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DRAFT TODAY, POST TOMORROW: Some posts may be in draft status until I (aka procrastinator extraordinaire) get around to posting them.



Saturday, February 27, 2010

UK Bans Barber from Composting

A barber has been taking home hair clippings to his personal compost pile for 40 years. Now he's been told to send it to the landfill instead (pay for trash service) AND a minor comment is included that he can't take newspapers home either. As noted in the article, hair is great in the compost pile. I would guess that when it ends up on the floor of the barber shop, it is clean (hair is generally washed before cutting) and since it's a barber shop, there should be little argument about chemicals (from color or perms) I guess.

I wanted to find a place to take recyclables for my office. (The office management has elected to not pay to have it picked up separate from trash, so I take it home.) I have not been able to find a place to take anything except a donation bin for newpapers/magazines/paper. Someone (Waste Management?) is either making money or will eventually make money on processing these items, right? As an individual, am I giving away my trash so someone else can profit? Will there come a time when our government says I can't compost or recycle as I want?
http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/uk-barber-banned-from-composting/more/

Friday, February 26, 2010

Vick and PETA

This is ridiculous in so many ways. Playgirl offered to donate $1 million to Peta if Vick takes it off for the magazine. First of all, eewww! Second, why Peta? What do they have to do with dogfighting? Third, any group that Playgirl wants to donate to for "animals" without researching is not going to be a group that helps animals. Fourth, eewww!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Greenwashing

I started using Method, Seventh Generation, and Mrs Meyers products a while ago. When the normal companies started making "eco" or "green" products, I decided to stick with the real eco companies rather than the impostors. I recently ran across this blog that has several posts on greenwashing, including this one: http://www.greencitizens.net/blogs/1article.php?b_id=844126800. I guess the new products from old companies are better than no improvement, but I wonder how much the COMPANY changed or if they are just looking at profit.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Agility class

I got home from my meeting late, so I didn't make it to Teka's class; they both went to Cassi's class. We had an exercise with a bunch of jumps and one tunnel, kind of making a rectangle. This was to practice 180's, wraps, rounds, and serpentines. Whew! The other exercise was a serpentine with a wrap to the weaves, back around the jumps to a walk it that required a bit of a turn around to get them into the right position (a tunnel entrance right next to the walk it.) Teka's weaves are sucking still but she likes the clicks when I snap my fingers. Cassi was very exuberant tonight--goofy girl. Teka liked someone else's toy that was a flat weasel--I'll have to look for it at Travel Hounds.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

BPA alternatives

are few and far between apparently. This article is a good indicator that the industry is getting out ahead of the FDA--education over legislation in action! If consumers don't want it, the industry will find a way to fix it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/22/AR2010022204830.html?wpisrc=nl_health

Military wildlife

The Army is getting into wildlife management. Hooray for them. It appears to be a way to get what they want (use of land) while making a positive difference in the world. It was implied in the article that this was not possible under the previous administration, a distinctly anti-environmental group.

The Pentagon’s deputy director of natural resources said: “There is a strong understanding now that land is a limited resource, and that even our military is part of a larger ecosystem....If that degrades, it is harder for us to do our mission.”

That the Pentagon even has a director of natural resources is a surprise!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/science/earth/22endangered.html?th&emc=th

Saturday, February 20, 2010

LED lighting

No mercury or lead, dimmable, and energy efficient: genius.

http://ecofabulous.com/ecohome/the-light-stuff/

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Spotless Garden

Wow, aquaponics sounds kind of interesting but also sounds like a LOT of work. I can't imagine this would work in Phoenix very well, but I could be wrong. I don't think it is for me though. Further info needed!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Agility class

Tonight's class was a combined class (instead of two in a row) to learn AKC FAST rules. We were able to run the course twice. Some say to figure out how long it takes for your dog to do each obstacle but Ken recommended learning how many obstacles your dog can do in the amount of time. So for the big dogs, they have 35 seconds, and I think my girls can do about 13 obstacles. (If a run between obstacles is long, count that as one obstacle.) We were able to run twice, and the second time I added some obstacles and went about 10 seconds over. Both did the send just fine.

How Great am I?

"What do I need to do to take care of me today?"

Monday, February 15, 2010

Packing

I had the day off for President's Day. I worked on stuff around the house like cleaning and laundry. I unpacked the plastic tubs in the closet, sorted and repacked. I'm currently wearing 14/16/XL. I have an entire wardrobe of 12/L (3 tubs) and another tub of 10/M. I also have some smaller containers of Bugs Bunny clothing, which probably would add up to another bin. I did get rid of some pieces as I went; if I was that size and wouldn't wear it anyway, it went. But I don't want to replace things like jeans and sweaters when I get back to those sizes! Next time I get an energy surge, I'll tackle Mike's half of the closet--maybe.

