This week has absolutely flown by. I seriously cannot believe it is Saturday morning already. I guess that’s a good thing?

I have had to knock off the knitting for a while, because my hands have been hurting. (By the way, whenever I watch a futuristic computer interface like Tom Cruise’s little hand dance in Minority Report all I can ever think is, “Holy crap, think how much BOTH OF YOUR ENTIRE ARMS would hurt after a day at that computer!”)

Rambling Rows is stalled out at block #14:

This morning was the first time I’ve ever gone out to get firewood and thought, “Aww!”

That’s the neighbor kitteh. They like my porch, because it’s (mostly) a dog-free zone. I guess.

I have dutifully saved the plastic bags from my last foray into the bulk food bin, along with the twistie ties. I plan to re-use the bags until they fall apart. I figure I can get four uses out of the twistie ties before the checkout clerks start to wonder about my sanity.

Zero Waste [challenge] Month starts tomorrow – as does Super International Pajama Day! And please join me in congratulating Celia on not setting her house on fire.

Several months ago, I set up a Twitter interface for my blog, so that I could update the blog from my cell phone even when I was away from the computer. Or – as more often happened – when I was sitting beside the computer, but the power was out.

To my unending surprise, people kept subscribing to my Twitter feed, no matter how hard I thought, “But I only use it for updating the blog! If you read the blog, there is no need to subscribe to my Twitter feed!” Every day brought a new Twitter subscription notice, most of them from people I didn’t recognize.

Yesterday I gave into the inevitable. I deactivated the Twitter Tools plug-in, and put my Twitter feed on the sidebar. If you only read through RSS, you’re now missing out on dozens, literally dozens of scintillating mini updates throughout the day. You can also follow me through Twitter.

I haven’t decided whether to set up cell phone -> email -> blog, or to just use Twitter for those “AFK/no sparky” updates.

And now I’m off to write up the Sims Sunday post. It’s a long update, since I missed last Sunday’s, due to helping rescued puppy mill dogs. I want to write it now, because my SIPJD goal is to leave the computer OFF all day. (Can you imagine?!)

Tags: firewood carrier kitteh carries firewood, Rambling Rows Afghan

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After reading about Zero Waste Week, Kmkat had the nutty idea to declare February Zero Waste Month. I was smitten with the idea, myself! I have put together a basic info page (with blog buttons and everything) here.

Discuss!

P.S. I did feel the earthquake this morning. It woke me up, which frightened me, because usually something has to be REALLY BIG to wake me up. When I realized it wasn’t that bad, I felt somehow cheated. The shaking wasn’t very severe, but it seemed to go on a long time.

Kimble jumped off the bed onto the end table, presumably thinking that I was the one shaking the bed. He squatted on the end table looking irritated until it was over. Then when he realized I was awake, he demanded breakfast.

Tags: Zero Waste Month

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I just got back from a trip to the store, where I tried to purchase as little packaging as possible. I bought a lot of stuff in bulk, and plan to re-use the plastic bags on my next trip.

I was surprised at how many things were available in the bulk section of one of my local grocery stores. I had only ever known it as “the corner of the store that smells like yogurt covered pretzels.” Turns out they have cereal, flour, organic cane sugar, pasta, a dozen different kinds of nuts, everything!

Similarly, I had only known the meat counter as “that thing that’s always closed by the time I get there.” I managed to get to the store early enough to actually purchase meat at the meat counter. The butcher laid my fresh ground beef on a little flimsy plastic sheet, and wrapped it inside paper.

I can compost the paper, so that’s (one flimsy plastic sheet) versus (plastic wrap, plastic meat tray, and funny sponge thingie that goes in the bottom of the meat tray).

The deli counter had several kinds of cheese for sale. I bought half a pound of some really good swiss cheese. She wrapped the slices in waxed paper (fine) then slipped it all into a little baggie (not so great). That’s only about a 25% waste reduction over the plastic wrapper from the loaf of Tillamook cheddar I usually buy.

But man, the cheese is tasty! And it seems so ritzy to buy pre-sliced cheese. And, to my surprise, it was quite a bit cheaper than the equivalent amount of Tillamook.

That was my biggest surprise: how much less this all cost me. I compared prices versus the pre-packaged equivalents, all of which were at least 50% more expensive.

I guess they don’t call it waste for nothing. You’re paying for that packaging. If you can buy the same thing without all the packaging, you’ll save a lot of money. That’s a pretty good argument right there, if you ask me!

The best news of the night: Food Pavilion in Anacortes has started carrying milk from a local dairy in glass bottles, with a $2.50 deposit. Fresh! Local! Organic! Happy cows! No waste! Amazing!

Tags: Zero Waste Week

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Visiting rescued puppy mill chihuahua – omg so tiny!

Tags: Sent from my cell phone, Twitter

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I’ve been reading zero-waste blogs like Fake Plastic Fish recently. It’s a strange kind of lifestyle porn, like Martha Stewart for the green set. Now I read that for the town of Gloucestershire in England, this is Zero Waste Week.

I thought, Could I do that?

I thought, Would anyone else do it with me?

I thought, Well, I’ll tell the blog and see what happens.

Zero Waste Week runs from today, January 26th, through next Sunday, February 1st. Without having planned ahead, I’m at a bit of a handicap. But hey, what the hell, right?

Tags: Zero Waste Week

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