May 29, 2008

I've been recycling all of my plastic containers and I just finished a container of Clif Shot Endurolyte, but there is no number on the container. The lid is a type 5 so I was able to recycle it. Anyhow, I thought I'd email Clif to see what the deal is on their containers since I'm sure they would like for them to be recycled. Their response was silence. They are green. At least that is their opinion. But probably not mine.

Posted by megabeth at 02:58 PM | Comments (0)

May 27, 2008

Does drafting behind an 18 wheeler help increase highway gas mileage?

Here are some answers:
Yes at distances less than 100 feet, but it is not safe because at 100 feet your response time is only 1.25 seconds.

Discovery's Mythbusters found an 11 percent savings by following a truck at 100 feet.

A hundred feet seems awfully close, but I didn't find any tests done at 150 or 200 feet, so I suppose at any distance over 100 feet, there is no benefit.

Increasing gas mileage isn't much of a concern right now, anyway. I was driving on the highway yesterday (Memorial day) for a short trip and at 65-70 mph, I was being passed like my car was sitting still.

I just don't think $4 gas is all that big of a deal. If it were, you'd see people changing their habits. I think the news media is blowing it all out of proportion since they like to turn the most insignificant events into doomsday (see: weather related stories like "Thunderstorm 2006" or "The Rain Shower of 2008").

You don't hear Europeans whining about gas prices, and they have been paying $7-8/gallon for at least 15-20 years. I'd like to see gas here go up to $7-8 gallon and see what the general response is. My prediction is: maybe 5-10% will change their habits, but everyone else will keep driving SUVs, driving at high speeds, and driving frequently. Here are some reasons why nothing will change:

a) The U.S. infrastructure was built on cheap gas. Most people can't change where they live or work quickly, so they'll continue to deal with urban sprawl.
b) Most people think in the short term financially. Thus, if you had to take a big hit to sell your SUV to get a smaller car, you'd rather pay the incremental gas cost than lose a few thousand at once.
c) My spending habits may not be typical, but currently gasoline is 3.5% of my monthly spending (includes non-discretionary), with an estimated 10-12,000 miles driven per year. Whoop-te-doo.

The only people hurt by gas prices in my opinion, are people who are earning minimum wage. The rest of us, who may have to sacrifice buying that fifth flat screen tv this year, are not suffering, regardless of what the news media says.

Posted by megabeth at 10:53 AM | Comments (1)

May 25, 2008

Friday was my first day of bike commuting to work this year. Everything went splendidly. The money I saved on gas immediately was spent on fueling the engine that runs the bike. There was only one jerk encounter with someone who buzzed us. But most drivers seem to be more patient and understanding of people riding bikes and wearing back packs. Getting prepared for the bike commute is a little bit of an inconvenience (I try to bring my clothes a day early to work) but I should get into the swing of things. My goal this summer is to commute 3 to 4 days for every 10 days of work. It really depends on how things go if I am riding alone. If other drivers harass me a lot (this happens more often for a lone cyclist because a driver thinks he/she can get away with vehicular assault if there are no witnesses), then I'll have to cut back on my bike commutes. And I'll drive my car instead, increase demand for gas, thus raising the price, making other cars wait longer at red lights, and decreasing air quality. Sounds like a win-win if I'm not harassed on the bike. Too bad some people don't agree with me (and yes, I hate those people).

Posted by megabeth at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2008

A good article about basic gas saving tips.

I've slowed down my driving speed lately and think other people have done the same thing. HOWEVER, there is such a thing as 'too slow' and there are a lot of drivers who seem to be doing that also. It's not the actual speed of the car that is annoying me to death. It is how long the car takes to make a right or left turn. If you are making a right turn, it is not okay to come to a full stop and hang out, maybe call someone and pick some lint out off the dashboard and contemplate the meaning of life before completing the turn. This sort of behavior is probably wasteful of gas because it causes people to idle while they are waiting five minutes for someone who shouldn't have a drivers license to make a right turn.

