Getting closer

My wife and I went out looking at used Class A motor homes, we have found my idea of living in a Class A motor home to be possible. The prices of the used units are within our budget and come with everything needed to survive like a washer dryer, on board 30 gallon propane tank, 5500 watt generator that works off of the on board fuel tank. Some of the units have massive slide outs and some are more modest. We have come to the conclusion that we only really need one slide out at the living room area and that would be plenty for the two of us. We are looking to spend in the $20,000 range, I think that will last us five years. This adventure is going to be a five year tour, like Star Trek. Why five years? Our kids will be so busy establishing their lives in the five years following school they will never know we are gone, well that's my theory anyway. Between the ages of 19-20 to 20-25 they will be busy building their future and settling down. Buy the time they reach 25 they will be interested in seeing mom and dad again so buy then I hope to have seen all I want to see and be ready to settle back down myself. Along the way I want to for the first time ever to have one on one time with my wife, something we have never had. You see I graduated high school with my wife pregnant so it has never been just the two of us (we are taking our Pug). So in my travel of the eastern seaboard

I hope to reinvent my relationship with my wife in a way that till death do we part is the end we meet together.I also want to see this great country of ours that some many have died to secure, to not explore your own home is a travesty. So anyway forward I go, pretty soon Bud light in a bottle for everyone. RV Trade

There is no global warming.

All about money, that is all it is.

Yep, Global Warming is Still Around

I'm buried up to my waist in snow right now, socked in by the big snowstorms that recently hit the East Coast.  So what happened to this global warming thing?

Turns out, these record-breaking snowstorms are a symptom of global warming.  It seems that hotter air from the south can hold more moisture and once that rolls up the East Coast, it gets dumped in massive amounts of snow.

I live along the Appalachian Mountains and anytime we have moisture come up from the south, where it's warm, we can count on heavy snowfall.

Weather coming from the west of us, where it's not as warm, usually never causes that much snow.

Added to all this snow is the frost date.  According to local farmers, the last frost date in this area used to be the end of May.  Over the last couple of decades, that date has crept back to mid-May at the latest.

So, the last decade has been the hottest on record, increased snowfall us being caused by warmer weather down south, and the last frost date is getting earlier and earlier.  Global warming?

At least I can get my garden in two weeks earlier.  But then again, I have shoveled a lot of snow in the last few days.

Vegetarian Propaganda

I stumbled across some good vegetarian propaganda today. Here's the link. Browse through the pages. It has some good information.

I'll admit I've been tempted to abandon my vegetarian ways lately.

On rare occasions, I have eaten meat. If someone who doesn't know that I'm a vegetarian brings me food with meat in it, I'll eat it. I'm not going to turn down a generous offering.

Just the other day I had a crabcake. One of my coworkers brought it in just for me.

I ate hot wings last year after a very nice kid brought some for me at a special luncheon. You can't turn something like that down.

I ate hagus once. It was during the Scottish Ball a few years ago. You can't pass up hagus at the Scottish Ball.

After not eating meat for so long, eating it like that usually messes with my stomach.

But I still crave pulled pork and hot wings. Then of course there's the ham we've had in the house all week for our Easter guests. So it still tempts sometimes.

After reading the vegetarian propaganda above again though, I'm back solidly on board.

Eating meat is just not sustainable over the long run. It causes all kinds of illness and disease. Yet meat consumption in the U.S. has climbed dramatically over the past few decades. And the message that meat is bad gets shut out. Why? It might have something to do with the fact that it's a mega million dollar industry in the U.S.

Earth Hour!

Earth Hour 2009 is coming up on March 28. At 8:30 PM, you are supposed to stop using electricity!

I like the concept but I have a few comments.

Last year, I believe, they had this and instead of everyone doing it at 8:30 PM at their local time, they had one time for the whole world, so the time for the east coast in the U.S. was something like 2:00 AM. Now, I guess they wised up and will make everyone enjoy no power during prime time.

When I first heard "Earth Hour" was coming up (thanks for the email, Firefighter), I thought "Oh, it must be on April 22, Earth Day." I mean, it would make sense, right? Let's have Earth Hour on Earth Day! But, alas, no, they didn't.

Then I started thinking, could I survive a whole DAY with no electricity? First thing in the morning, alarm clock. Can I get a hand-crank alarm clock? Yes, they have those. But I wonder if it's loud enough to wake me up?

What about the refrigerator? Even if only during Earth Hour, should I unplug it? Or better yet, why don't I just switch the main breaker off?

If I were to go without electricity, what about my computer? Can I get enough solar power from a solar panel to run my Dell Hybrid, super energy efficient computer? Those panels are expensive though, can I make my own?

I already have fluorescent bulbs in all my fixtures, I have the energy efficient computer, I have all Energy Star appliances (except my stove). I think I'm going to strive to reduce my dependency on electricity even further!

