“Man With A Camera” - Go PATS !!!!

I remember watching a TV show in the 1950s called "Man With A Camera"   starring Charles Bronson.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_with_a_Camera.    Bronson was a World War II Vet who freelanced as a photographer in New York City and helped solve crimes with the police.  Bronson was the original secret agent who used all kinds of cameras to capture images. He even had a miniature camera on his necktie, had a phone in his car (1950) and developed film with a darkroom setup in his car trunk. As I watched with excitement, I thought it would certainly be great to have a job like that.

Over the years, I was always interested in photography and started taking pictures at an early age with my father’s Brownie Box Camera …   http://www.pierspettman.co.uk/photography/no2browniemodelf.shtml.  With a burning interest, I joined the Camera Club in school when I was in the 7^th grade and helped take school related photos. We even had a darkroom at school which was set up in an old custodian’s broom closet.

Normally, you would have to bring the exposed film from your camera to a Camera Store to have them develop it for you. Then wait a few days before you could get the pictures back. However, I was able to develop my own film in the school dark room and have pictures back in a few hours.

The film developing process involved several steps that were time critical and light sensitive. Every step of the development process was done in the dark or under a red light. The 120 mm film from my box camera was unrolled from its spool and then put in a developing solution, fixed, washed and hung up to dry. After drying, the negatives were transferred to a positive sheet of white photo paper on a light box or enlarger, developed again in a chemical solution and then hung up to dry usually on a string with clothespins. I was so proud of my film developing process. It was like a miracle in its day and unlike the digital cameras of the present.

Over the years I have purchased all sorts of camera equipment and have experimented with all the various innovations. Each innovation has brought a new joy and excitement to the process of capturing a photo image. The self developing film, the wide angle and telephoto lenses, the sharp focus of 20 mega pixels and now the mini video camcorders have fostered a new excitement for the average photographer.

Recently, I purchased a mini camcorder called the Sony Bloggie Touch. It has a slim design and you can slip it into a shirt pocket. It has a 12 MP lens for sharp still photos and also takes hours of video. I purchased my camera on Amazon.Com for $118.00 but I also saw it at Cosco for $99.00 ($149 minus a $50 rebate).

Although I also own an iPod Touch which takes videos and stills, the Sony Bloggie has a better lens for sharper images and low light situations. Besides, the Bloggie is a dedicated camcorder that has more camera only features.  You can see a demo and review at the following link ….   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqzllb_pJng&feature=related   .

After taking a bunch of stills and videos I can easily download them to my computer with the Bloggie USB doggle and then stored the images on the computer or online at my Picasa Albums account where friends and family can see them. 

You can also have the still photos developed at your local CVS or Walgreens by setting up an online account.  After sending your photos from your computer to Walgreens online you can either pick up the prints at the local store within an hour or have them delivered by mail to your home with 24 hours. You can even print them on your own computer printer with glossy photo paper.

If you feel even more creative you can put the stills and videos together to make a slide show or movie. Most computers now have built in photo software. For those with Apple computers you can use the iMovie Software and for those with PC computers you can use Windows Movie Maker Software.

I have a Toshiba PC computer with Windows Movie Maker and have had a great time creating slide shows and short movies with it. Movie Maker allows you to place a selection of stills and videos together with smooth animations or transitions between the photos. You can also add music, personal narration, titles, credits and captions.  After making your movie you can save it to computer, CD or upload it to YouTube or other online storage sites for others to see.

Using my Windows Movie Maker software, I recently took some stills and photos and made some short movies and then stored them on my Picasa Albums Online account. One movie was a family outing to Lowes Hardware and Making A Toy Wood Plane with my nephew.  You can see it at the link ….
https://picasaweb.google.com/108806068200291783388/PlaneMakingII?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNTsvK_-1oWPSA&feat=directlink

The other home made movie was made after the Patriot’s Football “Disaster Game” advocating the creation of a new football team for next year. In this movie I downloaded some TV commercial videos and Romeo pics and spliced them all together.  Tell me what you think.  Should I pack my bags and move to Hollywood for a new career?   You can see it at the link below …..  
GO PATS !!!!!!
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/T_v56Qgw4JpFxuyV7GamvdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

