Cleaned Things Up A Bit

Well after thinking about this last night and talking to my cousin Sandy & Amy. I have had second thoughts about pulling the blog completely. I have spent some time today and cleaned up most of the political posts there maybe a few still here.

I guess this blog will be kind of like "Don't Ask Don't Tell" If you don't ask me political questions I won't give you my thoughts...

I will try to maintain more positive blogs posts from this point forward..

Have a happy hump day!

Could These Blog Postings Be Used Against Me?

I have been some what conflicted about things here on this blog of late. I had posted before that this blog is my way to vent. Really in all honesty this blog has turned into something that I did not really want. It has turned into nothing but a bitch session that no one wants to hear. Although I do post every once in awhile about something fun. I have a feeling that I have scared allot of people away because of my rants. (mostly political)

I also need to deal with the thought of.... What if I need to look for a job could a prospective boss Google me and come across my conservative rants what if that person voted for Obama do you really think I would have a snowballs chance in hell of getting the job? I don't.... Employers by law can not use this kind of stuff against you but bottom line is they do.

So in closing today I will leave this message up for a few days so anyone that is still reading might catch it.. But I will be pulling the blog. By the end of the week.

This rings true with me in some ways.

I saw this from a friends status post on Face Book.

I liked the saying and it kind of rings true given my relationship with a certain someone :)

"A woman's heart should be so lost in God that a man needs to seek Him in order to find her." -- Unknown

Happy Birthday Dad!!

The picture is an older picture but I have always kind of liked it. It is dad when he was over seas. Look at the size of that fish!

Dad just wanted to say Happy Birthday. Boy it seems like just yesterday we were heading to the river to spend our summer weekends most of the time it was just you and I. Hope you have a good birthday and MANY more!


I love you
Danny

April Is Alcohol Awareness Month

Just a little reminder to myself and to everyone reading April Is Alcohol Awareness Month. I found this out when I had posted about a DWI that I got here. There is also a good web site here about Alcohol Awareness

As you can read in my other post it has been three years ago this month that I got a DWI. Some things that I reflect on from that time period in my life. You are entitled to disagree these are just some opinions I have on alcohol and drinking. In the end if you have an issue with drinking you have to do what is right for you to get a handle on it.

Drinking in MODERATION is not a bad thing. Having a glass or two of wine with dinner is not bad. Having a drink socially is not bad thing. The major key to drinking or anything you do in your life is MODERATION. Doing anything to excess is a bad thing

I DO NOT believe in Alcohol Addiction. If you have an issue with drinking I believe there is something else that is causing you to turn to drinking excess. It is not the alcohol you crave. (at least it wasn't for me) Something else is going on there try to find out what it is.

I know what touched of my excessive drinking and it was not the alcohol craving - I am not willing to post the issue here. But lets just say I have fixed the issue.

I hope this post has helped and remember April is Alcohol Awareness month.

For those that want it the Alcoholics Anonymous web site.

Moderation is the key!

My Thoughts On Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

I have a question how many of you use those CFL Bulbs. I am all for reduced energy usage and reducing cost in the home. But really what are we saving and at what cost are we doing it?

First of all I have switched to using many of these bulbs for light so have my mother and father. It has been our over all experience that these bulbs in fact DO NOT last much longer then a conventional incandescent bulb, this is even more so a fact if its in a fixture that stays on more often then it is off. Heat and the amount of time that these bulbs stay on seem to shorten the lifespan greatly. Almost to the point where they DON'T last as long as the incandescent bulbs. That in turn leads to two more issues with these stupid little bulbs that may or may not be energy efficient & environmentally friendly. They maybe in fact save energy but I have NO doubt that they are not safe for the environment. I don't know about anywhere else in the country but here in Maryland there is no place to get rid of these mercury filled bulbs other then a landfill.