Can I do more? I need a wind turbine and solar panels!

My Year In Review Get out 2008

Well, here we are, another year gone by. Somewhat of a disappointing year really. Let's take an acid-free trip into the past year and see what we can find.

Let's see.... Nope nothing good in January... February... March... Nothing. April... May... Nothing. June, ah June, yes, the trip down the C&O Towpath. The trip that defined the rest of my year.

Preparing for the trip across the C&O Towpath was a life changing event. First I strengthened a friendship with a firehouse pal, spent some time with a friend I hadn't seen in a long time, and changed the way I look at myself. For me the 184 mile trip would be the beginning of serious life changes.

I have spent many years trying to do something about my excessive weight. With some success, I needed something to give the boost to keep pushing. The bicycle did the trick. As I sit here typing this blog I remain eager to hit the trails and pedal away for better health.

Most of all this year, on July 3rd, I quite smoking. A three pack-a-day smoker, for like 17 or 18 years, I quit. On January 3rd I am going to party like it's 1999 all over again (not really but it sounds good). I found the motivation to quit from pictures, pictures of past vacations and events. It seems I always had a cancer stick in my hand or I was hiding it behind my back. I also pulled a ton and I mean a ton of motivation from a friend. One who wasn't going to let me give up the fight. Between the pictures, my pal and a strong desire to not die like so many of the people I take to the hospital (in our squad), I quit.

I rode 184 miles on a bicycle in 2.5 days, quit smoking, fought some killer fires, tried to help or helped a ton of hurting or sick people, celebrated my 16th wedding anniversary, lost my job (to layoff), lost 37 pounds (gained it all back after quitting smoking) and lived to tell about it.

Special shout out to my Brother for everything you do for me, Randy I never would have quit smoking if it weren't for you and Matt a life time of friendship (love the homebrew, make more we'll be back!)

Don't forget to comment on my Wordless Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

George Carlin on Saving the Planet

I couldn't agree more with George on the planet....

Eat me environmental freaks!!!

That's a Load of Manure!

Wow! One farm produces more manure than an entire city!

This article claims that one large commercial farm can produce more manure in one year than the entire city of Houston, Texas. That's a lot of crap!

Of course this crap finds its way into lakes and streams, contaminates them and makes things all kinds of bad.

And yet another reason to GO VEG!

More war is better for everyone

I took some time to read a few pages of Internet trash from the Communist News Network, i.e. CNN. A story posted on CNN from the AP titled "Melting Arctic shows need for climate pact, group says," made the front page (of their web site). Now it seems there is always a "you all are going to die" story on CNN. I think these people need some antidepressants. Good God man! Everyday there is a world ending, life altering, tragedy some where in the world.

There is even a special section with a large list of global "oh shits" that are going to kill us all. It is called Planet in Peril. If for some ungodly reason you run out of events that might lead to a human free earth, there you will find plenty to take the place of any solved planet killing events.

Now with that said, I have the cure all. War, yes a good long-lasting, high death rate war. Overpopulation is a real problem (and is listed here). So lets say we start a war, a grand war. One that kills millions and millions of people. That means no more over population, less greenhouse gases, less people eating meat, less people drinking water and an increase in the economy rebuilding said country(s).

The answer, war in name of the Polar Bears


I think I should run for head of the New World Order (soon to be formed). I would make Hitler proud. WW2 would look like the war of 1812 compared to the destruction I would cause. Lets burn this bitch down and save the polar bears!

I Was Right All Along...

News from the UN today...

Cut back on your meat intake to curb global warming!

More than 18 percent of greenhouse gases released come from the meat industry.

Compare that with 13 percent for transportation (including all the cars on the road).

So if you want to really have an impact, go veg! Drive around all you want!

This is the main reason I switched to a vegetarian lifestyle a few years ago.

Eating meat the way most Americans do nowadays is simply not sustainable in the long run.

But you don't have to go all the way and forsake meat forever to make a difference.

Just cut back!

In 1950, we ate 144 pounds of meat per person each year.

In 2007, we were up to 222 pounds per person!

Do you really need to eat all that meat? Guess what else has gone up since the 1950's? Cancer. Heart disease. Global warming.

Come on people! Get a clue!

Drag the dead horse out and beat it.

My good old buddy M3 would have you believe that if you took your Burger King pay check and saved it until you die, you would be helping America. That's crap, spend it on a new Play Station game.

I really think somewhere, someone unscrewed his skull and separated his brain from his body. He thinks Americans consume too much. Well no kidding, it's not rocket science.

It's all just a big circle, one hand feeds another. I make cars seats for the guy that builds cars. I get a pay check for my work, he does too. I buy the car and so does he. Now, if there is no car to build and sell, I get no check. I starve and so does the other guy that puts the car together. Simple right.

