Ramblings of the Mad Cow

It’s soapbox time, folks.  Don’t think that you can do anything about global warming?  How about following these simple tips from A Beautiful Lie and It’s Your Nature:

1. Slow down to cut costs and cut carbon! Slowing down from 75 mph to 65 mph will drop your highway gasoline consumption 15 percent.
2. If everyone took 30 seconds to inflate their tires to the proper pressure we would save 200,000 barrels of oil a day!
3. Bring Your Own Bag: You’ll save one mile’s worth of petroleum for every 14 plastic bags you don’t use. Not to mention cut down on pollution-we throw away over 30 billion one time use bags each year.
4. The paper industry is the world’s 3rd largest contributor to global warming. Choose Recycled TP next time you’re at the store.
5. Unplug your electronics! At the end of the day shut down your computer, unplug your cell charger, coffee bean grinder, and hair dryer. It only takes 30 seconds and it all adds up.
6. Take shorter showers, turn off the water while you brush your teeth and shave, and run washing machines and dishwashers only when they’re full. If you wash dishes by hand, fill the sink or dishpan with water, rather than running the tap continuously as you scrub.
7. Put on a sweater and lower the thermostat in the winter. At night, add an extra blanket to the bed and turn the heat way down.

 
And here’s the video from 30 Seconds to Mars. Good song, great message.

Here’s a harsh reminder about how much respect Mother Nature is due!  

Out in SouthWest DeSoto County we have this creek called Hurricane Creek snaking it’s way through developments, under roads and around fields, and with all the rain we’ve had recently, it’s come up over it’s very deep banks.   

Here’s what the fields on the North side of the creek looked like before:

Right at the corner of Fogg and Conger Rds:

And here it is today:

The only road you can see in these is Fogg Road, because Conger Road is gone:

I hope no one was anywhere near here when the bottom fell out!

 

From CNN.com

NEW YORK (CNN) — Dell Inc. deceived customers in a massive “bait and switch” scheme to increase sales of its computer and electronic products, a New York state judge ruled Tuesday.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued Dell in 2007 on behalf of hundreds of customers who claimed that the electronics company lured them into buying products with promises of attractive deals and promotions.

In reality, the lawsuit alleged, most customers were denied or misled into believing that they had been approved for low interest or financing rates.

The lawsuit also accused Dell of depriving customers of technical support that they were entitled to, in some instances, by pressuring them into performing repairs on their own or subjecting them to long wait times on the phone.

In a 26-page decision, Supreme Court Justice Joseph C. Teresi found in favor of the consumers.

“Dell has engaged in repeated misleading, deceptive and unlawful business conduct, including false and deceptive advertising of financing promotions and the terms of warranties, fraudulent, misleading and deceptive practices in credit financing and failure to provide warranty service and rebates,” Teresi said in his decision.

The court will hold further proceedings to determine how much restitution Dell will have to pay its customers.

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Well, I took Socks to the vet, and it turns out he’s nuts.  Big shocker.  The vet says that since he can’t tell us what his malfunction is, we have to try out some different anti-crazy medicines until he normals back up.  So once a day we have to give him kitty Prozac.  Wonderful. It is better than the alternative, which is everyone else in the house taking meds to deal with him!