Dithering over an Email

I like to keep my email Inbox empty. It's not meant to be a holding pen of reminders. "Oh yeah, I still need to email Michael those pictures". Because, when it's got a backlog of emails, it means that I have procrastinated on every single one. "Right, need to send Rose some manuscript pages... I'll do that later." One rule of thumb says that you should reply to emails within 48 hours... some of my emails sit in my Inbox for much longer.

Right now, there is one in particular that is bothering me... because I don't know what to do about it. It's an email from a professional association, reminding me that if I pay by November 16, I can get a discount on my annual dues. Simple really. I could pay the dues now and get a discount. Or I could let it sit and then pay full price. Except for one tiny thing. I haven't actually worked in that field for 15 years or so. I'm still a member of this association... but I no longer work in that area of expertise. But I'm still a member. Why? Good question.

Because I think... what if? What if I decide to go back to that area sometime down the road. It would be helpful to have that designation, wouldn't it? It looks good on my resume. And it's not that much... only $40/year (because I qualify for the "unemployed" category). But... for years after I left the field, I also paid the dues for my Professional Provincial designation ($300/year). Until finally I said enough and resigned in good standing. But... I wonder, should I have kept that? Ach... indecision.

I suppose part of it is hanging onto the past. I wonder if maybe I'll need those things in the future. I've turned my back fairly completely on that area of employment but... I still hang onto it. See my problem? Indecision... uncertainty... procrastination. The professional membership doesn't really benefit me in any way... so what if I am a "Fellow" in the membership ranks. I need to make a decision, one way or the other.

Or that email will sit in my Inbox, nagging me... reminding me that I am a ditherer sometimes... which is not how I want to see myself. Choose... in or out.

American Gun Violence

Last week, the news was full of images from the Oregon Umpqua Community College mass shooting. Nine people died and many more were injured. Everyone bemoaned gun violence in the United States. It was all very sad.

This morning, there is a small story on BBC

US boy, 11, held for shooting dead eight-year-old neighbour

An 11 year old boy wanted to see the puppy of an 8 year old girl who lived nearby. The two children went to the same school and the boy had a history of bullying the girl. The girl refused to show the boy her puppy. He pulled out his father's 12 gauge shotgun and killed her.

Everyone bemoans mass shootings, and with good reason. But child gun violence is far and away the most effective argument for gun control. There is a saying in the gun-friendly States that guns don't kill people, people kill people. But that argument is meaningless when faced with child gun violence.

So far this year, in the United States,

559 children under the age of 11 have been killed or injured by guns
2010 children aged 12-17 have been killed or injured by guns

The victims, and perpetrators, are far too young. In 2013 - a three year old and a 10 month old were briefly left in a vehicle unattended outside the family home. The 3 year old found a handgun in the vehicle and shot the 10 month old in the face. Another victim.

We know the issues. We know the questions that are raised. Unfortunately, the American people seem unable to answer those questions in a meaningful way that stops the slaughter of its children.

Procrastination - My Achilles Heel

Mañana. Tomorrow. Later. Yup, I'll do it later. In a few hours. After I finish what I'm working on. This evening. I'll tackle it when I have more time. Maybe more energy.

That's me... to a T. An email comes into my Inbox and I'll read it and think - "I need to respond to this, but not right now, I'll do it later." And I go on to the next email. The first email... the one I want to respond to, sits in my Inbox for days... weeks... months. I leave it there as a reminder that I need to deal with it. There is one email there that I received on May 3. Yeah - four and a half months later.

The thing is... once a day or two has gone by, I feel bad that I haven't responded... and so I feel even less inclined to answer the email because now I'll need to apologize for my lateness. So I procrastinate even more. Which leads to a nasty vicious cycle - and voila - months go by.

So, today... I decided to tackle the seven emails that have been languishing in my Inbox for weeks/months. I got three done no problem (they were all from the same person) and then got stuck again. I felt so good about answering the three, that I thought, I'll do the other four some other time. See how it goes?

So I took a closer look at what gets in the way for me and it runs something like this:

• I don't know what to say
• It's been so long, the person thinks I'm a doofus for not replying
• It will take too much time
• I don't have the energy
• It's too hard
• I want to do something easier

Deep down, I know that it won't take a lot of time, energy or attention - but I easily use that as an excuse not to tackle something. I know that I will feel soooo much better once I get it done but it's like there's a little hump I need to get over first. The big one seems to be... I don't know what to say or how to respond. Sometimes I think that a long answer is required when I could probably get away with just a quick reply. Not every email has to be an essay. In fact, they've done studies that the optimal email length is five lines. Anything more and you should probably put it in a document or make a phone call.

The "I don't know what to say" thing means that I actually have to decide what to say. I have to make a choice and devote a bit of thought to it. To me, that sometimes feels like an energy drain. I don't want to make a decision. I don't want to choose. It's too hard! So, in avoiding these decisions... I end up tying myself in knots and letting my Inbox get fuller and fuller. That is where the real energy drain happens - in opening up my Inbox and seeing those seven emails still sitting there, glaring at me with accusation.

It would be so much easier, and less draining, if I would just tackle the emails as they come in. Handle things as they show up. Not necessarily within the hour... but at least within the day or the next two days. There's a rule of thumb that every email should get some sort of response within 48 hours. Not email advertisements obviously, but emails from contacts. It is definitely something to which I aspire.

And now... the even crazier thing... I can easily waste hours in a day checking the news or doing some inane research on the internet. It's mindless... and I don't have to make any momentous decisions. So really, I'm a decision-phobe. And you know why? Deep down... I avoid decisions because I'm afraid that whatever path I choose, it will be the wrong one. Somehow I will make the wrong decision. And I'll discover that whatever I did wasn't quite good enough. The way I answer an email won't be good enough. The person won't like me because I gave a crappy answer, or a wrong answer, or a short answer. Of course, they might not like me because I've been so late with the answer too!

Look, I'm super organized. I know how to prioritize. I know how to make to-do lists. I know how to get things done. I've even motivated to get stuff done but... deep down, I struggle with some really disempowering beliefs that show up in something as minor as old emails.

You see... this pattern shows up in other areas as well - work projects, a book manuscript. I get started on things with gusto and follow through to about the 90% mark and then I swerve off-focus. I struggle to finish things. I postpone the ending. I put it off. Because finishing the project or the manuscript will mean that someone, somewhere, is going to give me feedback on it... and it might not be good enough. It might need editing... or revisions... or a rewrite. Which means I screwed up. Nasty, hey?

So I have a lot of 90% finished tasks on the go... which means I'm dragged down by a lot of energy-suckers. Because everything that I haven't finished/completed, drains some energy. I know it's there, not finished... and I know that I need to finish it... but I don't. I'm afraid to finish it... and so I fritter my time away on meaningless tasks. It's all relative really. If I'm avoiding working on the book manuscript, I'll answer old emails. If I'm avoiding answering old emails, I'll check the weather or the news or the stock report. All to avoid making a decision... because decisions are scary hard.

The Human Melting Pot

I came across this fascinating article on BBC with a title - Is Another Human Living Inside You? It's not a long article but it presents some startling ideas. Human genes are far more complicated than we thought.

