Inside the House of Baldwin

A funny satire on the global warming issue compliments of The Onion…

Last night KSL 5 News reported on the congressional race between Jason Chaffetz and Chris Cannon. Mr. Chaffetz was talking about–you guessed it–”change,” and Mr. Cannon was talking about his “experience” in Washington. Well, tonight KSL 1160 reported that 69% of the precincts had posted their numbers by 9:45 p.m. and so far Mr. Chaffetz had a 61% lead over Mr. Cannon…i.e. Mr. Chaffetz will be the Republican Congressional front-runner for our district.

Incumbents should pay heed. The people are tired of “experience.” Experience has brought our nation nothing but problems. We are sick of incumbent experience. We are sick of inaction. We want change. We want something done about the myriad problems that our country faces.

I was listed as “unaffiliated” but changed my party to Republican today just so I could vote for Mr. Chaffetz because I wanted to send a message to Mr. Cannon. I haven’t seen any results out of Washington regarding issues that are very important to the American people. Your turn is done. It’s time for someone else to give it the old “inexperienced” college try!

An interesting read. There was nothing in this book that I didn’t agree with, or that I haven’t heard many times before. The thought that kept coming to my mind as I read the book was: “If just one of these things happens, it will be bad. If more than one thing happens at once, then heaven help us.” Furthermore, some of the things that he predicted (the book was published in 2007) have already happened in 2008. The good thing is that the last chapter is filled with advice on what “we,” as individuals, can do. But then again, it is nothing new. The advice is what we have been told for years.

I have come to the conclusion that there is a conspiracy between the modest t-shirt businesses, and the fashion industry. The modest t-shirt businesses must give a percentage of their earnings to the designers so that the designers will continue to make clothes that are immodest and impossible to wear alone if you are a temple-endowed LDS woman.

Every time I go clothes shopping, I spend a good deal of time trying to find a shirt that I can wear alone (strange concept, I know), or some pants that don’t show six inches of my panties when I bend over. I am getting so tired of it.

Low-waisted pants DO NOT look good on a woman who has a baby pouch, regardless of how thin she is. The baby pouch is located in just the right place so that it bulges out and over the pant line that sits just below the waist. It looks disgusting. Add to that a tight t-shirt, with a snug shirt over that, and it is not a pretty sight. And you can’t tuck in the shirts…they are cut too short in length. Plus, same problem as mentioned above.

If a shirt is not cut too low, then it is cut too wide at the neck, and if not, then the underarm area is cut too low. Any of these situations require a t-shirt underneath, which are “all” round-neck, by the way. Why can’t anyone create an under-t that is v-necked? Some shirts DO NOT look good with a round-neck t-shirt underneath. The cut of “many” shirts require a v-neck, or a “straight” neck. And I’m not talking about camis either. If you have a low-cut underarm area, a cami won’t work.

Would somebody out there start designing modest clothes again? And not just t-shirts? I am tired of wearing t-shirts! The cycle has past! It has been years! Hey, why not the modest t-shirt businesses? Why can’t they venture out into other modest apparel? I think that they would double their sales because I have a sneaking suspicion that every one is SICK OF IT!

Tonight while driving I was listening to the song “Peaceful Easy Feeling” by The Eagles. I’ve listened to it many times since December 1972, but for some reason concentrated a little more on the lyrics tonight. Here they are:

I like the way your sparkling earrings lay
against your skin, it’s so brown
and I wanna sleep with you in the desert tonight
with a billion stars all around

(Chorus) ‘Cause I gotta peaceful easy feeling
and I know you won’t let me down
’cause I’m already standing on the ground

And I found out a long time ago
what a woman can do to your soul
Ah, but she can’t take you anyway
You don’t already know how to go

(Chorus)

I get this feeling I may know you
as a lover and a friend
but this voice keeps whispering in my other ear
tells me I may never see you again

(Chorus)

I didn’t think much about the lyrics, until the last verse when he said that something tells him that he may never see [the girl] again. I then thought “Eew! How creepy!” I always thought that he was talking about someone that he knows, perhaps a girlfriend. But he isn’t. He’s talking about some girl that he has just met.

Okay girls, let’s just stop and think. What if some guy you just met gives you a line that he likes how your sparkling earrings lay against your brown skin, and then, probably after some more “light” conversation, asks you to have sex with him in the desert? Would you jump up and down with delight and exclaim “Yes!” Probably not. Like the majority of women, you would tell him to get lost, and then turn to whomever would listen and exclaim “What a creep!”

I then pictured in my head Ron Burgundy from Anchorman using that pick-up line and subsequent request… because it’s such a 70’s song! All I can say is that I am so glad that I was in elementary school during that era and didn’t have to deal with creepy 70’s guys as a young woman.

