Getting Rid of Old Drugs, Part II

A few weeks ago I blogged about Virginia's upcoming Prescription Drug Turn in Program.  Here are some specifics about several collection sites on the Peninsula this Saturday.  The Daily Press has the list.

21 Percent of Virginia Households Rely only on Cell Phones

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that 21% of adults in Virginia, or more than one out of every five, have given up a traditional landline phone and relies solely on cellular for phone service.  That's about double the percentage of adults who have only landline phones in the house, about 10%.

From that, can we infer that 90% of Virginia adults have a cell phone?

Suffolk Recycling Event this Saturday

The Suffolk Clean Community Commission is holding an Earth Day recycling event this Saturday, April 23rd, at Bennett's Creek Park, from 11am to 3pm.  What's especially interesting about this event is that they will be accepting old tires, up to 12 per household, for recycling.  Having seen dozens, if not hundreds of old tires stashed in the woods during my trips to and from Mom's house over the years, I would recognize anything that encourages the proper disposal of tires as a good thing.

They will also be accepting electronics, household batteries, all types of paper, cardboard, glass containers and aluminum cans.

More from the Suffolk News-Herald.

The Music Sounds Familiar

I consider myself to be musically illiterate.  I have little training, I can't read it and can barely play my guitar.  But I do have a decent ear for recognizing music.  That's why I was surprised this morning when I saw this TV commercial for Pearson Toyota of Newport News.  It was memorable for two reasons.  First, it's a little weird in a Dr. Seuss sort of way (watch the video below).  But more importantly, it has the exact same background music as the commercials for another local company, the law firm of Patten, Wornom, Hatten & Diamonstein.  I can't find their commercial on Youtube; you'll have to take my word for it.

Did a Tornado Carry a Driver's License 53 Miles?

One of the more unusual stories to come out of last weekend's deadly tornadoes was this one from Norfolk.  A Norfolk resident says she found a Colerain, North Carolina woman's driver's license in her front yard.  Colerain was hit hard by the severe weather.  So, did a twister really carry it all the way to Norfolk, a distance of more than 50 miles?  It seems plausible, given that Norfolk lies in the general direction that the storm was travelling.  Tornadoes have been known to scoop fish out of the water and drop them miles away.  A driver's license seems possible, if unlikely.
Here's the story from WAVY-TV 10.

By the way, I determined the distance from Colerain to Norfolk "as the crow flies" using this handy tool.  Bookmark it for your kid's next math project.

Storm Updates

Six Tornadoes in Virginia -- The National Weather Service has now confirmed that there were six tornadoes that touched down in Virginia on Saturday.  One travelled 35 miles through Surry, James City, Middlesex Mathews and Gloucester Counties.  Tornado damage was also reported in Isle of Wight County and in central and Southwestern Virginia.  More than 400 buildings were damaged statewide with more than 60 destroyed.  The worst damage was in Gloucester County where 162 buildings were damaged.  Damage estimates in Gloucester total more than 7.7 million dollars.

Gloucester to combine two middle schools into one -- Students who attend storm-damaged Page Middle School will return to school Wednesday at Peasley Middle School.  Gloucester officials say the plan involves having Peasley Middle students and staff use their building in the morning.  Page Middle School would take over the building in the afternoon.  More from the Gazette-Journal.

NC storm victims have more time to file their taxes -- Fees and penalties for late filings and payments will be waived until May.  However, interest owed on federal tax payments will still accrue.  The story...

The Surry Nuclear Power Plant could be out of service for several days -- Dominion Virginia Power must make repairs on the plant's electrical switchyard, which was in the path of a tornado.  Officials said the reactors were not damaged, adding that safety systems worked exactly as designed.  More...

Electrical service mostly restored -- Dominion Virginia Power repair crews have restored allmost all service that was disrupted by Saturday night's storms.  Outages numbered just a few dozen in the Gloucester area Tuesday morning.  Outages totaled over one thousand Monday morning.

NC storm victims warned to watch out for rip-off artists -- North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper is asking consumers who suspect price gouging from storm cleanup and repair companies to contact his office.

