“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth”
~Buddha
The Central Coast is relatively unspoiled….
Although it’s been travelled and lived in for thousands of years…. it still seems very rural
But you can count on the fact that you’re not likely to go anywhere that no one else has ever been….
Unless you’re an extreme climber or diver.
‘Second Hand’
~Bachman-Turner Overdrive~
No reason to get excited
But I feel a change blowin’ in the wind
Everythin’s filled with confusion
So let’s start the world over again
And get it second hand, slightly used, soiled
Get it second hand, carelessly abused, spoiled
I see you’re looking to find new horizons
But there are footsteps everywhere you go
And somebody else has been asunder
The sunshine has wilted and crawls?
I’ll get it second hand, I’m dazed and confused
Turn back the second hand, I pay all my dues
I got rid of my dues and I’m all fixed up
Watch me talk about it,
Second hand, yeah used, second hand
I got it second hand, all used up
Don’t waste your life… live it
Don’t be a human ‘doing’…. be a human ‘being’!
“The real question is not whether life exists after death.
The real question is whether you are alive before death”
~Osho
Slow Dance
by David L. Weatherford
Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,
or listened to rain slapping the ground?
… Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight,
or gazed at the sun fading into the night?
You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
time is short, the music won’t last.
Do you run through each day on the fly,
when you ask “How are you?”, do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
with the next hundred chores running through your head?
You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
time is short, the music won’t last.
Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow,
and in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, let a friendship die,
’cause you never had time to call and say hi?
You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
time is short, the music won’t last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere,
you miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
it’s like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life isn’t a race, so take it slower,
hear the music before your song is over.
The hill we grow our organic edible cactus on is very steep. This makes it a good spot for the cactus as the south-facing hillside means none of the plants are shaded by the others around them. The soil is good for the plants, and the cold air drifts down the hillside and away from the plants. But while this prime location is good for the plants, the steep hillside makes for extreme challenges in maintenance. We needed a vehicle that could get up the hillside safely transporting stone and soil and cactus.
Kubota RTV 900 with bed up
Kubota RTV 900 with bed up
Kubota RTV 900 with bed up, looking at the engine/transmission
Kubota RTV 900 from behind. Note the huge bar, this is a heavy and solid machine, but this hurts its use in jumps and ‘fun’ stuff.
Kubota RTV 900 with tractor tires… it really digs in and is stable offroad, but slow
Kubota RTV 900 with tractor tires…
Kubota RTV 900
Kubota RTV 900
Kubota RTV 900
Kubota RTV 900
Kubota RTV 900 carrying dirt/rock
I looked at several Utility vehicles and ATV’s to find one that would work for our particular circumstances. Our uses for a vehicle in this spot are extreme and very focused in intent and use….. we need to have a dump bed-box behind so that I can easily dump loads of rocks, soil or waste cactus without having to dismount on the steep hillside…. we had to have four wheel-drive as two wheels would not have the traction needed on the steep scree slopes. We needed to have Roll-Over Protection System (ROPS, AKA Roll-Bar), for more safety we wanted to have engine braking so that the vehicle is slowed by the engine when coming downhill…., and we wanted durability and longevity (I prefer not having to work on equipment a lot).
I went to a number of websites and read comments about the various brands available…. and while many people extol one brand/model over another, most people agree that the expectations and uses of the unit determine the relative performance in various uses. For instance, if you want to go fast the Polaris, Bobcat, and JohnDeere brands have several models that are greatly favored by hunters and off-road enthusiasts. I also really liked the idea of the all-electric Huntve. Most of these vehicles can reach speeds of 40 MPH, most are gasoline engines with excellent throttle-response and four-wheel drive capabilities. some also offer electric lifts on the bed to dump items. But it seems none of them have all of the things I was looking for….. and with our steep narrow paths, it’s doubtful I’d be going over 5 mph very often….
In the end it is the Kubota RTV 900 that we chose. It does not go fast, it’s slow getting up hills, it is based on tractor technology with a unique hydrostatic transmission that gives the engine-braking that increases my safety greatly on this steep ground. And I can haul a thousand pounds of rock, back it into a small spot and dump it without having to leave the seat when on a narrow terrace.