It used to be thought that a baby had half of Mom's genes and half of Dad's genes - but that seems to be overly simplistic. Twins sometimes swap cells during their development in the womb. There are also individuals called Chimera who carry the genes of two individuals and a fully absorbed twin. This often happens during the earliest development of the fetus. What might start out as two fertilized eggs ends up merging into one individual. A study in Edmonton revealed that some women have male DNA in their brains - researchers speculate that it came from one of their male children during pregnancy. It seems to make them less susceptible to Alzheimers.

Fascinating! And raises all sorts of questions.

For example, could transgender people be carrying the genes of an absorbed twin of the opposite gender? That even though the body is male, there is a strong female presence.

The other idea presented was that we all carry microbes within our gut - often inherited from our parents. These microbes can produce  neurotransmitters that influence our behaviour - make us crave certain foods or behave in certain ways. The scary thing... meat from the grocery store can infect you with a nasty one...

An infection of a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, meanwhile, might just lead you to your death. In nature, the microbe warps rats’ brains so that they are attracted to cats, which will then offer a cosy home for it to reproduce. But humans can be infected and subjected to the same kind of mind control too: the microbe seems to make someone risky, and increases the chance they will suffer from schizophrenia or suicidal depression. Currently, around a third of British meat carries this parasite, for instance – despite the fact an infection could contribute to these mental illnesses. “We should stop this,” says Kramer.

Can some mental health issues be attributed to what we eat? There is an old saying - "You are what you eat" - this takes it to a whole new level.

There is even some evidence that autism may be linked to gut bacteria.

Inner Tubes

Sooo... I was wandering through Canadian Tire this morning looking for a new blender. Our beautiful CuisinArt gave up the ghost over the weekend and we miss our green smoothies. I had visited Walmart, Superstore and Costco before deciding to try Canadian Tire. For the record, Superstore had a fairly good selection while Walmart and Costco were both pathetic.

Anyhow... so there I am minding my own business, clutching the new Hamilton-Beach blender under my arm when I stopped dead in my tracks. There was a beautiful inner tube perched on a display. Wow... that brought back memories... of going to the lake and rolling our two inner tubes down to the beach. Sitting in them and having a blast. I have no idea where we go our inner tubes, probably some tire shop somewhere. I know that some of my friends had monstrous inner tubes, likely from a huge piece of logging equipment. We didn't really think about inner tubes too much... they were just a part of our lives.

And now, here was one in Canadian Tire. Was it part of a beach display? Nope... it was for sale. Yup, you can now buy an inner tube for $33.29 at Canadian Tire. It comes deflated in a plastic bag and is not to be used for vehicle tires. Go figure. Which got me thinking... do tires even use inner tubes nowadays? I know my bicycle tire has an inner tube... but what about those big truck tires... do they still use inner tubes or are they passe?

Short answer - yes... they do still make tires that use inner tubes - tractor tires for one. And they are not cheap... over $100 for a real inner tube. But if I recall, the ones we had when I was a kid came from tire shops and were usually patched. I would suppose that inner tubes have a limited life-span. When they are worn out... they become beach inner tubes.

But now... you can skip the thrill of the hunt, avoid having to bargain with a greasy truck mechanic, and head straight for Canadian Tire... if you want to spend $35 (with tax). The way I see it... our inner tubes were part of the reduce/reuse/recycle movement (before it was even cool and hip). Truck tubes that would normally get tossed were repurposed as beach toys... good for another few years/decades of gentle use. But these Canadian Tire tubes... they have been specifically made to be recreational inner tubes. Somehow leaves me scratching my head and wondering at the waste...

Tin of Memories

I was in a thrift store the other day, not looking for anything in particular. As I was wandering the aisles, I spotted this lonely Gray Dunn cookie tin.

It's just a cookie tin and to be honest... if I was an objective shopper, I would never have noticed this tin. It's not like I'm a vintage cookie tin shopper. But this particular tin grabbed my attention because it was different.

You see... when I was a kid, we had a tin that looked exactly like this tin. Exactly. Except ours lost the little brass handle over the years. My Mom kept this tin on the bottom shelf of the baking cupboard, a cupboard that always smelled like Dr. Oetker baking extracts (bitter-almond, vanilla, rum), sugar and baking. It was the most delicious smelling cupboard ever.

The cookie tin had a tight-fitting lid and my sister and I always had to haul on the handle to get the lid to come off. Sometimes we'd have to pry at the edge to get the lid off. It was a challenging operation and a noisy one particularly if we were trying to sneak a cookie when Mom wasn't looking. But once we were inside, there were all sorts of treasures in there. If it was Christmas, there might be Christmas cookies. If it was just a regular time of year, we might find Dare Fudge Chocolate cookies in there... so good. (Sort of like Fudgeeos but way better... and Canadian to boot!) I can hear the sound of the lid coming off the tin. I can feel the textured sides. I remember staring at the pictures on the tin and being fascinated by the colours and patterns.

At some point, likely when we went to university, our beloved handle-less cookie tin was consigned to the garbage or perhaps a thrift store. It was gone from our life. But I remembered it and always kind of wished that we had kept it. It was just a... to-be-perfectly-honest... rather ugly looking tin with Asian influences. My Mom clearly didn't have the memories associated with the tin that we did. To me, that tin held so much more than cookies... it held home, shared-baking, love, joy, comfort. It was a tin of memories.

They say that when people have trouble decluttering, it's because they are not willing to let go of the memories and emotions associated with a particular item. I totally get that. This particular cookie tin was manufactured by Gray Dunn cookie-makers in Scotland. They made other tins and I looked at some of those pictures and wasn't moved to get them... not even an iota. But this one... this one contains the memories. I look at the tin and it all comes flooding back... happy memories.

So, there I am in the thrift store and I phone my sister who is 5 years younger. I say "Hey, remember that cookie tin we used to have, that orangey thing with the flowers but without the handle?" Her response... "Uhhhh... not really... ummmm". I told her, with a hint of impatience, that I would send her a picture. Five minutes later I got a text from her that said "YES!! Buy it!". All she had to do was see the tin and she knew everything that I was talking about. The cascade of memories triggered for her as well. She has an 8 year old daughter so perhaps this tin will become their cookie tin and hold their memories as well. Luckily the lid fits a bit looser than ours did... so hopefully the lid stays on a bit longer!

In the end, I paid the princely sum of $1.99 for a tin that sells on eBay for $25. Not bad. I probably wouldn't have paid $25 for the tin but $2 was a small price to pay for the memories.

Revisiting my Starbucks Addiction

I subscribe to a few minimalist blog posts and one them shared a link to a blog about a Port Moody woman who decided to do a yearlong shopping ban. The blog post was written after she had finished her year-long experiment and shared her learnings.

One of the things she gave up was a latte a day habit. I winced a bit when I read that. Yeah, $5/day does add up over time. She said it took her almost 9 months to get over that habit. In her words

The takeout coffee ban also had a huge win, as it was during this time that I finally started to feel like spending $5 on a latte was a huge waste of money. I just stopped valuing the drink and the experience that came with it.

Oh geez. I'm sitting in Starbucks as I write this... sipping my $3.62 grande hot chocolate. Yeah... so much for kicking Starbucks to the curb. I am a great rationalizer. Like a supremo-prime-expert rationalizer. I've been biking to Starbucks on weekday afternoons and rationalizing that I've just exercised and that I do great writing at Starbucks - ergo... I can justify/rationalize my Starbucks habit.

