Time Change – Battery Check

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Anyone that knows me is aware of my disdain for Daylight Savings Time (DST).  I humbly request that you take my grumblings with a grain of salt the next few weeks as I adjust.  I am generally a fan of Benjamin Franklin and like to carry his likeness with me at all times, but when I found out that it was his writing of An Economical Project in 1784 that fostered DST, my respect for him dropped considerably!  Honestly though, he would probably be quite amused that his tongue-in-cheek treatise based on his desire to stay up late and sleep until noon was adopted as international policy!

When you change your clocks, check your smoke detectors as well.

So, can we make lemonade from lemons here?  The time change is a good time to check your smoke detectors.  This is promoted by fire departments across the United States.  First, minimally, go around and press the test button to be sure they’re working.  Best would be to go ahead and change the batteries.  Even the hardwired detectors often have battery back-ups.  If the battery died while you were on vacation, you might not have heard that annoying chirp.  Also, someone may have robbed the detector of its battery for a use they considered more of an emergency at that time.  This is ALWAYS a bad idea!  Drag your lazy butt to the store if the TV remote needs a new battery!

Second, review your smoke detector locations.  If you have an older home, you may not have smoke detectors located to meet current codes and recommended standards.  Check with your local building inspector for code requirements in your area.  Check with your insurance company for their minimum standards which could be different.  If you are adding smoke detectors, be sure and review the types available.  Ionization smoke detectors are the most popular, mainly due to price.  These economical units are reliable, but may not detect a slow, smoldering fire quickly.  A photoelectic smoke detector uses a beam of light that is refracted when smoke is present.  This is generally considered a better detector, but is also more expensive.  You can find a well written comparison of the two here.

Third, consider adding carbon monoxide detectors.  These devices give you another form of protection against unsafe air conditions.

Fourth, review your escape plan.  The lives of you and your family may depend on it.  Cool heads are rare in a fire, so make up for this by having an easy to follow plan that everyone in the family knows and understands.  There is a good template on developing a fire escape plan here.

Lest you think I’m softening my position on DST, it is recommended that you check your smoke detectors once a year.  It would be much better to do this on a once a year holiday such as Valentine’s Day (to protect your lover) or the 4th of July (because fireworks are fire hazards) or Christmas (you have the ladder out to put the star on the tree anyway).  DST causes you to change the clocks twice a year, which will undoubtedly lead to confusion for some.  But since the firemen have chosen the Spring DST clock change for this, there’s no sense bucking city hall…  You’re already late!  Check your smoke detectors now.

Ed. Note:  Fire Chief Andrew made a good point in the comments:  One additional item to mention comes from the NFPA website. “Having a smoke alarm cuts your risk of dying in a fire NEARLY IN HALF. Test yours today”

Elberton, Georgia

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Georgia Guidestones

A few months ago I wrote an entry on the Georgia Guidestones that I visited while on vacation.    American Profile Magazine did a story on Elberton, Georgia, the home of the Georgia Guidestones.  The article talks about their long (200+ yr) tradition of granite monument creation.  If you were interested in the Georgia Guidestone entry, you might like this as well.  You can find the article posted online here.  There are also some interesting things at the Elberton Granite Association’s website here.

Green… Really?

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Oasis of the Sea's Boardwalk

I wrote about Greenwashing before.  I ran across an article in Landscape Architecture, of all places, that I think is a prime example.  I couldn’t find it online, but I scanned a copy as a JPG here.  In a nutshell, several cruise lines are adding vegetation to their ships.  Green roof technology is letting them grow grass.  The boardwalk on the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Sea has trees and shrubs.  Celebrity Cruise Line’s Solstice has a Lawn Club.

It will be interesting to see how this is marketed.  www.cruisecritic.com says things like this about Oasis of the Seas,  “…like the foliage-filled Central Park (12,175 plants!)” and this about Celebrity Cruise Line’s Solstice, “Kick off your shoes and stroll through a half-acre of real grass.”  I haven’t seen these things marketed as “green”, but I can’t think that they are anything but the opposite by the time you figure the additional fuel to move tons of plant matter as well as their support structure.  Add to that the manpower for care, fertilizer and maintenance equipment necessary to keep these plants in an alien environment.  Heck though, maybe research to keep plants alive on cruise ships will translate into research for sustainable plant communities on the space station and extraterrestrial colonies…

If cruise lines want to be green, wouldn’t it make sense for them to be exploring some of the options that the transatlantic freighters are using such as adding sails and the novel idea of the giant kites?  Freighters are also currently slowing their speeds to save fuel and are often making the crossing at slower speeds than the old sailing ships, though carrying much greater quantities.

In any case, I think the agenda is to seem green.  Not everything has to be, but it is the trend of the day.  Everyone is putting a leaf in their logo and changing their packaging to the drab color of a grocery sack.  But everything doesn’t have to be 100% green.  I’m not even sure if that’s possible.  I do know that forcing a look of green rarely results in real environmental or economical savings.

As I’ve said before, being green isn’t a bad idea.  It can be good for the planet and when done right, good for the economy.  Easterday Construction Co., Inc. promotes the ideas that make sense.  Greenwashing just plays on your guilt.

Washington Gibberish

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I am somewhat frustrated by the gibberish that is coming from Washington.  Be it Health Care Reform, the so called “stimulus” packages or even just the general budgets.  Many would say it has always been like that and I have read some accounts that discussed arguments over bills that nearly came to blows in the 1800’s.  There are other records that belie that though.  The Homestead Act of 1862 is one such example.  Could such a sweeping document be created and passed in such a succinct form today?  I think not.

First, if you look at that document (here), which basically opened the West to settlement,  it is only two pages long!  I would wager that President Lincoln didn’t sign his name to it with 15 different give-away pens either…

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News Release from Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC)

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ABC Unveils Jobs Proposal for the Construction Industry

Contact: Gail Raiman, (703) 812-2073
Gerry Fritz, (703) 812-2062

March 2, 2010 Washington, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today unveiled its 2010 Job Creation Proposal, a wide-ranging package of recommendations that will help to stimulate the construction industry and put Americans back to work.

“We believe these measures are a much-needed first step to get this nation’s construction industry moving again,” said ABC President and CEO Kirk Pickerel. “With construction in this country nearly at a standstill and the industry unemployment rate at a staggering 24.7 percent – more than twice the national average – it is imperative for Congress to enact meaningful job creation legislation.”

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