Hi Betty,

I live 3 hours from my parents, 20 minutes from my in-laws. It's wonderful to have grandparents who know their grandchildren and are here weekly and for all the various occasions. My kids also have aunts, uncles, and cousins close by. Our babysitters of choice are family. We wouldn't consider taking jobs out of state, even the terrific dream job, and uprooting everyone.

I can't guarantee that my kids will live here when they get older, but I hope they do.

But... if I have a kid who is dead-set on college across the country or the world... I can't and won't stop them. They'll have to make that choice for themselves, where to go, where to live.

Just to be contrarian... I know, this is a blog about the love of gadgets. But this one... when I think about manufacturing it in some far-flung corner of the universe, shipping it to my local Big Box O' Stuff store, and selling it to me (complete with non biodegradeable plastic bag) for $29.95... kinda makes you wonder. I have a toaster. I have pans. I have no space on the counter, since it's already full of other gadgets (coffee maker, grinder, etc.) Do I really need this one? It reminds me of the hot dog machine in the Sky Mall magazine... looks like a toaster for warming hot dog buns and cooking the dog.

I mean, it's cool and all. Maybe great if I lived in a college dorm room with no kitchen. But I think I can give this one a miss.

I don't have a Prius, and don't have any plans to buy one any time soon. We have two paid-for older cars.

(digression here) I'd love to see an environmental analysis discussing the impact of manufacturing a new car, ANY new car, vs. driving/repairing an existing one to the end of its useful life. Yes, a Prius or Civic hybrid gets great mileage. But how does that compare to driving an existing car that's already been manufactured (albeit a gas guzzler)? If I sell my car and buy a Prius, one more car gets made. How does the carbon footprint of manufacturing a car compare to the carbon used in a low mileage car? Just curious. Post a link, anyone, if such research exists.

Anyway, I'm researching clotheslines. Where I live, it rains all winter, so a clothesline would only work six months of the year. But it seems rather silly to be running the dryer in the heat of summer.

Most electric dryers use 5-10% of household energy. I don't know how to calculate that into numbers of cars or miles, but I'd bet it's significant. As soon as it dries out in the spring, that's my next project.

FYI, if you're interested, check out www.clotheslineshop.com.

I live in a major metro area suburb, for the simple reason that not only is my job here, my network for finding future jobs when this one tanks is here. I've been laid off twice in the last ten years, and dodged countless other rounds, at three different companies. I know I have the skills and experience to land somewhere else, but only here, where my friends and connections are.

I'd love to live in the country, in a small town. But if I did, it would only be an illusion with a long commute. Unless one has a very specific type of job (teacher, doctor, nurse) that is applicable anywhere, the jobs are in the cities.

I know a few people who are making a go of home-based businesses, mostly independent contracting using a broadband internet connection. But the only reason they're able to do that is because they spent years building up their contacts in the city.

In abstinence only driver's education we'd have cars where the speedometer only goes to 55 (or 65, or whatever). "But if we tell the kids the car will go 75, then they WILL go 75! Horrors!"

How about, if we take 75 off the speedometer, they just won't think of it. Not a single one of them will think of driving too fast. In fact, we'll even have them take a "save driver pledge" that they will never exceed the speed limit, ever.

Abstinence only sex education is about as effective as my hypothetical abstinence only driver's ed.

We wouldn't dream of doing such a thing with driver's ed. We'd all agree it would be too dangerous. Instead, we try to teach kids to be responsible drivers, knowing all the capabilities of a car, and knowing what's allowed where, and why. We give them practical, factual information about how a car works. This education doesn't always work, plenty of kids have accidents. Some of them die. But withholding information won't prevent auto deaths.

Traditional, comprehensive sex ed lets kids know that we think they're smart, we give them the tools they need to make good decisions, that we trust them to begin acting like adults.

Why didn't we think of that? I love the snowchicken. We just might build a nest next year.

Gosh it must be nice to have a horse in this race.

Sorry, I keep ranting about the same issue. But here I sit in a boring, small, flyover state with a May primary.

I can wave a flag from the sidelines, but I CAN NOT PARTICIPATE in any meaningful way in the primary process. My state has not been known to get off the dime and make a decision about much, unless it's environmental issues... we're good at those.

Why should participating in national primaries be limited? Why can't we have one Big National Primary all on one day? It would be nice to at least have the semblance of having a vote.