It came as a bit of a wake-up call to realize that getting over my Starbucks habit could take as long as 9 months. I don't know what I was thinking... that 66 days would be enough (the latest scientific number for how many days it takes to form a habit). When I gave up drinking Coke on July 7, 2009, it took me months and months before I no longer craved the sugar and the caffeine.

I've tried to give up my Starbucks habit several times over the last 6 months... sometimes for as long as a week but... it never lasted. I can always rationalize a visit... On top of that, I've put on a couple of pounds in the last 6 months... chalk that up to hot chocolate and beer - empty liquid calories. Yeah sure, they make me feel good... at least temporarily, but in the long run, I feel like crap.

I know what's required... a choice to stop... and self-discipline and committment to myself to honour my choice and my word. That's all. Sounds easy... so why is it so hard?

I've read a lot about forming habits... start small, be accountable, don't miss two days in a row, change the triggers, set up reminders, don't change too many habits at once. But really... it all comes down to the that initial choice/decision. I haven't really decided yet... because if I had... I wouldn't be here at Starbucks sipping a hot chocolate!

I'm going to be 50 in about 5 months... a milestone if there ever was one. When that auspicious day comes... do I want to be headed downwards (fatter, slower, more tired) or upwards (leaner, faster, more energy)? It's up to me...

Nickle & Dimed by Big Banks

I've been an RBC customer since 1977, that's 38 years. Most of my financial products are with RBC:

• 3 chequing accounts (one US)
• 2 savings accounts
• RRSP
• RESP
• TFSA
• 2 current mortgages (and another one in the past)
• non-registered investments
• RBC Visa - but I never use it

I would think that I qualify as a loyal RBC customer. My financial planners, of which I've had four over the last 20 years, have generally been very accommodating. My US chequing account has no fees and the other two chequing accounts qualify for the multi-product rebate (when you have a mortage, investment and credit card with RBC). Excellent.

Unfortunately, the times are a-changing. Back in June, the Big Banks upped their banking fees. As it turned out... I would now have to make sure that my RBC Visa card was "active", meaning I needed to use it every 90 days. I frowned. I have a BMO MC that collects Airmiles points. That's the only card I use. I basically only have the RBC Visa because it was offered to me and when I travel, I like to have both a Visa and a MC.

I started using the Visa... but now there was one more bill to keep track of. I was less than pleased. Last week I met with my RBC financial planner. I expressed my dissatisfaction with the whole "active Visa" thing and she thought I was pulling her leg. She looked it up and to her surprise found that I was correct. I suggested that she, as a financial planner, had the power to waive fees. I played the "long-time, loyal customer" card... pointed out all of the financial products I have and have had with RBC. She said she would look into it.

When I got home, I reviewed the chequing accounts and learned, much to my surprise that one account no longer got the full multi-product rebate. I sent a disgruntled email to my financial planner. The next day she replied. She had reversed the charges for the one account and gotten the ongoing fees waived. But for the other account... I would need to keep using the Visa to get the multi-product rebate. So much for perks for loyal customers.

The bank fees for that account add up to $60/year. The other chequing account has fees that total $132/year. And neither account earns interest. I was not pleased. The RBC financial planner has been pushing me to move some pension investments from an insurance company into RBC. They want all my business. But... on their terms. Welll... guess what... it's my money and there are better deals out there.

Over the last two years, I've opened several accounts in Tangerine Banking (formerly ING Direct) - savings, chequing, investments. No fee-chequing that earns 0.25% interest.  Savings accounts that earn 1.05% interest with periodic bonus interest for new deposits. Easy online banking.

The one thing that's been stopping me from making the switch is... I think it's a hassle to move all those pre-authorized payments and bill payees. I did a bit of scouting on Tangerine yesterday and figured out that it wasn't all that hard. I even changed my Canada Revenue Agency direct deposit from RBC to Tangerine. I'm starting to make the switch.

Oh... and right now, Tangerine has a deal where if you switch your payroll direct-deposit to them, they will give you $10/month for a year... $120 is nothing to sneeze at. And in case you're wondering... Tangerine is owned by ScotiaBank so you can use your Tangerine bank card at any ScotiaBank machine... convenient.

I also learned that you can switch your RRSPs to another bank (or credit union). RBC apparently charges $135 to part with RRSPs but some receiving banks will cover that fee... I'm going to check out some local credit unions and see if they would like my investments.

I sent a reply back to financial planner asking her: (a) could I switch my safety deposit box fee from my chequing account to my savings account (my original account from 1977) and (b) how much was RBCs fee to move RRSPs. Let her chew on that when she gets into the office on Monday. I'm ditching the chequing accounts but may keep my original RBC savings account. Or not. In the end, I might move my safety deposit box to a local credit union as well.

Which would leave RBC holding our two mortgages. One is fixed and has 2.5 years left. One is variable and has just over 4 years left. My financial planner keeps telling me that we need to lock in that variable mortgage. Interest rates can't go much lower you know. She suggested that in April that we should lock-in... and guess what... interest rates dropped last week. So glad we didn't take her advice to lock-in. But of course... she works for RBC and it's in their best interests to have us lock-in when interest rates are going down. Silly me... I thought she had my best interests at heart.

So... what happens when our mortgages come up for renewal RBC? Yeah, a few thousand dollars in a chequing account aren't much of a loss for you guys... but think about the RRSP... think about the mortgages. Them's big bucks... and they are going to fly out your doors... all because a financial planner wouldn't waive $60/year fees for a loyal, long-term client. I'm tired of being nickel & dimed by bank fees. Good-bye RBC...

The Power of Positive Tickets

Have you heard of Ward Clapham? Nope, me neither, until I came across a cool news story.

Imagine that you're a kid riding your bike along the street. A cop pulls up beside you and waves you to pull over. Your heart starts beating faster. Did you do something wrong? Are you in trouble? Uh-oh!! The cop gets out of his vehicle with his ticket book in hand. With a smile, he writes you a ticket for wearing your helmet... a positive ticket... complete with a free movie ticket. Wow! What a concept.

Ward Clapham
(From Positive Tickets website)

This idea of writing positive tickets was the brainchild of former RCMP Superintendent Ward Clapham. He had noticed that Canadian youth saw the police as hunters, as the enemy... and he wanted to do something to alter that relationship. Rather than waiting for youth to commit a crime and reacting to that, Clapham encouraged his officers to be proactive and engage with youth from a different place, one of building relationships. You see, the tickets are really only the vehicle to allow police to build relationships with youth Over time, youth who engaged with police went from seeing them as the enemy to seeing them as friends. A paradigm shift.

Clapham likes to quote a former president of Ecuador who reportedly said:

Without a relationship, there is a problem for every solution.
With a relationship, there is a solution for every problem.

It really doesn't matter who is involved. Police and youth. Employer and employees. Israelis and Palestinians. Greece and Europe. If there is no relationship, then no matter what is suggested, everything will be a problem. But if there is a relationship, everything can be solved. Building relationships is key. Without relationships, it is easy to demonize the other side. They become the enemy and they are saddled with labels. The real secret to peace is to connect with a specific individual from the other side - to get to know someone on a personal level.

