tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76859795974738584132024-03-06T13:01:25.910-07:00The Eco Cat Lady SpeaksFrugal Living, Environmental Awareness, Bikes and Cats.... LOTS of Cats!EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.comBlogger439125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-75558064923585063452020-01-14T20:18:00.000-07:002020-01-15T00:45:13.791-07:00A Coyote Story<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
I realize it's been forever since I've posted, so I thought maybe I'd tell you a little story about my day.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQXwIG66KlsF2pn_ePBwBeIk1zfl0ehUI8nBzGdDUN-xr4g0PlGcCw3dbhF2EE8SDqSDuB2DljReyfi97cSw2FD_7QKdRFmZ2i1ImRhMA6DXXuSt_yzeqS-Mz0DH9Ts8tY_RlNyOYzxSq/s1600/coyote.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQXwIG66KlsF2pn_ePBwBeIk1zfl0ehUI8nBzGdDUN-xr4g0PlGcCw3dbhF2EE8SDqSDuB2DljReyfi97cSw2FD_7QKdRFmZ2i1ImRhMA6DXXuSt_yzeqS-Mz0DH9Ts8tY_RlNyOYzxSq/s1600/coyote.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not My Photo, just a good shot of a howling coyote</td></tr>
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CatMan & I went for a bike ride this afternoon. We rode south on the Platte River Trail, and about a mile or two before we reached Chatfield State Park, we heard a strange noise. We stopped and saw that a small pack of coyotes had gathered on a little rise about 100 feet off the path. They were howling and yapping up a storm. So we were standing there marveling at them and wondering what they were reacting to, when we heard the sirens, and a fire truck and several ambulances pulled over at the side of the nearby highway. </div>
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I was a bit confused because I didn't see an accident or anything, and then a man came sprinting up the path from the south yelling and waving his arms. The emergency folks jumped out, cut the wire fence and proceeded off in the direction that the man had come from. I rode over to him as he stood doubled over trying to catch his breath. He proceeded to tell me that a woman had collapsed and had no heart beat. He had called 911, and a cyclist had stopped and was performing CPR. I rode slowly beside him as he gasped for air and recounted the tale while we made our way to the scene. He said he hadn't run so fast since he was in college. </div>
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It always amazes me how people react in situations like that. Total strangers come together in ways they would never have imagined just a few moments before - instantly bonded by the gravity of the situation and the sudden reminder of our own collective mortality.</div>
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We stood there chatting and helplessly looking on as the EMTs performed chest compressions. I'm no expert, but it didn't look good. Then about a half dozen police cruisers arrived on the scene and shooed us up the path. I waved goodbye to my new friend and we proceeded to ride on up to the top of the Chatfield dam - with a newfound appreciation for the natural beauty surrounding us, and gratitude for the crisp air filling our lungs and warm sunshine on our faces.</div>
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By the time we turned around and got back to where the incident had taken place, everyone was gone. It somehow struck me as odd that the place should be so quiet and serene, with no indication of the life and death struggle that had played out there just a half hour earlier. It was a bit sobering to realize that I'd probably never even know if the woman made it or not.</div>
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As we rode past I glanced at the little hill where the coyotes had gathered. It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps they weren't howling because of the sirens at all. Maybe they were howling for her.</div>
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Here's hoping you're all happy and well and enjoying the start of a new decade!</div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-1318772809457279112019-07-01T14:55:00.000-06:002019-07-01T14:56:18.309-06:00ZazzlationsHi Guys,<br />
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Thanks one and all for your kind comments and I really do apologize for being so neglectful of this blog.<br />
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So.... since you asked, <a href="https://www.zazzle.com/store/zingerbug?rf=238780250923643573" target="_blank">here's a link</a> to my store on Zazzle. Honestly, I'm not even remotely happy with how my storefront looks, but I think it's going to take some time to figure out how to organize it and how to make it look good. Anyhow, don't judge me too harshly.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbJzM8WC45b4IkxfsII4IguWqezgO2_CF7RJlOf1v24KihAmVxcMUpWpIWQurUKyYnwodRYPZX7Y8IEbe3P15boe3Ku9e_NkL7meoFCP9tub_dENbkjjz3HnKogXZ4oGzppjybu1FeG5J/s1600/judgemental-cat-isjudging-lolcat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbJzM8WC45b4IkxfsII4IguWqezgO2_CF7RJlOf1v24KihAmVxcMUpWpIWQurUKyYnwodRYPZX7Y8IEbe3P15boe3Ku9e_NkL7meoFCP9tub_dENbkjjz3HnKogXZ4oGzppjybu1FeG5J/s400/judgemental-cat-isjudging-lolcat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Anyhow, I've been very busy designing stuff... mostly what seems to sell is wedding stuff - an area where I'm a total fish out of water.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTAmNKfF-dFeYQ1peYCVkpFlPiuXkisYrMdfRMQsTGMGGPZCmQxj8gKETfdOt26m_ISPCOKbNeDpqgfO96dotjy-2Amwt8jKiFQk1UWtwH7uf1Lko9pp3o49M6sV_xlVAXu3AW0MDENL1D/s1600/animals-waiters-fish_out_of_water-customer_service-diners-eats_out-cgon122_low.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="800" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTAmNKfF-dFeYQ1peYCVkpFlPiuXkisYrMdfRMQsTGMGGPZCmQxj8gKETfdOt26m_ISPCOKbNeDpqgfO96dotjy-2Amwt8jKiFQk1UWtwH7uf1Lko9pp3o49M6sV_xlVAXu3AW0MDENL1D/s400/animals-waiters-fish_out_of_water-customer_service-diners-eats_out-cgon122_low.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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My main sellers are wedding seating charts and miniature wine/liquor bottle labels, and to be honest, I can't really believe people do that sort of thing. I mean seriously... people spend hours soaking the labels off of mini liquor bottles so they can put their own wedding label on them and give them away as wedding favors... are you kidding me?<br />
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/gold_on_black_wedding_mini_liquor_bottle_thank_you_liquor_bottle_label-256788154676641774?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Gold on Black Wedding Mini Liquor Bottle Thank You Liquor Bottle Label" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/gold_on_black_wedding_mini_liquor_bottle_thank_you_liquor_bottle_label-r7e5a7e8061d6483ca93ccb10111f34a8_b95kq_1024.jpg?rlvnet=1&max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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OK... that's mean spirited of me. I really shouldn't be disparaging of my own customers, but I just honestly can't believe people would go to all that trouble.<br />
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Of course it does seem like these weddings are generally an excuse for a big party and lots of drinking. One of my other top sellers is this baby:<br />
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/groomsman_wedding_shot_glass_with_black_tie-256363015797236403?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Groomsman Wedding Shot Glass with Black Tie" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/groomsman_wedding_shot_glass_with_black_tie-r5be9742e3bc64e6d89a446650f88a680_b1arw_1024.jpg?rlvnet=1&max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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And don't EVEN get me started on the whole seating chart business. I think perhaps the reason I'm having success with this particular type of product is because most designers aren't stubborn enough to spend hours pulling their hair out lining up all of the text objects to make these hummers look good.<br />
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/20_table_autumn_floral_wedding_seating_chart-228036771730773140?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="20 Table Autumn Floral Wedding Seating Chart" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/20_table_autumn_floral_wedding_seating_chart-rf89f5fe6d529464d84275dd6055036ed_adcb_8byvr_1024.jpg?max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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Apparently assigned seats are the norm at these sorts of events, but I just can't wrap my head around the concept of telling people where to sit. In that spirit, I've also designed a few of these...<br />
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/pastel_floral_sit_where_you_choose_wedding_sign_plaque-200498602154969362?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Pastel Floral Sit Where You Choose Wedding Sign Plaque" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/pastel_floral_sit_where_you_choose_wedding_sign_plaque-re7c822e8771246a7b12b45c365fd7e5b_arnr3_8byvr_1024.jpg?max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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Alas... no takers yet. But I continue to keep the faith... I mean there are type B people out there and some of them must get married, don't you think?<br />
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Well anyhow, Zazzle is currently having a Holiday contest, so I've been working my tail off designing Christmas stuff. It's a bit of a challenge because since there will obviously be no sales before the holiday season, I sorta feel like I'm designing in the dark... you know, no feedback to guide me as to what people want. But here are a few samples of what I've come up with so far...<br />
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/happy_holidays_fun_christmas_wreath_photo_frame_medium_gift_bag-256669674685425415?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Happy Holidays Fun Christmas Wreath Photo Frame Medium Gift Bag" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/happy_holidays_fun_christmas_wreath_photo_frame_medium_gift_bag-rbf4c392bf3f446ac8b556f40eb7cec70_zkqy3_1024.jpg?rlvnet=1&max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/blue_snowflakes_holiday_joy_square_photo_card-256107910328828148?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Blue Snowflakes Holiday Joy Square Photo Card" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/blue_snowflakes_holiday_joy_square_photo_card-rdb29cc8810a4480aa86a34d5635d9e42_em4ji_1024.jpg?max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/elegant_gold_brushstroke_trees_and_stars_on_black_small_christmas_stocking-256868929304627027?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Elegant Gold Brushstroke Trees and Stars on Black Small Christmas Stocking" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/elegant_gold_brushstroke_trees_and_stars_on_black_small_christmas_stocking-rcac8f64d9b8b4db59824b52ca375f7fe_z64qr_1024.jpg?rlvnet=1&max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/merry_christmas_bauble_ornament_photo_frame_holiday_card-256696584393767197?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Merry Christmas Bauble Ornament Photo Frame Holiday Card" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/merry_christmas_bauble_ornament_photo_frame_holiday_card-r1d2772193d474f589f7ffe290d571b74_emu3n_1024.jpg?max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/gold_foil_brushstroke_merry_little_christmas_gift_favor_tags-256836451685991029?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Gold Foil Brushstroke Merry Little Christmas Gift Favor Tags" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/gold_foil_brushstroke_merry_little_christmas_gift_favor_tags-rf8012d37237f4b218e53e86cc878970d_04j5y_1024.jpg?rlvnet=1&max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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Of course, the stuff that I really enjoy designing is the snarky funny stuff... but alas, there seems to be less of a market for that sort of thing.<br />
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/love_and_slobber_funny_dog_lover_wecome_mat-256043044876948545?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Love and Slobber Funny Dog Lover Wecome Mat" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/love_and_slobber_funny_dog_lover_wecome_mat-rfee19bd7c7414b0ba8df5b233f614e40_jftbl_1024.jpg?rlvnet=1&max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/cat_hair_is_the_new_black_funny_throw_pillow-189389913972797127?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Cat Hair is the New Black Funny Throw Pillow" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/cat_hair_is_the_new_black_funny_throw_pillow-r6033cab9470345a8b2390f23ce612a25_6s309_8byvr_1024.jpg?max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/republican_democratic_donner_party_funny_political_t_shirt-235327816319247065?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Republican Democratic Donner Party Funny Political T-Shirt" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/republican_democratic_donner_party_funny_political_t_shirt-rad66b37d3eca475aa2aaacdd32fa5173_k2gml_1024.jpg?max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/warning_i_have_no_clue_what_im_doing_funny_adult_apron-154161327762935392?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"><img alt="Warning: I have NO CLUE what I'm doing. Funny Adult Apron" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/warning_i_have_no_clue_what_im_doing_funny_adult_apron-r2f5764ff5c5f49cd805c77fce9212fb8_v9wh6_8byvr_1024.jpg?max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /></a>
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<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.zazzle.com/z/llcva?rf=238780250923643573" rel="nofollow"> <img alt="There's a Nap for That! Funny Baby One Piece Baby Bodysuit" src="https://rlv.zcache.com/theres_a_nap_for_that_funny_baby_one_piece_baby_bodysuit-rc97b9a9e6cdc4f02b0c224f5dc2da079_bwq7j_1024.jpg?max_dim=325" style="border: 0;" /> </a> <br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">OK, I'm going to stop now because this post is starting to look like one giant self-promoting piece of propaganda... which is really not my intent. I just wanted to show you what I've been up to.</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
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So there you go! I'd love to hear what you think and/or any suggestions you might have (she says hoping nobody will say they hate everything.)<br />
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OK... I promise to write a real post soon. Hope you're all having a fabulous summer!<br />
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xoxoxo<br />
-Cat<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-92112558805025864272019-05-15T18:27:00.000-06:002019-05-15T18:27:06.501-06:00It LIVES!!Ok... since I've now received 2 comments in the past day or so asking if I'm OK, I figured perhaps I should write and let you know that I'm still inhabiting the land of the living.<br />
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I'm not entirely sure why I haven't been blogging - mostly I've just been crazy busy. Long story short, $15K of unexpected expenses last year (Jasper's vet bills and the plumbing disaster), sorta opened my eyes to the fact that perhaps I should really get my rear end in gear and find a way to bring in a bit more income. Soooo... after several failed starts & ideas that didn't pan out, I have a new business! I'm designing things on Zazzle. Having great fun and feeling like there just aren't enough hours in the day. It's still in it's nascent stages, but it promises to be a good source of a reasonable amount of passive income one day. On some level, I know this is really silly, because it's not like I don't have plenty of savings... it just makes me nervous to have so little coming in the door. Anyhow, I'm having fun, so I guess that's the most important part.<br />
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I'm sure there's a bunch more I should be telling you, but honestly, I'm sorta pooped. Spent the whole day out digging in the garden trying to get things planted. Such a crazy spring here with all of the late season snow, I fear I'm terribly behind.<br />
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Anyhoo… I do have much more to blather about, but it will have to wait for another day. Hopefully it won't take me 6 months to get back here again!<br />
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Hope you're all happy & well. I'd love to hear what you've all been up to!<br />
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xoxoxo,<br />
CatEcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-61123048487016793362018-12-25T12:20:00.000-07:002018-12-25T13:10:40.451-07:00Remembering my Grandma on ChristmasMerry Christmas everyone!<br />
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Homeowner chaos has continued here at chez Cat. It's been a whirlwind of broken appliances, idiot repair men, clogged drains, and many, MANY trips to the "home improvement" store - which I'm sort of thinking is a bit of a misnomer, at least in my case... It's more like the "home just-trying-to-get-things-back-to-where-they-were-a-month-ago" store. Seriously folks, I've had issues and problems with, literally, every single major appliance in the past month.<br />
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To be fair, the fridge issues actually would qualify as improvements, since they stemmed from the plumbers adding a new water line behind it, so I can now use the icemaker for the first time ever. It's wonderful to have ice on demand, but I did have to install a filter on the line and order a few parts to make it all work.<br />
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And I suppose the dryer problems could also sorta be considered an upgrade. That too was fallout from the plumbers since they managed to punch a hole in the duct pipe - which had apparently been installed incorrectly - so I had to spend 3 days with my head stuck in a hole in the basement ceiling trying to get that sorted out. I now know more about dryer ducts than I ever wanted to.<br />
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And the washing machine and dishwasher are both intact - I just couldn't use them for a few weeks - first because there was no incoming water, and later because the drain pipe in the floor got clogged and they couldn't drain. Still not sure if the drain clogging is somehow related to the plumbers installing new pipes, but I sorta doubt it since they only replaced the incoming pipes not the outgoing ones.<br />
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And then there's the saga of the oven. The day after the water finally got turned back on I went to cook CatMan a nice birthday dinner. I filled the oven with a lasagna, some veggies to roast, and a pie - came back half an hour later to check on it, and it was all still cold. UG! I'll spare you the details of the idiot repair people, but suffice it to say, a new range will be arriving on Thursday - along with a new freezer to replace the one that died earlier this fall.<br />
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You know, It's not that you don't expect this sort of thing as a homeowner, you just don't expect it all to happen simultaneously! Clearly, I have offended the gods.<br />
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But hey, looking on the bright side. I now have new pipes and fixtures throughout the house, a new hot water heater, a better dryer duct, a functioning ice maker in the fridge, a clear drain pipe (with improved strainers and lint catchers on the way for every drain in the house,) a filter on the bathroom sink (did I mention the water from the new pipes tasted horrible, so I had to install filters everywhere?) and a new oven/range and freezer arriving the day after tomorrow.<br />
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Whew! I won't bore you with the story of the bank freezing my business account and impounding the money because I supposedly hadn't used it enough. But if anyone out there is still using Wells Fargo, I'd move your money if I was you.<br />
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Well ANYWAY, I'm heading over to my dad's house for Christmas dinner later today, and I really hate to arrive empty handed. Since there hasn't exactly been a lot of time for shopping this season I was sitting there yesterday wondering what I could do. Normally I'd bake something, but since I don't have a functioning oven...<br />
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Then suddenly it occurred to me that somewhere in the chaos that is my basement (things are still not quite put back together after all of the repair jobs down there) I still have my grandmother's pizzelle iron. It only took a small bit of digging and, voila!<br />
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The thing is probably over 75 years old by now, but amazingly enough it still works fine. Now, THERE's an appliance that was built to last!<br />
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If you're not familiar with pizzelle, it's a traditional Italian Christmas cookie, and my grandma used to make them every year. This is my favorite photo of her.<br />
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So I spent the evening last night making pizzelle and thinking about my grandmother. She was always a calming influence in my life, and honestly, with the way things have been going lately, I could use a bit of calming! Besides, I'm sure my dad will appreciate the reminder of his mother much more than he would some store bought basket of goodies.<br />
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So I guess every cloud does indeed have a silver lining.<br />
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Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-44986961029096505352018-11-26T21:14:00.002-07:002018-11-26T21:14:24.991-07:00Cat's Feeble First Attempt at a Video BlogHi Guys,
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Well, after my last blog post waded into some fairly heavy territory, I thought perhaps it was time to lighten things up a bit, so this is something completely different!<br />
