Lisa

This is a Trek Pure bike.  It has a very comfortable upright seating position.  The bike geometry is non-traditional with its pedal forward design.  I am able to keep my feet on the ground while seated and still get proper leg extension while pedaling.  The basket was extra....perfect for trips to the market.

I find hanging laundry out to dry to be a very relaxing activity.  Jonathan and a friend from church finished this for me a few weeks ago.  No complaints from the neighbors yet. 

Jonathan and I made six 4' by 8' plots.  Next spring, I plan to use 4 of them for veggies and herbs, one for shade perennials, and one for a cutting garden of Gladiolas.  Right now I have planted chinese cabbage, kolhrabi, beets, and spinach seeds for a fall garden.

Friday afternoon, Finn and I were gardening in the front flower bed.  We were removing old landscape rocks, cutting back dead stuff, and of course pulling weeds.  Finn was loving every minute of it, especially since I let him use the hand pruners.  Anyway, our neighbors across the street came home and on the way into their house the woman said to us, "when you guys are done, you can come on over here, we got lots to pull."  I laughed and we exchanged a friendly moment.  After they were in the house, Finn walked over to me and said "Those people need our help mom, and we can help them....we have cutters and pulling weeds is easy.....I'm good at it so we need to go over there when we are done."  He continued on every few minutes with similar statements.  My replies ranged from, "She was only kidding honey." , "she was just being friendly", and  "yes, they do have weeds, but most people like to pull their own weeds, so we don't need to go over there." and so on did not do much convincing.  After hearing myself say that last one really got me thinking.  Maybe Finn understands the golden rule better than I do.

I haven't seen it yet nor has it appeared online, but I'm told that my letter to the editor appeared in Friday's Midland Daily News. For more information about the fight against coal in Midland, check out the website of the grassroots organization MidlandCARES.

Dear Editor,

I am writing to express my concern with the coal plant proposed for Midland by Mid-Michigan Energy, an affiliate of the LS Power and Dynegy. The Midland plant is proposed to use conventional pulverized coal technology instead of the newest gasification technology called IGCC. Through large ads found in this paper and public comment made by the power plant representatives, Mid-Michigan Energy contends that IGCC technology is not an option for the Midland plant for three main reasons: poor reliability, higher emissions, and cost. I would like to take this opportunity to inform our community of what the MDEQ thinks of IGCC technology.

In a document titled "Fact Sheet: Environmental Permitting of Coal Fired-Power plants in Michigan" made public by the MDEQ on their website this summer, the following statements were made regarding IGCC technology: "The availability and reliability of IGCC facilities has been steadily increasing, and new IGCC facilities have reliabilities comparable to conventional coal-fired power plants." "Mercury control on IGCC plants is significantly more effective than mercury control on conventional coal-fired power plants. IGCC has superior sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and mercury control, resulting in significantly lower emissions of these pollutants compared to conventional coal-fired facilities." "With the advent of climate change as a national issue, the ability to capture and sequester carbon emissions has become a concern related to coal-fired power plants. As an outfall to these considerations, it has been noted that Michigan has unique geological formations which could make carbon sequestration in Michigan both economically and technically advantageous. IGCC has a much higher potential for carbon capture than conventional facilities. As climate change strategies are implemented, these considerations will serve to offset IGCC's higher capital and operating costs in Michigan more than in other locations." Document can be found here.

I urge Mid-Michigan Energy to explain to our community why their information seems to contradict that of so many other sources, including the MDEQ. I am skeptical of supporting a new coal power plant in Midland that will not be using the best technology to control emissions. At least thirteen IGCC plants are already proposed across the nation. In the Great Lakes Region alone, at least three IGCC plants have recently received permits or are in the last stages of the permitting process. Why would our community willingly settle for old conventional coal technology while so many other cities are moving forward embracing the future?

BTW, I spoke directly to the MDEQ Lead Engineer who drafted the document mentioned above to clarify what was meant by "conventioanl coal plant". He said that "conventional coal plant" describes any pulverized coal plant - subcritical, supercritical, and even ultra-critical. So the above statements certainly show the superiority of IGCC to even the cleanest possible pulverized coal plant.