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Can I Recycle My AA Batteries In New Zealand?

battery-recycling

I’m not talking about car batteries – those you can take to any metal recycler and get about $2 for them.

I’m talking about non-rechargeable AA batteries (and battery sizes AAA, C and D).

All my AA’s are rechargeable except for the ones that come free sometimes with some electronics.

Like me, do you feel guilty when the non-rechargeable batteries are spent, and you throw them in the bin?

I’ve been told that especially the ones with mercury in them are hazardous to the environment, so what can we do with them?

Can we recycle them?

And more importantly is it free to do so? (If I have to courier them somewhere or drive 10km out of my way to deliver them to a collection point, forget it.  I’ll just throw them in the bin).

So what’s the solution?

I propose that household batteries are added to the list of items we can add to our recycling bins.  Surely someone can make a few dollars down the line by harvesting the metals from them?

What do you think?

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Blood Doping – The Truth About Blood Doping For Enhancing Sports Performance

teddy-bear-blood-bagIn New Zealand the word “dope” commonly means “Marijuana”. And in the news we often hear of sport stars being caught cheating in events by “doping”.

Therefore one might assume that somehow these athletes have been using Dope to enhance their sports performance.

That is not the case.

In full, the term is “blood doping” and is not as evil as it sounds.

The atheletes are not injecting themselves with drugs at all.

They are injecting themselves with their own blood.

Yes, that’s right.

For months before their big race they:

  • Transfuse their blood
  • Increase the concentration of Red Blood Cells (mainly by removing water)
  • Freeze it

Then the blood, high in Red Blood Cells, is thawed and pumped back into their blood stream before the race.

Why?

Because Red Blood Cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, and more RBCs in the blood can improve an athlete’s aerobic capacity (VO2 max) and endurance.

RBCs can be concentrated, frozen and later thawed with little loss of viability or activity.

Interestingly, a similar affect can be achieved by training at high altitude. The body compensates for the reduced volume of oxygen in each breath, by producing extra RBCs so the lungs become more efficient at extracting oxygen from every lung-full.

But it’s expensive to go and live and train in the mountains for months at a time.

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Does Anyone Use The Coffee-Type Indicators On Paper Cup Lids?

black-coffee-cup-lidI think the little press-down indicators on the top of the lids for paper cups are a brilliant invention.

For example, let’s say you are going to McDonalds and you are getting 5 hot beverages:

  1. Black coffee
  2. Black decaf coffee
  3. White coffee with sugar
  4. White decaf coffee
  5. Hot chocolate

If the McDonalds staff member pressed down the appropriate buttons on the plastic lids, you can see at a glance which hot beverage is which.

So why don’t staff ever use them?

Annoying!

And another one: Many pizza boxes have similar indicators on the side of the box. And example is Hell Pizza.  They have every flavour of pizza listed on the side of the box, all the staff member would have to do it circle the flavour with a pen.

A few times I’ve had parties when we’ve ordered 6 or more pizza’s and it would have been very handy to actually know which flavour we had in front of us.

But Hell Pizza employees never mark the pizza flavour on the side of the box either.

Annoying!

I just feel sorry for the dude that invented these things, got them accepted into mainstream but they don’t get used in practice.

Shame.

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I Shoplifted A Keyring From The Polynesian Spa in Rotorua

key-ring-dollar-bills

It’s confession time!

This one time I shoplifted a keyring from the souvenir shop at the Polynesian Spa in Rotorua.

(I couldn’t find a photo of the NZ version, but the American equivalent is shown on the right)

I was about 10 years old at the time.

While I was waiting for the rest of the family to finish getting changed, I was staring at this particular keyring which had all the NZ bank notes as miniture plastic versions.

I think the price was about $4, which was way out of my league (my weekly pocket money was about $2).  So after 10 minutes of sweating and stressing and checking to see if I was being watched, I put it in my pocket and took off.

I kept it hidden in a drawer beside my bed.  I couldn’t show anyone, because they might ask where I got it and I think I would crack under the pressure and confess.

I was racked with guilt for weeks.  Until, finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I buried it deep in the rubbish bin, and tried to forget about it.

But I couldn’t forget.

10 years later, I still felt guilty.

