That's 39F, Folks!
Do we have any idea how horrible that would be? Total and calamitous change.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Son of a gun!
Just received an email reply to a petition I sent to my state representatives concerning the hazards of biofuels. She writes:
Wonder where this will lead?
I have replied:Thanks for your email. As you know, Iowa is moving forward with several initiatives for cleaner energy and moving toward energy independence. I'm curious why you are opposing biofuels specifically since it is good for the Iowa economy and is only a small part of the larger plan which includes wind, solar, and future energy from hydrogen or another such source (ammonia is being studied).
Thanks,
I am glad to know that we are working on alternatives. There have been some recent breakthroughs in thin-film solar technology that are fascinating and hold great promise. I also heard about a team of MIT scientists who have developed a working model for a storage battery that can keep excess solar production and make it available for use. This and it looks as if it could be affordable and reliable, something other forms of storage have not been to date. I haven't studied hydrogen or wind power's pros and cons at this point but am planning on getting to that. Ammonia is an interesting idea, as well. Anyone who has ever had to shovel out a chicken coop or cleaned a hog farrowing house knows quite a lot about where ammonia can be found.
My concerns about biofuel have very little to do with the economy and much to do with the impact of the system. From over-planting corn, year after year, on the same ground to the emissions from the actual production process. (My husband drives a semi for a co-op hauling corn and beans, too, so we are between a rock and a hard place on this one.) There are opinions on biofuel that range from those stating they are a harmless way to replace oil and are great for our economy all the way across the spectrum to those that state that biofuels are starving the world and raising co2 levels.
This issue, like the plethora of issues we are facing, has no easy, simple or cheap solution. It isn't merely a question of lessening our dependence on oil, it's beginning to look like a debate on where it is we plan to go in the future. How will we lessen the effects of pollution? How can we create a way of life that is sustainable? We certainly can't become Luddites and throw technology to the wind nor do I believe it is possible to return to a agrarian lifestyle. The thought of entirely reworking our infrastructure? Probably impossible.
Biofuels are not a single concern, set apart to be considered in and of that particular issue. Energy, of whatever sort and wherever it comes from, has to be thought of with a wisdom I am not sure the human species possesses. We can't continue on as we have been but where do we go from here? How do we retool our world without bringing it to it's knees? We have to unravel a tangled skein of interdependent issues. How we will do that, I simply do not know. We must do the best we know now, though. There must be some way to make it possible for our children and our children's descendants to have a decent life without constant fear that there will be no "next meal," that there will be no future free of environmental destruction, pollution, disease...
There must be some way. The alternative is unthinkable.
Wonder where this will lead?
Long but vital
From OCU:
The Fire This Time?
An appalling read but, even with that, it is something we all need to face squarely.
So, what do we do now?
This is another must-read:
An Agricultural Waterloo
and the big picture, not the common good nor yet feeding people, the bottom line? Profit.
The Fire This Time?
An appalling read but, even with that, it is something we all need to face squarely.
So, what do we do now?
This is another must-read:
An Agricultural Waterloo
and the big picture, not the common good nor yet feeding people, the bottom line? Profit.
Monday malfunctions
Some Mondays are just weird. They start strangely and just get stranger all day. Think this will be one of those weird ones.
Himself took longer than usual to get around for no reason at all. Evidently the brain just wasn't kicking in like it should. Don't think he was late for work but he left later than normal and I didn't get my morning smooch. That's no way to start the day.
Keep putting my coffee cup down and forgetting where it is. Like that old joke says, women over 50 don't have babies because we'd put them down and forget where they are. LOL
Still working on reconstructing the grocery list. Know there are things missing, though. I still am betting the original will turn up after I get back with foodstuffs.
Sorting bills has become a real drudge job. Since incomes are falling you'd think that bills would also go down. They don't. Just keep going up and up and up and up.
Think I will not get tags for the fishing boat this year. Will take the plates in and have it titled as being in storage. We can't use it on the river because there isn't enough water left.
Still going down steps sideways. The knee is a lot more stable but it doesn't extend and bend like it should. When extended, it gets wobbly so... crabbing down the steps in the order of the day.
