notes page

We originally called this the notes page, just a place for random stuff that doesn't fit well in other categories. Sometimes it's a little bit of a rant page, because that's what blogs are about, just a place to say what you think, without the need to listen to the other side, like in those lame two sided magazine articles.

notes: 2006 2007 2008
6/25/08 More oil stuff “We are looking at more than four and a half trillion barrels of potentially recoverable oil. That number translates into 140 years of oil at current rates of consumption, or to put it anther way, the world has only consumed about 18 percent of its conventional oil potential. "That fact alone should discredit the argument that peak oil is imminent and put our minds at ease concerning future petrol supplies.”"The Impact of Upstream Technological Advances on Future Oil Supply" - Mr. Abdallah S. Jum'ah, President & Chief Executive Officer, Saudi Aramco [Saudi Arabia's National oil Company], address to OPEC, Vienna, Austria, Sept. 13, 2006. What!!!! is he serious saying only 140 years of oil left is no big deal???? My grandchildren could still be alive to see the end on oil then. No wonder the Arabs are trying to diverisify their economies. That really puts some focus on the issue, humanity has to get the next phase sorted out ASAP . Other notes: 1) the 4.5 trillion figure is a pretty high estimate (not a Greenpeace estimate, an oil company estimate) and a great deal of that will be much more expensive to bring to market than what is currently available 2) the world energy demand is projected to increase by 55% by 2030 which makes the current consumption argument pretty silly, of course if prices stay high that increase will be smaller for sure. 3) actually many stats show that peak oil (the point at which the most oil will be produced at any one time, after that less and less will be available each year) is probably close, maybe within our lifetimes. 4) Now I know that there are a lot of possible outcomes and I am not going to predict but if human history is any guide it won't be painless. Some say God is going to put the smack down Armageddon style, or maybe we will get everything sorted out like y2K, or maybe like the conspiracy theory goes the government is hiding a 100 billion barrel reserve in Alaska and will finally release it once things get really bad.
6/17/08 So we are halfway to $8 a gallon, (Remember when eight came up last year in this column from the calvin and hobbs cartoon) and the USA is starting to wake up about the burning way too much fuel issue. Of course it's no fun to pay up, but if it gets us to use less fuel then it will be good in the long run. I am feeling that the price may go up a little more, but the powers that be are starting to move and the price will start to back down a little. Much to my brothers chagrin our main lawn mower is still missing parts so we are saving fuel that way. It's pretty cool what nice flowers come up when you don't mow the lawn. We got a Thule Box for the top of the Fit for bigger trips to fit everything in, so I am curious to see what that does to our ususal 40mpg. I'm betting that it will still do OK and you can take it off when you are done.
5/22/08 So this is an excerpt of an interview on Velo News with Sean Yates, a retired Pro Road Bike Racer and now team Astana manager. He was known as one of the fastest decenders ever and they talked about how he did it. There are those who have said that I drive fast in the snow and I would say by way of explaination that the third paragraph makes sense to me in winter driving conditions sometimes, only I would add that it's not just confidence in ability but confidence in understanding what the car or bike will do in a given situation. When I asked him what made him better going downhill than the other guys, he replied, “I don’t know what was better … I just had more balls I guess. You’ve got to have confidence. I never ever felt I went over my limit. Everyone has their limits. It’s the same now when I go on my motorbike … and I go on the track and scream around Brands Hatch [motor racing circuit in England]. Everyone has their limits.” Yates said he rides a Honda Fireblade 1000 motorcycle. "It has 160 horsepower. It’s fast … about 175 mph. It’s like sitting on a missile,” he commented. “I’ve been going to Brands Hatch on track days, because you can’t [race] on open roads. It’s too dangerous. But you go there and you just go as fast as you want. You do 20-minute sessions. You have safety cars, marshals, and a bit of crashing. It’s fun. Guys get tired, make mistakes and start crashing … but when you’re fit you don’t get tired. It’s good fun.” Yates continued, “I go there when it’s pouring rain, and there’s guys going ’round there, and I’m going ’round the corners twice as fast. But I don’t feel I’m on my limit. I am on my limit but I feel safe, and they’re on their limit and they feel safe but they’re going half my speed. It’s your confidence in your ability [that makes the difference].”
