I'm Published in Lifehacker and The Consumerist

My comments were published on Lifehacker and The Consumerist about an article on fixing broken snow shovels.
Make Your Own Replacement Snow Shovel

Ordinarily, Lifehacker is one of my favorite websites to visit, but I thought the article above didn't fit the "productively lazy" motto of their site.

jkarling says:

Oh my God! Repair a snow shovel with nuts, bolts, et al? If that's Lifehacker-worthy...we should hang up our collective hats! I must come up with 2 fixes a DAY that are better than that idea. Those of you pandering to the concept of repairing something old versus buying something new- how do you value your OWN TIME? Think about it. "I sure wish I could have seen some more waterfalls and rainbows in my day, but I was down in that basement trying to fix that @#@damn snow shovel!"

PS: Ben Popken: don't forget your tetanus booster!

04/25/07 06:59 PM

Global Warming Weekend

From April 13 to 15, business owners and citizens of the city of Saratoga Springs will be holding the first ever Saratoga Environmental Expo (SEE). The event hopes to educate the public about environmental issues and the benefits of green living. It will also highlight environmentally-friendly businesses, products and technologies. As itself is a carbon-neutral event, a wind energy company will be providing wind power for the expo.

Special guest celebrities, including Ed Begley, Jr. and Daryl Hannah, along with 120 vendors, will present information on how visitors can conserve energy, build green, prevent pollution, farm organic and consume natural products.

Although I think Daryl Hannah is a conversationally challenged whack-job, I respect Ed Begley's position on the environment. He has walked the walk even from his St. Elsewhere days, driving an electric car to the studio and living in a "earth friendly" house.

Attendance to the Global Warming Event was hampered, somewhat appropriately, by the cold weather! As Ed Begley said, "Sometimes, when you have a fever...you can also get the chills." The area is expected to get up to a foot of snow! See view outside my window to right...

Sisu- Renamed

OK, Polly and I have given up on the name Sisu for the new cat. He just doesn't look like a Sisu. He looks like he has a mask over his eyes, so every time you look at him you want to call him "Rocky", "Bandit" or "Zorro". So we have renamed him Siskko and have filed the proper NY State paperwork on his behalf:

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an Order entered by the Supreme Court, Saratoga County, on the 5th day of April, 2007, bearing index Number 2007118A, a copy of which may be examined at the Office of the Clerk, located at 40 McMaster Street, Ballston Spa, New York 12020, grants Petitioners, John and Polly Karling, the right effective on the 6th day of April, 2007, for them to rename their adopted cat, born at barn in Melrose, New York, named "SISU" to assume the name of "SISKKO". Petitioner's present address is The Karlington, 4 Tait Lane, Saratoga Springs, New York 12866.

There! Nice and legal!

New Homesite

We've found a nice wooded lot to build our new house. We are working with John Witt of Witt Construction. They are a design/build firm with national design awards and John is personally drawing our new home.

The house will be built to take advantage of some views of Vermont to the southeast. Our thoughts are that we'll use local materials throughout the house: slate, birch flooring, cedar shakes, local stone, slate and danby marble countertops. There is also a granite called "fireblossom", that is quarried near Gore Mtn. The red bursts are garnet and the surrounding dark areas are hornblende.

Let's wait for the pricelists for all of this shall we?

Spring? Fooled Again!

Even though it's April- don't put the snowboards and skis too far back in the hall closet! We woke up this morning to about an inch and a half of snow. It's supposed to get colder and snowier through this weekend. Maybe one more chance to head up to Gore Mountain? Gore says they have Spring pricing in effect, so usually that means you get to ski for half off, since the snow is...well...half off!
Killington says they got 10 inches of snow last night, but Killington always embellishes their snow reports a bit. A bit? Actually, a lot! Killington embellishes a lot. Some ski hills around here will stay open into May. Killington has made it to June before!

Sisu- Possibly Explained

Sisu is a Finnish word that speaks to the character of the Finnish people. It could be defined as the determination of the indomitable spirit. It is a word that binds the people of a proud nation that has heroically weathered occupation and starvation. My Dad, who grew up as a first-generation Finnish American in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, would tell me of the suffering of the Finnish people at the hands of the Russians. The only thing that gave the Finns their edge? Sisu!
That was impressive to me. I wondered if I might also have Sisu. My Dad said that I did and that was all I needed to know.

We would watch the Winter Olympics and cheer for the Finnish crosscountry skiers. They would always win the medals- of course! It was because of Sisu...right? Yes, it was Sisu and, seriously, who else but Finns would bother with crosscountry skiing in the first place???

An interesting article on Sisu can be found here.

Check out brilliant Finnish design at Marimekko. www.marimekko.fi

New Kit in Town! Meet Sisu!

Sisu- Our Newly Adopted Kitten

Polly and I adopted "Sisu" from a Clifton Park animal shelter today. He was abandoned on a farm in Melrose, NY and is now very shy. He is a mix of a Birman and a Persian cat. Sisu is 5 months old and has very pretty blue eyes. We are hoping that Trixie, our 6 year old cat, will play a big part in his socialization!