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Thanks. On your last part, I'm not buying BP gas anymore either or any of their other products (Castrol, Amoco, Safeway, etc).
In fact, I've personally taken my impact a step further & went out recently to get a 100 MPG kickass Honda scooter. I only use my car now if its absolutely necessary (either when the baby is with me, I need it to haul something that my scoot cant carry, or the weather is just plain nasty). Other than that, its scooter all the way. Which is almost all the time.
It goes up to 60 MPH so I can go almost anywhere in town (I stay off the interstate, which I wouldnt use anyway no matter how fast it went). And enough onboard storage (under the seat & a trunk on the back) to make some pretty big grocery hauls. And plus, its just more fun. I really love it, it saves me money & helps lessen my impact. Its win all the way around.
Hope you use a helmet all the time - drive defensively - and have good health insurance. You may not want to subsidize oil companies - but I don't want to subsidize your health care. And I think that motorcycle accidents in Florida are one reason Mayo is turning into one of the largest transplant centers in the US (young healthy people with great organs die in motorcycle accidents here in Florida - the waiting list for organs is very short). I only owned a scooter once - in college. Skidded into one of those wood road barriers you find up north. Going about 20 mph. I was picking wood shards out of my leg for years after.
I pretty much believe in people paying full freight for almost everything (at least when the dollar costs can be quantified with some reasonable degree of certainty and the intangible costs are kind of obvious). I don't want to subsidize your insurance - or alternative energy sources either (or regular energy as well). I particularly dislike the use of tax rebates - whether they're given for solar panels - cash for clunkers - homebuyers' tax credits - whatever. I don't want to subsidize bottled water (obtained through huge consumptive use permits granted by the SJWMD) by paying ridiculous water bills either. Let's see what things really cost - and let consumers decide what to do.
I also think we shouldn't be hasty about shutting down all deep water drilling in the Gulf. We get a lot of energy from that area. The rigs cost maybe $500k/day to rent - and - if drilling is shut down - they will be moved in short order to other parts of the world. Many of which care little or nothing about the environment. I've seen sandstorms in Africa turn Florida skies red. And I don't believe that by moving an industry with potential problems elsewhere - that we can avoid all the consequences. I saw that government guy Chu on TV the other day. And he was saying how great China was in terms of developing alternative energy. But the simple fact of the matter is that most new energy in China is powered by coal - very dirty coal - not even "clean" coal - and it has about 12 of the 20 dirtiest cities in the world today (and will probably have 20 out of 20 within the next 5 years). You know that Google is one of the largest consumers of energy in the US (all those server farms)? But it can't produce the power it needs in California - NIMBY. So it gets its power from elsewhere. Anyone want to boycott Google because it's an energy hog? IMO - these issues are complicated. No easy answers IMO. Robyn
Well, I personally don't like paying for all the road construction to keep this beast going & would rather it go into a public transportation grid. Plus, accidents all increase big time when we're all driving separately instead of part of a singular system, so yeah. I also don't like paying for your Medicare either, but hey, that's life isn't it dear.
BTW, you can probably thank all the sport bike riders who ride like idiots & have no business buying them in the first place for most of those accidents. I rarely hear of/see any scooter people involved in fatal accidents. But yes, because you scratched your leg that one time 100 years ago, they're death traps for sure.
Any other words of wisdom on subjects you prob know nothing about? I know you never miss a topic.
Well, I personally don't like paying for all the road construction to keep this beast going & would rather it go into a public transportation grid. Plus, accidents all increase big time when we're all driving separately instead of part of a singular system, so yeah. I also don't like paying for your Medicare either, but hey, that's life isn't it dear.
BTW, you can probably thank all the sport bike riders who ride like idiots & have no business buying them in the first place for most of those accidents. I rarely hear of/see any scooter people involved in fatal accidents. But yes, because you scratched your leg that one time 100 years ago, they're death traps for sure.
Any other words of wisdom on subjects you prob know nothing about? I know you never miss a topic.
I'm not on Medicare (I'm only 62). I pay about $600/month for health insurance with a $10k/deductible and a a 20% co-pay. Don't know if that's a reasonable price for me. But it's what I pay. What do you pay for health insurance/auto insurance considering your "scooting experience" (if you do in fact have health insurance - employer and employee's shares if appropriate would be appreciated).
How would you arrange a public transportation grid in the Metro area? Just give me a rough outline - from the Beaches to OP and Ortega and Riverside/Avondale - to downtown and Southside - do the Northside as well. You can do it by bus and jitney - that way you won't be looking at billions of dollars to acquire ROWs and install light rail lines. Robyn
P.S. The guy who does my tree work - well his son died in a motocross accident. I like him a lot - and felt really sad about his loss.
I cannot believe how much of a non-issue this oil spill has become. It has reached Louisiana. There goes their tourist and seafood industry. It has reached Alabama shores. There goes their tourist and seafood industry. It has hit Florida including the Keys. There goes OUR Tourist and Seafood industry. Come on people wake up. This is going to get real Bad.
