Today I am going to try, FINALLY, to get Horace’s fuel filter changed. He’s been sputtering a little when he starts up, and I think it’s just time. There will be no EnergyRush-ing if Horace is out of commission. The bummer is that Biofuel Oasis offers a quick class to teach you how to do this yourself — but they’re about 350 miles north of me right now, and I didn’t have time to take the class there last week, so I think that I will just have to rely on a mechanic until I can find someone to teach me. Maybe that LA Biodiesel Cooperative offers a class…hmmm (booting up Google)…
–Refined gOil

In a grocery store in Oregon about a month ago, I almost got into an altercation with a checker who insisted my solitary bottle of wine be bagged. I’m not usually so pissy, but this guy claimed that it was state law to put my wine in a plastic bag. I was so infuriated, I gave him a real stink-eye and left making some ill-thought-out crack. Bill Maher did a hilarious bit on Real Time where he mentioned how wine or liquor is often bagged separately, and then stuck into a bigger bag full of groceries, as if Ham and Egg’s delicate sensibilites might be offended by the presence of alcohol in the shopping bag. Anyway, because Bill said it a lot funnier than I just did, it sort of stuck with me, always reminding me to skip the plastic bag… jumping on checkers, anticipating, refusing the bag and trying not to look too disdainful (I don’t really want to come off as a nose-in-the-air greenie). Anyway, I was shopping for a gift with my grandmother Mim today. The salesclerk placed my item in the plastic, and I casually told her “Oh, that’s okay, I don’t need a bag” (which is my modus operandi after the reminiscent shame I felt for shooting daggers out of my eyes at the wine bagger back in Oregon). Then Mim spoke up. She said something like “My granddaughter is one of those people who cares about the environment. She’s good and never uses a bag. I know I should bring my own bag too, but it’s just so convenient, so I take the bag y’all give me. It’s just so convenient.”
First of all, I was proud that SHE was proud that I’m a re-user. Secondly, I was reminded of the fact that the way we live now, the conveniences of our lives which have ended up hurting the planet, were probably never intended to be detrimental. The genesis of the plastic grocery bag was probably far from how I originally thought of it — a careless and lazy concoction. Mim has lived through the Depression, World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War, just to name the historic trials. She remembers boiling clothing in a tub and ringing it out in a ringer. She remembers the advent of frozen foods; traveling miles to a large frozen storage unit and donning canvas coats the company provided to wear while you ‘shopped.’ My point is, for Mim, the plastic bag is a marvel of convenience sprung from a world that was difficult for much of her life. My point, I guess, is that whoever invented the damn thing probably meant well. Most of us do.
–Refined gOil

I have sort of a harebrained scheme.

I’m trying to convince my younger stepbrother to sell his Mazda and convert to biodiesel with an old Mercedes. His commute to work is short anyway, and he rarely uses the car for long-distance driving, so an older vehicle would be ideal. Plus, the Mazda is pretty new — I’m guessing that he could actually make a profit when all was said and done. Okay okay, I need to let people exercise their own free will, but I mentioned it to him two nights ago, and he’s been asking me questions since, which I take to mean he’s interested (I wish we could have a camera on these discussions, because he’s asking all the questions that I asked when I was just starting my biodiesel exploration — all the questions that I assume any uninitiated would ask…) The cool thing about this — if it happened — would be that we could shoot it all as an EnergyRush story…talk to him about why he’s making the change, track him selling his current car and purchasing a diesel vehicle, and then have a dialogue with a mechanic about changing fuel lines or the filter, etc. The story could maybe serve as the biodiesel primer that I was moaning about a few blogs ago.
SNAP OUT OF IT, leave fantasy-land behind, and knock wood three times. Let’s just hope he considers it further — I think it could be a really fun story to do. Nobody tell my stepbrother I’m blogging about him behind his back…
–Refined gOil
P.S. I totally messed up the date for Green Drinks in Culver City — it’s the first Thursday of every month, not the first Monday =( I’ll catch ‘em in December…

