Author Topic: Muscle Over Motor  (Read 2683 times)

highplainsdrifter

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Muscle Over Motor
« on: November 02, 2018, 06:03:14 AM »
Sorry if there is already a thread covering this topic but Muscle Over Motor is one of my favorite mustachian principals and I want to hear what the community is muscling through.

I recently opted to buy a $20 manual coffee grinder to utilize brute strength to muscle my way into a fresh ground cup of coffee.

I've been making cold brew coffee batches (Toddy cold brew system) which requires 12oz of coffee to be ground up to make a batch. I've been muscling through the 12oz grind and feeling like I get a bonus forearm arm workout each time.

On a side note cold brew coffee also feels pretty mustachian to me. The cold brew coffee batches makes a concentrate which can be stored refrigerated for two weeks. I can mix my desired ratio of strength (4 to 1 water to coffee ratio is suggested) to mix up a hot or cold cup and I waste no coffee. Buying bulk whole bean online is saving me a bit of money too (I've been buying "penny pinchers" blend from coffee direct lol). Cold brew also can take up to 67% of the acidity out of the coffee making it taste much smoother than a regular hot brewed coffee. I find it to be delicious consumed black.

HipGnosis

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2018, 12:19:27 PM »
I have a small, hand crank food processor.  It was sold as a salsa maker, but I call it my cordless food processor.  It works great for my single serving batches of a lot of things.
There are instructions on the internet to convert a full size kitchen aid mixer to hand crank power.

I haven't used an electric can opener in years.  I was gifted one years back.  I donated it to Goodwill (or similar thrift).

I also have a small mortar and pestle.  I almost bought a battery powered spice grinder, but I don't want to be concerned about batteries.

There are many website that sell hand/muscle/non-electric appliances.  They are mostly targeting preppers, homesteaders and people living off-grid.

Not muscle, but non-elec.;  Instead of running a humidifier, I put a large pot of water on my gas stove on winter nights.  I heat up the water in the evening, then re-fill the pot and put the stove on low.  Dry air feels colder, and stops up my sinus'.
I'm going to buy a wool blanket instead of using a space heater (or elec. blanket) in my bed room.  I had a military surplus blanket when I camped as a boy scout and know they are very warm / $.  I found a good price at    http://www.johnsonbrotherslapidary.com/Wool-Blanket-4lb-Black.html

FIREby35

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2018, 11:47:52 AM »
Trimming the grass around my fence with garden shears instead of a loud-ass trimmer with spools of wire that never seem to work. I always wonder if people think I'm actually crazy when I do that :)




RethinkTheRatRace

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #3 on: November 07, 2018, 04:07:07 PM »
I use a reel lawn mower, which I absolutely love. But, it does force me to maintain the yard a lot more often than a gas powered lawn mower.

I haven't used an electric can-opener in decades.

I don't buy coffee, I drink the company coffee that gets made daily, so that one's out.

But there always the classic option of biking. I love to bike to work. Probably the highlight of my day

BobbyTables

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2018, 07:13:01 AM »
But there always the classic option of biking. I love to bike to work. Probably the highlight of my day

Amen! All though I've seen less than 5 others on bikes on my commute over the last 6 months, and I think in the coming winter it will be even less. We even have some bike lanes here but this is suburbia where people sit in traffic to go to the gym.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #5 on: November 08, 2018, 08:00:31 AM »
The ocean, whether it's being in it, on it, or just near it, is a huge part of my life. In terms of travel options across it's surface I have access to gasoline engine and wind driven propulsion. But neither of these options brings with it the immense satisfaction of having propelled myself for a long journey with nothing but a paddle grasped in my hands, the muscles of my body the sole source of propulsion across the waves. The feeling of fatigue at journeys end is like welcoming an old friend after all these years and all those miles (km's) paddled.

I often find myself opting for more physically rigourous options in terms of yard work...for instance I'd rather rake leaves or sweep them the old fashioned way than user a blower for example. Such choices will make your body stronger in the long run. Some of these more labour intensive options may take more time to perform...but when you are FIRE'd, time has less meaning. :)

I also prefer walking or running to biking....because there is no option for coasting. ;)

Good topic!

