The previous post reminded me that I still needed to install the “LightsOut” add-in for Windows Home Server. It’s a pretty simple add-in that lets you control the power management and schedule of your home server.
The default settings should work for just about everyone, as it sets the system to “suspend” after 10 minutes of idle time. It automatically turns on and stays on during the defined “client backup schedule,” and lets you create events based on a calendar.
This is another thing that Shelly and I have talked about doing for more than a year. After deciding that the small, worm-based kitchen composters would simply not work for us, we did some looking and decided to get a Back Porch ComposTumbler.
Shipping through Amazon took a little longer than I expected, but it showed up last week and was very simple to put together. Even with Lane playing with the pieces as I was trying to assemble it, the whole process took less than an hour.
So, after letting the composter sit in our backyard, empty for more than a few days, I finally busted out the owners manual and got to work. We took a bunch of cardboard that was in our recycling can, some egg cartons, old cardboard envelopes (our “brown” waste) and added it to a bunch of organic debris from leftovers as well as the scraps from the cabbage soup that Shelly made for lunch (our “green” waste).
It’ll take us a few weeks to get this thing full enough, but it does make me feel better about things right now. Just pulling out all of the “brown” waste, and not throwing the “green” waste straight into the garbage can is pretty nice.
Oh, and Lane really likes both adding material to the composter and spinning it around, and around, and around.
It must have been Richard and I that pushed them over the top…
Treehugger: Toyota Prius and Camry hybrids selling like hotcakes.
March 2007 was the best month ever for Toyota’s hybrid cars (the Prius and Camry hybrid - they also sells a hybrid SUV) with 28,453 units sold (19,156 for the Prius, 5,144 for the Camry hybrid). It’s also another important milestone for Toyota: The aggregate of hybrids sold in the US by the company has now reached the half-million mark. “Toyota’s calendar-year-to-date hybrid sales in the US totaled 61,635 units, an increase of 68% over the same period last year.”
Tonight I found the “Let’s Green This City” website/blog that PG&E is running, and read an entry about Solar Classes that are being offered at the company’s SF office. I’m sure that Shelly and I will figure out a way to get to one of the classes…