Ahhhhh. A few days of rest and being fed copious amounts of delicious food by my grandmother…time to get back to blogging.
On Friday afternoon I spoke with Tor of the Solar Schoolhouse in Martinez…which was pretty fascinating (they educate teachers about solar, plus they offer school room ‘kits’ including pv panels, motors, etc. for kids to experiment with solar, among many things). The Solar Schoolhouse is an offshoot of Tor’s original non-profit creation, the Rahus Institute. I had no idea what Rahus meant, and sort of neglected asking him during the interview (I felt a little bit stupid), but finally he brought it up; ‘Ra’ — as in Ra the Egyptian Sun God + ‘hus’ which means ‘house’ in the Nordic spoken language of Tor’s heritage. Pretty cool name.
Today I will set off to Conserv Fuel in Brentwood (which I found on NearBio), seller of B99, to inquire about where they get their bio, who makes it, and to fill out any paperwork if I decide to fill up there. I’m trying to live according to the maxim that Eric Smith (who will be blogging for EnergyRush soon, he’s awesome) laid out for me when I was in SF: “Only buy biodiesel from people you know.” Not because it’s like a secret club…but because since anyone can make it, I think it’s important to trust where it’s coming from — and I don’t know anyone who mixes it up it here in LA. Hopefully the day will arrive where you can reliably pull into any pump and feel good about what you’re putting in your tank (Eric told me about some well-intentioned forays into biodiesel usage in Berkeley that ended up costing the city and some residents a pretty penny; the fuel they used as not quite up to standards. Luckily we have ASTM standards governing biodiesel sold at pump, but even so…just want to be safe). So I guess I’ll be making new friends. Also, I think GreenDrinks might be happening tonight in Culver City — so I should have some cool stuff to report on in the next couple of days.
–Refined gOil

I found something that refuses to be not blogged about immediately (linguistically, that’s a horrible sentence, I know):

NearBio

It’s a biodiesel locator that gives you contact information, location, hours, pump features (credit card OK, etc.), and let’s you know if you will need to fill out paperwork with the station before filling (in LA, this looks like it will be sort of standard). You just select a state, type in an area code (there are other ways to do it if you don’t know the area code), and select how many results you want to see, and up to how many miles away from your location. Press ‘Enter’, and a list pops up with all the pertinent information. The crowning glory: you can set all of this up to be sent to your cell phone. BEST SITE EVER!
Off to the big Frisco city and then to Martinez for more interviews…then night driving to LA.
–Refined gOil

OH MY — I have been up for 13+ hours, and it’s not even 6pm! I have to say that this day has been one of the craziest and full days in a long time. I woke up at 4am and drove to SF to run an errand in the city. Then I turned around and (yay) missed Bay Bridge traffic to zoom into Berkeley, where the real fun began. I met up with Eric Bishop, one of EnergyRush’s producers/cameraman/et.al (an amazingly intelligent guy who was willing to share all his know-how with me from the start). We ate a quick lunch, and then headed over to Biofuel Oasis, the Biodiesel Cooperative here in Berkeley with 2200 (!!!!!!!) members/clients. Jennifer Radtke, one of the co-founders gave a fun interview, and then this guy named Robby drove up and we just started talking to him. Turns out he’s a film editor who has covered sustainable fuels…and is a member of the co op (among many other things). Robby mentioned how community-oriented the biofill station is…it’s a completely welcoming atmosphere, and apparently people stay and chat after filling up in the mural and art-festooned garage that holds the station (Willie Nelson has visited!). It was such a fun place to be for an hour, and I made off with a t-shirt that says “Ask Me About My Gas”, a book about how the co op was started, and a “carboy” — an auxiliary biodiesel holder that stays in your trunk or at home and stores up to 5 extra gallons of fuel. Since Biodiesel is hardly volatile (combustion at 350 degrees F. vs. gas @ -43 degrees F — yes, those are the real numbers; gas can really ignite at NEGATIVE 43), it’s transportable and storable in your vehicle, in case you need a pick-me-up. Which is perfect for me since tomorrow I face the barren wash of the San Joaquin wherein I suspect there is little vegfuel to be had. Long blog, could be longer, but I’ll save some juice for later. Suffice it to say, so far, a very productive and fulfilling trip.
–Refined gOil