Lady Jan Is Weird--Don't Say I Didn't Warn You!

This meme has been making the rounds of the blog-o-sphere, and I got this by was of Ann aka Rock Rebel Granny.

Six Weird Things About Me

And don't say I didn't warn you

Because I really am weird

1. I dream lucidly--that means I can change my dreams as I am dreaming them, while I'm still asleep.
2. I taught myself to read in my dreams--that's suppose to be impossible, but I just kept trying, remember the lucid dreaming in number 1? I would dream I would read something and it was gibberish all jumbled letters and such, and I would think I can do better than that! Then another dream I would read simple word like to and the, and I thought I can do better than that. Well, you get the idea. I just kept trying, and now I can have a dream where I go to a library, and open a book, and start to read and it makes sense.
3. When I was twelve I saw the Angle of Death, just before my Uncle Basil died. But I didn't know that's what I was seeing at the time, mostly because he didn't look like the traditional Angle of Death with a sickle or a skull head. He just looked like a man wearing a black cloak that covered him head to toe, and all I could see of his head was the tip of his nose, his mouth, and chin which looked normal. I woke up to see him just standing there, then he just faded out. I thought what the heck was that? My uncle died a few days latter.
4. When I was 22 my father was dying of colon cancer. While in the hospital's bathroom I felt my dad die, and a chunk of my heart pulled painlessly out and went to heaven with him. It's been 24 years and I feel like my heart has finally healed. Don't get me wrong I still miss my dad, and every year in the month of September the anniversary of his death I still get really really blue.
5. When I was pregnant with my only child and turning thirty, my mom picked me up for a birthday surprise! She took me to brunch at a nice restaurant, then took me on a drive that went around Hensley lake. My mom knows how much I love the country and it was a really beautiful day, and we kept seeing things that you normally don't see very much of; like coyotes during the day, and not just one either but three together. Lots of hawks, some of them perched on a old fence so close to the road that we where driving on that I could of reached out and touched one. Then something happened that I'll never forget; I saw what at first I mistook for another coyote, and just as my mom was saying, "Is that another coyote?" It looked over it's shoulders at us then spread it's wings, and flew straight up! It was a bald eagle!
6. I have dreams that come true. One time I had a dream about one of my daughter's friends named Kelly. In my dream I saw her parents talking quietly together by Kelly's open bedroom door as they looked in on their sleeping daughter, and they were talking about Kelly getting bit by a black widow spider, and how sick it had made her. And they were afraid she would die. If your not familiar with the black widow spider it's our country's most poisonous spider, it can kill you if you have asthma, or elderly, or very young. And regular healthy people that get bitten it makes us very very sick, as it had apparently made Kelly(in my dream). This dreamed had the feel of something that would happen, and it scared me. But also I wanted to warn Kelly with out her thinking that I'm some kind of a weird-o. So when she called the house for my daughter I got a chance to speak to her, and I tried to sound causal as I told her "It's black widow season, and I know how you like to leave your window open, and you really should check around your room and just to make sure you don't have any in there with you." And I felt certain it was in her room, and some where near her bed too. The next couple of days were nerve racking for me, because I felt the day of the spider bite was fast approaching, and I wanted her to find that spider! I talked to her a couple more times about looking for a black widow, before I finally broke down and told her about my dream. She really checked her room thoroughly then, and called me back to report she had found nothing. At this point I was about ready to tear her room apart myself--I was that certain about my dream! The next day Kelly called again this time to report something different; she had gotten ready for bed the night before, and instead of grabbing the covers and jumping in like she usually did she remembered my warning and looked first--guess what she found? A really really big black widow spider.
7. And now here's an extra; I live in a haunted house! I have seen the ghost that resides here, and so have the rest of my family. It's a little girl named Jenny, and she was my daughter's invisible friend when she was little. And I have seen and heard some weird things here too, but I'll leave that for another meme, or maybe even Halloween.

