New Light Bulbs

Dear Joe,
Please write to your congressmen suggesting that they revisit the subject of light bulbs. The new “squirley” bulbs do not give out as much as a comporable incandescent bulb and they do not fit many fixtures. They also cost a lot more and are dangerous. My experience is that you can buy sufficient regular bulbs to last longer than the proposed new bulbs at less cost. Besides that the legislators have no business interfering with the market choices. The new low flush toilets are another example of interference in an attempt to “go green” that does not work as intended.
Love,
Dad


A lighting expert has told a Senate committee that the federal government is endangering Americans by promoting new kinds of light bulbs to replace ordinary incandescent bulbs.

The Energy Independence and Security Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007, requires that bulbs be about 25 percent more efficient by 2014.

The act serves as a “de facto ban on traditional incandescent light bulbs,” said Howard Branston, who has overseen lighting projects including the Statue of Liberty and the Petronas Towers in Malaysia.

Testifying before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday, Branston said compact fluorescent light bulbs, the most popular alternative to incandescent bulbs, pose a risk to public health.

“The compact fluorescent lamp contains mercury,” he said. “One gram of mercury will pollute a two-acre pond. This 2007 light bulb standard brings a deadly poison into every residence in the nation.

“We do not have enough knowledge of the potential consequences of being continuously exposed to the electromagnetic field that compact fluorescent lamps emit. There are millions of people in this country with lupus, an autoimmune disease. Exposure to low doses of light from these lamps causes a severe rash.”

Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, said during the committee sessions: “Has anybody looked at the EPA recommendations put out in January 2011 about what you do if one of these mercury light bulbs breaks in your home? In Idaho, we’ve had a number of instances where they’ve had a mercury spill in a science laboratory and they immediately closed the school down.

“Can you imagine mercury bulbs throughout a school?”

Branston also warned about the use of LED (light-emitting diode) lamps, another alternative to incandescent bulbs, CNS News reported.

“The French have found that the output of these lamps is harming the vision of children,” he said. “They contain arsenic and other poisonous materials. Why aren’t we looking at that?”

He also asserted that the Energy Independence Act would cost jobs, burden businesses with the expense of updating lighting fixtures, and be an unnecessary government intrusion on Americans’ ability to choose the bulbs they want.

Sen. Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, is promoting a bill to repeal the 2007 law and give consumers the choice to buy any light bulbs they want. His bill has the support of 26 senators — all Republicans.

Tips on Pumping Gas

Dear Joe,
Here we go again with the gas prices. These are good tips for you all to use on your upcoming road trip. Drive safe!
Love,
Dad


I don’t know what you guys are paying for gasoline…. but here in
California we are paying up to $3.75 to $4.10 per gallon. My line of work is
in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of
your money’s worth for every gallon:


Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose, CA we
deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline.. One
day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium
grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000
gallons.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the
ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have
their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more
dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the
afternoon or in the evening….your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the
petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the
gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an
important role.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But
the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you’re filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a
fast mode If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages:
low, middle, and high. You should be pumping on low mode, thereby minimizing
the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump
have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid
that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and
back into the underground storage tank so you’re getting less worth for your
money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is
HALF FULL. The reason for this is the more gas you have in your tank the
less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can
imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof
serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes
the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck
that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the
exact amount.

Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the
storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up; most likely the
gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might
pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

Have a nice day!

The "Green" Thing

Dear Joe,
Thanks to this email I now know I was “green” before “green” cool. Be sure to tell the kiddos their Gramps is cool.
Love,
Dad


In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”

That’s right; they didn’t have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But they didn’t have the green thing back her day.


In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every
time they had to go two blocks.

But she’s right. They didn’t have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby’s diapers because they didn’t have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really
did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right; they didn’t have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house – not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she’s right; they didn’t have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They
refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But they didn’t have the green thing back then!

Honoring Captain Ed Freeman

Dear Joe,
For every negative story you hear about our government or military there are multiple heroic ones. In my book that means we’re always winning. We need more people to hear these heroic stories.
Love,
Dad


You’re a 19 year old kid.

You’re critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam.

It’s November 11, 1967.
LZ (landing zone) X-ray.

Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in.

You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you’re not getting out.

Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you’ll never see them again.

As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then – over the machine gun noise – you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.

You look up to see a Huey coming in. But… It doesn’t seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it.

Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you.

He’s not MedEvac so it’s not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he’s flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.

Even after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come. He’s coming anyway.

And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety.

And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!!
Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm.

He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Air Force, died last Wednesday at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho

May God Bless and Rest His Soul.

I bet you didn’t hear about this hero’s passing, but we’ve sure seen a whole bunch about Lindsay Lohan, Tiger Woods and the bickering of congress over Health Reform.

Medal of Honor Winner Captain Ed Freeman

Shame on the American media!!!

Now… YOU pass this along to YOUR mailing list. Honor this real American.

Please.

Injured Shoplifter

Dear Joe,
I don’t know why anyone ever messes with American military personnel. I get areal kick out of stories like this one.
Love,
Dad


Orville Smith, a store manager for Best Buy in Augusta, Georgia, told police he observed a male customer, later identified as Tyrone Jackson of Augusta, on surveillance cameras putting a laptop computer under his jacket. When confronted Mr. Jackson became irate, knocked down an employee, drew a knife and ran for the door.

Outside on the sidewalk were four Marines collecting toys for the “Toys for Tots” program. Smith said the Marines stopped the fleeing man, but he stabbed one of the Marines, Cpl. Phillip Duggan, in the back; the injury did not appear to be severe.

After police and an ambulance arrived at the scene Cpl. Duggan was transported for treatment. The shoplifting suspect was also transported to the local hospital with two broken arms, a broken ankle, a broken leg, several missing teeth, possible broken ribs, multiple contusions, assorted lacerations, a broken nose and a broken jaw.

Injuries he sustained when he slipped and fell off of the curb after stabbing the Marine.

Best Duct Tape Story Ever

Dear Joe,
Remember how you loved duct tape and super glue when you were growing up? Wait until you see these pictures.
Love,
Dad


During a private fly-in fishing excursion in the Alaskan wilderness, the chartered pilot and fishermen left a cooler and bait in the plane. Overnight, a bear smelled it. This is what the bear did to the plane.

The pilot used his radio and had another pilot bring him 2 new tires, 3 cases of duct tape, and a supply of sheet plastic. He patched the plane together, and FLEW IT HOME!


Duct Tape – Never Leave Home Without It.