Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Universal Health Care?
Everyone deserves access to affordable health care. I'm good with that. And that means that some people will get that health care for free. I'm down with that, too. Yes, I know that means the rest of us will have to pay for that. Yep. That will mean higher taxes. Yep. I'd rather pay taxes for the health care of everyone than taxes for nonsensical wars of choice. I'm willing to go a step further. I would say that in addition to higher taxes we can compromise on that tax rate and lower it by making people pay for health care when they can afford it. I propose we have one standard health care plan, not different tiers for people who can afford "real" health care and minimal coverage for those who can't. No. I propose there is one single level of health care--you get the care that you need, no matter what that care entails, no matter who you are. If you have cancer, you get chemo. If you have a congenital heart defect, you get a transplant. So on and so forth. For that we pay higher taxes and some of us pay a flat rate for health care based on our income. There, I said it. The rich will pay more for health care just as they should pay higher taxes. And, yes, doctors will no longer be able to turn themselves into millionaires by charging unfair rates. And drug companies will be held to realistic profits. So on and so forth and anyone who disagrees can go to hell. In exchange, I propose there also be huge tuition benefits for people who enter the medical profession and perform up to certain standards (right up to free education for those who meet certain criteria of performance). No one should ever have to die or suffer because they can't afford medical treatment.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Someone Asked Me About Cap and Trade...
Well, I guess the short answer is yes. But it depends on how it is done. I think cap and trade is good as long as the cap is real and firm and not a "floating" cap that allows certain companies to basically opt out of it. That does no one any good. Cap and trade has been proven already in the limits placed on sulfur dioxides (the main culprit behind acid rain). We still have acid rain but nowhere near the levels we had before. The reason that system worked is because they finally realized the way to do it is to leave it up to the companies to figure out how they do it. Rather than saying, OK, you all have to install this specific scrubber system, etc., etc., they said, here's the deal, your levels have to be below X. How you do it is your problem. It caused a lot of innovation and 3rd party development, research, etc. And in the end the cost was much, much lower than ever anticipated. They need to do the same sort of thing with carbon.
Saying that reducing carbon emissions will accomplish nil is silly and can only come from sources directly related to the fossil fuel industries. First, let's say that it's too late. It is. The cycle is in place and climate change (global warming is an unfortunate moniker and should never have been used, but what are you going to do?) is inevitable and already occurring. But that doesn't mean you don't try and make the effects less devastating. A substantial reduction in carbon won't prevent most of the outcomes that are predicted, but it can put them off for a time. That's worth something. The challenges include the inability to definitively predict what those outcomes are and what degree they will manifest themselves. Current predictions are not pretty. And many of these things will occur in our lifetime and will certainly change our children's future dramatically. The world of our own childhood is already gone. Our kids live in a very different world, even if we think it's subtle, it really isn't.
A huge obstacle is the "why should I if they don't?" syndrome. The U.S. has been adamant about not following worldwide greenhouse gas emissions limits because they don't want to limit themselves if other countries (who are trying to play "catch up" in an industrial sense) aren't required to make the same limitations--even though at their most consumptive levels they use a mere fraction of energy per person that we do. Somewhere along the line (our generation, basically) the U.S. decided to stop being a leader and to be a spoiled brat instead. Look where it has gotten us. "We shouldn't have to make economical cars! Whaaa! We shouldn't have to make quality vehicles! We should impose import tariffs on foreign cars instead!" That has been our mindset. We have known for some 50 years that petroleum was reaching its peak and would become less abundant and more expensive. But we don't think we should have to do anything about it because that would be like sacrificing something and we deserve anything and everything we can have no matter what the rest of the world is like. Thirty plus years ago the warnings about climate change and greenhouse gas emissions were being sounded. Scientists have gone before Congress many times over that period and always we refuse to do anything substantive about it because we are entitled.
Even under this administration, which many of us had hopes for but see them diminishing daily, any legislation will get watered down to cater to the fossil fuel lobbies until they do very little good. They'll continue to cave in to the pressures of the coal lobby (there are no redeaming values to coal usage other than the fact that it is relatively abundant and--thanks to HUGE government subsidies--cheap, cheap, cheap. Take away the billions upon billions of dollars in subsidies to fossil fuel companies and direct even a fraction of that money to alternative sources and it would take no time at all for those alternatives to be more than competitive costwise.
And don't get me started on Big Agriculture and corn subsidies and the way Monsanto is striving to destroy our entire food chain. Biodiesel and ethanol are fine and dandy, but not if they are produced with an utterly inefficient crop like corn. It takes as much energy to make it as you get out of it--and that's with the subsidies! There are far better sources for that which won't require turning our entire nation into a toxic waste corn and soybean field.
Water. Where do we even begin with water?
No nation on earth wastes water like we do. We take it for granted on a scale otherwise unimagineable. Something like 2% of the world's population has running water. Seems crazy, right?
In the future, our wars will only be tangentally based on religion (er, I mean, politics, yeah, politics, that's it). As climate change continues the most sought after commodity on the world market will be clean, fresh drinking water. A large majority of the world already has to struggle to obtain it. What happens when ocean levels rise, millions and millions of people are displaced from now-coastal regions into already impoverished inland regions (already experiencing unprecidented desertification)? No food. No water. A shitload of anger--a lot of which will be directed at those who use these resources frivolously and consider it their devine right to be able to waste, waste, waste.
