I love Hawaii, I must admit. We have family there, and Hawaii will be the one reason I'll deal with the misery of flying (not really any other reasonable way to get there). Here's one more reason to love Hawaii: the state now requires solar hot water heaters on all new homes. Brilliant!
Seeing as it's pau hana time, I'll drink to that one.
Friday, June 27, 2008
The joy Interstate travel
This driver in Maryland is a man after my own heart. Glenn Conrad got pulled over by a statie for driving 50 MPH on I-95 - the speed limit is 65 MPH. I'm trying to remember, but when I drove I-95 through MD, I don't remember there being a "minimum speed limit" sign in that state (some states DO have them, and I think they are generally a good idea).
The reason he was driving 50 MPH on the interstate? He was saving gas. When the cop pulled him over, Conrad was getting 69 miles to the gallon. Smart guy. His only problem is that the rest of the world is in a hurry, and they are likely to kill him.
But why is it this way? Why is it more acceptable to speed than it is to drive slow? I'm willing to bet there were people going close to 80 MPH that the cop could have pulled over instead. With falling tax revenues, you'd think the state police would like to have more money in their budget. My guess is that the cop thought Conrad was perhaps drunk or high.
During the 1970s fuel crisis, speed limits were much lower. Why? It's more fuel efficient. It amazes me that we as a society haven't yet figured out how much money we'd save by dropping the speed limits, not to mention the increase in safety (and speeding ticket revenue). Many of the people who complain about the high price of gas are the very same people who race stop light to stop light, peel out at intersections, and floor it on the highway going 80 MPH. The only thing that aggressive driving behavior accomplishes is showing the rest of the world what an idiot you are. Or perhaps you're compensating for something (small anatomy, perhaps - or, more likely, small brain).
On the other hand, 50 MPH is a little dangerous in a 65 MPH zone. But between 55 and 60 SHOULD be acceptable. In theory, 65 is the LIMIT - thats the fastest you are supposed to go. It does NOT mean you HAVE to drive at that speed. I choose to go about 5-8 MPH under the speed limit (in the right or middle lane, depending on how many on/off ramps there are) - there is no one in the world that is important enough to me to speed for (or even waste extra gas for). I leave a few minutes earlier. Its really not a big deal.
Think about. Crude oil broke $142 a barrel today. We're paying above $4 a gas. I traded in our truck in Texas when gas hit $1.50 and got a Civic because I could read the writing on the wall. A year later, I ditched the Audi because it got 20 MPG and took premium fuel (granted, I now have an SUV that holds 8 people - and IT gets the same mileage the audi did - except the SUV is a ULEV, takes regular fuel, and holds twice as much stuff/people). Its time for all of us to wake up and realize that life as we previously knew it is likely over.
It's time to adapt.
The reason he was driving 50 MPH on the interstate? He was saving gas. When the cop pulled him over, Conrad was getting 69 miles to the gallon. Smart guy. His only problem is that the rest of the world is in a hurry, and they are likely to kill him.
But why is it this way? Why is it more acceptable to speed than it is to drive slow? I'm willing to bet there were people going close to 80 MPH that the cop could have pulled over instead. With falling tax revenues, you'd think the state police would like to have more money in their budget. My guess is that the cop thought Conrad was perhaps drunk or high.
During the 1970s fuel crisis, speed limits were much lower. Why? It's more fuel efficient. It amazes me that we as a society haven't yet figured out how much money we'd save by dropping the speed limits, not to mention the increase in safety (and speeding ticket revenue). Many of the people who complain about the high price of gas are the very same people who race stop light to stop light, peel out at intersections, and floor it on the highway going 80 MPH. The only thing that aggressive driving behavior accomplishes is showing the rest of the world what an idiot you are. Or perhaps you're compensating for something (small anatomy, perhaps - or, more likely, small brain).
On the other hand, 50 MPH is a little dangerous in a 65 MPH zone. But between 55 and 60 SHOULD be acceptable. In theory, 65 is the LIMIT - thats the fastest you are supposed to go. It does NOT mean you HAVE to drive at that speed. I choose to go about 5-8 MPH under the speed limit (in the right or middle lane, depending on how many on/off ramps there are) - there is no one in the world that is important enough to me to speed for (or even waste extra gas for). I leave a few minutes earlier. Its really not a big deal.