We worked on packing Saturday too. Out of two (partial) days, I have two boxes to go to Goodwill, plus M sent more than a box worth to hazardous waste. I think after the move, I may end up paring down some more. I'll keep watching Hoarders for inspiration! I also got the gardening done. The roses are cut back, the bare spot filled in with a cutting from a rose and an aloe vera plant. I have a little more yard work to do before the (eventual?) move.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Compost cookies for V day

Okay, they don't have compost, but can have lots of substitutes. I'd like to try them out:

http://planetforward.ca/blog/compost-never-tasted-this-good-a-surprising-valentines-day-cookie/


Ingredients:
  • 1 cup Butter
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Corn Syrup
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 1 3/4 cups AP Flour
  • 2 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 2 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 1/2 cups Your favorite baking ingredients! (Kelly used mini chocolate chips, Raisinettes, Rollos & Cocoa Krispies)
  • 1 1/2 cups Your favorite snack foods (chips, pretzels, etc. - Kelly used Goldfish, Ritz, & Fritos)
Servings: 15 6oz cookies
Directions:
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars and corn syrup on medium high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.
When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix 45-60 sec just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
Scoop cookies onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Bake at 400 degrees for 9-11 minutes.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Date night

We went to the IMAX 3D Avatar showing with 3 couples. Good movie. Then we went over to Yardhouse for some beer and grub. Yum. Good times!

Friday, February 12, 2010

AZ Schoolbuses go Wi-Fi

Wow, we're in the national news (or at least the NY Times) because AZ school buses are starting to become Internet Buses, increasing student productivity and reducing rowdiness. Cool, but I wonder if there will be any issues with parents disapproving. (There's always one, right?) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/education/12bus.html?th&emc=th

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Too much snow?

Interesting, snow is an excuse to not believe in climate change. I have some health skepticism, but really, climate change is about extremes, NOT heat.

http://www.constructonomics.com/blog/2010/02/10/does-all-this-snowfall-disprove-climate-change/

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Agility class

It quit raining just as I arrived (late) to class. Teka did some very good weaves and decent distance work. One exercise was a tunnel and teeter parallel with a jump at each end lengthwise. I had to go on the off side of the teeter or tunnel. Cassi did so well on it (even the teeter with me on the other side of the tunnel), that we got the most improved award. :)

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

EZ Grocery Bag

I have so many free bags that I use, that I haven't paid for grocery bags, but if I decide to pay for one (or more), this is the one I'd consider:

http://www.ezgrocerybag.com/

Monday, February 8, 2010

Carrot vs Radish

Interesting analogy about carrots (orange all the way through) and radishes (color on the outside, white on the inside) and the actions of companies.

Is a company with a long history of environmentally unfriendly product production who begins manufacturing green lines received the same as one that’s been producing green products from its founding? Typically not.

This is why I continue to use products like Method, Seventh Generation, and Ms Myers instead of moving to the new items like Green Works.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

USDAA Agility Trial Day 2

Cassi got a Snooker Q with fourth place.

Teka ran Jumpers at the end of the day. She rocked! She ran with me, got her switch, only lost focus once and it was SO brief. She qualified with a second place.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

USDAA Agility Trial

I originally planned to only enter this trial for either Saturday or Sunday. Once I looked at the schedule, I thought only Sunday as 4 classes are offered at my level. But then someone asked me to enter pairs with her, and that's only on Saturday, so I entered both days. I decided to do 2 runs with each dog for each day. So today, Cassi and I did Pairs and Standard; then Teka and I did Standard and Snooker.

Cassi did well in Pairs (qualifying score) and Teka got a qualifying score in Standard! Cassi jumped off the table in Standard, right before the end of the judge's count, and had to redo it; she also wasted time on the weaves, but she did the fast teeter and the tire jump, so I was still happy.

Teka's Snooker was just bad, but not her fault. There was just no way to get any flow and I ended up calling her back over a jump that she couldn't take again. But she was really trying and even having some fun in her Standard run. Her weaves were slow but I snapped my fingers at each pole like a clicker and she did it. If she was doing them quickly, she would have rocked it!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Hope Research Center

I met my new care coordinator, Christina. A newbie took my blood though. He did fine but I think I'm getting a little bit of a bruise. Next month is the big quarterly with the doctors.

Old-time gum

I have read ingredients on every gum in the store looking for something that is not made with artificial sweeteners. Sprouts has a brand, Glee, but otherwise, out of luck. Found this online in an article complaining of the same issue.

http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/browse/Home/Food-Candy/Gum/Old-Fashioned-Beemans-Gum-Set-of-20-Packages/D/30100/P/1:100:1020:100790/I/f09134?evar3=BROWSE

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Agility class

It was raining at the beginning of class but cleared up quickly. There were only jumps due to the rain, with a table in the middle of a circle of jumps, a row of jumps to practice go and stay/come, and a semi serpentine/Gamble type sequence. M went with me which was helpful. Teka snapped at a new dog in our class but it was odd, kind of like she just opened her mouth and closed it, no sound or whatever. Cassi was her normal class clown self for the new teacher.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Food Rules

Michael Pollan has a new book out, Food Rules. He is known for saying "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." in his last book. A few quips from the new one:
  • "If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't."
  • Never "get your fuel from the same place your car does."
  • "No snacks, no seconds, no sweets - except on days that begin with the letter S."
I haven't taken any weight off over the past few years of eating "healthier" so I might have to implement that last strategy! OK, maybe not...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/health/02brod.html

Monday, February 1, 2010

Haiti hit me

A woman from the Hope Center called me to schedule my monthly visit for my drug trial. I was surprised because Ryan calls me every month and schedules my visit and I go in and see him and he coordinates anyone else I have to see. She said she was taking over Ryan's cases, so I asked if he left. No, he was in Haiti when the earthquake hit and he died. I remember him saying that he was going to visit his sister when I last saw him, but I didn't connect that he was there then. I've only known him for seven months but this is completely throwing me off kilter. He was a young guy, too, probably mid 20's. What a shock.