A sibling, who will remain nameless, once told me, when I inquired about his drug use, that I needn't worry. It's not like I buy the stuff. Well, I'm not sure that that meant he wasn't a pot head, but I've adopted the approach regarding meat.
When Quinn was born Deanna and I decided to go veg w/ seafood, and it was great. I was hungry at first, constantly, but then I got over it. Then I really got into it. I was cooking really great vegetarian meals. I even lost a few pounds.
Deanna is not a huge fan of meat. I admit I like the taste. But the amount of water and diesel fuel it takes to make a cow, pig, or chicken was really starting to get me down. It also seemed like an area of my life I could tackle in a finite way. Manageable.
Our approach has become more nuanced in the last couple months or so, and I think it's a great development. We still are not buying meat. And we avoid it when appropriate in social settings. However, when it's offered, and not easily avoidable, or when we just want a taste. WE EAT MEAT!! Crazy I know. This does two things. First, and probably less important: we don't lose our ability to digest meat well. Second, and a pretty big hairy deal: we don't have to have some awkward conversation along the lines of,
Audibly: We don't eat meat because of our carbon footprint.
Internally: God I hate this conversation
Oh, really that's interesting, isn't that interesting honey?
Sanctimonious sonofabitch, hey babe get a load of these douche bags!
Well, we figure it's just something we can do--
God I hate this conversation!
Right I get it, we're all doing what we can to be green
Sanctimonious sonofabitch!
Yep doin' what we can.
Accept you, lazy bastard. We are so much better than you!
OK so maybe I can't read minds, but I do hate that conversation.
The reason I see fit expound upon this development is that it seems to be workable, pretty easy, and bear good results. I've cut what was my pretty typical American Meat consumption by at least 85 maybe 90%. American meat consumption is, by most accounts excessive.
So, if we tone it down a bit we'd be in great shape. Look at it as trading heart disease for cleaner air. Win Win!
Monday, December 27, 2010
True Green
I think I've harped on this before, but I'm designing a new house and so it's on my mind. The issues I keep coming back to all revolve around one definition, or sentiment, or concept . . . call it what you want. Energy efficiency seems to be our goal. I think it's a bad one. Sure we want buildings to be more efficient, as part of a larger strategy. But the overall strategy should not be to efficiently use energy. It should be to not use energy. Westerners love luxury. And so, we love, or seem to love gadgetry. Additionally, we seem to be thinking that we will be able to have our cake, and eat it to, as they say.
A Ferrari is efficient. It is a gas drinking car, but it performs better that most other gas drinking cars. So you don't ask who needs a Ferrari when a Corvette will do? Ask who needs a Ferrari when a Chevette will do? Then realize that that is still the wrong question. Who needs a Ferrari when a bicycle will do? Now you are getting somewhere.
I know, I'm full of it. How do I commute to my high paying job forty minutes drive away on a bike? Good question. Move closer to work. Work closer to home, for less, and save the cash you spent on the Ferrari.
I guess what I'm saying is that is seems like we need to be asking questions more fundamental than R-30 or R-19. It starts with 1800 square feet or 800 square feet.
I know I'm a hypocritical sonofabitch because here I am planning a new house while I live in perfectly good one. One that no minions of caulkers or insulators have set upon recently. I have my reasons, perhaps discussed in other entries, or in the comments section, if anyone ever comments . . .
I just don't see us solving our consumption problems by installing super high efficiency hot-tubs. I think we've gotta dig a little deeper than that.
A Ferrari is efficient. It is a gas drinking car, but it performs better that most other gas drinking cars. So you don't ask who needs a Ferrari when a Corvette will do? Ask who needs a Ferrari when a Chevette will do? Then realize that that is still the wrong question. Who needs a Ferrari when a bicycle will do? Now you are getting somewhere.
I know, I'm full of it. How do I commute to my high paying job forty minutes drive away on a bike? Good question. Move closer to work. Work closer to home, for less, and save the cash you spent on the Ferrari.
