Responsibility

People who write for magazines, newspapers, TV and any serious media (not the tabloids) have a responsibility to be correct and accurate. This unfortunately rarely happens. I just was flipping through a copy of the AAA magazine named "Going Places". The editor-in-chief, of all people, wrote a short article on the "stories" she had heard about he equator. A couple of these stories were that water will go down the drain clockwise or counter-clockwise depending on which side of the equator you stand on. The other was about standing an egg on end at the equator.

She says that she tested these ideas at the equator. Good. She tested the myths. But she didn't really. She was tricked and applied no critical thinking or scientific testing. So, she wrote an article saying that these myths are true, which they are not. While it is good that she tested (or thinks she did) these ideas, it's too bad she didn't have the thinking ability to go one step further.

Being the editor, who is going to question her? If one of her writers did this would she question it? When I read something in a magazine, or newspaper, or see it on TV that is so wrong, should I trust anything else by these people? This just happened to be something I knew about. What about all of the things I don't know about. Do I have to research everything I read? Maybe I do. And maybe everyone should question what they read. No, not maybe, absolutely!

Another birthday - Old As Dirt?

- A little science and reflection.

So, how old is dirt?

I wanted to know. After all if I was going to be thought of as being older than dirt I wanted to know how old that was.

First of all, Earth didn’t start off with dirt. Earth started off with rock. Everything melted and solidified as rock. No dirt. So, dirt is not 4.5 billion years old as the age of the Earth is thought to be.

To start with we need to understand just what dirt is. One definition I found says, “Dirt is another name for soil. Soil is a natural, constantly-changing substance that is made up of minerals, organic materials, and living organisms.” So, dirt can’t be that old. It is constantly being renewed.

For the first dirt to come into existence there had to be rock, then organic material which means that here had to be living things. But what about the stuff on the moon or Mars where no organic material exists? This fine powdery stuff isn’t like Earth’s soil. It is basically ground rock. The rock on these places was ground up by impacts. Things falling in from space at high rates of speed broke up the rock over and over again until it was pulverized into a fine powder. That process was going on as the planets formed, so as soon as the planet was cool enough to stop melting the minerals the “dirt” started to accumulate. That “dirt” is about 4.5 billion years old.

But when saying “older than dirt” we are talking about Earth’s dirt. That’s different stuff. True, impacts had a part in making Earth dirt, but Earth has weathering processes, glaciers, and plate tectonics, volcanoes and earthquakes, things that change the surface dramatically. The original dirt was remixed, reheated and compressed and made into new rocks. Our dirt isn’t as old as Mars’ dirt. And I’m not a Martian (I don’t think) so my dirt isn’t as old.

Even Earth’s rocks aren’t that old. The rocks constantly go through changes from heat and pressure. Really old rocks are hard to find. The oldest rock found supposedly is a zircon crystal dated to 4.4 billion years found in Australia. Pretty rare. Most rocks just aren’t that old.

Dirt or soil is being made new everyday. Just like humans are new every day. So, yeah, I’m old as dirt. And so are you. So there!.

....and, for the picky, I know, it's not "dirt" without organic matter, so, no, the stuff on Mars is not technically dirt.

Did z's get expensive?

I have to admit that I've never been a wiz with the English language. It's not logical. It has too many rules with exceptions. There are too many words that sound the same, spelled different; sound different, spelled the same; spelled the same, sound the same, different meaning.....

About a year ago I started seeing "learnt" in publications in place of "learned". That was just plain bad English to me. Learnt was the backwoods hillbilly way of saying learned - because they weren't. But now this is acceptable?

A couple of months ago I started seeing the demise of the "z". What's going on here? Words like visualization are now spelled visualisation. Capitolization is now capitolisation. All of the -zation words are now -sation. Who decided that? Did I miss the memo? My students can't spell anything or put a sentance together. Are we letting them redefine the language? Why have I put all that work and suffering into trying to get it right when the rules keep changing?

Wacky prices, or is it just me?

Lowe's and I don't get a long very well, but I do go there because its the most convenient place for me to get some things I need. Sometimes the prices they have on things make no sense. And I don't really expect any understanding from Lowe's employees, but I bring these to their attention just to aggravate myself. A while ago I needed a strip of steel. The price at the display seemed reasonable as I compared my options. When I got to the checkout the piece I had was about $2.00 more than the price at the display. I mentioned that there was a discrepancy and the response was "Do you want it or not?" That's about how I expected things to go. (remember customer service?)

Just today I needed to buy a quantity of screw hooks for a project I'm doing with my students. Buying things like this in bulk at Lowe's I knew would be a challenge. I did manage to find packages with more than their typical 3 or 4 per package. The size I needed was a #12. These came as 12 pieces per package for $5.27. Right next to the ones I needed were a #10 screw hook. These are larger - keep that in mind. These came as a package of 25 for $3.97. OK. So, I can get a much larger one in greater quantity for much less. Here's how it works out. Larger for .16 each or smaller for .44 each.

