Ponderances, Inanities, and other Nonsense
Archive for April, 2008
Happy Earth Day…
Apr 22nd
…you tree huggers!
No, really… I think you will see a lot more conservation-minded people as the gas prices continue to climb higher and higher.
I don’t recycle. Not because I don’t care, but because I do. I have blogged at some time or another that I have heard from multiple sources that the only thing worth recycling is aluminum cans. Since I avoid buying them, I don’t worry about recycling them. Everything else causes more harm to the environment and produces a larger carbon footprint to recycle.
Anyway, a couple of sites that I constantly pimp out to my friends are:
- Freecycle – A place to give away all your junk. Kinda like a yardsale, except you don’t have to spend a Saturday dragging all of it out, tagging it for a quarter and have some inane ass negotiate for half an hour how that $200 thing you are selling for a quarter is ludicrously overpriced, and offers you a dime.
- New American Dream – Hate getting junk mail? This shows you how to stop getting it, or tells you who you can pay $41 to do it for you. It also talks about such worthwhile things as “Raising your kids free of commercialism” and the Fair Trade Initiative.
Great Weekend…considering.
Apr 21st
Well, I was sick. I had some stomach bug that hit me Friday afternoon and is still lingering. Friday night I tossed and turned until all of my muscles and joints were sore. But, I had promised Antonella and Sophia we were going to the park, so we went. We just got started a little later.
East Potomac Park is pretty. On one side (the north side) is the Washington Channel, on the other (south side) is the Potomac River, and on the northwest end is the Tidal Basin. The Jefferson Memorial is on the northwest end facing the tidal basin. The Park has a golf course, a putt-putt course, a kids park, and is circumnavigated by a sidewalk with benches every twenty meters or so. It is an enormous green space.
I told them I would go, but I would probably just nap out on the picnic blanket (which I did). There were a lot of people flying kites and taking advantage of the beautiful day.
In other news, I added some thirteen pictures of Sophia from her trip to Italy and our time in Munich. Again, if you don’t have the original invite, or know how to get to them, shoot me an email or leave a comment and I will make it accessible.
Blitzkrieg
Apr 14th
Antonella was flying back from Italy and forgot some of her documentation. Faced with a choice of spending X dollars putting her in a hotel and taking Y days for her documentation to be sent to her via Fed-ex or of flying there myself and handing her the documentation, I chose “B.” So, we spent the weekend in Munich.
One quick observation…the exchange rate is more like an exchange rape. The dollar isn’t worth much more than Monopoly money in the European Union (The United States of Europe seemed too copy-cat, I suppose.)
I should have some pictures of Sophia chasing the pigeons around Marielplatz below the carnival-esque Rathaus-Glockenspiel shouting “Ducky.” I’ll try to get them posted today or tomorrow. If anyone doesn’t have access to my Picassa folder and wants it, let me know.
The next few days will be some observations about my trip, though they may be slow coming as there are no words to express how mentally fatigued I am right now.
Gone to the Happy Hunting Grounds…
Apr 7th
Charlton Heston has left the building, at age 84. The man always stuck to his guns. Which is why he has them for the Happy Hunting Grounds.
Long Time, No Hear
Apr 7th
I have to say, one of the best things about an impending high school reunion is that everyone comes out of hiding and new contacts are made. I am not sure why everyone drifts apart after high school, but it happens. I think it is nice in a way, though. Here are people that you knew quite well for several years, then they vanish and re-emerge and you see what they’ve been doing. If I keep in touch with someone quite regularly, it appears I don’t have a whole lot to say, as the day-to-day lends itself to few stories worth recounting.
Additionally, some people have done remarkable things since high school. It is interesting to see what everyone is doing and how they have changed. Sadly, I will not be going to the twenty year reunion. I have to go to orientation for my MBA during that time in Tempe, Arizona.
New oil viscosity
Apr 3rd
Curiosity killed the cat, and for the rest of us, it is just a cross to bear–especially when coupled with a touch of OCD. What I am referring to is my lack of knowledge about newer oil viscosities I have seen recently–especially 5W-20. I was looking in my car manual and it said to use this grade, and I asked myself, “Bryan (that’s what I call myself), what the heck is 5W-20? Are they making this shit up?”
I did some “research” on the internet and found some Chicken Little shit about how it is all just a ruse engineered by automotive manufacturers to improve their CAFE numbers to avoid paying larger penalties for the gas hogs they peddle. After searching for a site that wasn’t one big ad, I found something a little more moderate and logical.
If you don’t really want to figure it out for yourself given the links above, the gist is basically this: Higher viscosity (higher resistance to flow) oils lubricate better, but at a smaller gas economy. (a very small percentage decrease). So, the argument by some is that for the little bit of savings, is it worth wearing out your engine?
Hell, I don’t know, but it seems that most people think that 5W-20 is fine. So, I guess I will be following the Car Owner’s Manual and put 5W-20 in the Compass.
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