Good InSinkErator story

This is an InSinkErator Evolution. If It's possible for a garbage disposer to be sexy, this thing is and then some. It is the Cadillac of disposers and worth every penny. I specify them for a reason.

My good friend Tom bought a swank apartment in Chelsea last year. It's in a new, uber modern building and it's packed with the kinds of stuff I fantasize about putting into someone else's home. His place is gorgeous, all clean lines and European appliances.

Tom had a party on Sunday afternoon and after his guests left, he started cleaning up. He did the dishes and once the sink was empty, he flipped the switch for is glorious InSinkErator Evolution and it started growling and grinding very loudly. The Evolution is a nearly silent machine when it's running, so he knew something was down inside his disposer that shouldn't be down in his disposer. Consummate Manhattanite that he is, he resigned himself to calling a plumber the following morning and didn't think much more of it.

Tom has two friends I'll call Jim and Jerry. Jim and Jerry are getting on in years and Jerry is starting to show some unmistakable signs of dementia. This must be heartbreaking to watch, as he was once a brilliant captain of industry and in the last years of his life he's been reduced to a shadow of his former self.

Tom got a phone call Sunday evening from Jim, and he informed Tom that there was a "minor emergency." It seems that Jerry left the party earlier that afternoon without his lower denture and last remembered taking it out to rinse it in the kitchen sink. In an instant, Tom knew what had fallen into to his InSinkErator.

You have to excuse the rinsing out the dentures in the kitchen sink thing when you consider the source, but still...

I told the slick and smart Manhattanite Tom to get out a flashlight and to look into his disposer. He did, and with the help of a pair of kitchen tongs fished out what remained of a $4000 lower plate. In the process of this delicate surgery, Tom learned that "the flappy thing" in the bottom of his kitchen sink detached to make cleaning easier. So Jerry's out a denture and Tom didn't need to call a plumber on Monday after all.

So remember, if you have an InSinkErator, the "flappy things" pop on and off. Just so you sound like you know what you're talking about if it comes up, those "flappy things" are called baffles.

Paris is burning

“Paris is done, Miami is done,” he said. “ St. Pete is wide open.”

That's is a quote from an actual Frenchman in last Sunday's New York Times. And he's talking about my St. Pete, not that other one on the Baltic either. The Frenchman in question is the Leon-born Raphael Perrier who, along with his wife, opened the fantastic coffee house Kahwa earlier this year. Kahwa is two blocks from me and is a site where I've written this very blog on more than one occasion.

Let's see, I've written this blog at Kahwa before; and last weekend, the New York Times mentioned Kahwa. I'm going to have this be yet one more example of that Newspaper's attempts to speak to me directly. I'm here guys! And yes I'll write for you. It's OK, just pick up the phone and call me already.

OK, now that that's out of my system, back to the article. The whole thing is a love letter to my beloved, adopted hometown. This is the second time in about a year-and-a-half that they've written a nice feature about this place. This is good!

New product from Method

This is a new dishwashing detergent from the great folks at Method. Like every cleaning and grooming product these people make, Smarty is non-toxic. It's non-toxic, well-designed, cleverly advertised, priced appropriately and best of all, it works. Smarty is made without phosphates or chlorine, something new and lo-o-o-o-o-o-ng overdue in this product category.

The addition of phosphates to detergents has been going on for ages. Phosphates in your detergents are what feed the algae blooms that make the Bay murky and they turn the Gulf of Mexico green. Stop using phosphate-containing detergents and fertilizers already. The fertilizer thing is a topic for another day, but in the meantime, get thee to Target and pick up a tub 'o Smarty and give it a trial run.

Smarter choices, closer to home

My quest for Kirei Board and other, sustainable products that I am committed to using in my projects has led me to another supplier of green products and this one's even closer to home. Eco-Smart is a Sarasota-based resource and supplier that's turning into a real find. I am increasingly impressed by their commitment to the guiding principles of sustainability and they beat a price quote on Kirei that I got from another supplier. I am impressed. Here's how they describe themselves on their website:

Eco-$mart, Inc. was founded in 1993, in Sarasota, Florida, inspired by the creation of the Florida House Learning Center, a green living demonstration project jointly developed by Sarasota County Cooperative Extension service and the nonprofit Florida House Institute for Sustainable Development (I4SD). Eco-$mart's mission is to bridge the gap between understanding and applying sustainable development principals.

Eco-$mart, Inc. provides a number of services to facilitate sustainable living. We act as a distribution source for "green" construction materials, and offer free consultations to home owners, building owners, architects, developers and contractors. The nonprofit I4SD provides guidance regarding selection of these sustainable construction systems.

Eco-$mart, Inc. assists contractors and developers to take advantage of the free public relations and marketing power provided by programs such as EPA ENERGY STAR, SunBuilt and Engineered for Life, as well as promoting those businesses on Eco-$mart's affiliated media resources such as Earthzone TV and the Environmental News Network.

Eco-$mart, Inc. has also created ways for individuals and organizations to get personally involved and benefit from helping to spread the word, through our Agent and Referring Partner programs, as well as our Green Investment opportunities.

Our goal at Eco-$mart, Inc. is to help people to live and work in buildings that are healthy, efficient and cost effective. We firmly believe that once people understand what choices are really available and the impact of those choices, they will likely choose to design a better future for themselves, and for the planet.

If you are in the market for building supplies or if you are considering building a new home, please take that short drive across the Skyway Bridge and talk to my new pals at Eco-Smart.

Neat stuff from old stuff, capitulo dos

Here's some more stuff from the artist I profiled yesterday, Rodney Allen Trice. He has a really admirable philosophy behind the things he's doing and I think he deserves some attention and praise for it. Here's his website again.

From his website:

Ultimately, his work is about ordinary objects – and people, and places — that really aren’t so ordinary when you look at them the right way. His embrace-and-celebrate attitude is in part a reaction to his fear of ordinariness as a youth (“a fate worse than death”). Now he’s learned to celebrate it. “In the ‘fabulous, kiss, kiss, darling, love that dress ... Versace?’ world of art and design,” says Trice, “I hope my work emits a ‘get down off your high horse and sit a while’ feel.” From a focus on furniture and lighting, his work has recently expanded into hats and accessories, which are more about wearable hardware than anything else. His awareness of our need to conserve the Earth’s resources has grown significantly since this endeavor began about 12 years ago.

A ceiling fixture made from a toaster

Oil lamps made from light bulbs and some wire

A ceiling fixture made from a fan cage

A lamp made from a measuring cup and a kitchen timer

A ceiling fixture that was once a punch bowl.

And my favorite, a wall sconce made from a rat trap and some copper screen.

This seals it, all hail Rodney Allen Trice!