See I told you I was weird!

Happy Birthday My Baby Girl!

The whole gang, exempt me, as I'm behind the camera.

Are we ready to have fun?

See the boat behind them? There are a lot of old boats around the place.

I guess they are using them for decorations.

This is where we went.

The Island Water Park in Fresno.

We got the after 3:00 o'clock rate even though we we're 15 minutes early, but it was a savings of almost ten dollars per person.

In side the Life guards we're young--teens I think, or just a little older, and snotty.

And the snack bar was very slow.

YGF acting . . .Strange. . .er. . .Strong?

Gina, pretty in pink.

My daughter wouldn't go down any of the slides, as she was afraid she'd get sick.

And the water park is mostly slides.

Her friends tried to talk her into going with them down the slides with them, while I went and rented a double inter tube as they wouldn't let my daughter use her float. But my daughter has a stubborn streak(gee, I don't know where she gets it from) and refused to go down even one slide.

I told Gina and YGF to go ahead and go down the slides with out her, and they did, and had a great time too.

Our Birthday girl.

Are we having fun. . . . . .Yet?

She wasn't .

Even though I lathered myself with two coats of spf 45 sunblock I still got a little sunburned going around, and around the Lazy River with my daughter for over an hour.

It was the only thing she would do there.

In the picture above she is at the wave pool, but the wave maker was broken.

An other thing that she wasn't too happy about.

And she felt that her friends had ditched her, and I'm the one that told them to go.

Well, I guess we are not coming here again.

Too bad too I thought it was kinda fun.

And we paid all that money just for her friends to have a good time.

***

A short bit on my husband

My husband is a good guy he volunteered to sit with our stuff at the table--all by himself. I would go over and spell him from time to time so he could use the restroom, or get something at the snack bar.

Then this one time I left the girls to spell my husband, and afterwards I stood in line to get a coke for myself. The line wasn't that long but it was real really slow. God awful slow as a matter of fact. Then I finally got my soda I turned around, and saw a young blond woman standing in-front and slightly to one side of my husband at another table. Doing what I'm not really sure. She was wearing on of those bathing suits that are made to show off her butt, and it was crammed half way up her crack. And she had her butt pointed at my husband in a way that didn't seem at all natural.

I thought,

What is she doing? Oh no, I don't think so.

I check on my husband--no he is not looking at her. Actually he was watching the kids in Splash Away Bay(the kiddie pool), we have a good view from our table of the cute little children playing there.

Then she-oh-so casually looked over her shoulder to check, and see if my husband was check out her ass-sets. It was so odvious to be almost laughable, excent for the fact it was my husband she was doing that to. Then I guess she saw me from the corner of her eye, maybe she thought I was another man. She had to crane her neck a bit more to get a good look at me.

I gave her a time honored look that older woman have been giving younger woman for thousands of years.

It said, "I don't think so Bi-a-tch!"

What I really think she really saw was a 45 year old, stout, red head, with a 32 ounces of cold coke in her hand, with a mean glint in her eye, bearing down on her.

Then she high tailed out of there real quick! Like a cartoon.

I sat down with my husband, and casually asked him "did you see the chick trying to show off her butt to you?"

"What chick. . .er. . .woman?"

"The one that was standing right here."

I said, pointing to the spot that she had hastily vacated.

"Oh no, I didn't notice. Um, what did you say she was she doing?"

"Never mind dear. Here have some coke."

"But that was for you."

"That's okay, I'll share."

That's my guy, and she didn't know he's not a butt man. Oh no, he likes something more to the front and higher, which she seem to have in short supply.

Well, she can just SIT on her BEST feature as far as I'm concerned.

I put my elbow on the table and gave my husband a view of my best feature, he took a sip of the coke and grinned at me.

***

A day later:

Our Birthday girl and her ice cream cake.

We put fifteen candles on it.
Um, YGF is seems to be cleaning one of the candles here I think?

