Kellogg will donate an entire day of cereal production to fight hunger. Could you do the equivalent? Or maybe you already do?

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Self-healing, bending concrete!

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Maintenance crisis now referred to as a perfect storm hitting the skilled workforce. The factors are:

• An aging workforce

• A compromised education system

• The lack of technical apprenticeships

Nicholas Nadel at Asylum.com makes an excellent point: Pigs have been getting bad press lately (being linked to a possible pandemic and all). He’s tried to balance that out with a list of 10 Pigs We Love:

10. Vance from “Big Top Pee-Wee”
9. Napoleon from “Animal Farm”
8. “Spider-Pig/Harry Plopper” from “The Simpsons Movie”
7. Orson Pig from “Garfield and Friends”
6. Arnold Ziffel from “Green Acres”
5. The Piggly Wiggly Pig
4. Porky Pig
3. Babe
2. Wilbur from “Charlotte’s Web”
1. Miss Piggy

My list would have to include our own Sparky! He’s cheerful, a hard worker and always ready to lend a helping hoof! I mean, name another hog who blogs!

Another deserving candidate is Zhu Jianqiang (“strong and tough pig”) , who became famous just about a year ago after surviving for 36 days in a home ruined during China’s earthquakes.  She inspired the nation and is China’s reigning Favorite Animal!

Have any other names in mind? Share ‘em!

New Pigger Krista Rehm has gained a new level of affection for PIG® Leak Diverters. It happened in Atlanta.

Krista, a project manager for international marketing projects, is one of New Pig’s many SuperMoms. She recently took a trip to Florida with her sons Tyson (age 3) and Trevor (age 2). Work kept her husband at home.

The return trip involved a connection at Atlanta International. Wikipedia says it’s the world’s busiest airport, and Krista tells me that it’s humongous.

“This flight was on April 2,” Krista says. “I hadn’t wanted to fly on April 1, but this flight was like a carryover from April 1.”

Meaning it was hellacious.

“Our flight from Pensacola was supposed to take 40 minutes, but the weather was so bad underneath us, with lightning strikes and rain—the worse flight I’ve ever been on—that we had to keep circling.

“We were supposed to have an hour-and-a-half to make the next flight, but we used up most of that in the sky, so when we finally hit the airport, I’m just booking it, weaving in and out of people to get to my gate.”

While wearing a backback, carrying three bags and pushing a double stroller, mind you.

“And what do I see but a maintenance guy—you know, in an airport uniform—going along as fast as I was. He was carrying a bucket that says “Caution.” It was our Leak Diverter Bucket Kit! The PIG® logo is real big on there, and I was happy to see it. A little piece of home, ya know? It gave me a lift when I needed it!”

It was still pouring rain at the airport, so it’s safe to say that the Leak Diverter Kit was being rushed into action to catch a leak and divert it away to help keep the floor dry. Heck, if Krista had looked around (not that she had time), she may have seen other PIG® Leak Diverters in use. She had walked into the very situation described in catalogs that she had helped produce. She had a big-time need right then for safe floors with good traction, and somewhere in that airport, a PIG® Leak Diverter was helping provide it.

So did Krista make her flight?

“It was four hours late!” She laughs. “At one point, Trevor had three lollipops going—he just kept unwrapping them because he didn’t like the flavors—and a lady says ‘Three lollipops? Isn’t that kind of a lot?’ I said, “We’ve been here for three-and-a-half hours. I don’t care if he has ten lollipops!”

Welcome home, Krista.

Image © design56 – Fotolia.com

I ended up at a news story that’s over a year old but makes a dramatic point:

Every two years, more oil spills into Puget Sound than the Exxon Valdez spilled.  Valdez: 11 million gallons. Puget pollution: 6.3 – 8 million gallons per year.

How’s it happen? Stormwater runoff from roads, parking lots and other surfaces. Accidental spills add about 300,000 gallons more.

And that’s just in Seattle. Stormwater runoff happens everywhere there are roads and parking lots. Each drip of oil adds to the total until there are LAKES of oil that can affect wildlife, plant life, water supplies, you and me.

So the measures we take as individuals and groups and organizations matter. Stormwater control matters. Spill prevention, control and countermeasures (SPCC) matter. Taking that extra step to keep a drip of oil out of water matters.

This month in Pigalog® catalogs and at newpig.com, we’re highlighting PIG® products that help protect waterways from oil spills and facilities comply with environmental regulations. Below are links to some of them.

Image © Kacpura – Fotolia.com

Prevent oil discharges with PIG® Collapse-a-tainer Containment Systems

Store and transfer oil safely with PIG® Roll-Top Hardcover Systems and PIG® Poly Modular Spill Decks

Keep oil out of drains with PIG® Drive-Over DRAINBLOCKER Drain Covers

Remove oil from water with PIG® Oil-Only Absorbent Booms

Respond to spills quickly with PIG® Oil-Only Spill Kits

U.S. human cases of H1N1 Flu infection
(As of May 4, 2009, 11:00 AM ET)

Number of laboratory-confirmed cases:

36 states
279 cases
1 death

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Latest update from CDC on Twitter
Transcript and Audio file of today’s CDC Press Conference on H1N1 Flu: http://is.gd/wKww Please RT. #swineflu

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One of 28 FAQs at H1N1 Flu and You

Is there a risk from drinking water?
Tap water that has been treated by conventional disinfection processes does not likely pose a risk for transmission of influenza viruses. Current drinking water treatment regulations provide a high degree of protection from viruses. No research has been completed on the susceptibility of the novel H1N1 flu virus to conventional drinking water treatment processes. However, recent studies have demonstrated that free chlorine levels typically used in drinking water treatment are adequate to inactivate highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza. It is likely that other influenza viruses such as novel H1N1 would also be similarly inactivated by chlorination. To date, there have been no documented human cases of influenza caused by exposure to influenza-contaminated drinking water.

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H1N1 Flu page from CDC

Flu world map from USA Today