Posted on April 9, 2010, 6:56 pm, by GrandpaRichard, under
Observation.
We have probably all heard of people who explore caves. Spelunker is the term that refers to a person who explores caves. Well, there are people who explore man-made cave like structures inside cities. Underneath every major city exists many tunnels that are easily large enough for a person to walk through. These are not [...]
Posted on March 17, 2010, 6:02 am, by GrandpaRichard, under
Observation.
Enjoy your green brew. gr
Posted on March 15, 2010, 6:48 am, by GrandpaRichard, under
Observation.
I am an environmentalist at heart. I am not perfect, but I try to do things the right way. A way that helps preserve our environment for future generations. Due to my philosophy, I am encouraged by the new time-of-day billing system for electricity use. Use hydro at peak times, and pay more. Use it [...]
Posted on March 10, 2010, 7:27 am, by GrandpaRichard, under
Observation.
There are, generally speaking, three layers of government here in Canada. Federal, Provincial, and Municipal. How many employees do they all have? 3,650,000 That number by itself does not say anything. How many Canadians are in the labour force? 16,900,000 That means that just a bit more than 1 in every 5 Canadians (21.6%) is [...]
Posted on March 4, 2010, 9:25 pm, by GrandpaRichard, under
Observation.
I really enjoy watching videos like this (featuring the band OK Go), where they set up a very intricate “machine”. I am not sure how to describe it, so just watch. Lots of fun. According to this page at Wikipedia, “The construction took over a month and a half during January and February 2010. The [...]
Posted on January 7, 2010, 7:47 am, by GrandpaRichard, under
Observation.
What happens to the money collected from the new Toronto plastic bag fee? Retailers in the city of Toronto have to collect 5 cents for every plastic bag their customers use. I thought it was a form of tax, used to help with environmental issues. I was very surprised to learn that the retailers get [...]
Posted on December 30, 2009, 9:30 am, by GrandpaRichard, under
Observation.
What is the true cost of getting food from farmland to kitchen tables? In major cities of North America, it seems so easy. I have 2 major grocery stores 2 blocks from my home. I can easily walk to one of them in almost any kind of weather and buy whatever my palate desires. Better [...]
Posted on December 21, 2009, 7:00 am, by GrandpaRichard, under
Observation.
It is actually a bit cool for camping right now (I live in Canada, and there is snow on the ground as I type this) but I saw one of these in the store while I was Christmas shopping yesterday. Yep. A battery operated marshmallow stick! Even handles 3 marshmallows at once. Just does not [...]
Posted on November 22, 2009, 11:42 am, by GrandpaRichard, under
Observation.
I was poking around at amazon.com today and came across the “Most Wished For List“. There are 33 categories, from automotive to electronics to watches and more. One of the categories is Industrial. Come again! People have a most wished for list in the Industrial Category? Okay. So what is on the list? When I [...]
Posted on October 20, 2009, 7:16 am, by GrandpaRichard, under
Observation.
As previously reported, Toronto area drivers tend to pay the highest rates in Ontario. It has now been reported that these insurance rates will be increasing by an average of 14%. Why so high? According to a Toronto Star interview of Leonard Sharman of Co-operators General Insurance Co., “The big cost driver in Ontario, and [...]