Why did I buy these shoes? Parkour, Running, Spartan Race, and Outdoors/Hiking.
They really fit like a glove! But a glove that you have to break in. For the first few days, they will hurt badly!
Pain? Yeah these were definitely some of the most painful shoes I've broken in. Yeah they fit well, except they dig into the back of my heel; To the point that one day of wearing them I was missing a chuck of skin. Perhaps it'd be better to break them in just an hour at a time or so. Bring a backup pair of shoes to work in case your co-workers want to walk to a restaurant half a mile away for lunch. You wouldn't want to dread taking every step the whole way there... Or you can do as I did and truck through the pain until there is no more pain. Okay, I did take several days off from wearing them after the first painful day.
Flexibility? Not quite like my Vibram Five Fingers. I can easily flex them by hand, but they are still pretty stiff. Maybe they will loosen up over time. Notice in the picture below how my VFFs are so loose, they fold under their own weight.
Durability? It's to early to tell. I suspect they will not live up to my ultra high durability expectations. I do predict they will be pretty decent. I'll report back in roughly 6 months to see if they are still in one piece of not. As you can see, my VFFs were not exactly all that durable. We'll see...
Can you feel the ground? Not as well as my VFF. :( Maybe it will get better as I wear them down and they get more flexible.
In Conclusion, do I like them? Yeah, once you get past the break-in hurtle, they become your best friends. For me, it's worth not having to deal with toe-slots and loosing expensive toe-socks. (yes, $12/pair) to the hungry washing machine monster..
7/29/2012
Simple Aquaponics Growbed From Recycled Materials
I built a simple aquaponics system today and I thought I'd share a few pictures. The awesomeness about aquaponics is the ability to recycle/upcycle so many old materials into your aquaponics system; the possibilities are limitless! Junk yard aquaponics onward!
I got this used fish tank from a hydroponics shop called Brite Ideas (What a great place, even for second hand materials). I gave it a quick wash and I've now been using it for about 2 years.
I cut out a piece of old plywood. I figured 2ft by 4ft would be a good size for this fish tank (110 gallons).
You may want to weatherseal any non-treated lumber to be used in outdoor aquaponics systems...
I completely forgot to take a picture of the 2x4 support framing that was used under the plywood. Basically, you just make your 2x4 cuts and lay them out on the plywood to make sure everything is square. Screw the 2x4 piece together and then flip it all over to screw the plywood down to the frame. To get an idea of what the frame looks like, imagine 2x4 pieces around the outside edges of the plywood and a center support piece in the middle.
I did however snap a picture of one of the frame corners... Better than nothing I guess.
Once the entire base was finished, I installed some old 2x10's (we found them in a flood) for walls. I put a bunch of screws into the side walls because the weight of the water will be pushing them apart and I don't want them to separate over time. Set screws into the bottom 2x4 frame (not the plywood) and also on the corners you can place about 3 screws joining the side walls together.
I previously got some recycled pond liner from someones old backyard water feature. It's important to preform a leak test on used pond liners to make sure there is no holes. I let water sit for about 2 hours monitoring for leaks. I did find a few smalls holes but I had enough excess length to slide the pond liner around and find a good continuous spot with no leaks. It may be that some of my trimmings will end up in the land field, but at least I was able to save the bulk of the pond liner from the dump. My eco-work for the day has been accomplished. Do I get a green badge or something?
With the pond liner all sorted out, it was time to drill a hole for the bulkhead. This is where a good holesaw kit comes in handy.
Oops, the hole was too small! I didn't account for how thick this pond liner was. No worries, Dremel tool to the rescue. I just needed to carve out the hole a tiny bit. While I was at it, I got to thinkin' bout how someday someone will dismantle this aquaponics system. It may be me in 2 years or maybe it will be someone else in 10 years. Who knows. I still thought it'd be nice to leave them a message.