Of Scents, Smells and Stinks

Have you ever noticed that when you walk into The Bay, Sears or even Shopper's Drug Mart, that you are walking right into the perfume section? I haven't been to The Bay or Sears for years but I do visit Shopper's Drug Mart on occasion because they usually have the Canada Post outlet. I've always wondered why stores did that... and now I know.

I was listening to a YouTube video while tidying up some data, listening with half an ear to the Secrets of Selfridges. You do know Selfridges, don't you? The mega department store on Oxford Street in London, an icon of shopping. It was started by an American, Harry Selfridge, back in the 1800s and it revolutionized shopping. They let people browse/window shop. They had washrooms. They even had elevators between floors. The introduced fetching window displays. The let people touch the wares. What a thought. And... Selfridges introduced the practice of having perfume (and jewellery) by the front door. Gee... thanks Selfridges...

You see, I am a bit sensitive to scents... and smelly perfumes. They can give me an instant headache if I'm not careful. I usually take a deep breath of fresh air before entering Shopper's Drug Mart and try to hold it as a scurry through the stinky perfume section and head for Canada Post. That doesn't work so well in The Bay where the scent section covers such a huge area. Although, I can usually find a secondary entrance that avoids the worst of it. In an age where more and more people suffer from scent allergies, it boggles the mind that places like Shopper's Drug Mart and The Bay, still assault potential customers with scent. They might as well hit them over the head. So many places are now "scent free".

I find one of the worst times and places for scent assault is Value village on Senior's Day. I know that the olfactory senses of the elderly deteriorate over age (according to my mom). They have trouble smelling things, so when they go out, they really load up on the scented body lotion and/or the perfume. I'll be wandering through Value Village and hit a wall of scent... I quickly look around and identify the person surrounded by a cloud of scent... anywhere from 6 feet to 10 feet away. I do everything in my power to avoid that person... but sometimes there are so many that I throw up my hands in defeat and head for the exit. I don't need an instant headache. I haven't figured out how much exposure generates the headache... it's not an experiment that is all that pleasant.

And just in case you're wondering... it's not just perfume. I love lilacs (in moderation)... I once cut a big bouquet and put it in my bedroom when I was a teenager. I went to sleep that night and woke up in the morning with a screaming headache. You can have too much of a good thing. There is, of course, cigarette smoke... very nasty. Combine a whiff of that with a hot day and I can feel the headache storming towards me.

Let's top all this off with the comment that for some asthmatics, excessive scent - be it from cigarette smoke, cleaners, perfume, hair spray or air fresheners - can be life-threatening. Someone might think that they smell "pretty" but... to someonelse, that "pretty" smell is an assaulting stench.

So... thanks Selfridges.

The Ease of a Capsule Wardrobe

Did you hear about the Australian news anchor, Karl Stefanovic? He was in the news last fall after he revealed that he had been wearing the same blue suit during his news spots... not for a few weeks or months, but for a whole year!

He had become fed up with how people always gave advice to his female co-anchor about her wardrobe. He wanted to make a point that sexism was alive and well. Even though he wore the exact same suit for a year, not one person noticed or commented on his attire. Interesting, no?

They say that "clothes make the man"... but clearly the truth is that clothes make the woman. Nobody really notices what the man is wearing as long as he's wearing something presentable. They also say "don't judge a book by its cover", but clearly that too only works for men... not for women. Although... things are changing.

Sincere Spaces blogpost on Capsule Wardrobe

There's a movement in the minimalist world to move in the direction of what's called a capsule wardrobe. A certain number of clothes that work well together and make around 20-30 outfits. Think about it... who needs more than 30 outfits? There are about 30 days in a month and only 20 working days. At that rate, you'd wear each outfit once a month. In most cases, nobody would notice if you wore the same outfit once a week.

I know this goes against the modern trend of consumerism - buy more and more and more. Some people have dozens of shoes, hats, purses, scarves and what not. But really... do we need all of that? What are we telling the world when we feel that we only get noticed based on our clothing? Good question... isn't the book more important than the cover? As long as we look presentable, shouldn't that be enough?

I think it's interesting that most people on home-improvement shows (think HGTV) drool over walk-in closets. The wife usually walks into the closet and coos in excitement: "Ooooooohhhhh, this would be perfect for all my clothes! Oh... and Honey, you can have the hall closet." Seriously? When I was growing up, my parents made do with a standard closet. It says something about our society that closets and houses keep getting bigger while storage lockers are doing a rip-snorting business. Stuff, stuff and more stuff.

When I look at my own closet (or rather half-closet), I have a bunch of long-sleeved shirts that I never wear anymore. I have a few dress shirts and dress pants that I used to use when I facilitated workshops. But I never wear them anymore. I have about 15 pairs of jeans but only wear 3 on a regular basis. My standard attire for the day is usually t-shirt and jeans. If it's cool out, I throw a fleecy sweater on top of it all. Done. Which means that of late I have been eying the clothes in my closet and wondering... do I really need all of them?

Because even in terms of t-shirt and jeans, I am starting to notice that I am favouring black t-shirts above the other colours. My three jeans are beige, brown and blue... and black t-shirts go with all three. It seems that I am moving in the direction of a wardrobe uniform. The idea is to find a look that works for you and then stick with that. One writer wears black turtle-neck sweaters with skinny jeans. As she says " It’s almost never inappropriate, and it has the magical quality of taking on the connotations of its surroundings. In a bookstore, I look bookish. At an art gallery, I look arty. On the subway, I am invisible. I can look young or old, rich or poor, cool or humble. In my uniform, people see me as they want to." And it's not just unknown writers. Steve Jobs (of Apple fame) always wore black turtle necks and jeans. Rumour has it that Einstein bought several versions of the same grey suit so that he wouldn't have to waste brainpower on choosing an outfit each morning. Same with President Obama, except he mixes it up by having blue and grey suits. That's what I want. Something simple.


Now, the hosts of "What not to Wear" might have a conniption fit but... they don't have to live my life. Yeah, sure, I could look like a million bucks if I got a fancy haircut, wore make-up and bought clothes from high-end boutiques. Meh... that's not me. I buy my black t-shirts and my jeans from Value Village. I have one pair of shoes, one pair of sandals, one pair of hiking boots. And that's good enough for me.

Am I going to declutter my closet? That is a good question. I hang onto things in there because I think that someday I might need some long-sleeved shirts... even though I live in a mild climate. I think that someday I might need a dress suit, even though I have no intention of ever wearing it again.I think it's time to take a look and start paring.

Saving Water in Small Ways

I lived in Vancouver for nine years, back in the 1980s and 1990s. I knew that it rained a lot in Vancouver but I don't think I ever really considered the overall climate in Vancouver. Admittedly, I was gone most summers, out in the bush, doing research for my thesis. I never really experienced the dry days of a Vancouver summer. Somehow, I always thought that all of Canada had four seasons - spring, summer, winter, fall. That isn't actually true. The southwest coast of British Columbia, including Vancouver Island, could best be described as having a two-season climate - the rainy season and the dry season.

