Midwest to Southwest

September electric

2009-10-15T05:00:00.002-07:00

Late posting this, but....

September electric cost was $52.31. Now that the temps have generally begun to cool, those costs will sharply decrease. Today and tomorrow may see 100 degrees F again, but it will not last long. Thank goodness!

How I spent my summer vacation

2009-09-07T16:21:00.003-07:00

The posts on this blog have been few this summer. I've been doing my musings with pen and ink in an old fashioned journal, the kind I've used since my teenage years (thirty years ago!) I've still got every one of them too, but who cares about that....

This summer has felt akin to being in a rudder-less boat in a circular current. No direction, spinning, spinning. Looking for work, interviewing, waiting for responses that don't come. Assessing my situation, my needs, my wants, my skills, talents, experience, options. Reworking resumes and writing cover letters specifically for jobs. And yet still spinning, spinning.

Reading too many economic doomer sites. Taking walks and listening for the inner wisdom that sometimes speaks during those walks. Weighing the scenarios of what the future could be: short term, medium term, long term. Remembering a time long ago when I desperately wished for an ancient, wise elder to help me navigate my way only now realizing that I had long ago absorbed what the ancients advised, the insight is that I had not yet heeded. Salvage what you can; consider your life's end - what will have truely mattered?; be who you are and not who you think everyone thinks you should be. Follow your vision of what is a good, happy life. Let go of the shoulds and the tryanny of your own ego. History is bigger than any one person.

This has been how I've spent my summer vacation from working. My economic prognosis is dire, foreclosure is probable. But I've chosen to see my short term future not as despairing but as a chance to begin again, to rebuild the rudder, and choose a direction toward one of several goals I have had on my list of things to do before I die. The direction has not been finalized. Times being as they are, its good to have various options going simultaneously. Just bringing those various options up keeps my morale buoyed. I will be ok, I keep telling myself. These are just challenging times that will lead to a better, happier future.

August Electrical costs

2009-09-07T16:18:00.001-07:00

Briefly to note: Electrical expense was $64.35 for the month of August. Just a few cents less than July expense.

Dietary Restrictions - new lease on life?

2009-08-02T14:11:00.002-07:00

Since January I have had pain in my right side, under the ribcage, in front and back. I did a master cleanse in Jan/Feb, a liver cleanse in March, went to a naturopath in mid March and was told to STOP the cleansing and take enzymes. In late March I went to my primary care doctor, he said IBS, prescribed probiotics, and blood tests for liver function. Blood test done in April came out normal, with fasting blood glucose lower by 25+ points over last year.My dietary changes and weight loss from the master cleanse had some positive effects on my health, anyway. I have not yet had the ultrasound that the doctor ordered. Many others who I have talked to with chronic gut issues similar to mine all say that the ultrasound usually finds nothing wrong.

So I continue(d) to take my health care into my own hands. I was doing really well by June. And then in July, because I was feeling so much better, I went back to eating wheat products and bread. Not everyday, but several times a week. I also tried the new KFC grilled chicken, once, in an intro meal with a thigh and a leg. Bad idea, gut-wise. So, after only ten days of eating more of a standard diet, my pain came back with a vengence. Now its been back for three weeks, so its back to dietary restrictions that helped calm it down before. I think that it might very well be my new "normal" diet.

What does this mean?

No wheat (nor gluten,) no meat, no oil, no dairy, little or no soy, no coffee, no alcohol, and of course no soda or junk food of any kind. I get my fats via coconut milk, almond milk, and avacados. So what can I actually eat that I actually like?

Fruit that works well in smoothies made with coconut milk, almond milk and various protein powders and fibers. Papaya is soothing. Aloe Vera Juice is helpful, too.

Steamed veggies and juiced veggies. Easier said than done. Green machine and Trader Joe's green juice are a start, anyway.

The ole stand-by instant mashed potatoes, with coconut milk as a substitute for both the milk and fat (butter, marj. etc.) Not everyday like it was back in January-April, but it is a good "comfort" food.

Rice flour or bean flour based chips or breads. I have tried making gluten free breads but haven't gotten the hang of them yet. Will try again once cooler weather comes around.

Taking lots of enzymes, herbs for liver function, and using protein powder in my smoothies.

I've found that this new way of eating is helping me lose fat, but not pounds. Now alot of "normal" food doesn't even appeal to me anymore. I used to love pizza. Now, my pizza has to be gluten free, meatless, cheese-less, and most times sauce-less. Pizza hut don't make that! Some of the vegan prepared foods that I have tried are actually satisfying.

Bon appetit!

July Electrical cost

2009-08-01T12:43:00.003-07:00

Since I have been unemployed, and therefore spending all my time at home, I've been using the AC more. Since it is also a summer in Phoenix, I've been using the AC more.

July electrical cost: $65.35 A bit more than I expected, but basically the same as last July.

What I am doing differently for August is running the blower pretty much non-stop and setting the AC temp to 84, and down to 79 should I just get too sweaty. I'm doing this because the increased interior humidity was unbearable. I think that the vents in my bathroom and laundry room ceiling do not vent to the exterior. I think that the vapor they vent just collects in the space between the ceiling and the roof, causing moisture. Running the blower helps dry out that moisture and makes the interior living more comfortable.

Trying to live eco-friendly is not actually doable in a structure that was not built for it. My condo's HVAC system was designed for an apartment building, one that assumed usage of air conditioning. To not run the HVAC is to invite long-term problems. Lesson learned!

June Electric

2009-07-02T09:28:00.002-07:00

June Electric usage: $47.27. Nine dollars more than May. We were super fortunate that the high heat did not hit until later in the month. July is here, and the AC is on daily, but not constantly. I anticipate an electric bill of $57.00 for July. Maybe I can get it lower, but it definitely will not be $47.27 like June.

Keep cool, everybody!

Will Fixing Healthcare fix everything?

2009-07-01T12:14:00.004-07:00

The push is on for fixing our healthcare system.The nation has finally realized that we're financially busted, and will be ever more so in the coming years (even if we fix the health care system.)

This current push is a good thing, really. Senator Tom Harkin and Newt Gingrich both have opinions on how things should be fixed - who should pay, etc. (Click on post title to see Harkins article and link to Gingrich.) We do need to embrace prevention and public health. But those things are not the whole of it.

Some of the things that Mr. Harkin brings up are true. Lifestyle changes will make a difference in a person's health. We've been told that for the past three decades - Jane Fonda and Susan Powter made a fortune telling us this!, but our obesity rates and general rate of ill-health has skyrocketed over that same timeframe. Many politicians compare the US health and illness stats to other countries around the world. They seem to say "tsk, tsk, Americans aren't measuring up" without admitting that there is more to a healthy lifestyle than eating better and exercising more. Europeans have a different approach to life overall. And they don't hit the gym at any greater rate than we do in the US. They have a broader approach. Here are some examples:

*Minimum of 4 weeks vacation from work per year in European countries, regardless of the company you work for or your job title. When you know you have money coming in, and have good, restful amount of time to relax, you tend to feel less stressed.

*6 months to a year of paid maternity leave given for each mother and ofen times the father, too, in a great many European countries.

*35-38 hour work weeks as norm, no push for overtime, no expectation, generally, of 50+ hour work weeks as a "salaried" employee.

*A national definition of, and culture of, success based on social relationships, instead of strictly wealth and status accumulation. This includes leisurely meal times and fewer planned activities for children or adults to have to squeeze into their day.

*Walkable cities - which means at the minimum sidewalks for walking on, and better, convenient, public transport so that physical movement is much more a part of a person's day. Higher population densities with shops in walking distance help to keep folks walking instead of driving.

*Apartment or home design based on higher densities and older infrastructure. They have smaller living units with fewer, smaller storage areas - accumulation of stuff not practical or pleasant to have around. Re-wiring of units is prohibitively expensive in a 500 year old building! Adjustment to infrastructure capacity as part of life. For example, few really old buildings in Italy have air conditioning, so people sweat more, which is generally healthier.

*Strong food regulations/rules- rejection of genetically modified foods and over processed foods, and a strong SLOW FOOD movement.

*Smaller portion sizes in restaurants; many restaurants have community seating; and you are not expected to leave within an hour of being served.

*Children attend boarding schools at significantly higher rates in European countries than in the US. Those boarding school kids come home on weekends, holidays, and extended vacation time. How many US parents would be less stressed and have more time for healthier living if their kids were in boarding school all week?

That list paints a very different picture of life than life in the US. In the US we seem to have an AND problem. We need to exercise, AND eat right, AND work lots of hours, AND be successful, AND have a big house, AND a nice car or two or three, AND look youthful, AND have superior skills, AND stay connected with our familes and friends, AND be healthy. Pile it all on, then wait for the conflicted feelings to set in. The big house and car in the suburbs without sidewalks or playgrounds means you have to drive the kids everywhere to play, you have to drive to get to the store and the gym. Everyone lives so far away from each other you can't see them much. Everyone is so busy trying to do it all, all by themselves, that relationships dry up, and stress builds up. To make Americans healthier, we're going to have to change the way we live overall.
If we just tell ourselves we have to eat (organic) whole foods and exercise more, but our infrastructure doesn't support it, we will fail. If we subsidize corn and wheat so much that bread and chips and sugary snacks are cheaper and quicker than the more expensive healthier whole foods, we are not going to succeed. If we keep junk food, pizzas and burgers on demand in the schools for the money it brings into the school board's coffers, we are not going to slim down our kids. When we can't do it all, we see these aspects of life as OR choices. The way we have set up our infrastructure, and our expectations force them to be OR choices.

When I was a kid we had physical education classes, home economics classes, and health classes. We had to be tested for the Presidential Physical Fitness award, and walk to school if we lived within a mile of the school. We had neighborhood playgrounds that had teams with coaches, and sidewalks to use to walk to them. We didn't have pizza on demand in the cafeteria, and the only burgers we got were of the soy-burger variety. We drank real fruit juice and half-pints of milk, and went outside for a half hour after lunch for recess, or to the gym in extreme weather. We put healthy stuff into our bodies and moved around alot more than kids do today. We need to get back to all of those things if we are to get healthy again. Free health insurance to see the doctor if we get sick isn't going to change any of these things, but it might help those who are sick, and start us thinking about, and making better, broader decisions about how to keep from getting sick.

Economics 101?

2009-06-01T19:15:00.003-07:00

I posted a comment on Mish's site this evening which I'd like to put here too. (See sidebar for link to his website.)

It seems we're (US Taxpayers) are reacting in a way that is counter to how financers of companies/Countries act. We're already acting like serfs on the Lord of the manor's land. I think that the situation actually changed for us as soon as the Federal Government bought up the toxic assets of the banks - the mortgages, etc. and made all taxpayers liable for them. It's time to stop acting like serfs, and instead demand shareholder paper, power, and individual collateral for our "secure" financing. Could a legal action of historic proportion stop the foreclosures instantly? Wouldn't it be great to try? Any lawyers out there willing to run with this? You could make the history books!

