My Coffee: Prescribed by Dr. "Kona Joe" Alban

     Well, it seems to be a "coffee" kind of morning. Lower G.I. thunderstorms are 24 hrs past and I can again enjoy a good "cup of joe". It is as of yet not "Kona Joe" though. The simple fact is that the Kona coast is home to a host of coffee farms that grow some of the best coffee beans in the world. 

 

   "Kona Joe" is grown in a unique style by a practicing  Orthopedic surgeon from a family known for producing some excellent wines in California.

 

   He appreciated the potential in using growing methods very similar to that of grape vines as nobody else had ever. Increased yield volume and quality resulted. It is VERY appealing to my techie / gardener mindset.

 

   As one might expect from a blog by an orthopedic surgeon who just happens to run a coffee farm in a region known for some of the best coffee in the world, I found a post on the positive effects of coffee drinking on long term mental health, specifically reduction in the odds of contacting Alzheimer's Disease. 

   Now I need to find somewhere around here to purchase  "Dr Alban's finest". Ofcourse I could make trips to "the Big Island" a yearly routine....Not likely.

Lawnmower Motor Maintenance: NOT!

      Motor maintenance....motor maintenance...we don't need no stinking motor maintenance! "We" are all of us who've made the wise move from gasoline engine power to cordless electric lawn mowers. It's all about the gasoline engine and involves messy / smelly motor oil, gasoline, fuel stabilizers and air filters and cleaning and adjusting spark plugs. NONE of that has ANY place in the lives of cordless electric lawnmower owners /operators!  

     For the majority of homeowners, size and power options are every bit as good today for cordless electrics as for gas engine models, unlike ~ 6-10 years ago. Their electric motors require NO MAINTENANCE! And quiet? My Neuton 14" cordless electric is so quiet I need not worry about waking neighbors with early morning mowing.

      One important detail to look for which not all models employ is an in-use removable battery pack. NONE of these batteries for cordless electric function like to be "short cycled" (run for less than complete discharge before being re-charged) Buy a spare battery with the mower so you can run it to full discharge and then swap battery packs. That is pretty much just like refilling the old mower's gas tank from the can of spare gas all gas powered mower owners are OBLIGATED to keep around. 

      One more thing to look for: Rechargeable batteries don't like to be "overcharged" ( being  charged even after they are at full charge) and are robbed of energy storage capacity and lifespan by it just like with “short cycling”, so look for one with a battery charger that has either or both auto-shutoff at full charge and /or full charge indication. The latter is usually color change of an LED light on the charger. Most makers have figured this out and met the need with both features but I'm not sure all have.

      If you choose a Neuton, as a bonus there's a trimmer edger attachment that works really well and is super easy to operate. 

 

Rebuild Moore Oklahoma where Nature destroyed it TWICE?

      There are some places on Earth where nature simply won't abide the creation of "permanent" towns. The previous location of (it basically is no more) Moore Oklahoma seams obviously one of them.

       Moore Ok Tornado "Debris Ball" on Radar

       Nature is what it is and much of that includes forces beyond human control now and for a long time to come. Many of us believe the human race has done many things that helped accelerate the normal rising cycles of those forces. Whether the latter is true or not, is it appropriate for those of us able to identify incidents of human disaster obviously resulting from blatant defiance of nature's normal, well recorded, measurable and yet uncontrollable forces to remain silent in that knowledge? Should we feel obligation to sacrifice in support of continuation of that defiance?

      Somebody please tell me that the United States Treasury through FEMA isn't going to spend $billions to rebuild Moore Oklahoma where it sat before  5-20-2013. 

       I'm not saying we shouldn't help devastated homeowners rebuild. I'm saying we shouldn't help them rebuild where we can be as certain as modern science allows that they will be devastated again by the same certain yet completely uncontrollable force of nature in 10-15 years or less! 
     

 Paths of 3 of 5 Moore OK tornadoes in last 15 years

      Having been hit by 5 major tornadoes in 15 years, 2 of which nearly totally devastated it, killing 36 and 24 human beings each what makes Moore Oklahoma uniquely qualified to continue to defy the uncontrollable forces of nature on the US taxpayer's dime? That would be a plan for creating avoidable disaster and death for the future! FEMA has been pursuing exactly the kind of relocation plan I'm implying for many years in the cases of many residents of communities that have been repeatedly flooded in the Chicago Suburbs.

