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