A bouquet of flowers my husband gave to our daughter for her B-Day.

I actually pick them out, and told my husband I thought he should be the one to give them to her. He said, "I think so too, and thank you for helping me look like a good guy."

I told him, "that was easy because he was a good guy." And then I kissed him on the cheek.

Pizza, ice cream pie, a bouquet of flowers, and YGF what more could a girl want?

Sometime simpler is better.

Lady Jan's Daughter has a Birthday!

My daughter is fifteen!

We went to the Island water part where I'm afraid she didn't have a good time, but her two friends did YGF and Gina.

I'm sore and maybe a little sunburnt, and for some reason my legs are raw, so I'll post more later along with the pictures that I took.

Lady Jan--The Killer Heat Wave And My Poor Dog!

This heat wave that we have been having is a killer!

I'm serious! Two people killed by the heat in Fresno, because they were not using their AC unit just fans! In this tempature?

And not only that but farm animals are dying too!

Then my own elderly dog was a victim of the heat as well!

My husband last Sunday let own dog Mitzi outside to go to the bathroom, and didn't let her back in when he laid down with me to take a nap. It was hot 112, and you just don't feel like doing much in heat like that. I asked him when he laid down with me "did you let the dog out?" But I didn't think to ask him "did you let her back in again?"

An hour later I went to the (human people's) bathroom (not to be confused with the doggie one) and I heard a whimper while I was washing my hands. That galvanized me, and I went through the house looking for our dog. I wasn't at all sure if the whimper was our dog or not, but I just wanted to be sure.

Well, she wasn't inside, so I went outside thinking she fell into one of my gardens and couldn't get out, as that has happened before. I checked my little garden--she had fell off the porch into it a few days earlier, and I found her pacing back and forth over the top of my plants in befuddlement.

Nope she wasn't in there again.

I check the next one, and no--not even in the veggie garden either. Could she be on the hot side of the house where we have no trees, where it gets the full brunt of the hot summer sun?

I rounded the corner of the house and I stopped dead!

Oh no!

I saw her laying on her side out in the hot sun.

I ran over to her and checked to she if she was breathing--she was--her little doggy cheeks were puffing in and out like bellows, and her tongue was all the way out. I picked her up and she was limp as a dish rang, and she was really hot to the touch just like the ground that I was standing on.

I took her inside and went through our bedroom on the way to the bathroom. We live in a hundred year old house, and the single bathroom is situated inbetween the bedrooms.

I yelled at my sleeping husband as I went "You left the dog out side--now she is gonna die!" Okay, maybe that was a little overly dramatic, but you have to admit I did have a good cause.

I placed our over heated pooch in the bathtub and turned on the shower. I turned on the cold water but with a little of the hot water, because I didn't want her to go into shock getting too cool too fast. But I did keep adjusting the tempature to be cooler as the time went along.

I had her on her left side facing me with her head toward the upper end of the tub where it is more shallow. I dribbled water into to her mouth and talked to her calling her name, and running my hand down her back and down her legs, as my husband watch anxiously peering over my shoulders.

At one point I had to reposition her because the water started pulling infront of her face. I wanted her to get cooler--not drown. Mitzi came around then and lap up some water before slumping down again. I kept a careful eye on her breathing as it slowed down, and she was aware enough to pull her tongue back into her mouth.

When her breathing became normal I lifted Mitzi out of the tub, and into a towel that my husband had ready. We toweled her dry and I asked my husband to put her in her bed without the towel wrapped around her, as I didn't want her heating up again.

Mitzi slept for a couple of hours then came around and my husband took her outside to go potty, this time staying right with her until she was done. Then taking her back inside, and at my suggestion taking her to her water bowl to drink some more. I wanted to try to get her re-hydrated. She slept a couple more hours and was able to get up on her own, and I took her outside this time to potty, and back inside again to drink more water.