Never mind the Mars exploration and which Democrat is beating which Republican. Let's pull the great minds and pocketbooks together and fix this thing.
Just my POV
I hope it drives people to move here and causes a surge in new construction activity. That's what happened when Katrina hit. But hey, that's just me.
Oil companies keep us dependent on oil by buying the patents on alternatives and more efficient use. Just because we need oil, doesn't mean that oil companies should be allowed to destroy our environment. There are Solar panels that are in use that allow homes to sell the energy back to electric company and they are proven to work well. Wind is also an alternative that won't kill our environment. I'm checking into this now, I'm just as guilty as everyone else and have sat on the sidelines long enough and taken the easy way out by not investing in solar tech. It's pretty clear that oil companies are not responsible and will not do the right thing by developing the means to clean up spills because we don't hold them accountable and they don't care about the environment.
How would you arrange a public transportation grid in the Metro area? Just give me a rough outline - from the Beaches to OP and Ortega and Riverside/Avondale - to downtown and Southside - do the Northside as well. You can do it by bus and jitney - that way you won't be looking at billions of dollars to acquire ROWs and install light rail lines. Robyn
I'm not an engineer, so thats not for me to decide. Sure, I could give you some opinions on what needs to be done, but in the end they are just that, opinions. I know that buses suck though & are highly inefficient in about every way. So they're no kind of answer. We need to go with what works & that's probably gonna be a light rail or some other sort of rail grid system. If it has to be the Skyway, then so be it. Just make the thing actually go somewhere useful.
But it doesnt take an engineer to know that we cant sustain the "one car per licensed driver" model we've been doing. That's going to end one way or another. And we can all criticize each other till the cows come home, but we're all guilty of making poor decisions when it comes to this stuff in some way. Some bigger than others.
Mostly the people who wanna act like that its their God-given right to buy giant gas hogs to go to the grocery store in & haul their 2 kids around living in suburban-hell, then turning around acting like their choices doesn't effect everyone else, are probably the biggest shift you'll have to see before we start lessoning our dependance. Because there are A LOT of those people in every decent sized city across the country. All the while tons of nice property in their urban cores lay vacant. Its doesnt make a whole hell of a lot of sense.
And guess what? I was one of those people, but Im trying not to be anymore, because my own personal decisions are a small cause for what's going on right now. Maybe if even a tiny fraction of people would have made better decisions, we wouldnt have had to drill that well & all that shoreline, animals, businesses, etc wouldnt have been destroyed. But we're past that now. Now all we can do is try harder & make better choices in our daily lives. And also quit looking up for big brother or big business to help us & show us the way, cause they obviously could give a sh*t.
I know you think I probably fancy myself as some sudo-urban-hippy, but I'm not. I just dont want to raise my kid in a world thats polluted & controlled by gigantic oil/energy companies when it doesnt have to be that way. And the only way you & I can make a difference right now is by lessoning our dependance every way we possibly can. Small changes involving enough people doing them can make a HUGE impact. Do we really need 2 cars for a family of 3 (?), walk or bike to more places, if you dont live anywhere walkable then move, do you really use that SUV enough to keep it (?), etc. And if you dont agree, then I dont know what to tell you other than you're part of the problem & not the solution. Because it IS a problem. But like I said earlier, a lot of people simply dont care enough until it inconveniences or costs them in some way. And if your generation just wants to be complacent, then fine. But just move outta the way & dont criticize when people are trying to help.
But I bet you'll change your tune if those oil plumes wash ashore in your backyard there in lovely Ponte Vedra. Which is quite possible.
I have a close relative that is in west florida cleaning things up. He says there are many people over there protesting the clean up. Dont people want things cleaned up?
I have a close relative that is in west florida cleaning things up. He says there are many people over there protesting the clean up. Dont people want things cleaned up?
People are probably protesting for the worker's safety & the fact that BP has barred any media outlets from talking with them (I still dont know how they even have the authority to pull that one off). There's been multiple reports of many people getting sick (cleanup crew, fishermen, etc). Look it up, its a fact. Those crews are hired by BP & they're not even providing them with the proper safety precautions. And this is just the beginning of it.
Gloves & shovels aint gonna do it. This stuff is toxic. Not to mention the dispersants they use that get washed up to shore can seep into your lungs & skin by just being around it. They really should be in hazmat suits with respirators.
I know people need work, but would you really trust that BP has your best interests in mind?? I sure know I wouldn't, nor would I want any of my friends/family doing so either. They've basically lied about everything up to now, so why would they??
Besides, this "cleanup" is a facade anyway & just a way for them to pretend they're working on the problem. Logic tells you there is NO WAY in hell they can even begin to make a dent in a spill of this magnitude with some workers on the beach, booms that only (sometimes) catch the surface oil (most the oil is under the water in plumes) & some dinky fishing boats skimming a small percentage of the surface. You just cant. Its the equivalent of trying to soak up a swimming pool with a roll of paper towels.
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I really love it, it saves me money & helps lessen my impact. Its win all the way around.