The comment that I left on Mish's site is below, with new additions in italics:

This may sound like an elementary school student's question...

If the bank owns my house- holds my mortgage- and the federal government now owns 93% of the debts of the banks (which includes my mortgage,) and I as a citizen/taxpayer am liable for paying back all those debts, am I not technically already the owner of my house/mortgage? Since my share of the huge tax debt that has to be paid into the future (to the end of my tax paying lifetime,) to the tune of twice the cost of my own mortgage, shouldn't the bank just close my mortgage as paid in full, since I essentially owe the mortgage to my taxpayer self in this whole convoluted finance game?

Can an individual or group of individuals (ie: class action) sue the Federal Government (Dept of Treasury) and the Federal Reserve, to secure collateral on the loans we have guaranteed? Each individual taxpayer should hold collateral equal to the value of the taxes we are individually obligated to pay as part of all of these bailouts. I shouldn't have to pay for my house TWICE, when its getting harder to pay for it just once. If my taxes go for buying mortgages from banks, and I get the tax bill, I am essentially being charged twice for my own mortgage. I want collateral from banks, the Fed and the Treasury. I want the deed to my home and it is right to only have to pay for it once.

May Energy usage, and Fertilizer theory

2009-06-01T18:35:00.003-07:00

May electric expenditure: $38.86.
AC ran a few times. Thermostat set to 87 degrees F most of the month. Using fans and doing evening/night window air exchange. By using the "open the windows at night and transfer the IN air out and the OUT air in" technique and closing up at 6:30am, I can get the condo to cool down to 81F from 86F. This won't be doable in another two weeks, so I am trying to squeeze as much free cool air out as I can before the beastly summer heat comes.

Fertilizer Theory.

While it is good to use fertilizer for plants- and fresh animal waste is the best fertilizer of all- I am not so much liking the fertilizer that is being spread in the news media these days. Lots of BS coming from all corners of media, and the internet, on how the economy is starting to rally, how the bottom has been reached, etc.

The irony is that many of us, many people who comment on blogs like some that I read, so often write about what they need to do before TSHTF (the shit hits the fan.) I look around and see it already ON the fan, BLOWING THRU the fan, like a fine mist of liquid fertilizer being sucked through the air current, spraying lightly through the air and resting on everything in its path. Hey, I'm seeing it metaphorically - I'm not that bad a housekeeper!

TSHTF is here, coming from all corners of the economy and impacting us drop by drop. We don't really feel it accumulating, we see it as something else - rain day perhaps?- until we're weighed down so much we can't move and realize that we REEK. The mythical TSHTF is supposed to happen suddenly as a CRISIS, and pose imminent, violent, DANGER! when really it is more of a drip, drip, dripping.

Somebody turn off the damn spicket and stop watering down the manure pile!

Boy, its hot out there! Mai Tai, anyone?

2009-05-11T18:42:00.003-07:00

The high temps for the past few days have been 102 F. The AC is going on once the temp hits 84, or 87, depending upon whether I'm home or not. Thankfully the condo is in a northeast corner, so it doesn't get south or west sun.

The cat has taken to sleeping on the tile floor. And I thought she was a freeze-baby! She won't cuddle much at night, too hot! lol1

I've been spending my time taking a bartending course. Too chicken still to take the final and practical tests, but I'm inching up my courage to get 'er done.

Seasonal employment gig ends May 30. No new jobs lined up yet. Hopefully a bartending gig will materialize in the nick of time. Wish me luck!

Electricity expenses, April 2009

2009-05-02T14:50:00.003-07:00

$29.08 spent on my M-power meter for the entire month electricity use in April. That is just slightly less than I spent in March. I suppose I should also be reporting kwh, but I got lazy in tracking those by the day. The entire number of kwh used from June 15, 2007 to today is 6152.94 kwh. That makes 6152.94 divided by 685 days equals 8.98 kwh per day average usage. Monthly averages 270 kwh used. Less than the national average, but not Riot for Austerity standards, for sure.

I have already turned my AC on for a few minutes yesterday and a few short minutes in April. I've been using the old 'open the windows at night to capture the cool air' trick for a few days now. Hopefully this will last longer into June than it did last year. Thermostat is going to be set at 82 until June, then it will be upped to 87 through the rest of summer. I'm so glad my condo is on the north east side of the complex. It sure makes a difference in the hot weather! Once the Monsoon is here, the AC is needed to combat the higher humidity levels in the condo. The new window exhaust fan should be a help in getting the warm air OUT when I come home from work.

Kitty cat has taken to having her naps in the cooler part of the condo, a place she avoided using all winter. If you want to know where the warmest/coldest areas of your home are, just watch where your pets prefer. Animal wisdom!

US Debt limit raised

2009-04-01T14:00:00.002-07:00

I see from the counter at upper right that the national debt is over 11 trillion. Did congress meet in the dead of night to raise the limit? Is it such a non-news story that it happened and it wasn't even covered? Could I have just missed the whole dang thing?

My share is now over 100K. Yours too. Sheesh.

In other observations, April is here, so that means an accounting of March electric bill. $29.13 for the entire month. I was much better about turning the washer, dryer and kitchen range off at the circuit breaker. Saved me 50 cents a day! Whoo hoo!

For those friends of mine out in the Minnesota and Wisconsin north country, hang in there, Spring is almost here!

Updates

2009-03-01T08:57:00.002-07:00

January electric bill: $40.39
February electric bill: $31.73

Hives - lasted full ten days, now have only occasional itchies.

My TARP= zero dollars. Not that I think I deserve any, but, since I made suggestions earlier, thought it could be commented on anyway.

My Solutions, well a few anyway

2009-02-15T17:33:00.003-07:00

Bad news just keeps piling up in this economic black hole we've created for ourselves. Each new day brings another jaw dropping, blood-pressure raising story about the obscene gall on the part of one rich SOB (or politician) or another. For all the stimulus - stimuli?- that has been pumped into the "market" since last fall, not one penny of it will help me. And come June I'm going to be needing me some help.

The following things would be helpful to me now. Let me know if they're something that would help you too. Thanks!

1. All credit-card issuing institutions must reduce the maximum interest rate that they are allowed to charge to 10%. If they lower credit limits, they CANNOT charge over the limit fees on the amounts between what the balance WAS and what the limit was lowered to. They have to give ZERO percent interest on that gap until the credit card holder pays down to the newer, lower limit. Only then would the max of 10% interest kick in.

Why? 20% or higher interest on debt in a market where people are losing jobs and income will cause higher default rates sooner. 10% interest will allow those who can still pay their payments a quicker way to pay off debt and loosen their cash reserves for REAL spending in the market again. I chose an arbitary percentage of 10%. I'd really prefer a total moritorium on ALL interest payments so that folks can get out of debt faster, but that's asking for too much. But I say if the banks can get an infusion of tax payer money, at least the taxpayer should be able to get some benefit from it as well, since right now everyone is too scared to ask for any more credit since they don't know if they will have future income.

2. Bring back the tax credit for interest paid on credit card debt. Doing this first would likely force solution #1 to be put into effect very quickly!

3. Reset everyone's mortgage to current market value. Charge no refinance fees or penalties regardless of the original mortage financing deal. Level the playing field for everyone. Sure it will make the banks balance sheets drop, but it may also dissolve some of that toxicity that they can't figure out how to hide or pass off anymore. If its toxic, get the microbes out and clean it up! Let the tide lower for everyone, it just might keep everyone afloat! A high tide raises all boats, and a receding tide lowers them.

4. Break up the big banks so that they're no longer too big to fail. Senator Sanders is right, if they're too big to fail, they're too big to exist in the first place. Can you say anti-trust law overhaul?

5. Pay attention to the basic living needs of the people. If they end up in a situation where they lose everything, en masse, then they're also in a position of having nothing, and I mean nothing, left to lose. And we won't be content with cake, either, Marie.

Each person's share

2009-02-14T10:42:00.002-07:00

The debt clock in the upper corner of my blog has been updated to reflect the new share each taxpayer is obligated to pay. $198,000.
Total earnings over 24 years equal that much. Ouch!

Cleansing wrap-up

2009-02-06T11:02:00.002-07:00

Monday night was the official end of my Master Cleanse experience. I drank the lemonade, 6-8 glasses a day,(about a total of 800 calories a day) plus a bit of mashed potatoes or apple sauce each day for about a daily intake of 1100 calories. I did not feel faint ever on any of the days. The pain in my side lessened and I feel much more energetic and light. Total weight loss: 8 pounds.

This cleansing was timed just right because the lemon trees in this area are full of fruits for harvest. The lemons in the grocery store are cheaper too due to the abundance of fruits available. The only expensive part of this cleanse was the maple syrup. I liked the taste of the lemonade so much I am going to incorporate it into my daily diet, and I enjoyed the lighter feeling I got with drinking liquids only that I now venture on into veggie juicing. Since I need my leafy greens but never seen to fit them in, I'm going to focus on juicing dark green and leafy veggies. Wish me luck!

Cleanse, day 7 completed

2009-01-31T06:32:00.002-07:00

They're wrong, the lemonade is not enough to keep the hunger at bay. So, sorry to say, but I have cheated each day. A bowl of instant mashed potatoes or apple sauce one day, a veggie burger another day. Yesterday I ate some salt and vinegar potato chips. (And yes the pain is back from eating that!)

The maple syrup doesn't last very long and is quite expensive, but the lemons are cheap so overall my food bill is way down. I have today, Sunday, and Monday left to be on this cleanse and then I switch to veggie juice, broth and soft soup. I bartered for a juicer so I am all set to make my own veggie juice. The volume of pulp that gets left over from juicing concerns me. Anyone got a recipe for making fiber biscuits or breads from juice pulp?

One potato, Two potato, three potato

2009-01-26T08:23:00.002-07:00

The potato I planted last fall died the other day. Dried up, shriveled, so I pulled it out of the containers. And I found two tiny, tiny potatos and one the size of a "new" potato. What do you know!

Time to get that potato condo built so I can get some more growing.
Just three small potatos make me feel so optimistic about what I could grow on my little balcony.

Master Cleanse, Day 3

2009-01-26T06:51:00.002-07:00

Today starts day 3 of the cleansing. I got through Saturday, day one without any problem at all. The lemonade was tasty and the herbs I took didn't interfere. At the end of day one I discovered that I had been using too much water in my lemonade, so determined that on day 2 I'd adjust to the correct amount. I also hadn't considered doing the salt water bath (interior) but determined that I would do it the next morning. Overall, it was surprising to find that I had more mental clarity and less bloating and inflamation in my body overall.

Day 2, more mental clarity and energy to do things like clean house!
I made my lemonade with the correct amount of water, and did the salt water bath(interior) which was not bad tasting but was unpleasant experiencing. The interior bath is meant to facilitate elimination of toxins. I increased my day's intake to 7 glasses of lemonade, and 2 pints of water but boy, was I hungry!

