Oh for pete's sake!
So, I'm on the way to Moscow, Idaho--not Russia, today to get some holiday shopping done, pick up groceries, and be on the radio. As I am always early for EVERYTHING, I left the house at about 7am.
By 8am, I'm sitting on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. The dash lights had been wonky for a day. Then, they went REAL wonky. Then the car started chugging and slowing down. Then, I pulled over and called a tow truck. They wanted to know where I was. It was so foggy I was unsure, other than the mile marker on the highway (yes, I pulled WAY off the road).
The tow truck guy and his wife...and their dog...came for me. They were very pleasant. Thanks to my habit of buying AAAplus, I have 99 miles of towing up to three times a year. So I got a 33 mile tow to Moscow, where my most excellent friend Maia picked me up. We got brunch, then some craft supplies, then over to her place where she and her sister and brother-in-law gave me one of their cars to use until I can get mine sorted out. How amazing is that?
Not only are they funny, they are so sweet. It's a new subaru with 120,000 fewer miles than mine (that's right FEWER). They are willing to sell if mine is a goner, but I'm so attached to Betty (my subaru) and want to drive her 400k miles just like the elder we work with who drove a similar subaru 400,000 miles. It recently passed away.
Sometime tomorrow I need to decide how much I'm willing to spend on the repair. Always a tough decision so I'm going to have them run a full diagnostic and check on the thing. If there are a bunch of things about to go bad...well, then we'll see. But if it's just a few hundred more dollars in repairs for another many thousands of miles, I'll keep using the car.
Environmentalist and frugal principals say to "make it work, make do, or do without". Doing without a car is a slim possibility. It would be monster inconvenient and probably impact my job too much. So, we're starting at the other end and trying to "make it work".
Here's hoping.
The word from the mechanical husband of a friend is that the wonky lights could be the alternator going out. That's not that bad. You'd expect to replace that at 200k miles (Betty has 205k miles). So let's pray for that.
Frugality says also "don't pour money down a rat hole" (that's either frugality or one of my Grammas). Hmmmmm....
Keep in mind that Grampa once replaced the manual transmission in a POS pickup truck with an automatic, then replaced the bed (rust), and I'm pretty sure the engine. We used to tease him that while it occupied the same space as the original vehicle, he'd replaced the entire thing and thus it was a different truck.
So I'm genetically inclined to repair perhaps beyond the bounds of reason.
THEN AGAIN...how do you know when you've hit the point of spending more on repairs and hassle, than you would buying a different car? You don't know until after.
Also, a different car can have problems too. I hate that.
OK, on another topic, just because I haven't done a "No 'Poo" update lately...the hair is fine. I dropped my good hairbrush in the trash in a public bathroom the other day so I haven't been able to brush it as much as I'd like, but it's still doing fine. Not itchy even with the change in the weather.
OH! And, yesterday I accidentally made a super good vegan pot pie.
I had roasted root vegetables earlier in the week and needed to recycle them creatively.
So, I grabbed a pie shell that I'd had in the fridge at the trailer for a while.
Put the bottom crust in the pie pan.
Put in 3-4 cups of left over roasted root vegetables (sweet potato, regular potato, onion, carrot--seasoned with rosemary, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper--roast until tender).
In a sauce pan, fry some chopped garlic in oil (I think it was 4 cloves or so).
Add a tablespoon of good vegetable bouillon mix (no salt kind), a quarter cup of nutritional yeast flakes, a quarter cup of flour. Stir and fry that together a bit.
Then add enough water to make a thick gravy. It was probably about a cup or a cup and a half.
Into the gravy, put a cup of black beans (because they are left over and frozen in the freezer), some corn, and some green beans (all salvaged from the freezer).
When the frozen beans/corn have heated through in the gravy, pour the mess over the veggies in the pie shell.
Top with the other pie shell. Seal the edged and bake until you think it's done.
I left it in the 350 degree oven while I cooked some squash so probably 45 minutes or an hour.
It is seriously good. El Kid thought it had meat in it...heh heh. He came back for more before bed.
And good night.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
My Friends are a Bunch of Saps...
Funny saps, but saps nevertheless.
I got about as much response to the "thankful" blog post as to any other. I thought you people would be sickened by the smarm.
But no. You're saps.
OK, perhaps most thanksgiving thankful essays/blogs/whatever don't include references to testicles, horse poop, Big Mama Thornton or other things I like. Still, I found it gag-inducing.
So, how about something more interesting today?
For example, why is it that the first couple of icy/snowy days people drive like crap?
Why? Most of them had cars last year.
I was in Plummer yesterday doing some christmas cookery and watching movies. When I got ready to leave a bit before 4pm, there was snow everywhere. Fine. I have a subaru and good tires. It was also foggy and rainy and slushy so I was taking my time. In a half hour I'd made it 10 miles. The roads were crap. The other drivers were horrific! Some were passing me as though it was mid-day in summer on dry roads! It was not. There were a minimum of 3 cars in the ditches. Those were the ones I could see. this is in 10 miles. There were other spots where people were milling about on the shoulder of the road (in dark clothing with no flash lights...idiots).
Right about then, El Kid called me cell phone and asked if he could stay overnight at a friend's house. I was all for that. That meant I only had to make it the 10miles back to Plummer, not the 40 up to Spokane. I made it back there just fine. But criminitly! What were people thinking?
