Soylent Review, with 100%Food Also

Right off, the Soylent seems to work well.

It tastes OK, kind of like cake batter as others have described. Its consistency is fine, as I mix up an entire bag in the truly excellent blender jug they ship with the first order, and it sits in the fridge for a day or more before I use it.
The 100% food I mix in the bottle it comes in and drink it right away. But I don't see that there would be any benefit to letting it sit. Soylent specifically recommends it, 100% Food recommends against it.

The Soylent is just as filling as the 100% Food. The 100% Food chocolate tastes better, but the other two flavors, Raw and Spicy, are not quite as good as Soylent. Again, no difference between any of them as far as feeling satiated.

I notice an increase in gassiness with the Soylent that I did not get with the 100% Food. This should go away as my body gets used to the Soylent, so no concern.

I missed the lunch meal, twice this week, and breakfast once. I'd really like to go through a solid week of the stuff for breakfast and lunch. My schedule looks like I should be able to easily this coming week.

I was thinking about going with Soylent for both meals this coming week, followed by 100% Food the next, but instead I'm going to stick with Soylent for breakfast and 100% Food for lunch.

I've backed off on the idea of trying any other Custom Body Fuel products, as they are too expensive. So the contest is down to Soylent and 100% Food. I'm not sure what to do about weekends, as I don't plan to buy more than a two week supply of the winner each month and only use that for breakfast and lunch, which will leave me a bit short on weekends. I need not worry yet though, as I have plenty of People Fuel left for that for now.

My waist measured 52 inches, but I"m still at 283 lbs, so I consider the measurement to be a fluke.

I noticed some odd things (nothing bad) about using these, but I'm not ready to mention them yet as they could be just odd days or something.

This next week will tell me for sure, so I'll mention it all next week.

So far, I'm very happy with and would recommend either product.

People Fuel (Soylent DIY) follow up

Failed week, failed product.

Custom Body Fuel's People Fuel (People Fuel Plain actually) did not hold me long enough to be worth using, even at a $10/week savings.
That was one of only two conclusive results for the week. I wound up eating normally for lunch as I was too hungry by then to be fair to the 100% Food. Also, some free food came my way at the office, and I will not turn down free food!
I also learned that the 1/4 cup scoop works great. It fits right down into the mouth of the blender bottle, so no spilling.

This is not a slam against Custom Body Fuel overall. As I've mentioned before, People Fuel is their lowest priced product, so I'm sure the more expensive stuff will work better.
I will not buy it again, but I will likely try one of their other blends, probably Spencer Fuel. Price is a factor however, all the others are considerably more. I will compare their ingredients with Soylent and 100% Food's mix. Soylent contains ingredients that I'm not too fond of, while the others seem to be devoid of all evil stuff.

MY SOYLENT FINALLY CAME IN!

I'll be testing the Soylent for breakfast this week, and if it works well, I'll use 100% Food for lunch as I had planned to do this past week.

I'm going to use the People Fuel when I feel like it on weekends and holidays. It should last a while at that rate, but I'm not sure what I'll do when it runs out.

Still at 54 inches on the ol' belly.

I finally put batteries in the scale, and I wish I hadn't. My God, I came in at 283 pounds (about 128 kilograms) I have never seen myself even hit 260 before. This is just damn depressing.
All the more reason to use this stuff. I do have to be careful not to be fixated on weight, it's the girth that means fat!

I'm looking forward to seeing how the original stacks up against the copies.

100% Food Follow Up (Soylent copy)

Last post, I had been using 100% Food for breakfast about 5 days a week, and it was working well.

I have received another one week (21 day) order, and have also received the same quantity of Custom Body Fuel's People Food Plain, the lowest priced version they have.
Starting tomorrow (Monday 13 October 2014), I will use the People Food for breakfast in order to directly compare it to the 100% Food. I will start using the 100% Food for lunch, bumping me to 2 meals a day.

I tried one serving of the People Food today, and it tastes a bit strange, kind of like a liquid tortilla. Not terrible, but not at all enjoyable. Remember this is the cheapest stuff they sell, so I'm sure the pricier stuff tastes much better.

Speaking of price, the 100% Food I've been buying is the mix, wherein they include 3 different flavors in the order, Chocolate, Raw, and Spicy. 21 servings cost $75 including shipping, for $3.57 per meal, while a one month supply, 84 servings, cost $270 for $3.21 per meal.
People Food costs $60 for 21 servings for $2.86 per meal, while 84 servings costs $240 for the same $2.86 per meal. Remember this is their cheapest product, most of the others are $70 or more for 21 servings.
Soylent costs $70 for 21 servings for $3.33 per meal, while 84 servings costs $255 for $3 per meal.

They all sell 2 week supplies, which is 42 servings, but I didn't bother including those prices here. If I decide to go forward with one brand and stick with 2 meals per day, I'll go to that.

Soylent has only one product, but 100% Food and Custom Body Fuel offer different blends and/or flavors. I am considering going with a low carb product from Custom Body Fuel if I decide to stick with them.

Soylent contains artificial vanilla flavoring and Sucralose, while the others do not contain artificial ingredients.

For convenience 100% Food wins hands down. It comes in a disposable plastic bottle that is premeasured. You simply add water, shake, and enjoy. I find that it's much better to add a bit more water after taking a few sips. I then rinse out the bottle and drop in recycling.
The others come in bags of 3 servings each. You have to measure out 1 cup of powder (in the case of the People Food, haven't gotten the Soylent yet) put it in a container, blender bottle, or blender, add some oil (canola is the cheapest, but any will do), mix it up, and enjoy (or tolerate in the case of People Food).
I use the 28 oz blender bottle, and I find that it's just damn messy to get the powder into the blender bottle. I just bought a set of measured scoops (1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 cup) at a grocery store, but the 1 cup still spills the powder off the sides. I'm going to try the 1/4 cup scoop next, as it looks like it will fit right into the blender bottle opening.

During the now 4 weeks that I have been using the 100% Food for breakfast, I have noted the following.

• You need to drink more water than normal. This is important as you can get headaches at the very least if you don't.
• If I am very hungry when I have my 100% Food, it doesn't work, I still feel hungry. But it's easy to just munch a couple of handfulls of sunflower seeds, though sometimes that's not enough and I do have to have a sandwich or yogurt. It's only if I am VERY hungry. It doesn't seem to be purely psychological, as I first thought. I've not seen any other mention of this, so maybe it's just me.
• You will urinate more frequently, even if you don't drink more water. Not much, just maybe one or two more trips than usual, and a definitely few seconds longer.

I measured my waist on Saturday, and it was 53 inches, so as expected no fat loss. I do think that I may start experiencing some small losses when I go to 2 meals per day. Though again, I will not use it weekends and holidays in order to stretch it out to a full month.
I once again forgot to get new batteries for the scale. As I mentioned in the last post, weight is not a big concern, it's measurements.

