bricks and lamps

[solarbird]

I bought an $8 oil lamp of a very old-school type at McLendon's today. (That's why the high miles; the weather was really nice, so I biked to Woodinville.) I'm pleased to report that it works really well - much better than groups of candles. Maybe it's not enough to read by, but at it's least as bright as the set of candles AND the little battery light we had on the kitchen table during the last blackout. I even put up the wall mount for it, since that's as good a place as any to store the thing. It's kind of kitschy, since our house is not 19th century in any other way, but I've decided that the fact that it's an actual useful and used item - basically, the practicality - makes it acceptable.

Thursday's miles: 13.1
Miles out of Hobbiton: 629.5
Miles out of Rivendell: 169.6
Miles to Lothlórien: 296.7

All of that biking on the trail was 3,5 gear or better, I think, even on the trail hills. Up steep road hills, of course, all bets are off. I was pretty slow, though. But I did bike the whole way - no walking parts - except for the very tiny, very sharp switchback I can't manage uphill yet at any speed. It's just too steep and I start to fall off the bike. Not good!

One of the things I did on the way over to Woodinville is find the little surviving section of the Red Brick Road, which was the first improved road connection between Bothell, Kenmore, Lake Forest Park, and Seattle. I've now ridden the entire remaining length and back, all 0.2 miles each way of it. Yay! It's in a tiny park that appears mostly dedicated to parking and the road itself, plus a little bench and sitting area. I'm glad it's preserved, but I wish they didn't let cars drive on it at all - it's not in bad shape, I suppose, given everything, but any driving on it at all has to be bad, and it's how you get in and out of the little car park.

Of course, I suppose there's something to be said for preserving original purpose.

It's even narrower than I expected, even though it's preserved at original width. Two lanes, yes, but it's like two Model T lanes. I think it'd be about a lane and a half in modern terms, or, if you're in an old enough area of Seattle, it'd be a one-lane-with-parking width street, like 18th or 19th Avenue NE in University Park. Only, you know, brick. Not cobbles, either. Brick. Like housing brick, almost.

But it was kind of neat to be biking on it. "Look! It's the first road that was ever here! It's even the original surface! And I'm bikin' on it!" Pretty cool. ^_^

Comments

Auxiliary lighting..

[(Anonymous)]

I like the LED flashlights-bright,and run a really long time on a set of batteries..as in four days continuously on a set of AAs..without noticeably dimming.I have a small oil lamp(10 inches tall,maybe) that's bright enough to read by. In the for what it's worth department,an oil lamp will work just fine on peanut oil-it's harder to light,but seems to be as bright as using kerosene..it has an odd sort of theatre popcorn odor to it...Scott

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

If you want a clean burning, bright white light from kerosene get one of the Coleman mantle lamps. These use something like the mantle from a pressure lantern to act as an afterburner, burning the vaporized kerosene which comes off the standard wick. I have had a few of these. Unfortunately, I ruined most of them by using plain kerosene; you really need lamp oil, which has fewer impurities.

[banner.livejournal.com]

I bought a double mantle propane lamp when I lived in Oregon in the sticks. If you want a good light that is cheap for when the power goes out, get one of those, (or a coleman white gas lantern) those things are -bright-! You can easily read by them, and they don't stink up the house. That along with a white gas coleman stove (plus the woodburning one) saw me though many a week of no electricity during winter storms.