My current bedding is far too large, given that it's just me. It's bad enough where I currently live, but in the room at Beth & Karen's that I'll be moving into, it's just not an option any longer; I need every inch of space I can get.
Most of my life I've slept on a mattress with no bedsprings, or a futon, or a pile of blankets, etc., so I'm not wedded to a traditional mattress/bedspring combination.
That's a good thing, as they are bloody expensive, if you want something that doesn't negatively impact someone with chemical sensitivity issues, such as my sister-in-law whose room is just across the hall.
I do, however, have a bed frame that I rather like, and would like to utilize. It's a standard twin, with 10.5" from the floor to the bottom of the cross-members of the headboard/footboard, and somewhat higher to the actual rails. Thus, there's storage space under it.
So.
A platform, which has supports that would rest on the rails, raising the actual surface for the bedding to a height that is comfortable for me to get on and off of.
Storage built into the support structure of the platform. Waste space is not an option.Either slats, or a rope bed suspension.
One or more wool mattress toppers.
Constructing this prior to moving is a good idea.
Actually, it's necessary that it occur first, as it needs to replace the bedding currently on the floor of the room I'll be moving into which also takes up far too much space; it has to happen prior to my being able to proceed any further with shifting stuff from Tacoma to Olympia.
2019-03-17
Some thoughts concerning finite resources and the longevity of our society.
This was initially a comment I posted as part of a story discussion.
It did get just a tad long, and off topic.
Which is par for the course with my comments.
*************
1) A slide rule doesn't require an energy source other than the user.
2) If not abused, a slide rule should be able to remain fully functional for centuries.
Neither of the above can be said of modern electronics.
***Begin pessimistic view of the not-so-distant future***
Petroleum is running out.
To date, no initiatives have been successful in developing alternate energy sources will which maintain our current level of energy consumption.
At least part of that is the result of action on the part of Petroleum Industry leaders who aren't thinking any further ahead than their profits from the next five to ten years; they know damn well that Petroleum is a finite resource, but aren't taking any action to research alternatives themselves (which would be in the best interest of the long term health of their businesses), and actively lobby to make things as difficult as possible for anyone else to do so.
They are aided in this by many of the other leaders in established Energy Production businesses; they don't want increased competition, but at the same time don't want to reduce current profits by investing in research into matters which are vital to the long term health of their companies and society as a whole.
Which bugs the hell out of me.
They aren't acting as proper custodians for their businesses and as a result... well, when petroleum finally dries up, without other sources of energy to take up the slack, things are gonna get nasty.
This doesn't even take into account all the things we use petroleum as a base ingredient in for manufacturing.
As with petroleum, many other materials necessary for the production of modern electronics are non-renewable resources; they will run out.
Yet, as a society, we refuse to insist that as near total recycling of these materials as possible be made to happen; so long as the cost of disposing of our trash is left to the end user, manufacturers have no short term economic incentive to invest in efforts to recycle the materials they require for manufacturing from our trash.
If the cost of disposing of non-biodegradable materials was included as a standard expense of manufacturing, then they would have an economic incentive to recycle.
So long as they can disclaim any responsibility for their products after they exit warranty, it will remain cheaper to obtain new raw materials rather than recycled materials until the sources of raw materials are near depletion.
What does all of this have to do with slide rules?
If nothing is done, the time is approaching where slide rules will still function... and there are no modern electronics.
I'm 58.
This may or my not come to pass within my lifetime.
I'm very pessimistic about it not happening during the lifetime of people alive today, if society doesn't take decisive action in the very near future.
It's clear that an unregulated market won't take proper action concerning this, since the current marketplace is successfully avoiding being held accountable.
I'm not advocating the destruction of the free market system.
I'm not aware of anything that could replace it that would work as well.
But, I am advocating that the expenses of disposing of their products after they cease functioning be included as part of their fixed costs, and that any form of disposal that does not include as complete a salvaging of reusable materials as possible carry penalties such that it would cost less to do the recycling in the first place.
I'd also suggest that a surcharge be applied to the purchase of raw materials when there are applicable recycled materials available, such that it becomes economically non-viable to use new materials if functionally equivalent recycled materials are available.