My buddy M3 is just another one of those Liberal do-gooders. He has a car, TV, computer, house filled with junk. Someone had to make and sell it. If we stop buying junk, no one would have a job and lots of people would be on food stamps. Now that is the American dream.

Just think how many city people would starve to death without jobs, there is no room to grow food there and no wildlife. Not a good plan.

I fail to see how economic prosperity will ruin the American way of life. That IS THE AMERICAN way of life.

I am so sick of people saying they want to save the planet, that's crap. The planet is going to be just fine after we smoke ourselves out of existence. These green freaks just want to save their of back sides not the planet.

Just think what a great place this would be without humans. Perfect, untouched Paradise. I say lets burn it to the ground and start over! Besides God said there would be an end and who are we to try and change his will.

Ah Ha! Right From the Pope's Mouth!

Listen to the Pope already! Our "insatiable consumption" is ruining the planet!

It's also why gas is $4 a gallon. Come on people, figure it out already!

The United States is the largest energy consumer on the planet, and we only make up 5 percent of the world's population. So we've set this impossible standard for developing countries. If you've ever been to a developing country, you know that a lot of them want to be like the all-powerful US of A.

Now what do you think would happen if a country that makes up 20 percent of the world population (China!) used as much energy per capita as us 'mericans?

There is a problem on the horizon. We, the United States, should step up to our role as world leaders and show everyone else that you don't have to drive a giant car and live in a giant house to be a success.

Well so much for swimming

I took the family our to Dillon Lake for a swim, much to my surprise it didn't happen. As we approached the beach I ran into a sign it said, Water Quality Advisory blah blah blah. Here is an actual picture of the sign.
Everyone is so worried about global warming when for years we have been trying to protect our waterways from pollution and we blew it. How can we combat a global environmental problem when we can't even manage local water pollution?

We are doomed!

Seven Hundred Billion!

We send $700 billion dollars each year overseas for oil! Good golly!

Saw a commercial on TV today. The "Pickens Plan." Big oil man T. Boone Pickens has a plan to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Use more wind power and natural gas.

Why don't we already use more natural gas-powered cars? It's cheaper than gas, cleaner and U.S. produces 98 percent of the natural gas we use now.

But what would happen if every car in the country used natural gas? Would we have to import that too?

Interesting reading, that Pickens Plan is, but what's the catch?

Power to the People

Here's a good article from one of my favorite columnists. It was forwarded to me by Farmer Sam.

In the article, Thomas Friedman suggests President Bush set a floor price on gas and oil in order to encourage investment in solar and wind energy. More companies producing and installing these alternative energy devices would decrease the price of them.

I saw a show the other day on the History Channel. It was about energy in general and there was a part on solar and wind energy. They featured a guy who had a big ol' house with solar panels on top for hot water and electricity as well as a wind turbine. The house produced so much electricity, most of the time he actually was sending power to the electric company.

Now can you imagine if every house in America had solar panels and houses in windy areas had wind turbines? We'd probably produce so much power, we wouldn't need most of the power plants we use. We wouldn't need nearly as much natural gas and coal. Even if the solar and wind power wasn't as efficient, it would still have a huge impact.

It seems to me President Bush, his advisors and the big energy companies who've invested a lot of money in him don't want that to happen. After all, who would they sell their energy to if everyone made their own?

How Clean Is Your Electricity?

In the interesting Internet finds department...

Here's a neat web site from the Environmental Protection Agency that lets you see where your electricity comes from.

It also compares it against the national average. As you can see in the graph to the left, my area uses a lot more coal than the average.

There's a couple of other things there, one of which allows you to figure out your actual emissions using your kilowatt/hours figure from your electric bills. You can also learn how to be more energy efficient (saving more money!).

Off epic bike trip topic, resource consumption

Resource consumption, a true problem facing the world. This kind of goes with the post below. Today's society has become a 24-hour-a-day, meet anyone's schedule, way of living. From late-night pizza shops, Speedway, Duke, WalMart, movie theaters, 3rd shift businesses to college coffee shops (remember the Insomnia Club). There is always somewhere to spend your money, no matter what time it is.

When you turn on the TV and tune into today's popular TV shows depicting single moms working and making a living while raising kids, the viewers are influenced by these programs. Wanting to live the glorious life of 90210, Days of Our Lives, The Young and Restless (chest less), Drew and all of the other shows. Mom gets the idea to get a job and buy a beautiful SUV that mirrors the ones on TV. So little Johnny has to eat breakfast at school because no one is at home to cook for him. Mom took a third shift job to help pay for her new SUV. Also the after-school events become the new baby sitter.

