A Halloweeny post

October 31, 2006

Ah, Halloween. I’m too old to trick or treat, getting to old to just go out and drink (plus I had an after-work get-together last night with a bunch of coworkers where we did just that, anyway), and yet still too young to do nothing and just hand out candy all night. I was a little disappointed in myself that I didn’t wear a costume, but in all honesty, I didn’t even think about it. I was in a Halloween-y mood, too. On Sunday I went a pumpkin carving party at a partner’s house, and I ended up carving three pumpkins and made a snowman-o-lantern. It came out really well, and I’ll try and remember to take a picture of it when I get home once it’s lit. But for all that work in carving three pumpkins, cleaning out the guts, saving as many seeds as I could to roast (and then spending almost two hours preparing and roasting two batches of seeds), I even forgot to buy candy for the trick or treaters. So during lunch today, I had to run up to Rite Aid and buy a couple of bags to set out in a bowl. I did that last year and it worked pretty well–since I’m on the second floor and the doorbell only rings in my apartment, I’ll be doing a lot of running up and down the stairs if I’m even home tonight.

Although, I considered for awhile at dressing down and telling people I came as myself, since khakis and button-up shirts really aren’t me. I ended up telling a few people that (with apologies to Wednesday Adams) I came as a homicidal maniac, because they look just like everybody else. The HR manager happened to overhear that and he–jokingly, I hope–asked me to stop by his office.

I went out and bought myself a new winter coat today after a frigid morning waiting for the bus. I wore my windbreaker/rain coat yesterday morning and decided it was time to switch coats. I have a nice Columbia Sportswear fleece jacket that Erika gave me for Christmas last year, but wind cuts through it like a knife. My windbreaker keeps me warmer in the wind than my fleece does! My gloves also pretty much blow, too, and I’m surprised I’ve kept them for this long. They never kept my hands warm in Beloit when I actually, you know, needed to keep my hands warm, and they’re so big I can barely hold anything. My new coat is really nice, and my new gloves will keep things toasty. I almost bought myself a leather jacket, but despite the fact that I got paid today and I have more than enough in savings for it, I just couldn’t bring myself to drop that kind of money on a coat. Vanity, thy name isn’t Andrew.

A website I keep forgetting to point out I saw linked from Treehugger.com is called the “Competitive Enterprise Institute,” which is pretty much either a media company working for the oil industry or a think-tank that supports the oil industry. Now, neither of those is enough on its own for me to condemn them, but after seeing some of their work I knew I had to point and laugh. They produced two 60-second ads that aired in some TV markets that I honestly wasn’t certain whether I should be aghast at or laughing at when I first saw them. I’m leaning towards laughing, now. For those who just want the punchline without watching the ads, the slogan the ads are based around is: “Carbon dioxide. They call it pollution; we call it life.”

Right. You know, I think of myself as a tree-hugger in many regards, and I try and do things that just seem obvious in making a difference: I take the bus instead of driving, I recycle practically everything, I buy second-hand clothing fairly often, I donate things to charity instead of throwing them out, etc, etc. I know if I really wanted to reduce my impact on the planet there are a thousand other things I could do, and believe me, I’m working up to it. It was a big step for me to start buying organic foods given the price difference, but I’m at a point financially when I see the milk side by side, I can afford to reach for the organic milk instead.

I’m sold on the idea that the Earth is warming up in some places, but I’m not 100% sold on the idea that human are the root cause the warming. I’m quite certain that at the very least we’re contributing to the temperature rising among other climate changes, and all politics and science aside, I think it’s irresponsible to keep pumping the gases into the atmosphere. So, that being said: “Carbon dioxide. They call it pollution; we call it life”? Get real. People can smell that bullshit a mile away.

Tick, tick, tick. Hurry up and get to 5:30.

Posted in Beloit, General, Work