As a matter of fact it is all about me

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Eco-wacko

If you want to see what eco-wacko looks like, go visit greenasathistle.com, the blog of Vanessa, a Toronto journalist, who strives to do at least one new green thing a day. Here’s how she’s saving the planet:

Switching to recycled, unbleached paper towels
Giving up my electric heating pad
Banning all styrofoam
Switching to a recyclable toothbrush
Turning down my thermostat
No more bottled water
Switching to organic conditioner
Switching from disposable tape-based lint rollers to felt ones
Eating ‘locally’ (within Canada and the U.S.)
Making all my bills electronic
Checking tire pressure on my car
Not buying a microwave (yes, disputable, see post for comments)
Switching to natural, biodegradable handwash with recyclable container
Switching to non-toxic, phosphate-free dishwasher detergent
Running outside only (no treadmill)
Using tote bags, no more plastic bags
Switching to recycled toilet paper
Cancelling my cable
Switching to corn-based, biodegradable cat litter
Giving up disposable tissues, using handkerchiefs
Using only natural, organic body lotions
Permanently getting rid of any aerosol cans at home
Changing over to natural glass and surface cleaner
Signing up with my local Freecycle Network
Making sure all the lights are turned off before I leave home
Switching to natural body wash
Using chemical-free, reusable cloth static-cling sheets in the dryer
Unplugging anything that isn’t in use
No more disposable plastic cutlery or plates
Not driving my car on weekends
Putting away my humidifier for good
Using a thermos for coffee and tea
No more gift wrap
Changing all my light bulbs to CFLs
Switching to Eco-Dent floss
Only drinking fair-trade, organic, locally roasted coffee
Using only beeswax candles; or soy-based, as long as there’s no paraffin
Returning my wine bottles to the Beer Store so they’re recycled properly
Switching to natural toothpaste
Changing over to a natural laundry detergent
Eating only free-range, organic, hormone-free (and if possible local) meat, restricting my intake of beef and chicken to no more than once per week
Not buying any more petroleum-based bath poufs and loufas
Signing up at GreenDimes.com to block junk mail and plant a tree every month
Being conscientious about how much water I use; only turning on the taps at a “trickle” when washing hands or brushing teeth and keeping showers to five minutes
Using the air-dry function on my dishwasher
Consuming only locally brewed beer, organic when possible
No more using paper towels or hand-dryers in public bathrooms
Investing in permanent laser hair removal rather than shaving or waxing forever
Only local and fair-trade chocolate
Turning off my freezer
Picking up litter when I see it
Properly disposing of my used batteries at a local hazardous waste depot
Switching to eco-friendly dish detergent
Changing to natural, paraben-free lip balm
Only consuming locally grown, produced and cellared wine (from within Ontario)
Purchasing “green” baking soda, incorporating it into household cleaning in place of harsher chemicals like bleach
Switching to natural shaving cream
Switching to recycled (and recyclable) razors
Only using one glass per day for water/milk/juice, one mug for coffee/tea and one wine glass
Spending part of each day educating myself about environmental issues
Using stainless steel rather than non-stick frying pan (takes less time to heat up)
Not buying any more Q-tips
Switching to natural deodorant
Recycling my used wine corks through the Bag-a-Cork program
Giving up gum (especially the over-packaged kind)
Not buying any more makeup remover pads
Turning my oven off for good
Using a natural bronzer
Only buying loose-leaf tea in refillable packets
Switching to natural, organic shampoo
Only filling my kettle with the exact amount of water needed
Shutting down my computer every day at work instead of just logging off
Not using the air-conditioning in my car
Following the “If it’s yellow, let it mellow…” rule
Using matches instead of lighters
Carbon-offsetting all of my air travel
Using only the herbs and spices I can grow at home
Unplugging my whole fridge
Weekly lobbying, letter-writing and petitioning on behalf of various environmental campaigns
Requesting that my in-flight meals be vegetarian
Not buying books from Amazon or Chapters/Indigo; only local, independent bookstores and only when necessary
Purchasing all my music in mp3 format rather than CDs
Getting allergy shots instead of buying packs of antihistamine pills, eye drops and nasal sprays
Making sure there’s always at least one ‘green’ element in the gifts I give
Switching to an all-natural acne ointment
No more ordering food by delivery
No more take-out, unless I bring my own containers
Always asking for no receipt, unless I really need one
Refilling all possible bottles (toilettries and household cleaning products); bringing my own plastic food containers to the bulk bins at the grocery store
Switching to eco-friendly dry cleaners
Using a PVC-free shower curtain liner
Turning off my air-conditioning during the summer
Recycling anything and everything that can be recycled — no excuses
Switching to natural, minimally packaged eyeshadow
Switching to a natural bar soap and investing in a recyclable travelling case for it
Sleeping naked
Using a natural, mineral-based suntan lotion
Not having any more baths
Letting my hair air dry
Getting rid of face wash and makeup remover, using my bar soap instead
Ordering smaller, more eco-friendly business cards
Not using nail polish (or nail polish remover)
Only watering my plants with greywater
Only going to eco-friendly spas
Picking weeds (in mom’s garden) by hand rather than with pesticide
Using gauze instead of band-aids for minor cuts
Switching to natural cat food
Limiting my use of elevators
Using cloths instead of paper towels for household cleaning
Switching to natural hair dyes
Raising environmental awareness through stickers, blogs and other media
Using GoodSearch instead of Google
No plastic barf bags or packages of Gravol when hungover
Natural healing of sunburns (no more after-sun lotions)
Only renting cars from companies that offer hybrids
Cancelling my subscription to a secondary newspaper
Selling the car!
Handwashing all my dishes
Buying tokens for public transit rather than tickets
Only buying cereal in bulk
Using plastic-free, eco-friendly photo albums
Limiting my ironing time/heat