She is still weak, some times her legs don't seem to want to hold her up. But she was doing that anyway because of being so old(eighteen years old), but this is more than is normal for her.

Every day she's a little better, and I am making sure that we don't have a repeat performance of Sunday--that was scary enough!

Lady Jan's Review

I posted one of my movie reviews on IMDb.com, and it's already posted or what ever they call it! I've got the sight linked into the above title.

H-mm, I wonder if this counts toward being a published author?

Lady Jan's Dental visit

I went to the dentist the other day for a cleaning and a check-up, and I was really nervous about it too.

The last visit I had with the hygientist (Carrie) left me a little shaken; I had a crack in one of my upper molars, and a small cavity in my lower right wisdom tooth. Which means I might have to have a cap for the cracked tooth because of the large filling that is already there, and they don't fill cavities in wisdom teeth anymore--they pull them!

EEK!

That wasn't good news at all!

Of course it was all up to the Dentist when he saw me the next time, and that would be at the next six month visit.

So I was bad.

I didn't go.

They called to confirm my appointment and as luck would have it I had the flu, that first time I really did. The next time a cold, and then the flu again, when I got another call later then I said I was sick yet again--h-mm not sure with what this time.

Too bad such bad timing.

Then Carrie (the hygientist) caught me at home a month ago with not even an allergy attack to blame, and I said "okay I'll go."

It had been a year from the last visit.

I went with my daughter in tow, and spent better than half an hour in the chair while the TV murmured in the back ground. I like how they have TV's in there now--what a good idea--such a good distraction! I hardly felt or heard the scrape scrape of the dental tool.

She chatted the whole time, and made comments on the TV show that was on, as she x-rayed and then scraped the plaque off my teeth. I'm not sure why the dental professionals feel compelled to fill the space with their small talk, not that I'm complaining--I'm glad. I can stop thinking about what they are doing in my mouth for the time I'm there, and just think about what they are telling me instead.

But it's kind of silly too, as I now know more about my hygientist and my dentist then about any other of my or my daughter's health care providers. Think of it this way; while getting your annual pap smear or physical your doctor started telling you about his or her golf game, or vacation.

Wouldn't that seem weird?

But Carrie is really nice. And she told me that she had a rough year since I saw her last; and that she lost her mom last year, and had the hard task of emptying her mom's house and selling it. And at the same time that her mom's house sold, her and her husband moved into a new house they had just bought. Then just yesterday they had to put they beloved old Dalmatian to sleep. He was really old sixteen or seventeen (I forgot, but younger than my dog though), and she keeps a photo of him in her stall (cubicle? What ever those rooms are called) just like what you'd do with your child(she has no children). She gets a little embarrassed when she is called the Dalmatian lady. Any way what had happened to prompt this was that her husband had to pick up the poor old pooch to take him out side, then held him up just so he could pee. That's when they made that really hard decision to put him to sleep.

I wanted to say something sympathetic, but all I could do was say "uh, huh" in the right places. If I said anything it would have sounded like "gug gug gug, ga ga, gug ga ga."

The cleaning went so well that Carrie said "(I) didn't need to see her for a whole year."
I said "are your serious?"

"Yes, you really know what your doing. (Teeth wise.) And you did so well not seeing me for a whole year, that we'll try that again for you for next time."

Huh?

Then I had to wait for the Dentist to give his verdict. This part made me really nervous because of last years exam. And I thought oh here it goes, he'll want to pull that wisdom tooth and while he's at it "let's pull all of them!"(I still have all four.) And he'll have to cap that upper tooth too. Or so my imagination told me over and over again.

Then my good looking dentist walked in, and he's real nice too. And he said "let's have a look shall we?"

Gulp, "Okay."

While he picked at some plaque the hygienist missed around my gum line, he told me about his vacation. (Here we go again.)He went to Canada--his wife is from there, and they went to see her relatives. His wife also got ill on the trip, and he got bored while she was taking a nap, so he looked up the local dentist and went to see her. But she was busy so he soon returned to their hotel room.