Another thing I've seen happen several times lately: On a one way street with three or four lanes (downtown is like this), you cannot make a turn, right or left, from the center lane. It hurts me to think of how stupid some people can be. The wonderful thing about city blocks is: if you miss a turn, you can go to the next block and turn there. It is not worth causing a massive pileup because you have to turn that instant at that street, regardless of your or anyone else's safety.

Birmingham is so chock full of idiots, it scares me.

Posted by megabeth at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2008

The trading floor is an area with 6' by 6' cubicles with low walls so that people can talk to each other without standing up. It's a lively environment. I don't work on the floor, but I work with a lot of people on the floor so I'm on the floor just about every day for some purpose.

Someone dropped a bomb in the bathroom this morning adjacent to the trading floor. I could smell it from a hundred feet away. As I got closer, I thought I might need a gas mask. Luckily, I didn't pass out.

Seriously, if you need to poop and the bathroom is in close quarters, try walking to a distant bathroom where people are not working ten feet away. It is just a common courtesy.

Posted by megabeth at 03:47 PM | Comments (2)

May 19, 2008

I am working with some forecasting consultants at work and the general consensus is that oil prices will go back down sometime in the next year, although Goldman Sachs thinks it is going up to $200/barrel in the next six months. One article I read notes that $25 of the current barrel price is a premium resulting from high levels of market speculation.

Part of me likes the higher gasoline prices because (supposedly) there are less drivers on the road. But considering that Americans will drive their finances into the ground instead of changing their habits, those who can afford it will continue driving often and aggressively, and those who can't afford it will continue driving often and aggressively on credit.

I tried an experiment the past few weeks: I started driving my car in a way that makes it more fuel efficient (meaning more gradual accelerations and decelerations). Around town I am getting 26-27 mpg. But this is pissing a bunch of other aggressive drivers off, because driving the speed limit in Birmingham is a cardinal sin that will win you the bird finger and a pickup truck (with University of Alabama stickers) hovering three inches from your bumper.

Since I drive about 10,000 miles per year, an increase in fuel prices won't kill my budget. At 26 mpg, a dollar increase in fuel will cost me an extra $385 annually. I think that is the case for many people in the middle class who take mostly short distance trips. I don't think habits will change until gas is around $6-7/gallon.

Posted by megabeth at 05:47 PM | Comments (7)

May 15, 2008

I never thought I'd go skeet shooting in my lifetime. But this week my department took vendors/customers out on various activities and one of them was skeet shooting, and I decided I would like to try it out. The weather was awful and it rained all day, so instead of going through the course (15 stations), we did the 5-round. The location was very nice. I decided it was worth getting wet to try it out, and I also thought that I would never hit anything. I used a 20-gauge shotgun and starting hitting clays from the easier launch point after 3 or 4 tries. I only shot 25 rounds because the gun hurt my shoulder (from the kick back). And one of the employees loaded my gun each time since I am a newbie. It was fun. After playing around with the pellet gun in my backyard (still trying to thin the chipmunk population), I decided I like shooting guns, so clays are nice since I'm not killing anything. I'd like to try quail hunting, though, since it is one game meat that I would like to eat.

The industry I work in has increasing numbers of females in the past several years, but it still feels very much like a boys club. I didn't think I'd be able to schlepp with people since I have zero interest in football of any kind, but being athletic has made up for that. But I still hate golf.

Posted by megabeth at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)

May 12, 2008

Whew! My sister got married this weekend and I need a week-long vacation on a deserted island by myself to recharge. I won't get more than a few hours by myself at any point in time, so I'll be in a bad mood until I can spend at least one weekend day alone.

I can think of a thousand reasons why I wouldn't go that route for a wedding, but being capable of being absolutely exhausted from being around people is one of the major ones, why my wedding should involve as few people as possible, maybe even as little as two.