I'm jumping the gun here, but I'm really hoping I can go to a full on 3 meals per day, every day.

Soylent and DIY imitations

I started using a Soylent imitation (copy, clone, DIY recipe, knockoff) 3 weeks ago, just for breakfast.
Soylent is a food replacement product. Unlike half assed diet products such as Slim Fast, 3 servings of Soylent (here's a wiki link)will give you 2000 calories or better. Any other product you see will usually be around 100 to 300 calories per serving. And no, you cannot just drink enough of them to add up to 2000 calories, or even 1500, because the vitamin/mineral/chemical content will kill your kidneys at that quantity.
Soylent is designed to completely replace food. You drink 3 servings of this powdered mix with water and you are set. Don't laugh, do some searches, there are people out there who have been doing it for many months as of this writing.

I ordered a one week supply, 21 servings, to only drink for breakfast for a month at first to test it out.
Turns out Soylent caught on so well that I'm back ordered 2 months.
Not willing to wait that long, I found another product that is an imitation of Soylent called 100% Food. That order arrived in a week.
As I mentioned, I've been using it for breakfast on weekdays, skipping weekends and holidays to help make it last a full month.

A little info about me, and what else I'm eating.
I am 56 years old, sedentary and overweight, but with no real health problems other than allergies (trees mostly).
I had been eating mostly frozen veggies and meats, very little processed food. However, a few months before I started this, I got so sick and tired of meal preparation that I started eating almost nothing but frozen burritos, fish sticks, and chicken nuggets and patties. I also started eating deli takeout a lot more, which I can ill afford. So this test came right on time!

I had intended to weigh myself weekly, though I did not expect to see any changes. But the batteries were dead in my scale and I haven't yet replaced them. Obviously, weight reduction is not that important to me.

What is important is girth reduction. I'm not fond of being a tub of guts, but I did not expect just breakfast would have any effect. So far, it has not.

I'm taping my gut using my belly button as a marker, and looking in a mirror to see if the tape is fairly straight. Not scientific, a lot of room for error, but it'll show a trend over time.
So far, I came up with, measured in inches, 53, 54, 53. So I was right that there would be no changes from just drinking it for breakfast.

I expect to feel no other changes in energy, alertness, etc. and indeed there have been no changes good or bad. Some folks complain of gas, but I have not had any issues with that.


So, as far as successfully drinking 100% Food for breakfast, how does it work?

IT WORKS GREAT!

I am very happy with this product! I drink it around 8:30am and I am all set until noon, when I start feeling that I could use a snack, but no big deal. Typically, I don't eat until somewhere between 12:30pm to 1:30pm and I have no problem with that. I do not have any snacks between breakfast and lunch. When I was eating "normal" food, I always needed a snack by about 11:00am.

I do not need a full month to know that I want to go to 2 meals a day ASAP.

I have ordered another product, Custom Body Fuel, to try it out. I plan to switch to that for breakfast to compare with 100% Food, and use the 100% Food for lunch. Again, I ordered a 21 day supply which is intended for a week.
Whenever the hell the Soyent finally gets here, I'll use that for breakfast so as to keep a consistent comparison. 21 day supply here too.
Let's see how I do on 2 meals a day.

There are more details, like pricing and such. But I'll go over that in the next post. I intend to continue follow ups every week to 2 weeks, depending on if anything interesting happens.

Meantime, I highly recommend using 100% Food for at least one meal a day replacement.

Angry Beavers

Going way out on a tangent here!

When my daughters were little ones during the 90's and early 00's, I used to watch cartoons with them. Being an anime fan, I am not completely out of touch with cartoons.

There were a lot of them that we enjoyed. One that I recommend for any wee one is Doug, as it's warm and fuzzy, but not disgustingly so, and it has neat little story lines and lessons that don't come across as being so. Hey Arnold fits this too. Really cute, and with some humor.

Other shows we liked during various stages of my daughter's young lives were Rocco's Modern Life (gotta love a show with a B-52's theme song!), The Big Comfy Couch, Rug Rats, The Wild Thornberries (with Tim Curry doing a great voice), Fairly Odd Parents (probably the best of all for adults, as it has a LOT of jokes only an adult would catch, such as "OK, I will let you go back in time, but do NOT interfere with the election of George McGovern as president") Aah Real Monsters, and Cat Dog.

Of course, Spongebob Square Pants is suitable for all ages, especially when under the influence of any drug as the creator of this show must have been.

But just recently, I was reminded of The Angry Beavers, and I'm really missing it.

What  brought it to mind was a mention of old Hollywood Horror B movies, which are generally low budget horror movies from the 1950's.
The main protagonists in The Angry Beavers, Norbert and Dagget, like those movies. I also like those movies. It figures.

If you clicked on the previous link, you know basically what the show is about. But I can tell you that it too is one of those shows that has references to styles, events, people, and etc. that only an adult would catch.

The show often references the peace/love/drugs "movement" of the 60's and 70's. This is usually when Norbert's unobtainable love interest Tree Flower is in the episode. Other references are free toys inside boxes of cereal, cut out and save the coupons for neat toys on those cereal boxes, and some other historical bits.

Their favorite B movie actor, Oxnard Montalvo, is in episodes well worth a YouTube link, one of them here. Oxnard is the guy who is not the scientist:

Food of the Clods
 
 If you're not familiar with B movies, you'll miss a lot of references and jokes. But it's still good.

I can't find a link to a video, but one of my favorite episodes was where Norbert wanted to be a Lipizzaner Stallion. It was magnificently absurd!

TV.com link

Here's a link to a bunch of episodes on YouTube. If you find this show airing in your area, it's worth watching, even without your kids.

Full Episodes

Harley Starter Problem

I'm pulling this from memory, so forgive my lack of detailed info.

I had a 1989 Harley-Davidson FXRT Sport Glide that I bought new that year. One of the improvements was a high output starter. I didn't find it to be a damn bit better than on my 1975 Super Glide, so I figured it was just marketing hype.

A few years later, the starter acted up. I'd hit the button and nothing would happen, a couple of more tries and it would work. I cleaned and tightened whatever wires I could, but no good. The button seemed to be working fine. Then it died completely, and I trailered it to the shop.

I brought it to Mancini's in Danbury CT on Kenosia Avenue. Sorry, Ray Mancini is no longer there and it's a shame because that guy was one of the best bike mechanics I've ever known, and certainly the most honest.
He checked it over, and determined the starter was shot. $300 later, I had a brand new genuine HD starter. It was no better performing than the original.

A few months later, that starter died abruptly, no warning as with the original. Back to Mancini's.
Ray took the starter apart, and found that one of the structural rods in it was also a current conductor. It was made of a very weak metal, much like potmetal, and it had simply melted!
Ray replaced it with a high strength steel unit he fabricated.