Day 3. Starting another day with an interior salt bath. Lower gut discomfort. I will add back in the herbs today to see their effects.
Going to up my lemonade intake to 8 glasses today, since I am still quite hungry! Mental clarity is higher than when I was eating solid foods, and the scale says I'm down three pounds since Friday night.

A cleansing we will go

2009-01-24T14:16:00.003-07:00

January has been a month of pain. Gut pain, liver pain to be more precise. Though my gallbladder was removed back in '99 over the years I have occasionally had pain in my right side, and heart-burn like symptoms that mimic a gall-bladder attack. For years doctors told me it was just GERD and that antacids and prescriptions like Prilosec and Nexium would take care of it. And mostly they have. Until now.

My eating habits changed from semi-veg before the holidays to not veg during the holidays. I took to eating fast foods, meats and soda during that time. That resulted in a return of the pain. Boy it sure feels like a gall-bladder problem. But I don't have a gall-bladder.

My last week's research on the net has gleaned that it is possible to have stones in one's liver, which I feared way back in the 1990's and inquired of many times to my Docs, which each one poo-pooed as nonsense. So now, with the same pain back again, and being without health insurance currently, and thinking that I will just get the same instructions "eat a bland diet, take these meds" after $2000 worth of "normal" test results, I will skip their expensive non-help and do something different. I will do the Master Cleanse.

The Master Cleanse has been around for decades. Hollywood types do it to lose weight fast for a film, health gurus tout it as a way to "clean out" the intestines. Its basically a mixture you make with 8-10 oz filtered water, 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice, one to two tablespoons grade b dark maple syrup and 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Drink a minimum of 6 glasses per day plus water and tea, along with some herbal laxatives for at least 10 days straight.

I'm combining it with herbals that are designed to flush any parasites and built up crud out. I've never done this before, but I'm not having good results just eating a bland diet. GERD is not the problem, the heart-burn is gone with the lemon juice. Something else is happening and I have absolutely no faith that typical western medicine can help me.

The weight loss, which the Hollywood types get from doing this Master Cleanse, is not what I am really aiming for. My hope is to flush my liver and kidneys of possible stones. Everything else is a bonus. Wish me luck!

Has anyone out there done the Master Cleanse or other cleansing programs? I may do Dr. Natura's later in the spring. What were your results?

January 2009 Updates

2009-01-24T13:35:00.002-07:00

The goals set for 2009 are already being met. The exhaust fan has arrived, but is not yet installed. I found a just-like-new microwave at a yard sale a block from home and bought it for $20. Got an extra 4 cup Mr Coffee maker, looks new, for $2.

Electric usage is down, though it will be about $35 for the month since I have failed to turn off some appliances at the electric panel. Laziness and illness can be blamed.

Interior Humidity level went down to 45% for a few days, but since we've had rain several nights in a row the interior level is back to 70%. Of course some of this is due to me having the patio door open all night, but I LOVE the smell of rain in the DESERT!

No Poo experiment has taken a twist. I've stopped using the vinegar rinse altogether. The direct contact with that acid was destroying my already soft fingernails. I've taken to using a herbal tea infused with baking soda and glycerin as my shampoo.

Recipe:

Cheesecloth the size of a letter size sheet of paper
3 tablespoons Herbs de Provence
Put herbs in cheesecloth and make a large tea bag, wrapping tightly to keep herbs from escaping.
Place in a bowl that can hold 4 cups water
Pour 4C hot water over tea bag. ( I ran the water through my Mr. Coffee machine.)
Steep for 2 hours until liquid is deep amber.
Let water cool. Squeeze water from tea bag.
In a squeeze bottle (I used 10oz dish detergent bottle) add tea, and
2 tablespoons baking soda and watered down vegetable glycerin.

This liquid should last a week - four to five shampooings.
Make a new batch each week.

To use:
Squeeze the liquid over dry hair and let it soak in a few minutes. Then rub the scalp and hair, then rinse thoroughly.

I did not say exactly how much glycerin I added since it was from a jug I had previously mixed with water.The glycerin was added to try to stablize the baking soda so shaking the bottle was not necessary. Alas, shaking the bottle is still necessary to get the baking soda to mix right.

I'm not quite sure the old bottle of dish soap was free of all dish soap chemicals. Probably not since this mixture gave me similar results in my hair as when I use straight dish soap in my hair - its great as a wax stripper! My next batch will have different results I am sure. I just know though that I really like the Herbs de Provence smell. Tarragon, Lavendar, Sage, Thyme, etc. I smell like an Herb Garden after I 'poo.

I have been able to wash every other day with this liquid. On the days I don't shampoo, I use a very diluted spray of Caldrea's Linen spray directly on my hair. I'm crazy about their Basil Blue Sage & Rosemary scented products they make and since it is quite expensive, I dilute the spray, and use it to iron my clothes and "freshen" my hair on the days I don't 'poo - just love the smell! It is likely that in time, as the Caldrea runs out, I will buy my own bottles of essential oils and make the spray myself instead of buying it. For now I will use what I have.

Sunday - Rock n Roll Marathon!

2009-01-17T07:06:00.005-07:00

An annual event in my area of town, every January 30,000-40,000 people take a few hours out of their morning and run from downtown Phoenix to downtown Tempe. Last year it wasn't even 9:45am and the first place runner breezed by the checkpoint down the street. He didn't even look like he was breathing hard. (I'm at the Half-way point!) Damn, those runners are FAST!!

If you're around, traffic will be messed up all morning. Just get out of your car and dance to the music. Whoo hoo!

Consumption and free stuff

2009-01-16T17:33:00.002-07:00

Now that the pendulum has begun to swing back to a more economically reserved time, we are all jumping on the bandwagon of non-consumption. Don't spend if you don't have to, buy what you need, not just what you WANT. Use the library, walk, take the bus, mend your clothes, make your own bread. These are fine things to re-incorporate into our lives. We're all learning to Reduce, reuse, recycle, and repair again.

When it comes to stuff that is FREE to the public, do we use the same restraint and sense of use only what we need or do we push and shove in front of others to take the maximum allowed per person, just because its free, even if we can afford to pay full price and will have to hustle to redistribute our bounty so it doesn't go to waste or will just allow it to go to waste because it was "free?"

At my work we had a national retailer sponsor a huge block of tickets, free for the asking by the public. The ad went out in the newspaper this past Sunday. 90% of the tickets were consumed by a voracious public within 48 hours.(Demand was so high that it crashed our website and crippled our phone system.) The last 10% -the least desirable time slots- were "finally" booked by Wednesday morning. Some who didn't get free tickets have cried foul and threatened law suits. For free tickets.

What is it about something being free that removes the filter of restraint and drives us to gluttony?

If you can get something for free but don't need it and will have to hunt for someone to use it, do you still take the free thing? Why?

When you go to the library, do you take out more items than you or your family can use in the loan period. Do you take more, just cuz its free?

Updates and Goals, past and present

2009-01-03T14:02:00.004-07:00

December electric expenditure = $39.38. I need to get a dehumidifier to make sure I can keep this from happening again! Curious that as the heat pump was pushing hot air through the air exchanger my meter monitor said that I was paying .41 per hour!

In 2008 I had but two goals. The first was to finally get all of my stuff out of storage (in Wisconsin) and have it hauled down to Arizona. That was done in two shifts in March and April. I carried what I could in two large suitcases on each airplane trip back and shipped the rest. Wish I could say that all the stuff was unpacked. But I can't say that.

The second goal was to change jobs before the end of 2008. Job was changed in September. Switched to a temporary full time job at a local organization, two miles from home. The change was made and I feel all the healthier and calmer for it.

My goals for 2009 all have to do with my abode and my livelihood. The major focus will be to get the humidity problem in my condo under control. The definition of under control is to keep it at a constant 45% instead of the 65-75% that it keeps raising to. I will attack this problem on multiple levels.

1. I will buy/install an exhaust fan for my bedroom so that I may have some way to exchange the air, keep it flowing. Ordered an exhaust fan online today. Should be here by Thursday. I've turned the portable fans back on which I had only been using in the summer. Fan use will be constant in 2009.

2. I will get a microwave oven so that I do not have so much vapor being added to my kitchen when I cook. I have been using my stove top so much and the vent above it does not vent to the outside. The vapor just recirculates to the interior, making my not-supposed-to-be-refridgerated fruits and veggies spoil more quickly than normal. Using a microwave should also cut down on the number of dishes, pots and pans that I use and have to wash, which will reduce the release of water vapor (sink washing, dishwasher washing.)

3. I will go back to using paper towels instead of wet rags for cleaning. The Arizona dry air sucks up every ounce of water around into the air, making wet rags, sponges, and damp towels dry quickly but humidifies the air. That fast process also makes the rags smell BAD! which requires more laundering which releases more vapor into the air. While the paper towels might be bad for the environment, they can at least be composted. When used to clean up spills and for general cleaning with quick sprays, less vapor will be released into the air.

4. I will find a dehumidifier, either new or used, to add to my vapor fighting routine. This will come in extra handy during monsoon season.

5. I'll relocate my tea water heating devices to my balcony so that the vapor they create will not be added to the interior. Ditto for the crock pots that I occasionally use. Outdoor kitchen, alright!

6. I'll look into getting a small space heater or towel warmer for heating up the air in my tub area. I had been using the heat from the bath water to heat the air instead of turning on the furnace to take the chill off. Instead I need to heat the air with a dry source, then use less water in the bath.

7. Find a way to change the electrical panel so that I can install a ceiling fan in the dining area, and separate the fan and light fixture in the laundry room. I'd like to be able to leave the vent on without having the light burn. Currently I cannot do one without doing the other.

8. Employment. Either find a seasonal summer job and hope that I can go back seasonal full time in September to my current employer or get a full time with medical benefits job with another organization.
This goal is simple. Keep enough money coming in to pay all living expenses. No grand career plans this year. Survival and enough money to cover the above goals are fine with me.

9. Get some miniture fruit trees that can thrive in containers that I can espalier on one wall on my balcony. I'd like to have peaches and plums, as well as a tangelo tree grafted with a lemon variety to give me citrus. These will take several years to "take" but hey, I own the place so I can wait!

10. Keep up container gardening. Grow a roma tomato plant, some strawberries, and try growing bok choy. My cousin's mother in law grows bok choy in raised beds in Central Phoenix. She could give me tips!

These ten goals won't be too hard to meet, with perhaps the exception of changing the electrical panel and obtaining the fruit trees. Its nice to have some things to reach for.

Ugh, I caved.

2008-12-25T21:11:00.003-07:00

Had to turn on the heat today. Not because it was cold, but because the humidity was getting too high inside due to recent rain. 74% interior humidity is too high! So for the next few days I will be running the heater that will hopefully dry out the air back to 45-50%.

I also caved in to using some shampoo, or rather some liquid dish soap, to cut the greasiness from my hair. I'll continue to use the baking soda and vinegar technique, but interspursed every four days or so with the dish soap solution I've made. Baby steps are called for here, I guess.

