Oh, that's just my hat!

Sheepskin hat drying on the most useless part of my vehicle, the radio antenna, not used by satellite radio.

It's the new year, so many lists and reviews. Then as we look upon the past decade we hear the same old mathematical argument that never makes sense to me. When a baby is born it is seconds, minutes and hours old, followed by days, weeks and then months old until it becomes a year old, yes a year. That's 1 year old and we call them 1 at that time. We didn't call them 1 year old right from birth but they were in their first year So what is that during the first year? In a word FRACTIONS. Less than One while progressing towards a complete number. So in the first day (day one which is comprised of parts of one but isn't yet one until a full day passes to say 'day old') we have many sub divisions or fractals of time measurements but it is always starting from zero. So I don't understand why people tell me that the first year was 1. I always start with nothing and build up, making this year, 2010, the new decade in my view. We are in the fractals of the first year of the decade. I say that because I always seem to hear of this lame argument and needed to release this thought and express myself!

This new year brings us many wonderful things to count, forwards and backwards, above and below zero. The thermometer bounces in crazy cold numbers above and below zero. The worst part is, from my memory anyway, February is supposed to be the sub zero month and we aren't even there yet! I have my cold weather gear and have been sporting it about in an effort to keep my body temperature stable. Don't laugh at my sheepskin hat! It's warm and hasn't let me down yet! I know I didn't pay a lot for the hat 12 or so years ago, in the summer, at a craft festival in Garden Of The Gods in Colorado Springs. Yes I felt silly trying it on, but I wasn't going to get something that didn't fit! Once it was on, Ooooh yeah! This is my hat! I happened to be thinking of getting a second one recently for my work wear. I looked at the tag and they had a company name and phone number on it! Great, I can probably get another if they are still in business. Yep there's the website http://www.sundanceleather.com/html/shee... but my hat isn't listed, it's like a combination of 2 of them. None of them say worn by Elmer Fudd for the description. I wear it anytime there is a cold wind and I need to stay warm. Blizzards and snowstorms or subzero temperatures are what this hat really enjoys working in. Good thing because I have to be out in crazy weather like that once in a while. I was impressed to see that the hat is not only made in the USA but is GREEN too!!!!! (actually mine is chocolate brown but the company is green).

That brings me into another subject that people just can't figure out, Global Warming. What a stupid misleading term!!!! It should be Global Climate Change because it is about the change (no electing Obama did not bring this on) in temperature extremes and climate imbalance. Is it man made or natural, or isn't it happening at all? The cures that have been proposed make sense yet the extremes of responses have looked much like the thermometer lately, all over the place but nowhere seemingly good. Some people ask for my view on this and what I believe. Let me tell you what I think about this, after all everyone else has, why not me? No I'm not a specialist in this area but sometimes I wonder about the specialists. My thought is that it really doesn't matter if we are causing this or not, look at the responses we are being asked to do to fix it. No really! Look at what the specialists are saying for a minute, not about the change, but the solution to it. That's what we have to do? That's it? I learned that in 2nd grade! In case you missed it, they are saying we need to become more efficient with how we live, manufacture, and the utilization of resources should be with the lowest negative impact possible.

I heard the arguments many businesses have and people complaining that it will make their lives more difficult and expensive. Wait, what was that? EXPENSIVE ... oh big word, bad word, don't like it. Let's look at that scary word again, this time say it out loud, 'EXPENSIVE'. Hmmm is this right? I had a new house built because the old one was really on its last legs and would need as much as the new one to fix it, yet still have an old house with even more upkeep in the future. Yes it was expensive. I have Geothermal heating and air conditioning which cost several thousand dollars extra to purchase and install with the ground loops and all. But oh the comfort and my utility bill is not expensive. In fact it is much lower, which is good because my house payment is much higher. And I kept the old light bulbs from the old house, but they didn't last long and all of them were replaced with the compact fluorescent bulbs. Expensive little buggers aren't they... oh they aren't expensive to run. Cut that electric bill! Yes!!! Doing the math, these are all less expensive over all. One drawback, I don't wash my light fixtures as often because the bulbs don't need to be replaced and I don't realize the fixtures are dirty.

There are a finite number of resources in this world, and of course it is arguable how much of each resource there really is and how practical it might be to obtain and refine them. Some resources are so important to our lives and yet we pollute them to the extreme. Air, water, and soil are becoming more rare to us in a pure manner. 150 years ago, would you drink from a stream? Would you today? Without purification? There's no way anyone can convince me that we aren't using more resources than we should be. Look at those LANDFILLS! I have a little news update on those stinky places.... They are tomorrow's gold mines! I recycle my plastics, metals, paper, cardboard and make use of my wood the best I can. I'm getting better. I used to burn my trash, but now I contribute to the holy mountain of trash like everyone else. Hopefully not as much tho due to recycling and reusing things in a constructive manner to make my life better, and less expensive. Wait a minute, it's supposed to cost more to be GREEN, what's going on here?

Maybe it is the business side of things, I don't know. So far every time I hear of something going to cost so much more to implement to be green, it ends up costing less over all. The Chinese have this figured out and are working on greening up their lifestyles while growing at a lightning fast pace. They claim in 5-10 years to be the world's leader in wind energy. They learned from the carpet manufacturing business about how sharing information and attention to suppliers, manufacturing, and end use; how everybody wins. I heard on Tech Nation ( www.technation.com/ ), a program I like to listen to about technology on NPR, hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn (incredible lady!) an interview with an author who worked in a carpet factory. I thought I'd write down the specifics but then thought no, it's on the web. I'll get the details of who, book name, all that stuff later. Unfortunately it was a re-run and I don't know the show info... Augh! Oh well, the show was very interesting and demonstrated how a company evaluated itself, made some changes to their business and suppliers; and cut their costs 75% and cut the cost of their product! To beat that, they welcomed the competition to see how they did it! Yes this is a company in the USA. Shocked was I. Ok this book was published in 2002 and the changes took place gradually over several years prior to 2000, according to my memory.

So now you know why my attitude about Climate Change is FOR making changes, regardless of whether climate change is real or not. It doesn't matter if it is real or not if the outcome of the changes being requested is in everyone's favor. After all, it is more efficient and less EXPENSIVE for everyone. I want to see those numbers bounce around as businesses that are against making changes realize it is in their best interest to make the changes. The thermometer's erratic positive and negatives have nothing in comparison to the economic impact these changes could make upon us all. My apologies for not having the links to the show I heard, or the author, or the book. I have looked but haven't been able to find it yet. I couldn't wait longer to write this as it has been pestering me to get it out there instead of keeping it under my hat. Besides, I really like the hat! So now we need to figure out, is this going to be the decade of change for the better? Like the six million dollar man (um that used to be a lot of money, and that's a show from the 70's about a bionic man in case you don't know, Google it for more info) we can make it better, stronger, faster... But the real question is, will it start from zero or one?

That's all for this week folks! Be safe, Have fun, and watch out for those crazy Drivers! (stay warm too)