May The Odds Be Forever In Your Favor ??

Everyone loves some good old statistics possibly none more than myself- although in all fairness- I hate actually doing statistics as several college professors and one poor unsuspecting grad student lady TA (who fell pray to my Adonis like figure) can attest. Needless to say- statistics give answers to the great 'What if's' that we like to play. Please follow me down the rabbit hole for an adventure in futility!

Let's start with our beloved home--- what's in store for Terra Firma?

- Chances the Earth will be involved in a catastrophic asteroid strike in the next 100 years: 5,000 to 1.

That's not exactly comforting- so what else do we got working for us?

-Chances the Earth gets hit by a solar mega storm by 2020: 1 in 8....

Well- shit! Look's like we will be spinning in darkness while quietly awaiting our demise at the hands of an asteroid--- Trust me- you don't even want to know the odds of nuclear launch, nuclear accident, or dirty bomb detonation- you'll sleep far better not knowing. Well-maybe- just maybe, I can achieve wealth before the end?? What are the odds on that?

-Chances you will win the grand prize in Power Ball: 1 in 175,223,510

That's right- the chances are better of the planted being thrown into an apocalyptic hell than you winning Power Ball.... So take that!
- Chances that you are currently a millionaire: 1 in 83. Ok, now were talking!!
- Chances that your congressman is currently a millionaire- 1 in 2. I KNEW IT. Well, time to stash my millions in my freezer?

-Chances of someone hiding substantial amounts of money in their freezer- 1 in 6. You guys beat me to it!

Well- maybe I can achieve fame then?
- Chances of becoming an astronaut: 1 in 13,200,000... I am guessing this is rounded- plus- if you are the one of 83 people that's a millionaire- now you know what to do with your money before the solar storm.
- Chances of becoming US. President 10,000,000 to 1- I mean- who really wants that job anyway? Warlord is really more my style.
-Chances of becoming a pro athlete: 22,000 to 1. Did they make 'couch surfing' a pro event yet?? If they do, I'm totally set and am accepting corporate sponsors... seriously, get in on the ground level!
- Chances of winning an Academy Award: 11,500 to 1. Getting better!
-Chances of Taylor Swift winning this years Grammy for 'Best Album'  77%

Ughhh is there no justice????? Maybe I can become a saint to undo what once went wrong- (this is my second Quantum Leap reference this month... You're Welcome!)
-Chances of becoming a saint: 1 in 20,000,000.... hummm- well ill take my case to the worlds priests, ministers, rabbis, and/or bishops.
-Chances of being a target of the sexual advances of a priest, minister, rabbi, or other religious figure: 1 in 33.
At least I have my health??
- Chances of dying by stroke: 1 in 6
- Chances of getting cancer- Male 1 in 2, Female 1 in 3.
- Chances of succoring to heart disease- 1 in 3
- Chances you are overweight- 2 in 3

There's always love?
-Chances of your 2011 divorce stating 'Facebook' as a reason 1 out of 3
-Chances of dating a bonafide 'Super Model': 1 in 88,000. TO high maintenance anyway-
-Chances of dating a millionaire: 1 in 215
-Chances of dating a millionaire supermodel--- haha got you! Who knows- probably somewhere around being an astronaut.
-Chances you are a virgin after 18: 1 in 25. Wow... just wow. Porn?
-Chances you watched porn last year: 1 in 4.... hahaha you cheeky monkeys you!

Maybe life is about the simpler things
- Chances you will take a 'sick day' to go to the beach this year: 1 in 3
- Chances you will get murdered this year (after taking your sick day!): 1 in 18,000
- Chances your murderer will get away with it: 1 in 2
- Chances your murderer will be a shark: 1 in 300,000,000.
- Chances your murderer will in turn be murdered by shark? not good hahaha- especially if they avoid the beach that you like to skip work for!

What's the moral of the story?? According to a very complicated formula- intelligent life has a .01% chance of coming into existence- you already made it all that way- why not go a little further?
And if that doesn't work there's a 1 in 4 chance that you are reading this while drunk- So you have got that and the 1 in 88,000 chance of hitting a supermodel! Go get'er tiger!!

