Just got back in the house from walking the dogs and they were very upset during the walk. I couldn’t tell what was bothering them until we got around the back corner of our property and there was a black bear up on the edge of the woods. I only saw it for a brief moment, as the dogs barking must have scared it off. I’m rather glad that the barking didn’t agitate the bear into charging us.
It’s unusual to see a bear this close to the house. I am going to have to be more vigilant while outdoors from now on.
This was sent to me with the title of “Devastation from this morning’s Washington D.C. earthquake” Since I wasn’t aware of any earthquake it caught my attention and I had to open it up. Way too funny not to pass along here with you good folks. Laughter is the best medicine, as the old saying goes.
You can read more at the Washington Examiner
My favorite uncle, who is a proud Vietnam Vet, is looking for a good Mesothelioma Lawyer to help with his fight against this Mesothelioma Disease that we are hearing more and more about, especially on the TV. There has been plenty of Mesothelioma Attorney commercials on the local channels these past few years and the issue isn’t going to go away for many inflicted people.
My uncle never got over his experience in the Vietnam Police Action mentally. He spent a good amount of his time in the service under the waters in a submarine, which is where they believe he contacted this type of cancer. So by serving his country his head is all screwed up for life and now we are learning that his physical condition, which is deteriorating rapidly is due to his time over seas as well. A double whammy, if you will.
The VA has truly been wonderful. They had such a bad reputation for so very long that my uncle stayed away from anything to do with the VA hospital, but thankfully he was persuaded to give them a try, which he did, and it’s all been good, so far and I hope that they continue to take the best possible care of this special person in my family’s life.
We finally got some rain today. It was actually a great thunder and lightening storm that even took the power away for a few minutes, but everything is back in order now. Although I’m sure that there are some trees that were hit and need some professional attention and a few computers and/or TVs that got fried since they were not on surge protectors.
My back yard vegetable garden hasn’t turned out as well as I expected it to, but with this heat wave and practically no rain, it has been a challenge. I spent a good amount of time and money this year on outdoor furniture and garden tools that I’m still trying to salvage for the season. I have been able to use the grills that I got a few years back for outdoor cooking and barbecuing, which has been nice. I am looking for some new decent barbecue tools, my current ones have seen better days and just need to be tossed into the trash to make way for some new ones.
We will have to see what September and October brings us to see if my harvest will be worth all the time, money and effort that I put into my gardening this year. I hope that I can salvage some of it by that time. I can only hope that the rains won’t disappear again on us.
Today when I was driving to town I noticed that all of the BP gas station signs have been changed to simply the word “Shop” with the BP logo beside the word. In much smaller letters you can read BP gasoline. I’ve been wondering how the local stations were going to be able to survive in the aftermath of the horrible destruction in the Gulf from the massive oil spill. I’ve heard so many people talking about how they will never buy BP gasoline again.
It will be interesting to see how this consumer reaction will affect the local gas station owners. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of those gas stations go out of business.
I was browsing the Internet this morning and saw a lot of hoopla about a new creation – a wedding dress that dissolves in water. The photos that are provided with all of the articles look like ballet tutus. What’s up with that? I can’t imagine a bride walking down the aisle in a tutu! Is that really the dress?
The articles talk about how women buy wedding dresses, wear them once and never again. And what a waste it is. In my family, it seems that the women save their wedding dresses in the hopes that one day their daughters will wear them to their weddings! Of course women who only bear sons might have problems with that!
I can remember going to a historical place that held lectures and the lecturer spoke of how wedding dresses used to be black, and that the women wore the same dress to church every Sunday, and that the dress was also used as dress that the woman was buried in. I guess those dresses really earned their keep!
Today was a fabulous weather day. It turned out to be 63 degrees, which is a pleasent change from all of the nasty wet and cold weather that we have been experiencing for so long. I managed to spend some time outside in order to soak in the sun. I ate my lunch outside and I have to tell you that it was a real struggle getting my butt back inside to finish up the day.
