Complexity is an enemy of a ecological life. Toilet paper is a luxury many people adopt as they develop from a third world country to first world country. Other than the problem of the term "develop" as it suggests a raising up of a moral character, it often creates unnecessary waste. While the use of toilet paper appears to be the most sterile method of cleaning oneself in the toilet, the use of the duvet, which one can wash their ass after a toilet suggests their are alternatives. For simplicity sake, I started to use rags and bag them for washing later. Than by using some medical ethanol I sterilize the area a little. The result has been a cleaner, eliminates odor and has allowed me to stop buying wasteful toilet paper. It's not solution to the problem of waste but it mitigates harm.
Wiping in itself is not that but just by considering that toilet paper is bleached white to the destructive of the river life paper mills inflict on their local eco-system, it's incredibly unnecessary.
Sunday 14 February 2016
Saturday 13 February 2016
Long Distance Cycling: Taking on a New Challenge
Since I live the life as an ESL teacher in South Korea, it seems focuses have narrowed rather than expanded. I do not work a 40 hour job and the job is in many ways fun. However, living in the wildness of the world still alludes me. What I have found in the meanwhile are the things to make this human zoo I live in more habitable for the wild human within. One of these things have been long distance cycling. Long Distance Cycling is one of the best activities in modern society since it is a eco-friendly way to travel, is mentally and physically challenging to do, and is accessible to do on a low budget if you learn to fix the bike yourself and spend little money on food or accomodation (cooking, and camping anyone?). While it is in no way horsebacking riding or hunting, it touches the nomad in me. Approximately, closer to a hunter-gather-nomad. Is that a stretch? I think not.
This February, I went on four day trip and didn't accomplish what I expected. I was slower than I intended and I never reached my destination initial destination. It was a blast and I learned what to do in the future. My partner is this venture was L, the sort of person who can just hang and take things as they come.
We left late on a Saturday and we did half the pace we wanted to do. We stopped a lot to adjust our bikes but mostly that meant my bike and the seatwhich was leaning back due to a stress bent on the tube which required a lot of stopping until I figured out a makeshift way to fix it the next day. Or the rack which was not properly secured by ziplines and needed more solid rope. So the next day we got another late start by my friend oversleeping and adding an hour from retying my rack with better cord than the poor ziplines I used earlier Saturday morning. On that Sunday we arrived at Yangpyeong in the city, doing a quarter of a distance of the past two days I imagined we would do. Since L needed to be back on Wednesday we decided to head back from where we were but to wake up earlier and quicken the pace. I figured that if we got back home on the same day early, we could push past it and stay someone that night. Then the next day we could come back to our home city on the last day of the trip with the same pace. So on Monday we woke up early and we reached Uijeongbu the same day from the city it took us two days to get to.
L and I got a feel for each other's rythym of the trip and by the end it felt more efficient and insync. The fasted person no longer stopped for the slowest person but simply went their pace and the slowest person caught up when the fatest person stopped. That quickened the pace and we stopped way less. It also kept us from gabbing to each, which in itself is a good reason for our friendship.
And then 10km from Uijeongbu my bike rim broke. I had found the wheel to the wobly and so I waved L ahead and got down to business adjusting the wheel. I concluded that the rim was bent. It was almost a half hour after trying to re-adjust the tire that I realized that the rim was bent but split.
The bike is old and already needed parts replaced. Having it was an exercise in what I could get away with and what I could learn to fix and mend myself. Since some parts are hard to replace, it became clear that I would buy a new moderately priced bike after the trip and use the old bike to learn how to fix and repair bikes.
So that was it for the bike trip. 4 days shortened to 3 days. L rode back to me and we walked the rest of the distance back to Uijeongbu.
The next day we went hiking in Yeoncheon but that is another story.
I had so much cycling that I caught the bug and I'm looking forward to more cycling in my life, albeit in the vagabonding kind of way.
This February, I went on four day trip and didn't accomplish what I expected. I was slower than I intended and I never reached my destination initial destination. It was a blast and I learned what to do in the future. My partner is this venture was L, the sort of person who can just hang and take things as they come.
We left late on a Saturday and we did half the pace we wanted to do. We stopped a lot to adjust our bikes but mostly that meant my bike and the seatwhich was leaning back due to a stress bent on the tube which required a lot of stopping until I figured out a makeshift way to fix it the next day. Or the rack which was not properly secured by ziplines and needed more solid rope. So the next day we got another late start by my friend oversleeping and adding an hour from retying my rack with better cord than the poor ziplines I used earlier Saturday morning. On that Sunday we arrived at Yangpyeong in the city, doing a quarter of a distance of the past two days I imagined we would do. Since L needed to be back on Wednesday we decided to head back from where we were but to wake up earlier and quicken the pace. I figured that if we got back home on the same day early, we could push past it and stay someone that night. Then the next day we could come back to our home city on the last day of the trip with the same pace. So on Monday we woke up early and we reached Uijeongbu the same day from the city it took us two days to get to.
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| "Cash, Money, Drike," Day 1 |
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| NamYangju on Day 1 |
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| Yangpyeong City, the furthest we got from Uijeongbu, Day 2 |
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| My Old Bike pictured on Day 1 |
And then 10km from Uijeongbu my bike rim broke. I had found the wheel to the wobly and so I waved L ahead and got down to business adjusting the wheel. I concluded that the rim was bent. It was almost a half hour after trying to re-adjust the tire that I realized that the rim was bent but split.