In the not-too-distant future, it is estimated that the Colorado River (and, coincidentally, Lake Michigan) will see an approximate 30% decrease in water levels. As damaging as dams are (no matter how much care is put into their design and construction there are always negative environmental impacts), there will be no choice but to build more dams in order to create more resevoirs in order to supply water to areas that simply don't have any. We are seeing this in Arizona, Nevada, California, etc., right now. There are too many people living here and we all expect to have all the water we want whenever we want it. And, by god, we want a big lush lawn while we're at it! And fountains! Big fountains. I just saw a satellite image presentation looking at Las Vegas--it showed images over the space of 25 years and clearly showed an amazing growth in land usage and an equally amazing decrease in available water sources. If it wasn't for water from the Colorado River and the Central Arizona Project canals, Phoenix and Tucson would not be able to exist as they currently do. [Yes, I am fully away that I am very much a part of all of these problems.]
I hadn't heard about the farmers in California, but it would not surprise me if water rationing from the Colorado River will become a huge point of contention in the future. Before the Hoover Dam was built (well, and at times after) there were big battles over who gets the water. There was actually an "almost" war between Arizona and Nevada once upon a time. The Hoover Dam was built to control flooding and subsequent water distribution to farmers, not to generate power.
In the end, everything will cost money. No way around it. But we have to get our heads around the fact that what we spend now--if we spend it wisely and actually do something substantive--will be far less than what the cost will be if we wait and don't do anything at all. Most of our economic problems, if you ask me, can be directly attributed to the viewpoint that profit now is what matters, the future consequences be damned. We are not a farsighted nation. Maybe it's because we are a very young nation, who knows. But we have a nasty habit of putting our immediate gains ahead of our future well-being. We need to get over that and we need to get over it soon. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that's happening.
Saying that reducing carbon emissions will accomplish nil is silly and can only come from sources directly related to the fossil fuel industries. First, let's say that it's too late. It is. The cycle is in place and climate change (global warming is an unfortunate moniker and should never have been used, but what are you going to do?) is inevitable and already occurring. But that doesn't mean you don't try and make the effects less devastating. A substantial reduction in carbon won't prevent most of the outcomes that are predicted, but it can put them off for a time. That's worth something. The challenges include the inability to definitively predict what those outcomes are and what degree they will manifest themselves. Current predictions are not pretty. And many of these things will occur in our lifetime and will certainly change our children's future dramatically. The world of our own childhood is already gone. Our kids live in a very different world, even if we think it's subtle, it really isn't.
A huge obstacle is the "why should I if they don't?" syndrome. The U.S. has been adamant about not following worldwide greenhouse gas emissions limits because they don't want to limit themselves if other countries (who are trying to play "catch up" in an industrial sense) aren't required to make the same limitations--even though at their most consumptive levels they use a mere fraction of energy per person that we do. Somewhere along the line (our generation, basically) the U.S. decided to stop being a leader and to be a spoiled brat instead. Look where it has gotten us. "We shouldn't have to make economical cars! Whaaa! We shouldn't have to make quality vehicles! We should impose import tariffs on foreign cars instead!" That has been our mindset. We have known for some 50 years that petroleum was reaching its peak and would become less abundant and more expensive. But we don't think we should have to do anything about it because that would be like sacrificing something and we deserve anything and everything we can have no matter what the rest of the world is like. Thirty plus years ago the warnings about climate change and greenhouse gas emissions were being sounded. Scientists have gone before Congress many times over that period and always we refuse to do anything substantive about it because we are entitled.
Even under this administration, which many of us had hopes for but see them diminishing daily, any legislation will get watered down to cater to the fossil fuel lobbies until they do very little good. They'll continue to cave in to the pressures of the coal lobby (there are no redeaming values to coal usage other than the fact that it is relatively abundant and--thanks to HUGE government subsidies--cheap, cheap, cheap. Take away the billions upon billions of dollars in subsidies to fossil fuel companies and direct even a fraction of that money to alternative sources and it would take no time at all for those alternatives to be more than competitive costwise.
And don't get me started on Big Agriculture and corn subsidies and the way Monsanto is striving to destroy our entire food chain. Biodiesel and ethanol are fine and dandy, but not if they are produced with an utterly inefficient crop like corn. It takes as much energy to make it as you get out of it--and that's with the subsidies! There are far better sources for that which won't require turning our entire nation into a toxic waste corn and soybean field.
Water. Where do we even begin with water?
No nation on earth wastes water like we do. We take it for granted on a scale otherwise unimagineable. Something like 2% of the world's population has running water. Seems crazy, right?
In the future, our wars will only be tangentally based on religion (er, I mean, politics, yeah, politics, that's it). As climate change continues the most sought after commodity on the world market will be clean, fresh drinking water. A large majority of the world already has to struggle to obtain it. What happens when ocean levels rise, millions and millions of people are displaced from now-coastal regions into already impoverished inland regions (already experiencing unprecidented desertification)? No food. No water. A shitload of anger--a lot of which will be directed at those who use these resources frivolously and consider it their devine right to be able to waste, waste, waste.
In the not-too-distant future, it is estimated that the Colorado River (and, coincidentally, Lake Michigan) will see an approximate 30% decrease in water levels. As damaging as dams are (no matter how much care is put into their design and construction there are always negative environmental impacts), there will be no choice but to build more dams in order to create more resevoirs in order to supply water to areas that simply don't have any. We are seeing this in Arizona, Nevada, California, etc., right now. There are too many people living here and we all expect to have all the water we want whenever we want it. And, by god, we want a big lush lawn while we're at it! And fountains! Big fountains. I just saw a satellite image presentation looking at Las Vegas--it showed images over the space of 25 years and clearly showed an amazing growth in land usage and an equally amazing decrease in available water sources. If it wasn't for water from the Colorado River and the Central Arizona Project canals, Phoenix and Tucson would not be able to exist as they currently do. [Yes, I am fully away that I am very much a part of all of these problems.]