We are still trying to recoup from the weekends snow storm which left us with over 2 feet of snow and the skies have opened up once again and there is more snow coming down. We are supposed to get another 10 inches or so in the next 24 hours or so. Many businesses are being hit very hard and power is out everywhere.
Well here we go again. We are supposed to be getting a lot more snow starting tomorrow sometime. My car still has over 2 feet of snow on it’s roof from the storm we got over the weekend. I’ve been driving my truck these past days, the roads are still a mess and I trust my truck a whole lot more than my little Honda in this type of weather.
Guess we will see what happens. It is February.
We had quite the blizzard this weekend – I think we got about 20″ of snow in less than 24 hours! For this area, I understand that is a record for the past 103 years! We lost a few trees in the front yard; the snow was quite wet and heavy this time around. Unfortunately for my wife, who had to go to work, one of the trees that fell blocked the driveway. Fortunately for my wife, I am in my glory when I have the chance to get on my John Deere tractor and push and scoop snow, and when I can start up my chain saw and cut up trees!
So although I am still in a lot of pain from my car accident, I popped a couple of extra pain pills and managed to get our place cleared up enough for my wife to get out to work. I know she certainly appreciated my expertise! Now I hope we don’t get any more snow for a few days, I’m going to be in a lot of pain for the next couple of days!
You can never tell these days if the photos that are being passed around on the Internet are for real or not. I just received this photo in my email today. I got a good laugh out of it and wanted to pass it along here for grins and giggles.
There has been a big push in our community to get people to purchase and install good quality mail boxes. The city is having the street numbers painted on the curbs in front of people’s residences, but they are also asking that the Residential Mailboxes and Commercial Mailboxes have the street numbers printed on them so that our emergency personnel can locate the proper address in a timely fashion.
At a time when every second counts, in the event of an emergency it is best to have everything in place to make the most out of what our taxes are being used for. There has been several times lately that our emergency personnel have not been able to get to where they need to be due to Mailboxes not having the name and proper address on them.
A mailbox can make a difference and I’d like to get the word out here in hopes that more people will take note and possibly save a few lives in the mean time. I’m very glad that our city council has stepped up to the plate and is taking action in this area.
I usually dislike weekend television because there are very few programs on that I enjoy watching. But on the USA network this weekend there have been some good marathons on shows that I enjoy – House, Burn Notice, and Law and Order! I wish that weekend programming was this good all the time! Not that I want marathons all the time, but decent programming would be nice!
I find it so hard to believe that this is really winter. Yes, we have had some snow, and the temperatures are cool, but when I talk to my daughter in New England she is telling me about how much snow they have had and how cold it is up there. I can remember my many winters up there, and the memories are vivid. Talking to her I can almost see the snow and feel the cold. I’m certainly glad that I’m not dealing with that much of that white stuff anymore! And even though we’ve lived here a few years now, it is still hard to believe that it is really winter. Winter down here only feels like autumn to me. I mean after all, the grass might not still be growing, but it is still green! And I can still see it most days!
I know it isn’t officially summer yet, but since I am new to the area, and the weather is so much warmer here than I am used to, it sure feels like summer to me! But I am surprised about how rainy it has been this late spring! Last spring and summer we were in drought conditions, and I was afraid that we were going to lose a lot of our garden due to lack of rain. Well, that certainly has not been a concern so far this spring! It seems to have rained almost every day so far this month! Everyone around here has been commenting on that! It has been very warm, and very wet. The humidity is oppressive – I could certainly do without that!
I was reading an article on the Reuters website earlier today; a friend sent me the link and told me to read it. The article was talking about how solar energy will be cost competitive with fossil fuels by the year 2013. Well, if that is true, I think that the US government should just stop even talking about drilling for oil off the coast of Florida and in Alaska. I understand that even getting that oil drilled and refined will take at least five to ten years to reach the gas pumps, so what’s the point of spoiling the environment when we will have perfectly good alternative fuels ready by then? Now I understand that solar energy will not be able to run everything that needs gasoline, but there ARE other sources of fuel out there that could be used to replace fossil fuels that will be ready to be on the market by then and will be cost competive too.