The Weekend Tornadoes, By the Numbers

• 45 -- Number of fatalities across six states, including three in Gloucester County and 11 in Bertie County. Those killed in Gloucester were identified as Peri Koutsombinas and Richard Ingram, who each lived near the storm's path, and Cecil Page, who suffered a medical emergency during the storm.
• 62 -- Number of confirmed tornadoes in North Carolina last weekend.
• 240 -- Number of confirmed tornadoes in six states.
• 75 -- Number of homes in Bertie County damaged or destroyed.
• EF-2 -- Estimated classification of the tornado that hit Gloucester County.  An EF-2 would have winds of between 111 and 135mph.
• 60 -- Distance in miles between Windsor and Deltaville, the two ends of the destructive pathway of the largest storm cell in Virginia.  Image from the Daily Press.
• EF-3 -- Estimated classification of the larger twister in Bertie County.  An EF-3 would have winds of between 136 and 165mph.
• 60 -- Distance in miles the tornado was on the ground through Bertie County.
• 3.4 -- Percentage of tornadoes that are classified as EF-3.
• 100 -- Approximate number of employees and customers inside a Lowe's store in Sanford, NC when a tornado began ripping into the building.  All survived by seeking shelter in a windowless back room.  The story from the AP
• 1-800-REDCROSS -- The phone number for donating to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

Gloucester, Bertie County Devastated by Tornadoes

Three people have been confirmed dead in Gloucester County after a tornado tore through the county Saturday evening.  Gloucester County Sheriff Steve Gentry reports several homes were destroyed in the Ware Neck, Glen Roy Estates and Waverly Lane communities.  In addition, Gloucester's Page Middle School was heavily damaged by the storm.

Click for storm coverage from The Daily Press.

Disaster Assistance
--To request assistance:  804-693-3890
--To volunteer:  Call the Gloucester County Emergency Operations Center at 804-693-3000
--To donate:  The American Red Cross is asking for cash donations only to support its disaster relief fund.  They will not accept donations of food or clothing.  The Gloucester chapter's phone number is 804-642-9478; however, phone service was unavailable at last check.

Link to the Gloucester Chapter's website

You can also donate online to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund at this address

In Bertie County, North Carolina, at least 10 people were killed after multiple tornadoes were spotted between the communities of Askewville and Colerain at around 8pm Saturday.  A number of trailer homes on Askewville Road were destroyed.

Click for the Triangle Area Chapter of the American Red Cross

Storm coverage from WITN.com

Getting Rid of Old Drugs

The Virginia Prescription Drug Take-Back Task Force will hold it's second annual Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, April 30th.  Virginians will be invited to drop off old or unused prescription drugs at various locations around the state.  The round-up keeps drugs out of the hands of people who might abuse them and it prevents drugs from getting into the water supply.  Drug residue in public waterways is a growing concern in the U.S.  More than two tons of drugs were turned in during the first drug take-back in September.

Great idea.  How, then, do we properly dispose of drugs when it's not Drug Take-Back Day?  The details are disappointingly sparse.  The advice from the Food and Drug Administration pretty much reads as follows:  remove the medicine from it's container and throw the pills in the trash.

Well, they do recommend sealing the pills in a plastic bag with some trash or kitty litter.  Why?  From the FDA's advisory, "The medication will be less appealing to children and pets, and unrecognizable to people who may intentionally go through your trash."


Are there really people in my neighborhood, or for that matter, on the planet, willing to dig through garbage to find and ingest unidentified pills that might do who knows what to them?  Would such a person even qualify as human? Just asking...

So, the grand plan for disposing of unwanted medicines involves throwing them in the garbage, where they will, inevitably, work their way into the environment? With pharmaceuticals a part of everyone's lives these days, I suspect there will need to be a better drug disposal policy.

Can I at least recycle the pill bottle?

Link to the FDA's recommendations

Adventures at the Car Lot

My first job after graduating from college was, believe it or not, as a car salesman.  I was hired to sell Honda's at a dealership in Virginia Beach.  I've had more physically demanding jobs (cutting grass; working at a sheet metal factory) and jobs that were pure drudgery (measuring newspaper ads while standing all day), but I still rate my two months as a car salesman as my worst employment experience.  Distrusted by customers; berated by bosses...it was humiliating.  That was the one job I've ever been fired from.  I hated the job but still, being fired hurt like hell.

That was at about the same time that Mary and I were attempting to buy our first car.  We only wanted to test drive vehicles; buying one would come later.  At the first place, the sales guy insisted we meet his boss, the sales manager, before we left.  What I thought was going to be a ten minute meeting turned into an hour's worth of medium to high pressure sales pitches.  Perhaps we were too polite to just get up and leave, but nevertheless, it was very uncomfortable.

