Oils Well That Ends Well

I was just reading a consumer forum posting from a guy with a driveway problem. A truck was delivering new kitchen appliances and materials and the truck blew a gasket and leaked oil all over the concrete driveway. The damage is a discoloration. The company quickly did what they could to clean it up and remove the stain, but some remains. He is wondering how much compensation to ask for.

Reading this, I am reminded why I love living in Hawaii.

I live on a farm. My driveway is actually a road through the grass (and weeds) based upon rock. It is not paved and has some pretty good bumps in it. At one point there is a small hill which is better traversed if you kick on 4-wheel drive for a minute. It is too costly to pave the 1400 foot length, so it stays as it is. If I let the grass and weeds grow some before cutting them down, I end up with a bit of soil that helps fill on the gaps.

I also don’t worry about putting my water pipes below ground. It is very expensive to cut through rock and makes no sense doing so. We here just leave things like water lines above ground. It is not uncommon to see white PVC or black HDPE pipe along the side of the road carrying water to houses.

Some houses and farms use catchment tanks where rainwater is harvested and used for irrigation or household use. Although with proper filtering and treatment catchment water can be used for cooking and drinking, many people just buy water for that purpose. However toilets work fine with catchment water. I believe onboard some ships they use the readily-available salt water for toilets.

With our weather as it is (70 and night and 85 during the day). we don’t worry too much about air conditioning or lots of bulky clothes. We have many outdoor activities and can cook outdoors all year round. That helps if we lose electric for any period of time. Many of us have grills too.

Solar electric panels work quite well here and well as solar water heating.

So although I live in one of the most remote places on earth, it actually is a nice place to live with few reasons to “keep up with the Jones’s”.