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I've actually gotten sucked into the world of YouTube recently, and I'm thinking that I might try my hand at it, but since I'm such a Luddite, it's gonna take me a while to sort out all of the technical stuff. And since I totally suck at learning things for the sake of learning them, and I seem to require little exercises to get myself to actually do things rather than just think about them, I decided that rather than leaping into one of my many ideas for a meaningful YouTube channel, I'd just experiment with it for a bit by doing a few video blog posts.<br />
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And you all get to be my guinea pigs... you lucky devils, you!<br />
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So, I made a little YouTube video describing all of the exciting things I've been up to recently. It sorta got cut off at the end... did I mention I don't have a clue what I'm doing? Well anyway, for your viewing pleasure:<br />
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Anyhoo... hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving that was (ahem) a bit more restful than mine was. Perhaps the universe just wanted to remind me that I ought to be grateful for hot water and indoor plumbing? Seriously, folks, I tried to boil water on the stove to take a bit of a bath, and after an hour of shuttling every pot in the house from the kitchen to the bathroom, I managed to get a whole 4 inches of water into the tub. OY! At least my crazy <a href="https://ecocatlady.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-water-closet-report.html" target="_blank">closet full of bottles of water</a> came in handy with the water shut off for several days.<br />
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So that's the news from the funny farm! I hope my video at least serves as amusement!<br />
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Hugs to you all!<br />
-Cat<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-48651729985154279422018-11-07T13:32:00.000-07:002018-11-07T14:47:38.665-07:00Missing the PointWell folks, the elections are finally over and I have heaved an enormous sigh of relief knowing that the Democratic takeover of the house means that I, along with all of my self-employed friends will still be able to purchase health insurance for at least another two years.<br />
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Perhaps my anxiety over this issue is overblown, but having watched so many people being denied coverage, or being charged literally twice their monthly income for premiums, I honestly don't think so. The orange beast and his minions can still do plenty of damage, but at least that one little piece of the puzzle is safe for the moment.<br />
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Anyhow, with that knot in my stomach fairly well dissipated, my mind has been set free to wander a bit this morning. So as I was scrolling through my Google news feed, I noticed an interesting article about a house for sale in Colorado - one inspired by Henry David Thoreau's classic, Walden.</div>
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Sounds interesting, doesn't it? Then I clicked on <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2018/11/06/walden-house-colorado-29-million-70-acres-edwards.html" target="_blank">the link</a>. Good Lord! I'm pretty sure Thoreau is rolling over in his grave. Call me crazy, but somehow I don't think that a lavish $29 million 10,500 square foot luxury estate with 7 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms is exactly what he had in mind when he penned these words:</div>
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It just sorta makes you wonder doesn't it? How could someone who claimed to be inspired by Walden, create something which is its absolute antithesis? And even more to the point, how could the people writing articles about the place fail to notice this rather glaring point?</div>
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I dunno, perhaps it's just another example of the enormous hypocrisy and contradictions that seem to permeate our society these days. As horrifying as I have found the political divide in this country to be, one thing is sure, a lot of true colors have come to light. </div>
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I found it interesting and sad that as last night's election results came in, there was no repudiation by the evangelical community of the politics of hate, in fact, it was quite the opposite. I've never been a Christian, so perhaps I'm missing something, but it seems to me that the current administration, in terms of both policy and personal behavior, represents the exact opposite of what I understood to be "Christian values."</div>
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I'm curious to know what those of you who are Christians think about that. Do you consider it hypocritical to see people who consider themselves to be morally superior lining up behind a racist demagogue who seems to be actively working to harm as many people as possible? Or is there just some completely different interpretation of morality at work here... one that I'm obviously missing. </div>
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Anyhow, those are my thoughts on this November morning. Hope you're all enjoying autumn. Here's the view from a recent bike ride - and I'm thrilled to report that I'm back on my bike - more on that lengthy topic later...</div>
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EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-69007648990847578482018-10-30T20:45:00.001-06:002018-10-31T11:23:50.101-06:00Earning my Crazy Cat Lady StatusHi Guys,<br />
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Well, the past few weeks have been interesting and busy. I had my bike fitting/physical therapy appointment, and it was very interesting indeed. I'll write more about that saga later as it's still unfolding, but suffice it to say, my hip and knee problems turned out not to be hip and knee related after all. Turns out I have a lower back problem. Details in a future post...<br />
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But for the moment, I wanted to share with you my latest Crazy Cat Lady obsession....<br />
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It's the Kitty Cam! (For some reason that I don't understand, I had to click the play icon twice to get the video to play.)<br />
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Since there haven't been any more incidents with the (actual) <a href="https://ecocatlady.blogspot.com/2018/08/revenge-of-flies-and-random-bits-of.html" target="_blank">crazy lady down the street</a>, I decided to re-purpose one of my security cameras in order to better keep tabs on my little feral friend.<br />
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Try as I might, I was unable to get him to relocate from his original spot in the little un-insulated house that I initially put together for him under the rose bush next to my front porch.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-SAHD3PuJhrKxxxqrnck_88QukQD7GvpTP9pmqttsVty1vRvamHdcYTd9IyEGV5IM77XQYIDlLoXCTNPH7EjmxqNuLohmkCojnIhkowFXTCQf1tAON7fWGMCD67DGVGo11pNbGdS1MlA/s1600/kitty-house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-SAHD3PuJhrKxxxqrnck_88QukQD7GvpTP9pmqttsVty1vRvamHdcYTd9IyEGV5IM77XQYIDlLoXCTNPH7EjmxqNuLohmkCojnIhkowFXTCQf1tAON7fWGMCD67DGVGo11pNbGdS1MlA/s1600/kitty-house.jpg" /></a></div>
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I built a nice insulated house for him, and set it up on the covered back patio with a heating pad in it and everything, but I could never get him to use it. Turns out the back porch is right in the path of the neighborhood raccoons, so that might explain his reluctance to hang out there. Here's one of the little fellows truckin' it across the back yard.<br />
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I figured the raccoons were probably attracted by the bird and squirrel food that was all over the place, so I crafted a new system for feeding the squirrels and birds which keeps the food from getting spilled all over the ground. Basically I put the food in some litter boxes so they can get at it, but don't scatter it all over the place like they did with the bird and squirrel feeders. This means I can easily take the leftover food into the garage at night, and this has cut down on our raccoon visitors immensely.<br />
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But alas, my little feral friend still wouldn't go near the house on the back patio, and when the neighbor's cat (who is a bit of a pill) started showing interest in it, I decided it was probably best to just punt and focus instead on trying to make some improvements to the house that he does like.<br />
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The first thing I did was to put a big piece of plywood sticking out over the edge of the porch to make the area a bit more sheltered by giving the area a "roof." I secured it by setting three large heavy cinder blocks on the part that's on the porch so it can't cantilever over the edge.<br />
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Next, I stuffed some straw behind the house, and on the side that butts up against the concrete to insulate it from the cold. Then, I put a flat piece of wood on top of the house, and on top of that I put a square section of a bale of straw, with some Styrofoam and a few bricks on top of the straw to secure it. Finally, I piled up another section of straw on the exposed side of the house, and wrapped some bird netting around it, tucking it under the house to keep it in place.<br />
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He happily slept there during our first snow storm of the year, but I still worried that he was cold, so yesterday, with another storm on the way, I managed to get the heating pad from the house he wouldn't use to fit inside of this house.<br />
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I worried all last night because he got a little spooked by my disrupting his space and wouldn't actually go back in the house, sleeping in the straw in front of it instead. But then the snow started and voila!<br />
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I will sleep much better tonight knowing that he's warm and dry.<br />
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So that's the crazy cat lady report. Blogger seems to be having some sort of an issue displaying photos and videos, so I hope you can see my Kitty Cam videos! If not, I guess you'll just have to use your imagination.<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-47739970773653268772018-09-29T13:43:00.000-06:002018-09-29T14:41:07.272-06:00First World Problems...Sometimes I feel like my life is one giant problem solving exercise. As I write this I feel guilty because I know full well that in the broad scheme of things, the sorts of problems I'm dealing with are just plain trivial compared to what the vast portion of humans on this planet have to contend with.<br />
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Nevertheless, whine I will...<br />
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Sooo… I've been having sleep issues recently. Mostly my back hurts. I fear that this is due to my beloved waterbed not providing adequate support.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1psSwmJBXkXxNhl4roVUoB29FKXaMg9WyAlRcc_O2dHV2g_iQX9-UIJFqTjq68xvskV-pE6JBdCKKx_7hpPt0EsKmPClS8oXrPWZRVFXc1Dn_aQh8DACT8UmSi10WBJkleqL4y3vg9QNO/s1600/saggy-butt-sleeping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1psSwmJBXkXxNhl4roVUoB29FKXaMg9WyAlRcc_O2dHV2g_iQX9-UIJFqTjq68xvskV-pE6JBdCKKx_7hpPt0EsKmPClS8oXrPWZRVFXc1Dn_aQh8DACT8UmSi10WBJkleqL4y3vg9QNO/s1600/saggy-butt-sleeping.jpg" /></a></div>
I've been able to mitigate the problem somewhat by putting a flat pillow under my rear end at night, and even though it makes my back feel better, it's a bit awkward - especially when I need to roll over or change position. I think part of the issue is that little Smoky loves to cuddle with me at night, and since I'm a side sleeper, one of his favorite spots is right in front of my tummy, sort of in the crook that's formed between my legs and torso.<br />
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This is all good and well, but it adds a good 15 pounds to the portion of my body that's already (ahem) the heaviest bit, causing my rear end to sink further into the waterbed.<br />
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Anyhooo… I've been pondering trying a different sort of mattress, but honestly even those ship to your home foam mattresses aren't cheap, plus... they sound like they'd be pretty hot and sweaty to sleep on. My parents have an air mattress which they love, and this seemed like it might be a good alternative, so when I saw someone listing a $2400 sleep number bed on Freecycle, I jumped at the chance.<br />
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Since I didn't want to go through the hassle of draining the waterbed and all that just to run the experiment, I set the thing up in the basement and have been sleeping on it for the past week.<br />
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First thought: Holy Moly - somebody actually paid $2400 for this thing?!? Seriously, it's basically just a bunch of layers of foam with an air mattress (well, two air mattresses, one on each side) sandwiched between.<br />
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I think if one wanted to create a DIY sleep number bed, you could pretty much buy all of the components (air mattress, foam layers, bed frame, etc.) for a few hundred bucks. You wouldn't get the fancy remote control feature, or the "wrapper" to hold it all together and make it look like a normal mattress, but um... I'm not really sure that's worth a few thousand dollars, especially since I don't have a sleeping partner who might want a different firmness.<br />
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But more to the point, I haven't found the thing to be very comfortable. I've tried all different settings, and it basically feels either saggy and unsupportive making my back hurt, or hard as a rock causing shoulder pain. And the foam layers on top are uncomfortably hot, plus they mash down over the course of the night and are pretty much useless by morning.<br />
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Sooo…. back to the waterbed I go. I think I'm gonna try folding up a blanket under the sheets in the area where I need more support, and see if that little hack won't do the trick.<br />
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In the meantime... the weather has turned cool the past few days, so I decided I'd make soup. I have a habit of saving vegetable scraps, chicken bones and the like in the freezer until I'm ready to make soup, so I went to retrieve some soup makings and....<br />
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Well, let's just say this portion of the post should be titled "Death of a Freezer." Yup, I opened it up and everything was still cool, but definitely defrosted. At first I thought maybe the plug had just come loose, but no... the power light is on, and I even tested the outlet to be sure... it's just dead. UG.<br />
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So after a night of not sleeping well on the dreaded sleep number bed, I spent the day yesterday hauling defrosted meat and other stuff out to the garbage. Grrrr…. Honestly, a lot of what was in there is stuff that doesn't really need to be kept frozen - I was just trying to extend its shelf life by keeping it in there (flour, bread, cheese, spices, etc.) So it wasn't a total loss, but still... I haven't decided exactly what to do about it yet - it wasn't a very expensive freezer, I think I paid $200 for it 10 years ago. If I do replace it I'm thinking of going with an upright model, since I'm just not organized enough to keep stuff from getting buried in the bottom of the thing when it's just one big space.<br />
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Side note here... do NOT, under any circumstances, perform a Google image search on the phrase "death of a freezer" unless you want to see some really gruesome stuff. Apparently prepositions are lost on Google, so what you get is not (as I was hoping) some funny or ironic take on the Arthur Miller classic "Death of a Salesman." No, the images you will see are more like "death IN a freezer" - and that's as much of a description as I'm gonna give you!<br />
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OK... 'nuff said, just consider yourself warned...<br />
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ANYHOW, on top of all that, I've been having bike seat issues again... so bike rides have been more trauma than fun recently, and I really, REALLY need to deal with some homeowner stuff like getting some big dead branches trimmed out of my tree before winter, and some lingering plumbing issues, and... and... and... Gah!<br />
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So I've got a bike fitting scheduled with a physical therapist who specializes in working with cyclists, and I'm hoping that she can help me sort out the bike seat issues, and I'm getting some estimates on having the tree trimmed, and I've been researching pex vs. copper pipes...<br />
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Honestly, though, I can't help but think that all of the other stuff would feel less big if I could get the sleeping thing sorted out. So I think I'm gonna focus there first. Are there any other side sleepers out there? I'd love to hear what works for you.<br />
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But... whatever else may be going on, Jasper is doing much, MUCH better. The litter box is out of the living room, and his peeing is almost back to normal - so I really don't have anything to complain about.<br />
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So tell me, how do you keep things in perspective when you are beset by problems that you know are really not that big of a deal?EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-77555469970929721552018-09-20T16:31:00.000-06:002018-09-20T20:45:40.337-06:00Kitty Update and ThanksHi Guys,<br />
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OK, first of all I wanted to thank everybody for all of your kind comments on my last post. Sorry I didn't respond individually - I was a bit overwhelmed.<br />
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Long story short, Jasper managed to avoid surgery for his urinary blockage - but just by the skin of his little pee-pee. He ended up spending a total of about 10 days in the kitty hospital, and while he's not back to normal yet, he's been home for about three weeks, and is much improved. He's still sporting a crazy haircut from where they shaved him for IVs and blood draws, but he's getting back to his normal little self.<br />
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The whole process was somewhat nerve-wracking because his status just kept changing from hour to hour. It would look like he was getting better, then he'd take a turn for the worse. They had surgery scheduled three different times, but then each time about an hour before the surgery he'd manage to pass a bit of urine and they'd call it off again. It didn't help that he kept chewing his way out of both IVs and catheters despite the cone of shame, and each time they'd call me (usually at around 3 in the morning) for permission to re-insert whatever he'd pulled out. I can't help but think that all of those re-insertions of the catheter helped to add to the cycle of inflammation that's made it so hard for him to recover.<br />
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They ended up breaking that cycle by putting him on a whole slew of drugs - anti spasmodics, muscle relaxants, and pain killers. When they finally decided it was safe to send him home with careful monitoring, he was so doped up that he could hardly walk, and I seriously thought that I might lose him simply from all of the downers he was on. I was soooo thankful when he was finally off of all the drugs.<br />
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So we still have a litter box in the middle of the living room - which I'm not thrilled about.<br />
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But it does make it easier to monitor his peeing, plus it did prevent him from having any accidents on the rugs or furniture. Hopefully as he continues to improve, we'll be able to move it out of the living room and eventually get back to normal with all the litter boxes in the basement.<br />
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The other part of this little adventure that we've been dealing with is diet. The vets want him on a prescription diet. Now, I know there are mixed opinions out there on these sorts of diets - some folks say that since the prescription foods contain byproducts, it's better to just feed them an all wet food diet of premium canned and raw foods. But, since that's basically the diet he was on (except for a small amount of his brother's dry food which he'd eat if I let his bowl get empty) when all of this started, I'm following the vets' advice and going prescription. It took a while to find one that he would eat (Science Diet is blick, according to Jasper) but fortunately he likes the Royal Canin Urinary SO (but only the paté - the chunks are yucky.)<br />
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The more challenging aspect of feeding has actually been Jasper's brother Smoky. The vets said it would be fine for Smoky to eat the prescription food, but he won't go anywhere near the stuff. Have I mentioned that the Smokster is the pickiest eater on the planet? It's virtually impossible to get him to eat anything but dry food, and even there he's ridiculously picky. In fairness to the little guy, I think he has some dietary sensitivities, because when I offer him something new he usually eats it happily and then barfs it all up a few hours later.<br />
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Sooo… this is sort complicated, but Smoky's favorite brand, Evo, recently was discontinued and we'd been searching around for a replacement. The one he decided he'd eat was Blue Buffalo. That's all well and good EXCEPT that when the vets interviewed me about Jasper's diet they said they'd seen a huge incidence of urinary blockages in cats eating... you guessed it, Blue Buffalo! Oy!!!<br />