Think about. Crude oil broke $142 a barrel today. We're paying above $4 a gas. I traded in our truck in Texas when gas hit $1.50 and got a Civic because I could read the writing on the wall. A year later, I ditched the Audi because it got 20 MPG and took premium fuel (granted, I now have an SUV that holds 8 people - and IT gets the same mileage the audi did - except the SUV is a ULEV, takes regular fuel, and holds twice as much stuff/people). Its time for all of us to wake up and realize that life as we previously knew it is likely over.
It's time to adapt.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Flooding & Gas Prices
The Midwest is having a 500-year flood event. They had a 100-year flood event in 1993, and this is way worse. I'm glad we had to occasion to drive through the Midwest (Des Moines, Omaha, etc) so I have mental pictures to attach to these stories. Makes it more real somehow. I-90 is closed in places. Amtrak isn't running. They are in serious, serious trouble.
Just read this on CNN.com: "Midwest Floods May Send Gas Up 15%" due to rising corn futures (the Midwest grows our corn, which makes ethanol, which is a federally mandated gasoline additive). Apparently, as the flooding has increased, so have the cost of corn futures. What I find interesting about this is that no one, as of yet, has said a damn thing about the impact of rising corn futures on food prices. We're so worried about our precious cars that we're missing the idea that corn prices were already high, and food prices are just going to climb higher because of this.
Just wait. In a day or two, this will sink in, and you'll be hearing all sorts of projections regarding the rising cost of food.
In the mean time, New England continues to have a relatively dry spring. We had four days in the high 90s around here - broke 100 a few times. And very little rain. I was so worried about the plants that we had planted at the CSA during the heat wave that I went over to water them on a non-work day in 95 degree heat. I couldn't focus on my own work knowing that those yet-to-be established plants were baking in the sun.
In fact, I heard the tale end of an interview on the local NPR station yesterday - while Massachusetts officials are assuring us that we have plenty of drinking water, they are urging us to conserve, conserve, conserve... go tell that to my neighbor on the conservation commission who insists on watering her lawn in the middle of the day on a 90+ day.
New Englanders aren't dumb. But they don't know a damn thing about water conservation, and I fear by the time they figure out, we'll all be screwed.
----
On a more uplifting note, we gave blood again today. Have you given blood recently? We got free cookies & brownies. I filled my back in 3 minutes and 48 seconds. Took my spouse 7 minutes+... Therefore, I win!
Just read this on CNN.com: "Midwest Floods May Send Gas Up 15%" due to rising corn futures (the Midwest grows our corn, which makes ethanol, which is a federally mandated gasoline additive). Apparently, as the flooding has increased, so have the cost of corn futures. What I find interesting about this is that no one, as of yet, has said a damn thing about the impact of rising corn futures on food prices. We're so worried about our precious cars that we're missing the idea that corn prices were already high, and food prices are just going to climb higher because of this.
Just wait. In a day or two, this will sink in, and you'll be hearing all sorts of projections regarding the rising cost of food.
In the mean time, New England continues to have a relatively dry spring. We had four days in the high 90s around here - broke 100 a few times. And very little rain. I was so worried about the plants that we had planted at the CSA during the heat wave that I went over to water them on a non-work day in 95 degree heat. I couldn't focus on my own work knowing that those yet-to-be established plants were baking in the sun.
In fact, I heard the tale end of an interview on the local NPR station yesterday - while Massachusetts officials are assuring us that we have plenty of drinking water, they are urging us to conserve, conserve, conserve... go tell that to my neighbor on the conservation commission who insists on watering her lawn in the middle of the day on a 90+ day.
New Englanders aren't dumb. But they don't know a damn thing about water conservation, and I fear by the time they figure out, we'll all be screwed.
----
On a more uplifting note, we gave blood again today. Have you given blood recently? We got free cookies & brownies. I filled my back in 3 minutes and 48 seconds. Took my spouse 7 minutes+... Therefore, I win!
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Rainy days...
We need the rain. Badly. Don't get me wrong - I know we need the rain - we've needed rain all spring (ever since my basement stopped flooding). When I smash the small clumps of garden soil between my thumb and my forefinger, all I get is a small dust explosion that's appropriate only for late August or September. This is high on the list of things that shouldn't be during a New England June.
It rained all day yesterday, and I don't think the high temperature broke 60 degrees. A wee bit dreary. It's still in the 50s out with showers scheduled for today, but I've opened all the windows to try and store some of that coolness in the house (as a giant heat sink). The highs forecast for this weekend are 92 on Saturday and 94 on Sunday. June, in New England. You just never know.