Living on the east coast of Vancouver Island, we have become very familiar with this climate. Our lawn is lush and green from October to May. From June to September, the grass turns yellow and goes dormant. Hardly anybody here waters their lawns during the dry season - and apparently this has been the case for decades. People recognize instinctively that we are on an island, and despite the rain that we get in the rainy season, water can be in short supply.

Lawn in mid-June

This past Monday, our city went to Watering Restrictions - Level 2. That means that we (with an odd house number) can use sprinklers on Sundays and Thursday, but not between the hours of 10 am and 6 pm. Watering the garden by hand is allowed at any time, as long as you use a hose attachment with a shut-off. There are other restrictions that don't really affect us - hosing down sidewalks, washing cars, power-washing decks or houses. We do none of those. And if ever we hit Level 4 watering restrictions, we would only be allowed to sprinkle once a week. But we're not too concerned at this point. We don't water our lawn and are proud of it's golden colour. Of course, patches of green survive where the weeds still thrive. Dandelions and hawk-weed apparently have deep roots.

This year, however, we are more mindful of how we use and misuse water. We've been following the news of the California drought and know that climate change is upon us. What are some of the small ways in which we can conserve water?

Rain Barrel
This is an obvious solution, and one that is apparently quite easy to set-up. It does, however, require fairly regular showers during the summer to be useful. We are looking at putting a rain barrel in place to catch the run-off from our shed roof.

Grey Water
There are all sorts of complicated systems that you can install to divert waste water from your kitchen sink into grey-water collection systems. We're not there yet. We're talking about something more basic. We considered how much water we waste in the kitchen and the bathroom and came up with a solution:

• waiting for the shower water to warm up - we now hold a big bucket under the tap until the water hits the right temperature and then pull the shower transfer thingie - 2-3 gallons each time (oh, and we don't shower every day)
• filling water bottles at the kitchen sink, waiting for the water to get cold enough - we now have a big bucket in the second sink, over which we fill the water bottle - sometimes as much as 1 gallon of water saved
• filling pet water dish - dump the stale water in the bucket and rinse the dish over the bucket - 1/2 gallon saved
• rinsing vegetables from the garden - used to do it in the sink but now do it in the bucket - 2 gallons saved
• rinsing fingers underneath the tap, like after chopping vegetables - we now do that over the bucket saving a little bit everytime
• water from boiling eggs - goes into the bucket and the cold water rinse goes into the bucket as well

Those are the main things we're doing right now. We don't have any soap in the water that we save in the two buckets. When the buckets need to be dumped, we have a green rubber garbage bin outside the patio doors, on the deck. If the water doesn't have too many bits of flotsam (like the tub water), we just pour it into the bin. If there is a fair bit of debris in the water, I take it outside and pour it on various bushes which normally don't get watered with the hose. We can use the water in the garbage bin to fill watering cans.

Does it take a bit of extra effort? Yup. Does it make a difference? Definitely. It is satisfying to know that we are conserving water which would normally just go down the drain. Fresh, clean water is a precious resource and we are blessed to have a relatively abundant supply. But it is time to start appreciating it and not wasting it.

Sour Beer

Sooo... we went to Quadra Island for a little getaway a few weeks ago. It was quite lovely and a beachcombers paradise! On the first evening, we went to the Heriot Bay Inn and I had a Philips Blue Buck ale - quite delicious.

On our second evening, we went to a pub for dinner (the name of which shall remain nameless). They didn't have a huge selection so I ordered a Cameron's ale or some such thing. As I sipped it, I crinkled my nose and stared at it with suspicion. It tasted sour. Yuck. I'm usually the designated driver when we go out for dinner and end up having one beer on normal occasions. But on this night, my partner had volunteered to be the driver and so I was OK to have another beer. I ordered a Shaftsbury or a Vancouver Island Brewery beer. One that I've had before. It too was sour. Grumble, grumble... shitty pub. The place was empty and I suspected that their kegs of beer were old and stale. Very disappointed.

On our third and last day, we bought some beer and wine at the local store and had a picnic in our room in the afternoon. I looked at the selection of beers and chose a Canterbury Ale, a Prince George brewery. I love Canterbury ale... yum! It is a delicious mild dark brew. We got back to our room, I cracked open a can and took a sip. And... guess what... yup. It was sour! I stared at the can in dismay. Clearly it wasn't just the pub... it was me!!

I glumly looked up "taste disturbances" and learned that it could be a sign of menopause. Great. Hot flashes might not be in my future but taste disturbances would alter my life! That evening, we ate at the lodge/resort we were staying at. They had an even more limited selection of beer and I chose a Coors Light. I cut my teeth on Coors Light when I started drinking beer in my 30s. I hate it now because it tastes like water really. I received my glass and took a sip. Ugh... sour!!!

Oh dear... well... this would make it very easy to quit drinking beer, that's for sure. I stared at the glass with disgust. Lovely... just bloody lovely!

But now... for the myterious part. We spent three nights on Quadra and when we got home, I cracked a can of the Canterbury just to see and... it tasted normal. Perfectly normal. We've been home for a couple of weeks and beer tastes just fine to me. Was it a Quadra thing? Or was it a PMS thing? Only time will tell.

Kick-starting Productivity with The One Thing

I subscribe to a few productivity blogs and one of them (don't ask me which one) recommended a book called The One Thing. It sounded interesting so I requested the book through the local public library (of course). When the book came in, I picked it up and couldn't put it down. I finished it in 4 hours and was inspired.

The author, Gary Keller, makes the telling point that we have become a culture that values "multi-tasking", a word that is actually an oxymoron. You can't concentrate on two things at once. Seriously. If you're concentrating on writing an email, you can't talk to your mother on the phone at the same time. One of the tasks will suffer. Plus, your mother will quickly figure out what you're doing.

The idea of multi-tasking originally came from computers - they worked so quickly and did so many things seemingly at once. But what computers actually do is shift rapidly between different tasks. Which is what we do as well. We shift attention between the email and Mom rapidly... but really, neither one is accomplished in a satisfying way. Keller says we would be far better to focus on one task.

His second point that stuck with me is this. We talk about prioritizing tasks... we have high priority tasks and low priority tasks. But the actual origins of the word "priority" mean "one thing". You can't have five top priorities. According to the definition of the word, you can only have one priority. Keller suggests that rather than juggling various tasks... we should step back and ask the question.

What is my 5-year goal for work/life/family/home (or whatever)?

He also encourages us to think big (or go home). So... let's say my 5 year goal for Wealth is Financial Independence. That's a big goal. Alright, so now for the next step. Knowing that my 5 year goal is Financial Independence...

What's the One Thing I can do THIS YEAR, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

Alright - so I need something concrete. I named my One Thing for this year as earning $5000 - (which is a big jump for a stay-at-home writer who hasn't published her book yet). But... as fate would have it, the non-profit that I previously worked for contacted me in mid-May and asked if I would do some contract work for them (database management & donor relations). Excellent.

So, the next step, having identified what I can do this year is...

What's the One Thing I can do THIS MONTH month, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

I figured the one thing I could do for June was to hammer out a contract and earn $500. And then you break that down even farther...

What's the One Thing I can do THIS WEEK, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

What's the One Thing I can do TODAY, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

Right down to...