Mystery Science Theater 3000 MST3K--- and How My Life Has Spiralled Out of Control Ever Since!

Here are the facts:
* Mystery Science Theater 3000 aired until August 1999 after 8 seasons and 196 episodes.

After which my personal life experienced the following:
- Graduated high school and then college! ( I know- who would have guessed--- Go Temple Owls!)
- Had to pay taxes
- Had to pay bills
- Got Married!
- Had to work!
- Traded my sweet ass 1989 Firebird in for my current sweet ass Mini-van.

And- I realize that the world exists beyond me- so here are some world events-

World Events:
- 3 separate doomsday events--- failed
- 2+ wars
- Several terrorists events
- 2 words- Dick Cheney! I mean the guy even shot his friend in the face-
- Hurricanes!
- Other natural disasters including rouge waves, volcano's, earth quakes
- Oil spills!
- Nuclear power plant explosions

So clearly- there is a correlation between horrible world events and the cancellation of this critically acclaimed show. What? No? MST3K's cancellation couldn't have prevented any of that>?? Prove it!
And at the very least- it may have prevented the following horror stories from ever being created for fear that they would have been publicly ridiculed:

- Sex and The City 1 & 2
- Gigli (and pretty much any movie with Jennifer Lopez)
- Freddy Got Fingered
- Jack and Jill
- Super Babies
- 'Scary Movie' or any related film-
Among many others---
They may also have been able to cure the world of something called a 'Snooki'

Food for thought-
P

Winter Indoor Gardening Project: "Pop" Bottle Gardens (us 'normies' call them soda bottles)

Hello All-
   I took off for 2 days and- also have off the weekend--- this means a magical 4 days of time off! For those who know me, you may know that I have an almost uncontrolled desire to move around and do something daily at allllll times. With my 2 days off- I took my son on a 5 mile hike, installed a toilet, took the kids on another 6 mile hike and train ride through Philly. Now I am up to the weekend- and I think I have tired my kids out to the point that they know that leaving with me will equate to a forced death march in the throws of winter. So- to give them a break- I have decided to look into some simple at home projects for fun. I've surfed hours of the internet so you don't have too! I know, I know, you want to thank me- you can send me money donations later- For now- I have two simple projects that you can do in cold unbearable winter inside your home. 
YouTube has a host of Midwesterners (I consider them kinder, friendlier, East Coasters) who have posted about various projects. Unfortunately they have this unquenchable thirst to call their soda bottles- 'pop' bottles. I will allow this for this blog--- but may revert at any given point to our 'normie-speak' of the preferred 'soda'.

The first project is a simple project where you basically cut a soda bottle in half, put a notch in the bottom half, use a paper towel as a filter, add potting soil, water, add seeds / plants and walla! *magic noise* - a low maintenance planter that you can keep in your own house until the spring returns to us.
Here is a video from YouTube showing you how: (Ps: This is just one of many- choose one that you like!)

 

Another system I found is from a guy named 'Larry' out in Wisconsin. He also has a vernacular that makes him refer to soda bottles as 'pop'. He has a variety of projects that are interesting and something to look into. Larry details a somewhat more involved program including using several 'pop' bottles and placing them in a holder which maintains water in a Rubbermaid storage unit. He has a variety of watering systems including designing a floater similar to the one in your toilet that keeps a constant water level... I am no where near skilled enough to try such endeavors- so will be sticking with a simpler system. Also- our dear friend Larry uses 2 liter bottles- but since I don't have a whole lot of soda in the house, I may opt to try and used Iced tea bottles or smaller water bottles for smaller plants. Larry has some excellent things to check out- so check him out! :)

 

As always- I am forever interested in your feedback and suggestions

 

Ps: Here is me and my cherub's after today's adventure---

Yep- I am bringing 'duck face' back.

