Susan Vogt - Living Lightly

Browsing Posts published by Susan Vogt

365+#82: Rnd 2 -Hazardous Waste

November 16, 2014 Susan Vogt 1 comment

Click to enlarge

It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, we take advantage of it – Community Sponsored Hazardous Waste collection. Once or twice a year my county provides a place to take items like pesticides, paint, medications, old electronics, etc. Jim and I save these items throughout the year and take them to the collection place on the appointed date. It takes a bit of organization to have a holding place in the house for the respective items, to notice the date, and then to remember to do it (if we are in town). Ideally, communities would have a collection site open every day or at least on a weekly basis (perhaps every weekend). Still, it is good that this happens at all.

We contributed:

56 batteries
2 printer cartridges
2 garden pesticides
13 light bulbs
2 printers
1 computer tower
1 projector

The need is great and the people are willing. This is evidenced by the long line of cars waiting to drop off their hazardous waste. The actual drop off was very efficient (about 5 minutes with lots of helpful volunteers) but we waited in traffic for about 30 minutes to get to the drop off point. You’d think with this many people eager to do the right thing that the sponsors would do it more frequently. Although local communities differ in what they collect and when, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gives an overview of what constitutes hazardous waste with links to local resources.

How does your community handle hazardous waste?

Days 365+ Electronics, Household, Recycling

365+#81: Letting Go of Work

November 1, 2014 Susan Vogt 3 comments

THE HAMSTER SYNDROME
Do you ever feel like you’re a hamster running a never ending wheel of activity and never quite getting caught up. I do. People ask how I am and I’m tempted to say “Busy.” I’ve been trying to eliminate that answer as an automatic response because I realize that it’s usually just a variation of “Look how important I am. I have lots to do.” When I pause enough to consider the “I’m busy” comment, I realize that most people I know are busy and it doesn’t really mean that what fills my time is any more important than my neighbor’s time. Instead of wearing “busyness” as a badge of honor, I’ve started to reframe it as a weakness. It is a myth that I will ever get completely caught up – forever.

5 Busyness Myths that keep me stuck racing on the hamster wheel
1. I must do it all.
The weakness is the inability to prioritize.
2. My value depends on how much I do.
The erroneous idea that the more I accomplish the more valuable I am and people will like me
3. Society respects busyness.
Honoring busyness is really a smug version of “Look how important I am!”
4. I will eventually get caught up.
The assumption that I can conquer today’s “To Do” list and actually get caught up defies all historical evidence. I know that I will soon just add more tasks onto my list and soon be behind again.
5. Being responsible means doing lots of things and doing them fast.
Being responsible means following through on my commitments but also not biting off more than I can chew.

As I realize the folly of figuring out how to do things faster, more efficiently, and just do more, I’ve found:

5 Ways to get off the hamster wheel
1. One In – One Out
Apply this principle of pruning household goods to my commitments. Before I say yes to a new commitment, committee, or volunteer activity – Am I willing to let go of a current involvement?
2. Cut myself down to size
No matter how talented I am, I can’t save the world. I can do somethings, but not everything. Sometimes I take on more than I should because I’m flattered to be asked or I think I can do it better than another, or I’m afraid if I don’t do it nobody will. This is faulty thinking that suggests I’m the only one who can do a task. Sometimes, leaving a task undone, permits a hole that another person will eventually fill, once the need is evident. It’s a good mentoring and parenting principle.
3. Not all things are equally important or urgent
I may want to organize my spice rack, check my email, or finish off a task but the person in front of me takes priority. Be it a child who needs attention or a spouse who feels neglected, relationships come first. After loving the people around me, then the difficult task of prioritizing the essential over the “would be nice to do” kicks in. We Type A personalities tend to think we should be able to do it all. That’s what makes us feel important. The real wisdom, however, is having the guts to prioritize and skip the non-urgent.
4. Divide and Conquer
Today I have 17 things that I need to do before I leave for Rome in 9 days (and that doesn’t count calling my mother!) I feel overwhelmed since many of the tasks depend on getting information from other people. This morning I realized if I could do at least 2 tasks a day I’d be OK. I may not have time to frost my hair but I’ll get the important stuff done.
5. Take Time Out First
It may seem like quiet time alone is non-productive time. For us work-a-holics it may seem like taking time to rest, to play, to pray is a waste of time. The human spirit needs time and space, however, to rejuvenate and ponder the meaning of it all. My own practice has been to take time to pray as soon as I awake in the morning. Occasionally, I delay it thinking I’ll get dressed first or check email, or whatever seems so urgent that I have to do it first. Inevitably the day slips away and I’m back on the hamster wheel. Starting with some quiet open space reminds me of why I am here and what’s really important. It also helps me with point #3 – prioritizing what really must get done this day.

Some people are naturally laid back and need to procrastinate less. That’s another problem for another day although I think some of the same principles may apply. Let’s face it, we humans will probably never be fully caught up. To chase after that goal will just make us weary. Downsizing our expectation of finally getting caught up may be a healthier way to live. What works for you?

PS: One tip that will both save you and your FaceBook friends time is to commit to not posting more than 1 thing a day. (This is a somewhat unrelated pet peeve of mine but as much as I enjoy catching up on friends’ lives and getting inspirational messages, it can be a time hog. TV used to play this role in many of our lives. I think Facebook has taken its place. No more than One-A-Day seems to be a good rule of thumb to me.)

Beyond Stuff Musings, Time

365+#80: Letting Go of Worries

October 16, 2014 Susan Vogt No comments

A few days ago our daughter emailed us saying that she was in Liberia. With the Ebola crisis emanating from that region of Africa, our parental worry antenna shot up. She assured us that she was being extremely careful and was super sanitized but Ebola stories have been endemic on the news. Of course that’s why she was there – to report on Ebola for the Wall Street Journal. We are proud of her but also worried for her.

This got me thinking about being a parent. No matter what the age of our children, I vacillate between pride and worry. Are they doing well enough in school? How is their health? Will they make good friends and find loving relationships? Will they make good decisions about life and morality? Will they be safe? Will they be able to support themselves financially? Will they keep faith?

While my children lived at home, my job was to lay the foundation – to teach them the basics and try to provide a safe, nutritional, educational, moral environment. Now that they are grown, I can only continue to love them and trust that that foundation will carry them through the tough times.

No one escapes childhood without some hurts, be they physical falls or emotional heartbreaks. Still, as a parent, it’s hard not to worry. No matter how old one’s child is we can’t guarantee his or her well-being. So how can a caring parent stay sane?

WORRY-LESS PARENTING:
1. Lay a Foundation, But Let Go of the Outcome.
Do the best you can during the active parenting years and then repeat this mantra: “I are responsible for the process I use in raising my children – not the outcome.”
2. Let Go of Guilt and Start.
In hindsight, parents sometimes feel guilty that their “best” was flawed. Maybe from lack of money, time, or knowing healthy parenting practices, you made mistakes or did things you regret. Learn from the past but let go of the guilt. You can’t change history. Start now to be the best parent you can.
3. Let Go of Pride.
We put so much energy into our children it’s tempting to see their successes as our successes. Of course the corollary is to feel that our child’s failure is our failure.

BEYOND PARENTING WORRIES:
Worrying is not restricted to parents. I can worry about money, my job (or lack thereof), health, politics, the environment, human relationships gone awry, or my hair. I have found the following principles help keep me balanced:
1. Take Action.
One of the best remedies for worry is to do something proactive. I can’t single handedly stop climate change, but I can reduce how much energy I use and recycle more.
2. Think Beyond Myself.
Increasing my love for others and decreasing my judgment of those I disagree with can lift my spirit beyond “woe is me.” Being in community with others can multiply positive actions and bring support in times of discouragement.
3. Turn it over.
For people of faith this typically means prayer or meditation. Even if one has no specific religious belief, the attitude of letting go can put problems in perspective and bring some peace.

