Author: Paul

Sharing the shiny bits of life since I can remember. I run http://greenergrassmedia.com/.
Posted on

And we wonder why the sky is brown

emissionsI had a shocking realization the other day. I took our 12-year old Honda minivan in for an emissions test. (It’s required by law.)

The family transport vehicle (aka, “living room on wheels”) passed with flying colors. In fact, the margin between what was acceptable and what it produced was huge. And that’s with a relatively large engine – 3.5 liters that produces 240 horsepower.

Here are the results:

  • Hydrocarbons – just 2% of the fail amount
  • Carbon Monoxide – just under 3% of the fail amount
  • Nitrogen oxides – 28% of the fail amount

Obviously, the Colorado government needs to tighten its standards. Methinks the law makers have a bunch of weekend 1960s American cars with no emissions controls installed at all.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

Citizens’ Initiatives

dog poop bag dispenser

Our neighborhood has a few walking paths. And we walk along them, from time to time.

A very kind citizen put this “add a used newspaper or grocery bag dispenser for dog poop” dispenser along the trail.

Wonderful!

The local parks authority provides their own dispensers, but they have to spend labor hours, the costs of special poop bags and create pollution by a small pickup truck going along the trails to refill the dispensers.

It’s so much better for ordinary people to add their used grocery or newspaper bags to these simple-to-build dispensers!

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

I love early autumn

extra-blanketIt’s getting to be that time of the year in Colorado when you wake up in the middle of the night and think, “Is it worth the effort to pull up the extra blanket and half-wake myself up?”

I love the crisp cool evenings and warm afternoons. The leaves are just barely starting to turn. Haze from California’s wildfires seems to be dying back a little. I don’t have to wear an extra layer when riding my bicycle to work.

It’s really the best time of the year.

(And it seems like summer started just a month or so ago.)

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

The Ferrari Paradox

Ferrari F12 BerlinettaI’ve always been a car guy.

When I was a younger man, I reflected on the injustice of old men driving super-fast cars while no longer possessing the quick reflexes to fully exploit their machines’ potential.

Young men generally can’t afford supercars. Old men no longer have the responsibilities of paying for their kids’ soccer team fees, college tuitions, braces, etc. So if they have a substantial income, that lifelong dream of owning a drivable work of art may come true.

But they can’t drive them as fast as those fire-breathing dragons deserve.

I propose that older male Ferrari owners host track days for young men in their early twenties to enjoy a lap or two.

Come on, you can afford it.

And invite me. I’m not in my twenties, but…

Photo courtesy of frankenspotter. Creative Commons licensed via Flickr.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

10th Anniversary

organizing our toilet lidToday marks the 10th anniversary of blogging for yours truly.

I’ve enjoyed the journey and hope that you have too.

Celebrate with me by reading a few posts from those years…

1. Here’s a post from that first month: The bouquet that can never be.

2. Here’s a post from my second blog: Fun watching.

3. Here’s a post from my toothpaste blog: Bamboo Charcoal Mouthguard Toothpaste.

4. And here’s a post from this blog, a few years back: People are different.

And I’d urge you to create your own blog, to join in the fun. My recommendation of the best free way to do that is WordPress.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

What once held value

tiny promotional mug from 1967I love visiting thrift shops. It’s hereditary – my dad did, my sister does, and now my daughter joined the club as well.

Any visit to a thrift shop is a lesson in value. What once held value no longer does. Or in some cases, what’s there never held value for anyone.

Take this little mug, dating back to 1967. It commemorates the participation in an “Advertising Decision Seminar.” There’s no first place – you got a mug just for showing up. It’s the size of a shot glass but shaped like a beer stein – and not good for either use.

Today’s tiny shiny conclusion is that people should consider the value of a gift before investing time and money in the purchase. Don’t sell ice to eskimos, as the saying goes.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

Don’t wait

Ceiling speakerI waited.