On top of that, every time a new 24-hour store chain opens up, more electric is used, more fuel for the massive SUV and the trend begins. So not only are schools becoming our new day care centers but mom falls away from the family and more coal is burned to provide power to the 7/11 she works at. Unless mom has a skill or ambition to work a factory job, she is working the 24-hour fast food chains or gas stations. If mom has a skill she nails down a factory job filling the spot of a family man. So dear old dad has to work the 7/11 circuit and his wife has to work at the local burger joint to help him make ends meet. All the while more gasoline is being used and coal is being burned to power up the lights and hot dog cooker.

We did this to ourselves, that is the truth. Plain and simple. Imagine if everyone stayed home one day and turned off all their electricity, just for one day a week. How much would we save in electric, gasoline and a country-wide day of green house gas reduction.

But we can't, we are a very spoiled people. So spoiled we would rather destroy ourselves and the world around us. So I guess the problem is just a little bigger than mom not cooking little Johnny breakfast before school.

We are doomed.

The Problem

The problem with some of these green freaks is they don't understand how the public can be hurt by their green way of life. Gas prices, yes the use of oil products is down and all too soon the jobs will follow. Already there is a 0.5% gain in unemployment with no end in sight to record oil prices, that 0.5% will soon grow and grow. A lot of what the US produces are petroleum based products. Everything form car tires, car seats, transportation of goods all revolve around oil. The ability for people to earn a living in the absence of oil based products is almost impossible.

This will in turn create another batch of government entitlement recipients and will put an extra load on already over burdened tax payers. Liberals might suggest college, higher educated workers makes sense. Where will they work? Who is going to pay their loans? Are we going to put the women back in the kitchen to open up more jobs for men to support their families? Not likely.

Unemployment will continue to rise, poverty will go up along with taxes. Once again the working class will come to the rescue of the poor and ignorant. There aren't to many jobs out there in conservation, jobs not funded by tax money anyway. Liberals and conservatives will suffer from joblessness. Why? Because liberal green freaks want to save the world.

Much more is at stake here, not just economic turbulence. Freedom, yes our very freedom is at risk. How you ask? I will tell you. When the general public is unable to a make choices based on what they want out of life and is forced to conform to a bare minimum standard, that is not freedom. If I can't drive a vehicle of my choice or go to a movie, fair or the hospital, there is a problem. People used to have the right to live life as they wanted but Liberal do-gooders are blocking new oil exploration. So we have to depend on overseas oil.

Oil prices are at the head of today's economic problems forcing the people of this country to choose between eating or visiting grandma on the holiday weekends. That just ain't right! Republicans in Washington wanted to open up some ground in Alaska for oil exploration but were blocked by Democrats. I don't believe that would solve the problem of over consumption but it sure would have bought us some time to find better solutions for alternative fuels and life styles. Also this would have prevented the US economy from the uncertain future we are seeing today.

Team green's poster child Al Gore is one of the worst hypocrites around, burning jet fuel and gasoline in his limo at record paces traveling the US to promote a greener planet. Makes you wonder doesn't it.

If someone doesn't find a way to prevent oil companies from raping the American people more will suffer and an end to a great nation might just be around the corner.

How High?

I stopped at the gas station today to fill up. The price of gas is nearing $4 a gallon. I looked in the parking lot of the neighboring strip mall and it was full of cars, as always.

Obviously, the market is having no trouble bearing the high price of gasoline. Sure you see the stories of bike shop owners profiting, police officers moving to bicycle patrols, and more commuters taking mass transit. But ultimately, people are still paying for gas.

The big reason is that we're forced to pay the high prices. The whole country was built around the automobile, from its sprawling suburbs to poor train service. Finally, the market is making a correction and we are paying for our extravagant suburban lifestyles.

But alas, it seems it's time to start rethinking our way of life.

The funniest thing though, is what's happening to the global warming naysayers. "Global warming is a myth! So I'm gonna get me the biggest gas guzzling SUV I can find and prove it to ya!" Big dummy.

Earth Day!

D'oh! I totally missed Earth Day! Anyway, it happened a couple days ago so.

I happened to come across an interesting web page about plastic grocery store bags. The site highlights an important problem that we should better address.

We use billions of these things every year and they are killing the environment, both in the production of the bags and their eventual decay at the bottom of a lake somewhere.

I try not to take them from the store. I use cloth reusable bags or ask for paper. In my part of the country, where environmentalism is as strange as a three-eyed frog, store clerks seem to get offended when you ask for paper or totally flummoxed when you use your own bag.

I once bought a reusable bag from the grocery store with some other groceries. I had forgotten to bring my bags in. The bagger at the checkout started to put my cloth reusable bag in a plastic bag. As I stared in amazement, the cashier corrected him. "Oh, you want your stuff in here?"

And the U.S. is not the worst place for plastic bags. In Indonesia, almost everything you buy comes wrapped in a plastic bag, which they promptly put into another plastic bag when you buy it. The bags are clogging all of the rivers and lining streets like a parade of dried up jelly fish.

So for heaven's sake, stop using the damned plastic bags already!