Spring Tension

I made a breakthrough today. Most mornings I wake up, eat breakfast, shower, shave and dress in order to prepare myself to wind up the potential energy of the "motorised engine" of my automotive transportation device. The windup key has always been difficult to handle, the design engineers not putting much thought into the ergonomics but much into the aesthetics of the giant metal crank - pretty, red key but no easy grip locations.

While brushing my teeth, I looked at the windup facial hair shaving device I use. Instead of a windup key, it uses a pull-string to tighten the metal windings.

I watched the cat run around the flat and then it dawned on me!

I do not need to manually turn the windup key on the automobile springed gearing. Instead, I need an auto-mechanical device to wind it for me.

Thus, I pulled out the bicycle pump, attached it to a bellows from the fireplace and used air pressure to crank the windup key in circles, foot push by foot push.

My neighbours will no longer make fun of my windup boy-toy car. I have even found a way to remove the windup key and create a connection point for the bicycle pump/bellows winding device. Of course, I will have to stop along the roadside and pump-wind the spring every kilometer or so but I still get to work without the need for fossilised liquid fuel or horse power to accelerate my enclosed transportation device.

I think tomorrow I will find a way to install the bicycle pump/bellows winding device inside the car so that I can pump along the way, storing air pressure on an as-needed basis and getting my exercise, too. This will allow me to enjoy my morning and evening commutes during inclement weather.

My coworkers may scoff at me but I pay no road taxes because my vehicle has no federally-recognized definition of an engine/motor and my insurance company classifies my transportation device as a home use product covered by my house insurance.

The money I save I invest in more ways to redefine living within and outside of the system, just like the walls of my house are also the fields on which I grow my food crops, the roof is the power source for my electrically-powered house and yard devices, and the ceiling the place to store and dry my harvest. The only framed pictures I have are windows. The floor holds the furniture I use for clothes/drygoods storage and sitting/lying down, both aesthetic and functional in nature.