Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise. Without having any chief or officer or ruler, it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest. How long will you lie there, O lazybones? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want, like an armed warrior.
Proverbs 6: 6-11
NRSV
Since Earth Day was this week, we are going to have links to reusable grocery bags. I’ve been trying to use them, but need a few more. No matter how hard I try, I end up coming home with several of the plastic bags. If you’ve been reading my previous posts, you know that I’m a regular reader of Fake Plastic Fish. Beth is trying to live a plastic free life against tremendous odds. Because of her example, I’ve been trying to cut down on my plastic consumption as well as being generally more responsible with recycling. That said, there are many reusable bag patterns out there, and I’m going searching for them. Try some of them out and let me know how you did. Please share some of your patterns with us.
Market bag & coupon holder at Joann’s
Very easy bag tutorial using recycled fabric
Classic Open Tote at Make It Easy
Market Grocery Tote at Windy Hill Designs
Here’s one for simple cloth grocery bags that use one of the plastic bags for a pattern.
This site has 35 patterns including knit and crochet.
hakucho has a crochet pattern that uses yarn made from the plastic bags.
Well, not exactly. How about good doctor, bad doctor? I’m not talking about clinical skills. I’m talking about how the doctor treats his patient as a person. Two years ago when I was working at a relatively new job I had several high blood pressure readings in a row and decided I should see a doctor and have it checked out more thoroughly. I had moved and not yet found a family doctor. I was in a bit of a quandary as I didn’t want to put off this check up. I thought about seeing the medical director of the hospice where I was employed, but was still hesitant. I had sat in on a meeting where he was present. During the entire meeting he was playing with his palm pilot or whatever it was instead of paying attention. In spite of this, I figured he must be a good doctor or he wouldn’t be our medical director and went ahead and made an appointment. I was told that this would just be a focus appointment, meaning that only the blood pressure would be addressed and not anything else. That was fine with me, so I showed up at the appointed time.
I sat and waited a long time, watching others go in and out. I had been waiting quite awhile before some of these people even showed up, and of course, drug reps were ushered in right away. That in itself was irritating as I knew they were there to give the doc free samples of their newest and most expensive drugs, thereby, encouraging him to give these out and write prescriptions for them rather than something that had been around, was now generic and, therefore, cheaper and probably worked better than the new, unproven medications the reps were pushing.
Finally I was allowed to go sit in the exam room and wait. When Dr. K showed up, he spent 15 minutes with me. Five minutes were spent checking my B/P, eyes, ears, nose and throat. Five more were spent with him asking me some questions, giving me grief with his smart alec attitude and continuing to get things mixed up that I had told him. I had also given him a copy of the vitamins and supplements that I took. He kept talking about my homeopathic medications. Shouldn’t a doctor know the difference between vitamins, supplements and homeopathic medications? The doctor then proceeded to write me a prescription for one of the new medications and got really pissed off when I requested that we try one of the old, proven meds and lifestyle changes before going with the hard hitters. I think the fact that I’m a nurse and interested in participating in my own health care irritated him as well. The last five minutes proved to be the real topper. This man did a big no no as far as medical etiquette and bedside manners are concerned. He stood in front of me and dictated my history and physical, getting a lot of it wrong. I corrected him several times and then just gave up. This man, who is a general practitioner labeled me in the H & P as having a psychiatric condition known as obsessive compulsive disorder. Talk about nasty and vengeful. I was working as a hospice nurse, but one of my past specialties was mental health.
I have to say that this man had the attitude of a surgeon. Now, I think surgeons are great people and do a wonderful job, but all you nurses out there know what I mean. It’s sort of a “god syndrome.” They literally hold a person’s life in their hands while in surgery. Maybe the reason for Dr. K’s attitude was that he was in charge of a person’s dying. Or maybe he is just a jerk.
But when they’re good, they’re really good! It took me another year before I would go see another doctor. I got my prescriptions refilled at a doc in the box clinic and then after moving, my weekend docs at a mental health facility where I worked, gave me refills. Eventually, I decided to bite the bullet and make another doctor’s appointment. I had moved back to a city where I used to live and tried to make an appointment with my former doc. I always got an answering machine when I called and would leave messages which would go unanswered. The last time I called, the number was no longer in service. She must have retired. So then I did what most people would do and checked to see what local doctors were covered under my health insurance. That was one long list. How did I narrow it down? I prefer osteopathic physicians, so that helped. From there I just picked the first one on the list that was close to where I live and then prayed a lot. I made the appointment, showed up on time and held my breath.
I was shown into the exam room on time, seen by a resident who was working with Dr. G, and then seen by Dr. G himself – all within a reasonable amount of time. I had a thorough history and physical taken, followed by a very thorough physical exam. Then the big surprise.