Comments Always Welcome.  ….. markryan82@comcast.net

The GOMBS Diet

Well it’s that time of year again when we all make those “New Year’s Resolutions” and the “MAGIC” diet is always at the top of the list. I have certainly tried several diets over the years and always loose steam after a few weeks or months. I just don’t have the long term commitment. My motivation drops and my food temptation goes up.
However, I recently saw a program on PBS television advocating the GOMBS Diet by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. I listened to the program for a while and it seemed like something that I could do. Plus it was a long term healthy diet that provided essential nutrients and plenty of antioxidants to help fight diseases and add years to your life. You can GOOGLE it on the computer and find several selections that explain the diet. One selection is at the web link below … http://www.health-actually.com/reviews/gombs-dr-joel-fuhrmans-anti-cancer-diet/     Basically, GOMBS stands for (Greens, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, and Seeds).
Although you can add the separate parts to your regular meals, I have added all the GOMBS items together to make a daily salad. You can see the benefits for each GOMBS ingredient listed below. However, the photo above is my sample GOMBS Salad. I have combined lettuce, onions, mushrooms, bean sprouts, celery, tomato, garbanzo beans, string beans and top it off with a piece American cheese, slices of boiled ham and two tablespoons of vinaigrette dressing . The total is less than 300 calories. You can use other protein rich toppings like tuna or chicken in small portions (2-3 oz.).

• Greens – Green vegetables have lots of different nutrients and systems that put a silicone like slippery coating on the inside of your blood vessels. They activate something inside the blood vessel called the Nrf2 mechanism that prevents plaque from binding to blood vessels and accelerates the rate at which fat melts away from the inside of the blood vessel.

• Onions – In The Medical Journal of Clinical Nutrition a large study in Europe showed people who ate onions regularly showed a 60 to 70% reduction in all major cancers. That would be a reduction in prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer just from the higher consumption of onions. When you cut an onion, the gas that is given off creates disulfides and anti-cancer nutrients that are formed.

• Mushrooms - A Recent study published in the international Journal of Cancer showed women who regularly consumed mushrooms are 64% less likely to develop breast cancer. That was about 10 g of mushrooms daily. That same study showed that the women who ate 10 g of mushrooms and simultaneously consumed green tea had 89% less likely to develop breast cancer.

• Beans and Berries - Beans and berries have high cancer preventive antioxidants levels and promotes healthy brain function.

• Seeds - Raw seeds and nuts contain phytochemicals and fats that help reduce inflammation, help reduce cholesterol, and helps the absorption of other important micronutrients. Dr. Fuhrman suggests having nuts as part of your salad or even making a salad dressing from them.
At my annual physical, my doctor continues to urge me to loose a few pounds and watch my cholesterol. Now I have to take several daily pills to lower my cholesterol and other health issues that all stem from overweight. After a while, the weight piles on. That 5 pounds increase each year doesn’t sound bad, but after 20 years its 100 pounds.

I hate when I look at various weight charts and find that I am in the OBESE range. I imagine myself as a Sumo Wrestler (see above photo). You can calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index) at the web link below and determine your weight category. ….. http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/    You can see that if you input your height and weight you get a BMI number that you can compare to the chart. Anyone (male or female) with a BMI over 30 is considered Obese.

I now weigh 252 pounds and have a BMI of 36.2 (Obese). If I weighed 208 my BMI would be 29.8 (Overweight). If I weighed 172 my BMI would be 24.7 (Normal Weight). Using the BMI calculations, I would have to loose 80 pounds to be at the upper limit of normal weight. That is a lot of weight to loose but it certainly can be done with the proper diet and motivation. Also, keeping the weight off requires staying on a maintenance diet with balanced healthy choices.

One way to help with motivation and stay on a continuous diet is to do it with a friend or family member so you can compare your daily progress and success. Another way to stay motivated is to keep a daily journal and write down everything you eat including your daily exercise routine. Keeping a small notebook journal in your pocket is a constant reminder to stick with healthy choices and stay on task.

Being a gadget person I have found an iPod APP called “MyFitnessPal” that helps me keep track of my diet and adds all the items up to give me a calorie count. It's like my small notebook journal, It’s easy to use and has a list of all the different foods you could eat with an equivalent calorie amount. It also has graphs and charts to show your progress.  I have taken a few photos of my diet calculations using the APP (see photos below).