Another man at a Toyota dealership acted as if I was an idiot after I told him what I wanted to spend.  And the dumbest sales pitch I have ever seen came from another Toyota dealership.  The guy seemed to think my car shopping sister should only be interested in the car's radio and cranked up Tone-Loc's "Wild Thing" to volume 10.

All of that happened more than twenty years ago.  The point, though...pushy, arrogant sales pitch = unhappy customer.

I've bought only one car in the past 11 years, a used one at that, but I get the impression that automotive dealerships these days are beginning to catch on that it's better for business if the customers don't hate you.  Buying a car is time consuming, expensive, and can be nerve wracking.   It's a huge decision.  Wouldn't it be better to make the customer feel comfortable, not trapped?

My best car shopping experiences came from Avis, where they sold former rental vehicles, and at Carmax, where they handle certified used cars.  Both had no haggle pricing, but moreover, the sales reps listened, actually listened to what I was looking to buy, not to what they wanted to sell me.  And while both places tried to sell me their financing and extended warranty, I only had to say "no" once.

Be an Educated Car Shopper

While car shopping is a little less of a runaround these days, a good customer must still be prepared to handle it.  My advice...separate the test drive from the purchase.  Tell your sales rep you need to think about it first.  Come back another day when you're ready to buy.

When you do come back, look prepared.  Whether you're buying new or used, you can find details of what the car should cost online.  Bring a copy of the report with you.  I have been known to bring a large calculator into the sales office.  You'll get more respect if you appear to be an educated customer.

And always, always check your bank's financing rates first before heading to the dealership.  The bank's are usually lower.

To that end, I present a couple of reports on the modern car shopping experience.

• From Forbes Magazine, a report on the tricks car sellers still use to get more of your money.  It can't be said enough...you don't need the rust proofing and undercoating.  
• From Edmunds.com, Confessions of a Car Salesman, an inside account of a journalist who tried working on the lots.  It's ten years old but still a good read.

Gas Prices (Again)

Gasoline prices have jumped almost 20 cents a gallon in the last three weeks to an average of $3.76 nationwide.  Analyst Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Gas Price Survey, says the price at the pump is within striking distance of the all-time high of $4.11, set in 2008.

In Hampton Roads, gas prices have climbed 14 cents in only a week, the AAA is reporting.  The Hampton Roads average price is $3.68 a gallon for self-serve regular.

As gas prices rise, demand for it goes down.  Mastercard reports that gasoline sales have fallen for five straight weeks.  And a survey by  the Oil Price Information Service finds that about 70 percent of the nation's major gas-station chains have reported falling sales.

To which I say welcome to the warmer weather and the chance to run errands by bicycle again.  While I can't bring home a week's worth of groceries, I am able to lug home a gallon of milk and a bag of bagels from BJ's Wholesale Club.

Free Software

Spotted a good article on Yahoo about free software that you can trust.  Certainly we're all suspicious of installing anything on our computers labeled "free," especially when malware can install itself from an infected website.  But these programs are legit.  I myself use Avast! free anti-virus software.

Here's the webpage with reviews of a free MS Office clone, a free version of MS OneNote, and free data storage.

More free software...

Picasa -- Google's free digital photo organizer.  I use it at work to organize thousands of photos from five radio stations.  Sort by keyword, edit, batch rename and export into a smaller file size.  Get it here.

Audacity -- A pretty good multi-track audio editor that's totally free.  You'll have to download an accessory pack to encode into MP3.  It, too, is free.  http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

April is Organ Donor Awareness Month

I have in my possession something that is becoming more scarce these days.  It's a driver's license with a smiling photo.  While other new license holders are forced to make do with the stolid driver's license photos now required by the Virginia DMV, I was able to renew my license on-line this year, and they just reused my previous, smiley-faced photo.

But while my license photo remains the same, I did make one change this year.  I checked "organ donor" on the renewal form.

April is Organ Donor Awareness Month.  For over 33 year, the DMV has been asking driver's license applicants if they would like to become an organ donor.  In that time, more than 3.4 million people have said they would.

One organ donor can save up to seven lives.  Learn more about it at www.donatelifevirginia.org.