Sam Wilson's Journal

Keepin' It Local: I'm so excited!! Last night I couldn't sleep for the thrill of what I'm planning on doing. I'm feeling excited about facing the utter enormity of global manufacture from a standpoint of low-tech and beautiful dumpster diving! Take that door jamb f…
Just WALK!!: "In industrialized countries we live as if we have no legs. Yet, we always want to go somewhere and fast. Often we don't live near where we work and we don't work where we live. ... Transport consumes large quantities of oil; it is a major source…
Where Do I Walk, Then?: Today I reinstate this weblog. I've shuffled files around on this server, and I've shuffled boxes and books around in my bedroom; it's Spring, and time to re-organise, clear up, and start to think again. Last week I thought I was doing just so, but…
My new bicycle trailer: I bought it on eBay, it arrived yesterday, and this morning we got LOTS of compost from the co-op, to take to the garden. …
Slow Down!: The following from Japan for Sustainability: During the planning stage for the construction of a new condominium, the prospective residents had a heated debate on whether or not an elevator should be installed. Some were opposed because once insta…
To Coledale: Kingston railway station waiting room. Feeling slightly queezy from the bus, but excited also to be off with a bag, book and journal. Not that there's much beauty in the modern transport world; the telly is on behind me, playing the most banal, hideo…
Lines through the greensward: I've been walking lately. To university, to the co-op, and home again: along Sullivan's Creek I go, sort of following the bike path and generally veering off and strolling quietly through grassy, damp, tree-lined avenues. It's nice, as nice as anyt…
Sorry about this post, but...: ...I really don't like being honked at by lone occupants of four-wheel drives! Me get off the road?! Why don't they get off their stupid arses!?…
New BB For Me: I've just installed a new bottom bracket in my bicycle. It's a Shimano UN26, 68x113mm (1mm narrower than the old one, but that's just closed up the little gap I had anyway), and cost $40. I'm posting this just so that I don't forgetâ€¦ I…
Bus Party!: Woo hoo! Email me to find out more.…
Homeward Bound: Every evening as I head home on the intertown, the view west from the bridge reminds me of all that I love most about Canberra. The sun setting behind Black Mountain, with the ANU tucked in amongst the trees and the lake there, all still and calm, a…
I Don't Go In Cars: I'm writing a more in-depth article on this topic at the moment, and I'll post it soon, but for now I just want to mention a couple of things. The team that I am part of at IBM looks after servers that are spread over two different data-centres, o…
Why I Refuse to Travel in Cars: In July 2004 I made the decision to completely stop travelling in all cars. Since then, I have refused to get in any car whatsoever (even if it’s “going there anyway” or an electric vehicle), and although my life has become more geographical…
That on which the coding rests: Just to intersperse this stream of codeish posts with something a little more real… I rode part of the way to work today, and then put my bicycle on the bus for the remainder of the journey. (An odd feeling, looking through the bus' windscreen …
Blog Action Day: Bloggers unite. Today is blog action day, when we write about 'the environment' in order to 'save it'. Oh yeah. Tom Worthington calls for less emails; but I concur with Paul Kingsnorth, and say: smash your computer and lock on to the nearest air…
One speed: slow?: Another gap in posts for this blog; sorry. (Not that there's anyone reading this to say sorry to, but as they say: meh.) It's not that I haven't been writing lately, I have, but in places that the web doesn't reach; I've been enjoying that. But …