leafing through » News

Don’t trust the USDA

Leaf — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:03:06 +0000

The recent exposure that a cow tested positive for Mad Cow Disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) in California came as not much of a surprise to me. When the beef industry is so powerful they can successfully lobby the USDA to …

Tropical Fish World

Leaf — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:27:01 +0000

This used to be my favorite local aquarium shop. I knew people who drove hours to shop here because they had such a wide variety of fish stock and their tanks were healthy and clean. I say “used to” because …

Starting early on Spring Tossing

Leaf — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:55:04 +0000

It’s not Spring yet but now that I can step out of the office and still enjoy the last remnants of sunlight, it’s starting to feel like it. In honor of that great yearly tradition of throwing crap out, I’ve …

Sprinklers

Leaf — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:39:35 +0000

A little past midnight this morning, the fire alarm started blaring. I was in the middle of a nice dream so it felt like I dozed my way out of the building. I remember we briefly discussed bringing the chinchees …

User Tax

Leaf — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:24:50 +0000

President Obama recently proposed an airline tax increase ($100 per airliner take off, and a TSA per-passenger increase to $5 per leg of the trip and $0.50 increases each year from 2013 to 2017) to help reduce the deficit. I …

Self-Help

Leaf — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:22:52 +0000

Recently, I got two very thoughtful books about how to interact with people. The first, The Five Love Languages. The second, How to Win Friends and Influence People. At first glance they seem like two very different books, one’s about …

Nanny State

Leaf — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:13:51 +0000

Last week, Denmark passed a “fat tax” to curb obesity. It’s yet another sin tax, only this time, instead of tobacco & alcohol, it’s saturated fat. The sin is gluttony. The argument is, it’s bad for peoples’ health so taxing it …

Dental Update

Leaf — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 01:55:21 +0000

So you remember back in February, I went to the Virginia Center for Cosmetic & General Dentistry right by the Clarendon Metro station and they were total quacks, trying to tell me I had like 8 cavities or something? Well …

How to unclog a toilet

Leaf — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:31:14 +0000

Pour kettles and kettles of boiling water into the toilet until it clears. This one took three kettles to clear. No need for plungers or any equipment.

The Great Earthquake of 2011

Leaf — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 13:13:31 +0000

On Tuesday, we were preparing for this big meeting. I was standing in the hallway with my coworker chatting about our weekend plans with the secretary before going into the meeting room. Yes we think about the weekend on Tuesdays. …