Unspoken Communication

For real communication to take place two or more people must, share some portion of themselves with another. Communication is more than a two way street: it is a meeting of minds. Whether listeners and readers agree or disagree with another person statement. Listening and reading skills, as well as the unspoken forms of communication, comprise an important part of a person’s ability to communicate. That is why attention must be given to each form of communication before the more detailed exploration of the creative arts of speaking and writing. Context is so important that we rarely think about it consciously. For example, an infant waking from a nap may cry just simply for physical needs or to receive attention. Another example, you walk into a room and an awkward silence ensues, we wonder if we were the topic of conversation of if those already in the room were having a private conversation that cannot be continued in our presence. Body language is what the other person sees even before he or she hears a word, but it is also those messages that continue to be transmitted unconsciously throughout any encounter. Each person’s body language speaks a message that at times may conflict with his or her words, but correctly interpreted the unspoken message is the more honest. Perception of another person’s message includes assimilation of at least some information about his or her facial expression, stance, and gestures. Distance and touch may be considered part of body language or apart from it as separate forms of unspoken communication. Distance is both physical and psychological. Two people talking across a table in a conference room are physically more distant than two colleagues would be if discussing something in the corridor, but the physical distance is not the only determinant. Touch, remains a particularly strong form of communication, even when stylized in such forms as the handshake or dance. Each society has its rules and taboos about touch. These govern not only who may touch whom but under what circumstances and where on the body.

Solar Works!

Launched in January 2007 the California Solar Initiative is an attempt to push photovoltaic on a mass scale in California to help cut greenhouse gas emissions and shore up the states energy supply. The $3 billion program offers rebates to Californians who install panels on their homes and business. Incentives do vary. But refunds typically range from 20% to 50% of a system’s cost. The incentives are structured to decline over time as demand grows, Californians who act sooner will get the biggest refunds. Rooftop solar panels will get even more attractive in January. Congress recently expanded federal investment tax credits for residential solar arrays. Starting next year, homeowners will be eligible for tax breaks of up to 30% of the entire cost of the solar panel project. For example, the total you spent on a system is $30,000 after the rebate you’ll end up paying $17,000. Some benefits had previously been capped at $2,000 per system. So now is the time to invest on something to help our environment. The sooner you act the better. Plus your house or business will go up in value.

Biodiesel

What is Biodiesel?

Biodiesel is known by the chemical name “Fatty-Acid Methyl Ester”. This fancy name just means that it’s a simple molecule made from vegetable oil. It is a fuel with high energy content and proper viscosity to operate reliably in all diesel vehicles and equipment. Because it’s made from a naturally-growing crop it is basically solar energy in liquid form!
The chemical reaction to make biodiesel is fairly straight forward. Vegetable oil is a ‘triglyceride’ which means three hydrocarbon chains all attached to the same glycerin molecule. It takes a certain amount of catalyst to break off these hydrocarbon chains. In the case of used cooking oils, we must add yet more lye to the reaction to neutralize the “free fatty acids” that have been formed in waste oil. This catalyst is dissolved into methyl alcohol (methanol) with a volume representing 20% of the oil we want to convert. This ‘premix’ is then blended vigorously with the oil to allow complete conversion of the oil. The blending allows the catalyst to break off each hydrocarbon chain, one by one, and bond with a floating methanol molecule to form biodiesel. The stripped glycerin molecules fall to the bottom of the reaction tank where they are removed. Glycerin will represent about 10% of the total mix volume.