The Animated C02 Map video is from an article on Dot Earth, a blog of the New York Times. The Vulcan Project has done research over several years of the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. They have animated the emissions at various times throughout the day. They have a video on You Tube that shows their research work. It’s pretty cool and gives you an idea of how much emissions are produced in high population areas. Click Here to view the article and watch the video.

Update: At around 1:35 a.m., an alarm went off in the street below our hotel room in Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii. It was very loud. Brad and I immediately awoke from a dream state. The alarm lasted for about 10 minutes. I even went into the room where the children were sleeping and looked out the window. Not one of them awoke the entire time, even 15-year-old Dallen. They slept through the entire ruckus.

This news story is very disturbing for parents. I am going to do a fire alarm test while my children are sleeping. If they do not wake up, I will be looking for voice alarms. We leave the older ones to babysit Abby at least once a week, and sometimes don’t return home until after midnight when “everyone” has been asleep for a few hours.

Remember when I was so hyped up over the future of biodiesel? Well, lately my exuberance has been waning as I have been reading and hearing about the environmental consequences of growing crops for biofuels. After reading this week’s cover article in Time magazine called “The Clean Energy Myth,” my excitement over biofuels has all but disappeared.

Following are some quotes from the article (by all means, read the entire article here):

“The grain it takes to fill an SUV with ethanol could feed a person for a year. Harvests are being plucked to fuel our cars instead of ourselves.”

“The basic problem with most biofuels is amazingly simple, given that researchers have ignored it until now: using land to grow fuel leads to the destruction of forests, wetlands and grasslands that store enormous amounts of carbon.”

“Indonesia has bulldozed and burned so much wilderness to grow palm oil trees for biodiesel that its ranking among the world’s top carbon emitters has surged from 21st to third…”

“Deforestation accounts for 20% of all current carbon emissions.”

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Since purchasing a diesel, we have been feeling the harsh effects of the recent rise in crude oil prices at the gas pump…ouch! Trying to find ways to save money on fuel, I decided to sign up for a gas card at Macey’s since I usually do my grocery shopping there. You can save anywhere from .05 to .35 cents/gallon on gas depending on how much you spend in the store.

I wanted to try out my gas card, so I purchased $66 worth of groceries at Macey’s. I received a .05 cent/gallon savings on gas. If I had purchased just $9 more, I could have saved an additional .05 cents/gallon. I had just above 1/2 tank of gas left, so I could really only add 12.613 gallons of diesel. I excitedly looked at my gas receipt after it printed out to see how much I saved: .63 cents off of $48.17. My excitement deflated.

I started doing math in my head and realized that if I filled my tank with a .05 cent/gallon saving, I would save only $1 on a 20-gallon tank. If I filled my tank once a week, I would save only $4/month, or $48/year.

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A few weeks ago I had to explain to Jed what the cigarette lighter in our GL is used for. It is situated between the two front seats in a fun drawer at hand level, so it’s readily available to curious front passenger hands. In our Sienna the lighter is in the ashtray because I always had my iPod charger in the lighter outlet. Furthermore, the lighter is below the stereo on the driver’s side, so it’s not easily accessible to curious hands.

Yesterday Dallen was in the front passenger seat of the GL while I was ordering food at the Wendy’s drive-thru. I heard a pained cry from Dallen and turned to see smoke rising around him, and I smelled something burning. It was flesh. Dallen had been playing with the lighter. He didn’t realize that when he pushed it in the outlet, it becomes very hot. So after the lighter popped out he pulled it out of the outlet and pushed on the button, branding his middle finger on the other hand.

I couldn’t understand why Dallen didn’t know what the lighter was, and why I had to explain it to Jed earlier. A friend was in the GL with us and leaned forward to hear my explanation to Dallen what the lighter is used for. He didn’t know either. These are all teenage boys.

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And it isn’t a Toyota Prius. I just couldn’t get myself to buy one. I think that in the end, the size bothered me. Although roomy inside, it’s too small outside. With driving children around on a daily basis, I would be too afraid of the consequences if we were hit by one of the many tanks on the road.

Plus, it would undermine the plan I have been patiently waiting to implement. Get a new family vehicle this year. Get Brad a new car next year. Retire the 8-year-old Honda next year to the first of three new teenage drivers within a span of four years (frightening, isn’t it?).

So what did I get? The vehicle that best meets our family’s needs (okay, “my green” needs): Four-wheel drive; Fit six people comfortably (including long-legged teenage boys); Smaller than a “tank”; Environmentally friendly; Reasonable fuel-efficiency; Exciting to drive; Well built.

What else is out there that meets all that criteria? Not much. And I love it! And so does my family. And in the end, that is all that matters.

