Yes, sometimes cancer clusters are caused by cultural factors, sometimes they’re caused by contamination of the air, and sometimes they’re caused by contamination of the water supply.
The link I posted was to a list of search results. The Wikipedia page in the list of search results has a list of cancer pockets, and a couple of them list the cause as “undetermined.” If the locations where the cause has been determined to be pollution don’t give you any concern or pause, well, let’s just say I don’t understand how any human can see that and not feel any sense of sympathy for those people.
So Whitey, based on your sarcastic comment to wes, can I assume that you’re in favor of hundreds of millions (probably billions) of lightbulbs each containing mercury vapor which, I might add, cost far, far more than incandescent bulbs), many, many millions of which will be thrown away each year, instead of incandescent bulbs… ? You’re in favor of enriching the fluorescent bulb manufacturers and poisoning the environment with mercury?
As to the shower, if wes wants to drill out his government-sanctioned showerhead that’s HIS business, and does not deserve snide comments. I too modify my showerheads to get a decent shower.
Now, about my government-sanctioned toilet that I often have to flush twice, sometimes three times…
I guess the whole reason I wanted to use the gas in the first place was because I have an innate nature to want to use, reuse, repair, and reuse again, and then pass the thing on when the thing is no longer needed, rather than just dispose of things.
Oh…I’m a firm believer in that too. I HATE just throwing something out. I’m a firm believer in recycling.
@Mountainbike, actually, I prefer LED bulbs, but the CFLs I have rarely burn out, and when they do, disposing of them properly isn’t that difficult. I have many CFLs that are more than five years old, so the cost compared to incandescent bulbs seems about right to me. Also, (aside from Christmas lights) I’ve only had one LED bulb burn out. The higher cost seems like a fair trade.
…and like I said, if he wants to pay higher utility bills, more power to him. I’m not going to report him for doing something I consider stupid and against his apparent self-interest. As far as I know, that isn’t a crime, and people like him help stem the tide of rising utility bills, keeping my electric and water bills low. When too many people conserve, and the utility companies start losing money, they have to raise their rates. Wes is doing people like me (who conserve) a favor.
…and like I’ve said about low flow toilets, the ones that first came out were terrible, but the ones they have now are much better. I suggest you upgrade.
In this small town, waay far away from the logistics and infrastructure of everyone elses recycling efforts ( nobody wants to bother to send a truck to pick up our measly pickin’s ) …
Re-use
and
Re-purpose
Is truly the way to go if the absolute re-cycle is not a reasonable option .
We have great aluminum and metal yards here but the plastic, glass, and paper are another story.
There are merely bins set up and the general public seemingly can’t be bothered to even attempt to clean and sort correctly. They end up being just trash bins !
well. fluorescent bulbs contain mercury and give me a head ache. my local mom and pop hardware store only marks up their merchandise as it comes in. for instance, you will find identical items on a shelf with significantly different prices because they do not mark up the old stock when the new stock comes in. about a month ago I went in and bought an entire grocery bag full of bulbs for under 50 bucks. about 1/2 of walmarts current prices, and they still had 100 watt bulbs! I figure the bulbs should hold me until an affordable LED product hits the market, allowing me to skip the fluorescent junk completely.
as for my showers, they only last 5 minutes including a shave. but thanks for your concern.
you told the guy that wanted mufflers that he had erectile dysfunction and he should seek counseling for his feeling inadequate over size (then edited it out and played innocent as usual)
and you say im vulgar for saying you are full of it? and I just said you were full of something, you are the one who wrote the vulgar word. probably edited out by now, as is your custom
So it was something I said to someone else in another thread that has you all bent out of shape? Really? Are you sure?
I ask because I’d like to find a way to get along with you, but if this about something I said to someone else in an unrelated thread, I’m not sure how to do that.
well your logic about you paying lower rates because some one else uses more is ridiculous.
if someone increases demand by using more, prices go up not down.
unless you have evidence refuting the law of supply and demand.
I think that me drilling out my shower so I can get a decent flow and only take a 5 min shower saves water.
just because I think fluorescent bulbs are hazardous junk which give me head aches, doesn t mean I don t conserve energy. just ask my family how hot it has to be before I turn on the AC.
Whitey, you answer people that don’t agree with your environmentalism with sarcasm and snide comments. If you truly want to get along with people, all you have to do is keep your comments relative to the question at hand, debate the issue at hand, and not engage in snide and personal comments either directly or by implication.
Comments such as "Congratulations. You’re doing everything you can to ensure your electric and water bills are as high as possible. Keep fattening the your utility company’s pockets. I’m sure they appreciate it."
and "I’m not going to report him for doing something I consider stupid and against his apparent self-interest."
are sarcastic and insulting.
Unfortunately, this thread is probably going to end up closed because of your sarcasm. An apology from you might dissuade thread closure. I hope you reflect on your attitude and choose the high road.
As a matter of fact, I do have examples to substantiate my claim. When I lived in Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Energy Authority attributed its rate increases to decreased usage. Here are a few other examples:
You see, a lot of the costs that utilities have to pay are fixed costs, as opposed to variable costs. When usage drops, those fixed costs stay the same. The utility operators, which can be public or private, have to cover those fixed costs with less money unless they raise rates.
The law of supply and demand doesn’t apply to everything, and even when it does, it’s not always as simple as you portray it.
With all due respect, wesw, I think Mountainbike can speak for himself. He and I have been involved in many conversations long before you showed up. His and my relationship spans more than a decade, so we’ve been involved in many conversations in which you were not a part.
…and Mountainbike, my posts have been in response to others. In that sense, they are on topic. If straying from the original topic is suddenly taboo, these threads are going to get a lot shorter.
Good idea wes, but only on concrete. In my case my cracks are in pavement.
Oh, well, to-da-dump to-da-dump to-da-dump I go. I appreciate all the ideas though, and appreciate the knowledge that I’ve gained through the thread.
Two mistakes I made were to mow my lawn very rarely and get too big a gas can. Both of these things caused me to store the gas for longer than I should have. And, I admit, I neglected to put StaBil in it. I live and learn.
Many years ago when I was in HS I worked in my dad’s retail store. Part of what we all did was to rearrange display counters. One of the jokes we used to play nom newbies was to tell them to go to the storeroom and get the “counter stretcher” to lengthen the counter. Most would head for the storeroom with a puzzled look on their face.
well, here s a good one. I workedin the HVAC trade for a few years when I was a young man. we usually worked with fiberboard duct work, but on one job we used sheet metal ducts. when we were connecting the last two pieces of the trunk line, something was not right, we had a 2 inch gap. we heaved and hauled on the ducts but could only get the gap down to an inch and a half or so. thought that we would have to fab another pc.
the guy I was working for told me to go to the truck and get the duct stretcher. I laughed and said , im not a moron don t send me on a wild goose chase, ala a left handed screw driver.
he said no, he was serious and told me where it was stashed in his truck.
I did not believe himand refused to go look. well, he went to the truck and got the stretcher, a tool that hooked into the flanges and pulled the ducts together with a lever.
he was MAD. I learned a lot that day. mostly that I did not know as much as I thought I did.
@whitey and @wesw, I tried to salvage the thread by deleting the sniping between you, but it wound up disjointed. @whitey, please don’t curse. I will write you privately.