CFLs, like all fluorescent lamps, contain small amounts of mercury[37][38] as vapor inside the glass tubing, averaging 4.0 mg per bulb [39] ,and it is a concern for landfills and waste incinerators where the mercury from lamps is released and contributes to air and water pollution. In the U.S., lighting manufacturer members of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) have voluntarily capped the amount of mercury used in CFLs. [40] Many manufacturers now manufacture CFLs with only 1.0 mg or less than 1.5 mg of mercury per bulb.[41]

Read below for a little more information on these bulbs.... And one more question for those of you that used these bulbs how many of you follow the proper recycle or disposal guidelines for these bulbs? I did find it interesting that the Home Depot stores may have a program in place for recycling these bulbs. I will have to check it out. Until then I just threw one out last night and double bagged it in a sealed plastic bag and put it in the trash and after reading this morning it looks like that was the wrong thing to do!!! So who knows what to do with the damn bulbs.

Spent lamps should be recycled to contain the small amount of mercury in each lamp, in preference to disposal in landfills. Only 3 percent of CFL bulbs are properly disposed of or recycled. In the European Union, CFLs are one of many products subject to the WEEE recycling scheme. The retail price includes an amount to pay for recycling, and manufacturers and importers have an obligation to collect and recycle CFLs. Safe disposal requires storing the bulbs unbroken until they can be processed. In the US, The Home Depot is the first retailer to make CFL recycling options widely available.[46]

Special handling instructions for breakage are currently not printed on the packaging of household CFL bulbs in many countries. The amount of mercury released by one bulb can exceed U.S. federal guidelines for chronic exposure.[47][48] Chronic however, implies that the exposure takes place over a long period of time and the Maine DEP study noted that it remains unclear what the health risks are from shorter-term exposure to low levels of elemental mercury. The Maine DEP study also confirmed that, despite following EPA best-practice cleanup guidelines on broken CFLs, researchers were unable to remove mercury from carpet, and any agitation of the carpet—such as by young children playing—created spikes as high as 25,000 ng/m3 in air close to the carpet, even weeks after the initial breakage. Conventional tubular fluorescent lamps have been in commercial and domestic use since the 1930s with little public concern about their handling; these and other domestic products often contain more mercury than modern CFLs[49].

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends that, in the absence of local guidelines, fluorescent bulbs be double-bagged in plastic before disposal.[50] The Maine DEP study of 2008 compared clean-up methods, and warned that the EPA recommendation of plastic bags was the worst choice, as vapours well above safe levels continued to leach from the bags. The Maine DEP now recommends a sealed glass jar as the best repository for a broken bulb.

The first step of processing CFLs involves crushing the bulbs in a machine that uses negative pressure ventilation and a mercury-absorbing filter or cold trap to contain mercury vapor. Many municipalities are purchasing such machines. The crushed glass and metal is stored in drums, ready for shipping to recycling factories.

According to the Northwest Compact Fluorescent Lamp Recycling Project, because household users have the option of disposing of these products in the same way they dispose of other solid waste, "a large majority of household CFLs are going to municipal solid waste". They additionally note that an EPA report on mercury emissions from fluorescent tube lamp disposal indicates the percentage of total mercury released from the following disposal options: municipal waste landfill 3.2%, recycling 3%, municipal waste incineration 17.55% and hazardous waste disposal 0.2%.[51]

Can't Believe A Honda Let Me Sit

Well there is nothing like having your car break down on the side of 70 west at the top of South Mt. just passed the point where the 3rd lane ends. Going home during rush hour traffic. A word of advice if this happens to you don't look in your rear view mirror and the BIG TRUCKS cresting the top of the hill in that 3rd lane if you are sitting on the shoulder just passed the point where that lane ends. I found myself saying "Is he going to get over or come right down this shoulder area here? YIKES!"

The good news is it was a simple repair well that is if you have tools and parts in your trunk (and I didn't) But a friend of mine was nice enough to bring me a new upper radiator hose(that's what came apart) also some coolant and something to get the hose clamps off. Thanks Jeff for your help! I was back on the road in about 45 min. And home in no time. Thank goodness for cell phones!

A Bad Day With Windows...

I saw this today and thought it was funny hope you do to you might have to click on the image so you can see it..

WHAT MAKES SOME DAYS BIGGER THEN OTHERS?

Just want to send out a big thank you to all the visitors to my blog that stopped by yesterday! It amazes me how some days I will get no views and other days I will get 12 or more interesting.