HOLY CRAP what a difference! The starter now was indeed a high output! One touch of the button, and that engine spun like mad! It was beutiful!

I don't remember what Ray charged me, I actually think it was nothing since the starter he installed hadn't lasted but a few months. Customer service to the max, as usual.

So, it's likely the original had that crap metal as a conductor too.

I sold the bike a couple years later, so I don't know what the long term result was. I am sure it is still working though.

So, this comes about 20 years too late, but if you have an 89 Harley big twin with a factory starter (I don't know how many years they used the same starter), and it dies or acts up, don't replace it, take it apart and look for crap metal rods and other parts. Replace them with good steel and prepare to be amazed.

Pellet Stove Revisited

Back in 08, I posted about how crappy our then new pellet stove was.

Pellet Stove Worth It?

I mentioned that I wanted to run another hose to pump outside air in, instead of recirculating. I read up on that a bit more, and found that the experts recommend against it. Apparently, the warm air in the house blowing out through cracks & crevices can cause mold and mildew. So I gave up on it.

One bit of fairly good news / bad news.

We had been using pellets from various suppliers. In addition to the store where the stove was purchased, we also bought them from Home Depot and a few other places. None were any better than those we bought from the stove store, and some much worse in terms of ash. Man do NOT buy cheap ass pellets, you will be cleaning the stove out every other day!

Then my dad heard that Agway had some good stuff. He bought a few bags of Hamer's Hot Ones and what a huge difference! These things are far superior to any other we've tried.
Now, the stove burns a little LESS than one bag a day at the lowest  setting. At two bags a day, the basement area it's in is noticeably warmer. The stove can run for about a week before needing cleaning, as opposed to every two to three days with any other pellet.
The drawback? Well it's more expensive. I need to double check, as my dad's been buying them, but they are about $7/bag as we cannot buy them by the ton anymore (the truck we had is gone). I think we can get them for a buck or two less per bag if we could buy by the ton.
I've recently read that Agway's brand is made by Hamer and is the same thing for less. We'll try it.

Even with the superior pellets, it is still costing more to heat half the basement than it would the whole house by oil. BUT, we have been experiencing a vicious cold couple of weeks here, single digits F at night, and this is where the pellet stove shines. The baseboard heat simply would not keep the chill out of the basement area. But that pellet stove on two bags of Hamer's a day does drive that chill out and make it very comfortable.

So I guess the lesson is that a pellet stove, in our experience, is worthless except as an augment in extremely cold weather. Overall, it was a waste of money and time. But we are stuck with it now, as we can't afford to replace it with anything yet.

I am thinking of a coal stove, one without fans. But I don't relish the thought of the damn coal dust all over everything. It requires much more investigating. And saving up.

Caffeine Allergy

I wish I had read something like this years ago. I could have saved a lot of time and money!

I have been highly allergic to trees for many years. Maples, Oaks, Poplars Ash... All the trees that are prevalent in the Northeast where I live.
I was constantly getting sick, ear & sinus infections, colds and such. I finally went to an ENT and found that I had polyps in my nasal passages that were blocking it, causing the infections.
I had an operation in which they removed the polyps and two of my turbinates. I also got diagnosed with the allergies and started getting regular shots.
When my insurance changed, and the new company did not cover the shots at all, I had to stop. I started taking natural remedies which helped a lot*
Throughout all this, I still got sniffles and coughs, but far less. I also seemed to be just as bad in the middle of winter as in spring or summer. It just seemed to be a constant, year long thing. This made no sense, but I figured it may be dust allergies, which were supposed to be very light for me.

A couple of weeks ago, I came down with a bad stomach bug. I could hardly eat for days. I could not drink coffee during this time either. Now, that was bad, as I had been a caffeine fiend for years. I could easily drink an entire pot of coffee in a day. I could drink a cup right before bed and not even notice. If I did not have a cup of coffee by eleven in the morning, I would start getting headaches.
Well, when I got over the stomach bug, I decided to try and quit coffee. Nothing serious, I would start right up again if it got inconvenient.

In a short while, I noticed that I could breath better. I was no longer sniffing and coughing. I stopped taking my allergy remedies and had no issues. I was completely confused. What could be happening?
One day, I bought a Godiva candy bar and munched it on the way home. Halfway through, my nose suddenly started running, and my head stuffed up. Just like my allergies would cause.

My wife and I decided it must be the caffeine, and checking the internet, I verified it.

Another thing that stopped when I quit the caffeine was night sweats. I would generally sweat at night very badly, soaking the sheets. My wife would sometimes sleep on the couch in disgust. As I mentioned, this has ended.

I could never eat much carbs, I had to stick mostly to protein. If I ate a bit too much carb I would become weak, lightheaded, and start shaking when I got hungry. Much like hypoglycemia, but I was never diagnosed with it. I never let it bother me (not bright I know), but just made it a point to try and stay on high protein.
I could never have a bowl of oatmeal or dry cereal for breakfast because I'd be in bad shape by 10 am if I did.
Now, since quitting caffeine, I can literally go an entire day and eat nothing but carbs. I tried it as an experiment. No immediate ill effects, nor none the next day. I can mix up my meals much more now, which I think will be healthier.

I have noticed no decrease in alertness, my ability to focus, energy levels, nothing.

I do drink an occasional tea, which has caffeine, but very few, and I stay mostly with green and white teas, which have much less caffeine. I do NOT want to drink decaffeinated tea as I suspect the procedure is likely unhealthy.
I can eat light chocolates, such as a cup of Swiss Miss hot chocolate, or just one or two bites of a chocolate protein bar or the like, but if I do too much, I can feel it.

Of course, coffee and cocoa come from trees. So do pecans and almonds, which I can't eat because I get the nose busting allergic reaction.

I'm going to try carob. It comes from an evergreen shrub, not a full fledged tree, so it's worth a shot.
I do have a problem with evergreen type trees in that if I touch them, I break out in a rash. But I have no problems with breathing around them, and the allergist tested me for those and it was negative.
I'm also going to try pine nuts, what the heck right?
I'll just make sure I have some Benadryl with me!

So, if you have night sweats, or allergy symptoms you just can't shake, or symptoms of hypoglycemia, try quitting caffeine and see what happens. You should probably go to a doctor anyway, but give it a try!

*Quercetin, Bromelain, Stinging Nettle Root, vitamin C, EPA (fish oil)

Regarding Newtown II (I am Adam Lanza's Father)

I normally post on Mondays, and I was going to follow Newtown number 1 up with some links pertaining to gun control (I'm against it as you might expect).
But the fellow who wrote about his son in the previous post wrote another, and this one is even more poignant. I just can't continue without sharing it with you.

If you, or someone you know, has a child with AS, this will be all too familiar.

I have removed dates and anything else that I feel would readily identify the writer and his family.