I took one package of each to the service desk to question this. Maybe they were marked wrong. I never did get to talk to someone at the service desk. They were busy trying to figure out someone else's confusion. A cashier asked if she could help (no), but I explained anyway. She scanned the packages and confirmed that the prices were right. So, I proceeded to try to explain that the prices made no sense. So, she called hardware, who, also being clueless, confirmed that that was the price. So, at this point I simply wanted someone to agree that these prices didn't make sense. But, the cashier could only say "But they are different sizes, so the price will be different". I agree. But not different the way they had them. So, I'll just go back some other time after a new shippment comes in and the prices are all different again. Maybe they will be right then. Actually, I'm just going to buy them somewhere else.

Gas Prices

This is not about the high price of gas - that got cheaper - and is now going back up despite the still lowering crude oil prices. Nope, not about that. It's about 9/10 of a cent. This one has bothered me forever. How can anyone charge a price at a rate that can not be paid? If I offered something for sale at some fraction of a price each, I'm sure I would eventually have to answer to some government official. It's true, when you buy in bulk, lots of small cheap things, the price each might be some fraction of a cent. Maybe a dozen for 10 cents. I get that. But gas? Have you never bought 1 gallon? Or just 2 1/2 gallons for your lawn mower? At $1.999 per gallon your price is $5.997. You are charged $6.00. Big deal, you lost 3/10 of a cent. How much extra does a gas company make over millions of gallons sold? Would they miss that 1/10 of a cent? I bet they would. Did you ever buy exactly 1 gallon? What is the price you pay? Is it legal for them to cheat you out of that 1/10 cent every time?

How many prices end in .99? And the gas companies have found a way to add just one more. I wish I could invest in the number nine. Buy this new car for under $20,000, yes only $19,999.99! You save a penny! What a deal! Would you buy the same car from the guy next door who is not trying to trick you for $20,000? Enough of the nines!

Let's get REAL!

Why are the US industries in trouble? Beside all those obvious reasons, manufacturers obviously don't care about the consumer. Or thinks we are stupid (maybe they have that right). Here's the evidence.

Look at the serving size on any package. The serving size is adjusted to make the nutrition information look better. Don't think so? Let's start with microwave popcorn. The serving size is 3. As far as I'm concerned one bag is 1 serving! OK, maybe I'm a pig. Let's look at some more. Take a look at ice cream. Many claim a serving to be 1/2 cup, but some of the diet ones call a serving 1/4 cup! Why bother. It just makes you want more. Potato chips, serving size 8. These better be big chips!

Another big problem with American manufactured goods (correction Chinese manufactured goods sold by American companies) is the packaging. When is the last time you bought something that you could open the package? Blister packs are the worst. If you can get these open with out a sharp tool and manage to do it without cutting yourself or destroying the contents then it took you a long time to open it. Even the plain old cardboard packaging has fallen victim to the packaging designers. Some are just glued shut so tight that ripping it to shreds is the only way in. Some have "handy" perforations which don't work. Then there is the "child proof" packaging that only a child can figure out how to open.

Packaging is way over done in the US. We really don't need a shrink wrap over a paste board box, over a corrugated box, over a paper wrapping to finally get to a bar of soap. Or a large fancy box with a tiny little item inside. Back in the early days of colonial America Europeans were amazed at how Americans boxed everything in wooden boxes. We had resources to waste, so we did. We never got out of the habit.

And then there is all the stupid, lie filled advertising. . . . . One advertiser actually said "If it wasn't true, we couldn't put it on television". Really? Do they think we are THAT stupid? Are we?

Fun at work

At the community college where I teach there is an internal email system. Apparently they purge some student email addresses between semesters. I'm not sure why. Enrolled students have to reestablish there email when the new semester starts. Now and then they also delete faculty email also. At the beginning of this last semester (fall) they deleted our department chair's email. They have now deleted mine. This happened last year at this time also. Computer service really prefers that you email them with any problems. Problem is, my email IS the problem. I tried calling but it is very rare for anyone at computer services to answer the phone. So, I left a message. Their phone message said to leave a message and they would call me back. Even if they try they won't get me because my phone doesn't work (see previous post). I guess this sort of craziness should be funny. Somehow it's not.

Phone Company

I have Frontier Communications as my local phone company. There are occasional phone problems, but they usually resolve themselves in a day or two. 5 days ago I called to report a problem that has gone on for over 2 weeks. Currently on incoming calls the phone does not ring at all or there is a half ring. Even with the half ring when the phone is picked up most likely there will be a dial tone, not a person.

I called today to check with Frontier on the progress resolving this problem. After a 20 minute wait I finally got someone. They have no record of me calling to report a problem. So, now I can wait a few more days and call again to see if they bothered to work on it. This is the second time I've had this problem with Frontier. It seems that they ignore problems on the first report. Maybe they think it will just go away.