I hadn't heard about the farmers in California, but it would not surprise me if water rationing from the Colorado River will become a huge point of contention in the future. Before the Hoover Dam was built (well, and at times after) there were big battles over who gets the water. There was actually an "almost" war between Arizona and Nevada once upon a time. The Hoover Dam was built to control flooding and subsequent water distribution to farmers, not to generate power.
In the end, everything will cost money. No way around it. But we have to get our heads around the fact that what we spend now--if we spend it wisely and actually do something substantive--will be far less than what the cost will be if we wait and don't do anything at all. Most of our economic problems, if you ask me, can be directly attributed to the viewpoint that profit now is what matters, the future consequences be damned. We are not a farsighted nation. Maybe it's because we are a very young nation, who knows. But we have a nasty habit of putting our immediate gains ahead of our future well-being. We need to get over that and we need to get over it soon. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that's happening.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Happy Anniversary!
Today is our 26th Wedding Anniversary! It all goes by so fast. Here we are married more than half our lives and grandparents at the ripe young age of forty-six--it's amazing.
I love you, Joan!
I hope I'm around for another twenty-six. I'd say forty-four (we'll be 100!), but I don't want to push it.
I love you, Joan!
I hope I'm around for another twenty-six. I'd say forty-four (we'll be 100!), but I don't want to push it.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Cranberry Pinenut Hummus
I experimented today and made some excellent hummus:
Cranberry Pinenut Hummus
2 cans garbanzo beans, drained (Reserve some liquid in case you need it.)
3/8 (+-) Fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 Cup (+-) Tahini
5 or 6 cloves of garlic (preferably roasted, but whatever)
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbls sesame oil
1 Tbls coconut oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup dried cranberriers (Craisens? I used cherry flavored.)
Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. If you need to add liquid to achieve the correct consistency, use some of the liquid saved from the cans of garbanzo beans.
Cover and put in the fridge to let the flavors blend a bit.
This was delicious!
Cranberry Pinenut Hummus
2 cans garbanzo beans, drained (Reserve some liquid in case you need it.)
3/8 (+-) Fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 Cup (+-) Tahini
5 or 6 cloves of garlic (preferably roasted, but whatever)
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbls sesame oil
1 Tbls coconut oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup dried cranberriers (Craisens? I used cherry flavored.)
Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. If you need to add liquid to achieve the correct consistency, use some of the liquid saved from the cans of garbanzo beans.
Cover and put in the fridge to let the flavors blend a bit.
This was delicious!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
National Sushi Day
Well, I'm told it's National Sushi Day. I admit I love sushi. But sushi is one of those issues where it's hard to know what's good to eat. And I don't mean flavor--I pretty much love it all. And I don't mean food safety--though that's an issue, I suppose. No, I mean issues of sustainability and eco-friendliness. It's a tough issue for me because I like weird things and it's usually the weird things that are the least sustainable.
There's an amazing sushi place in town called Sushi-matsu (the back room of Yoshi-matsu). When I go there I am quite happy to order the vegetarian sushi lunch special. They make incredible sushi and, surprisingly enough, you don't miss the raw fish or other sea critters. It's just delicious.
If I go today it probably won't be to Sushi-matsu because it's on the other side of town. I'm more likely to end up at Kyo Sushi or possibly Sushi Garden at the mall. Kyo is a nice little place with really good food.
There's a really good site for information on sustainable sushi. This site has a lot of information regarding sustainable practices, which fish you shouldn't eat, all of that. One fish that should be avoided is bluefin tuna. The bluefin (known in sushi restaurants under the following names: Kuromaguro, Horse Mackerel, Atun de aleta azul, Hon Maguro, Toro) is highly endangered and is a slow growing fish (the same reason you should never order sea bass). Another fish that is becoming endangered, unfortunately, happens to be one of my favorites--unagi (freshwater eel).
The Monterey Bay Aquarium also hosts Seafood Watch which publishes A Consumer's Guide to Sustainable Sushi. This list breaks down sushi fishes into the categories of "best choice/alternative/avoid."
We can all enjoy sushi, we just have to make good choices and avoid the bad.
Here's another good link: How To Order Safe Sustainable Sushi.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Bike Lanes, Cross Walks, Courtesy
Yesterday I was running some errands by bicycle and stuck with the local bike path for most of the trip. While I was out I decided to go pick up a geocache that was recently added in the neighborhood and had to cross Tangerine, a four to six lane road by the house. I entered the roadway to cross north and then got back on the bike path. I signed off on the cache and then headed back on the path. Since I had to go to the post office, I decided to stay with the path and cross at the crosswalk where I would then have a very short ride to the post office via the sidewalk. Just before the light changed a large pickup came into the turn lane and fully blocked the crosswalk. I know I've been guilty of that myself, but I was clearly visible at the corner waiting to cross in that crosswalk.
I didn't rant and rave or anything, but as I crossed (having to veer out of the crosswalk into the intersection to clear the truck) I used my arm to indicate the path of the crosswalk and then made a "What's up?" kind of gesture. As I went by I heard someone yell something--it involved the word sorry, but I couldn't make out anything else. I didn't acknowledge the call out, just went on my way.
In this town it wouldn't surprise me if the person yelled something about being sorry they entered the crosswalk before I was in the way! People in this town, for all of its "bike friendly" status, are often rude and resentful of cyclists, even those of us who try to follow the rules of the road pretty consistently (it actually ticks me off to see cyclists blatantly breaking the law and or doing things that give the rest of us a bad reputation--motorists make most of their judgements regarding cyclists based on the bad examples they see).
As I finished up in the post office I passed a woman and she said to me, "I'm sorry about blocking that bike path."
I looked up and kind of smiled and said, "Oh, was that you?"
