It is a truth universally acknowledged that dogs are man’s best friend. And what do we do for our best friends? We buy them toys. Lots and lots of toys. I’m fortunate to have a great dog in my life, and I...
Author - Sarah Simonovich
Sarah Simonovich
For the Love of Human Ingenuity: Understanding the Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894
Once upon a time we wrote about the whale oil myth—the mythical notion that due to the free market/exchange, the discovery of petroleum directly saved the whales! This rather romantic notion simply isn’t true; not as an...
Driving Into The Wild: How Cars Shaped the American Camping Experience
Camping is the “escape” from technology that became popular because of technology. As a citizen of the good old U.S. of A, camping isn’t a necessity—it’s a recreational choice. A variant of a vacation. I can...
Petroleum Product of the Week: Backpacks
Bookbag, kitbag, knapsack, rucksack, sackpack—whatever you call it, it’s still technically a pack for your back. Whether you’re going to school or work, a camping trip, hiking, a music festival, or backpacking across...
Petroleum Product of the Week: Detergent
Is there a difference between soap and detergent? The short answer is yes—while both are made to clean, they come from different sources and are used differently. While there are all kinds of soaps, they are all the...
Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival
Laissez les bon temp rouler! Let the good times roll at this year’s Shrimp & Petroleum Festival. Every Labor Day weekend for the past 80 years, the community of Morgan City, Louisiana, have been hosting this...
Petroleum Product of the Week: Chewing Gum
Something to Chew On: Gum is everywhere—it’s sold at just about every location and can easily be found stuck to the bottom of your shoe, under your desk, in the mouth of the person sitting next to you at the DMV who...
How Can a Heat Wave Affect Your Engine Oil?
Beat the heat before it beats you As heat waves once again sweep our nation—continually expanding throughout the West and searing through the North—it is important to be mindful of the risks and potential dangers of...
Petroleum Product of the Week: Petroleum Jelly
This may be a little obvious, but in case anyone was wondering, petroleum jelly is actually made from petroleum. (Thank you, English language, for actually making sense for once.) “…somewhere in the...
Trash vs. Treasure: Creatively Reusing Plastic Bottles
We all know the familiar idiom, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” The implication being, of course, that what one individual finds valueless could be of great value to someone else: one man throws away what...