We received an SMS from our kids yesterday informing us that their excursion was postponed. Then just this afternoon, we again received a message. This time it's telling us that they have no electricity for two days now and the very long Bued Bridge connecting La Union and Pangasinan just a few kilometers away from their school and to the junction to Kennon Road going to Baguio collapsed. (Click here for full details on the tremendous damages caused by Pepeng.) . Our CRT monitor finally gave up last night and dear hubby is using the laptop all the time. As I was too busy with the Thailand International Education Exhibition (TIEE)2009 the whole day, I never had any chance to read the news from the Internet at all. So even if I'm dead tired from TIEE, I had to go buy a new LCD monitor to replace our old one which made me dizzy last night so that I can read the news tonight.You know, I'm not the kind of person who goes for what is trendy unless I really need it so even if my PhD student suggested to me one time to change my monitor into LCD when he reformatted our PC, I just told him that it's not yet necessary as it's still working. Besides, I hate to add to the dumped monitors around the world when the LCD was introduced. Just imagine how much pollution it will cause as computers and monitors decompose after thousands of years. But I was convinced by my very smart undergrad debaters who argued that LCD's compactness can save electricity by 70%. If calculated, the electricity consumption's contribution to the greenhouse effect outweighs the one time changing of our monitor. I searched it from the Internet and it's true. So at last I bought a new one today. But it's mainly because it's already blurry to the eye.
I'm now thinking that our old CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor which contains hazardous wastes such as lead will eventually end up as pollutant even if it's properly disposed. Of course, the hazard is lesser if it's disposed of properly. Its toxic materials can seep into the ground, damaging both the soil and ground water posing other dangers. Imagine how many junked CRT monitors replaced by LCD have been drained in the flood in Manila, so we don't wonder if there are many sick people right now.