Bonus: Laugh More – at ones foibles, the temporariness of this life, myself. Sometimes I just have to laugh at my uncontrollable hair.

So, wise readers – What has helped you deal with the inevitable worries of life?

Beyond Stuff Intangibles, Musings

365+#79: How Much Income Is Enough

September 30, 2014 Susan Vogt 3 comments

Of course this question is a minefield. How much is enough depends on family size, stage of life, where you live, etc. Still, as a follow-up to our recent observations about poverty in Kenya and the growing awareness of income inequality in the USA, I wanted to know – Are Jim and I doing OK in the Living Lightly realm? Are we in the middle – or a little less (as we like to think of ourselves)? Or could we live on less income?

Historical note: I remember when we first got married in 1971 and our income was about $7,000, I made the rash judgment that making over $50,000 was probably sinful. I quickly revised my opinion to, it’s not the income that’s a problem but rather how one uses the excess after meeting modest needs of daily life. This assumes of course that one comes by income honestly and not at the expense of others or the environment. Adjusted for inflation, our 1971 income would now be about $41,000. The “sinful” $50,000 income would be about $294,000 in 2014 dollars. Our income has increased in real dollars since 1971. So do we have enough or too much? It got me thinking about what I buy with our increased income.

One of our sons challenged me the other day about several things I considered buying, borrowing, or looking for a sale. The first was a projector for PowerPoint presentations – a genuine but occasional need. The second was a Bengals baseball cap – hardly comparable in cost. He said, “Hey, just buy it! You have enough money. Your house and car are paid for; your kids are all out of college, and you have Medicare. You don’t always need to save money.”

Hmmm. He’s right, but frugal habits die hard. Maybe that’s not so bad in that it keeps me from being a spendthrift, but it also can keep me from being generous. When I look back on what might be “sinful” about an income, I now think the biggest fault is being judgmental of others. Yes, we need to work for fair government policies that decrease the income gap between the wealthy and the poor, but we also need to look at the sin of smugness in ourselves.

In my book, Blessed By Less, I propose the following 7 basic needs for a decent human life:

Enough food to stay healthy and the means to cook it
Enough clothing to stay warm and that is appropriate for my work
Housing that is safe and clean with enough space for some privacy
Enough education for the kind of work I want to do and the tools with which to do it.
Access to affordable health care
Some discretionary money for treats or recreation
A job to pay for the above necessities (Ideally, each of us should have meaningful activity, whether paid or unpaid, which contributes to the common good.)

According to the USA Department of Health & Human Services the 2014 poverty level for 2 people (like us) averages about $17,000 depending on where you live. By this measure, we are rich. But watching ads and our contemporaries, however, sometimes we feel poor. Could you afford these basic needs on $17,000?

What do you consider to be enough income? What are your criteria for a decent lifestyle? How do you guard against the “Smug factor?”

Beyond Stuff Money

365+#78: Gaining Humor & Humility

September 9, 2014 Susan Vogt No comments

I recently returned from a trip to visit our daughter in Nairobi, Kenya. International travel like this always prompts reflections on life and how we humans are alike and different, I’d like to share 2 things I learned – one humorous and one humbling.

Humor:
Our daughter, Jim, and I went on a walking safari through the savannah region north of Nairobi. We had two Massai as guides (a spotter, aka the “gun guy” and an “explainer”). We saw dik diks, zebra, geremuks, giraffes, jackals, elephants, ostriches, impalas, waterbucks, and other exotic animals and birds.

elephant track

I was in awe of the guides’ ability to spot animals from afar that often just looked like rocks to me – until they moved. The explainer would often point out the tracks of the various animals and background about their habits. Eventually, I wanted to contribute to our group’s knowledge but was pitifully ignorant of tracks, until…I saw the tire track of a truck. Click on images to enlarge.

tire track

In the style of the guide, I explained that this track was probably made by a Toyota jeep. It eats gas and oil and comes in many colors, but mostly black, white, and earth tones. Its “poop” comes in the form of smoke and fumes. Its predators are bumpy roads, bigger trucks, and drunk drivers. Did it impress the guides? No, but we had a chuckle and I had fun thinking up parallels.

Humility:
Periodically I took time to quietly sit, reflect, and pray about the experience I was having in Africa – both the safari and life in the city of Nairobi. My custom is to end my meditation time with calling to mind something I am grateful for. (It helps balance out my worries and stress.) One morning, as I was aware of the safari staff busily preparing food and supplies for the days walk, while I leisurely gazed at the sunrise, I found myself saying, “Thank you, God, that I do not have the life of a safari worker, a maid, a guard, a driver, or any of the many local people who spend their time serving us.” OH, NO! I caught myself in the middle of this “Gratitude Prayer” and realized how close it was to Luke 18:11 “The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” I didn’t know what to do with this awareness of myself as a proud Pharisee. I felt humbled and resolved to do some kind of service for the staff that day.

Points to Ponder:

Does humor come easily to you?
How do you deal with undue pride?
What has contact with another culture (either at home or in another country) taught you about life?

Extra – Speaking of Animals:
I’ve been saving this post for awhile since it didn’t really fit any category other than Getting rid of stuff that’s been stored at our house for way too long. Jim and I belong to a contradance community that hosts an annual weekend dance called “Pig Town Fling” in honor of Cincinnati’s slogan as “Pig Town.” Over the years we’ve collected a lot of pig paraphernalia with which we decorate the dance hall. Finally, I’ve passed these “treasures” on to next year’s King Pig organizer.

Extra Fun Faith, Humor, Intangibles, Travel

365+#77: 9 Benefits of a Low Income

August 30, 2014 Susan Vogt No comments

I was fantasizing the other day about winning the lottery. Actually, I never buy lottery tickets since the odds are against me and thus it seems like a waste of money. Still, I started thinking of all the non-profit organizations I belong to and volunteer activities that I’m involved with. All of them could use an infusion of money. I could do a lot of good if I came into some sudden cash.

BUT, then I started thinking about the effort I’ve put into writing some grants for those organizations and how I hate to do fundraising. I started to think of how a conscientious person with excess income can carry quite a burden. I wouldn’t turn down a monetary windfall but following are 9 advantages that occurred to me from living on an adequate but modest income:

Assuming that you already set aside funds (perhaps 10%) to support causes you are committed to, declining all those sincere but inconvenient telephone solicitors who call – mostly at dinner time – can be done guilt free.
It makes signing online petitions easier since the inevitable request for a donation which accompanies them can be ignored.
It inoculates against the temptation to buy trendy or status clothes or gadgets which will probably go out of style soon anyway.
The bar for a treat is low, so simple pleasures (a meal out, a bubble bath, a special desert) can delight.
Taxes are relatively easy.
Friendships are not likely to be contaminated by one-up-man ship or the ability to give favors.
Getting a bargain can bring great pleasure.
Life is less complicated since there is less to protect, clutter, and clean.
One doesn’t have to carry the burden of being a conscientious philanthropist weighing the relative merits of many good causes seeking your donation. (Although I’m glad that some people are willing to do this.)

Of course all of this is predicated on having enough, but not too much. This is a thorny and complicated decision for a person or family to make. Some people don’t have a choice. Circumstances can change and income can be lost. Genuine needs can increase so what once was enough no longer covers medical bills or a crisis. Assuming, however, that one is living at that squishy level of “enough but not too much” there is still another challenge – how to live with moral humility and avoid the smug factor?

How do you stay balanced? How much is enough?

