• 1. This is a test.

savings in rainwater – how to water your garden without paying for it!

How to Build a Rainwater Collection System

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
Recycle your rainwater and keep your landscaping looking healthy, the eco-friendly way. Building a rainwater collection system is fast, easy and can save you money on your water bill, as well as significantly reduce your total water usage.

Steps

1. Cut a bucket to create the top of your rainwater tank.
   • The top of your rainwater collection system is made by cutting the top off a five gallon / 10 liter bucket. An important thing to keep in mind when putting together your rain collection system is that standing water can be a haven for mosquitoes. The top will be used to secure a paint strainer to the top of the bucket, thereby keeping large objects and mosquitoes from getting into the barrel and spoiling your water supply.
   • With your 7/8”/ 2.2cm spade bit already attached to your power drill, put a hole in the side of the five gallon bucket to get your jigsaw rolling and cutting easily.
2. Use your permanent marker and the top of the five gallon bucket and trace around the top of the 55 gallon / 210 liter drum.
   • Just like you cut the starter hole on the five gallon bucket, use your drill with the 7/8” / 2.2cm spade bit and put a hole in the top of the 55 gallon / 210 liter drum.
   • Follow the guideline around the top of the barrel.
   • The top of the five gallon bucket should fit snug in the opening of the 55 gallon / 210 liter drum.
3. Spout it out. No one likes a leaky spout – especially when the whole point of your rainwater collection system is to reduce the amount of wasted water.
   • A sure way to get your spout to fit nice and tight into the bottom of your 55 gallon / 210 liter drum is to drill a hole using your 7/8” spade bit.
   • Take your half-round bastard file and file down the inside of the hole until you have a nice fit.
   • Screw the ¾” / 2cm spigot in securely.
   • When you have a good fit, set your drum up on cinder blocks.
4. Add a gutter extension.
   • Using the existing downspout from your gutters, add an extension to run down into the collection barrel. Any hardware store will carry a variety of extension and fittings for this. Make sure to save the receipt so you can return any of the unused fittings. That way the hardware store can take the financial hit for your lack of accuracy.
5. Measure and mark where you need to cut the fitting so that the end will run into the top of your rainwater collection barrel.
   • Most fittings are made of flexible plastic and can be cut with a utility knife.
   • It may be necessary to use a “splice” to fit the end of your existing downspout into the extension. Push these two pieces together until they are nice and snug.
   • Use brackets to secure the fitting to side of your house.
6. Ensure a proper fit. Before retiring your jigsaw for the day, you need to cut a hole in the lid of your 5 gallon / 10 liter bucket, as this will keep large objects from falling into the collection barrel.
   • Measure around the opening of your drain.
   • Use the 7/8th inch / 2.2cm spade bit to drill a starter hole.
   • Cut the remainder of the lid with your jigsaw.
   • Place the lid on the top of the bucket to check for proper fit.
7. Strain the drain. To prevent the collected organic matter from hanging too far down into the rain barrel, tie a knot in the strainer before installing it into the lid.
8. Place a gutter strain in the gutter on your roof. This will keep large debris from working its way down the fittings and potentially clogging the gutters.
9. Enjoy using your rainwater collection system. Not only does it save water and your pocketbook, it's so much fun! You may never need to recruit help around the yard again.

Tips

• Check for free buckets and drums online at Craigslist, or ask at local hardware stores, car washes, stables, farms etc.
• Plastic downspout fittings are extremely durable.

Warnings

• Check the legality of doing this with your local city officials, as it is illegal in many areas to collect and hold any kind of water for re-use. E.g. Colorado, US[1]
• Water collected from rooftops will also contain chemical components from the composition roofing. This is not ok for drinking, and is not recommended for gardens either.

