RAGE

Sometimes I have rage. When I have rage, people assume that I am mad at God, or I'm mad because of this disease. I'm not. This shitty disease is just part of the gamble that comes with life. No one is exempt. Everyone carries their risk.

What makes me angry are the ones who kick you when your down, or who abuse their power because they can. One of my personal experiences has been with Clarke Electrical Co-op. They provide electricity to where we live. As a matter of fact we heat with electricity. The reason we heat with electricity is because we were told that you get a special rate if you heat with electricity. I believed them.

I went shopping for electrical heat sources, A couple of the kids went with me. Our criteria was how much space did this product take, price, and to our laymen's minds electrical usage. We went with an area heating system. When we had the house about done and winter was coming. I thought I'd better get on top of that and contacted Clarke Electrical. This is when I was told that I couldn't have the heating rate. I was told that I should have contacted the company before installing. I needing the heating source to go through a different box so they could meter it for the discount. And with the type of heat source we had I also had to get an electric hot water heater. I told them that I did not want an electric hot water heater. I liked my gas tankless that was actually efficient. I told them that the electric would eat up so much juice that I would probably lose the savings anyway. The company representative agreed.

Later, when a plumber was here checking out a pilot light, we mentioned our situation. He got kind of irritated. "They don't need to run that through a separate box", he told us, "There's this little donut gizmo that fits over the wire going to your heater and they can tell how much electricity you use. They're not giving you decent rate cause they can get out of it." He went on about the virtues and downfalls of electrical service in different service areas. Clarke electric came up short all the way around.

Later, I was talking to one of the women that worked in the Clarke electric office. I let her know I was mad about not getting the heating rate. She said I should get the heating rate. Yes, they COULD put the donutty gizmos on. Then she asked what kind of heating we had. I told her," In the wall, zoned"

"Oh, you're exempt"

"I'm exempt?"

"Yeah, we don't give heat deductions for that kind of system"

So here I am, trying to be the good little consumer. I try to not be excessive in my lifestyle. I try to not use more then my fair share, cause there is a big planet out there with a lot of people on it. I try to be responsible and because of that I pay $.30 per kilowatt hour instead of $.12. I don't like being manipulated. I don't like being lied to and I don't like being taken advantage of because someone else is holding all the cards.

So, this is what I am prophesying for the future. The grid is such an inefficient structure anyway. Ninety percent of the electricity created is just lost through the air on the grid. I believe that the use of the grid outside of metropolitan areas will soon be obsolete. It is far more efficient to have a stand alone system in the country rather then running wire and poles and burying wire and putting in transformers over long distances. There are some new developments just waiting there for people to grab up, like the special paint that can turn an entire buildings surface into a solar collector. The new window glass that is laced with a fine filament and every window can become a solar collector. They are on the verge of having electrical storage units that far surpass what we think of as "batteries". They just have to get it in production.

But in the meantime, I have the overwhelming desire to build a bunch of homemade wind turbines and run the juice back onto the grid. I read about it in MAKE magazine, issue 5. You see, when installing the electricity the lineman let me know that they don't like it when people feed back into the grid. That's all the excuse that I really need.....because, I HAVE RAGE.

louie

retirement

I'm not sure the term retirement should even exist anymore. I think we should just call it "later stage molting" After all, I don't know anybody that talks about going home and sitting on their butts. They say that they will have time to "do". Usually it's to chase some dream they have secreted away. But what it amounts to is becoming fully self aware and fulfilling the talent that you were put on this earth to do. While you are figuring that out, I'll give you some strategies for making it happen.

You've heard Suze Orman say it a million times... pay off the credit cards. I think they are the number one factor standing between people and a happy lifestyle. It's just legalized loan sharking. The difference is mainly that they threaten your credit rating instead of your knee caps.

Downsize. I'm a big believer in downsizing anyway. If people put as much energy into making their home green as they do making it large, I can only imagine how much money would be saved on heating/cooling and on shipping building materials across country. Personally, I wish we had built with either straw bale or cordwood construction. It is still my big regret, but Mac thought it was just a little too hippy for him. ( okay, a LOT too hippy for him). But I still hope to put a heating system on a solar system and all of the outbuildings on independent solar set ups. I'd like to feed back onto the grid, but with the important parts of the house on a separate, unconnected grid, then when lines go down or power goes out, we will still be functioning in our home.

This is an IMPORTANT one. research, research, research! The more you know the less likely you are to make a mistake, especially in building. Not to mention, changing your mind is the costliest thing that you will do. Once you know your topic inside out then it is time to ....

Plan your work and work your plan. If possible dabble in your chosen existence before your molt. Otherwise you tend to scare the willies out of yourself.

The last step is the most important one. Lead your life with passion. Mac is fortunate that he is passionate about teaching, but I had to work such crappy jobs while he had the thing he was passionate about. That incongruity makes for a very unhappy existence. But that is all going to change now .... I'm ready for my molt.

louie