Beyond Stuff Money

365+#76: First World Problems

August 15, 2014 Susan Vogt 1 comment

It was a bad day! It started with an unnecessarily long conference call which meant I had to scurry to make my eye doctor appointment. This meant I didn’t have time to recheck my directions, made some wrong turns, and was 16 minutes late. The office informed me that they didn’t honor appointments later than 15 minutes. I would have to come back another day. Since I was already out I decided to use the time to pick up some supplies at a nearby fabric store. When I got to the store, a sign said they had moved – not close. I decided to give up and return home. On the way I got stuck in a traffic jam. I felt pretty grumpy, but I did have time while sitting in the traffic jam to think – or maybe it was prayer. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. My reflections led me to the concept: “These are First World problems”

While I write this I’m nearing the end of a visit to our daughter who lives in Kenya. It’s a beautiful and corrupt country. Most people would consider it Second or Third World. Although my time here has been pleasant enough (partially because I am white, have enough money to travel, and a daughter to provide necessities) I see the poverty around me. Roads are in terrible disrepair. Numerous people are selling trinkets along the roadsides or begging. Those who can afford it have drivers, maids, and security guards. These are considered good jobs because they are jobs. I watch people doing backbreaking work to serve the pleasure of those who have more wealth. Wait, this isn’t all that different than many places in the USA!

Either way, I’m reminded of the burdens that other people carry – most are much bigger than being stuck in traffic or having to reschedule an eye appointment. Being mindful of these realities reduces my stress and helps put life in perspective.

A few times in my life I have faced serious problems – sickness, job loss, emotional distress – but mostly my problems pale when compared to people who are really suffering in my world or any world.

What have I learned?

Be mindful. It will probably lead to gratitude.
Stay close enough to those who have less, to be reminded of my privilege.
Do something to respond to the needs of those who suffer. This might be by donations of time or money, or through political action.

How do you cope?

Beyond Stuff Intangibles, Musings, Travel

365+#75: Tipping-Taxes-Tithing

August 3, 2014 Susan Vogt 6 comments

I’ve been doing a lot of traveling lately and I also know that I can be frugal to a fault. So what do these 2 things have to do with each other?

TIPPING:
It started with a decision about whether to tip a guy in Chicago who I thought was a cab driver but who I learned was just signaling an oncoming cab to stop for me. I could have done that! He expected a tip and got nasty when I got in the cab and didn’t tip him. The actual cab driver then dropped me off about a block away from my destination. I always give a 15 % tip at restaurants and to the person who cuts my hair. I leave a tip for the hotel maid. I avoid using bell hops because I use a rolling suitcase and have no trouble finding my own room in a hotel. I don’t like tipping for service that I planned to do myself. All this has got me thinking about whether I am too much of a tightwad, or am I just being self-sufficient.

I pride myself on living and traveling simply and have enough income to meet my basic needs. But I’ve been trying to remember that often people who are customarily tipped are working at minimum wage jobs, if that. Perhaps I have to let go of some of my pride and change my thinking to see my “tip” as a way to do my share to decrease the income gap. (Of course a more permanent solution would be to work for the political change that would respect all human labor as worthy of a living wage and decrease the discrepancy between the rich and the poor.) But then there was the situation last week when I was getting some medical shots and the credit card receipt had a blank for a tip for the nurse. I wasn’t sure what to do?

TAXES
This brings me to the sidewalk in front of our house. My city government has recently repaired all of the sidewalks in my part of town. The construction company has done a great job – and it’s FREE. I’m impressed. But then I remember that I actually did pay for this service when I paid my city taxes. Few people like to pay taxes but I’ve been trying to train myself to pay them readily and happily because it’s a way to provide for the common good. Everybody pays according to their income for things like police and fire protection, road repair, health care, national security, etc. This is good, EXCEPT, I just got an unexpected bill from my city saying that I needed to buy a $50 license because I was an independent contractor and had made money this past year while working out of my home. I then needed to pay tax on the income I made. Hmmm. I already paid federal and state tax on this income. I didn’t know I needed a city license. Now I also have to pay a license fee and city tax on the income too. I paid it, but I’m not happy.

TITHING
Knowing that I can be overly frugal (our kids call it being a Scrooge or a tightwad) a long time ago Jim and I decided that we would make sure we donated 10% of our income to charity each year (church, charitable and political causes, and the like). This relieved me of making decisions about how much was enough to give away. I could feel like I was doing my fair share. BUT, what about the beggar on the street or those incessant phone calls from different causes asking for donations? I seldom give, Jim often does. I’m not proud of my lack of generosity. Sure, it can be defended by:

The beggar may just use the money for alcohol or drugs
I already give to (and volunteer at) agencies who help needy persons
My 10% tithe is already committed

But, I wonder if I’m hiding behind a rule and not willing to go the extra mile. I’ve always appreciated when friends donate to causes that I solicit for. What would Jesus do?

These are tiny, and sometimes big, moral dilemmas for me. I’ve developed a few rules of thumb but I don’t have a perfect system and I’m not sure I’m being generous enough. Here are my current criteria.

Tip people who are doing a service for me, and be especially generous to people in jobs that I know are low paying.
Don’t be so adamant about doing something myself, just to avoid the need to tip.
When possible, employ people who come to our door asking to do odd jobs.
Pay taxes with gratitude that I have an income to tax.
Tithe at least 10% to worthy causes but look upon it not as charity but as justice, a way of giving back.
Give to any neighborhood kid who is selling something, especially Girl Scout cookies.

What are your criteria or thinking on this?

Beyond Stuff Money

365+#74: Letting Go Of Health

July 13, 2014 Susan Vogt 2 comments

PART 2 (2 years after my Oh, My Aching Back post): Perhaps the hardest thing for me to let go of recently has been the expectation that I would have basic good health for at least another decade. My mother is 90 and I’ve watched her health and memory decline but I figured that was a long way off for me. For the past several months, however, I’ve struggled with chronic back pain compounded by a nasty cold and a few other health issues. The details are not important for the purpose of this blog, but my emotional reaction is. I found myself wallowing in self-pity at losing the ability to dance, garden, and do basic household chores fearing that this might be a permanent condition.

As I examined how these emotions welled up in me, I realized that much of it was grounded in unfounded assumptions. Since I’ve always been relatively healthy and pride myself in leading a healthy lifestyle, I assumed that this should continue indefinitely. Despite the fact that I could get a debilitating accident or disease at any time, and that many people my age are already experiencing the normal aches, pains, and diminished mobility of aging, my expectation was that I would just happily continue as is for a while. When various doctors, exercises, and zinc provided no improvement I found myself in quite a funk, horriblizing what the rest of my life might look like. I feel a little better today, but I have no guarantee that this will last. I’ve been contemplating what my assumptions about health have been teaching me. Following are some steps that have helped me get some perspective on my health and regain emotional balance:

DUE DILIGENCE. The first step of course is to do the normal research on medical facts and check with appropriate health care professionals. I needed to do this lest I continue a never-ending cycle of wondering what I should do exacerbated by a “woe is me” mentality. Due diligence also assumes that if one does not already have a healthy lifestyle that you fix it, i.e. nutritious food, exercise, no smoking, and moderate alcohol.
BE GRATEFUL. If you have medical insurance to cover these basics, be grateful. Some people have the added stress of not seeking help because of lack of insurance. If you have someone to walk through this health problem with you, be grateful.
7 STEPS FOR COPING: Assuming that medical care has been sufficiently tried and you’re still suffering:

Rest and Wait. Sometimes time will heal and sometimes we just need to slow down and give ourselves a break.
Vent if it helps. Find a willing compassionate person to complain to. My husband is willing to offer his ear to me as long as I don’t overdo it.
Pray. All these other steps can be forms of prayer, but when the future is out of my hands it helps to take time to meditate and turn it over to a higher power. One prayer that has been especially helpful for me during these dark times is the old fashioned “Offer It Up” prayer. As trite as this sounds, when I’m not sure what good my pain is doing, I offer it up as a prayer for one of our children who is having difficulties or for people who are suffering around the world. It personalizes my prayer and makes me feel it might do someone else some good. That in itself does me some good by lifting my spirit.
Look at Others. I started noticing people who had much more serious ailments than I had and observed the grace and acceptance with which they dealt with their handicap. Be grateful and learn from them.
Revise Expectations. Why have I presumed that I am owed a healthy body? Yes, I’ve tried to eat nutritiously and exercise, but much of my good health is luck and good genes. So, if I can’t dance or garden, what different hobby or form of recreation might I take up?
Stop Fighting the Inevitable. The biggest emotional help to me has been coming to the point of surrender. This doesn’t mean giving up hope or optimism, but it means at some point I must let go of my plans for the future and surrender to a power that is greater than me, a love that is beyond understanding. For me, it is the Divine Presence of God.
Be a Blessing. Instead of focusing on what I can’t do, how can I be a blessing to someone else? It might be by doing something non-physical like an email, a phone call, a prayer, a smile.

