John Tedder's Random Notes

10 Years Since I Quit Smoking

John Tedder — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:26:37 +0000

Yesterday, January 8, 2011 was the 10th anniversary of my quitting smoking. I can’t believe it has been that long.

I wrote a blog post about how I quit two years ago. You can read it here: How to quit smoking today.

I was basically a “cigarette holder” for 30 years. I existed to hold a lit cigarette between my fingers. Today, when I tell smokers the story of my quitting, I describe myself as a degenerate smoker. I was addicted to cigarettes. I smoked whenever and wherever I could. I smoked all the time.

My wife Mary Lynn’s two year quit date is February 1, 2011. We will celebrate Ground Hog day and her quitting anniversary!

If I can quit, you can quit. Good luck.

Prophets of Doom and James Howard Kunstler

John Tedder — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 16:15:49 +0000

I read James Howard Kunstler’s blog every Monday. He believes that the world as we know it and how we live and work is changing due to oil production having reached its peak many years ago. He believes that our car dependent, oil dependent world is running out of oil and that it will cause major disruptions in our society.

He lives in Saratoga Springs, a wonderful small city, about 10 miles west of where I live. Mr. Kunstler appeared on the History Channel January 5, 2011 in a disturbing, thought provoking, two hour documentary called ”Prophets of Doom.” I found out about his appearance on the show because it was on the front page of The Saratogian, a local paper.

He’s written several novels including, “The Long Emergency” and “World Made by Hand” which is set in the Greenwich, New York area where I live.

He appeared with John Cronin, of the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries who claimed that the lack of clean water was the most important crisis facing the planet.

Nate Hagens, a board member of the Post Carbon Insitute, predicted that another financial crisis was the most important problem we face.

Dr. Hugo DeGaris believes that robots in the not too distant future will become smarter than humans and may decide to eliminate mankind.

Another person on the show, ( I didn’t write down his name and I can’t remember it!) said a stolen nuclear weapon or crude bomb fashioned from stolen plutonium was the most serious problem.

I’m sure the History Channel will run it again at some point. It’s worth watching.

My Obama 08 Bumper Sticker

John Tedder — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 17:13:45 +0000

I covered up my Obama 08 bumper sticker today. It has been on the back bumper of my 1997 Honda Accord for several years. I tried to scrape it off with my Swiss army knife, but that wasn’t working very well. It has been baked on I guess through a couple of hot summers and cold eastern New York winters. Duct tape did the trick.

Obama 08 Bumper Sticker

Enough is enough. The latest tax “deal” that President Obama made with the Republicans was too much for me. I can’t take it anymore. I would gladly have had my taxes go up next year instead of having this tax deal passed.

Here is the bumper after covering up the offending sticker:

Photo of taped over bumper sticker

I am going to try and find a Bernie Sanders bumper sticker to put over this. He is the Senator from Vermont who stood up in the Senate for over 8 hours the other day and told the truth about the Obama tax deal with the Republicans.

As Paul Krugman said, “We need a better government than we’ve got.”