Random Thoughts 4/23/12

• Here's a great little article on how to save the earth for Earth Day (which was yesterday).  In a nutshell: 1) homeschool, 2) don't divorce, 3) support small businesses, 4) encourage hunters, 5) shrink government.  Sounds good to me!  Read the article for a full explanation.
• The construction on our new Sam's Club is progressing quickly.  It's a shame the Best Buy next door is getting closed.  If that Sam's Club had opened a year ago (as rumored), the Best Buy, which otherwise was by itself back there, might have been saved… oh yeah, and if the internet and FedEx hadn't been invented.
• Does your neighborhood recycling program help the environment?  Probably not.  Most recycling programs lose money (this is why you're paying a fee even though you're giving them raw materials), use more energy than they save, and ultimately pollute more than modern landfills do.  Recycling in principle is still desirable and, for some materials, very worthwhile.  But paying to have a big truck drive all over town is not always the perfect solution.
• Best word game on the iPhone right now: SpellTower.  I had the word "zither" for 396 points yesterday, along with an occasional seven letter word.
• The NFL Draft begins this Thursday night.
• Two Royals were getting ready to play when the National Anthem is played.  The one player turns to the other and says, "Man!  We lose every time they play this song!"
• KU lost a potential recruit today to UCLA, which apparently is the Kentucky West campus now.  They now have three of the top 30 recruits (according to Rivals.com), including #1 and #3. 
• The Denver Broncos have become the third team (Bucs and Ravens are the other two) to switch to iPad-based playbooks.  The playbook includes photos and videos, can be constantly updated, and deletes its info if the machine loses connection to the team's servers for too long.  Cool.  The Chiefs are still drawing in the dirt with their fingers.