Milt Reynolds: Thinking Out Loud

Unshopping Have you ever heard of "unshopping"? Neither had I! But the notion is intriguing. "Unshopping" can be seen as a way of counteracting the pervasive, persuasive, almost hypnotic effect of aggressive, biased commercials aimed at influencing us toward impulsive, emotional shopping . Here's one list of questions that can help a person "unshop": ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before buying anything, ask yourself … · Do I really need and want this? Can I get by without it? · Is it made from renewable or nonrenewable resources? · Is it made of recycled materials and is it recyclable? · How long will it last and how will I dispose of it? · Can it be maintained and repaired? · Could I borrow it, rent it, or buy it secondhand? · Is it overpackaged? · Is it worth the time I worked to pay for it and its cost to the environment? Source: envirochangemakers.wordpress.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

Justin Holcomb on Sex Trafficking How closely located is our church to active sex trafficking ? Who do we know that is involved in someway to sex trafficking? It may be nearer than we can bring ourselves to consider. Justin Holcomb describes the real-life experience of a young girl caught, and rescued, from this modern form of slavery . I did not realize that the average age of entry into prostitution is between 12 and 14 years. It is probable that at least 2.5 million people are trafficked annually. The U.S. State Department estimates even more: 12.3 million adults and children. Approximately 18,000 women and children are forcibly transported into the U.S., to be exploited for sex or labor. Pimps activily lure women and children into the sex industry. They target those who are lonely, desperate, the runaways, the homeless, those without parents. Justin lists six important ways that every church, including the small and rural churches, can help. The Number One way is to get...

Mountain Goat or True Goat? Now I'm not sure... Armed with two cameras and binoculars, I returned to the wilds of Wallula Gap today to wrest from nature a better photograph of the wiley Mountain goats seen a couple of days ago. Rain lightly spattered on my windshield as I approached the curve in the highway near the locations I'd been at previously. I immediately spotted two goats on the hillside , lower down than before, closer than the two seen earlier. Elated, I readied my equipment and began to walk closer, snapping shots as I went . I'd brought my film SLR camera and a small digital. I love working with the near-obsolete 35mm film camera. I'd spent so much time as a teenager with such a camera. Hours in the darkroom, developing and printing my photographs. Most of my shots today were with the 35mm, but I did snap a few backup shots with the digital. As I got closer, it soon appeared that these were not Mountain goats . No horns, no beard, floppy ears...no...

Wallula Mountain Goats I spotted two mountain goats , clinging to a ledge midway up a rocky hill on my way to Wallula Junction a couple of days ago. I only had my cell phone camera, and even with the zoom feature activated, it rendered an indistinguishable speck of white next to a microscopic speck of white. But they were goats! Honest! Here's the shot with my cell phone: Here's a modified image. the spot in the center is aimed directly at the two goats. Not very convincing proof, right? Oh, well. It's inspired me to take my binoculars and higher-quality camera and find these two characters again . Why are there two mountain goats in the hills near Wallula? Domesticated goats? Immigrants? Native? Maybe it's not a mountain goat? Wikipedia says Oreamnos americanus is found only in North America . And it's not a Capra, the scientific name for true goats. Mountain goats, or Rocky Mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) are properly in the Bovi...

Google Chrome Browser: Remember Window Size & Position Google Chrome would not remember the window size and position , running under Windows 7. Searching the internet offered many solutions, some weird, some confusing, none effective. Not even Google's own help site offered a solution. It must be me. I cannot believe that Google would be so unhelpful. Taking a portion of one user's advice, and adding a bit extra from another user's suggestion, brought relief. Now I can resize my browser window and place it anywhere on the desktop, close the browser, restart, and it reappears where I last had it, correctly sized. Here's what I did: 1. My version of Chrome: 22.0.1229.79 m 2. Click on the settings icon ( a button with three, short horizontal bars, or perhaps yours is an image of a wrench. 3. Click on About Google Chrome (this is where you can also find what version of Chrome you're running) 4. Chrome will quickly check to see if your version i...

How to Connect Trailer Wiring: 2003 Chevy S-10 Pickup The Plan: Borrow a tent-trailer and go camping The Problem: No hitch and no electrical connection on my pickup The Process: Install a hitch and an electrical connection compatible with the trailer Step One - the easy part: install a hitch. The 2003 Chevy S-10 bumper is completely adequate for hauling a tent-trailer, at least the one I borrowed from a friend. The bumper is labeled with two weight limits: 3500 LBS TRAILER LOAD MAXIMUM 350 LBS TONGUE LOAD MAXIMUM The single-axle Coleman tent-trailer does not exceed these limits. The trailer required a two-inch diameter ball hitch. My bumper was pre-drilled with a half-inch hole. I purchased a ball hitch rated at 3500 pounds, with a half-inch threaded stem. It fit perfectly in the bumper. Step Two - the harder part: install wiring harness. The Chevy S-10 pickup uses a snap connector to join the rear lights wiring with the electrical system. This location is ...

Dummies, Electricity, and Spray Foam Don't Mix This is a guest post by my friend, Rebecca Hundt. I had no idea she was such a talented writer! She's graciously allowed me to post it to my blog. Misery loves company and her story sure brightened my day! Thank you, Rebecca! I hate Scentsy air fresheners. They're made from petroleum solvents and are toxic. They smell gaudy, and I'm allergic to perfumes. They give me a headache and exasperate my hay fever. My downstairs neighbors have a different opinion. They love the stuff. They love Scentsy products so much that they want to share it with the world. Their favorite scents spill out of their apartment into the stairwell and parking lot. It also seeps into my apartment. Building codes state that apartments must be individually sealed as a firestop. However, these aren't well-built buildings. Odors pass through cracks and holes in the walls and into the shared spaces behind the drywall. Volatile organics suc...