What do I do with this?!

We’re all aware that compact fluorescent bulbs save energy and save money. It is less widely known that they should be recycled.

The Home Depot has established a national recycling program for compact fluorescent bulbs, cell phones, and old batteries. I checked it out this afternoon at The Home Depot at 3700 University in West Des Moines, and they make it easy. Just inside the main entrance they keep a cardboard box at the return desk. Place the worn out bulbs in the box, and you’re on your way. The alternative is to drive out to the Metro Waste Authority Regional Collection Center; it’s near Bondurant. See my earlier post. It’s very likely that you will find The Home Depot stores a lot closer to home. They are located all over the Metro. You’ll find some of the the local Home Depots at

• 2335 SE Deleware in Ankeny
• 4900 SE 14th Street in Des Moines
• 5222 NW 62nd in Johnston
• 10850 Plum Drive in Urbandale
• 3700 University Avenue in West Des Moines

The reason that the bulbs should be recycled is that compact fluorescent bulbs sometimes called CFLs contain a small amount of mercury (4 to 5 mg). It would take about 1000 CFLs for enough mercury to weigh as much as a nickel. While that is not a lot of mercury, mercury is toxic and capable of significant environmental harm. As a nation we have been pretty successful in having the money saving, energy efficient CFLs widely used but less successful in recycling them.

A chemist or toxicologist might tell you that mercury (whose chemical symbol is Hg) is a neurotoxin and that the damage accumulates. Mercury is a liquid metal. (Yes, it’s the same stuff that many of us played with when we found it as kids, and that turns out to be not such a good idea.) If the CFLs are discarded in the trash, the mercury will accumulate in the landfill with the potential to enter the air, land, the rivers, and the water supply. It is a lot easier and cheaper to recycle the bulbs now than to clean up the mess in the landfill later. Recycle ‘em.

photos by Jim Lindberg

Apples: Take Your Pick

If you’re looking for something to do this Saturday - and the weather is supposed to be wonderful - head on over to Woodbine, Iowa, for the 20th Annual Applefest. We had the pleasure of meeting three Woodbine residents who were staffing the Main Street Iowa Program booth at the Iowa State Fair. That’s how we found out about this event.

Here’s just a few of the activities, starting with a pancake breakfast at 6:30 a.m. in the REC building.

• Classic Car Show
• Quilt Show
• Tractor Show
• Doll Show
• Merry Brook School & Geneological Society Tours
• Depot & Caboose Tours
• Flea Market
• Craft Show
• Archery 3-D & Fun Shoot
• Children’s Activities
• Apple Bake-Off
• Entertainment

If you like to eat, how about apple pie, cider slush, chicken noodle dinner, onion blossoms, grilled ribeye sandwiches, homemade ice cream, and caramel apples? There will be apple vendors there, too. And there’s NO admission fee. (Flier)

Just for fun, here’s an apple picking guide for Woodbine.

Call 712-647-3434 for more information.

Polling all the people

When you look at political poll results, do you wonder how good the information is? So does the Pew Foundation, and msnbc published an article today citing some interesting results. The Pew study deals directly with the question raised in Around Des Moines on January 8, 2008. Are invisible voters being lost by the political pollsters? an article whose basic question was, “If we don’t poll cell phone users, aren’t we missing the surprising number of young voters who showed up at the Iowa caucuses?” The earlier 2006 Pew study of polling methodology suggested that ignoring cell phone users had “minimal impact” on polling results. The latest Pew results indicated that this is no longer true. Failure to include cell phone users skews the results by several percent. As a group cell phone users tend to be younger, somewhat more aligned with the Democratic Party, have voted a little less in previous elections, and are slightly more committed to vote in this election. Thus, it is no surprise that when cell phone users are omitted, Senator Obama’s support is slightly underestimated. You might want to take a look at both Pew studies linked above.

Would you like a source of continually updated poll results? Try Real Clear Politics. They will give you the

• latest polls
• poll averages
• electoral college breakdown
• individual states including Iowa
• and more links than you would imagine from single page

I know that if you look once, you will look again.

Real Clear Politics does its best to maintain its independent voice in our often polarized political system. RCP receives high praise from knowledgeable people across the political spectrum. In addition to the polls, you will find a variety of links to the best political writers. If you are looking for a single viewpoint, a quick read, or a 30 second sound bite, RCP is not your site. It is more writing and information than you can read and digest quickly, and it is up to the minute.

photo by flickr by graciepoo

Octagon Art Festival in Ames

If you missed the previous 37, you still have a chance to attend the 38th Annual Octagon Art Festival.

• Ames, Iowa
• Sunday, September 28
• 10 am until 5 pm
• downtown in the Ames Main Street Cultural District
• sponsored by the Octagon Center for the Arts
• and it looks like good weather.