???

My dentist gets away from it all--in another country no less, and he is finally got away from all the mouths, teeth, and drool--and he gets bored and has to look up and a fellow dentsist?

How weird is that?

He concludes my exam and tells me my mouth is in fine shape, and he also gave me a cancer check up too--that I passed with flying colors.

Cancer?

He said "I was checking you for mouth cancer, when I lifted your tongue tolding the tip with some gauze, and then flattened your tongue with the mirror, so I look around better. And I also felt around your jaws checking the salvorary glands for cancer too."

Mouth cancer?

It seems there is more mouth cancer than breast cancer(funny he mentions that one first), or skin cancer, or colon cancer--more than any other cancer.

And I'm fine.

Phew!

And my teeth are too!

Yay!

Nothing is gonna get pulled or drilled or capped!

At least not this year!

Lady Jan's Problems--Things are Blowing-up!

My daughter was going to vacuum her room today, and when she turned on the vacuum cleaner, I noticed two things; the vacuum sounded odd--like something was jammed in the hose, and the second was that it had a musty, mildew-ie smell to it.

I stopped my daughter and told her to "take out the old bag, and replace it with a new one." When she opened the vacuum she brought it to me to see that the bag was blown-up, and glass and water were all inside the vacuum cleaner--that explained the mildew-ie smell.

A week ago or so--my daughter was helping in the kitchen, and she was cleaning the door to my little old second hand convection oven, and she must have applied the right kind of pressure to the wrong spot--BAM!

I heard a sound like a riffle going off!

The door broke in millions of tiny pieces! And they had flew all over the kitchen! Luckily my daughter only had a couple of small cuts on her, and she is okay.

After I laid down a thick towel on the glass covered floor, so my bare foot daughter to walk out of the kitchen with out getting her feet cut, then we both took turns vacuuming up the glass with the before mentioned vacuum cleaner.

That's were the glass came from, but I'm at a loss as to where the water came from?

So today, (deep sigh) we both spent the better part of an hour cleaning out the insides of the vacuum cleaner, and trying to pick out the glass from all the nook and small crannies of the vacuum bag housing. We had to finally resort to hosing out the insides with the sink hose(that my husband thoughtfully installed for me), and we were real careful not to get any water inside the motor.

If that doesn't do it and the vacuum is still acting up tomorrow, then I'm going to have to take it into the repair shop at Sears.

At least I still have the extended warranty on it.

Mosquito Patch the latest technology In the War against the Evil Mosquito!

Last month I posted about our mosquito season, and Christine left me a comment and told me about a new product called The Mosquito Patch. And she says it really works even if you get it wet like when you go swiming.

Thank you Christine.

E-mail on Environment California : Forest Victory!

Hi Janice,

On July 12, Gov. Schwarzenegger petitioned the federal government to
protect all 4.4 million acres of California's wild forests. This act is
the next step in our work to protect the most pristine parts of our
national forests for future generations and comes after six years of Bush
Administration forest protection rollbacks.

The governor's action is a huge victory for our forests in California
and I want to thank everyone who has taken action on this campaign.
Without your help this victory would not have been possible. Take a moment
to pat yourself on the back and then send a thank you to the governor
for doing the right thing. Then ask your friends and family to do the
same by forwarding them this email.

To take action, click on the link below of paste it in to your web
browser:

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/preservation/wildforeststhankyou?id4=ES

Background

Enacted in January 2001, the Roadless Rule protects the last third of
America's national forests while allowing new road construction in order
to fight fires, ensure public safety, and allow brush clearing to
protect forest health. The Roadless Rule ensures that forests will continue
to provide clean drinking water, habitat for wildlife and endless
opportunities for recreation and solitude.

On July 12, 2004 the Bush Administration announced its proposal to
repeal the Roadless rule and replace it with a process that allows
governors to petition for more or less protection for roadless areas in their
states.

