Greentheo’s green workout plan

June 30th, 2009 by greentheo

A major part of a healthy lifestyle is excersize.   But for every active and healthy person there is at least one excersize and diet philosophy.  I thought I’d contribute my healthy and ‘green’ lifestyle and exercise ideas as well for any who might be interested.

Quick Summary

Over the years I’ve done many different types of workouts.  I’ve spent hours in the weight room (oh come on, we all wanted humongo pecs at at the age of 15 right?), to hours at the dojo and quite a few team and singular sports including football, soccer and basketball.  However, the most effective work-out simply is:

  1. 2-3 hours a week of more intense intense excersize.
  2. Doing only those excersizes that your body (not your narcissistic brain) asks you to do.
  3. Eating those things which your body asks you to eat in order to feed it and energize it to adequate levels.

First things first…

Proper excersize will not be possible without a good diet.  Again let’s keep it simple and natural.  I recommend that the following diet be implimented immediately:

  1. Eat everything your body asks you to eat, no exceptions.  Try to think about it as little as possible.
  2. Okay one exception.  Eat as much USDA organic foods as possible… if you body wants chocolate, feed it organic rich happy chocolate and eat all you actually want… but no more than.  Want 2 plates of spaghetti for dinner?  Eat it… you’ll have a tremendous source of energy for your next workout.  Pizza… do it!  Just make it organic and high quality. Don’t even look at the label on the back it will only confuse your poor brain which in the end has very little on-the-fly analytic capabilities.  If we can’t even hold more than 7 to 9 digits in our minds easily why should we be able to analyze something as complex as all the nutrients we need and want?[1]
  3. For every non-water beverage you consume drink the equivalent amount in plain ol’ water.
  4. When hungry or thirsty, immediately drink a glass of water.

A workout guide

As with my guide to eating right let’s try to keep the workout philosophy simple too.

  1. Listen to your body.  If your body wants less exercise, rest it.  If it wants more, go a bit harder.   The main thing is to do what your body asks, not what your narcissistic and confused brain thinks it needs to do to be the Olympian/model/He-Man it desires to be.
  2. Too much time in the gym is inefficient.  Keep your overall excersize time at about 3 hours per week.
  3. 2 gym workouts per week and 1 playing workout[2] is plenty to keep strong and fit.
  4. Your “playing” workout should always be done with a friend.  It’s just much more fun that way and it builds a bond faster than most anything except well… “working out” with your spouse ;-)  ;-)
  5. For your gym workouts I suggest 1 hour workouts composed of 20 minutes of stretching, 20 minutes of intense cardio, and 20 minutes of upper body weight training.
  6. Stretching is so important it should be#1 on this list.  Always stretch, and always stretch each muscle group for 2 times as many seconds as your age.  Your joints and muscles will thank you when you get to the nursing home one day.
  7. Weight training should be done slowly with 1-2 minutes of rest in between sets, no more than 4 different weight training activities in your 20 minute period should be performed… 3 is ideal.
  8. No long distance running.  Your joints can’t take it.   I know a few long distance nuts who can barely walk these days.  And it’s not even that great of a workout in the end.
  9. If running is desired, try sprinting in the grass… and show some respect for the grass: take your shoes off.  Doesn’t that feel good?  Consider that sprinting 17 x 100 yard dashes at an average time of 15 seconds each sprint is like running a 4:15 mile … seriously … only Ethiopians and horses can run that fast.
  10. Enjoy your activity whatever it is.  If you don’t like it, try something else until you find something that excites you.  Currently I’m really excited about downhill mountain biking… I’ve rarely had so much fun or strength training for my calves and quads!

Last thoughts

When we listen to what our bodies want we will often be surprised by its desire for good things.   Working out and eating are no exception.   We were made to desire the good things of the earth and to enjoy recreation and liesure.  Go ahead… enjoy the good food, excercize and activities that God intended for you!

  1. And of course, feel free to go non-organic every now and then, McDonald’s is the devil but I swear it tastes like Heaven! [↩]
  2. soccer, basketball, hiking, biking, skiing, yoga, martial arts… it doesn’t really matter [↩]

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and we’re back…

June 29th, 2009 by greentheo

It’s been a few weeks since last greentheo had something to post.  Yep… been kind of busy working  in the garden.  So far I’ve had all the lettuce come in along with the Spinach.. so delicious.  The peas are forming their little pods, the squash are flowering and starting to form their little bulbous fruits, and the green beans are climbing the mammoth sunflowers as hoped.