GuitarStv

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #6 on: November 08, 2018, 08:17:14 AM »
Bike to work.  If you have to keep a car, then use your bike pump to inflate the tires (and inflate them regularly - otherwise you're just pissing away money via fuel efficiency).  I like to do the cold brew coffee thing too, and find that it tastes better than drip coffee.

dashuk

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2018, 08:23:06 AM »
Most of mine is bike-related. As well as my 30 mile round trip commute three days of the week, I've got a pretty good list of "weird shit I've carried by bike":

 - Supermarket shop for family of four each week - turns out the capacity of a full-size shopping trolley/cart is a pretty good match for the capacity of our double kids trailer plus the front carrier on my town bike. Often taking one of the kids with me in a rear seat as well.
 - All the component parts of an IKEA Kura kids mid-sleeper bunk bed.
 - Some 3m lengths of plastic drainpipe
 - A mattock - no close passes on that ride ;)
 - 240 litres of compost (with kid on board)
 - Two adult bikes that we were donating to a recycling non-profit (with kid on board).
 - An entire 4th birthday party, including picnic, cakes, games, our kids, my sister, BIL, their kids, and three kids bikes to a park a few miles away in a multi-bike convoy.

There's probably a few more I've forgotten.

My town bike itself is a big, heavy, ex-postal-service lump which I bought from another recycling charity about 20 miles away. The staff there were reasonably surprised when I got the train down there and rode it home. I dunno, seemed silly to me to put a perfectly functional mode of transport on top of the car.

Away from bikes, I've moved probably about 15 tonnes of heavy clay subsoil out of our back garden with mattock, spade, and wheelbarrow. Honesty forces me to admit that is mostly because there's no way of getting a mini-excavator round the back of the house, but it is satisfying to have done it.

I went to a weekend event in North London over the summer. Took the train, but walked/ran almost 30 miles to and from stations at each end rather than several buses, tube, etc.

BECABECA

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #8 on: November 15, 2018, 02:11:41 PM »
I cut down a 30 ft dead apple tree with a handsaw over the course of a few weekends. I started from the top and just cut branches until it was just a trunk and kept at it until it was down to nothing. It was in the backyard so it didn’t matter that it looked bad for a couple weeks. Then I dug out the stump with shovel and pickaxe.

I split a half cord of wood last month with a sledge hammer and a wedge. That was actually really fun, I love swinging sledge hammers.

And I always bike to the grocery store. But I only have a basket on the back, so I have an excuse to go biking often.

Tass

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #9 on: November 15, 2018, 02:31:42 PM »
I don't love biking to work but I try to use this mantra to keep myself at it. The other day I slipped up and drove and by the time I was idling at the first stoplight I started thinking, "Why did I want to bring the extra 3,000 pounds to work today?"

I grocery shop with a backpack and walk back and forth. It's 0.4 miles away, so this is trivial. I also moved into a complex without an elevator, so the three flights up to our apartment are non-optional.

Making tea doesn't really require muscle.

ysette9

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #10 on: November 16, 2018, 10:22:06 AM »
I didn’t love biking to work but now that I have an ebike, it is a source of joy every day. I suppose that is not fully muscle over motor, but it is some muscle as compared to driving.

yow

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #11 on: November 18, 2018, 07:38:54 AM »
- Clearing snow from my driveway using a shovel. I am the only person on my street I see doing this. Everyone else either uses a snowblower or pays someone to come in with a tractor to do it.

- Biking/Walking to the grocery store/gym/work/pretty much anywhere else that isn't 50KM away.

Those are the main ones for me. I get so much self-gratification from doing these things. There is no accomplishment for me clearing my driveway pushing a snowblower around. They are also a pain in the ass to operate I find.

Monkey Uncle

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #12 on: November 18, 2018, 03:29:52 PM »
I cut down a 30 ft dead apple tree with a handsaw over the course of a few weekends. I started from the top and just cut branches until it was just a trunk and kept at it until it was down to nothing. It was in the backyard so it didn’t matter that it looked bad for a couple weeks. Then I dug out the stump with shovel and pickaxe.

I split a half cord of wood last month with a sledge hammer and a wedge. That was actually really fun, I love swinging sledge hammers.

And I always bike to the grocery store. But I only have a basket on the back, so I have an excuse to go biking often.

I heat my house primarily with wood, so I go through about 5 cords a year.  I love my $60/mo electric bill in the middle of winter.  I do use a motor (chainsaw) to cut the wood to length, as there is no way I'd get through that much wood using a hand saw.  But I split it all by hand, using a sledge hammer and wedge, and a wooden glut and maul.

highplainsdrifter

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Re: Muscle Over Motor
« Reply #13 on: February 17, 2019, 04:41:59 PM »
I heat my house primarily with wood, so I go through about 5 cords a year.  I love my $60/mo electric bill in the middle of winter.  I do use a motor (chainsaw) to cut the wood to length, as there is no way I'd get through that much wood using a hand saw.  But I split it all by hand, using a sledge hammer and wedge, and a wooden glut and maul.
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If you lived in Colorado, I would enjoy helping you chop wood by axe. That is a muscle filled way to spend an afternoon. I live in townhome so I don't get to do a lot of the homeowner type of tasks. People always ask why I shovel snow when the HOA pays for the service. I assume they think I'm crazy. I just enjoy manual labor every now and again.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!