Warning: Boring technical non-green mess
I learned an important lesson last night. I’d been putting off upgrading Wordpress for a few weeks, since I worried about losing all the articles and pictures I’ve ever put on this here site. But finally, last night I bit the bullet and began the arduous task of backing up the database and upgrading all this mess. By an amazing coincidence, I chose the absolute wrong time to do this, and learned this lesson…
Check Your Host’s Status
I started at about midnight, so by one o’ clock I had backed up the good ol’ database and deleted some important parts of Wordpress. I was just beginning to put in the new Wordpress mess, when everything stopped. So’s I head over to check Dreamhost’s status, and what do you know, everything is gonna be down for the next couple of hours. Whups.
So at that point there was nothing to do but wait ’til today to fix it. Luckily, it looks like everything is shipshape. Next time, I will make sure to check if my host’s service will be going down right in the middle of upgrading Wordpress.
Good ol’ Wal-Mart and Costco have started using a new design for their milk jugs, and I think they’ve come up with a real winner. The new design has a whole mess of environmental and cost advantages compared to the milk jug design that you’re probably used to, but there are some people that jes’ plain don’t care for it. Here’s a brief summary of its pros and cons.
New Milk Jug Design Pros
Less shipping materials - The old jugs had to be packaged with heavy shipping crates. The new ones can be stacked with just a layer of cardboard between them.
More efficient transport - Less shipping materials means more milk jugs can be transported in each truck, so companies save money on gas and cut down on air pollution.
Shipping labor cut in half
Water usage cut by 60-70% - The old shipping crates had to be sprayed off after each run, since milk would spill on them and birds would roost in them
Amy Wise, a homemaker in Ohio, said the new-fangled gallon jug spilled milk everywhere. Judging from the picture, I’d say her main problem is that she’s trying to pour the milk into an imaginary cup in her left hand. No wonder she looks frustrated.
Many people say the new milk jugs are harder to pour. But I think with more practice, people will get used to them quickly. With all the benefits (less pollution, cheaper milk, easier transportation, and more efficient use o’ materials), methinks that the new milk jug may be here to stay.
* The bodacious picture of Amy Wise was taken by David Maxwell of The New York Times.
UPS has 93,637 vehicles (cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles, and tractor-trailers) that drive over 2 billion miles a year, so they have had a lot of practice in finding ways to save gas, save money, and reduce air pollution. Here are three of Brown’s gas saving tips for any of y’all driving this holiday weekend.
Avoid left turns - UPS plans its routes to minimize left turns. This reduces gas usage because left turns generally mean you car has to sit and idle while waiting to turn. This helped UPS save $12 million last year!
Reduce idling - I did not know this, but UPS has a “no idling” policy, so no matter how short of a stop a UPS driver makes, they turn off their engine. This reduces idling time by 24 minutes per driver a day, which saves them $188 per driver per year!
Plan your route - UPS plans out its routes to be as efficient and direct as possible. Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail!
If you can’t read that good, here are some gas saving tips from UPS… IN VIDEO FORM.
It seems too easy to be true, but if you visit this site, you can click and drag a tree onto a state. When you do that, they’ll plant a tree in a park in that state. It only takes less than a minute, so por favor go to their site.
Here are their rules for planting trees:
Each family can donate up to five trees under this Program. Participants pay no money under this program. The donated trees will be paid for by Odwalla, Inc. up to $50,000 worth of trees.
It’s true; after 6 months of using the same razor blade (by applying the ancient Immortal Razor Technique), it is time to lay the ol’ blade to rest. Faithfully it has served me, but in the last week or so, I could feel some dullness.
By cleaning mess out of my razor and drying it every time I used it, I stretched its life to half a year, a lot longer than the average razor!
If you haven’t tried it, I heartily suggest you try cleaning out your razor blade and drying it (with a towel or what have you) after each time you use it. Not only will you save money, but you’ll also be reusing some good ol’ resources by putting forth only the slightest of effort. ‘Tis a win-win situation, ’tis.
P.S. It turns out my razor came with two blades, so I didn’t have to buy a new razor at all, just put in the new blade and bah-bam, new razor.
It’s true; after 6 months of using the same razor blade (by applying the