I was about 20 years old when I went back to the Polynesian Spa.  I went straight up to the souvenir counter and said “Hello. Ten years ago I stole a keyring from here.  Please accept my apology and my payment of $10.”  I handed over a $10 note and walked away.

The person at the counter just said “oh… thank you!”

Finally, I was free.

Are you carrying around any guilt?

Don’t let it eat at you for 10 years.

Make it right.  Pay for it and ask for forgiveness.  Be free.

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Which Floor Is At Street Level? The Ground Floor or First Floor?

elevator-buttons-ground-floorWhen you are on an upper level in a tall building, and you step into the elevator, do you hesitate for a moment trying to decide which button to press to get back to street level?

I sure do.

But I’m no longer embarrased about it, because after a quick Google search, I now know I’m not alone.

In New Zealand elevators, most street level floors are called “G”, but I’m pretty sure I’ve come accross some that are marked with “1”.

Infact I’ve just discovered (thanks to Wikipedia) that for the first 4 floors:

  • Japanese elevators use 1F, 2F, 3F, 4F
  • English elevators use G, 1, 2, 3
  • American elevators use G/1, 2, 3, 4

But I think I will be ok from now on, because I’ve just learned that most of the time, the street level floor is marked with an asterix!

Hooray!

Just for fun, here’s a fanclub on Facebook complaining about a new library’s floor numbering system.

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DNA Evidence – The Biggest Problem With DNA Evidence Is Pillows

dna-profiling-dna-forensicsAt first glance, catching criminals based on DNA evidence sounds really appealing.

Occassionally on the news you hear about cold cases being solved because, years later, the criminal responsible for the crime is caught for an unrelated crime, is DNA profiled, and is connected to the cold case through a DNA match with evidence at the scene of the old crime.

Fantastic!

A win for society!

But what if a criminal came to your house before committing a string of burglaries, stole your favourite pillow, and shook your pillow through all the houses they burgled that week, thereby depositing your skins cells, your DNA,  through-out those crime scenes?

Still think DNA profiling is a good idea?

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My Theory About Why Endangered Species Are Endangered

A particularly tasty looking extinct animal - The Dodo

So why does planet earth loose entire species of animals and plants every day?

Is it natural selection?

Is it survival of the fittest?

Is it loss of habitat from mankind chopping down the rain forests?

Is it climate change which destroys the ecosystems of these creatures?

I don’t think so.

My theory is that endangered species are endangered because they are tasty.

In some cases they were tasty to humans so we ate them out of existence (eg The Moa).

In other cases they were tasty to predators so they ate them out of existence (eg The Dodo).

Here is my list of what I suspect are the tastiest animals left on the planet. I am super keen to nibble on them for sure:

  1. Imagine Giant Panda kebabs with BBQ sauce
  2. Imagine thick pan-fried Blue Whale steaks with mushrooms
  3. Imagine bacon and Albatross Egg toasted sandwiches
  4. Imagine char-grilled Arakan Forest Turtle with hollandaise sauce

Hmmmmm yum!!.  I hope I get a chance before they are all gone!

A particularly tasty looking extinct animal - The Dodo
A particularly tasty looking extinct animal - The Dodo
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Rip off Alert: Just Juice With Spring Water – You Are Paying For Watered Down Juice!

Rip-off: Just Juice with Spring Water
Rip-off: Just Juice with Spring Water

This has got to be one of the greatest beverage rip-off’s of this decade: “Just Juice Splash”.

Just Juice Splash is 50% Juice with 50% Spring Water.

In other words, they are watering it down for you and charging you the same price.

You are a fool if you buy it. Because you could get twice the juice for the same price by purchasing the normal Just Juice product and watering it down yourself with water out of the tap!

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I Won $2 On An Instant Kiwi Scratch Card, What Did I Do?

1-dollar-instant-kiwiThis one time I got 10 x $1 Instant Kiwi scratch cards as a birthday present.

I scratched them all to reveal one winning card.  The total prize money for my efforts was $2.

Did I redeem it for two more $1 Instant Kiwi scratch cards for two chances to win the grand prize of $10,000?

No.

I got my $2 cash and went home.

Doesn’t everyone?