The first photo below shows my diet for Saturday, January 7, 2012. As you can see for Breakfast I had Cheerios with milk, blueberries and strawberries (Total = 236 cal.). For Lunch I had a GOMBS Salad with lettuce, chicken, ham, cheese, string beans, mushrooms, bean sprouts, onions, yam and salad dressing (Total = 437 cal.). I added the chicken, ham and cheese for protein. For Dinner I had pizza and a GOMBS salad (Total = 935 cal.). My total calorie intake for the day was 1608 calories with 322 cal. remaining for dessert. For my weight and height, my Basal Metabolism is 1930 calories. That is the amount of calories my body needs at rest during the day. You can calculate your BM at the web link … http://calculators.epnet.com/View/Pages/BasalMetabolism.aspx?docid=healthcalculators%2flistofcalculators&CollectionIID=642&DeliveryContext=coe&token=5344349d-8fbc-446e-8ae5-03a924025f8c

In order to loose weight, you need to consume fewer calories than your body needs. It has been determined that 3500 cal. is equivalent to one pound of body weight. If you eat 500 calories less than you need per day, in 7 days you will have lost one pound. With daily exercise you can loose even more. As you can see from the bar chart below I have tried to consume about 1000 to 1500 calories per day so that I can loose at least one pound per week. During my first week I have dropped 3 to 4 pounds. This has certainly inspired me to continue. Hopefully, this testimony will motivate you to try the same. However, it is important to eat a balanced diet. You can and should add other nutrient rich foods to your meals but in small portions. An appropriate portion of fish, chicken or red meat is about 4 oz.. That is the size of the palm of your hand or a deck of playing cards. Also, foods with more colors have higher nutrient value. Stay away from too much white food which contain a lot of starch. Good luck.
Comments Welcome : …. Markryan82@comcast.net

           

Playing The Stock Market

I have always been curious about playing the stock market. At first, it seems to be just like gambling or playing the lottery. You have a hunch or a feeling. Or you bet on a horse because it has the same name as your grandmother’s dog.

However, some say that picking the right stocks on the stock market is a bit more scientific. Before buying a stock, you first look at indicators that are signs that a stock will increase in value. Or you read in the newspaper that there are new oil discoveries in the Gulf, so maybe buying oil futures is the way to go. Or you hear that the new Chevrolet all electric car will be using batteries from a company in Massachusetts. Or you read a news article about a truck company in China making new truck motors which get 80 mpg. That’s what my brother-in-law did last year and bought penny stocks in the company which are doing very well.

Unfortunately, the market has been in a free-fall and I have wondered when it will smooth out. Is now the time to buy or should one wait? However, the recent bailout vote in the European Market yesterday caused a rise in the Dow Jones and may be a good sign that a economic recovery is eminent.

To test my theory, I decided to buy some stocks and see what would happen. However, I only used Play Money and bought stocks through a game APP called iTrade (not eTrade) for the Apple iPhone (or iPod). The APP is free and you can get it through the iTunes Store. This APP is not Scotia iTrade on the NYSE which is an official brokerage that uses real money https://www.scotiaitrade.com/pages/home/main.shtm

Once you register on iTrade APP, you are given $100,000 of play money to buy and sell stocks on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). You can buy and sell only during the hours that the stock market is open. The APP lists your stocks and shows graphs of the ups and downs.

I decided to use only about $50,000 of the $100,000 play money and bought 6 stocks. You can read news articles provided relative to the companies and try to make decisions based on these indicators. You buy and sell stocks at their actual daily prices and the stocks fluctuate in fake value with the real value of the stock.

During the passed 8 days, my $100,000 has increased in value to $106,014.31 and I have made over $6000.00 in one week. At this rate I could make over $300,000 per year on my stock portfolio. I only wish that it was real. Maybe it’s time to buy real stocks.

You can see a snapshot of my portfolio at the left. It lists my net worth of $106,014.31. I bought six stocks which have fluctuated in value but mostly increased. My stocks are Ford, Sirius Radio, Microsoft, Google, Analog Devices and Home Depot.

You can also see a list of Hot Stocks that iTrade predicts to increase. It might be fun to watch these over the next few weeks to see what happens. Let me know   what Hot Stocks you know about and we can watch them too.

Comments Welcome: markryan82@comcast.net

Weather and Natural Disaster Alert Info

Well, better late than never for this weather blog. Hope you can use some info now or in the future. I have been following the weather for last few days and listening to all the weather alerts just like everyone else. As Hurricane Irene bears down on the northeast, it becomes more and more of a reality and the strike zones have been pin pointed quite accurately along the eastern seaboard. Although it has been decreased to a tropical storm in the Boston area, we could still have torrential rain and high wind gusts and flooding, so be safe and keep alert.
I have been looking on the internet for weather related information and have accumulated a few interesting web sites that maybe helpful now and in the future when other disasters occur. Recently we have experienced earthquakes and now a hurricane unlike what we have seen for 25 years. Just click on the web sites below for further info.

