Having Monday off, I went to work today feeling like it was Monday. I tried to nurse that feeling along, so that tomorrow when I go to work and think it is Tuesday, which, let’s face it, is really just Post-Monday, I will be delighted to discover it is really Wednesday!! And Wednesday is really Pre-Thursday, and Thursday is Pre-Friday, so it is almost the weekend!!!

Ahhhh….the sick things we do to keep ourselves employed and thus paying the mortgage, which is silly these days, since we owe about $80K more than the house is now worth. We are renting with a tax right off.

Anyway, on the way home today on I-95, after a very long day, I saw this beautiful Lotus Elisein in the so-called express lane. I am not allowed by the FDOT to enjoy the Express Lane, so I admired this beautiful car as I passed it.  Some express lane, eh? Poor sap paid for that benefit.

But later on, once we got through the 151St jam and then through the freaking toll booth highway robbers and got on the turnpike, I saw this yellow blur pass me. I was doing 72, and this blur zoomed by on the right of me. I managed to catch a shot of him, as he vanished in the distance like my youth and my hair did. Thankfully, I had my 300mm zoom lens attached to my Canon at the time, and of course, it was sitting securely in the passenger seat.

Just for kicks when back at the computer I zoomed in to the driver’s side rear view mirror. The image was very grainy but it clearly was a guy with dark sunglasses.

The car goes for well over $50,000 and also goes from zero to 60MPH in 4.9 seconds, has a top speed of 150 MPH and gets 21 miles to the gallon in the city. Ya know, if I was rich, and felt the need to purchase an overly expensive car, I would go for the Lotus rather than the Hummer. Granted, they make some “cheap” hummers in the mid $30,000 range, stripped down. But the price quickly exceeds $60,000 for many models. Gas mileage? About 12 miles to the gallon. And I doubt it can outrun an inflamed possum.

Just another reason I ask, “Why would anyone purchase a hummer???”

Oh well, it takes all kinds I guess.

Now, if they let me purchase the real military Humvee, fully equipped with machine guns, I’ll buy that in a heartbeat! Yeah, want to see an express lane, eh? I’ll show you a express lane alright! (Insert sound of machine gun fire.)

Peace out people! And Happy Monday night!   (Shhhhhhhh!)

SCG

So, I’m in the dark about this lighting controversy.The big switch from incandescence bulbs to CFL bulbs in 2012, which by the way, may be why the Mayan calendar ends right about then.  I’ve read where congress ordered the banning of incandescent light bulbs for most residential purposes by 2012. The reasoning behind this is that regular light bulbs consume far more energy in the construction process, and since America still uses coal powered electricity plants, this creates pollution.  Seems to me the issue is we don’t have enough nuclear powered plants? We are switching to CFL lights which are compact fluorescent lights. Which are made almost exclusively in China, which uses unregulated coal power plants to construct them, and which has a sterling record of environmental due diligence. This all seems odd to me.

Apparently, this big switch is designed to slow down global warming by using less power and polluting less. But scientists are now predicting a thirty year period of earth cooling. So, how is this helping? I’m confused.

I also don’t want to buy my light bulbs from China. Has any product come out of that country that isn’t coated with lead or have some other dangerous issue?

And then there is the mercury thing. Apparently CFL bulbs have mercury gas in them. There are seperate rules for deposing of regular light bulbs versus CFL bulbs.

Regular light bulbs: Place blown-out light bulbs in a baggie before throwing them away. If it is accidentally crushed, the pieces won’t tear the garbage bag.

CFL bulbs:
The lamp contains a small amount of mercury, but you can clean this up yourself if you do the following:
• Do not use a vacuum cleaner to clean up the breakage.  This will spread the mercury vapor and dust throughout the area and
could potentially contaminate the vacuum.
• Keep people and pets away from the breakage area until the cleanup is complete.
• Ventilate the area by opening windows, and leave the area for 15 minutes before returning to begin the cleanup.  Mercury vapor
levels will be lower by then.
• For maximum protection and if you have them, wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from the sharp glass.
• Carefully remove the larger pieces and place them in a secure closed container, preferably a glass container with a metal screw top lid and seal like a canning jar.40  A glass jar with a good  seal works best to contain any mercury vapors inside.
• Next, begin collecting the smaller pieces and dust. You can use two stiff pieces of paper such as index cards or playing cards to scoop up pieces.
• Pat the area with the sticky side of duct tape, packing tape or masking tape to pick up fine particles.  Wipe the area with a wet wipe or damp paper towel to pick up even finer particles.
• Put all waste and materials into the glass container, including all material used in the cleanup that may have been contaminated with mercury.  Label the container as “Universal Waste -broken lamp.”
• Remove the container with the breakage and cleanup materials from your home.  This is particularly important if you do not have a glass container.
• Continue ventilating the room for several hours.
• Wash your hands and face.
• Take the glass container with the waste material to a facility that accepts “universal waste” for recycling.  To determine where your municipality has made arrangements for recycling of this type of waste, call your municipal office or go to MaineDEP.com, click on “Fluorescent Light Bulb Information” and look for the link to municipal collection sites.
• When a break happens on carpeting, homeowners may consider removing throw rugs or the area of carpet where the breakage occurred as a precaution, particularly if the rug is in an area frequented by infants, small children or pregnant women.
• Finally, if the carpet is not removed, open the window to the room during the next several times you vacuum the carpet to provide good ventilation. The next time you replace a lamp, consider putting a drop cloth on the floor so that any accidental breakage can be easily cleaned up.  If consumers remain concerned regarding safety, they may consider not utilizing fluorescent lamps in situations where they could easily be broken. Consumers  may also consider avoiding CFL usage in bedrooms or carpeted areas frequented by infants, small children, or pregnant women.  Finally, consider not storing too many used/spent lamps before recycling as that may increase your chances of breakage.  Don’t forget to properly recycle your used fluorescent bulbs so they don’t break and put mercury into our environment.