Dr. G actually sat down to talk to me and told me that he liked having nurses as patients because they ask questions, give input and want to take charge of their own health. Whooooo! I found a doctor who wants to work with me as a team member to improve my health. I can’t say enough good things about Dr. G and his staff. We do work as a team. Dr. G cared enough about my health to discover that I’m now a diabetic and have sleep apnea. Because of this and his treatment for it, I now have more energy, better health and a zest for life. And about that treatment. He agrees that the old tried and true medications should be used first and we’re working on lifestyle changes. I now exercise more (still need to improve that) and have lost 52 pounds (still need to work on that). I enjoy going to the doctor and he enjoys having me as his patient. He even encourages me when I bring him research that I’ve happened on and asks about where’s his articles when I forget to bring them in. Now, how’s that for a good doc?
I just ended up on an uninhabited island. My sail boat was blown off course. Way off course. I’m lost. I’m alone. My boat crashed and drifted away. The only thing I managed to salvage was a book that I had in my jacket pocket. I could only wish that it had been Robinson Crusoe. That’s a book with a lot of practical advice for someone stranded on a lonely island. What I do have instead is that Worst-Case Scenario book that has already gotten me into some interesting situations. It even got me out of some. Maybe that will help me here. I’m almost afraid to look. Okay, here goes.
Here’s a section on how to survive in a jungle. Well, some of this island looks pretty heavily wooded. Maybe there’s something here to help me. Find a river, make a raft and let the current carry me downstream. I don’t think so. I’ve been carried about in the water just as much as I can tolerate right now. Being buffeted around in a sail boat was bad enough. I’m not about to try it on a makeshift raft that will probably fall apart not long after it hits water. I’m not exactly a carpenter. Heck, I’m not even a DIY person. I’m a person who sits in front of a computer and writes. I could throw words at those two pieces of tarp (which I don’t happen to have), green brush, two large saplings and vines all day and they aren’t going to arrange themselves into a nice little raft. Just wondering how I’m supposed to bring down those saplings. I didn’t bring my chainsaw with me when I decided to take this nice little afternoon sail. Maybe I’m supposed to uproot them.
I like the next section better. It’s going to tell me how to find food and water. It’s been a long time since breakfast. If I don’t have the means to purify water (I don’t), then I’m supposed to find water vines (what’s that?) or banana trees. I then proceed to either cut sections from the vines or cut down that tree with my imaginary axe. I’m to drink water from rivers and streams only as a last resort when dehydrated and death is a certainty. Wow! I love this next sentence. “Diarrhea will most likely result, so increase your water intake and keep moving.” If I have diarrhea, I don’t think I’ll have any choice. My body will keep moving!
Next I’m told if I cannot peel it or cook it, don’t eat it. Naturally, the book then goes on to tell me to eat insects, grubs and raw fish. I can’t peel them and they obviously haven’t been cooked or they wouldn’t be raw. I do get to pinch the heads off first. I think I’m losing my appetite. I’ve got to get out of this jungle.
I can find my way out of this without a compass. I can use the stick and shadow method. I also need to put my watch on the ground and line up the hour hand with the stick. I don’t think this will work since my watch wasn’t waterproof. If I’d paid more attention in some of my classes, I would know about the North Star or the Southern Cross and be able to use basic astrometry . Or if it quits raining so hard I can tell which way the clouds are moving. They generally move from west to east. Don’t you like that word “generally”? Most people going out for a little sail generally don’t end up on a deserted island. What are the odds that my clouds will be going the general direction? Then there’s the good ole moss method. Hey, I was in scouts for 12 years. I know that moss grows on the north side of trees and rocks. I know which direction I am going. Or maybe not. This book has the nerve to tell me that this method is not infallible.
It’s dark and I’m tired. I can’t deal with this much longer. I’m never stepping foot on a sail boat again. All I want to do is lie down and sleep for awhile. I’m going to pile up a bunch of brush over there under that little overhang and take a nap. I’ll have to read the rest of this book later. So far today, I’ve learned a bunch of things to do to survive, but haven’t been able to do them. Maybe when I wake up. I hope there aren’t any wild animals roaming around this place. Right now I’m just too wiped out to care. I’ll take you with me when I wake up and get moving again.
Lots and lots of free stuff. Who doesn’t love getting something free. Totally free. No strings attached. Check out Bloggy Giveaways. They have a carnival full of giveaways. The last time I checked, there were 698 sites giving away something as part of this carnival.
