soda barr… I mean, rain barrels

I decided to make a rain barrel. No, this isn’t totally random. I have a small garden I’m trying to grow and in researching, I came across making rain barrels. Basically, take some food grade barrels and attach them to your gutter. It seemed like a fun project to do, even though it won’t really save much in terms of water cost or runoff.

This is by no means a design I came up with myself. I got the idea from this guy here and just made my own slight modifications.

I had a hell of a time finding the barrels, but the l finally came across a local Pepsi plant in Hyattsville, MD that sold 55 gallon drums at $10 a pop (I got a smaller 12 gallon one, too, to sit on the deck). Hours are short, once a week on Fridays, but I’d call 301.322.7000 and inquire about them (as of May 2011).

I do want to expand a bit on the video. I had to reduce the two outputs from the Rainreserve system down to one. I tested full flow and it was too much water at max. It wouldn’t fill the first flush system and would just jump the “T” for it.

To expand on the “T” itself, I needed a way to basically add a valve when the water reached the top. As the video states, I ended up using a couple of ping pong balls. The diameter of it unfortunately JUST fits through 1.5″ PVC piping. So I had to use 1.25″ adapters butt up to each other. And if you follow the video, at the 90 deg elbow, I also stuck some 1.25″ PVC to keep the ping pong balls from rolling through the whole pipe.

You’ll also noticed I added hose clamps and on the Rainreserve. Merely a safety precaution. But in addition, I also added screening in various places. I wanted to make sure no random large particles came through. Yes, I realize there’s no real point in doing both places I show below. But I did also add screening on the ends of the overflow hoses (not shown). Don’t need mosquitoes coming up through there, however unlikely.

And that’s that. I just need to find a way to better stabilize the first flush system in heavy wind, but it seems to hold up as it’s not that windy there. I’m also not entirely sure how much the whole project cost. I’d guess anywhere between $50-$100 counting time and some other misc hose type items for ~100 gallons of water. I had a lot of the PVC piping lying around. Now, I just need it to rain to test it out (low pressure test shows no leaks). Oh, and to paint it.

The Mazda2 (Touring)

courtesy of MazdaUSA

Well, due to some unfortunate set of happenings, our family is possibly in search of a couple of vehicles.  One that I’ve had my eye on is the Mazda2 (and to an extent, the Ford Fiesta).  It is arguably the perfect commuter car for me, and relatively cheap.  So how does it stack up coming from a Mazda3 owner (and occasional Mazda6 driver)?  Not too bad actually.

First off, the quality of the interior was not quite that of my 2005 3, but close. I’d like to make an adjustment. At first glance, it is not bad, but I sat in another 2 that seemingly had more people pass through it. I am not confident in the longevity (as in, 5+yrs) of the cloth. Not for the 15k+ miles I drive a year. *edit over* I noticed the current generation 3 is better than mine, though.  The 6 tops them all except for the cloth seats (I personally hate the fabric choice).  The 2 just looks bare and basic, understandably so.  However, the big question is longevity, which I can’t obviously answer.  To be honest, I can’t reasonably judge interior quality unless it’s been driven for a while.  But everything I’ve sat in in the compact class outside of luxury brands has been roughly the same, give or take, at first glance.

Space-wise, my only real life comparison is a Scion xD.  The 2 felt a bit more cramped, especially in rear.  So if you’re regularly carrying rear passengers taller than 5’6″, it’s not going to be fun.  But the rear seats are a 60/40 spilt and fold down for a good bit of cargo room.

The drive was an unexpected surprise (I drove the slush box, wanted to get a feel for it).  City driving was not a chore.  The car felt nimble and agile.  Don’t get me wrong-it’s no Atom and it does take a while when you floor it.  However, it was enjoyable to just drive around.  On the highway, it was less fun.  You really had to stomp on it if you want to pass and there was hesitation in dropping gears to go.  But it’s a 1.5L engine on 4 wheels, you can’t have everything.  I suspect the manual would be a bit better (and I may be biased because my 3 is stick).

The bottom line, if I were to buy a new car today, I would seriously consider the 2.  My concerns are it’s a first year/generation car in the US (2nd or 3rd year worldwide) and the sticker price they tried to sell me on ($17k pre-negotiation) is bull.  Ideally, I could wait a year or two and find something on the used market.   Or if Mazda debuted they Sky-G engine on this.  I’d gamble on it.

*edit* I did seriously consider this car, but I declined. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to love it. I did love driving it. But passenger seating was a hair too cramped, and cost seemed too high combined with the lackluster interior. My goals are to drive the car into the ground, and I think the interior of the Mazda2 would not hold up to my liking for 5, 6, 7+ years. I ended up going with the Mazda3 hatch.

the reddit love machine

I often question humanity.  I sometimes wonder how we’ve not yet managed to completely destroy ourselves.  Especially after reading/watching something like this.  A 7yr old girl, Kathleen, is dying of Huntington’s and is being taunted by her “adult” neighbors.  These neighbors have been at ends with Kathleen’s family to the point of restraining orders put out against them.  Recently, the neighbors decided to not only photoshop Kathleen’s face above crossbones, but also photshopped her deceased mother into the arms of the grim reaper.

Yeah, you read that right.  Who the @$#!% makes fun of a 7yr old like that?!?  In the link above, the neighbors apologize the next day… but likely because of the eggings, fake pizza orders, getting child services called in (they have no kids, I believe)….  but this post isn’t about all that.

This post is about the so-called reddit love machine.  After gaining some headline room at reddit, a local toy store owner, Hans Masing, took it upon himself to start a donation toy drive for this little girl and to give the extra to Mott’s Children’s Hospital where hundreds share her situation.  What started as a whim to raise a few hundred, took off screaming.

On a simple act of humanity, Hans Masing managed to get the reddit community behind him–along with many locals, individuals and businesses alike.  The end result has been over $8000 $12000 $17500 in cash donations and an estimated $5000 in toys direct from businesses!  Kathleen will also get a shopping spree at Hans’ store, a free for all shop-til-you-drop-event.  And from there, she will bring toys and donate them to kids at the Mott’s Children’s Hospital in her name.  And after that, lunch will be provided by Caron’s American Bistro.  All the transportation will also be donated by Perfection Limousine.  Talk about turning a terrible situation upside down and on its face.

Needless to say, a smile was certainly shared by many.

by Hans Masing, on Flickr

 

It’s pictures like this and people like Hans that restore some of my faith humanity.

Donations to this Toy-Mania can be made here.

Donations to Kathleen’s own fundraiser can be made here.