Personally, I like green cars. I have a green truck. And by that I’m referring to color! But this post is actually about the “other” kind of “green.” The type that are more environmentally friendly. You know, the hybrids. I’m really glad to see that more car manufacturers are turning to the newer technology of going electric and/or hybrid. We’d really like to get one of the hybrid cars someday. Hopefully the economy will turn around soon so we can buy one!
My mother in law bought a hybrid car a few years ago. I think it was a Honda. She bragged about what great mileage it got – about 50 miles to the gallon! Unfortunately one of her sons convinced her that it was a good idea to get rid of it when it was only two years old – he told her that her battery was going to need to be replaced and that was going to be really expensive. So she traded it in for a car that doesn’t get as good mileage. Sadly the dealer that took her trade in ripped her off and did not give her the full value of the car! Personally, the next time she buys a car I’d like to see her buy a new Nissan cube; I think she would be really happy with that!
My wife keeps talking about checking out the Ford Fiesta; she thinks it’s really cute. It’s been a long time since I’ve owned a Ford! As for me, I’m more inclined to want to buy a Toyota pickup truck: I owned a nice Toyota pickup truck when I was younger, and I really liked the way it handled. I’ve always wanted to keep a pick-up in the household for all of those chores that required a truck. I just can’t imagine what life would be like with us only owning cars and no trucks!
I was reading on the Reutors website that New York City’s taxi cab fleet be changing. The Mayor of the city, Michael Bloomberg has announced that there is no an agreement in place with car manufacturers that they will supply the city with 300 new hybrid cars each month. Each hybrid taxi car is expected to save its drivers about $6500 each year in fuel costs. There currently are over 1300 hybrid cars serving as taxies in New York.
I think that is good news on several different levels. First of all, it is good news for the drivers, who are usually struggling for income in the first place. Second, it is good news for the environment; using less fossil fuel is always good for the environment! So, congrats to New York City taxis for going green!
I was surprised to read in the Time.com website that underneath this red clay, in the Piedmont section of Virginia (which is where I live) sits a huge deposit of uranium. And, there is talk about mining it, to fuel nuclear reactors to generate electricity. I have a lot of concerns about that. From what I understand nuclear energy still is problematic because there is no good solution for where to put the nuclear waste. And mining uranium can put the environment, and our health at risk. Yeah, I have some concerns about that.
Recently I was reading on the Time.com website that scientists have discovered an area in Utah where there is a concentration of dinosaur footprints (and possibly tail drag marks) that are so closely concentrated together that they have decided to call it a “dinosaur dance floor.” The theory is that the area was an oasis in a desert so many dinosaurs went there for water. The scientists say that many of the footprints were originally thought to be simply “potholes” but were recently discovered to have toe and heel prints. The site is along the Arizona-Utah border, in a protected wilderness area. Good thing it’s in a protected wilderness area! They should have plenty of time to research that area without worrying about commercialism paving it over!
I thought that submarines were equipped with things like sonar and radar to prevent them from running into things when they were submerged! I was reading an article on the Yahoo news that was reporting that two submarines (1 British and 1 French) collided with each other while submerged in the Atlantic Ocean. Apparently neither one knew the other was there! These were nuclear submarines, people! This could have been a huge disaster! I hope that there is going to be some huge investigation that results in this kind of accident never happening again! It’s lucky that there was no nuclear disaster as a result from the collision!
Apparently the buzzword of the decade is “green.” Everywhere I look, I see a sign or a commercial or an article in a paper or magazine, or website touting how a company is “green.” I think that is a good thing, but I also remember reading a newspaper article recently about how some unscrupulous companies are claiming to be “green” when they really are not. I was really surprised when I learned that some website hosting companies are “going green.”
The webhostinggeeks.com website reviews and rates web hosting services, and they indicate that there are some “green webhosting services.” They have reviewed and rated them, and surprisingly enough their prices are really competitive! So if you need a web hosting service, let me encourage you to check out these “green” ones!
