Is driving killing us? and why?

We all know that pollution is bad for us, just like I always say we all know cigarettes are bad for us, but we continue to pollute ridiculously, right into the air we breath. It's almost like dumping your waste water right back into the lake you drink from (Oh.. wait, I live in Chicago, we do that too). This article shows just how bad these pollution fumes are affecting us. The article discusses that pollution is increasing the risk of brain cancer, making us fat, and so many other things, but it also mentions that we are losing out on valuable social time while we are in cars, and are spending more and more time behind the wheel than ever before. I know there are way too many articles out there about this, we all know that driving is bad for us, it increases the chances for divorce, it causes road rage, it causes pollution, sitting causes so many problems (see my previous post) and yet I still find these ideas interesting.
Treehugger recently published an article about the economic issues with driving. It seems that more Americans are paying more for transportation than ever before, and not just car payments, but fuel costs and maintenance fees. If we can barely afford to feed our families, why aren't we figuring out a new way to get around!?
I have a friend who lives right next to a train stop, and his office is only 2 blocks from a train stop on the same line, yet he drives to work. My theory is that once you buy a car, you want to use it, and using transit isn't that much cheaper once you have a car. Some of the biggest costs associated with driving are the insurance, maintenance, and storage fees. If you pay $100 a month to park, $1000 a year to insure your car, and $500 a year for maintenance, you still have to pay these fees if you take transit (though maybe not AS much for maintenance). I think people should aim to get rid of cars instead. I am a member of a car sharing group, and while I have used the service occasionally (for picking people up at the airport at ungodly hours, or moving a couch) I don't miss having a car parked outside my house. I don't want to deal with maintenance (every three months getting an oil change is just too much for me to handle), and I don't want to have to feel like I am being ripped off by an insurance company, but mostly, I just want to be able to leave and not worry about what happens to my car. Most people think that the expensive and hassle part of owning a car is the gas. While in the long run you may spend more money on gas than any of the other driving associated costs over the course of a year, people feel this cost in smaller increments and therefore do not think they are that bad (this is why I support pay as you drive insurance, and higher gas taxes, it IS expensive to drive, but $20 a week doesn't feel so bad). Maybe with all the news out there about pollution we will learn that the costs of driving go beyond even the fees you know you have to pay, but all the way to a little girl with asthma down the street, or the boy who died of pneumonia because he couldn't clear his lungs. We need to start realizing that every second behind the wheel we are killing ourselves, our brains, and our friends.

Now that I've just gone off on a depressing rant about driving, I will show you what originally inspired me to post this blog. Good Magazine posted an article about the new Nissan Leaf commercial. I find the article to be humorous, in a dark kind of way (the link on the picture is just a reference, the article is linked to the blue text above). The most interesting part of the article (well, ok, not MOST interesting, but pretty interesting) is in the comments. Someone mentions the fact that the electricity we use is not clean either, it produces pollutants, just not right in your face. While I agree that this is a problem, I think the commercial brings to light bigger questions, if we are so used to doing things a certain way, does that mean that there isn't a better way to do them? I think we should take it upon ourselves to try to figure out how we can live cleaner as one individual, and as time goes on, and gas prices finally rise far enough for people to start driving less and less, maybe the world will be a cleaner place, and maybe technology will finally catch up to our demands without completely destroying our environment.

R

This is me this summer

Growing up, I learned how to work, and every job I have had since then I have been praised for my hard work. I hate taking days off because I feel like I am losing something, missing out on something, and I don't like catching up when I get back. But this summer I think I may reach my peak of that. I am working 2 jobs while taking summer classes and I just don't want to do homework any more! However, according to this article, all Americans are like that. We work more, take actual vacations less, and miss out on all the relaxation and adventure that vacation allows. In the past year I have been on two fairly serious vacations (In May 2010 I went to Hawaii for 2 weeks, and in December to Brazil for 10 days) and it is time to get the 2nd one back. Since May is almost over, it will now only be one serious vacation in a year, and I think 2 is a good thing to live up to. The article linked to the picture (which is actually a picture of our feet, not from the article) is called "No Vacation Nation: Why Americans Work Like Robots". While I don't think the article really addresses the WHY, it does present an interesting case. We are not less productive than other countries, and yet we work a lot more, and a lot harder, and (personal aside) most people hate their jobs.

I hope that once I graduate, and from now on, I will think about this and plan a good vacation at least once a year if not more, but I also want to enjoy my job. Because even at my last job (where my boss called me "fem-bot" with NO sexual intentions) where I worked like a robot, I enjoyed being there every day, and that is what makes you more productive, not the amount of money you are making.

R

We didn't leave because.....

