Posted by txgordo, a resident of another community, on Jan 4, 2008 at 10:07 am

Oh, please. What a Grinch!

Posted by Bob's World Lover, a resident of the Del Prado neighborhood, on Jan 5, 2008 at 10:53 am

Nancy Freedom, get over yourself. You are a joke.

Posted by Shelley, a resident of the Downtown neighborhood, on Jan 5, 2008 at 7:05 pm

I agree with Nancy that many Pleasanton residents are irresponsible with the Christmas lights. I see a lot of houses that leave their lights on all night. It's gross to see the lights on at 2am. People who are conscious of their energy consumption during the holidays are not Grinches nor are they in need of "getting over themselves." If anything, those that consume energy without a concern about the effects of their irresponsibility should be getting over themselves.

Posted by Nancy Freedom, a resident of the Downtown neighborhood, on Jan 13, 2008 at 10:53 am

Thanks, Shelley for the thoughtful response to my letter about saving electricity with more sustainable holiday decorations. I'm glad I was able to communicate my point to some of the Weekly's readers.

There's another Dr. Seuss book which supports my view: The Lorax. I would hope the person who feels confident in grinch-detecting abilities also knows the Lorax message. If not, it should be available at our library.

Alas, we are all "jokes." In calling others names, it would be well to include ourselves. Here's a saying I picked up in Detroit: "What you say is what you are."

Posted by Sustainability, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jan 15, 2008 at 10:23 am

To the extent that Pleasanton promotes "sustainibility" the use of power consuming displays such as Holiday Lights are contrary to environmentally responsible green living. A person who utilizes such wasteful power consumption as Holiday Lights while promoting green living is the living epitomy of hypocrisy!!!

Posted by Lisa, a resident of the Castlewood Heights neighborhood, on Jan 18, 2008 at 9:16 am

To those who are opposed to holiday lights. Go suck on your Birkenstocks. Many of my wonderful childhood memories revolve around the spirit and generosity that the holidays put out. This includes my parents putting me in their diesel-spitting Mercedes and driving my brother and I around to see all of the great holiday decorations and lights.

What's next? No lights at all? I have news for you tree-huggers... it's going to take a hell of lot more than Bob to turn off his lights in the middle of the night so save this earth. We should be more focused on the fact that there is still a huge threat of terrorism hovering over our heads - I'm more concerned about that than Al Gore at this point.

Posted by Janna, a resident of the Mission Park neighborhood, on Jan 18, 2008 at 12:56 pm

So Lisa...

The only people concerned about the environment are those who wear birkenstocks and hug trees, eh? Nice broad brush there. I'm sure you'd find many intelligent people who would disagree. How does anyone discussing electricity usage affect your childhood? I think you've got some personal issues.

Your fear of terrorists is highly exploited by this administration and you are buying right into it hook, line and sinker. Perhaps you should go snuggle up to daddy Bush and uncle Dick for some comfort. Waaaahhhh...I'm scared! What a sucker!

Posted by Shelley, a resident of the Downtown neighborhood, on Jan 18, 2008 at 3:14 pm

That's pretty sad that people cannot have wonderful holiday memories without being wasteful.

"it's going to take a hell of lot more than Bob to turn off his lights in the middle of the night so[sic] save this earth. We should be more focused on the fact that there ..." This doesn't make any sense. Lisa is essentially saying that since it takes more than just turning off lights at midnight, we should just do nothing. Actually, Lisa is half right: it is going to take a lot more than just turning off your lights at midnight. It's going to take a lifestyle change, like not feeling the only way to have a wonderful holiday is to overdo it with holiday light decorations.

"my parents putting me in their diesel-spitting Mercedes and driving my brother and I around to see all of the great holiday decorations and lights." Diesel huh? I think Lisa's got Birkenstocks hidden in her closet somewhere. "Diesel expected that his engine would be powered by vegetable oils (including hemp) and seed oils." (Web Link)

By the way, I don't have any Birkenstocks to suck on.