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  1. #1
    Registered Troll
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    Lightbulb Using simpler stuff in everyday life

    Last week I went out of town and lost my electric shaver. I had a handheld razer that I received in the mail years ago as a sample, and used it and found I like it. No buzzing and noisy electricity, and I like the leizure of dragging the thing across my face and feeling the wiskers give way. Simpler is better in this case and I don't think i'll replace the lectric razer.

    Right now there's this A-Hole outside with his noisy lawn mowers and leaf blower, creating a hellofa racket that totally drowns out everything and I can't even talk on the phone. Think how much healthier that idiot would be if he pushed a simple mechanical mover and raked the leaves with a (horrors!) rake.

    Anyone else have examples of simpler is better, of getting away from the complex, noisey, and expensive and going simple.

  2. #2

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    Mowing and raking, why would anyone waste their time in the first place?

  3. #3

    Wink O my !

    Mowing with a push mower would take me forever, it's 3 hours with the power mower now. I do mulch up the leaves with the mower when I mow for the last time.

    I do bake & cook from scratch... in a bake off with a friend I made dinner rolls faster then she could using frozen dough & they tasted better too

    Have an old fashion carpet sweeper that workes great for a quick run over the carpet so don't have to haul out the old vacum as often

    don't own a dishwasher, ( that's what God made hands & kids for )

  4. #4
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    Why shave? Raking sharp steel across your skin is pretty dumb.

  5. #5
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    Turning off the compu

  6. #6
    Section Hiker 500 miles smokymtnsteve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Blue Jay
    Mowing and raking, why would anyone waste their time in the first place?

    cause folks love thier BIG, drug-addicted (fertilizer and chemical)
    mono-culture yards,
    "I'd rather kill a man than a snake. Not because I love snakes or hate men. It is a question, rather, of proportion." Edward Abbey

  7. #7
    Getting out as much as I can..which is never enough. :) Mags's Avatar
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    Default Why shave?

    Quote Originally Posted by L. Wolf
    Why shave? Raking sharp steel across your skin is pretty dumb.

    Because trimming my very thick beard takes too long.

    I'm lazy..rather just spend five minutes shaving than futzing around keeping my beard all neat and trimmed. Blech! I typically only shave every other day (and seldom on weekends), so not having a beard actually saves me time and makes life simpler for me. YMMV.

  8. #8
    Registered User Jaybird's Avatar
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    Default wackin' & shavin'

    i have a "dish-washer"...its ME!...hehehehehe

    own an electric push mower & weed eater....

    (i'm thinking about buying a regular rotor blade mower..the kind i used @ my grandmothers house when i wuz a kid)


    i shave twice a week (regular single blade razor)...& use the same blade for a couple o' months...but, i'm NOT shaving my goatee!
    see ya'll UP the trail!

    "Jaybird"

    GA-ME...
    "on-the-20-year-plan"

    www.trailjournals.com/Jaybird2013

  9. #9
    Registered User Bolo's Avatar
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    Red face Simplify, simplify, simplify...

    I believe it is said, when Ghandi died, everything he owned could fit in a shoebox!

    And I keep working on getting my pack weight down.

  10. #10
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    Somewhere I saw a picture of all that Ghandi owned at the time of his death. As I recall it was a spoon, a bowl, a cup, a pair of sandles, simple indian clothing, paper, pencil and his glasses. I think of this everytime I clean out my garage.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jaybird
    (i'm thinking about buying a regular rotor blade mower..the kind i used @ my grandmothers house when i wuz a kid)
    My grandparents had one of those. So simple and unpretentious it was a work of art.

  12. #12
    Registered User Dances with Mice's Avatar
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    Default Wonder why Thoreau say "Simplify, simplify, simplify"?

    ....when he could have just said it once?

    I have a big vegetable garden, all raised beds. I used to have a big Troy-bilt tiller for turning the soil.

    I spent about as much time maintaining and repairing the tiller than I did using it - that's not really a knock on TB, once it was running it made short work of the garden chores. But sometimes I'd spend the better part of a day getting that monster started and ready to till. So I gave it away to a friend.

    I've just been using shovel, hoes, and a rake for the last ten years. It's a lot easier. It's even faster. Now that the soil's in good condition I can turn it over and rake it smooth in about the same time it used to take to get the tiller from the garage to the garden. I can also do what needs to be done when it needs doing, I don't have to put off garden maintenance until there is enough work to justify starting the tiller. Or I can do just a little digging when I have a little time and finish when I have a little more. It's quieter and safer working with hand tools.

    I planted 1.5 acres of former mowed yard in trees, gave away my old riding John Deere and bought the cheapest push mower I could find for the little patch of grass remaining around the house. That saved several hundred dollars a year in mower maintenance and repair, and many hours of work each year, too.

