We don't need no noise pollution.

THEY...whomever they may be are drilling a gas well just a few hundred feet from my home. THEY started last Wednesday and a week later the incessant hum of the diesel engines and the grinding sounds of the drill are still keeping me awake at night. Yes, I said at night because this is a 24/7 operation. From what I have read, although it seems to me like THEY are drilling the infamous hole to China...THEY usually drill about 9,000 feet into the earth. To provide some perspective that is about the depth of the Grand Canyon. The goal is to reach the shale line and remove the natural gas (methane). In order to extract the fuel from the rock THEY force water laced with chemicals into the hole to break up the shale. This procedure, called fracking releases the gas. 

The noise pollution and air pollution (diesel fumes) are obvious issues but it seems that there is still some debate over the water pollution issue. Really? Last time I checked my water wasn't flammable....I hope it stays that way. 

In elementary school we learned about the layers of the earth. Some are solid, some are gas and some are liquid. I'm thinking those layers exist for a reason and serve a purpose. If we are siphoning gas from the earth are we removing a vital layer? Is it possible that we are causing an environmental imbalance beneath the earth's surface? Is this what is causing the rise in earthquakes? Does anyone really know? 


Some say the drilling enables jobs, progress and sustainability. I believe it does but I can't help feeling like we are raping the earth. Is this the best way to solve our energy problems? How will this affect the earth and our environment over the next 50 years and finally, how can I silence the sinister voice in my head that keeps whispering GREED over and over again.

Quite possibly the most delicious sandwich ever.

If you haven't ever... you should make it your mission to eat a Primanti's Sandwich!

Primanti Brothers, founded in 1933, is a chain of sandwich shops found throughout Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and its suburbs, with two locations in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

These sandwiches stuff sizzling meat, melted cheese, tangy coleslaw, tomato slices, and handcut french fries between two thick pieces of Italian bread.

This sandwich was born to feed the steel and blue collar workers who needed a hot, fast meal mid-shift to keep them going for the rest of the day. I just ate half a philly steak and it was deliciously satisfying.

Although most people agree that this sandwich is 'da bomb' consensus can never be reached on just why this is so. Some are convinced it is the fresh italian bread, others argue its the tangy but sweet slaw, and still others insist its the fries.

Whatever it is...it's a favorite and it even made Patricia Schultz's list of "1,000 Places to See Before You Die in the USA and Canada".

Add it to your list, I guarantee you will not regret it!
http://primantibros.com/home.html

TWIMO...

The World Is My Oyster (TWIMO).... does that sound pompous or optimistic to you?

Shakespeare coined this phrase in the Merry Wives of Windsor Act 2 Scene 2, 2-5 When Sir Falstaff refused to lend Pistol a penny-

FALSTAFF

I will not lend thee a penny.

PISTOL 
Why then, the world's mine oyster,
Which I with sword will open.

I will retort the sum in equipage.

Because both of these characters were obnoxious braggarts the phrase according to enotes.com has become "merely a conceited proclamation of opportunity."

At the risk of sounding snarky, I will disagree with enotes.com. I think it sounds optimistic, hopeful, and positive. The negatrons around me joke that I live on a big puffy white cloud and argue that my glass cannot possibly be that full...but it is.

Blame it on my upbringing. My father, an entrepreneur, listened to Zig Ziglar and motivational tapes almost religiously and consequently so did I.

Here are a few Zig classics....

• Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.
• If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost.
• If you don't see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.
• Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.

I am thankful that this positive brainwashing and according to the Michael J. Fox special "Adventures of an Incurable Optimist", my genes, secured my mostly optimistic attitude. I am happy with my puffy white cloud, my glass half-full, and my anti-depressant less medicine cabinet. TWIMO!!!

“The world was my oyster but I used the wrong fork - Oscar Wilde”