I guess what I'm saying is that is seems like we need to be asking questions more fundamental than R-30 or R-19. It starts with 1800 square feet or 800 square feet.
I know I'm a hypocritical sonofabitch because here I am planning a new house while I live in perfectly good one. One that no minions of caulkers or insulators have set upon recently. I have my reasons, perhaps discussed in other entries, or in the comments section, if anyone ever comments . . .
I just don't see us solving our consumption problems by installing super high efficiency hot-tubs. I think we've gotta dig a little deeper than that.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Dear Mr. President Et al,
I hope you are well. I've kept reasonable track of what you have to deal with on a day to day basis. It seems tedious, at best, and ridiculous at times.
Generally, I don't feel compelled to write to my politicians. I have the sense, for better or worse, that American Politics are a sort of dilapidated old truck that gets the job done, however inefficiently. Change, good and bad, tends to be incremental. This is frustrating, but predictable.
I'm not an economist, and I'm not sure that economists know more or less than me--or more or less than a palm reader for that matter. I know that their job is hard, but when dealing in probabilities, there's ample room for interpretation. I work in construction. I've been fortunate. I'm still working. And, because of fortune and hard work, I've been kept on to try and find a way to maintain profitability for my company. Working in home building has its advantages. The main one being that you can build your own home. I invest my retirement carefully, and spend with discretion, but building my own homes has proved to be the most efficient way in which I add value to my family's bottom line. I live in a home I built now, and my family and I are about to begin building another home.
We are taking advantage of the current climate. Land is cheap, and interest rates are low. It is a risk, to be sure, but a calculated one. We will build an extremely energy efficient home that will accommodate our family, and create a space where we will be able to take care of our parents, as the need arises. It's good development. We will probably sell our current home.
I'm not writing to complain. The recession has been hard, but recessions are cyclical; a reminder to be prudent. We are trying to do our part to realize our dreams, and as a small part of that, do what we can to improve our community's economy--many of the people we work with will be payed to work on our new home. I'm writing to make the point that incremental economic problems and incremental government solutions are expected. Catastrophic problems are harder to deal with.
If my work continues to dry up, I can make my family's plan work. It will be hard, but not impossible. It's annalogous to my profession. If I make a mistake, and catch it soon enough, I can correct it, at a bearable cost to myself. If I put it off, to the end of a job, the cost is much greater. Please do not put off a plan to reduce our country's debt and budget deficit. I can deal with a slow economy. I cannot deal with interest rates going from 5% to 15% overnight.
I appreciate your maintenance of my tax rate. And I have dear friends that are collecting unemployment. They deserve the extension. Stimulate the economy now. I understand that. However, push for a plan to get our spending under control. I like the deficit commission's proposal of reducing tax rates and eliminating deductions--even the mortgage interest deduction. I can afford a moderate tax increase. I cannot afford an overnight 10% interest rate increase. Please do what it takes to convince our creditors that we are as solid and investment as we've always been. My wife, my parents, and our daughter will continue to try to realize our dream, and in turn do our part to simulate the economy.
Thank You,
Marc
Generally, I don't feel compelled to write to my politicians. I have the sense, for better or worse, that American Politics are a sort of dilapidated old truck that gets the job done, however inefficiently. Change, good and bad, tends to be incremental. This is frustrating, but predictable.
I'm not an economist, and I'm not sure that economists know more or less than me--or more or less than a palm reader for that matter. I know that their job is hard, but when dealing in probabilities, there's ample room for interpretation. I work in construction. I've been fortunate. I'm still working. And, because of fortune and hard work, I've been kept on to try and find a way to maintain profitability for my company. Working in home building has its advantages. The main one being that you can build your own home. I invest my retirement carefully, and spend with discretion, but building my own homes has proved to be the most efficient way in which I add value to my family's bottom line. I live in a home I built now, and my family and I are about to begin building another home.
We are taking advantage of the current climate. Land is cheap, and interest rates are low. It is a risk, to be sure, but a calculated one. We will build an extremely energy efficient home that will accommodate our family, and create a space where we will be able to take care of our parents, as the need arises. It's good development. We will probably sell our current home.