The Kubota RTV900 also has hydraulic Quick-Disconnects (QD’s) that can be easily opened and a hydraulic-powered tool added in, to run on the hydraulic system…… for me I can see the use of a hydraulic-powered two-person hand-held auger (for drillling into the ground for posts), a pole-chainsaw, and a hydraulic jackhammer being some tools I might occasionally rent for a day or three of use.
There are a few things that one should know about this machine, and some of them are listed on the complaints that others have posted about it…. one is that the transmission is designed to slow and even stop the vehicle when throttle is reduced….. some people complain this will nearly “pitch you out the windshield”… personally, I like that feature…. if I get scared about a steep spot I am in, I can take my foot off the throttle and the vehicle stops. Also when going steeply downhill with 500 lbs of waste cactus I can stay in low-range and not have to keep my foot riding forcefully on the brakes… the engine itself will keep the engine speed low… in fact, I have to keep my foot on the throttle to even continue going downhill for very long. Another great feature of this transmission’s braking feature is the fact that if I decide to stop going downhill and come to a stop, I can then shift into reverse and reverse direction without a heart-stopping slide downhill while applying throttle… the machine will stay in place until I give enough throttle to overcome the engine-braking feature and it will then continue back uphill. The sense of control with this machine is excellent.
Another item often mentioned as a problem is the sticky shifting, and lack of shifting while in motion. Like many tractors this one does not allow shifting while in movement…. you might start in low-range to get out from the shed, then stop and shift into high range to drive to the work-site, then again down into low or medium-range to move around the work-site. No shifting on-the-fly here…. if you’re going off-road into terrain that calls for frequent shifting, you’ll find yourself stymied by the constant stops to shift into another range. If you are travelling with friends with more conventional ATVs and UTVs, you’ll find yourself behind the pack most of the time while the fast responsive machines whiz by on the road, and fly past you on jumps. This machine is not one built for sport… it is built for work. Another shifting issue often mentioned is sticky shifting, especially into low-range and into reverse. I’ve found this is not really a real ‘issue’ once you learn two things…. one, have the wheels facing straight ahead.. this relieves pressure from the system and allows things to unbind better… two, if you cannot shift easily, ‘blip’ the throttle once or twice, this will allow the shifter to engage, even when the wheels are turned. Ive found shifting from 4WD to 2WD or the other is a bit challenging if the wheels are not straight, I often find I have to drive foward (or back) for a dozen feet in order to stop and shift into/out of 4WD… for some folks this might be a real problem…. but since I automatically shift into 4WD before I need it, it’s not a real issue for me.
Two items I’ve not seen listed as a detraction are the location of the key-switch on the console and the location of the parking brake by the open doorway. The key-switch location and the small cab for my size (6’4″ 250 lbs) have resulted in my left knee turning off the engine several times when turning in my seat to look behind me as I back into narrow steep spaces….. and at times I am leaving the cab on a steep slope downhill on the left…. I have to take extra care that I do not accidentally smack myself against the parking brake which is located alongside the doorway opening on the left…. I’d hate to accidentally disengage the brake while dismounting. I am sure the engine braking on the shut-off engine would help prevent a runaway vehicle…. but as I grow more comfortable with it, I’ll be testing the safety on slopes in various modes of operation.
Again, any vehicle, is designed to perform certain functions, and some functions cannot be retained in order to more narrowly focus use. I agree that most people might well be better-off with one of the other UTV vehicles….. but for us the Kubota RTV900 fits our uses better than anything else I’ve seen or driven. I’m VERY happy with our machine and have been using it nearly daily hauling much heavy dirt, rocks and waste cactus. It’s been stable with a low center-of-gravity, a tractor-y low-end torque which feels very strong, and the handling is similar when filled with 750 lbs of rocks as when the large and strong bed is empty.
Another factor in our choice was our satisfaction with our old Kubota tractor we got nearly 20 years ago from a contractor friend who wanted a newer stronger model Kubota. So this old machine had a lot of use before we got it, and it still runs fine. So I like the experience I have had with Kubota in the past.
