so we have this awkward 6x3 hall area between our foyer and kitchen. when we (and by we, i mean will) pulled up the carpet last year to free the hardwood flooring beneath from captivity - said area was super bizzaro. there is this funky type of particle board looking stuff nailed down. basically, it looks as if every tenant since the house was built in 1920 has just added new layers of flooring upon the old, instead of pulling it up. same in the kitchen. between the three areas, the flooring is off by about a half inch to an inch.
this particle board has nail heads and bits of staple (that have become one with the board) still poking out of it from the carpet years. over the past year, i've stepped on one of these things more than once. owie. infinity. we don't let bebe near it and we keep meaning to do SomethingAboutIt, but... a couple of days ago i took a staple to the heel. it still is smarting like you wouldn't believe. then this morning, when it happened again, i'd said, ENOUGH!
from the basement, i could see that there was a layer of tile under the board. under the tile was another layer of board. then more tile, then the hardwood floor. so i got my trusty hammer and began pulling the board up. the tile was pretty cool - 50's or 60's, i'd say. about halfway through, i noticed the tile was chipping away and had grown brittle.
"hmmmm... i wonder if they used asbestos in floor tile, " thought i. i put down my trusty hammer and went a googling. yup.
i called some dude i found in the book and asked how i could tell if it was. no way to - without having it tested. he asked if the tiles were 9x9.
yes.
he said he thought for certain they most likely were, but that floor tiles containing asbestos didn't cause too much damage. he told me stop where i was. my impromptu diy euphoria melted away into an abyss of fear. asbestos is asbestos, after all. me no like it. now not only am i certain my jaw is going to lock up and i'm going to lose my feet to gangrene due to tetanus - i just know that i'll also be coming down with mesothelioma in 20 years. kidding. kinda. no, really. kidding. *knocking on wood.*
off i went to the hardware store for new floor stuff. when i got home. i went ahead and carefully pulled the rest of the board up after realizing that if i slid a knife under the tiles, they would come up in one piece. the concensus seemed to be that it was such a small amount, it couldn't possibly do harm. i then hepa-filter vacuumed the hell out of it, for good measure. it is all out now - and i just need to figure out how to dispose of it. any ideas?
needless to say, i've spent the last 6 hours trying to put new tiles down. i had no idea it is so tricky. have i mentioned i'm not very handy? resourceful, yes. handy, no. i'll have to finish it tomorrow after work...
and that's that.
a few minutes ago i got an email urging me not to buy gas on the 15th. ?!?!?! the only way that would be remotely effective as a means to force gas companies to lower their prices would be if people stopped buying gas for months, not a day. so people fill up on monday or wednesday instead - how is that even sticking to the man? i'll tell you how. it isn't. at all. say it with me - band aids for cuts that need stitches. we need to use way less gasoline - not take a break for a day. sheesh. i'd even go as far to say that an action such as this would end up hurting the indy gas station owners more than anyone else in the food chain. it would probably be wise to get used to prices like this - the end of cheap oil is very near:
You are beyond wise. You are so smart, you're almost prophetic.
Your inner voice always speaks the truth, and you take the time to listen to it.
You are good at seeing who people are... including the darkness of others.
As a result, you tend to have a rather dark - yet realistic - outlook on life.
A: Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. Coal-burning power plants are the largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide pollution -- they produce 2.5 billion tons every year. Automobiles, the second largest source, create nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually.
Q: Is the earth really getting hotter?
A: Yes. Although local temperatures fluctuate naturally, over the past 50 years the average global temperature has increased at the fastest rate in recorded history. And experts think the trend is accelerating: the 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990. Scientists say that unless we curb global warming emissions, average U.S. temperatures could be 3 to 9 degrees higher by the end of the century.
Q: Are warmer temperatures causing bad things to happen?
A: Global warming is already causing damage in many parts of the United States. In 2002, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon endured their worst wildfire seasons ever. The same year, drought created severe dust storms in Montana, Colorado and Kansas, and floods caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in Texas, Montana and North Dakota. Since the early 1950s, snow accumulation has declined 60 percent and winter seasons have shortened in some areas of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington. Of course, the impacts of global warming are not limited to the United States. In 2003, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1,500 deaths in India. And in what scientists regard as an alarming sign of events to come, the area of the Arctic's perennial polar ice cap is declining at the rate of 9 percent per decade.
Q: Is global warming making hurricanes worse?
A: Global warming doesn't create hurricanes, but it does make them stronger and more dangerous. Because the ocean is getting warmer, tropical storms can pick up more energy and become more powerful. So global warming could turn, say, a category 3 storm into a much more dangerous category 4 storm. In fact, scientists have found that the destructive potential of hurricanes has greatly increased along with ocean temperature over the past 35 years.
Q: Is there really cause for serious concern?
A: Yes. Global warming is a complex phenomenon, and its full-scale impacts are hard to predict far in advance. But each year scientists learn more about how global warming is affecting the planet, and many agree that certain consequences are likely to occur if current trends continue. Among these:
1. Melting glaciers, early snowmelt and severe droughts will cause more dramatic water shortages in the American West.
2. Rising sea levels will lead to coastal flooding on the Eastern seaboard, in Florida, and in other areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico.
3. Warmer sea surface temperatures will fuel more intense hurricanes in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
4. Forests, farms and cities will face troublesome new pests and more mosquito-borne diseases.
5. Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine meadows could drive many plant and animal species to extinction.
Q: Could global warming trigger a sudden catastrophe?
A: Recently, researchers -- and even the U.S. Defense Department -- have investigated the possibility of abrupt climate change, in which gradual global warming triggers a sudden shift in the earth's climate, causing parts of the world to dramatically heat up or cool down in the span of a few years.
Q: What country is the largest source of global warming pollution?
A: The United States. Though Americans make up just 4 percent of the world's population, we produce 25 percent of the carbon dioxide pollution from fossil-fuel burning -- by far the largest share of any country. In fact, the United States emits more carbon dioxide than China, India and Japan, combined. Clearly America ought to take a leadership role in solving the problem. And as the world's top developer of new technologies, we are well positioned to do so -- we already have the know-how.
Q: How can we cut global warming pollution?
A: It's simple: By reducing pollution from vehicles and power plants. Right away, we should put existing technologies for building cleaner cars and more modern electricity generators into widespread use. We can increase our reliance on renewable energy sources such as wind, sun and geothermal. And we can manufacture more efficient appliances and conserve energy.
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