LOOK FOR THE GOOD AND BE GRATEFUL I checked with several others who had chronic illnesses to confirm my coping strategies. What has helped you? Commenting here might help someone else.

Beyond Stuff Intangibles, Musings

365+#73: 2 for 1 Sweet Gum=Trinkets

June 29, 2014 Susan Vogt 2 comments

sweet gum ball

I hate our sweet gum tree. Actually, I don’t hate the tree itself which has beautiful red foliage in the fall, it’s those nasty, spiny, sweet gum balls that fall from the tree and clutter our yard all year round, that I hate. If I had known this before we planted the tree, I would have chosen another kind of tree. But, this is what we have and it provides nice shade so I’m not about to cut it down. Each year I spend way too much time bending over and picking up these prickly, golf ball sized annoyances. This past spring my back was also nagging me so it was an especially bothersome task.

But wait! I had a flash of genius. We have 4 and 9 year old neighbor children. Aha! I bet we could strike a win/win deal. I invited them to pick up my sweet gum balls and whenever they had a small bucket of them, they could pick a prize out of my “trinket basket.” This is a collection of odds and ends that I’ve collected for visiting kids as a little treat – things like tiny cars, finger puppets, bling jewelry, little dolls, etc. Instead of just throwing this stuff out, the kids are doing me a favor by reducing my over-stuffed basket.

Click to enlarge

So, I get a lot of the sweet gum balls picked up, I get my trinket basket thinned, and they get a little treat. I wish all of my give-aways were this satisfying. Do you have any similar success stories?

Extra Fun Musings, Toys

365+#72: 2 for 1 Napkins & Fabric

June 15, 2014 Susan Vogt No comments

Some of my spare fabric

Occasionally the heavens align and other people help me lighten my mood and my stuff. That’s what happened recently when I was in a conversation with a friend, her daughter, and her fiancé. As the wedding day approached the bride and groom said they were trying to plan a tasteful but simple celebration. One step was to rent cloth napkins and table cloths for the reception. Hmmm, I had just pruned my tablecloth and napkin drawer several weeks before and had not yet found a recipient. Perfect! I had about 100 napkins I could give them. It was a win/win situation. They got cloth napkins and I got to know my napkins would be useful to someone else. It made both of us happy.

But wait, there’s more. As the conversation continued, I explained how I was giving things away and had not yet gone through my cabinet of fabric from when I used to sew more regularly. Another friend who is a quilter and was teaching the bride how to quilt said, “We could use your spare fabric.” Yea! Not only do I get rid of fabric that I don’t need anymore, it’s going to a good cause, not just into the trash. Everybody wins.

One can’t always count on fortuitous situations like this, but when a community of folk share a similar a commitment to simplifying their lives or minimizing their impact on the environment, it increases the odds of serendipitous connections. Sure, they may have been able to come up with napkins and fabric through Freecycle, yard sales, or Ebay, but isn’t it nice when people of like mind simply share their minds.

Extra Fun Musings, Recycling

365+#71: When 50 minutes = 1 year

June 1, 2014 Susan Vogt No comments

About a year ago our electric lawnmower died. I agreed to find a fitting home for its final resting place. We bought a new mower and I procrastinated about researching how to recycle old lawnmowers. Well, it’s grass mowing season again and Jim reminded me of my promise. Spurred on by the recent grim reports of climate change and guilt I realized that if I didn’t do it now, it might stay stuck in a corner of our garage for another year. I bit the bullet. Here’s how it went:

10 minutes of internet searching and 2 phone calls to find Can Dew Recycling which was not only close by but even paid me money for the metal.
10 minutes to help Jim load it into the car. That time included finding some other metal stuff that we’ve been saving for a rainy recycling day.
30 minutes to drive to Can Dew Recycling, drop off the mower and miscellaneous metal, get paid a whopping $8, and return home.

Why did it take me a year to do something that took less than an hour?

6 Lessons learned:
Many good environmental intentions fall by wayside because of:

Uncertainty. Not knowing what can be recycled and what cannot leads to indecision and thus procrastination.
Not knowing a place to take it all. Curbside recycling is great, but what about metal, batteries, Rx drugs, etc. Once I knew where to take the lawnmower it was easy. Now I’ll readily do it for other metals (and get rich 😕 ).
Inertia & Inconvenience. It can be a hassle to separate trash or find convenient containers to store the various recyclables until you find “the place.” Reading a blog post like this or having a buddy to hold me accountable helped.
Not having a system and practice in dealing with recyclables. Recycling papers, cans, plastic, and hard to recycle teracycle objects got much easier once we assigned a container to each in our home. The first 3 items go into curbside recycling. Terracycling has its own special bin.
Recycling is good but pre-cycling is better. This means using less items and packaging that need to be recycled in the first place.
Governmental policies. Reducing our household energy use is good but developing less carbon based energy sources is better. No matter how good our family is about using CFL light bulbs, cloth bags at the grocery, sweaters in the winter, etc. it’s a drop in the bucket of energy savings. Perhaps the biggest benefit of these measures is that it motivates me to get involved in changing institutional and governmental policies that continue our society’s dependence on fossil fuels. One political step is to support a carbon fee that is revenue neutral. This would give alternative energy sources a level playing field to develop clean energy. The best organization I’ve found to put my energy into is Citizen’s Climate Lobby.

What has helped or hindered your own recycling efforts?

Beyond Stuff Electronics, Recycling

365+#70: Letting Go of Pet Peeves

May 18, 2014 Susan Vogt 1 comment

12 Pet Peeves and What I’m Doing About Them
Before I get back into continuing Round 2 of pruning more household items, I’m ready to let go of some intangible stuff – Pet Peeves. Over a year ago I blogged about my pet peeves including:
1. Radio interviewees who end with “Thank you” instead of “You’re welcome.”
2. Unnecessary use of bottle water
3. Dragged music at church
4. Oversized mattresses.
I’m embarrassed to say that apparently I’m still hanging on to too many of these peeves since I also did a rant on oversized mattresses on my Wk. 4 A-Drawer-A-Day blog several weeks ago.

New pet peeves that have cropped up in my life are:
5. Long winded people who talk too much
6. Pop-up audio ads on some websites that interrupt my concentration
7. House rehabbers who paint over all the original woodwork
8. Deer and other critters that bother my vegetable garden
9. People who drop cans and bottles on the street. Ideally they’d take them home and put them in the curbside recycling but at the very least, put it in a nearby trash can.
10. Planned obsolescence (I learned my GPS life time update will last as long as I live but my Garmin GPS only has an expected life span of 2 years.
11. Too many generic birthday wishes cluttering up my Facebook feed
12. Manufacturers changing the size of their box or product to trick us into paying the same price for less product. (Example: toilet paper has now apparently been downsized so it is narrower than it used to be and now leaves a bigger gap at the sides of your standard toilet paper holder.

This has gotten me thinking about what things annoy me and how to let go of pet peeves. I’ve noticed that these pet peeves seem to fall into 2 general categories:
A. Frivolous preferences and things I have little control over (the odd numbers).
B. Annoying but worthy things that would be a societal improvement if they were changed but may take more effort than I alone am capable of or care to invest (the even numbers). So, what to do?