The Bush Administration scheduled a 60-day comment period on their
plan. During the comment period, the administration received more than 1.4
million comments in opposition to its proposal. About a dozen governors
spoke out in opposition to the proposal, as did many members of
Congress.

Despite the public support, President Bush repealed the Roadless Rule
in May 2005. Since then Gov. Schwarzenegger made several public promises
to protect 100 percent of our wild forests in California. Time is
running out for him to fulfill this promise.

On Wednesday July 12, Gov. Schwarzenegger fulfilled this promise and
officially petitioned the federal government to protect 100 percent of
our wild forests called 'roadless areas' in California.

This is a huge victory for our forests in California that would not
have been possible without your activism, take a moment to pat yourself on
the back and then send a thank you to the governor for doing the right
thing. Then ask your friends and family to do the same by forwarding
them this email.

To take action, click on the link below of paste it in to your web
browser:

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/preservation/wildforeststhankyou?id4=ES

Sincerely,

Dan Jacobson
Environment California Legislative Director
DanJ@environmentcalifornia.org
http://www.EnvironmentCalifornia.org

P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this
e-mail with your family and friends.

Declare Energy Independence!

Hi Janice,

Despite phone calls from over 2,000 Californians, the House of
Representatives voted last week to end the 25-year moratorium on off-shore
drilling. We will have another opportunity to stop the legislation when it
is heard in the Senate later this year.

Before that happens, we need to drive home one very important point: we
cannot drill our way into energy independence. Only increased energy
conservation, energy efficiency and more renewables will bring us true
energy independence.

Help us disseminate this Independence Day message by writing a letter
to be printed in your local paper. Follow the link below and our online
tool will help you write a letter and send it to your local paper. Then
ask your friends and family to do the same by forwarding this message
to them.

To take action, click here or paste this link in your Web browser:

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/oceans/lte?id4=ES


Background:

From the LA Times, June 30, 2006:
"House Offers States Incentives for Offshore Oil, Gas Drilling: The
bill, which in effect rescinds a decades-old moratorium, would allow
states that agree to leases in their waters to share in the royalties."
By Maura Reynolds
Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON - Spurred in part by higher energy prices, the House of
Representatives voted Thursday to in effect rescind a decades-old federal
moratorium on offshore drilling for oil and gas, a move proponents hope
will be the first step toward opening the outer continental shelf to
more fuel exploration.

The bill, passed by a vote of 232 to 187, would permit states that
agree to offshore drilling to share in the royalties from the leases,
thereby creating a financial incentive to spur development.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has expressed strong opposition to the House
measure, saying that the "impacts of new offshore oil and gas leasing
and development off the California coast are unacceptable."

Supporters said the measure would give states control over their
shorelines and an opportunity to debate the balance between energy needs and
coastal protection.

"Any state will be able to stop production from occurring within 100
miles of its shores should it choose to do so," said Rep. Shelley Moore
Capito (R-W.Va.), a co-sponsor of the bill. "If state officials decide
to allow production, they will share in the royalties."

Opponents argued that sending royalties to states that permit drilling
would rob the federal government of billions of dollars in revenue, and
would in effect transfer billions out of the federal budget to four
Gulf states that already permit offshore drilling.

"This legislation tempts states to sell off their natural heritage by
presenting a false choice between federal dollars and their coastlines,"
said Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento), who voted against the bill.
"Even worse, the closer to shore a cash-strapped state allows drilling, the
more money it stands to receive. In other words, the more intrusive the
drilling, the larger the payoff."

It is not clear how much support the legislation may receive in the
Senate, where a more modest bill - permitting drilling in just one area
more than 100 miles off the Florida coast - has been stalled because of
the threat of a filibuster from coastal-state senators.

Energy issues tend to align coastal lawmakers against those from inland
and oil-producing states, regardless of party affiliation.