Not using my hair-straightening iron anymore
Composting
Keeping the light in the bathroom off each morning while showering and brushing my teeth
Using the same fork or spoon I’ve stirred with to eat
Not using any more straws
Cutting my hair and keeping it short (so I need less product)
Buying an all-natural kitchen/bathroom cleaner
Using biodegradable pens
Developing my photos in bigger batches/fewer deliveries
No more Swiffer products
No more tabloids or trashy magazines
Only staying at eco-friendly hotels
Only buying sustainable and/or local clothing
Not drinking anymore canned beverages
Not drinking anymore bottled beverages
Purchasing only fair-trade and if possible local flowers
Giving regularly to a green cause
Only drinking organic hard liquor
Only eating free-range eggs from accountable farms
Restricting myself to organic dairy
No more recreational driving/boating/etc
No more gyms, all exercise must be outdoors
Eating food straight from the pot or pan
Fixing something if it’s broken rather than getting a new one
Bringing my own headphones for the plane
Using corn-based BioBags for the garbage bins
Volunteering regularly with a green organization
Investing in eco-friendly cat litter tray liners
Switching to a natural toilet bowl cleaner
No more smoking whatsoever
Buying organic cotton or bamboo bedsheets
Enforcing the shoes-off-at-the-door policy
Using hand-held fans instead of electric ones
Not buying any leather
Making sure my house sitter agrees to the green rules
Only buying eco-friendly jewellery
Washing all my clothes in cold water
Feeding my cat natural treats
Showering in lukewarm, rather than hot, water
No more gift cards unless they’re homemade from scrap paper
Printing on both sides of the page
Not using anymore Wite-Out
Buying all my spices in bulk
Putting a bottle of water in the toilet tank to reduce the amount used per flush
Only buying eco-friendly shoes
Using a hand-held bicycle pump rather than CO2 cylinders
Using biodegradable soy-based peanuts or popcorn when sending packages in the mail
Not wearing a gown at the doctor’s office
Buying and donating clothes to Goodwill and other thrift stores
Not using staples
Using wind-up or solar-powered flashlights
Getting indoor plants
Only using natural perfume
Only getting hand massages rather than using massage chairs or gadgets
Using services like Brown Paper Ticket for shows and concerts
Declining press kits at film screenings to save paper
Eating only organic tubers (squash, eggplant, etc.)
Greening my dating through GreenSingles.com or Green Drinks
Not using anymore paper napkins
Preserving jams and canning fruits
Only buying used sports equipment
Using all-natural, locally produced face cream
Using revolving doors wherever possible
Grooming my cat more often to prevent hairballs (and thus use less paper towel and water to clean them up)
Buying alcohol in bulk (ie. kegs, 2L bottles of wine, etc)
Using coconut oil instead of K-Y jelly
Wearing items of clothing twice or more, as long as they’re not dirty or smelly
Taking smaller notes and using both sides of the page during interviews
Not using toilet paper for peeing
Natural bug extermination, ie. drowning fruit flies in wine or syrup
Switching to a natural mouthwash
No more using the Internet after dinner (unless it’s to update this blog)
Not buying anymore DVDs
Decreasing the margins on my Word documents
Not going back on the birth control pill
Signing up with a CSA for weekly delivery of local, organic produce
Only purchasing ceramics from potters who recycle their clay
Reusing envelopes
Using towels a minimum of five times before washing them
Eating only ethically raised and caught fish
Cutting the end off the toothpaste tube when it’s almost done to scrape the last little bit out
Hanging the Do Not Disturb sign on hotel room doors so housekeeping doesn’t need to vacuum, change linens, replace toilettries, etc.
Using incense or candles instead of artificial room fresheners
Using chalkboards instead of whiteboards or flip charts
Watering my outdoor plants at night instead of during the day
Shaving in the sink instead of in the shower
Cooking at a gentle boil instead of a rolling boil
Using only sustainably made cutting boards
Using water or homemade saline solution instead of synthetic eye drops
Using Lunapads rather than disposable pads
Getting my ice cream in a cone instead of a disposable cup
Sticking to designated paths while hiking
Working from home at least two days a week
Towelling off in the shower before stepping onto the bathmat
Smiling at one person I don’t know every day
Using parchment paper or cheesecloth instead of cling wrap
Only buying wooden hangers, preferably used
Swimming in natural bodies of water, not public pools
Pulling the shower curtain open when finished so it dries properly and requires less cleaning
Turning down the temperature on my water heater
Using cash instead of credit or debit to minimize receipts
Getting cooking smells off my fingers with used green tea leaves rather than soap
Voting for the Green Party
Making sure I don’t pour grease down the drain
Borrowing and sharing
Soaking my dishes overnight so less water is needed to clean the tough stuff off
Navy showers
Letting my clothes air-dry on a rack, not in the dryer
Not taking anymore supplements, vitamins, detox shakes, etc.
Using scouring pads made from recycled plastic
Only buying organic cotton underwear
Making sure to use every last bit of shampoo/ketchup/etc in the bottle, using the “hit and swish” technique with some water
Consuming every part of the pumpkin I carve for Halloween
Going by the 10-second rule whenever I drop food on the floor
Sharing my living space with a roommate whenever possible
Using the Diva Cup instead of tampons
Bringing my own reusable bib to the dentist’s
Setting my desktop wallpaper to black, which uses less energy
Eating my apple cores (and pear cores, etc) to waste less food
Only buying and playing eco-friendly games
Chopping food up extra small before putting it in the food processor
Not using anymore hand sanitizer
Making a Halloween costume/decorations from clothes I already have
Not using Post-It notes; scrap paper instead
Emptying lint traps, cleaning filters on a regular basis
No more Dustbuster
Natural aloe-coated condoms instead of Trojan or Durex
Not using any toothpicks
Not buying anymore cheap umbrellas; using a sturdy big one and sharing it whenever possible
Getting others to do green stuff that I can’t
