So it can keep on going, and going, and going…

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One of the big problems with our energy needs is that the fluctuations require us to build much larger plants to handle the peak demands.  Which means that the plant cannot operate efficiently.  (It is best to have any plant running at the same rate all the time.)   Or,  some have chosen to build a contiguous, smaller facility they can‘rev up’ to handle the peak demands.  The problem with the second, smaller plant- even if it runs on natural gas- is the time it takes the facility to ramp up or down to handle those peak demands.

Continue reading So it can keep on going, and going, and going…

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Straight line thinking?

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We all talk about making schools better.  The problem is that most of that talk does not seem to be translating into results.  So, let me start out saying that I am not an expert in education.  And, my knowledge of education is primarily based upon my own schooling (which went on and on and on…), my teaching, and my involvement with my children’s schools (both public and private, at all levels).  But, as a sentient being, I understand the differences that teachers can make and there are different ways to teach- and they have profound differences.

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Am I losing my mind? (No comments from the peanut gallery!)

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This is not good news.  If this data are valid, it means that our belief that we are “safe” until age 60 (mostly from the Washington State studies) is incorrect- and that mental decline begins at age 45.  So, those brain exercises you were going to start in a few years- better start them now.

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Your brain is smarter than you think- really!

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Dr. Grayden Solman, Allan Cheyne and Daniel Smilek from the University of Waterloo (Canada) published “Found and missed: Failing to recognize a search target despite moving it” in Cognition.  They describe what they term an “unpacking” experience- our ability to search and find an object.  The issue is that while searching for an item, we often have already found the object we seek- we just don’t realize it’s in our grasp. It seems that our various executive functions are all operating at different speeds- and our perception, our ability to coalesce this knowledge, is not able to keep pace.

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Who ya’ gonna call? (That’s the problem- NOT them! Us!)

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I am sure you have seen these ads:  “The IRS claimed I owed $ 200,000, but I settled the deal for only $ 12,000.  You can get the same results if you hire TaxFixersRUs.”   The problem with this ad- it’s factually correct, but, in practice, full of more cow chips than you would find in an active feedlot.

Continue reading Who ya’ gonna call? (That’s the problem- NOT them! Us!)

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