What's the One Thing I can do RIGHT NOW, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

It's working. I nailed down a contract with the non-profit. I got set up with their online donor-management system. I crammed 15 hours of work into two days (we were away for a few days this past week). And... rather to my surprise... I find myself on-track to earn $1500+ in the month of June, well above my goal. There is also the possibility of doing some other work with the non-profit. On top of that, the local university has advertised a part-time instructor position for the winter semester that would be right up my alley. Hmmm... I may have to take my big Wealth "goal" for 2015 (earn $5000) and revise that upwards!

Finally... the third point that the author made was to set aside a block of 4 hours a day (he recommends the morning) to work on your One Thing. So at work, figure out what your One Thing is... and focus on that for four hours a day. Without interruptions. Turn off your email. Send your calls to voicemail. Put a sign on your closed door. And see what happens to your productivity.

I've tried a lot of productivity hacks and apps... this one is working for me. It gives me focus and intention. I have a goal. I have a direction. Now it's easy... just do it.

Oh, and I did the same thing for my manuscript... my goal for 2015 is to send the completed manuscript to 10 publishers. That really gives me a push in the behind!

Tips on Negotiating a new Wireless Contract with Bell Canada

Yesterday we spent hours, literally hours, negotiating a new wireless contract with our cellphone wireless provider, Bell Canada. The whole process started at around 9:30 am and finally ended at 3:30 pm. Where else in the world can you spend hours in such a productive fashion??? Our emotions ran the gamut from feeling definitely ripped off to doing high-fives in triumph. On which note did we end the day? Stay tuned.

Background
First off, Canada isn't like most other countries - we have essentially three mobile network providers - Bell Canada, Rogers and Telus. There are also a couple of independents like Wind Mobile but they are small fish and they are pretty much limited to big urban centres or certain provinces (e.g. SaskTel and MTS). If you stray out of those areas, you are "roaming" and pay through the nose to use "partner networks" (i.e. Bell, Telus or Rogers). You could say it is a BTR monopoly (but it's not BeTteR)... it's actually a TRB monopoly (TeRriBle).

All three have subsidiary companies that make it look like we have more providers: Fido (Rogers), Virgin Mobile (Bell), Koodo (Telus). Fun, eh? So, getting a cell phone in Canada looks something like this:

You approach a provider, you look at phones and are enamoured with the Samsung Galaxy S6. You are shocked by its sticker price ($700) but happily notice that if you sign up for a 3 year contract, the phone will only cost you $200. You choose a monthly plan based on your needs (data, calling, texting, etc.), sign your three year contract and walk out the door caressing your new S6. Unfortunately, you don't notice the titanium chain that is attached to your ankle... a chain that trails all the way back to your service provider.

Over time, you realize that your monthly plan is not such a good deal but... you are chained to your provider. Your phone is actually locked to their network and you can't unlock it unless you're at the end of your 3 years.

So if you travel, you can't just pop a US SIM card into the phone and use it in the States. Nope, won't work. And if you want to break your 3 year contract, you are paying heavy, heavy fees.

As the end of your three years looms in the near future, your provider phone you with "exclusive" deals to re-commit for another 3 years of indentured servitude... with a new phone thrown in, of course. You have 3 years of "loyalty" built up with this provider which does count for something. If you go to a new provider (one of the other Big 2), you're unlikely to get a better deal... so the story goes. You stick to your guns and your contract ends. You continue as a month-to-month customer but do a happy dance because your vintage S6 phone is now yours! You try to use a US SIM card in it... still locked. You contact your service provider - "Oh, yes, we have to unlock it. That will cost you $50). What?

Some New CRTC Rules
A couple of years ago, the CRTC (Canada's Telecom Regulator) brought in new rules for the benefit of the consumer. The Big 3 had their wrists slapped. Customers now had 30 days after signing a contract to cancel the whole deal with no penalty (buyer's remorse). After 90 days of being in the contract, customers could ask the provider to unlock their phones (but providers could still charge $50 for this "service". Oh, and if you bought the phone outright at the beginning... it was still locked and you still had to pay $50 to unlock the phone that you just bought and now owned. Go figure. Finally, the CRTC ruled that 3 year contracts were too long and limited the term to 2 years.

Now, last week, it was all over the news that people who were in the last year of their 3 year contract (those poor souls who locked in prior to the new CRTC rulings) were in a position of power. They could technically call their service provider and cancel their contract with no penalty as they had fulfilled 2 years of their contract. But of course the Big 3 would offer incentives to retain the customers! Of course...

Our ears perked up at this... my 3 year contract had lapsed in November and I was on a month-to-month plan ($57/month + taxes) and my partner was in the 3rd year of her contract ($57/month + taxes). We decided that today was the day... we would brave the den of the Bell Beast and wield our Sword of Customer Power!

First Negotiation
We pulled straws and my partner, Anne, won (or lost). Actually, given that she was the one with the contract... we decided that she needed to phone, being in the position of more power.

Tip - write out your current wireless plan and component costs on a piece of paper.

So she phoned Bell. She spoke with Customer Service Agent (CSA) #1.

Tip - Get the agents name and Customer Service Agent ID number at the start of the call.

She explained her situation and CSA #1 offered her a "deal" that was something on the order of $80/month (all prices do not include taxes). Anne pointed out that this was way more than what she was paying now.

Tip - make notes of what the agent says - what the "deals" include.

Tip - tell the agent you are making notes

The price dropped by $10... still not good enough. Anne then threw me into the mix. There were actually two of us and we wanted a Shared Plan with 2 GB of data combined. Another deal was offered - $121/month (unlimited nationwide calling, unlimited texting, picture, video messaging, message centre, 2 GB data). We could get Samsung Galaxy S4s but we would still have to pay $$ for them. although CSA #1 did offer a $100 rebate on the two phones. Anne finally asked if that was the best CSA #1 could do? Apparently it was. Anne asked to speak to someone else.

Tip - when you don't get what you want from the first person, ask to speak to someone else. 

We got passed on to CSA #2 (in the Loyalty/Retention Department). This gentleman went backwards with us. He offered $140/month for the same deal CSA #1 had offered us for $120. Anne pointed out that CSA #1 had offered us a $120/month contract. But the sticking point turned out to be the new phones. He couldn't give us S4s for free if we were only paying $120/month. He put us on hold for 10 minutes while he went to consult someone else.

Tip - stay calm - they are playing mind games with you. Use the time to do some research.

CSA #2 came back and offered the Samsung Galaxy Core for free. I looked it up online while Anne was talking with him. It was a piece of sh-t phone. I wrote "NO!" on the paper.

Tip - have someone on hand who can do quick research online while you negotiate

He wouldn't budge. Anne wouldn't budge. Anne finally said that if that was the best he could then she would have to check other service providers. We hung up.


An hour on the phone and we had nothing to show for it. We sat out on the deck, our tails between our legs. Sh-t. Now we would have to call Telus and Rogers and... more hours wasted. We felt like we had been ripped off. We were loyal customers - we were supposed to get a deal! What the heck.

We slowly realized that this was exactly what Bell is probably counting on. Who is going to spend hours on the phone trying to find a better deal with another service provider? Most people will just cave and take the best thing Bell offers them.

I went inside and had a look at Rogers and Telus - just the plans that they offer to new customers on their websites. This was extremely helpful.

Tip - Do this research AHEAD of time! You'll have way more power with Bell.