Some of you may have read the internet blog that went viral, called "I Am Adam Lanza's Mother". I read it. My wife read it, tearing up and crying while she did so. I was particularly turned off by the comments left for the writer by readers, many of which were condemning, cold, and simply ignorant.

In the wake of the Connecticut shootings, there have been discussions about gun control, gun rights, mental health, and a lot of people on both sides of the fence arguing whether or not the fact that the shooter had Asperger's Syndrome had anything to do with his decision to murder his own mother and massacre over two dozen people, most of them children. I have read articles, listened to people, and considered the arguments. Poor parenting has been blamed, guns have been blamed, and I've even heard people talk about how these "mentally sick" people should be put down like animals.

We live a very average life. The pregnancy was planned (as much as any really are). Her pregnancy was normal, nothing unusual, and he was born one day after his due date. 100% healthy, no issues, and we welcomed him into our family because he was wanted. We go to church. We show our children affection, but have firm rules. Education is stressed. We limit television and monitor what our children watch, encourage reading, keep video games limited to non-violent games. We eat dinner together every night. I coached soccer, baseball, and helped with Cub Scouts. My wife joined the PTA, helped with Scouts, and we both help out at our church. I would say we are the average family.

From the very beginning I knew he was different than other children. As an infant, he cried very little and was content to be left alone, whether in his crib, on a blanket, or in a bouncy chair. Much to our surprise, he became agitated and would cry when held, cuddled, or rocked. We did not think of it too much. But inside I knew that he was not like my friends' children, he was somehow different.

As he grew into a toddler we found that he had some unusual personality traits. Fixation on objects, a need to have things in a certain order, and a certain "distance" from people around him. He did not respond to facial expressions, was extremely sensitive to bright lights or loud sounds, and when you spoke to him he would rarely, if ever, look at you.

Then the tantrums started.

We were told it was normal for a two year old. It was a phase. We shouldn't be worried. Even as I explained to the doctor that he seemed to get far more upset than seemed normal, I was told "It's the 'terrible twos'". So I accepted this. But they didn't end, and would become quite extreme, even for a toddler. Sometimes to the point where he would hurt himself. His anxiety level seemed to grow almost daily, and would peak at virtually uncontrollable levels. On the plus side, he seemed to be unusually bright. When given pre-school tests that children are given at those ages, he consistently scored in the 99th percentile. So again, we were told that he was "perfectly normal". In fact, we were told he was "gifted".

But, the reactions and actions continued to get worse, and more frequent.

Again, we sought the help of his pediatrician who told us that "Kids have tantrums. You just have to work with them." You see, he had no delays in walking, talking, or other "milestones" that the medical community sets to determine if children are developmentally delayed. So he was considered "normal".

We were not so sure.

He has younger sister. Another healthy child, born about a week before her due date. Unlike my son, she was a very typical baby, acting like most babies do. Loved to be held, cuddled, and kissed. Cried when she was unhappy. Everything you would expect.

When he was about 4, he was in the kitchen with my wife. He asked her one day, "Mommy, I wonder what your guts would look like if I cut your stomach open". In looking back, I now realize it was an honest question. He had a thought, and wondered what a person's insides were made of and how they looked. Curious, like a scientist.

When he entered public school, it didn't take long for his Kindergarten teacher to contact us with concerns about him. At this point, I had done a lot of research on autism, as he seemed to display many of the characteristics common to autistic children. Hand flapping, rhythmic movements, fixation on objects or topics, anxiety, poor communication skills, etc. The school recommended we have a psychological evaluation performed. It took months to find someone who would test him, and there was an ensuing battle of who would pay for it; the school, us, our insurance, who? Honestly, I can't remember who footed the bill, but we did pay a portion. We expressed to the doctor who tested him that we were concerned he had some level of autism.

We were told he was not autistic, and especially did not have Asperger's Syndrome. Why? Well, because he wasn't skinny, and according to her being thin and tall were part of the physical profile of Aspergians. We were told he likely had something like an AD/HD type issue, but she would not diagnose it because at his age; the DSM-IV manual allowed for a broad spectrum of behavior that technically narrowed as children got older. So, he was sent back to school with no diagnosis and no plan. The school placed him on a 504 Plan for occupational therapy because his motor skills were poor and his writing/coloring/drawing were messier than they should have been for his age.

And the tantrums continued. We tried everything that you're "supposed" to do. Time-outs, loss of toys, privileges, sent to your room, no dessert, etc. My wife walked right out of the movie theater, dragging him along one time when he was upset about something. We did not lavish him with an excessive amount of things, either. We did not spoil him. We taught him what were the right things to do, what were the wrong things, but he struggled with understanding some of these. The only thing I had not done is hit my son. But that would change.

As he grew, my wife became more and more concerned about his tantrums. And scared. Sometimes he would have to be physically restrained from hurting himself, his sister, or his mother. When in a frantic state, he would run, smash his head, bite people close to him, etc. As he grew larger, I became the only one that could physically handle him. Desperate, I asked my father what I should do....nothing was working.

"Hit him. Make him afraid. Teach him respect." After all, it's what was done with me, and "it worked". I had never done it because I did not want to be that type of parent. But yes, by the time he was 6 or so, the spanking started. When he would lose his cool and call his mother swear words, he would get a slap in the mouth. Sometimes hard. But it was not a deterrent for him and this corporal punishment did not seem to have much effect other than enrage him. I resorted to threatening, yelling, and punishing because I felt I had exhausted every other avenue, but honestly we were getting nowhere.

We started taking him to a counselor/therapist, and this went on for quite a few months. She was very good. Then something happened. Our medical insurance changed, my company got a new carrier and the therapy service did not accept our new insurance. We offered to pay privately, but were told that they could not allow us to do that where we actually had medical insurance. We tried to find a new therapist, but our insurance company would only allow for a list of "approved" people, and waiting lists were months long, and there was no way they could tell us when a spot would open up for us.

All along, knowing our son was unusual, we focused our efforts on training him to appear average and "normal". We taught him to hide his physical actions that drew negative attention, trained him to abandon his monotone way of speaking, and taught him to control his tantrums and "hold it in" until he was home, with us, where he could release his anxiety with those that loved him. Our thought was that if he could appear "normal" to everyone, he would be treated as such and nobody would suspect he was, in fact, quite different. You see, the world is a cruel place, with cruel people, many of them children, and we wanted our son to be seen as no different than any other child.

Later our insurance allowed for another psychological examination because enough time had passed that they felt it would be okay. A new doctor tested him extensively, and concluded that he had Asperger's Syndrome, which we suspected all along. At school, my son was listed as a special education student, placed on an IEP, and the school worked to understand his needs, although unsuccessfully. They readily admitted that they had virtually no training in dealing with autism. Most of their plans were ineffective, and my son continued to struggle socially among his peers, which eventually started to affect his academics.