So, the rapture was supposed to be last week (the 21st of May to be exact) and no one I know was taken away. This could be because I only know heathens, but it is probably that this guy was wrong! If you click on his picture you will also find an article by the first journalist to interview him after the supposed day of the rapture.  It's interesting, and I don't mean to be saying that anyone is totally crazy, but it seems suspicious that some guy with big ears and a television show would know that much more about the rapture than everyone else in the world. And if you look at the statistics, it makes me wonder what the rapture is all about. Why do Americans, in strikingly high numbers, believe this is coming? If you look at the break down of people who believe the rapture was supposed to be the 21st of May, you see an interesting vision of the people who believe this. While I do not think less of anyone who believes this, I just don't...But it is something interesting to think about.. I think I would be left behind.


R

Quilting

Not really related to anything but, my classmate has a crafting blog and she's giving away a gorgeous quilt, so I'm entering into it, but also, if anyone else is interested they should check it out.  Click on the picture of her quilt to see what you have to do.

R

Play nice!

I am in a bike planning class this summer (let me tell you, summer school is ridiculous!) and one of the topics the other day was critical mass. As an 'occasional' biker (I'm definitely more of a pedestrian...) I think critical mass is annoying. I understand the concept and support that, but during critical mass bikes block an intersection for multiple greens, or take over the whole road, sometimes biking the wrong direction in a lane. These activities make me wonder, do you really think people are going to LIKE bikers more because of this. On a normal day, I don't mind bikers, just those ones that run a red light and almost hit me as I cross the road on my green. Really? I'm walking, and I know you can anticipate where I will be by the time you get to my crosswalk, at least give me some space. Secondly, I shouldn't have to look for you there because you have a red light. Generally, it annoys me when people don't follow the laws, but it is also unsafe, and it makes it MORE unsafe for all bikers if some don't follow the laws, because everyone else thinks bikers are all jerks.

I recently discovered bicycling as a form of normal transportation (mostly because I was too lazy to bike, but also because you don't get steps on a pedometer if you're biking!) and I do love it, but I follow the laws as often as possible. Since I only go about 2 miles to campus and home I tend to find walking easier, and it only cuts off about 10 minutes of my walk, but I can see if I start biking more often I will be more comfortable with road biking (I'm used to biking on empty roads or trails and cars driving by can be really scary) and get in better shape so I will be able to bike 4 or 5 miles to go to a party and not have to worry about catching a bus at 2 AM or hoping no creeper is on the bus at 2 AM. But in general, this is just a rant about following rules and being friendly.  As the comic says, people don't know what to think when you are nice in reaction to their rudeness, and I think it makes them realize that they were being a little bit rash in their assumption that you are also a jerk. So maybe I should be flashing people then?

R

What's up in California?

Click to see article

The overcrowding of prisons and the lack of rehabilitation that is possible with the current system are frequent subjects of conversation with my (our) dad.  The prisons are overfilled (don't trust me necessarily but I think I read that on average prisons are filled to 180% of capacity) to the point that the supreme court deemed it "cruel and unusual punishment".  Wow!  This infographic (from Good Politics--good.is) shows the change in prison population over the past 20 years (roughly).  It looks like California has been committing cruel and unusual punishment for a while now.  The three strikes law has been filling the prisons and keeping them full of drug dealers.  The second graphic from the same article shows the breakdown of crimes within the prisons.  There are no values given, just a schematic, but a large population of drug offenders fill the prisons.  I would like to see how this breakdown changed since the three strikes law was enacted.  (Now, I want to be clear that I am not against the three strikes law necessarily, I don't know enough about it to really argue anything, I'm just thinking).  Regardless though, as my dad says, the prison system is not rehabilitating any of these drug offenders.  

Click to see article

More compelling than these infographics are the images from inside of the prisons that were submitted as evidence in the case.  The images in the article at MotherJones show the prisoners stacked in triple bunk beds, the mental health patients in tiny cages and beds set up in gyms to accommodate the many people being housed there.  I had a hard time living in a dorm room with 2 other people, I can't imagine being even slightly comfortable in a gym with a bunch of other people.  

It's surprising to see this overcrowding so bluntly.  I think California needs to do something about it, I guess they have to now.

