Sunday, January 22, 2012
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Idle thoughts
This morning on the way to the farmer's market, I stopped at an ATM to get some cash. A car pulled up to the machine right in front of me. I switched my motor off to wait my turn. The person in front of me left his engine running during his transaction. Later, when I came out of the grocery store I noticed the car parked next to me was running. There was a man sitting in it waiting.
Both of these incidents made me wonder again just how much gas is burned up while we are waiting. Not just in traffic, but when we are parked. Drive through lanes seem to be big ways that Americans waste gas, yet I've never seen any estimates of just how much is wasted waiting. Most people leave their engines running while waiting their turn. I guess they either don't care that they are wasting gas or still believe the old myth that it takes more gas to turn your car off and on than to let it run. This was true when carburetors were used, but not with fuel injected engines.
We are at the beginning of the cold weather season. Many people will be starting their cars then going back inside while the cars warm up. Modern cars warm up so quickly that manufacturers say that warming them up before driving them is unnecessary. How much gas is idled away warming cars up for comfort or in the misguided belief that it is good for the car?
I wonder why no environmental agency has adopted a crusade to reduce idle time as a conservation measure.
This morning on the way to the farmer's market, I stopped at an ATM to get some cash. A car pulled up to the machine right in front of me. I switched my motor off to wait my turn. The person in front of me left his engine running during his transaction. Later, when I came out of the grocery store I noticed the car parked next to me was running. There was a man sitting in it waiting.
Both of these incidents made me wonder again just how much gas is burned up while we are waiting. Not just in traffic, but when we are parked. Drive through lanes seem to be big ways that Americans waste gas, yet I've never seen any estimates of just how much is wasted waiting. Most people leave their engines running while waiting their turn. I guess they either don't care that they are wasting gas or still believe the old myth that it takes more gas to turn your car off and on than to let it run. This was true when carburetors were used, but not with fuel injected engines.
We are at the beginning of the cold weather season. Many people will be starting their cars then going back inside while the cars warm up. Modern cars warm up so quickly that manufacturers say that warming them up before driving them is unnecessary. How much gas is idled away warming cars up for comfort or in the misguided belief that it is good for the car?
I wonder why no environmental agency has adopted a crusade to reduce idle time as a conservation measure.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Two Kinds of People
I've decided there are two kinds of people: those who read self help books and those who don't. I am one of the former. I believe that I am a work in progress. I can be improved upon. There is a better self who is kinder, thinner, more productive, wiser, etc. The self I am is sadly lacking, but there is hope if one is willing to work hard to change. Ah. The Rub.
I might note that my wish to improve myself does not end at the boundary of me. I also think that I can improve those around me. Having read all those self help books has given me a font of knowledge that I am happy to share. Just ask. Or wait. I'm sure I will point out some way you can improve, if you will just listen and follow my advice.
My former husband once said to me that he didn't think that people could change, that he certainly couldn't. He was right. He hasn't changed much over the years, except that he shaved his mustache and his head. He is the other sort of person. He doesn't read self help books.
I believe people can change. It is hard, but you can change. I know that part of the reason I feel this way is because I had a father who was only too happy to point out all the ways I could improve. As I noted, I internalized that trait. It is one of the things I try hard to change. So, thanks, Dad for pointing out that change is possible. See, I did change. I just realized that his criticism wasn't all bad. It gave me optimism and hope along with all the self doubt and lousy self image.
I've decided there are two kinds of people: those who read self help books and those who don't. I am one of the former. I believe that I am a work in progress. I can be improved upon. There is a better self who is kinder, thinner, more productive, wiser, etc. The self I am is sadly lacking, but there is hope if one is willing to work hard to change. Ah. The Rub.
I might note that my wish to improve myself does not end at the boundary of me. I also think that I can improve those around me. Having read all those self help books has given me a font of knowledge that I am happy to share. Just ask. Or wait. I'm sure I will point out some way you can improve, if you will just listen and follow my advice.
My former husband once said to me that he didn't think that people could change, that he certainly couldn't. He was right. He hasn't changed much over the years, except that he shaved his mustache and his head. He is the other sort of person. He doesn't read self help books.