5/12/08 So we have a "new" workout plan. Carmen had expressed interest in a reel type push mower so I dragged one out of the barn and got it adjusted up. Levi's grandparents were reminising about useing them when they were kids. it does a passable job for our purposes and if I can get the blades sharpened we'll be onto something, but I don't think we will be able to give up the riding mower, it's nice and quiet but it's too slow for the big lawns.
5/9/08 I forget, have I mentioned how insane things are at work? If we did not have 2 young children we could just camp out at the store and work 12 hours a day, I do enjoy the work but I need to be at home for the fam. I am able to do a fair number of useful projects from home now (hooray for the internet) so that is a good compromise and helps some, but I still run out of hours in the day.
5/9/08 OK what to do with our stimulus package money? we are not supposed to put it into the bank or pay off debt so what do you do? Well as semi-patriotic folks and owners of a 100 year old home I think it is pretty well spoken for, it's more about choosing which project goes first since it won't go far. We are trying to pick projects that will save us money down the road.
4/16/08 See, this is why people in the know people come to this web site, today's Valley News front page article says Omer and Bobs moves to Lebanon, but you gentle reader knew that last week. And to think that some people thought theeggplant is all about the baby pictures. : -)
4/10/08 OK don't tell anyone yet, but Omer and Bobs is moving to Lebanon after some 40 years in Hanover. Richard signed a lease yesterday for a new place on the mall in Lebanon (the old Lebanon Pharmacy place). The tentative plan is to move in October. The principle reasons were lack of space in the current digs (not nearly enough retail space and two other separate warehouses currently), sky high Hanover rents, and a parking situation that everybody (esp. customers) complains about. The new space takes care of all of those things and is in a modestly better location visibility wise. I can't tell you how excited everybody is, we have been pushing Richard to find a different place for a couple of years. Hanover is a great town but there is no place suitable for us in town anymore. We have doubled in size in the time I have been there.
3/17/08 What's the weirdest thing about a having second child? Picking one 30+ pounder up right after you just had a 8 pound person in your arms. It's the surest way to make your bigger kid look bigger.
2/23/08 So a fasinating thing, this Facebook. I joined up as a way to find people that I have lost contact with. It sort of works, so far I have only found one person through a lookup, but it's that way on purpose I guess. So what I am going to try to do is find one group of friends through another group, you know that 6 degrees of seperation we are all supposed to have. So how to find college friends through my Singing Hills connections? I'll give it a go.
2/21/08 It's looks like Obama is pulling ahead in the elections somewhat, which is very interesting because with McCain winning on the other side, the people are voting for the candidates that are perceived to be most likely to reach out to the people from the other side of the aisle as they say. It is telling me that quite a few Americans want to see things get done rather than the continuing failed attempts at ramrodding through competing agendas that has been happening.
1/24/08 So I have a new game, maybe you've heard of it. Don't know what's it's called but you try to get the minimum number of returns from a google search. So far I've got 247 results as a low. The rules are 1) that the search has to be a person,place, thing,event etc. that has another reference, as in you can't invent a story in your head and then google it. 2) Misspellings don't count 3) the search has to have at least one correct result to count, meaning a result that was actually about what you were looking for. 4) of course you can't rig a search by publishing a page to catch a specific a search. My search was Dr. Benton Moosilauke (what on earth? well I was at Mom's and was reading a history book....) I haven't actually tried for a low result yet but I bet it would be fun for someone with some free time. Let me know what you get.
1/10/08 Good times at the NH primary on Tue. We didn't get out to see any big names, though almost everybody came through Hanover and Lebanon. Maybe next time Levi will be ready to get out pick a candidate. It seems like lots of folks were into it, as was indicated by the record number of voters (partially explained by the lack of incumbents). So that is a good thing. I was struck by the wide range of platforms of the candidates who did well. It seems that we want the nation to change, hence all the buzz, but we all want it to change in very different directions. I'm hoping we can get someone who can at least to some extent bring people together.