Thursday, June 18, 2009

Reel Mower 4 Realz!

The LawnBoy that came with our house (yes, the previous owner kindly left his practically brand-new lawn mower), finally gave up the ghost -- actually, the old man thinks it's a clogged fuel line. But, for some reason, he thought it best to get a new lawn mower. Seeing my chance, I offered the opportunity to get a cheap reel-mower. It was about 90-dollars, and took less than a half-hour to put together.

I think the old man would tell you that having a reel mower, when you've let your grass grow to mid-calf height, is a great upper-body workout.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Idea for Citizen's Co-op

Citizen's Co-op now has 232 members, and if you follow them on the Twitter you can keep up with the latest news. They are also on Facebook and they really should post a link so people can follow them there, as well. Oh well, guess I just did!

Anyway, here's my idea: As part of the co-op bulk section (and you know they're going to have one) they should include things like bulk laundry soap (I suggest Charlie's), Dish soap, and plain organic castile soap (which you can get in drums). People could bring their own containers and buy it by the ounce or pound. That's it -- simple, elegant, and saves on packaging.

Need-a-Bag Project Update 06.13.09


Note: The Need-a-Bag? project was created to promote sustainable bagging at the Hwy 441 Alachua County Farmer's Market each Saturday morning. We supply reusable tote bags reclaimed from thrift stores and garage sales. The Need-a-Bag? project also utilizes old tank tops as tote bags by sewing up the bottoms (these are called t-totes). We invite you to read the other posts on the project by clicking the "Need-a-Bag? Project" label at the bottom of this post.

It's been awhile since I updated, but lots has happened in the interim. Th
ey reopened both the new main shelter and side shelter today, so farmers didn't have to set up in the parking lot to the south of the market. It was nice having everything so conveniently located, although there were grumblings from some shoppers that they liked the parking lot area because there were less crowds and, thus, quicker access to foodstuffs. Here is also the long-awaited photo of the drop box next to the object that people should be using for their cigarillo butts and discarded Chick tract pamphlets.

We now have a permanent labeling station in glovebox of the Honda Fit, so DG can label bags on the way to the market. We used my labels for the new recruits to the Need-a-Bag? project, and I like my labels better just because they have more verbiage.

Before I continue with events of the day, I wanted to give a shout-out to one particular Friend of the Need-a-Bag? project who has been a selfless giver to the project and, I suspect, responsible for some of our anonymous dontations of late. This is a gentleman who comes religiously to the market every week, and a couple of weeks ago bestowed upon us a considerable largesse of amazing tote bags, which he said came from cleaning out his office before it moved to another location. I have not taken the opportunity until now to thank him profusely for his efforts! Please excuse the lateness of this so-deserved thanks -- Thank you very, very much! Who was that masked man?

Anyway, the market was very busy and it was wonderful to see such a large turnout. I realized today, as I wandered the stalls in my usual, unfocused manner, that I am really rather pedestrian in my shopping needs for our household. There have been many market days when I have eschewed any food items merely because I could not hope to cook any of the said items with any consistent frequency. But, lately, I've realized that there are certain items that I will buy and use frequently, such as potatoes and onions. Also, strawberry season has ended but blueberries, cantaloupes, and watermelons have made their way onto the scene, and so while I can and will buy the first two, I still cannot wrap my brain around buying a watermelon and bringing it into my already cluttered house. I just cannot imagine, first of all, how I would ever get the thing in, let alone find an area clean enough for me to cut it up for our family's consumption.

Here is a lovely tote bag for you to admire, and have decided to include these posts with such wonderful representations of tote bags under a new heading, "Tote Bag Spotlight." This one was unfortunately snatched up almost immediately after the opening of the market!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Why reading Topless Robot Blog made me start wearing deodorant again

I am finally wearing deodorant on a (near) daily basis now. This is how it happened: I started reading a new blog, called Topless Robot. It feeds into my nerdishness in a way no other nerd/geek/fanbeing website ever has before. Each week they have a new contest; one weekend the old man and I were reading the comments on the latest, "Most Shameful Con Moment." Most of the comments were pretty hilarious. Here are the results if you are so inclined to follow.

The shorter is this: Apparently, rendering Marina Sirtis unconscious or some kind of pissed-off is a prerequisite for gaining notoriety within the fandom of Sci-Fi conventions. The thing that struck me, however, were the allusions to bad body hygiene that came up again and again. The one that got me, though, was the comment by Mitch:
I was sharing a room at a hotel with a dude from my local gaming shop. In the interest of timing I suggested:

"We should arrange things so that one of us showers in the morning and the other in the evening, so we can get there early."
He responded, "I only shower when I feel like I am dirty."
"All right well understand this: you are always dirty. Especially during this convention during which you will shower daily. Afterwards I suggest you keep up the happen because this recent confession explains your persistent odor."

That was not the first, nor the last time that I would advise a fellow gamer on the habits of good hygiene.
Gah. That did it. I went out the next workday during lunch and got a "natural" deodorant at the local granola shop. My year-long B.O. paranoia had reached fever-pitch and I lost. I surrendered to the fact that if I could smell my stink, certainly other people could, as well. DG assured me time and again that it wasn't a problem, but I just ultimately could not get around it.

I think we, as Americans, are acculturated to the fact that we must always smell "clean," and to most that equates to smelling like you've been smothered in a synthetic flower factory. So, thank you, Topless Robot Blog commenters, for helping me see the error of my ways.

Monday, June 01, 2009

Icthy-pinata

Here is a picture of the Icthy-pinata in its completed state, all ready for fun at Pam's house. And then it was completely destroyed! See, I made it so that there were ribbons to pull and only one ribbon made the bottom fall out and lovely prizes would scatter about (selected from the mountains of crap my son has accumulated -- shh, don't tell him), but pulling ribbons apparently wasn't good enough for the party-goers.

Oh well. Hmm, what pinata should I make next? At the party proper, Shelley was saying she'd like to have a pinata making/spa time seminar and golly, if I get a facial out of it that doesn't involve flour paste, I'm in.

Swiped the photo from Tom's FB page -- thanks Tom!