Fat is cheap

The Great Outdoors

The family and I recently spent a weekend in the great outdoors camping.

It had been a couple of year's since we had gone, and I had forgotten how great it is.

To get away from the urban sprawl and spend some time in quietness.  Sure there were still noises; bugs, the family talking, the sounds of other people about camping, but there is this overriding peacefulness in the great outdoors.  A deep quiet that surrounds you.

We were at a lake that was just beautiful.  Seeing trees together with their friends was great.  Much better than seeing one poor tree left after the rest have been demolished for the sake of more housing/business space.  Being able to look up at night and see the stars is awesome.  Watching a campfire burn down to embers with Jen was just great.  We didn't have much to say, just being together with no agenda.

It was interesting to note that on the drive out to the lake, we drove along a roadway with breathtaking views.  The roadway was designed with lookouts and picnic areas every few miles.  Most of them were empty.  This was a beautiful Saturday morning/afternoon.  Very few people.  I bet the malls were busy though.  I bet it was hard to find a parking spot.  Especially the new outdoor malls.

As I was driving along I couldn't help but thing, shouldn't these lookouts/picnic areas be packed?  No place to park?  What is going on?

It is easy to lose your appreciate for the great earth that we live in, when you never get out to see it.  Malls, industrial parks and housing developments are taking over.  The sprawl keeps growing.  We live on a fantastic, majestic, awe-inspiring planet called earth.  We desperately need to take better care of it.

Hug a tree and have a good one!

Cell Phones & Driving Phenomenon

Why is it that we have such a hard time driving and talking on a cell phone?  We don't seem to have any problems driving and talking with the other passengers in the car (I realize there are some exceptions to this).

I thought I had seen some really bad driving in my life, until they invented cell phones.  States all over are beginning to outlaw the use of cell phones without a headset will driving.  Makes me wonder...is it going to help?  Is it really the act of holding that magical little device up to your right or left ear that causes us to drive badly?

What if we just drove around holding our right earlobe...would we drive badly?

I have given some thought to this and I have a few possible explanations. 

One is this, because we are talking to someone on the phone, in our subconscious are we trying to visualize the person, what they are wearing, where they are, what they might be doing?  In contrast when we are talking with another passenger we don't have these questions to answer, we know what they look like today, what they are wearing, etc.  I have tried to catch myself doing this visualization, but I forget too.  Maybe because I am using too much brain power.

I thought a way of testing this theory was using someone who has lost one of their senses, like someone blind or deaf...but I quickly realized a blind person wouldn't be driving and a deaf person wouldn't be on the phone.

Another theory is that the cell phone waves actually interfere with the portion of your brain that is designated for driving (I think that is the right front temporal lobe...I don't know.).  By using the headset, we would have the cell phone far enough from our brain that the cellular waves would not interfere...unless it is a Bluetooth headset, in which case, Bluetooth waves don't interfere with that portion of your brain.  Bluetooth headsets only appear to effect the portion of your brain that controls ego.

My third and final theory (thankfully) is that the mechanics of holding your right arm up "shorts out" the portion of your brain used for driving.  Or maybe the placement of the arm reminds us of early childhood with our blankey and our thumb in our mouth and we subconsciously believe we are still a child and to young to drive...so we don't.

Whatever the case I am sure some brilliant scientist's will figure it all out soon and lay to rest these fantastic theories.

What is your theory?  Have a good one!

PS: I will be disconnected for the next couple of days.  I hope to see you on Thursday.