Things You'll Need

• 1 paint strainer
• 1 5 gallon / 10 liter bucket
• 1 55 gallon / 210 liter drum with a lid
• downspout fittings
• 1 gutter strainer
• 3 cinder blocks
• 1 3/4" / 2cm spigot with 1/4" / 65cm turn ball valve
• 1 permanent black marker
• 1 jigsaw
• 1 powerdrill with 7/8" / 2.2cm spade bit
• 1 half-round bastard file
• 1 utility knife
• 1/4" / 65cm galvanized wood screws

Related wikiHows

• How to Harvest Rain Water in a Household Setting
• How to Build a Tumbling Composter
• How to Save Water With a Sleeping Lawn
• How to Calibrate Your Sprinklers

Sources and Citations

• VideoJug A video of building a rainwater collection system. Original source of this article. Shared with permission and appreciation.

1. ↑ http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06702.html

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Build a Rainwater Collection System. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Worth a Mint

Here is a nifty site I use for my own finances Mint.com.  This site lets you see graphs of what your spending trends are by category (which you can tweak), notifies you of large purchases, deposits (as if!) and withdrawals.

They also have a blog with some kewl features and articles.

Teach Your Kids To Be Tree Huggers…It could save their lives!

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Russell Moore (Southern Seminary Dean) On “Ten Good Books from a Good Old Year”

I wish everyone could meet and hear Russ Moore.  He is a very smart, funny and critical Christian thinker.  He gets on your good side and can get on your bad side…and make you enjoy it.

His list of must reads of 2007 has some important and entertaining books.  See it here.

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“Interpreting the Interpreters”

Anyone familiar with James L. Kugel will be interested in his new book, “How To Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now”

Here is a review of the book by Jewish newspaper Haaretz.

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Kinematic “The 38th Parallel”

Listen to “The 38th Parallel” album in entirety here.  It’s what I’m listening to, right now.

Some Homegrown Artwork: My son’s view of marriage

Escapology Eschatology (Bad Theology)

Jewish Synagogue Unearthed From Roman-Era Reveals Mosaic Art

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Please ignore me, I have work to do

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A Portrait of “Generation Next”

The Preacher in Ecclesiastes tells me, “No one who lived in the past is remembered anymore, and everyone yet to be born will be forgotten too.” (Ecclesiastes 1:11 CEV)

Ok, well, I am getting old as far as old goes these days, 35 years old.  My once thick curly hair is now buzz cut with gray speckled throughout.  But, that’s just a body, a frame-like tent which houses my soul.  Peter was good to liken our body to a tent, since a tent is mobile and nomadic.  We make camp here and there.  We die and then researchers and paleontologists dig us up and tell what we meant.

Anyway, for anyone who is interested and keeps up with these things, the Pew research center released a report about Generation Next. 

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What we say say when we aren’t saying anything

I have always been fascinated by nonverbal communication and most intrigued by the fact that other people have been very adept at reading me, even when I don’t want to be read…

So, our lives communicate both verbally and nonverbally.  Some think it manipulative to use such techniques in relation to the gospel.  We often are so verbally driven with the gospel we ignore many of the cues necessary in understanding another person or how we may be perceived and therefore blunder the gospel before we ever finish our well rehearsed gospel presentation.

See the Nonverbal dictionary

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SBC poll: Half of pastors say ‘tongues’ valid

“The findings came from LifeWay Christian
Resources, an SBC agency known for its church education resources, and
were released June 1—only days before the divisive issue was expected
to arise at the June 12-13 annual meeting of Southern Baptists.

As Pentecostal and charismatic movements have grown in the past 100 years,
the SBC has steadfastly denied the authenticity of modern-day
glossolalia, or speaking in tongues. Its leaders have backed the theory
that such spiritual gifts as described in the New Testament were
legitimate only in the early years of the church.” From Christian Century article

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ὑπεραυξανομένους

Men of sense should beware of those of their fellows who grow(ὑπεραυξανομένους) too
great, remembering that it is such as they who set up tyrannies.–Andocides, Speeches: Speech 4, section 24

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Yes, they really said, “…sometimes it means…

…sacrificing the fetus.”