Fayetteville, GA, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:43:42 -0500
Colorado Springs, CO, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:48:38 -0500
, , United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:14:41 -0500
Vancouver, BC, Canada Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:06:25 -0500
Portland, OR, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:43:25 -0500
Atlanta, GA, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:31:09 -0500
Fort Bragg, NC, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:30:06 -0500
Hagerstown, MD, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:06:42 -0500
Denver, CO, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:42:58 -0500
Peyton, CO, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:04:49 -0500
Newnan, GA, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:43:44 -0500

Fayetteville - I am pretty sure I know who you are.... Thank you for stopping by I hope you are doing well!

Vancouver - I think I know you as well.... Thank you for stopping by... I hope you have enjoyed your reading :)

Portland - Don't think I know who you are but thanks for reading!

Atlanta - I might know you thanks for stopping by Hope you enjoyed your reading

Colorado Springs - Hiya - LOL I know you just stop by to see how much Obama bashing I am doing LOL

Fort Bragg - Is that you from Face Book? - Thank you for stopping by. Even if your not who I think you are :)

Hagerstown - Hmm That might be myself...

Denver - Hmm Not sure But thanks for reading...

Peyton CO - Glad to see your still reading thanks for stopping by

Newnan - :) I know who you are :)

Conficker Worm a bust? - But still out there?

This came from one of the other blogs I read here Its an interesting take on the panic that sets in when people hear the word "Computer Virus" Of course we all know that ALL media outlets blow every thing out of proportion! i some times think if the media would just shut up about the economy things would get better.

I want you to imagine that there is a parasite that can invade your body and reside in there indefinitely. Once in your body, it could give you a heart attack, it could poison your blood stream, or it could make your liver fail. Once the parasite was discovered to be in the wild, doctors discovered that you could avoid getting the parasite by simply washing your hands before you ate. They also figured out that the parasite was going to change shape on a certain day. As that day approaches, people who haven’t been washing their hands go into a panic. They don’t know if they have the parasite or not. They start running to quack doctors who say they’ll make sure to protect these people against the worm if the potentially infected individuals just buy a prescription subscription for a special drug. After the parasite changes shape, though, no one’s had a heart attack or failed liver yet. So all the parasite-infected people celebrate that the parasite hasn’t done anything.

What?! Did I miss something?

Yes, the scenario I’ve just described in biological terms is exactly what just happened with the Conficker worm that’s infected an estimated 10 million Windows computers.

Microsoft discovered a flaw in its operating system and patched the flaw back in October 2008. The latest iteration of the Conficker worm, which takes advantage of this flaw, began surfacing around November 2008 and kept infecting Windows computers for months. The experts all knew that on April 1, 2009 the infected computers would have the worm checking for updated instructions from its creators.

Then the panic came in. Oh, no! It’s coming! It’ll be the end of the internet as we know it. I’m turning off my computer that day. If I buy this antivirus software will it protect me? Hide the children! Oh. Nothing happened? It has the power to attack and bring down major websites and government systems or steal personal information but nothing appeared to happen today? Oh. Okay. It was a big joke then. Ha ha. Who cares if I’m infected? I’m just going to go on my merry way.

Uh, no. First of all, Windows users should regularly install Windows updates. This was patched even before it was a real threat. And it doesn’t matter if the world didn’t seem to end today. The Conficker worm has the power to do serious damage, and no one knows when it’ll decide to do that damage or what kind of damage it will decide to do. It doesn’t mean you fly into a panic as if it were Orson Welles’ reading of War of the Worlds. But it doesn’t mean you go on your merry, care-free way either.

Educate yourself. Protect yourself. Be sensible. Conficker is dangerous but instead of flying into blind paranoia, just take practical and level-headed steps to protect your computer and your personal information. Silent can still be deadly, and I’m not just talking about flatulence.

And this comment was left on the same blog and brings up a good point.

Of course the worse part in the general media is that they call this a “computer virus or worm” it isn’t, it is a “Windows virus or worm”.

No sign of it here on Ubuntu.

I am just glad that with using Ubuntu I don't have to worry about a virus or anti virus software so much.