August 13, 2010

Bottling our tap water to make a profit.

There was an article in the August 10, 2000 Arizona Republic that Niagara will be building a new plant in Phoenix. This will be their 9th bottling and distribution facility that will run 24/7/365. It is estimated that it will bottle over 100 million gallons per year, almost 3 acre feet of water. After seeing the picture of Lake Mead in the paper last week at its lowest level in 54 years, do we really want someone opening up this type of business in Phoenix? We are as closer to water rationing that I have ever seen in my lifetime.

I remember the days when every business, church or school had a water fountain and we used them. The bank I go to almost every day originally had a water fountain in the lobby where you could get a drink. Several years ago they remodeled the bank and the water fountain came out. Now they have the 5 gallon bottle dispenser, which works most of the time unless it is out of water or cups or both.

I am the guy who doesn't trust water he can't taste. I very rarely buy a bottle of water. In our office we have water bottles for customers but I usually drink from the water fountain or fill up my reusable bottle from it. The city of Phoenix bills water usage by unit of 748 gallons. The smmer months are billed at $3.51 per unit. or .00469 per gallon. I was really thirsty last week and bought a liter bottle of water, it cost about $1.50. So I can give the city $1.50 and get about 350 gallons of water or get a liter of water in a nice plastic one use bottle for about the same cost. Is it really worth it?????

August 10, 2010

School Is Back In Session!

Most school districts in the Phoenix area have reopened even though it is just the beginning of August. Be careful, watch the school zones and obey the speed limit. We don't want anyone to get hurt.

Parents, don't forget that you are your child's first and best teacher. They learn so much from you even before they set foot inside a classroom. Turn off the TV and read a book. Teach them that it is fun to learn. The curious child is the one who learns not just to pass the test, but because he wants to. He enjoys learning how things work and what makes them tick. The student who only learns because he has to pass the test, will most likely forget the information.

Take the time to find out what your child is studying. Show them that you are interested in what they are learning. Keep in touch with his or her teacher. The teachers job is to give information to the children's job is to absorb and learn it. Some children are like sponges and take everything in. Others are like concrete, the information is poured out to them, they don't absorb it. wouldn't it be great if we could just pour the information into their heads, but it doesn't work that way.
For a student to succeed it requires cooperation of the parent, child, teacher and school. If this cooperation isn't there, even the brightest and most curious student can fail.

My wife teaches in a local high school and I have spent time in her classrooms talking to the students about the world they are going out into. How business and the financial system works, and some of what they will need to become successful once they graduate. What I find interesting is that in that 30 or 40 minutes I am in front of the students I am answering questions they have, and also asking questions of them. The ironic part is how easy it is to pick the students who are there because they want to be, and those who are just putting in "seat time" until they can graduate or decide to quit school.