Renewable Resources

It's becoming more and more important to recognize and utilize renewable resources.  So I want to share a few tips on paper products.

The brown napkins in my desk drawer at work are a renewable resource.

The white tissues on my desk are not.

Why?  Is it related to the production process that made one brown and the other white?  No.  Is it related to which company manufactured them?  No--they're both generic products, I have no idea who made them. 

The napkins are renewable because I get them for free from the take-out place on the first floor of my building.  I have to BUY the tissues!!!

So, I hope this has been helpful and that you'll all do what you can to save money the planet.  :D

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!!!

Sorry for being late.

Canadians easily make up a quarter of my list of favorite people.  (Side note:  Peru, it's like you're not even trying.  Get it together!!!  :)

I hope all of my friends (in the northern hemisphere) are having a great autumn! Happy spring to the "southerners"!

Pope Mania

The Pope's recent visit to the US prompted lots of discussion about him and the Church, including some odd criticisms.

People on the political right were referring to him as "that communist Pope" because of his stance on immigration and helping the less fortunate.  Pretty ridiculous criticism.  Anyone surprised that the leader of the Catholic Church believes in people helping each other has led a very sheltered life.

Of course, people from the political left had equally odd criticisms--revealing the shocking news that this supposedly progressive Pope doesn't support abortion or gay marriage.  Weird!  It's like he's a dyed-in-the-wool Catholic or something! 

Pope Francis is a good man.  Hopefully he will help people realize that you can disagree with people and still respect them (unless they behave disrespectfully). 

College Acquaintances

During my first year of college I interacted with a small group of guys who (like me) were studying accounting.  Sometimes we talked before class started.  Some days we had lunch together at a greasy spoon--a tiny burger joint down an alley (so good!).  They were classmates (not friends).  After class the group headed for the subway.  I did too.  That's when they really started to annoy me. 

The apparent leader of their group was not very evolved and the others were easily lead.  He thought it was fun to make women traveling alone feel uncomfortable.  He'd stare at them, make creepy comments.  I swear sometimes I thought I heard him grunt.  His buddies joined in and they tried to isolate that day's target from the rest of the passengers.  My grandmother would have been ashamed of me if I let that happen.  So I didn't.

At their worst, I'd stand between them and the girl until she got off the train.  Other times I tried to explain why what they were doing was wrong.  I tried to get them to see they were being disrespectful, creepy and scary.  I even tried the old "what if it was your sister or GF?."  But their leader had an ignorant answer for everything.  I think I suggested they ask their mothers about it.  But it's been a long time, I'm not sure.

But I am sure I made no progress with those boys.  They laughed at what I said.  Hopefully most of them grew up and changed their behavior.  But I doubt it.  For me the experience was a bit of a revelation.  That's when I first realized you can have truth, justice and logic on your side, but that doesn't mean anyone is going to listen.  After summer classes I started working full time and going to school at night.  I lost touch with the boys after that.  Then I started having trouble with the girls, but that's a different story.  :D

I'm sure I wrote this story before, but I couldn't find it!  A great post about ignorant signs posted by college boys welcoming female freshmen to campus reminded me of it.  Will things ever change???

Prohibition

We don't do prohibtion very well in the US.  I think it's a people problem. 

THE "Prohibition" in the US, during which the sale of alcohol was banned, was a failure.  It did reduce alcohol consumption for a time, but mostly it succeeded in making criminals rich and costing the government tax revenue.  But I'm not referring to just THE Prohibition.  I'm talking about most things that are banned or illegal:

• Illegal drugs?  Failure.  There are so many heroin overdoses in the DC area that most local police departments stock the antidote in patrol cars.  And now China is sending us "synthetic drugs".  It's as bad as PCP and has been blamed for the recent spike in homicides.  Oh, and PCP is back.
• Gun control?  Where bans exist, failure.  Jurisdictions with the most strict gun laws routinely have the worst gun violence (Chicago).  We actually under-report the problem by counting only murders instead of all the shootings.
• Commercial sex?  Where bans exist, failure. 
• Once upon a time, abortion would have been on the list.  Its ban was a back-alley nightmare. 

Maybe the US is a country of criminals. My daughter tells me that when the US was still under British rule, our forefathers routinely headed west without permission. At the same time our Canadian brothers patiently waited for the Crown to authorize who, when and where--great examples of loyal, law-abiding citizens. 

Because of our history and "spirit", I don't think banning handguns in the US would be any more successful than the bans mentioned above.  Criminals would still have them (and profit greatly by selling them) and there would be more criminals than ever because the US version of law-abiding citizens are going to hide as many as they surrender. 

Our gun problem won't be solved until we solve our people problem. Maybe it's not too late to become the "Nation of laws" we often claim to be.   Maybe we could start with little things, like obeying existing laws. Don't drive 30 MPH over the speed limit in school zones (or call the policeman names for giving you the ticket you earned).  Try stopping at a stop sign once in a while.  The government needs to pitch in too.  Stop looking the other way when government officials break the law.  Let's take a few baby steps to show our laws matter and apply to everyone.

"I'm sorry"

That can mean I'm apologizing for something.  Said differently, it's a question.

But I think it can also be said as an expression of empathy.  I'm I wrong? 

Someone in my past (don't know who) MUST have used it that way because I do!  Is it from my grandparent's era and fallen out of use now???  I ask because more often than not, the people I say it to respond, "It's not your fault" and I have to explain that I meant it as an expression of empathy.  I had to explain it to someone today--and my tone was less empathetic and more "why the heck would I think it's my fault???" (which I feel bad about now). 

Anyway, if you tell someone you have a terrible headache and the person says, "Oh, I'm so sorry", the correct response should be something along the lines of, "I'm okay" or "Thank you". 


PS - Although, if you work with me and you have a headache, telling me it's not my fault probably isn't the worst answer.  lol!  (The person didn't have a headache)

G is for Gross!

Lisa (of expanding) recently posted her ABC's, with each letter of the alphabet representing a question she had to answer.  G was "Grossest Memory?".  Her grossest memory is very similar to mine--or at least it reminded me of a very gross one.  One that I'm now going to share.   (It's Lisa's fault!  :D )

My wife and I used to take my dad and his wife out to dinner once a month or so when they were not in Florida.  Dad liked to reciprocate once in a while (usually at The Old Country Buffet or someplace similar).  On this particular outing he introduced us to the Piccadilly Cafeteria.  My daughter (who was almost 4 at the time) loved it.  Specifically she loved their corn and their jello (red).  She had several servings of each.  It was cute.  Later that night it was not so cute. 

At 3am I heard my daughter crying in her bed.  Crying and throwing up.  She was throwing up all the corn she'd had for dinner...and it was pink!  It looked like a pink corn version of a science fair volcano.  So gross!!!

My wife cleaned the child and I took care of the sheets and blankets.  Getting through moments like that (instead of going for a drive)...that's love.


PS - Oddly, my daughter isn't that fond of corn now.  :)