I was so cold & damp yesterday that I made 2 loaves of honey whole wheat bread. I think it's quite possible it was my best bread yet. I didn't kneed it by hand at all - after setting some galvanized steel posts at the CSA farm yesterday, my wrist just wasn't up to it (carpal tunnel flair up - its been about 15 months since the last one). This is where the stand mixer comes in handy. I just let that dough hook fly away and make a god-awful racket for 8 minutes or so. Worked perfectly. In the end, I had two perfect loaves of honey whole wheat bread that smelled a little citrus-y (I let the loaves rise a little too long, so I think the yeast was very happy). The house smelled great - to the point where I was constantly hunting for a snack for the rest of the day and evening.
I'm going to try to enjoy today's dreariness. It might be the last cool day for some time. Even the 10 day forecast shows highs in the mid to upper 80s for as long as the eye can see. As of Saturday my peppers should be growing like crazy.
It rained all day yesterday, and I don't think the high temperature broke 60 degrees. A wee bit dreary. It's still in the 50s out with showers scheduled for today, but I've opened all the windows to try and store some of that coolness in the house (as a giant heat sink). The highs forecast for this weekend are 92 on Saturday and 94 on Sunday. June, in New England. You just never know.
I was so cold & damp yesterday that I made 2 loaves of honey whole wheat bread. I think it's quite possible it was my best bread yet. I didn't kneed it by hand at all - after setting some galvanized steel posts at the CSA farm yesterday, my wrist just wasn't up to it (carpal tunnel flair up - its been about 15 months since the last one). This is where the stand mixer comes in handy. I just let that dough hook fly away and make a god-awful racket for 8 minutes or so. Worked perfectly. In the end, I had two perfect loaves of honey whole wheat bread that smelled a little citrus-y (I let the loaves rise a little too long, so I think the yeast was very happy). The house smelled great - to the point where I was constantly hunting for a snack for the rest of the day and evening.
I'm going to try to enjoy today's dreariness. It might be the last cool day for some time. Even the 10 day forecast shows highs in the mid to upper 80s for as long as the eye can see. As of Saturday my peppers should be growing like crazy.
On Food
So while at the Cod (which is what my niece used to call the Cape) I picked up a Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingslover. I'm now half-way through it, and it is flying by. I've been meaning to read this book since it came out, but the waiting line at the library is 10 people deep. So when we had a slow, rainy day on Saturday, I went to the local bookstore and picked it up (great store, by the way...).
I've been a believer in local food. I've been a believer of organic food. But this book has served well as a heavy reminder to not slack off... Go read it. It's an easy read. I've found that books with this much information in them tend to read like text books, and are very preachy. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is not. Nor is it solely about local food. It's a good, easy read. Put it on your summer reading list. It's an adventure.
So with this book in mind, I've just run across an article on CNN's website, which left me shaking my head. "FDA Urged to Ban 8 Food Dyes" describes how a consumer advocacy group is urging the FDA to ban these food dyes because they increase hyperactivity and behavior problems in kids. Great. Fine. But the issue I had in the article is this: the REASON these dyes are IN kids foods in the first place is to make them more colorful so they will be more appealing and appear like healthier choices. It suddenly became very clear to me. Why do we need to ban the DYES? Are the dyes really the issue here? Shouldn't we be more concerned with the absence of any actual nutritional value of these foods in the first place? Ban the dyes? Are you kidding me? How about we just ban these crappy foods that we are tricked into feeding our kids? How about we ban marketing campaigns directed at children (who aren't able to make decisions based on nutrition - mainly because their parents aren't able to either)? High fructose corn syrup is NOT a vegetable. Anything that requires a dye to make it more appetizing should be a GIANT red flashing light- if we have to trick our eyes into thinking "it's colorful, it must be good" then maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't be eating that crap. Apparently, these dyes are also injected into fruits to make them more appetizing. WHAT? How about we stop trying to hide how unhealthy the factory farmed produce is?
So my sister & brother-in-law recently bought a vacation cottage on the Cod. This is great - they'll rent it out sometimes, and they'll use it sometimes, and we'll use it sometimes. It'll be good. They have a ridiculous amount of money. Range Rover, Volvo, horseback riding lessons (don't own a horse YET), my BIL has a Harley just for fun. They are rolling in it. But the house is full of sodas, yodels, those little apple pies that come in individually wrapped packages... BBQing involves char-burned hot dogs and tasteless hamburger patties than come preformed in a shrink wrapped Styrofoam package wrapped in plastic - with the little pieces of paper in between the patties. I watched my 8 year old niece single handedly devour an entire tin of brownies, and no one said a thing. Basically, the cheapest, least healthy food money can buy. And it occurs to me... if you have enough money to buy a vacation home, shouldn't you have enough money to feed your family decent food? Why is they kind of car you drive more important than what you feed your kids? What could be more important than what you take into your body and forms the foundation of your health and life expectancy? Why is it that the more affluent someone is (generally) the more they eat convenience foods filled with dyes, artificial sweeteners and partially hydrogenated oils? How is this progress? Why is it that no one cares?