Lastly, I am not going to reach my goal of a $27.00 electric bill in December. I'm already at $26.00 and its December 25. I've got six days of the month to go. Between the extra holiday baking, extra laundry, and now an active heater, my bill will be more like $35.00 for the month. It's all a learning process, for sure!

Well, hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas!

How cold did it get last night?

2008-12-20T14:46:00.003-07:00

It must have gotten quite chilly last night to keep the cat from demanding to go outside at breakfast time. She's just making a trip to the litter box out on the balcony and then dashing back in quickly, climbing back under the bed blankets for warmth. Freeze baby! The weather forecast said 38F for the low last night and 40F for tonight.

I was not fully informed of the range of winter temperatures before heading down to Arizona from Wisconsin/Minnesota border. I landed in Tucson first, the last week of January 2005. The temperatures seemed warmer than what I was accustomed to, then. At that time I chuckled when I saw people wearing parkas when the temps were high enough for me to just wear a sweater.

Four years later, I'm sitting in my condo with an interior temp of 61F, wearing my long zip sweater and knitted slippers. I am chilled! But WILL NOT turn on the heater. I'm saving my electricity for those over 100F days when they hit in April? May? June? I don't want to have the temp range that my body can tolerate shrink too soon in life. It's really amazing how the body adjusts to the environment. It will be hot again, steadily, soon enough!

Semiosis in overdrive?

2008-12-19T08:25:00.006-07:00

Last year, after I bought my condo and had to re-register as a voter, I changed my affliliation from democrat to independent. Having been a life-long democrat, and having lived in several states that had weird rules about how/if you can vote in the primaries, I wanted as much latitude as possible. Plus, I differ with the democratic party on one major issue: how government money should be spent. I am content to be an official independent, even though I have far more identification for the ideals (but not the idealism) of the Left. Full disclosure: I voted for Obama/Biden.

Now that President-elect Obama is going about naming his choices for his cabinet, the idealistic folks who elevated him to near messiah status are starting to snipe and snark at his choices. They are seeing this and that assignment as "proof" that he has already betrayed the cause for "change." I see that Obama's choices are signs that he is trying to move the executive administration from the far left to a more CENTERED approach. Others see it as Obama abandoning the LEFT, as they want sharp redirection immediately. Sigh.

One change that we all need to make is our decades long habit of seeing every political movement and appointment as a symbol and metaphor for motive, intent and ideology. Seimosis is the activity of interpreting signs. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics. See notation in Thomas Sebeok.) Somewhere along the way we've learned to apply the study of signs down to the minute details of everything in the political realm. The political habit in all parties became assigning guilt by association, and interpreting the routine activities of politicans as suspect. We now scrutinize politicans for where they place their hands when they stand, who they take food from, who they attend meetings with, and somehow adopted the rule that they can prove to be a loyalist only if they have folks exactly like themselves around them at all times. (The latter is what Bush did, and is part of what angered so many during his first term in office - his "if you're not with us you're against us" rhetoric.)

We are reading too much into everything these days! While Semiosis (Semiotics, Semieotics) are valid academic subjects, the extent that we engage it in everyday analysis of our leaders and politicians has become on par paranoia and superstition. If I were to start talking about the planetary movements through the astrological realm, and its psychological effects on individuals and the masses, or peered into a mug of tea leaf remains, folks would say I am reading WAY TOO MUCH into silly little signs. They'd say that I am creating something that just isn't there. FYI: I am quite skilled at both astrological interpretation and tea leaf reading, so I am in no way trying to bash that contintuancy! ; ) Just trying to make a point.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and the action of a politician is the action of a politician - choosing lots of different kinds of folks, appeasing those he can and trying not to alienate those whose help and skills he'll need later. Trying to set up his organization so that there are plenty of people who can be bridges and interpreters, and conveyars of ideas from many varying viewpoints that exist in our country and in the offices that will interact with the new administration. We CAN'T make progress and clean up the mess our country is in with half of the people angry and on the sidelines! We've already had 8 years of that! To get the change that the country needs WE MUST CHANGE FIRST.

Change the way you interpret the signs! Find some tolerance!

PS: The outrage in the blogosphere and online media pages (from the left) about Obama's choosing Rick Warren for the inaugural blessing is a great example of Semiosis in overdrive. Warren is being asked to give a customary blessing. He's not being asked to join a cabinet or the supreme court. No matter who is chosen to give the invocation, due to it being an invocation (religious) many people will be "offended." Whatever, its a blessing, not an arms treaty! Marshall McLuhan did write the medium is the message, but he was talking about types of media, not an actual individual person talking!

Free speech is not just for people who have ideas that are just like our own. What happened to tolerance? I'm not a Rick Warren fan. I know of his work, but have not engaged any of it. I have friends who really like him. They have the freedom to pursue their choice of religion, and have the freedom to have ideas different than me and talk about those ideas too. I have the same freedoms to choose. We can and do co-exist. Really!

Trying the No Poo approach

2008-12-18T10:51:00.005-07:00

I've always looked for unique alternatives to expensive soaps and creams. Many bloggers have been writing about how the chemicals in shampoos can be harmful to users in the long run with all those laurel sulfates (ammonium or sodium) and other ingredients that are basically unpronounceable. Though I'd like to say my concern is environmentally motivated, I must confess that my concern comes from the need to cut costs and find substances that work with my sensitive skin. As a teen I tried using beer as a protein enhancer - Old Milwaukee and Pfiffers worked great, Heineken did not. Sorry, Dad!

Now I am older and currently poor. So, enter the No Poo option. No poo means no shampoo. Period. What is advocated instead is a quick rinse of the hair with two cups of water infused with a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar. Then let the hair rest a few minutes. Rinse out the vinegar from the hair. Get out some baking soda and make a paste with a few drops of water. Scrub that into your scalp and hair. Let it set 5 minutes. Rinse out. Then as a finisher, if you desire, fill the same two cups of water and mix in a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar and rinse your hair again. You can then rinse it out if you don't want to smell like vinegar for a few hours afterward. Its important to rinse in between as the combo of baking soda and distilled white vinegar is strong enough to clean the gunk out of drains. It might do a bad number on your hair and scalp if used at the same time. If you hear fizzing and see foaming, RINSE, RINSE!!

This is week two for me in my No Poo experiment. The other bloggers who have made the switch say that there comes a point when your hair begins to get increasingly greasy. I entered that stage a few days ago. But I am determined to push through, doing as they recommend, brushing my hair often to distribute the oils, and reducing the amount of vinegars in the rinses since I might be using too much and over activating the oil glands. Currently trying to find a balance. What I can say is that my hair, though oilier is also feeling and looking much thicker than it used to. I have very fine hair, but alot of it. Due to its fineness, it didn't look thick, until recently.

I've always had healthy hair, now its feeling thicker as well. And I'm saving money by using products I already have around the house that can also be used to do other things. Practical, cost effective. I like that!

Next up, making my own laundry soap using washing soda, borax, and soap flakes. I got the recipe from the net, but Rhonda at Down-to-earth has lots of recipes for making your own cleaning products too. Thanks, Rhonda!

Personal record - November 2008 electric bill

2008-12-09T22:34:00.003-07:00

From the M-Power meter, the official amount spent on electricity for the entire month of November 2008 was $29.32.

The goal for December is $27.00.

Citrus harvest time!

2008-12-09T22:20:00.003-07:00

Its very exciting to me that the lemon trees are ready for gleaning. A co-worker has a very productive lemon tree in her yard in Mesa. She will be bringing me a bag of lemons tomorrow so I can juice them and freeze the juice. I can use the juice for making cheese! She may also bring me a few grapefruit. I will then also go to a friend's house in Glendale to pick some oranges. Wow, how great is all that!

The peeling of the lemons and oranges will be grated for "zest." Some of the peels will be carefully cut off and candied, others will be dried to make potpourri. I'm looking for a recipe to make pectin, so that the whatever pulpy part left over from the juicing can also be utilized. Overall, this is going to be a fun challenge.

Many folks don't realize that the St. Mary's Food Bank here in Phoenix has a gleaning program where volunteers are gathered and dispatched to local homes to pick fruits off of overly productive trees. If you have fruit trees in your yard that have more fruit than you can use, give your local food bank a call. They may have some folks who can help pick that fruit and distribute it through the food bank to hungry people who can make use of it.

I've got two mortgages, it seems

2008-11-25T09:22:00.008-07:00

The red colored counter in the upper right corner of my blog page is displaying a real time tally of our national debts. Debts, plural. The ten trillion, six hundred sixty billion plus (as snapped on this date) is the official debt that our congress acknowledges. It is how much money we owe others on CURRENT and RECENT expenditures. It is fast approaching eleven trillion, hence why congress was all aflurry in October to raise the debt ceiling to eleven trillion.

The second number, the fifty-seven trillion is the amount we actually are on the hook for due to all the promises made to all the various groups from past approved laws and acts for entitlements: seniors, government employee pensions, veterans,medicare & medicaid, etc. If you click on the line under the third number it will take you to a website about the debts that an accountant and actuary maintains. You will need to have pop-ups allowed to have the site open.

The tiny number under that is $188,000. This amount is my individual tax burden of the true national debt. This amount is larger than my current mortgage for the condo I live in. And I thought my student loan load was a drag on my disposable income! Once the future bailouts, industry loans, and stimulus packages get added to this total, my share will probably be nearly 200K. Hmmm.

Bailing on having a car?

2008-11-22T12:18:00.005-07:00

I've got a 2002 Ford Escort SE automatic, fully loaded. It has 87,000+ miles on it. I have already replaced the brakes and rotors once, all the motor mounts, and the serpentine belt. The tranny has been flushed a few times and the engine thermostat has been replaced, and the oil in the engine has been flushed out, or whatever they do when the oil gets too hot due to a bad thermostat. I've replaced all the tires and the battery. The blower on the air unit stopped working earlier this year, the bulb that lights up the gear shift doesn't light anymore, and I still have an unpredictable clunk noise happening when I brake. I have not pursued repairs on those three things yet. Now I have some new weird noises happening occasionally that sound like they are produced by something that is rubber-like. The noise actually reminds me of something Harpo Marx would make!

My uncle would say that I don't wash the car enough and should do a better job on following the maintenance schedule for the vehicle. I have been good about getting the oil and oil filters changed regularly and I do keep the tires properly inflated. The car doesn't have any rust and few dings. Since the noise making stuff involves going to a real mechanic, I cringe.

Truthfully, I have no business owning an automobile. In all the skills testing that I have had done over the years, mechanical ability comes in dead last on the list. Even below MATH! I am a decent driver, but hopeless in understanding how a car works. Its ok for other people to own a car even though they aren't mechanically inclined, if they have the money to spend on having someone else to do the maintenance and repairs. My problem, besides not having much money or credit currently, is that I have so little trust in car mechanics to actually do the right thing, not cause more problems than I had before, and not cheat me! I put off maintenance and repair because of the hopeless feeling I get trying to seek out someone who perchance might actually know what they are doing, do it right the first time, and do it without charging three times the cost it should be. I try to catch Car Talk on NPR to glean whatever knowledge I can that could help me. Click and Clack sometimes feed my anxiety more than they help it, unfortunately!

