Month: January 2019

I won’t live forever, but I do care about the future quality of life for people whom I will eventually leave behind. I care about the animals who struggle to live through the virus humans have become to the their very survival. After watching a “60 Minutes” episode about plastic, I was moved to examine my daily habits and I realized that I’m a real part of the problem. So, I’ve decided to make some changes.

I already drive a hybrid and after owning my car for 5 years, I’ve only just reached 28,000 miles. So, I’m not a big driver and my next car in 2024 will be electric. I’m already pretty good about consolidating my trips and making a circle so as to minimize mileage. I carpool when it’s feasible and use public transportation to go to Los Angeles or San Diego whenever possible. Living where I do, nothing I need is in walking distance and I don’t own a bicycle any longer. Frankly, I doubt I would want to cycle anywhere with these roads. Hopefully, this is not true for others.

Several years ago, we switched to cloth napkins for breakfast and dinner. I use paper at work, but hadn’t considered until now that I could carry one of my cloth napkins to work with me along with my lunch which is carried in one of my fancy lunch pails–no paper bags for me. If I must use a paper napkin, I’m going to cut them in half as was suggested by an environmental blogger. We only purchase paper towels that are perforated into halves to cut down on waste. However, I do sometimes overuse them, so I’ll be more aware of the times when a towel will do. When I’m out and about, the paper towels and napkins used to clean or dry my hands or to wipe up food spills can be composted and so I’ll do better with that, too. It won’t hurt me to keep a bag in my office and car to simply collect those and put them into my composter at home.

We already recycle paper, glass, aluminum and some plastics. Our magical kitchen trashcan (because it opens with a sensor and surprises guests) has two sections already built in and is convenient for recycling. My husband exchanges the recycling items for cash. It’s rewarding to use it to purchase our live Christmas tree for the living room each year. However, I’d like to switch to a quality fake one next year like the one we have in the family room. I might just win this argument this year since it’s become increasingly difficult for my husband to get down to water that live tree everyday. Thankfully, we agree on other recycling matters. We have a lovely counter size composter to collect food waste. My husband found on Amazon. Each week, he empties the contents into the huge composter in the backyard that we got for free from the city. I love that kitchen composter because it also has a filter built in to guard against odors and it works great.

While it sounds like we’re doing a lot, I know that we should be doing more. Water is a huge issue in draught stricken California, so we take 5 minute showers and collect the warm- up water in pails to water plants. I skip one shower on weekends. My son, a former Peace Corp volunteer, only showers every other day as he learned that it was actually acceptable and even healthier. So, I gave up one day on the weekend. I switched from disposable bottled water to personal Britta water bottles. I keep one by my bedside and one at work. Beyond the initial purchase of the Britta water bottles at Target and the periodic purchase of replacement filters, I think they are a great alternative to plastic water bottles. I also learned that a car wash uses less water than washing the car at home because the water is recycled. I purchased a pass for $12.99 per month that allows me unlimited car washes. We only wash full loads of clothes and our garden has a drip system. But I am in a constant fight with my husband over washing dishes methods. Dishwashers save water if you don’t wash them before putting them in the dishwasher. This is a constant battle in our house. My husband rinses everything to excess and washes too many dishes by hand. He doesn’t believe in soaking, so the constant running of water to loosen food drives me crazy.

I’m determined to do better as I learn better. So much is about changing simple habits like remembering to bring my reusable bags at the grocery store, Target, and even places where they don’t charge you for bags like, TJ Maxx. I’ll try to be better about turning off lights when I leave a room, eating less beef, and composting that paper towel or napkin that I accidently use to dry my hands.

I love technology and I’m excited by technological advances. In fact, I want to make a yearly pilgrimage to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas when I retire. But while I am completely fascinated by innovation and the promise of greater efficiency, I realized that I am woefully falling behind each year in my utilization of it.

At work this past week, we had a training facilitated by one of our computer techs to maximize our use of the email and calendar system. He admitted from the start of the training that we will likely only use about 10% of the features available, but that was normal. I was awestruck by some of the features he showed us and even incorporated a couple of them right away. It was crazy to realize during the training that my computer and operating system were actually obsolete in terms of the software he presented. Because of all the moving and reorganizations that occurred, my scheduled upgrades had been missed. And I never noticed! I could do everything I thought I wanted or needed to do. Until the tech started showing us features that my old system wasn’t capable of doing, I would have continued on with my old computer and Windows 10 operating system. So, I’m scheduled to get a whole new computer and the newest operating system in the next couple of weeks.

But this just brings me to my point. It is easy to get stuck and to fall behind when it comes to technology and to never even realize what you’re missing. A couple of summers ago, I laughed at my aunt’s flip phone and then showed her all the cool features and things I could do with my smart phone. Thankfully, she now has a smart phone and I hope she’s utilizing at least some of the conveniences it provides. I find with each passing year, that I’m not much better than my aunt because I still have an iPhone 6. I’ve refused to spend the money to upgrade to latest and greatest because I’ve grown accustomed to the one I have. I don’t know what I’m missing by not upgrading to the newest technology. Admittedly, I’ve avoided going into the Apple Store to see because I’d probably leave with a new phone. But my aunt and I are not alone in our tendency to get stuck.

As I begin preparations for my family’s reunion in 2020, I’m finding that we have to prepare for family members on all levels of technology use. I actually stuffed and mailed 136 letters to family members who lacked email addresses. Most with emails, didn’t respond for days, if at all. I learned from one person with an email address that she didn’t know how to scan and attach documents to an email and so would rather just mail things to me. We are preparing to receive payment via check, Pay Pal and Zelle. I had family members email me to tell me that certain family members don’t do technology at all. So, expecting everyone to register on-line for the reunion is a no-go. Others told me they preferred text messages over emails. We are in a constant state of flux as technology progresses and individuals move along at their own comfortable pace.