And we wonder why we have a health care crisis. Come on people.
Why buy your kids the best of everything only to feed them the lowest common denominator of food? Why send them to a good school while ensuring they have a shorter life span than that of your generation? It makes no sense... I'm baffled.
I've been a believer in local food. I've been a believer of organic food. But this book has served well as a heavy reminder to not slack off... Go read it. It's an easy read. I've found that books with this much information in them tend to read like text books, and are very preachy. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is not. Nor is it solely about local food. It's a good, easy read. Put it on your summer reading list. It's an adventure.
So with this book in mind, I've just run across an article on CNN's website, which left me shaking my head. "FDA Urged to Ban 8 Food Dyes" describes how a consumer advocacy group is urging the FDA to ban these food dyes because they increase hyperactivity and behavior problems in kids. Great. Fine. But the issue I had in the article is this: the REASON these dyes are IN kids foods in the first place is to make them more colorful so they will be more appealing and appear like healthier choices. It suddenly became very clear to me. Why do we need to ban the DYES? Are the dyes really the issue here? Shouldn't we be more concerned with the absence of any actual nutritional value of these foods in the first place? Ban the dyes? Are you kidding me? How about we just ban these crappy foods that we are tricked into feeding our kids? How about we ban marketing campaigns directed at children (who aren't able to make decisions based on nutrition - mainly because their parents aren't able to either)? High fructose corn syrup is NOT a vegetable. Anything that requires a dye to make it more appetizing should be a GIANT red flashing light- if we have to trick our eyes into thinking "it's colorful, it must be good" then maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't be eating that crap. Apparently, these dyes are also injected into fruits to make them more appetizing. WHAT? How about we stop trying to hide how unhealthy the factory farmed produce is?
So my sister & brother-in-law recently bought a vacation cottage on the Cod. This is great - they'll rent it out sometimes, and they'll use it sometimes, and we'll use it sometimes. It'll be good. They have a ridiculous amount of money. Range Rover, Volvo, horseback riding lessons (don't own a horse YET), my BIL has a Harley just for fun. They are rolling in it. But the house is full of sodas, yodels, those little apple pies that come in individually wrapped packages... BBQing involves char-burned hot dogs and tasteless hamburger patties than come preformed in a shrink wrapped Styrofoam package wrapped in plastic - with the little pieces of paper in between the patties. I watched my 8 year old niece single handedly devour an entire tin of brownies, and no one said a thing. Basically, the cheapest, least healthy food money can buy. And it occurs to me... if you have enough money to buy a vacation home, shouldn't you have enough money to feed your family decent food? Why is they kind of car you drive more important than what you feed your kids? What could be more important than what you take into your body and forms the foundation of your health and life expectancy? Why is it that the more affluent someone is (generally) the more they eat convenience foods filled with dyes, artificial sweeteners and partially hydrogenated oils? How is this progress? Why is it that no one cares?
And we wonder why we have a health care crisis. Come on people.
Why buy your kids the best of everything only to feed them the lowest common denominator of food? Why send them to a good school while ensuring they have a shorter life span than that of your generation? It makes no sense... I'm baffled.
Monday, June 02, 2008
The Cape
I've spent the last 2 weekends on the cape. It's about a two hour drive down there, but I don't use the car much once I get there (4 hours of driving on the weekend isn't unusual anyway - bad, I know, but where we live, everything is 45 minutes away anyway - all in different directions). Memorial day weekend I went down just for the day on Sunday (to help my sister's family get their new cottage straightened up), and last weekend we went down for the full weekend (did some landscaping, installed a wireless router, and painted a room). We also had time to take some walks. Lots of walks - we brought the dogs with us. Surprise - the dogs really enjoyed themselves, at least once they realized we weren't leaving them here.
One thing we did was visit the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. A new exhibit had opened up called, ironically (to me): "A Sense of Place". So of course I had to go. I am now on a quest for new reading material - for some crazy reason, I hadn't realized that Thoreau had written about visiting the Cape. Don't know why he WOULDN'T - it just didn't occur to me - and he's been popping up a lot recently (again). The exhibit was focused on three naturalist-writers from the Cape (or who wrote about the cape): Henry Beston, John Hay, and Robert Finch. Robert Finch's essays are read on WCAI the Cape & the Islands NPR station 3 times a week - twice on Tuesday and once on Wednesday. They are also available via podcast from the radio station.
