Waste Mangement

Quick and Dirty

I looked at my toilet the other day, and it has an ink stamp on it, 1.6 gpf. That is 1.6 gallons per flush. I also thought about Sheryl Crow, and her proclamation on earth day that we should all wipe with only one piece of toilet paper:

“I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required.” (link goes to her site where this quote was taken from).

I coupled this with a recent article I read about a toilet paper dispenser from Kimberly-Clark that only releases 5 sheets at a time. What is driving these people to promote cutbacks on basic hygiene products? The reason I thought of this was because the plunger was next to my toilet, and there is a process that goes into effect when using the plunger.

First, the toilet must be used, and a pile left behind. Wipe and flush (1). Even with minimal to no paperwork, the toilet is then clogged. The next thing? Another flush (2) to see if it will go down again. Then what? The plunger comes out and flush (3). Sticking the plunger into the murky depths to coax the load down and into the plumbing line commences. And another flush or two (4-5) to take care of the cloudy remainder and to ensure that the line is working properly, and then a rinse flush (6) to clean the plunger off. What do we have here? 6 flushes? 6 x 1.6 = 9.6 gallons. What if the old 3 gallon flusher was in place? 2 flushes, tops, with no plunger (for a regular load) = 6 gallons. Way to go, environmentalists, I now use more time, flushes, and water with the “water saver” toilet than I would have with the old faithful design.

Liberals have fought to keep the government out of our bedrooms through their abortion debate. Why are these same people so interested in what goes on in our bathrooms?

Catholic Dogged Me (click here for story)

Hypocrisy from a schmuck.

Wow. Pope Benedict says other Christian religions just pretenders, not true faiths. I guess that politics, corruption, and child molestation, then religion should be the order of the day.

I have to be honest about something. 2 1/2 weeks ago, we were by a Catholic church in town. There were people pouring out of church on Saturday evening, and something snapped in my head. My wife was in the car, and I went on a 20 minute tirade about Catholics. But it wasn't for her benefit. I wasn’t even talking to her. I was just bitching to the air...

I just don't like that faith, and it's because of crap like this. The entire faith reminds me of my extended family, and I'm really sick of both. Both the church and the family are arrogant, passive-aggressive, and worst of all, falsely pious. Catholics and my family put on a front for our Lord for about 1 hour a week, if that, then live their lives as they see fit for the next 6 7/8 days, until church again. I'm not saying all Catholics are like that, but I'm willing to bet that the ones coming out of that church on Saturday probably bear more similarities to my description than they do to truly religious people.

I don't know that for a fact, and I could be really wrong about them, but all I have to go on is my upbringing in the Catholic church, and my family around me. These judgments come from the way my extended family behaves. It is as if their participation in religion is just like their participation in a play... they act the part, as long as they think people are watching, then go about their consuming little lives when the focus is off of them.

I guess it just bothers me that I see people who are supposed to be religious (in this case, my extended family) who put on a show for the Lord. I do not see things like humility in them. I don't really see a combination of fear and adoration for God. What I see is people living for themselves, and doing things for themselves. My impressions might be wrong, but as a former Catholic looking in, I don't see a lot of people living for the glory of God, with "good Catholics" being the least of them.

The annual report of charitable nations shows the USA once again at the top of the pile. This is good, but if Catholics claim to be the superior religion, they need to step up to the plate. A good start would be to quit asserting themselves into politics (immigration issues, abortion, death penalty), clean their own house (turn over child molesting priests), and work for the glory of our Lord, not for the Vatican.

I’m not saying I’m perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but people who live in glass "houses of the Lord" should not cast stones.