Waste not, want not

I stole today's topic from another blog I was reading a while ago. The blogger made the point that we, as a country, are a very wasteful lot. And I agree.

Now, let me back up a bit. I was (and still sometimes am) very guilty of living my life in the disposable society. I used to throw away my plastic bags, my cans and glass, newspaper, etc. I would not think twice about throwing the bananas out when one little brown spot appeared, and I would certainly run the dishwasher practically empty.

That said, living with my husband has opened my eyes up as to how other people in the world conserve. In Germany, like my husband says, they recycle anything that doesn't get up and walk away by itself. There is a bin for compost, one for paper, one for other recycle materials. Not to mention your regular garbage can. Do I think this is excessive? Sure is, but the trash pickup takes these items from their home on a weekly basis. With it being that easy, I think I could get on board with that. We do pay for recycling pickup at our home, so at least some items aren't dumped in the landfill. But Allied Waste still doesn't take our Styrofoam, any plastic item not marked with a "1" or a "2", or most plastic bags.

But really, my whole point doesn't start and stop with recycling. We waste food like crazy; tear down houses just to build new ones; use gasoline like we make it or something; leave every light on in the house; throw shit away when we are "done" with it. Why throw away that tired cabinet? Can't you sand it down and slap a new coat of paint on it? Eat those leftovers! Turn out the light if you leave the room!

I live near a land fill that grows exponentially every year. If we continue to live disposable, eventually we lose. I'm not a granola crunching tree-hugger with bare feet and dirty hair, but this shit is just common sense. If anything I've said will make you stop and think about tossing that newspaper in the garbage can, then it's all good...

Happy Friday all!

Wishing you and yours a Happy Friday! Anyway, back to me...

I've never appreciated the value of a good night's sleep until I've started sleeping like shit. For the past couple of weeks, my sleep pattern is all jacked up. I wake up pretty much directly after every dream cycle I have, so I'm waking up about 5-7 times per night. At this point, the jacked up sleeping pattern has almost become habit.

So I'm polling the masses (ok, like all 2 of you that read this out there) to PLEASE comment on this post with some sleep ideas. I've tried red wine before bed so far. That works ok, but I can't become a drunk over this! Well, I could, but it would become an expensive habit...and Lord knows I save my money for the Victoria's Secret catalogue and trashy tabloid magazines...

Ok, seriously...doesn't being elected as leader of the free world entitle you to some kind of etiquette lessons?!? Not that George Walker Bush hasn't embarrased us enough with his cute nicknames for anyone he meets; his "Mission accomplished" theater piece on the aircraft last year; the whole Iraq war.

I'm not talking about saying "shit" to Tony Blair during the G8 conference (actually, that made his stock rise a little in my book). I'm talking about the fact that he RUBBED ANGELA MERKEL'S SHOULDERS yesterday during a photo op. Now, for those of you that don't understand the significance of this, let me explain:

YOU DON'T TOUCH A GERMAN, EVER. Not unless they are your spouse, one of your parents, a sibling, or a child under the age of 15. They are not back-slapping, huggy, touchy-feely people. I'm pretty sure Ms. Merkel was mortified at the first touch of his short stubby fingers on the shoulder pad of her business jacket. Really, I'm surprised that her bodygoons didn't take him down right then and there. Now, there are some folks that say he wouldn't have done this if Ms. Merkel was a man. I disagree. George tries to make himself instantly familiar to everyone he meeets, and really looks for a touching opportunity whenever it presents itself.

Please, George, remember what we ALL learned in kindergarten: Keep your hands to yourself...

Hey all! Hope everyone had a good weekend. My husband and I were weekend warriors, doing a major landscaping project. Of course, we pick a weekend that had average temps of 95 farenheit. Uncool! Fortunately, I've had a massage appointment set up for after work today. My shoulders are killing me!

I'm not complaining about the heat, don't get me wrong. We really haven't had hot temps this summer at all, and I like it warm. I just don't care for back-breaking manual labor in "did i die and go to hell already" hot.

Not much else to post today. I've just realized that this whole post looks like the work of an 85 year old woman. Oy vey! My aching back! Oy vey! The heat!

Today is a happy, happy day! I was thrilled to pieces to learn that Valerie Plame has filed a lawsuit against the Bushie Trifecta: Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby and Karl Rove. I'm so relieved that this issue wasn't left to die a small, quiet media death. Perhaps there will actually be some kind of monetary punishment metted out on this yet!

For those of you that need to be caught up, the Plame case is one of the all time greats of Bush administration arrogancy. Plame's husband, Joseph Wilson, was on the "fact-finding" mission that the administration sent to Africa to locate proof that Saddam Huessin was trying to buy uranium on the open market. Wilson returned from that trip with no evidence, and told the administration as much. Bush continued to insinuate to the American people (and the world) that they had evidence of Saddam buying quality grade uranium when they in fact did not. It was at this point that Wilson, greatly concerned that a war could take place over this fact, went public in the New York Times with an editorial stating he never found evidence on his trip.

Curiously, not long after Wilson's editorial was published, several news sources identified his wife as a CIA agent. Not just any CIA agent, but an active, UNDERCOVER CIA agent. Revealing this little fact not only endangered Ms. Plame's life (and countless other undercover operatives tied to her), but her family as well. Not to mention it also endangered HOMELAND SECURITY. Way to go, Bushie!

I really thought that this was going to be another transgression that the American government was going to get away with, as most Americans resign themselves to thinking these days. But I've held out hope that our civil court systems may bring some justice to this world. Really, shouldn't this issue be our Watergate?

Hello, all! First time blogger, long time reader. I've been inspired by my coworker Mike to start my own blog, just so we all know who to blame in the future. The whole blogging phenomena is intriguing to me. Why the hell would someone want to view my thoughts? Why the hell not?

I have to say, the pressure to be witty and hip is enormous. Please forgive the plebian vibe for the first couple of postings. I'll be putting up some of my photography work as well, be gentle...and enjoy!