I'm not writing to complain. The recession has been hard, but recessions are cyclical; a reminder to be prudent. We are trying to do our part to realize our dreams, and as a small part of that, do what we can to improve our community's economy--many of the people we work with will be payed to work on our new home. I'm writing to make the point that incremental economic problems and incremental government solutions are expected. Catastrophic problems are harder to deal with.
If my work continues to dry up, I can make my family's plan work. It will be hard, but not impossible. It's annalogous to my profession. If I make a mistake, and catch it soon enough, I can correct it, at a bearable cost to myself. If I put it off, to the end of a job, the cost is much greater. Please do not put off a plan to reduce our country's debt and budget deficit. I can deal with a slow economy. I cannot deal with interest rates going from 5% to 15% overnight.
I appreciate your maintenance of my tax rate. And I have dear friends that are collecting unemployment. They deserve the extension. Stimulate the economy now. I understand that. However, push for a plan to get our spending under control. I like the deficit commission's proposal of reducing tax rates and eliminating deductions--even the mortgage interest deduction. I can afford a moderate tax increase. I cannot afford an overnight 10% interest rate increase. Please do what it takes to convince our creditors that we are as solid and investment as we've always been. My wife, my parents, and our daughter will continue to try to realize our dream, and in turn do our part to simulate the economy.
Thank You,
Marc
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Did I Say That Out Loud?!
I'm left handed, and my mobile phone was clearly designed for a right handed person. Closing my phone with my left hand invariably drags my index finger right over the speaker button on the side of the phone. Thus, when I think I'm hanging up and putting my phone in my pocket, I'm actually closing my phone and turning the microphone on. For normal calls, it's no biggie, because the other person hangs up. No harm no foul. However, if I'm leaving a message, and I inadvertently leave my phone on after closing it. Some of even my more favored associates very clearly get a pleasant call me back when you can message, punctuated by an expletive laden, "never answers the f$$$ing phone," rant.
We all have an inner monologue. We entertain ourselves with it. We use it as a free zone for shaping our opinions of others, and we all do it. Even the nice old ladies, or especially the nice old ladies, at my parent's church that seem to have nothing but adoration for me have an inner monologue. It's probably complete with--oh I don't even want to think about it.
The United States Department of State has been struggling for the last couple weeks to do damage control because it's internal monologue has been published on the Internet. Wikileaks, may be doing something good, or something bad. It's debatable. Though, I tend to error on the side of promoting free speech.
As far as information endangering the lives of individuals named in documents. That's really a different issue in my mind. That seems to be an issue of integrity. If you are the U.S.--if not the popularity powerhouse you once were at the lunch table--you have substantial resources. If intelligence assets are indeed valuable, protect them. If not, don't publish useless comment and names, in Diplomatic Cables.
And in the end integrity is the issue. With my phone on in my pocket, I've made some regrettable comments. True friends and associates have taken it in stride, and, like some in the diplomatic community, quipped that I should hear what they say about me!. Others have been irreparably offended. But I didn't really like them, and they didn't really like may. Of course foreign policy is more complex than social interaction. Or is it . . .
In the end civility, and tact give way to reality. I'm not saying that I don't support civility and tact. Civility keeps us from sounding like jackasses. However, my sense is that, to some degree we are all jackasses. But we live in a global society, with a global economy. And in commerce Jackasses are welcome. Not to belabor the metaphor, but mules are ornery but useful. Most members of the "international community"--a euphemism for countries that bitch to their spouses about how the neighborhood has gone down the tubes--are useful mules. We've got our orneriness, but we are moving forward.
That said, there are genuine bad actors in the metaphorical neighborhood. Iran, North Korea etc. And disparaging comments about bad actors are no surprise. Additionally--that which seems so embarrassing but has been obvious all along,--some of the good mules might go slummin' on the town with bad actors every now and again. But just like neighborhood dynamics: When you live back in the Cul-de-Sac with the classy families (U.S., Europe, Canada) it's easy to castigate the families closer to the highway (Turkey, Saudi Arabia) for making nice with their neighbors (Iran) for a common goal (gettin' that speed bump put in to slow traffic entering the neighborhood...or slowing settlement building in Palestine).
