26 Years Ago

I hate the idea of nuclear power.  Slap some lipstick on it all you want and try me how safe it is and I will not be convinced.  I can't say I like coal generated power either, but I will take it any day over the evil that is nuclear. I was told that nowadays they are doing it much better, it's much safer.  After all the Japanese are certainly more advanced than the Russians were years ago.  O really?  From what I hear the recent nuclear disasters in Japan have also been devastating and the Japanese were no smarter when it came to placing these reactors right in the path of inevitable Seismic zones.

I am reminded of all of this because in the Edmonton Journal today there was an article saying that today the Ukraine launched the construction of a new containment shelter to permanently secure the stricken Chernobyl plant.  Today marked the 26th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster. 

Other countries contributed money for the project which is expected to cost 2 billion dollars.  Basically they will build a new permanent covering to slide over the current concrete and steel shelter that was erected and is now starting to crack.  The new 257 meter arched structure is expected to last for a century and will contain high-tech equipment to carry out safe de-contamination work inside the ruined reactor.  This will protect the surrounding land and make it impossible for radiation to reach the atmosphere.  They say to date that about 25,000 of the disaster cleanup workers known as "liquidators" have died. No mention of how many others are sick of cancer as a result.

Imagine how volatile this shit is when you have to go to build a 2 billion dollar containment structure 26 years later!  I have no doubt that we will see numbers far higher than 25,000 people when all the dust settles from Fukushima.   Throw all the arguments you want at me to tell me that many have run safely for years.  The bottom line is this technology produced volatile waste that has no real good way to get rid of.  No matter how good the technology there is still human error that can occur and inevitably natural impacts that we can't control at all.

So if we are so damn smart we should use our brains to advance greener/safer options and stop listening to the rhetoric from people who only have dollar signs in their eyes.  The only good thing that happened from Fukushima is that Bruce Power took their nuclear power plant idea packing out of Alberta.  Let's not forget these terrible incidents when they inevitably come knocking again!

I Love Me Some Granola Bars

Tonight I am trying a new recipe I got from a great website called iowagirleats.com
It is for home made granola.  I love granola bars and all things fibre so I thought I would try and make some from scratch to try and eliminate all the additives you get in pre-made bars. It is pretty easy, really just assemble some nuts and dried fruit and add some honey, vanilla and almond extract and coconut oil to find it all together. 

This is the first time I bought coconut oil, it was in the organic area at Save-on-Foods and wasn't cheap, however, I have been hearing about a lot of good benefits from coconut oil so thought I would give it a try. 

So they are not chilling in the fridge - I will let you know how they taste.

The Garage

Spring Cleaning!  Yes, it's that time of year.  But as most people think of the things they need to do in their house, I yearn for some garage organization.  Sometimes I wonder if I was supposed to go into the line where the penises were handed out because I am so happy in the garage.  Sunday was a great day to head into the garage, put on some cheezy tunes and organize the wood!

The people we bought this place from left all kinds of wood and various materials in the garage.  Much of it is great to have, but I always struggle to keep it organized and not falling all over the place.  They also left a shop vac which has to be the greatest invention ever.  I scraped all of the winter crud of the floor, put all the tools back into their respective spots on the peg board.  Threw some stuff out and made a pile for the recycle centre.  Hung up some hooks for things like extension cords and vacuumed all the cob webs and wood shavings from the work bench.

Now I am thinking about some planters I want to make with some of the scrap wood, but I want to enjoy the nice clean garage for a bit before I start making a new mess.