As I was packing up my stuff and putting away my lock and whatnot, I thought about how surprising that was--she actually seemed to mean it and went out of her way to make sure to let me know it. She could have just as easily not said a thing, hoping I would recognize her. What a strange change of pace that is for a cyclist on the road these days! I kind of puttered and took my time in hopes of her quick exit from the post office. She came out soon after and so I said, "You know, most people would have actually yelled at me for wanting to use the crosswalk rather than apologize. Thank you very much for that."
She expressed again that she was sorry about it, saying it was "an accident." After all that, I was really glad I hadn't turned my head back while I was crossing that intersection to yell some nasty bit of driving advice. I'm going to try and make sure I take the high road when it comes to these encounters in the future. I know there's going to be some arse who will make me break that promise, but I hope to take more care in my own reactions and try to remember that sometimes when I'm in the car I find myself creeping a bit too far into the crosswalk when I want to turn or any number of things that would annoy a cyclist in my path. But let me be clear: I try very hard to be aware of cyclists on the road and take extra precautions not to interfere with them with my own bad driving habits. I wish all drivers would do that but unfortunately, most don't.
Either way, I think we all should shut our mouths and just take a second before we fly off the handle when a stranger does something to annoy us, even if they are in the wrong. And we should all try just a bit harder not to do those same annoying things to others! Consideration for others outside of our own "sphere of existence" is a trait we could all benefit from developing. I'm going to try it.
I didn't rant and rave or anything, but as I crossed (having to veer out of the crosswalk into the intersection to clear the truck) I used my arm to indicate the path of the crosswalk and then made a "What's up?" kind of gesture. As I went by I heard someone yell something--it involved the word sorry, but I couldn't make out anything else. I didn't acknowledge the call out, just went on my way.
In this town it wouldn't surprise me if the person yelled something about being sorry they entered the crosswalk before I was in the way! People in this town, for all of its "bike friendly" status, are often rude and resentful of cyclists, even those of us who try to follow the rules of the road pretty consistently (it actually ticks me off to see cyclists blatantly breaking the law and or doing things that give the rest of us a bad reputation--motorists make most of their judgements regarding cyclists based on the bad examples they see).
As I finished up in the post office I passed a woman and she said to me, "I'm sorry about blocking that bike path."
I looked up and kind of smiled and said, "Oh, was that you?"
As I was packing up my stuff and putting away my lock and whatnot, I thought about how surprising that was--she actually seemed to mean it and went out of her way to make sure to let me know it. She could have just as easily not said a thing, hoping I would recognize her. What a strange change of pace that is for a cyclist on the road these days! I kind of puttered and took my time in hopes of her quick exit from the post office. She came out soon after and so I said, "You know, most people would have actually yelled at me for wanting to use the crosswalk rather than apologize. Thank you very much for that."
She expressed again that she was sorry about it, saying it was "an accident." After all that, I was really glad I hadn't turned my head back while I was crossing that intersection to yell some nasty bit of driving advice. I'm going to try and make sure I take the high road when it comes to these encounters in the future. I know there's going to be some arse who will make me break that promise, but I hope to take more care in my own reactions and try to remember that sometimes when I'm in the car I find myself creeping a bit too far into the crosswalk when I want to turn or any number of things that would annoy a cyclist in my path. But let me be clear: I try very hard to be aware of cyclists on the road and take extra precautions not to interfere with them with my own bad driving habits. I wish all drivers would do that but unfortunately, most don't.
Either way, I think we all should shut our mouths and just take a second before we fly off the handle when a stranger does something to annoy us, even if they are in the wrong. And we should all try just a bit harder not to do those same annoying things to others! Consideration for others outside of our own "sphere of existence" is a trait we could all benefit from developing. I'm going to try it.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Public Option for Health Care Reform
I fully support a public option for health care reform. I would wholly endorse a single-payer system if it came to a public vote. We need to insure all Americans at a fair cost. This morning I stumbled across a medical group (of anesthesiologists) that was encouraging its members to write their Senators to oppose the public option (it might hurt their wallets, patients' needs and care be damned). They even provided a nifty little tool to send their Senators a form letter. Well, I used their nifty little tool but replaced their text with my own! Here's what I sent:
I am writing to express my grave concerns that you will oppose a public option in health care reform. Such an option is necessary to provide insurance for the millions of people who cannot afford health insurance.
With Congress moving forward with comprehensive health system reform, I would like to provide my perspective as your constituent. An overhaul of the health care system involves tremendous opportunities to better serve America’s patients. It is essential that reform options be created to ensure that all Americans are insured.
Contrary to what many "health care providers" are trying to imply, a public option would actually create the kind of competition that is needed to drive costs down and to provide better services at reasonable cost--if private companies want to compete, they'll actually have to serve their customers rather than their own pockets (and the pockets of Government Representatives!).
Please don't let your special interest ties and campaign contributions from the insurance lobbies color your responsibility to your constituents and Americans in general. Please support America and ensure the inclusion of a public option in any health care reform legislation.
I am writing to express my grave concerns that you will oppose a public option in health care reform. Such an option is necessary to provide insurance for the millions of people who cannot afford health insurance.
With Congress moving forward with comprehensive health system reform, I would like to provide my perspective as your constituent. An overhaul of the health care system involves tremendous opportunities to better serve America’s patients. It is essential that reform options be created to ensure that all Americans are insured.
Contrary to what many "health care providers" are trying to imply, a public option would actually create the kind of competition that is needed to drive costs down and to provide better services at reasonable cost--if private companies want to compete, they'll actually have to serve their customers rather than their own pockets (and the pockets of Government Representatives!).