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So I had decided to take Smoky off of the Blue Buffalo since I didn't want to risk any more problems - and we'd found another brand that he would eat... which was working OK while Jasper was at the hospital. But as soon as Jasper came home, instead of being happy to see his brother, Smoky became utterly convinced that Jasper had been replaced with some evil zombified replica, and he refused to go anywhere near him.<br />
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And of course, I couldn't leave Smoky's food out because I couldn't risk Jasper eating any of it. So the little Smokster was decidedly unhappy about the situation, and he basically went on a 4 day hunger strike. Seriously, I could not get that boy to eat ANYTHING, even solid white albacore, which is his favorite treat. I was really starting to worry that I might have to haul him off to the vet too. So finally, in desperation, I tried (you guessed it) Blue Buffalo, and he happily started eating again. Whew.<br />
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But... the situation was still really difficult because Smoky is a nibbler, and every time he'd get hungry he'd have to cry for me to put food out, and then I'd have to stand there and watch him eat, and take the food up as soon as he was done... and this was like every 2-3 hours including throughout the night. Oy.<br />
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Then CatMan found a brilliant techno-solution. Believe it or not, there's a company called Sure Petcare that makes feeders for this exact situation. It's actually rather amazing, but they have this contraption that scans the cat's microchip, and will only open the bowl for approved pets. I really didn't think it would work, but amazingly it did!<br />
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Here's Smoky happily eating out of his feeder.<br />
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He still won't put his front paws on the little mat where they're supposed to go, but he doesn't seem to mind stretching a bit to get to his food. The thing wasn't cheap, but compared to the $8000 we just spent on Jasper's hospital stay, it was a bargain!<br />
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So.... my plan is to slowly start adding small amounts of a vet approved brand of dry food to Smoky's Blue Buffalo and see how he tolerates it. I'm really thankful that he's not the one that has to be on a prescription diet, because that would be almost impossible.<br />
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Anyhow, that's the news from the funny farm. Hope you're all happy and well, and enjoying the waning days of summer.<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-71259676758155039482018-08-24T21:36:00.002-06:002018-08-24T21:36:31.277-06:00Well, this SucksWell folks, it turns out my little Jasper kitty's urinary problems (which I whined about in my last post) weren't an isolated incident after all. Somehow I had a hunch it was gonna turn out this way.<br />
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So a week ago I noticed that there were footprints in Jasper's litter box, but nothing left behind to show for the visit. I also noticed that Jasper was acting kind of anxious and restless, and licking his little pee-pee an awful lot. So I followed him downstairs the next time he went to the litter box, and when I saw him squatting there for over ten minutes without producing anything, I knew it was an emergency that couldn't wait.<br />
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So I scooped him up and off to the kitty ER we went. Turns out he had a urinary blockage. They catheterized him and he got to spend two nights in the kitty hospital. When he came home, they told me to expect that he'd have some irritation - but on day two, irritation turned in to inability to pee once again, so back to the ER we went.<br />
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Long story short, he's been in the kitty hospital ever since, and will most likely have to have surgery tomorrow.<br />
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At this point they don't think he has a physical obstruction, it's just that they can't seem to break the cycle of inflammation so that he can get the urine out. We were all set to do surgery today, and then the vet called and said that he had peed. Alas, it appears that it was sort of a one and done thing, because he's been straining and unable to produce urine ever since, so now we're on for surgery again.<br />
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It doesn't help that despite the cone of shame, he's managed to pull out both his catheter and IV twice. Today they set us up in a private room hoping that he'd relax enough to urinate more freely. The counter had a hole drilled in it with a trash can below it, and around the opening was some sort of a metal ring. Well, guess who stuck his little head in there looking for an escape route, and came out with the ring stuck around his neck.<br />
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Fortunately it came off easily, but he's been quite the little pill. At least his little spirit isn't broken.<br />
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I'm not entirely sure I can say the same for mine... or my bank account for that matter! We do have kitty insurance, but we blew past what it would cover on the first hospital stay. Thankfully, I do have money set aside for these sorts of things - so I'm really grateful to be able to make decisions based on what's best for him rather than on what I can afford. But holy kazoli! I feel badly for people who don't have the resources to care for a pet in this way, and are left with no other choice but euthanasia.<br />
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Anyhow, the surgery is called a perineal urethrostomy, or PU for short. Basically, they remove the penis and shorten the urethra, creating a much wider new opening through which he can urinate - sorta like a kitty sex change operation. It's not minor surgery, but there is over a 90% success rate, so I'm hopeful - "hopeful" being a relative term. I still have a knot in my stomach about the size of Cleveland.<br />
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So I'll keep you posted. If anybody's got any spare healing vibes they can send our way, we'd be grateful.<br />
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Heavy sighs all around...<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-53039804875909042322018-08-05T14:01:00.000-06:002018-08-06T00:55:38.294-06:00Revenge of the Flies? ...and Random bits of InsanityWell folks, the past few weeks have been, ummm... interesting.<br />
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It all started a few weeks ago when, after a bike ride, CatMan noticed a bug bite that just looked a bit "off."<br />
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He didn't think much of it at first, but after a day or two when it didn't get better, he finally when to the doctor... whereupon they took one look at him and nearly admitted him to the hospital! Apparently that red streak is bad news - it means that there's an infection that is heading toward the nearest lymph node where it can quickly become systemic and lead to sepsis. After some bloodwork they determined that it hadn't yet spread, so he got to go home with some hefty antibiotics, and he's now doing much better.<br />
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Fast forward a week or so, and we went for another bike ride... after which I noticed a strange bug bite on my leg. It was only about the size of a pencil eraser, but it had an odd dent in the middle. After CatMan's experience, I decided to watch it closely, and by the next morning it looked like this.<br />
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By that evening it had swollen up more (the yellow is magic marker so I could judge if it was growing)<br />
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And by the time I went to the doctor a day or two later it had progressed to this vision of loveliness:<br />
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:<br />
Holy Kazoli! So I'm on hefty antibiotics now too, and CatMan and I are left scratching our heads trying to figure out what the heck is going on!<br />
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I mean, up until this whole little adventure started to unfold, neither one of us had ever considered that something as trivial as a bug bite could get infected to the point where it would require anything more serious than some antibiotic ointment. Then suddenly within the span of a few weeks we both end up with serious infections from bug bites?!? It all strikes me as a very odd and disconcerting coincidence.<br />
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To make it all the more puzzling, neither one of us has any idea what bit or stung us. In both cases we didn't notice the bite or sting as it happened - only later. And in both cases it either went through our clothes or somehow got into our clothing. Yikes!<br />
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It sorta has us wondering if there's some strange new insect out there carrying an infections bacteria or maybe we've karmically offended some force in the insect world. I suppose we'll probably never know, but we're both just hoping to avoid any further encounters.<br />
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Anyhoo… to make matters stranger, I was walking my neighbor's dog for her when she was out of town a few weeks back, when suddenly this woman a few houses down came running out of the house and started screaming a pile of obscenities at me, accusing me of having an affair with her husband. She had a truly bizarre litany of accusations dating back at least TEN YEARS! WTF!?!?<br />
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It totally freaked me out, so I called the cops who said there's nothing I can do other than avoid her. So I called my neighbor (the one whose dog I was walking) and she promptly erupted into "Oh my God... she did the exact same thing to me!"<br />
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Good Gawd! I mean, I think this woman probably has serious psychiatric problems, but I really don't relish the idea of ending up on the receiving end of her psychosis. So I've installed a security system and rearranged all of my routes so I never go past that house anymore. So far the only things the cameras have picked up are the comings and goings of the neighborhood cats, and an occasional raccoon.<br />
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Oh, and speaking of cats, my sweet Jasper kitty got sick.<br />
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We think it was just a bladder infection, and he's much improved after a round of antibiotics... but both his bloodwork and an X-ray turned up some somewhat concerning things - like he may be in the early stages of kidney failure and his bladder seems very oddly shaped. At the moment we're just keeping an eye on him and we'll do further tests if he starts to show any more symptoms... but honestly, it just makes me sick to my stomach to contemplate having to get back into sick kitty land. Sigh.<br />
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And don't even get me started on the insanity unfolding on the nightly news. Lordy! It sorta feels like the whole world (nature included) has gone stark raving mad.<br />
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OK, perhaps that's venturing into hyperbole just a tad bit, but I do admit I haven't exactly felt either centered or gounded lately.<br />
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In other news, my little feral friend is doing well.<br />
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He's a boy, BTW - and while he still has to hiss at me every time I bring him food, he lets me get within a few feet as long as I don't look directly at him and move very slowly.<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
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But craziness aside, CatMan and I have been riding up a storm and having a great time, so I'll leave you with some slightly more positive photos from recent bike rides:<br />
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Hope you're all having a wonderful summer, and staying clear of biting insects, crazy neighbors, heat waves, fires, floods, and random infections!<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-46488169750735342202018-06-13T18:19:00.000-06:002018-06-13T18:19:07.661-06:00I'm Not PlayingMy senior year in college there was a story going around about a giant water balloon fight that had taken over the campus of one of our neighboring universities. As the story goes, people had become so utterly obsessed with the battle, that nearly the entire student body had picked a side and taken up arms... or balloons as the case may be. For those poor souls who didn't wish to participate, it was necessary to wear a large sign proclaiming "I'm Not Playing!" in order to avoid being mistaken for a member of the opposing team and ambushed by an over zealous balloon lobber on one's way to class.<br />
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I have no idea whether there was any truth to this outlandish tale, or whether it was simply a campus myth, but either way, the story struck a chord with me. At the time, I was preparing to graduate with a degree in music - a questionable choice to be sure, but one that I sorta backed into because I found I couldn't tolerate anything else. I had no idea what I wanted to do in life, but one thing was clear: just as all of my classmates were preparing to jump into society... to launch careers, or begin graduate school, or get married, or start businesses... all I wanted was to find a way out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVc-YACjGPOhma2us9ZC7OGvCFXhLEoctN_VIAQETGcoBbv6W2ZJVI1gmfVcT8qlqtEdNLAZ3CLOmOKmmHMhtgU_8_z4FND7Lirjuq04CK9DDUDNJhWTym0OpFmw7UplEaytRtdYSdtkr/s1600/lemmie-out-cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVc-YACjGPOhma2us9ZC7OGvCFXhLEoctN_VIAQETGcoBbv6W2ZJVI1gmfVcT8qlqtEdNLAZ3CLOmOKmmHMhtgU_8_z4FND7Lirjuq04CK9DDUDNJhWTym0OpFmw7UplEaytRtdYSdtkr/s1600/lemmie-out-cat.jpg" /></a></div>
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I had been a tremendously successful student. Valedictorian, Phi Beta Kappa, Suma Cum Laude, the whole 9 yards. Yet with all of that achievement, I didn't feel validated, or important... and I most certainly did NOT feel happy. I just felt like I had wasted my youth chasing an illusion.-And I had come to the conclusion that, in this culture at least, that was all sort of by design. Basically the way our society functions is by making people feel like they don't measure up, which then sets them on a hopeless treadmill of trying to earn, or accomplish, or prove, or buy their way out of their own hopeless inadequacy. It's just a trap.<br />
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So I decided that I just wasn't playing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ9qmy7vYzXyifsFUdNeoK5Ur5WIDw1Kc7cmSafafv1ZsEkU4KCzkANSDeN8pH3-WtapILGxYvfp27JhqeLSlaTjndFefTj_AXBn2XOH9xGv3uSwCSwuTMTNv9HdKxxVf3GzRVlqQ_cv7H/s1600/180b0ca0-77a1-41fb-899e-3f146aa735e0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ9qmy7vYzXyifsFUdNeoK5Ur5WIDw1Kc7cmSafafv1ZsEkU4KCzkANSDeN8pH3-WtapILGxYvfp27JhqeLSlaTjndFefTj_AXBn2XOH9xGv3uSwCSwuTMTNv9HdKxxVf3GzRVlqQ_cv7H/s1600/180b0ca0-77a1-41fb-899e-3f146aa735e0.jpg" /></a></div>
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Thus began my long pursuit of the outsmarting of the system. Thirty years later I'm still at it. But boy... I've gotta tell you, I often feel these days like I need to don that sign again, because I'm frequently beset with the feeling that I'm living in a completely different world from the people around me.<br />
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Like the other day I logged onto Nextdoor and discovered that there was a heated argument going on over crab grass. Apparently someone has been going around the neighborhood putting anonymous notes on the doors of people with crummy lawns asking them to please clean up their acts and have some consideration for their neighbors. Oh my.<br />
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I guess this is what gentrification looks like, because in the course of a few years my neighborhood has gone from being one of the most economically depressed parts of the city... where there was a tacit understanding that people were working hard just to keep a roof over their heads... to one where the average house is selling for over $350K and people are busy berating their neighbors over things like "curb appeal." So much for slummin' it in the barrio!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaL9gke5tk97955bN-xDg9tTQaltKtPsJOAyGRNNTBkJBonj2rBhHVP_ChUQZeuTWVM4PSVzUK61y0-Rv4fsmEICocFeqOC3Hpy6bvjEwo_suEbQa2Zgwz5tU318DcbcH1vwuKHeX1Tx-H/s1600/gentrification-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="620" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaL9gke5tk97955bN-xDg9tTQaltKtPsJOAyGRNNTBkJBonj2rBhHVP_ChUQZeuTWVM4PSVzUK61y0-Rv4fsmEICocFeqOC3Hpy6bvjEwo_suEbQa2Zgwz5tU318DcbcH1vwuKHeX1Tx-H/s400/gentrification-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I guess you can try to outrun the trappings, but apparently the things grow legs and eventually come running after you. Don't get me wrong, It's sort of nice that my little house is now worth about 5 times what I paid for it, but honestly, I'm not sure I'm prepared to live among young professionals with decidedly middle class values. Plus, what about the poor people who were renters? Where are they supposed to go?<br />
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Well anyway, I guess it's giving me further incentive to step up my xeriscape game because I really don't relish the idea of being publicly shamed over bindweed. But yanno, a tiny little snarky part of me did toy with the idea of putting anonymous notes on the doors of all the people with perfect lawns asking them to please stop polluting the air with their mowers and poisoning the land with their weed killers. Of course I wouldn't do it, but it was tempting. Sigh.<br />
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Then I signed on to FaceBook to see what some old friends have been up to, and I discovered that everyone was all torn up about the suicides of two prominent celebrities… neither of whom I'd ever heard of. Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all making light of suicide, but "famous handbag designer?!?" Seriously? That's a thing? I just don't get it.<br />
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Anyhow, people seemed genuinely shocked that anyone who was so successful could possible be depressed and want to take their own life. Sad as it might sound, this does not surprise me in the least. It's not merely that success does not make people happy, I think that feelings of inadequacy predispose a person to try to chase fame and prosperity in a doomed attempt to outrun their own emotions.<br />
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I saw this all the time in the music world. Trying to make it as a musician is really hard, and it seemed to me that, aside from a few folks who lucked into their success, the only people who stuck with it were the people who really needed the extraordinary sense of personal validation that one gets when one is on stage performing for an audience. Seriously, in the real world, people don't cheer and applaud every time you go to work... and getting that sort of "you're wonderful" message can be very seductive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8kzR1V2lwWmdrFd5kq0Jr9d3kTA8rDKyjcA4bnX1p_e1ttlh-YcIq7UGQ6kiRrF3WtuTplDUbaSc8fcmfPTxce4toC6aY5iCOlHeIjPa5aQUYL7r2SIkiGL7VZ6Xo50J5LoDE-D-Hij1e/s1600/give-that-man-a-round-of-applause.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8kzR1V2lwWmdrFd5kq0Jr9d3kTA8rDKyjcA4bnX1p_e1ttlh-YcIq7UGQ6kiRrF3WtuTplDUbaSc8fcmfPTxce4toC6aY5iCOlHeIjPa5aQUYL7r2SIkiGL7VZ6Xo50J5LoDE-D-Hij1e/s320/give-that-man-a-round-of-applause.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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But ultimately, the holes that our society produces in people cannot be filled through cheers or applause any more than they can be with granite countertops or a perfectly manicured lawn.<br />
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I don't know where I'm going with all of this, so I should probably just stop blathering and go pull some weeds. (She says without the slightest hint of sarcasm.)<br />
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I guess I just wanted to throw a little life line out there to anyone who might be struggling with the game. Seriously folks, if you feel like you just can't win, it's not because there's anything wrong with you, it's because the whole thing is rigged. The only way out is to simply stop playing!<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-85738348670397790422018-04-26T17:05:00.000-06:002018-04-26T17:05:34.499-06:00The Pretty Kitty ReportWell, my new feral friend seems quite pleased with its little house, and with the never ending stream of cat food that I've been providing. It rained and snowed several times, but the little house stayed dry, so I think it chose a pretty good location.<br />
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I'm still not sure of the gender, but given the fact that it hasn't left the yard in days, I'm guessing female. The males tend to roam, even if they're fixed.<br />
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Anyhow, I think this little kitty has been running on empty for some time now, because it's eating like a horse. Seriously, it's eating at least twice what my indoor kitties do. But for the time being, anyhow, I'm content to feed it as much as it will eat. It's probably behind on nutrition, plus it needs extra calories to stay warm at night, and since feral cats often end up with tape worms, I'm sure it needs the extra nutrition.<br />
