Rain, Rain, Stay Here for a While

When it rained here for 5 or 6 consecutive days here last month, I was able to turn off my lawn sprinklers for over a week. That's huge savings for me! It's all about saving money.

My Earth Day vs. Obama's Earth Day

On Earth Day 2009, I walked to school with Punky to save money on gasoline and wear-and-tear on my car. In addition, we began car-pooling with neighbors to shuttle Russell to-and-from his behavioral therapist. On a related note, I managed to get the boys and myself to pee in the same toilet twice apiece before flushing. That's six times before flushing. Recall that I was able to reduce our water consumption by 25% in 2008 using techniques such as this.

On this same day, President Obama flew on a 747 jet from Washington D.C. to Des Moines, Iowa to promote energy conservation. This political ploy burned about 9,000 of fuel, roughly what Jenny and I would consume in about 20 years. But then again, I'm paying for it, and Obama's not.

Happy Earth Day! It's all about saving money!

Chopsticks and Plastic Forks & Knives

We're been patrons of East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Alameda ever since we moved here 5 years ago. I've gotten so good at recycling, that now we bring our our reusable containers and bags for takeout and leftovers. But last month I did that one better. I went into our kitchen cabinet over the fridge and sorted out 5 years worth of unused chopsticks, plastic forks and knives that the restaurant places into our takeout bags and brought them back to East Ocean for reuse.

Thanks Low Impact, Man!

Obama's Hypocracy

Earlier this year, Barack Obama lectured us on the importance of conserving energy:

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,” Obama said.

“That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen,” he added.

Now that he's the President, things haven't exactly gone as he promised. The New York Times reports:

The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat.

“He’s from Hawaii, O.K.?” said Mr. Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, who occupies the small but strategically located office next door to his boss. “He likes it warm. You could grow orchids in there.”

Oh, I see. I turn down my thermostat at home to 60 degrees so that you can crank up the heat at the White House at taxpayer expense. What a typical liberal hypocrite.