Cordless Electric Mowers: What's up

      What's up right now in the world of 

cordless electric mowing?

 

      One way to get started when looking to get away from the 

hassle of combustion power is to examine the reviews of 

these guys' top 10 picks as shown in the image atop this 

post. Of course I may not agree with all of them, being a ~10 

year 14" Neuton user.

      Best I can tell Greenworks has the currently most 

advanced ones in their "G-Max" lineup. Some G-Max mowers 

have 2 40v. Li-ion battery slots that gang up for longer run 

time. The same batteries are also used in the host of hand 

held power equipment (hedge trimmers, string trimmer, 

small chainsaw, blower etc.). The top of their G-Max line is a 

twin blade 20" model. 


    There's another Li-ion battery powered mower maker 

that's been making them longer, "Recharge Mower". They 

even make a battery electric riding mower, supposedly good 

for 2 acres on a charge.  Or, there's the latest models by the 

maker of  my 10 year-old Neuton (see link in 1st paragraph). 

    There was a really cool deal recently. Pep boys oddly 

enough was taking gas mowers in trade for Greenworks 

mowers: A Reel push mower with grass catcher free with 

trade, a 20" corded electric $75 with trade and a 20" cordless 

lead acid battery mower at $150 with trade.

Recharge Mowers Ultralite

      When you buy a push or self propelled walk behind 

model, make sure it's one with in-use removable battery and 

get a spare battery. Rechargeable batteries hate short cycling 

so you want to run on the battery until the sound of the 

mower (or the battery charge life indicator if it has one) tells 

you the charge is used up before recharging the battery. That 

can be in the middle of a mowing event. That spare battery 

then functions just like that can of gas you "used to keep" for 

the gas mower. Try to get one that has a charger with auto-

shut-off or at least "charge complete" indicator. Overcharging 

is bad for any rechargeable battery.

Battery Pack for Recharge Mowers Ultralite

Battery pack for Neuton 14" (CE-5 and my EM-4.1)

      Be sure to follow the links I’ve included and carefully 

check out the models referred to so you can do informed 

assessment of any found in stores you might consider buying 

and have fun picking.  

      Happy mowing with NO motor maintenance for the life of 

the mower or fluids to manage!

CAN YOUR SINUSES BE YOUR FRIENDS?

After over a year of dealing with a seemingly endless string of upper respiratory issues in the last 1 1/2 years, allergy, colds, infections and asthma events, 3 of the latter involving E.R. visits, I am about to take radical measures to correct the pattern. 

2 Days from now I’m having sinus surgery. The best evidence is that my asthma, the worst of the symptoms, is a result of drainage from them ( the sinuses). 

This current string of illness episodes eventually resulted in loss of my singing voice back in May of last year. I literally had to leave in the middle of a concert. The voice came back around the beginning of November but I've had a number of interruptions in singing due to colds, Flu, infection and asthma events since then. Unfortunately my flu shot in October didn't  completely protect me as I came down with influenza B in December.

 This won't be my first sinus surgery. I had same back in spring of 1980 for correction of everything I've experienced this time except for asthma and complete loss of singing voice. The results were dramatic back then. The sound of my voice was very improved as well as quite a dramatic decrease in the infection events.

The 2nd scariest part of this whole thing, the scariest obviously being going under general anesthesia, has been getting off certain meds in preparation for the surgery.   Those would be any aspirin or any other NSAIDs (Advil, Aleve etc), allergy or cold remedy meds and dietary supplements. Since my asthma results from sinus drainage, the number 2 item in the list is the scariest part.

The nature of the procedures has advanced quite a bit since 1980 so the surgeon will be addressing it with different corrective "adjustments" of the structures. 

One of the things he'll be addressing is my deviated septum.  That was part of the 1980 surgery as well, correcting the results of a foot to the nose in a pick-up football game ~ 1968. 19-20 years ago or so I managed to re-injure it by failing to wear a catcher's mask while warming up a little league pitcher and looking away at just the wrong time.

I'm hoping to be back to singing a couple of weeks after the surgery but we'll see. I'm 34 years older than the last time after all.