Schumacher Homes Ohio is one of the many branches of the custom home builder of the Schumacher Home family. The Schumacher Home Company has branches in many of the states. One of the advantages of a Schumacher Home is that it is a quality home that can be customized to fit the buyer’s family, so they are more likely to be comfortable and happy enough in their new custom home that they will not outgrow it and want to sell it in a few years. Another advantage is that with the newest construction methods; you know you are getting the latest technology with such important features such as insulation and energy saving appliances.
With the holidays fast approaching, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to be hearing (and reading) more warnings about all of the toxic toys on the market. I am totally amazed that these manufacturers are continuing to manufacture this kind of poisonous garbage. As far as I’m concerned, these companies, and their CEO’s should be arrested and charged with aggravated assault. I was reading about the dangerous toys on the market, but not reading that they have been recalled yet. I sure hope they are recalled, and NOT allowed to stay on the market! I don’t know, maybe we need to set up a system where whenever anyone buys a toy they have to sign a national registry so if and when the toy is recalled that particular consumer will receive a written notice about the recall! Now I know that a lot of people would cry that violates some privacy issues, but the health of our kids are on the line here!
My brother-in-law Andy owns a Prius, and has been bragging to me about how much he loves his car. From the sounds of it, he has made a good choice for his family. There’s a website I’ve discovered recently that specializes in electric and hybrid parts and accessories. I was looking through the website earlier today and found some great innovative products that I want to tell Andy about that he could get for his Prius to make it run better and get better mileage.
There is a kit for sale on the website that makes the car use electric only up to 34 miles per hour. It only costs $69.95 and is easy to install. How can you beat that? You can’t!
They also sell a grounds systems that improves the torque, response, starting ability and mileage. That only costs $109.99! Those two products alone will improve mileage, and if you combine the two, you are spending less than $200 – certainly a very wise investment!
For a little bit more money ($224.99) you can buy a Hyper Voltage System that will increase horsepower and increase mileage at the same time!
The website also sells Green car care and natural cleaners to help keep the car looking good without further polluting the environment with harsh cleaning chemicals. All in all, this is a good website to turn to if looking for products and accessories for electric and hybrid cars.
The past couple of days the weather has been really crazy. It’s difficult for my wife to figure out what to wear to work – she’s been working part time the past couple of months as a substitute school bus driver until she can find a better paying full time job. (That’s going to be hard to do because school bus drivers get paid pretty well!) Anyway, as I was saying, the crazy weather has made it hard for her to figure out what to wear – the school buses don’t warm up very quickly so when she leaves the house in the morning it is in the 30’s (and this morning it was mixed precipitation!) but by the middle of the day it is in the 50’s.
So she has been dressing in layers and peeling off clothes as the bus (and day) warm up, but it is still a challenge to figure out how many layers, and exactly how warm each layer should be! She has been catching a lot of colds and I suspect that is probably due largely to her being exposed to so many weird weather conditions (in addition to be subjected to the germs the kids have!) I’ll be glad when she gets a job where she doesn’t have to worry about the outside temperature and how many layers of clothes to wear!
I was reading on the Time.com website that the EPA is going to be recognizing that Carbon Dioxide as a pollutant. At first I wondered why that was an important story, but as I continued to read it became clear that it is very important because it is going to effect the way new coal plants will be allowed to operate. It means that the EPA will regulate the emissions and that the coal plants will have to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. This means less pollution in the air, which is good for all of us!
My wife and I have been talking about how to best dispose of our garbage. She would really like to compost and has been asking me for months to set up a compost pile. She keeps telling me that the compost would be good for our garden. We don’t have a garbage disposal: and I tell her that I’d rather just get a garbage disposal. Composting sounds like a lot of work, and I don’t feel like doing the work. She tells me that garbage disposals are bad for septic systems, but I know lots of people with septic systems have garbage disposals!
I was reading an article on the Slate.com news website that discusses whether people should use garbage disposals or just put their garbage in the trash to be hauled to a landfill. The article assumes that no one has a septic system, and it recommends compost piles as the first and best choice, the garbage disposal as the second best choice, and putting garbage in the trash to be hauled to the landfill as the worst choice. I wish the article had addressed septic systems!