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I still can't get very close to it, but I went out with my telephoto lens yesterday and got a few shots.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfF1lHeaKNIRy3mDJXNdhIJlCQWfcOAgzh0n79_OGydlcRVZQJviG0Gujc8F_O6fRnhMxl5MZXkrtCdPxYnuQzDb11MzN5pMAgFqxCQYW5FEnMb438BmsWMpsHJhZyYJkq9oW75ly-TnmH/s1600/pretty-kitty1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfF1lHeaKNIRy3mDJXNdhIJlCQWfcOAgzh0n79_OGydlcRVZQJviG0Gujc8F_O6fRnhMxl5MZXkrtCdPxYnuQzDb11MzN5pMAgFqxCQYW5FEnMb438BmsWMpsHJhZyYJkq9oW75ly-TnmH/s400/pretty-kitty1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip13GaEUP6UPilvMfd2gopmoKkH3H0D7v2ElFA6ns7cB9Tgn-SK0WehaO-FAGSQHoDSt6BdG7Ip9aU5BbY19puFZag59P_NdBDSxN2ZMn8EWOa4TznW8hVyc2k9O_XVF3l2Dn9ogabe_oO/s1600/pretty-kitty3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip13GaEUP6UPilvMfd2gopmoKkH3H0D7v2ElFA6ns7cB9Tgn-SK0WehaO-FAGSQHoDSt6BdG7Ip9aU5BbY19puFZag59P_NdBDSxN2ZMn8EWOa4TznW8hVyc2k9O_XVF3l2Dn9ogabe_oO/s400/pretty-kitty3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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So that's the pretty kitty report.<br />
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Meanwhile, CatMan and I have been riding up a storm. So here are a few snapshots from recent rides.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmTvFw-NKxl1tMxyOAAQAuGQ5ZE-1lpK7SooHCYLMwxh3FbUMkBZl2qOGhRlca6i9BPJoDWFgDEhu42UN70dKrplnaQXMXaaRYIHxf4Yfgc1p7eooN0x2w-MgHB3Q8DCJ7uri5QiNdsMX/s1600/foothills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmTvFw-NKxl1tMxyOAAQAuGQ5ZE-1lpK7SooHCYLMwxh3FbUMkBZl2qOGhRlca6i9BPJoDWFgDEhu42UN70dKrplnaQXMXaaRYIHxf4Yfgc1p7eooN0x2w-MgHB3Q8DCJ7uri5QiNdsMX/s1600/foothills.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the Foothills on a cloudy day</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHo5-sMM4ujjJvcQdMuvfaI_8cU1d-61HXC0l1ExO7I7dCTEk3JieBU0GR5D2EyZelSxjHmZeS1NVMOH-3bGI9rIsXkztOLeg03t2U21uhvXeizJ66Isd-KbtOp9Rfr0LinQRR0Kw8IIbI/s1600/chatfield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHo5-sMM4ujjJvcQdMuvfaI_8cU1d-61HXC0l1ExO7I7dCTEk3JieBU0GR5D2EyZelSxjHmZeS1NVMOH-3bGI9rIsXkztOLeg03t2U21uhvXeizJ66Isd-KbtOp9Rfr0LinQRR0Kw8IIbI/s1600/chatfield.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chatfield Reservoir</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitRu342NqUxX9LzEeZBVGM1htiXQmB5_ENtD4OqNAefPQBAEEVX-mzCLtlb0rWjqEr-tMhM_sq7axs6YWsBcGPmmdpnsCkA6ByQZJf1WkoYmMaJKs1X-y9P40VlqFjTWppxNsTcUUmJRMV/s1600/denver-in-the-distance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitRu342NqUxX9LzEeZBVGM1htiXQmB5_ENtD4OqNAefPQBAEEVX-mzCLtlb0rWjqEr-tMhM_sq7axs6YWsBcGPmmdpnsCkA6ByQZJf1WkoYmMaJKs1X-y9P40VlqFjTWppxNsTcUUmJRMV/s1600/denver-in-the-distance.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Downtown in the Distance... WAY off in the distance!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc7tuhNINHvbDHF-MueC2S2YBI-hUDYuq125OBnsXALhj8rVW-Jk2Nw_Am7SVf_OCWSiBf6ORxWnUZDvhXq3Xkf6Uo0ojAzfzcPYk82bdcCGSBWY6MIeHKl51sZasYN0brKPFu2QbURbrS/s1600/crabapple-lane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc7tuhNINHvbDHF-MueC2S2YBI-hUDYuq125OBnsXALhj8rVW-Jk2Nw_Am7SVf_OCWSiBf6ORxWnUZDvhXq3Xkf6Uo0ojAzfzcPYk82bdcCGSBWY6MIeHKl51sZasYN0brKPFu2QbURbrS/s1600/crabapple-lane.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crabapple trees are in full bloom!</td></tr>
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Hope you're all having a wonderful spring!<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-59367029088633800832018-04-20T12:47:00.001-06:002018-04-20T12:47:52.718-06:00I Caved.After my last adventure with feral cats <a href="http://ecocatlady.blogspot.com/2015/12/mixed-news-and-hard-decisions.html" target="_blank">ended in heartbreak</a>, I swore up and down that I would NEVER do it again. I had myself convinced that they'd be better off on their own than risking the dreaded feline leukemia test, and the inevitable euthanasia that would follow if it didn't go well.<br />
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And I stuck to my guns... for a few years anyhow. <br />
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Then this happened.<br />
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It's been hanging around for a few months, and I was hoping against hope that it belonged to somebody. It sorta matched the description of one of my neighbor's cats, so I kept telling myself "it has a home, it has a home, it has a home."<br />
<br />
But it just kept coming around sniffing in the bowls of squirrel food, looking longingly at the sparrows in the neighbor's bush, and acting hungry. So I finally called my neighbor to see if it was, in fact hers, and no.<br />
<br />
So seeing it looking skinnier and skinnier, I finally gave up and put some food out. Oh my gosh... it gobbled that food like it hadn't eaten in months - and it may not have. And you know, once you feed it, you pretty much own it.<br />
<br />
Oy.<br />
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<br />
I'm batting about 500 with stray and feral cats, so I'm preparing myself to have my little heart ripped out and stomped on again.<br />
<br />
I don't know if it's male or female, but the tipped ear would seem to indicate that someone's had it fixed, and presumably that means it's also been vaccinated at least once - which is a good thing since there's been an outbreak of rabid skunks in the neighborhood.<br />
<br />
And the fact that it's not an unaltered male means there's less chance of it having FIV or FeLV. But at this point I doubt I could catch it anyhow, so I'm not sure it's worth worrying about. Once they've been trapped, they tend to become quite wary of those things, so taking it to the vet probably isn't even a possibility unless and until I can get it to trust me enough to get it in a carrier.<br />
<br />
So far I've just been feeding it once a day and then it goes along its merry way. But yesterday I realized it's "merry way" wasn't taking it very far, because it was hanging out in a little sheltered area next to the front porch. And late last night when CatMan left, it bolted out of one of the compost bins in the driveway, so I now know where it's been sleeping. Sigh.<br />
<br />
Anyhow, a big storm is moving in and it's supposed to pour rain for the next day or two. So I crafted a little house for it out of an old covered litter box that I could never get anybody to use, and put it in the area next to the porch where it's been hanging out.<br />
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I also fortified its little nest in the compost bin with a make shift rain cover...<br />
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...and put some extra straw in there for warmth.<br />
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So at least my little kitty friend has some options for getting out of the rain.<br />
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I have no idea where this will lead, but I'll keep you posted. I was so hoping that I wouldn't have to fret over any more outdoor kitties. Oh well... best laid plans of mice and cat ladies.<br />
<br />
So that's the news from the funny farm...<br />
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Hope you're all happy & well.<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-65751141579879041182018-04-19T01:02:00.000-06:002018-04-19T01:02:01.945-06:00Alphabetically SpeakingSo April is the month that many brave bloggers are doing the A-Z challenge, which involves writing a post every day, one for each letter of the alphabet (with Sundays off.)<br />
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I tried it once, but honestly, it sorta wore me out. Nevertheless, I do like the idea, and I'm having great fun reading <a href="http://liveandlearn-tossandturn.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Live & Learn's posts</a>.<br />
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Anyhow, her post on poetry got me to thinking about words... there are some words that I just like. Some I like for the meaning, some for the things they conjure up in my brain, and others are just fun to say.<br />
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So... for no particular reason, here are some words that came to mind when contemplating the alphabet.<br />
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A is for alabaster<br />
B is for beckon<br />
C is for calamity<br />
D is for dromedary<br />
E is for epiphany<br />
F is for fanciful<br />
G is for grace<br />
H is for hullabaloo<br />
I is for idiosyncratic<br />
J is for judicious<br />
K is for kleptomania<br />
L is for lapidary<br />
M is for mystic<br />
N is for nefarious<br />
O is for opulent<br />
P is for persimmon<br />
Q is for quintessential<br />
R is for rhapsody<br />
S is for sumptuous<br />
T is for tapioca<br />
U is for utopia<br />
V is for voluptuous<br />
W is for whippoorwill<br />
X is for xenophobic<br />
Y is for yearning<br />
Z is for zealous<br />
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I'm sure on a different day I'd choose different words, but those are the ones that struck my fancy today.<br />
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What words are you liking today?<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-35576989592831842932018-04-01T11:11:00.002-06:002018-04-01T11:11:58.315-06:00Processing...A week or so ago, I started a post entitled "The Mysteries of Motivation." I wrote about 3 sentences and then... well... I got distracted and somehow lost my motivation to finish it.<br />
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I know it's been forever since I've written, and I'm not exactly sure why. I keep forming posts in my head, but I just don't seem to be able to put into words the things I've been feeling lately.<br />
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For some reason, the Parkland shooting and its aftermath really hit me hard. I spent several days sobbing my eyes out. In a funny and sad way, it's wasn't so much the horror of what happened, because it's almost become commonplace these days to turn on the news and hear that some crazy person with a semi-automatic rifle has murdered a pack of innocent people. No... it was more the reaction of the kids that got to me.<br />
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Much has been made and written about the eloquence and articulateness of the kids who have been spearheading the #neveragain movement. And listening to them speak does fill me with hope. But the images that really got to me were the videos taken the morning after the shooting, of kids in the streets holding signs and screaming.<br />
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There was just something about the raw emotion they were expressing that really tore me up. I mean, on some level, the protests are wonderful... and I'm so very heartened to see these kids channeling their grief into action... but the very fact that they should have to do it in the first place... it's all just so very, very wrong.<br />
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<br />
And then there was the very distressing news coming out of the Arctic. Not sure if this made it into the consciousness of people who aren't as obsessed with the topic as I am, but back in February, some very strange and unsettling things happened up north. Basically, a surge of warm air burst through into the upper layers of the atmosphere (called a "sudden stratospheric warming event") and split the polar vortex into several pieces. This caused freakishly cold weather to descend into Europe and the eastern half of the US, but it also caused freakishly warm air to surge into the arctic.<br />
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There was a <a href="http://neven1.typepad.com/blog/2018/02/talk-about-unprecedented.html" target="_blank">general freakout in the scientific community</a> as places that should have been frozen solid and still gaining ice for the season were instead melting in the dead of winter.<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="und">
<a href="https://t.co/slfJHqCPvN">https://t.co/slfJHqCPvN</a></div>
— Lars Kaleschke (@seaice_de) <a href="https://twitter.com/seaice_de/status/968053860932685824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
I realize this is just one weather event, and one can't necessarily draw deep conclusions from one event, but it certainly felt ominous, and I just don't think it portends well for the future.<br />
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You know, waaaaay back in my early 20's I had an experience that sort of altered the course of my life. I was still living with my Ex. It was the weekend, so we had his young daughter staying with us, and for some reason it was just me and her home together. She was about 3 years old at the time, and some event (which I can no longer remember) caused her to melt down into a complete and total temper tantrum.<br />
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Then suddenly, out of the blue, I heard my mother's voice come out of my mouth. <br />
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I'm sure this is a fairly common experience among young parents, but given the fact that I had recently become an "insta-parent" ... or "insta-step-parent" well, it totally threw me. It wasn't fear of becoming my mother, it was more that it brought up a whole pile of emotions from my own childhood, which, until that moment, I had pretty successfully shoved into submission.<br />
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Part of me wanted to have my own little meltdown, but, of course, I couldn't. I mean, really... what was I gonna do? "Sorry sweetie, I know you're screaming at the top of your lungs, but this episode has triggered some unresolved feelings from my childhood and I really need to go deal with them." <br />
<br />
Anyhow, in that instant a whole bunch of things became crystal clear to me. Both of my parents came from abusive alcoholic families, and both had vowed that they would never do to their children what had been done to them. <br />
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And to their credit, they didn't... sort of. <br />
<br />
While neither of them drank or was physically abusive, they both became masters of psychological torture. The thing is... they weren't bad people, they were both just hopelessly trying to outrun their own personal demons... as were their parents, and their parents before them.<br />
<br />
The whole experience didn't last longer than a few minutes, but it was like I could suddenly see generation after generation vowing to "not be like them" but never being willing to do the difficult work of dealing with their own shit... and thus dooming themselves to pass along some new and different version of the same old shit to their own children. Because, you know, will power is simply not enough.<br />
<br />
So that was the moment in which I decided that unless and until I could be damned sure that I'd dealt with my own demons, I wasn't gonna have children of my own. I just couldn't face the possibility of creating another incarnation of the family bullshit.<br />
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<br />
So what does any of this have to do with school shootings or climate change? Honestly, for the past 6 weeks or so, I just haven't been able to shake the feeling that we, as a society, have collectively failed our children. It's like we're all part of one giant dysfunctional family, and we're all just, as a society, doing the same things that my own personal dysfunctional family did.<br />
<br />
We see the problems, but we can't bring ourselves to face the reality behind them. So we simply dress them up in different clothing and pass them along for future generations to deal with.<br />
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I don't know where any of that leaves me. As the title of this post would imply, I'm still processing...<br />
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In the meantime, life goes on. CatMan and I have been enjoying long bike rides. The scenery is amazing as usual.<br />
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And I even got up early this morning to open the curtain on the front window so Jasper and I could enjoy "Easter Sunbeam Services."<br />
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So it's all good. I can only hope that this new generation will be willing to tackle things in a way that previous ones have not.<br />
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Happy Easter everybody. May the season of rebirth fill us all with hope for a better future.<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-83829965118129731882018-02-03T13:47:00.003-07:002018-02-03T13:47:35.154-07:00Fun with Food StorageSo it's been about a year since I went totally off my rocker and decided to start stockpiling food. <br />
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Honestly, when you walk down the aisles of the grocery store - brimming with more food than one can really comprehend, well, I do think I'm a bit crazy. Like, why would people living in the land of plenty possibly need to worry about running out of food?<br />
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Perhaps I am just nuts, and that would be the best possible scenario, but on the off chance that I'm not, it does give me some level of comfort knowing that food is one thing I won't have to immediately worry about should something bad happen - whether it's economic, environmental, political, or who knows what.<br />
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Plus (and now you'll know that I'm REALLY crazy) I am having tons of fun with my food stockpile! First of all, it's soooo nice not to run out of things. Like if I'm cooking and I run out of olive oil, I don't have to panic - I just run downstairs, grab another bottle, and add it to the shopping list to replace the one I took out of storage.<br />
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And then there's the system. This is the part that I was really missing in my previous attempts to stockpile food - you can't just buy stuff willy-nilly and shove it in a closet somewhere. You have to have a system for rotating and using up your stock.<br />
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Soooo... when I buy stuff now, the first thing I do is mark the expiration date on the can or jar. I know the date is already on there, but making it clearly visible at a glance makes the whole process WAY easier.<br />
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Then when I'm putting it away, I take that opportunity to do a bit of rearranging. I put the new stuff in the back, and check for anything with an approaching expiration date. I bring anything that needs to be used soon (or that I'm planning on using soon) upstairs, and put in in the kitchen cabinet where it can get used quickly.<br />
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It's a bit like a never ending pantry challenge - which I consider to be great fun. I currently have some cream of mushroom soup and frozen peas that need to be eaten... so I see some tuna noodle casserole in my future!<br />
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My original plan was to try to stockpile a year's worth of food. Honestly, figuring out how much that is... well, let's just say that was a challenge. There are prepper sites online that offer guidelines, but they varied wildly, and some of it was downright comical. One said you needed 5000 calories per person per day. Seriously?!? I guess they're planning to burn a lot of calories during the apocalypse.<br />
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Well anyhow, my general approach is to just try to store enough short term food (like stuff that keeps for 1-5 years) so that I can eat it before it goes bad and continue rotating. With the longer term stuff (stuff meant to be stored for 20-30 years) - well, I bought some of that too, and honestly I haven't really figured out the best plan for making sure I use it before it goes bad - but hey, I've got a while before I really have to worry about that one.<br />
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So... here's what you've been waiting for. The crazy lady pictures - ordered by descending craziness level.<br />
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1) The canned food shelf.</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQFW2syk3GaCM4JlkYts3ztTgdOz8kYhU5yXa4zpXXbLGf7aGDbGMO6D1paxIh2IaaHX-I3zHzxaEpmNTZG5Ie0ABiYlgcQvctfKN8mKssVh3gYA7itG6x5TsMAkASeHNJ_pelXAoDnj-/s1600/canned-food-shelf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQFW2syk3GaCM4JlkYts3ztTgdOz8kYhU5yXa4zpXXbLGf7aGDbGMO6D1paxIh2IaaHX-I3zHzxaEpmNTZG5Ie0ABiYlgcQvctfKN8mKssVh3gYA7itG6x5TsMAkASeHNJ_pelXAoDnj-/s1600/canned-food-shelf.jpg" /></a></div>
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This bookshelf worked nicely as a place for storing canned goods. There's a little screen door of sorts that covers it up so that the cats can't knock something on the floor and injure themselves with a falling can. I'm not a huge fan of canned food, but canned beans really are convenient, plus it's nice to have some occasional convenience food and treats (like canned pineapple - yum!)<br />
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2. Pantry Cabinet number One.</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1lHrzUPxmbGAP44uzXxNoQd_6I4uC9zJYHfLYBUR6TEdrwz-WCKc3GYAp-omPFrNtbzdaz1jtQie7Mw5ezOJOnTl9OCS9aPsS3LuAmf3igngsJ6qtaDLsrKNmuOa6E9BGeT8Lc80zUAnX/s1600/pantry-cabinet-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1lHrzUPxmbGAP44uzXxNoQd_6I4uC9zJYHfLYBUR6TEdrwz-WCKc3GYAp-omPFrNtbzdaz1jtQie7Mw5ezOJOnTl9OCS9aPsS3LuAmf3igngsJ6qtaDLsrKNmuOa6E9BGeT8Lc80zUAnX/s1600/pantry-cabinet-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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This cabinet stores the canned cat food as well as other short term stuff - especially things that needed more sheltering from light than the canned stuff, or stuff that wouldn't fit easily on those shelves.<br />
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3. The Kitty Bin.</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03XvjrGxBn5REZne9BF8iroB87rEbabOl0rxiltwnpQR4bFCGVgBSxXj6OY6ntxShwi5J2e8VM_Ld3XNTtLOmQIY7BmUtZqfNiX6vbZIjgbbjzYplMWkh61kHWBC7ZqTXqaKpQjQS2H-8/s1600/cat-food-bin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03XvjrGxBn5REZne9BF8iroB87rEbabOl0rxiltwnpQR4bFCGVgBSxXj6OY6ntxShwi5J2e8VM_Ld3XNTtLOmQIY7BmUtZqfNiX6vbZIjgbbjzYplMWkh61kHWBC7ZqTXqaKpQjQS2H-8/s1600/cat-food-bin.jpg" /></a></div>
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And while we're talking kitties - I used an airtight plastic bin for storing bags of dry cat food. I figured it would keep out any mice or bugs, as well as any kitties who decided they wanted to open a fresh bag for themselves - which isn't really as out of the question as it might sound... ask me how I know!<br />