Can't seem to get that blasted prosthesis to sit right. Have rearranged it 5 or 6 times (and just did it again) but, short of gluing it to my chest, it just isn't going to stay in place. It slides off to one side or another or gets twisted or what all. That is uncomfortable so, go back in bedroom, look in mirror, readjust and refasten. It will be fine until I actually move. I want my boob back. *sigh*
Have to go to the school Wed. afternoon at 4 to get DS3 registered and take a conference with his home room teacher. That's early enough that I will actually be awake, still. Start running out of steam between 3 and 5 in the afternoon. SS can't get in at the same time so Himself will have to schedule separately and we'll take two vehicles. It's rather unhandy but that's the way it goes.
.....where is that damnable grocery list.....
It is turning out to be a beautiful day, again! Hooray! Not hot and muggy, not windy, it isn't raining.. have windows open and am enjoying the breeze. This sure isn't our usual Iowa August. Normally we are bedraggled, sweaty and exhausted by this time and ready for fall.
One more load of laundry and then I'm off to the market(s.) 3 stops: 1 for bread stuff, one at Aldi's for staples, eggs, butter, milk, cheese and so forth, one at Target for canned tomatoes, soap, tp, detergent and shampoo. I may decide to blow some extra cash and get some REAL cheese, too. The slices are fine for toasted sandwiches and on burgers but don't cut it for much of anything else. It's also hard to keep the pre-shredded cheese on a cracker. LOL
Himself took longer than usual to get around for no reason at all. Evidently the brain just wasn't kicking in like it should. Don't think he was late for work but he left later than normal and I didn't get my morning smooch. That's no way to start the day.
Keep putting my coffee cup down and forgetting where it is. Like that old joke says, women over 50 don't have babies because we'd put them down and forget where they are. LOL
Still working on reconstructing the grocery list. Know there are things missing, though. I still am betting the original will turn up after I get back with foodstuffs.
Sorting bills has become a real drudge job. Since incomes are falling you'd think that bills would also go down. They don't. Just keep going up and up and up and up.
Think I will not get tags for the fishing boat this year. Will take the plates in and have it titled as being in storage. We can't use it on the river because there isn't enough water left.
Still going down steps sideways. The knee is a lot more stable but it doesn't extend and bend like it should. When extended, it gets wobbly so... crabbing down the steps in the order of the day.
Can't seem to get that blasted prosthesis to sit right. Have rearranged it 5 or 6 times (and just did it again) but, short of gluing it to my chest, it just isn't going to stay in place. It slides off to one side or another or gets twisted or what all. That is uncomfortable so, go back in bedroom, look in mirror, readjust and refasten. It will be fine until I actually move. I want my boob back. *sigh*
Have to go to the school Wed. afternoon at 4 to get DS3 registered and take a conference with his home room teacher. That's early enough that I will actually be awake, still. Start running out of steam between 3 and 5 in the afternoon. SS can't get in at the same time so Himself will have to schedule separately and we'll take two vehicles. It's rather unhandy but that's the way it goes.
.....where is that damnable grocery list.....
It is turning out to be a beautiful day, again! Hooray! Not hot and muggy, not windy, it isn't raining.. have windows open and am enjoying the breeze. This sure isn't our usual Iowa August. Normally we are bedraggled, sweaty and exhausted by this time and ready for fall.
One more load of laundry and then I'm off to the market(s.) 3 stops: 1 for bread stuff, one at Aldi's for staples, eggs, butter, milk, cheese and so forth, one at Target for canned tomatoes, soap, tp, detergent and shampoo. I may decide to blow some extra cash and get some REAL cheese, too. The slices are fine for toasted sandwiches and on burgers but don't cut it for much of anything else. It's also hard to keep the pre-shredded cheese on a cracker. LOL
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Disaster!
Well, sort of.
The grocery list, compiled over a month's time, has vanished.
It's gone. Kaput. Lost. Vanished. Missing.
Augh.
How in the world will I reconstruct the thing? Can't go to the market without The List!
We need stuff that I can't think of right off the bat and it might be anything from toilet paper to fruit.
We need bread. Milk. Eggs. Sandwich meat. Crackers. Cheese. Vegetables. Spices. Cleaning supplies. Cereal. Butter. Oil. The list goes on and on and on.
Any bookmaker worth his salt would lay 5 to 1 odds that, after returning with part of what we need, I will find the list. In reading through it, I will smack myself upside the head because it will be perfectly obvious that I should have THOUGHT of that stuff.
phooey.