The video above is a Kubota video that shows what I consider to be the best aspect of this vehicle.. the engine braking transmission and the 900 cc diesel engine. Keep in mind the video is a commercial by Kubota… so I find it amusing to watch the overacting of one fellow driving the John Deere Gator.
The video below is from the Polaris company… they are comparing one of their machines to the Kubota RTV900.
Like the Kubota com-video, this one extoles the virtues of their machine in ways that refelct positively on their product. Yet I cannot disagree with anything they say…. the Kubota has no real storage area in the cab (but I’m not likely to be far from anything I need), no tie-downs in the bed (which I’d just bang up with rocks), little cab-room (but longer would reduce my turning radius), lower wheelbase (and perhaps lower COG?), runs on diesel (but I’m happier with the low-end torque of a diesel), smaller fuel tank (but diesel gives you more hours of operation per gallon), and the Kubota is not nearly as good at higher speeds, or extremely boulder-y terrain.
In short, if you are going to go off-roading, away from home, hunting, or wanting to take jumps, mudholes etc, you are better off with the Polaris or John Deere. The Kubota is heavy, massive and strong and built for slow steady work, not sport.
QR codes (Quick Response) is the strange black box with squiggly marks in it on some labels. This is a technology that allows users of ‘smart phones’ to scan the code which will bring them to a website…. this code is often used by food producers like us, because we want people to find our unusual and perhaps unfamiliar food in a market, and be able to find our website quickly so they can see preparation and recipe information.
Edible Cactus QR Code
Our labels are part of a marketing campaign designed and implemented by ‘Top 10 Produce LLC’
The QR code will take people to our website where they can pick from cactus recipes and preparation/nutritional information.
Even though we have this QR code, I personally do not have a smart phone as we have no cellular reception at our home, and I am only out of the canyon for a few hours each week…. so even though I love technology, I can’t use the technology of cell-phones well enough to pay for a smart-phone and the added costs of data service
Ineptocracy: (in-ep-toc’-Ra-cy) – a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.
Food-First is a web page on food safety issues (They are officially the Institute for Food and Development Policy), here they discuss the marketing group we are a member of… and way cool is the fact that they used our label to show the scan codes the group is using!
They also discuss the new laws that are set to help find and track foods from ‘point of origin’ to help with food safety.
The marketing group is called Top10 Produce. And they are a fine group that has great ideas to help the small grower and the consumer both.
In the olden days one knew all the people around oneself…. people generally lived on farms and in small villages… even in cities people’s scope of contact was fairly minimal by our standards. People would walk to the local grocery, butcher, milk and meat shop… any of those that gave people a hard time, or that behaved in an ‘untoward’ fashion to their customers would feel the wrath of ‘the people’ who would reduce patronage at the shops they felt were abusing them. This is a common type of ‘social policing’ that people have done from olden times.
But now the world has grown larger…. many people travel far for work and the goods they buy are often produced halfway across the world, in lands and by peoples that much of the world was unaware of just a few hundred years ago. These goods are often sold in massive shops and through international corporations of which most people cannot look the business leader in the eye, hear his/her voice and gauge their intentions.
If someone does me wrong in business, it is logical that I’d not want to do business with them again…. but forgiveness should ALWAYS be first and foremost in human interactions. One does not know why a business acts in a certain way, perhaps it is a local aberration, and if the corporate board knew of the issues they might rectify the situation and smooth relations. But how does the small consumer ‘make’ a large business know they are doing wrong? In the old days you’d tell the owner of the business.. who doubtless would be spending most of each day at the business, and having just a few unsatisfied customers would make a difference to their bottom line…. nowadays the leader of the corporation might be anywhere in the world…. and an unsatisfied customer will effect no register in the overall scope of sales.
This is where the gauging of human interactions needs to be ramped up to international and societal standards…. if a business is acting improperly by ‘abusing’ consumers, then we need to act as a market force, a block of consumers who will not only with-hold monies from the unscrupulous or ‘accidentally-improper’ business….. but even more, we can ‘reward’ well-intentioned businesses by funneling our monies to those who change their business practices to help their consumers. For instance, if a business is doing something we would like changed, we can inform them that we’ll spread the word of their changes or potential changes to the masses, so that they realize that acting properly has positive changes…. it’s a ‘carrot and stick’ approach.
