Insulate Me!

 It is 26 degrees out this morning.
And while that isn't really cold-by New England Standards- for here the world may as well be covered in a glacier.  It isn't that bad out really, you just dress for the weather and you are fine.  However the Californians who have moved here are likely to get frost bitten due to the incessant need to walk around severly under dressed (short-shorts, t shirts, wafer thin jackets, flip-flops).  Seriously, it is nearly January.  Take a clue from the fact that your fingers are apt to fall off in a mo, and put some more clothes on.

Inside, we should be fine, turn on the heat for a little while, wear maybe an extra layer or a sweater, warm socks and everything ought to be fine.

I wander over to the window to peer out at the weather... See what I am up against for my long trudge to work (across the street).
'Wow, it is really cold over by the window.'  I check the other windows...  They are all freezing.  Cold windows no surprise, So I put a towel at the base of the truely coldest.  And call up maitenance.
The issue it seems, is that there have developed cracks around the frames of all of my windows.  This isn't all that surprising, they had to build this place to withstand earthquakes, the frame to the window more or less "floats" in it's mount in the wall.  So the up side is the windows wont buckle and break in an earthquake.  The downside is that the window's fram rattles all the time, and air can easily pass through.

Now, two months ago I called to have the windows re-caulked, and they came and looked at them and did nothing.  As though the thought of doing it is the same as actually doing it...
Now it is the end of December and it is cold.  And I call again, and  they have recaullked the windows.  Yay! it only took two months.   But it is 26 out.  Which means the caulk isn't so much as drying, as very slowly kind of dripping out of the tops of the frames.  It might just be too cold for the caulk to dry.

I wanted to complain about the cold air coming in through the unused outlets too, but that can be band-aided over with some outlet covers.  And since the caulking is really another bandaid, I really don't hink there is much else that can be done.
Or that they would be willing to do.

They don't insulate things out here well.  Steel walls and  gypsum walls on a whole do not hold in heat well.  Quick to build I suppose, and survives earthquakes well, but keeping the people warm in their homes, I think not.

Call Me The Grinch

Happy some sort of holiday greeting of your choosing, day.

I am not a happy christmas goer...

Here are my main issues.

Christ-whoever he was, was not born on December 25th.  But some time in September.  The chances that Joseph and Mary didn't bugger off, but spent 3 and 1/2 month hanging out in a stable waiting for the wise men to appear, seems unlikely.  Mary's supposed virgin birth is extremely unlikely, and that her husband would stay with her after her carrying another man/god/whatever's kid, and not get some bouncing in on his own, I mean come on now?!

The story of Jesus's birth and life parallels that of Horus (egyptian  god), the plot is the same  some details differ.  Sort of like if you tell the same story for years at the fireside, the telling changes as it goes from dad's version to his son's to his nephew's and so on.

The Gospels?  really?  None of these gospels were written in the time of The Christ.  All at least 100 years after the fact, and that isn't within one lifetime... that is several, people didn't live as long then... 45 was old...  women had kids by the time they were 13... so don't tell me at was Christ's word copied word for word by the disciples.

What a good time to celebrate Christ's birth... December 25th, the Roman Sun festival... this holiday wasn't a holiday untill after Rome and its citizens became Christian... tomake the switch over easier, they could keep their old holidays and celebrate however they wanted, just the words were different and the names...

This wasn't the only Pagna holiday taken over: Eostre  now Easter.  Beltane now May day. Samhain now All Siants Day.

This Christ guy, yeah he may have existed or not, he may have done some good things for his time, or he could be completly made up, but celebrating him on this day makes no sense to me.


And the shopping and craziness aka Mall idiocy... can take a tanker as far as I am concerned.

Rake It!

It is December.  The leaves have all fallen (those that will fall anyway, some have frozen to the trees).  And instead of nice clear sidewalks and streets, we may as well be walking through the woods.   What the heck?  Where is the cleaning crew?  is there a cleaning crew?

This is the only place I have ever lived where residents push their fallen leaves out into the street.  No raking into piles, and tossing in the compost pile (and folks here are big on compost), or sticking in the green bin to be picked up  by the trashmen.  No  people push it out into the street where it immeadiatly gets stuck in the storm drains.   And then it rains.  
Nothing more pleasant than a clogged drain, and a puddle two blocks long and a foot and a half deep.

Now therer have been the few who attempt half heartedly every day to move the leaves off the sidewalks by getting a leaf blower and blowing the leaves either back into the yard... or the street.  But it is windy, and rainy here... 10 minutes later and the sidewalk is covered with leaves again.

I would like to introduce a major engineering marvel to the Portland Oregon area; it is called The Rake!