Just for the record, we ALL have "4-wheel-stop" vehicles. Your big 4-wheel-DRIVE vehicle is no advantage when trying to slow down or stop. In fact, the extra weight will make it go further when you hit that black ice. You may well find yourself milling about the shoulder of the highway in the dark, your hummer so far off the road that I can't even see it as I crawl by at 50 miles an hour, not stopping for your stupid butt.
Aside from that, I had a cool thrift find today. This morning I was on the phone with Jeanne (Hi Jeanne!) and trying to grind coffee beans when the blade of the grinder decided it wanted to take a new, calmer path in life and so disconnected itself from the motor. The machine makes a whirring noise, but the blade just dangles all flacid among the unmolested beans. Damn.
Once back in Spokane (all the snow and ice melted by 9am), I went a-thrifting. At the second shop I found a hand-powered coffee grinder for 3$. Woohoo! Pam: Don't worry. It's got a plastic grinding teeth thingy so it will be well and dead by christmas just in case someone bought me a hand-powered grinder. I love it when I go out with something in mind and actually find it.
I also need christmas tins for home cooked goodies but haven't brought myself to buy them. I keep thinking something cooler will present itself but so far, no luck. There is no shortage of christmas-y tins at thrift stores so I'm not worried.
I got about as much response to the "thankful" blog post as to any other. I thought you people would be sickened by the smarm.
But no. You're saps.
OK, perhaps most thanksgiving thankful essays/blogs/whatever don't include references to testicles, horse poop, Big Mama Thornton or other things I like. Still, I found it gag-inducing.
So, how about something more interesting today?
For example, why is it that the first couple of icy/snowy days people drive like crap?
Why? Most of them had cars last year.
I was in Plummer yesterday doing some christmas cookery and watching movies. When I got ready to leave a bit before 4pm, there was snow everywhere. Fine. I have a subaru and good tires. It was also foggy and rainy and slushy so I was taking my time. In a half hour I'd made it 10 miles. The roads were crap. The other drivers were horrific! Some were passing me as though it was mid-day in summer on dry roads! It was not. There were a minimum of 3 cars in the ditches. Those were the ones I could see. this is in 10 miles. There were other spots where people were milling about on the shoulder of the road (in dark clothing with no flash lights...idiots).
Right about then, El Kid called me cell phone and asked if he could stay overnight at a friend's house. I was all for that. That meant I only had to make it the 10miles back to Plummer, not the 40 up to Spokane. I made it back there just fine. But criminitly! What were people thinking?
Just for the record, we ALL have "4-wheel-stop" vehicles. Your big 4-wheel-DRIVE vehicle is no advantage when trying to slow down or stop. In fact, the extra weight will make it go further when you hit that black ice. You may well find yourself milling about the shoulder of the highway in the dark, your hummer so far off the road that I can't even see it as I crawl by at 50 miles an hour, not stopping for your stupid butt.
Aside from that, I had a cool thrift find today. This morning I was on the phone with Jeanne (Hi Jeanne!) and trying to grind coffee beans when the blade of the grinder decided it wanted to take a new, calmer path in life and so disconnected itself from the motor. The machine makes a whirring noise, but the blade just dangles all flacid among the unmolested beans. Damn.
Once back in Spokane (all the snow and ice melted by 9am), I went a-thrifting. At the second shop I found a hand-powered coffee grinder for 3$. Woohoo! Pam: Don't worry. It's got a plastic grinding teeth thingy so it will be well and dead by christmas just in case someone bought me a hand-powered grinder. I love it when I go out with something in mind and actually find it.
I also need christmas tins for home cooked goodies but haven't brought myself to buy them. I keep thinking something cooler will present itself but so far, no luck. There is no shortage of christmas-y tins at thrift stores so I'm not worried.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Time for Sappy "What I'm Thankful For" Crap
So, it's that time of year and I just can't help it. It's like blog peer pressure!
I won't go into the versions of the early Thanksgivings that are more about massacres of Indians by whites (or do you prefer the term "European Americans"?)
Those stories have made it a bit tough for me to celebrate Thanksgiving the same way most other Americans do. Though I still enjoy the gluttony at Aunt Billie's house (Aside: Billie was in the hospital for what appears to have been a gallbladder attack...sorry Billie! That sucks. Hope you're doing better).
BUT, I do like to think about fall, harvest, and what I'm thankful for. Sappy, but true.
Let's take the whole family-health-home-living in a country with flush toilets-stuff as read.
Leaving aside the obvious, here are some things I appreciate, but not in any particular order:
--That my friends and many of my family are funny and especially in a dark way.
Who can beat that story of Great Aunt Mary/HorsePoop ? That's funny. And sick, so funnier.
Or the Arm of Testicles story?
Or the one about Molly and, I think it was Katie, stomping through Billie's Christmas ornaments. In her own defense one of them said "I guess I lost my head."
Sure it's horrible to lose all those heirlooms, but now you've got a story and who can stomp on that?
Those are family things.
Friend stories...well, there is "Hellllooooooo Annnggggeeellllla", "Spokesmodel Bree", and many many more.
--People who put old blues, soul, and jazz on the youtubes. I love that stuff. Today I'm all about Big Mama Thornton
Her version of "Summertime" doesn't want to show up in the blog so you'll have to click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwlTOspKNh8
Here she is singing "Hound Dog" long before Elvis white-ified it (That's Buddy Guy on guitar)
There's also some great early Bo Diddley stuff that introduced me to the fact that he used women guitarists way back in the day.