Drinking green tea instead of prescription drugs when having a nervous breakdown
Enforced quiet time (no radio, stereo or other music)
Using old socks and T-shirts for dish rags
Switching to a natural carpet cleaner
Not using the fan in my bathroom
Properly disposing of electrical waste like old computers and cell phones
Backing up my work with a USB stick rather than CDs
Not bothering with any rubber charity wristbands or ribbon campaigns
Reusing old floppy discs as coasters
Driving the speed limit when I rent a Zipcar
Drinking straight from the bottle
Not using fruit and veggie wash or rinsing things for more than a second
Knitting scarves instead of buying them
Holding my hair up with a pen, chopstick or rubber band from my newspaper instead of buying more elastic bands or other hair accessories
Polishing silverware with baking soda
Cancelling magazine subscriptions, donating extras to the doctor’s office
Buying used furniture and recovering it rather than getting new stuff
Learning to sew and mend my own clothes
Reusing a fake Christmas tree from last year, not buying ornaments
Asking that others only buy me eco-friendly gifts
Keeping my addresses on my computer rather than buying a paper notebook
Using an all-natural shoe polish, like coconut oil
Making my own soup broth instead of buying it
Not using anymore tape
Not shaving my legs anymore
Not consuming anything that contains or is manufactured with genetically modified corn (ie. high-fructose corn syrup, corn starch, ethanol, corn-fed beef, etc)
Not using soap to wash my dishes unless there’s oil residue
Only buying my beans dry, in bulk
Having a regular “inside day”, staying at home and not buying anything
Adding an eco-friendly tip to my email signature
Only drinking fair-trade tea
Not buying any individually wrapped food
No more downhill skiing (unless I carpool there, then haul my own ass up the hill)
Only taking cabs fueled by natural gas
Sticking to organic, raw honey
Using couriers that use bikes, walking or public transit instead of cars and trucks
Letting my dishes dry in the dishwasher rack with my houseplants beneath to collect the excess water dripping off
Hand-whipping my whipped cream instead of using an electric blender
Only buying organic, unbleached cotton towels
Using up my change at the cash register
Using a broom and dustpan instead of a vacuum
Packing carry-on rather than check-in luggage
No more paper towels
Using scrap paper as bookmarks instead of buying new ones
Using manual tools rather than electric or battery-powered ones
Using natural lipstick
Organizing my stuff so I don’t lose things (and therefore don’t need to repurchase them)
Going to the bathroom before I go on the plane
Only using a crank-up and/or solar-powered radio
No more highlighters
Making my own cosmetics and beauty products
Using old books and shoe boxes as storage containers
Only purchasing used kitchenware and appliances
Restricting myself to cold water only for washing hands, face and dishes
Using biodegradable chain lube for my bike
Not buying anymore plastic whatsoever
Choosing to use the subway transfers printed on recycled paper rather than the ones that come on laminated coloured paper
Using a soap dish made from reclaimed chopsticks
Collecting the elastic bands from my newspaper each morning and returning them to the delivery boy/girl
Opting for a green-minded real estate company when buying/selling my house
Only eating at restaurants that serve local and/or organic food, and offer eco-friendly take-out options
Using Coccoina, an all-natural glue
Getting used boxes for moving day
Using organic cotton produce bags and bulk-bin sacks
Framing my art with reclaimed barn board and recycled glass
Buying 100% recycled CD sleeves instead of jewel cases
Going to an eco-conscious bike repair shop
Shopping at green malls
Only using the small burners on my stove
Sending out electronic invites rather than paper ones
Making fenders for my bike from old water bottles
Having a green moving party — using cargo bikes, trolleys. man power and other carbon-free alternatives to vans and trucks
Eating all my skins (potato, carrot, cucumber, etc)
Switching to an eco-conscious accountant for tax season
Only buying handmade, bamboo or organic cotton blankets
Commenting on other people’s decisions that aren’t very green, educating them about why it’s important to consider alternatives
Learning shorthand, so I take smaller notes and thus save paper
Squeegee my shower tiles each day to prevent mildew and mould
Enrolling in a butchering class to confront my meat-eating ways
Only consuming organic maple syrup
Buying a used mattress and boxspring
Screening my future tenants to ensure green practices throughout the household
Signing up with Bullfrog Power, which puts wind and other green forms of power back onto the main energy grid
Using a natural pumice stone to remove pilly fluff from sweaters instead of sending them to the drycleaners
Planning out my routes, double-checking maps and directions to avoid getting lost on road trips (and thus preventing excess CO2 being emitted by the car)
Shovelling snow and using sand instead of corrosive salt or antifreeze
Installing a dual-flush toilet
Buying low-VOC paints
Setting up a rain barrel to collect water for plants, etc.
Not wearing anymore makeup
Using real, leftover wood for fires instead of artificial firelogs
Not running lots of applications on my computer at once
Restricting my diet to food within Ontario
Using rechargeable batteries
Closing my curtains at night to insulate the house
Signing up for the local PeakSaver program to minimize pressure on the energy grid during peak hours
Only buying recycled glass
Taking the most direct flight instead of cheaper ones with stopovers
Using natural, homemade furniture polish
Purifying my indoor air without using a plug-in air purifier
Tucking my pants into boots/socks to prevent them getting dirty
Buying recycled wallpaper and homemade glue, or using stencils
Using a service like Green Map when touring a city
Going skinny dipping
Helping push stuck cars out of the snow
Covering holes in the wall with pictures instead of buying plaster
Writing an eco-friendly funeral into my will
Making my own stamps, or using lickable ones instead of stickers
Writing poetry in haiku form only
Recycling my old running shoes
Deleting all spam and stale emails from my Gmail inbox
Only buying fair-trade vanilla products
Fixing other people’s green mistakes
Sleeping more

