Another Wrong Turn, and Where Has The Time Gone

As anyone that has spent considerable time at the computer, uh-oh it's 4pm and I promised myself and the dog a walk in the wilderness park.

Lately I've been researching some projects. Here are two interesting "Wrong Turns" -- I clicked, when I might have just closed the window. In the end I'm glad I did! Enjoy.

So I had a name of someone that I wanted to send an email to as i had found a couple of her pictures i really liked and want to get her consent to use them. I tried Googling her name and I wound up finding her name associated to this story. After reading it Istill have no idea it is her -- there may be more adventure here.....

http://www.triviaguys.com/whtexam.htm
Interesting story about 2 juveniles that survived an aluminum boat mishap in 1960.

Staying with I was working in Picassa, the photo community similar to Flickr. I clicked on an ad that took me to a really cool site I wanted to pass on. -- ANIMOTO

ANIMOTO has this kind of online movie generator from your own files -- so far I've only done it with still shots, however it adds allthe special treatments to your shots and you pick the music type. I did this 30 second video in less than 5 minutes. In fact uploading the photos took the longest.

http://animoto.com/play/fOav4akHyrUmqXiU0GWRXQ

It's free to generate these little 30 second vids -- longers vids cost $3.00 altogether very cool. Do read the "t&c's" like anyo of this stuff you are basically sharing your content in a public community.

Alright I'm going to walk the dog!

I Just Got Sci-Fi'd

It was quite by chance and I must admit I've since calmed myself down. In fact I didn't realize it until it happened. I'm willing to bet something similar has happened to you and only b/c there isn't a clear way to communicate the concept -- most of us pass through several emotions not realizing that yes you've been Sci-Fi'd too.

I'm currently reading a book by Michael Crichton one of my favorite authors called "Timeline" -- the book is about the convergence of technologies in the field of Quantum Physics, and problems that arise out of time travel. What I especially love about Michael Crichton is that as a trained medical doctor he uses his understanding of science and biology to create thrillers and connects the dots in such a perfect way that as a lay person I never know if he even made something up. To me, I forget that he' s a novelist and sometimes for entertainment willingly accept some of what he is proposing. In "Timeline" a company has developed the ability to do "Trekky Travel." Yes having their molecular composition transported from Point A to Point B. "Trekky Travel" premiered on TV some 30 years ago, and was performed in simulated outer space with fancy costumes, filmed in elaborate TV/Movie Studio sets, it was easy to be entertained and let yourself make believe. What is somewhat scary about this book is this is clearly a concept we are not too far away from and the storyline takes place here in the US and pretty much the same period as we're living now.

Space Travel for us civilians will take place in most of our lifetimes -- time to get seriously Sci-Fi'd. A blogger friend of mine upon first being introduced told me -- matter of factly -- she is currently booked on Richard Branson's, Virgin Galactic, Space Plane. Talk about being Sci-Fi'd -- What do you say to that? "Send me a postcard, bring me back something -- What do you mean like what? -- surely there is at least a Wal-Mart there right?"

Still don't know what I'm talking about?
To be Sci-Fi'd is to do something or to experience something that only a few years ago seemed not only improbable -- you would never have thought to ask about it.

This morning I spent sometime interviewing new phone companies for telecom service for Berkshire Grain, a new business interest. Since we don't have any offices and our partners are spread out in different cities the question is where do you setup an office and why. We each have our own offices already, and since we're indirectly involved in the manufacturing and shipping of our products, we have no equipment or dedicated inventory warehouse space, our administrative support and bookkeeping is handled likewise by 3rd parties -- so where would you put the office and why? By now you might be thinking so why am I talking to phone companies -- without offices where would the phones go.

Welcome to the Virtual Business World. Everyone has had occasion to call a consumer electronics, software or an appliance company and even though you may have bought your product at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, or Small Town Main Street Appliances the call is promptly answered in the usual robotic form prompting you to press this key or that, and generally within 10 seconds to 5 minutes you get connected to someone "Virtually" anywhere in the world -- it doesn't really matter -- unless of course there is a terrible language barrier -- hang up and just try again.

Convergent Technologies helps turn independent discoveries into complex solutions like some cars with integrated communications have the ability to not only answer a cell call from the touch of a button on your steering wheel, the system knows to turn the volume of your MP3 player down automatically. So imagine my amazement to find a company Aptela that will dedicate a toll-free phone number on their "Virtual PBX" (digital phone switchboard) and allow you to call us at Berkshire Grain and be prompted to dial my extension or my other business partners extension and be connected directly to us -- on our existing phones -- all without wires, no installer, no additional equipment............wait there is more I can conference, or transfer you to my partner in NYC, or California, or Amsterdam, Rio, anywhere in the world......all by just dialing his extension.

Not only didn't I not know such a thing existed before doing some research on the internet, after talking to my new friend at Aptela I felt good all over. I immediately called my friend signed up to travel in outer space and told her................I've just been Sci-Fi'd. Our new phone system will be in place, somewhere, in 2 weeks -- I just don't know where -- call me though.

Bottled Water.......You're Kidding Me Right?

Kennedy Park, Lenox MA

What were your first thoughts when you saw your first pet rock. Or even way before that you heard about your neighbor getting cable tv, when your rabbit ear antenna was working fine. You might have had a grandparent say on more than one occasion what will they think of next.....

