Blue Bell Is Back -- November 2, 2015; When It Comes To Global Warming, No One Is Paying Attention

The folks in north Texas have been anticipating this news for several weeks now: Blue Bell ice cream returning to north Texas.

My wife had me go to the store next door -- Minyard's, formerly Tom Thumb -- to pick up one gallon, or whatever size they come in. David, from Blue Bell, was in the process of moving buckets of the ice cream from his pallet to the freezer, as I walked in. It looks like I was the second person to have picked up a bucket of Blue Bell today from this particular store. When I went to pay, there was one other person ahead of me. She, too, had come just for the Blue Bell.

After dropping it off at home, I rode down to Target, about five blocks away to see if they were stocking Blue Bell. Nope.

Back on the bike, and over to Albertson's to see if they had Blue Bell. Yes, they did, and there were several people in line with their ice cream purchases. Since I was there I bought a pack of 12 little "dixie" cups, half vanilla, half chocolate. I figure if we don't have room in our little freezer, I can find someone in the apartment complex who would like them.

Wow, what a great country! For the past several weeks, much of the talk in this part of the country has been the return of Blue Bell as of November 2, 2015. And right on schedule, it shows up. I asked David, the Blue Bell employee mentioned above, if he's been able to find work all this time that Blue Bell was not supplying ice cream to its customers. He said that he had been working. He was, in fact, from Tennessee, and had been "called" in to help Blue Bell ramp up in Texas.

And yes, the answer to your question is a resounding yes. He has three coolers packed with dry ice to take his own Blue Bell back to his family in Tennessee.

I also asked him why he lives in Tennessee.

All My Ex's Live In Texas, George Strait   Just joking....his accent told me he was a Tennessee native. No accent here in north Texas.

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Your Next Home: 89 Square Feet

The Climate Issue: The National Geographic

This tells me that no one is paying attention when it comes to global warming. The screen shot below is from page 20 of this month's issue of The National Geographic. It reads like something out of the Harvard Lampoon, or even The Onion. In fact, the latter could simply re-produce it in its entirety and pass if off as satire.

The editors of The National Geographic are saying that each of us -- yes, you, me, your neighbor, and your children -- could make a difference with regard to global warming if we would just downsize from our American home to a new "home," 89 square feet.

At the same time, if we could simply decrease our electricity use to that of the average Bangladeshi, just 300 watts per year vs the US average of 12,000 watts, it would make all the difference in the world as noted in the next paragraph.

On page 31 of the same issue, the editors tell us that if we do nothing, the average temperature of the earth will rise 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit by 2011. If we continue with current policy, the average temperature will rise by 7 degrees. If we supported the Kyoto Protocol, the average temperature would rise 5.6 degrees. Again in Fahrenheit.

The reason they do this in Farhrheit even though the global standard is Celsius is because Fahrenheit degrees are more "dramatic." For example, 3.6 degree F sounds almost twice as bad as 2 degree C; they are equal.

So, we are being asked to move into an 89-square-foot house and decrease our electric usage to that of an average Bangladeshi to maybe, perhaps, possibly, for a difference between 7 degree and 5.6 degrees Fahrenheit  -- 1.4 degrees or less than one degree Celsius.

It is issues and articles like this that has led me to let my subscription to the magazine expire. I did renew it for our older granddaughter, and I never talk to her about this subject. I also don't bring it up with my wife; the science, she tells me, is closed. And since she is a great cook, I don't want to spoil that relationship. Living in a one-bedroom, 740-square-foot apartment is about as much as she is willing to take to save humanity from global warming.