Phyllostachys heteroclada and parvifolia

Phyllostachys is a genus of bamboo. Several species in that genus are considered "cold-hardy". Two of the species are considered both cold-hardy AND very tolerant of wet soils. Those two species are Phyllostachys heteroclada (horizontal branches) and P. parvifolia (small leaves).

Many people, especially those who favor native plant species HATE bamboo because it is invasive and its height and vigor steamroller native plants.

On the other hand, bamboo is very efficient at turning sunshine into structural materials and it sinks a lot of organic matter into the soil. It also provides prime cover for sheltering wildlife in the winter. A small-holder could do worse than to have a patch of bamboo that they harvest aggressively to keep its footprint in-check.

Southern Belle requested some bamboo plants to provide a visual screen between the busy road and their house. Consequently, she is about to receive a gift of three different species and we are going to have a horse-race. The third species is probably Phyllostachys aureosulcata which is what is growing in my yard.

The plan is to plant P. parvifolia in the most eastern position, the P. heteroclada in the middle position and the P. aureosulcata in the western position. The tops will probably get killed every five years due to "test winters" but will still screen the yard even when dead.

Fake News Friday: Modern Treatment Option for Chronic Venous Insufficiency Syndrome

 

Bananas and Dance Therapy?

Installing a gate

 

The Hinge side of the opening

The Latch side of the opening

The first piece added to the Latch side to build up the newel post

The second piece added to the latch post

As it looks from the side

The third piece added to the latch post to bring it into line with the hinge post

"Floating" the gate in the opening

Adding the latch after installing the hinges (apologies for not taking any pictures of installing hinges)

Adding a "Stop" to prevent over-travel when slammed.

The view from the bottom of the stairs.

The gate was added to prevent the dog and Quicksilver from going on a walk-about together.

Not my best work, but far better than my worst.

One hour, twenty minutes "clock time" to frame the opening and install the gate. 

Unexpected

 

Source quoted as coming from "A study by our World in Data in 2019"

 

22% of former NFL players died from Heart Disease while 19% died from Suicide and Homicide.

St Luke N.E.W. Life Center (Speaking of missions)

What do "poor people" really need?  <Link to Youtube>

Sunday was the Annual Mission Appeal at our parish. This year we had a missionary who worked in one of the poorer parts of Flint, Michigan. Not glamorous. She spoke about the evolution of their ministry.

Employment Skills Program <Link to Youtube>

I took the liberty of skipping ahead to where Sister Carol talked about their Employment Skills Program. Many of the people they serve have no employed people in their family...including parents, aunts and uncles or grandparents. There are many gaps between the expectations of potential employers and the untrained people's expectations. 

Those expectations are information that most of us painlessly absorbed while we were very young because we were immersed in a culture of working-people. 

One of the biggest gaps involves how job performance feedback is received. The boss's job is to give the employee guidance on how to properly do the job. The unskilled/naive employee perceives that as "getting fired" and walks off the job. Other reactions include over-correction/malicious compliance (like grinding through the paint all the way to the primer after being told that they needed to put more effort on polishing the paint) or simply going catatonic (locking-up). 

The program was originally first offered to women and it was packaged as on-the-job training. The women work in an enterprise that sews clothing and the necessary employment skills are cultivated in that time. Then they graduate to better paying jobs which opens up a slot for another woman.

After the program was piloted and successful, men told the mission "We need those skills, too!" After muddling around a little bit, landscaping-and-lawncare was chosen as the test bed for training.

They recently added a third enterprise, a hoop house to grow vegetables.

The missionary's requests were:

1. Pray for us. Being a missionary is not an easy job and we need God's help, so pray for us.
2. If you have some money that you can spare, we would appreciate some financial support
3. If you are in the area and are curious about our work, we invite you to visit us. See for yourself what your prayers and dollars are doing. 

St Luke N.E.W. Life Center contact info

Personal experience

If you ever hired somebody to mow your lawn you might have had an experience like this...

"Hey, Dalton. What did you do to my mower?"

"Oh, hey Joe. The mower kept clogging up so I took all of the safety chutes and flaps off of it. Runs like a champ, now."

"Dalton, why is it still running. Your hands aren't on the dead-man's switch."

"Oh, you like that? Yeah, I took some rope and tied it down. That way I don't have to restart it every time I have to pick up a piece of trash."

Joe, controlling his temper "So Dalton, what did you do with all of the plastic pieces-parts?"

"I threw them into the weeds. Don't worry. I chucked them way back where nobody will ever see them." 

Looking toward the tall weeds Dalton pointed at..."Some of a biscuit!!! You mowed down my daylilies and iris!"

So I have a glimmer of what Sister Carol was talking about when she was talking about all of those expectations that employers expect but are not obvious to people who grew up in multi-generational, welfare families.

And if all you do is hire somebody and work with them so they can see feedback for what it is, then you will be "teaching somebody to fish".  

Bonus Link

A recent essay over at Bayou Renaissance Man regarding "aid".

In spite of the Epstein kerfuffle, this is me...

A man wearing an MSU Spartans tee shirt and camo cargo shorts presented himself at the Whitehouse at the gate where tourists registered for tours.

"I am very excited to tour the Whitehouse and I was wondering if you could tell me the chances of meeting President Kamala Harris or Vice President Tim Walz?" the man enthused toward the clerk recording names.

The clerk was visibly uncomfortable. "I regret to inform you that you will meet neither. Donald Trump won the last election."

The tourist turned and walked away.

The next morning, the same tourist presented himself again. This time he was wearing a ball-cap promoting a heavy-equipment firm in Reed City. Again he said "I want to sign up for the Whitehouse tour and I was wondering if you could tell me the chances of meeting President Harris or Vice President Walz?".

And once again the clerk responded "I regret to inform you that you will meet neither. Donald Trump won the last election".

Day-after-day the slightly overweight, sunburned tourist presented himself at the gate and every day he received the same response. Each time he turned away wordlessly and walked away.

On Friday, the clerk was overcome with curiosity and her professional demeanor broke. "I keep telling you that Donald Trump is President and not Kamala Harris. So why do you keep coming back?"

The man responded. "It was a miracle. I keep pinching myself to make sure it is not a dream. I could hear you say it a thousand times and it would not be enough." 

Rigging notes

This "X" diagonal rigging from the middle, top-rail of the box to the top of the opposite side of the feedlot panels worked really well. The vertical strap was "extra" length that was hanging downward.

 

The straps are double-wrapped around wires on the OUTERMOST panels. If they don't go flying off of the truck, the ones beneath them won't either.  I used a taut-line hitch to make it easy to tension the X straps. Ratchet straps would have worked even better.

 

Twine, rope, chains and cables are tension elements. They only act in tension. A horizontal tension element cannot exert a vertical, downward force. Consequently, the steeper the angle upward, the more effective the tie-down will be.

The blue, baling twine hold-downs are for back-up.

The only time I had arched feedlot panels walk out-of-position was due to "roll" accelerations (like hitting a pot-hole with one set of wheels). If you can keep the top of the arch from whipping cross-car and walking their ends upward, the panels will stay-put!

Too many hours

It was a long day. It started at 7:30 and ended at 8:30. I can do that every once in a while but I don't want to make a steady diet of it. I am supposed to be retired.