Then they must have run out of things to invent because they started bottling water and shipping it here from the Alps. In 1985 I ran in my first 10-k race in Central Park, Perrier was the water sponsor for the event. At a certain point I began to realize uh-oh, our water is going bad. New babies continued to arrive everyday, our population is not stagnant. In 1990 I predicted that whoever figures a way to flavor water will be a genius and make a fortune. Why? -- because we were polluting our planet so fast, destroying habitat, cutting down the forest..........the perfect nightmare is a bright sunny day in sub-Sahara Africa, except in this nightmare our own cities and towns look like that too. If we had any water left it would have to be so treated that like many municipalities already the safe drinking water is undrinkable based on taste alone. Hello Vitamin Water.

Just a week ago I heard about common backyard birds were found to have levels of almost every chemical we had used and no longer use, as in thrown away or stored improperly -- from anti-freeze to mercury. Then I got to thinking my dog goes out back to play in my yard, me and my children walk barefoot in our backyard, and so on and so on.

Sign Up For Earth Hour 2008 NOW! All the information you need can found by visiting the Earth Hour Website sign-up and join the movement.

I just started making my own chemical-free cleaners from a website I discovered -- actually there are lots of similar sites on the web. A link to a site I use is listed in the "Kevin's One Eye Links" section of this blog. I can tell you personally it is a lot of fun and so easy to do too. My family at first thought I was a bit crazy and just added it my list of craziness -- slowly everyone now sees the benefit of using Kevin's Brand Laundry Detergent. My wife couldn't get her face out of the freshly washed wet laundry today, and impulsively kept smelling her clothes -- funny thing is the clothes just smell fresh, odor free. The benefits of such a simple task has many rippling effects throughout our environment beyond being healthier and safer for you.

I guarantee that once you take the first step you won't stop there. And don't forget to share and tell each other about what you're doing. I told my bookkeeper about my laundry detergent and we got into a Holisitic discussion about Tea Tree Oil and how to treat a skin infection on my dog Roscoe, because of it's anti-bacterial properties. She also gave me a recipe for a natural personal deodorant, using something most of us already have in our homes. Use the comment tab below to share your own tips or you can also ask questions and someone will answer your question with an answer in the comment section too. Just like Earth Hour it starts with you -- creating community actions are great for some and maybe not for others in all cases though it starts within ourselves.

Stretching Your Gas $'s

The following info was found on Craiglist:
BTW, the picture on the right is of my first car -- gas was in the 20's back then as in 20 cents/gallon.

I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon..

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose , CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3)stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount.

Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

WHERE TO BUY USA GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON

Gas rationing in the 80's worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor.

An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS.

Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis.

Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends.

I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil.

These companies import Middle Eastern oil:

Shell........................... 205,742,000 barrels

Chevron/Texaco......... 144,332,000 barrels

Exxon /Mobil............... 130,082,000 barrels

Marathon/Speedway... 117,740,000 barrels

Amoco............................62,231,000 barrels

Citgo gas is from South America, from a Dictator who hates Americans. If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (oil is now $90 - $100 a barrel

Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:

Sunoco..................0 barrels

Conoco..................0 barrels

Sinclair.................0 barrels

B P/Phillips............0 barrels

Hess.......................0 barrels

ARC0....................0 barrels

If you go to Sunoco.com, you will get a list of the station locations near you.

All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas
buyers. It's really simple to do.

Now, don't wimp out at this point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!

I'm sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)...and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) .. and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers !!!!!!! If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted!

If it goes one level further, you guessed it ..... THREE HUND RED MILLION PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. How long would all that take?

Females Everywhere

My wife and I have been married over 30 years, OMG how did this happen? What I can say is it took lots of fighting to get to this point. You win some and you lose some. At times though I must admit I was losing most of the disputes. Having grown up in a household of boys, no sisters - learning to live with a female, a woman of the 60's, well it took some adjusting. I'm still not saying I'm very good at the relationship thing. I guess what has changed is the perspective -- winning or losing, has been replaced by working to be happy.

We were empty nestors for many of those years, and never really knew if we'd have any children of our own. I know now that those 18 years were probably more difficult for our parents than it was for Barbara and I. Many of those years were just enjoyed being free, and then suddenly when we wanted to start a family we discovered getting pregnant wasn't so easy. It was fun trying, however the disappointment soon filled us with resignation that maybe we had missed out and God had other plans for us.

We were fortunate in the end and we have 2 great daughters. Problem is these girls are growing up so fast on me that by the time I figured this situation out ........well let's just say I'm looking forward and not behind at this point...............God has some (??) plan for me with all these women -- I forgot to mention, a female business partner and friend Kristin Murphy, and the majority of our contractors are all women -- and so I had to resort to my own intervention, by getting a male dog. We're still outnumbered, but if I had only one pick of a teammate -- there is no better buddy than my dog Roscoe. Those that know me, know that Roscoe and I travel everywhere together. Motel 6 chain is his favorite overnight place.........I guess that leaves me open to a future Blog Posting -- "Gone to the Dogs" -- I've got a ton of pictures of Roscoe -- it sometimes upsets the rest of the family.

Think spring