The NOAA web site listed below with the image shown at left top, shows some wind gust possibilities for the Boston area. They predict that the wind gust speed should be at its highest about 2PM on Sunday afternoon and approach 70 mph. The web site is interactive and you can get different kinds of weather maps. It’s a Great resource. Try it.

I also got a great portable radio as a gift once that works with battery, solar and crank up. It can get NOAA weather alerts, FM, AM, and SW. It’s a Voyager Radio and sells for about $49 on Amazon.com.

Safety Tips:

Like everyone else, I have done some preparation for the hurricane and have made a list below for your information.
1. Clear all loose items around the yard that might fly around in the wind and cause damage.
2. Make sure you have an emergency kit with essential supplies in case the lights go out and there is no power for a few days or longer. (first aid kit, tape, flashlight, extra batteries, candles, matches, can food, can opener, water, battery powered radio, sanitation and personal hygiene items, copies of personal documents, extra cash, maps of area, cell phone with charges (home and car), multipurpose tool, medications, medical information, emergency blankets, towels and other personal items.
3. Make an emergency plan with contact phone numbers to reach help or relatives and a place to meet if you are separated from family.
4. Get enough gasoline for the car and emergency generator. There won’t be any after the storm if the electric pumps don’t work.

Reference Web Sites
Voyager Radio at Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Kaito-Electronics-KA500GRN-Voyager-Emergency/dp/B001EUG3II/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314456945&sr=8-1

Emergency Contact Card

http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/pdf/Preparedness/ECCard.pdf

Red Cross Make A Plan

http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/pdf/Preparedness/checklists/Be_Red_Cross_Ready.pdf

Emergency Evacuation Map- Mapquest.com (Draw an evacuation route on the map.)

http://www.mapquest.com/

Hurricane Tracking Map – Saturday 12 noon – (8-27-11)

http://weather.boston.cbslocal.com/tropical/tracking/at201109.html

Graphical Probability Weather Map – National Weather Service -NOAA

http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sectors/massachusettsLoop.php#tabs

Comments always welcome:  markryan82@comcast.net

Star Gazing

I read an article last week in the Boston Globe Magazine called Star-Struck. You can see the reference below. It was about Astronomy and it got me to thinking about all the adventures that I have had looking at the stars with my family and friends.

I remember in the late 1940s when my father first pointed out all the millions of stars in the night sky and how they seemed to move across the heavens, as the night progressed. He also showed me the different Moon phases and we wondered about the man on the moon and who lived up there. Later in the 1950s I read an article with my father about people living on the Moon under ground. I really believed that the article was true. Later, I told my science teacher about it in grammar school. He smiled when he saw the magazine article and then explained that it was just a Satire (fiction). He said, “Don’t be embarrassed, maybe people will really live on the Moon some day.”

Then in July 1969, the first man landed on the Moon in Apollo-11. I was now a science teacher and started to collect all the published pictures showing astronauts and their fantastic voyages. Space flight was always a dream of mine and I watched with wonder at all the developments that world scientists achieved learning about the stars. Space walks, satellites, probes to Mars, sampling moon rocks and always doing tests to determined if life exists out there.

Later in the 1960s, science fiction writers began producing thousands stories about trips to outer space. Eventually the TV series Star Trek was born and I relished each episode as I traveled into the unknown “Where No Man Has Gone Before” with the crew of the Starship Enterprise.

Today there are even more fantastic movies and TV series that depict man’s exploration of the heavens and alien monsters. In the not to distant future we will eventually make a journey to another planet or star system and maybe discover another life form. However, today we can still look up at the heavens and dream.

Recently, I introduced my grandchildren to star gazing. We have a camp way up north in New Hampshire on the border with Vermont and Canada. The night sky is really dark and beautiful and not contaminated with city lights. Each night you can see patterns of bright stars as you try to imagine the shape of a constellation. “Look at those stars there and imagine a big spoon, that’s the big dipper”, I said to my grand kids as I pointed north in the sky. Of course the shape of a constellation is in the eyes of the beholder. Thousands of years ago people looked at the sky and imagined seeing things that were familiar to them like a goat or bear or warrior and thus named the constellations.

To help see the stars and moon a little better, I bought a pair of binoculars. You can shop online and see what kind best fits your use, but I found the 10x50 size was adequate for star gazing. The number 10x is the power of the eye piece and tells that the object you see is 10 times larger than actual size. The number 50 is the size or diameter of the objective lens (far end). Mine is 50 mm. With a larger objective you get more light and the image is brighter as well as the field of view larger. However, the larger objective gives you a lot of bounce (image wiggles). It’s best to brace your arms against your sides when looking through the binoculars otherwise the image seems to bounce around with the slightest movement.

