Man has come a long, long, long way over the process of evolution and development of our kind.  From communication to simple tools to building large structures, creating and adhering to political infrastructure, creating currency, creating and supporting new businesses, venturing into outerspace, etc etc…  Through all of this, it would be pleasing to think that mankind, by nature, has “good” intentions overall with respect to life and the universe on a broad scope.  What that means exactly, I’m not sure, but I’m fairly certain that it’s false. 

Over the course of evolution in any species, beings tend toward actions and behavior that best contributes to their individual survival or the survival of their family, loved ones or species.  Currently, the speed of our technological development (otherwise known as “physical impact and modification to life and the universe”) is increasing very rapidly.  Currently we are at a very volatile juncture in our development.  We are at the “knee” in the curve, or the turning point where population, technology, knowledge and impact will be increasing far more rapidly than ever before.  If we can see the errors of our ways and look beyond our own personal prosperity and look beyond the prosperity of our species, we will be able to identify a better way to live life that is less impactful to the universe and will make us a stronger more intelligent species in the long run.

Developments have been made over the millennia that, if gone unchecked, could mean the downfall or worse yet, the corruption or our species.  Below, I’ve listed some of these developments and ways that you can address them in your life in order to take control of your part of the universe and the development of your offspring.

• Blind faith in technology.  Don’t use or support a product until you know everything about what it does and how it works.  This includes how it was made, who will be impacted by its use, who was impacted by its development and construction, negative impacts to yourself when using the product.

• Reliance on others.  Due diligence means finding your own solutions to problems and personally making sure that all of the details have been covered in a manner that is satisfactory.  Relying on others’ choices, products, opinions means that you have made the assumption that you agree with all of their beliefs.

• Question everything.

• Find your own answers to every question.  Don’t be satisfied with an answer you’ve been given even from a trustworthy source.

• Write down the elements of humanity that are important to you.  Writing them will solidify them in your mind and they will emerge in your actions.
  

• Keep yourself physically and mentally healthy in order to be able to make clear decisions and also be able to act on them.

• Acknowledge a major personal flaw.  There's got to be ONE!  Personality traits, over-eating, violence, lying, cheating, sub-optimal performance, etc...  Acknowledging a flaw is an absolutely critical step to take in fixing it.  Once you have acknowledged it, you will find it immensely easier to make realizations on how to fix it.
• Never take anything for granted.

• Whatever you do, act as if the whole world was watching.

• Always aim for improvement

• Double check all actions against your ethical beliefs.  You may be in the habit of doing something that is contrary to your ethics, and not even realize it.  Double check your every move and you'll most likely find things about you or your actions that you would just as soon change.

I was just frying up a pound of chicken for dinner and getting rather annoyed that whenever I cook the frying pan tilts off of the burner because the handle is too heavy...

It's important that the bottom of the pan and the burner be in direct contact if you want to effectively use your electricity, as well as get an even heat in the pan. Air is a great insulator and you will lose a lot of heat if they are not in contact.

In the past I've tried to find a salt shaker or spice container of the perfect height to wedge under the handle and keep it flat, but that's annoying.. Today I got wicked smart and just moved the chicken to the far side of the pan! The weight of the chicken keeps it flat and I don't have to deal with balancing the pan on the salt. Works great, but you might have to offset the pan so that the chicken pile is centered on the burner in order to get it cooked evenly.

If you have the kind of venetian blinds with horizImage via WikipediaIf you have the kind of venetian blinds with horizontal slats, like I do (like the one in the image) , there's a simple little trick you can use to help retain the heat.

When you're closing up for the night, angle the blinds the opposite way you normally would. I mean, angle them so that to look out of them you would need to look downwards through them and not upwards. Since heat rises and cool air falls, this will help to deflect some of the cool air (at or around the window panes) OUT, and the warm air (rising inside the room) IN.

The "Ice Storm of 2008" had wiped out power to over 1,000,000 homes and businesses. Over the past few days many people have been forced to leave their homes and seek refuge at nearby shelters. Other people have tried to stay in their houses and brave the cold. Others have tried to warm their houses by blasting their gas stoves or using un-vented kerosene heaters. These are BAD ideas. Don't try them at home.

If you're one of those people who, like me, stubbornly wants to brave the cold and be independent, try this:

1. Fire up your gas grill or charcoal grill. OUTSIDE!
2. Throw some big rocks (5-10 pounds each) on indirect high heat.
3. Cook for approximately 1 -2 hours with the cover closed.
4. Let them cool for about 20 minutes.
5. Check the temperature of the rocks carefully with your hand.
6. Wrap them in towels or blankets if you don't think they will burn the towels.
7. Enjoy the heat! It should stay very warm for around 8-10 hours.

This is not fool proof.. obviously dealing with hot rocks is not the safest thing either, just be smart about it and don't come to me if you burn a hole through your mattress. Even if you let the rocks cool for quite a while they will still retain a lot of heat. The trick is to allow the outer layer to cool so that you can touch it easily, but the center of the rock will still be hot and it will emanate heat slowly over the course of the night.

Bricks, patio blocks, or ceramic tiles will work too, although the bigger the object is, the longer it will retain it's heat. Similarly, it will take longer to bring a larger object up to temperature.

Image via WikipediaWhen cooking a meal in your oven, it will have a vent in order to give the hot air a place to go when it expands. On my stove, this vent is right underneath one of the electric range burners.

Use this excess heat to keep food warm well after the oven has been turned off.

Your shower has a certain maximum "volumetric flow rate".Image via WikipediaYour shower has a certain maximum "volumetric flow rate". This is the speed at which the water comes out of the shower head in Gallons per Minute (GPM). Usually this is between 3-5 GPM. If you use a hot/cold ratio of 90/10 and your shower head has a max of 3 GPM then you're using 2.7 GPM of hot water.

It is easy to turn on the water and max out the flow rate, however, if you dial it back so that the shower head is not running to it's full flow rate, say you're at 2/3 maximum pressure, and if you still use the same ratio (90/10) then you're now only using 1.8 GPM of hot water. This will allow you to use as little cold water as possible which is good because in effect you don't really want any cold water, and by adding any cold at all, you are merely cooling down the water you have already paid to heat up.

1.5 GPM shower heads also exist. Here is a link to the "Jet-Stream"