This from a report by Liza Mundy which Al Mohler quotes from on his blog.

His comments are worth reading.  And worth reading, though distressing, are the recently published articles which he is discussing.  Several national papers have been reporting on the topic of killing babies (or what is being called “selective reduction”) such as the Los Angeles Times and the New York times.

I realize I write a lot about this issue.  I am compelled.  My mind tremors at the realization of this horrible sin. 

What is most striking to me especially in the quote which is the lead title for the blog today is the throw away line, “sometimes it means sacrificing the fetus.”  I am aghast.  I am appalled.  And I have to conclude that the person saying this cannot seriously mean what they are saying.  And yet, they are truly sacrificing a baby.  To the god of self.  To the god of convenience.  To satan himself, whether they know it or not. 

How can I be silent?

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The Home of My Dreams…

The No Fuel, No Power…No Problem House that heats and cools itself.

Building a house like this is the equivalent of taking 50 cars off the road in terms of energy consumption and pollution.  That is awesome!

Check it out!

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Assuming you’ve switched to Firefox…mozilla…you’ll like this really cool thingy called FoxyTunes

Welcome to FoxyTunes

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Getting Things Done With Google

This one is for James Hindman.  First read the very good book Getting Things Done by David Allen.

Then apply the genius of his organization system using:
Google Notebook – Lifehacker

Life will suddenly become simpler.

I should have a job in advertising!

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‘The baby ’s little fingers were clasping and unclasping…

…and his little feet were kicking.Then the doctor stuck the scissors in the back of his head,and the baby ’ s arms jerked out,like a startle reaction,like
a flinch,like a baby does when he thinks he is going to fall.” A Nurse describing a partial birth abortion, performed by Dr. Haskell.

– This is a quote from an opinion given by Justice Kennedy of the
Supreme Court.  Amazingly, the Justice was forthright in the need to be
descriptive of just what was involved in the decision to ban this form
of abortion.

Here are some further quotes:

“‘The doctor opened up the scissors,stuck a high-powered suction tube into the opening,and sucked the baby ’s brains out.Now the baby went completely limp….

“ ‘He cut the umbilical cord and delivered the placenta.He threw the baby in a pan,along with the placenta and the instruments he had just used.’”

“Another doctor,for example,squeezes the skull after it has been pierced “so that enough brain tissue exudes to allow the head to pass through…

Still other physicians reach into the cervix with their forceps and crush the fetus ’ skull..Carhart,supra ,at 858,881.Others continue to pull the fetus out of the woman until it disarticulates at the neck, in effect decapitating it.These doctors then grasp the head with forceps,crush it,and remove it.Id.,at 864,878;see also Planned Parenthood,supra ,at 965…

Yet one doctor would not allow delivery of a live fetus younger than 24 weeks because “the objective of [his ] procedure is to perform an
abortion,” not a birth..App.in No.05 –1382,at 408 –409…

Another doctor testified he crushes a fetus ’ skull not only to reduce its size but also to ensure the fetus is dead before it is removed.For the staff to have to deal with a fetus that has “some viability to it,some movement of limbs,” according to this doctor,,“[is ] always a difficult situation.”App.in No.05 –380,at 94;see Carhart,supra ,at 858.

Find the entire court opinion online here: 2006 Term Opinions of the Court

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America’s New Free Trade With Migrants: Gain The Whole World But Lose Your Soul

I have observed over the last 20 or so years a steady influx of Hispanics into places where I have lived: NC, TN, IL, KY.  And I have often wondered about the culture shock and overload of America.  What effect does moving to America have on the soul?

