Living In the World, Not on It

It is Wife Swap time, meaning we watch episodes (from time to time) of Wife Swap. It's a good show in that it [usually] teaches each family to relax a little and meet things more in the middle, instead of being super-neat or super-sloppy, but just normal. By no means do we run around cleaning every day , which is too much; nor do we never, ever , clean but have the house cleaned top to bottom every two weeks. That is normal. Well, this week, we have the Haigwood family swapping their wife/mother with the wife/mother of the Hess-Webb family. And what an adventure this is... The Haigwood family, out in the wilds (well, farm) in Massena, Iowa, do not clean their house at all. No exceptions. Not even soapy water and a sponge. I might understand that chemicals are looked upon as poor, for whatever reason, but something - anything  - needs to be used to clean the house once in a while. That is rather disgusting and incredibly unsanitary, but this by far not the worst thing about...

1) If you were a villain in a movie, what would your catch phrase be? Where do you come up with these questions? I haven't the faintest idea... Um, how about "In these shoes? I doubt you'd survive." 2) Marc and Angel Hack Life recently posted a list of "10 Things To Stop Caring About Today." What is something you care too much about that you wish you didn't? My not working any longer. 3) On Tuesday, NBC announced that it was canceling its new show "Playboy Club," making it the first cancellation of the TV season. What show do you hope is next for cancellation? H8R, New Girl, The Jersey Shore, and so many more. The Jersey Shore should be the first to go, of a certainty. Goodness me, who wants anyone to think that these morons are indicative of real New Jersey or New York people. Quite frankly they are all totally fake. Totally stupid. No one would miss them, any of them. 4) Many media outlets have been asking this question a lot t...

I'm catching up on our Wife Swap recordings. I'm watching the epiode Burroughs/Padovan-Hickman one that aired on 17 April 2009. The one I watched just before was really quite satisfying - the families both learned a lot and seemed to really take it to heart. This one, however, is back to the familiar mold of putting families that are so totally diametrically opposite families together that they almost can't get along. This is interesting, though, because the Padovan-Hickmans have electricity but don't use it, don't flush often, go for a week without showering and then the whole family uses the same bathwater... I can see where that would be hard, especially for me in that I have very oily skin and hair and would look rather wretched after the next day. But the family themselves are very likable and fun, the father looks more like a kindly grandfather, but really is quite intelligent and pleasant. I would have trouble with the clean thing and I'd miss my iPod ...

Article In some ways, the earth is like a well-meaning mom, providing healthy and important stuff like air, water, and living things. And in return—well, we are often not as grateful as we could be. But Earth Day is our chance to show our appreciation for the planet. Roots of Earth DayThe very first Earth Day, back in 1970, marked the beginning of the modern environmental movement. Before then, there was public concern about pollution, but no way to show it. According to Kathleen Rogers , head of the Earth Day Network, "It wasn't uncommon in some cities during rush hour to be standing on a street corner and not be able to see across the street." Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin asked Congress to officially declare April 22 Earth Day. That first year, 20 million people participated. Since then, it's gone global, with a billion people in over 180 countries doing something in honor of the earth. The children really are our futureMaybe not surprisingly, those who stand t...

April 3, 2009 Four For Friday Q1 - Cybersecurity: Federal legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate this week would give the President of the United States the power to declare a cybersecurity emergency and then shut down the Internet. The proposed legislation, Senate Bill 773, introduced April 1, is aimed at ensuring the continued free flow of commerce within the United States and with its global trading partners through secure cyber communications, to provide for the continued development and exploitation of the Internet and intranet communications for such purposes, and to provide for the development of a cadre of information technology specialists to improve and maintain effective cybersecurity defenses against disruption. On the first point, the one allowing the President of the United States to shut down the Internet, do you believe the President should have this authority and power or should the Internet remain Wild West territory, so to speak? Seriously? I don't think that...

Saturday Six - Green! Ok it’s that time again for the Saturday Six and this week I’ve gone green, not like the Hulk, but green as in the environment. So without any further ado here’s this weeks six: Do you recycle? Indeed we do! Paper goods, plastics, glass - we do it all. I feel good about it, but Parsippany, New Jersey is also really into it, so we are required to as well. However, I'd still do it, required or not. Have you fitted any energy saving light bulbs? Yes, we have the special light bulbs. They mostly work very well, but I will say that they are not great with fixtures that have dimmer toggles. Maybe they've changed that, but the ones we have don't seem to play well with that technology. However, a big plus: they do make them in full-spectrum lighting. If you don’t have far to go, do you walk or still use your car? I have an 18 mile/25km commute. All highway driving and I get 35 miles to the gallon. Sure, it might be better if worked closer to home, but I love ...