August 25, 2009

UPDATES

An update on things that are going on in Reston. The more I watch “news” I wish they would follow up on previous stories – especially the ones that were sensational. It isn’t international diplomacy, but it is what I am memorializing.

a) Nature is abundant… this is my buddy the deer who hangs out in the back yard periodically. She has a boyfriend who is a large buck with a pretty big rack (appropriate use of the term). Researching I learned that the size of the rack has nothing to do with age, but I prefer to think that he is a wise old buck who has figured out not to cross the road, even to get to the other side.


b) Unnatural nature is also abundant… in the many sized pots that live on my deck, away from Buck, Doe, and the other Nature. Despite my travel for work and social reasons, mother nature has been able to keep the basil and tomatoes growing nicely. A while ago, we tied ropes across the banisters of the deck to serve where supporting poles would have served. The cooperative living space for the Pink Lady Tree and a rosemary shrub has also done so well that I’m going to have to prune the tree and get some red-skinned potatoes.




c) I’m still tracking my fuel consumption and the efficiency of The Beast. The stats are somewhat misleading because when I travel and rent a car, I don’t track the many miles and gallons that are consumed – I rationalize non-tracking because I rarely get the same model vehicle, and I drive them like the rentals they are. That is likely understating the gross miles and gas (and downstream averages) of my carbon tireprint. I will spare the detail, for now, but here are the current totals.

08/08/09 Most Recent Data
01/17/08 First Data Point
569 Period of Reference (Days)
31,746 Total Miles
1,759 Total Gallons
$5,226.74 Total Financial Drain
55.7935 Average Miles per Day
0.0554 Average Gallons per Mile
3.0912 Average Daily Consumption