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4. Pantry Cabinet Two</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYqzar64XLCpnUoKl4oGlL0yAJm8sbwP-ys9hGC1r2VD_btC_E5942hSfTprIZf6wNnrTW4WTsimzlMDhCrZPxui_n4OqKJGuQyKFKNuhBAzgQE4Q5cRavZVG6mQGpUjhJiUu0nrivn70/s1600/pantry-cabinet-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYqzar64XLCpnUoKl4oGlL0yAJm8sbwP-ys9hGC1r2VD_btC_E5942hSfTprIZf6wNnrTW4WTsimzlMDhCrZPxui_n4OqKJGuQyKFKNuhBAzgQE4Q5cRavZVG6mQGpUjhJiUu0nrivn70/s1600/pantry-cabinet-2.jpg" /></a></div>
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And then we have this cabinet, which stores mostly dry goods. Only one of those shelves is actually full of protein powder, the other one is old protein powder containers filled with oatmeal. There's also pasta and dried beans and some random grains like millet and quinoa in there. Note the empty shelf on top! Always room for more!<br />
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5. Pantry Cabinet Three</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDitydtpROMPjoKwWyQ0jVmVuDVnxTd_jwhJnCEq3SVvVXbQRJq6kGvmCbbroK61H7skSPtLV45HAdr9QnrMVcG0DrHbVTTvNWG_nv2ct-cGO9kKDpCxLOL4LIsD68Fyi7TW4NNUlq5Wm4/s1600/long-term-cabinet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDitydtpROMPjoKwWyQ0jVmVuDVnxTd_jwhJnCEq3SVvVXbQRJq6kGvmCbbroK61H7skSPtLV45HAdr9QnrMVcG0DrHbVTTvNWG_nv2ct-cGO9kKDpCxLOL4LIsD68Fyi7TW4NNUlq5Wm4/s1600/long-term-cabinet.jpg" /></a></div>
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Now we're getting to more long term stuff. The white rice (there's Jasmine, Basmati, Parboiled & regular) will theoretically store for 10+ years in glass jars, and there's also sugar & Gatorade, and then stuff that I bought both from the Mormon church and various prepper sites - there's some beans & rice as well as freeze dried fruits, veggies, cheese, butter, milk, and even some chicken.<br />
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6. The Crazy Lady Closet</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__U0djNebayGmeP0MC1gPdOKvhZnPIyrKShi9otkxkNXXZQfQJeA_OahdI-IWk5xujlkmennvZT7bXHpovjGwgor2BB3aA9RjjRPOHvWAmjJ7BfIu0HYOLz1bWStxg5uNOnGVhFZSxY4Y/s1600/long-term-food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__U0djNebayGmeP0MC1gPdOKvhZnPIyrKShi9otkxkNXXZQfQJeA_OahdI-IWk5xujlkmennvZT7bXHpovjGwgor2BB3aA9RjjRPOHvWAmjJ7BfIu0HYOLz1bWStxg5uNOnGVhFZSxY4Y/s1600/long-term-food.jpg" /></a></div>
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And then we have the deep storage. This is all stuff that I ordered from the Mormons. It's all 30 year long term storage stuff including dried onions, potatoes, beans, apples, rolled oats, and milk.<br />
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And that's about it... except for... the freezer! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbx6KokS2EvsyUowJcRkhWlSacljnNkhtYKlblg67nJKGcnOqRb3kBMJQMUCx4aFJtU7OcWcVcFByJHobBrYg-7hkDURldwdPMUKN43GN_pGzUqDihHDw4uoiFRCUcHLucIYYgqyMFi4Q_/s1600/full-freezer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbx6KokS2EvsyUowJcRkhWlSacljnNkhtYKlblg67nJKGcnOqRb3kBMJQMUCx4aFJtU7OcWcVcFByJHobBrYg-7hkDURldwdPMUKN43GN_pGzUqDihHDw4uoiFRCUcHLucIYYgqyMFi4Q_/s1600/full-freezer.jpg" /></a></div>
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Oy! This is one area where I really need a better system. It's the shape of the darned thing that makes it so hard to keep it organized. My current system is to try to have a bag for each category of food - breads & flours, meats & meat alternatives, cheese & butter, and fruit & veggies. But as you can see... I'm not doing a very good job keeping up with it - it's just such a pain to pull everything out when you need to get something or put something away. So if anybody's got any suggestions for better freezer organization - I'm all ears!<br />
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So that's the news from the crazy lady. I'm curious if anybody else out there has dabbled in food stockpiling. I'd love to hear about your systems if you have!<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-39292014698724635132018-01-24T14:48:00.000-07:002018-01-24T15:04:43.689-07:00History in my ClosetWe FINALLY got some decent snow here in the Mile High City. It wasn't a big storm, but we got about 5 inches, which is the biggest snowfall we've had in over a year, so yay! There was great rejoicing.<br />
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Since winter finally decided to make an appearance, I figured it was time to pull my down jacket out of storage... and to my great disappointment, the broken zipper hadn't magically fixed itself in the year or so that it had been stored away. Harumph! Where are those magic elves when you need them anyway?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN97os0LBbBykr7UKHQ8lER1QF3K2lUyFJeukNU_b5cMXzbbJuPW2yqxG5wvYX_CjTnqOIUOBdUYXgSUFFHvTsoo1TSoFhXidSJdlhxJisiRxWZGLTVzgpPbUdpny7i5-uhpYtpx-_meEh/s1600/c44427614659e694b30e3b680770f9e2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="420" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN97os0LBbBykr7UKHQ8lER1QF3K2lUyFJeukNU_b5cMXzbbJuPW2yqxG5wvYX_CjTnqOIUOBdUYXgSUFFHvTsoo1TSoFhXidSJdlhxJisiRxWZGLTVzgpPbUdpny7i5-uhpYtpx-_meEh/s400/c44427614659e694b30e3b680770f9e2.jpg" width="306" /></a></div>
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I used to think that I had a zipper curse, because they always seem to die on me. Then CatMan pointed out that most people don't keep their clothes around as long as I do, and perhaps that's why my zippers always seem to die. Hmm... At any rate, I can deal with it if the little puller thing falls off, but once the insertion pin starts to separate from the fabric, well, it's all over but the shouting.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejojamNLwsN61dHD3aUSOFhxkf0zbMr3UWkWlNgN_otkE087orpln7Ion5BuB80c1fMc7u9nsjD0_WzyOr1AsD2sTDmUbC3JbSfD9bhF3YjeX1WM4XB-skpz7PA7dho84eSf-aP2NTv9o/s1600/broken-zipper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="375" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejojamNLwsN61dHD3aUSOFhxkf0zbMr3UWkWlNgN_otkE087orpln7Ion5BuB80c1fMc7u9nsjD0_WzyOr1AsD2sTDmUbC3JbSfD9bhF3YjeX1WM4XB-skpz7PA7dho84eSf-aP2NTv9o/s400/broken-zipper.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not my photo, but you get the idea</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Time to replace the zipper! This is not a terribly big job, and I've done it many times before, but as I was shelling out $10 for a new zipper, I was sorta thinking that I could probably buy a whole new-to-me jacket at the thrift store for that price. But I like this jacket - it's nice and warm, and besides, we've been together for a good long time.<br />
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Waaaaay back when I first got out of college in the early 1990s, I was working at a non-profit music school making dirt for pay. The organization operated on a shoestring, and every year we'd have a big fundraising rummage sale to help make ends meet. This jacket was donated for the sale, but nobody wanted it. Hard to blame them. It was definitely a "vintage" item by that point, I figured it had probably been made in the 1970s. Plus, the fabric cuffs & collar were tattered and torn, and it definitely looked like it had seen better days.<br />
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But... I was broke, and needed a warm jacket, and since the staff were allowed to take anything that hadn't sold, well, the price was right, so I decided to give it a new home.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi02G2Oc8wIgJXj_CHg8vRBi6UCpbCwXvXu22Fdd8Qhrsv5ByGtCjusT75yIMeSVfayo1k5l9swvENANDYZG9wARGdFnI5B-xIaH2OqdZcCaWlqaZo7BtFqsFjU_CId_gf0BpcI9isFFyMm/s1600/jacket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi02G2Oc8wIgJXj_CHg8vRBi6UCpbCwXvXu22Fdd8Qhrsv5ByGtCjusT75yIMeSVfayo1k5l9swvENANDYZG9wARGdFnI5B-xIaH2OqdZcCaWlqaZo7BtFqsFjU_CId_gf0BpcI9isFFyMm/s1600/jacket.jpg" /></a></div>
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I'm not a great seamstress by any stretch of the imagination, but I found a scrap of fabric and covered over the worn collar and cuffs - originally they were an orange plaid, and I liked the new color much better anyway, so I considered it a big win. And after a good cleaning, it looked good as new!<br />
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Anyhow, I had a few challenges with the zipper - mostly because getting the old one out was a bit more complicated than usual. The snaps had been put in straight through the fabric of the zipper, so I had to cut it to get it out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRAMeFz8t_4zLgYn7ensjKiIv3W7iWMhlqUg7cJFNNq7Jc8VdYMTlOqKLqXAK2Yz8mjJEYc-gu3eXRSPcmLDYvdhn4erNwyYeM0oIWMWU11kPDiRLK_v9f4p9x9xeDeVIpinjgSj7xwEZ/s1600/zipper-snap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="375" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRAMeFz8t_4zLgYn7ensjKiIv3W7iWMhlqUg7cJFNNq7Jc8VdYMTlOqKLqXAK2Yz8mjJEYc-gu3eXRSPcmLDYvdhn4erNwyYeM0oIWMWU11kPDiRLK_v9f4p9x9xeDeVIpinjgSj7xwEZ/s400/zipper-snap.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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But I persevered... and along the way I noticed this tag - which I'd never really looked at before.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmyHClIkh-JkDhvH9kf_mQcsSBp_lRGoIO0sziVuMT00O_RmyrDaGo_DehvZ2lODpGEWl-gX5TFpnSIgBdl4krTChyQLp3tfv54KlIRGmRvLNkfwBq7WhONVuCNCgqcsaY1uAyv6pt9om/s1600/tag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijmyHClIkh-JkDhvH9kf_mQcsSBp_lRGoIO0sziVuMT00O_RmyrDaGo_DehvZ2lODpGEWl-gX5TFpnSIgBdl4krTChyQLp3tfv54KlIRGmRvLNkfwBq7WhONVuCNCgqcsaY1uAyv6pt9om/s1600/tag.jpg" /></a></div>
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Made in Denver, Colorado?!? I didn't know there were any local companies that actually made outerwear. And the brand name, Gerry, wasn't familiar either.<br />
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I asked CatMan if he recognized it, and to my great surprise, his eyes lit up. "Your jacket is a Gerry?" he said excitedly. Apparently Gerry was one of the very first companies to manufacture outdoor gear for hiking, camping, mountaineering and the like, and it was a name he recognized from back in his rock climbing days in the 1960s.<br />
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Hmmm... perhaps there was more to my little jacket than I realized.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5JeOrKNDNwsMt-a5UPZXDM_f8f6ahxyr4nXFedp0utrt1Kvd5tbCd6vhGRzXFIjuGh9X0sCeBCiCqpPupKZsg9YZEQH7ZMLHrhDAUkL9R_Ee9XQuhgXh4wv4zsvE1Kk0qTNN5FG98cZXV/s1600/-hmm-6855.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="610" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5JeOrKNDNwsMt-a5UPZXDM_f8f6ahxyr4nXFedp0utrt1Kvd5tbCd6vhGRzXFIjuGh9X0sCeBCiCqpPupKZsg9YZEQH7ZMLHrhDAUkL9R_Ee9XQuhgXh4wv4zsvE1Kk0qTNN5FG98cZXV/s320/-hmm-6855.png" width="318" /></a></div>
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So I did a bit of research, and what I found sorta amazed me.<br />
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<a href="http://www.gerryoutdoors.com/" target="_blank">Gerry</a> was founded by a fellow named Gerry Cunningham, who was an avid outdoorsman. He served in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_Mountain_Division" target="_blank">10th mountain division</a> during WWII. I'm not sure if that means much to folks outside of Colorado, but in these parts it's a pretty big deal. They trained outside of the town of Leadville (where my family is from) and fought in some of the toughest terrain of Italy during the war. They are widely credited with turning the tide on that front.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmQXNrZv1gr-81tLIMR06d4OkimvQM5lzRGHwC6ayRvJe2qS0UlU6o9JymJwzIymcPXbrIYRQXNLFAe7t3fRrtj0G58iip7GRakSSge0j1n43dK7FcaIY5HfipupDiWKyTuAgOKS7TFU0/s1600/10th-mountain-division.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmQXNrZv1gr-81tLIMR06d4OkimvQM5lzRGHwC6ayRvJe2qS0UlU6o9JymJwzIymcPXbrIYRQXNLFAe7t3fRrtj0G58iip7GRakSSge0j1n43dK7FcaIY5HfipupDiWKyTuAgOKS7TFU0/s1600/10th-mountain-division.jpg" /></a></div>
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After the war, Gerry and his wife started making backpacks and opened a mail order company which eventually expanded to stores in both Boulder and Denver. He is credited with a <a href="http://www.gerryoutdoors.com/our-heritage.php" target="_blank">long list of amazing innovations</a>, including the first zippered backpack, a redesign of the carabiner, the first drawstring cordlock clamps, the first kiddie carrier, and yes, the first down jackets!<br />
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He was even inducted into the National Sporting Goods Hall of Fame! Who knew? I mean, I didn't know there was such a thing as the national sporting goods hall of fame, but I still think it's pretty cool that my jacket was designed by someone who was inducted into it!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZp4cnuxXyZUkoiPVdxuKqXtjXYc5aAzTWaIcHJxh8vu8c1j-UnibVtBcIWNtDFb_T2z3GBTbHctHRlKeDzfaA3qdUxkn4LVyLh37WLeCwx4_3wNAl8DpLgev1C-eKmyio263ZNavvPTIS/s1600/hof.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="145" data-original-width="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZp4cnuxXyZUkoiPVdxuKqXtjXYc5aAzTWaIcHJxh8vu8c1j-UnibVtBcIWNtDFb_T2z3GBTbHctHRlKeDzfaA3qdUxkn4LVyLh37WLeCwx4_3wNAl8DpLgev1C-eKmyio263ZNavvPTIS/s1600/hof.jpg" /></a></div>
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So after learning all that, I'm pretty glad I decided to replace the zipper instead of the jacket. In this age of mass produced junk manufactured overseas, there's something pretty cool about owning an item with such a storied provenance. I figure my jacket is probably at least 40 years old by now, and with any luck it will continue to serve me for another 40 years to come.<br />
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So tell me, do you own anything with an interesting history? I'd love to hear your stories!<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-66465369409203063652018-01-12T12:29:00.000-07:002018-01-12T12:38:05.404-07:002017 Energy and Carbon Footprint ReviewSoooo... since January seems to be the season for annual reviews, I figured I take some time to peek at my energy usage and see how it's looking.<br />
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First of all, my energy company (Xcel) offers a bill averaging service where instead of paying for your actual monthly usage, you pay an averaged amount based on you previous year's usage at the time you sign up. If your usage starts to vary wildly from the previous year, they'll adjust your monthly payment mid-year, otherwise they just adjust in on the anniversary of your sign up month.<br />
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I LOVE this service. Not only does it make it easy to budget for utilities costs, it also makes conserving energy into a fun little game. Each year as September rolls around, I start to get excited to see if I'm gonna be able to hold steady or even lower my bill. Yes, I am a total nerd.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4mxvTSDCfaG1OBG4OHk4HweWEbF8T4shATyVHsJR_6SjubuUUzzCuOFTYW3R28AlSsf7AYib2KHGV-BadMyumJWYUgmxFHeRRwdPRW3xccFMiiLiPkItdIYtvUeZqSlXgUJlaLbsxBrS/s1600/nerd-cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4mxvTSDCfaG1OBG4OHk4HweWEbF8T4shATyVHsJR_6SjubuUUzzCuOFTYW3R28AlSsf7AYib2KHGV-BadMyumJWYUgmxFHeRRwdPRW3xccFMiiLiPkItdIYtvUeZqSlXgUJlaLbsxBrS/s320/nerd-cat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This year I was super excited because my bill went down a bit, and my monthly energy cost (natural gas & electricity) is now only $78. Woo Hoo!<br />
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That's especially exciting since I pay a voluntary "green guilt" tax of 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour on my electricity so that I can get all of it from wind power, which worked out to a total of about $73 for the year. At some point I would love to explore the option of rooftop solar, but my yard has several big trees that might make it unworkable, plus the fact that I've lost 2 roofs to hail in the 20-some-odd years I have lived here sorta makes me nervous about going that route.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjox8temo_IcuDNb-kQ6uK6gUivC1XiWeVOHMPt4pQ3-lBk1R7-pskqo_Ax5aRNKSPnRYaxLD6MV2DG3bND2ie95AjK8ALL47_Ww-aHhU77Hlnztqr0KJglfbtRRKJqd5gNW82caUCH494V/s1600/3286.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="576" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjox8temo_IcuDNb-kQ6uK6gUivC1XiWeVOHMPt4pQ3-lBk1R7-pskqo_Ax5aRNKSPnRYaxLD6MV2DG3bND2ie95AjK8ALL47_Ww-aHhU77Hlnztqr0KJglfbtRRKJqd5gNW82caUCH494V/s320/3286.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Anyhow, this year I decided it might be fun to delve a little deeper into my energy usage to see if there are places I can save a little bit more, both in terms of money and environmental impact.<br />
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So, 2017 energy usage for my 900 square foot house with full basement was:<br />
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<b>Natural Gas: 390 therms (32.5/month average)</b><br />
<b>Electricity: 4848 kWh (404/month average)</b><br />
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Each month Xcel sends out a cute little email that allows you to compare your usage to that of your neighbors, and mine always comes in as "better than your efficient neighbors." But I started to wonder, what exactly does that mean? And how does "better" translate in terms of environmental impact?<br />
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I know getting firm numbers on this sort of thing is sorta impossible, but I decided to explore some other options and happened upon a fairly decent <a href="http://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/calculator" target="_blank">carbon footprint calculator</a> created by the folks out at Berkeley in California.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr4-ucu8K4M064fXB_oDcylZLr7tCtccvkj4PMGKCeqI69HXYsKm3a0ggGBcU3FY0UnA-oL6Q5fpWw_rWxr_vlEnZRyvJKjdMcGqoIdTsbLS8yFubgXRyUKLUa8uESnjRcZKhOHXDYdDF6/s1600/carbon-footprint1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="576" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr4-ucu8K4M064fXB_oDcylZLr7tCtccvkj4PMGKCeqI69HXYsKm3a0ggGBcU3FY0UnA-oL6Q5fpWw_rWxr_vlEnZRyvJKjdMcGqoIdTsbLS8yFubgXRyUKLUa8uESnjRcZKhOHXDYdDF6/s320/carbon-footprint1.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now, I don't know if you've ever played with carbon footprint calculators, but let's just say that once you get beyond things for which you might have firm numbers - like energy use and mileage, well, the numbers start to get pretty hand wavy at best.<br />
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Nevertheless, according to this calculator, my annual carbon footprint is somewhere between 7-8 tons depending on how I answered certain questions. Seriously, it asked how much I spent per month on health care, and gave me radically different carbon numbers depending on whether I entered my insurance premium before or after the tax credit. (Waves hands wildly.) But it did say that the average one person household in my zip code with similar income is around 22 tons per year.<br />
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That's interesting, but I'm still not sure how much it tells me in terms of my own usage and how I might improve. I mean, I read <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428120658.htm" target="_blank">another study</a> which said that a homeless person in the US has a carbon footprint of 8.5 tons/year! So... my carbon footprint is slightly better than that of a homeless person?!?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4RoxlkyYfKu4fDpbzZVDlVqwzOOPzgXe1OsDw3u7Gr_dn9F5YWlX2ymVYH7Y1aTCJcwWuqIQI2UHQ9FWAHIVFTBFRrgWUQobInHu-c2vNMJ93DzQvRyZ8QS0lZQDqWfLRUZ1EINgoBCCV/s1600/a-confused-cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="380" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4RoxlkyYfKu4fDpbzZVDlVqwzOOPzgXe1OsDw3u7Gr_dn9F5YWlX2ymVYH7Y1aTCJcwWuqIQI2UHQ9FWAHIVFTBFRrgWUQobInHu-c2vNMJ93DzQvRyZ8QS0lZQDqWfLRUZ1EINgoBCCV/s320/a-confused-cat.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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Well anyhow, since none of that seemed terribly helpful, I decided that instead of trying to calculate my entire carbon footprint, I'd just focus on the stuff for which I had hard numbers and see what that would tell me.<br />
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Sooo... figuring that my car gets around 29 MPG and I only drove about 668 miles, that comes out to 0.3 tons of carbon emissions last year. Electricity would be the big one at 4.6 tons, but since all of my electricity came from wind power, that number went to 0. Woot Woot! $73 well spent, IMHO. So that leaves natural gas, where my emissions totaled 2.4 tons.<br />
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Looking at it that way, it's pretty clear that the biggest place I can save - at least in terms of carbon emissions, is my natural gas usage.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2kytS_ZkrkRisXz9XD83XuGzOmsu_Jw8q-us13TU8B5Tjr_yjyXMpsGx2-iZZu0vTuFzMjwupo1VCRIAPcCgGXMch-pIEeNSqp7xRcj9KMxb7PwNTj-LbDUKmsLbYdmS-Ou-h0j5tV_j_/s1600/i-warmed-your-alankets-with-onnt-natural-gas-4917540.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2kytS_ZkrkRisXz9XD83XuGzOmsu_Jw8q-us13TU8B5Tjr_yjyXMpsGx2-iZZu0vTuFzMjwupo1VCRIAPcCgGXMch-pIEeNSqp7xRcj9KMxb7PwNTj-LbDUKmsLbYdmS-Ou-h0j5tV_j_/s320/i-warmed-your-alankets-with-onnt-natural-gas-4917540.png" width="306" /></a></div>
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There are only 3 appliances in my home that use natural gas: the furnace, hot water heater, and clothes dryer.<br />
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Now, at this point I should probably mention that my home has a hybrid furnace. When I replaced the ancient furnace about 10 years ago I decided to upgrade and get whole house air conditioning as well. And since I was doing that, it made sense to pay a little bit more and get an air conditioner which could run backwards as a heat pump, because it's a significantly more efficient method of heating... at least until it gets really cold. Once the weather drops below about 40 degrees (around 4C) the heat pump has a hard time keeping up, so it switches over to the gas furnace (which is a 95% efficient model.)
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The hybrid furnace is so efficient that my energy bills stayed pretty much flat after installing it, even though I now had air conditioning. Plus, a lot of the burden for heating was switched from gas to electricity, and since that all comes from wind power, I figure that's an environmental win.