 

 

 

"Learning by doing"

P



Words of My Father (From November)

Thanksgiving and the holidays always make me reflective on years past and moving forward. Now entering my 30s I can be a little bit more reflective on my childhood and maybe even make some objective observations- but so as not to be overtly impressive to you, the reader with my stunning intellect and maturity- I will make sure to pepper in some 'sentence enhancers' and an inappropriate, ill timed/mannered joke.

When looking to how I raise my kids- my mother was no doubt formative to several of my strengths and my traits. I am more like my mother than any person on this planet. People would always compare me to my mother as I look like her- and can often times (sometimes to our detriment) act like her. But alas- something that may not be as obvious to the untrained eye- is the molding that is compliments of my father.

To the public, my father is a quiet, unassuming figure. He is mild mannered, quiet, kind, caring, and giving. His coworkers know him as responsible, hard working, the helping and trained hand, as well as someone who is undoubtedly upbeat with a sly witty sense of humor. My father is a hard man to know. He is far better known by his actions then by his statements. Even to his children, he is by most measures an enigma. I know little about his side of the family and less about his childhood and the things that made him the man he is. I can only assume his thoughts by his actions and may only make inferences about his intensions...  from this though- i have taken several lessons:

*Learn more, do more, see more- explore. My fathers strengths have never been in being a mechanic, a plumber, electrician, or handyman. For his lack of talents in his abilities to fix things- he had long since made up for in his intellectual capacities. As far back as I can remember- we were encouraged to participate in science camps, boy scouts, sports, and every other imaginable activity that is humanly imaginable. We went camping, hiking, identifying leaves, picking out constellations, reading maps, learning how things grow, and the world moves. We learned about history, science, architecture, and nature. My bed time stories were stories made about black holes, evolution, the human condition, and betterment of society and had characters with the names of Copernicus, Plato, Kepler, Einstein, Bell, among others.  Some kids heard stories from Dr. Seuss and Shell Silverstein, and while I had those too, the stories I truly loved came from books with writers by the names of Hawking, and Sagan.

*Happiness does not equal money- My family is from a working class neighborhood in Upper Darby. We would never be defined as being wealthy and indeed there were times after a car accident that had nearly paralyzed my father that even maintaining electric was a challenge. My father frequently kept 2 jobs to pay the bills always forgoing his comforts for those of his family. He was always one who downplayed his own needs so that others could get not only their needs met but also their wants. To this day I do not know where he would get the energy to work a 60-70 hour week- take all 3 of his kids to activities on every day of the week and still have energy to go camping or take the family somewhere we had never seen before. I am mesmerized by the determination my father always endured standing in rain storms, sleeping in snow, waking up early, going to bed late, creating, teaching, coaching his kids and other kids with the only expected reward being that his kids got to learn and experience something new. We learned that walks in the park could earn just as much fun as any other kids trip to Disney World. We learned that togetherness was what made us strong. It was the time that we spent together that made the long hours worth it to him. In 4th grade- my father had realized that I had taken an interest in space. I had written NASA and had them send me a bunch of materials. My father who had never been to Florida, Kennedy Space Center, or pretty much anywhere outside of the North East- put together enough money to send me to Space Camp outside of Orlando Florida- so that even though he had never gotten to see Kennedy Space Center- his son would get to see a space shuttle launch. This is one of many times where he would sacrifice his wants so that his children could broaden their horizons and be more.

*Take care of those who can't- Weather it be with people or animals- it was always ingrained in our family that no matter how bad we had it- someone else always had it worse and it was our responsibility to help others out through community service. We spent days on the side of roads picking up trash, doing projects to refurbish parks, providing information to those in parks, visiting the elderly, donating toys and food to those in need. My father, after observing a particularly callous statement made by a child version of yours truly- about 'why people bother to take care of disabled people' made a statement that would provide true guidance to me throughout my life- A famous quote of whom I do not know to attribute ( I will leave that to better minds than myself) 'The measure of civilization is how it treats its weakest members'. It was without question that we would take in the strays and adopt for the ASAP. Many a rescued bird, cat, dog, and even a possum made its way through our doors.