--People who are strange and embrace it fully.
That's why "Grey Gardens" is one of my favorite films. Those ladies are NUTS and they don't care.
Also, Leslie Hall from Ames, Iowa. She's a youtube celebrity.
And, again, most of my friends. But not me. I'm totally normal.
--Obscure foreign and independent films.
Who doesn't love Blood Car, Following Sean, Persepolis, The Burmese Harp, L'iceberg, All My Babies, Whisky, etc (if you need more, I can copy my netflix history into an email).
--Random Weird Crap
Like when I'm at work and we get an email saying that there is free fish in the parking lot. It's usually huge steelhead. You have to clean them yourself.
Or when the woman who lives downstairs knocks on my door to ask if I'll take her partly used vegetables (they were organic and local and delicious)
Or when I was riding with Jonny in Iowa years ago, we were on the way to crash a party with Angela and a little fog and ice covered roads weren't going to stop us. Jonny was driving his little death trap down the road we could see nothing. The fog was like soup and the road was like glass. Out of nowhere, a car back across the road in front of us. It was surreal.
So was another incident on that trip...we stopped for gas and Jonny got hypmotized by the rotissery wieners that were blackened and blistered beyond recognition.
Or when someone in a recent road construction meeting I was attending said to a colleague "Do you have that erection plan ready for submittal?" I was the only one who laughed.
I don't think I can top that last bit so I'm out.
Happy Fall Food Fest
I won't go into the versions of the early Thanksgivings that are more about massacres of Indians by whites (or do you prefer the term "European Americans"?)
Those stories have made it a bit tough for me to celebrate Thanksgiving the same way most other Americans do. Though I still enjoy the gluttony at Aunt Billie's house (Aside: Billie was in the hospital for what appears to have been a gallbladder attack...sorry Billie! That sucks. Hope you're doing better).
BUT, I do like to think about fall, harvest, and what I'm thankful for. Sappy, but true.
Let's take the whole family-health-home-living in a country with flush toilets-stuff as read.
Leaving aside the obvious, here are some things I appreciate, but not in any particular order:
--That my friends and many of my family are funny and especially in a dark way.
Who can beat that story of Great Aunt Mary/HorsePoop ? That's funny. And sick, so funnier.
Or the Arm of Testicles story?
Or the one about Molly and, I think it was Katie, stomping through Billie's Christmas ornaments. In her own defense one of them said "I guess I lost my head."
Sure it's horrible to lose all those heirlooms, but now you've got a story and who can stomp on that?
Those are family things.
Friend stories...well, there is "Hellllooooooo Annnggggeeellllla", "Spokesmodel Bree", and many many more.
--People who put old blues, soul, and jazz on the youtubes. I love that stuff. Today I'm all about Big Mama Thornton
Her version of "Summertime" doesn't want to show up in the blog so you'll have to click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwlTOspKNh8
Here she is singing "Hound Dog" long before Elvis white-ified it (That's Buddy Guy on guitar)
There's also some great early Bo Diddley stuff that introduced me to the fact that he used women guitarists way back in the day.
--People who are strange and embrace it fully.
That's why "Grey Gardens" is one of my favorite films. Those ladies are NUTS and they don't care.
Also, Leslie Hall from Ames, Iowa. She's a youtube celebrity.
And, again, most of my friends. But not me. I'm totally normal.
--Obscure foreign and independent films.
Who doesn't love Blood Car, Following Sean, Persepolis, The Burmese Harp, L'iceberg, All My Babies, Whisky, etc (if you need more, I can copy my netflix history into an email).
--Random Weird Crap
Like when I'm at work and we get an email saying that there is free fish in the parking lot. It's usually huge steelhead. You have to clean them yourself.
Or when the woman who lives downstairs knocks on my door to ask if I'll take her partly used vegetables (they were organic and local and delicious)
Or when I was riding with Jonny in Iowa years ago, we were on the way to crash a party with Angela and a little fog and ice covered roads weren't going to stop us. Jonny was driving his little death trap down the road we could see nothing. The fog was like soup and the road was like glass. Out of nowhere, a car back across the road in front of us. It was surreal.
So was another incident on that trip...we stopped for gas and Jonny got hypmotized by the rotissery wieners that were blackened and blistered beyond recognition.
Or when someone in a recent road construction meeting I was attending said to a colleague "Do you have that erection plan ready for submittal?" I was the only one who laughed.
I don't think I can top that last bit so I'm out.
Happy Fall Food Fest
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Just Some Stuff
I've had some blogging idea buildup/writersblock issues.
I'm going to clear the buildup and blockages with blog-o (blog version of "drain-o")
Firstly, a rant:
PEOPLE>>>>Shut off your goddang cars! I saw someone yesterday IDLING at the Sonic Drive-Thru. It's bad enough they were going to eat that crap, but to sit there in an idling car while ordering, waiting and EATING (despite the idea of "drive-thru", they chose to park and have the roller-girl (on skates) bring their food). Do you know how many miles per hour you get idling? ZERO. You just sit there polluting the air and wasting gas/$. Glad we're sending people overseas to die for oil in an illbegotten war so that you can sit on your fat butt and idle while eating crap food made mostly of highfructose corn syrup. Your carbon footprint is as big as your ignorance.
OK, trying to let that go....
Non-Rant:
Xmas Thrift!
