Saving the "Big 3"? ......Why?

Saving the "Big 3"?

Why?

It has been known for decades that the internal combustion engine is the single largest provider of carbons into our endangered atmosphere. These industry giants have not seen it fit to provide an alternative to gas powered engines. On the contrary, they idealized the need to have larger trucks and SUVs while ignoring their obligation to provide more fuel efficient transportation. All three manufactures have consistently put out inferior quality vehicles and then found, or had inserted, loopholes by which they were able to sidestep their warranty obligations. I am not naive enough to think that I am the only person that this has happened to. I am also fully aware that all three have been guilty of this practice. Perhaps in looking after customer complaints might have eaten into the billions of dollars in bonus funds provided for executive level members on their combined boards. It has long been obvious to the average purchaser that the concerns of these execs. were not on the global effects of their products on the ecology or on putting low cost quality vehicles into the hands of the average potential buyers. I have to wonder why they waited until an off-shore manufacturer introduced a hybrid vehicle to the market before they started looking into that potential.

Electric vehicles are being manufactured by manufacturers with much less capital venture funds that were available to the "Big 3". GM is the only one of the three who has taken a step in that direction that I know of. And the possibility of that ever making it to the marketplace is becoming ever slimmer. At the rate that plants are being closed, it's a pretty safe bet that the "Volt" will be lost. Although I believe that the "Volt" would have been a step in the right direction, I also believe it to be a couple of decades late. However, better late than never, right? I will go so far as to say that the electric vehicle will be our mainstay method of transport in the not to distant future. God bless Edison! He had it right over a hundred years ago.

In my humble opinion, if there are funds available to the auto industry, they should have the stipulation that those funds be used solely for the manufacture of hybrid type vehicles with the emphasis on electric. My choice would be an electric/hydrogen combination. It is not an amazingly new discovery to know that hydrogen can be produced on the go, thus negating the need for fuel cells or a fuel storage tank. Batteries would propel the vehicle and produce hydrogen on demand to fuel a small motor which in turn recharges the batteries. Sounds simple enough to me. Can you see the potential Ford, GM, Chrysler?

We are currently the sad owners of a 2 year old GM produced vehicle and would gladly trade back for our 12 year old Toyota.

Pump price vs. cash register price

Yesterday I filled a gas can for my generator. I noticed the price on the pump read .809/L. The can was a 20L can so I knew it wouldn't hold $20 worth so I stopped it at $15. I went into the store and paid the $15 and didn't pay any attention to the receipt at the time. When I got home, I was telling the wife about the price being down to .809/L. Then I happened to glance at the receipt. To my amazement, the receipt said that I paid .856/L. After seeing this, my wife checked the receipt she had from a fill-up the previous day, which she said that the price showing on the pump was .82/L. Her receipt also said that she paid .856/L. These were 2 different stations and companies. Can anyone explain what is going on with this? I don't believe that I have ever checked my receipts as to price/L before. If the pump said that I had $40, I paid the $40 and went on my way thinking that I get my $40 worth. Now I'm wondering if some dealers have found a way to keep their price up without the consumer knowing it. I know I will be checking my receipts much more closely from now on.

Low-Fat White Sauce

LOW-FAT WHITE SAUCE

This can be used to lighten any casserole that calls for a white sauce.

6 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 cups low-fat (1%) milk
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg, beaten to blend
1 teaspoon butter

Whisk flour in heavy medium saucepan to remove any lumps. Gradually add 1 cup milk, whisking until smooth. Add remaining 2 cups milk and nutmeg; whisk over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in Parmesan, egg and butter. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over low heat until heated through before using; do not boil.)

Makes 3 cups.

Bon Appétit

Suggested serving

I have been recently busy writing recipes. This is not about recipes, so don't ask me to share with ya. What this is about is that while busily occupied with these gastronomic endeavors I noticed something that made me wonder. On almost all these recipes there is a place where they tell you how many servings. So, you should equally divide it into that many servings. From there I went the next step and checked out the packages of prepared food stuff (boxed, canned, jarred and frozen) On every single one of them it also told you what a suggested serving was. (Some of them were a complete surprise - like the suggested serving for most dry cereals is 2/3 of a cup. Check that out in a bowl.) Anyway, after I checked out the food stuffs I started checking other stuff. And I ended up in the bathroom where I do most of my reading anyway and saw that the shampoos and other lotions all had directions for use. All except one item. You guessed it, the toilet paper. It comes in those neat little rolls with all the perforations on them. The package refers to them as sheets, like how many sheets to the roll. But no instructions as to how many sheets to a portion. Maybe it depends on the job you're using it for. I'm told that women use different amounts for #1s and #2s. However! Wouldn't it be logical to assume that where the manufacturer took the time and effort to perforate these little sheets that that would suggest that they considered one sheet a serving? Have you ever tried to clean up a #2 with one sheet? Even a triple ply rating would be scary. So, if anyone has instructions stashed away somewhere, please share. There are many of us out here wondering.

Suppressed?

Do you often, occasionally or rarely feel suppressed in your attempts to achieve or be recognized? If your answer is often or occasionally, do you find yourself blaming someone for this? That there are certain individuals who have held you back for so long that you now believe yourself to be incapable of achievement or recognition? Have you rationalized as to why these individuals would feel the need to suppress your attempts? If you have and/or are doing so now, you are not alone. Many people who feel that they deserve more have found at least one person, usually several, to blame for their underachievement. And in truth, there is at least one person to blame. That one person who has the power to make them feel inadequate, unsure or inferior is none other than their own self. This no doubt was initiated by some small failure in early life, which, not recognized was allowed to permeate and amass to leave the individual permanently fixated on their inabilities and not allow them to move forward on their abilities. This fixation on failure is not prominent in conscious thought but very prominent in the subconscious.
Is there a way to overcome this fixation? I believe there is; however, one must first face the fact that they are responsible for their own shortcomings. The realization that one can fail at many things and still be a success in life is the key. No one is good at everything. We all have our shortcomings, so we should concentrate on being the best that we can on the things that we are good at. This is a sure confidence builder. And self-confidence is what puts you at the top.

Research this

How come, when somebody robs a bank or commits murder(to be on a more serious note), the news is splashed all across the country and you can read or hear about it for months and sometimes years later. Worse case scenario maybe one or two lives lost, not that I am making any effort to belittle the lose of a single life, only to find reason.
This week I read an article in regards to the potential saving of thousnds (millions) of lives and it was stuck on a back page possibly never to see the light of day again. I am providing you with a link here so that you may read it and perhaps judge for yourselves as to why it may never make it to your local treatment center.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070116/cancer_dca_070116/20070116/


Hopefully there are others who would like to know why this discovery may die in research.

Me in 2002