The grocery list, compiled over a month's time, has vanished.
It's gone. Kaput. Lost. Vanished. Missing.
Augh.
How in the world will I reconstruct the thing? Can't go to the market without The List!
We need stuff that I can't think of right off the bat and it might be anything from toilet paper to fruit.
We need bread. Milk. Eggs. Sandwich meat. Crackers. Cheese. Vegetables. Spices. Cleaning supplies. Cereal. Butter. Oil. The list goes on and on and on.
Any bookmaker worth his salt would lay 5 to 1 odds that, after returning with part of what we need, I will find the list. In reading through it, I will smack myself upside the head because it will be perfectly obvious that I should have THOUGHT of that stuff.
phooey.
It's Sunday.
Yup, sure is. Beautiful day, too. Clear skies, cool, slight breeze.
I'm thinking I should be getting something in my tummy but not sure what. Don't much want to cook and, since I haven't been grocery shopping for some time, supplies are low. We polished off the cheese slices last night, someone ate the last of the bread and there is only one egg left.
Tomorrow, DS3 and I are going to the bread store and Aldi's and we will stock up. I don't mind the shopping so much but sure hate the hauling in and putting away parts. Can't be helped, though, all part of the deal. Will be nice to have the staples we've used up even though my list has about 125 items on it. I don't even want to think about how much this will cost.
Have to get the Terrors registered for school this week. That will be another 200 dollars or so. Then school supplies but am hoping DS3's father will help some with that. (He usually does.) I can hear the checking account shrieking already.
DS2 went to a bachelor party last night. Don't have any idea when he got home, either. Came out to make coffee this a.m. and there was a bottle of Kamikaze shots and a bottle of vodka sitting on my kitchen counter. With a note for DS3, "***, to be blunt, what the hell?" ROFL*
DS3 is off to his father's family reunion. They left well before 8 this morning and won't be back until, well, who knows? He took a bag of balloons with him because a water fight is a tradition. So is general horseplay and harassment of anyone and everyone. It's kind of like a combination mosh and fraternity hazing. Everyone is guaranteed to be tired and over-fed by the end of the day. (DS 3 didn't go, though. I don't expect to see him much before noon. Maybe later than that.)
The ex's family is an odd mix of religiosity and profane behavior. They cheat egregiously at cards and other games, tell stories that would embarrass a longshoreman, pull gag jokes that are guaranteed to humiliate, frighten or embarrass the victim, swear like troppers but spend regular time in confession and at mass. (For someone raised as Methodist, dour as they were back then, it was both surprising and confusing.) As the older generation has passed away, the younger takes on the mantle. DS2 got tired of it all a couple of years ago and doesn't go to family stuff, anymore. DS1 and DIL go when they can but, like DS2, they aren't real comfortable and feel out of place.**
Since DS3 is not here and won't be here all day, SS will not be doing his usual and expected running around town. Instead, he will help his father shovel dirt out of the back of the pickup. He's sulking about this as he feels slighted when DS3 isn't working and he is. He doesn't seem to mind when DS3 is here breaking his butt helping me move stone and clear ground, weed tomatoes, freeze corn, and he is out running around, though. Odd perspective.
DS3 has been entertaining himself in his free time by learning to make adobe brick. It seems an odd sort of thing to do. He is experimenting to see what is the difference between bricks made from mud alone and bricks made with a binder of some sort, like grass or straw. I don't have any idea why he decided to do this but he seems to be enjoying himself. They whole lot have always been taught that learning for it's own sake is not a waste of time. The broader your knowledge and experience and interests, the better able you are to cope with what is thrown at you by the world. At least that's what I have always thought.
Finally found the driver disc for the video camera. It vanished over 2 years ago and haven't been able to use the camera since. Now I have to learn from scratch because I don't remember how this works. *sigh*
This is a couple of hours later and, TADAAAAAAA, the camera is now properly installed and I have relearned how to capture videos and suchlike. It's nice to have it working. So, here is a video of Himself and SS shoveling dirt, then a pan across the rest of our backyard. It's of no particular interest, just fooling around. (Once, if you can play this, you can see how low the river is. The actual bank is that second terrace up from the current water's surface.)
* Won't touch that Kamikaze stuff but that triple distilled vodka makes nice Bloody Marys. Lots and lots of Tabasco and very little booze, though.
