Boy, it's been quite awhile since the last time I posted here. Sorry aout that. I've been busy, and a little down. I felt as if I had nothing to say, so why post?
I suppose the biggest news is that i joined WeightWatchers in late September. As of last Saturday's weigh in, I've lost just over 20 pounds. I've got quite a bit more to lose, but I'm well on the way. At first, I was just doing it online, but last month I started going to meetings as well; I figured I could use the extra help, especially during the holidays.
12/07/2007
10/15/2007
Blog the Environment: 3 Green Things Anyone Can Do.
Good morning and welcome to Blog Action Day.
Here are some of the things that I do to help the environment. They're all pretty easy; anyone can do these things.
1. I don't own a car; I haven't done for years. Instead I take public transit or walk.
a. Four days a week, I walk to the BART (commuter train) station near my house, ride it for two stops (fare = $1.40), and then take an express bus to the office park where my main office is. This is made easier (and less expensive) because the office park sponsors a free bus pass for anyone who works there. That means that my round-trip commute costs less than a gallon of gas. Plus, taking transit means that I can spend that time doing what I want, instead of grinding my teeth because I'm stuck in traffic.
b. On Fridays, I alternate between having the day off and walking to an office that's about 1.5 miles from my house. Not only am I saving the environment, I'm getting some nice exercise.
c. The grocery store is a 20-minute walk from my house. I bought a folding shopping cart and assorted tote bags (including an insulated bag for cold/frozen things). The folding cart plays nicely with the store's shopping carts, and the checkers are getting the hang of pcking a lot of things into a few fabric totes instead of putting a few things in each of a dozen or more plastic bags.
2. I don't own a washer and dryer. I do my wash in the kitchen sink and hang it out to dry in the back yard. Yes, it takes longer this way, but I'm saving electricity, and I don't need dryer sheets to give my clothes that fresh-air smell.
3. I've replaced almost all of the incandescent bulbs in my house with compact flourescents. The exception is certain fixtures where they just don't fit, and which I'm not presently in a position to change.
Here are some of the things that I do to help the environment. They're all pretty easy; anyone can do these things.
1. I don't own a car; I haven't done for years. Instead I take public transit or walk.
a. Four days a week, I walk to the BART (commuter train) station near my house, ride it for two stops (fare = $1.40), and then take an express bus to the office park where my main office is. This is made easier (and less expensive) because the office park sponsors a free bus pass for anyone who works there. That means that my round-trip commute costs less than a gallon of gas. Plus, taking transit means that I can spend that time doing what I want, instead of grinding my teeth because I'm stuck in traffic.
b. On Fridays, I alternate between having the day off and walking to an office that's about 1.5 miles from my house. Not only am I saving the environment, I'm getting some nice exercise.
c. The grocery store is a 20-minute walk from my house. I bought a folding shopping cart and assorted tote bags (including an insulated bag for cold/frozen things). The folding cart plays nicely with the store's shopping carts, and the checkers are getting the hang of pcking a lot of things into a few fabric totes instead of putting a few things in each of a dozen or more plastic bags.
2. I don't own a washer and dryer. I do my wash in the kitchen sink and hang it out to dry in the back yard. Yes, it takes longer this way, but I'm saving electricity, and I don't need dryer sheets to give my clothes that fresh-air smell.
3. I've replaced almost all of the incandescent bulbs in my house with compact flourescents. The exception is certain fixtures where they just don't fit, and which I'm not presently in a position to change.
9/28/2007
Friday Quiz - What Type of Writer Should You Be?
| You Should Be a Science Fiction Writer |
 |
9/26/2007
What Were They Thinking? - Bathroom Design
Every day, I encounter things that seem not to have been very well thought out. Things about which I have to ask myself: "Who thought this was a good idea, and why?"
I'm going to start posting about these things once a week or so, and the first one is about a bathroom design element that seems really wrong to me.
Why is it that public restrooms almost always have a large sink with a short faucet? You know what I mean: the sink is so wide from front to back that you have to reach almost arm's length to turn on the water, and the faucet is so short that you almost bump your hands against the back of the sink when washing them. Who thinks that makes any sense at all? Besides making washing awkward, it virtually guarantees that water will be splashed around on the counter, making a mess.
What were they thinking?