Please don't let your special interest ties and campaign contributions from the insurance lobbies color your responsibility to your constituents and Americans in general. Please support America and ensure the inclusion of a public option in any health care reform legislation.
White House Defends DOMA
The White House recently upheld its support of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) using, of all things, the economy(!) to do so. They said they wouldn't consider forcing same sex marriages to be recognized in states that don't support same sex marriage because it would then have to extend federal benefits to same sex marriages (instead of only state benefits being awarded in those states that have gay marriage). They can't strike against bigotry and discrimination and uphold equal rights for all people because they want to save money/!?!?! Is Bush still in the Whitehouse?
Al I have to say is I'm a straight, white, middle-aged, middle-class American male and I completely recognize the unfairness and discriminatory nature of not only DOMA but any barrier to same sex "gay" marriage (shouldn't all marriages be "gay"?). This sentiment extends to "don't ask don't tell" as well. It is unfortunate that the hope we all had for this administration is being whittled away piece by piece by the discriminatory practices of the past.
Al I have to say is I'm a straight, white, middle-aged, middle-class American male and I completely recognize the unfairness and discriminatory nature of not only DOMA but any barrier to same sex "gay" marriage (shouldn't all marriages be "gay"?). This sentiment extends to "don't ask don't tell" as well. It is unfortunate that the hope we all had for this administration is being whittled away piece by piece by the discriminatory practices of the past.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Disney Pixar Cars
Joan and I drove up to Vegas with our friends Ken and Marie (they actually drove) and we stopped in Kingman, Arizona, there and back. On the way back we went to the Route 66 Historical Museum in Kingman. It's a nice little museum. I was able to watch part of the film they show and they feature Seligman, AZ, as pretty much the source of Arizona's decision to list Route 66 in Arizona as a historical route. So I was just surfing around the net for info because I've never been to Seligman (that I know of). Turns out that, according to one site, Disney Pixar's movie Cars was inspired by Seligman's struggles and gives credit to the town in the closing credits.
I have a long history of not being a Disney fan (even though I grew up on a steady diet of Disney movies and have taken my kids to Disney World). I think Disney is the Devil. So imagine how conflicted I am now that I think I will have to find Cars and watch it. Well, the grandkids should like it, right?
I have a long history of not being a Disney fan (even though I grew up on a steady diet of Disney movies and have taken my kids to Disney World). I think Disney is the Devil. So imagine how conflicted I am now that I think I will have to find Cars and watch it. Well, the grandkids should like it, right?
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Let 'em hang! Hang 'em high! Hang 'em Out to Dry!
You get the idea. Hopefully you get the point. Hanging your clothes on a line (or other drying device, like a rack or even a shower rod) saves money, energy, resources, and, even better, your clothes.I live in a "neighborhood" in Tucson, Arizona. The neighborhood has a Home Owners' Association (HOA), which I signed onto when we built the house (yes, I know, but that's another issue altogether). One of the edicts of the HOA is the banning of clotheslines.
There are lots of "reasons" for banning clotheslines, though none of them are really based on anything resembling reason. Clotheslines began to go out of vogue with the urban growth of the post-war years when appliances became a status symbol. If you could afford a washer and dryer, why would you hang your clothes outside? You're obviously poor and dragging down our neighborhood and our property values! So there's now a social stigma attached to the clothesline along with a very real belief by a good number of people that a clothesline reduces property values.
See an excellent Doonesbury cartoon series here! As a kid growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, my mother always hung our clothes. We had a dryer (at least at some points--I do remember a wringer dryer when I was really young), but most things were on the line, even in winter. Plenty of action figures used the clothesline as a zip line, too. Hanging clothes and rushing out to bring the laundry in before the rain hits seemed perfectly normal.
So here I am living in Tucson and I'm trying to be a good little greenie and I figure one of the easiest things to do is hang my clothes to dry. Joan thinks I'm going to get busted by the HOA, but hey, if I get busted I guess it'll be time to attend those HOA meetings.
I don't think it'll happen, though. I'm pretty discreet about it, I think. I have mounted some hooks under the patio and hang some dowels from them when it is time to dry my clothes. I don't have big poles with crossbars and three or four cables running the length of my yard or anything like that. But I sometimes, with my three four foot dowels, have barely enough room to hang my laundry. I might have to add another one to the line up (pun intended).
Here in Tucson it is often hot enough, dry enough, and just breezy enough for my laundry to dry very, very quickly. There are times when it clearly dries faster than it would in the dryer and it comes in the house every bit as warm as the clothes from the dryer. I encourage you to figure out your own system and try to dry at least some of your clothing outside. I admittedly don't dry all of mine. For one, Joan doesn't dry her clothes outside, citing allergens and dust. She won't allow me to dry the towels or the sheets, either. But that's fine. Almost all of my own clothing, however, dries on the line and I like it just fine. I haven't noticed any issues with allergens, either. Maybe it's just luck. Who knows? Either way, I say dry away, dry away, dry away.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Vegas Trip, Day 01
Thursday, June 4, 2009
What a seemingly productive day; perhaps not in an industrious way, but we certainly got a lot done, it seems. Joan was up at her usual "before God wakes" time, and I crawled out of bed at the early hour of six a.m. I went about the usual tasks of watering the garden and filling the bird feeder and that sort of thing. I made a smoothie and then an omelet with tomato and spinach and a heavy dose of cheese. Then I set about filling the cooler with beer for when we arrived in our room at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. Of course, being me, I managed to knock a beer from the fridge to the floor and it shattered and spilled all over the kitchen. Out with the mop!