But perhaps most importantly, Christmas has come early this year.  Colorado now allows rain harvesting!

Finally, my law breaking lifestyle has come to an end and I can legally use the water collected from my roof.

I bet grey-water systems will be up next for review.

Happy Gardening and summer fun to you all!

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Oh the places you’ll go

June 12th, 2009 by greentheo

It’s a classic, and still inspiring… no matter how many years have passed.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
by  Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

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In favor of Universal Health Care

June 10th, 2009 by greentheo

From http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_12523427

  • Average US income after tax: 82% of gross
  • Average Canadian income after tax: 82% of gross
  • US GDP spent on health care: 17%
  • Canadian GDP spent on health care: 10%
  • Percent of US citizens with no health care: 15%
  • # of US citizens without adequate health care: millions?
  • Percent of Canadian citizens with no health care: 0%

I believe in the free market as much as any other true red white and blue American… my job is utterly dependant on it.  But seriously… how can one look at the numbers and think that we’re getting a good deal?

It’s not about socialism versus democracy and the free market, or the irresponsible versus the responsible.  It’s about individuals versus profiteering  insurance corporations and the medical industrial complex. 

If they can run at 5% overhead costs in French health insurance companies[1], we sure can do it here.[2]

Let’s not let the Man stick it to us any longer.   We believe in education for all, public defense for all criminals along with a trial with a jury of our peers.  We also believe in the right to lif,e liberty and the pursuit of hapiness too.   Shouldn’t  basic health care and a meal to eat be included in that list as well?

  1. Sick Around the World [↩]
  2. The US averages about 31% in overhead costs for an insurance company [↩]

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The Main Problem with Time Travel

May 16th, 2009 by greentheo

….it’s not possible[1].

I had a dream last night that a friend of mine from Church was trying to stump me on some logic questions in order to “prove” whether I had really been a math major in undergrad.  He should have known, of course, that one could never “prove” such a thing but could merely induce that the opposite wasn’t true.

But Mr. K (to protect his identity) asks me the following:

“Because of the terrible events of 9/11, the future human race develops: 1) a technology that detects terrorist attacks with 100% precision, 2.) a time machine with which to go back and stop the events of 9/11.   Is time travel possible?”

To which I respond:

“Assuming the future humans do develop such anti-terrorism technology and a time machine and in fact successfully travel to the year 2000, then there would have been no need to invent the technology and the time travel device.  But clearly they have developed it.  And thus backwards time travel is not possible as it must always lead to an inconsistent and conflicting history.  QED.”

Mr. K then proceeds to ask me questions about limits and monotonic functions and other Calculus 1 level questions…

This might be the very first dream in which I can’t say, “Hmm…that was wierd!” (which is what follows 99% of dream recountings).

Although I must admit, it was kind of strange…

  1. backwards time travel at least [↩]

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Anything is possible with a little ingenuity

May 11th, 2009 by greentheo

If an old fart like Wally Wallington from Michigan can solve the mystery of how such “primitive”[1] people could erect the massive stones of Stone Henge without any  modern technology, and demonstrate how to do it all by himself… then just about anything is possible.

Check Wally out here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRRDzFROMx0

As a Mathematician I always appreciate the most elegant of solutions to a problem, and I think Wally has found it…. simply amazing what one man can accomplish with a little ingenuity.

  1. Somehow the people from Stone Henge, Egypt etc. are primitive, and yet for centuries modern scholars, engineers and thinkers have been baffled by their building techniques and scientific understanding of the world.  And Wally Wallington?  He too must be primitive… no degree… not refined… not educated… [↩]

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Offsetting the World’s CO2 for $3 Billion

May 6th, 2009 by greentheo

My brother, who always sends thoughtful and well reasoned articles, sent me this article on what appears to be the cheapest and easiest solution to the problem of global warming: white roof paint.

Akbari, along with Surabi Menon, another LBNL scientist, and Arthur Rosenfeld, a former LBNL scientist and now a California Energy Commission board member, claim that painting urban surfaces in warm parts of the world white or a light color could offset the carbon emissions of all 600 million of the world’s cars for 18 to 20 years — at a savings equivalent to at least $1 trillion worth of CO2 reductions.