S

 

Sitting, Standing, Walking

I have always been a strange person. I'm not a crazy person (though in recent days I have begun to wonder that about myself too) but there are quirks about every person that makes them a little strange. One of my new passions, my new weird obsessions is the idea that we are slowly killing ourselves sitting. I wear a pedometer, those who know me know that I wear it, I talk about it all the time, but I still sit for 8 hours a day.. on average. I need to get myself a standing desk, like the one below, or make it I guess. I need one where I can move around behind it and still be able to get my work done. Standing still hurts. I have found (in my recent adventure of counting traffic) that you don't have to stand still when standing, and that is the beauty of it. I have been walking around while standing on a corner, and dancing around to my own music, and my feet haven't hurt the whole time. I will go about 3 hours of standing and for some reason, I still have no problems. There is something behind this infographic (click the red image for the full thing) maybe we need to stand more!
I know my back usually hurts if I just stand still for a long time, which is what Seth Brau says in his article about the desk below. He says it is better if he dances around or moves around some, and honestly I feel like I am more productive when I'm not sunk down into a chair, comfortable, relaxed, and slowly killing myself apparently. Our bodies are not designed to sit for hours on end, we are designed to seek out what we need to do, we are like a well oiled machine, if we don't move the gears they will stiffen up, no matter how much oil is on them. So I aim to figure out how to make my desk at work a standing desk, I know it will make me not only more active, and maybe more distracted because I will be able to just walk wherever I want to go, but also that it just might make me a little happier to be in the office (and eventually we can hope MORE productive).

R

Hope!

People get hope from so many places, but this is one place that many people have been looking for and have spent years seeking, and just now, we are discovering something to give these people hope. Timothy Ray Brown, a San Francisco resident and more recently the Berlin Patient, has been cured of AIDS. I'm sure there is still the fear that something went wrong, or that they missed something in the tests, or caused worse problems, but someone has finally done it! The unthinkable! I do not know anyone with AIDS, or even with HIV, but I have known people with cancer, and I know the feeling when you realize that someone you love has an incurable disease. This give me hope for more than just AIDS though.

The other day someone told me "well.. you'll never re-invent the wheel, it's all about who gets people to use it that makes the difference." Maybe this is the wheel of our time, but maybe it means that there are still things out there that need to be created, there still are things out there that need to be done, and even if it means you have to invest your whole life into research now, we don't know that the person who invented the wheel didn't do just that. Hard work and dedication can pay off to help fix a problem.

I know this is only the first step in really curing AIDS, but it is an important step!

R

My "home" town

I miss summer starting in April and lasting until the end of October, and I love the strange quirks that everyone knows about in Austin. Not that I don't love Chicago, don't get me wrong, but I am extremely excited to go back to Austin and enjoy some summer weather, and see all of my friends. And I just discussed the possibility of going back to Austin for ACL as well to see Cee Lo! So the music is on my mind, and therefore I am posting an article about the pianos that were placed randomly in Austin for a while. It makes me happy that people can sit down above the river and play a piano, just for the fun of it.     R

Batteries

I have been reading a book on my Kindle for the last few days and have yet to charge the battery.. I know, these things are supposed to last for a long time and mostly it is because of the E-Ink that they use, and the fact that it only uses power to change a page, not just sit on a page, but still, 4 days is a long time (and sometimes this isn't short reading sessions) so I'm happy with it.

I was talking to a coworker the other day about batteries and someone had come up with a battery that could charge in a few seconds, almost instantly. While people are really excited about this prospect for cell phones, the person making the speech my coworker had watched was sure to point out that this technology could mean really great things for so much MORE than cell phones (though those are awesome as well). Think about electric cars that can charge in less than 5 minutes, or emergency devices that usually take hours to charge and can now be charged in 10 minutes, allowing a much quicker turn around for emergency personnel. The new technology with batteries is going to change how we use technology and what types of technology we can invent. Imagine if you could have an electric motorhome that only takes 10 minutes to charge, even if the battery only lasts for 3 hours, if the 10 minute charge time is manageable, then 3 hours is worth it, only if electricity really is cleaner than oil (or cheaper... if that's your concern).

Batteries that use heat instead of charging, like the cell phone in the picture (yes, click on the picture for the Good Magazine article about it) that charges if you put it in your pocket, or perhaps from the vibrations of your voice, like in this article, are coming into play. We need to start using the energy out there, that we produce, and that we waste. In the article about the heat-generated power, there is a picture of a cell phone on top of a radiator heater, we don't need all of the heat produced from our heaters, a lot of it is sent out in the world and wasted, so why not use it as a battery charger? But really, in a cold climate, it may be better to opt for voice vibration based charging.  Either way, some day soon, we won't be plugging in, we'll be using energy already sent out into the world to charge our phones, and how much fun will that be?!

R

Traffic Congestion is CuRazy!

Now, getting away from the childhood memories, let's think about traffic congestion, one of my favorite topics! Yay for transportation planning. But really, this is an interesting infographic about what traffic is about and some of the solutions people have already tried. Now, my creativity will have to start working (uhoh, back to childhood memories, I just couldn't stay away from them) to start thinking of new ways to try to fix this.. my idea is just to get people out of their cars and off the road, but most people don't like walking or biking or taking transit, and if everyone in a car were to do those things then sidewalks would be congested and buses would be so full we wouldn't be comfortable riding them any more, so a good balance between the two is essential to the success of the overall transportation system.


