If You Were Really Green....

Your trucks would not idle at rest areas while the drivers rested.

How Millennial Are You?

The Pew Research Center has developed a 14-question survey to help us see how we compare to Millennials. I've always found it amusing to watch our nation push people into groups then begin to furiously use those made-up groups to market to them. This survey is also interesting since it now groups those born between 1928-1945 as silent. Hmmm, maybe the millennial creating the survey forgot about the Depression. The generation born in the window of 1928-1945 was certainly forever changed by that event.

Overall, the survey was a fun diversion. I was mildly surprised the survey did not hit on some of the greater topics that appear to divide generations such as alcohol use, borrowing for college, and the use of cash as opposed to debit cards. There's even simpler ways to see how the world is changing in simple questions such as do you wear a watch daily or do you own a camera?

On to my results from the survey. I am not a millennial. ;) It thinks I was born about 1970. ;) I'm feeling so youthful.

Either I am holding my own or sinking fast. :)

I am quite happy to stand tall and say I am not a millennial when it comes to tattoos. Fashion moments change and some day the last twenty-plus years of body disfigurement will be seen for the tremendous waste of money it has been. Unfortunately, those who have been conned into adding them will be stuck watching them while they fade and distort as their bodies age.

I was once again separated from millennials by not playing video games. I thought the results from the video games question was interesting. It appears to indicate that at least some of the boomers who learned about videos games playing Pong or Atari in front of the family television have carried that forward for many, many years. I expect the millenials game playing will drop off as they have more responsibilities in work and family.

Right Can. Wrong Glass.

I was in town with an auditor. He likes historical and different places so we headed to the Skyway Cafe at Felts Field for lunch. Felts Field is a historic, old airport with art deco styling and tons of history. It was a very early air mail stop and one of the first nationally designated airports.

The Skyway Cafe is part breakfast place and part diner. The restaurant is filled with memoriabilia of the airport. The decor includes ceiling fans in the shape of Snoopy's plane and a Corsair. It's a different place to grab lunch and take in the history of an old air field.

I was very happy they finally got it right and had the correct drink in the can. ;)

Warning Battery Has Been Removed

I am glad we have that straightened out. Without that label on our new gas detector, I might never have known where the battery was located.

The Bumper Sticker No One Expects to See

It's time for snarky Friday again. Beyond the question of who would put this on their vehicle, I see the bigger question being who would think this was a profit maker to print?

I can hear the discussion now... "Dear how come we never take my truck when we go out for date night?"

Cree LED

Like many consumers we have been wondering what the lighting future may bring. We made the final switch a couple years ago to LED's at Christmas. We've known the lighting world was changing and have tried other non-incandescent alternatives like fluorescents. I've never liked fluorescents because they are slow to start and their color goes from bad to hideous. We tried one of the early $25 LED light-bulb replacements. It was a joke with very little light and an oversized price. We had finally settled on halogens. They met our needs and used about 75% of the energy of incandescents.

We didn't stop looking at options and this summer at one of the local big boxes found Cree LED's. At $6-7 each the price is manageable. What really stands out is the unit does offer comparable, if not superior, light to the old bulbs. We've had a number in place for a few months now. It's too early to tell how long they will last or if the color will eventually become less than desirable, but so far they are an improvement over the old standard of lights.

Patent Pending

We were excited to see Holiday Inn has applied for a patent on a bath towel. ;)

Exterminate... Exterminate

They supposedly make baseball bats at this plant, but the architecture seems to indicate a major Dalek influence. ;-)

You won't understand this post if you are not a Dr. Who fan.

Solar Array

The Wilderness Center in Wilmont, Ohio has added these large solar arrays to generate power for the site. Besides using renewable energy, the solar arrays provide covered parking for a few guests.

Crocs

Who gets to the airport and thinks, "I forgot my ugly, resin shoes and need to buy a pair"?

Light Lashes

I'm not certain the hip, re-designed bug will inspire this level of affection.

Dancing Cocktails

Was it just us or does this bar sign in Sandpoint, Idaho raise images of cocktail glasses with legs dancing on the bar? Each time we saw the sign, at least one of us started laughing at the mental image it raised.

The Birthplace of Jell-O

We had no idea Leroy, New York was the birthplace of Jell-O and now home to the Jell-O Museum. I was never a big Jell-O fan with the exception of lime Jell-O with chunks of pineapple, but if I make a return to the Batavia area, I will be certain to make a stop at what promises to be a quirky museum.

Mail box

I hope our township road crews get some sort of kick-back from the local hardware store for the sales they generate. I understand damaged mail boxes are a risk of living in snowy areas, but our township excels at the sheer number of boxes which can be seen down along the roadside each winter. We're lucky, one nearby neighbor loses their box multiple times each winter. They've finally given up and now just bungy cord the box to the post creating a sort of tear-away mail box. It must be the new mega-plows municipailities use. This was a lot less frequent when we moved here.

Steelers Wedding Cake

You would need to be an amazing football couple to have any team logo for your wedding cake.

Butterfinger Coffee

There's a new coffee machine at one of our sites. I prefer my warm beverage to be hot chocolate and not to be from a machine so I cannot comment on the taste, but I can't think of a way that butterfingers and coffee could be combined as a tasty beverage.

Cold Facts

It's been a long, tough winter. With over a month to go before spring, it was sad to hear a local radio station proclaim this winter is the third worst in northeast Ohio for days where the high was 10 degrees or below.

Because there isn't much to do beyond looking at the weather stats and hoping for better days ahead, I noticed in January and February for northeast Ohio, all of the record coldest days have been recorded in my lifetime. :0

But wait, there are 18 days in January and February where the warmest days were recorded before I was born. Um, there's something wrong with this data. There's no reason for these 18 days to be stuck with 50+ year old records. I think we are owed some warm days so we can re-write these records.

Warmest and coldest days for northeast Ohio during January

Warmest and coldest days for northeast Ohio during February

There's one thing to be said for weather this cold. Walkin' on water is a whole lot easier. ;-)

Cool Yule Gift

I have a significant number of record albums (remember, I'm old). Years ago, my old turntable had issues with a grounding problem and was humming when the unit was on. The unpleasant hum coupled with a couple of cats who would jump from a nearby bookcase onto the turntable so they could attack the spinning vinyl really put a damper on listening to old music. I started noticing turntables a few years ago that were designed to plug into your computer so you can digitize the albums. This was a very exciting idea for me except these turntables were always sold at places where electronics show up on the shelves just before Thanksgiving and are gone by New Years (think Macy's and Kohls). Whenever I saw these, I would check the on-line reviews which were generally very bad.

As we looked to upgrade our television from the 1995 Panasonic we purchased when the Cleveland Indians used to have a major league team, I made rare appearances in a couple of electronics "superstores". While in one, I noticed they were selling multiple turntable models. My curiosity led me to the display where I spotted a Sony model with USB capabilities. The on-line reviews were very good so I wrote my letter to Santa. I must have been good this year since look what showed up under the tree.

It works! Really well! The software had a learning curve, but is very useful. As an added bonus, the USB Sony also has capabilities to be plugged into the stereo for listening to the records as the were meant to be played. No more hum. Just lots of great music. :)

Happy New Year

Having a Holiday in the middle of the week just means there's two Mondays.