For Some Hispanics, Coming to U.S. Means Abandoning Religion – New York Times

I remember visiting Cochabamba in Bolivia, South America and being appalled, broken and disillusioned over the poverty that I observed in the high mountains there.  I can still see in my minds eye a little boy who looked to be about  4 or 5 years old, completely naked defecating in the middle of an open street.  No one stopped him, no one helped him.  I saw neither mother, father or brother or sister.  He was all alone wondering.  Then I can remember riding a motorcycle to middle of one large village and finding in the middle of it a mountain of garbage where families picked through looking for something to eat, sale or use.  I remember as well the irritation and frustration I found/find with Americans as I came back to the states…the hurriedness, murmuring and complaining over banal trivialities, the addiction to entertainment fueled by the fear of a moments silence which would inevitably lead to boredom.

However, I am not ashamed to live in a land with abundance.  This is where I live and where I was born…placed, if you will.  My deep worry, for myself and others, is that we simply are not better for it.  We are instead more selfish and greedy.  We are merely flesh and blood.  We live, but the spirit has gone out from us.  We are head-pieces filled with straw.  We are materials displaced in a spiritual world.

In my home pray the Lord’s prayer together as a family daily.  So I wondered what the inverse would be as I read over what I’ve written and how I feel about it.  So here is prayer we live more than utter.

The New Lord and His Prayer
 
Whose Father?
Hollowed, You Have No Name,
My Kingdom has come
my will is done
On earth and I can’t imagine a heaven
This is my day, I deserve it
This is my bread, I earned it
I’ll forgive your debt if you forgive mine
I’m lead away only by the most interesting temptations
But,What is evil?
There is nothing to come
There is nothing to be done
On earth
I want to fly in space and call it heaven

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A very helpful MP3 link to D.A. Carson audio

D.A. Carson came to my college, Bryan College, years ago when I was there.  It was an absolute pleasure.  He is not bent on being entertaining as much as he is on being right and articulate in his speaking.

His knowledge is large and always helpful. 

Andy Naselli’s Blog: D. A. Carson MP3s

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100-million missing girls and women

“Rights Talk” Collides with Right and Wrong

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For those of us who use powerpoint in teaching and presentations…

Wired 11.09: PowerPoint Is Evil

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Wired 11.09: PowerPoint Is Evil

For those of us who use powerpoint in teaching and presentations…

Wired 11.09: PowerPoint Is Evil

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Wiki? Why Not?!

A History Department Bans Citing Wikipedia as a Research Source – New York Times

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How Many Books Have You REALLY Read, That You Said You Read?

NYTimes has a revealing and helpful(?) take on this piece on this past time…and how to be better at it…Professors beware!

Read It? No, but You Can Skim a Few Pages and Fake It – New York Times

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Why I HIGHLY Recommend Switching From Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox…

The biggest reason is the ease with which I can now blog without having to go through the cumbersome process of signing into my blog manually.  This new software by Performancing through Mozilla makes it an absolute breeze. 

I have often wished I could simply blog “real time” as I surfed the internet finding sites and sounds etc and etc and now I have the ability to that.

Which means I don’t have to feel so bad for being a bad blogger.  I am most a researcher and bookmarker/favorites saver at heart and now can quickly share all that I am finding with some short commentary to boot.

May God be pleased by my searches and may He speedily bring His Kingdom.
Kelly Bridenstine

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And it works!!!! This will make blogging more productive for you and for me!

Kelly Bridenstine

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I am Using a cool new software that allows me to blog as I surf the net through firefox/mozilla

Kelly Bridenstine

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Speakining of the Kingdom

I am taking a class with Dr. Jonathan T. Pennington this semester in a class called (creatively) Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha. I’ll post more in the future regarding this very fascinating area of study.

In the meantime, for your enjoyment here is a link to Dr. Pennington’s website with some publications and links there and a link to some recent talks he gave on “The Kingdom of God”.

JTPennington’s website: http://www.jonathanpennington.com/

and Kingdom lectures: http://www.northwesternbaptist.com/

Grand Opening!

I will try to write every single day until I have nothing else to say…

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!