My daughter, who is a technology master, insisted that we share everything related to our reunion planning on Google Docs and Google Sheets and I’m fine with that, but I had a moment of pause the other day when I opened Google Sheets to record expenses for postage stamps and copies only to find that the expenses had already been posted. I felt like the bank and Google Sheets had become “Big Brother” knowing and recording for me these expenses even though I had not connected the two accounts. It’s like that feeling you get when you’re shopping on-line and the item you looked at but didn’t purchase mysteriously shows up in your Facebook feed. After the shock wore off, I thought, well, this was going to save me a lot of time. But when I mentioned what occurred to my daughter, she informed me that the expenditures showed up on her family reunion bank account app and she entered the expense on Google Sheets. I was both relieved and disappointed.

Which brings me to apps. I have so many of them. Every good idea, including online banking, seems to become an app for me. I counted and then recounted the apps on my phone for this blog because I couldn’t believe that I actually have 125 of them. That is six pages of apps! So, today, I’m going old school, Martha Steward housekeeping on my cell phone apps. If I haven’t used it or don’t need it, I’m getting rid of it. I might also do the same with the 1,714 photos I have stored on my phone.

I love technology, but it is nearly impossible to keep up with.

I’m tired of hearing the talking point, “Build the wall!” Even more ridiculous was the promise that Mexico was going to pay for it. First, Trump said Mexico was going to gladly write a check and now he claims they’ll pay for it indirectly with a promised new trade deal. Until then, the president is demanding that Congress allocate American tax dollars to pay for it. My response is, “Oh hell no!” Walls don’t work. Desperate people will use a ladder to climb over it, dig a tunnel to go under it, or drill right through it. At the heart of the issue is why people are coming and perhaps our tax dollars can be used to get to the root of the problem.

Human migration is as old as humanity itself. Intelligent and able-bodied people will flee less than ideal circumstances in one location to a location that offers a better opportunity for economic survival and/or safety. And who can blame migrants for fleeing war or violence or persecution or oppression or starvation? Proverbs 27:12 says, “A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.”

The Evangelicals supporting this president and his call for the wall should know better than anyone that migration is a strategy that is repeated throughout the Bible with the righteous fleeing oppression, starvation, and persecution. They should recall their Sunday School lesson about the walls of Jericho that came tumbling down found in Joshua 6: 1-27. The fearmongering strategy put forth by this Administration is nothing but a proposed waste of tax payer dollars and a valed nod to racism against brown people.

I’m glad that some media outlets are countering the misrepresentation of statistics, gross exaggerations, and outright lies about the people seeking refuge and the danger we are in because we do not have a wall. The fact is that we are not being overrun by murderers, rapists and human traffickers. Drugs are coming in through legal ports of entry and through the mail to meet the demand of Americans for those drugs. The statistics show that fewer immigrants commit murder and rape than Americans. The few human traffickers won’t be deterred by a wall.

Here’s my point. If my family was facing the kinds of challenges these Central Americans are facing in their home countries, I would flee as well. I would hope that the 5.7 billion dollars we want to spend on a stupid wall would instead go towards helping to shore up the countries affected by our demand for drugs and finding ways to end the insatiable demand for drugs by Americans. People don’t migrate unless they are desperate. And a wall will never stop a desperate person who is fleeing for her life and for the lives of her precious children.

Already? Really? That was my reaction to the news that Senator Elizabeth Warren has established one of those interest committees for would be presidential candidates. The campaigning for the 2020 Presidential election is ramping up and I’m not ready. These last few years with Trump at the helm and then the resistance that successfully flipped the House of Representatives have left me exhausted. But I’d better take an energy drink and get ready.

What is clear to me is that our nation cannot afford another four years of Donald Trump. I’m amazed how he has lowered our expectations for what a president should be. His anti-intellectual, anti-law, anti-information, anti-immigrant, anti-truth, anti-news, and anti-decency and anti-morality has not only embarrassed our nation in the eyes of the world, but he has lowered the standards of common decency and further divided us. He has put the earth itself in further danger with his anti-environmental policies. So, I will gear up to support the candidacy of a person who actually deserves my respect and support. A hundred million Americans showed up to vote in the mid-terms. More will need to show up to elect someone new because of the way the electoral college works.

The next president won’t be perfect (no one is), but he or she will need to be intelligent, articulate, honest, experienced, and thoughtful. He or she will need a respect for the rule of law, knowledge of history, an appreciation for diversity, and a thoughtful approach to the environment. Only a candidate with these qualifications will deserve my support.

I hope the last two years have taught my fellow Americans that character matters and their votes matter. It’s been eye opening and disheartening to hear some fellow Christians continue to support this president who is clearly against pretty much everything Jesus taught us to be in relationship to God and our fellow human beings. I doubt Evangelical Christians understand how much their stance has revealed their hypocrisy and damaged the message of the Gospel. They have become a stumbling block.

I’ve also seem how gullible other Americans can be, blindly believing the lies of Fox News, the president, conservative radio hosts, and friends. Because of their own prejudice, ignorance, and fear of others, they cower behind this wall of lies that surrounds them. Trump, Fox News and conservative radio prey on these vulnerable people. With so much fear and hope for a return to a fictional past, the truth can’t penetrate their wall of lies. They will likely remain closed off while we tear down the wall with this next election.

The 2020 Presidential campaign is on our doorstep. This year I’ll be listening and watching carefully those who aspire to be the next president. The bar has been raised because we’ve all experienced the consequences of lowering the bar for the highest office in the world. It is clear that a huge fight is coming for the soul of our nation and the meaning of the presidency. Despite my political weariness, I’ve resolved to take a deep breath and gear up.