Random Thoughts – Page 33 – The ramblings of an addled mind.

Nellie’s Obituary

On the morning of Sunday August 3rd Nellie Notebook, faithful repository of family photos and documents and processor of all personal e-mail and internet browsing for Doug & Marie Bittinger and formerly the administrator of all bookkeeping and records keeping functions for Treasures Of Appalachia Inc., passed away.

Mr. Bittinger arrived at Nellie’s usual location in the Bittinger home dining room at 5:17 am to awaken her so they could get started on the day’s duties, but as she awoke Nellie suffered congestive hard drive failure which in turn caused her entire Operating System to fail.

C.P.R. (Control Programming Restoration) was attempted but was unsuccessful. Life Support systems (i.e booting from the LAN) was set up but that too was unsuccessful.

Nellie is survived by her half-brother Dale Desktop who has been employed as the Bittinger family’s business computer and a new baby sister: Ipod.

Dale has agreed to step in and provide family e-mail services to keep communications open in Nellie’s absence. A replacement for Nellie is not in the foreseeable future.

Internment is planned for Saturday morning at dawn. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, please send dark chocolate.

Recycling Water

The historic draught of 2007-2008 opened many people’s eyes to the very real prospect of a fresh water shortage. Until then, most modern-day Americans took it for granted that clean, fresh water was always just a twist of the faucet away; forever available in any quantity we desire. During that time period, many residents, especially in the Southeast, learned the reality that fresh water is not an inexhaustible resource. Since then, more people are looking at fresh water in a new way.

Some people, while not in drought areas, want to decrease their dependence upon a water utility. In both cases collecting and using rain water and some waste water can help them achieve their goals. By recycling the water they have access to they can maximize their use of that water. But this must be done carefully to prevent health and legal problems.

Two types of water can be collected for use: rain water and grey water. Continue reading “Recycling Water”

Mullein: Alien Plant that Heals

Do you remember the movie Day of the Triffids? It is a schlocky sci-fi adventure from 1962 involving plants from outer space trying to take over the world after blinding most of the population. In case you’d like to see it, I’ll embed it below.

Lately I’ve been seeing these strange plants popping up along our roadways and wondered what they are. They are big. They look alien. They remind me of the Triffids in the movie. So I asked my super searcher web sleuth (Marie) to see what she could find on them. She found an excerpt from a book written by Tom Remaley of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, TN. It identifies the strange plant, which grows to be as much as 10 feet tall, to be a Common Mullein. It is a member of the figwort family of plants which is native to Europe and Asia and is identified by the Alien Plant Working Group (I KNEW it was alien!) as one of their Least Wanted Plants here in America.

Mullein may not have the ability to pull their roots out of the ground and walk around like Triffids (although they do have very shallow root systems, so; maybe!) Nor do they spray poisonous gas at passersby, but they seem to be almost as invasive and dangerous as Triffids: at least to meadows and forest edges. Here they spread rapidly and choke out native vegetation.

On the flip side herbalists collect mullein – a few actually cultivate them. Continue reading “Mullein: Alien Plant that Heals”

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Sometimes we find ourselves wishing things could be the way they were. However “the way they were” did not last very long. Whatever past circumstances we long for were temporary at best. Nostalgia is a fickle feeling. It can give us pleasant thoughts about days gone by and yet it can cause us to be so unrealistic about the past that we penalize our present and our future. Time moves on and change is inevitable. The “good old days” are but a memory of a time when we thought we had less stress and strain. We tend to forget the complications of life back then because present complications overshadow anything that ever has been. In an attempt to escape the painful perplexities of today we try to reconstruct yesterday according to how we wish it had been.

Even though things never were exactly the way we think they were, we must never stop making beautiful memories. It may be out of the way we think things were that we find the motivation to create a tomorrow in the way we want it to be. In this manner our memories are closely connected to our dreams. Perhaps the only way we can construct our dreams is by remembering the way we wish things had been.

