Cactus Processing Machines

   I’m a fan of machines… I like engineering and enjoy seeing the ways people will take a problem, and design a machine to get things done. Yet at the same time I am conflicted by my own desire to do things as simply as possible. There’s no point to a machine to do something simple when you can do it without making a machine. I suppose it’s the old cost/benefit ratio you have to examine.

   The machine below for example…. it’s cool to watch someone trim the leaf edges with a machine that reminds me of the glass-grinder I used to use to make stained-glass windows…. but then again, it doesn’t really save time, I think it would take about the same amount of time to trim the leaves by hand, and you’d not need the electricity, nor have the whine of a machine near your head. Being too close to a machine all the time tends to wear on the psyche… the body grows tired from trying to resist the intrusion of the noise… so then you have to wear hearing protectors (I’d use mine with the built in music speakers and my I-Pod, so I can cut the machine noise, and listen to Nina Hagen and QNTAL at the same time. But I’d probably wear myself out even more with too much Nina). I’d think eye protection would be good also… and no long sleeves or hair that could get caught in it.. so I’d have to wear a face mask to keep my mustache out.

   Now, the video below shows a laser machine being used to remove the cactus spines.  It’s pretty interesting, and again my fascination with machines and technology makes me perk up and watch it…. yet again I think that our cactus leaves are so easy to clean (just a scrub pad) that there is no need for the expense of a laser machine.  Although I imagine for a while it’d be fun to watch the flashes of light.  And it is interesting that this expensive machine is much slower than working the cactus by hand, so it is not even a time saver.

Naw, I guess for now I’ll just go on trimming by hand.

~Tao teh Ching~
‘Chapter 80′

I see a small country of small population.
A simple folk, who even if highly skilled work simply and easily.
Tools are seldom used. They do not bother to invent time-saving appliances.
They dearly love life, and take care to avoid death.
Since they love their homes and land, they do care to wander.
Even with their horses, boats and carts, they do not wish to travel about.
Though they may have armor and weapons, these are kept out of sight.
These people have returned to simple techniques for record keeping.
Their food is tasty but simple; their clothing is unpretentious.
They are content with their simple homes,
and the simple pleasures and customs of a simple people.
And even though there might be a neighboring land within sight,
so that the crowing of roosters and the barking of dogs can be heard from it;
these people will have lived their entire life without ever having gone to that country.