Conservation ⁽⁴⁾

Here's my first shot at cooking bread in my GoSun Sport solar oven. A can of store-bought crescent rolls. 8 to a can, I could comfortably fit 4 in the cooking tray, so I stashed the rest in the fridge for another day. I greased the tray with a bit of butter to make removal and cleanup easier. Cook time was about 50 minutes. This was too long; they were overcooked. Fresh bread requiring no fuel or electricity though! Miraculous!…

The Short Answer: Tanks all day. We needed to replace our aging hot water tank in 2020, so I discussed the tankless option with several plumbing professionals and homeowners. Over the last few years, I have experienced the transition from tank to tankless at my in-laws home. We confidently decided the tank was better. Tankless solves a problem we don't have (unlimited hot water) and creates two new problems: 1) Slightly longer delay in getting hot water at the taps,…

I love WNYC's RadioLab. The hosts are great, the topics are compelling, and the production of the show is just great. I really like the way they use sound and incorporate off-script words and phrases throughout the show and credits. Here are three RadioLab shows about plants doing unexpected things (communicating, learning, sharing, etc). As with every RadioLab show, they're fascinating.

(This post described my freshwater fish setups in 2016-2018.) "Old Grandpa" was the oldest male of my family of Characodon Lateralis "Los Berros" (aquarium strain) in Denver, CO, USA. Their numbers and habitats are declining rapidly in the wild. In the 1950s, they could be found in approximately fifty different locations in western Mexico, and today they can be found in nine. While not widely available, they are hearty, beautiful, and full of personality. Raising these fish in a home aquarium or pond is…