What's a Nalgene got to do with John McCain?
My MIT nalgene broke. Is it me or is that ironic?
Anyway, as I was trying to fix the possibly polyurethane top to my nalgene I recalled that my brothers did not know what a nalgene was when I came back from Boston to visit home in Broken Arrow, OK one year. They were all the rage in Boston. Everyone had one even if they didn't go camping or play sports . . . or drink water. So I was obviously surprised that my brothers didn't know what they were since they did do all of those things.
It was one of those things that made me realize that sometimes the Northeast US and the Southwest US are like different countries, and I must be impressionable because as I stay in one place, I find myself agreeing more and more with popular politics in the area. Back in 2004 during the first Presidential election, I remember quite clearly thinking that George W. Bush was an idiot, and I couldn't fathom that people would actually vote for him, but when I talked to my dad back in Broken Arrow, he had a completely different idea. He said "If anyone in this family votes for Kerry, I'm gonna pull them through a knot hole." Lord only knows what that means. He didn't, of course, because he'd probably be arrested, but it made me realize I had come far off track from where I had been even 4 years before that when I couldn't believe anyone would ever vote for Al Gore!
That brings us to here and now, where I find myself feeling more and more republican than I was a couple of years ago. I still feel that Bush is a terrible public speaker, and maybe should have listened to a few more differing opinions before making huge decisions, but he's obviously not *evil.* This time, I feel as though I am converging on a more middle of the road stance that just happens to be slightly to the right. I probably disagree with most republicans, but I don't care anymore. This is me saying "Thanks world, your input has been greatly appreciated, but I think I've made up my mind now!" Now if only a candidate I like can get enough people behind him/her to snag the nomination.: That seems to be the tough part when you're a more middle of the road voter.
Hey, at least it wasn't a post entirely about polymers and nalgene bottles! That's for next time!
Labels: John McCain, Nalgene, politics, republican
posted by Kendall @ 6:50 PM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
1. I didn't realize you had a blog.
2. Good choice of names.
3. Do you want me to explain irony to you again? I think your situation is more of a paradox.
You know, you can check the number in the little recycling triangle and that will correlate to the plastic.
http://pslc.ws/macrog/work/recycle.htm
Polyurethane isn't as popular as it used to be. I'd be surprised if it wasn't either PE or PP. Then again, ABS is getting really popular and isn't a bad guess. It's tell without handling it with my bare hands.
-Nick
PS And I'm sure all that introspective soul-bearing was an interesting read.
Alisha, I think you're wrong about the paradox business. I think it *is* actually ironic, because since it's from MIT, you wouldn't expect it to break, but the fact of the matter is that it wasn't designed and manufactured by MIT. It was bought from some other company and stamped with the MIT DMSE label, so I stick to my claim that it was ironic. If the MIT Materials Science Department had designed and manufactured the bottle, that would be paradoxical, but also still a bit ironic, since dictionary.com defines ironic as simply 'contrary to what is expected . . . '
Ach! Nick, you totally ruined my post about determining what polymer you've got! Though I've gotta say that with stuff that's not really disposable, they don't usually put the little triangle on the bottom, and if they did, it would probably just say it was plastic #7 which just means it's a weird plastic, and probably not recyclable. As for the bottle, I'm talking strictly about the strap connecting the lid to the body, so ABS would most likely be too stiff. PP could possibly work out, but I don't think PE would work unless it was HDPE, and then, again, I'd say it would end up too stiff. I'm still gonna right a post about polymers, though!
Hm. I dunno. I suppose that could be ironic. I guess I would say that the irony lies more in the fact that the nalgene broke, than the fact that it was an MIT nalgene, but I suppose I misread what your point was. Anyway, I really just wanted to give you a hard time about nothing.
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