And what a Clog Buster it is....

This morning we had the pleasure of waking up to a clogged tub. At 5:45 am this is not something I get excited about. This all started a few days ago...the sink was clogged so I took a snake and fixed the problem....or so I thought.

The next day my wife said she thought the tub was draining a bit slow. I took a look at it, snaked it and gave it a go. Sure enough, the water went down and my work was done. Then Tuesday morning showed up. You guessed it...During my shower I noticed I was standing in water. I figured the drain was just running slow but I was wrong.

I plunged, snaked, and plunged some more at 6 am all to no avail. This baby was good n' plugged. I dashed off to work and began to plot my battle against the drain. In the past I have tried several products that are supposed to dissolve clogs. They are probably wonderful preventive products, but I needed something that would really pack a wallop. My search led me to the "Clog Buster".

I'll tell ya what...this is by far the most bizarre looking tool in my collection. Bizarre looks aside, it really gets the job done. Here is how it works: The "Clog Buster" operates on high pressure water. You hook this thing up to a hose and then shove it down the drain. When the water is turned on, it expands to seal off the drain pipe and also shoots a high powered jet of water at the clog. I don't see how a hair ball could stand a chance!

It actually works pretty well. I was expecting to make quite a mess in my bathroom but all of the water made it to the proper destination. My bathroom drains are all working quite well and you will be happy to know we can continue with scheduled cleansing.

Reduce, Reuse....Recycle?

Someone should really say this, it may as well be me. "Recycling is a sham!"

Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel about it. Think about that magic triangle that we all of us under 30 learned in school..."Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". Which one gets the most press? "Recycle" does of course. Why is that? Economics, that's why.

Reducing is bad for our economy. If people use less they spend less money, there is less need for manufactured goods and there is less of a need for jobs. The government will never support reducing in America. We could reduce solid waste, carbon output and oil dependency just to name a few by reducing how much we consume.

Almost as bad for the economy is reusing. Rather than buying that shiny new Toyota Prius why not buy a used Carolla? Think about all of the raw materials we could save by using a car until it is completely exhausted. When you calculate the effect that disposing of a car has it might make that Prius look less shiny.

Obviously, someone has to support the technology to keep it going, but really all it would take is to demand it. Consumers always have the power in the economic equation. The prime objective of a business is to make money, in order to do so they must make a product worth buying. If we (as a society) demanded an electric car and settled for nothing less (as in didn't purchase) there would be electric cars that worked well. Think about it, Hummers were not commercially available until there was public demand.

Back to the point, our government has chosen to advertise the benefits of Recycling. Why wouldn't they? It creates jobs, makes a need for new factories and facilities and the end result is new products that can be made from recycled materials. All of this helps kick start our economy and makes everyone feel better about buying more stuff. Printing a ton on recycled paper (which often times is less than 100% recycled) is WAY better than printing on regular paper....isn't it?

There is my rant...next time you go to the store don't buy Recycled, buy less....instead of buying cans of beer, buy returnable glass bottles. (They can clean em' with soap rather than melting them down and releasing ugly chemicals) Most of all, don't buy into the fact that recycling is going to save the world. It will help, but it is far from the easiest way.

Cooler Weather...Blogging with a cause?

Finally, the early October heat broke today and it feels like fall! For the past few weeks I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of 50 degree highs and I feel like we are almost there. This morning when I left for work I could feel the need for a coat in the air and when I walked out the door at work this afternoon that feeling was even stronger. With any luck we will have crisp, uninterrupted fall air from now until mid November.

Now for the blogging with a cause part...Next week there is a blog action day that I will be taking part in. The idea here is that on October 15th everyone taking part will blog on something to do with the environment, causing a large influx in environmental awareness...if only for a day. The planet on which we live is important, much more important that most things I can think to write about.

I am excited about this project. I can safely say that what my posting lacks in hard facts will be compensated with common sense and practical solutions. I won't try and wow you with buzz words and depressing stats...my goal is to get you to do something small that just might make a difference.

What will this grand Utopian concept entail...well...I have not figured that out yet.

New Truck Buzz!

So here is something new that I learned today...Nothing beats a new truck! My wife and I bought a Toyota Tundra today. It's a real beauty, black with tan interior.
In honor of our favorite fictitious wizard, I decided to name it Sirius. (Sirius Black of Harry Potter fame for all of you muggles out there.)

It is a really nice vehicle...that's about all I can say at the moment. We were originally looking at mid-sized trucks but this one happened to be on the lot and we found it much more comfortable and practical than it's smaller sibling.

Buying a new car is an interesting experience. I have never gone to the car dealership with an intention to buy. In fact, I think can count the number of times in my adult life I have gone to look on one hand. I have always scoured the "thrifties" and more recently auctions for cars that might have 2 or 3 acceptable years left in them.

Today I understand why people buy cars that are still on the front half of their life rather than in the twilight. It is really nice to have no rattles, no stains, no hail damage and no pending repairs. Granted, I did not get the pleasure of sitting in the DMV with a stranger waiting to transfer the title but this is a price you have to pay.

Don't get me wrong, I have loved all of my vehicles. My first truck was a 1987 Chevy S-10 painted metallic brown. It was a pretty sweet little ride for a 16 year old. I drove it to and from school every day in high school and it even made a handful of trips across Wisconsin when I was in college. Late 80's American quality and good ol' Midwestern road salt brought my truck days to an end in 1998.

My next car was a 1992 Mazda 626. This was the first car that my mom ever had in her name. This was also the same car that I learned to drive in and took my drivers test in. When I started driving the car it had 120,000 miles on it. By the time I was done with it in 2003 I had managed to put 250,000 on it! There were many really great things about this car but the most amazing to me was how reliable it was. The only real work on the car occurred after it passed 200,000 miles. I replaced the timing belt (original) and the CV axles (also original). The mechanic that did the CV's was amazed at the fact that I had not replaced the clutch or the transmission. (His amazement was capped with a series of curse words and a healthy scratch.)

In 2004 I was working as a photographer and doing quite a bit of traveling around the greater Twin Cities area. I decided that I needed a vehicle that had a bit more room and was a little newer. I loved my Mazda but I thought that it might be a good time to get out before the clutch or transmission gave out. My purchase was a 1995 Nissan Pathfinder. This was a fun little truck and I definitely got my use out of it. I was hoping to get 200,000 out of it when I purchased it but I didn't quite get there. I sold the vehicle today with 150,000 on it. Not too shabby, but short of my goal. The big motivator was maintenance...it had a fair amount due and I just didn't feel like it was going to end with what was due. The guys who bought it are both mechanics (and very interesting fellas, but that's another story all together) and they are happy with their purchase and they are well equipped to deal with a fussy, aging vehicle.


We hope to be driving this truck for quite some time. Hopefully it will look as good as this Four Runner with 1 MILLION miles and was recently sold on eBay!