Crazy Lawsuit Game

April 22nd is the day when we celebrate the Earth and all she's given us. It's also the day that we can be over the top annoying about helping the planet because it's Earth Day. The other days of the year, we go behind people, pick up their trash and hope they don't do it again. Today we can go find that person, throw their trash back at them and then publicly harangue them for being a no good stinky litter bug.

Although not all trash is courtesy of people. I was waiting next to my bike this morning when I saw a Clemson squirrel go into the trash can, take out something wrapped in paper, gnaw at it, and then not put it back in the trash. I guess animal littering is okay?

Also saw the PeePoo bag. It's a biodegradable (45% post consumer recycled content, with plans to get that to 100%) plastic bag coated with urea that breaks down human excrement into ammonium hydroxide and other nicer compounds and fertilizes the ground where it is buried. Great for hikers, hunters, and citizens of 3rd world countries that don't have access to sewage treatment plants or running water!

Up next is an article written by Joe Lederman, an editor with asbestos.com, which is a Mesothelioma cancer resource website. Asbestos is a silicate (silicon oxide) containing mineral that is mined and has great flame retardant properties. Unfortunately the fine fibers and particles can get into our lungs and cause all sorts of nasty side effects. There are many green options for insulating your house (recycled blue jeans being my personal favorite) so please look into what's in your house's walls now or before you buy. Hope you enjoy the guest post:

Green Insulation Alternatives Make the Use of Asbestos Obsolete



In the world of home construction, there are many things that should be taken into consideration. Many older homes could need repairs or additional renovations in areas that are susceptible to natural disasters. Often appearing in roof shingles, popcorn ceilings, piping and insulation, asbestos became one of the most popular building applications of the 20th century. One of the main things that can go unnoticed is taking simple precautions to avoid asbestos exposure.



The implementation of eco-construction and alternative energy solutions will play an important role in the transformation to a healthier and sustainable world. Building green will have profound impacts on many facets of our daily lives.



If you locate any suspected asbestos in the home, most experts suggest leaving it un-disturbed until a home inspector can examine your property, take evaluations and determine the safest course of action. Disturbing asbestos in good condition may cause its fibers to be released into the air. However, if removal is necessary, it must be performed by a licensed abatement contractor who is trained in handling hazardous substances.



Long term exposure to damaged airborne asbestos fibers can lead to the development of a severe lung ailment known as mesothelioma . With a latency period that lasts from 20 to 50 years, it isn’t until the later stages of progression when physicians usually are able to accurately diagnose. The amount of asbestos-related incidents throughout the world has resulted in mesothelioma lawyers advocating and protecting victim’s individual rights. Many are unaware to the wrongdoings done in the contraction of diseases associated with asbestos.



Many cities and states in the U.S. are pushing for green sustainable technologies to be utilized in the public and private sectors. Everyone strives for clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. Unfortunately, many modern conveniences increase pollution and health problems.



Green alternatives to asbestos include the use of lcynene foam, cotton fiber and cellulose. The use of cotton fiber foam has demonstrated to reduce energy costs by 25 % per year. There is no need for any products used in construction to be made from asbestos, yet over 3,000 work and home-based materials still contain this toxin. Many locations throughout the United States are swiftly changing their construction practices to suit the environment and the health of human beings.



Implementing green methods of building can have positive environmental, health and economic benefits. These include:



-    Conservation of natural resources

-    Enhance air quality and protect ecosystems

-    Energy sustainability

-    Increase property value

-    Improve quality of life

-    Improvement of pulmonary and cardiac health

-    Reduce waste

Labels: bicycle, disease, Earth Day, Eco-living

Yesterday was of course 4-20 aka Hitler's birthday aka April 20th. I hope you enjoyed it. It was great weather down here.

Earth Day is tomorrow! Hooray! Thankfully, it will be nice and sunny so I can ride my bike in and then swing by the Earth Day booths on campus. I would like to volunteer but that doesn't make the priority list right now.

J is really helping me with my writing. I was going down a bit of the wrong path, or wasn't on the right path long enough, but she has really stepped up and given me guidance and feedback and it's paying off.

I burnt our lab's water pump to a crisp over the weekend. I left it at 50C for 3 days, it ran dry, caught on fire, tripped circuit breakers and made me ever so distraught yesterday.

I'm not a huge PETA fan, because if the animals are treated humanely and fed a natural diet of grass and hay, they're delicious! But I absolutely understand it takes way more resources to get meat on my plate than veggies, so J and I are trying to live a little more "3rd World" style and limit our protein to mostly veggies and beans and not too much meat, and even when we do have meat, make sure we don't eat tons and it was responsibly harvested.

So we made vegan-ish blueberry pancakes (we have vegan butter from my week long vegan experiment but it's flavorless, so these were cooked in butter) which have no eggs and soy milk. We used basically this recipe but added a splash of vanilla. Delicious! Really light and fluffy and the frozen blueberries we used didn't break and turn the batter all purple.

Later that day we made a shepherd's pie with ground goat purchased from Split Creek Goat Farm, and that goat was tasty!

So for Earth Day, carpool, walk, bike, take public transit, eat some vegetables, plant some vegetables, get outside and enjoy Earth!

