Cloth Bags

We've used cloth bags for grocery shopping for a number of years. On the page supporting the continued use of plastic bags, The American Plastic Manufacturing Association states, "The equivalent of approximately 12 million barrels of oil goes into the annual US supply of plastic bags." It goes on to say this about the 12 million barrels of oil, "Bag manufacturing is a fraction of 1% of US oil comsumption." I guess I would rather fuel cars with that oil than carry my groceries in plastic bags. For me, we can't fuel our cars with cloth shopping bags, but we can re-use them for years.

So why is this news to post on bits? Because there is actually some discussion that Cuyahoga County Ohio may finally do something progressive and start making plastic litter (shopping bags) less attractive. This is radical thinking for the land of Northeast Ohio, and all of Ohio in general. From the state which has given up trying to charge bottle deposits because business buys their way through the election every time that opportunity to reduce roadside trash and landfill size is raised, this is big news. We are used to seeing shoppers routinely bring cloth bags whenever we are on the coasts, but always appear to be part of a very small minority when we take our reusable bags to our local store. Maybe the Northcoast can finally begin to become that progressive attractive place it always dreams of being.

Tim's

I was on my way home and made a Tim stop in Warren Pennsylvania for hot chocolate and doughnuts. Ali likes Boston creme, but they were out. I was amazed to have the person at the counter ask if I wanted her to make a few boston creme. I said sure if she could. She then stopped everything and prepared two Boston cremes for Ali. In the end she boxed them so they would travel better. Wow, that's service! Kudos Tim's and your wonderful employee.

Rejected

Recently I was fueling the Geomobile in Warren. Since I'm a geek, I notice things like the little inspection stickers on a pump. They always say accepted or some other positive word. Not this one. It had a great big rejected sticker on the pump. I was curious and looked at a few others, but the pump I chose was the only one wearing a rejected tag. I'm confused. Shouldn't a fuel pump which has been rejected by the wieghts and measures division be taken out of service until it gets a smiling accepted sticker?

Laguna

I usually don't notice the little ads at the top of the gmail inbox. This one stuck out a bit. I'm not so sure a legitimate tool company really wants people to notice it this way:

Coke With Sugar

This site has had a real Coke twist in recent months. For anyone younger, you will not remember the time in the US before Richard Nixon pushed legislation which encouraged the growth of agricultural corporations and the explosion of corn syrup in our diets. In the olden days (yeah, I really am old) many common goods were made with plain old sugar, including sodas. In many parts of the world sugar is still the common ingredient for sweetning products.

When sodas had sugar, the taste of Coke was a real treat. The sugar drink is less sweeter. I had been on a few flights recently, and the Coke tasted like it was made with sugar. Recently a flight attendant gave us the can on a flight instead of just pouring a glass. Eureka, it is the Real Thing. United appears to be using some South American sodas on their domestic flights. It was wonderful.

Coke Bottles

I was at an Aluminum Association Conference recently. Beverages were served in these aluminum Coke and Sprite bottles.

Nine Locks