In class we are learning about the solutions presented in this infographic, but it is interesting to hear about what other people think about them. I, for one, had never seen the importance of ramp signaling, but thinking about it, the congestion is spread out over the ramps as well as the freeway, making the whole system a little more efficient, AND it helps to reduce accidents, especially in those entry ramps that turn into exit only lanes right after they enter. I love thinking about new solutions, but my real passion is trying to figure out why people drive instead of another form of transportation and how to convince them that driving really isn't worth it.

Like always, click on the infographic to see the full thing, it is an interesting visual way of really showing how traffic works. I love visuals in terms of learning and I might present this to my professors as a way of helping them keep students interested.

R




Also, I love the blog this one is on... autoblog.com... I need to stop picking up new blogs every time I see an interesting article, maybe I need to not be interested in so many things.

Strive for your best

Ok, so I've been ignoring this blog for a while, and I'll try not to inundate you with too many new things, but I just want to add this article now, I might add another one later today, just to keep my bookmarks bar from overflowing with things I want to post.

Luckily, according to this article, people don't expect me to be an amazing blogger, and I'm allowed to slack sometimes. I think it makes a good point. If we don't expect everyone to perform at a perfect rate, then we aren't disappointed and we feel less guilty when we don't perform amazingly. (To all of my friends, I still expect you to be perfect, even if I'm not).  Sometimes though, perfect is just good enough, or just for a few seconds, but even those few seconds are totally worth it (like the dog, I think that's so cute, and he/she is so happy, those moments are the best).

R

Childhood

Have you noticed that as you get older your creativity kinda... wanes. I remember being able to make up stories (not going to lie that it was mostly when S and I would play Barbies.. but that's what they were all about right?) that were totally crazy and we completely invested in them.


When does this end?  Do we just lose the ability to have fun with our minds, do we just become so engaged in watching other people's creativity? Not that adults aren't creative, I mean, there are always things to fix or change in our lives that we haven't seen before and we have to come up with a new, unique solution, but why don't we pretend that our food is alien tentacles any more? Why can't we spend all day in the back yard digging up "dinosaur bones" as I used to as a kid? I think I will take it upon myself to start goofing off with everything in my life, though not as crazy as Calvin, I don't know that I was ever that crazy, but I think with our loss of willingness to say whatever we might want to think and laugh about it, social pressures have changed our ability to just enjoy random things in life that we would have marveled at as children, creating a story of our own for each of our meals.

I don't think we've lost all creativity, I just think it is channeled into something not as much fun, and our attention spans have reduced to almost nothing with everything in our lives that we have to constantly change things up, so why not reinvest that creativity into making our day-to-day lives more fun. I bet I could listen to a three hour lecture if I pretended the teacher was an alien (maybe)....

R

On a side note, I love Calvin and Hobbes.

My new passion

So, everyone knows I'm not the biggest fan of children, not that I hate them for themselves, but I just don't want any. It still drives me crazy that people can't take care of their children. This article is about a 6 year old, who is bullied for being overweight, and her parents say they feed her well, and that it is a thyroid problem, which is understandable. The problem is, she isn't the only one (either in the family or in the country) who is obese. I know, some people really do have weight issues because of health factors, but many people are just overweight.

My neighbors have 5 kids (I'm not sure if it's all one family or if they are cousins) and 4 of them are ridiculously overweight, the other one is chubby. Every day when I walk by and see them outside, sitting on the steps of their home, or waddling (yes they waddle) around on the sidewalk drinking a milkshake or a soda I cringe. I want to make it a point in my life to help stop this. These children SHOULD know better than to drink soda when they are thirsty, they SHOULD know better than to have a milkshake that is the size of a big gulp, they SHOULD know that what they are doing is unhealthy. And they should want to do something about it.
It frustrates me that parents are allowed to feed their children these things, and are not told differently. I don't find it difficult to eat healthy on about $30 a week, and I guarantee they are paying more than that to feed their children milkshakes and McDonald's. I also don't think it is wrong for people to eat at McDonald's... .sometimes. I think people need to learn that healthy food can be tasty, better than unhealthy food taste-wise even. I love brussel sprouts, but not if they aren't cooked the right way, and I understand that some people don't like them. There is something healthy that each person would like, and I think we should find this. We need to stop allowing people to just "not like" healthy food, and find recipes that they do like.

On a related note, these schools in Texas is planning to count student calories by camera. The security cameras are already in place, so why not use them to monitor food intake? While I do not believe that student health is totally based around school, I think that children need to learn healthy habits at home as well.

I think we need to organize and incentive-based system for activity and food intake, it could be based in schools, but it could be based in a community center, everyone likes incentives!

R