Sooo... Rogers and Telus both had the S4 for $99.99 (2 year contract) not the $149.99 (2 year contract) that Bell was hawking it for. Which meant the $100 "rebate" that CSA #1 offered us on two phones was a big fat nothing. We could get that at Telus or Rogers as brand new customers.

I dug deeper. With Rogers, we could sign up as new customers on a Shared Plan and get two S4 phones (paying $225), unlimited nation-wide calling, unlimited texting, picture, video messaging and message centre, AND 2 GB of data - all for $120. Oh, and they were waiving the connection/activation fee - $20/phone). What??

We compared this with our notes... Bell was offering us virtually the same thing. But Rogers would give this deal to us as new customers. And Bell was calling this a "loyalty" plan. Where was the loyalty incentive?? We knew the new phones were the sticking point but when we looked at the $225 price tag for two S4's at Rogers... we divided that by 24 months (the length of the 2 year contract) and realized the figure was less than $10/month. Was that not a reasonable loyalty incentive amount?

Second Negotiation
We looked at each other. Anne asked me if I wanted her to phone Bell again? Up to her. With a sigh... she picked up the phone - once again into the breach. Anne asked to be put through to the loyalty department.

Anne reached CSA #3 and told her that she had just spent an hour on the phone with Bell and really didn't want to repeat everything again. That was OK. CSA #3 could see the previous notes on her computer. Anne repeated the gist of the deal we had been offered and then referred to the Rogers deal. Back and forth it went... and finally CSA #3 agreed to throw in the two S4s for free. High-five!!

Anne then asked about the activation fee - $35/phone. She threw the Rogers amount out on the table - $20/phone and Rogers was waiving that fee. CSA #3 agreed to take $10 off of each connection fee and then give us a credit for the remaining $25/phone. Excellent! We reviewed the deal... yup, it was what we wanted. We could go and get the phones in-store and all would be well. The only hiccup was that we needed to add me to Anne's account. Before we left CSA #3, I told Anne to get her name and number. And I asked if something could be sent to us via email.

Tip - get EVERY CSA's name and ID number!

Tip - get the deal/agreement sent to you via Email (not text!)

Erin (CSA #E.....) said she would send Anne a text. In hindsight... we should have insisted on an email. We had to show the text to the in-store CSA and it wasn't all that helpful. After thanking Erin, we were passed along to CSA #4 who was going to combine our accounts. I had to get on the phone and give him my PIN and agree to be added to Anne's account. No problem. He then told Anne that there was a $35 Transfer of Responsibility fee. Anne put her foot down very firmly. She had just spent over an hour negotiating a deal and there had been no mention of this fee. She was not willing to pay this fee. He said there was nothing he could do. She asked to be transferred back to Loyalty.

Tip - stand by your guns. If you don't like what someone is offering - go to a higher-up

CSA #4 put us on hold and then less than minute later, the line went dead. Anne stared at the phone in disbelief. Either he was hopeless at phone transferring or he had just given us the finger. But at this point, we were not backing down. If Bell thought they were getting rid of us that easily... they had another think coming!

Third Negotiation
Anne phoned Bell again and asked to be placed through to Loyalty. She asked for Erin but was told we couldn't be passed directly to a specific agent. Fine... so we ended up with CSA #5 - Cecilia. Anne went into her spiel again summarizing the conversations that had gone before. She let Cecilia know she had been on the phone for almost two hours, had been transferred to someone who would combine the accounts and was then told about the Transfer of Responsibility fee. No one had mentioned this fee to her previously and she was not going to pay it. If she signed up with Rogers as a new customer, they wouldn't charge her a fee to create an account. Besides, in combining our accounts, Bell would actually save money since they would only have to send out one bill. Cecilia hestitated and then agreed. She pulled up the file and without even a murmur, agreed to waive the Transfer of Responsibility fee. She also said that she could combine accounts. Yay! A few minutes later, she came back to say that she couldn't do that - didn't have the correct access. So we were transferred to CSA #6, Jason, who combined our accounts. Finally! We hung up the phone and looked at the clock. Another hour gone... but we had a deal we were happy with!

At the Bell Store
We decided to trot right over to the Bell store and get the phones. First, we drove to a mall with a Bell kiosk. They had no S4 phones and one guy actually said they weren't affiliated with Bell. What? Turned out they were a franchise... Uh-huh. Betcha Bell would love to hear that. They were wearing Bell t-shirts and everything. Anyhow... they phoned the actual Bell store and... yes, they had three S4s!!! Back into the car and drove to another mall.

We walked into the store and were served by Alanna. We told her that we had negotiated a deal with Bell and were there to get the phones.

Tip - Be VERY specific in summarizing your deal. Ask agent if she/he can see it on their computer.

Alanna was happy to help us and began the process of registering our phones to our combined account. Minutes went by... but the S4s were not wanting to be registered... finally, the store manager told Alanna to just give us S5s instead. Secret High-Fives! We were being upgraded at no cost to us!

Tip - don't gloat. It is not becoming.

Mind you, as we got into the nitty gritty of the contract, it was clear that Alanna did not have access to the deal that we had negotiated. She was going to give us $100 off the phones but we said, "No, we are paying nothing for them.". And then, after printing out a contract, Anne noticed that we were actually being charged $150/month not $120!

Tip - Review your contract with a fine-tooth comb.

Tip - Bring your notes to the store

Alanna was perplexed by the deal we said we had negotiated. She said it was an impossible deal! We showed her the text from Erin- but it wasn't helpful. Alanna phoned Bell and CSA #7 wondered at the S5s - so Alanna had to explain the problem with the S4s and that this was a store decision.

Tip - Be patient, polite, friendly and understanding. This could take a while.

Finally, Alanna got off the phone. She would now have to cancel the contract she had just entered (via Buyer's Remorse) and do it all over again. She phoned Bell again (different department).

Finally... after much to-ing and fro-ing... we signed a contract for $120/month. We did add insurance for each phone - $7/month/phone. Now... Erin had told us that insurance would be $7-10/month depending on the deductible. Alanna said it was $7/month with $150 deductible. She had never heard of the $10/month with no deductible. We could have pushed it but at this point, we figured we had put her (and ourselves) through enough! We spent almost 2 hours in store...

Tip - wear comfy shoes and be patient

End Deal

• Shared Plan
• 2 GB data
• unlimited nationwide calling
• unlimited texting, picture, video messaging
• Message Centre (call display, voicemail, etc.)
• $120/month
•  two Samsung Galaxy S5 phones - no charge (listed at $199.99 for a 2-year contract)

Total Savings
$30/month on the listed plan.

$400 for the phones
$75 for the connection fees (2 phones)
$35 for the Transfer of Responsibility fee

Final Advice

• Do your research ahead of time. Knowledge really IS power.
• Know what the competition offers.
• Have an idea of what you want - and think BIG!
• Realize that your loyalty is your biggest asset - flaunt it.
• All fees are negotiable and waivable.
• Be polite but firm.
• Don't settle. If you don't get a deal from the first line people (and you won't) ask to be passed to the Loyalty department. Let them know you're a loyal customer... that you've done your homework... that you are taking notes.
• Get everyone's name and ID number.
• Get it in writing.
• Make sure the store agent is very clear on the deal you have hammered out.
• Review the final printed contract with a fine-tooth comb. Twice. Maybe thrice.
• Be patient. This will take time. A lot of time.