I believe people can change. It is hard, but you can change. I know that part of the reason I feel this way is because I had a father who was only too happy to point out all the ways I could improve. As I noted, I internalized that trait. It is one of the things I try hard to change. So, thanks, Dad for pointing out that change is possible. See, I did change. I just realized that his criticism wasn't all bad. It gave me optimism and hope along with all the self doubt and lousy self image.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Late December Random Things
I was sitting reading when I looked out the window past the bird feeder to a slim tree where in descending order sat a blue jay, a male cardinal, a blue jay, a male cardinal, a blue jay. No way to get a picture other than the one in my memory.
Last night I was watching tv when a lady bug fell in my lap. We put her in a plant to be safe, but within a minute she was back on the lamp by my side.
One of the female cardinals is learning to sit on the feeder for extended periods to eat the feed seed by seed.
The wind is picking up so the picture book of snow etched branches is disappearing.
Last night I was watching tv when a lady bug fell in my lap. We put her in a plant to be safe, but within a minute she was back on the lamp by my side.
One of the female cardinals is learning to sit on the feeder for extended periods to eat the feed seed by seed.
The wind is picking up so the picture book of snow etched branches is disappearing.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Not so durable goods
When I bought my first post divorce house in 1994, I got the appliances which were left in the kitchen. Both the refrigerator and the range were dated but serviceable. I don’t remember much about the refrigerator except that it wasn’t frost free. The range, however, made an impression since I remember some family friends having one like it in their brand new house in the early 1960's. It was an avocado Frigidaire Flair . The ovens still worked, but only a couple of burners did.
When I checked the internet to see what the range was called, I found a site that was a bulletin board for people looking for cannibalized parts to keep their 1960’s ranges going. Now that’s durable. About a year after I moved in to the house, after trying to get the range repaired and being told that parts were no longer available, I replaced the Frigidaire with a gas range.
Friends of ours have a huge old O’Keefe and Merritt range and GE refrigerator with a small freezer. Both are from the 1950s or before and are still in good working order. They probably aren’t as energy efficient as some of their recently manufactured counterparts on a day to day basis, but I wonder how they stack up when you figure in the environmental costs of manufacturing and transporting new ones and disposing of the old ones?
About a month ago our washer went on the fritz. I spent $65 to have the repairman tell me that it would cost about $225 for the part to fix it, and that it probably wasn’t worth it for a washer that old. The washer was about six years old. When I went to the store to store to buy a new one, the salesman told me the kind I was considering was a dependable brand, that it would last five or six years. When I expressed surprise, he told me that was the norm now. Appliances don’t last very long. I was amazed.
Not long after that, I took my Electrolux vacuum to be repaired. I bought this brand because I remember Mother’s Electrolux and one just like it I picked up at a garage sale many years ago. They were just about indestructible. I used to ride around the house on Mother’s when I was little, sitting on it and propelling it with my legs. While the repairman worked on my sweeper, the salesman told me the new facts of life. At some point not too long ago, but before I bought the one I have now, the Electrolux brand name was sold to a company which has them made in, you guessed it, China. The parts are mostly plastic and the sweepers have a lifespan of about five years. I paid my $30 bucks, took my Electrolux home and hope to get a couple of more years out of it.
I know about built in obsolescence. It makes new jobs and keeps the economy humming. We see the latest new thing all the time with cars and tech products. I am writing on a dinosaur laptop which is probably five years old. But some things don’t need to keep adding new bells and whistles every year to do their jobs. If there is a real improvement in functionality, fine, otherwise, make them to last. Because, basically, I use my appliances the same way my mother used hers. The stove needs to cook at even temperatures. The washer needs to get clothes clean without beating them to shreds. The vacuum cleaner needs to suck up dirt. And they need to keep doing these things for years and years.
When I checked the internet to see what the range was called, I found a site that was a bulletin board for people looking for cannibalized parts to keep their 1960’s ranges going. Now that’s durable. About a year after I moved in to the house, after trying to get the range repaired and being told that parts were no longer available, I replaced the Frigidaire with a gas range.