For Type A pet peeves:
Accept that I cannot change other people’s language (“You’re welcome.”) long-windedness, littering (unless it’s my own kids), decorating preferences (if it’s not my own home), or Facebook birthday wishes (unless I want to lose friends and annoy people). I did mention to our music director once that dragged music is not pretty and I think it’s gotten better.) For things or people that are not in my realm of control, I hereby declare that I am crossing them off my pet peeve list and letting them go. If you hear me complain, call me on it.

For Type B pet peeves:

There are some things that I can complain to a manufacturer about and perhaps make an impact. I blogged about the oversize mattress issue, commented on other blogs, and now see that Heloise has taken it up the cause. My son helped me figure out how to put Ad Blocker on my computer to stop the malware audio pop-ups. Problem solved. I researched ways to get rid of garden pests and cut down an old apple tree that was attracting the deer. Problem decreased.
There are other peeves that are not so minor but I can’t do much as an individual. Things like reducing the unnecessary use of disposable bottled water require a community of advocates to pressure the market and government to make bottled water a no-no. This takes a lot of effort and joining with environmental groups, but it’s worth it. I have to choose my causes carefully, however, because I can’t do everything.
There are some things that just are not worth my time (like contacting toilet paper manufacturers and calling them on their deceptive practices). I spent half a day talking with various Garmin representatives with the only result being that if I bought a new device they’d give me another lifetime update and a 10% discount – but of course they still couldn’t say that it’s life expectancy would be more than 2 years.

Bottom line:
There are more important things to do and worry about than waste time and energy on minor pet peeves. Now that I’ve named mine, I’ve decided to let them go. What are your pet peeves? I invite you to go public with them by naming them once here on my blog and then choose at least one you can let go of.

Beyond Stuff Humor, Intangibles, Musings, Silliness

A Drawer A Day: Wk 9-Summary

May 3, 2014 Susan Vogt 3 comments

10 THINGS I LEARNED BY CLEANING OUT A-DRAWER-A-DAY

For several years I’ve been trying to make room for what’s important by clearing my home and life of clutter. I’ve given away thousands of items big and small. I’ve delved into the realm of intangibles as I tried to discern what memories, relationships, and feelings were unnecessarily weighing me down. It’s a big and ongoing endeavor. In talking with others, however, I would often hear admiration but resistance. For many, it just felt overwhelming or their lives were too busy to take on one more self-help project – no matter how worthy.

Out of this awareness, I decided to simplify simplifying. I had long suggested to people that perhaps it would feel more manageable to just start with a drawer. Most people could spare 15 minutes to clean out a drawer. I decided to try it myself, not just for one day but for 40 days and see what I would learn.

The process and my rules:

If the drawer of the day had nothing I was willing to let go of, I would move to a second drawer.
I did not do file cabinets (that might take a year) or my husband’s office (marital harmony is something I don’t want to give away).
I used the system that many organizers recommend: empty the drawer, separate the contents into piles of Keep, Give Away, Throw Away, and Wait. I added an additional pile of Move. Replace the Keep items, Store the Give Away and Wait items until I found the right place to take them, and Move the items that were in the wrong place to their buddies somewhere else in the house.
Half way through the process I decided to define our kitchen cabinets as drawers since I knew that there were lots of things there that needed to be pruned.
I started wiping out the empty drawers with paper towels but in the interest of saving trees soon changed to rags. In this spirit of environmentalism, I also divided the Throw Away category to include Recycle.)

Ten things I learned that might be useful to you.
1. Differentiate Between Give Aways and Throw Aways
Early in the process my husband saw my Give Aways and challenged me to re-evaluate whether old stockings – even if they had no runs – were really worthy of being given away. This is a personal decision but I tend to err on the side of not wanting to throw usable stuff away. See Week #1.

2. The Virtue of WAIT
Normally procrastination is the enemy of decluttering – or so I tell one of our kids who is known for his mantra, “I have not yet begun to procrastinate.” BUT, when it is a step to moving an item to a safe storage place, at least it’s progress. This turned out to be a house saver when we got a leak in our basement and we found an old plastic toboggan in the garage which could be rolled up to make a temporary downspout repair. See Week #5.

3. Respect Other People’s Stuff – But Not Forever.
Our four children are all sprung and living in their own places. When going through their former rooms I found things that certainly they no longer wanted. I checked. I was wrong. I negotiated. I lost. They have a deadline. See Week #2.

4. Don’t Get Distracted – Unless You Want To
This is a corollary to my “Don’t bite off more than you can chew.” and “Know when to stop.” advice. The point of this experiment was to break the decluttering process down into small enough time blocks that it would overcome inertia. Several times I got into drawers or cabinets that just yearned for further work – a shelf needed repair, or I was on a roll and wanted to do more. Sometimes the joy of accomplishment kept me motivated but at least once it caused me to balk at doing a drawer the next day. See Weeks #2, 6, 8.

5. Some Stuff Has a Shelf Life
This is obvious but since I hadn’t gone through our bathroom medical shelves in many years, it was embarrassing how outdated some of the medications were. See Week #4.

6. Time Is Worth More Than Being Perfect.
As a responsible human being I want to repair items before I give them away, find the perfect recipient for a treasured item rather than just give it to a thrift store, recycle responsibly. Yea! But sometimes the time it takes to do something perfectly can be the enemy of the good. It stops me from doing anything. I had to loosen up. See Week #4.

7. Don’t Be A Slave to Rules
I had my self-made rules at the beginning of my 40 days but as I went along I learned that I needed to change what I counted as a drawer. Eventually, I changed some of my “rules” such as counting the kitchen cabinet doors as drawers and extended the 40 days beyond Lent because it served the bigger purpose. See Week 7.

8. Don’t Give Advice Without Testing It.
I said I would do A-Drawer-A-Day, but actually in the beginning it was a lot easier and time efficient to often do a week of drawers at a time – usually on the weekend. Eventually I tried to do it daily. This was a bigger burden than I expected. Perhaps it was because I was in the kitchen, but it humbled me up. See Week #6.

9. Ponder How Much is Enough
As I was going through our kitchen and dining room I started thinking, “Hey, we should have more dinner parties!” We have enough plates, glasses, silverware, and cloth napkins to host at least a couple dozen people; yet on a daily basis there are only two of us. I can justify some of our extra dinnerware to feed company but I hate to cook. Fortunately, my husband doesn’t mind cooking but it was quite sobering to realize we had so much stuff we weren’t using often. See Week #7.

10. Cleaning Out Stuff Hidden in Drawers was a Metaphor for Cleaning Out My Soul
A casual visitor to our home would probably not see any difference between my before and after A-Drawer-A-Day project. Drawers hide things. I went into this process with the hope that I would also make room in my heart to be less judgmental and love more unconditionally. I started opening up conversations with people I had been avoiding. I learned a lot about the troubles they carry. I decided to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation which I hadn’t done for awhile. These internal but invisible changes were very freeing and worth it. See Week #7.

A Drawer A Day Faith, Musings

A Drawer A Day: Wk 8-I Couldn’t Resist

April 27, 2014 Susan Vogt No comments

Call me compulsive, but I couldn’t resist at least finishing up the drawers on our first floor. Yes, Lent is over but I knew I had a few more drawers in our hallway and living room and one kitchen cabinet that I hadn’t gotten to in the past 40 days. I thought it would bring a little closure to this project to have finished the 1^st and 2^nd floors of our home. (This doesn’t include Jim’s office which is off limits for now and my office which is in the basement. Maybe later.)

WEEK 7 RESULTS:

8 Drawers reviewed. 6 had things to give away.

Give-Aways:
13 Coasters (out of 28)
8 Jello molds (We seldom make Jello… well actually never any more)
1 Pack of cup cake baking cups (ditto for cupcakes)
3 Corning trays (small and an unusual shape)
2 Plastic bowls with lids (out of 6)
1 All purpose grater (already have another)
1 Knit neck warmer
1 Water filter (that must have been hiding when I gave the rest of them away)
1 Neighborhood Directory (duplicate)

Wait:
1 biking glove
I was ready to throw this away but hubby said, he’d like to wait awhile to see if the matching glove shows up.