There are TONS of in-the-package new holiday decorations at the thrift. Are they getting these from stores that overstocked or went out of business or from people who bought them, then croaked or never used them?
It's just interesting.
I've seen holiday candles in the package, holiday planters in original packaging, artificial trees still in sealed boxes, and on and on. What gives?
I'm for it. It's cheap. But perhaps we're over producing our holiday kitsch. Just a thought.
And finally...
Hammy is fat. He's too fat to crawl through the holes in the spaghetti box that is his favorite toy. He could crawl through them before. But not now. I'm leaving him in his play pen and put the wheel in there in hopes he'll get more exercise. Is there such a thing as a hamster gym? A tiny weight set? He runs on his wheel and the websites say that a hamster won't overeat, but I wonder...
Did something bad happen during his escape and he's eating to ease the pain?
I'm going to clear the buildup and blockages with blog-o (blog version of "drain-o")
Firstly, a rant:
PEOPLE>>>>Shut off your goddang cars! I saw someone yesterday IDLING at the Sonic Drive-Thru. It's bad enough they were going to eat that crap, but to sit there in an idling car while ordering, waiting and EATING (despite the idea of "drive-thru", they chose to park and have the roller-girl (on skates) bring their food). Do you know how many miles per hour you get idling? ZERO. You just sit there polluting the air and wasting gas/$. Glad we're sending people overseas to die for oil in an illbegotten war so that you can sit on your fat butt and idle while eating crap food made mostly of highfructose corn syrup. Your carbon footprint is as big as your ignorance.
OK, trying to let that go....
Non-Rant:
Xmas Thrift!
There are TONS of in-the-package new holiday decorations at the thrift. Are they getting these from stores that overstocked or went out of business or from people who bought them, then croaked or never used them?
It's just interesting.
I've seen holiday candles in the package, holiday planters in original packaging, artificial trees still in sealed boxes, and on and on. What gives?
I'm for it. It's cheap. But perhaps we're over producing our holiday kitsch. Just a thought.
And finally...
Hammy is fat. He's too fat to crawl through the holes in the spaghetti box that is his favorite toy. He could crawl through them before. But not now. I'm leaving him in his play pen and put the wheel in there in hopes he'll get more exercise. Is there such a thing as a hamster gym? A tiny weight set? He runs on his wheel and the websites say that a hamster won't overeat, but I wonder...
Did something bad happen during his escape and he's eating to ease the pain?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Creative Giftery
Angela (Hi Ange) commented yesterday about taking the "stuff" out of giving. She suggested time is a good thing to give and got me thinking about other ways to taking the stuf-ing out of the holiday.
A few times in my life I've been in the name drawing sort of events.
All the cousins on the Wagner side used to draw one name each and get a gift just for that person. I think the price limit was 5$. It worked while we were all young or youngish.
After too many of the cousins got married and/or knocked up, there were too many people and too many of us were no longer acquainted. So, we quit gifting all together.
But as kids, this was a good way to go. We each got something, usually something silly, and a good time was had by all. It tended to limit gifts for those who were "easy to buy for" and make sure that those who are tougher to buy for got something as well.
The drawing was usually on thanksgiving day after we were all bloated from eating. I don't know if the Michigan cousins were involved. I hope so but I was a kid and I don't remember.
In recent years my group of friends from undergrad days at Iowa State U had a drawing event for two christmases with the requirement that the gift be "craptacular." That was pretty well interpreted as hand crafted or crafty in some way. We drew names among the 11 or so friends, though I think couples counted as one entity to simplify matters. It was great fun. I remember making a calendar the first year (well...Jonny assembled it) and being blown out of the water when Ange made the daily calendar...oh well. The next year I decoupaged a serving tray for the friends in Louisiana who hadn't seen many of us in years. I covered it with photos of us from back in the day and more recently and for extra craptacularity...I used glittery decoupage goo. This also had the effect of putting us all in soft-focus which was good for the more recent photos.
However, those other more talented friend took the "crap" right out of "craptacular". The first year I got a pillow from Laurie with Iowa themed applique's, and a matching cool/warm eye mask with piggies over each eye! That wasn't crappy. It's spectacular.
The next year Bree made me a lovely mosaic out of tiny tiles. It still hangs in my kitchen in Plummer. It's gorgeous.
So that was a fun way to limit the number of gifts and the amount spent, but it was also too difficult to maintain. We don't all have the time and ambition to make gifts each year.
I try to make some of my gifts (hope the Aunts and Uncles need more jam...) and most of those have been big hits, but I don't always have the inspiration or the time to do it. So it's a melange.
I agree with another part of Angela's comment...consumables are good. I love candles (even butt-smelling ones) and burn them pretty much continuously through the winter. The light cheers me up. In fact right now I'm burning 2 candles rather than having a light on. Also, we all look better in candle light.
A couple of my aunts often give me spice mixes and whatnot. I love those. I made some seriously good chili just the other day when I repurposed some fajita spice from last christmas into the blackbean chili pot. I should do that again...soon.
And one aunt used to always get me bloomingdales underwear. That was fun. It's sort of a "consumable" since undies only last so long. Last christmas she came up with some excellent socks (just wore them today) among other things.
I used to love getting towels and things, and while I still love those, I now have enough towels to supply a football team for a week. When I took on the second household people tried to give me things and my first words were: NO SHEETS AND TOWELS!
(But if anyone talks to Gram...I'm down to my last two sets of embroidered dish towels because I use them everyday and am wearing them out.)