Due to his quirky behavior, manner of speaking, and physical problems (not athletic, not very "smooth"), other children quickly targeted him and the bullying increased exponentially each year as he moved into a new grade. We tried to teach him to shrug it off, it didn't matter what they said. We also continued to teach him how to "fly under the radar", but honestly for him it was almost impossible. Again, our end goal was to teach him to survive and succeed in society even with his particular challenges. When his anxiety would peak, he would still need physical restraining. But, as he grew to over 5' tall and 125 lbs., he became harder and harder to handle.

His doctor prescribed anxiety medication. It seemed to help, some, but as he grew larger the dosage was not changed, despite our concerns, because his doctor concluded that his behavior issues were socially induced, and not due to a chemical issue.

By the time my son was in the 5th grade he had started to withdraw. We didn't know it, it just seemed that on the outside he was dealing with his issues better. Less frequent tantrums, fewer meltdowns, seemed to recover more quickly and "come back to reality". As parents we felt we were being successful; more expression in his speech, fewer outbursts, more humor, and he generally seemed more content. When he did act out, is was still extreme, maybe more extreme than ever, but he would recover more quickly and started to show some empathy and remorse for what he had done, which was something new. He also started to express affection and looked for us to sit with him, hug him, and he told us often that he loved us. So, we felt that we had made real strides.

This did not, however, mean things were smooth. I remember one day in particular, I had gotten this Red Ryder BB gun as a present. My son had a high anxiety day at school and when he came home, he flipped out. I didn't know that he knew where the BB gun was. He went and got it, then proceeded to shoot up various objects; the house, a basketball net we have, his swingset, etc., despite my wife pleading with him. She walked away, afraid that in his state of mind he may shoot her or his sister. Because she just didn't know if he would. I never imagined he would. He had never done anything like that before. I was at work, my wife called me and I came home immediately. He was in a sort of semi-conscious state, sorry for what he had done. The BB gun was given to my father, who I believe may have destroyed it. And there were other things.

We continued to seek medical attention, continued to seek psychiatric attention, talked with the school, read books, implemented plans, and struggled as a family.

Finally, my son's anxiety peaked over a minor issue. He had been struggling in school, was tired of the ridicule from other children, tired of feeling confused and upset, tired of feeling "out of control", and tired of struggling. He had been sent to his room by my wife after an argument. It was this day he decided to end his own life. He took the cords from his blinds, tied them to his bedpost and around his neck, and slid out the window of his second floor bedroom.

Luckily, my wife heard activity from his room and went to check on him; she was able to get him back into his room from the open window before he had seriously injured himself. At the hospital he confessed that he had been planning to end his life for a few months and was firmly committed to doing it. The DSS system took him from us and placed him in an inpatient treatment facility. He was released back to our care 9 days later when they determined he was not an immediate threat to himself or others.

And this is where we are now.

On the other hand, we have a very typical and average 8 year old daughter who displays no issues, is "normal" (if there is such a thing) in every way, and brings a lot of joy to our lives.

But as far as our son, in his life he's gotten pushed aside by doctors, pushed aside by clinicians, pushed aside by educators. As parents, we've gotten the same thing. Pushed aside by insurances, given the run-around, etc. No special medical treatment for my son. No special educational facility. No help for him or us. Hell, even the military would not allow him to enlist even if he wanted to because of his diagnosis.

Gerber Life Insurance refused to insure my son for a $5K policy based on the fact that he has autism. Imagine that. And the insure most any kid whose parents can fill out a piece of paper.

Adam Lanza's mother cannot tell her tale. But I can. So before you write "stupid mother", "bad parent", or "face of evil, should have been put down like a dog", stop and consider where the real failures are, or most likely were.

This has been long. If you have been patient enough to read it, thank you. If you have been open-minded enough to allow it to, well, open your mind, thank you even more.

Sad, and I suspect that Adam's mom went through similar pains, wealthy though they were.

My own father suspects that the reason no doctor or organization wants to touch these children is due to a fear of being sued. I suspect he's right.

Regarding Newtown I

I live a few towns over from there, and I have friends with children in the school, so it hits close to home.

The subject. No need to click the link if you know about it.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/12/newtown-connecticut-school-shooting/59999/

The first post I will make about this concerns some general information on Asperger's Syndrome (AS), which afflicted Adam Lanza. You have most likely seen the story by the woman who has a very violent child with this sort of affliction. I will link to that at the end.
Here however, is a quotation from a friend (personal info withheld), who has a child with AS, but not so violent. It is moving, and enlightening, and more people need to see it.

In parenting a child with AS, I've learned an awful lot about the condition. I've made a lot of mistakes, too. Let's assume that these reports about Adam having AS are true. People will be quick to blame bad parenting, poor morality, video games, or whatever. I will no be so quick as to make that judgement.

A little bit about AS; it is an autistic spectrum disorder. Because most people who have it appear relatively normal and can function in society (to a point), it is often brushed off and just viewed as a "quirk". People living with AS are also, typically, very bright, with many testing at advanced scholastic levels that can border on "genius". Because they learn facts and figures quickly and appear exceedingly bright, many people don't think much further as far as how their mind functions in other areas. And Aspergians, unlike many other forms of autism, are amazingly observant of others and conscious of their difference from them. As they grow, they often develop their own coping mechanisms and try to do what they can to model after their peers, but often with poor results because in many ways they cannot understand some of the concepts that come to others naturally. Where Aspergians struggle the most is in social interactions with others and in controlling their anxiety, which can build to unimaginable levels over things that, to you or me, may seem inconsequential or minor. Their perception of the world is very unusual, and my experience is that Aspergians can be quite paranoid and may react very unusually to others when they feel threatened, whether that threat is real or not. In many cases, the threat they are dealing with is rooted mostly in their own perception of an event or person. When their anxiety has peaked, they enter an extreme "flight or fight" mode, and the reactions or actions of the Aspergian can take either form; extreme isolationist behavior and internalization or acting out, sometimes in a virtually uncontrollable manner. This may continue for minutes, hours, or in some cases longer (maybe even days). The only thing I can equate it to is saying this; think about a time in your life when you've been more scared, worried, or afraid than you thought you could imagine, remember the confusion you felt, how choices were difficult, and how you didn't know what to do, often reacting how your first instinct told you to. Someone with AS may go through this on a regular basis. An additional component common to many Aspergians is that they have difficulty with empathy. It's not a natural emotion that many have, and in some cases they struggle with abstract concepts like "right and wrong" (they see them as abstract because they are conceptual). This is where the teaching begins, but sometimes it simply has to be taught to them in the simple terms of what's legal and illegal. Firm rules are something they can understand, actually they like them the most in daily living, but when the anxiety peaks, all cards are off the table.