Therefore, as we long for the “good old days”, we can actually prepare ourselves for a better “new day” if we understand that every day has its share of hopes and horrors. The key is to be realistically aware that today we are making memories for the future. Yesterday is but a reminder that today contains the ingredients for a healthier tomorrow.

The major focus of our lives needs to be on the present. It is the only time we have. We cannot honestly reconstruct the past nor can we accurately produce the future. “Today is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time.” Forgiveness and grace as well as beautiful memories enable us to live with our past. The kind of hope that produces a positive attitude enables us to move graciously into the future. It is the disposition of the present moment that controls our appraisal of both.

Let us, therefore, never minimize this present breath of life, this existing heartbeat of love, and this moment of consciousness. Indeed the psalmist gave us great insight when he wrote, “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Thunder, and Lightning, and Bears: Oh My!

before the thunder On Sunday afternoon (at around 2:30) the National Weather Service issued a severe weather warning for all of northern Tennessee and southern Kentucky until 8:00 PM. It was the usual warning of severe thunderstorms, lightning, damaging hail, possible tornadoes, and the potential extinction of our species. This warning included our county, but we were on the lower edge of the warning area. Pictures started appearing on Facebook of massive lightning bolts and large hailstones. One fella had in his hand a hailstone and a baseball; the hailstone was the same size as the ball, so his was no exaggerated claim.

Here, on Piney Mountain, our dogs sat out on the porch watching the neighborhood. Unconcerned as could be. The skies were cloudy, but there was no evidence – even to them – of bad weather. At supper time they came in and we began our Sunday evening NASCAR race watching festivities. At 8:15 PM it began thundering. By 9:00 the lightning was flashing, the thunder was rolling back and forth across the sky and the rain began to fall. I’m happy to say all we got out of it was a torrential rain … and thunder and lightning. Lots of thunder and lightning. Continue reading “Thunder, and Lightning, and Bears: Oh My!”

PATIENCE

As our Christian lives develop, patience becomes the key to the caliber of our commitment. It determines the depth of our perseverance. It controls the quality of our thoughts and actions. Through patience we acquire the skills to face life’s annoying circumstances. Patience creates an inner tranquility that adds smoothness to life’s ruffles. It defeats fear through faith. It controls dissension with love. It conquers despair with determination. It offers hope in the midst of that which seems hopeless. Patience combines the energy of trust with the spirit of obedience to create a godly attitude and lifestyle.

At no other time are we nearer the Lord’s dream for our lives than when we express patience. He calls us into the kind of life which requires us “to wait upon the Lord.” When patience is absent we often move ahead of God with devastating results. We hurry through life unwilling “to be still and know that He is God.”

Our prayers quickly evaporate in selfishness and futility. We lose our quiet moments of unhindered worship. When patience is absent we lose the spiritual stamina to keep God as the focal point of our lives. Our thoughts focus on the trivial and our energy is wasted in meaningless pursuits.

Without patience we run the risk of losing control of all our virtues. In haste we say things we do not mean. In moments of anxiety we do things we later regret. In anger we hurt those we love most. In restlessness we create problems for everyone with whom we share a bit of life. In bitterness and rage we lose the ability and the desire to forgive. Without patience the vision of grace escapes us. Our nervous energy plays havoc with our health and our only hope is for patience to save us from ourselves.

The calming effect of our own personal commitment to God is no doubt the answer to our struggle for patience. In Christ Jesus we experience the ingredients for a patient mentality and the prospect for an unfaltering spirituality. In Him alone is the peace of patience. May our prayer be for the “gentling” power of the Holy Spirit to be obvious in our lives at all times and in every crises.

Fly Me to the Moon (or at Least to Nebraska)

My step-mother recently passed away. While the term “step-mother” often conjures up images of an abusive pseudo-parent: this was not the case with Doris. She was always kind and loving to my siblings and me, never tried to replace our birth-mother and was a devoted wife to my father for over 30 years. I felt it was important that I get to her funeral to pay my respects to her and to support my dad. Achieving that goal proved to be somewhat daunting.