Friends of ours have a huge old O’Keefe and Merritt range and GE refrigerator with a small freezer. Both are from the 1950s or before and are still in good working order. They probably aren’t as energy efficient as some of their recently manufactured counterparts on a day to day basis, but I wonder how they stack up when you figure in the environmental costs of manufacturing and transporting new ones and disposing of the old ones?
About a month ago our washer went on the fritz. I spent $65 to have the repairman tell me that it would cost about $225 for the part to fix it, and that it probably wasn’t worth it for a washer that old. The washer was about six years old. When I went to the store to store to buy a new one, the salesman told me the kind I was considering was a dependable brand, that it would last five or six years. When I expressed surprise, he told me that was the norm now. Appliances don’t last very long. I was amazed.
Not long after that, I took my Electrolux vacuum to be repaired. I bought this brand because I remember Mother’s Electrolux and one just like it I picked up at a garage sale many years ago. They were just about indestructible. I used to ride around the house on Mother’s when I was little, sitting on it and propelling it with my legs. While the repairman worked on my sweeper, the salesman told me the new facts of life. At some point not too long ago, but before I bought the one I have now, the Electrolux brand name was sold to a company which has them made in, you guessed it, China. The parts are mostly plastic and the sweepers have a lifespan of about five years. I paid my $30 bucks, took my Electrolux home and hope to get a couple of more years out of it.
I know about built in obsolescence. It makes new jobs and keeps the economy humming. We see the latest new thing all the time with cars and tech products. I am writing on a dinosaur laptop which is probably five years old. But some things don’t need to keep adding new bells and whistles every year to do their jobs. If there is a real improvement in functionality, fine, otherwise, make them to last. Because, basically, I use my appliances the same way my mother used hers. The stove needs to cook at even temperatures. The washer needs to get clothes clean without beating them to shreds. The vacuum cleaner needs to suck up dirt. And they need to keep doing these things for years and years.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Stuff you probably don't need to know, but here it is anyway.
Our house is surrounded by rhododendrons, so I have the opportunity to observe them a lot. As in no matter where you look out of a window, there they are.
Most of the time, they are unremarkable. They put out a few pretty white blossoms in June, then in the fall a few leaves yellow up and drop off. That's pretty much it until the temperature gets down to freezing or below, that is. Then they do this:
Isn't that pathetic? I know that these are Southern Rhodos, but really, they are mountain plants and should be tough. When they do this, you can practically see them shivering.
Here's what they look like when it warms up to 32+ degrees.
Most of the time, they are unremarkable. They put out a few pretty white blossoms in June, then in the fall a few leaves yellow up and drop off. That's pretty much it until the temperature gets down to freezing or below, that is. Then they do this:
Isn't that pathetic? I know that these are Southern Rhodos, but really, they are mountain plants and should be tough. When they do this, you can practically see them shivering.
Here's what they look like when it warms up to 32+ degrees.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Free Cell
I play lots of Free Cell, the solitaire game available on most computers. By lots I mean that since I discovered the game on my first computer in the mid 1980's, I have played thousands and thousands of games. Over all those years and all those games my winning percentage has remained constant. I win two out of three games on average. Sometimes I will have a winning streak, but it is always followed at some point by a losing streak. A 67% winner, that's me.
When I was doing my MSW clinical practicum, I spent many late night hours at the emergency room waiting. One of the main diversions of those late hours was playing free cell. My supervisor played as well. Once I asked him what his winning average was. He said in the 90's. I asked him how he did that. He said that he was a chess player and always played several moves ahead. I tried that strategy. I still averaged about 67%.
In life as in free cell some people seem to win 90% of the time, some 67% and some less. Free cell is like that. Life is like that. 67% is just fine with me.
When I was doing my MSW clinical practicum, I spent many late night hours at the emergency room waiting. One of the main diversions of those late hours was playing free cell. My supervisor played as well. Once I asked him what his winning average was. He said in the 90's. I asked him how he did that. He said that he was a chess player and always played several moves ahead. I tried that strategy. I still averaged about 67%.
In life as in free cell some people seem to win 90% of the time, some 67% and some less. Free cell is like that. Life is like that. 67% is just fine with me.
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