It's not like China doesn't have a Noble Peace Prize winner in prison, and I'm pretty sure 95% of my child's toys came from China.
The metaphors are really getting too complicated for me to keep straight now. It's like I'm about to compare Vladimir Putin to an alpha dog or something . . . So, suffice it to say, when your internal monologue is out there for the world to read, the best you can do is come off like a mule. Hard working, useful, opinionated and ornery. Then all of your friends can look at who you really are, see you have value and move forward.
We all have an inner monologue. We entertain ourselves with it. We use it as a free zone for shaping our opinions of others, and we all do it. Even the nice old ladies, or especially the nice old ladies, at my parent's church that seem to have nothing but adoration for me have an inner monologue. It's probably complete with--oh I don't even want to think about it.
The United States Department of State has been struggling for the last couple weeks to do damage control because it's internal monologue has been published on the Internet. Wikileaks, may be doing something good, or something bad. It's debatable. Though, I tend to error on the side of promoting free speech.
As far as information endangering the lives of individuals named in documents. That's really a different issue in my mind. That seems to be an issue of integrity. If you are the U.S.--if not the popularity powerhouse you once were at the lunch table--you have substantial resources. If intelligence assets are indeed valuable, protect them. If not, don't publish useless comment and names, in Diplomatic Cables.
And in the end integrity is the issue. With my phone on in my pocket, I've made some regrettable comments. True friends and associates have taken it in stride, and, like some in the diplomatic community, quipped that I should hear what they say about me!. Others have been irreparably offended. But I didn't really like them, and they didn't really like may. Of course foreign policy is more complex than social interaction. Or is it . . .
In the end civility, and tact give way to reality. I'm not saying that I don't support civility and tact. Civility keeps us from sounding like jackasses. However, my sense is that, to some degree we are all jackasses. But we live in a global society, with a global economy. And in commerce Jackasses are welcome. Not to belabor the metaphor, but mules are ornery but useful. Most members of the "international community"--a euphemism for countries that bitch to their spouses about how the neighborhood has gone down the tubes--are useful mules. We've got our orneriness, but we are moving forward.
That said, there are genuine bad actors in the metaphorical neighborhood. Iran, North Korea etc. And disparaging comments about bad actors are no surprise. Additionally--that which seems so embarrassing but has been obvious all along,--some of the good mules might go slummin' on the town with bad actors every now and again. But just like neighborhood dynamics: When you live back in the Cul-de-Sac with the classy families (U.S., Europe, Canada) it's easy to castigate the families closer to the highway (Turkey, Saudi Arabia) for making nice with their neighbors (Iran) for a common goal (gettin' that speed bump put in to slow traffic entering the neighborhood...or slowing settlement building in Palestine).
It's not like China doesn't have a Noble Peace Prize winner in prison, and I'm pretty sure 95% of my child's toys came from China.
The metaphors are really getting too complicated for me to keep straight now. It's like I'm about to compare Vladimir Putin to an alpha dog or something . . . So, suffice it to say, when your internal monologue is out there for the world to read, the best you can do is come off like a mule. Hard working, useful, opinionated and ornery. Then all of your friends can look at who you really are, see you have value and move forward.
My Wife's Comment . . .
So, obviously thinking safety and being safe are two different things. This is what my thumb looked like a couple weeks ago after a run-in with a router. Fortunately I only missed about half a day of work, and I will probably grow a replacement fingernail. It will just look like modern art. Retirement plans remain intact! I will say that this is the first work related injury that resulted in an actual splatter of blood, just like the movies. Until that pair of work pants reaches the end of their usable life, I will be reminded of this unpleasant incident.
I guess it's better than playing a little game of, "just the tip, just to see how it feels."
Feel free to disparage my carelessness with your comments.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)