Julie Kelly told me about the show. She crafts stained glass birdfeeders, and she’ll be coming down to Ames from Minnesota to display and sell them. We have one of her feeders in our backyard that we bought at the Des Moines ArtFest Midwest.

It’s always fun to go to Ames. While you’re there you could check out Reiman Gardens (the butterfly wing and gardens). The fall hours for the butterfly wing are 9 am to 4:30 daily through the end of the year, and the grounds are always open.

photo by flickr by lizalou42

$700B, Fleece, Herd, and Stampede

Who elected these boys (1, 2) anyway? And why did we do it? Because we were afraid of “liberals” and “big government” and “high taxes?” Are we supposed to think that bailing out the nation’s two largest banks and its largest insurance company is conservative, is little government, and won’t raise your taxes? 

 Well, let’s see here. Tonight we were asked to fund another $700 billion dollar bailout. Your share of this latest one comes to $2,333. That’s also your son’s share, and your daughter’s share, and your grandchild’s share - everyone of them. Ante up, and tell those little kids to do the same. Empty their piggy banks if you have to.

Oh, wait a minute! What are we stampeding to buy this time? Bad debt!? What a great idea. This idea has John McCain so confused that he is returning to Washington to help, and no wonder he is confused. He has been a long-time champion of deregulation. Now he has to leap to another horse as his first steed flies off the cliff. John McCain is so anxious to share his plans with America that he wants to cancel the Friday Presidential debate. Let’s find out how McCain and Obama think under stress.

As of today convincing the public, the Congress, and some wise pundits is not progressing well. The political scene looks more like herding cats; the public is not going along quietly. Wise people are looking at the alternatives.

• Jim Jubak suggests that we slow down long enough to avoid a bigger problem, catch the crooks, and keep the same old foxes out of the henhouse.
• Forbes.com suggests there are better ways to spend $700 billion.
• New York Times suggests a more carefully designed plan.

Still having fun? No? Then vote more carefully next time.

photos by flickr by Mark Sardella, stuckincustoms and mag3737

Dinner time!

 
Make an event that lasts forever. Form an eating club.

I have been part of something called the Man Meal group since the summer of 2003. It was started by a Nebraska boy whose mom fixed the first meal when she came to Iowa to help him settle in his apartment. The menu: steak, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, rolls, and ice cream. Someone said, “That was a real man meal,” and the name of the group was firmly established. Its composition has changed; its menu has changed; its personality has changed; and its reliability has changed. I have eaten steaks, sushi, various moles; curried food; authentic egg rolls; cabbage rolls; and desserts that I cannot name. I have eaten ethnic foods with recipes originating in Mexico, Nebraska, India, Iowa, Burma, Texas, China, Minnesota, Canada, Wisconsin, Japan, South Chicago, Greece, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, and Zimbabwe. In the first year I once had pork chops and gravy prepared by an offensive tackle who had never make gravy before. It was great - no lumps either! (His classmates were surprised.) In the last two years people have taken to showing off, and I have eaten some of the tastiest dishes I have ever sampled. But the best part is the coming together - to laugh, eat, laugh some more, tell stories, eat dessert, laugh again, and go home.

While there are advantages to forming a group in a high-density, ethnically-diverse community like a college campus, you can form a group of any type you want. You can meet as often or as seldom as you like. If you are not sure about the idea, you can try out a meal at your house once and then decide if you want to suggest forming a group. You can have your own ground rules. For example, you could have no cranky people or all cranky people, meet on the weekends or during the week, once a week or once a month, everything made by the host or potluck, all Republicans or no Republicans, with the kids or without, small business owners only or something else, a group with purpose or more of a Seinfield group. We had simple rules: come as you are; anything you fix or buy is just fine; the host does it all; RSVP; no liquor; once a week if it works, but less often works too; take a picture; be part of the hosting cycle, but never let hosting interfere with your primary responsibilities in life.

It’s too easy to get so tied up with scrambling through life that you lose sight of what events are important, and those are the events that bring you together with a community. Think about it. Try it once. If it works, form an eating community.

photos by Jim Lindberg

 

It’s Iowa. Expect the unexpected.

I celebrated a birthday the other night at Bravo Cucina Italiana at Jordan Creek. When the server found out, I got the special treatment - gelato dessert with wafer and candle. The Purple Wren and I might have been drooling a little when two people neither of us knew came up to the table - a young mother and her 3 year old daughter. The mother quietly said that her daughter wanted to say something to me. When the mom said it was OK, the 3 year old began to sing, “Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Dee Dee, Happy Birthday to you.” The gelato was excellent, but the song was better. That’s Iowa for you.

photo by flickr by roboppy

Facing Des Moines: Meet Bomi Mistry

When you meet Bomi Mistry, you will enjoy the encounter. He is very smart, quick, engaging, and genuinely funny. If you meet his mother Mehroo, who goes by Mary, or his wife Louise, or either of his sons, Cyrus or Eric, you will understand that those wonderful qualities run in the family. What a great family!