Recycling will not occur so long as there is no economic incentive to do so.
Thus, it is necessary to make it clear that there is such an incentive.
It is also necessary to manage our "renewable" resources such that they actually do renew in a timely manner, and that an increase in the need for such materials be included in the calculations used to determine what the minimums are for maintaining long term viability of "renewable" resources.
After all... the Passenger Pigeon was a "renewable" resource.
Which we hunted to extinction.
What is now the Sahara Desert was the breadbasket of the Roman Empire.
To be truly renewable or sustainable, we have to actually do what it takes to sustain them.
***End pessimistic view of the not-so-distant future***
It did get just a tad long, and off topic.
Which is par for the course with my comments.
*************
1) A slide rule doesn't require an energy source other than the user.
2) If not abused, a slide rule should be able to remain fully functional for centuries.
Neither of the above can be said of modern electronics.
***Begin pessimistic view of the not-so-distant future***
Petroleum is running out.
To date, no initiatives have been successful in developing alternate energy sources will which maintain our current level of energy consumption.
At least part of that is the result of action on the part of Petroleum Industry leaders who aren't thinking any further ahead than their profits from the next five to ten years; they know damn well that Petroleum is a finite resource, but aren't taking any action to research alternatives themselves (which would be in the best interest of the long term health of their businesses), and actively lobby to make things as difficult as possible for anyone else to do so.
They are aided in this by many of the other leaders in established Energy Production businesses; they don't want increased competition, but at the same time don't want to reduce current profits by investing in research into matters which are vital to the long term health of their companies and society as a whole.
Which bugs the hell out of me.
They aren't acting as proper custodians for their businesses and as a result... well, when petroleum finally dries up, without other sources of energy to take up the slack, things are gonna get nasty.
This doesn't even take into account all the things we use petroleum as a base ingredient in for manufacturing.
As with petroleum, many other materials necessary for the production of modern electronics are non-renewable resources; they will run out.
Yet, as a society, we refuse to insist that as near total recycling of these materials as possible be made to happen; so long as the cost of disposing of our trash is left to the end user, manufacturers have no short term economic incentive to invest in efforts to recycle the materials they require for manufacturing from our trash.
If the cost of disposing of non-biodegradable materials was included as a standard expense of manufacturing, then they would have an economic incentive to recycle.
So long as they can disclaim any responsibility for their products after they exit warranty, it will remain cheaper to obtain new raw materials rather than recycled materials until the sources of raw materials are near depletion.
What does all of this have to do with slide rules?
If nothing is done, the time is approaching where slide rules will still function... and there are no modern electronics.
I'm 58.
This may or my not come to pass within my lifetime.
I'm very pessimistic about it not happening during the lifetime of people alive today, if society doesn't take decisive action in the very near future.
It's clear that an unregulated market won't take proper action concerning this, since the current marketplace is successfully avoiding being held accountable.
I'm not advocating the destruction of the free market system.
I'm not aware of anything that could replace it that would work as well.
But, I am advocating that the expenses of disposing of their products after they cease functioning be included as part of their fixed costs, and that any form of disposal that does not include as complete a salvaging of reusable materials as possible carry penalties such that it would cost less to do the recycling in the first place.
I'd also suggest that a surcharge be applied to the purchase of raw materials when there are applicable recycled materials available, such that it becomes economically non-viable to use new materials if functionally equivalent recycled materials are available.
Recycling will not occur so long as there is no economic incentive to do so.
Thus, it is necessary to make it clear that there is such an incentive.
It is also necessary to manage our "renewable" resources such that they actually do renew in a timely manner, and that an increase in the need for such materials be included in the calculations used to determine what the minimums are for maintaining long term viability of "renewable" resources.
After all... the Passenger Pigeon was a "renewable" resource.
Which we hunted to extinction.
What is now the Sahara Desert was the breadbasket of the Roman Empire.
To be truly renewable or sustainable, we have to actually do what it takes to sustain them.
***End pessimistic view of the not-so-distant future***
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