I think the best set of towels I have were also pre-used. They are purple and teal and in perfect shape. They are still the "good" towels that I get out for company.
I'm not against non-consumables! I got a lovely duvet cover last christmas. I've gotten pendleton blankets now and then, and the kitchenaid mixer of course.
But, not everything has to last forever. We're all getting older and don't need as much stuff because we have more stuff.
Even though we don't "need" as much stuff, I think the act of exchanging gifts of some sort is important but I won't go into the dull anthropological theories behind that.
A few times in my life I've been in the name drawing sort of events.
All the cousins on the Wagner side used to draw one name each and get a gift just for that person. I think the price limit was 5$. It worked while we were all young or youngish.
After too many of the cousins got married and/or knocked up, there were too many people and too many of us were no longer acquainted. So, we quit gifting all together.
But as kids, this was a good way to go. We each got something, usually something silly, and a good time was had by all. It tended to limit gifts for those who were "easy to buy for" and make sure that those who are tougher to buy for got something as well.
The drawing was usually on thanksgiving day after we were all bloated from eating. I don't know if the Michigan cousins were involved. I hope so but I was a kid and I don't remember.
In recent years my group of friends from undergrad days at Iowa State U had a drawing event for two christmases with the requirement that the gift be "craptacular." That was pretty well interpreted as hand crafted or crafty in some way. We drew names among the 11 or so friends, though I think couples counted as one entity to simplify matters. It was great fun. I remember making a calendar the first year (well...Jonny assembled it) and being blown out of the water when Ange made the daily calendar...oh well. The next year I decoupaged a serving tray for the friends in Louisiana who hadn't seen many of us in years. I covered it with photos of us from back in the day and more recently and for extra craptacularity...I used glittery decoupage goo. This also had the effect of putting us all in soft-focus which was good for the more recent photos.
However, those other more talented friend took the "crap" right out of "craptacular". The first year I got a pillow from Laurie with Iowa themed applique's, and a matching cool/warm eye mask with piggies over each eye! That wasn't crappy. It's spectacular.
The next year Bree made me a lovely mosaic out of tiny tiles. It still hangs in my kitchen in Plummer. It's gorgeous.
So that was a fun way to limit the number of gifts and the amount spent, but it was also too difficult to maintain. We don't all have the time and ambition to make gifts each year.
I try to make some of my gifts (hope the Aunts and Uncles need more jam...) and most of those have been big hits, but I don't always have the inspiration or the time to do it. So it's a melange.
I agree with another part of Angela's comment...consumables are good. I love candles (even butt-smelling ones) and burn them pretty much continuously through the winter. The light cheers me up. In fact right now I'm burning 2 candles rather than having a light on. Also, we all look better in candle light.
A couple of my aunts often give me spice mixes and whatnot. I love those. I made some seriously good chili just the other day when I repurposed some fajita spice from last christmas into the blackbean chili pot. I should do that again...soon.
And one aunt used to always get me bloomingdales underwear. That was fun. It's sort of a "consumable" since undies only last so long. Last christmas she came up with some excellent socks (just wore them today) among other things.
I used to love getting towels and things, and while I still love those, I now have enough towels to supply a football team for a week. When I took on the second household people tried to give me things and my first words were: NO SHEETS AND TOWELS!
(But if anyone talks to Gram...I'm down to my last two sets of embroidered dish towels because I use them everyday and am wearing them out.)
I think the best set of towels I have were also pre-used. They are purple and teal and in perfect shape. They are still the "good" towels that I get out for company.
I'm not against non-consumables! I got a lovely duvet cover last christmas. I've gotten pendleton blankets now and then, and the kitchenaid mixer of course.
But, not everything has to last forever. We're all getting older and don't need as much stuff because we have more stuff.
Even though we don't "need" as much stuff, I think the act of exchanging gifts of some sort is important but I won't go into the dull anthropological theories behind that.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
To Gift or Regift, That Is The Question
Now that I've confessed to giving the occassional used gift, let me admit to the occassional regift.
Rest assured that I have NEVER regifted anything from anyone who could ever possibly read this blog. You are all wonderful, thoughtful people who gift the perfect gifts.
That said, I'm not above regifting something if it doesn't suit me AND I know someone it would suit. I think the first time this happened it was really more of a trade. My brother has had, in the past, a tendency to give my sister and I the exact same gift, though often in a different color. Most years that was just fine. For example the year we both got kitchenaid mixers...that was fine (OK, I'm not sure that happened but someone gave me a mixer). Or the year we both got floor lamps, probably from cabelas. I'm still using mine.
But in the early years, it didn't always go so well. One year Pam (the aforementioned sister) and I opened Stan's (the aforementioned brother) gifts simultaneously. I had received a yellow sweater. Pam got a fuschia one. If I wear yellow it looks like I have end stage liver disease. Pam in any shade of pink is redundant. So, we just traded sweaters right there. No one was offended. I wore that thing forever. It was bullet proof acrylic. No namby-pamby handwashery necessary. Throw it in with a load of jeans, hang it up or leave it wadded on the floor. It wasn't going to mildew as there is no known lifeform that eats acrylic. Eventually the pills were larger than the contiguous sweater bits and I must have chucked it (these days I would have used it to scrub stubborn stains off the floor or something but that was before my recycling days).
Sometimes I'll get scented candles from co-workers that smell like butt. I regift them to people I don't like much or give them to a thrift store.