BTW: Here is an article in Popular Mechanics about the future of diesel vehicles…move over hybrids, stiff competition is on it’s way. I’m just pleased that we’re on the cutting edge. Oh, I forgot one teensy bit of information…I can use biodiesel in it! And Mercedes even gave it’s blessing.

Well, I’m (Brad) guilty to a few claims published in report from Mindset Media. TheStreet created a video based on the report. Some of the activities / attitudes associated with Mac users are listed below. Not sure that I’m all, but certainly some are spot on. Watch and see if you agree.

• to be perfectionists [well, maybe]
• to use notebooks [since 1994ish]
• to use teeth whitening products [okay]
• to pay for downloaded music [I got better after AllofMP3 shut down]
• to go to Starbucks [for meetings and hanging]
• care about “green” products and the environment [yes for me]
• to own a hybrid car [Amy's got a clean-burning diesel Mercedes GL, which gets just as good gas mileage as our Sienna van. It's economics for me and a desire to keep money in the USA vs. send it to the Middle East.]

Whether Global Warming is real or not, this video makes a very good argument. It would hurt more to not act, than it would to act. And by acting, we could make some changes in our world and in the economy that would, in the end, benefit everyone. Who can argue with that?

Below are some simple ways that you can help (source):

Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl)

Move your thermostat down 2° in winter and up 2° in summer

Clean or replace filters on your furnace and air conditioner

Install a programmable thermostat

Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases

Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket

Use less hot water

Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible Continue reading »

Bill needs to be careful with the criticisms he makes, it may come back to hit him in the face (although I don’t side with GM…I don’t have an inkling of a desire to purchase one of their vehicles). 

Bill Gates reportedly criticized the auto industry, stating that “if General Motors had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.”

GM extended the comparison: 

For no reason whatsoever your car would crash twice a day.

Every time they repainted the lines on the road, you’d have to buy a new car.

Occasionally your car would die for no reason, and you would just accept this, restart, and drive on.

Occasionally, executing a maneuver like a left turn would cause the car to shut down and refuse to restart; you’d have to reinstall the engine. 

Only one person at a time could use the car, unless you bought “Car XP.”

Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive, but it would only work on five percent of the roads (my personal favorite).

New seats would force everyone to have the same size derriere.

GM would require all buyers to purchase a deluxe set of road maps even though they neither need them nor want them. Attempting to delete this option would cause the car’s performance to diminish. 

I’ve read a lot about this current youth generation: The Millenials. You know them. They’re the children of the Boomers and the Gen X’ers. They’re special, they’re “all” winners, they’re rewarded for “everything” they do. They have shelves of trophies, certificates, scrapbooks, and photo albums. They have extravagant birthday parties. The girl’s moms buy them $500 prom dresses. 

I should know all of this…I have three of them (my fourth is considered a member of another generation due to birthdate). And I am just as much to blame for the above. 

I compare their lives to my youth life. I went through all of my family movies and took out any clip that had me in it. My family has about 120 minutes of footage spanning about a twenty year period. I found 6 1/2 minutes worth that contain footage of me.

I don’t even know how many “hours” of footage each of my children have. I won’t even mention how many photos I have of each of them, or how many scrapbooks and photo albums they already have. None of them have yet reached adulthood. 

My three older children are members of “The Millenials: The Next Great Generation.” I am a member of “The 13th Generation.” I guess that is why I  spend so much time and effort making them feel special; because I never did. I don’t say this to be a martyr. It’s simply an observation that I have made over the years concerning why we parents today coddle and sacrifice so much for our children. I think that it is because we didn’t get that from our parents. So we do it for our children. It makes me wonder what kind of parents our children will be.

It’s been 20 years this winter since I participated in the BYU Winter Semester Study-Abroad Program in Jerusalem, Israel. That experience remains in my top ten life list. Not only did it make a big impact on my life at the time, but I also enjoyed the experience immensely and would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

My group was in Jerusalem during the beginnings of the first Intifadeh, so we experienced things like Old City strikes, tear-gas, tire burning, bus stoning, curfews, canceled trips. We never felt like we were in danger, however. We actually sought out trouble for the excitement of it all.

We were also the first group to stay in the brand, new Jerusalem Center for the entire semester. There were 130 girls, and 30 boys. I was one of three RM sisters, so I had a lot of gals approach me for advice on whether they should serve a mission.

Fun times. Freedom within structure. Good people. Great professors. I would love to visit the Holy Land again with my family. I hope that one day we can make it a reality.