How about some trim? We saved this stuff from going in the dumpster at church well over a year ago. I'm so very happy it's finally getting used Unfortunately it was only 4ft long and earlier in the day I decided to make the aquaponics system 4 foot 2 inches. Doh! So, the walls hang out of the trim a tiny bit... but hey, this is junkyard aquaponics right? It can't be perfect! It does look good for what it is though.
I installed the stand pipe for the bell siphon and my favorite part is testing out the siphon action. Of course I always build the bell siphon last and it takes forever for the stinky silicone to dry/cure. Actually, that stinky smell may be me.. considering I have been sweating out in the sun all day with my power tools gettin-ir-done.
Kittehs love construction!
I'll add more pics this week when I finish testing the bell siphon, gravel guard, and filling with medium and transplants from an old system.
I got this used fish tank from a hydroponics shop called Brite Ideas (What a great place, even for second hand materials). I gave it a quick wash and I've now been using it for about 2 years.
 | ||
| Stay hello to some big gold fish! (and fathead minnows) |
I cut out a piece of old plywood. I figured 2ft by 4ft would be a good size for this fish tank (110 gallons).
You may want to weatherseal any non-treated lumber to be used in outdoor aquaponics systems...
I completely forgot to take a picture of the 2x4 support framing that was used under the plywood. Basically, you just make your 2x4 cuts and lay them out on the plywood to make sure everything is square. Screw the 2x4 piece together and then flip it all over to screw the plywood down to the frame. To get an idea of what the frame looks like, imagine 2x4 pieces around the outside edges of the plywood and a center support piece in the middle.
Insert
Imagination
Here
I did however snap a picture of one of the frame corners... Better than nothing I guess.
 |
| Square it up |
Once the entire base was finished, I installed some old 2x10's (we found them in a flood) for walls. I put a bunch of screws into the side walls because the weight of the water will be pushing them apart and I don't want them to separate over time. Set screws into the bottom 2x4 frame (not the plywood) and also on the corners you can place about 3 screws joining the side walls together.
I previously got some recycled pond liner from someones old backyard water feature. It's important to preform a leak test on used pond liners to make sure there is no holes. I let water sit for about 2 hours monitoring for leaks. I did find a few smalls holes but I had enough excess length to slide the pond liner around and find a good continuous spot with no leaks. It may be that some of my trimmings will end up in the land field, but at least I was able to save the bulk of the pond liner from the dump. My eco-work for the day has been accomplished. Do I get a green badge or something?
With the pond liner all sorted out, it was time to drill a hole for the bulkhead. This is where a good holesaw kit comes in handy.
Oops, the hole was too small! I didn't account for how thick this pond liner was. No worries, Dremel tool to the rescue. I just needed to carve out the hole a tiny bit. While I was at it, I got to thinkin' bout how someday someone will dismantle this aquaponics system. It may be me in 2 years or maybe it will be someone else in 10 years. Who knows. I still thought it'd be nice to leave them a message.
 |
| =) |
I installed the stand pipe for the bell siphon and my favorite part is testing out the siphon action. Of course I always build the bell siphon last and it takes forever for the stinky silicone to dry/cure. Actually, that stinky smell may be me.. considering I have been sweating out in the sun all day with my power tools gettin-ir-done.
Kittehs love construction!
I'll add more pics this week when I finish testing the bell siphon, gravel guard, and filling with medium and transplants from an old system.
7/28/2012
Neon Trees
Quite a while back in the Woot Music Mondays Turntable room, I played a Neon Trees song when it was my turn to DJ. This started a discussion which led one listener to state that the Neon Trees concert he went to was one of the best shows he's ever been to. Interesting. I had been wanting to see Neon Trees, but the only time they came to town was to play in SXSW. The tickets to that are way too expensive to just see one or two bands, so I've never bit the bullet. Finally the came to town for a show and I knew I couldn't pass it up. I was a little worried about the venue being a little subpar for an act like Neon Trees, but it turned out pretty good.
... yeah I'll finish this post later.
 |
| Sound Check. Mic. 1. 2. 3. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)