Rants and Raves for January 13th, 2007.

Sorry it has been a while since I posted. Have not had too much in the news that really got me going. On top of that, I haven't really had the motivation to blog. I know that I should be keeping up since my blog is now listed on Erie Blogs. I'll try to make sure to blog a little more often. That being said, let's begin.

First topic is the Erie County smoking ban. This ban has an effective date of February 17th, but there was talk of it being delayed to May 1st. Along with a couple local groups getting involved (also with the help of Erie attorney Eric Purchase), legal attempts will be made to try to stop this ban. Being a former smoker, I can sympathize with smokers in wanting to be able to smoke where they want to. As an American, you should have that right. However, non-smokers should also have a right to eat somewhere or go somewhere without being around smoke. As a comprimise, there should be some places, such as bars, that could still have smoking while having others be non-smoking. I know that when I come home from the bar, the clothes have such a strong smell of smoke that I can smell my clothing from across the room after it's hung up. Now I think after being a smoker, the smell is much more noticable then it was before I was a smoker or while I smoked. It's a smell that I am not too fond of anymore. It would be nice even if some places like bars could offer a separate room for smokers and non-smokers and to have some sort of air purification in the smoking room so that the smoke would not "woft" around to the non-smoking area. To those fighting it, I wish them the best.

Next topic I read that the state Public Utilities Commission has approved a 4.6 percent rate hike for Penelec. I don't see a huge problem in this. They haven't had a rate hike since 1986 due to a rate freeze that was in effect even before FirstEnergy bought out Penelec. I know that even in the summer with the air conditioner running or the electric heaters in the winter and the bills still aren't as high as National Fuel and we keep the thermostat down below 65 degrees so the bills don't get that high. This shouldn't be a problem since they figure that the average bill will only go up an average of $6.00 a month. Also doesn't bother me as much since they don't ask for rate hikes as much as National Fuel does.

Short this time because it has taken me about 6 hours to type this because I have been busy at work. More to come...