In this time of economic crisis, I wonder how much this "can't trust mechanics, just forget the car" sentiment is playing into other people's decision to forego buying another car. I know that many people have cited the long history of vehicles from American car manufacturers that were shoddily built as reasons why they'll only buy foreign now. Even though there is a great insistence from car fans that those problems don't exist anymore, those problems had gone on for so long that trust was killed and people aren't coming back. Are they like me and my lack of trust of mechanics, too little too late? Remember when Sears auto service centers back in the late 80's early 90's were found to have been cheating customers? When trust is gone, it is really hard to get it back. Sears never really recovered from that debacle, alas.

I have been wanting to sell my car for two years now, but always find some excuse for hanging onto it. It's paid off now, I might need it for a new job later, what if I get sick, etc. Now the excuse is that if Ford goes under, no one will want to buy my used car anyway, since there won't be parts to fix it unless the supplying companies work out a deal where they can have the rights to make the parts and sell them. Can they also work out a deal where mechanics can be proven to be competent, honest and trustworthy and don't overcharge? Would that shore up the auto industry a bit?

It's probably easier right now to mothball the car, reduce the insurance to "sitting in the drive" level and just keep taking the bus. Someone with mechanical ability and a garage full of spare parts will eventually buy it? Right?

Food, Shelter, Utilities, Transportation

2008-11-15T08:54:00.009-07:00

As the bank and credit crisis deepens, folks all over the Valley, Country and World, are making strategic choices about how to allocate their available money. For many, including myself, the priorities are: Shelter (mortgage), Food, Utilities, and Transportation. Here's my breakdown of priorities. I'd be very interested in hearing how others allocate too.

SHELTER
Gotta pay the mortgage, GOTTA! It took me so long to get to the point of being able to buy a place. My mortgage takes alot of my monthly income, currently 64% of my net income, but without it, I've no where to go. Its an absolute Necessity!

FOOD
I need to eat food, but I can find sources for food that don't cost as much, and I can make decisions about what kind of food to buy, like more nutritional food, and in what quantities. Locally grown fruit and veggies sold at farmer's markets help local farmers. If I get realistic about how much I can actually eat, and adjust (downward) the amount I buy, it will be less likely that I will waste fresh food. I'm looking into canning, drying, or freezing what I don't eat so it doesn't get wasted! Dried beans and rice are good "stretch" foods that fall into the "basic food group" categories. If I buy fewer convenience foods that have low nutritional value, I am also helping my waist line and my blood sugar stay normal. Sometimes I buy a soda from the gas station down the street from me, or from the vending machine at work. But looking at the choice, it's clear to me that it is more economical to buy a 1 lb bag of dried black eyed peas for $1.79 which can get me, as a single person, four or more meals, then spending the same amount of money on one Coca Cola from a gas station store. That same $1.79 could get me a gallon of bleach (store brand instead of name brand) to clean my clothes and disinfect my home.

UTILITIES
I need electricity to cook my food and wash my clothes, and need water for that too, so gotta keep paying for them, but can reduce my usage thus lowering my bills. When I bought my condo in June of 2007, instead of signing up for a regular electric meter, I signed up for an M-Power meter through SRP, the local electric company that services my location. The M-Power meter program M Power plan provides an outside meter and an inside monitor box which is radio connected to the outside meter. The inside box displays kwh usage, the amount of money being charged for the current usage, tells you how much money has been spent for the day and the month, and last month's total amount spent. By using this M-Power meter and monitor I've been able to track my electric usage and reduce my overall expense. I've also been able to troubleshoot over usage by systematically turning off appliances and then seeing how much the remaining appliances use. I've found that if I turn off most of my large appliances at the electrical power panel when I am not using them, I can save myself more than 50 cents a day in expense. Doesn't sound like alot, but .50 x 30 days =$15.00. That amount is currently what I pay for half a month of electricity! With the M-Power meter, there is a card that you load up with money at local grocery stores or SRP offices, and then insert into the monitor box to add credit to the meter. It's pre-pay and so much easier for me than stressing about what a mailed bill might cost. Pre-pay is pro-active for me! I love it!

TRANSPORTATION
I'm thankful that I changed to a job that is closer to home and to which I can walk, bike or bus to work. Even though the gas prices have come down to $2.35 a gallon, my budget priorities as listed above can find more economical uses for that money than buying gasoline. I recently found a carrying basket at the local SAVERS thrift store that can double as a bike basket, so now can use my bike for shopping errands without overloading backpacks and hurting myself.

OTHER WAYS TO CUT BACK & SAVE
1. Shop your local stores.
There is a PetSmart a mile and a half from my condo to which I plan to ride my bike today so I can get more of the mini cat food cans I buy and ration out to my (overweight/metabolic disordered) cat. She needs the wet food (quartered, and mixed with water twice a day) to keep her gut from binding up. Wet cat food is cheaper than semi-annual vet-induced enemas! I found a place next to the local SAVERS called the Bargain Bin, that sells the very brand of cat litter that I use, for 60% less than retail. The containers are banged up a little, but kitty doesn't care! Now that I have the bike basket, I'll be able to carry the litter on my bike, too!

2. Cut down on paper products.
Use rags instead of paper towels for cleaning up kitchen messes.
Use newspaper and a vinegar/water solution to wash windows. This leaves NO STREAKS! Try Crunchy Chicken's cloth wipe challenge!

3. Pay your bills electronically, if possible.
In addition to saving postage, you will save on late fees if you pay by automatic withdrawal or active electronic payment of bills. If you have a computer and online access, and a checking account or pay pal account, you can pay bills online in a "just in time" time frame without worrying whether the payment got to them through the US mail in time. My student loan servicer SALLIE MAE actually gives me a discount on my interest rate for having automatic payment from my checking account. It gets paid on time, and I don't have to worry about keeping track of my payment coupons.

4. Reconsider you cable tv and telephone options.
I moved to the Valley about four years ago. Most of my friends live in the Midwest. They are conservative with their long-distance calling, so my land line wouldn't ring with them on the other end except on weekends, every few months. All the other calls I was getting were telemarketers. I gave up my land line and got a pay as you go cell phone that allows texting. I used the money that I was spending on land line phone to hook up Internet service. There is a program called Skype that uses Internet lines for long distance phone calling. I had to buy a USB phone for my computer which cost me $20. This new arrangement has worked out for me, and while it hasn't eliminated my costs, it has kept them stable at $30 for monthly expense, with $15-25 more for a new prepay phone card every three months or so.
The Internet also can access television programs that cable offers.
You have to sit at your computer to watch them, but, you get access!

5. Look into how your grandparents or great grandparents used to get by.
We forget that we can make soup broth out of chicken or turkey bones. This thanksgiving, after removing all the meat from the turkey, boil the bones and make broth. You can freeze the broth and use it to make soup later on. Sure it might take a little time, but you're just watching football on tv anyway, right? Just check the pan between time outs and half time. Going to the kitchen for a beer? Check on the broth too! You could even cook the bones in a crock pot and not have to look in on it for hours!

6. Pay attention to the fruit and nut trees in your neighborhood. Harvest time is nearly here in Phoenix. Chat up those neighbors. If you have a ladder, offer to get those high ones up there that they can't reach. There's always way more fruit on those trees than one family could possibly use or can before they spoil. If you preserve food, offer to give them some preserves in exchange for a bunch of fruit. I don't imagine too many will say no.

There are so many ways to reduce expenses to get by in these tough times. While the things I mentioned don't bring in the cold hard cash needed to make payments on credit oriented bills, they can reduce your overall expenditures to make things less stressful overall.

Autumn and gardening updates

2008-11-07T16:27:00.004-07:00

Fall is here. California went off daylight savings time so now we are once again one hour ahead of them. Except for the Navajo nation, Arizona residents do not change their clocks back nor ahead like the rest of the country does. We have Mountain Standard Time all year long. Now that means in the summer we match California clocks, and in the winter we match Colorado clocks. In Summer, we're three hours behind the east coast and two hours behind the Midwest. In Winter, we're two hours behind East Coasters and one hour behind the Midwest. My friends in the Midwest will hear from me more during the winter months. They're all stuck inside anyway, so they might as well talk on the phone! I'm happy to have a window of an extra hour to attempt telephone calls!

The temperatures are falling. At night you can smell the wood smoke from the active fireplaces all around the valley. Around Thanksgiving and Christmas this fireplace activity ramps up considerably and contributes a great deal to high pollution levels throughout the Valley. Particulate matter does seriously impact the breathablity of the air for asthmatics and others with respiratory problems. Sometimes the word goes out that fireplace burning will be restricted, due to high particulates. If you are someone with a fireplace, please obey the bans. Asthmatics thank you!

I love the cooler air of Autumn and winter here. I love to wear my long sleeve shirts and sweaters, and the handmade slippers my northern friends made for me for Christmas several years ago. The air is crisper, and the birds more active. Some foods have been harvested already: Prickly pear cactus fruit (called tuna)and Mesquite beans - of which you grind the PODS, not the beans! for a high protein flour. Citrus fruits are growing larger on the trees, the lemons, and oranges will be ripening soon and turning from green to their yellow and orange colors. Grapefruit is already yellowing/pinking up. Not too much longer and they'll all be ready for harvest. I can't wait for the lemons so I can try juicing and canning them.

Vegetable gardening season is getting closer. Some people like me have planted their fall gardens. My garlic plant has shot up three sets of scapes. The Potato grew to 4 feet high in three weeks, and then toppled over due to the weight. I should have made the potato condo BEFORE the potato went into the ground. Live and learn, heh. I was able to salvage it, and added a longer window box full of dirt to bury some of the upper shoot in. Will that work? I've no idea! The arugula fizzled out, but the carrots are plodding along. I'm reading books and making plans for the official Arizona growing season which starts in mid January. The only rule I have is that I have to grow stuff I actually like to eat. The basil plant that I've been growing indoors from seed is a delicate thing. It got too cold in my place last night and the leaves toppled over like a top heavy sunflower. I tried to warm it up to perk the plant up some, but alas it did not work. I clipped the four leaves off at the top and hope that the plant's energy will be redirected to sprout out the stem buds that are on the stem. I didn't realize just how delicate basil is. Gotta keep it just above 70 degrees to keep it happy. Now I know!

Jubilation and Sobriety

2008-11-05T22:21:00.003-07:00

The Presidential election has finally happened. We are 74 days away from having a new President sworn into office. The past two years have been filled with politicians fund-raising, strategizing, building people up and tearing people down. The race was narrowed the first half of this year, leaving one candidate per major party, and many candidates in other parties. US citizens have voted in historic numbers, and we have a new President-elect. Barack Obama, the junior Senator from Illinois.