Last night I was invited to attend the opening film of the Sundance Film Festival in Sundance, Utah. It’s called Fields of Fuel and is directed by Josh Tickell. The film is a documentary about alternative fuel sources, primarily Biodiesel. The film is also politically charged concerning America’s dependence on foreign oil and the U.S.’s participation in Middle East wars to keep our country’s supply flowing.

After watching the film I became convinced that I can help decrease my fuel consumption, at least in one small way, by purchasing a diesel vehicle and using Biodiesel fuel. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to learn that there are no gas stations in Utah County offering Biodiesel. This information comes from Utah Biodiesel Supply.

The other problem is finding a diesel vehicle that would suit our family of six. We need either a mini-van, or a SUV. To find a diesel vehicle, you have to search used vehicle sights. And the majority of consumer diesel vehicles available are sedans and smaller cars. It’s very frustrating when you would like to be environmentally green, but there are no sources available to allow you to be so.

This is where the underlying theme of the film comes in. We, the people, need to let our politicians and the powers that be, that control auto manufacturing, and that produce fuels, know that we want alternative choices. I don’t want to buy an SUV that gets 14 miles to the gallon and contributes to green house gases. If given the choice I would definitely purchase a diesel vehicle and fill it with Biodiesel. BTW: you don’t have to make any modifications to your vehicle to use Biodiesel. Plus, it’s cheaper, you get better gas mileage, your vehicle runs better, and it emits 75-80% less emissions than regular diesel.

I will continue to watch for the availability of Biodiesel close to where I live, and more choices in consumer diesel vehicles. Hopefully, after the year-long 50-state information blitz about alternative fuels and Biodiesel by Josh and his crew, it won’t be very long.

I have been patiently awaiting the release of this movie. I suppose that it intrigues me because it is a commentary on today’s society and the technology that is a part of our daily lives, namely small video cameras, video on small cameras, camera phones, etc. We can document things as they happen. We don’t need to wait for the local news truck to show up anymore. We create the news.

Update: Brad and I saw the movie Saturday, January 19. It was entertaining enough. I enjoyed I AM Legend much more, however. It was also scarier than Cloverfield. I never had to cover my eyes in this movie.

People were annoyed by the camera movements, and by the movie’s ending. However, the director purposefully wanted to make it seem that an “everyman” took the footage, not a cameraman or director. Also, since it states at the beginning of the movie that the footage was found in Central Park, it’s obvious that the main characters don’t survive. Brad commented that if our audience had pitchforks at the end of the movie, they would have run the screen with them in hand. There were a lot of angry comments.

I read enough reviews and interviews beforehand to know what JJ Abrams was trying to create in this movie, so I wasn’t upset by it. At least he is introducing a different concept, although it has been described as “Godzilla meets Blair Witch Project.”

The theater showed two movie previews of the same old kinds of movies that come out every few months . . . Hellboy 2 (which at first I thought was another X-men movie), and Ironman, another Marvel comic movie. From what I observed of the audience, those are the kinds of movies that entertain them. This audience doesn’t want “art.” They want action and special effects–which this movie did have–with a weak plot line–which this one kind of had. But, Cloverfield had enough art in it that the general audience couldn’t stomach it.

When Brad and I were first married, I put together a 72 hour kit and forgot about it for about…oh, 15 years. It was pretty frightening when I went through it about 1 1/2 years ago. I couldn’t imagine the stress of trying to live through an emergency on what I had in that big, heavy duffle bag.

About 1 1/2 years ago, I decided to go through some 72 hour kits that I had purchased for the five of us while living in Arizona. They all needed updating, and I had to make yet another one because we had since welcomed Abby into the family. After a lot of research and money, I felt that I had our family fairly prepared for an emergency…until we had a lesson on emergency preparedness in Relief Society. I wrote notes and added items to the kits, and finished with the feeling that we were “more” prepared for an emergency.

Until I went to a presentation by the State of Utah Earthquake Lady. I added more notes to my long list of things to buy and do and thought I had it all figured out…until we had “another” lesson at church that took up both the Sunday School and Relief Society hours. I took even more notes and made even more plans.

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When I was young, elementary school age, my Mother found me one Christmas night playing with my new toys and took me to her bedroom closet where there was a Christmas gift hidden behind her hanging clothes that she had forgotten to wrap and place under the tree…a Barbie house. I was ecstatic, not only because it was what I wanted, but because I got it after Christmas morning was all over.

Well, tonight (December 30) I was going over our online banking and noticed a description for “Uintah Golf.” At that precise moment a horrifying (actually, amusing) realization came over me. There was a Christmas gift for Brad that I had completely forgotten about. So I called him downstairs to the basement, to the storage room, and moved away the storage boxes on the top shelf to pull out, from the back, a Club Glove…a golf travel bag. “Merry Christmas darling!”

Just call me “Beth.”