Big Rigs - wet weather!

Big rigs pose a real danger on the road when it is wet! When they are coming towards you, they shower you with spray and visibility is lost. When you are behind them, there is constant spray, and again visibility is lost! And if you are overtaking and some dick doesn't have his lights on - it is a recipe for disaster!
Tyres are designed to pump water from the road surface - a safety issue! That's understandable.
What to do about it? Well I don't know, water can do funny things, but covered mud guards may be worth a try, or perhaps side curtains that can be pulled down. The rear mud flaps certainly don't work!

Anyway, just thought I would mention it - someone may just run with it.

Climate Change

I watched Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth on DVD and I must admit, I found it distressing!

Having taken meteorological readings for some 25 years, I do have an interest in weather patterns, and what is happening to our planet. But so much is difficult to interpret. Once I tallied up the records for something or other and found that in North Otago the driest month in the year is June. In fact some Junes recorded no rainfall at all! However, the wettest month ever was June 1968! So averages are just too hard to work out.

There is debate, some saying there is climate change happening, some saying that it isn't, and some say that the climate change is man-made while others maintain that man has had no effect on the world climate.

My observation are that there is climate change and that man has caused the changes. My take on it is a bit different because I believe one of the main causes of man-made change is the cutting of the world's great forests.

It is not impossible to address situations, take for example how CFC's damage the ozone layer - this is proven because the ozone layer has responded positively since the banning of the propellant - so it is logical that exhaust smoke - vehicle and factory must do damage, but the damage can be repaired!.

All this is not the issue though. We should not looking to who or what is the blame - we should be doing something about it!

The fact of the matter is that human-kind is littering its' own nest and squandering resources!

We have lost the concept of conservation! We should seriously think of our descendants - how are we going to leave the planet - a home, if you like - for them! This generation is using up the resources of our planet so very quickly!

We should be protecting our plant as a matter of course, because it is simply the right thing to do - not carrying out some witch hunt for the culprit! It seem obvious to me that standards of living (if that's what using up resources is) will have to go down, simply because it is not possible to maintain the tack we are currently on!

Well, I was going to leave it there, but after all this is my soapbox! Have a look at Cribs on MTV. There is an example - these Stars - sports people of movie/music - have some of the most opulent homes I have ever seen! Do they need such opulence? I think not! And they have several motor vehicles! How many do they really need?

Then there is, on the same channel, a program about girls and their Sweet Sixteen parties. Well not many of them are sweet, and they demand much from their parents, who obey obediently. These sweet kids get what they want including, (nearly always) a new car! And all this just puts pressure on other parents to follow suit of be pouted at or even abused!

I relate this to a Maasai village like Muriet where high tension power line passes over the village, yet they are unable to affordelectricity in their homes, and children have no light do homework, study or read because darkness sets in around 7:00pm each night.

Anti Smoking

I have seen some very bad outcomes that have happened to people who by choice, have smoked. I have seen similar outcomes to people who have never smoked, yet have been exposed to tobacco smoke.

There are plenty of advertisements and literature about stopping smoking and there is assistance available.
It puzzles me though why I have seen no ads or promotion for people - especially kids not to start smoking!
Television and the Internet are powerful mediums yet nowhere have I seen the 'not start message.'