Dung Beetles...

I will say that the only other time I have seen these quite large beetles has been on the discovery channel.  Well, just on the way to the bathroom the other day I saw one of those marvelous insects.

Very similar looking dung beetle that I encountered...

Just to give you a quick run down on what they are or what they look like.  Well, they look like your typical black beetle, but larger.  The one I saw was approximately 1.5" in length and was in the process of rolling a dung ball, where it got this dung I have no clue, but I will let him keep that source to himself, though I have some ideas.  The dung ball was approximately 3" across, so it was an eye opener when I saw the beetle rolling this huge ball of dung, which I might add, was darn near a perfect sphere. 

So, back to this beetle, which was at its end of the road, or this hole in the ground to be more exact.  The hole was only maybe an inch across at maximum.  So, I stood there looking at this beetle, the dung ball and the hole scratching my head to attempt to figure out how this guy was going to get his new dung ball down into his house. Like I said, this was on the way to the bathroom, so by this time I was desperate and did my business and then came back out to see everything gone.

Now, I know the beetle wasn't that fast at getting the ball down into the hole.  What I do know, the hole was near a high foot traffic area for soldiers and civilians a like.  I'm sure somebody saw the ball and kicked it. Sending the beetle on a wild goose chase, or wild beetle chase, to retrieve his dung.  I will never know, but I will say this, it was one of the most intriguing things I have ever seen up close and personal.

Apparently my time management skills SUCK!

Ok, so I never said I was going to be the next blog guru of this century and have everybody and their parents tracking on me and my next witty blog.  However, I did think I could provide more than a lousy three blogs. It's not like I have a lack of time, quite the opposite!  I have too much time.  So, I think I can start over, take a mulligan, go to start and not collect $200, what I am saying is that I want to give it another shot.

So, with that said...life has shifted, I mean, being green is still on my priority, but what's the use of being green when you are stuck in a place that lacks the very color.  I know, not what green means? I'll shift to other topics rather than staying with one.  Maybe then I'll have the ability to stay the course and stick it out with this blog. A little boring poetic paragraph from time to time can't be all the difficult.  Definitely when I usually have lots to talk about.  Just ask anybody that has ever worked with me, or for that matter, around me.  You don't need to know me to know that I enjoy talking.  So, this blogging is just the same, not sure how I found myself to be such the procrastinator.  Anyway, on that note...blog away or I should say for my readers of zero, read away...

Repurposing

I know you think really long and hard when it comes to throwing something out, or maybe not, maybe you are one that doesn't care about where the item goes, whether it be a landfill or somewhere else other than your living room, You are just hoping to drag it down to the curb in hopes the garbage man takes it. Out of sight out of mind is your motto. Take a sofa for instance, if it has truly seen its last minutes on earth in your living room, then why not break it down into the individual components that make up the sofa in the first place. You'll be amazed when you get the pliers, hammer scissors and maybe the saw out to start taking the sofa apart. You will quickly realize that all the sofa really needed was a spruce up. New cushions, upholstery, and I don't know maybe new feet to stand on. If you don't want to go down the route of possibly giving it a new life and re-upholstery the sofa then you could also bust it down to the individual components of wood, cloth or leather and metal. That's it, not much more goes into the making of a sofa. I'm sure you can take the wood and burn it for heat, or make something else out of it. Take the metal down to your local recycle business, unless you have a creative side, then your imagination is your limit. The last thing you are left with is the fabric, which can definitely be reused again, whether it's you reusing it or somebody else. Call around and maybe the fabric can be recycled. I know, I here you, that is a lot of work. It's a lot easier to just drag it down to the curb and say hasta la vista baby! Never to see it again. If you can imagine if nobody does anything, it takes the ride down to the landfill and then sits for hundreds of years, not really sure if it can actually break down because of how they make landfills, so the chemicals and bio hazards don't make it into Earth and the environment. I can go on forever, but why not take a couple hours and do the right thing. Is it that much of a time waster to deconstruct and recycle. You make the call, but you know what you should do. Take the time to think about what the right thing is.

Maybe on my next blog I will explain the process that goes into the making of a landfill and how they are actually constructed to protect the environment and prevent the process of boiodegrading. Yes, I will have some links for you. Until next time, be green! Doesn't mean consume every last minute being green, baby steps because every little bit counts.

Beginning to Think Green!

Green?
What do you think when somebody says green? Not too long ago, I took it for face value, the color green, money, grass etc. Since the latest trend "Earth Conservation", has taken over the television, gas pump, heating and cooling bills, and both presidential campaigns, I've decided that it would be the easiest subject to speak about for my blog project. Cable television has this one station dedicated to the "Green Movement" called Planet Green. It's still in its infancy stage, so what shows are currently airing, repeat often. I think they are up to like 8 shows that will only kick off many more in the near future.

I believe it is important that we all at least try and do something that is more conserving, green thinking, whether that is recycling, or composting, or driving less. The list goes on. Since I've started watching the new channel, I've had lots of creative juices flowing through my brain and I want to do so much. Some of the things cost relatively nothing to implement, but others quite a lot. For instance I would love to just go right out to the nearest vendor of PV systems and stack a few on my roof, or put up a huge boom with a propeller on top for wind energy, but I think my city's covenants would have something to say about it.

To give you something to think about, How can one start being more green? It's very general, but I will go into smaller more baby step options on my next post.

Going to test my time management and commitment skills

Day 1 - June 30th, 2008. This will be day one, and I will end on July 30th, 2008, unless this experiment becomes excessive and start to enjoy the virtual time spent on this blog. We'll see!

Working full-time, in school full-time, and full-time family with one heck of a schedule. I'm trying on an experiment for both myself and school to see if I can blog for at least 20-30 minutes daily and I do mean daily for 1 month. I have a full schedule, but if you can find it in my life to somehow get 20-30 minutes and just write about anything, from becoming more of a green person, to the nasty storm about to roll through here this evening to possibly taking on new challenges from diets, to exercise regimes to going back to school after 7 years. The sky's the limit, and it's not that hard to find the time in today's world of excessive everything. Even when I think that I have no more time to give to something so wasteful as a blog spot I will prove otherwise. I wish myself good luck. Now I should get back to my schoolwork.