What's with all the disasters! Sadness.

When 9-11 happened, the sight of people jumping from windows was pretty horrible; but what really horrified me was the idea of people buried alive, slowly dying.

The New York Times has published a story about a Chinese couple buried in rubble from the recent disaster, but luckily they were rescued the next day. Their story provides a First Hand Account of this particular horror--though with a brighter ending.

*
SHIFANG, China — At the moment of greatest despair, Wang Zhijun tried to kill himself by twisting his neck against the debris.

Breathing had become harder as day turned to night. The chunks of brick and concrete that had buried him and his wife were pressing tighter by the hour, crushing them. Their bodies had gone numb.

Then there was the rain, sharp and cold, lashing at them through the cracks.

“I don’t think I can make it,” he told his wife, Li Wanzhi, his face just inches from hers, their arms wrapped around each other.

She sensed he was giving up. “If God wants to kill us, he would have killed us right away,” she said. “But since we’re still alive, we must be fated to live.”

yaaaawn... what was i saying?

I feel a writing mood coming on... but I can't start until my apartment sorting is done. I've only got 2 shifts scheduled at work so far this week... maybe I'll stick to that, and leave more time for cleaning and organizing. Sigh.

Wow. I'm sleepy. Must rush to take advantage, and get my sleep schedule back on track...

No news is... you know the rest

Hmm haven't had much to say lately, about my day to day life.

Cooking: tonight, quinoa and chick peas from Dreena Burton
House cleaning and organizing: today, painted window frames, washed windows and curtains
Work: schleppin' books
Fiction: finally The Eight is getting good
Non-fiction: almost done The Omnivore's Dilemma
TV: very much into the Numb3rs and House reruns
Music: James Bond songs, Nina Simone, Peter Paul and Mary
Library: Doh! I think I had stuff due today
Movies: Still watching Henry V over and over, thinking about my story
Writing: Doing some plotting for Hen, but haven't gone Full into writing mode yet... trying to get my home in order first
Job Hunting: nothing to do right now
Buddies: Hanging with Pablo, and gossiping with my Work Husband
Real Husband: Mostly we're bickering... I think school has ruined my marriage. Better get it worked out before the 10 Year Anniversary next month.

Litter Land

I like these kinds of fun cat box ideas... but if we cover our boxes, they would need a second exit. You can't let a cat get trapped in a multi-cat household. Bad etiquette.

Composting Dilemma Part 2! Oh the drama of it all.

The Greening of Miss Mabel continues on my Practically Moral page. Tune in to find out the exciting conclusion to my compost problem!

Green Clean Up

The Greening of T-Scone continues...

A couple months ago I finally purchased greenie-bulbs, to slowly replace the regular ones.

I've got my kitchen organized so I can wash and clean jars and containers, and then I hope to buy more stuff from the bulk store. It's not necessarily cheaper, but less packaging.

I'm going to post a "no flyers" notice on my mailbox (after I get a translation into French from the step-mommyness.)

At the grocery store I avoid the little veggie baggies if I can, but for some things they're still convenient. I think the little dryer baggies from the dollar store (meant for drying delicates in your dryer) may work well--in terms of not adding too much weight.

The long-term problem that's bothering me is composting. You can get indoor composting units, but where would I put the dirt? Maybe I could go out in the middle of the night and spread it on people's lawns.

Hey! I never did finish my 100 Goals List. I have failed. But look, I can put all these green goals on it, to plump it up! Woo!

Eco-ventions

This is pretty funny. It's the most high-tech self-cleaning cat box I've ever seen. It's actually ecologically better than cat litter, since it has rewashable granules (that the machine washes), but I won't buy something like this til they've been on the market longer. One glance at the reviews on amazon shows how often this breaks down, which is not a surprise considering how complex it is.

I also didn't see whether it plugs in, or runs on batteries. I didn't think through my last Robot Purchase, which was the shower cleaner--because it took up so many batteries! I was clearly in a Delusional and Desperate School Phase when I bought that thing!

Right now I'm using a spray bottle of shower cleaner, but when it runs out I'm going to come up with a homemade cleaning solution for the shower (vinegar or whatever--I'll just do a little googling. At worst, I can use Hertel.) I'm about to run out of my eco all-purpose cleaner too, and though it's from a company I approve of, I may also replace that with homemade cleaner.

My real challenge, though, is to figure out how to make my own Lysol wipes. I can get eco-animal friendly ones from Method, but again, the expense. I've kept my empty bottle for experimenting. I need to find some sort of cheap, thin cleaning cloth... I wonder if cheese cloth would work. But can I get them rolled up in such a way that they'll pull out of the bottle like the disposable wipes do? That would be cool.

My best eco invention has been my face cleaning cloths. I took new soft dusting cloths and cut them into squares, and put them in a jar. I use them in the place of cotton balls or cleaning pads. I leave a small mesh laundry bag next to the jar for the dirty ones, and toss it in the washing machine.