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March 1 - john just saw on the news this morning that February broke all records for being the warmest February on record. It is suppose to get close to 80 degrees today before dropping back down to a more seasonally high 40's and low 50's for the next several days. john is out working on the front yard sprinkler system this morning. The ground is very dry and john is watering all the new trees planted last fall. The new sprinkling system john is putting in this spring had better be efficient! If Global Warming is a fact, then the price of water will be headed upward.
March 6 - john had watched the big pond go down at an alarming rate, but was not able to find the leak. This went on for several weeks costing john and joyce a lot of water. Finally yesterday, john got serious about finding the leak. He started at where the 2 inch flexible hoses come out of the pond. Immediately, john found the problem! john watched the water flowing out of a broken 2 inch ball valve that had broken from winter freeze. He immediately raised the hose above the pond's surface level and got the water stopped.
This morning john drove an hour to Lawrence Kansas where "The Water's Edge" is located. He forgot that they are closed on Mondays! He will have to repeat the journey again tomorrow.
Not only is the 2 inch ball valve damaged, but also a one-way valve was damaged too. The ball valve john can buy at Lowe's. The one-way valve at Lowe's is a spring-loaded type that requires too much pressure to operate and which will remain open if a small twig or other debris gets lodged into it. The better one-way valve is just a simple flapper type and requires very little pressure to close it. It also seems to clear itself much easier.
john uses a lot of "Magic Lube" to seal the lids of the pre-pump filters. It is a very heavy grease and does a great job keeping air from being sucked into the filter and preventing a good flow of water. This is one of the main problems of pumping water to the falls: keeping the lid of the pre-filter sealed. john's main source of "Magic Lube" just closed because of retirement. john is going to have to go to the Internet to find another source of this great stuff!
P.S.: john has found the new source of Magic Lube on the web at: http://www.lagunakoi.com/koishop/cgi-bin/hazel.cgi?action=DETAIL&item=70030
john is having Eddie come tomorrow to start digging the main trench for the backyard irrigation system. The design hasn't come back from Rain Bird yet, but john is pretty confident that the main water line must follow the path around zenpond, so that can be dug first. john chose to have Eddie dig the trench as opposed to renting a trencher which would be faster. It will take Eddie longer, but Eddie can use the money john would have spent on the trencher's rental.
March 9 - john searched the Internet trying to find out how a diaphragm valve worked. Finally, thanks to Rain Bird, he located the information below:
Basically, it is pressurized water behind the diaphragm that presses the diaphragm down. This "bludged" diaphragm blocks the flow of water through the valve. When the solenoid opens a small channel, it releases the pressurized water behind the diaphragm and allows the diaphragm to move out of the way. This now allows the flow of water through the valve.
March 10 - john and Eddie began trenching down the middle of the path around zenpond today. The trench will hold the main water line for the new irrigation system. This line will connect to the master valve and backflow preventer. Later, when Rain Bird provides an irrigation plan, in-line valves will connect laterals to this main line. The laterals will provide water to specific zones. john and Eddie will work on the trench again tomorrow as the temperature is to be in the low 70's.
Two Mallard ducks tried to land in zenpond today while john and Eddie were digging in the path. They aborted the landing at the last minute while making a lot of quacking sounds.
The Star Magnolia is beginning to bloom:
Daffidils are about 5 inches above the ground. Spring is in full movement a full month too early! john wonders if this means Mom duck will try to march her babies to zenpond at the beginning of April instead of the beginning of May. This is a heavy responsiblity for john as the new babies fall into everything. john has to play "Father Duck" and pull baby ducks out of many different places. john has to block them from going to the neighbor's pool. She keeps the cover on and the babies can get into the water on top of the pool cover, but then cannot get out! This year, if Bird Flu comes this way, john will have to show extra caution.
March 16 - Here is a new email from Basso, john and joyce's friend in Benin, West Africa:
Good morning everybody,
As I said in my former e:maïl, the Beninese have gone to elect their
new President. The first round was on sunday 5th 2006. We were about 3.5
millions to have been inscripted. That was equal to an increase of 25
to 30% in some areas in the country. Maybe people are more interested
in the voting mater. The interest may be due to the fact that the old
guard in Benin politics is out of the game because of its age and its
former behaviour.
They were 26 candidates for a reviewed population of 7.5 millions. The
first is our former President of West Africa Bank for Development (Mr
Boni YAYI); he is a new man in politics in Benin. He got 35.6 %. The second
has been President of our National Assembly, at the beginning of democracy
in Benin. He was running for the fourth time (M. Adrien HOUNGBEDJI). He
got 24. 1 %. The third one that can anyone of the two first is M. Bruno
AMOUSSOU; he was also President of our National Assembly during the second
legislature. He got about 16.4 %. The fourth candidate to be able to giving
his help to the future President of Benin is the son of a former Republic
President, presently completing his father as Mayor in COTONOU. His name
is Mr Lehadi SOGLO. He got 8.8%. The other candidates ranged from 4.6
% (the present President of the National Assembly, M. Idji KOLAWOLE) to
0.10 % (M. GBAGUIDI). I dont know late one’s occupation in the country.
Two women were running for t he job: they got 0.32 % and 0.31 %. I gave
my voice to the first of the firstround (I mean Mr. BONI), because we
need an economist at the head of the state to try to fight poverty.
Apart from those forecoming events, everything is going all right on my
side.
Take care and Bye Bye,
Basso
March 21 - Yesterday was the first day of Spring ... and it snowed! john says that at least zenpond is a beautiful white today. john read several articles in USA Today, today, which he feels everyone should know about. Here are copies of these articles:
In regards to the above article, john is beginning to stock food and water for 90 days. It is hard to stock one gallon of water/person/day. That is 180 gallons of water. john will be giving his spa chemical company, Bacqua Spa, a call to see if the water in the spa could be used for drinking water in an emergency. john and joyce, of course, have 30,000 gallons of water in zenpond which could be processed with some effort. john really hopes that the H5N1 virus never mutates into a form that can be transmitted between humans. john feels there is a fine line between "being prepared" and being panicked.
Some government officials are recommending a 10 day emergency supply, but john says to think about it. When was the last time a flu season only lasted 10 days?
March 22 - Here is the reply to john's inquiry about using spa water for drinking in case of an emergency:
You will not be able to use the BaquaSpa products for drinking water. They are not EPA approved for such use. Chlorine would be the product you are looking for.
Below is a website that you can visit for information on various uses of chlorine for sanitation.
http://www.archchemicals.com/Fed/ICM/Products/Industrial/prodapp.htm
Thanks so much
Arch Customer Care
john really wasn't asking whether BaquaSpa products could be used for purification, but whether they would cause harm. john should have realized that no company would answer his question for fear of litigation. john hopes an emergency, such as Bird Flu, never happens anywhere in the world! He will keep thinking about easy, cheap ways to purify water for drinking. john went through the Good Friday Earthquake in Alaska. He used several drops of bleach per gallon of water to sterilize melted snow. Of course, this would not take chemicals out of spa water. john realizes that zenpond contains 30,000 gallons of water. Maybe filtering, boiling, and purification would provide drinking water. The risk, of course, is that ducks land in zenpond all the time (there are three as this is being typed). Ducks might be carrying Bird Flu, so great care would be needed before drinking zenpond!