lighting the night

But wait there is more :)
just came across a rechargeable solar blinkie.. this is a photo of it
Am going to send away for one and will do a full report after I give it a testing

Ernest, thanks for the suggestion.

As I am an Oregonian I should have been promoting Rechargeables as we pride ourselves in being the Green State.
I added some good information to this thread.
Cost savings
As mentioned, you can not only lighten your environmental footprint, but save a ton of cash by using rechargeable batteries.

A pack of 4 rechargeable batteries I purchased a short while ago cost me around $20. They'll be good for at least 500 recharges, likely more. A battery charger costs anywhere from about $10 -$30. The cost to recharge the set works out to to be just a couple of cents each time. So, in total, even factoring in the charger, a set of 4 AA will cost around $50 for their serviceable life.
A comparable set of heavy duty disposables cost around $2 - and that's at a discount price. The equivalent usage would cost $1000!
Environmentally and financially, rechargeable batteries just make more sense. If you can, try ditching your disposable battery habit and reap the rewards.



Christian



>>
> > hi Christian!
>
> how about using rechargeable batteries for those uses when you're
> not out on tour? at your current rate you might save a little money in
> the short term, but you're adding 5 extra batteries per cycle to
> landfill/disposal.
> rechargeables would cost you less in the long run and almost
> completely eliminate the impact on disposal.
>
>
> cheers!
> e
>
>
> christian Oregon wrote:
> >
> >
> > led lights are the bomb.. Changed my rear trunk light after a year of use w
> > ith fresh batteries as I wondered if it was getting dimmer (not that I coul
> > d see, but knowing they were a year old) New batteries and the light is j
> > ust as bright as the old. So one year of use on a bucks worth of batteries.
> > LED head lamp gets used all the time - I use it to read while I sit in the
> > hot tub under the stars. I get around 100 hours of use for a dollar. I alw
> > ays buy my batteries at the dollar store. The cost ratio is two Panasonic's
> > for a buck or 2 Duracell's for 3.49, so far seven Panasonic's (equivalen
> > t to 2 Duracell's in cost) have outlasted the 2 Duracell's.
> >
> >
> >
> > to icy to ride today. may have to resort to the trainer....
> >
> > Christian
> >
> >
> > Today is a good day to Ride

"Biking In Lesvos Greece -April 09: Almost the Last Day – sorta

With Turkey off the map I had another day to spend in Levsos. There was a hot spring resort just out of town so I made the long climb back up from the harbor area in search of the hot spring. I spied a village on the shore of the bay way off in the distance as I came over the crest. Why not was my mantra and I happily peddled to it. What a great choice.

A small chapel under a large tree was next to a large factory building. As I walked around the chapel I keep trying to place the smell that was coming from the factory building. It was an ag. smell that reminded me of hot farm silage. The ground around the outside of the building was covered in the brown gravel looking substance. A worker came out and I asked what it was. He motioned me away from the building but with a smile (no English). Just then another worker comes running from the darkened interior chased by a huge cloud of steam and smoke. I snapped photos of this event. After the first worker motioned me to follow and lead me through the guts of the building. Hot pipes and huge turning gears had me ducking as we weaved our way from one end of the building to the other. Two gentlemen sitting in chairs were as the workman put it 'the Bosses'. One spoke English this is his answer to what was it that they did here. After all the regular olive oil is extracted from the olives the remains are brought here to be heated to rid them of moisture. They then are hauled to another factory where they are squeezed one last time for industrial grade oil. I thanked him for the impromptu tour and made my way outside to my bike.

I made my way to a rocky beach to have my lunch, and then headed back looking for the hot springs before Mytilini. Somewhere I had passed the hot springs. I asked at the store, where? They said it was close by on the water side of the road. I went back and forth three times never seeing a sign or any building that looked right. I asked again at the store as I had covered the entire road from the store to where the road turns away from the water. But now I had land marks to use in my questions. Before or after the gas station, before or after the abandoned tennis courts, I had it narrowed down to about a hundred yards but I was still blind. I was lucky as I stopped still not sure where it was, a guy walking by pointed me to a small drive next to a run down set of buildings that looked like the driveway to those buildings, this was the unmarked entrance to the hot springs.
The hot spring resort was tucked down into the cliff close to the waters edge. Not visible from the road. It really wasn't very appealing by it lack of maintenance or it having separate pools for men or women. I paid the fare for the day but left after 20 minutes as the water was just a tad warmer then a swimming pool.

I had seen the Castle in Mytilini as I had left town on my first day

so decided that I would head back for a little castle exploration. I got there just as they closed and locked the gates.
As the castle employees disappeared for the day I saw a carved rock that said if my reading of ancient Greek is right 'Step here to breach the walls'. Up & over the first wall on a faint path I climbed, I wasn't the first person to use this route and now I was walking between the outer and inner wall. It took me almost 20 minutes to walk around ½ of this castle. I again followed a path that took me past a closed gate and into the main body of the castle. This interior area was huge. A good guess would be close to twenty acres enclosed inside of these castles walls.

The same way in was the same way out with me taking tons of photos along the way.

I repeated last night's dinner in the same café. It was as good the second time. It was now shopping time for tourist trinkets to take home I even had to buy a small clock as the ferry loaded the next morning at 5am