You see, the “green” thing doesn’t have a damned thing to do with helping the environment or conserving natural resources. It’s all about feeling good about yourself and feeling smugly superior to people who actually know what matters.

Old dog learning new tricks

I took a day off from the blog yesterday to climb the learning curve on our new Blu-ray player.
It’s a Sony BDP-S580. We saw one about a month ago at Best Buy and were ready to pull the trigger then and there until the salesboy discovered they had only the display model, it wasn’t listed in inventory and it was apparently not yet available. Never mind how they happened to have one on display. He didn’t know either.
So we put the idea in the “future” file. Until last Friday when I discovered the unit, which has an MSRP of $199, could be had on Amazon.com for $168. Shipping was free, thanks to our Amazon.com Preferred Membership.
Well, alrighty then.
I pulled the trigger and the UPS guy delivered it late Tuesday.
It has built-in Wifi, which is what got our attention at Best Buy. That means it can “see” our wireless router Wifi signal and access the Internet, making it possible to stream all kinds of Internet content, including Netflix, huluplus, Amazon.com Movies, YouTube, Pandora Internet Radio, CinemaNow, Vudu. It can even read 3D content. All for about half what we paid for our first Blu-ray player a couple of years ago.
But the entertainment center is in the living room and the wireless router is upstairs in the office at the other end of the house, separated by about 50 feet, a floor and three walls. Consequently, the Blu-ray’s Wifi showed only two of five bars of signal strength and that led to interruptions in streaming media. The Linksys router is at least five years old and I wondered whether I should get a new router and/or a remote signal booster.

