Cliffs Riffs - Stuph n Nonsense

Okay, over a year ago I decided to subscribe to National Geographic. When I was a kid we read NG every month and my memories were very good. The magazine was mostly what I remembered. Great stories and great pictures. They spend an awful lot of time reporting environmental stories - makes sense. But after a couple of issues I really began to notice the stink when I unwrapped each edition as it was delivered to the house (it came in a plastic wrapper). Wow - the smell of the NON-SOY ink was overpowering, especially for the first hour or two. Wait a minute - all the eco-friendly stuff I have ever read about ink pointed to soy inks as the answer. Not petroleum based, renewable resource, less toxic, etc. etc. So why is NG using the old stinky, polluting petroleum based ink? Wrote to them. They emailed back that soy ink did not work well for them and they felt it was lessen the visual impact of their pictures. Hmmm, I am supposed to do whatever I can to help the environment and NG is not wi...

I realize this is NOT a Consumers Report-esque blog, but let me tell why I think you ought to skip the purchase of an Orek vacuum. Abour 4 years ago we needed a new vac and Julie had seen all the ads about the Orek - she liked that it was lightweight when she went to a nearby showroom to try one out. We bought one and figured it was doing a good job. Let me mention that we have one cat and one small dog. Our dog is a beagle-mix and is very generous about letting her fine little hairs fall all over - she sheds. We live in a country setting, so it is fairly safe to say that dirt gets tracked into the house. On the other hand, all the kids are gone so the house is home to Julie and I and the cat & dog, not a mob scene by any stretch. Fast forward to two days ago - we decided to use the Orek at our store full time and Julie bought a new vacuum for the house. She spent $170 on a Bissel. The Bissel promotes itself as being "a magnet for pet hair" and is one of those bagless vac...

Boy I hope Hillary gets defeated in TX and OH today and that maybe she will fold up her tent and go home. Do I want her out of the race because she is a woman? Nope. The Clintons had their chance to run the country and we need someone new. I am not ready for another 4 or 8 years with Bill in my grille on a daily basis. She is a powerful, determined woman, but I don't have any problem with that - I just want someone new in the White House, gender notwithstanding.