Another thing is that my mother has managed to piss off so many people that some of them (family members) did not show up at all and some of the ones who did were acting like jerks. To me. And I didn't do anything to deserve being treated like that, since I keep my involvement in my mother's affairs to a bare minimum.

Anyhow, if someone ticks you off, please don't take it out on their children. They are innocent.

It makes me think my mother was right for whatever she did or stood up for if the people that she quarreled with act that ugly around people who are related, but weren't involved.

Posted by megabeth at 04:15 PM | Comments (1)

May 09, 2008

I am probably the only person who has noticed this interesting phenomena in the grocery store. How much does a bag of Tostitos cost? Well, nobody would know until they actually paid for it. I've been to several grocery stores and it is obvious that the Frito Lay company has directed the stores to remove all price stickers for their products, including the price label on the shelves. The bags themselves do not have a price printed on them, either. Is this to keep the consumer ignorant that corn (and other food commodity prices) are going up? I don't think that this is Frito Lay's responsibility. I figure a bag of chips is probably 3 or 4 bucks. But I'd like to be informed BEFORE buying the bag if they have decided to jack the price up to 5 or 6.

Another bone I have to pick with Frito Lay: their chip bags say something like, "Cooked with all natural oils!" Well, DUH. Oil comes from the earth. Even petroleum, an oil that we consider to be inedible, comes from the earth. This is like saying, "Potato chips that are made from potatoes!"

Frito Lay has done something right lately; they are now making a lower salt version of their potato and tortilla chips. However, for the privilege of having less salt added to your food, you get 30% less product for the same price as the extremely salty food. I bought a bag of Frito Lay reduced salt potato chips, and you can actually taste the potato flavor that is inherent in food that is made from potatoes. This is quite a change in comparison to today's American diet, which can be summarized briefly as, "Would you like some [insert food here] with your salt?"

Posted by megabeth at 08:21 AM | Comments (1)

May 08, 2008

CommuteSmart Birmingham is offering a small amount of money for people who choose alternative methods to get to work. So if I ride my bike to work, I'll effectively be making $4 per day by saving $2 in gas and receiving a $2 payment from the program. I'll try it until some homicidal maniac tries to run me off the road on my way to work, then I'll quit bike commuting and add one more car to the road. Thanks in advance to all the homicidal maniacs for making the world a better place.

I was hoping to start commuting next week as part of the national "Bike to Work" day, but I still can't put my foot in a cycling shoe because of my broken toe. Oh yes, I've tried. Just about every day I try on my cycling shoe. This week I tried to pedal on the trainer in my cycling shoes, lasted about 5 minutes, then went back to platform pedals and athletic sandals. I could commute on my bike with platform pedals. I keep thinking, well maybe tomorrow my foot won't hurt when I put in a shoe. And the next day, I think the same thing. Ad infinitum. Waiting is hard.

Posted by megabeth at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

May 06, 2008

I've become a better environmental steward lately, I guess because the increase in oil prices has led me to think about what happens if resources (and clean air and water) become scarce one day. I would feel guilty for being a mindless contributor to that. So we moved an existing cage that was being used to keep critters away from the cabbage plants up the hill and turned it into a compost bin. The lid had not been installed yet, so the other day my neighbor emails me to let me know that she found Ruby stuck inside the compost bin. I don't know how she managed to get in because the walls are fairly high. Apparently she put on her pitiful act so that my neighbor would rescue her. The reason I needed a more robust compost bin was primarily Ruby, because last summer I caught her eating corn cobs and the resultant methane emissions were very unpleasant.

The compost bin now has a lid on it. She can only gaze with desire at the stinky contents inside.

I also started a second recycling bin for plastics and glass that my city curbside program does not accept. The recycling center is downtown close to my office. If you live around here, it's Alabama Environmental Council.

Posted by megabeth at 09:01 PM | Comments (1)

May 05, 2008

I bought at 34.50 in late March, at the bottom. Only 50 shares. I wish I had bought 2000 shares.

Posted by megabeth at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)