Social networking

I like Facebook. It has brought people I would not otherwise have any contact with  into my online social network. And it's great for getting updated on what you friends and relatives are doing. And planning social events with other people  without it is virtually impossible. I would even say that is has become as important as your phone or TV. You can live without them but it will make life very difficult.

BUT once you have gotten everybody on board it has sort of turned into this little village. And little villages are full of gossip, showing off, drama, people spying on each other, small close knit friends groups that shun outsiders and people with a different opinion or lifestyle than theirs and so on. And frankly it's crippling creativity.

So I've been looking at alternatives. And the result is more blogging (right here), more tweeting and a bit of instagramming. Yes Facebook does have everything but somewhere along the road it turned into a utility, just like your washing machine. You need it but the entertainment factor has plummeted.

Twitter and Instagram are fairly simple and yes I know the later is owned by Facebook. But in all their simplicity they are fun. Last night I took a picture in the dark of the backyard ice rink I've built the last few weeks and put it up on Instagram and you know what, it felt like fun. I haven't had that feeling for Facebook in years. And you can automatically share your tweets and Instagram photos to Facebook.

And when it comes to creativity, I had a great blog. I used to love updating it every day. And I had always something to write. That is creativity and I guess that is what I'm trying to get back to...

Backyard Ice Rink II

Since the later 2/3 of December and the  first one and a half week of January was warm. Warm as in around +5 C every day, no snow to be found anywhere and my first backyard ice rink was well gone before Christmas. Well winter came and the last two weeks has been around -15 C every day, sometimes as warm as -2 C and sometimes as cold as -25 C but -15 C seem to be the standard temperature.

So without too much trouble it was easy to create another backyard ice rink, the second one this winter. And I learned a few things more about creating the ice. -5 C is bit too warm. The water doesn't freeze fast enough and it tends to melt too much of the already made ice so you get bubbles and it may break trough the ice wall on the sides. You make one to contain the water as you make the ice thicker. -20C and colder is too cold. If you want lots of thick ice and a good ice wall it's great. When you have come to the other end of the ice rink the first part you have hosed down has already frozen over. And also if you get a lot of water on it so you get wave movement on the ice those wave pasterns can also freeze over. Not an even smooth ice but great for building mass. -15 C is ideal, you get all of the water you want on the ice and and it freezes slough enough to build a smooth surface.