Bumper Stickers

The other day in Tom’s parking lot 8 out of 14 cars had bumpers stickers and several had 3 or 4. I have to admit that a few of them caused me to stop for a second read:

• Plug the oil leak with Wall Street bankers.
• Yoga is for posers.
• What if the hokey, pokey really is what it’s all about?

I’ve never understood the need to put stickers on a car. Do people actually change their opinions after reading a bumper sticker? Have you ever heard a story that goes like this – “My life was such a mess and then I saw the ‘Oh Evolve’ bumper sticker and my life was changed forever”? Sure, they’re good for a smile now and then but I read there is potentially a more sinister side.

According to a recent article in the NY Times Sunday Magazine, “…drivers who put bumper stickers on their car are 16% more likely to engage in road rage.” I’m not sure if there is a relationship between “road rage” and your everyday “We’re mad as hell.” rage. But I’m starting to wonder, since we seem to be a bumper sticker place, if bumper stickers are somehow related to the “rage” over whatever happens to be the current Village issue. Would the dog park and fluoride debates have been more congenial if we outlawed bumper stickers?

It definitely warrants further study. In the meantime, be very careful in Tom’s parking lot, we don’t want to upset the bumper sticker people.

A. Reader

Home of the super collider..?

Last week scientists from around the world were applauding the success, finally, of the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider. Building the 19 mile underground circuit near Geneva was an international project involving 30+ countries and 150 or so universities. Essentially, this is a research project designed to race really small things around the circuit in opposite directions and see what comes out in the debris when they smash together.

I don’t understand why this is such a big deal. We do this all the time in Yellow Springs. Take any issue, drop it in the middle of town, two sides will soon emerge, race around in opposite directions and very quickly collide at a Village Council meeting for everyone to see on Channel 5.

The super collider in Geneva smashes really small things. We can do that! The dog park was small, so was the left turn lane – how small does it have to be in order to attract some of those research dollars?

A. Reader

Rain barrels and water conservation

My neighbor was setting up rain barrels this week so I wandered over to see what was involved - as it turns out, not much. He had two barrels up and ready to go in about 30 minutes. And all the while, he was giving me the sales pitch about how much water he was saving, why it was a good conservation move and how just a few years ago in some western states, it was illegal to use rain barrels. Something to do with down stream water rights - gives you an idea how the lack of water could lead to major disputes between neighbors. On the other side of the “water harvesting” issue, some states and cities give tax credits to encourage using rain barrels as a way to limit rain water run off to the sewer system and reduce peak water demands in the summer.

There is a formula, using the square footage of the roof area, to figure out the number of gallons of run off for any specified level of rain fall. The basic idea is that one inch of rain on a 1000 sq. ft. roof yields about 600 gallons of water – that’s a lot of free water.

Rain barrels come in all different sizes and shapes – you can buy them ready to use or you can build your own and pretty is not a requirement. My neighbor told me that last year he used about 650 gallons of rain water for his gardens, newly planted trees, potted plants, washing the car and a variety of other clean up chores. Can you drink it? Not recommended but you could use it to flush a toilet if the water was off for some reason. Check the internet for more information.

For a Village that wants to be green and a model of conservation, maybe we should see more rain barrels in use this year.

A. Reader

Tea for who?

“We’re having a tea party Sunday afternoon, we hope you can join us.”

Remember when “tea party” brought back memories of children having fun playing with friends around a small table sipping make believe tea from tiny cups and saucers? Or perhaps “tea party” conjures up images of Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot sitting in the lobby of a fancy hotel daintily sipping tea while trying to unravel their latest mystery. And I’m sure many of your have read stories or traveled to places like England, India, Japan or Botswana (to name just a few) where taking tea with friends is one of life’s great pleasures. Ahh those were the good ol’ days.

Of all the party names we know (Amway Party, Tupperware Party, Bachelor Party, Super Bowl Party, Beer Party, Office Party, Graduation Party, Dance Party, etc.), why did the current political protest have to pick “tea party.” I know it’s supposed to somehow be related to the Boston Tea Party and taxation without representation, but don’t we all have representation now? We may not like what our representatives do in all cases, but the majority of voting folks did elect them to serve – I think that has something to do with the democratic process.

I don’t want to argue the politics of the current media frenzy; I just want them to change the name so we can return “tea party” to its rightful place in our lexicon. Maybe we can try the AMWAY Party – Always Mad With All of You. Or perhaps the BEER Party – Better Even if Everyone Revolts.

Would you please pass the biscuits?

A. Reader

P.S. Click here for instructions on how to have a real tea party.