underground

UNDERGROUND

this is the front of a house we visited when we were at our
family reunion this last weekend
ive been in contact with the owners/builders for a long time
discussing organic gardening solar power rainwater harvesting
and when they decided to build this house i was so excited
and jealous

imagine having a house in the hot south without air conditioning
76 degrees on the hottest day
imagine having a house in the cold winter south without a heating
system
64 degrees on the coldest day
imagine not hearing any noise from outside
imagine walking on the roof of your house and not knowing you
are walking on a roof of your house
since its all grass
imagine having cows on your roof
imagine having your house as your own storm cellar in a tornado state
imagine having your house as your own cellar for storing food etc
imagine not having to paint or reroof your house
imagine having a small electric or gas bill
imagine doing all the work yourself or your friends and having little
cost involved in building this one of a kind house
imagine having homeowners with an eye for decorating
like bamboo from a nearby neighbors as your ceiling
metal roofing for parts of your ceiling
old road signs as your teenage boys ceiling
and more and more

imagine if they added rainwater collection off a nearby garage
imagine if they could add solar panels to this system
thyd be off the grid for sure
and added xeroscaping
i did give them some spineless cactus to plant

they did this all except the rainwater and solar and more
they took the side of a bluff overlooking south over a beautiful
meadow and creek with trees in the distant with cattle roaming
around and deer
they took the bluff
dug a hole into the side of the hill
built the house and then covered it back up so
that as you approach the house from the road
you will have no idea its there

yes im very envious
ive thought multiple times about how i could make my house
here at the county n
into an earth house and i just cant do it

my wife said dont even think about it

even though we think of it as a cave since its a double walled
limestone rock house that feels like a cave at least in the
large living room

yes im envious
every time i return back home i always go by there to see its
progress
dreaming about it after i return home
i look forward to seeing its completion and to see how its
decorated when its all done
the homeowners just have that decorating knack
that only a few people have

definitely one of the highlights of my weekend

now they need to
add that rainwater collection system
add solar power
recycle everything
plant a garden on the roof
then they are as green as green can be

the organicgreen docotor

duct tape story, insurance shock, sometimes

DUCK TAPE STORY

if youve read this blog much you know i like duct tape stories
and duct tape uses
heck i just discovered thanks to a reader that the mythbuster
guys love duct tape and have done several shows on them
which i have on a dvr for review over and over again

next to my duct tape chair that i fixed up with black duct tape
this story below i think is the best duct tape use ever

go to this link to watch this story
duct tape surfer


INSURANCE SHOCK

dear employee due to the changes in health care we will have to make
changes in the insurance coverage
we will go from a $300 to a $500 deductible
a 90% coverage to an 80% coverage
a $5 copay for generic drugs to a $10 copay
etc etc etc
all this reduced coverage will help bring down the costs
so we will charge you not $572 but $1005 a month for the insurance

so i decided to go to the affordable care exchange here in texas
i googled it and then i remembered
mr rick decided we wouldnt participate
im sure hes well covered since he gets his vicodin from somewhere
remember that he couldnt remember those 3 things

but the feds will establish it in our state texas
who is in the last tier in health care especially for kids and women
its just not online yet

so i pretended i would be a california resident and checked the prices
for similar coverage in their new insurance exchanges
predicted cost $679 a month

guess ill be changing to the new plan when it becomes available or
moing to california

SOMETIMES

as the drought worsens here in central texas the water source for
a lot of the central texas cities keeps shrinking
lake travis is at its third most lowest level ever
with no rain in site the lake will continue to drop and probably
make records for the lowest levels ever

there is an island called sometimes island that appears when the
water level gets low
now that the level is near record lows its now called

sometimes peninsula
you can now actually walk from the shore to the sometimes
island/peninsula edge

folks we need rain and lots of it
folks we need to decrease our water use a lot
or we may be in trouble here
folks we need to xeriscape our yards
folks come stay with us at the country n for a week
and well show you how to save water

the organicgreen doctor

we all were together and it was good

WE ALL WERE TOGETHER AND IT WAS GOOD
this weekend we had our fourth annual family reunion
it seems each year it gets better

a lot of family reunions are stressful events
this one seemed not to be that way

those who we talked to since the reunion have said
that this one was the best so far

i guess the worst or saddest part of this reunion this year
was looking at the old pictures from 2011
the reunion two years ago seeing my younger brother in the
group picture standing and robust looking interacting
with everyone
and really unless you really paid attention you might not
know he had alzheimers disease since he was quiet that day
but
now two years later he came to the reunion in a van from
the long term care facility and was wheelchair confined
his interaction with us all was minimal
but somehow i feel like deep inside he knew where he was
and i think he enjoyed being there

i know it meant a lot to all of his brothers and sisters to have
him there

yes that was the saddest but happiest of the reunion was
having him there
his wife is a special person

that alzheimers is a terrible disease as it just slowly whittles
away at a person
we must find a cure
its within our reach now
at least for the generation behind me
maybe they wont have to go through this with their siblings or
their partners or friends or kids

so yes it was mostly a happy reunion
it makes you want to continue the traditon as
its i realize the best way for families to make that connection each
year that would be lost without these reunions
facebook is no substitute for a one on one hug smiles and personal
interactions

so yes we were all together and it was good

the organicgreen doctor