Then I remembered the Linksys WRE54G Wireless-G Range Expander that I bought about three years ago, but could never get to work. It was still on the floor under my desk, so I pulled it out, dusted it off and Googled up the instructions. They seemed straightforward enough, so I took it down to the living room, plugged it in, stuck a paperclip into the “reset” hole, and pressed the “automatic connect” button. The monitor lights showed it was working correctly. I played a YouTube video and was pleased to see that the Blu-ray Wifi now showed a full five bars of signal strength. Woo-freaking-hoo! Problem solved at no extra expense.
I suspect a newer “N” router and repeater would be better, but as long as everything functions well, I’m not going to worry about it. Besides, with technology the longer you wait the better and cheaper it gets.
Several of the Internet content providers like Netflix, huluplus, Amazon.com movies and others require the user to first create an online account via a regular computer and then synch the Sony unit with it. So far, we’re synched with Netflix, YouTube and Amazon.com movies. I’m going to look into a huluplus account this morning before I get serious about a final attack on clutter in anticipation of the arrival of Maria’s parents from Indiana this afternoon.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Crop dusters

The crop dusters are out this morning, making their turns over our little wooded subdivision.

Monday, March 28, 2011

What I’m reading tonight

I’m reading a review copy of The Whites of Their Eyes, an examination of the Battle of Bunker Hill, that was the first major clash of the American Revolution.
I’m two chapters in and it’s a real page-turner.
It’s scheduled to be released on June 7.

Another reason to like Arkansas

I noticed this sticker on the back window of a Dodge Dakota pickup truck outside Walmart this afternoon.

Why do we have to learn about this from a British newspaper?

Where the hell is the American news media on this story? From the Daily Mail in the U.K.:

By Simon Neville

An aide to Vice President Joe Biden has apologized to a reporter who was locked in a closet for hours after he was invited to cover a Florida political fundraiser Veteran reporter Scott Powers was locked in the closet for most of the event. He emailed from inside 'sounds like a nice party' because they did not want him talking with the guests.

Spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander said the decision to hold local reporter Scott Powers there was a 'mistake'.

And she claimed an inexperienced staffer had put Powers in the closet instead of a 'hotel room' as was their normal practice.

As the unaware $500-a-head invitees dined on caprese crostini with oven-dried mozzarella and basil, rosemary flatbread with grapes honey and gorgonzola cheese, grilled chicken Caesar and garden vegetable wraps, last week, the veteran reporter was locked away.

Imprisoned? Powers snapped this image of the closet in which he was held and posted it online

Imprisoned? Powers snapped this image of the closet in which he was held and posted it online

The Orlando Sentinel reporter was ushered into the closet inside wealthy property developer Alan Ginsburg’s Winter Park mansion, after being told that Joe Biden and Senator Bill Nelson had not yet arrived.

They were due to speak to the audience to raise money for the 2012 elections.

He was told he could only come out when the politicians were ready to give their speeches.

The event was being held for Democrat senator Bill Nelson. Powers emailed from inside the closet: 'sounds like a nice party'

Powers told The Drudge Report: ‘When I'd stick my head out, they'd say, “Not yet. We'll let you know when you can come out.”’

After 90 minutes he was allowed out to hear Biden and Nelson speak for 35 minutes, before being taken back to the closet for the remainder of the event.

From inside his temporary prison Powers emailed his office from his cell phone: ‘Sounds like a nice party.’

When Ginsburg – who has supported both Democrat and Republican candidates in the past – learnt of the treatment that took place in his house, he called the reporter.

Powers said: ‘[Ginsburg] said he had no idea they'd put me in a closet and was very sorry.

‘He said he was just following their lead and was extremely embarrassed by the whole thing.’

Today Ms Alexander followed suit.

She said Power has accepted her 'unequivocal apology' made shortly after the fundraiser.

'This was the unfortunate mistake of an inexperienced staffer and the vice president's office has made sure it will never happen again,' she said.

She said pool reporters are usually given 'hotel rooms' when the Vice President speaks at private homes.

She explained that the closet was chosen because of its 'close proximity' to the room where Mr Biden was speaking, and that it had a table and chair where the reporter could work, as well as open space.

But she clarified: 'A hotel room, however, should not be a storage room'.

Some guests were shocked by the Vice President’s staff.

One emailed the paper saying: ‘I was in attendance at the Fundraiser and enjoyed a nice lunch.

‘If I had known there was a reporter stuffed in the closet, I would have been compelled to stand up and demand answers.

‘I would also like to know if this is actually legal to treat people like caged animals. I’m disgusted by these actions.’

Florida state law says kidnapping entails ‘forcibly, secretly or by threat confining, abducting or imprisoning another person against her or his will and without lawful authority.’