Labels: 420, Earth Day, Eat Locally, medicinal marijuana, recipe, vegetarian

Earth Hour is a global movement to turn off the lights for 60 minutes at 8:30 pm local time to symbolize that you are serious about saving energy and also about reducing light pollution. I wish I could be in Vegas for that; there will be so many stars out there in the desert! Check out the map and see if your city is taking part.

It's on March 28th at 8:30 pm local time. Break out the candles and board games!

Labels: Earth Day, educating consumers, environment

It's Earth Day! Which I think means it's okay to be an eco-Nazi for the day, so point in horror at that Hummer driver, picket your local oil refinery, or just take public transportation.

I attempted to take the CATbus to school today, but missed it, so I walked to school today. I've never understood these "days". Shouldn't Earth Day be everyday? Shouldn't black history month be all the time and not just February? Does that mean all the other 11 months are anti-black history months? I certainly hope not.

I saw some people setting up the Earth Day exposition. They invite local nurseries and eco-companies to come and hand out info and sell plants. Currently my favorite plant is the grass I bought at the Earth Day fair 3 years ago and it's still going strong. It's a grass native to SC, so that might be a good reason why it's doing so well.

So if you don't normally consider how your actions affect others and the planet, test it out today. Recycle that paper instead of throwing it away. Use your own coffee mug to get coffee instead of using a styrofoam cup. Turn off the lights and use candles for an hour tonight and read a book or play cards with your family.

Notice how I haven't said "buy" anything. You don't have to go buy organic produce or a wind turbine or solar panels to be eco-friendly. Most of the times it's free and relatively easy. So go ahead and help out Earth and Mother Nature; they'll really appreciate it. Oooh! Or pick up a piece of litter! That one is free and easy with opportunities everywhere! Hmmm, that's a good idea. Maybe today is a good day to do our neighborhood trash pick-up.

Also, happy belated 4/20 everyone!

Labels: 420, Earth Day, Eat Locally, environment, garden

Yep, back to work.

Edit: Happy Earth Day! Try and think about how you impact the Earth today and whether it's a positive impact or a negative one. And for the love, plant something!

Initial thoughts about my pre-oral. It went well, but it was definitely tough. They pointed out some things I need to work on, mostly my crystal structures (I need to know them like the back of my hand), but they said I had much improved over last time, so bonus.

It was such a relief to finally be done with it, but at the same time now that that hurdle has been cleared there are still 2-3 major ones depending on your views. Writing my dissertation and defending it being the big 2 and I also have to give a final seminar for the department, which is a big deal but not as big a deal as the other two.

And after seeing my labmate slave over his dissertation for 3-4 months, I will be starting it as soon as freakin' possible. I am also gonna try my damndest to get out in May '08. Yeah, that's a solid 7 yrs. of grad school but I've only been in this group for 4, so it balances out a tad, but not enough to make me pretend I haven't been here since Aug. of 2001.

If anyone in ATL felt something a little different in the air yesterday, that was me. I was in Atlanta, the Turner Field parking lot to be specific, for an autocross with the Atlanta region of the SCCA. My fresh new tires that look like this:

are straight from Japan courtesy of Falken Tires and they are their very sticky RT-615. Lots of grip and very predictable at the limit. These will be just autocross tires and I'm hoping to get at least 2 years of autocrossing out of them.

I got the chance to race against a good guy I know from GA Tech. His name's Jeremy and he's very fast in his red 90's Saturn SC2. He won second in our class (STS) and was off the nationally prepped class winning Civic by only a second or two. My (time) goal for the day was mid 53's and I barely eeked into the 53s with a 53.999 on my last run. It felt so good and fast though. It was so good that it made me pissed that I had pussy footed it around the course the first time with a 56.058. I improved a full two seconds and there was still more time out there, but that's what I get for not having autocrossed since December.

But it was a good practice day for the real event, which is the Focaljet.com SouthEastern Focus Autocross Showdown that is coming up this Sunday. The Focus boards I roam around in, a bunch of us in the Southeast, all autocross our Foci (plural of Focus) and wanted an event that was central enough that a large contigent of SE Focaljet people could make it to the race. That race just happens to be 45 minutes from my house. There are already some predictions being tossed around:
Prediction :
1st place: MichaelXi
2nd: Me
3rd: Jim Smola (my co-driver)
4th: Mutant1
5th: Seth (Silonius) Sorry Seth, I've seen Mutant rule on GT4. I see you gots the Falkens! SWEEET!
6th: ZX3autoxstasy
7th: CCC (but could be a sleeper)
No 5th isn't that high, but the other guys have extremely well set-up cars, have lots more experience, and are generally better drivers than I, but that's why we race the race, to see how it all shakes down. I'm gonna give it my all and see if I can't take down some of the big guns.

Now that my evenings have been freed up a bit, I'm planning on going through my archives (archiving, if you will) and coming up with some "Best of Seth" posts and I'll be sure and highlight the ones that I will be taking down before I start my job search, that should at least start around December. So keep an eye out for those posts.

I saw a billboard for Amendment 2 in Georgia that you'll be voting on on Nov. 7. It had something to do with the outdoors. I can't remember the website and googling it wasn't helpful. Any Georgians have any details?

I wonder what we're voting on this year and the next? Hopefully I won't be around to vote in next year's elections though. At least not from this state.

Labels: autocross, Earth Day, pre-oral, voting