Environment

New car clean

Posted on by backuphill

automobiles automotives black and white black and white

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You know how bright and shiny that car looked when it came off the lot? You know, sparkling, dust free interior, the chromy parts chroming, and the black plastic on the outside hasn’t started to fade to gray…

Is it ever like that again? I mean for a BRAND SPANKING NEW CAR?

Probably not. I don’t have time to wash it daily and I don’t have time to clean the inside on even a weekly basis…so it gets dirty, like the car I just got rid of. That old car rarely got washed and rarely got cleaned on the inside. I mean, it was old, so who cares, right?

But this new car…can I just put a bubble around it?

All I want is for it to stay clean!

Kids’ sports and rain

Posted on by backuphill

black and white hand raining

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Why does my kid have to like soccer? Why can’t it be an indoor sport?

Yes, I know, soccer can be played indoors too but the reality is that more often than not it is played outdoors, where it rains, a lot.

As a parent, and I don’t care how much you love your kids, it totally sucks to sit/stand/wait on the sidelines while it is pouring down rain. What’s worse, it is also cold (as in under 40 degrees) and the wind is blowing. Doesn’t matter if you have an umbrella or not, you’re getting wet. Period. Yeah, so cold sideways rain is just fun…never.

Find a different sport, kid, preferably one that involves warmth and is dry.

It’s rain people…

Posted on by backuphill

blur cars dew drops

Photo by Kaique Rocha on Pexels.com

News flash: We live in the Northwest and it rains here. It rains here a lot.

Now, I know that isn’t news to those who live here but DANG it already! Why do you all have to forget how to drive in the freakin’ rain??? We have rain pretty much 9 months of the year (yes summers are not as rainy) so why is it so hard to remember how to drive in such conditions?

I swear, for so many smart tech people in this area, they are a bunch of idiots behind the wheel of a car. Drive slower, leave more space between vehicles. Simple. When you do that, you have to step on the brake less and you don’t bash into others as often. Duh!

Now do it.

#SMH

Trying to get out of the gutter

Posted on by backuphill

house covered with red flowering plant

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It is that time of year, fall, and it is really irritating that I have to keep climbing to the top of the ladder on a regular basis. And by regular basis, I mean like every other week…

In the Northwest we get a lot of rain, and wind. As a result, the wind causes all the leaves and pine needles and pine cones and small twigs that blow off the trees end up on the roof of the house. When the rain comes it washes it all off the roof and into the gutters on the house.

I try to keep up, but I usually am reminded that the gutters need cleaned when it is pouring down rain and the gutters are overflowing. Then I gotta drag out the ladder, climb to the top, and empty the gutters while I get soaked to the bone.

Sometimes being a homeowner sucks.

Shorter days

Posted on by backuphill

birds flying over body of water during golden hour

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com

Can someone just hold on a minute?

Why do we need to have shorter days already? I am not done with summer and the ever encroaching of darkness is pissing me off. I got stuff to do and the darkness is in the way.

Season change blah blah blah…dark at 4:00pm. WTH?

Longer days. You know, the ones where it gets dark like at 9:30pm. I like those. Let’s just do that all the time and call it good!

Water is boring

Posted on by backuphill

clean clear cold drink

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What’s with water anyway?

Why is it so tasteless? Yes, I know that is a generalization and all water has a little something (chemicals/minerals/etc) that give it a “taste,” but it isn’t really a taste at the same time.

Drink more water they say…

OK, can you make it taste better without me going through the effort of adding something too it? It is just too much work. How about it just come out of the tap or, better yet, the dispenser in the fridge with some flavor?

Damn, I should patent this idea immediately! Soda machines let you choose the flavor of soda (who knew there were 435 *exaggeration* different flavors of Coke?), so why can’t my fridge do the same thing (some on Samsung, innovate that! I want credit though)? I press a button and the water that fills my bottle has a hint of lemon or a hint of lime or a hint of blackberry or a hint of mint (ewww) or a hint of fruit punch or whatever you think would be nice.

Make it happen people!

Otherwise, plain water is boring and I don’t want to drink it. But I do, reluctantly and begrudgingly.

It sits all day, so why not?

Posted on by backuphill

blur building business cars

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Electric cars.

I think they would be more prevalent if people weren’t so worried about distance it could travel and charging it. I think those two things are sort of intertwined.

I guess I have always wondered why you have to plug the thing in in the first place. Why? If there is technology out there that will make high rise windows into charging panels, why can’t that be incorporated into automobiles? Or if Tesla can make solar roofing tiles and turn the whole rooftop into something that charges your home, why can’t it make the hood (or roof) of your car out of the same material?

I know, it takes a lot of time to recharge and I know (I asked this once of a smarter friend) that it would take a huge amount of charging to make a car work from such limited charging capability. He asked, “Would the cost be worth it?” My answer was that I didn’t know because apparently no one has tried, isn’t some charge better than no charge, and eventually cost would come down because that is what happens with tech as it improves.

Here’s the thing, most people’s cars spend most of the day sitting around, either in the driveway or in a parking lot somewhere. Why can’t it be recharging at the same time without having to be plugged in?

Things that make you go, hmmmmm.

Left in the dark

Posted on by backuphill

yellow tent under starry night

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About that trip where I slept on the ground, in a tent, in a sleeping bag…

I also had to set up the tent in the dark, alone.

OK, so growing up, we were always setting up camping for family camping trips in the dark. It became a joke later as us kids got older, but all of us hated it growing up. And, it was always dad’s fault because he was always late getting home, which meant late leaving, which meant late arriving, which meant setting up in the dark.

So, as an adult out on my own, I always made it a point to leave early enough so as to not have to set up camp in the dark. I was pretty successful at getting it done! So much for being like my dad, right?

Well, I now know why dad was always late. His job – or in our case, our existence. He was a business owner and did everything. As the business grew, so did the work and the employees and everything else he was responsible for. So, of course he was always late.

Dad, I now understand.

But, I still hate setting up camp in the dark. Period.