I watched his victory speech over the internet, many hours after he gave it live to the quarter million people standing in Grant Park in Chicago last night. I had fallen asleep and missed it live.
Obama's speech calmed me, and centered within me a sense of jubilation restrained. I felt a deep relief and humility about the occasion. Here was a man that so many have put their hope and faith in, whose greatest challenge is not to fix all the problems that our country is in, but to inspire us, lead us, and teach us, how to work together to solve our nation's problems. He has seen our potential. All of us together can get there.

There was a small bit in his speech, where he announced to his daughters that they have worked hard and had earned the new puppy that they will be bringing with them to the White House, where I got a glimpse of Obama's truest value and strength for us as a nation. Obama, while a relatively young man, (though only a few years OLDER than myself) may very well be what our nation needs more than anything else right now. More than great oratory, he has the calm, no non-sense, disciplined demeanor all the best FATHERS have. We struggled with the idea of McCain due in part to his age. I predict the irony will be that Obama, among the youngest of our US Presidents, will be the strong parent that America has been needing for at least the past decade. The man who struggled in his own life for the lack of presence of his own father, will be a mighty father to us all. He will be with us to learn our lessons, and learn restraint, model fairness, and help us understand again that hard work is rewarded, but the best rewards come out of sacrifice. He will model the best of what his grandmother, grandfather and mother taught him, and we will become a stronger nation, a more mature nation as a result.

Malia and Sasha Obama are truely blessed to have such a kind and loving father. I only hope they won't mind sharing him with the rest of the country.

Are you Cheap? You might also be GREEN!

2008-10-19T11:31:00.004-07:00

I've been following many blogs that focus on conservation, and how to walk lighter on the planet. Many of these blogs say to do things that were commonplace practices fifty or more years ago. Most of our great-grandparents did the most extreme stuff as part of their daily living routine. I've added a list to the sidebar which lists habits and actions that I began doing when I went out on my own after high school. The habits were added to as the years went by and also when new technology presented itself. The list is long, way longer than I thought it would be. But mostly they're little stuff that doesn't seem like such a big deal. Little things that add up to a lot over time.

How many of these things do you do? What else can you add to the list and what else do you want to do in the future, but haven't done yet?

Arizona has recycling in some cities, for residential customers but not usually for businesses unless the business pays extra for it. Most businesses, large and small, that I see in Phoenix DO NOT recycle.

Do you buy products that are made from recycled items? That is my next habit to form so I can put it on the list. The only way to make recycling work is to buy products made from recycled. I especially like that items are made from recycled water and soda bottles. There are millions of plastic bottles used DAILY, most of them not reused nor recycled.

Buy recycled! Make recycling work!

Who's got your vote?

2008-10-18T10:05:00.001-07:00

Each of us in our own way has a solution or two to make our country better. Will Marre, of the American Dream Project has put his down in electronic form on the ThoughtRocket site for others to critique. I put my comment on his blog, and then copied it over to my blog, since I think its worth repeating in several places. Will's solutions, and taking the time to write them out was a positive thing. We all need to think about solutions to our country's problems and express what they could be, then work towards a consensus and implement them. We can't fix things if we don't know they're broke. We won't get them fixed if we wait for someone else to notice they're broke. We won't like the fix if we aren't included in determining what the fix should be. PARTICIPATION is the key!

Leadership is more than standing up in front of someone, making a speech and then saying “who’s with me?!” Despite all of our disgust in how things work in Washington, it’s not going to instantly change over night when a new President is elected. So we need to look at who can best navigate so that many of the ideas that each of us have will be incorporated into policy and a vision that we can all live with.

Anyone over 15 years old can say with personal experience how there is a difference in what politicians say on the election trail and what they actually get done in office. Compromise is mandatory, things like terrorist attacks happen. There are infinite unknowns that could throw a wrench into any great plan. Everything is subject to change. That is why I am not so concerned about what each candidate’s specific plans are. An entire Congress gets to fiddle with any plan that is put forth! What I look for instead are: Does the candidate know how to rally support? Does the candidate appear willing to learn and adapt? Does the candidate show the skills I need in an Executive - patience, intelligence, temperance, persistence? Can the candidate show that he can hear all the people? Does the candidate value what I value, and does the candidate act towards others in a respectful and honorable way? Leadership101, people!

Euripides (or was it Socrates?) said that it is a sign of an intelligent mind to entertain ideas without (automatically) accepting them. Can the candidate you support show this skill - be open to an idea without accepting or rejecting it? We can't have innovation without it.

The next President will not be and should not be a savior to us all. He will not and should not be expected to fix every single thing that is wrong. That is OUR job, as WE THE PEOPLE. It is our job to tell our leaders what we want and need, so that they will then set a path with us to get us there. If we are waiting for leadership to come up with a solution that will fix everything, then we will be waiting a long time. If the candidate does not have a habit of listening, then, the right fixes won’t happen, either. They are supposed to represent US. If they don’t, we need to make sure they no longer get the opportunity to represent US. This applied to Senators and Representatives, too!

Robert Greenleaf has a theory about leadership, that it is best when it is done with a servant’s heart, as a Servant Leader. There is an illustration, from Siddartha, I think,where a man is running on a road from behind, approaching a group of people walking in lines quite a distance ahead of him. He is running to catch up and says “I must get to the front, for I am their leader.”

That is how leadership is. WE, the “followers” lead, and the leader among us comes from behind us or among us, to assume the leadership position. Without us determining the way we want to go, the leader will flounder or make a grab at power. If you want the leader to decide the direction, you will quickly get a dictator, or a fascist regime.

If you switched the two presidential candidates party affiliation, so that Obama was the republican and McCain was the democrat, and all the ideological baggage that goes with each of those political parties, would it make a difference in your selection of a candidate? Which of the two candidates, if they were both independents, would you choose? Which candidate is more likely to alter his ideology once in office? Which candidate would you want to have a change in ideology once in office? Is ideology more important than personal skills and characteristics?

Are we as citizens willing to put ourselves through as much scruitiny as we do our candidates? Do you have what it takes to be President, to lead 330 million people in a time of war, economic crisis, and massive debt? Are you prepared to make sacrifices should your next President ask you to? Will you resist if he was not the one you supported or voted for? What will it take for you to call a truce with your political enemies so that we can get the nation working again?

Death by Consumption

2008-10-17T12:41:00.007-07:00

Ten years ago I had an idea for a stage play which I never followed through on. The title was to be "Death by Consumption" and it was to juxtapose the medical term "consumption" used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to the current events in the late 20th century. "Consumption" was a term used for, I believe, tuberculosis or cancer, and was frequently listed as the cause of death on death certificates. I thought of it then, ten years ago, because the newspapers and television news were talking about a resurgence in tuberculosis, this time a strain that was drug-resistant. I saw at the time the irony of the rise of a drug-resistant "consumption" and the rise in obesity & diabetes rates, rampant greed ala Enron and Worldcom, and the trend in luxury-as-normal-need that home builders were pushing. We Americans were truly dying again from consumption, but this time not just the drug resistant germ, but a new disease of our own actions - spending beyond our means, and consuming more than is needed to sustain life.

Over consumption has brought us as a country to a high peak of "wealth" but that wealth is largely just numbers on a piece of paper whose value is subject to fluctuation and annihilation depending upon the whims and fears of others playing in the stock market. Is it right for hundreds of millions of people to have their lives resting on the whims and fears of some gamblers on Wall Street?

I am not an advocate for Communism, but something needs to change regarding how Capitalism works. Maybe we need the old Capitalism back, where the usual laws of supply and demand rule. Where real goods are produced and exchanged for a real currency.

It may seem naive to ask, but I will ask these questions anyway:

1) Why does the economy always need to grow to show that it is healthy?
Is it not acceptable to just have things moving so that money and services are being exchanged for goods and services produced? I answer my own question: Stagflation, right. The problem of stagflation is only a problem for people invested in the stock market and those who have investments they hope will gain in value. Growth= wealth accumulation, I see. Our economy's goal is wealth accumulation, not just healthy exchange.

2) As our economy is based on wealth accumulation and consumption, why would so many politicians think that a flat tax on consumption instead of income taxes on wages would be a good thing?

Tax revenues from consumption would decrease when consumption of goods and services decrease. Wouldn't that slow down the economy?
If our goal was to reduce the size of the economy, and get to a point where stagflation was the norm, then the flat tax would be good. On the other hand, if I was wealthy enough to be able to buy in other countries and bypass the consumption tax altogether, I'd see a flat tax as a great effort to get government off my back and out of my pockets.

I can see how an economy based on ever-increasing consumption is a trap. Does it look like one to you? How do we get out of this trap without reforming our entire economic system? What other countries have totally shifted their economic system from capitalism to a non-communism oriented economy? Your suggestions are needed so I can do some research and reading.

World view from my balcony

2008-10-03T20:51:00.003-07:00

Today Congress voted to support the bailout and the President signed it. The stock market was volatile and banks continued to teeter.

The view from my balcony shows a cloudy sky, piles of dirt in the street where the sewer replacement project continues, and my neighbor's continually morphing shed has the roofing materials peeling off from the last big storm. October 3, despite the financial world potentially collapsing, looks calm and serene.

Fat is an asset for the future

2008-09-27T07:00:00.002-07:00

I went to a protest on Thursday, protesting Paulson's bailout. I thought there would be many people there, but fewer than 30 showed up. We got honks and thumbs up from people going by in their cars. TV news crews showed up, got their shots and quick interviews, then went off on their way. I feel better for having done it.

Thursday night WaMu- Washington Mutual - was seized by the FDIC and sold out from under their board. Wachovia is now looking for a buyer. Only time will tell us what comes next.

Do I want banks to fail? Absolutely not! Do I know the grave situation, the potential consequences if we do not bailout the banks? Absolutely! So why did I protest against the bailout? Because in this matter I'm a fatalist. I do not see the bailout working for the long term. I see that what has come so high up over so many decades is starting to come down. We can't put this one on our credit cards, and we can't open any new ones to rotate the balances around. There is a limit to everything and our banking system has reached that limit. Chopping up risk, repackaging it and selling it to others got us into this situation, it will not get us out of it. Unfortunately, it will impact the rest of the world, too. We will all experience what limits are and that they actually exist.

Many regular folks all over the country and all over the world have seen this type of thing coming for a long while. They've been scaling back, making do, learning to Do-it-Yourself and grow their own food. It's not just survivalists, its your neighbors and many, many folks in the blogosphere. We haven't forgotten the law of gravity, and know that things that go up must come down.

