What's Da Buzz?

I knew absolutely nothing about this tradition until my mother-in-law brought it up. My hubby also had no clue what it was either as he doesn’t pay attention to any “tradition” that instructs you to buy something for no purpose but one made up by those wanting a greater profit margin.

The tradition I am speaking of is what a couple is to receive from other or give each other (Has to be one of those two.). The entire list is located at this website that gives suggestions on what you are supposed to give on a certain anniversary. You can check out the list at Traditional Wedding Anniversary gifts.

Is this a tradition in the Philippines? Do the Philippines have its own version? My answers are that I have no idea. I never cared about it so I never paid attention. However, it wouldn’t surprise me that there is a different version in the Philippines. Hopefully it has nothing to do with lice spontaneously growing on your head due to sunlight or sticking bamboo sticks in your ear for earwax. hehe If anybody does know, please send me a link.

Now, I’m not going to disclose which anniversary of ours is coming up but it is safe to say it isn’t our fiftieth or sixtieth since neither of us is anywhere near 50 years old. When you look at the list though, the first 15 anniversaries have their own interesting gift categories.

“Traditional Anniversary Gifts by Year

First: Paper
Second: Cotton
Third: Leather
Fourth: Fruit or Flowers
Fifth: Wood
Sixth: Candy or Iron
Seventh: Wool or Copper
Eight Bronze or Pottery
Ninth: Pottery
Tenth: Tin
Eleventh: Steel
Twelfth: Silk or Linen
Thirteenth: Lace
Fourteenth: Ivory
Fifteenth: Crystal”

So if it is your 4th anniversary could you count it as the 2nd anniversary of your 2nd anniversary? Does that mean you can get two sets of cotton underwear as long as they are from Fruit of the Loom?

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend,

Anah

This article is to fulfill a request of my daughter and to have a bit of fun with a calculator.

She wanted to know how long it would take to walk to Grandpa and Grandma’s homes. Well, we do not live that close to any of them so that became a bit of a fun challenge. Do not take any of this seriously outside of we did the math right.

Here are a few things that you need to know so all of the numbers make sense. First, my daughter and I walk at a rate of 2 miles per hour. Yes, I know the average person walks at a rate of 3.1 mph but I’m short and my daughter is shorter (for now).

We live in the South East corner of Wisconsin. Goryo’s parents live in Central Wisconsin. My Mom lives in Geneva, Switzerland. My Dad lives in General Santos, Philippines.

Since there are a few minor things in our way such as the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, please grant us the superhuman ability to walk across water and ignore terrain like mountains.

Since we need to get to the locations at the fastest possible time, please grant us the superhuman abilities to never get tired or need to eat or relieve ourselves. That means no sleeping, resting, eating, drinking, or answering the call of nature.

With all that said, here is how the numbers come out. From our place to Goryo’s parents’ place, it is 124 miles. That will take us 2 days and 14 hours of non-stop walking to get to their front door.

From our place to my Mom’s place in Switzerland, we would need to walk 4326 miles. That would take us 90 days and 3 hours or assuming 30 days a month 3 months and 3 hours.

From our place to my Dad’s place in the Philippines and winging by Manila to see what is new there, we would need to walk 8,750 miles. That would take us only 182 days and 7 hours or 6 months, 2 days and 7 hours.

So if you can’t catch me on the phone for 6 months, I have somehow found a way to walk across water, over mountains to fulfill a statement I said in my first year of marriage when I was really, really homesick.

Barring becoming a superhuman with lots of extra time, I’ll just leave this post for what it is worth.

Thank you,

Anah

How do cows fit in between cars and oil? You are about to find out in this Did You Know about Energy and issues facing the USA. These are just the facts and issues. You decide your opinion on them.

If you have followed the issues much, there is plenty of talk and opinions on “Big Oil” and usage of fossil fuels such as coal and more. When most talk about their opinions about “Big Oil,” they focus on gasoline going into vehicles. What is missed though is the majority of the oil does NOT go into the gas tank. Depending on the state, 65-70% of the oil used in a state goes into non-automotive related products commonly used. Curious as to what your state does? Click on the link and find out.

What kinds of products use oil directly in their production? The answers are found here but cover things such as crayons, nylon, dentures, fertilizers, glue, toothbrushes, deodorants, shoes, telephones and a total of 128 common products. So are you really ready to join on the bandwagon and say Oil is bad?

When you hear of the talk of shifting to “greener” resources, they are ignoring a few key details. First, the technology is not ready yet to handle the loads needed. The issues involved are basic practical challenges. How about electric cars? Well, they are working on batteries and engines that can keep a significant enough charge to get you much of anywhere. The standard range is about 100 miles before you need a 10 minute recharge. In most of the USA, that doesn’t get you very far. These range upwards of $50,000 per car which is problematic in a bad economy when loans are tight and the average annual income is only $33,000.

That doesn’t cover the problem of the electrical utility bill you would get. Some are campaigning to seriously crimp the use of coal in the USA when they hold more than most nations. Coal makes up 49% of the electricity production as noted in this chart from the Energy Information Association. If you noticed, according to the chart the solar and wind account for a big whopping 0.3% contribution. To adjust the power plants to using different fuel sources would require extensive investments and a lot of time to transition. Turning off your lights a little bit more will do nothing to impact the electrical usage since the biggest culprits are the hot water heater, air conditioner, and the oven / stove (check the itemization of your electrical bill online). The costs of refitting nearly half of the power plants would be an expense factored into your utility bill. Just trying this at a time when loans are not available for such projects would be highly ill advised. (Common sense)

U.S. Electric Power Industry Net Generation, 2006

What about hydrogen fuel cell cars? They have been talked about quite a bit. California has a few of them. But the rest of the nation does not because of a Catch-22. Why would anyone purchase a hydrogen fuel cell car when there is no place to refill it? Why would any gas station fork out the expense of refitting when no one has a hydrogen fuel cell car in an area? They wouldn’t be approved for such a loan as you can’t make a business case for it especially in these tight times.

None of that factors in the low income, medium income families and the elderly who have a tendency to purchase used vehicles.

What it comes down to is gasoline still provides the best power supply for propulsion over all of the other choices currently available. You aren’t flying a jet on ethanol. An electric battery probably wouldn’t even get it into the air. You can’t refuel hydrogen in mid-air.

The Army is taking the initiative of turning biodegradable waste into oil. That means any plant matter can be used to make oil and converted into diesel fuel. If it works, it will reduce landfill usage, greenhouse gases and pollution.

Where did they come up with this idea? You may not believe this but the idea came to the person from a cow pasture. He was downwind of a cow when it farted (utoted hehe!). The smell triggered the idea of using smaller stomachs (bacteria) to digest the plants into a more usable form.

Interesting noh?

Anyway, Thanks for reading!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Anah

Photo from http://www.eia.doe.gov