Bought a Giant Bicycle!

This past Tuesday, I purchased my first new vehicle. I bought a brand new out of the box Giant HB3 bicycle. Now you may think that its not too exciting to get a bicycle, but I have been riding an old bike, and to get a new one is great. I spent a pretty penny on it, but as things go, you get what you pay for. There were more expensive bikes, but I didn't want to spend all my money on a bike either.

I plan to go riding much more, although we have begun the rainy season in Taiwan (however late it may be). Summer is here and that means long days for long rides... and lots of pictures. Some of my friends also like to go riding, so it can be a group activity.

I encourage you to get a bike too. It's fun, good exercise, faster than walking, you don't need a license, and best of all, after buying it, it's free to use! So take the time to enjoy the outdoors on a bike.

Praying Mantis

Last week, I had the notion to have a pet. It wasn't a "normal" kind of pet. Here in Taiwan, beetles are a popular student pet. What I wanted was something a little different. I wanted a bug that would eat other bugs. I wanted a strange looking creature that looks like an alien. I wanted a praying mantis (螳螂). This odd looking insect is called the praying mantis because it often looks like its praying. Here are some interesting facts about mantises:

-they can turn their head 180 degrees
-the female will sometimes eat the male after mating
-they will eat all kinds of bugs including cockroaches, crickets, and other mantises
-they have even been seeing eating mice, snakes, frogs,etc.
-they will "molt" or change their skin several times in their life
-they live for about a year
-females are larger than males

I borrowed a terrarium tank from my friend and outfitted it with plants and soil. I then put in some cockroaches to crawl around. Hopefully the mantis will catch them before they find a way to escape the tank.

Oil: The New Luxury Good

With oil at $130+, people are bracing themselves for a rough time for the remainder of the year. With the summer approaching, a large travel season, people will most likely be opting for fun nearer to home. Big box retailers as well as mom and pop shops are already feeling the heat, and its not from the sun. With rising costs of raw materials and less consumer spending, producers are being pinched on both ends. How can you, the consumer, survive with this "new" luxury good on the market?

For one, you can treat it as a luxury good and consume less of it. In tough times, people often reduce or stop altogether their consumption of luxury goods, and with oil at such unconscionable levels, we could almost consider it a luxury good. Although oil or gas demand is relatively inelastic, which means its demand is stable through changes in price, you can make a choice to set your cut-off point. When will you make decisions to use less gas or find alternative ways to get energy? When gas is $4.50/gal, $5, $10? There are numerous ways from simple changes to drastic measures that you can take to lessen consumption.

Another thing we can do is to be aware that we are consumers. The large and mighty corporation, with all their power, to a large degree are swayed and make decisions based on individual consumers as a whole. The price of oil will continue to rise as world demands grows. This will lead companies to finding cheaper methods of doing business. If we realize our power and support companies that comply with our beliefs, we can alter the marketplace from the bottom up. We can support companies that choose to make the hard decisions now, as opposed to later or never. This is our privilege, or some might even say our responsibility, as consumers.

Hard decisions would imply finding viable sources of energy to support their business now. It is something that I feel is inevitable anyhow, so they may as well start ASAP, and we may as well support them. In the short run, they can free themselves from the rise in oil price. In the long run, they will be the companies that win, and in turn so shall we. By supporting these companies I mean purchasing their competitive products. When there is a choice, choose their stuff, as opposed to another brand.

For example, Patagonia is an outdoor performance wear company. They are very conscious about their business practices. They try to keep their production line, as "clean" as possible. They are very concerned with supporting the environment and take many steps to be socially responsible.

To take it even further, support could mean purchasing stock or advocating for the particular company. Innovest is a firm that does market research on companies that are environmentally as well as financially sound.