Because Aspergians are so bright and so aware of themselves, as they grow they will often figure out a way to mask their anxiety to most people, but it's still there and will erupt at a time or in a place that they feel most comfortable. That's why you hear things like "He seems a little strange, but overall he is quiet, doesn't say much, seems like a nice person. Never would have imagined that about him."

One of the biggest issues with AS is that because it is primarily a social disorder, there are very poor treatment programs or access to help for those who either live with it or parent a child who has it. And, to make matters worse, the current DSM-V has eliminated the diagnosis and replaced it with "High Functioning Austim Spectrum Disorder", and in some cases people will be diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Counselors don't know what to do. Public school teachers have little or no training. Doctors simply push anxiety medications. Mental health facilities put them in outpatient programs where they are seen maybe once a week for an hour, maybe once a month. Educationally, they may have a very hard time in the standard school setting but due to the education laws regarding inclusion, they don't have a choice but to accept these students into the student body while struggling to develop proper IEP plans. There are specialized schools for people with AS, but around here tuition will run anywhere from $30K-50K per year. If you can pay for it, you can have it, otherwise you are at the mercy of your public school to either choose to send the child there, or be told they have to because they are incompetent. Insurances dictate which clinicians you can visit, as well as whether or not visits are paid for. As a parent, you are left with many question, few answers, and a lot of struggles. Then, when they do reach adulthood, you have to hope that everything you taught them will provide a good framework for them to structure their lives and be successful. I suppose this is no different from any child.

When you have an AS child, a common theme (that you are told by social workers and counselors), is that one of your best avenues to follow in life to help your child get treatment is to hope they commit a crime and are imprisoned. The prison system has the resources to provide more extensive mental health treatment than is available to the public (unless, of course, you have a big fat checkbook).

So, knowing this, I can imagine and put a sort of "storyboard" to the hours or days leading up to this horrible, tragic event. At least what, in my mind, makes sense.

If it is indeed true that the young man was living with AS, and it contributed to his decision to commit this crime, this is not a gun control issue. It's a mental health issue and a tragic example of how our educational and medical system failed 20 children and 10 adults (including the Lanzas).

In addition to those lost at the school, my heart also breaks for Adam Lanza's mother who was eventually murdered by her own child. A child she was likely unable to help. And of course, for Adam Lanza who, in some way, felt so tortured, anxious, and "broken" that in his mind this decision made some shred of sense, enough sense that it went beyond a thought and became an action.

Note that in the last few paragraphs, our mental health and school systems are not equipped to help this man's child. Just so with Adam Lanza, and most all children with AS.

I Am Adam Lanza's Mother

In future posts, I am going to link to issues of gun control. I offer few if any words of my own, as I so often find that the articles I link to or passages I quote are far more eloquent than I am.

I post all of this, now and in future, only in the hope that I can put together something calm and reasoned, giving some information or hope in this tragedy.

This is frightening

This must be stopped.
Please, tell everyone about this. Write your government reps at all levels.

This is the worst thing to come out of our government ever. Think of history, think where this will likely lead.

Homeland Security graduates it's first class of FEMA youth

Supposedly for disaster relief right? Then why the guns, massive ammo purchases, armored vehicles?

The One referenced this back in '08. Never heard about it again after this little speech, though Rhambo did love the idea.

FEMA Youth, a warning sign years ago

We are in serious trouble. Don't think for a New York minute that these full time paid youth are only for natural disasters. What, you need a gun and armored vehicles to rescue people?

UPDATE: 5 November 2012

There are several articles out there that report related information. There are some that are not directly related, but report about similar programs or indirectly related info. I'll keep poking around and repost them here.

An article about a similar Boy Scouts program:

Scouts Training

In the next link, it's no surprise that an Eagle Scout has been chosen. I don't know if this fellow attended the type of training mentioned in the above link. But I'd like to find out.
As an aside, I remember years ago hearing some liberal folk talking about how the Boy Scouts preps youth for the military, brainwashes them, and so on. I dismissed it as crazy left wing rants It seems I haven't heard such talk since The One took office, so I have to believe that libs would have no problem with the Scouts performing paramilitary training now if only they would accept gays. And yet, now is when the Scouts are truly trained for war and paramilitary. I never saw this way back, though I have no idea when it really started.
Anyway, here is the possible connection.

Eagle Scout Accepted

On a different front, we see here that the Department of Homeland Security has an open order for up to 450 million rounds of bullets. You may not believe this, you may say that this article is simply not true.

DHS buys 450 million bullets

Before you dismiss this, here is a message from a Congressman regarding the purchase.

DHS buys in bulk

OK, buying in bulk makes sense. I actually like the overall idea of doing this. But did you note that FEMA is one of the organizations to receive some of these bullets?
Also, these are big damn bullets. And hollow point. Man these are serious killer rounds!

OK, big deal, 450 million over 5 years would work out to 3 or 4 rounds per person per day.
Yes but those aren't the only purchases.
DHS is also looking for 175 million rifle rounds.

.233 caliber bid

Hmmm, put this all together with one of many executive orders and a very nasty picture emerges.
Here is the order itself, if you would like to read it.

Executive order

Here is an article that explains the order. Also, these folks have done an excellent job in putting together links to other nasty orders and laws. If you are in a hurry, just read and click the links in the last paragraph of it.

Executive Order explained

OK, now maybe I'm connecting dots where there are no dots. But I see it this way.
Obama signs an Executive Order basically allowing full Martial Law and the total revocation of all your rights and property. And it isn't truly clear what would trigger this.
The Boy Scouts have been running armed response drills for years.
FEMA now graduates a 'youth corps' that can be armed and is trained. Possible connection to the Boy Scout drills?
DHS orders millions of rounds of bullets. Some slated for FEMA.

I really see something emerging.

Now here is a website for Police Chiefs. This particular page is about ordering cool stuff like armored vehicles. Note the Q&A.

Police Chief magazine article

FEMA authorization? Note the third paragraph of the first Q. Last couple of sentences. Needing an excuse are we?

As a small aside, if you didn't click the link, here is the FEMA first responder knowledge base. Terrorism and violent extremism portals. Clearly, FEMA is indeed working hand in hand with DHS, FBI, etc.

FEMA knowledge base

Who can we trust anymore?

BE HONEST

A book by A. H. Metwally.

If you are in the hotel business, or plan to be, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
It's very short, and an easy read.

Mr. Metwally immigrated from Egypt and got a job as a hotel clerk. As the years passed, he worked his way up into management positions.
Along the way, he ran afoul of very dishonest people at all levels. Mr. Metwally would not join in on their deceits and found that his honesty paid off in the long run.

He did not write this book for those in the hotel business. He wrote it as an admonition to the reader to be honest in all things, and to show that it is truly better to do so than to lie, cheat, and steal as so many people do to make a quick buck.
But the general info contained in the book is useful enough in itself, even if the moral of the story is ignored.