*Work hard, show up early, stay late, be the worker you would want to hire for your buisness- My father always fulfilled the promise to spend time with his family. Although we were never at want for our fathers time and attention- he worked hard and expected that we do the same in whatever we did. You didn't have to do one activity over another but you better keep yourself busy and dedicate yourself to it. My father emphasized a commitment to ones work as it was the outward display of ourselves. We regularly did extracredit projects for school and did reports even when they weren't needed. Frequently my father would reuire a project on a subject that interested us. If it wasn't neat, accurate, or interesting- we were required to do it over again.

*Don't be a bully but stand up for what you believe in- We were raised to treat all those who we would meet equally. We were informed that people came in different shapes, sizes, colors, and beliefs but when it came down to it we were all made of the same stuff. My dad emphasized that our strength came from our diversity and our ability to come together for a common cause. My father taught me it was never acceptable to take advantage of someone else but to standup for what you believe in... This lesson was never more apparent than in second grade when i proclaimed that humans had 'evolved from monkeys'--- 2nd graders can be an unforgiving bunch. :)

*Be you--- My father never frowned on my expression of self. For as long as I can remember I have been loud, liked being the center of attention, and (imagine this) could be considered 'abrasive' to others with a somewhat dry sense of humor. Despite my best efforts to be embarrassing- my father was never ashamed of who I was. Even coming home at 16 on a Saturday night from the midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show- wearing little more than fishnets and a corset- all's my father could do is laugh and stated that i must have gotten my legs from my mother. My music, and interests were always my own even when they differed (at times substantially) from his own.

*Laugh- my sense of humor undoubtedly comes from a steady diet of my fathers unrelenting presentations of Monty Python, Black Adder, Mel Brooks movies, with a panache of classic Saturday Night Live. Undoubtedly- any topic from the Spanish inquisition to lord helmet could be made a laughing subject.

Certainly the measure of my fathers influence is far greater than what I can fit into a few paragraphs. Maybe it goes without saying that at times in my life that I was less than appreciative. Hell, my teens were mainly measured by how many times I could get my dad pissed off. Now that I am the mature man-child that you see before you- I can appreciate the world that my father opened up for me. My fathers value to me will be forever measured by my daily life and now- what I pass on to my children. I like to think that I wake up in the morning- show up at work and am thought as dependable- I work to improve the lives of those that I don't know, hoping that those whom I interact with will have a better tomorrow. I get home to take my kids on nature walks, softball practice, and learning about a world that was here before us. At dinner I talk to my kids about the importance of hard work and how to help others. At night I read my son stories about distant worlds and the importance of making tomorrow better. At night I lay down with my wife and kids and watch an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

I don't know if I will ever be as good of a man as my father is but I thank him for giving me the chance to try.

ps: you would never know--- but my father- is a horrible speller :)

Toilet Paper- A Rare 2 Ply Treat- An Opus In 3 Parts Compliments of My 3 Year Old

My son- an ever so adventitious 3 year old- has decided he needs to have a war on toilet paper. The result is water logged TP found in the toilet bowl, the sink, and the tub. He has no regrets. Despite my best effort of placing the toilet paper at a 6 ft height- this has not deterred his efforts and the toilet paper casualties continue at a dizzying rate. Here's a graph to show just how critical the sustained losses have been:

For those who are familiar with Sly Stallone's dystopian future flick 'Demolition Man' - I have opted to move to a 3 shell system. . .  There's going to be a learning curve but i feel that waste will be cut down drastically.

Now in stores?

How To Survive Your Significant Other's (and your) Pregnancy Without Incurring Severe Bodily Harm -Or- The Do's and Don'ts of Preventing Your Grizzly Murder (Part 1?)

Prelude: On the off chance that my wife may read my tenacious rantings--- Let me first say she is a wonderful woman who endures my daily torment and accepts my attempts at living as a perpetual 18 year old. She has tamed me in my later years and is likely the reason why I am still alive as 18 year old me certainly would not have been able to survive this long. Sooooo Thank You Wife!!

