9.15.08 | Electricity is our most widely used form of energy. It touches every aspect of our lives. Yet, despite the importance of electricity to us, few people understand the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.

9.15.08 | So this is where old concrete comes to die. It's just after dawn and I am standing near a gargantuan pile of broken concrete. Jim corrects me: used to come to die; now it comes here to be reincarnated. Wow, Hindu concrete; that's cosmic, Man.

9.8.08 | The setting is a small auditorium space near the center of São Paulo, Brazil. Men and women in suits are chatting as seated participants untangle their language translation headsets. A projection screen glows with the U.S. Green Building Council logo in front of the table arranged for panelists. The flags on formal flagpoles stand at attention in the corner, reminding me of the Brazilian love affair with bureaucratic measures.

9.8.08 | Living on one level has its advantages, certainly for an “aging in place scenario, but not for efficient hot water delivery. Contractors, bless their hearts, have not a lick of sense when it comes to the logistics of daily living. Consequently, our water heater had been installed at the extreme southeast corner of the house and the two frequently used bathrooms were way off in the opposite corners. 

9.1.08 | I have been slapped in the face by globalization. I can’'t say I wasn’'t warned: my next-door neighbor told me all I would find in Arizona were the “5 C’s”: Cattle, Citrus, Climate, Copper and Cotton. And he was, unfortunately, right on.