. . .
X “The event should have been touted as a tour of Halloween Haunted Houses. Nothing is changing. No one is learning. The garage door on the McMansion is only one inch thick. What did you find?”
Y “On the subsidized house, the garage door is two inches thick with brush insulation around the outside perimeter.”
X “The Horror House is heated with an eighty percent efficient forced air system that draws combustion air from the garage and outside. Even a new generation system that draws air from outside induces a stack effect flow of air that cools the house in the winter and warms it in the summer. Cozy.”
Y “The subsidized chateau is equipped with a ninety-five percent efficient forced air system that draws piped combustion air from outside the structure. Huge energy savings. The PVC to the outside is run aesthetically.”
X “The McHorror House has windows splattered all over the place, but they are double paned.”
Y “The code requires them. Most of the windows in the bargain bungalow are on the south side with some on the west and a few on the east. Some of the windows are covered with simple double-cell blinds.”
X “The kitchen in the McMonster is equipped with shiny stainless steel but marginally efficient appliances.”
Y “Simple Energy Star appliances.”
X “The McNightmare is illuminated with regular incandescent light bulbs and T12 fluorescent bulbs in the garage with a smattering of cfls (compact fluorescent lights).”
Y “Compact fluorescents throughout with T8 bulbs in the garage and two LEDs for the outside lights on the walkway.”
X “There are so many little things. The Monster Mansion has regular gate valves that may seize in a decade or two. They require multiple turns to open and close, yet after a few years are really only good for one turn.”
Y “They could do a good turn by getting quarter turn valves from the same supplier who outfitted the subsidized place.”
X “One thing after another. And I watched everyone else wandering around the McMongo house bedazzled by all the flashy baubles.”
Y “The market sets the standards for the mansion; the government sets the standards for the subsidized structure.”
X “We need more citizens less bedazzled by baubles.”
. . .
[Neither rain nor sleet nor snow could rein in or slow the “Enough is Enough!” March in Washington D.C. sponsored by Coffee Party USA on Saturday nor dampen the spirit. A few hundred hearty souls hailing from Rhode Island to Oregon showed up at the gathering on the west side of the Capital to listen to a wide range of speakers. They are frustrated but not feckless. No one was arrested.]
[See the “e-ssay” titled “On Overpopulation (June 14, 2010).”]
Bumper stickers of the week:
Insulate it tight; ventilate it right
Seven billion little miracles are a big problem. That’s ghoulish.
e-commentary 