And now....

With that out of the way- here is a 'Man's Guide To Survival'. Surviving your significant other's pregnancy will require more endurance than the most ambitious of zombie apocalypse plans (and yes I have one of those too). There is no hiding, running away, or escape. The only thing that you can do is to face this peril head on! You will (erroneously) harking back to the good ole' days of your relationship which were carefree. When you could leave your socks in the hallway- and the worst reaction was a brief chiding with (if you were lucky) some sweet makeup action afterwords. Well- experience the nostalgia now- because those days are long gone! A rookie mistake like leaving your socks in the hallway may earn you some form of corporal punishment or at least a few nights on the couch. In fact doing something as crazy as leaving the toilet seat up may earn you a fierce stare. What are you to do? What will become of your once promising life? I am happy to tell you- you have come to the right place- I have survived one pregnancy and am onto my next. I have been through the trial by fire and have returned stronger and better than ever. I will hand you this knowledge free of charge. You will not prosper as that will make you a target- but you will survive- and you too will pass this hard earned knowledge on to your friends, sons, and others. Please abide by this simple list of 'Do's & Don'ts'. Keep a list with you at all times- If you have a particular item- share it in the comments section with your fellow man so that we may learn from your fail and or success.

Without further adieu...

Do--- It is a stupid idea to write a commentary about surviving your significant other's pregnancy while she is pregnant as this is surely fraught with danger... (the things I do for you) but if you are going to do it--- write a section dedicated to how awesome your lady is and why your heretical talk should be forgiven.

Don't--- Make any commentary about her 'showing' or 'getting bigger'. This is an easy mistake to make as you may see other family like sisters, children, or her parents make similar comments and walk away unharmed. Make sure you remember that you are not any of those people, and she knows where you sleep andddd where the sharpened knives are kept in the house.

Do--- Offer your lady a collection of items that you know her to enjoy--- in moderate quantities. My personal story of survival is that my wife enjoys a certain book series, cream soda, and pecan pie. I brought her these offerings and placed them around her in her sleeping location. Be warned- to many of an item will lead her to think that you think she is fat because you brought so many. Too little will incur wrath because she will consider you an incompetent provider. This is an advanced tactic so make sure to start low and work your way up if you are unfamiliar with your ladies version of moderation.

Don't--- Make commentary on the attractiveness of any other women. This stands for women who are on tv, in magazines, and especially women that you may know. This seems obvious but its a quick trap to fall into- a simple conversation about how good your wife's friend looks since the surgery--- can quickly deteriorate into you sleeping in your car in 20* temps. If your lady says 'Doesn't she look good??' --- It's a damn trap--- that she is waiting to spring on you- Don't do it!! Act aloof and if an answer is required- stick with simple head nods and grunts of ambivalence.

Do--- Take up more of the chores- expect to be putting in more parenting time, cooking, cleaning, laundry. Its a good move anyway. This can unravel if you decide to start bragging of your abilities- also- don't complain.... that's also a sure fire way to come under the knife!

Don't--- Think you are going out for any social events! Your day's of 'hangin with the boys' is swinging precariously on the precipice of an abyss. If you do opt to be brave and want to go out- request it from your lady friend. Do not look overly excited to escape the tyranny of your house- as that request will be denied gleefully by your significant other. Absolutely do not (!!!) make the mistake of thinking 'I am man- I will do what I want' as this is a sure recipe to ensuring that your manliness will sleep alone for many years to come... in your own efficiency apartment on the wrong side of the tracks in some cold, ungodly basement of a complex. Doing things like going out without permission or staying out longer than your expected return home will likely lead to your bruised and battered body being dragged out of the Delaware River (or your nearest local waterway)

Do--- Provide your lady a space in which she can escape and be alone- with tv and comforts like recliners or beds (depending on your special lady's preference). Snacks and other items may be requested. Please have a plan on how to provide these in a prompt fashion. Make sure that your fridge and cabinets are stocked with her preferred items. Don't get cheap and go with store brand either! Those items will be rejected and earn you a subsequent trip to the store.

