A real shame

About twenty years or so ago there was a house in town that was very run down. When I would drive past it on my way to work I would wonder if it was ever going to be torn down or fixed up; it was apparently abandoned. The windows had long been broken out by local vandals throwing rocks through them, and the doors were hanging off crookedly, half off of the hinges. The wooden clapboard was falling off, what was left on the house appeared to be rotting. Then one day I noticed a few vehicles in the driveway, the next day scaffolding framed the house.

Over the next several weeks a wonderful transformation was created. Brand new Pella windows were installed, new doors, new vinyl siding, and about a dozen solar panels on the roof appeared. Shortly after it appeared that someone was actually living in the place! Every day when I would drive past this now wonderful example of urban renewal at its finest I would think about how much I wished that I had the kind of money it would take to retrofit my own house with the newest technologies for climate control and energy conservation. But it wasn’t very long before the house was abandoned again and vandalized again, back to holes in the windows and the beautiful solar panels broken. Every single one of them was full of holes. I don’t know if it was a hail storm, or vandals, but every one was ruined. I never found out the story behind that poor house, but it is once again a very sad and lonely house. It’s a real shame.

Those CFL bulbs don’t last very long

One of the things that I have been concerned about lately is how quickly those CFL bulbs burn out. They are supposed to be more energy efficient, and environmentally friendly, but they are more expensive than the traditional incandescent light bulbs and don’t last as long. How is that supposed to help save money? I’m thinking that I might start looking into buying the LED lights instead in the future. I wonder how long they will last.

Jaws of Life

Today I was driving home from work and saw what was left over from a bad car accident. It was a black Subaru Forrester that had hit a guard rail. It must have been going really fast because it was in really bad shape. It was missing all of the doors, so I have to assume that the rescue squad had to use the Jaws of Life to remove the passengers! I hope the passengers are all right! I’ve never seen the Jaws of Life, but I understand that it opens up a car almost like a can opener, and it is a very important piece of equipment for any rescue squad to have. I’m glad ours has one, that is for sure!

Two Suns

Yesterday I read some exciting news about the discovery of a planet in the Milky Way galaxy that actually orbits two suns. Just like the planets described in science fiction books and movies, such as “Star Trek,” this planet has two suns that are visible from the planet’s surface every day. However, they believe this planet is so cold and hostile that it cannot support life as we know it.

The scientists who made this discovery gave the planet the name, Tatooine after the fictional planet in the “Star Wars” films that boasts a double sunset. I hope to read more about this exciting discovery – I can only imagine what it would be like to have two suns.

Trip down the toy aisle

My wife always says that the only difference between the men and the boys is the price of their toys. I admit it, I am just a big kid at heart. I have a collection of Classic kids toys like Lincoln Logs a growing collection of remote control toys like the helicopters and automated dogs. I keep telling my wife that they are an investment, but I don’t think she’s fooled even for a minute. She tells me that if they were an investment then they would have never been removed from their boxes! Yeah, but they are an investment in my happiness!

Whenever we go shopping together, she complains that I always wander away so she can’t find me. And then her twenty minute trip to the store turns into an hour or more! I keep telling her that all she has to do is come to the toy aisle, and she will find me checking out the latest in electronic toys! She just needs to build more time into her shopping time budget if I’m going along! And never mind how much money I’m spending on toys; after all, we ARE saving money by car-pooling in to the store!