Here’s a holiday riddle for you. What do you get when you combine wind power, over 100,000 light bulbs, 21 dedicated electrical circuits, four volunteer traffic controllers and Christian zeal, all in a formerly quiet neighborhood in Utah? One seriously kick-ass light show! This thing makes our local Christmas tree lane look like a Lite Brite toy. [click to continue…]
Videos
Thanksgiving week is here already and many of us are gearing up to cook up some large birds. I can almost feel that tryptophan coma setting in right now. Most of us are cooking in an oven. But this is the United States! So, of course, a large number of people intend to fry their turkeys. It’s part of the US diet and culture: when in doubt fry it! Frying a turkey involves filling a huge pot with oil, heating it with a high-power propane burner – often during festivities that involve copious amounts of alcohol. What could possibly go wrong? [click to continue…]
So there’s this new technology out, perhaps you’ve heard of it. People are using this technology to cook with, grow their own plants, create electricity, heat their water and heat their homes. Apparently, I’ve been living under a rock because it’s been around for some time. The sun can, amazingly, do all these things and more and I never knew. Well for those of you who are as troglodytic as I am, here is a pretty simple and cost effective and best of all cheap solar air heater that actually works (and its less controversial than Solyndra!) [click to continue…]
Fall is easily my favourite season – the air is crisp but comfortable, unfortunate armpit-baring tank tops get replaced with cozy armpit-hiding cardigans, and there’s glorious raking to be done. Raking? Really? Yes, really! We all have our quirks and raking is mine; raking leaves is easily one of my favourite household chores. It’s relaxing, productive, outdoorsy, and like the McRib or buying DVDs from “Disney’s vault”, available for only a limited time. There’s choice too! You can use a classic style rake or go all out on the latest in rake technologies. What’s not love? Back aches. The fact that a new pile of leaves can blow in at any moment. That it cuts into valuable pumpkin pie eating time. Well, if that’s your attitude, comedienne Amy Sedaris provides something else you can do with your rake – but it may not be suitable around children. Or your parents. Or anyone you have to look in the eye later. [click to continue…]
I like improvising, but sometimes improvising with the wrong material can be bad. Like using left-over balsa wood for a scaffold, or MacGyvering twine as a safety harness. Our inner improvisationist almost did a backflip for joy when we discovered The Clydesdale, touted as “The World’s Most Versatile Work Platform.” After several weeks of testing these beefy sawhorses on steroids, we’re impressed. [click to continue…]
