Rainbow links

[magid]

Red, white, and blue
It feels a bit like I imagine it did at the beginning of the Kennedy administration, with calls for community service. Pres-Elect Obama has already set up a clearinghouse sort of website for community service opportunities around the country, suggesting that that is an appropriate way to celebrate his Inauguration without going to DC.

Coincidentally, the same day I got email about work going on this Sunday in Cambridge to make two buildings in Inman Square (an elementary school and a public community house) more energy efficient; they're looking for volunteers. (Some other weekend, I'd be happy to help. This weekend, though, is so overbooked already...) If you're local and want to help out, this is the plan:

Volunteer by emailing Steve Wineman (swineman@gis.net).

Gather January 18th from 12:30 to 5 pm (date chosen to celebrate MLK Day and the inauguration). Work, enjoy a live band and snacks, plus lots of satisfaction (hopefully :-)

Work on two buildings (materials paid for by a grant from the Mass. Service Alliance): both the Cambridgeport public school and the Margaret Fuller House (a community house and a 200-year-old historic landmark). They are both in Area 4 near Inman Sq, and serve low-income diverse populations.

Work list:

• Much caulking of window trim and the interior of storm windows.
• Much sprayfoaming of bandjoists and holes in walls, etc.
• Patching mortar in a fireplace
• Installing rigid insulation to block fireplace flue and unused door
• Some minor carpentry – installing window lock, hammering on trim, installing small wood shims
• Installing interior storm windows
• Drywall patching (small patches of less than 10”)
• Installing outlet and lightswitch gaskets and a cover for an AC
• Installing timers on computers, copiers, and other appliances to turn them off
• Using the System Preferences to shift the energy settings on 100 Mac computers to put them to sleep when unused
• Changing 4 to 20 PCs preferences to be more energy efficient
• Possibly installing occupancy sensors
• Installing a lot of door sweeps and weatherization strips on metal doors
• Putting in toilet tank banks to save water
• Installing faucet aerators to save water
• Doing larger drywall patches and drilling drywall into joists

There's the possibility that if the school manages to lower its energy bill a lot, the Facilities department will give them extra services instead, such as repainting the building, etc.

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Green
A miscellany, including:

• Free plans for green buildings (Single-family dwellings, mostly, which seems a bit off, but hey, better than nothing.).
• A solar-powered dryer, at a midpoint between hanging clothes to dry and using an appliance. Looks like there's a portable one, too... I bet it would work well on my porch, three seasons of the year, at least...
• A little MA business making reusable sandwich bags
• What to do with all those empties: a million bottles of beer in the wall... makes a temple.
• Ride sharing to get fewer cars on the road.

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Brown
Instant chocolate cake for one using the microwave.

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Blue
A map of the water systems of New York City, in 1865 and today.

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Black and white and read all over
I have a bunch of old calendars with images I still like, so I went poking around and found the cycle of repeating calendars (though holidays move, but I knew that). I should see how much of the cycle I have already. (Rather like the circular metal calendar my paternal grandmother gave me years ago that covered something like 40 years, using these cycles. I remember using it when I was much younger, with satisfaction at how long it would be useful. More recently, I looked at it and realized that it's past all the years painted on the disk of years, which made me a bit sad. Somehow it made my grandmother even farther away.)

Comments

[dalbino83.livejournal.com]

Sandwich bag link is not working.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Fixed.