Re: NEVER BUY WALMART'S BATTERIES OR YOU WILL BE SORRY

A scientist. As in Hans Geiger, who, along with Ernest Rutherford, invented the Geiger counter, in 1908.

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Jeff

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Jeff
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I'm pretty sure that this is a joke, but with a right wing tagline like that, I fear you just might be serious.

People, please get rid of batteries properly. The sulfuric acid might just dilute, but there is a lot of lead in a battery, and we don't need that in our water.

Just as a peice of trivia, I read somewhere that the automobile battery recycling industry in America is one of the most efficient recycling programs in the world as far as the percentage of stock that comes back to the program and how much of that material is turned into saleable products.

Reply to
weelliott

Although, Even though I don't agree with Geoff's environmental views, I'd have to agree with the bike helmet thing.

I grew up in the first county in America to have a bike helmet law. I could see from my house the place where someone had cut a hole in the fence beside Route 29-a 6 lane limited access highway. Everyone knew that it was a stupid idea to cross 29, and it was rare that anyone did it, but some idiot kid crossed it at dusk and got hit by a car. So his sixth grade friends started lobbying to have a helmet law introduced. The rest of us thought it was silly. He was stupid enough to be out there playing in traffic, and getting hit by a car dong 60 would probably mess up someone badly enough regardless of protective gear. However, the county coudln't say no to a group of little kids asking for a law to save little kids. So, they passed a law that anyone under

16 had to have a helmet on to ride a bike.

Fortunately it wasn't actually enforced. I refused to wear one, and saw cops several times. Never anything mentioned about it. But this was just a few short years after seatbelt fines popped up. I'm sure the cops thought it was silly too. But the damn law spread like wildfire.

Now don't get me wrong. I think that seatbelt laws are necessary, and I wear mine religiously.(Especially since I definitely wouldn't be here without one.) I think that motorcycle helmet laws might be going a little far as far as encroaching on freedom, but I don't really have a problem with them since I think it is stupid to ride without one. Especially given that laying down a motorcycle is more a matter of when than if. However, I think that the risk of serious head injury on a bike is low as long as you are defensive and alert. I've rode literally thousands of miles as a kid, a college student, and an adult. I've rode in traffic on all sorts of roads, and have never been hit or been in an accident where I said, whoa that was close, maybe I should wear a helmet. I make my intentions clear to cars by where I place my bike on the road and how I move. The only time I wear one is when I go mountain biking, just because there can be some pretty bad obstacles to hit, and with funky terrain the odds of falling are much higher. I'd liken the paranoia behind major head trauma while biking to that of an extremely obsessive compulsive person who won't touch anything for fear of contracting an illness, and resultingly stinks up their workplace with continuous applications of purell and lysol.(Not that I've ever experienced such a neurotic screwball.)

I think that kids need to have an exposure to danger. It helps them develop a sense of cause and effect, and a sense of responsibility. The person who grows up in a society where accidents are almost impossible because someone has legislated out all possible causes is not going to do very well outside of that society. But more importantly, they don't learn to take responsibility for their actions. If they do get hurt, they are quick to assume that it was because someone else didn't do their job correctly, or somehow wrongly put them in harm's way, or that an owner should have predicted that it was possible for a freak accident to happen, and invested loads of money to prevent it. It's absurd. Nowadays, people are sooner to point the finger at someone else than to reflect on their own actions.

And as for today's world being a more dangerous place, I don't think that that really is the case. There are child abductions. But there were child abductions in the 30s. People do drive like maniacs now, but if my fathers stories of how he and his friends used to drive are any indication, I'd think that there used to be maniacs on the roads in the 60s also. In fact, I'd say that the number of cars that I see weaving in and out of traffic at thirty miles over what the flow of traffic is significantly lower today than 10 or 15 years ago. But then again, maybe I just have the wrong sample. Different areas of the country have different driving habits.

I love the allusion to the Christmas Story made by Geoff. Very nice.

Have a good day, Bill

Reply to
weelliott

Bicycle helmet save lives. I think the laws are a good idea, and I think bicycle helmets should be mandatory for all people riding bicycles under the age of 110.

Yet the cars are controlled by drivers. Are the drivers noticing you? Are they distracted by kids, music, cell phones? Are you sure they can see you and your signals? Is the sun glaring in their eyes? Do they even know what the signals mean?

The data clearly show that bike helmets prevent serious injury and death.

As a physician, I have taken care of kids who been killed in motor vehicle crashes and kids who died from other causes.

I strongly feel that all people should be wearing bike helmets whenever they ride. I do.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

There are a lot of people burning old batteries to recover the lead, selling at about $1.80 @ Lbs now. A friend has a tire shop in the Sacramento Valley and is getting calls from foreign-sounding people representing themselves as school charity fundraisers looking for old tire weights and batteries. He is going to set some up for a date with the Sheriff. it isn't worth it for me to try and recover the lead in the 6 or so dead batteries I have here, they will get dropped off at a local parts store for proper recycling.

Reply to
Stupendous Man

Actually, those fly-by-night 'recyclers' deserve an introduction to local law enforcement, because I'll guarantee any DIY efforts to recover the lead are going to break a few dozen environmental laws - Just for openers, what are they going to do with all the battery acid? Dump it down the sewer? Or the storm drains? Or just on the ground?

And if they burn them, they're going to let loose a ton of polyethylene particulates and acidic gases and lead vapors, and that is NOT going to be a good thing to live downwind from.

That kind of stuff is how Superfund Sites are born - make a quick buck and leave all the cleanup costs to government. Love Canal...

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

I returned one to Canadian Tire once. It took a bit of convincing the manager but I did do it.

The thing was faulty and I ened up buying an Optima from - ironically, Wal Mart while on the road. Given I'd returned a faulty charger the week before I think they were just sick of me and just wanted me out of the store :-)

Reply to
Richard Sexton

What a pile of technical dribble. (I'm an electrical engineer)

However WalMart is not my choice of store for anything. Just a bottom end store that trys to undercut other stores. The continually beat their suppliers down to lower prices, regardless of the lack of quality that results.

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who

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