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At any rate, the way the hybrid furnace ends up working is that it mostly uses the heat pump during the day and then switches over to the gas furnace at night when the temperature gets colder. So, one way to get an easy savings on natural gas is to turn the temperature down a few more degrees at night. I did have it set to 64 at night, but a few weeks ago I turned it down to 62. With an extra blanket on the bed I honestly haven't noticed any difference, so I might consider going a bit lower still. I also set it to lower the temperature an hour earlier in an effort to encourage myself to get to bed at a decent hour.<br />
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Lest you worry that my little kitties are cold at night, they each have a 4 watt heated cat bed so they can stay nice and warm.
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There are plenty of other things that I might explore to save on heating costs, but these are probably topics for another post. But things I'm considering include bumping up the level of insulation in my attic, weather stripping around the attic door & insulating ceiling light fixtures, blown in wall insulation, upgrading my siding to stucco (which involves adding a layer of insulation board), cellular shades on the windows, and maybe even new windows.
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So that leaves the dryer and the hot water heater. The dryer is an easy one. I sorta got out of the habit of hanging my clothes to dry because of the <a href="https://ecocatlady.blogspot.com/2016/06/opportunity-in-crisis.html" target="_blank">carpet beetles</a>. One way to kill the eggs and larvae is heat, so I've been using the dryer in an effort to kill off the little buggers. But since I seem to have turned the corner on that issue (knock on wood) I think it's probably safe to go back to line drying - at least for most things. I'll probably still put big things like bedding in the dryer.<br />
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Similarly, I had the hot water heater turned up to the highest setting so that I could use the hot cycle on the washer to kill beetles. But once again, there's no need for that anymore (I hope), so I've turned it down a notch or two - plus I'm going back to washing laundry in cold water.
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I also bought some foam pipe insulators and covered the first few feet of pipe coming out of the hot water heater. I'd like to do more, but alas, that's as far as I can reach without ripping out the basement ceiling - which sorta seems like a bad idea.
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So that leaves my Achilles heel of hot water use... bathing. <br />
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Yes folks, I am a hopeless bathtub addict. I like to soak for at least an hour until I turn into a complete prune. It is one of my true vices, and I am loath to give it up, especially in the winter time. But, since <a href="https://ecocatlady.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-water-closet-report.html" target="_blank">I did finally get the diverter valve fixed so I now have the option of taking a shower</a>, I do think that some of my hot water use will go down there too - especially in the warmer months of the year.
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So that's my plan for the moment. I'm hopeful that it will pay dividends both in terms of my natural gas bill and my carbon footprint - all without sacrificing anything in terms of comfort or convenience.<br />
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Have any of you ever calculated your carbon footprint or energy usage? I'm curious to hear how our numbers compare.
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-75418174282033302192018-01-08T14:09:00.000-07:002018-01-08T14:22:13.124-07:00The Annual Odometer ResetAlrighty! 2017 is done, and the numbers are in:<br />
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In general I'm very happy with these numbers. I was totally stoked to get over 3000 miles on my bike - mostly I credit the good weather, especially the crazy warm & dry fall we had last year. So that's 591 miles more than I rode in 2016. Yay!!<br />
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The car numbers... well, while 668 miles is pretty minimal, it is 130.2 miles more than I drove in 2016. I think I can safely blame that on my many trips to various home improvement stores with all of my remodeling projects. So, while I'd love for my driving miles to go down every year - I think as long as I stay under 1000 miles per year, I'm happy.<br />
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So as I'm writing this, I'm <a href="http://thesustainabilityagenda.com/episode-17-professor-kevin-anderson-climate-change-warning/" target="_blank">listening to a podcast</a> by climate scientist Kevin Anderson. He argues that in order to stave off catastrophic climate change, we will need massive changes - both technologically and societally. He thinks that when it comes to reducing personal emissions, the key thing is to do it publicly. In other words, the value of taking steps to lower one's carbon footprint is not so much the tiny amount of carbon emissions that one person can save, rather it's serving as an example to one's peers - because it's only through collective action that we'll solve this problem.<br />
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So in that spirit, I figured I'd blather a bit about my general philosophy when it comes to transportation. I want to be clear that my point here is not to criticize anyone whose choices are different from my own. We all have different realities and priorities. I'm simply trying to show you what works for me. And if I'm being perfectly honest, my motivation for staying out of my car has very little to do with trying to reduce my carbon footprint, and everything to do with trying to improve my quality of life.<br />
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<h4>
Commuting</h4>
<a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/americans-commuting-over-100-hours-yearly-3320980" target="_blank">The average American spends over 100 hours per year commuting</a>. Good Lord! And <a href="https://www.statisticbrain.com/commute-statistics/" target="_blank">there are over 3 million Americans who's daily commute is over 50 miles each direction</a>! Can you imagine? Seriously, the mere idea of having to dedicate that much of my life just getting to and from a job sorta makes me want to stick an ice pick in my temple.<b></b><br />
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I wrote <a href="https://ecocatlady.blogspot.com/2016/09/car-free-vs-commute-free.html" target="_blank">a post detailing many of my feelings about commuting</a> a while back, so I won't bother to repeat it all, but suffice it to say, I am a firm believer that it is well worth the effort to arrange your life so that you have the smallest possible commute. Commuting is a non-issue for me these days since what work I do, I do from home. But even before I quit my job, my commute was only 5 miles. That wasn't an accident. When I bought my house, one of the things that was very important to me was that it be relatively close to where I worked.<br />
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Now, I'd like to claim that this decision was an altruistic one made out of concern for the environment, but the truth is that I just plain hate being stuck behind the wheel of a car.<br />
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<h4>
Shopping</h4>
I try to shop as close to home as possible. I am lucky. Even though my house only gets a <a href="https://www.walkscore.com/" target="_blank">walkability score</a> of 55, I have the following resources all under a mile from my doorstep: 2 grocery stores, 1 laundromat, 1 post office, 1 dollar store, 1 convenience store, 1 veterinarian, 1 bakery, 2 liquor stores, 3 gas stations, about a dozen bars and restaurants, and a bunch of other things I've never visited like clothing boutiques and pawn shops. If I expand that radius to about 3 miles, those resources expand dramatically.<br />
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So the vast majority of my shopping chores can be accomplished very close to home. And once again, while I'd like to say that the decision to patronize the stores in my immediate neighborhood is done out of altruistic concern for the environment, the truth is a lot more like enlightened self interest.<br />
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The thing is, I really LIKE having two grocery stores a few blocks from home, and I want them to stay in business. So while it's sometimes tempting to hop in the car and drive a few miles to a bigger, more modern store that might have a slightly bigger selection, ultimately, I'd rather patronize the ones in my immediate neighborhood, even if it means I can't get some of the schmancy treats I'd like to have. Plus, when I do make a trip to a different store to get something special... it's just that: <i>special</i>.<br />
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There are, of course, some things that can't be purchased close to home, and for this I try to either group my purchases so I can make say one trip to the bike store rather than many. Failing that, I order online. Now I know there are people who claim online shopping is horrible for the environment, but I think the devil's in the details on that one. On the one hand, I can have something delivered... on a truck... which will be winding its way through the neighborhood making a bunch of other deliveries anyhow or, I can spend an hour in my car driving across town to get the same item... well, I think that's a toss up at best in terms of which is worse.<br />
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<h4>
Travel and Entertainment</h4>
I once read that back in the 19th century, the vast majority of people lived their entire lives within about 100 miles from where they were born. That's pretty unfathomable by today's standards, but the idea of living one's whole life in a relatively small geographic area really resonated with me. It makes me think of my grandmother, who, though she was definitely a 20th century gal, lived her entire life in what, by today's standards, would be considered a pretty small area.<br />
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Grandma was born in southern Colorado, grew up in a mining town in the mountains, followed various husbands (she had 3 of them) to Denver, and several towns in both northern Colorado and southern Wyoming. Finally she came back to Denver where she lived the rest of her life. While I'm quite sure there were small vacations throughout her life that I never heard about, the big one was when she was in her 70s. My dad sent her and her best friend on a Caribbean cruise - and I never saw anybody so happy and excited about anything in my entire life. She literally danced around the Christmas tree hooting and howling when Dad gave her the tickets that year. It was just what I think a vacation like that really should be - a BIG, special deal.<br />
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Now, I'm not in any way suggesting that people should try to live like it's the 19th century, or even necessarily like my grandmother did. But I do find the whole idea of staying relatively put in a geographic sense to be wonderfully grounding. My house is only about 3 miles from the one I grew up in, and the older I get, the more I appreciate having a real sense of place in my life.<br />
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So here's a little secret - I haven't been on a plane since 1993. Come to think of it, that was also the last time I made it outside of the state of Colorado! And you know what - I don't feel like I'm missing one tiny little thing.<br />
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Now, I'm not knocking travel - I did plenty of it in my younger days. I've traveled all across the US, been to New Zealand, Hawaii, Mexico, and through numerous countries in Europe & Scandinavia. But here's the thing, when it comes right down to it, a place is just a place. It's not that I don't have an appreciation for different cultures, but the thing is, when you visit a place as a tourist, you seldom get a chance to experience much about the culture you are visiting. <br />
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And while there are certainly days in the middle of winter when I think it would be wonderful to be laying on a beach in Hawaii, the reality is that in order to get to that beach, I would first have to find someone to take care of my house & cats, deal with traffic, crowds and airport hassles, then climb inside of a tin can with wings and deal with hours and hours of motion sickness and the probably migraine that would follow. And once I got there, every meal would be sort of like a dance with death as I struggled to communicate my many food allergies to some cook who may or may not "get it."<br />
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So once again, I'm not being altruistic here, it's more like I've crafted a life that I have no need or desire to "get away from." And, that being the case, not having to deal with the hassles of travel is a monumental relief.<br />
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Now, CatMan and I do have some friends down in Manitou Springs - which is a lovely little town on the edge of the mountains outside of Colorado Springs, so we make the 150 mile round trip about once or twice per year. CatMan drives on those trips so it isn't reflected in my car mileage. <br />
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Plus, I think that my biking habit really fills the role of getting out and about for me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMPFxJCKJyVIGf1EPdcRt724-K8ngqehLN_qxxw89qRUDZB1Npiqf_pZAj-O3sekBDYdwLxr7xJmRFhnLgTMyhLsLj1099uoPXaDmlV2HMf393KWzC3a2ZWYg09n6KH35u1TKdHHNReyIA/s1600/cat-invisible-cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="752" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMPFxJCKJyVIGf1EPdcRt724-K8ngqehLN_qxxw89qRUDZB1Npiqf_pZAj-O3sekBDYdwLxr7xJmRFhnLgTMyhLsLj1099uoPXaDmlV2HMf393KWzC3a2ZWYg09n6KH35u1TKdHHNReyIA/s320/cat-invisible-cat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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For some reason, there is something infinitely more special about riding your bike to a beautiful place, than simply getting in a car and driving there.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.photos-public-domain.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/red-rocks-park-600x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="300" src="https://www.photos-public-domain.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/red-rocks-park-600x450.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Rocks Park - Photo taken on a bike ride last summer</td></tr>
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Anyhooos.... those are my thoughts about driving, cars and travel. I'd love to hear what you think. Do you drive a lot? Does anybody out there hate it as much as I do?</div>
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-925630633903491942018-01-02T22:11:00.000-07:002018-01-02T22:11:50.760-07:00Impromptu FeastSo... the past week or so I've had a really bad migraine that I just couldn't shake. The thing about migraines - at least for me - is that it's not just a matter of pain, there's a whole syndrome that goes with it, which includes a low level brain fog.<br />
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Anyhoo... I ran out of my favorite German pumpernickel bread, and rather than risk my life and that of others by trying to get behind the wheel of a car (closest store that carries it is out of easy biking or walking distance - plus... burrrr!) Well, I was pretty sure there was a "reserve loaf" buried somewhere in the depths of the chest freezer, so I decided to go freezer diving.<br />
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It seemed like a good idea at the time... really it did. I found the pumpernickel, and while I was at it I did a little quickie inventory and reorganization. My organizational system for the freezer involves grouping like items into grocery bags... one bag for cheese & dairy, one for meats & meatless patties, one for flours, meals & breads, and one for frozen fruits & veggies.<br />
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You know, it was amazing how much more room there was after a quick little reorganization. I was honestly quite pleased with my little self as I went back upstairs to defrost and enjoy my pumpernickel.<br />
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But then... the next morning when I went downstairs to clean the litter boxes, there was this bag sitting in the middle of the floor next to the freezer. "That's odd..." I thought to myself. Then the feeling of dread set in.<br />
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Yup... sure enough, in my migraine induced brain fog, I had somehow left one of the bags out of the freezer!<br />
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I held my breath hoping against hope that it would be the bread bag... but no, it was the fruits & veggies. Fortunately, for some unknown reason there was an ice pack in the bag, and since it stays pretty cool down in the basement anyhow, things weren't entirely melted.<br />
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But... even though all of the stuff was still good and clearly edible, it was a bit soft and mushy, and putting it back in the freezer would have been a bad idea.<br />
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Soooo.... Cue the New Year's Eve Cook-a-thon!<br />
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First I made roasted cauliflower<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhISEREJFBHwvJrqh3biPNRiJxQWrIK9ToB71komvw4saB-dAfhY-WVpaBzUzAqpkYTZvxmDeeKQuSJS4nO8bi87o3ZscJpX8Bg12kc0YZQnsDiEhYO39DBYSuXrRLdudRGKAOGBGRRyhoY/s1600/roasted-cauli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhISEREJFBHwvJrqh3biPNRiJxQWrIK9ToB71komvw4saB-dAfhY-WVpaBzUzAqpkYTZvxmDeeKQuSJS4nO8bi87o3ZscJpX8Bg12kc0YZQnsDiEhYO39DBYSuXrRLdudRGKAOGBGRRyhoY/s400/roasted-cauli.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Then green bean casserole<br />
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Then since I already had some chicken thighs defrosted in the fridge, I tabled my original plans, and went for a roasted chicken with veggies to use up the rest of the veggies.<br />
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That left 2 big bags of frozen fruit... which made a decent (if a bit soggy) fruit salad.<br />
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And finally, a pile of frozen garden tomatoes & basil - which became a pesto-ish sauce.<br />
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Not a bad save if I do say so myself. <br />
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I think I've got enough leftovers so I won't have to cook for a while, plus it was sorta nice to have the oven running for a few hours on such a cold day!<br />
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So I guess the moral of the story is: Don't go freezer diving for pumpernickel when you're not fully present!<br />
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Anyhow... I hope you all had a safe and happy New Year's Eve!<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-61089863135305502017-12-29T23:14:00.002-07:002017-12-30T00:12:07.207-07:00Øystein's Sweater, and the Lunacy of Modern Fashion<span style="font-family: inherit;">When I was a kid I spent a year living in Norway as an exchange student. At the time, knitting was all the rage among my female classmates. I tried to take it up, really I did, but apparently I lack the knitting gene. While others find it meditative and relaxing, I fear for me it just led to cursing and frustration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, one of the boys in my class was named Øystein. He was quite memorable - tall and lanky with copious locks of flaming red hair. A true vision of your prototypical Viking.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
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Øystein played the tuba, and was a bit of a class clown. That way my interpretation at least. Not being fluent in either the language or the culture, sometimes it's hard to tell. At any rate, there was a running joke among the girls in the class about Øystein's sweater. You see, he only had one. Or at least, he only wore one... every single day.<br />
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One day, one of the girls offered to knit him a new sweater. Øystein gave her a somewhat puzzled look and replied with complete innocence: "Nei Takk, Jeg har en genser, Jeg!" Which translates to: "No thanks, I have a sweater, I do!" The entire class erupted in laughter, but it's still unclear to me whether he was trying to be funny, or if he simply couldn't fathom why anyone would possibly need more than one sweater - I mean, you can only wear one at a time, right? Either way, no new sweater was forthcoming, and he continued to wear the same one every day until the winter was over.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />I love that story. I think of it frequently, and it puts things into perspective when I read a blog post about wardrobe size, or when I see commercials for clothing stores, or whenever I hear someone obsessing about fashion. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To be honest, fashion has never really been "my thing." It's not that the younger me didn't try, I just never seemed to be able to pull it off. In the end, I'd always end up spending a bunch of money, and wasting a bunch of time in front of mirrors trying things on, all the while growing less and less content with the way I looked. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPB7YOxg_8iEyd6ez7Lo5dVbZK18RlG9D_S83eN6MCC11l_PmcP2_HPk5giB4nlX7ETAVKe35CWDmzACPJF0mI7rGJgTjXuVPasD0Q8exbD2f_5uGFftThAdh1qkmzAvaadGydI8jL5sbn/s1600/885a028d-5e3f-4703-ae6e-e84d66674c07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPB7YOxg_8iEyd6ez7Lo5dVbZK18RlG9D_S83eN6MCC11l_PmcP2_HPk5giB4nlX7ETAVKe35CWDmzACPJF0mI7rGJgTjXuVPasD0Q8exbD2f_5uGFftThAdh1qkmzAvaadGydI8jL5sbn/s320/885a028d-5e3f-4703-ae6e-e84d66674c07.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And, you know, I really think that's the whole point. OK, bear with me here, as I'm about to get exceedingly cynical, but it seems to me that the entire fashion industry is built upon a horrifically cruel premise. You make people feel bad about their bodies, so they'll go out and spend ridiculous sums of money buying some new piece of clothing in order to make the bad feelings go away. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I know there are plenty of women out there who will vociferously disagree with me, but I really think that an industry which profits off of giving people a poor self image is just plain evil - to say nothing of skin and bones fashion models, or people in third world countries employed at slave wages toiling away in sweat shops producing the clothes in the first place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">When your really think about it, it's sorta crazy how far the world of fashion has diverged from the actual purpose of clothing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKOqLolbVdm5MS1b9l-12n84rkB4pNa-JF2-DfzherPBBwZl3qwJtvmGhP18WYBg6hU_UFud5geXOBWrZY0dzjgsmnQYoDD912P9AZ_1MIDWlHeLBubPRsLyK-nZ-qIPVikqq9_ogijce/s1600/fashion-jeans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKOqLolbVdm5MS1b9l-12n84rkB4pNa-JF2-DfzherPBBwZl3qwJtvmGhP18WYBg6hU_UFud5geXOBWrZY0dzjgsmnQYoDD912P9AZ_1MIDWlHeLBubPRsLyK-nZ-qIPVikqq9_ogijce/s400/fashion-jeans.jpg" width="266" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And even when the styles are less ridiculous than the "thong jeans" pictured above, they keep changing what's "in" every year or two, so people will feel obligated to keep up with the times by continuing to buy their products.<br />
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Seriously, once back when I was still working at the music school, a bunch of us were sitting around waiting for a meeting to start. One of the young women was complimenting another on her new boots. She then proceeded to say how ashamed she was of her own boots because they were last year's style. It took great effort for me not to scream, "You're a single mother who has trouble putting food on the table and keeping a roof over your children's heads for God's sake, why the hell are you concerned about whether your boots are last year's style or not!!!"<br />
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Of course, I didn't say anything, but it does make me both sad and angry to see people spending crazy amounts of money fighting the hopeless battle against their own insecurities - a good chunk of which have been manufactured by the very industry that wants you to spend the money in the first place!</span>
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And don't EVEN get me started about the incredible wastefulness of an industry which produces garments designed to be worn a few times and then discarded. Grrrrr....
