April 29, 2008 by dave.

It seems that every day we see something in the news about how we are hurting the environment (or ourselves) with the products we are using and the things we do in our lives. It also seems that as of lately we are all becoming more aware of this and there seems to be a new ‘movement’ towards improving things. I typically do not ‘jump on the bandwagon’ simply because others are doing it…..but this is a bandwagon I’ve been meaning to ‘jump on’ for quite some time. So let’s go!

I really need to give the credit for my recent interest in this to both my wife and my employer. My wife, who is lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mother, has become more concerned with fitness as well as the health of our children. My employer….like many in this new ‘movement’ is implementing a number of new initiatives to ‘Go Green‘, ‘Support Sustainability‘, and to ‘Become Carbon Neutral‘.

The first thing we’ve done personally is to start a migration away from harmful cleaning products and other products to those that are safer. We’ve started using Seventh Generation products around the house and are quite happy with the results. We hope to continue in this manner….it just takes time to evaluate and consider what your needs are and what the alternatives are.

Another thing we’re starting to do is try to find healthier food alternatives. We are starting to buy more all natural products and organic foods (where price is reasonable). I’d like to say health is more important that price but we’re a 1-income family so we need to make some concessions. We love Trader Joe’s…..and the pricing is pretty much in line with major supermarket chains. They have lots of unique foods and lean towards all-natural and organic. Our closest trader Joe’s is about 70 miles away so we only go when visiting out of state…maybe some day New Hampshire will finally get one.

Replacing old filament light bulbs with n:vision compact fluorescent is another migration we’ve started. I’d say we are about 25% complete in this area. I’m going slow with this because we have a number of 3-way, dimming, and ornamental lights….and compact fluorescent options are limited in these areas. I recently replaced the bulbs in a light-bar type of fixture in our bathroom with CF bulbs and it’s taken getting used to because the bulbs seem to have a need to ‘warm up’ to get to their full brightness. I need to look more into this. I’m still not 100% sold on CF bulbs because of the mercury they contain and the disposal issues. Time will tell. I read that LED based bulbs (see article here) are on the horizon but their cost (starting at about $27 per bulb) is not close to what I’m willing to pay. Maybe the price will come down.

I love yard work and as I prepared to fertilize this spring I decided to go with an organic option. I used Scott’s Organic Choice and the lawn seems to green up as well as the old chemical based fertilizers. I’m sold!

There’s lots more to do….but we’ve made a lot of progress already. More to come.

Posted in Household Stuff, Health & Environment | No Comments »

April 24, 2008 by dave.

We have been extremely happy with the Kettler Trikes that our children have. They are a bit pricey (about $160 each) but they excel at quality and function. Kettler offers a number of different versions and also makes other products. The trikes we have offer features not found on other generic tricycles:

• Removable (and adjustable) handle so an adult can push the child
• The steering can be locked for younger children (who can be pushed by a parent)
• The rear wheels can be locked in a straight position for younger children
• The seat is adjustable
• Optional accessories include a basket, bell, footrest (for younger children), and a seatbelt!

Our kids love the bikes and when we go out in public pushing them other people are ALWAYS looking at the bikes and asking about them. This happens so much that it has almost become annoying. It was our intent to eventually sell the bikes when they grow out of them but these may just become things that get handed down in the family.

Great bikes!

Posted in Parenthood | 2 Comments »

April 17, 2008 by dave.

I have been a “Windows” user since the beginning. Actually - I even used DOS before Windows was even conceived. I have used all of the following Windows versions and consider myself proficient in most of them: 3.1, 95, 98, Me, NT Server, 2000 Server, XP Professional / Home, 2003 Server, CE (used in my Dell Axim), and most recently….Vista.

Microsoft has gotten better over the years. The security has improved somewhat. The stability finally got tolerable in XP and 2003 Server versions. Unfortunately my biggest issue with Windows is the incredible ‘bloating effect’ that every new version and ‘improvement’ brings along with it. Microsoft is intent on adding features and cute components that are not needed. I know many technical folks who would be very happy to purchase a fully functional, secure, and stable version of Windows with no new features or ‘fluff’. Instead Microsoft adds features that nobody wants, introduces too much complexity, and adds lots of bloated code so newer versions of Windows run slower than old.

Programmers have either gotten lazy or ‘management’ is pressuring more to ‘push the product out the door’ to keep the revenue stream running. We’ll see where Windows 7 takes us!

In the meantime I have decided to start my migration over to a Linux flavor called Kubuntu that uses the KDE desktop on top of Ubuntu. More to come….

Posted in Technology | No Comments »