Not only is it environmentally friendly as it can be used every year, for years to come; it also requires no gas to run it!

And once leaves are raked into a pile they can easily be added to your compost pile!  Everyone here loves compost!  And just think, no more clogged drains!  No more giant puddles, where you run the risk of drowning, or flooding the engine of your car if you attempt to park!  The wonderful Rake!

Who Made This Wish List?

My husband a couple years ago got me a Women's Health Magazine Subscription, and you know, for the most part I like it. 

But this time of the year I feel like crossing and rolling my eyes simultaneously.
Who made this  Holiday Wishlist?  What wavelegnth are they broadcasting from and in what dimensional universe?

Here are some examples: 
For Mom:  A tennis racket and gardening tools.
For Dad: Indian head nickel cufflinks and Nut cracker.
For Brother: Fair trades basketball and a cork iphone case.
For Sister: A bike and an athletics jacket.
For Significant Other: Running shoes and a laptop.
For a Friend (no other definition): Makeup and a journal set.

Now reality comes back:
My Mother has never played Tennis, ever.  I can recall her swatting a bee once with a racket.  I can recall when she used to try to do gardening... that was not a long lasting experiment.
My Dad likes golf.  All things golf, anything besides golf is -unless it is Eddie Bauer- is not that interesting to him.  Extra points if it is Eddie Bauer and golf.
My Brother... is  really hard to buy anything for.  But seeing as he did fall off a cliff last april, I'd prob get him  climbing ropes.
My Sister once upon a time exerciesd regularly-highschool.  Not anymore, she is permanently entrenched in Mommyhood.
My  Honey might actually like the running shoes... but he already has some.  And we have  2 lap tops and a desktop computer... no more needed.
For the Friend... I would never buy makeup for a friend I wanted to keep.  Think about the message you are sending there!

Do you see the  beginings of a pattern imerge here?

Know Honey gets the Men's Health Magazine.  And it has the Guys wish list in it.  I really wish they had included some of them in the Women's health magazine.... Here are some of my favorites:
*Dremel Trio ("Cut. Sand. Rout.")  Oh the things I could make with this!
*Snow Shoes
* Philips 12-watt EnduraLED Light Bulb (Wicked neat!)
*Amazon Kindle
*Biolite Campstove


Not in the immediate list, but under what Dad would also like:
* Fishing supplies.

But see I'm a girl... so I must want makeup (Rarely wear the crap), over-priced shoes (if it requires pinching of the toes or more than 3 inch heels you can stuff it), and or something too tight or short to wear in public.
Because I'm a girl I should want to die my hair, and crimp my eye lashes.  I should  get weekly manicures and layer my nails in poisonous colored lacquer.  I should have four types of self tanner and 3 types of misturizer.


Maybe I am not a girl.

Dear Mr. President,

I have been receiving you and your wife's and  the Vice President's emails for awhile now.   Everyday for the last month and a half at least.   And almost all of them you or someone for you asks me to donate money to the cause.   Mr. President, I have no more money to give.   I cannot help you in this cause.  It would not surprise me if most of these emails you send out get ignored, sent directly to the spam folder or trash.  You ask me for money nearly every day, money that I don't have.  I might not be the average american woman, but I feel fairly safe in saying in the circumstances I am normal, and I am broke.  I have medical bills, and school bills-because I cannot get a real job with the education that I already had.  I have rent, and groceries, and credit card bills (lower than the average american's amount, but I make a whole lot less than they do).  I live in an apartment, and do not own a home, I am over 30 and I don't have a retirement plan, I barely have a savings account.  I am not living paycheck to pay check, but just by barely.  I have no car,  and rely on public transportation.  I don't have foodstamps, but should probably think about getting them in the future.  In Oregon there is no sales tax, but my income tax is huge in comparison to what it was in Maine.  I don't make as much as I did in Maine,  and I get to keep less of it.

  I am one of the lucky ones.  When I was unemplyed my husband covered all of the expenses, now I have a part time job that is flexible enough that I can still go to school.  My husband still pays for most of the expenses, I can just about cover the groceries.  I lucked out, I didn't get kicked out of my home, and lived in shelters, or shared a small room with four other people, I didn't get in the Welfare system, and I didn't get unemployment. 

You ask us for help, you want more money to lobby for what you think the people want.  We don't want to be asked for anymore money.   We haven't enough anyway.