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLrvEnGKaHV0G_iVWGnbBIA1ic7tAUBOy_EPEpVRuAgH3MOu23LIQ3bhIBAdGa7BKcSev8sXXd28h62xmMPpzPBY52qYmzj1WjalyHbWXh2OFuPOOonlgX9xfsag5jwWxLE7tBtKoHFCMo/s1600/2683840761_876fa04b96.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="500" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLrvEnGKaHV0G_iVWGnbBIA1ic7tAUBOy_EPEpVRuAgH3MOu23LIQ3bhIBAdGa7BKcSev8sXXd28h62xmMPpzPBY52qYmzj1WjalyHbWXh2OFuPOOonlgX9xfsag5jwWxLE7tBtKoHFCMo/s320/2683840761_876fa04b96.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></span></div>
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I mean, where do people get the idea that it's somehow gauche to be seen wearing the same thing more than once? I recently heard that there was a great stir because <a href="https://www.popsugar.com/fashion/Kate-Middleton-Blue-Suit-Christmas-Card-2017-44435159" target="_blank">Kate Middleton wore the same suit</a> for her family Christmas photo that she'd worn on several previous occasions. Seriously? Do people really pay attention to this sort of thing?</span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqhEqLDvugEJ2q3cYvvdOomj0_TYP4y9Aa-w_RrOU2NhynVN6NGmRFKoyzsQI2WyyHIwIPnfk8vWF63O44t2yvYAelVA71KQP7EXYECxoq2Mf6Klr5YPfzaXzn-oxbLRUD1VWubczVdXFF/s1600/Kate-Middleton-Blue-Suit-Christmas-Card-2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="791" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqhEqLDvugEJ2q3cYvvdOomj0_TYP4y9Aa-w_RrOU2NhynVN6NGmRFKoyzsQI2WyyHIwIPnfk8vWF63O44t2yvYAelVA71KQP7EXYECxoq2Mf6Klr5YPfzaXzn-oxbLRUD1VWubczVdXFF/s320/Kate-Middleton-Blue-Suit-Christmas-Card-2017.jpg" width="247" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">You know, when I quit my job about 10 years ago, one of the great reliefs was that I no longer needed the sort of wardrobe that I used to... not that people in the world of folk music are deeply into fashion, but when you don't have to be applying for grants or schmoozing potential donors, the bar for what's considered "presentable" lowers considerably.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And then <a href="https://ecocatlady.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-life-changing-magic-of-carpet.html" target="_blank">the carpet beetles struck</a> a few years ago, and I had to basically pack everything into airtight containers unless it was getting worn frequently enough to be washed every week or two.</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTaUea52A5e3QsqHgWn9hwTMU2Gjdz1WT-rArf5NXIG293RCA_9ULc4KKUrpqUHwNKAhieX4J_qYluIyju29_Om2KlPzdHiYvUWHjJ6eJVA6J6ngeGVA9qAU95gJJnSaEkQZoXNCOqFHz/s1600/15ikzb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTaUea52A5e3QsqHgWn9hwTMU2Gjdz1WT-rArf5NXIG293RCA_9ULc4KKUrpqUHwNKAhieX4J_qYluIyju29_Om2KlPzdHiYvUWHjJ6eJVA6J6ngeGVA9qAU95gJJnSaEkQZoXNCOqFHz/s1600/15ikzb.jpg" /></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So while minimalism was never really my goal in terms of clothing, in the past few years I seem to be embracing the Øystein school of fashion. Seriously, at this point my winter wardrobe (excluding bike wear - which I sorta think of as "equipment" rather than "clothing") consists of 4 pairs of sweat pants, 1 pair of jeans, 3 smartwool base layers, one sweatshirt, a fleece jacket, and yes... ONE sweater!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And you know what, it's sorta wonderful. I basically wear what's clean until it's all dirty, at which point there's enough to fill up the washer (if you include the bike wear and towels) so I throw it all in there and start over again. The only real downside I can see so far is that stuff wears out a LOT faster when you wear it that frequently. But you know what, that's OK. Once the holes in xyz item have gone past the point of no repair, I'll turn it into a rag and fetch something "new" out of storage. Eventually, I'll have to actually buy some replacements, but that's what the thrift store is for, and at the rate I'm going it will be a good long time before I have to go there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now, I'm not saying that I think everyone should strive for Øystein status in the clothing department. Different lives will undoubtedly require different sorts of wardrobes. But, the next time you're frantically pulling things out of the closet in the midst of a wardrobe crisis, I'd simply ask you to remember this: You are not Kate Middleton, and nobody really cares what you wear... at least nobody who's opinion you ought to care about does.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSgXnb_KmpZzT8Ab8km-DZQBX5v5DJwiDNT407ibCTYq-MvVe4GQJCzJuZUXgwtKwmrea3hswKRHrphN6Cdpoo78rD6-TTejm-suBGd_TtBAy56P3ZBISkxHFaovh35kexm0oUkhc5o2pD/s1600/seuss_.be-who-you-are.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="550" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSgXnb_KmpZzT8Ab8km-DZQBX5v5DJwiDNT407ibCTYq-MvVe4GQJCzJuZUXgwtKwmrea3hswKRHrphN6Cdpoo78rD6-TTejm-suBGd_TtBAy56P3ZBISkxHFaovh35kexm0oUkhc5o2pD/s400/seuss_.be-who-you-are.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></span></div>
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There's a wonderful little footnote to the Øystein story. Of all the people I have crossed paths with in this little life of mine, <a href="http://www.baadsvik.com/" target="_blank">Øystein has become one of the most successful and even famous</a> - well, famous as tuba players go. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFx3Lwoa8qSiEk4wiBsEmxqJaKR0Cb0c65xKLzYswaT-gmduzB8RKDuTOPWo7cVsXcxjt-5EcnFloDumcHoNFRt6mjbwkLLxH8e8-GFWvolUoiWRY9emV_BZtKe6mxzlT-m0aI11Kuqao/s1600/baadsvik_large3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="680" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFx3Lwoa8qSiEk4wiBsEmxqJaKR0Cb0c65xKLzYswaT-gmduzB8RKDuTOPWo7cVsXcxjt-5EcnFloDumcHoNFRt6mjbwkLLxH8e8-GFWvolUoiWRY9emV_BZtKe6mxzlT-m0aI11Kuqao/s320/baadsvik_large3.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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It warms my little fashion-hating heart to know that his wardrobe, or lack thereof, in no way hindered his magnificent success. And who knows, maybe it even contributed to it. Because when you're not worried about stupid stuff like fashion, you've got a lot more time, money and energy to devote to the things that really matter in life.</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-34069230392830075902017-12-26T01:46:00.000-07:002017-12-26T10:28:29.830-07:00Thoughts on Income, Wealth, and the End of the WorldSo I've been taking a break from the endless home improvement projects around here. And since the weather is cold (no bike rides), and my Denver Broncos are out of the playoffs (less motivation to watch football), and I can't stomach any more sappy Christmas movies, I've had plenty of time to waste cruising the interwebs collecting <i>interesting</i> tidbits of information, and letting them all stew in this little brain of mine. Consider yourself warned!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgekTI87nGbF2QCCntlVLR3v1UP10KMySPJFbhQHIHtJHFF7aWzfJKeePjJcjfc8YhGvg5ciu4kD8ZpjFAaJotJQ7fxeTMnM-NNKp9K8eiJpJ1JE8VDrYLTQWmt0-n1nIfOj2p3wqHjfWzO/s1600/lolcat-look-out-below.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgekTI87nGbF2QCCntlVLR3v1UP10KMySPJFbhQHIHtJHFF7aWzfJKeePjJcjfc8YhGvg5ciu4kD8ZpjFAaJotJQ7fxeTMnM-NNKp9K8eiJpJ1JE8VDrYLTQWmt0-n1nIfOj2p3wqHjfWzO/s1600/lolcat-look-out-below.jpg" /></a></div>
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Now, originally, I was gonna provide links to all of the articles that caught my eye, but I couldn't find them all, so you're spared the reading assignment. You'll just have to take my word for it that this mishmash of facts and information, which seems to have congealed in my little brain, actually came from genuine sources - not just something I pulled out of mid-air.<br />
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So first, (<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4888574/1-20-chance-climate-change-wipe-humanity.html" target="_blank">OK, I did actually find a source for this one, though it wasn't the same article I originally read</a>) I read that </span>researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have calculated that climate change poses a 5% chance of human extinction by the year 2100. <br />
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Um.... let that sink in for a moment...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvH1RdR7o55XrNDZg48FtL79YsjbXDPgacwQX-FLR1fc1oxmKJOHJ-UsprEcGENOCh8vXPlXDR47loNOuXSlOYu9OgiT9Tb_UgGkIOCmSnKUoZPpO6hIhNSDneOJdpgKS4SxqGYZoxL6y/s1600/holyshitpe6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvH1RdR7o55XrNDZg48FtL79YsjbXDPgacwQX-FLR1fc1oxmKJOHJ-UsprEcGENOCh8vXPlXDR47loNOuXSlOYu9OgiT9Tb_UgGkIOCmSnKUoZPpO6hIhNSDneOJdpgKS4SxqGYZoxL6y/s1600/holyshitpe6.jpg" /></a></div>
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That is a truly terrifying statistic! 5% is like 1 in 20... and they're not merely saying there's a 5% chance of significant climate change... they're saying there's a 5% chance that 82 years from now there will be no more people left on the planet. Like <b><i>extinct</i></b>, dead, nada, zippo, zilch, good bye, stick a fork in the human race, we're done for.<br />
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Now, the <a href="https://scripps.ucsd.edu/" target="_blank">Scripps Institute</a> is not some sort of fringe organization... and they're not using crazy <a href="https://guymcpherson.com/" target="_blank">Guy McPherson</a> assumptions either. Their numbers are coming straight from the IPCC, whose predictions are broadly considered to be very conservative among climate change scientists.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUPiOFf_vVbiHKjIEpIdshnK3wXDpIRBNvVZ-oLAkWdfn2Rd5G1FgJI97VS-S7t9eDYxQy9I2MdcXMIzbt72i_RSYVBEgZdwL65tCz7I14nuMyT3nQW-O9nfJ9r6imlHbMCvuqHb8DrSWj/s1600/Lolcat-gulp.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUPiOFf_vVbiHKjIEpIdshnK3wXDpIRBNvVZ-oLAkWdfn2Rd5G1FgJI97VS-S7t9eDYxQy9I2MdcXMIzbt72i_RSYVBEgZdwL65tCz7I14nuMyT3nQW-O9nfJ9r6imlHbMCvuqHb8DrSWj/s1600/Lolcat-gulp.PNG" /></a></div>
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OK... so here's the next little tidbit - this is the one I really wish I could find the source for, but somehow I seem to have lost the link. Anyhow, I read about a study where they looked at a large group of people and calculated what their "carbon footprints" were - meaning how much carbon dioxide they emitted through their day to day activities. They then gathered all sorts of demographic data about said group of people - things like age, religion, race, political affiliation, marital status, and a whole slew of other stuff.<br />
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Interestingly enough, of all the demographic categories they looked at, the one that had the SMALLEST correlation with their carbon footprints was... wait for it... whether or not they considered themselves to have a "green" lifestyle! In other words, they could find little measurable difference in the carbon footprints of people who said they were concerned about the environment and trying to live in an ecologically friendly manner, and those who thought that global warming was a hoax.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8VaTaj5bsfCsHMxsqdgICMOMhLNleMneGWZceh4cTO0Hj95Etu4eMejBKRW-mZo3C06lzppqLaclP_6OIs5tVw_FIu-eTjIluF9bMbIs2BMOIQzAdom1FHubf41RxzwLoFHOgOvz_mKyj/s1600/lolcat-facepalm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8VaTaj5bsfCsHMxsqdgICMOMhLNleMneGWZceh4cTO0Hj95Etu4eMejBKRW-mZo3C06lzppqLaclP_6OIs5tVw_FIu-eTjIluF9bMbIs2BMOIQzAdom1FHubf41RxzwLoFHOgOvz_mKyj/s1600/lolcat-facepalm.jpg" /></a></div>
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The demographic category which had the strongest correlation to carbon footprint? You guessed it, income. Their basic conclusion was that wealthy people just lead high carbon lifestyles. They live in big houses, drive big cars, fly all over the world, and just generally emit a whole bunch of CO2. And even when wealthy people said they were concerned about the environment and trying to "live green," they generally weren't willing to make the sorts of changes that would really have a meaningful impact.<br />
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OK... next piece of data. This one came from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIODRrnHQxg" target="_blank">a presentation</a> given by <a href="http://kevinanderson.info/" target="_blank">Kevin Anderson</a>, a respected climate change scientist. It's no secret that people from different parts of the world have very different carbon footprints. Yes... we here in the US are the worst offenders. But here's the tidbit that struck me: within each individual country, it is the top 10% (economically speaking) who do the vast majority of the emitting.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PqXLxleBMIssEvy6NpO7lnlcID3PM5kycfW4KwSGDhxQ8xisZgxuLHoLWWcQf0LRI-i0ecfK0FJ5zvg6IoOGH_modh6cJQVIOGGR-BgOgBns8YfTVFYavKutnfSv_ZnoouywbF-qN4v6/s1600/BN-LN773_indpol_G_20151203031922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="553" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PqXLxleBMIssEvy6NpO7lnlcID3PM5kycfW4KwSGDhxQ8xisZgxuLHoLWWcQf0LRI-i0ecfK0FJ5zvg6IoOGH_modh6cJQVIOGGR-BgOgBns8YfTVFYavKutnfSv_ZnoouywbF-qN4v6/s1600/BN-LN773_indpol_G_20151203031922.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This graphic wasn't from Anderson's talk, but it illustrates the point he was making</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Now, here's the final little tidbit. (<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/the-answer-to-this-question-will-tell-you-if-youre-wealthy/ar-BBGK8WR" target="_blank">And I do have the link for this one</a>.) It was an interesting little article about a personal finance blogger by the name of <a href="http://lifeandmyfinances.com/about/" target="_blank">Derek Sall</a> who has come up with a somewhat unconventional way to determine your personal wealth. He says it has nothing to do with your income per se, and everything to do with how long you could last if you lost your job tomorrow. Here's his little "Wealth Scale."<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Less than a month: Broke</li>
<li>1-3 Months: Teetering</li>
<li>3-6 Months: Satisfactory</li>
<li>6 Months - 2 Years: Well Off</li>
<li>2-5 Years: Wealthy</li>
<li>5 or more Years: Ultra Wealthy</li>
</ul>
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You can probably guess that he's preaching to the choir here, but I did find it somewhat amusing that according to Mr. Sall, I am in the Ultra Wealthy category! Not bad for someone who, judging by income alone, would be considered barely above the poverty level. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0o1y2dGJucT91_KJV3GRjroHc3-vV-jZG0IHCm7uBvl9TYNmHpS20ZvAlsnFKV7u78aS5bmIH_bkCFIeggYX7YuLb-63nGPAtRcCSp_H1upxkx3VFRqUlXOBDQjyTZQNhJ_tWA7efj56/s1600/541853407_3c9b52d6bb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0o1y2dGJucT91_KJV3GRjroHc3-vV-jZG0IHCm7uBvl9TYNmHpS20ZvAlsnFKV7u78aS5bmIH_bkCFIeggYX7YuLb-63nGPAtRcCSp_H1upxkx3VFRqUlXOBDQjyTZQNhJ_tWA7efj56/s1600/541853407_3c9b52d6bb.jpg" /></a></div>
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<div>
OK... so that's what's been sifting around in my brain the past week or two... and when you put all that together and stir, here's what I come up with.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Saving humanity from climate change cannot be achieved via the Great Green Guilt Parade. Instead, we ought to focus on teaching people to live beneath their means. </span></b></i></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></b></i></div>
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Crazy as it might seem, that little revelation gave me quite a bit of hope. I have long believed that the moralistic approach to environmentalism was a losing game. It's not that I don't think it is immoral to leave future generations a planet that's uninhabitable, I just think that when push comes to shove, moralism has a pretty poor track record in terms of actually changing human behavior.<br />
<br />
But if the goal is learning to live happy, contented lives on less money - rather than all of this "greener than thou" nonsense - I think there's a much greater chance of success. I mean, think of the possibilities! All we have to do in order to save humanity is convince people to work less, rest more, save their money, and enjoy being "Ultra Wealthy." Sounds like a recipe for a much healthier and happier society, if you ask me - that is certainly my own experience when it comes to living with less.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLRSpMTwgYN8K4FB7XD5nNEB5B7uBoZ4_ZY3enUtUuCXT9X0t3IhnfsEiIJu6kWlkYwGR_V4IElf5x4nIUSGo_4eWcz53rKm7mNT698yAiWNouE-5nNcBDWFtHuwZyY4ovUq5zF7CqgEKo/s1600/funny-pictures-planet-needs-superkitten.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLRSpMTwgYN8K4FB7XD5nNEB5B7uBoZ4_ZY3enUtUuCXT9X0t3IhnfsEiIJu6kWlkYwGR_V4IElf5x4nIUSGo_4eWcz53rKm7mNT698yAiWNouE-5nNcBDWFtHuwZyY4ovUq5zF7CqgEKo/s1600/funny-pictures-planet-needs-superkitten.jpg" /></a></div>
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So what do you think? Can frugal living save the planet?<br />
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-26521882762633763132017-12-22T14:41:00.000-07:002017-12-22T14:41:14.580-07:00Reflections in Late DecemberSo, winter finally got here... sorta. <br />
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<a href="https://www.zingerbug.com/holidays/glitter_graphics/winter_river_with_snow.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" src="https://www.zingerbug.com/holidays/glitter_graphics/winter_river_with_snow.gif" /></a></div>
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It snowed last night for the first time since, I dunno... September maybe? It was only about an inch, which leaves us WAY below the 2 feet or so that has normally fallen by this point in the season. But the temperatures took a nose dive, and it does at least feel a bit more "normal" for this time of year.<br />
