428- Beneath the Skyway

|

428- Beneath the Skyway

1/26/21 by Roman Mars

Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/118306621
Episode: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/media.blubrry.com/99percentinvisible/dovetail.prxu.org/96/3576420b-d555-4139-ad76-98913bd6df08/428_Beneath_the_Skyway_pt01.mp3

Cities around the world have distinctive modes of transportation — the canals of Venice, the double-decker busses of London, and the Twin Cities (of Minneapolis and St. Paul) have skyways. In both downtowns, there are vast networks of climate-controlled pedestrian bridges that reach over the streets and connect adjacent buildings. They were long viewed as modern marvels, but a lot of residents and urban planners want them gone. For critics, skyways are problematic because of who gets to enjoy them and who does not as well as their impact on street activity below. Beneath the Skyway

Upcoming Holidays – January 27, 21

|
  • Two Wednesdays until Clean Your Computer Day 🧹 – Feb 10
  • Three Wednesdays until 5:30 PM Sunset 🌇 – Feb 17
  • Three Wednesdays until 5:30 PM Sunset 🌇 – Feb 17
  • One month – Snow Moon 🌕 – Sat Feb 27
  • Seven Wednesdays until St. Patrick’s Day 🍀 – Mar 17
  • Ten Wednesdays until 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 – Apr 7
  • Three months – Pink Moon 🌕 – Tuesday Apr 27
  • Three months – Arbor Day 🌳 – Tuesday Apr 27
  • 14 Wednesdays until Cinco de Mayo 🤠 – May 5
  • 17 Wednesdays until Flower Moon 🌕 – May 26
  • 24 Wednesdays until National Nude Day 👱 – Jul 14
  • 31 Wednesdays until September 🍎 – Sep 1
  • 34 Wednesdays until Corn Moon 🌕 – Sep 22
  • 34 Wednesdays until Autumn 🍂 – Sep 22
  • Eight months – More Night then Day 🌌 – Monday Sep 27
  • 41 Wednesdays until Day After Election Day 🛀 – Nov 10
  • 41 Wednesdays until Average High is 50 🍂 – Nov 10
  • Ten months – Small Business Saturday 🛍️ – Saturday Nov 27
  • 44 Wednesdays until December 🎄 – Dec 1
  • 46 Wednesdays until Bill of Rights Day 📜 – Dec 15
  • 47 Wednesdays until Days are Getting Longer ☀️ – Dec 22

Orchard

The water heater (again!)

|

The water heater (again!) …

While I am quite happy that the landlord got it fixed the same day I called in the issue — replacing the leaking water heater, you got to wonder about the quality of the set up that it’s been the third one he’s replaced since I’ve moved here. I don’t even use that much hot water, much of the summer it is off or barely running.

I’ve always thought tanked water-heaters are pretty wasteful, despite their improving insulation — the landlord finally bought a better quality model and energy standards have improved efficiency. But I don’t know when I own my own land if I would want one. Not only do they take up a lot of space and waste energy, propane-instant on, tankless heaters are cheaper and easier to use off-grid. Or maybe that’s even over-technologically doing things — a lot of tankless heaters don’t last forever and they do burn a lot of propane.

Possibly the best and certainly reliable system for heating water is the most old fashioned. On the stove. That’s how I planned to do it if the landlord wasn’t going to be able to get the water ready for a few days. Heat water on the stove, and then dump it into a gravity-fed pipe for washing dishing or taking a shower. Yes, it’s work, but it’s reliable and inexpensive. It forces you to be conservation minded with water, and if you heat it on the woodstove that is heating the building, it doesn’t use any extra energy.

I get modernity and being lazy. Water is heavy to haul, especially if you have to take it upstairs to the loft, in a hot, sloshing bucket. Modernity would like to burn a lot of fossil fuels and be lazy, even if you could get just as good of a shower with a gravity fed-bucket above a shower, and use much less energy and water to still take a quality shower.

But alas, for now I still live in suburbs and work my good-paying job which I can take a bus to everyday, at least once the pandemic is over. The water heater is the landlord’s problem, and if he doesn’t want to pay for quality, it’s not my problem, but it seems silly that he’s replacing these water heaters all of the time. And annoying to me, when I have clean up the floods, and get things ready for the plumber to come on over.