The original was published by iUniverse.

The book is now titled BE HONEST TO SUCCEED and is published by Publish America.

Be Honest to Succeed by A. H. Metwally

You have been warned

Posted on behalf of a couple of very good friends. Copied from their text, I did not write it:

Watch your wallet if go to Greenwoods Restaurant in Bethel CT for dinner! We went to Greenwoods on Saturday night. Had a great meal - food was excellent. At the end of the night we hand our debit card to the waiter. He comes back and says it won't go through. No big deal figure its a computer problem - we hand him our Amex, he brings the slip, we sign and leave. No big deal. Until I notice today that we were billed TWICE! Both on the original debit card that allegedly didn't work and on the Amex. I stop by the restaurant today to talk to someone about refunding one of the charges to the card. (dinner wasn't good enough that I want to pay for it twice)

Stop in today - Monday - President's Day - at 3 in the afternoon - the joint's not exactly jumping. I get to talk to the owner. I figure great: the owner will certainly want to clear this up - the customer's always right, right?. Couldn't be more wrong. She couldn't care less. I'm interrupting her day. Complete attitude. Her only comment is that their machine allegedly wasn't working that night, that it happened to a lot of people and she can't do anything until after I dispute the charge with my debit card company.

She has no other suggestion or offer to resolve it any other way. Just dispute it with your credit card company. When I had the audacity to complain that the problem was created by her restaurant and that I shouldn't have to go through that hastle of disputing it with my bank (which I can't do today anyway since its a holiday) she actually tells me there is nothing she can (or is willing) to do and she can't (won't?) refund to either the debit or the Amex. She of course has no answer when I ask her if she would have just gotten paid twice if I hadn't caught the double charge - my guess is that I would have paid twice and she would have hung on to the extra $60.

The capper: she actually tells me she's too busy to talk to me about the problem created by her restaurant and walks away. Classy - smart way to do business.

The people I really feel sorry for are the employees and chef (who actualy came out to check and see if dinner was good). Can't imagine they will be there long if that is how the owner runs her business.

Horse chestnut

Varicose veins are one of my countless physical defects.
WTF does that have to do with horse chestnut? Read on.

It had gotten to the point where there was some pain, and my legs felt very tight. Made riding a motorcycle a lot less pleasant for sure.
I do not remember where I heard or read it, but I got the information that horse chestnut pills would help.
Now there are many typical synthetic western medicine cures and treatments for varicose veins, but I couldn't afford nor put up with any of them. So I had nothing to lose.

I bought a bottle at a health food store and took the recommended dose for about a month. It made a noticable difference! The pain was lessened, my legs didn't feel so tight and they felt a touch stronger.
I continued with just one pill each night for another month and a half or so, and I no longer felt anything from the affliction.
My wife told me that the bulging (yech) had gone down by a good 80% in her estimation.

I then found that I could just take two or so pills a week to maintain. But being absent minded, I often forgot and went as much as a month without any.

The affliction came back. I started back on two a day for a few weeks and it subsided. Now I'm doing one each night, and will back off a bit more soon.

Folks, this is a relatively inexpensive, safe, natural way to treat varicose veins. I highly recommend it.
Having said that, I will tell you that my father tried it and claims it did nothing for him. I cannot vouch that he followed directions nor that he used it long enough.

One problem I have with it is that I'm allergic to trees, horse chestnut apparently being one of them. This is the main reason I try to bring the frequency of use down. My allergies really kick in when I take two a day. Not too bad at one a day. And hardly at all when taking a few times a week.

Again, if you suffer from varicose veins, before you shell out for operations, try the horse chestnut. I can't guarantee that it'll work for you, but it's not expensive and you'll know in a month, so there's little to lose.

Rating the Real Estate Agents - THINK FIRST

Here is an interesting article on rating your Realtor:

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20110210_yelp.htm?sms_ss=google&at_xt=4d5423c1732a7e6a%2C0

This is great news! I know more than most that there are a multitude of stupid and/or dishonest and/or lazy realtors that have no business selling flowers for Sun Myung Moon much less homes and businesses.
The more these humanoids can be exposed and avoided, the better.

However.

Before you give your agent a bad rating because your transaction didn't go well, think hard about wether it really was the agent's fault.

School districting is a good example of where an agent can be blindsided or prevented by law from giving you quality service.

A Prime example:
You insist that your precious snowflake attend Little Lord Fauntleroy elementary. The listing agent specifies that is the school districted. Your buyer agent verifies this (your buyer agent should never take the list agent's word for anything). You buy the house. Just after you close, the town redistricts your new home to Landfill elementary on the other end of town.

Well both agents might have screwed up as they should have looked into whether or not the town planned on redistricting or not and whether that redistricting would affect that property right?
But did the town announce the upcoming redistricting? Did the town itself know if that property would be affected? Most important, what are the laws regarding Realtors talking about schools?
It may very well be that the agents don't dare mention anything!
There are likely laws in your state preventing the agents from talking to you about districting and such. It's OK in CT at least for an agent to specify the schools that are districted at the current time but they can't chat with you about much more than that.

So you just dropped $800K on a house in a fine neighborhood, that was districted for fine schools, and now snowflake is attending an inner urban gangland Hell hole.
You of course give a scathing review of your buyer agent and perhaps the list agent as well.

What the agent(s) should have done was to explain clearly that they can't talk about it, that the schools specified are only accurate currently, and could change at any time, and they should have directed you to the school board's website for more information.
Did they? If so, you've got no one to blame except maybe the state for their idiot laws or the town for not being forthcoming with info.

Some list agents will not specify a school for this very reason. They will fill in "pboe" (per board of ed) for all schools, thus avoiding the issue. This is the lazy way out except in certain circumstances.
Certain circumstances? Like what?

Well like the fact that the town of Fairfield redistricts every 2 years. What is an agent to do when that time comes around? When it gets close enough that it will happen soon, but no announcements yet?
Like the town of Stratford, which I'm told completely ignores its own districting. It seems that you can buy a house and the town will arbitrarily redistrict it right after the ink dries, maybe before. I have no proof of this, it's only hearsay, but from realtors who would know.

There are other possible issues that could come up that your list or buyer agent have no control over. So before you rip them a new one on Zillow or Yelp or whatever, do a little asking or thinking. Maybe you should be ripping a town or state instead.

Forclosure on Your Horizon?

If your mortgage lender is ready to foreclose on you, and won't play ball with short sales or interest reductions and so on, get a lawyer and have him go over every inch of every form involved in the sale to you.

The reason is that many loans that have been issued are defective in some way. There's a chance that a lawyer knowledgeable in real estate transactions can find defects and force the lender to work with you or risk having you report them, maybe even sue them.

If the lender now foreclosing is not your original lender, have the lawyer demand to receive copies of all of their paperwork on this loan. There have been several instances of financial companies foreclosing on loans that they didn't legally own!