I think regifting is fine and I know I've been a recipient. I don't mind at all as long as it's something I can use or send on.
On the theme of gifting...if the friends and relatives could give me SOME idea what they would like this year, that would be super.
Rest assured that I have NEVER regifted anything from anyone who could ever possibly read this blog. You are all wonderful, thoughtful people who gift the perfect gifts.
That said, I'm not above regifting something if it doesn't suit me AND I know someone it would suit. I think the first time this happened it was really more of a trade. My brother has had, in the past, a tendency to give my sister and I the exact same gift, though often in a different color. Most years that was just fine. For example the year we both got kitchenaid mixers...that was fine (OK, I'm not sure that happened but someone gave me a mixer). Or the year we both got floor lamps, probably from cabelas. I'm still using mine.
But in the early years, it didn't always go so well. One year Pam (the aforementioned sister) and I opened Stan's (the aforementioned brother) gifts simultaneously. I had received a yellow sweater. Pam got a fuschia one. If I wear yellow it looks like I have end stage liver disease. Pam in any shade of pink is redundant. So, we just traded sweaters right there. No one was offended. I wore that thing forever. It was bullet proof acrylic. No namby-pamby handwashery necessary. Throw it in with a load of jeans, hang it up or leave it wadded on the floor. It wasn't going to mildew as there is no known lifeform that eats acrylic. Eventually the pills were larger than the contiguous sweater bits and I must have chucked it (these days I would have used it to scrub stubborn stains off the floor or something but that was before my recycling days).
Sometimes I'll get scented candles from co-workers that smell like butt. I regift them to people I don't like much or give them to a thrift store.
I think regifting is fine and I know I've been a recipient. I don't mind at all as long as it's something I can use or send on.
On the theme of gifting...if the friends and relatives could give me SOME idea what they would like this year, that would be super.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Do gifts need to be "new"?
So, I've found several used items for solstice/christmas gifts this year. And yet, I know that some people would be insulted by a used item as a gift. For the record, I don't mind at all. I LIKE used cookbooks especially. You know which recipes are good because there are food goobers on those pages and often notes.
Gramma has often given antiques as gifts and aren't those part of the "used" genre of items?
So why not newer used items?
Pam already knows she's getting a silk and gold thread sari I found at a thrift store. I gave another friend an Icelandic wool hoody from the same thrift store (it is the BEST thrift store). Last year that friend got an alpaca hoody from a thrift store...we may be in a rut but that is beside the point.
What do Americans have against used?
When did we decide that new cheap stuff was better than used good stuff?
I could never afford a NEW Icelandic wool hoody, so I gave a used one. That hoody will last a lifetime. A crappy walmart hoody will last a few months and cost the same as the thrift one.
El Kid has a wardrobe of shirts with dragons and whatnot on them, all bought used. They cost about 3$ each so why spend 60$ for a new one that he will wear for a year when the 3$ one will last just as long? I don't get it.
So far I DO call people and ask if they would like the used item before I buy it so that I don't inadvertently offend anyone and I respect that some people have cooty issues with used items especially clothes. But for the record, I'm just as happy with used.
For any relatives afraid of getting used crap: if you didn't get a call checking, then you are not getting used crap.
A friend's blog talks about re-using things for gift wrap. Here's the LINK.
I've re-used wrap many a time. That seems to be OK in our family. And there is one alarmingly hideous piece of "ribbon" that we've been exchanging for years. In deference to Laurie (blog author), I will be endeavoring to use more recycled and re-usable gift containers this year. I love that Laurie notes you can iron wrinkles out of craft paper and reuse it. I haven't done that yet, but now that I know...I certainly will do it.
Just for those who are following the various threads of my life:
2 days without a jail break. Hammy is still in the cage though rearranged his space so that the cocohut was jammed on the wheel. He was not happy when I shook him out of the hut to move it over.
No 'Poo Update: Hair still good. Scalp not nearly as itchy as during my shampoo days. BUT, I still miss a good lather and the scent of herbal shampoo. My hair is quite a bit redder and wavier than when I was using shampoo and conditioner, and easier to comb. But I will never have the Valerie Bertinelli hair I dreamt of during my teens:
(christ! who has enough time to do that to their hair everyday?)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Days Without A Jail Break: 1
Hammy is still in his cage. I had to jostle his cocohut to make him poke his head out so I knew he was in there.
Have I mentioned the cocohut?
95cents at the thrift store and he seems to love it. it's a coconut with the bottom cut off, a door hole, and a fake thatch roof. This apparently rocks the hamster world. You can stuff all of your bedding in it. Stuff it so tight it makes a floor that stays with the cocohut when lifted. you can climb on the roof, chew the thatch...roll it around the cage. Endless fun.
Anyway, he's home and safe and will not be sitting on my nose in the morning.
Now for the REAL excitement of the day.
El Kid had a debate tournament. He had to be there at some ungodly hour so I said I'd drop him on my way to Plummer to winterize the trailer.
I'm headed down the highway thinking "I wish someone would leave styrofoam panels lying around so I could insulate the back door with something other than that stinky old camp sleeping pad that I stole from Fred and Sher years ago and is still impregnated with Nigel-hair."
About 10 minutes later I see that someone HAS left styrofoam panels lying along the road! Sweet.
I go back and check them out. They are dry, clean, and non-stinky. There is adjacent cardboard indicating that these were furniture packaging. Must have fallen off the truck on the way to the dump. Cool. I load the ones in good shape into the subaru and head out.