This is not a hoax: Akbari, Menon and Rosenfeld are three of the country’s leading experts in their field, and their study published in the journal Climatic Change is backed by years of carefully calculated data. 

And it would create jobs.

It wouldn’t create energy independence, but it would solve the problem for far cheaper than almost any other solution and could be done by the end of the year if we wanted.

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CR especial V2.1 update

May 5th, 2009 by greentheo

Version 2.1 of the CR especial turbine has been completed and attached the base mounting structure.  .

Here is a nice shot of the turbine down in Waco, TX.

cr_especial_v21.jpeg

And a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BZBJ2lzE5U

Dimensions:

  • 24″ diameter X 60″ blade height
  • 4″ wide blades constructed from 4″ drainage PVC cut into thirds.

Other stats:

  • All PVC for the blades, shaft and connections.
  •  Current mounting height.. about 10′
  • Total cost excluding generating engine - ~$50

A nice feature that Bryan added was putting a coupling in the middle of the shaft so that the blades could be phased into the wind spreading the torque of the blades throughout the rotation.

Performance and future work:

  • Wind down in Waco isn’t especially strong and consistent… but even so at 10′ and with really small blades, the windmill does turn.  Next steps:  Elevate to 30′, build replica in CO and take to top of Front range for testing.
  •  The blades used are 4″ wide, and have little aerodynamic lift.  The windmill often gets stuck facing into the wind in slow wind speeds. Next steps: Craft light wings which create lift and are closer to12″ long.
  • The diameter of the turbine is 24″, this provides the ability for higher RPM’s but lowers the turning torque.  Next steps: widen out to 48″ diameter and retest.
  • The height of the turbine is an overall 60″, not bad, but the 4″ PVC for the shaft can go to at least 2 times longer without causing flexing issues.  Next steps: increase height to 96″-120″

We don’t have any readings on the wind speed and power efficiency… mostly because we don’t have the equipment.

But… if you’re reading this, like the project, and have 300 dollars to donate to a tax deductible ministry please shoot me an email at munkey906 at gmail.com… we’ll get some good data recorded and analyzed asap!

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CR especial base pole and mounting structure

April 30th, 2009 by greentheo

Bryan has finished constructing the mounting pole, turbine housing and base plate for the attachment of the turbine blades which are similar to CR especial V2.0 beta (more to follow when he finishes constructing the half-sized blade assembly v2.0 beta is 3′ tall, v2.1 will be 5′ tall and v2.2 will be 10′ tall).

Below are some pictures of the finished turbine housing / baseplate assembly.  Incredibly the trend to building with PVC continues … only 1 part is not readily available in the Home Depot plumbing section.

The center shaft mount and connection to the turbine is simply 2 4″ toilet flanges mounted back to back.  The housing for the turbine is 4″ PVC, with a 2″-4″ converter for keeping rain/moisture out of the turbine housing.  Finally the base pole is 1″ steel pipe attached to a 1″ threaded flange, attached to another 4″ PVC toilet flange which attaches to the 4″ PVC turbine housing.

A little creativity and several trips to Home Depot is all it takes :-)

complete_housing_turbine.jpg

baseplate_closeup.jpeg

housing_on_pole_close.jpg

turbin_on_pole.jpg

housingschematic.jpeg

Any suggestions for the design?

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Fluid flow over a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

April 29th, 2009 by greentheo

Since I’m in the habit of being a Mathematician I can’t do anything that has a cost associated with it without simulating it computationally.

And so, since my cousin and I are building these large Vertical Axis wind turbines down in Costa Rica on the Lord’s dime (what’s worse than wasting my money?  wasting Consecrated dollars of course!), I wanted to get a feel for what the turbines could do in a laminar flow, not that wind flow at 20-30 feet above ground is laminar… but as stated in paragraph one I’m a mathematician, reality is just a detail to be worked out.

I found this simulator online which allows you to upload any design to be tested.

And I produced these videos - note: the acqua color is an area of low pressure, pink is high pressure:

A PVC pipe cross section at 45 degrees makes up the outer blades.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVnopxl3wr8

A tri-blade VAWT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnN5Cp05kWs

A tri-blade VAWT with baffling on the outside.  The idea is to make the tri-blade more efficient by taking a turbulent flow and making it laminar close to the blades.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpdnDWY-TyA

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