I'm going to start posting about these things once a week or so, and the first one is about a bathroom design element that seems really wrong to me.
Why is it that public restrooms almost always have a large sink with a short faucet? You know what I mean: the sink is so wide from front to back that you have to reach almost arm's length to turn on the water, and the faucet is so short that you almost bump your hands against the back of the sink when washing them. Who thinks that makes any sense at all? Besides making washing awkward, it virtually guarantees that water will be splashed around on the counter, making a mess.
What were they thinking?
Busy, Busy, Busy
I know it's been way too long since I've posted here. I'll try to do better going forward.
Meanwhile, the highlights of life since my last post:
Meanwhile, the highlights of life since my last post:
- Honey wants me to side with her in "encouraging" my daughter to get a job and move out. Yes, I want my house back, but no, I don't want to throw my daughter out to get it.
- Honey has been having episodes of dementia; the most recent one lasted almost four days, ending late Monday night. I'm getting worried, because Alzheimer's does run in her family. I wasn't expecting to have to start looking for assisted living for her for at least a few more years, but I may have to move that up.
- On the plus side, I started WeightWatchers Online this week; I need to get rid of this excess I've been carrying around.
8/31/2007
What part of "Spare the Air" don't you understand?
Here in the SF Bay Area, when the temperature gets (and stays) in triple digits, and the wind goes away, we get smog. Maybe not like LA smog, but bad enough. To try to minimize that, the worst of these days are declared to be "Spare the Air" days.
On Spare the Air days, we are asked to cut down any unnecessary power usage, and especially cut down on driving. Instead, we are encouraged to car pool or take public transit. To encourage this, all the local transit agencies provide free rides. Most of them are free all day on Spare the Air days. A few - like BART and the ferries - offer free rides through 1pm, and charge the regular fare thereafter. They started that this year, because last year a lot of commuters were unable to get on the trains and ferries, because those were full of people who took advantage of the free rides to spend the day playing in SF.
But an odd thing happens, and I notice this on almost every Spare the Air day: traffic is actually worse on those days, and it's mostly solo drivers. I've thought about why this might be, and I've come up with a few possibilities:
On Spare the Air days, we are asked to cut down any unnecessary power usage, and especially cut down on driving. Instead, we are encouraged to car pool or take public transit. To encourage this, all the local transit agencies provide free rides. Most of them are free all day on Spare the Air days. A few - like BART and the ferries - offer free rides through 1pm, and charge the regular fare thereafter. They started that this year, because last year a lot of commuters were unable to get on the trains and ferries, because those were full of people who took advantage of the free rides to spend the day playing in SF.
But an odd thing happens, and I notice this on almost every Spare the Air day: traffic is actually worse on those days, and it's mostly solo drivers. I've thought about why this might be, and I've come up with a few possibilities:
- They didn't find out that it was a Spare the Air day before they left for work
- They didn't feel that transit was sufficiently convenient for them (and maybe it wasn't - we have good transit here, but it's not perfect)
- They figured that everyone else would be car pooling and using transit, so they'd have the roads pretty much to themselves.
I think the last one is the most likely, and I think it's the most common reason for it. The trouble is that when everyone thinks that everyone (or someone) else is doing something, what usually happens is that no-one does it.
I haven't owned a car in over a dozen years; I've managed quite well using transit and the occasional taxi. On most weekdays, I walk to the BART station (about a half mile), take the train to the second station down the line from me, where I catch an express bus that drops me practically on the doorstep of my office. This has removed a major stressor from my life. Instead of spending an hour behind the wheel in traffic being mad about the waste of time, I can spend that hour reading or writing or just staring out the window - whatever, that time is my own to use as I wish. On alternate Fridays, I work at an office that's closer to my home - about 1.5 miles away - so I walk to and from work. Yes, it takes longer than driving, but it's free workout.
Anyway, if you have Spare the Air days where you are, leave your car at home!
8/12/2007
Found Money
The other day, I found a nickel on the sidewalk. I picked it up, even though it was head-down. Some people will only pick up a coin if it's heads-up, believing that to pick up a head-down coin is bad luck. For that matter, many people don't think it's worth the effort to bend down and pick up any coin. My feeling is that if the universe wants to throw money at me, in whatever form or condition, who am I to snub it?
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