I wonder how many people will follow these instructions?

I have to research this more. It sure seems odd,

Bt maybe the Mayans were on to something . . .

SCG

I’m off work today, with only a scant few chores assigned to me by my wife. One of them was to sit outside in the back yard and enjoy the uncharacteristically cool morning. I followed orders. I fired my camera over one hundred times, and managed to acquire a few interesting photographs. This one is of a Northern Blue Jay flying through the yard.

I enjoy trying to photograph birds in air. In fact, most anything in air. Birds, airplanes, butterflies, small children, coins, just about anything that is in the air or can be tossed into the air.  I didn’t catch the butterfly in the air, but I did capture this calendar page representing Spring.

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I was in the grocery store yesterday as I usually am shopping for the week, I love grocery shopping and my wife hates it. Match made in heaven. Anyway, it occurred to me that the grocery stores should be set up like the Internet. The Internet is very helpful. If I type in something and misspell it, it says, “Did you mean. . . “. And if you go to Wikipedia and type in “Big Bang Theory” it might will bring up the cosmological space theory about the origins of the universe. But….it will show you other options, and sure enough, what I really was seeking was information about the CBS comedy “Big Bang Theory” which is my new favorite show.

Why can’t grocery stores be as helpful as the Internet?

For instance, normally I have a stress-free grocery experience. But yesterday, my wife added some weird things to our normal grocery list I hate it when a woman asks you to buy something, It is never as simple as “Hunts Ketchup”, or “Whole Milk”. Noooo…it is some weird thing, like Horseradish. And then she goes out of her way to instruct me that I should not come home with the wrong type of Horseradish. It mustn’t be cream or sauce. It must be “regular” horseradish, which means whatever she defines as regular.

So, there I am in the aisle of condiments, standing in front of a shelf of seventeen different types of horseradish, including grated. Who knew there were that many? More importantly, why are there so many???  I sort out the creamed ans sauced and grated and anything else that has another word associated with “Horseradish”. I’m looking for “Regular” horseradish, so I assume that means just plain horseradish.

I don’t see anything that looks “regular”. I call the wife. She asks me where I am standing. I provide her with that information. She says I’m in the wrong place, that I need to go to the refrigerated section where the Kosher hot dogs are.

“But I’m in the aisle with seventeen types of horseradish!” I explain.

“The regular horseradish is kept in the refrigerated section.” She explains.

So, this is where wikipedia would pop up and say “Did you mean Regular horseradish that is kept in the refrigerated section next to the Kosher hot dogs?”

You see how much more helpful grocery stores would be if they adopted the techniques of the Internet?Plus, it would help if the kept all the horseradish in one place

SCG

First off, I was at the store yesterday purchasing deodorant, and when I reached for the brand I’ve used for decades, Mitchum, I noticed writing on the top.

“If your ratio of lighter fluid to charcoal is 2 to 1, you’re a Mitchum Man.”

What? If I’m an idiot then I should buy this product? What type of advertising technique is that, to insult your buyers? I was tempted to put it back on the shelf and purchase a new brand of men’s deodorant. Then I realized all the research and experimentation that would be involved in that, and I just tossed the Mitchum in the basket. Two to one ration . . amazing, If I’m stupid I’m a Mitchum man? Just for the record, I am not stupid. I do not have a 2 to 1 ration with my lighter fluid to charcoal. It is more like 4 to 1.

Have you seen the new dollar coins? They are the Presidential series, doing to the dollar coin what the fifty states did to the quarters. So far, I have John Adams, Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and Martin Van Buren.

Is it me, or does Mr. Van Buren remind you of Larry from the Three Stooges?

I really prefer coin dollars to paper dollars. I just wished the coin dollars were 10% larger. They are still too close to the size of a quarter. Granted, they are a copper/gold like color, but my fingers when reaching deep into my pants pocket can’t distinguished colors. I guess I could install some sort of color detector sensors on the tip of my fingers, but that might really hurt when I pick my nose. Besides, who really wants to know the color of my nasal lint?

Coffee anyone? Starbucks dark chocolate mini beans is my new passion.  Bits of dark chocolate infused with dark roast coffee.

I would encourage restraint though, as consuming the entire tin at one sitting may have unexpected side affects, such as driving home from the store at 88 miles per hour – without the car.

Enjoy the Sunday folks.

SCG