The bike is old and already needed parts replaced. Having it was an exercise in what I could get away with and what I could learn to fix and mend myself. Since some parts are hard to replace, it became clear that I would buy a new moderately priced bike after the trip and use the old bike to learn how to fix and repair bikes.
The next day we went hiking in Yeoncheon but that is another story.
I had so much cycling that I caught the bug and I'm looking forward to more cycling in my life, albeit in the vagabonding kind of way.
Wednesday 10 June 2015
Story of Larry Walter's Balloon Trip
I recently heard on Christopher Ryan's podcast this amazing story.
A man ties weather balloons to armchair, takes a pack of beer, a sandwich and a pellet gun and reaches 15,000 feet, lands safely and becomes a motivational speaker for a short time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters
A man ties weather balloons to armchair, takes a pack of beer, a sandwich and a pellet gun and reaches 15,000 feet, lands safely and becomes a motivational speaker for a short time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters
Tuesday 21 April 2015
Paying for College Part 1: My Search for Cheap Accomodation
I need to pay for college and keep costs low so when I got a new job I looked for cheap accomodation. While I looked for a cheap apartment in Korea, I have moved into a cheap Goshiwon for who a month. Goshiwons are convenient for students and single people looking for short term accomodations. This one cost me 170,000 won for the month, which is about 150 U.S dollars.
Here is a video which shows you the room.
The bed room is small and cramped but it does the job, until I move into the new place I found. It has a shared kitchen, bathroom, and laundry area. It's been great to have internet, tv, a desk, and to not have to keep most of my things in my work area. It became really expensive as I was eating from convenience stores, which in Korea can be healthy, but they are still expensive.
Before I moved into a goshiwon I was looking for apartments in Uijeongbu. It was hard to find a place with a good location for an affordable price. I started to look at the local classified paper and learned the Korean vocabulary I needed to learn. I also found out how the housing market worked in Korea. Most importantly, I found out what was available and I didn't take anything until I found out what my options were. I moved into the goshiwon after one month of living in a sauna and then a friends couch. The day after I moved into the goshiwon, I found a place to live.
Here is a video which shows you the room.
The bed room is small and cramped but it does the job, until I move into the new place I found. It has a shared kitchen, bathroom, and laundry area. It's been great to have internet, tv, a desk, and to not have to keep most of my things in my work area. It became really expensive as I was eating from convenience stores, which in Korea can be healthy, but they are still expensive.
Before I moved into a goshiwon I was looking for apartments in Uijeongbu. It was hard to find a place with a good location for an affordable price. I started to look at the local classified paper and learned the Korean vocabulary I needed to learn. I also found out how the housing market worked in Korea. Most importantly, I found out what was available and I didn't take anything until I found out what my options were. I moved into the goshiwon after one month of living in a sauna and then a friends couch. The day after I moved into the goshiwon, I found a place to live.
Monday 20 April 2015
Paragliding with Adventure Korea
I am certain that I didn't need to paraglide before I died, but I did appreciate the fun of it. In fact, it was awesome.
Wednesday 4 March 2015
How I Want to be Burried.
I would like to be returned to the life cycle. My body should decay and be eaten so I do not wish to prolong this with environmentally destructive methods.
My body should be un-embalmed and my casket should be free of preservatives. My cemetary should also be helpful and supportive of this. And finally, it should be clear to the people who handle my body how I want my body to be treated.
As of writing this: there are 150 natural cemetaries in America. That means that there are no concrete burial vaults in the ground and they are focused on encouraging the bodies to decay.
As for a coffin, it is possible to buy a naturally made and biodegradable coffin such as those found on naturalendings.co.uk. They have pine, bamboo, cane, and more, and even cardboard.
Ideally, though I would like to be burried as naturally as possible. If I can be to be burried in a forest- that would be great.
Even though I am relatively young, I wish to prepare for this eventuality.
My body should be un-embalmed and my casket should be free of preservatives. My cemetary should also be helpful and supportive of this. And finally, it should be clear to the people who handle my body how I want my body to be treated.
As of writing this: there are 150 natural cemetaries in America. That means that there are no concrete burial vaults in the ground and they are focused on encouraging the bodies to decay.
As for a coffin, it is possible to buy a naturally made and biodegradable coffin such as those found on naturalendings.co.uk. They have pine, bamboo, cane, and more, and even cardboard.
Ideally, though I would like to be burried as naturally as possible. If I can be to be burried in a forest- that would be great.
Even though I am relatively young, I wish to prepare for this eventuality.
Thursday 29 January 2015
What I Ate Today.
I lifted today so I ate more carbs today. The routine was clean and presses until I felt tired and some situps.
Breaking Fast 1030am
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| Instant Coffee with a few tablespoons of cream. Not pictured. Pumpkin seeds raw, with salt and cream. |
Lunch 1ish...
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| Noodle soup with sesame seeds. Not pictured is the generous kimchi, half cup of rice, and |
Between meals and pre-workout: Double Expresso.
Dinner Post Work Out
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| Seaweed served with two overeasy eggs with runny yolks fried in butter. Also in the pan with eggs was a little ground beef. Then I removed the eggs and stired in 2 cups of soft soybean curd and then mixed in the seaweed. Adding a few dashes of salt, put into a bowl, with eggs on top and served hot. |
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| Noodles in steaming water with some soybean paste mixed in. |
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| Frozen banana and two frozen strawberries. |
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