For more than a year, I heard Taylor Swift – and her friends – singing the same songs over and over and over. The company that runs the building I work in hires Muzak to pipe tunes into our halls and bathrooms.

My brain has a problem with repetition – when I hear the same song over and over, it starts burrowing into the deep crevices of my consciousness until I feel like I’m about to die.

Well, not really, but you get the point.

My daughter heard me complain, over and over, about the music in my office building. She finally asked, “Dad, why don’t you ask the company that runs your building if they could change the music?”

I came up with a few excuses. She kept asking me. Finally, I tracked down the building management company, and they agreed to change the music.

Why did I wait so long?!

Moral of the story – don’t wait. Ask the gatekeepers to change. They just might!

By the way, Muzak is now called Mood. For those of you who haven’t heard of Muzak, that is the company that caused the creation of the term, “elevator music.”

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

Wake up and face reality

Hastings video rentals in Santa Fe, NMVideo rental stores – they still exist in North America.

Earlier this summer, Heather and I drove down to Santa Fe, New Mexico for a short break. We decided to see a movie in the middle of the day, just because we could.  Nice.

The movie theater was in a dying mall. And even more dying than the mall was a Hastings store, providing books,  music – and video rentals. I won’t launch into why CDs are dying, bookstores are dying, and streaming video is the way to see a movie.

But I will talk about optimism. The owner of that mall – and even more so – the owner of Hastings – should cut their losses and sell now. It will be a loss to the community when they leave. If the owners can afford to provide that valuable service at a loss, more power to them. But how much do they really value providing that service?

Similarly, our local grocery store had a space with a local coffee shop and then a frozen yogurt stand. I knew from the moment they opened each little business that they were doomed to fail. Finally, they put in a Starbucks, and it seems to be doing well. That multinational chain has the resources to make a really nice shop – as well as huge brand recognition. The smaller coffee chain and the yogurt chain (or independent business owner) did not.

The final tale in this listing of doomed businesses is a new independent drive-through coffee shop on Broadway in Englewood, Colorado. The owners decided to build on the south-bound side of the street. Most people commuting to work from suburbia to downtown drive the other direction. When do people buy coffee? Morning, mostly. This small business will fail, sadly.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

Really shiny

shiny things at michaelsI am embarrassed at my comments about the chain of stores called Michael’s that I made to Heather just after we got married. I said something about how it was for ladies who were bored and had crafty tendencies – but I probably used more negative and judgmental words.

We went there recently and I just loved the shiny aisle. (Don’t worry – just seeing it for a few seconds and then three minutes later insisting that my daughter Rachel* see it was enough for me.) But how awesome that such a shiny aisle could exist in any store.

* (Shown.)

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail
Posted on

An ode to some wonderful Simple Shoes

Simple ShoesI will miss these Simple Shoes. I bought them back in the mid-1990’s. They have lasted quite a long time. They’ve been comfortable and durable. They pushed the style of Converse All Stars in a new direction, back when they came out. (The Simple Shoes brand was launched in 1991.)

My friend Gary Cowman introduced me to this quintessential Californian brand. (Gary is a quintessential Californian, though he has lived in Africa for more than 20 years.) So after we left Africa for the first time, back in 1994, I had to pick up a pair. I think I even bought them at a mall in California.

I have had them re-heeled twice. My favorite shoe repairman (who I’ve never met, as his wife is the shop’s gatekeeper, and I think his command if English is lacking) even added some reinforcement around the inside achilles heel area.

But I finally had to say goodbye. They had become my junk shoes – what I would wear to mow the lawn. But the heel area became so worn out that my weak ankles couldn’t stand the lack of support. They’re on the way to the Goodwill. At least I took some pictures to be part of my digital memory.

Interestingly, the brand “Simple Shoes” has been dead for the last four years. They have had a very successful Kickstarter campaign to get back in business. (It ended just after I wrote this post. And they got more than four times what they requested!)

Look for Simple again – coming soon to a shoe store near you, I hope.

FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail