will send out warnings if he goes beyond some gps border
and
has a gps tracking system so one could look at a smartphone
to find their location
maybe one that could be implanted permanently
i will volunteer to be the first one to use it

i so worry about folks like billy
there is always a chance that things wont end well
a tragedy for him and his family

yep
i want to go first


mudslide update
here is a link to a lot of mudslide images
click here

16 killed including 4 kids
42 missing
a lot of well known actors musicians sports folks had to
run for their lives
their homes are destroyed
over a hundred total
hundreds more are damaged
our relative still cant get in to see their new home
in fact
everyone in the mudslide evacuation zone are being told to leave
and
expect to be gone for a couple of weeks or more
they are bringing in so much clean up equipment that folks
wandering around are getting in the way
theres no water no electricity no gas

the 101 hwy may be opened on mlk day
maybe
the beaches are all closed indefinitely
along the beaches are rolled up balls of metal that are
unrecognizable cars
the largest was this big ole hummer reduced to a ball of metal
there are boulders the size of bulldozers

amtrack finally opened
boats are taking folks from the santa barbara harbor the
30+ miles away to the ventura harbor
otherwise its a 4-5 hour track through mountainous roads to ventura
our trip to ucla will probably take 7-8 hours next week
i have to have my mri scan before i can get my next infusion
of the alzheimers experimental drug aducanumab
so if the 101 doesnt open by then
well
we are going to take us a little day trip
up and over the mountains down the valleys
down the 5 freeway then into los angeles
a sort of sight seeing tour for a day

thatcher update
hes starting to wake up
hes off the nitrous oxide and is having to take some morphine
for pain
during one waking up period his mom bent over and kissed him
his heart rate went up
his skin got all flushed
hes a mommas boy i guess
thanks for everyones continued support

here is his gofundme account
#thatcher strong

the organicgreen doctor

sb country n news-rainwater system

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-RAINWATER SYSTEM

i was thinking as she said
theres this grant that we can get for doing something green
that will pay for improvements in the garden

i instantly thought
rainwater system

now i realize that it doesnt rain here that much
the annual rainwater is about 1/3 of what austin texas gets
however
if you catch the rain when it rains
catch as much as possible
thats x gallons of water that doesnt get pulled
from the water systms
and
thats x gallons of water that doesnt just flow out
to the ocean

so
i told her
how about a rainwater collection system i said
do it she said
come up with some figures on what the $300 could
be spent on

i got this i said
since
i put in a 30,000 gallon system at our country n
all by myself
i put in a 3000 gallon tank in my wife shes first school
and
later put in a 1500 gallon tank in another school
plus
i helped a neighbor design and put in his
20,000 gallon system

yep
i got this i said
a  piece of cake

then at an alzheimers meeting
one of the fellow volunteers and i were talking about gardening
and rainwater
she said i got these two barrels that we just never hooked up
you want them
you betcha i said

so i painted those
put in screens at the top
put in the faucets

then
i ordered online 3 more tanks that had all of the connections
like the faucets drain holes screens already done
at a cheaper price than i could do
so
i ordered them

well
we only got one instead of three
so
amazon said
you keep that one and well send you 3  more
so
now im waiting on those other three

so
i painted the blue tank from amazon a nutmeg color
so it would match the other tanks that were donated

now
i took down part of the downspout
replaced it with a 2 inch pvc
that allowed the water to flow easily down into the tank

i hooked all three tanks in a series
using 1/2 inch irrigation tubing from the home center
thats buried underground

when we get the other three tanks
ill paint them
and
hook them up in the series

the two donated ones are 35 gallons
the bought ones are 60 gallons
so when we are finished
we will have 310 gallons of rainwater collection capacity

water that will be used in the garden over the next few
months instead of draining to the sea

the goal i think
is to use these tanks as a teaching tool
for art english writing science math
and
for the kids enjoyment

those veggies
they always prefer rainwater over city water every time

as i went over to the school to check it during the rains
our tanks were filling up
the other gutters were flowing all that water
out onto the grass
out onto the driveway
out
you got it into the ocean
carrying who knows what off the ground and the street
to the sea

add ecology to the teaching tool


flood update
death toll 17
over 100 homes destroyed
several hundreds are damaged
hundreds have been rescued
many by being airlifted out
dozens of folks are missing
the 101 freeway is still closed for a 30 mile stretch
its suppose to be opened on mlk day on monday
scooping up the mess is like shoveling soup
half is scooped up and half runs off the scooper

the alternate route will take 5-6 hours for a trip
that usually would take 30 minutes down the freeway
my relatives still havent been able to see their new home yet
a well known tennis pro just got airlifted out of his place

thatcher update
he is a tough little guy
his valve seems to be working well
his band is doing its job
his pressures inside the arteries and heart are where they want them
he is still on the ventilator and is all swollen up
he is still paralyzed from the drugs
the plan is to wake him up today and extubate him
he will gradually be diuresed ie get the fluid off him
yep
he is a tough little guy

thanks to those who donated to his gofundme accout to help
his parents with expenses
thanks to those who wished him and his family well

here is thatchers gofundme account
#thatcher strong

use some of your charity money or some of your gift money
to help them out some

if you look at the pictures on the gofundme site you will
notice how thin his little arms are
so much of the energy and nutrition he takes in is being used
by his little heart that the rest of the body like the muscles
arent as big as they should be
that will change though as he recovers
i see a little chubby kiddo soon appearing in those pictures

thanks again

the organicgreen doctor