    Now I have grapevines, blueberry bushes, thornless blackberries, and raspberry plants on order, scheduled for shipment in December. I have to build 5 new raised beds to hold them all. I'll be starting that this weekend, with the shovel. And then there will be even less grass to mow!
    You never turned around to see the frowns
    On the jugglers and the clowns
    When they all did tricks for you.

  13. #13
    Section Hiker 500 miles smokymtnsteve's Avatar
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    PLEASE STAND OF THE GOSPEL OF ABBEY!

    "We spend more time working for our labor-saving machines than they do working for us."
    ~

    THANKS BE TO ABBEY!
    "I'd rather kill a man than a snake. Not because I love snakes or hate men. It is a question, rather, of proportion." Edward Abbey

  14. #14
    Registered User weary's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by smokymtnsteve
    cause folks love thier BIG, drug-addicted (fertilizer and chemical)
    mono-culture yards,
    Well, I started simple 42 years ago. A beatup $2,900 house on a grossly polluted river. But the river got clean. Then the state enacted a law that says I can't cut anything bigger than 2 inches in diameter, so I'm stuck with mowing parts of my two acres occasionally.

    I don't mind having a few trees between me an the river, but this house and land is our only capital asset and my wife has a thing about living in poverty if inflation gets bad again or medical costs intervene again.

    I haven't checked personnally, but I hear rumors that most buyers of waterfront property like to see water not trees. I remain the disgrace of the neighborhood in the condition of my lawn. I'm not into chemicals, but I do run the machine a few times each summer to keep a swath open so that whoever eventually buys the place will be able to see the 1802 church steeple across the cove.

    I have to admit, that today, just as the heavy clouds began spitting the first snow of the season, that it was kinda nice to see some wild ducks paddling up through the marsh, while I was putting another stick of wood in the kitchen range.

    Weary

  15. #15
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    I think it is simpler for me to walk down the store and buy some food than to grow it and process it myself. Now, I do make my own beer and mead, but I have rather high standards.

  16. #16
    Section Hiker 500 miles smokymtnsteve's Avatar
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    it's cool and wet here in ATL,,,still pickin a few homegrown maters, they will be finished soon,,,and then I;ll have fried green maters from the remnants.

    but the arugala , chard and other salad greens are loving this weather
    "I'd rather kill a man than a snake. Not because I love snakes or hate men. It is a question, rather, of proportion." Edward Abbey

  17. #17
    Registered User Dances with Mice's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by smokymtnsteve
    it's cool and wet here in ATL,,,still pickin a few homegrown maters, they will be finished soon,,,and then I;ll have fried green maters from the remnants. but the arugala , chard and other salad greens are loving this weather
    Yep, I'm thinking the cool weather and rain-softened soil should be just right for some serious digging. The great majority of the broccoli heads are already in the freezer, just a few side shoots are left for salads. But the cauliflower are just starting to head and it looks like it'll be a great harvest. This cold snap should sweeten up the collards, and I'll pick the first green cabbage this weekend, the red cabbage still needs more time. And the cayenne, tobasco, and habanero peppers need to be picked, should get a couple more gallons to add to the freezer for hot sauce making later. The garlic is up and growing nicely. It is nice to be able to garden all 4 seasons.
    You never turned around to see the frowns
    On the jugglers and the clowns
    When they all did tricks for you.

  18. #18
    Registered Loser c.coyle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jaybird
    own an electric push mower & weed eater....

    (i'm thinking about buying a regular rotor blade mower..the kind i used @ my grandmothers house when i wuz a kid)
    In April of '82, the same week I bought my house, I bought a used "armstrong powered" push mower for $10. Still have it. About every third spring I get it sharpened for about $12. Using it is actually soothing. You get a rhythm going to the sound of whirring blades. Makes talking on my cellphone a real pleasure.

  19. #19
    Section Hiker 500 miles smokymtnsteve's Avatar
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    next couple days forecast calls for sunny weather, might be little wet to dig right now,
    "I'd rather kill a man than a snake. Not because I love snakes or hate men. It is a question, rather, of proportion." Edward Abbey

  20. #20
    Registered User Dances with Mice's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by smokymtnsteve
    next couple days forecast calls for sunny weather, might be little wet to dig right now,
    Right now it's all solid red clay under tall native grasses, won't be wet but maybe the top inch. I'll double dig and work in chopped leaves, ground pine bark, sand, and lime then turn it over again when the plants arrive.

    I won't touch my existing beds, tho, too wet to work them. I also need to take in the irrigation system, they're still getting an hour of watering every day!
    You never turned around to see the frowns
    On the jugglers and the clowns
    When they all did tricks for you.

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