Oil: The Renewable Resource
It has long since been the conventional wisdom that oil is formed by dead biological material being compressed in a process that takes hundreds of thousands of years. Usually scientific explanations that are intriguing to second graders, like masses of dead Tyrannosaurus Rexes underground, turn out to be inaccurate.
The fact of the matter is that nobody knows for sure where oil comes from. Various theories exist, the most intriguing of which is the Abiotic theory - essentially that there is a biosphere deep underground that generates oil in a renewable fashion.
Clear signs that oil fields are self-renewing are nowhere so apparent as they are at Eugene Island, off the coast of Louisiana. When drilling began in 1979, it was producing its peak output of 15,000 barrels a day. By 1989, this output had waned to only 4000 bpd. Then suddenly, the field began to refill - now producing 13,000 bpd.
It kind of blew me away . . . I believe there is a huge system of oil just migrating [deep underground].
Jean Whelan, a geochemist and senior
researcher from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
[M]ost geologists are hard-pressed to explain why the world’s greatest oil pool, the Middle East, has more than doubled its reserves in the past 20 years, despite half a century of intense exploitation and relatively few new discoveries. It would take a pretty big pile of dead dinosaurs and prehistoric plants to account for the estimated 660 billion barrels of oil in the region, notes Norman Hyne, a professor at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. “Off-the-wall theories often turn out to be right,” he says.
Further Reading: Oil Supply May Be Greater Than Previously Thought, Book: The Deep Hot Biosphere.
Dj Mehdi - Signatune
As I was compiling a list of tracks for this year’s techno collection, I came upon Pete Tong’s Fast Trax show, a series of videos on YouTube. For the most part, his choices are decent, but this video/song combination is about as awesome as taking a nuclear-powered tank back in time and conquering medieval Europe.
This follows in a long line of excellent techno music videos, including Eric Prydz - Call on Me, Uniting Nations - Out of Touch, and Aphex Twin - Windowlicker.
The Frosty Devolution
The Frosty is one of the greatest fast-food desserts on the market today, for only $0.99 you can get a very satisfying ’small’ frosty - and have been able to do so for years. It has long been tradition to get one of these with my meal and put it in the refrigerator when I got home. By the time I finish with my Spicy Chicken Sandwich and Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, I have long since forgotten about the treasure in the freezer. Just when I think I’ve run out of Wendy’s-food-goodness, Surprise!
Recently, Wendy’s added a Vanilla flavored Frosty - a move that has my unequivocal approval. Yet, my wholesale pleasure with the Frosty line of products came to a halt yesterday with the purchase of the latest permutation of the dessert.
Behold, the Fix-n-Mix Vanilla Frosty, the latest in Frosty products from Wendy’s (TM). I pulled up to the window seeing this and thought that I had hit the jackpot. This appeared to be a cross between a Frosty and a Dairy Queen Blizzard - a Frosty with toppings. Potentially Amazing. My expectations were sorely undercut by the actual eating experience. What’s wrong with the Fix-n-Mix?
1. The Advertising Is Misleading
The picture above is essentially the same picture I saw at the drive through. Don’t let it fool you, there are a couple of things you must know. Fact A: displaying ice cream at an angle makes it seem like you are getting more. The size of this dessert is insanely small, especially considering how much you are used to getting for your money when you buy a Frosty. I’d say that it’s roughly 1/4 the size of a regular medium Frosty. Fact B: The toppings are not actually on the desert. What’s this you say? They’re already on the Frosty in the picture! Yeah, well, see my second point:
2. You Have To Do The Work Yourself
Imagine my horror when I was handed a small little cup of frosty with no topping, seconds later to be provided with a separate bag of pre-crushed M&Ms. We live in an era where even McDonald’s will pre-mix your toppings; it seems a little medieval to expect your customers to prepare their own desserts. Suddenly my after-dinner surprise has turned into an after-dinner chore.
There is absolutely no indication that you’re going to have to make your own Frosty dessert, but the “Fix-n-Mix” title is just enough to mock you after you’ve already bought it. They should title it the “You Fix Your Own Frosty, We’re Busy” Dessert. After doing some quick economics, I disdainfully realize that it would be cheaper for me to negotiate with a Wendy’s staff person to mix it for me rather than expend the time to do it myself.
As an aside, I found it amusing that Mars is able to find a market for defectively crushed M&Ms.
3. It’s A Ripoff
OK, so you’re getting 3/4 less Frosty, and you’re mixing your own toppings. How much do you expect to pay for this privilege? $1.39. The same price as a medium Frosty. Sucker.
Criminally Maintained Lawns
It’s becoming increasingly apparent that if you skip out on yard work, you’ll probably end up in jail. Consider the plights of Betty Perry, Nicole Schandera, and David Burch.
Betty, Nicole, and David’s yards, respectively.
As the enforcement officer started writing her a ticket (for failure to water her lawn), she tried going back in her house. That’s when the officer tried to handcuff [the 70 year-old woman] . . . She tripped on the steps, scraping up her nose and elbows, leaving blood on her door, her porch and her clothes. Perry was handcuffed, fingerprinted and put in a jail cell, where she sat for more than an hour.
I mean there’s a little bit of stuff that needs to be done — the grass needs to be cut, we need to get a car out of the yard, . . [s]even months pregnant, (they) handcuffed her, hands behind her back put her in a patrol car with no A/C and the window down, and it was 90 degrees at 2:00 in the afternoon.”
The people who work at the court, at the jail, thought it was funny,” Burch said. “They said there had to be more. I said, ‘No, it’s just because I don’t have grass growing.’ They said, ‘You’re in here for that?’
Apparently, these three were all arrested for violation of various city ordinances requiring you to properly upkeep your yard for sake of surrounding property value - analogous to homeowners association covenants. The above is what happens when you attempt to implement, by force of law, what normal neighbors are capable of bargaining for between themselves.
If there is any compelling need to have people’s lawns be kept, in a free society the solution could be found in tort law. I, your disgruntled neighbor, can sue you for depreciation on my property. Of course, the best remedy I could hope to obtain is a money judgment, as forcing people to keep their property a certain way is disrespect for property rights in the highest order.
Of course, if hearing of Betty, Nicole, and David has motivated you to get out and water the lawn - not so fast. Consider Brian Ross, a man who was recently arrested FOR watering his lawn.
I went to sign the ticket and as I did he threw me against the car and handcuffed me, . . . I was never notified. I never got anything in the mail – nothing . . .
Woe be to those who do not care for their lawns to the satisfaction of the state.
Hit Him Again Launch
I came to the realization recently that I have been spending an inordinate amount of time consuming internet content and negligibly contributing in kind.