If you really think more money is needed to lobby for "our wants and needs" ask for it from your more wealthy consituents.  For instantce the other democratic senators and house members.  These people  do one term and make $140,000/year every year after they serve.  Nice pension that.  No where else is that the case.   Pay them for the time they serve and no more after that.  The politicians have become America's wealthy aristocracy,  and everyone else is the growing poor class.  And that is not right, Mr. President.  So no more raises.  Everyone takes a pay cut, and that money goes to the debt. All of it.  Becuase otherwise that is money that my husband and I will be paying out our ears in taxes, and  what my children will be paying.   You are trying to save the economy, well that is great, for the companies, but for those of us trying to live... you are just stretching out the inevitablilty that we will have to file for bankruptcy eventually.  This bill is too large as it is. 

And you ask us for more money.

It Can Snow Now

Help, I'm a New Englander living in the NW!  Gah!
There is some sort of instinct derived from living on the East Coast that causes an internal belief in the seasons.  What do I mean?  On The East Coast the seasons dictate when things get done during the year.  You do roofing projects in the summer, cover the pipes in September,  October is for canning and the last mowing of the lawn till spring.  Also you make sure you get your snow tires and rock salt. 

November is the last chance to do any outside projects that require things to be thawed, and those things should be done by the second week as it has been known to blizzard as early as October.  Third week of November is the big shopping time.  I am not talking holiday shopping, but grocery shopping.  Buying a fifty pound turkey is not unheard of-complete with head and feathers- this will get you through Thanksgiving and  in all liklihood there will be a storm in the week after, so the leftovers will prevent the need to do groceries in white-out conditions.

 December is for dare devil Christmas decorating-ever tried puting lights on a frozen roof?  It is also for those last minute shopping-though most folks I know do their holiday shopping in October.

 January- April is for inside entertainment.  Pull out the board games and the candles, chances are the power will go out at least five times.  It happens in the big storms when snow weighs down the trees and they bend or fall on power lines, or the ice storms that come  between the blizzards, they ice everything down, power lines are often the first things to fail.  All winter folks leave the taps on.  Not to waste water, but to prevent the pipes from freezing.

In May and June it is all rain and muck, the rivers are flooding, it is not unusual to watch  the rivers jump their banks.  But folks in New England have been living through this for 400 years, we have gotten used to coping with it.  In May you thoroughly expect the basement to flood, so you pull all the important things up and put them in the attic, or if that is leaking, you stick them in the garage/ extra room.  In the end of June you get all the plants in the ground, for the short summer growing season. 

Summer: you spend as much time as possible outside.  In Maine you might have 2 1/2 months of summer the other 9 1/2 months are nastiness, knowing that it is a waste of good sunlight not to be out enjoying it.

It is October,  back home they have had snow already, and the frosts have already come into play.  Here I feel delayed, like the weather is procrastinating...

Heels on High... Ouch

I have been women watching.   As a woman I do this to compare myself to others, particularly pain versus fashion quota.  I watch women walk, paying particular attention to what they have on their feet.   For the most part I see women. ladies, and young women in flats and or sneakers... flip flops.  Then I see the stilt wearing acrobbats.  Contortionists of the feet.  Nearly ballet practitioners but withour the grace and the agility.  Well, that is not entirely true..  They do mostly have the ability to walk over cobbled side walks with tuning an ankle or breaking a toe.  And they can naviget the stps onto and off the MAX with an ease akin to miracle water walker.

What does that contortion of the foot cause?  Achilles shortening and stiffening, crushing of the toes and ball of the foot, ankle, knee, hip and back problems...
Is it worth all that to fit a social fied ideal of beauty?  I guess the answer is yes.  It reminds me a lot of the pre victorian and victorian times, the corset; creating a perfect hourglass figure... which also perfectly crushed your organs and ribs... and required the invention of a peice of furniture to faint on.  There are still corset wearers out there, but near as many as there were.  Perhaps there is hope then, perhaps heel wearing will devolve...

Scheduling

There always seems to be so much going on.   School, work, cleaning house, appointments, time with the husband, time with the friends.... homework...  Somewhere in this mess of calendrical-yes I made that word up- hysteria  there needs to be my time.   And my time is not the same as sleep.   Sleep is outside the schedule, it is the given.

Last Semester I took a class about college and career success.  It taught a lot about scheduling time, and time management.  If I hadn't taken tha class, or at least delved into  that subjet at some legnth I would probably be confused more often.

I have a lot going on, true I don't have kids, and I don't work full time...
1. I am married (so have to keep in mind my husbands appointments, and his work schedules).
2. I am a full time student (That means the time at class, the time it  takes to get to class and back, the time to do the assignments and study...).
3. There is always the house work-an area  where I have never excelled.
4. There are the household errands.
5. Doctors and dentist appointments.
6.  Time with my husband, and with friends.
7. and  my time.