Alan Ginsburg's home was awash with 150 guests - none of whom seemed to know Scott Power was being held under guard in the closet

Powers said of his treatment: ‘It was frustrating and annoying that I was not given a chance to do my job fully and properly.

‘This was an extreme, and extremely inappropriate way of handling the press… it was essentially a rude and uncomfortable way to treat a reporter.’

He attempted to play down his treatment calling it ‘hardly unusual or shocking’ and confirmed that he received an apology from Ginsburg.

But he said the Vice President’s staff emailed him an apology which ‘I found far less satisfying than Ginsburg’s.’

The incident is especially embarrassing for the administration because it comes at a time when the White House has been condemning the treatment of journalists trying to report in Libya.

Just ten days ago, President Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney told reporters: ‘journalists should be protected and allowed to do their work.’

The Vice President’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Hooked

I never waste my time on reality shows, but I seem to be making an exception this spring. We’re hooked on Celebrity Apprentice.

It happened quite by accident. Our Sunday night TV watching usually starts with the Simpsons, but the new
FOX Sunday night lineup now has Bob’s Burgers following the Simpsons and we absolutely, positively, hate Bob’s Burgers and can’t imagine it surviving to a second season.

I never thought much about Donald Trump until recently. I encountered him once, back in the ‘90s when we passed on the escalators in Trump Tower. I’m sure he went home that evening and said to his then-wife Marla Maples, “Hey, guess who I saw on the escalator today.”

But I digress.

I initially saw him as an improbable presidential candidate, but American politics is full of improbabilities. I can’t conceive of a more improbable candidate than the incompetent America-hater who holds the office at the moment. Trump’s executive experience and achievements stand out in sharp relief against Barack Obama’s dubious accomplishments as a community organizer and legislator (who the hell votes “present?”), even after his two years of on-the-job training in the Oval Office. And I find myself agreeing with everything Trump says.

But the fascination of Celebrity Apprentice is in the interactions among the players. We cheered last night when the poisonous Dionne Warwick got fired. The women’s team is a hormonal holocaust, full of enormous egos. You expect a cat fight to break out at any moment, especially when Warwick was in the mix.

The men’s team seems to win every week in spite of Gary Busey. Busey is a likeable goof, but unless you have a job that calls on his acting skills, he’s the guy you have to work around to get things done. He’s the best argument for motorcycle helmets I’ve ever seen. Here’s what Wikipedia says about how he got that way:

On December 4, 1988, Busey was severely injured in a motorcycle accident in which he was not wearing a helmet. His skull was fractured, and doctors feared he suffered permanent brain damage.
At the recommendation of Dr. Drew Pinsky, Busey was seen by psychiatrist Dr. Charles Sophy. Sophy suspected that Busey's brain injury has had a greater effect on him than realized. He described it as essentially weakening his mental "filters" and causing him to speak and act impulsively. He recommended Busey take a medication called Depakote, to which he agreed.

Marvin Aday, aka Meat Loaf, finds Busey particularly exasperating and last night’s previews foretell a major blowup between the two on next week’s show. We can hardly wait.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Wasting our time and money, I hope…

When you live this close to the New Madrid Fault, the fault responsible for the largest earthquakes ever recorded in the United States, and when you hear that big quakes have occurred on this fault every 200-300 years, you can’t help but think about it now and then.

That’s why we got earthquake insurance when we bought our house and that’s why we’ve been laying in emergency food supplies. Following a friend’s lead, we bagged 50 pounds of rice, a bunch of beans and other stuff and sealed them in 5-gallon buckets from The Home Depot today.

We already own an electric generator, thanks to the ice storm of January, 2009, along with a couple of chainsaws and various other potentially useful things.

We’re amateurs compared with our friend, who has more than a year’s food stockpiled, along with hundreds of gallons of fuel-stabilized gasoline, firearms and a secluded redoubt in the southern Missouri woods.

I hope we never need this stuff and it ends up never being used, like the survival rations that stocked fallout shelters back in the 1950s and ‘60, but it’s like guns – it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Big Sur, with a cameo appearance by Elizabeth Taylor

Dated and kind of cheesy with a bit of overblown Richard Burton prose, but this is still my favorite place on earth. So far.

I’m a Butler fan

I quit paying attention to college basketball when the evil Myles Brand fired Bobby Knight from his coaching position at Indiana University 11 years ago.

Except in March, when I study the NCAA Tournament brackets for someone to root for.

It’s easy this year, since Butler University is carrying the banner for Hoosier basketball at the national level.

And I’m doubly engaged in the outcome now that I know that Butler coach Brad Stevens is my Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity brother. Stevens, who grew up in Zionsville at a time when I was covering the community for The Indianapolis News, went to DePauw University at Greencastle, where he became an ATO.