My initial reaction was, as normal, to drive the 1,000 miles separating me from her home of Sprague Nebraska. But a number of factors conspired to make that option impractical. Some of these might have been mitigated through car-pooling with a brother who lives in the same general part of the nation as I, but that too was quashed by circumstances.

Marie and I decided the best option was for me to fly to Nebraska and back and we began researching airfare and schedules. In the end we decided on United Express, a division of United Airlines, and a flight plan that took me from the Knoxville Tennessee airport to O’Hare airport in Chicago then on to the Lincoln Nebraska airport with only a 1½ hour lay-over in Chicago. This would get me to Lincoln by 9:45 AM and I didn’t need to be back on board for the return flight until 6:15 PM, giving me most of the day to visit with relatives and attend the funeral service. The cost was doable and it seemed a reasonable solution. Continue reading “Fly Me to the Moon (or at Least to Nebraska)”

Recycling Can Be Rewarding

For many people, knowing that consistently putting recyclable materials into the special bins helps keep the planet healthy, saves room in the land fill, avoids pollution of water, soil and air, reduces manufacturing costs, conserves natural resources, and keeps their city and county taxes lower is all the reward they need. They’re helping to achieve a grand goal. For others, more of an incentive is needed.

Some communities have chosen to take the punitive approach with mandated recycling programs and fines – just like there are fines for littering – for not recycling designated materials. But other communities are taking a more upbeat approach by directly rewarding citizens for their participation.

Rewards: Not a New Idea

Back in the day, kids earned pocket money by collecting glass pop bottles from their parents, neighbors and from vacant lots and roadsides. These could be taken to a grocery store and turned in to collect a bottle deposit.

Some have suggested a similar program could be implemented for recyclable food and beverage containers today. Most stores have opposed this plan because they don’t want to be saddled with the responsibility of collecting and paying these deposit amounts and they don’t want to have to store the goods that are turned in.

On the flip-side, some stores are working with local waste management companies by installing mini-recycling centers in their parking lots. In most cases there is no financial incentive, but the convenience encourages their customers to participate.

Community-Wide Cash Reward Programs

More and more communities are entering into a partnership between waste management, local businesses and residents. Details vary by program, but in general; customers use a wheely-bin to store all the accepted recyclable materials. These are collected by a special truck. The address’s participation is tracked, and discount coupons to local businesses are earned through their participation. The businesses get to advertise on the program’s web site and generally increase their customer flow because of the program.

Everyone wins: residents get discounts at local businesses, the businesses gain new customers, the waste management companies gain recyclables to sell, the government reduces its waste disposal rates by qualifying for the higher recycling rates, and the landfill reduces the bulk coming into the facility.

For some examples of actual programs and how they operate, browse these links:

Fund Raising Programs

Another way to benefit from recycling to us join one of the programs that pay an organization for specific recyclable items like printer cartridges, cell phones, small electronics items and spent rechargeable batteries.

Details vary by program: items accepted and whether the program will pick-up or you will have to ship the items to them. Many of these provide a pre-paid shipping label.

Schools, churches, youth organizations, sports clubs, bands, and more are all using these programs for their fundraising. In doing so they reap all the benefits of recycling we’ve discussed above. Again: a win-win situation. Just of few of these programs:

Direct Recycling Rewards

If you are nit fund-raising for a group and your community does not offer a rewards program you can always cash in by taking your recyclables to a processor that will pay you for them instead of depositing them in waste management recycling bins. You may need to do some research to find the nearest scrap yard or recycling center. And you may need to drive a ways if you’re rural, which will mean collecting enough to pay the travel expenses or time it with a trip to some other destination in the same area. This is not as convenient as a community program, but can be worthwhile.

What can you do?

If your community does not have a recycling rewards program, you could write to your waste management company and ask about implementing such a program. If enough people inquire, they will consider it. Or talk with your city and county government officials and suggest such a program to them. Again, if enough people show an interest, they will too.

By working together, the whole community can benefit.

We knew him when

Rewards: Not a New Idea

Community-Wide Cash Reward Programs

Fund Raising Programs

Direct Recycling Rewards

What can you do?