Generally, California and Florida lawmakers have opposed offshore
drilling. However, that alignment has begun to crumble under the pressure of
high oil prices.

For example, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) had previously opposed
drilling, but he has changed his stance because of high pump prices.

"In the past, he had felt it has not been economically feasible or
necessary and he saw no reason to create this potential environmental
problem," said Lewis spokesman Jim Specht. "Now, in our current situation,
he feels it's time to take a look at this situation."

California lawmakers voted largely along party lines, with Republicans
in favor and Democrats opposed. Only two Republicans voted against the
bill - Reps. Mary Bono of Palm Springs and John Campbell of Irvine.
Just one Democrat, Rep. Jim Costa of Fresno, voted for it.

Overall, 40 Democrats joined with 192 Republicans to pass the bill; 31
Republicans joined 155 Democrats and one independent in voting against
it. Fourteen lawmakers were absent or did not vote.

The legislation - written largely by Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy),
chairman of the House Resources Committee - received strong support from
Gulf state lawmakers, especially those from Louisiana, who argued that
the royalties would assist them in rebuilding coastline and wetlands
destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and years of mismanagement.

"I wish we had the beaches that you have. We don't," complained Rep.
Charlie Melancon (D-La.), who supported the bill. "We've lost our
beaches."

Supporters also suggested that coastal drilling would help lower
consumer prices for natural gas and other fuels.

"This legislation will impact the price consumers pay at the pump,"
Capito said. "Natural gas prices are set on a local, not a global, market.
The United States pays the highest natural gas prices in the world, and
it is no surprise that countries that make use of their own natural gas
reserves pay the lowest prices."

But opponents said that a better long-term strategy for addressing
energy prices was not to increase supply, but reduce demand.

"We should be seizing this opportunity to address our energy crisis
responsibly by reducing consumption, improving efficiency and embracing
alternative energy sources," said Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara),
whose district was the site of a devastating 1969 coastal oil spill.
"Instead, the majority has voted to enable our country's oil addiction and
rely on 19th century energy sources to fuel a 21st century economy."

In a letter sent this week to Pombo, Schwarzenegger boasted that energy
conservation efforts had kept California's per-capita electricity use
nearly flat, whereas demand has increased nationwide by 50%.

"If California's approach to energy conservation and efficiency
standards were adopted nationwide, we might not be having this debate over the
exploitation of the oil and gas resources off our coast,"
Schwarzenegger said.

The Bush administration, while generally supporting opening up coastal
waters to drilling, has not pressed the issue. In a statement of policy
issued while the House was debating, the Office of Management and
Budget expressed reservations about the effect of the House measure on the
federal budget.

"Increased revenue sharing for existing leases creates no additional
production incentive," the statement said. "The administration strongly
opposes the bill's revenue-sharing provisions because of their adverse
long-term consequences on the federal deficit."

The chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee,
Republican Pete Domenici of New Mexico, issued a statement welcoming the
House action, but it fell short of endorsing the bill's approach.

"Given the international situation right now, I think we should take
all responsible steps to increase our own energy production," he said.

If Domenici's more limited bill passes the Senate, the two chambers
would meet to negotiate a compromise.

*****

This pro-drilling bill is now on its way to the U.S. Senate. Before
that happens, we need to drive home one very important point: we cannot
drill our way into energy independence. Only increased energy
conservation, energy efficiency and more renewables will bring us true energy
independence.

Help us disseminate this Independence Day message by writing a letter
to be printed in your local paper. Follow the link below and our online
tool will help you write a letter and send it to your local paper. Then
asked your friends and family to do the same by forwarding this message
to them.

To take action, click here or paste this link in your Web browser:

http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/oceans/lte?id4=ES

Sincerely,

Dan Jacobson
Environment California Legislative Director
DanJ@environmentcalifornia.org
http://www.EnvironmentCalifornia.org

P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this
e-mail with your family and friends.