** When they were married last March, only the grandparents made any effort to acknowledge the event. DS1 doesn't understand this at all and felt a little hurt. I think it may be because he has been gone since 2002 and has had little chance to attend family gatherings. The fact that the divorce created a lot of bitterness, combined with the fact that DS1 is obviously my son, may also have contributed something. Who knows? Even his father couldn't find out why nobody but Gramma and Grampa were interested.
I'm thinking I should be getting something in my tummy but not sure what. Don't much want to cook and, since I haven't been grocery shopping for some time, supplies are low. We polished off the cheese slices last night, someone ate the last of the bread and there is only one egg left.
Tomorrow, DS3 and I are going to the bread store and Aldi's and we will stock up. I don't mind the shopping so much but sure hate the hauling in and putting away parts. Can't be helped, though, all part of the deal. Will be nice to have the staples we've used up even though my list has about 125 items on it. I don't even want to think about how much this will cost.
Have to get the Terrors registered for school this week. That will be another 200 dollars or so. Then school supplies but am hoping DS3's father will help some with that. (He usually does.) I can hear the checking account shrieking already.
DS2 went to a bachelor party last night. Don't have any idea when he got home, either. Came out to make coffee this a.m. and there was a bottle of Kamikaze shots and a bottle of vodka sitting on my kitchen counter. With a note for DS3, "***, to be blunt, what the hell?" ROFL*
DS3 is off to his father's family reunion. They left well before 8 this morning and won't be back until, well, who knows? He took a bag of balloons with him because a water fight is a tradition. So is general horseplay and harassment of anyone and everyone. It's kind of like a combination mosh and fraternity hazing. Everyone is guaranteed to be tired and over-fed by the end of the day. (DS 3 didn't go, though. I don't expect to see him much before noon. Maybe later than that.)
The ex's family is an odd mix of religiosity and profane behavior. They cheat egregiously at cards and other games, tell stories that would embarrass a longshoreman, pull gag jokes that are guaranteed to humiliate, frighten or embarrass the victim, swear like troppers but spend regular time in confession and at mass. (For someone raised as Methodist, dour as they were back then, it was both surprising and confusing.) As the older generation has passed away, the younger takes on the mantle. DS2 got tired of it all a couple of years ago and doesn't go to family stuff, anymore. DS1 and DIL go when they can but, like DS2, they aren't real comfortable and feel out of place.**
Since DS3 is not here and won't be here all day, SS will not be doing his usual and expected running around town. Instead, he will help his father shovel dirt out of the back of the pickup. He's sulking about this as he feels slighted when DS3 isn't working and he is. He doesn't seem to mind when DS3 is here breaking his butt helping me move stone and clear ground, weed tomatoes, freeze corn, and he is out running around, though. Odd perspective.
DS3 has been entertaining himself in his free time by learning to make adobe brick. It seems an odd sort of thing to do. He is experimenting to see what is the difference between bricks made from mud alone and bricks made with a binder of some sort, like grass or straw. I don't have any idea why he decided to do this but he seems to be enjoying himself. They whole lot have always been taught that learning for it's own sake is not a waste of time. The broader your knowledge and experience and interests, the better able you are to cope with what is thrown at you by the world. At least that's what I have always thought.
Finally found the driver disc for the video camera. It vanished over 2 years ago and haven't been able to use the camera since. Now I have to learn from scratch because I don't remember how this works. *sigh*
This is a couple of hours later and, TADAAAAAAA, the camera is now properly installed and I have relearned how to capture videos and suchlike. It's nice to have it working. So, here is a video of Himself and SS shoveling dirt, then a pan across the rest of our backyard. It's of no particular interest, just fooling around. (Once, if you can play this, you can see how low the river is. The actual bank is that second terrace up from the current water's surface.)
* Won't touch that Kamikaze stuff but that triple distilled vodka makes nice Bloody Marys. Lots and lots of Tabasco and very little booze, though.
** When they were married last March, only the grandparents made any effort to acknowledge the event. DS1 doesn't understand this at all and felt a little hurt. I think it may be because he has been gone since 2002 and has had little chance to attend family gatherings. The fact that the divorce created a lot of bitterness, combined with the fact that DS1 is obviously my son, may also have contributed something. Who knows? Even his father couldn't find out why nobody but Gramma and Grampa were interested.
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