Evidently, Jon would like to see more snow photos. Well, this is Reader Weekend* so who am I to disappoint him?

But maybe that’s not the kind of snow Jon was looking for, but that is the kind of snow you’ll be seeing if you haven’t switched to digital TV or gotten a convertor by January 2009.

And, while you’re shopping for a new TV, don’t forget to pick up some hazardous mercury-filled CFLs, because Congress and Bush have recently banned the safe ones. You know, the incandescent kind that don’t contain mercury. On the other hand, you could start stocking up on incandescent bulbs before 2012.

Of course, if you do switch to CFLs, be careful to never drop the things! If you do and one breaks, you’ll need to:

1. Open the room and evacuate the area for at least 15 minutes!
2. Wear rubber gloves and carefully pick up the fragments.
3. Don’t use a vacuum cleaner or a broom!
4. Put all the pieces in a plastic bag.
5. Put that plastic bag and all cleanup materials in a second plastic bag.
6. Dispose of properly (see below) and wash your hands.

No, I am not making this stuff up. Read the link if you don’t believe me.

Now, for proper disposal, you have two options.

1) Throw it in the trash.
2) In some areas, you cannot throw it in the trash and may have to take it to a special drop-off center or recycling center. Check your local laws and regulations.

It may be tempting to take the bag and mail it to your Congressman, but that would be a really, really bad idea. Do not do it! Let me repeat that: Do NOT do it! You’ll probably end up in Guantanamo Bay. Mercury is dangerous! It’s perfectly okay to have it in your living room or even in your kitchen near your food**, but, for heaven’s sake, don’t go near a politician with it. They’ll probably think you’re a terrorist!

Instead, wait until you’ve cooled off and write a letter to your Congressman, but be careful not to use too strongly worded a letter. Politicians are big on security since 9/11 and the anthrax attacks. Mind you, it’s their security they’re concerned about, not yours and mine. Write a mildly kooky-sounding letter and they’ll probably have the FBI, CIA and NSA pulling your records and monitoring your phone, but heaven forbid they actually do something like secure our borders, watch for contaminated imports, and important stuff like that.

And thus you can see how an innocent seeming topic like snow can quickly go political…

*No, not really. Er, maybe.

**The bit about mercury being safe around food is sarcasm. You do not want to ingest mercury. Stock up on incandescent bulbs and use them in your kitchen. I wouldn’t use CFLs in there. Wait until LED bulbs come down in price. In the meantime, stock up on incandescent bulbs!

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 at 9:13 pm and is filed under Blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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