Showered and dressed, we finished the dishes and last minute prep and were mostly ready when Ken and Marie arrived. We loaded up the Expedition and hit the road for our trip to Vegas. The trip was uneventful and seemed to go by quickly between conversations and reading and route discussions. Our first stop was in Kingman, Arizona, where he had lunch at DJz--a Route 66 diner that sits across from the Route 66 Museum, which, unfortunately, we didn't have time to explore because we wanted to get to the Hoover Dam for a dam tour, dammit. We passed a few gas stations looking for cheap gas, picked the Flying J, and got back on the road just in time to pass several stations selling gas for at least a whopping $.04 cheaper! If it had been a dime less Ken would have been thrown in a funk, but four cents he could handle.
Coming up on the Boulder Dam, you can't help but be impressed. It's massive and the traffic is heavy. We planned on doing the Dam tour (and you can bet that the Hoover Dam staff makes full use of the double entendre) so we opted for crossing the dam to the Nevada side where a large parking structure was built along with the gift shop, cafe, etc. It's quite a facility.
One of the first things I noticed is the water level in the river. It's at a sixty-three year low and there is a wide band of whitened rock that makes the high water level mark obvious. There's a lot of water not flowing in the Colorado these days. Given current climate change indicators, this will only worsen. A long time "dam hater," I must try to accept that if current populations supplied water by the Colorado are to be maintained, there are likely to be more dams in the future. It's estimated that the flow of the Colorado could be diminished by up to thirty percent in the not-too-distant future and dams and reservoirs will likely be the solution.
I found it interesting that the Hoover Dam was not intended to supply power. That was more of an afterthought. The original intent was merely flood control and harnessing the Colorado and to provide drinking water and irrigation to the affected states. California came up with the idea of the generators and worked up some kind of deal (the details of which you'll have to look up--I can't recall them accurately at the moment). There are now seventeen generators producing energy that is sold as cost--as a federal facility they can't sell at a profit. Most of the electricity finds its way to California, Arizona, and a bit to Nevada. Supposedly zero percent of the electricity is used to operate casinos--it's part of the regulation, apparently.
It's a good tour. I recommend it if you're out that way. There's a whole lot of glossy public relations going on while you're there. You will hear absolutely nothing about any of the negative aspects of the dam, only the good. And it's touted as being "environmentally conscious" and whatnot. There's a lot of foolishness behind that claim, but what are you going to do? I can't say I was surprised that there was absolutely no mention of the unintentional environmental fallout generated by the building of the dam.
One interesting note: The dam is entirely self-funded and powered. In addition to the seventeen power generators there are two small generators (one on each side) that were part of the original design that are used to supply one hundred percent of the power used by the dam and it's associated facilities.
From the dam it is a fairly short drive into Vegas. We stayed at the Golden Nugget on Fremont Street, downtown, old town, whatever you want to call it--not The Strip. We were there because my friend Ken was participating in a bowling tournament at the Cashman Center. We got a smoking deal on rooms because of it--$39 the first night, $59 for the following two. Considering the price of the rooms, I was very impressed. The room was spacious, clean, and set up nicely. My one complaint was our ninth floor shower--not much pressure, a faulty shower head, and a slow draining tub. If not for that, I would have been ecstatic over the quality/value ratio.
Checking in was a hoot. There was a back-up of cars trying to check in to the hotel. We unloaded all of our bags to a bell cart and got a claim ticket and headed for the front desk while Marie self-parked the car. Joan and I got checked in and headed to our room--good thing because almost as soon as we closed the door the bellman was there with the bags. The only problem was all the bags were on the cart and our rooms were on different floors (we were on nine, Ken and Marie on four). We offloaded ours while trying to connect with Ken--his cell phone kept cutting out, probably because he was in the parking garage. I tried to tell him to head down to his room to meet the bellman, but they showed up at ours a moment later. Fortunately we had detained the bellman (who was friendly, funny, and accomodating). We ended up taking Ken and Marie's coolers from the cart and stashing them in our room and sent the ballman on his way--Ken and Marie stayed with us so we could get started on our "cocktails."
We wanted to save some money and the easiest way to do that is on alcohol. We brought some vodka, soda, beer, fruity beer, etc., and, of course, our giant plastic tumblers. The tumblers were a hit. We filled them with drinks and then wandered around, making occasional forays up to the room for refills. It worked out pretty well. There was a lot of foolishness involved and I'm not sure Ken was quite up to it that first night.
After we were well on our way, we decided we should eat dinner. Turns out it was almost eleven p.m. when we hit on that insight. We ate at The Grotto, an Italian restaurant that's in the Golden Nugget. It was excellent--and not just because we were a few drinks past our prime. The food and service were top notch and, if I remember correctly, not too outrageously priced.
After dinner we checked out the pool area (where we had actually spent a little time in our earlier forays). It's a nice pool with a huge aquarium at its center housing sharks and fish such as jacks, grouper, red fish, etc. Right through the middle of the aquarium runs a water slide. I can tell you from a later experience that you simply can't see a thing when you're going through that slide. It's yellow, yellow, blue, yel--sploosh.
The actual pool closes at some ridiculous hour like eight o'clock. You can still be in there and use the hot tub and drink and play blackjack, you just can't go in the pool. Above the aquarium there are two levels of cabanas--those close when the pool closes. We wanted to check them out and so we sucked up to a security guard and he told us we could go take a look. They're nice--flat screen t.v., comfy furniture, the whole nine yards--for $175 a day. Yes. That's right. For $175 a day you can use a cabana from ten in the morning until eight at night. What is that? $17.50 an hour? For that it should come with free food and drinks! That's more than our entire stay cost!
The weather in Vegas was weird. It was cool. We expected blistering temps but it was windy and often a little on the cloudy side. In other words, it got a bit chilly at night and that was the case that first evening. As such, we didn't stay at the pool long and called it a night. It was a good first day. The drive was uneventful, seemed to pass quickly, and we all had a good time. And not a dime was spent gambling!