The back door of the trailer is metal and poorly sealed. it is a serious heatsink. Now it is not. I not only covered it with 2" thick styrofoam, I put shrink film over the whole unit.
Of course, I forgot that I had both vacuums (shop vac and regular vac) up in Spokane to clean up after the fix-it guy who is accessing the attic through my closet. I forgot this until AFTER I had started cutting styrofoam and spread toxic beads all over the trailer, myself, and everywhere else. Fortunately my friend Wanda had a vacuum available for borrowing.
Now I have to decide what to do with the rest of the styrofoam. I would LIKE to bring it up here and insulate the wall between the unheated stairwell and the heated portion of the house. It's just a storage area so I don't care what it looks like. Well, it's also the main entry way but I still pretty much don't care what it looks like.
I would also like to stick some styrofoam to the inside of the front door of the trailer. I know it's tacky, but that door is SO COLD. I don't think double stick tape will do the job since the door is cold and shiny. Also, if the tape sticks, it will take off more paint than is already gouged and peeled off. I'm not sure the landlords would care, but still, one wants to be polite.
Anyway, first I will shrink film some windows up in the Spokane apartment while I decide what else to do with my styrofoam...I could turn ordinary cardboard boxes into coolers...then if I decopaged them with pictures cut from magazines while I wait at the doctor's office....I could give them away for christmas...or not.
If anyone has brilliant ways to recycle styrofoam, let me know. That crap never goes away and is turning up in the guts of many seabirds.
Have I mentioned the cocohut?
95cents at the thrift store and he seems to love it. it's a coconut with the bottom cut off, a door hole, and a fake thatch roof. This apparently rocks the hamster world. You can stuff all of your bedding in it. Stuff it so tight it makes a floor that stays with the cocohut when lifted. you can climb on the roof, chew the thatch...roll it around the cage. Endless fun.
Anyway, he's home and safe and will not be sitting on my nose in the morning.
Now for the REAL excitement of the day.
El Kid had a debate tournament. He had to be there at some ungodly hour so I said I'd drop him on my way to Plummer to winterize the trailer.
I'm headed down the highway thinking "I wish someone would leave styrofoam panels lying around so I could insulate the back door with something other than that stinky old camp sleeping pad that I stole from Fred and Sher years ago and is still impregnated with Nigel-hair."
About 10 minutes later I see that someone HAS left styrofoam panels lying along the road! Sweet.
I go back and check them out. They are dry, clean, and non-stinky. There is adjacent cardboard indicating that these were furniture packaging. Must have fallen off the truck on the way to the dump. Cool. I load the ones in good shape into the subaru and head out.
The back door of the trailer is metal and poorly sealed. it is a serious heatsink. Now it is not. I not only covered it with 2" thick styrofoam, I put shrink film over the whole unit.
Of course, I forgot that I had both vacuums (shop vac and regular vac) up in Spokane to clean up after the fix-it guy who is accessing the attic through my closet. I forgot this until AFTER I had started cutting styrofoam and spread toxic beads all over the trailer, myself, and everywhere else. Fortunately my friend Wanda had a vacuum available for borrowing.
Now I have to decide what to do with the rest of the styrofoam. I would LIKE to bring it up here and insulate the wall between the unheated stairwell and the heated portion of the house. It's just a storage area so I don't care what it looks like. Well, it's also the main entry way but I still pretty much don't care what it looks like.
I would also like to stick some styrofoam to the inside of the front door of the trailer. I know it's tacky, but that door is SO COLD. I don't think double stick tape will do the job since the door is cold and shiny. Also, if the tape sticks, it will take off more paint than is already gouged and peeled off. I'm not sure the landlords would care, but still, one wants to be polite.
Anyway, first I will shrink film some windows up in the Spokane apartment while I decide what else to do with my styrofoam...I could turn ordinary cardboard boxes into coolers...then if I decopaged them with pictures cut from magazines while I wait at the doctor's office....I could give them away for christmas...or not.
If anyone has brilliant ways to recycle styrofoam, let me know. That crap never goes away and is turning up in the guts of many seabirds.
Friday, November 14, 2008
He's Baaaaa...aaaack...
So, I walk in this evening. The door opens on a small landing at the foot of the stairs. And who is sitting in the corner looking cold and sheepish?
HAMMY.
He was glad to be picked up and carried back to his warm, dry, food and water inclusive, cage. I hope he didn't fall all the way down the steps. But, he didn't squeak or flinch while I carried him.
I heard him ALL NIGHT in the dining/kitchen area rutting around in some paper. When I would get up to find him, he would stop moving and become both silent and invisible.
But, seriously, he's a rodent so I was pretty sure he'd be fine. There was a little jar lid with water in it out for him and some food on the floor that he'd chucked out of his cage over the last week and I hadn't vacuumed up yet.
So, all is well in Hammy-land.
HAMMY.
He was glad to be picked up and carried back to his warm, dry, food and water inclusive, cage. I hope he didn't fall all the way down the steps. But, he didn't squeak or flinch while I carried him.
I heard him ALL NIGHT in the dining/kitchen area rutting around in some paper. When I would get up to find him, he would stop moving and become both silent and invisible.
But, seriously, he's a rodent so I was pretty sure he'd be fine. There was a little jar lid with water in it out for him and some food on the floor that he'd chucked out of his cage over the last week and I hadn't vacuumed up yet.
