Sometimes getting away for a few days almost doesn't seem worth it. Then again, sometimes it does.

Followup

A couple of weeks ago I shared my thoughts on the "Al Gore light bulbs," more properly known as compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs). I pulled the following excerpt from Gary Rust's column in the (Cape Girardeau) Southeast Missourian last week.

"Poisoned bulbs: The idiocies emanating from Congress have made its popularity ratings even worse than those of the current White House occupant. The latest example: Our national legislators are banning traditional incandescent light bulbs, which were invented by Thomas Edison more than 120 years ago. By 2014 these bulbs will be illegal. Instead, we'll be coerced into paying six to eight times the price of incandescents for supposedly more 'efficient' compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs) that last longer and consume less electricity.

"Well, if CFLs are so great, why do we need a law to force us to buy 'em? Why can't politicians set aside their Nanny Bloombergesque dispositions and let the markets work?

"But there's a more immediate problem: Each CFL bulb contains about 5 milligrams of mercury, a highly toxic and indestructible substance. It's like bulbs with asbestos. Billions of these bulbs will be everywhere. If one drops and breaks, you've got a problem, especially if you have small children or pets roaming around.

"Here's a harbinger of the crisis to come from an item in Investor's Business Daily:

"'According to an article in the April 12, 2007, issue of the Ellsworth [Maine} American, [Brandy] Bridges was installing one in her daughter's bedroom when it dropped on the floor and shattered. Luckily, Brandy knew CFLs contained mercury and called the store where she bought hers for advice. She was advised to call the poison-control hot line, which in turn directed her to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

"'DEP showed up and found that mercury levels in her daughter's room were six times the state's 'safe' level. The DEP specialist gave her a 'low-ball' estimate of $2,000 to clean up the room.'

"Think about the challenge of disposing of all this mercury when the bulbs ultimately burn out. Too bad Edison isn't around to invent a suitable punishment for the dim bulbs who passed this legislation. -- Steve Forbes"

Just in case you thought all you were reading was the rant of a loony newspaper guy in the Bootheel.

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Easter lessons

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

All work and no play can make you a basket case.

There's no such thing as too much candy.

Good things come in small-sugarcoated packages.

Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.

Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.

Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.

An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare.

To show your true colors you have to come out of the shell.

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Other Easter lessons

Easter tells us that life is to be interpreted not simply in terms of things but in terms of ideals. - Charles M. Crowe

Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless. - Charles M. Crowe

Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there. - Clarence W. Hall

Earth's saddest day and gladdest day were just three days apart! - Susan Coolridge

The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances. - Robert Flatt

The two items above arrived in my email inbox. I'm not sure who gets the proper credit.

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From the past

It's the time of year to think about shaking off the winter doldrums and getting things spruced up at bit. To that end, the following bit of information may be important to some of our readers.

"The bath rooms at the electric works will hereafter be carefully attended to and the attendant may be found at the plant every night and at Baldwin's drugstore during the day. Tickets are on sale at the post office, Levi's, Harrison's or Baldwin's: 25 cents for single bath or $2.50 for12. Persons going without tickets will be charged 35 cents."

Kudos to the DDD's unofficial, but much appreciated historian Vivian Helton for passing along that item from the Thursday, Sept. 7, 1893 edition.

By the way, in today's dollar I think that translates to about $3.75, but Larry Jones will make sure the water is nice and hot.

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Kudos

All of the rain we received brought a good deal of discomfort to most folks and even tragedy to others. Being in the flatlands and on sandy soil in many areas we were largely unaffected here. Our neighbors to the north and west were not quite so fortunate.

We saw examples of the goodness of our fellow man in more than one instance helping to sandbag, getting others to safety and just generally lending a hand where needed.

I wanted to point out the efforts of MoDot in keeping the news media, and others I'm sure, updated about the road situation.

MoDot's District 10 office out of Sikeston sent numerous email alerts that constantly updated as road conditions changed throughout southeast Missouri. They were on top of things and did yeoman's work in getting word out about road conditions in this area.

Bud Hunt is the publisher of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.