Years ago, while a college student, I took a geography class which had an assignment on planning for a nuclear incident. We had to map circles of fallout, where ground zero was and what effect would be there, and work outward with four separate rings until we could show what area would be "safe" for survivors. It was an interesting exercise to do because it revealed our assumptions about what would be available in emergencies, like hospital personnel actually being at the hospital and not trapped, injured or dead, to name just one cheerful example.
Once we charted the fallout and assessed what was radiation-free, we had to calculate viability of food and water sources, liviability of shelter and air supply, and safety from the angry hordes or rogueman. I recall one tidbit of info from that exercise, that in such a situation, in the case of a nuclear winter, it might be 6 months or more before the sun could shine through the pollution in the air (from all the fires of things that blew up, melted down, etc.) The literature said that in such a situation, a human could easily lose up to 25% of their body weight. It made me really glad I had a tendency to carry more weight then I "should," for in that 6 month time frame I might not have much access to food. I could afford to lose 25% of my body weight without it jeapordizing my health or functioning.

It sounds in poor taste but I see a silver lining in all this bank failure, "possible great depression" scenarios going around. It's an opportunity for Americans to lose weight without trying! It will be a natural bi-product of the living conditions! According to some studies over 50% of Americans are overweight, with increasing numbers carrying more than 25% over the ideal weight for their body type. This financial downturn will be tough, but plenty of folks have the stored energy to keep themselves going! Plenty can afford to lose 25% of their body weight and still be healthy. Maybe this will be known as the Wall Street diet, or Bailout diet, or The Great Crash Diet, no pun intended.

WAKE UP! October Surprise is Next!

2008-09-21T08:46:00.006-07:00

I know that it is the weekend, but (((( IS EVERYONE ASLEEP?! ))))

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Fed Chairman Ben Bernake, and George W. Bush, President of the United States have proposed a plan to make Henry Paulson dictator over all financial matters in the US. No review of his decisions by any court, HE gets to call the shots, and buy for pennies on the dollar any institution he feels fit to buy, and sell for higher, leaving the US Taxpayer on the hook for it all. Taxpayers are not going to benefit from these deals, the buyers are, who will AGAIN get rich off the backs of the rest of us.

These two websites -sorry, the linking function is not working!

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/09/bush-administration-seeks-
dictatorial-html

and

http://market-ticker.denniger.net/archives/587-The-Mother-of-all-Frauds.html

have details of what Paulson proposes. Just like congress after 9/11, the Senate and Congress are all jumping on board to "stop" this crisis and "solve" this problem FAST. We know how that kind of fast action without discussing the options turned out for us then, now don't we? In 2001 and 2002 our elected officials abdicated their responsibility and transferred their exclusive role for declaring war to a guy who said "Trust Me." Do we really want to go that route again? Really, this financial crisis has been brewing for several years and is something that took nearly a decade to build to crisis. There are millions of guilty parties in this mess. It cannot be solved by making someone dictator. The longer we wait to let the natural bottom of the market be reached, the harder and more devistating the inevitable fall. By bailing them out, we're giving the guilty time to cash out and get the hell out of dodge.

So READ the two links, they have the links to CALL or EMAIL your Senator and Congressional Reps. HEED the warnings. The British may not be coming, but we sure need the horsemen to spread the news NOW!

It is also important to think about what the value is to the Executive Branch right now to have dictatorial powers. For those conspiracy folks out there, the notion of Bush possibly using some of his Executive Orders powers regarding crisis must be making your ears burn, and your hair stand on end. I try not to get hooked up in conspiracy theories, but I have had a long-time intuition that this Administration would try to remain in office past their two term limit, no matter what. "Crisis, anyone? Executive Orders say I can claim dictatorial powers indefinately should there be a crisis of magnitude requiring continuity of control to stablize the country." No shit. The powers are REAL.

Awaiting Coolth

2008-09-20T13:33:00.006-07:00

It's 98 degrees Fahrenheit right now. Sept 20. I am ready for cooler weather, so it can arrive any time now! Really!

The 'snowbirds' from the north are slowly migrating to the Valley of the Sun for the winter. Out of town license plates are beginning to be a noticeable percentage of the traffic on the road ways. By Halloween, the locals-to-visitors ratio should be about 2:1. I don't think that I am exaggerating. With the economy being under siege, that ratio may change. Word is that the RV contingent may be smaller, but we shall see.

For those who are first time winter migrants, or are relocating here, there are some things to know about the Valley of the Sun. I will list them in no particular order.

Politics: The Governor is Janet Napolitano, a Democrat. The state has historically been Republican, but my sense in meeting people across the Valley in many walks of life is that there are large Independent and Libertarian contingents here as well, the latter two more vocal than the others! We have mail-in balloting and absentee balloting available, but only if you are registered to vote in Arizona. So for the upcoming Presidential election, vote before you come down, or get registered here before the deadline. See some links at right for elections information.

Economy.Housing: The housing construction market has been hard hit the past year and a half. House prices have fallen significantly, some people are selling $100,000 below original list price! On the other hand, home prices were grossly inflated from 2005-2007, so that $100,000 likely was way too high to list at anyways. There was not so much banking/mortgage regulation going on here during that time frame. And many people took equity loans on the higher home valuations or sold their homes for a profit, and bought bigger, more expensive houses, leaving them currently in upside-down mortgages or otherwise in a jam. From 2005-early 2007, speculators tried to cash in on the inflated prices, and many now are losing their shirts, pants, shoes.. you get the idea. Foreclosures are soaring, particularly in the southwest and western suburbs. There are deals to be had, but warning: the houses may have been stripped bare for any valuables- appliances, granite counter tops, cabinetry, flooring, etc, including the copper in the air conditioning units.

Economy. Jobs: Phoenix is the biggest small town you'll ever visit. Finding decent work is about networking and who you know much more then what you know or how great your job skills are. Temp agencies are a great way to get access to some of that network, but be sure to join several agencies at the same time, and call in daily or twice daily to check if they have work for you. Many local companies, while not currently laying off, are not hot on hiring either. Construction, retail, banking, and real estate sectors are shrinking right now. While it seems counter-intuitive to do this when paid work is what's needed, volunteering for large organizations is a great way to network and show what you can do. People like to hire people they know.

Economy. Cost of living: Gas is averaging $3.50 per gallon, regular. Milk is over $4.00 a gallon, bread around $2.50 a loaf for the cheapest, off-brand white fluffy stuff. A day's bus pass on Valley Metro is $2.50. See their link at right to check if where you will be living/moving to has bus service. As in many other parts of the country, living costs are rising, and available money is shrinking.

Where to get help: Resources to help people struggling financially were not well advertised until more recently. Arizona now has a 211 service, where you can call in using just the numbers 211 or go to www.az211.gov Basic services. Don't be proud, just call and get help.

The Potato is sprouting!

2008-09-14T08:41:00.003-07:00

All the seeds and roots I planted are now sprouting. The potato actually looks like an alien probe emerging from the depths. Ah, experiments! I think the garlic has sent up a shoot, but it might be a stray carrot. They look similar, although all the carrots are thicker and hardier. Now I just have to thin the sprouts so that some can take strong hold and actually produce veggies. I hope I don't remove the wrong ones!

Ready, set, plant!

2008-09-11T22:05:00.003-07:00

I'm finally getting the hang of when to plant and when not to. Since I am a condo-dweller, I do not have a yard or plot to garden in, but I do have a nice sized balcony to do container gardening. I planted once already this year, but started in late May- I am still thinking like a Midwesterner and followed THAT climate's planting pattern. The seeds sprouted and grew some but then dried up and died by the first of July due to the heat. I watered them everyday, too! So then I got some books out of the library about Zone 9 gardening and Eureka! Big mistake planting to have anything grow in pots in July! The books all recommend letting the soil rest in July and August.

So, three days ago I started in on the FALL planting cycle for Zone 9. I planted Arugala seeds, Spinach seeds,Carrot seeds, and sunk one multi-eyed russet potato into a container along with a garlic clove. The Arugala, Spinach and Carrots are already sprouting! They love that warm soil! Maybe they'll like the cooler evenings too, and I'll get a good crop out of the seeds before the state fair ends. My goal is to have home-grown veggies for Thanksgiving. All I need now is to get a grape or cherry tomato plant already started, and place it in the pot where I had the cucumber plant. Wish me luck!

Arizona State Fair

2008-09-07T08:35:00.003-07:00

The Arizona State Fair is an autumn event. The dates for this year are October 10 through November 2. The fairgrounds are located at 19th Avenue and McDowell Road. Click on the title of this post to go to the official website!

As a midwesterner, it is still an adjustment to have the fair so "late." In Wisconsin, the Polk County fair started in late July. In Minnesota, the State Fair in St.Paul always starts mid-August. In Indiana, the Marion County fair was early August (if memory serves.)But there's no way I'd be walking around outside for hours in 110 degree temps here! Cooler is good!

Bridges & Levees, War and so much more

2008-09-01T17:50:00.012-07:00

Photo taken from Minnesota Public Radio website. Click title to go to their website.

This is a picture of the 35W bridge that collapsed in August 2007 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. My brother was on this bridge ten minutes before it fell. This bridge is on the west bank of the campus of the University of Minnesota, my college alma mater. News of its collapse hit me hard. Minnesota has always been such a progressive state, a high tax state to take care of things like this before they happen. If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere.

For a half decade I lived in Indianapolis, Indiana. Great downtown area! In 2000, the year before I left, the infrastructure crisis there was the water and sewer pipes under the city. They were 100 years old and falling apart. Massive updating was needed, but it was a political negative to bring it up - for it would require raising taxes, which is, no matter where you live, unpopular. I left before they decided. I still don't know what was done, if anything.

New Orleans for decades has needed their levees updated, reinforced or flat out replaced. That would cost too much money, Congress couldn't find the political will to update our country's infrastructure in the middle of the country- couldn't find the money to keep our own people safe, but they could attempt to build a "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska so fewer than 50 people could use it AND send billions to Iraq to rebuild their broken infrastructure.

Our own citizens are losing teeth - literally they are having to have their teeth pulled out of their mouths because they don't have dental insurance and medicaid doesn't pay for root canals, fillings, etc.

Our men and women in the Armed Forces, and our National Guard, are in Iraq under false pretenses, trying to do their best in a bad situation. Their tours get extended, and they get extended again. We are asking too much of them, and give them too little when they return home. Their families are sacrificing while the rest of us are encouraged to keep shopping.

These are the things I care about, and what I am looking to our Presidential candidates to address and devise a plan to rectify.

I don't care if another rich person cannot buy their second or third yacht. I don't care if the cost of a 30,000 sq ft home has plummeted to under $5 million. I don't believe for a minute that the tax breaks given to the wealthy are invested back into our economy- they're invested in the global economy, so that eager, well educated workers in India and China can begin to make a middle class living, instead of keeping the middle class strong in the USA.

I am ready to make positive sacrifices to bring our country back from the brink of bankruptcy. I am waiting to hear from my "leaders" what those sacrifices will be, and that they will be required of ALL Americans, rich and poor, of all colors and religions, and political persuasions. Isn't it time for us to say ENOUGH?

Elections: Arizona Corporation Commission

2008-08-30T03:29:00.003-07:00

Of the hotly pursued spots on this fall's ballot are seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission. I lifted the description of this commission directly from their website. Click on the title of this post to go to their site.