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Not that I'm complaining about the warm weather we've been enjoying - it's been a bike-filled fall, and I've enjoyed every moment of it. Here are some random photos from rides we took this fall. I left them higher resolution than I usually do, so you can click on them for bigger versions if you like.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBLCjvsY0bcfwM7T2dd7zFFCm1AcKprIs8zy-MLoJXnLC-xAPhvjodTaUDwyPmIeWn-s7H9dUssmEVVB8rwvWhsBvtPzd22zYfFyjKIWLOMj5G2lP_T8vKeQOalhX5YfgRRYOP5LtFja8/s1600/bear-creek-lake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1021" data-original-width="1361" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBLCjvsY0bcfwM7T2dd7zFFCm1AcKprIs8zy-MLoJXnLC-xAPhvjodTaUDwyPmIeWn-s7H9dUssmEVVB8rwvWhsBvtPzd22zYfFyjKIWLOMj5G2lP_T8vKeQOalhX5YfgRRYOP5LtFja8/s400/bear-creek-lake.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8NF0VZsZQmHRZbr0w023Bc94jLoXmXRPPO9sClp9vkbIzCTXedvdgao4Pd_fNix9r0dx7IhjSp6E3Fhy70v0sQwOj5IIKAfFrF0HMPe2kgJwZCz7IGzQ-P1ypoyybOLs11uoQH9EpawiD/s1600/mt-carbon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1021" data-original-width="1361" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8NF0VZsZQmHRZbr0w023Bc94jLoXmXRPPO9sClp9vkbIzCTXedvdgao4Pd_fNix9r0dx7IhjSp6E3Fhy70v0sQwOj5IIKAfFrF0HMPe2kgJwZCz7IGzQ-P1ypoyybOLs11uoQH9EpawiD/s400/mt-carbon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGKRH6l-U1BYZxm0CCDXZjcxtSPJPP7ZWWoPktLds2afzcLBnYdwfWmrxFoCwrApCphL-MSLeimWpCXqS6TrHOxe2uXQKQ6hKF9eVDkR0c1jP4iTgvjpD3pyFHY9mIK_jEkNiYGbKDv6K/s1600/overland2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1021" data-original-width="1361" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGKRH6l-U1BYZxm0CCDXZjcxtSPJPP7ZWWoPktLds2afzcLBnYdwfWmrxFoCwrApCphL-MSLeimWpCXqS6TrHOxe2uXQKQ6hKF9eVDkR0c1jP4iTgvjpD3pyFHY9mIK_jEkNiYGbKDv6K/s400/overland2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFDiwnDAuM2a0Ott8eXWx14KHKEnmmP5QWBJCA_UA1NA3JLVUe78chTNsz403GB48M_7t-hO4l2YIfxic80zZ6W25UcttpKrzJBq9L9Gi7Af1w2nqpqxzwYPv8HLZAq4eCIFz9d1ZsUTH/s1600/overland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1021" data-original-width="1361" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFDiwnDAuM2a0Ott8eXWx14KHKEnmmP5QWBJCA_UA1NA3JLVUe78chTNsz403GB48M_7t-hO4l2YIfxic80zZ6W25UcttpKrzJBq9L9Gi7Af1w2nqpqxzwYPv8HLZAq4eCIFz9d1ZsUTH/s400/overland.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcdRdIRI8oKCfUVSFRTFlML6knFv9virft2YrgiiU99jLNEHhl_kIXZ0frSivWMeBDkEwnjBUaIoWcnTwrYhk6QRhWhd_3FQqW1tVRJ1bSTPVXmaiSsRRREFQRBQMEGnaKJuUce906vz0J/s1600/south-platte-bike-path.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1021" data-original-width="1361" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcdRdIRI8oKCfUVSFRTFlML6knFv9virft2YrgiiU99jLNEHhl_kIXZ0frSivWMeBDkEwnjBUaIoWcnTwrYhk6QRhWhd_3FQqW1tVRJ1bSTPVXmaiSsRRREFQRBQMEGnaKJuUce906vz0J/s400/south-platte-bike-path.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The other day we were near the spot where the first 2 photos were taken, when we ran into a young woman from Venezuela. Chatting with her certainly put things into perspective. If you're not familiar with the situation down there... well, let's just say it's rather grim. The way she put it, "You can be killed at any moment - that's just the way it is."<br />
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It was a good reminder for me, that even though it feels like things are headed off the rails in the political arena here, we're still vastly better off than the majority of people on this planet.<br />
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The cold weather probably means we won't get much biking in for the rest of the year, but that's OK. I've already broken my personal best for miles (just over 3200 for the year) so I'm quite satisfied with that.<br />
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In other news, CatMan and I watched It's a Wonderful Life the other night. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHIAEP4l4eUcDKhxOOYswOxNtRS_O_OjCm1Hq7FL8b03pWxfjuSC1eIdfkb8ku_wtpM0RK-ec4t5FRMWEhCh3E_roawvznm-ypSbxCVUMcc8hs1RBhVqC0bHyKJ4f6aLwCqt-bj6-bnjE/s1600/its-a-wonderful-life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHIAEP4l4eUcDKhxOOYswOxNtRS_O_OjCm1Hq7FL8b03pWxfjuSC1eIdfkb8ku_wtpM0RK-ec4t5FRMWEhCh3E_roawvznm-ypSbxCVUMcc8hs1RBhVqC0bHyKJ4f6aLwCqt-bj6-bnjE/s400/its-a-wonderful-life.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Oh, how I LOVE that movie. Talk about another gratitude reminder. We always think that the good stuff is somehow "out there" - but in reality it's all right here.<br />
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Anyhow, a dear friend of mine lost her beloved cat yesterday. As she and I were talking about it all, It dawned on me that it was 13 years to the day since I lost my sweet Mow kitty. I'm feeling a bit sad thinking about it.<br />
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So I'll leave you with a picture of my beautiful Mow-girl, and a story that I wrote years ago about her passing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5uHiXTDXZE_5PynsgfWUH4YSY61vDzB09Ht7O9RGY2uIL3pbJVNT6sgsmYkIhG2xHJqE5WfTJtoBkc1N9wOj8mvf16wexHALv7ryVwyb6Pkd51R3vF-scpjHMdAbUOt6a0rHMPHzkavi/s1600/MowCloseup.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5uHiXTDXZE_5PynsgfWUH4YSY61vDzB09Ht7O9RGY2uIL3pbJVNT6sgsmYkIhG2xHJqE5WfTJtoBkc1N9wOj8mvf16wexHALv7ryVwyb6Pkd51R3vF-scpjHMdAbUOt6a0rHMPHzkavi/s400/MowCloseup.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Wishing each and every one of you the very best this holiday season.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>The Best Christmas Presents I Ever Received</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">It was Christmas time, and my beautiful cat was dying. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Her name was Mow. I had wanted to name her Emma, because I thought that a beautiful cat deserved a beautiful name. But the man I was living with at the time had known a dog named Emma, and lest the two become inexorably confused in his psyche, Emma was out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">He wanted to call her “Bunny Butt”. Bunny Butt?!?!?! Well, in his defense, she was a Manx, and in place of a long feline tail, she did have a cute little bunny-like nub. Still, I thought she deserved better. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">We went round and round for weeks but were unable to reach a consensus. Finally our little kitty took matters into her own paws and named herself “Mow” (like meow without the “e”). In retrospect, “Mao” might have been a better spelling since she ruled the household with an iron paw! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">But at this point, her name didn’t matter, it only mattered that my best friend in the entire world was dying. She truly was my best friend. She had seen me through so many difficult times… the ending of the above-mentioned relationship, and some very difficult situations with my family and at work. Through it all, she was my constant companion, always there to lick my forehead when I needed cheering up, or cuddle with me in bed if I was lonely.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The last years had been difficult. A little stray cat who came to be named Daisy had wandered into our lives, and although she was a sweetheart in her own respect, she and Mow never saw eye to eye. I tried for years to integrate the two of them, using every trick in the book, but for all of my efforts I was never able to get them to the point where they could be in the same room without bloodshed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">When Mow was diagnosed with kidney disease, hyper-thyroid, and maybe lymphoma (the vets disagreed) in April, I decided that it wasn’t fair to put her through any more trauma, and resigned myself to having a divided household. Mow was the upstairs cat and Daisy had the garden level. In my heart, I knew she didn’t have long to live, but I hoped against hope that she would make it to Christmas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The months dragged on and she grew steadily weaker. I tried every medicine and diet and therapy I could find, shelled out a huge portion of my life’s savings on veterinary specialists… but then on Thanksgiving Day she started to cough, and I knew it wasn’t good. An X-ray confirmed the cancer in her lungs. She was far too weak to survive surgery, and even if it were to be successful it would only extend her life a matter of a few months at best.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">So that was it… my little friend was dying, and I was a wreck. I was wracked with guilt… what had I done wrong? Had I fed her the wrong food? Used the wrong kitty litter? Failed to notice some sign I should have seen? I was afraid to leave the house. What if I returned home to find she had died all alone and afraid? But most of all, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to handle her death. Would I have to have her put to sleep? How could I ever make such a horrible decision, and how would I know?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I finally decided that I would just have to let her tell me when it was time. She had managed to tell me what her name was, so I figured she would let me know when she was ready to go. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The days grew shorter, and my little friend spent more and more time sleeping in her various “nests”… under the coffee table, under the recliner, in the linen closet. I tried to comfort her, but she grew more and more withdrawn. I missed my little friend terribly, and she wasn’t even gone yet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">But then, about a week before Christmas, I was lying in bed worrying about her, when all of a sudden I felt the familiar thump of her little paws as she jumped up onto the bed. She hadn’t joined me in bed for several weeks, and I was pretty sure that she never would again. Yet there she was, purring and scratching at the covers with her familiar little barking meow. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I lifted up the covers and arranged the pillows to make her a little “tent” just how she liked it, and she settled down making “spoons” with me just as she had every night for so many happy years. I rubbed her belly as she purred and I quietly cried. I don’t think I slept at all that night, not wanting to miss even a second of her precious gift.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Two nights later things got really bad, and I knew the end was here. She was so weak that she couldn’t walk but a few feet before collapsing, and she was starting to have real difficulty breathing. I decided that if she made it through the night I would take her in the following morning to let my suffering little friend finally rest. So I curled up next to her, and tried to comfort her the best I could. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">A few hours passed, when suddenly, she got up. I put my hands out to catch her if she wobbled… but she did not wobble. She walked… no she actually marched over to the screen door that I had rigged at the top of the stairs to keep her separated from Daisy. She clawed at the door and mewed at me insistently. “She must be hallucinating” I thought to myself, and went to pick her up. But she pawed at the door again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Tentatively, I opened the door and let her go down onto the landing. Daisy, whose interest had been aroused by the pawing at the door, was on her way up the stairs. I prepared to snatch little Mow out of harm’s way, but to my utter surprise, there was no growling, no hissing and no signs of distress from either cat. Instead, the two touched noses and sat together on the landing, purring quietly for about five minutes. Then they both stood up and rubbed faces briefly before Daisy went back downstairs. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">That was the first and only time that they were ever together in that way. It was as if Mow was making her peace with Daisy in her final hours. It was another amazing gift from my amazing little kitty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I took my sweet Mow upstairs and cradled her in my lap. She died in my arms about an hour later. And when the event that I had so feared for so many months finally came to pass, I was amazed to find that there was incredible peace in her passing. The worry, the struggle, the guilt, the fear were all over. I held my little friend, thanked her for filling my life with such love, and told her that I hoped she could still feel the love that I had for her. Her final gift was letting me be with her at the end, and sparing me the agony of having to have her put to sleep.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Years have passed since then. Daisy died a few years after Mow, and they are buried together out in the garden. I now have three beautiful cats who all get along wonderfully. But every year when the holidays draw near, I remember the events of that Christmas, and the wonderful gifts that Mow bestowed in her final days. They were truly the best Christmas presents I have ever received.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In the end, she didn’t quite make it to Christmas. She died on the solstice, the longest night of the year. In my heart I think she was telling me that the dark nights were over and it was time for the light to return again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7685979597473858413.post-57736984998201996822017-12-12T14:15:00.000-07:002017-12-12T14:15:32.877-07:00Trying to Get Right with Light<div>
So... an interesting thing happened a month or so ago. Windows 10 installed a major update on my computer, and with it came a new feature: Night Light.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGPluNVUSqBRKqg_UhgQwOcOndtF06D2F3GBmmfOklJGhWpNkyWgFl6bTbZk4eaKTbgMMHzo6Ga_IWKQFc_BkF1_e0Z9B5_aB_zu35OyLoRdRdm719fM98qikJpgK-bncG59D8WODt89A/s1600/img_58e68ef3e53a5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGPluNVUSqBRKqg_UhgQwOcOndtF06D2F3GBmmfOklJGhWpNkyWgFl6bTbZk4eaKTbgMMHzo6Ga_IWKQFc_BkF1_e0Z9B5_aB_zu35OyLoRdRdm719fM98qikJpgK-bncG59D8WODt89A/s400/img_58e68ef3e53a5.png" width="500" /></a></div>
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It's basically a setting that allows you to set up a schedule to automatically filter out the blue light which supposedly prevents your body from producing melatonin, and thus, keeps you up at night. I wasn't really expecting it to have much of an impact on me, but boy was I wrong!</div>
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A few days after installing it, I started noticing something I've never really experienced before... evening drowsiness.<br />
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If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably know that I am a life long night owl. Every few months I vow to reform my ways, but I just always feel wide awake at night, and it's really, REALLY hard to force yourself to go to bed when you feel more alert the later it gets.<br />
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I mean, seriously, I've been fighting this issue my entire life. And I don't just mean my entire adult life... I've been battling with bedtime as long as I can remember. At some point early on in my childhood my mother just gave up, and decided to let me stay up as late as I wanted. I think she thought I'd just inevitably get sleepy and the problem would correct itself, but what really happened was that I was just tired all the time, and had and impossible time getting out of bed in the mornings.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgla8eOyoWrhKlyQokJzAvrKqexpfLhlWl42uRCrZbZXFFigJJDGhI9nv0RAyH1rE-_n4mTZf8FB9mJiuw1Sp9Z5CkX3QC9U7IH7Wl4dmMYsWBL9LlmGM6nrSuMO8yb9SnwmStJ01wNEO5m/s1600/kid-hates-mornings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgla8eOyoWrhKlyQokJzAvrKqexpfLhlWl42uRCrZbZXFFigJJDGhI9nv0RAyH1rE-_n4mTZf8FB9mJiuw1Sp9Z5CkX3QC9U7IH7Wl4dmMYsWBL9LlmGM6nrSuMO8yb9SnwmStJ01wNEO5m/s400/kid-hates-mornings.jpg" width="380" /></a></div>
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Honestly, it almost felt like my body was just wired wrong or something - like I was meant to live on a planet with 28 hour days or something. There's even a name for this syndrome, it's called "Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder." Anyhow, over the years I've tried sunlight therapy, full spectrum lamps, forcing myself to get up earlier, forcing myself to go to bed earlier, "sleep hygiene" routines, melatonin supplements, and pretty much anything else I could think of. None of it ever worked, so I had basically come to the conclusion that his was just something I'd have to live with for the rest of my life.<br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">But suddenly, here I am, actually feeling tired at night! What a revelation! Could it really be that simple? </span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Anyhow, I did some reading and discovered that there is some evidence to suggest that people with chronic night owl syndrome like me are simply much more sensitive to artificial light than your average bear. Hmmm... </span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Suddenly I recalled a visit to the eye doctor where I was told that I was not a good candidate for Lasik surgery because my pupils were too big. Hmmm...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNLgzLFqDpQuDhsAkLccx0WKNu87o4aWVZE6FEPTAqQIT8Key-B2XxsCW9uum1yWYpQo1Mlg6Y_6PfUAROZQa5az0j51OdeO6ubRyLoegpBMPLP_NkTVbNtvc2WVSv_LdkK93yVpFD8R3X/s1600/cat-with-big-pupils.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNLgzLFqDpQuDhsAkLccx0WKNu87o4aWVZE6FEPTAqQIT8Key-B2XxsCW9uum1yWYpQo1Mlg6Y_6PfUAROZQa5az0j51OdeO6ubRyLoegpBMPLP_NkTVbNtvc2WVSv_LdkK93yVpFD8R3X/s400/cat-with-big-pupils.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Well, long story short, I decided to make a concerted effort to avoid exposing myself to artificial light - at least blue spectrum light - in the evenings.</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I got some special light bulbs designed to filter out the offending blue rays...</span><br />
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I installed an app called "Twilight" on my television (it's and Android TV) - which does pretty much the same thing the Windows Night Light settings do.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJvQbAhCvF_UD6DMHY-PMEma4KZcCzl4Q3rsU7P9ceuHbFC3YfAnQQIS8p2IKnCzqKr0e_4a0FzoQRm2x6zHwQugaF6WUYxhWeck661QU4a_EBB8BXUR0spWoi_lwYGN3Vk6-p2gMTEJq/s1600/Twilight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="700" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJvQbAhCvF_UD6DMHY-PMEma4KZcCzl4Q3rsU7P9ceuHbFC3YfAnQQIS8p2IKnCzqKr0e_4a0FzoQRm2x6zHwQugaF6WUYxhWeck661QU4a_EBB8BXUR0spWoi_lwYGN3Vk6-p2gMTEJq/s400/Twilight.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A friend bought me a Himalayan Salt Lamp - which is supposed to help you sleep. They claim it works by emitting negative ions, but I think it might have more to do with the reddish light it emits:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgki3IFh72eSA-HUdbsb5VOrNxge5VweJTKUzDPhEUzAR6eMHeESaRAtwr9hEauLC-ErPmjqrfJ4TW9aMhnHWxYGKzw6hkT0FSjHN1ePLgU7ravvYZyBrWzYFo5Wl8C09fhO2V1TwOJkcBm/s1600/salt-lamp-jasper2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgki3IFh72eSA-HUdbsb5VOrNxge5VweJTKUzDPhEUzAR6eMHeESaRAtwr9hEauLC-ErPmjqrfJ4TW9aMhnHWxYGKzw6hkT0FSjHN1ePLgU7ravvYZyBrWzYFo5Wl8C09fhO2V1TwOJkcBm/s400/salt-lamp-jasper2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">And I even bought some LED candles to use at night instead of turning on the overhead lights. I have them scattered throughout the house, and once your eyes adjust, they are plenty bright to see by.</span><br />
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The results have been nothing short of life altering. I don't think there's any risk of me becoming a morning person, but I've actually been going to bed 2-3 hours earlier and getting up closer to 9am than noon for the first time in my adult life. And the thing is... I'm not struggling with it. I mean, usually when I try to reform, it's a matter of will power - I have to force myself to go to bed when I'm not sleepy. But this time around, I'm actually getting sleepy before I go to bed.<br />
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I don't want to get ahead of myself here, because I've tried and failed soooo many times before, But I am honestly hopeful that this time around it might actually stick. And I have to say, these short days of December don't seem nearly so horrible when you can actually get up in time to enjoy a few more hours of daylight.<br />
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So I'm wondering, has anybody else out there had any experience with this sort of thing? I'd love to hear what has and hasn't worked for you.<br />
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<br />EcoCatLadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15704811319510740473noreply@blogger.com22