That’s why I was up late last night watching Stevens coach the Butler Bulldogs to a 61-54 victory over Wisconsin. I was particularly annoyed at half-time when chubby Charles Barkley opined that, even though Butler had done a brilliant job of taking Wisconsin out of their game in the first half, the Bulldogs didn’t have the stamina to play at that level for a full 40 minutes. Therefore, Barkley declared, Wisconsin would rally and win.

In. Your. Face. Charles. Barkley.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

No, we can’t be friends

I don’t like to think of myself as a vengeful person, but I was scanning the “friends of friends” list on Facebook this morning and was mildly surprised at how many of the suggested people that I don’t want in my friends list.

Mostly, I didn’t know them well enough to want to reestablish contact. But in some cases, I’m still holding a grudge for something they did, usually to one of my friends.

Two guys in particular from my Indianapolis years have requested inclusion in my friends list repeatedly. I clicked the “ignore” button each time and will continue to do so. I consider them to be, as Mark Twain would put it, malignant imbeciles who were promoted well beyond their professional competence and who thwarted the career aspirations of people far more talented than they.

They probably don’t even know who they are or that they have earned my everlasting enmity. So be it.

It happened again

From Hot Air:

Via the Blaze. Believe it or not, this one’s even harder to watch than Serene Branson’s babble for the ages. He’s slightly more coherent than she was, but … he just goes on, and on, with no one in the control booth willing to put him out of his misery by cutting back to the anchor. Note the look on her face when he finally finishes. Excruciating.

No word yet on what the cause is. Paramedics swooped in to check him out but it sounds like they found nothing seriously wrong. He’s following up with his doctor but has no news to report yet. Did this ever happen on news broadcasts years ago or are we really seeing lightning strike twice in the span of five weeks? And no, “Dan Rather always sounded like this” isn’t an acceptable answer.

Spring comes to the Mid-South

After a high temperature near 80 yesterday, a cold front has us in the mid-40s this morning with a forecast high of only 52.

But I’m still thinking spring when I hear the cheerful spring song of the cardinals and gaze out my office window at the redbud in bloom on the wooded unsold lot next door. Our neighbors’ forsythia is also in full bloom.

Maria and I inspected our tree plantings from last spring last evening and determined three of the seven Kwanza cherry trees are budding. Alas, last summer’s blazing heat and drought killed the other four, along with a dogwood we planted near the garage.

We’re eager to see blossoms on the Kwanzas. They should be more spectacular with each passing year.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

What a retriever sees

The dog’s name is Sugar

A retriever’s view of duck hunting.

Thank God for friends with trailers

I was feeling pretty sunny when I rode my 2003 BMW K1200GT in to Seattle Grind for coffee and internet this morning.

After all, I sorted out my Zumo 550 GPS XM Navweather problem yesterday and even learned why the proprietary cradle locking screw wouldn’t come out when it was clearly unscrewed all the way.

By way of explanation, the Garmin Zumo 550 GPS locks into its motorcycle mount with a latching mechanism that is made completely secure by tightening a locking screw that requires a special proprietary screwdriver. The special screw/screwdriver arrangement is a pain in the ass for geezers like me who have trouble seeing tiny objects up close. That’s why I bought a knurled replacement screw last summer from Touratech – so I could dispense with the screwdriver tedium.

After all, if someone wants to steal the setup, all they have to do is undo the RAM mount armature, untangle the wires and walk away with the whole thing, including the XM antenna.

The secret, I learned yesterday on zumoforums.com, is a tiny o-ring that keeps the unscrewed screw from falling out. I got out my Bausch & Lomb loupe, found the o-ring, removed it, and replaced the screw this morning.

So I had the bike and GPS functioning as it should as I rode down U.S. 49 to town.

After an hour or so of coffee and internet work, I put my netbook into my saddlebag, fired up the ignition and put on my helmet and gloves while the engine warmed.

But just as I was ready to swing my leg over the saddle, the engine faltered and quit. Efforts to re-start it were fruitless. The starter cranked normally, but the engine refused to catch.

I knew I wasn’t out of gas because I topped off the tank on the way in to town, but everything pointed to the engine not getting fuel.

Flustered, I phoned my friend Charlie Parsons, who said he was just getting ready to leave home for work in Paragould. Charlie offered to hitch up his motorcycle trailer, swing by Seattle Grind and pick me and the bike up and drop us off at home. What a guy!

Listening carefully to the sounds that accompany turning the ignition key, we both concluded we didn’t hear the characteristic sound of the fuel pump engaging.

Charlie has a diagnostic computer that he’ll bring by to query the bike about what’s ailing it, but everything points to a fuel pump failure. Charlie suggested I take a look at the 15 amp fuse that runs the fuel pump and check it for failure or corrosion. I’ve determined which fuse it is and will give it a try later today.