As long as you still have a job and can make some sort of payments, Hell even if you can't, there are other deals that can be worked out instead of foreclosure.

Good luck, and whenever someone tells you that it's not the end of the world, tell them to piss off.

Pellet Stove Revisited

I railed on about the worthlessness of our pellet stove a few months ago:

Pellet Stoves Worth It?

Well had the service guy come out and clean it up and check it out last weekend, and he informed me that I didn't have the air damper opened up enough.

He fired it up and showed me how the flame was supposed to look. Damn, no fire, just some blue glow from the pellets and they were jumping around a little bit from the wind blowing through!
Now I had been warned that too much air would blow out the flame, so I was trying to be careful. A little too careful it seems.

Also, we apparently bought a crappy stove. It's a Breckwell Big E utility furnace, and he told me that none of the service guys like them, they just don't heat as well as other Breckwells. Well, it was about $1500 as opposed to $3000 for a "good" one. What a freakin' ripoff these things are.

Oh, and I'm not going to run that other outside vent as I had originally planned.

Well, crappy stove or not, now that I suspect it was mostly my fault, let's see what this winter brings.

Harmony Farms Dog Food

I don't mind doing free advertising for products that work for me. I will occasionally mention something that I have found to be more than satisfactory, starting now.

Our dog had been suffering from some sort of eczema like skin condition for quite a while. He'd scratched his fur clean off in some spots. All the vet could do was give him shots, which helped little.
During the poison dog food scare, we decided to start feeding him organic dog food to be done with such things. We found Harmony Farms dry dog food at Stop & Shop and started feeding him that.
Lo and behold, the skin condition disappeared! His coat is much more beautiful than it has ever been and he just seems healthier overall.
Now we found canned food from the same company!

Here is an email my wife sent to Harmony Farms.

1st off, I wanted to tell you that after the melamine scare last year, we decided to switch our dog over to Harmony Farms to protect him. We were shocked when his skin condition disappeared! His coat is simply gorgeous now!
thank you for making such a wonderful product!

2nd, i just noticed the canned Harmony Farms at stop and shop last night. I was happy to see the "made in USA" label, but when i did a Google search to find your website, i noticed that you guys were involved in the melamine scare last year after all! (thank you for being pro-active on that!!!)

has the canning process changed at all in response to the scare? While the product is MADE in the USA, do all the ingredients now COME from the USA? or are we still getting products from overseas?

as I'm sure most people are, I'm very leery of giving "my son" canned food for fear of another "slip up", but he loves it :/

thanks so much

Here's the response from them:

Thank you for taking the time out to write us. And thank you for your interest in Harmony Farms. In response to your email, our foods all are manufactured here in the USA. Where possible our suppliers are instructed to source their ingredients from the US. Where the ingredients are not readily available in the US, such as many vitamins, minerals and nutriceuticals, they work only with reputable foreign suppliers, and subject all ingredients to rigorous quality testing. All of our ingredients are USDA approved and inspected. All our meats and grains are from the US.

Since the recall, we have done much research to find a new manufacturing partner for our canned products. One who shares our same values and whom we felt we could trust. We are happy to announce that we have found a new manufacturer and our canned foods and health bars are back on the shelves. All food is safe to feed your furry little family members.

Please let me know if I can answer any further questions.

Best Regards,

Harmony Farms

And best of all, it's not very expensive and is readily available at any Stop & Shop store.

We have no further questions about dog food, our pooch is all set.

Pellet Stoves Worth It?

I dunno, maybe not.

We have one, a Breckwell, which is supposed to be a good brand. So far, I'm not convinced the thing was a good buy.

We used to have a box stove. That thing heated the whole damn house! Sure it was a pain in the ass chopping wood and such, but man we burned something like $300 of oil annually at about $1/gallon. And that was for hot water too.
Well, tired of chopping, bought a pellet stove in 06. Put it in the semi finished basement in place of the box stove.

First season I consider a complete bust. The damn thing barely heated less than half the basement. We had no hoses running outside, cuz the dealer and Breckwell said it wasn't necessary to pipe in outside air unless the stove was installed in a small building, such as a trailer. Well, I noticed that it made the other side of the basement much colder and didn't do diddly to heat the house. I knew that it would suck in cold air and blow it up the chimney, but like an idiot I believed everyone when they said it would "heat up so much that it would compensate."
In a pig's ass it did.

I also realized that it was sucking cold damp air in from any crevice or crack in the house. Yeah, damp air, hmmmmm, can you say mold & mildew? I sure can.

So last summer I borrowed a small jackhammer and punched a hole in the basement wall and ran a pipe outside for the firebox. Now it would suck in outside air to feed the fire and pump that up the chimney, while the other fan would circulate inside air around the fire box to heat the house. Seemed perfect right?
Not quite.

Yes, it was a big improvement. No more outside air drawing into the house, but not a lot of heat for the dollar either. Actually, I think it's been a financial loser.
At the lowest setting, it still barely heats half the basement. The other side is no longer freezing because of the cold air not being drawn in, but it aint nice and warm either, and it still seems to do absolutely nothing for the rest of the house.

At that lowest setting, it burns 1 bag of pellets in 24 hours. Now a bag of pellets costs a little over $4, so to run it every day for 30 days would be $120 if I'm kind and calculate with the price lower than actual.
Hmmm, $120/month to heat half the basement.

If you're still with me, keep reading, it gets worse.

Really, on very cold days, it doesn't really heat that half the basement at that low setting. There's a baseboard radiator in the basement on the pellet stove side, and the thermostat is just a few feet away from the stove, set at 64 degrees F. On very cold days, the temp drops below 64 degrees and the radiator kicks in, or I should say, the nasty, global warming, filth spewing oil boiler kicks in.

Now consider that that nasty oil boiler runs us a approximately $100 / month to heat the rest of the damn house and the hot water! Yeah, we have a programmable thermostat upstairs and set it at 62 evenings and 68 days, so we keep the house pretty cool, but still.

I have not been very scientific in my analysis, it's all just eyeballs and check writing, so I could be off on my estimates.
But still, $120+ to heat half the basement, and not fully at that, and $100 for the whole house and hot water? Screw the ozone layer, my wallet is more important.
One more thing I need to mention here is that our boiler is only about 4 years old, and is super efficient. Our old boiler would probably have run up twice the cost or more.

Before I give up on this stove though, I'm going to punch another hole in the wall and suck in outside air for heat too. I'm not sure this will work, I mean, if the outside temp is something like 10 degrees F or below, will that little firebox be able to heat it up before it blows into the house? I don't know.
But my desire is to give the house "positive pressure," to blow a constant flow of warm air into it. If this works, then I think the stove will be worthwhile.

If that doesn't work, then I believe that the pellet stove was a complete waste of money.