Modern life has encouraged us to take many resources for granted.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, the water situation here
at the ranch has been somewhat precarious.  Having put some
conservation measures in place, I am hopeful we can get into the
rainy season with the slow well recovery we have.  I have come to
appreciate water as an extremely valuable resource.  Once the
rainy season gets started here in Northern California, I think
recovery will pick up on the well as it is a rather shallow one
at 20 feet.  Watering the garden has been out of the question as
we just don't have the water to spare.  Fortunately we have had
some brief rains and the dew in the mornings has been heavy, so
the garden is doing okay although the tomatoes are winding down
now that fall is approaching.  The container plants on the deck
are doing well with the morning dew and the greenhouse plants I
am watering with vegetable rinse water from the kitchen.

Also in an effort to save water, we have placed a bucket in the
shower to catch the water as we are waiting for the hot water to
come through.  This water we use in the laundry which happens to
be one small load per day.  For now, we have stopped using the
dishwasher opting for washing by hand and saving the rinse water
for the next round of dishes.  With all of the conservation
measures, the sight gauge has slowly been settling back down to
the full tank level.  Looks like we'll be okay for now.  It's a
bit of a humbling experience to learn first hand how wasteful we
are with precious resources. 
 
I hope to put some conservation measures in place on the
electricity front.  Crossing over into tier two on our bill bumps
us up from 19 cents per kilowatt hour to 28 cents per kilowatt
hour.  A significant jump.  We're making an effort to keep our
consumption at tier one.  Probably as a side benefit not running
the dishwasher has saved a little bit of electricity.  I'll take
every kilowatt hour I can get.  I figure it is quite a bit
cheaper to moderate our consumption rather than invest thousands
on a solar system upgrade.  Panels have come down in price, but
batteries and the ancillary equipment are still damned expensive.
Not sure if I will live long enough to see the return on
investment on a solar upgrade, although the situation could
change.  Stay tuned.

First order of business is to dump the energy hog desktop
computer and go for either another laptop, or a Raspberry Pi.
Eliminating the desktop machine will save ~ 300 watts. Running
the fireplace instead of the furnace will cut our electrical
consumption, but will also cut our winter time propane
consumption, besides, there is nothing like a wood fire for
warmth. 

<begin rant>

* Low tech department *

The U.S. defense establishment is suffering from a severe case of
technological hubris.

http://tinyurl.com/yd8a99xm 

I suspect we are crossing a threshold where layer upon layer of
complexity is actually creating more and more vulnerabilities to
low tech attacks.  Couple this with an uncertain future with
regard fossil fuels and it is likely we will see profound changes
in the coming decades in defense and warfare.  As you can see,
the U.S. military is one of the largest energy hogs in the world:

http://tinyurl.com/oa59w9g

More broadly, there are natural forces at work as well.  Another
Carrington type event
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carington_Event
could be devastating, although we may have at least some measure
of warning.  Mother nature is fully capable of delivering a swift
kick in our technological arrogance.  

Now that we are easing into a post oil environment and concluding
our brief ~ 300 year tryst with fossil fuels, the very foundation
of the civilization we have all become accustomed to is going to
change dramatically as time wears on.  <end of rant>