Don't--- Start arguments or escalate arguments. Even if you are right, you will have to live in knowing that you know your right--- but no one else shall ever know this because you will respond with 'Yes (insert your pregnant ladies name here) you are correct, I shall rectify (enter your sins here)'. This is a short point as there are no other comments to be added here. That is the only way- Practice tonight in the bathroom mirror- say 'Yes honey, I am sorry!' in the mirror- 10 times. This will help you with your emasculated pride during game day.

This ends part one of your training my young padawan. If you follow this simple list- your life expectancy will last much longer. Have some observations to share with the rest of mankind? Add them as together we are strong--- divided we will fall!

P

Gardening--- A Great Winter's Adventure??? Aquaponics, Composting, and Greenhouses (oh my!)

I live in the the North-East and am sadly plagued by 6 months of dreary cold weather, gray skies, and short days, 2 months of slightly less dreary weather, and 4 survivable months of uninhibited outdoor delight! Needless to say- in the 6 reasonable months- one must get a lot done in a little bit of time in order to produce any successful garden.

As my first blog mentioned- I am a father. I have a 12 year old step-daughter, a 3 year old son, and am expecting twins this very August. Unfortunately none of them come along with a spending account (which would be nice especially for my budding fashionista 12 year old and what I consider to be a nasty addiction to all things Apple). With that said- I try and save pennies wherever I can and to live a little healthier. Vegetables and Fruit are expensive so to defray costs and increase access to this resource I have been doing my research....

In turn I have come up with several very interesting projects that vary in cost, time investment, and returns.

First: 

Aquaponics. This is a new concept to me and so far everyone who I have brought it up in conversation to have quickly written it off as a way to grow weed. This has not made the idea go 'up in smoke' for me yet (see what I did there?? :). As I am sure that is likely true- the idea behind it is still fully functional. The concept puts together the idea of Hydraponics (growing plants in water) with Aquaculture (growing of aquatic animals in tanks). The idea is that the two can be symbiotic. A tank is traditionally set up with a pump to several growing beds. Plants survive on the fish excrement and in return the fish get filtered water and everyone wins (except for some of those 'dirty fish' that like to swim in their own crap water- this is a bad day for them). (For more reading- check out my beloved wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics). There are several viable plans to maintain a fully functional Aquaponic setup. This version of gardening comes in a variety of sizes and setups ranging from very small tower set up to a very large industrial setup. I live in a limited space so- Ill likely opt for a smaller version at least as an experiment before incorporating a larger one. Here's a neat setup I found on Pintrest (no- its not just for girls!!):

There are probably some changes that I would make to this to simplify it but otherwise- its small, it can be done indoors, and there's not to much overhead involved. My fish of choice would probably be Talapia as my reading indicates that's a fairly popular fish for this type of setup. 

Eventually my dream is to have a much larger outdoor greenhouse setup--- While surfing the world of YouTube- I did come across this very nice setup which looks very impressive:

(He has a variety of interesting videos- check them out!)

Inevitably when dealing with plans we return to the same problem--- We live in a terribly cold icebox from hell (haha). So- how do we combat this horrific problem? Moving to Florida is out- as I believe that one ill-fated Spring-break may have corrupted my 'Upstanding Citizenship' for that state... but i digress. There are several other options that will at least get you part of the way through the colder parts of the season.

Which leads me toooooo-

Second:

Greenhouses- Greenhouses come in temporary, semi-temporary, and permanent structures. They vary in cost, size, and complexity. So- for me- putting up a 60-120ft long would not only incur the ire of my neighbors but also likely not be very space appropriate. Here are a few different setups that I found and liked-

For the poor man (such as I frequently am) there are setups and guides for greenhouses that are made of old resources such as old windows that can be gotten from installation companies and dumps. I like this idea because it not only saves you money- but also re-purposes 'trash' to become once again productive. Here are some that I found just searching around- I did look on Craigslist.org locally- and did see that are groups that sell old fairly large windows for 5 or 10$ depending on the size.

