Lessons for Living | Ain't Complicated

Driving

Under the Influence

Forget fast-food waste or kitchen grease: Real aristocrats use wine to make their biofuels. Britains Prince Charles recently jumped on the biofuels bandwagon, converting his seldom-used 1960 Aston Martin DB6 to a biofuel system that allows him to run his classic convertible on wine rather than gasoline. "Charles only [travels] two or three hundred miles a year in the Aston but he wanted it to be environmentally friendly," an aide told the Daily Mail. The prince gets his wine from an English vintner who would otherwise have to destroy any wine produced above the European Union quota. Charles switch to a biofuel may curb a smidgen of carbon dioxide emissions, but it likely wont save him much money: The wine costs only slightly less than the gasoline hed buy for his classic.

Right

High gas prices arent forcing UPS off the roadways. Theyre just forcing the companys drivers to the right side of the road. According to executives at the international package delivery service, computer mapping software and traffic modeling has led them to conclude that delivery drivers should avoid making left turns. By mapping out routes that aim for only right-hand turns, the company saved 3.3 million gallons of gasoline in 2007. According to UPS research, drivers waste time and gas idling while waiting for left-hand turn signals. Even with the more circuitous path, the company estimates that it saved more than $9 million in 2007.

HT: WORLD Magazine.

Don’t Do It!

Somebody needed to be there to say that to the woman who killed herself today. As I recall the radio news story, she committed suicide because her house was headed for foreclosure. Next time you think “ending it” is better than dealing with life, don’t do it. (Where were her family and friends in her anguish?!)

And somebody needed to be there to say it to the person who broke the guy’s ankles along the freeway. Turns out the victim was changing a flat tire when the other character came along and drove over the lower part of his legs. And kept on going. Next time you’re tempted to leave the scene of an accident or otherwise dodge personal responsibility, don’t do it.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Wednesday said Cuba does not have to explain or “ask forgiveness” about a report out of Russia this week that Russia might use its Cold War ally Cuba as a refueling base for nuclear-capable bombers. My advice: Don’t do it.

If John McCain is considering removing the threat of my write-in candidacy for President of the United States by selecting me as his VP running mate, I say: Don’t do it.

Christians and Community

Help thy neighbor through crisis

I bought the Wall Street Journal at the airport. On the opinion page was a letter from James S. Martin, a Mennonite from Scurry, Texas. When it comes to health care and meeting social needs, Martin sees little advantage to insurance and entitlement programs offered through the federal government and private sector.

"Our communities have been successfully meeting our own financial needs for 500 years," Martin wrote. "How relieved I am to rely on the voluntary sharing of my own church community."

If our policies were built upon the simple faith of the Mennonites, this crisis would have never happened because the good of the community would have been put ahead of personal gain. The families who made it through the Great Depression helped and relied on one another. It may be that we all have to do that again.

Martin believes the Mennonite and Amish form of mutual aid and a community support system will endure. "After all, it springs from a 2,000-year-old imperative," Martin writes. "Bear one anothers burdens" Galatians 6:2.

CFL Broke?

If you’ve had the misfortune of breaking a compact fluorescent light bulb, please accept my regrets (if you’re going to take care of the mess “properly”, anyway).

Here’s how the EPA wants you to clean it up:

Before Clean-up: Air Out the Room

Have people and pets leave the room, and don’t let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces

Carefully scoop up glass pieces and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

Disposal of Clean-up Materials

Immediately place all clean-up materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states do not allow such trash disposal. Instead, they require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.

Did you actually think all you had to do was sweep up the mess and dump it in the nearest garbage can?

Ha!

PS: It’s worse for carpet, rugs, clothing, bedding, and such like. If you really want to know, click the link above.

FLDS Update: Media Silence

Here’s a story I saw in the Salt Lake Tribune:

Arrest warrant issued for woman whose bogus tip allegedly triggered FLDS raid

The Colorado woman alleged to have sparked the raid on the polygamous FLDS ranch in Texas with bogus tips may be on the run.

On Monday, an arrest warrant was issued for Rozita Swinton after she failed to show up for a court hearing on charges of violating her probation for one of two other false-reporting cases against her, court administrator Lori McKager told Salt Lake City’s 2News.

Swinton is accused of violating her probation stemming from her 2007 guilty plea for telling police she was a 16-year-old girl who was suicidal after giving birth.

Authorities have linked her to a phone number used to call a Texas crisis center thought to have triggered an April raid where more than 460 children were removed from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas.

Folks, that’s a two-day old story, posted on their site almost 48 hours ago early on the morning of July 15.

Look, I keep up on the news. So why haven’t I heard or read about this until this morning…and then only because I saw it about it over at WizBangBlog?

This story appears to me to be as significant as the original raid and all the media piling-on of the FLDS.

In my personal relationships, let me be as even-handed, balanced, and just as I want the media to be.

Oh. 😯

In that case, maybe I should just let the media be the media.

Men Only

I know. That sounds kinda femaleophobic.

When you see the photo clip, you may also think it’s ageophobic.

And the fact is, what you’re about to see is specifically for men of a certain age.

I saw it an hour ago or so in Woodburn, Oregon.

Can you tell me where in Woodburn?

There’s a lot of good the needs doing out there. All kinds of good deeds are still going undone.

No wonder Dr. Laura likes to say, “Now go do the right thing.”

Well, doing the right thing isn’t just for men in a certain age bracket.

You know that!

Yes, of course you do.

So then, let’s do it, folks!

(And if it takes 18-25-year-old men leading the way, then lead on, guys!)

We need to get a domino effect going out there.

Sunscreen Alert

Generally, I do not apply sunscreen to me, so this doesn’t apply to me directly. 🙄

But I still find this interesting (thought I didn’t read much more than what you see here):

Four Out of Five Sunscreens May Be Hazardous to Your Health

A consumer advocacy group has a warning for parents who think they’re protecting their family with sunscreen: You may be getting burned.

The Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based nonprofit, has released an investigation of nearly 1,000 brand-name sunscreens that says four out of five don’t adequately protect consumers and may contain harmful chemicals.

The group says that some of the products of the nation’s leading brands — including Coppertone, Neutrogena and Banana Boat — are the poorest performers.

[…]

Few health recommendations have had as damaging an effect as the advice that you should never leave your house without sunscreen. Wearing sunscreen effectively blocks your body’s production of vitamin D, which happens naturally when your skin is exposed to sunlight. In fact, sunscreens reduce vitamin D production by as much as 97.5 to 99.9 percent.

“So there you are,” as Hank the Cowdog would say.