Orienteering

Orienteering November,28, 2010

We were driving to the park on a dreary cold November morning, I was barely awake on the trip there. I tried to keep my eyes open long enough so I would not have to sleep in the small car. We drove through roads that seemed to go into the middle of nowhere In time, trees began to emerge from the barren land. First, small trees appeared, then pine and then spruce trees. We chugged along the road looking for a good place to drop off Mommy and Grandma when we spotted a village of stores on the way to the race. We dropped them off and continued along our way.

The rest of us continued driving on yet another road that had a few houses sprinkled along the way. We made our way to a sign that said “Museum and Park”. As we drove in my brother and I had sour faces. Once we got in I sat up suddenly, becoming fully awake when we headed for a parking lot beside a frozen lake and a rickety boardwalk. We scoped around for any people, but there were no people yet.

We waited inside the car until people started arriving in small cars. We got out of the car and stepped into the frigid wind and snow. We walked to a bench to sign in and to drop off our car keys in exchange for SportIdent cards. The cold air brushed against my face and I shivered. I walked back to the car and waited for Daddy to finish signing us in. He came back with a sheet of paper containing the race’s rules which he read aloud while I sat in my seat with disappointment. I was not happy about doing another race. We finished reading the rules and went outside again to get all of our equipment ready. I went and prepared my backpack while Thorin got his ready

Once all of the racers were warmed up from their short jogs, the race started ..The only person I was in competition with was a girl, who was about my age. She was probably a pro at orienteering because she looked like she had been in many races already. We got our maps from boxes and oriented ourselves. The whistle was blown and we all scattered in different directions. As for me, I went in a direction alone. I walked over to the first flag, with my freezing finger tips clutching the map. I had run up a hill to get to the very first flag, I tried to beep the button but it was not working so I scrambled to get the map out and punch it. By the time I punched it, the other girl was already running ahead of me so I walked over to the next flag. My toes began to go numb from the snow which began to get my feet wet.

I looked at the map and looked up the monstrous ski hill that lay before me. On the top of the hill stood the flag I needed to get, I began to run but by shoes started to slip on the wet rocks. I walked and finally made it to the flag, but by the time I got there, everyone had passed me by. I looked at the map and looked at the vague trails ahead of me. I thought for a minute and started the hardest part of the long race.

If you aren't familiar with this sport click this link to dictionary.com:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/orienteering

Get Off Oil: Foreign Policy September-October 2010

Get Off Oil







Americans borrow $1 billion a day to import oil. Oil can cause environmental problems that soon become permanent. Studies put the cost of dealing with gasoline as extremely expensive because gasoline is composed of benzene, toluene, and xylene, which studies say affect our health, like shortening our life spans. Studies also show that cancer is caused by these three chemicals in gasoline. Oil not only causes health problems, but it also costs a lot of money to buy and to import.




American politicians have said that “foreign oil” or oil from places other than the U.S. is a problem. Unfortunately, the American politicians have come up with either expensive or impossible solutions to get rid of foreign oil. Thus the matter is left unsolved. Drilling for oil in the U.S. may help with some of the U.S. payments for foreign oil , but it won’t help with undermining O.P.E.C.’s control of the oil market. When the U.S. pays for oil, most of the oil goes to transportation like cars, trucks and buses, but only 2% of the oil goes to making electricity which is where politicians are focussing their policies on. The only environmental policy that Obama has found to discourage high-carbon emissions is a program called “cap and trade”. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that Obama will get his policy passed through Congress.




Obama can turn to a portfolio of other steps that he can use to find solutions to get the U.S. off oil sooner. For example there is hydrogen. Hydrogen is good because it is quicker ????.




Here are 5 things he can do now:

1. Boost the popularity of plug-in hybrid cars
2. Transform vehicles that travel all the time like buses into natural gas users
3. Allow alternative fuel to be purchased like alcohol based fuel.
4. Require more efficient forms of eternal combustion engines
5. Encourage car companies to use carbon composite materials when building their cars. This will make the car lighter and will require smaller engines to propel them.
   
   If Obama were to use these solutions, he may reduce the amount of oil transported to the U.S. by 10% over the next decade which could shatter the oil companies’ transportation monopoly, which is about 95% in the U.S.. If Obama doesn’t take action soon, Americans will have a harder life than ever. For example, Americans will fall into greater debt, contribute to climate and environmental changes and will give themselves even more health problems than they already have.

Info On Cats: Keep Your Cat Warm

Welcome back to info on cats. By now your house must be covered in a soft blanket of sparkling snow that give you chills in the morning sun. When you think of that sentence it might make you head south for the winter. As humans we have coats and jackets, scarves, gloves and cozy hats to keep us warm. But your cat might not have that good of a winter coat because of all the shedding they do during the summer and winter. I bought my cat some dog coats and I also made some. My cat doesn't really like wearing a coat, but in the fall and spring it gets cold and the fur coats they wear just aren't enough. Dog coats are just as good because people don't sell cat clothes. When you buy dog coats, make sure you get a medium or small for your cat so it fits just right.

Info On Cats: How do they purr?

Have you ever pet a cat and listened to the soothing purr. Scientists actually don't know why cats purr. It could be that they are scared or happy, maybe even sad. But we do know where the purr originates from in the cats body. Fun Fact: Large cats like tigers and lions can't purr like small felines can. The cat uses the muscles of the larynx to vibrate the glottis very fast. That causes the purr sound. After all of those big words, it comes from some muscles in the cat near the mouth. If you want the exact definition of those two words, look it up in a dictionary, or click this link:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/larynx

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/glottis

So, enjoy your adorable cat's purr. It is so relaxing when I listen to my cat purr. Tip: If you feel stressed from work, take some time off and just look at your cat. If it's sleeping go ahead and watch it. It may sound boring, but it is actually a great stress reliever. Try it out! =) What do you think, did the cats purr come by chance or was it created?

Info on Cats: Are cats colour blind?

I was wondering if my cat couldn't see the different colours in my home, but in actual fact, cats can see different colours, but not very clearly. They see colours vaguely. They can see your blue carpet on the floor but it may be a little dull in their eyes, but to us that blue is radiant. So there is a significant difference between us and cats. In the 1940's scientists thought cats couldn't see different colours, only grey. But further research revealed the amazing fact of cats being able to see colours. Of course their eyes are able to see in dim lighting, so the need for colour is not mandatory for cats. Their eyesight is able to pick up movement that we couldn't see. For example, if a mouse scurries through the bushes at night, the cat will hear and most likely see it, but we would not even have noticed. It is just amazing how cats can have all these amazing qualities. What do you think, did the cat's eyesight come by chance or was it created?

Info On Cats: Catnip

Welcome back to Info On Cats! Today's topic is "Catmint or Catnip". I gave my cat a toy that had catmint inside as filling and he goes crazy over it! If you have a cat(adult) then it will be able to control itself when it eats or chews on catnip. If you have a kitten, you may worry a little. Don't worry. The catmint is harmless to the cat. Give your cat some and he will put on a show for you. The symptoms of catmint from personal experience (when your cat eats it) are:

• dizziness
• loss of balance
• sleepiness
• disorientation
• and hyper behavior

If your cat eats or chews on this plant,(above picture) don't worry. It is normal for you cat to have those symptoms and to be eating plants. Over a period of time, your cat will get used to the catmint and will develop a small immunity to the symptoms above. Of course your cat will still act funny. So all in all, don't freak out if your cat eats catnip. =)