Throw away:
1 container of powdered instant orange drink (now hardened)
5 Clips to keep kid’s mittens on (no kids anymore)

2 LEARNINGS:
1. Bringing closure
Although I still have drawers in my basement desk and my husband’s office that could qualify for A-Drawer-A Day, it feels good to have finished two floors of our home. There’s something to be said for a natural end point and I think I’ve reached it for now.
2. Slim pickings
Another sign that it’s time to stop this project is that there were very few things left that were worthy of giving away.

Next blog will be a summary of what difference this has made inside and out.

A Drawer A Day Kitchen

A Drawer A Day: Wk 7-Dining Rm

April 20, 2014 Susan Vogt No comments

Click to enlarge and see the tiny ceramic figures.

This is the last week of Lent and I’m moving to our dining room which has exactly 7 drawers. (I won’t finish all the drawers in our house before Easter, but this will have to do for now because we’re going out of town for Easter. It was a fun room to do because I store table supplies, wrapping supplies, and other decorative things in the china cabinet we have here. I may even have the longest drawer on record – 5½ feet. It’s great for storing table cloths. Here’s the result of my pruning.

WEEK 6 RESULTS:
7 Drawers reviewed – all had things to Give Away or Throw Away

Give-Away:

20 Place-mats (out of 58)
16 Napkins (out of 97)
3 Table cloths (out of 17)
2 Table runners
1 Banana fiber basket
6 Steak knives (out of 17)
9 Mysterious tiny ceramic do-dads. I have no idea who made these or what they are for. They may end up in my visiting children’s Grab Basket.

Throw Away / Recycle:

2 Partial rolls of deteriorating wrapping paper
11 Small candle holders
1 Unfinished paper banner that apparently was intended for one of our kid’s 17^th birthday
2 Packets of scented herbs that have lost their scent
A whole bunch of old maps and posters that were so far back in a drawer that I had completely forgotten them. Most were pretty frayed. Some might be salvageable if I can find someone to give them too. Jim, aka Mr. Map, will review them, but I think they are even beyond his interest.

3 INSIGHTS
1. We Need to Host More Dinner Parties
With all these table cloths and cloth napkins we obviously should be having more large dinner parties. I guess I should give up hope that one of our kids will marry above our station and we will need to impress the in-laws. Actually, with our kids living away from home and many of our older relatives dead, we don’t even have many large holiday dinners any more. I suppose I should give away more of this stuff, but then there’s always those potential in-laws.
2. Cleaning Out the Inside
I did a lot of thinking as I cleaned out drawers and cabinets. I realized that from the outside nothing looked that different in our home. Drawers hide things. I went in to this Lent hoping that this practice would help me look at what needed to be cleaned from my interior spiritual life. I decided to take the plunge this week and go to Confession – or the Sacrament of Reconciliation as we now call it. It’s never an easy thing to do because it takes humbling myself in front of another human being. I had to stop procrastinating and make the call to our parish priest. I had to do some honest self-evaluation of what was keeping me from loving others whole-heartedly. There’s no sense trying to hide things from God. I had to face my self-righteousness and try to let go of it…again. It was hard, but it was good. I feel freer. My penance? We agreed that I would go to a nearby park, be still, observe, and focus on being grateful for 5 minutes.
3. It’s Embarrassing
Even though I’m giving away quite a few place-mats, napkins, etc., it’s embarrassing to note that I still have more than I could ever use to feed one meal to a group. Yes, it’s nice to have variety and be able to have a couple color schemes but this strikes me as a first world value. Heck, some people still go hungry, go to soup kitchens like the one I just donated some of my stuff too. Some people eat junk food and fast food. (Sometimes it’s the same thing.) And I care about matching my napkins to my table cloths! It will take some time to turn this boat around. But some people don’t have the time to wait. Hmmm.

Lent is over but this project is not.
Give me another week and I think I can finish at least the rooms of the house that I have control over. I’ve been warned not to venture into Jim’s office. Then I’ll summarize my learnings from the whole 7 weeks.

A Drawer A Day Household, Intangibles, Musings

A Drawer A Day: Wk 6-Kitchen+

April 13, 2014 Susan Vogt 2 comments

NOTE: This week’s blog is longer than usual. Skip to the end, LESSONS LEARNED, if you just want the bottom line – though this means you may miss my humor too. 🙂

Lent is a penitential season so I have a confession to make. I haven’t been cleaning out A-Drawer-A-Day. In the interest of saving time, I’ve usually waited till the weekend and then did 7 days at once. It simplified my life. But, in the interest of authenticity I decided I should at least try A-Drawer-A-Day to see if it really was that much more inconvenient or if it really felt easier.

DAY 1: Since I hadn’t finished all the cabinets in the kitchen last week, I chose a pretty big cabinet. It may have actually equaled 3 or so drawers but I thought, “Heck, I’m only doing one today, I can handle this.” Besides, I suspected I wouldn’t have much to give away, and it would at least get cleaned. I was right that there wasn’t much to give away and the cabinet did get cleaner (I remembered to use rags today instead of paper towels like last week.) The only thing I found to remove were plastic food storage containers. But here was the problem. Some of the lids didn’t fit. Some of the bottoms didn’t have lids. And some of the lids didn’t have bottoms.
Keep: 32 containers
Give Away: 1 container with matching lid that was an odd size
Recycle: 11 mismatched lids and bottoms that had a triangle on them
Throw Away: 24 mismatched or duplicate lids and bottoms that didn’t have a triangle
Time: 2 hours. Fortunately/unfortunately in the process of sorting and reorganizing I noticed that the shelf was uneven and decided to put a new brace under it. These projects always seem to escalate.

DAY 2: After my satisfying but time consuming experience on Day 1, I decided that I would need to redefine how many cabinet sections equaled one drawer. I decided to count each cabinet door as one drawer. (According to this definition I have 16 remaining “drawers” in the kitchen although many of them probably won’t have anything to remove.
Give Away: 5 measuring cups that had been hidden behind food boxes.
Time: 10 minutes. (Now that’s a lot more reasonable.)

DAY 3: (staples like oils, vinegars, measuring cups…)
Give Away: 0, but I have 3 much cleaner shelves 🙂
Time: 15 minutes. According to my original rule of finding at least one thing a day, I should have gone on to the next door but I thought that 15 minutes was a reasonable amount of time to spend each day, so I decided to stop. (She who maketh the rule can changeth the rule.) If I make this too time consuming, it will sabotage my motivation.

DAY 4: (odds & ends)
Give Away: 1 Kitchen Slicer (with 4 blades)
Recycle: 1 very old bottle of raspberry syrup (I love all things raspberry but this bottle was almost empty and even I had to admit that the syrup looked a lot thicker than when I remember last using it about 5 years ago.
Time: 10 minutes
+ 5 minutes trying to see if I could readjust the cabinet door to close more tightly
+ 5 minutes trying to soften the raspberry syrup so I could empty the bottle to recycle it
+ 5 minutes consulting with Jim about whether we would ever use the Kitchen Slicer enough to warrant keeping it.

DAY 5:
Door #1: Blender
Give Away: 0 – I’m keeping the blender.
Time: 4 minutes to clean. Since I didn’t remove anything and it was quick, I moved on.

Door #2: (3 shelves containing spices, teas, coffees etc.)
Give Away: 0 – Still nothing worth giving away but definitely some things to recycle or throw away
Combined: chili powder, pickling spices, Old Bay seafood seasoning
Recycled or Threw Away:
– Large Fiber bottle (exp. date 2011)
– Mexican chocolate bar for cooking (out of 2)
– 5 Lipton tea bags. We prefer herbal teas.
– Very old green and red sprinkles (I don’t do Xmas cookies.)
– Unidentified powder in a plastic bag.
Wait:
– MSG
– Alum powder
Time: 40 minutes (about 13 minutes a shelf) Perhaps I should have considered a shelf to be a drawer, but a rule is a rule and I’m sticking to it, even if I did make it myself. There’s nothing like consistency. 🙂
+ 5 minutes to check the use of MSG and Alum and how harmful either might be
+ 5 minutes to consult with Jim about what he wanted to keep
+ 5 minutes preparing the stuff that was to be recycled
Hmmm. All told, this took longer than I expected.

