I would usually never post a forward but I had to make an exception for this one. A very bright man sent this to me and I was absolutely shocked when I read it. The pictures are omitted here due to technical challenges on my part.
House #1
A 20 room mansion ( not including 8 bathrooms ) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool ( and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern ’snow belt’ area. It’s in the South.
House #2
Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every ‘green’ feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet ( 4 bedrooms ) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.
NOW FOR THE SHOCK…
HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee; it is the abode of the ‘environmentalist’ Al Gore.
HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas; it is the residence of the President of the United States,
George W. Bush.
An ‘inconvenient truth’.
A must see! And that’s coming from someone who is not a fan of westerns at all. But “3:10 to Yuma” thoroughly impressed and entertained me. Any one who knows me knows that I rarely make it through movies due to my inability to stay awake, but I didn’t miss a minute of Yuma. Russell Crowe and Christina Bale rocked this movie, officially making me a quasi-Western fan. Go out and rent it today!
MY RATING: 9 out of 10
Friday, Dec 28, 2007
Our last full day here and my plan was to work on my tan, but mother nature had something else in mind. It was cloudy and rainy most of the day (still hot though) but I managed to find the one hour of sun in the afternoon. We started the day with a swim at 8:00 am in the ocean which all eleven of us took part in. That’s one thing I’ll definitely miss…morning dips in the ocean!
I went to the Bazar again this morning with the whole family and helped them barter. It’s a lot easier when you speak French and consequently you get better deals. But some of the vendors are so damn persistent, it you makes you want to avoid their store out of spite. Anyways, I got a few other trinkets, and a few shirts/skirts and then took the boys to get henna’ed by the same women who hooked me up yesterday. As nice as that woman was, she should have been paying me some short of commission from all the business I brought her way. Lol
The afternoon was uneventful…packing and spending the last few hours on the beach, mostly trying to get a sunburn. Which for me is usually something that happens, whether I like it or not, but not today. I must be getting used to the heat here. With regards to the packing, I thought I was going to have sooo much room in my suitcase…definitely not so. I had to pull a sit-on-the-suitcase-and-pray-you-can-zip-it-up maneuvers. All turned out well.
Our last supper was Mauritian Buffet with another Sega Show. It was the same Sega crew and they were again very entertaining. But I think the lot of us were quite entertaining as well, as we were all decked out in our tacky Mauritian Sega shirts to celebrate our last evening. It was priceless.
I’m just shocked by how fast this vacation went. I mean, all vacations go fast, but not like this. We did a lot and saw a lot of the island but there were plenty more things I wanted to do that I never got around to. Top on my things were snorkeling in the ocean, going to Port Louis’ market and visiting a Mosque, preferably the Jummah mosque. Oh well, I guess it’s just a good reason to return some day.
Nous partons demain et je suis triste et content a la meme temps. Je vais te voir dans quelque jours!
Thursday, Dec 27, 2007
Today No-No took Mom, Grandma and I to Les Jardin de Pamplemouse. It was a gorgeous botanical garden, host to more than 85 variety of palms and huge lily pads. It was beautiful, and thankfully not that hot (well relatively speaking that is).
We headed to a beautiful little restaurant just outside of Grand Baie for hearts of palm, which were unreal delicious! They are similar to artichokes and are served with hollandaise sauce. After lunch, I got dropped off downtown Grand Baie by myself to do a little more shopping. By this time, it was really heating up but I decided none-the-less to trek the 15 minute walk back to the hotel (well, it was really a passive decision because by the time a cab stopped for me I was already half way there). The walk back was ridiculous though. I might as well have been naked for how much people stared at me. I guess I stand out a bit. People were hollering and waving out vehicles. It was definitely an experience.
I spent the rest of the day on the beach, enjoying one of my last days in paradise. The evening was typical, with a great meal and great company.
Demain c’est notre derniere jour ici. Tres Triste!
Day Nine Wednesday Dec 26
Today was a totally lazy, nothing-on-the-agenda day and it was wonderful. I went for a morning swim again today, which is turning out to be the best way ever to start a day. Then I headed down town to do some shopping with the family. No matter how many times I got downtown Grand Baie or to the Bazar, I still find new things and new shops and stuff to buy. Today was no exception…as I came home with a very Indian looking dress.
The afternoon was hot and the beach was perfect! I could really get used to this heat and this tan. Nothing eventful happened on the beach. I was planning on doing a little kayaking and/or snorkeling at the reef but ended up just lounging in the sun, enjoying my book (which by the way was a very great read…Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert).
There was a cocktail party on the beach this evening, with free champagne mamosas. Of course I had a few and took advantage of the hotel’s hospitality. Given the price of the drinks normally, you would have done the same! Supper was Italian Buffet, which is definitely one of the better meals. You can tell we’ve been at the hotel for a while because we are getting meal and entertainment re-runs. Oh well though, I’m not complaining. I’d eat the same thing night after night if it meant I got to stay in this paradise!