Greenhouses only get you part of the way through  and can maybe extend your growing season a month or 2 on either side but you will need more. Certainly there are people who put in heat systems but that's just wayyy to rich for my blood- so I've come across some other ideas-

Third:

Composting!

Everyone loves a good composting. Its probably the easiest thing to do! Composting is more or less- the decomposition of plant material. Based on my reading- they frown on composting of meat or bones because they report its a complicated process and takes too long to break down. Most sites also frown on the use of human waste--- because- well you are dirty birds honestly! So for all intents and purposes- composting is relegated to plants and animal wastes. The process is the combination of nitrogen rich items and carbon rich items that little microbes enjoy snacking on. During this process of fermenting- temps in the heap should run around 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This is fairly toasty and if properly integrated into a greenhouse could provide some additional heat. Stinkyness you say?? Well- typically- monitoring the process is possible using  proper ventilation and the appropriate use of various types of items like leaves. Check out this link for information on composting and instructions on how to build simple compost bins (3 sections bins are recommended)

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM683.pdf

Composting is good for kitchen scraps, leavens, grass clippings, and a good source of nitrogen  is chicken poop! and... well everyone loves chicken- so without further adu-

Fourth:

DIY Chicken Coups

Lucky for me- East Norriton allows chickens to be kept on your property. There are a few people who have chickens in the area- usually 3 or 4 as more than that becomes unwieldy. Maintaining any animal can be a difficult and burdensome activity but the rewards can be great too. For a quick bit of info on all things chickens- check out http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-raise-backyard-chickens-in-your-city-the-basics-of-raising-chickens . For those of you who might be squeamish at the eventual dismemberment of your back yard pet for an evening meal--- you can always teach them to play the piano (?).

Fifth: (ever look at the spelling for fifth--- if fifth was a person- i bet I wouldn't like him (or her)

Water and Water Management-

Aquaponics, gardening, composing, chickens... they all need water- and that can come at a hefty fee depending on the size of your operation and set up. To help defray costs- you might consider rain water collection. The easiest way to do this is utilizing rain barrels which can be connected to your rain spout.  They typically come in 55 gallon setups and you can get them with hose or other connections depending on your budget and how fancy you want to get. You can find commercial setups on google ranging in the 120$ range or others on craigslist from local craftsmen in the 80$ range. 

Ok- well I can only blabber on for so long- but alas I am done for tonight- check back as i start work on a small aquaponic system and work on putting together a larger greenhouse project for this summer. I also have some neat, quick DIY projects I've come across which i'll show off as I complete them.

As always I am interested in any info you may want to contribute. I am by far no expert- and come from this as a new school of learning. You can always teach a middle aged dog new tricks! :)

In the Beginning----

In the beginning there was this post! :) Welcome!
What is "The Suburban Hippie" about?
Excellent question- It's a posting site for me (Paul) about the exploits of a 30 something year old male living in the Suburbs of Philadelphia.
The longer and (maybe) more interesting answer is this blog is about the lost art of being a human, a man, a father, a husband, a son. It's about my goals of how to live more in tune with our world, appreciating our connections \ relationships, and the experience of living every day life.
Sometimes this blog will have posts that are funny, serious, unusual, thought provoking, critical, offensive, and upsetting.
The topics will be as diverse from 'how to build a productive garden' to 'what happens when your 3 year old tries to flush your cell phone'.
 I mean it to be a conversation starter with the readers to evoke your thoughts and feelings.
My perspective is we are more diverse than we give ourselves credit for- we are more than Democrat or Republican. More than Christian or Atheist. More than men and women, producers and consumers, leaders and followers. Here we can be anything we want and we can say anything we want so long as it something we wouldn't be ashamed to say to another's face.

Thanks for checking it out and as always- I look forward to your input.

P