If it is a failed fuel pump, the good news is that the K1200GT’s fuel pump lives in the gas tank and can be replaced without the expensive labor to remove the tank and fairing components. Even so, the fuel pump for that model retails for $350.

The bike is due for a 12,000-mile service, so the timing is right to haul it up to Grass Roots BMW Motorcycles in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and get everything sorted out.

In retrospect, it couldn’t have picked a better time or place to fail, so I consider myself lucky. Sorta.

Scary thought for the day

While the horrors of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami are fresh in our minds, this is a good time to consider that the East Coast of North and South America may someday be devastated by a megatsunami from a volcano collapse in the Canary Islands. Here’s what I posted back in December, 2004m after the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in 14 countries:

As horrific as it was, the Sumatra tsunami was just a ripple compared with the megatsunami waiting to scour the U.S. East Coast.
I've posted on this subject before, but there has never been a better time than now to raise awareness of the ticking time bomb at La Palma in the Canary Islands.
Earthquake-generated tsunamis are nothing compared with those triggered by massive landslides and volcanic islands are the primary cause of these rare but inevitable cataclysmic events.
The trigger will be the collapse of the western flank of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma. There is already a massive fracture that slipped a short distance during an eruption in the latter portion of the 20th century. The speculation is that the next time the volcano cranks up, a major eruption will cause all or part of the western flank of the volcano to plunge into the Atlantic Ocean.
Scientists predict the collapse will generate a train of a dozen or more very large waves spreading out in an arc that will strike the eastern coasts of North and South American, as well as the Caribbean.
As we saw with the Sumatra event, the wave height increases as it moves into shallower water. It was estimated as high as 20 feet and reached as far as a quarter-mile inland in the Indian Ocean tsunami.
A La Palma megatsunami would generate waves as tall as 160 feet (8x the Sumatra size) that would reach as far as 12 miles inland all the way from Greenland, down the densely populated U.S. East Coast to Brazil and beyond.
It is estimated that the northeast coast of Brazil would feel the impact first, some six hours after the collapse, with Haiti, Cuba and the U.S. East Coast following in rapid succession.
Take a look at a map of the U.S. East Coast and notice how much population is concentrated within 12 miles of the shore from Maine down to Miami and you begin to appreciate the almost inconceivable destruction.
Think of the massive traffic jams caused by Florida residents fleeing hurricanes and then imagine the futility of trying to evacuate that danger zone with little more than six hours' warning.
Scientists say there is no way to predict when the La Palma collapse will occur - only that it will occur. Maybe in 1,000 years, maybe tomorrow.
Here's a place to start to learn more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2000/mega_tsunami.shtml

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

First day of issue: March 25

This U.S. postage stamp celebrating America’s jazz heritage will be issued on Saturday at New Orleans.

It’s a “forever” stamp, which means you can buy it for 44 cents and use it anytime in the future as a standard first class mail stamp, regardless of how crazy the postal rates get.

If my son Steve has any use for stamps, this may be a good one for him to stock up on.

From the Craigslist Rants & Raves section

I guess they don’t like their new hometown:

I found the bottom of the US landfill

I moved to a town west of Jonesboro a few months ago and it was the worst decision I think I have ever made in my life. The people in the town are the laziest slobs I have ever seen there's garbage lying everywhere people don't put there dogs on leashes and this is in city limits when I have seen people walking thier dogs they don't even pick up the after their dogs. The women walk around in their pj and slippers and don't even cross them I got the pleasant experience of meeting one of this special women by pushing my shopping cart from H--ys grocery store and someone backing out of a parking spot she hop out of the car and wanted to fight...and these people make fun of the north I don't ever remember seeing a dead fish in someone's driveway up north ( that was a week ago in arkansas and there were three) or where someone had thrown out pork steaks by the side of a highway. So ya'll can take this town and cram it

An amazingly simple fix

If you’re a longtime reader of this blog, you may recall the hassles I went through last year to get XM Navweather working on my Garmin Zumo 550 GPS.

I spent what felt like hours on the phone with SiriusXM Third World customer service reps, trying to activate this additional feature. The big problem seemed to be that they had no clue how the Zumo 550 works and exactly what buttons to push on their end to achieve the result I desired.

So you can understand why my heart sank last week when, on my ride to Memphis and back, I discovered that the Navweather feature had quit working.

I dreaded having to call SiriusXM and wade through that technical morass again.

So I decided my first move should be to take a look at zumoforums.com and see if anyone else had this problem and solved it.

Sure enough, several Zumo 550 users reported their Navweather crapped out over the last couple of months.

And most of them discovered that when they hooked the unit up to their computer and got into its files, they fixed the problem easily by deleting the three .wxd files in the WX folder.

I did the same thing and got the same good results. Everything is working like it should .

O, frabjous day! Calloo! Callay!