Thursday...

At this location we have Mondays and Tuesdays off so our work week is just getting underway. On Monday we went out to do some errands...got our propane tank filled up (is $30 here) and went to Sam's Club to get some office supplies. Seems we've been lucky that there's been a Sam's Club close to all the locations we've worked at as their office supplies are much cheaper than a Staples or Office Depot.

I think spring is in the air as there has been a lot of activity over the past week with move outs and move ins. Has kept us busy here plus there are two rental trucks at this location and it seems that both are going out every day, which is great. The extra truck that is here is one that Linda and I had gone out to pick up New Year's eve from one of the other sites. The managers, at this location, requested an extra truck and it's been a big help here. The second truck is a new one, as the previous one was demolished when someone tried to go through an overpass much too low for the truck. Yikes....word has it that it peeled the top off of it like a sardine can. This 15' box truck turned into a scrunched up piece of metal like a piece of aluminum foil. Today I spoke with the company that will have the graphics put on this truck. They can't apply them until the temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees or we risk the decals coming off. Since the 10 day forecast is calling for temps of 49 degrees or low 50's, it looks like it will be at least a couple of weeks until we get this truck covered with the Mini U decals.

We were told by the managers how much they enjoy shopping at the Stop and Shop grocery store, just a half a mile down the road. You can sign out a scanner so you can scan items as you put them in your cart ( you take bags with you and bag them as you go) and it will show you any discounted prices for the items you picked, give specials that only shoppers using scanners can take advantage of AND when you go to check out, your whole order is totaled and you're ready to go. Not only is this cool but the deli area has the most awesome Lobster Bisque. Oh my is this to die for ! The first ingredient is cream.....does that tell you how creamy and delicious it is ? I even discovered that they sell 24 oz tubs of it to take home. I had been buying it out of the soup crocks in take out soup containers. When I spoke to one of the deli ladies about the lobster bisque she said that is a huge hit and people come there everyday just for that. They have it most every day due to its popularity. Linda and I have to eat it in moderation though....a 12 oz bowl is around 550 calories.

We just learned tonight that there is a Chipotle Grill just a couple miles from here. We've never been to one of these but the founder was on Oprah tonight (probably an old show) and he spoke about his use of natural meats for his menu items. They buy meats that do not have antibiotics added and the animals were grown in a natural setting and not confined. This restaurant's feature on the show was part of her discussion about the movie, Food, Inc.
Here's an excerpt of what the movie is about: "In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults."
I am aware of many of the atrocities that occur in the production of food but I was surprised at one thing I saw tonight. When chickens are given the antibiotics to make them grow fatter and faster, their skeletal structures can't grow fast enough to support them and they get so they can only walk a couple of steps and then they fall down. They are too big for their feet and legs to support them. It was really disgusting to see ! It's time for a food revolution in America !

Waste Stream

On today's Oprah episode the whole show was on Earth Day and there were tips to save money while being conscious of the environment. There was also a lot of information on the sheer volume of waste that we create that was mind boggling.

Did you know that there is a line of garbage off the coast of California that extends all the way to Japan. They estimate that there is 3.5 million tons of garbage in the ocean. This "swirl" of waste is twice the size of Texas and in some places it is 90 feet deep. Marine life often mistake the plastic bags and floating debris for food and consume it, causing certain death to many animals. I wondered as I first saw this video footage how there could be so much garbage in the ocean but as was explained anything that we throw along the side of road or blows off a landfill site eventually makes its way to the ocean. Everything flows to the ocean. An item tossed along the road, goes in the ditch, gets picked up by rain water and taken to a larger stream, until eventually all streams wind up in the ocean. Now you might think that cruise ships, who we've heard horror stories of dumping their waste in the ocean, are the culprits. Only 20%, of this garbage, can be attributed to any type of ships that are out there and throw their garage overboard. The rest comes from us on land. Plastic is the biggest problem....100 billion plastic bags(or 300 per person each year) are used in our country each year. We've all seen them along the highways, caught in trees and underbrush, etc. Several countries have banned their use but they are heavily used in the U.S. If there is one thing that each of us could pledge to do to help our environment, it would be to reduce (or eliminate) the amount of plastic we use in our daily lives. Everything from zip-loc bags (we are big offenders of this), plastic shopping bags, etc. Anything that has a one time use and then winds up in a landfill or in our ocean. Use washable, re-usable containers...don't buy the individual bottled water...Buy a water filter and make your own filtered water and put it in a reusable container.

There was so much more information given today and if you want to learn more, go to oprah's site. Let's make smarter choices for our planet. It's the only one we have. The next time you have something plastic in your hand, think about the giant stream of garbage flowing from California to Japan. Not the kind of legacy we want to leave for our children, eh ?

For The Children....

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act was passed on July 25, 2006—20 years after Adam Walsh's abduction. The act established a National Sex Offender Registry law, but recent news reports reveal most states will not be in compliance with the law by the upcoming July 2009 deadline. If senators and state representatives don't comply with and fully fund the act, it will expire.

This is critical legislation for the health and safety of children everywhere. I know you will act, as I have, to contact our legislative representatives to stress the importance of funding this legislation. Oprah's web site has created an easy way to respond to your representatives. Clicking HERE will take you to a sample letter that you can cut and paste or you can write your own letter. There are also links to find your senators and house representative so that you can send them a letter. It only takes a couple of minutes...she has made it so easy. Please take the time to act on this.....our children are counting on us!