Green Chri$tma$

2008-12-18 - 12:38 p.m.

The internet continued to be wonky yesterday. There was no connection at all for most of the day, so there was no way to post an entry. Sorry if I worried anyone.

Evidently the wind and rain had something to do with most of Anaheim being without internet service from Time-Warner...yet for some reason, the tech I spoke to seemed to think it was something wrong with my actual modem itself.

Then again, he was in Costa Rica.

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A very nice lady asked me if she could use my cell phone to call her husband, since she had destroyed two tires on her car. Apparently, it rained hard enough last night that she didn't see the concrete divider in the street.

I was able to reach her husband and he agreed to come and pick her up...which was a relief, because what with Brin, roommate Jim, Solange T. Cat, and myself, there's just not enough room in this apartment for another human.

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Got up at too-damn-early in the morning to take the car to the dealer. One new ignition switch and $190 in labor later, a great deal of my interior electronics work again. This includes the fan and the rear-window defroster, which we really needed in the 45 degree weather we're having.

Brin and I had breakfast at a little restaurant a short distance from the dealership. They were nice enough to let us use the booth for the three hours it took to get the car fixed.

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One of Barack Obama's energy advisers, Steven Chu, wants to raise the federal gasoline tax so that people will want to live closer to their jobs and use less gasoline:

In a sign of one major internal difference, Mr. Chu has called for gradually ramping up gasoline taxes over 15 years to coax consumers into buying more-efficient cars and living in neighborhoods closer to work.

"Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe," Mr. Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September.

But Mr. Obama has dismissed the idea of boosting the federal gasoline tax, a move energy experts say could be the single most effective step to promote alternative energies and temper demand. Mr. Obama said Sunday that a heightened gas tax would be a "mistake" because it would put "additional burdens on American families right now."

IMHO, Obama has it right - except for the "right now" part. It would be a mistake at ANY time.

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Hungry for truly green Christmas wishes? Well...

(Here's the story behind today's title.)

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Okay. Brin and I are gonna take a nap before we meet up with my brother for dinner.

Be seeing you.

Brin aka Bindyree - 2008-12-18 20:48:12 -
I'm glad you're back, because that means I am, too!

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artgnome - 2008-12-18 21:01:32 - http://artgnome.diaryland.com
45 degrees huh? That's balmy for us this time of year. We're expecting a major snow storm tonight in western NY state. gah!

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stepfordtart - 2008-12-18 21:39:28 - http://stepfordtart.diaryland.com
Hi! ref your story about the blind guy. Just stepping up to say that my friend Anne marie works for Guide Dogs for the Blind and she tells me they have terrible trouble persuading blind muslims to take a guide dog into their homes. They are refusing real help due to their beliefs. Its a shame. oh, and just so you dont look like a lemon next time you're relaying that story, Kent isnt a city, its a county (more like one of your states, I guess), its Tunbridge Wells which is the city. Funnily enough, Tunbridge Wells is one of those places used as a joke name for anyone who is ultra-conservative and ultra-british. You could expect a fair amount of 'letters to The Editor' complaining about just about anything to come from 'Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells'! Sorry to hear about your crummy weather - Brrrrrrr! s x

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