Category: Useful Things

Same Water, Just More Plastic

I learned another reason not to drink bottled water.

A few years ago, both Sally and Alexis taught me to rethink how I look at buying water encased in plastic when we live in a place with perfect water flowing from our taps.

Since then I’ve noted some places where bottled water makes sense: on a plane, at Fenway Park, at a concert.  Generally places where it would be difficult to bring and/or refill your own bottle with good cold water.

But on this day I saw what has to be the worst scenario for bottled water.   I was at my gym when the truck pulled up, delivering case after case of plastic bottles of water, each one designed to be used once and recycled (at best) or thrown away.

This time, I learned exactly where the water came from, from the company name on the truck.  It was bottled a half a mile away, using the exact same water source (our town water) that was in the cold bubbler next to the cooler holding the bottles!

And all this give me another idea… see the next post.

What did you think it meant?

Sally learned this:

“Op-ed does not mean “opinion-editorial” – it literally means it’s opposite the editorial page!”

She pointed out that Wikipedia says:
“An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page (though often mistaken for opinion-editorial), is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper’s editorial board. These are different from editorials, which are usually unsigned and written by editorial board members.”

Pick up the phone!

I have learned, much more than once, that if you have bad news for work customers, make a phone call! If you don’t reach you person, just keep playing phone tag until you connect.

An email just has way too much potential to be misinterpreted, forwarded, both.

You might think it’s the other way around (I did!), but with a call you get to hear the questions and concerns, and address them on the spot.

I am also learning not to kick myself (for very long) when I get it wrong and have to learn something again (and again).

Rock My World

Today I learned about this cool USGS website that lets you see all reported earthquake activity in real time AND lets you report what you feel – no not emotionally, just earthquake-wise – via a page called “Did You Feel It?”

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/

As a bonus, I learned the word “conterminous” for what you usually hear as “contiguous”.  Extra JanesLessonsLearned bonus points (redeemable soon for JanesLessonsLearned merchandise) if you post here that you used this new word in a sentence and referenced where you learned it!

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conterminous

Leaning away from this idea in the future…

I learned that it’s a good idea to freeze water in a plastic water bottle for a hike on a hot day but it’s a bad idea to freeze water in a metal water bottle!

The ice in the plastic bottle just expanded upwards.

The ice in the metal bottle expanded downwards, rounding out the bottom of the bottle!

Here is the illustration of the resulting problem:

Unintended Consequences: Free Movies

I learned about free movie streaming from Amazon and I learned it from Netflix!

Netflix started this all, when it raised its prices dramatically, splitting streaming from DVD.  That did it for me, as we weren’t using it enough to justify the new price and I cancelled Netflix.

I was happy to complete the “exit interview” the why-are-you-leaving survey, because I wanted Netflix to know that the price increase drove me away.  There were questions about how I will watch movies now, and “free movies from Amazon Prime” was one of the options.  What?  I’ve subscribed to Amazon Prime for years – the free shipping pays for the membership many times over at my house.

It turns out that Amazon Prime offers 5000 movies and TV shows, as part of something I already pay for.  Score!

Thanks, Netflix!