OK, so on Monday I introduced "Mash-up Mondays" to you. So far I haven't had any comments, but I figure I'll give it another few weeks and see if it takes.
For my second new feature, I'm introducing "Wise Wednesdays". This one is going to be a little more serious. Typically me serious posts don't go over very well, but I figure I'll give it another shot.
Today's topic is the danger of partisanship, and this applies to everything from politics to religeon. Human nature seems to be that we subscribe to a particular idea, and then defend anything associated with that idea.
As an example... I used to consider myself an extreme right leaning conservative. When environmentalists introduced the idea that we should switch to using CFL light bulbs, all the right wing nut jobs got up in arms about this idea.
Here's the thing... The light bulbs consume less electricity and are just as bright once they warm up. There is the down side that they are more tricky to dispose of, but they last significantly longer as well.
I decided to switch our house to CFL bulbs last month. November saw a power bill of $140 in the new house and about floored me. It probably cost a little under $100 to replace all the bulbs using the walmart brand CFL's. December bill arrived yesterday and was a measily $70. Not only that, but the fittings in the family room are no longer a fire hazard - the previous owner had each fitting loaded with 3 x 100W bulbs and they would still be hot an hour after turning them off.
My point is not that CFL lights are good or bad, although I personally like them. The thing is that if I subscribed to the prevailing conservative idea that all environmentalists are nut jobs and all right wing idea's are right, I'd still be getting nailed each month on my power bill.
On a completely different tangent... Following yesterday's announcement, the Dancing Mouse posted an excellent response. It's probably not kid friendly, but I thought it was excellent. I too was reminded of a video as I have contemplated our new addition. Tim Hawkins, is a christian based comedian (Another one of my stepping outside the box finds!) and the video below is his. If you like this, you might also like "Cletus take the reel", a parody on Carrie Underwoods - "Jesus Take the Wheel".
A sense of humour is a mighty fine thing.
ReplyDeleteI had some renters that almost burned down my condo that way. I had a 3x60 watt fixture in the living room and they had put 3x100 watts in it. I came in after they were gone and it wasn't working. I tried replacing the bulbs and it still didn't work. Fuse? Still no. Finally I removed the fixture and the wire nuts were a pile of melted plastic slag and the wires were black and brittle.
ReplyDeleteI learned an important lesson that day about why lighting fixtures are only rated for a certain wattage.
What's interesting about our light fixtures is that they have 1 rating for Canada and another for the US...
ReplyDeleteI guess that's like my christmas lights containing lead which would cause me cancer in California, but apparently is just fine to use in Utah.
No worries now... I think mine are all 15 W bulbs now, which might explain why the gas bill went up - to make up for the heat lost when I changes the lights out!