So, all is well in Hammy-land.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Of Hamsters and Fat Ladies
OK, first things first. I thought I had watched all the "Two Fat Ladies" episodes and sadly sent the 3 DVDs back to Netflix so I could get the next thing in the queue. It turns out there are FOUR Fat Lady DVDs!!! WOOHOO. I've got one playing in the background now. Clarissa is diping some sort of shelled thing out of the ocean to eat. They are making wonderful foods with local foods.
Now for Hammy...it seems he's gone free range. Busted out of the joint. He's flown the coop. Gone over the wall. Broken out.
We don't know exactly when this happened. I saw him in the cage 2 days ago. He's nocturnal so we don't always see him. Jake fed him yesterday and lost the little twist tie that we use to keep the door shut. I was refilling his dish today and there was no Hammy in the cage. He'd turned the coconut-hut over so I lifted it to straighten up the cage thinking that he was in there...he wasn't He wasn't anywhere else either. BUT, the bag of food kept on the floor just below the shelf the cage is on has both bottom corners eaten off and there was a trail of hamster food. I followed it as far as it went...about 4 inches. After that I lost him.
We'll have to bring in a tracker, or a hamster whisperer or something.
For now, I've left some food and a tiny dish of water out (though I picked up the big bag of food and put it on the counter. I don't need 3 pounds of seeds strewn about the place.
A colleague at work had this happen and said that the hamster was gone about 6 months and then reappeared in the living room one evening.
I hope Hammy is having wonderful adventures (that do not involve hiding in my shoes or near the toilet and scaring the sh*t out of me in the wee hours of the night). I had a favorite series of books as a kid that were about a mouse who rode a motorcycle around and had adventures so I'm hoping Hammy makes the most of his free-range time.
I'm REALLY hoping he isn't hiding in El Kid's room because it is full of teen-stank and I don't think there is much oxygen in there. Also, if he hides under the laundry he'll be squished as El Kid roams about the tiny room.
I think I'll make a "lost hamster" poster and put it in the bathroom in the morning for El Kid to find when he gets up.
Or perhaps a ransom note signed by the dog who lives downstairs.
And one tiny "braggery" here at the end: El Kid has been accepted into the Rotary Exchange program for next school year, his junior year, and hopes to go to Japan. WOOHOO!
Now for Hammy...it seems he's gone free range. Busted out of the joint. He's flown the coop. Gone over the wall. Broken out.
We don't know exactly when this happened. I saw him in the cage 2 days ago. He's nocturnal so we don't always see him. Jake fed him yesterday and lost the little twist tie that we use to keep the door shut. I was refilling his dish today and there was no Hammy in the cage. He'd turned the coconut-hut over so I lifted it to straighten up the cage thinking that he was in there...he wasn't He wasn't anywhere else either. BUT, the bag of food kept on the floor just below the shelf the cage is on has both bottom corners eaten off and there was a trail of hamster food. I followed it as far as it went...about 4 inches. After that I lost him.
We'll have to bring in a tracker, or a hamster whisperer or something.
For now, I've left some food and a tiny dish of water out (though I picked up the big bag of food and put it on the counter. I don't need 3 pounds of seeds strewn about the place.
A colleague at work had this happen and said that the hamster was gone about 6 months and then reappeared in the living room one evening.
I hope Hammy is having wonderful adventures (that do not involve hiding in my shoes or near the toilet and scaring the sh*t out of me in the wee hours of the night). I had a favorite series of books as a kid that were about a mouse who rode a motorcycle around and had adventures so I'm hoping Hammy makes the most of his free-range time.
I'm REALLY hoping he isn't hiding in El Kid's room because it is full of teen-stank and I don't think there is much oxygen in there. Also, if he hides under the laundry he'll be squished as El Kid roams about the tiny room.
I think I'll make a "lost hamster" poster and put it in the bathroom in the morning for El Kid to find when he gets up.
Or perhaps a ransom note signed by the dog who lives downstairs.
And one tiny "braggery" here at the end: El Kid has been accepted into the Rotary Exchange program for next school year, his junior year, and hopes to go to Japan. WOOHOO!
Monday, November 10, 2008
McCain Concession as a Wordle
OK, just one more, then I'll give the Wordles a break.
Interesting? or stupid?
you be the judge.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Obama's Speech as a Wordle
I have a new fave site.
It's frugal 'cuz it's free (to use...there is a cost in the power to run all the servers and connections of the internet and whatnot)
Anyway, you feed text into the thing (cut and paste it in) and then it makes art.
Here is a link to the page:
It's frugal 'cuz it's free (to use...there is a cost in the power to run all the servers and connections of the internet and whatnot)
Anyway, you feed text into the thing (cut and paste it in) and then it makes art.
Here is a link to the page:
I don't know if you can see it properly.
But it's fun.
The site is:
http://www.wordle.net/
Enjoy.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Obama!!!
WOOHOO!
They just announced on Air America the Obama has it nailed.
This is great (to me).
And, he's into frugality. What with telling people to tighten their belts and consume or spend less, to save, and watch their finances. We haven't seen that since Carter (who I also like).
This should be interesting.
They just announced on Air America the Obama has it nailed.
This is great (to me).
And, he's into frugality. What with telling people to tighten their belts and consume or spend less, to save, and watch their finances. We haven't seen that since Carter (who I also like).
This should be interesting.
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