I really don't know how  people with 3+ kids can manage work and play and school... and not lose their minds.

I'm taking 3 classes this semester.  Each class has its own folder which I post the homework assignments in.  I also keep a daily organizer which has the assignments in it.  And at home on the fridge I have a wipe board that has the  large assignments noted.  On the board is also any other important dates.   I have a folder that is just on its a schedule of every week.  When I am doing what, and where.

Maybe this is all a little excessive.   But I know myself, if I don't keep reminding myself... I will zone out and forget something.

Be All You Can (Want?) To Be

My brother  has a degree in Mechanical Engineering.   Is he an engineer? Well, yes he has the degree-and the ring, and probably the secret hand-shake too- so yeah, sort of.   Does he have an engineering job? Err... If I really stretch the definition then I can say yes, he does... but if I am honest with myself and most people I have to say no.

For the sake of simplicity I'll call my brother: J.  J decided he wanted to go to school in Montreal
(Video above was his final project), that he wanted to study mechanical engineering, and that this was the thing he most wanted to do.  But he decided all this when he was 17.   He's 24 now.   He's been out of school for over a year, and he has gone to a quite a few interviews for engineering...  Was pretty much offered a position... but didn't take it... why?  What is he doing with himself?

He is working for not much money on a schooner in ______, Maine.  Why?  Because it is fun.   Does he use any of his engineering skills... yes... engine work, unclogging the loo... but mostly it is just sailing, and  drinking, and living it up with tourists...

Is this a good use of his  5 years of schooling? Maybe.  Not really. 

I think to myself: "Hey he's my baby brother, he'll calm down eventually and get a real job."  But I know that most people look at him and think; "So  quit dicking around and get a real job.  Life isn't just about having fun.  Have some real responsibilities."

To which I also agree, but then again... Last April he did fall while free climbing at Fort Williams Park.  And for four months after that he couldn't do much of anything let alone move.... so maybe he is making up for that.  Maybe after a fall like that you need to prove that you are alive, and live for the fun of it.

What's For Supper?

I cook most of the meals at home, sometimes my husband makes something, but usually it's me.  I recently became a vegetarian-having watched a rag tag bunch of documentaries on environmentalism and food- so what I make is usually meat free.  The hard part comes with making something that adheres to my moral/diet code, and  at the same time my husband will eat.  Chances are there will be no beets for supper. 

 It seems like I have to get more creative now that I have cut-most- flesh out of our diet. In stead of  meat burgers;I end up having to figure out how to make vegetarian patties, that a. stay together, and b. taste better than cardboard.  Or introduce foods that meet with eyebrows-high-concerned expressions... Quinoa... Falafel... Lentils... Things  of that nature.

But the real difference that  I have noticed is with me.   I seem to be eating less.  Husband still eats the same amount, and  still enjoys the meal... but I am not eating as much as I did when chicken was part of the meal...

Bum, What?

A couple of weeks ago The Portland Tribune (free paper) published an article about the NW's problem with bums(road warriors, homeless, panhandlers).  I would like to applaud the writer and the paper for finally saying something.  The article puts forward that on the east coast (where I am from) the bum population would not be allowed to be this populous-particularly NYC under Giuliani. 

In Portland Maine, you see homeless from time to time, but they cannot ask for change, as Panhandling is illegal.  Last I was in New Haven Connecticut, oh about 2006, there was a large population of homeless.  But, and this is important, only during Yale's school year.  The bums lived off the students charity.   Most of those students-that I met- were from the west coast.

Portland, Oregon has a problem.   That problem is that this place is just so liberal that it tends to get passive aggressive about issues that should not be allowed to slide.  There are so many resources here for the homeless.  Places to stay, places to work,  places to be entertained, free food, free help to  get help to not be homeless, free medical care.... Free!  Free! Free!  The bums here have a good thing going.  And they know it.  Which is why they tell their other bum buddies; 'Hey come to Portland, they're push overs here.'

It is messed up that they cannot be ordered to leave places where they are being a nuisances to businesses.  It is  wrong to my mind that there are safety officers  for the sole purpose of giving them needles... to shoot up with.   Portland.  You need to stop being such enablers.   If this was Uncle Eddy with a drinking problem right now you would be giving him the keys to the liquor store.

I clipped out the article (well 3 times) and sent it to my family (NYC, Portland ME, and Miami Beach FL).  My parents never believe me when I talk about the bums here.  Well now they will.  And maybe enough people will nod with that article in The Portland Tribune, and we can stop  enabling Uncle Eddy.  Lets lock up the liquor store. 

And Kick the bums out of town.