What a seemingly productive day; perhaps not in an industrious way, but we certainly got a lot done, it seems. Joan was up at her usual "before God wakes" time, and I crawled out of bed at the early hour of six a.m. I went about the usual tasks of watering the garden and filling the bird feeder and that sort of thing. I made a smoothie and then an omelet with tomato and spinach and a heavy dose of cheese. Then I set about filling the cooler with beer for when we arrived in our room at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. Of course, being me, I managed to knock a beer from the fridge to the floor and it shattered and spilled all over the kitchen. Out with the mop!
Showered and dressed, we finished the dishes and last minute prep and were mostly ready when Ken and Marie arrived. We loaded up the Expedition and hit the road for our trip to Vegas. The trip was uneventful and seemed to go by quickly between conversations and reading and route discussions. Our first stop was in Kingman, Arizona, where he had lunch at DJz--a Route 66 diner that sits across from the Route 66 Museum, which, unfortunately, we didn't have time to explore because we wanted to get to the Hoover Dam for a dam tour, dammit. We passed a few gas stations looking for cheap gas, picked the Flying J, and got back on the road just in time to pass several stations selling gas for at least a whopping $.04 cheaper! If it had been a dime less Ken would have been thrown in a funk, but four cents he could handle.
Coming up on the Boulder Dam, you can't help but be impressed. It's massive and the traffic is heavy. We planned on doing the Dam tour (and you can bet that the Hoover Dam staff makes full use of the double entendre) so we opted for crossing the dam to the Nevada side where a large parking structure was built along with the gift shop, cafe, etc. It's quite a facility.
One of the first things I noticed is the water level in the river. It's at a sixty-three year low and there is a wide band of whitened rock that makes the high water level mark obvious. There's a lot of water not flowing in the Colorado these days. Given current climate change indicators, this will only worsen. A long time "dam hater," I must try to accept that if current populations supplied water by the Colorado are to be maintained, there are likely to be more dams in the future. It's estimated that the flow of the Colorado could be diminished by up to thirty percent in the not-too-distant future and dams and reservoirs will likely be the solution.
I found it interesting that the Hoover Dam was not intended to supply power. That was more of an afterthought. The original intent was merely flood control and harnessing the Colorado and to provide drinking water and irrigation to the affected states. California came up with the idea of the generators and worked up some kind of deal (the details of which you'll have to look up--I can't recall them accurately at the moment). There are now seventeen generators producing energy that is sold as cost--as a federal facility they can't sell at a profit. Most of the electricity finds its way to California, Arizona, and a bit to Nevada. Supposedly zero percent of the electricity is used to operate casinos--it's part of the regulation, apparently.
It's a good tour. I recommend it if you're out that way. There's a whole lot of glossy public relations going on while you're there. You will hear absolutely nothing about any of the negative aspects of the dam, only the good. And it's touted as being "environmentally conscious" and whatnot. There's a lot of foolishness behind that claim, but what are you going to do? I can't say I was surprised that there was absolutely no mention of the unintentional environmental fallout generated by the building of the dam.
One interesting note: The dam is entirely self-funded and powered. In addition to the seventeen power generators there are two small generators (one on each side) that were part of the original design that are used to supply one hundred percent of the power used by the dam and it's associated facilities.
From the dam it is a fairly short drive into Vegas. We stayed at the Golden Nugget on Fremont Street, downtown, old town, whatever you want to call it--not The Strip. We were there because my friend Ken was participating in a bowling tournament at the Cashman Center. We got a smoking deal on rooms because of it--$39 the first night, $59 for the following two. Considering the price of the rooms, I was very impressed. The room was spacious, clean, and set up nicely. My one complaint was our ninth floor shower--not much pressure, a faulty shower head, and a slow draining tub. If not for that, I would have been ecstatic over the quality/value ratio.
Checking in was a hoot. There was a back-up of cars trying to check in to the hotel. We unloaded all of our bags to a bell cart and got a claim ticket and headed for the front desk while Marie self-parked the car. Joan and I got checked in and headed to our room--good thing because almost as soon as we closed the door the bellman was there with the bags. The only problem was all the bags were on the cart and our rooms were on different floors (we were on nine, Ken and Marie on four). We offloaded ours while trying to connect with Ken--his cell phone kept cutting out, probably because he was in the parking garage. I tried to tell him to head down to his room to meet the bellman, but they showed up at ours a moment later. Fortunately we had detained the bellman (who was friendly, funny, and accomodating). We ended up taking Ken and Marie's coolers from the cart and stashing them in our room and sent the ballman on his way--Ken and Marie stayed with us so we could get started on our "cocktails."
We wanted to save some money and the easiest way to do that is on alcohol. We brought some vodka, soda, beer, fruity beer, etc., and, of course, our giant plastic tumblers. The tumblers were a hit. We filled them with drinks and then wandered around, making occasional forays up to the room for refills. It worked out pretty well. There was a lot of foolishness involved and I'm not sure Ken was quite up to it that first night.
After we were well on our way, we decided we should eat dinner. Turns out it was almost eleven p.m. when we hit on that insight. We ate at The Grotto, an Italian restaurant that's in the Golden Nugget. It was excellent--and not just because we were a few drinks past our prime. The food and service were top notch and, if I remember correctly, not too outrageously priced.
After dinner we checked out the pool area (where we had actually spent a little time in our earlier forays). It's a nice pool with a huge aquarium at its center housing sharks and fish such as jacks, grouper, red fish, etc. Right through the middle of the aquarium runs a water slide. I can tell you from a later experience that you simply can't see a thing when you're going through that slide. It's yellow, yellow, blue, yel--sploosh.