To further help with my star search, I found an APP for my iPod called Star Walk ($2.99). You can see some info about the Star Walk APP at the link below. It has loads of astronomical information but also allows you to see the night sky in the iPod just as if you were looking at the sky. As you move the iPod to the right or left, the sky image changes to what you would see in the north, south, east or west direction. You can adjust the APP for the time of night and location. To see what the sky would look like at a future or past date, you can flick the time dial and watch the sky change as the stars and planets fly by. It’s like a time machine.

After making the correct adjustments, I gave the iPod to my grandson who is 11 years old and loves computer gadgets and was amazed with this iPod APP. Of course his young eye sight is 100 times better than mine. Where I saw one star, he saw 6 stars. As he held the iPod over head and looked north, I pointed to the North Star and said, “See if you can make out the Little Dipper Constellation.” Using the iPod, he saw the star pattern up in the sky just like it was shown on the iPod.

As soon as he found out how to use the iPod, he turned it to face another direction and found a bunch of other stars and constellations and was pointing them out to me. I could just make them out with my “Old Eyes” and was just so pleased with my grandson’s excitement.

My granddaughter was now using the binoculars and also finding stars and planets that were not just dots of white light but also had various colors. Every other minute she would say, “Josh look at this,” as they exchanged the iPod for the binoculars. You can see some photos of the constellations seen on the iPod and some other pictures at the link below on My Photos.

I’m now looking forward to our next sky adventure. There are millions of more stars to search for and hundreds of constellations to imagine. Hopefully, my grandkids will pass along this excitement to there children and grand children. And so, time marches on.

References:

Boston Globe Magazine (July 10, 2011) Information on local star watching places and references
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2011/07/10/star_struck_by_amateur_astronomy/?page=full

Star Walk APP
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/star-walk-5-stars-astronomy/id295430577?mt=8

Star Charts
http://www.midnightkite.com/starcharts.html

Star Trek
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek

My Photos
https://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/StarBlog#5630749683842213986


Comments: Comments always welcome. markryan82@Comcast.net

The Gophers Are Back

The gophers I had last year in my back yard are back. Over the last month I have seen a family of four eating all the clover in the grass lawn. My wife thought they were so cute, as they foraged for greens and rolled and played. We would watch them with curiosity as they ran across the lawns in neighbor yards.
But now the tide has changed. The rascals have started to eat all my flowers. They have even eaten the flowers on the deck in pots. My neighbors and I are exasperated with the devastation they have caused to the landscape. I know they have to eat, but why not just the crab grass or weeds.

I am now fed up with the gopher’s eating habits and decided to get out all the guns. I started with the old myths to keep out varmints. That’s what Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny use to call them. The old myths advocated putting moth balls around the garden or using fox urine.

I sprinkled a whole box of moth balls around the bushes, the foundation and under the garden shed. Now I can smell the odor as I come in the driveway 30 feet away. I bet no moths will come within ten feet of the house. After leaving the balls scattered around I saw the gophers actually sniffing them. That sure didn’t work and now I have a hazardous waste site with (naphthalene) scattered around. I guess I am going to have to pickup all those balls.

Next I tried fox urine. This was advocated as the crème de la crème of animal deterrents. It comes in a spray bottle and stinks to high heaven. I sprayed it everywhere around the house foundation and under the shed where the little varmints are living. It smells like a bar room in the in the city or a back street alley. Now I have stray alley cats frequenting the area.

My last thought was to get a Haveahart Trap. I looked online and found out that this works pretty good but you need to be careful not to catch other animals or to get bitten by one or sprayed by a wayward skunk. I looked at Home Depot and Aubuchon Hardware online and found the best price at Aubuchon. You can see the web link below…. http://lawn-and-garden.hardwarestore.com/79-504-animal-traps.aspx

I needed a larger size for the gopher and got the 32x10x12 inch one, ($54.95).  It comes in a flat box and is supposed to quickly spring out into a box shape, but not for me. Is anything ever easy? I had to read the directions several times to see how it unfolded and how to set all the clips and wires so it was functional. In addition, I had to bend the latch slightly that holds open the trap door.

I loaded the trap with some fresh lettuce and cucumbers but no luck after one day. I then loaded it with a cut up apple and left it overnight on the side of the shed near the gopher den. The next morning there it was, my first critter. I told my wife and she said to release the poor critter and worried that the family of four were going to be separated from each other. I then released it for several reasons. One was to make the wife happy, next to see that I could open the cage without getting bitten and lastly to see if I would catch another one on a second try.

