Farm/Country Living Archives - Robert Plamondon's Rural Life

Tipping as a Spiritual Exercise

Robert Plamondon — Sun, 28 Oct 2018 04:14:22 +0000

A while back I got tired of trying to figure out what an appropriate tip would be under a given circumstance, so I decided to simplify my life and leave a generous tip no matter how bad (or good) the service was. I don’t like judging people, anyway, so it seems awfully burdensome to have … Continue reading "Tipping as a Spiritual Exercise"

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Dad’s Advice About Politics and the News

Robert Plamondon — Fri, 16 Feb 2018 03:13:46 +0000

Sometime in the late Forties, my Dad realized that was worrying about the Mideast Crisis. But why? The odds that Harry Truman was going to call to ask his advice were zero. Nor does the US have a system of national referendum that would allow him to vote “Yes” or “No” on the Mideast Crisis. … Continue reading "Dad’s Advice About Politics and the News"

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How to Get Rid of Rats and Mice

Robert Plamondon — Sun, 11 Feb 2018 20:41:39 +0000

If you look on the Internet or ask your neighbors, you’re likely to hear a lot of nonsense about rodent control, stuff in the Pied Piper class of implausibility. What really works? Successful Rodent Control: A Personal Example What works best for me, on my farm? Rat poison (or rodenticides, if you’re feeling fancy). Do I … Continue reading "How to Get Rid of Rats and Mice"

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Using Amazon Boxes Instead of Newspaper to Start a Fire in Your Fireplace or Wood Stove

Robert Plamondon — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 20:03:03 +0000

Kindling a fire used to be done with newspaper. After all, everyone has tons of old newspapers lying around, right? Not anymore! I don’t, anyway. We stopped taking a daily paper a while ago. You know what we have tons of? Amazon Prime boxes! I once read an extension service report from … somewhere … … Continue reading "Using Amazon Boxes Instead of Newspaper to Start a Fire in Your Fireplace or Wood Stove"

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How Not to Have a Dam Failure

Robert Plamondon — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 17:33:52 +0000

After the recent failure of the Oroville dam’s main spillway, the question I keep asking myself is, “Where did the engineers go to school?” Back in 1889, the South Fork Dam broke after heavy rains, opening up like a zipper and flooding Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing 2,209 people. The dam had overflowed, and dams fail catastrophically … Continue reading "How Not to Have a Dam Failure"

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