I have a lot to learn. A lot to absorb. A whole other environment.
This past weekend was another instance of me coming to the realization that what I've been looking for was under my nose all along. I really enjoyed the time we spent in Mississippi - I had never lived that close to the ocean before. Feeling the salt air everyday, watching the water. The shore birds. The clouds drifting in, shifting and either exploding or dissolving as they see fit. While in Mississippi I spent a fair amount of time at the National Seashore just sitting, watching, absorbing. I hadn't realized how important that was to me until now I get it back a little bit. The absorption in the first step in getting to really know a place.
So many people travel, travel, travel. At a quick pace. They bang out various landmarks on a checklist and then rush back into their air conditioned cars to get to the airport. Then they enter the time warp that is air travel. I may not have realized this phenomonon had I not spent time moving around and being forced to start over. Whats the point of the tourists checklist? What did you really learn? There is never enough time - I am never in one place long enough to learn it, to know it. In the end, vacationing is dissatisfying for that reason - I become frustrated more than anything else. You can now say you've "been" somewhere, but that means so little. What does that place smell like in different seasons? How does the late change through the day, throughout the year? What would happen in that alternative reality where you just stay and never go home?
Another thing I realized: your feet toughen up quickly. By yesterday midday, I was hiking barefoot. Which was eye-opening: my feet are the one part of my body constantly in touch with a place. Hiking barefoot brings a whole other dimension to the hiking experience. I had a very tactile hike yesterday. The changing textures under foot made the transitions between sand dunes to marsh to meadow to upland wooded area immediately obvious. The sudden coolness of stone steps, the pillowy softness of the fine sand right before the transition to the meadow area, the hot sand in the sun - it all adds yet another dimension to the experience. Unconsciously, my brain started working in other ways, realizing without internally verbalizing what geomorphic processes may be at work where I happened to be standing. It was not unpleasant.
One thing we did was visit the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. A new exhibit had opened up called, ironically (to me): "A Sense of Place". So of course I had to go. I am now on a quest for new reading material - for some crazy reason, I hadn't realized that Thoreau had written about visiting the Cape. Don't know why he WOULDN'T - it just didn't occur to me - and he's been popping up a lot recently (again). The exhibit was focused on three naturalist-writers from the Cape (or who wrote about the cape): Henry Beston, John Hay, and Robert Finch. Robert Finch's essays are read on WCAI the Cape & the Islands NPR station 3 times a week - twice on Tuesday and once on Wednesday. They are also available via podcast from the radio station.
I have a lot to learn. A lot to absorb. A whole other environment.
This past weekend was another instance of me coming to the realization that what I've been looking for was under my nose all along. I really enjoyed the time we spent in Mississippi - I had never lived that close to the ocean before. Feeling the salt air everyday, watching the water. The shore birds. The clouds drifting in, shifting and either exploding or dissolving as they see fit. While in Mississippi I spent a fair amount of time at the National Seashore just sitting, watching, absorbing. I hadn't realized how important that was to me until now I get it back a little bit. The absorption in the first step in getting to really know a place.
So many people travel, travel, travel. At a quick pace. They bang out various landmarks on a checklist and then rush back into their air conditioned cars to get to the airport. Then they enter the time warp that is air travel. I may not have realized this phenomonon had I not spent time moving around and being forced to start over. Whats the point of the tourists checklist? What did you really learn? There is never enough time - I am never in one place long enough to learn it, to know it. In the end, vacationing is dissatisfying for that reason - I become frustrated more than anything else. You can now say you've "been" somewhere, but that means so little. What does that place smell like in different seasons? How does the late change through the day, throughout the year? What would happen in that alternative reality where you just stay and never go home?
Another thing I realized: your feet toughen up quickly. By yesterday midday, I was hiking barefoot. Which was eye-opening: my feet are the one part of my body constantly in touch with a place. Hiking barefoot brings a whole other dimension to the hiking experience. I had a very tactile hike yesterday. The changing textures under foot made the transitions between sand dunes to marsh to meadow to upland wooded area immediately obvious. The sudden coolness of stone steps, the pillowy softness of the fine sand right before the transition to the meadow area, the hot sand in the sun - it all adds yet another dimension to the experience. Unconsciously, my brain started working in other ways, realizing without internally verbalizing what geomorphic processes may be at work where I happened to be standing. It was not unpleasant.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)