I was worried that the gopher would run back at me and up my leg when I opened the cage door. So I braced my self for the attack of “GODZILLA” and opened the trap door. To my delight, the gopher scurried off running quickly under the shed. A few minutes later I imagined hearing some animal snickering and the whole gopher family laughing. “I’ll get you varmints next time, said Elmer Fudd”.

The next morning I set the trap again with fresh apple pieces and I caught the mommy gopher. I covered the cage with a sheet to quite the animal and put it in the back of the SUV. I then drove to the town park which is next to the town forest and released the “cute” critter. As she scurried off into the woods, I thought I heard animal swearing but it was probably just my active imagination.

I set the cage again over several more nights and have caught the rest of the gopher family. They are now all living together in a larger woodland area with plenty of food to forage. I wish them well but don’t expect any post cards.

You can see some photos at the following web link ….. https://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/Gopher62411#

Comments are always welcome…. markryan82@comcast.net

Multiple Rain Barrel Drip System (Part 2)

Last month I built a (one barrel) Rain Barrel Water System for my garden. Unfortunately, one barrel full of rain water will only last a couple of days to feed all the plants, if there is no additional rain. Consequently, I added two more barrels (total of three), so that I would have garden water for a least a week without a refill. If there is no rain I have to supplement the water in the barrels with a garden hose.

In order to have the rain barrels provide water to the garden automatically I also bought a water timer that comes on at a set time each day and allows the water to run out of the rain barrel through a main half inch hose. The main half inch hose is then connected to a network of smaller quarter inch hoses ending in drip emitters at each of about 50 plants. The emitters are preset for one gallon of water per hour for a garden hose pressure system. In the rain barrel gravity feed system with very little pressure, the water drips at about a quart of water per hour. I have the water timer adjusted for 30 minutes per day in the early morning to provide each plant with about a half quart of water.

The barrels are set on top of building blocks (8x8x16 inches) to give adequate support for a barrel full of water. The blocks are piled two wide and six high for a total height of 48 inches. This height provides enough water pressure for the water to run out of the barrel by gravity only with no need for a pump. It is also important to level the blocks so that each barrel is exactly level with the next barrel. I found for my set up that the two block sets had to be 26 inches apart on center so that the manifold pieces would be level and fit together.

The rain barrels are connected together with a PVC pipe manifold. As rain runs off my garden shed roof into a rain gutter, it is piped into the first rain barrel. Since the barrels are all connect at the bottom with a manifold, the rain water fills all three barrels simultaneously. Excess water runs out a top hole in each barrel. Make sure you have a good seal on all the PVC connections with PVC cement. In addition, put some silicone tub sealer around the connection where the PVC comes out of the bottom of the barrel. Once it gets wet with water, the seals are hard to fix.

I selected ¾ inch PVC so that all the connecting pieces could eventually connect to a regular garden hose with a simple pipe adapter. The total cost was about $200 for a three barrel system or less for a one barrel system. The approximate individual cost is as follows: Three trash barrels ($30), One Water Timer ($30), PVC Manifold for 3 barrels ($20), Drip Hose ($20), Drip Emitters and Hose Connectors ($30), Drip Irrigation Starter Kit ($25), and Thirty building blocks ($45). Although the cost may be a large investment, the system will last for years and save a lot of time with the automatic watering.

Most of the parts can be purchased at Home Depot (drip hose and kits). Additional parts can be purchased online from DropWorks.Com or DripDepot.Com or Amazon.Com. DripWorks.Com has an interactive catalog where you can flip pages and look at all the garden accessories.

I tried several water timers from Home Depot but they all had a diaphragm-valve and needed water pressure from a garden hose to work. I did some research online and found that a water timer with a simple ball-valve did not need any water pressure to have it open and close and could work with a rain-barrel gravity feed and almost zero water pressure system. Looking online I found the Gilmour Water Timer to work the best. I ordered one from Amazon.com and got it in a few days. It has been working great now for a few weeks.

You can see some photos of the three barrel system and its construction at the Picasa link below…
https://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/GardenRainBarrelSystemPart2#

You can see a YouTube video at the link below…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4XLihRNbfE

You can see my previous Blog on one rain barrel at the link……
http://opennutshell.blogspot.com/2011/05/garden-plants-and-rain-barrel-drip.html

Comments always welcome…. markryan82@comcast.net