DAY 6: (Alcohol)
Door #1: 0 (Kept some alcohol basics, an ice crusher, and a flask)
Time: 3 minutes

Door #2:
Throw Aways:
– 1 bottle of vermouth we bought about 20 years ago to make martinis when my parents visited. Since it was opened and old, I suppose I’ll just throw it away.
– 1 tiny bottle of Mirabelle de Lorraine
Time: 4 minutes
+2 minutes on the internet to find out what Mirabelle de Lorraine is (a plum brandy from France)
+12 minutes to clean the dust off the top of the refrigerator which sits below these two liquor cabinets

DAY 7
Door #1: 0 – Kept all the cereals that we regularly eat
Time: 1 minute

Door #2: 0 – Kept our daily medicines and a microwave lid
Time: 2 minutes

Door #3: glasses and mismatched mugs
Give Away: 1 mug This might seem to be a rather paltry give away but the advantage of mismatched mugs is that we can give them to company and each person has their unique mug. However, 2 mugs matched so I’m giving away one so no one will get confused and share germs.
Time: 10 minutes

PAUSE – OK, so I accomplished one give away today and should stop, BUT, there’s only one door left in this area and I know it is pretty clean and contains stuff we use every day so it should be easy.

Click to enlarge & see how decrepit these are.

Door #4: (pots, pans, and mixing bowls)
Give Away/Throw Away?
– 2 old, somewhat corroded, bread pans. We still have 6 good ones.
– 10 mini bread pans. Some would call these disposable, but I know we used them more than once.
Time: 5 minutes

LESSONS LEARNED:
1. Don’t give advice without testing it.
A-Drawer-A-Day sounded like an easy starting point for beginning simplifiers. I still think that holds, but it can be complicated by what you consider a drawer. When my kitchen drawers were finished I started on my cabinets. In hindsight, if my aim was to do this in small bites, I would have counted each kitchen door shelf as a drawer. Calculating this way (and not counting side repair projects) I averaged 7 minutes per “drawer.” That would be pretty doable for most people.

2. It’s hard to stop.
Once I got into cleaning a drawer, I found other peripheral projects like cleaning the tops of the cabinet doors or repairing shelves. This can be a pro or a con. The momentum of starting a cabinet motivated me to fix related things in my way. If time is limited, however, it can discourage continuing the next day lest it escalate into a bigger than anticipated project.

3. Don’t be a slave.
I started out with a plan to find at least one thing a day to give away (or at least throw away). As circumstances changed, I needed to not be a slave – even to my own rules. Do what works for you.

4. It’s worth it?
Even when I didn’t give anything away, it was worth it to:
– Find lost things
– Get the drawers cleaner
– Combine and get rid of duplicates”
– Be able to find things more quickly in uncluttered drawers

Question: I’m wondering what kitchen supplies other people would choose to keep or pitch?

A Drawer A Day Food, Household, Kitchen, Musings, Recycling

A Drawer A Day: Wk 5-Kitchen

April 5, 2014 Susan Vogt No comments

Fondue set

Now we move to the kitchen which is primarily my husband-the-cook’s domain so I carefully checked potential give-aways with him. The drawers contained the usual kitchen stuff that is found around the sink, dishwasher and stove (utensils, silverware, dishwashing supplies, baking supplies and dishes, and miscellaneous stuff.

WEEK 5 RESULTS:
10 Drawers* reviewed (2 of which were cabinet shelves, but they function as big drawers)
7 Drawers and shelves had things to Give Away or Throw Away
*Again I decided that I would define cabinet shelves as drawers.

Give-Aways:

Click to enlarge

2 large kitchen knives (out of 4)
2 small knives (out of 8)
1 large wooden spoon (out of 2)
1 baster (out of 3)
2 sippy cup lids (out of 4)
3 baby spoons/forks (out of 6)
3 mismatched forks and spoons
1 pizza cutter (out of 2)
a few twist-ties that didn’t fit (out of gobs of them)
1 corkscrew (out of 3)
2 disposal fix it wrenches (out of 3)
3 cookie cutters (out of 13)
1 Corning baking dish (out of 7)
1 pie dish (out of 4)
1 lid that didn’t fit any of our baking dishes
Fondue set (It was a 1972 wedding gift and lovely but seldom used.)
4 water filters (left from a long term house guest who was sensitive to the taste of Covington water)

There wasn’t much to throw away or put in a wait pile. Most of the items we use frequently. We did keep a couple cake pans even though we don’t make many cakes (We’re a pie family.) because there just might come a time when a cake is called for.

5 MUSINGS:
1. Does It Count?
Does cleaning a drawer count even if I don’t give anything away? I decided only to count drawers that had items to give away. (For example, I didn’t count the oven drawer.) BUT, the cleaner drawers did make my husband-the-cook happy and that counts for something.
2. Paper Towels vs. Rags
Does using paper towels (because I didn’t want to dirty my rags and then have to wash them) cancel out any cleaning virtue. Probably. In hindsight I could have easily used some of the many rags I’ve collected over the years. It’s just one load of wash. Next time…
3. One Out – One In
I found 2 old roach traps and replaced them with 2 new ones. It’s a zero sum game.
4. (Out Of x)
I started to notice a pattern in my Give-Aways. Most of them were followed by (out of x). The Fondue set and water filters were the only things that were not duplicates. Now certainly a family needs more than 1 fork, spoon, knife, plate, etc., but it’s sobering for me to notice that we had 3 corkscrews for wine when one would do. We had 4 sippy cup lids and no children at home. Even accounting for our 2 grandchildren, they can only drink from one cup at a time. We had 7 Corning baking dishes – mostly of different sizes, so we gave away one? I feel embarrassed to even admit that I am still such a saver that I wasn’t ready to part with more. That “Someday we’ll be looking for just the right size Corning dish” mentality is hard to shake. But then came another sobering experience. Read on.
5. The Virtue of Procrastination
People often ask me if I’ve ever regretted giving something away. Not yet. Last week, however, we again got a leak in our basement and traced it to a downspout that broke off near the ground. After searching around the house for something we could rig up Rube Goldberg style to temporarily guide the rain water into the correct pipe, we settled on an old red piece of plastic that we found in the garage. In its former life it was a rudimentary toboggan. It doesn’t snow much in Kentucky and it has probably been at least 15 years since anyone in our family used this toboggan but it was perfect. We rolled it up tight to fit around the drain spout and it’s working well as a temporary fix. I couldn’t help thinking, however, that if my second round of purging had gotten to the garage sooner that we wouldn’t have had this tool. Sometimes having some old “useless” stuff hanging around the house can be useful.

A Drawer A Day Kitchen, Musings

A Drawer A Day: Wk 4-Bathroom

March 30, 2014 Susan Vogt No comments

I knew this was going to be a tough week because it involved our upstairs bathroom – especially the closet shelf that held medical supplies. Once a visitor opened the door and said, “Hey, you’ve got a whole pharmacy here!” Now technically this closet isn’t a drawer but it held many things that I knew needed to be cleaned out so I decided to redefine the four shelves as “drawer imposters.”

Click to enlarge

First, let’s start with the easy part. I finished up our 4^th bedroom which is for guests but still holds some family members’ stored stuff. I picked out some things to give away that I thought were no brainers. Several were vetoed by family members who shall remain anonymous since it would be embarrassing to out them as still wanting to keep Dashboard Confession t-shirts that no longer fit and various other frayed t-shirts. I reorganized some stuff and threw away miscellaneous old papers. I consigned the t-shirts to the “Wait” pile which means wait till I can persuade the hoarders to release the t-shirts.