Bomi’s newest adventure is FUEL - For Body and Mind, a juice bar; it’s located in Suite 210 of the West Glen Town Center across from the Fountain Plaza and close to the Aspen Athletic Club. (map) With the focus on health their yogurt, fruit smoothies, boosts, and supplements appeal to those in training and fitness programs as well as those just looking for healthy snacks (no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners, no HFCS, and no additives). I had a Mango Tango, and I am definitely going back for more.

Bomi was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), a beautiful and wealthy city, the financial heart of India, a coastal city on the Arabian Sea, a sister city to Los Angeles, and at more than 13 million citizens one of the most populous cities in the world. Being born in Bombay gave Bomi a running start at life: outstanding schools; highly competitive environment; expectation of success. In his sophomore year in high school he was chosen for a very competitive Rotary International Scholarship for study abroad. It put him in Williams Lake, British Columbia - from a tropical city of 8 million to a town of 8 thousand near the Rockies, and he said it was a welcome, perhaps even prophetic culture shock.

Later he earned a B.A. in economics from Grinnell College and an M.B.A. from Washington University after which he invested 20 very successful years in the mortgage divisions of Principal, Nationwide, and Citibank. The current mortgage turmoil prompted his new venture at FUEL, in which he is the sole proprietor.

Noting that sometimes parental mistakes have wonderful outcomes, Bomi recalled promising his older son (then in middle school and now in college) that if he made all A’s, a vacation and surfing lessons in California would be the reward. You can guess the outcome of that offer. Every year since, the family has visited beaches in Southern California and Hawaii. It was on those vacations that the Mistry family encountered the great juice bars that provided the inspiration for their current endeavor. Thanks to hard working teenagers, we have Midwesterners surfing on the West Coast and a West Coast juice bar in the Metro. It’s a good exchange!

Bomi continues to be an avid reader. Recent favorites include

• Small Giants by Bo Burlingham
• Sway by Zachary Lazar
• If Today Be Sweet by Thrity Umrigar
• Hindi Bindi Club by Monica Pradhan
• and a continuing reread of The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman.

Treat yourself. Get to know Bomi Mistry, and visit FUEL - For Body and Mind for something healthy. You’ll be glad twice.

photos by Luther Erickson and Jim Lindberg

RTI Presents: ALL MY SONS

The Arthur Miller play, All My Sons, preceded Miller’s Death of a Salesman by two years. It will be presented in September by The Repertory Theater of Iowa. This powerful work is loosely based on a true story and tells the story of two families, the Kellers and the Deevers. During the war, Joe Keller and Steve Deever ran a machine shop which made airplane parts. The firm turned out defective parts, causing the death of many men. While Deever was sent to prison, Keller was acquitted on grounds of “plausible deniability” and went on to become very rich. Dark clouds loom over the catastrophe. This gripping drama examines the morality of a man who places his love of family above his wider responsibility to the men whose lives rely on the integrity of his work.

The show, currently enjoying a Broadway revival, was originally awarded both the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and the Tony Award for Best Play in 1947 and for the first time cemented Arthur Miller’s success as a playwright. It was made into a film in 1948 and later again as a made-for-TV movie in 1986.

For information or to learn more about The Repertory Theater of Iowa, visit us online @ www.dmtheater.com

All My Sons performances: September 4-21, 2008
7:30pm Thursdays – Saturdays
3:00pm Sundays

Performance Location:
Westminster Presbyterian Church, 4114 Allison Avenue
(On the northwest corner of Franklin and Beaver Avenues in Des Moines)

All My Sons tickets:
Sept. 4-7, Sponsored by the Westminster Fine Arts Series
Sept. 11-21, $20 General Admission; $15 Students/Seniors
For Reservations, call the RTI Ticket Line at 515-266-7681 or go to www.IowaTix.com

photos by flickr by fLeMma and son of groucho

submitted by John E. Robinson

2008 Salisbury Automobile Classic II

The 2008 Salisbury Automobile Classic was spectacular! An unusual treat this year was the 1933 Nash in the Salisbury House Courtyard; it is part of the film Public Enemies, with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale scheduled for release in July, 2009. Check out the movie trailer on YouTube and you will catch a glimpse of the Nash.

This 9th Annual Classic included everything from a Model T to a Ferrari, but the featured cars of Billy Durant were the highlight: a Little, a Durant Star Huckster Truck, a Flint Jr., and a series of (Durant) Locomobiles and Chevrolets.

It was a great afternoon to visit with the owners, listen to the music, eat lunch, meet friends and make new ones.

What a great community!

photos by Sandra Renshaw and Jim Lindberg

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