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Better than Plumb
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Well, at least it's warm here
comments (0) January 19th, 2009 in Blogs
Kevin Ireton, editor-at-large
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I woke up to 3 inches of fresh snow in Connecticut, which made the drive to the airport beautiful. It was the light, fluffy snow that outlined every tree. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the roads were fine. The only problem was that I had to swerve at one point to avoid a falling tree branch, only to realize after nearly throwing the truck into a skid that it wasn't a tree branch at all, but snow blowing off and falling in the shape of a branch.
I spent an uneventful flight with an empty seat next to me and my nose buried in a book (The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski). Southwest even got us to Las Vegas an hour early. My bag came off the converyor quickly and I stepped out into sunny, 63 deg. weather. You'd think that would make everything right with the world, but there's one problem. I hate this place.
As someone who struggles more and more with issues of sustainability, someone who wonders how we can build houses that consume energy more efficiently than Hummers consume gas, someone who has begun to wonder in the dark and quiet of the night who will hold us accountable for the use we make of this earth, as THAT person, Las Vegas is pretty hard to take. And I thought that before I discovered that sitting on the toilet in my hotel room I can see my reflection in three different mirrors (Why do they do that?). This city is the poster child for unsustainability. As far as I can tell, the energy and other resources consumed here have one purpose only: to separate folks from their money. And given the state of our world right now, that just doesn't seem like a very nice thing to do.
Tomorrow, the International Builder's Show kicks off, which will at least stop me from thinking about the spectacle of Las Vegas. I'll be curious to see how well attended the show is and get a sense of people's moods. And of course, I'll be on the look out for green building products.
posted in: Blogs, business, energy efficiency
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About this blog
As the editor of Fine Homebuilding, I spend my weekdays trying to produce a magazine that will satisfy 300,000 of the most demanding builders, both professional and amateur. As the owner of a 200-year old Cape in Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills, I spend weekends working on my house.
Each activity invariably informs, and complicates, the other. In this blog, I’ll offer observations from both worlds -- publishing and building -- with the hope of providing some useful or at least entertaining insights.
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