Blogwonky

Today I had to go and vote in the NSW election. There was some misunderstanding between Yuko and me about the nature of this event…

In the evening, I turned off our lights for Earth Hour. YouTube also thoughtfully provided a light switch on their site so that users could watch videos in the dark…

As expected our neighbours were not so supportive of greenness…

In the morning we continued working for about three hours before starting our trip back to civilisation.

We had to pass through a number of gates, which my companion opened and closed – as one does in the wilderness…

Opening a Gate

We again stopped at Foxwood Farm for lunch. I ate toast again, but I also tried my companion’s wedge…

Eating a Wedge

My conclusion is that the food at Foxwood Farm is better than anything in Lane Cove. However, it’s a bit far to travel there every day.

Today I headed west – with my male companion – for a weekend of programming in the wilderness.

We stopped for breakfast/lunch at Foxwood Farm where I ate toast…

We then battled our way through a heard of cows…

… unitl we finally reached our destination – my companion’s country headquarters…

The Office

Power Generation Facility

We set up our computers and got to work on solar power…

Work Area

We worked a marathon session stretching late into the night.

Today I engaged in anti-green activities.

I suggest that green persons not click on the link below lest they be shocked and appalled. For everyone else, the pictures can be seen here.

Early this morning we left civilisation at the invitation of Greenman, and headed west into the wilderness!

Greenman has a ‘green’ place out there (in the wilderness) and so the three of us travelled there together in the hope of doing some astronomy. I therefore packed my telescope in the back of my vehicle leaving barely enough space for my two passengers.

When we reached Lithgow, we stopped and I read the writings of a disgruntled local who had recorded his opinion of the town…

We then continued, until the road ended and we found ourselves driving across a stark landscape…

We eventually arrived at Greenman’s place. The greenness was immediately evident – note the solar panels…

The problem with not being on the electricity grid and producing your own power, is that you might die at any moment in a massive explosion…

The balcony…

Although we were now in the wilderness, soon after arriving, we went for a walk even further into the wilderness, where there isn’t even solar power…

Of course, Yuko took pictures and I wore the funny touristy hat that I bought on the cruise…

Greenman has ponds because he read in a book that you’re supposed to have ponds…

The astronomy situation was looking bleak. It was cloudy all day and the forecast predicted cloud all night too.

But at about 9pm, we went outside and the stars were visible! I therefore decided to setup my scope. However, by the time I had it set up, the sky was cloudy again.

We managed to glimpse Jupiter through thin clouds, so I pointed my scope at it. Greenman had earlier ridiculed the idea of looking at Jupiter, referring to it as a ‘boring planet’. However, we were able to see four moons, a dark belt and the red spot – making it non-boring.

After a while, the sky became much clearer and we looked at a few deep sky objects – a globular cluster, a dim galaxy and finally the Andromeda Galaxy which was seen close to the northern horizon between trees.

However, what thwarted us in the end was the insects. In the darkness, we couldn’t see them, but we could feel them constantly flying into us. They were very pesky indeed and caused us to give up after a relatively short observing session.

Today Suzy joined the Noswonky family, and we stimulated the Japanese economy. The environment was not so fortunate as Suzy’s existence will accelerate the global descent into disastrous climate change (apologies to greenman)…

Suzy

Because Yuko didn’t want to drive home from Lindfield, we took the train to go and pick up Suzy. At least that saved some greenhouse gas emissions!

Although I had considered buying a more ‘green’ vehicle (such as a hybrid), I was unable to find one big enough for my needs – to carry my optical equipment.

Later, I tried fitting my telescope in the back. Even with Suzy’s large capacity, it was a tight fit…

Our nature strip has been deforested…

Behind this door are many green options…

Perhaps one of them is to add a grill to the top of your room heater so that you can share energy usage between heating and cooking. Yuko has done this, although she hasn’t yet attempted to grill fish on it. No doubt that will be soon…

Greeny

Today Joe the Water man came to clean our filthy house…

Water Man Van

Joe and his helper spent about four hours applying water and cleaning products to the exterior of the house. It now looks like it did when we bought it…

Clean House

Tonight was Earth Hour. Unlike previous years we didn’t go out for a picnic – partly because Yuko is flying to Japan tomorrow and she has to get ready. We did turn our lights off, although Yuko needed some encouragement.

Below are the before and after pictures…

Today it was hot. I knew it was hot because my iPhone told me…

I therefore spent as much time as possible at Epitome and the rest of the time moving slowly like a lizard to conserve energy.

Belinda’s thermometer went even higher…