There is a group starting to do this now.. it is called ‘Carrotmob‘….. I think this is a good concept, and a way that the widespread strength of the consumer can be made apparent even in this age of global commerce…..
The founder of Carrotmob has written an open letter to the OWS, to let them know of this concept, which I think is sound and may well have a VERY positive impact on business both large, small, local and international.
SEARS and ’sneaky charges’
AKA: The Public’s Gonna Get Ya if You’re Unscrupulous!
Going back to ‘In the Old Days’ thoughts… you knew who you could do business with, and you and the rest of the local public would ‘punish’ any unscrupulous businessmen by not doing business with them. But when big corporations like Penney’s and Sears came about, you only had the manager to complain to….. you as a single or even small group of people not doing business with them will not affect a giant corporation with hundreds of stores across large geographical areas…. but now we have ’The Internets’ and can ’point-and-click’ to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to any mega corp we don’t like. And now we see that a single article reproduced across the web can have an awesome affect! In this case Sears was automagically tacking-on long-term warranties for electrical appliances when bought on the net. Read the article, it’s awesome for its efficacy in modifying corporate behavior!
I saw it fifty years ago
Before the thunderbolt had riven it,
Green leaves, ripe leaves, leaves thick as butter,
Fat, greasy life….
–W. B. YEATS, Purgatory
When I hear this song I think of an old Rabbi I saw outside a synagogue in some town somewhere in Germany in the 70′s…
he had a long white beard, and looked at me with eyes I’ll never forget…..
I wish I’d spoken to him, and gone in to meet him…..
some things you only get one chance for….
don’t blow the chances you’re given….
LIVE!
Eddie Money
‘Life for the Taking’
People say
Look at the money they save
But I don’t believe that life’s that way
An old man
Once looked at me in the eye
He seemed to sigh
He seemed to sigh, “don’t let life pass you by”
No no no, no no no
He seemed to say
He wanted me to run
The old man was once a boy
And only young once.
Because it’s life for the taking
Well, it ain’t no, ain’t no mistaken
Well, it’s life
It’s my life
Life for the taking.
I can remember
When I was just a little kid
The big boys used to beat me up a bit
But I learned young that I couldn’t cry
My mamma wasn’t gonna be by my side.
She said it’s life, life for the taking
Well, it ain’t no, isn’t no mistaken
Well, it’s life
It’s my life
Life for the taking
Vickie and I are both animal lovers. We’re conflicted on animal testing…. but try to buy products that are ‘cruelty-free’ and not tested on animals.
We do business with Aveda Cosmetics and are happy that they don’t test their products on animals. Our cactus is used in a line of their skin-care cosmetics (the Green-Science Line).
We also sell cactus to a leading pet-food manufacturer…. we’re happy when we think about all the happy people and animals that like our cactus. It makes us feel really good.
This video show a group of beagle dogs that were given over to an animal-rescue group after the testing lab didn’t need them anymore. Beagles are the dog most used for medical/product testing because they are docile, don’t eat much, and trust humans and will stay in a cage for their whole life.
It’s sad to think of the hardship and loneliness these dogs have had, and the video got me weepy…. but it’s not a sad video…. it shows the dogs coming out of their crates for the first time and walking on grass.. meeting their next-crate buddies face-to-face, and shows snapshots of the dogs in their new adoptive homes with people and other animals that love them.
Watch the video, you may get misty-eyed, but it’ll be worth it.
Life goes on…. be good, do good…. treat everyone and everything with kindness and be trusting to all.
Don’t exploit anything or anyone. Act rightly, as well as you can in the circumstances you find yourself in.
And remember that things could always be much worse than they are.
And always remember to forgive yourself when you don’t live up to your own expectations….
the same as I hope you forgive others who don’t do right to you or others.
Oskar has his own Facebook page: www.facebook.com/BlindOskar