Background and Organization

Article 15 of the Arizona Constitution establishes the Arizona Corporation Commission. Only 7 states have constitutionally formed Commissions. Arizona is one of only 13 states with elected Commissioners. In the 37 other states, Commissioners are appointed by either the governor or the legislature.

In most states, the Commission is known as the Public Service Commission or the Public Utility Commission. Our Commission, however, has responsibilities that go beyond traditional public utilities regulation. These additional roles include facilitating the incorporation of businesses and organizations, securities regulation and railroad/pipeline safety.

By virtue of the Arizona Constitution, the Commissioners function in an Executive capacity, they adopt rules and regulations thereby functioning in a Legislative capacity, and they also act in a Judicial capacity sitting as a tribunal and making decisions in contested matters.

The Commission is required by the Arizona Constitution to maintain its chief office in Phoenix and it is required by law to conduct monthly meetings.

Few residents know about this political body and the power it has to shape the direction of "progress" in the Valley. If you are someone who believes that more should be done to take advantage of the sunny days in Arizona to make clean energy and hot water, then read up on what the candidates for Arizona Corporation Commission stand for. If you want solar, but choose someone who is only for nuclear, then you won't be seeing pro-solar progress for a long time!

Local and Primary Elections - when and where?

2008-08-27T21:55:00.011-07:00

Luckily, even if you don't know exactly when the local elections are, you can rely on the growth cycles of a special vegetation that sprouts up seemingly overnight around the Valley and takes over vacant lots, chain-link fences, and traffic islands. I'm talking about the posters, placards and lawn signs, in a multitude of colors and fonts, that advertise names of folks who are running for public offices. When the crop of these signs is in full bloom, and are no longer "background noise" in your visual field, an election MUST be around the corner.
Tuesday, Sept 2 is a primary voting day here in Maricopa County. I got my official sample ballot in the mail from the office of Maricopa County Recorder Elections. I'm already a registered voter - did that last year when I moved, did it easily enough online at Service Arizona. Now, all I have to do is bring my voter ID card, and my driver's license (or State ID card) to my assigned voting place and cast my vote for whomever I choose. Now, who's running for what?

Car update

2008-08-27T03:54:00.003-07:00

One of the noises has abated. It was related to the a/c unit electrical system. Since my blower is broken, it appears that I MUST keep the blower knob at off, otherwise the system will keep cycling and make clicking noises. Ok, then.
The clunking sound on the other hand, has gotten worse. The noise sounds like two pieces of metal opposite each other, connected in the middle by a bolt, which is loose and the pieces bend then straighten with a clunk. I can sort of feel it too, like it's under the driver's area. This noise used to happen only when I braked. Now its sounds randomly as I am driving, too. Mechanics swear nothing is wrong, that they hear nothing. I think they need hearing aids!It can't be the motor mounts because I had them all replaced in February 2007. I'll have proof when something falls off the car and I have to hike to the nearest bus stop to get myself home. Any suggestions on what this noise could be? Any at all?
Replaced the battery last week. Not bad considering my car is a 2002 and it had its original factory-installed battery! That Ford Motorcraft lasted a long time!

Gas has gone down to $3.57 a gallon. Still too high to be sustainable for me. In another ten days I will be working closer to home so won't need to buy gas as much. Can start walking, bussing and biking, just as the temperatures begin to cool down. Sweet.

Stealth Mosquitos

2008-08-23T15:42:00.005-07:00

While I tell people that I moved south for the sun, and to reconnect with relatives, there is one secret reason I haven't shared until now.
Its these little ladies that drove me south. Oh, how they'd terrorize me, buzzing so loud it seemed that a B52 bomber had entered the room. Long a grown woman, I'd dive under the blankets on a hot night to prevent the buggers from biting me. They are the main reason I do not care for 4th of July celebrations (I call it Mosquito Thanksgiving feast day.) There's no way I'd sit outside, smelling of disgusting mosquito spray, only to be surrounded by the noisy bloodsuckers. So, I finally had enough and moved to the Southwest, where I heard there were no mosquitoes. I was misinformed. True, there are not nearly so many. But I live in an older part of town that used to be covered in Orange Groves, and still has the flood irrigation systems in many yards. So where there's standing water, there's mosquitoes. It's eerie to learn that the buggers are mute here. They make no sound. They are stealth mosquitoes.

What kind of tree is that?

2008-08-22T20:56:00.006-07:00

Moving to the Valley was a climate-culture shock for me. Four distinct seasons and identifiable plantlife gave way to constant inquiry and puzzlement. The trees here, for the most part, don't shed their leaves. And they seem to produce more seeds than I remember northern trees producing. Maybe I just notice it more here. Once I get a digital camera I am going to canvas my neighborhood to take shots of all kinds of trees that are new to me. Two trees that have become very appealing are the Palo Verde and the Mesquite. They both lend themselves well to shaping, and have such delicate leaves. The mesquite's beans, when dry and dropping in the fall, can be processed into a very nutritious flour. The Swede in me digs that practical characteristic very much.

I'm really beginning to appreciate the plant life here, and continually marvel at the plants I come across that up north would only be found at a Conservatory- Bird of Paradise instantly comes to mind. 30 foot Rubber Trees and 25 foot Magnolias make me stop in my tracks and say "WOW!" I usually smile when I see birds nesting in the rough bark of various palm trees - even if they're pigeons, which I know are "flying rats" to many people. But I see those pigeons as animals to admire, if for nothing else their tenacity to survive in the harshest of environments (not just talking weather, now.) The other bird thing that makes me smile is watching the birds when they've discovered an irrigation-flooded yard. The joy in their flight (and landing) and then their shimmy-ing in the water, soaking themselves thoroughly is delightful to watch. It's like they're saying "Oh, my God, there's water, its so great! I found water!" I swear when they get out of the water and start walking away from it, they sway and bop like they've just left the dance floor. Bird in a good mood, oh yeah.

Anyone out there who since coming to the Valley has added a plant or animal onto their admiration list?

Ignoring the car noise

2008-08-18T22:30:00.004-07:00

I drove today, and pretended I did not hear the subtle noise that the car was making. I will bus the rest of the week, she says with great intentions.

Before coming to Arizona, I heard some things about car ownership which differed from what car owners need to know in the north country. First, there is no need to have a block heater on your car. Second, instead of having to burn off a quarter tank of gas to warm the interior enough to more easily scrape off the frost from the windows, instead, in the desert, you're concerned that the steering wheel, seatbelt buckles, and even your keys will get scorching hot when driving in the summer. You may still need mittens when you drive your car - but in the opposite season! That was the extent of my desert-car-owner knowledge prior to moving here. Now I know that there is sooo much more to know!I'll just list them, and maybe whine alittle.
~Heat drys out and degrades plastic and rubber. That means hoses, belts and tires (and whatever else is under the hood) wears out faster.
~Those nice tarps people use to keep the dust off their cars need to NOT TOUCH the surface, or the tarp, depending on the material it is made from, may actually stick to the car!
~Life long batteries last 2-3 years here. Heat drains batteries. If you use your car infrequently, make sure you start it and drive it around your neighborhood a few times a week to keep the battery working.
~Synthetic materials, like seat covers or polyester blend upholstry, will melt- just a little- just enough to give your car's interior a nice oily/crispy smell.
~Instead of getting a cleaner car after a rainstorm, your car gets dirtier. The sky spits water and sand at your car in funny polka-dot patterns. Sandstorms, which remind me of extreme blowing snow, will sand down the finish on your car, and etch the glass. You can't drive in a sandstorm like you can in a blizzard. Just pull over to the side of the road and wait it out. Keep your windows closed, and the AC/vents OFF (if you can stand it, that is.) Sandstorms are pretty short, and move fast through the Valley. Patience, caution and common sense will save your life.
~DO NOT wash your car after its been sitting in the sun all day! The water reacts on the hot surface, damaging the finish. Wait until its cooled off, like first thing in the early morning, to rinse/wash/wax it.
~WAX YOUR CAR at least twice a year. More often if it's color is red or yellow. The sun bleaches out those two colors the most. Bleached out cars are not pretty.
~Car registration expires in the middle of the month, not the end. And, if your car is less than 5 years old, they figure the registration fee on the original list price of the vehicle, not the current value! Fines for not registering your car can reach $569.
~Driving without insurance, or without proof of insurance in your vehicle has serious drawbacks. Fines go over $1000.
~Car insurance minimum in Arizona is $15,000. Can you replace your car for $15,000? Get extra underinsured motorist coverage. They drive CRAZYhere!
~One truism I have gleened is that the ding is the thing that irks the most. And dings will happen in places you LEAST expect them to happen. For me, that usually means whenever I park my car at ritzier shopping centers.
~When putting one of those foldable sunscreens in your windshield area, crack the driver and passenger windows just a smidge. If you don't, the heated air inside can build up and put undue pressure on the glass. If you can, park near a tree. Even a little tree reduces the heat your car absorbs.
~Birds really, really, really like white colored cars. I have a white car, and get lots of evidence they like sitting on it.
~Get your windows tinted. This keeps it cooler inside, and makes it harder for the thieves to see what you have in there.
~Phoenix is consistenly in the top five cities for car thefts nationwide. Leave NOTHING in your car, not music CD's, not shopping bags, not even your xm/siris radio or GPS device (take it down and hide it, every single time you park, even in your own driveway!)
~Arizona has a "stupid driver law" which addresses the unfortunate reality that some people will disregard posted flood danger zones, and try to cross while there is water present. Since the Valley is sand and clay, water does not absorb quickly into the ground, but rather pools quickly into rushing flood waters. Those motorists who choose to cross a flood road, and subsequently have to be rescued by emergency services will be fined, and charged the full cost of their rescue. Don't be a stupid driver!

Well, except for never leaving children or animals in the car, even with the window cracked, I've exhausted what I've learned so far about owning a car in the desert.
As for that noise my car is making: maybe I should just play the radio louder!

Jumping without a parachute or safety net

2008-08-16T22:48:00.006-07:00

I did it this week. Gave three weeks notice. Come September 6 I will no longer be part of corporate America! It feels very good. I'm confident that everything will work out. The choice for me was very simple: honor my health and sanity needs by getting out and doing ANYTHING else to meet expenses, or keep on the road to poor health due to overwork, overwhelm and soul-less upper management decisions. I choose SANITY! But I am going to be broke - which means I may finally lose the extra pounds I've been carrying around. Can't take in extra calories if you don't have so much money for food, right?

Its been three days since I handed in my resignation and I already have a nights and weekends part-time job offer at a fabulous desert plants related organization which is walking distance from my home. I can wear jeans, and ride my bike, walk or take the bus to work. And it pays more than minimum wage! Woo Hoo!

Wouldn't you know it, the day after resigning, my car started making some odd noises. Could be the fuel pump, or calipers, or yikes- the transmission. Just in time to embrace the free-fall. Time to park the car, and just bike, bus or walk. I'm ready for it!