Now the challenge – the bathroom. Several shelves were relatively easy. Does anyone polish shoes anymore – other than in airports? I found some red and blue shoe polish. Neither Jim nor I own any red or blue shoes. I reviewed all of my sheets, blankets, and towels. Even though last year I gave away quite a few, and even accounting for an extra sheet set for each bed, I still had an embarrassing amount to give away. I’m pleased to give the twin size sheets to our local Catholic Worker House.

Pause for Vogt mattress rant: Part of my reluctance to give more sheets away earlier was my annoyance at the mattress/sheet industrial complex who I am convinced changed the height of mattresses just to sell more mattresses and sheets to fit them. (That’s why I saved more fitted sheets than I need lest I no longer be able to buy ones to fit our mattresses. Mattress manufacturers used to recommend buying a new mattress every 8-10 years. Now they are saying every 5-7 years. Jim and I have had our current mattress for 42 years – since our wedding. Before you gasp in horror, I must say that I have no trouble sleeping, the mattress feels comfortable, and it was a good quality mattress to start with. I’m sure some people would benefit from replacing their mattress more frequently than this but, barring bed bugs, I take this 5-7 year advice with a big grain of salt. End of tirade.

The “Health Shelf”
Before

Then I got to the “Health Shelf.” I knew this would be a challenge since I was going to have to check prescription expiration dates on medications that were so old that I could barely read them. How much baby powder does one need if you no longer have any babies? (even after invoking the visiting grandchild clause). Yup, somebody may get lice again, but would a 20 year old dab of the remaining Nix do the trick? We had lots of old laxatives and anti-acids in many forms, some of them discolored when I opened the containers – and I’ve never had a problem with constipation or gas. Finally, I still had lots of shampoo, conditioners, lotions, etc. that I bring home from hotels. At least I know I can give them to our local Mary Magdalene House that offers showers and toiletries to the homeless.

Interesting find: I found a small acupuncture kit that a visiting Korean left with us probably a decade or so ago. She showed us how to use it and it still has most of the supplies in it. Unfortunately, the directions are all in Korean, my memory of Korean script has deteriorated, and I don’t have a current use for it – even if I could find a Korean translator. I hate to throw it away, but I suppose there’s no reason to keep it. It doesn’t seem quite right to take a partially used kit to our local Korean restaurant or Korean Christian congregation.

WEEK 4 RESULTS:
10 Drawers reviewed 3 of which were empty.
1 Drawer had t-shirts that have to be put in the WAIT pile
6 Drawers and shelves had things to Give Away or Throw Away

Give-Aways

2 blankets
1 bed pad
5 sheets
6 pillow cases
3 towels
22 individual size shampoos, conditioners, lotions, and soaps.
1 toothbrush still in original package

Throw Aways

Click to enlarge

15 prescriptions dated from 1994 – 2004. I know, I know, many would say that an Rx even 1 year past its expiration date is too old but the particular Rxs I saved aren’t likely to biodegrade much. (See Johns Hopkins Medicine Alert.)
5 laxatives
15 toothbrushes. (I planned to give away 7 of these that were in good condition and sterilized by running them through the dishwasher, but neither of my sources would take them. I probably wouldn’t either if I were them – except for the fact that I can vouch for them.
Nit for lice
Old sore throat lozenges
Old lotions from hotels that became so coagulated they were unusable

Wait

I found two mysterious contraptions that may have been in our house when we bought it 32 years ago. I’m not even sure what they are. My guess is that the red object may be a razor blade sharpener. The other one may be a pencil sharpener. Perhaps they are antiques. Perhaps they are worthless. Perhaps I could sell them on E-Bay and get some money. Perhaps I don’t have the time and should just pitch them.
I also found several very old metal razors. Ditto

Keep

10 toothbrushes. I sterilized a few good ones in case guests forget theirs plus several for cleaning in small places.
A whole bunch of other stuff

WHAT I’VE LEARNED:
1. Some stuff has a shelf life. According to a Johns Hopkins Medicine Alert, the expiration dates on medication are usually conservative and many (if stored well) can be safe and effective for years after the expiration date. Of course the operative word is “can.” Without analysis, there is no guarantee.
2. Some people aren’t as ready as I am to give away their unused stuff. I really thought a number of my family’s stored commemorative t-shirts would surely be released for give-away, but I was wrong. I invoked the “Better to Maintain the Relationship Than Have a Clean Draw” rule of thumb.
3. My time is worth more than being pure. How good or useful does stuff have to be to keep it (or give it away instead of throwing it away or recycling it)? Few people probably sharpen their double edged razor blades any more. Few people use the old fashioned razors for shaving. Even though my sterilized toothbrushes were clean, the two facilities for homeless people would not take them. I have a cool porcelain toothbrush holder for 4 toothbrushes but the newer chubby toothbrushes won’t fit in it. How far should I search for a receiver? Maybe I could sell them on E-bay to a collector but that would take my time to figure out how to do it.

A Drawer A Day Household, Other's Stuff

A Drawer A Day: Wk 3-Bedroom #2 & 3

March 23, 2014 Susan Vogt No comments

I’m not sure if I made much progress this week. I finished Bedroom #1 but one of the drawers took me a couple hours to go through. I had forgotten that this was where I stashed old diaries and calendars dating back to my college graduation in 1969. Eventually I decided to keep them since many were prayer journals that were sobering to read – so I did. Note to self: Always put the year on journals. I spent part of my time reconstructing dates based on which child was referenced and who wasn’t born yet. There’s a big gap between 1984 and 1999. Either I didn’t do much praying during those years, didn’t journal, or lost it. I suppose if I found the missing 15 years it would mostly be prayers of supplication like, “Dear God, which of these 4 children should I worry about most.” (These were the years during which we always had at least one teenager.) Wading through the memories took a good amount of time.

Bedrooms #2 and #3 were quick but not very satisfying. These are now guest bedrooms so the dressers in both of them were empty. The desk drawers, however, were stuffed with our kids’ papers, diplomas, and mementos. Unfortunately, the owners now live in Singapore and Nairobi, Africa. I pruned a few obvious things but know better than to give away those African bracelets or photos. Note to self: The next time each of these world citizens comes home, INSIST that they go through these desk drawers and only keep those things they will need to get their next job.

WEEK 3 RESULTS:
30 Drawers reviewed 20 of which were empty
3 Drawers had nothing I was willing to give away
7 Drawers had things to Give Away or Throw Away

1. Give-Aways

Several calendar planners. (One was undated and thus could be used any year you care to take the time to put the dates in. One was dated 2002 which means it will be perfectly good again in 2019, 2030, and 2036.
Some patterns for children’s clothes. I don’t think I’ll be sewing for kids again.
Office supplies including a whole bunch of paper clips

2. Throw-Aways

A manual for a sewing machine I no longer own

3. Wait

Jim’s calendars from 1971 – 1981 plus 2001, 2002, 2003. He’s out of town, so I have to wait to ask.
Pretty practical white plastic box that might be good to store something in

4. Keep

Many patterns that I probably won’t use again since I have little time to sew anymore, but I’m just not sure who to give them to. Are there any takers?

WHAT I’VE LEARNED:
1. Beware of Other People’s Stuff
It’s tempting to want to throw away other people’s stuff that they haven’t touched in years. I’ve decided, however, to give them one more opportunity to prune their stuff before I make the final decision. My rule of thumb is that keeping a good relationship with family members is more important than an empty drawer.

2. Don’t Get Distracted
Since I’m going room by room, drawer by drawer, it’s tempting to also clear out peripheral stuff that I notice near the drawers. I decided I better not since this could escalate into more major cleaning and time. The result would be that something that seemed simple and doable morphs into a major home redo and I then lose motivation. A Drawer A Day feels manageable.

A Drawer A Day, Beyond Stuff Memorabilia, Musings, Other's Stuff

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