The actual pool closes at some ridiculous hour like eight o'clock. You can still be in there and use the hot tub and drink and play blackjack, you just can't go in the pool. Above the aquarium there are two levels of cabanas--those close when the pool closes. We wanted to check them out and so we sucked up to a security guard and he told us we could go take a look. They're nice--flat screen t.v., comfy furniture, the whole nine yards--for $175 a day. Yes. That's right. For $175 a day you can use a cabana from ten in the morning until eight at night. What is that? $17.50 an hour? For that it should come with free food and drinks! That's more than our entire stay cost!
The weather in Vegas was weird. It was cool. We expected blistering temps but it was windy and often a little on the cloudy side. In other words, it got a bit chilly at night and that was the case that first evening. As such, we didn't stay at the pool long and called it a night. It was a good first day. The drive was uneventful, seemed to pass quickly, and we all had a good time. And not a dime was spent gambling!
Thoughts on Grilled Cheese
Thoughts On Grilled Cheese
What makes a good grilled cheese? Not even a great grilled cheese, just a good grilled cheese. One thing I can say for certain is that it would involve real cheese and not Kraft American Singles or some similar "cheese food product." I've had my share of such sandwiches growing up. My parents had one of two cheese varieties in the house on a regular basis: American cheese food slices, of whatever brand or variety, and Government nondescript yellow cheese. I admit the government cheese didn't make a bad grilled cheese. It may not have been a great grilled cheese, but it was passable. The cheese slices? Not so much.
Over the years I developed some personal preferences when it comes to a grilled cheese sandwich. I like mine with either sharp cheddar or a good swiss--maybe even both. Now, Velveeta and your "cheese food" slices might melt in an exceptional manner; that's what they are made to do. But they don't taste good (though Velveeta makes a good cheese dip when melted with your favorite salsa). I like real bread, real cheese, a slice or two of tomato, and an even heat source. I usually bake mine in the oven on a stone if I have the time. Beyond that you're getting into experimental territory.
On our way to Las Vegas we stopped in Kingman, Arizona. We had lunch at a Route 66 Diner called Mr. D'z. All in all, it was a good diner. The fries weren't too flaccid, the onion rings tasted beer battered, so on and so forth. There wasn't much on the menu in the way of vegetarian options so I opted for a grilled cheese. I asked for tomato on it and it sounded like that would be no big deal. And it wasn't. Not really.
The sandwich was made with generic "American" cheese food product slices and standard bread. There were tomato slices on the sandwich and it had been toasted to some degree. But the cheese wasn't really melted and the tomato was still cold. But what are you going to do? Of course I ate it and I didn't say anything about it. I will go on record now, however, with the determination that this was a crappy sandwich. Here's what I think an ideal restaurant grilled cheese sandwich would be like: Artisan bread, not too crusty but one with substance. Real cheese of your choice (provolone, cheddar, jack, swiss, you know, actual cheese varieties). Meaty tomato slices and maybe some spinach leaves. I like baking a sandwich, as I said, but if it's done on a grill, that's fine too--either way, the cheese has to be thoroughly melted, the tomato warmed through, and the bread toasted brown but not burned. It's not rocket science. It's an American classic and one of those basic things you learn to make as a child. It simply amazes me when a restaurant bothers to put it on the menu but can't actually make one, especially a "classic" diner.
What makes a good grilled cheese? Not even a great grilled cheese, just a good grilled cheese. One thing I can say for certain is that it would involve real cheese and not Kraft American Singles or some similar "cheese food product." I've had my share of such sandwiches growing up. My parents had one of two cheese varieties in the house on a regular basis: American cheese food slices, of whatever brand or variety, and Government nondescript yellow cheese. I admit the government cheese didn't make a bad grilled cheese. It may not have been a great grilled cheese, but it was passable. The cheese slices? Not so much.
Over the years I developed some personal preferences when it comes to a grilled cheese sandwich. I like mine with either sharp cheddar or a good swiss--maybe even both. Now, Velveeta and your "cheese food" slices might melt in an exceptional manner; that's what they are made to do. But they don't taste good (though Velveeta makes a good cheese dip when melted with your favorite salsa). I like real bread, real cheese, a slice or two of tomato, and an even heat source. I usually bake mine in the oven on a stone if I have the time. Beyond that you're getting into experimental territory.
On our way to Las Vegas we stopped in Kingman, Arizona. We had lunch at a Route 66 Diner called Mr. D'z. All in all, it was a good diner. The fries weren't too flaccid, the onion rings tasted beer battered, so on and so forth. There wasn't much on the menu in the way of vegetarian options so I opted for a grilled cheese. I asked for tomato on it and it sounded like that would be no big deal. And it wasn't. Not really.
The sandwich was made with generic "American" cheese food product slices and standard bread. There were tomato slices on the sandwich and it had been toasted to some degree. But the cheese wasn't really melted and the tomato was still cold. But what are you going to do? Of course I ate it and I didn't say anything about it. I will go on record now, however, with the determination that this was a crappy sandwich. Here's what I think an ideal restaurant grilled cheese sandwich would be like: Artisan bread, not too crusty but one with substance. Real cheese of your choice (provolone, cheddar, jack, swiss, you know, actual cheese varieties). Meaty tomato slices and maybe some spinach leaves. I like baking a sandwich, as I said, but if it's done on a grill, that's fine too--either way, the cheese has to be thoroughly melted, the tomato warmed through, and the bread toasted brown but not burned. It's not rocket science. It's an American classic and one of those basic things you learn to make as a child. It simply amazes me when a restaurant bothers to put it on the menu but can't actually make one, especially a "classic" diner.
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