So why am I telling you about Bloggy Giveaways? Because, I love giveaways. I’ve received some very nice things from entering them. They’re fun. I’ve had fun entering and I want to share that fun with you. Now I’m going to participate from the other side and give some goodies to one of my readers. I’m sitting here at my computer and thinking what kind of goodies do I have that I could give. As I look around me I see lots and lots of books. I’ve always been a book lover and collector. So, I’m going to give away a boxful of all kinds of needlework and craft books. I will give away however many books I can fit into a flat rate priority box. This giveaway will have to be limited to U.S. only as I don’t even want to think about how much international postage for books would be.
To enter, just leave a comment. I’ll randomly pick a winner Monday morning. If your name is drawn as a winner, I will e-mail you at the e-mail address you provide.
There’s a lot of that going on lately. At least, that’s what it looks like in my shower. A coworker brought gifts of mud soap back from his holiday in the middle east. I finally got up the nerve to bathe in my mud. I opened the package and looked at it for awhile, wondering what I thought mud soap would look like. Well, duh! It looks like a cake of black mud. It also leaves the bottom of your shower muddy. Well, maybe not muddy, but it does leave a black residue. It kind of reminds you of the black soap scum left behind after giving a passel of dirty kids a bath in the same tub – only without the scum part.
I looked up mud soap and it appears that most of the good mud comes from countries in the middle east. The Dead Sea must have some really great mud, as this is where it appears most mud soaps originate. But it’s not the only mud that’s supposed to enhance your beauty. Some mud soaps come from glacier or volcano mud. There must be a heck of a lot of profit made from mud. If you do a Google search on mud soap, you can make those o’s stretch out all the way across the page. I stopped with 19 pages, so I don’t know just how much mud there really is out there. I’ve not had any comments about how much my beauty has increased since I started using my mud soap, so I can’t tell you how much it really works. I can’t even tell you how well it cleans since I can’t tell the body dirt from the mud soap in the bottom of my shower. But I can tell you it’s not as much fun as getting all mud covered when you’re a kid. I can still close my eyes and feel that nice, cool, slick mud squishing up between the toes of my bare feet. I hope it rains soon so I can go out barefoot and play in the puddles and mud!
Today is Earth Day 2008. Or not. The original International Earth Day was last month. It’s held on the March equinox. If you waited to celebrate today, it’s time to party, but in an environmentally kind manner, please. I’ve listed some links to tempt you to read more about what we can do to help maintain the sustainability of our planet. Maybe you’ll be inspired to do just a little more to make your life greener. Please let me know any suggestions. I’m working at becoming more aware of the ways I can be kind to our earth.
You can design your own reusable grocery bag at Kroger green bags.
Check out how Beth’s doing in her quest for a plastic free life.
Mama Goes Green has an Earth Day Giveaway.
Crunchy Domestic Goddess is making Earth Day a family day.
the green mommy talks about BPA in plastic.
No Impact Man in his own words is a guilty liberal who turned into a tree hugging lunatic.
You can read about the bee crisis at CT Green Scene.
This has barely scratched the surface but can get you started reading about the green scene. If you know of some good sites, please pass them on to us.
I recently read an advertisement that cracked me up. It was for the Cat Genie, the world’s only self-flushing, self-washing cat box. It even looks a bit like a small toilet. This is an ingenious cat box for those who love cats but hate cat boxes. It is supposed to be litter, odor, germ, dust, and work free. Instead of cat litter, this device uses “washable granules.” Okay, so who gets to wash those little babies? You do, of course. You didn’t really expect the cat to do it, did you? But once you get this baby all set up and hooked into your cold water line, all you have to do is push a button. Well, not quite. You have to also hook it up to the toilet or laundry drain and plug it in.
Now you can push the button or preset it to start cleaning automatically. The liquids drain through the granules and solid waste gets scooped. Hold on! You don’t have to do the scoop. It has a built in pooper scooper. After those little goodies get scooped, they are liquified and down the drain they go. Now the washable granules get washed, scrubbed, scoured and blow dried for your cat’s comfort.
Doesn’t this sound like something you want to own? It’s easy. It’s also an amazing bargain. All you have to do is fork over $297 for the Tabby Package or $359 for the Tuxedo Package if you have a high class, high maintenance feline. And then you never have to buy another thing. Oops. Not quite right. You need to buy the SaniSolution. You can get it as a single pack for $14.99, a 3 pack for 39.99 or a 12 pack for $149.99. See how much you can save? Don’t forget the granules. They’re $23.99 for a 3.5 lb box. But it’s worth it, isn’t it? You want your cat to feel pampered and have a clean tush. I wonder when they’ll invent a cat bidet?
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress; he led them by a straight way, until they reached an inhabited town. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind. For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things.
Psalm 107:1-9
New Revised Standard Version
The question has been raised as to how to make fleece mittens. Here are a couple links to online patterns and instructions.