Trying the No-Poo Method (as in no Sham-poo)

A couple of years ago, my nephew-in-law came for a visit with his girlfriend. At some point he let it slip that he hadn`t shampoo-ed his hair in months! We were all amazed at how clean his hair looked. My partner even gave it the sniff test and admitted that his hair didn't smell bad... it just smelled like... hair.

I have been thinking about doing my own no-poo experiment and after reading up on it in several blogs, decided that April/May would be a good time to try it. What are some of the benefits of going no-poo?

Benefits
Well, some-poo advocates will tell you that shampoo strips the natural oils from our hair, making our scalp produce oil in excess to try and replenish. Once you stop using shampoo, your scalp will eventually readjust.

Others will tell you that shampoo darkens your hair so that blonds become darker over time. Stop using shampoo and your hair will get lighter in colour.

Some say that their super-straight hair has started to get some body after they stopped using shampoo. Other people susceptible to frizz say that the frizziness went away after they went no-poo.

Some say that their hair gets thicker, fuller and more lustrous after they ditched the shampoo.

Others say that their chronic dandruff problem vanished after a few weeks of going no-poo.

Then, of course, there are the environmental benefits - not adding any phosphates to our waste water or adding plastic bottles to the landfills (or recycling depots).

It actually turns out that shampoo, as we know it, is less than a century old, which makes one wonder what people used before that?

Pitfalls
Well, the obvious one - oily hair for the first few days/weeks. Although apparently this calms down after 3 to 5 weeks, depending on your hair and scalp time. Oops.... maybe longer. Some people say it can take up to 3 months for your scalp and hair to adjust. That is a LONG transition period!

The No-Poo Method
Soooo... how does one actually go no-poo? Well, obviously, you stop using shampoo and conditioner. But that doesn't mean that you don't actually clean your hair. Turns out that there are a lot of options for how to clean your hair.

Plain Old Water
The easiest by far is the water method. You simply rinse your hair with warm water while you're in the shower. Mind you, you do have to be mindful to not grab the shampoo bottle out of habit!

Baking Soda & Apple Cider Vinegar 
This option is the most well-known. You make a paste from a bit of baking soda and water, and massage that into your scalp. After rinsing very well, you then use a spray bottle to spritz some diluted apple cider vinegar onto your scalp. It turns out that your scalp needs a certain pH in order to be happy. Normally, it is slightly acidic and since baking soda is alkaline, you need the vinegar to balance things out. Soda can make your hair dry and vinegar acts like a conditioner.

Dry Shampoo
You can buy dry shampoo powder and use that to wash your hair. Commercial dry shampoos have chemicals though, so you can find recipes for home-made variants that use arrowroot and baby powder as a base.

Other Options
There are many other products that you can use to clean you hair, including (but not limited to):

• eggs
• beer
• kefir
• rye flour
• lemon juice
• aloe vera
• coconut milk
• epsom salts
• apple sauce
• soap nuts
• bentonite clay

I'm not sure about all of these things. Their use depends on your hair type, your scalp type, your water type (hard or soft) and a myriad of other factors. I thought going no-poo would be relatively simple but... this is sounding more and more complicated.

One Complicated Routine
One lady who has gone no-poo uses the following routine on her hair:

•  About once a month, I wash with baking soda and condition with apple cider vinegar.
•  In between the baking soda wash, I will wash using another method about once a week. My preferred method is rye flour. But I occasionally use bentonite clay, egg, or kefir.
•  I use a dry shampoo in between washes (see my recipe here) as needed, usually about twice a week.
•  About once a month, I do a deep conditioning mask, usually coconut oil.
•  I use argan oil with essential oils as a hair serum once or twice in between washings (see my recipe here).
•  In general, I do not wet my hair unless I am washing it.
•  I scritch and preen with a boar bristle brush 2-3 times a week.

I'm sorry, but I just read that and each sentence made my eyes bug out a bit more. This method seems a tad complicated. And I'm not sure I'd want to put clay in my hair...


My Experience
It's been about three weeks since I last shampoo-ed my hair. The first week it looked rather greasy but since then it has calmed down a bit. When I brush it, it looks nice and fluffy and then settles down into something that still looks a bit greasy but not too bad.

I went to visit my sister last weekend and she had two comments about my hair - it was super long for me (I normally have very short hair) and it looked a bit greasy. Sooo... I think if my hair was shorter, it would look better. One thing that is stopping me from getting a haircut is the comments from the hairdresser!

Will I continue to go no-poo? Good question. I think I'll go and get a hair cut and see if that makes a difference for the better. Some no-poo advocates say you sometimes need to go 3 months to get rid of the greasiness. So I may wait that long... My partner did the sniff test on my hair and said it doesn't smell "bad" per se... it just smells like unscented, unshampoo-ed hair. Not sure if that is a good thing or not!

Worn around the Edges

My laptop is a little workhorse - a 5 year old workhorse. It's seen me through a lot of writing. It's nothing special, an HP Pavilion with a 12" screen. We've seen a lot together, this laptop and I.

A few things are starting to go on it. The power cord has had to be replaced a few times and the replacements aren't quite up to factory specs. The battery died a couple of years ago and I've somehow managed to always find an electrical outlet where I can plug in - airports, coffee shops, etc.

It's starting to show wear and tear in other areas as well. Some of the keys are looking a tad weather beaten... or finger-beaten as the case may be.

On the left hand side of the keyboard, the A S E and D and C are looking particularly sad.

On the right hand side of the keyboard, the L and the N are showing definite signs of wear, with the M soon to join the group.

Which got me to thinking... is there a pattern here? Perhaps those are the most frequently used letters in the English language? So I did a bit of research and there are several versions of the most frequently used letters. Amazing what you can find if you only look for it. I compared my keys to the lists and... well... there isn't too much of a match.

E T A O I N  S H R D L U  C M F W Y P  V B G K J Q X Z

I suppose my most badly worn letters are in the Top 13. But beyond that... I would have thought that the T and the O and I would be worn as well...

Is it a handedness thing? Well... most of the worn keys are on my left hand side (five keys) and I am a right handed person (three keys worn), so that wouldn't seem to fly either.

Is it a finger-strength thing? Like maybe the most worn keys are all on the middle row... or under the index finger or something? Doesn't really seem to work either. Although, only one key in the upper row is worn... and three keys in the lower row.

Or perhaps it's simply differences in the paint that was used to mark the letters on the keys? I just checked the keyboard on my desktopk and, lo and behold, the same pattern is there as well. So... probably not a manufacturing defect but likely a user issue!

Now, for some people, the fading keys might be a problem, particularly those folks of the hunt-and-peck variety. Myself, having suffered/benefited from three years of typing in junior high school, I am a full two-handed typer. FDSA space JKL; space! We might not have understood the method behind Mr. Papais' madness as he called out the letters in class... but it worked! Anyhow, the F and J keys are the anchor keys on a keyboard and each have a small raised bar on the key, so that the index fingers always know where they are and can find "home" easily. After that, it's easy. Just watch the letters materialize on the screen.

Theoretically, if all the markings on my letter keys eventually became worn down to nothing, I could still type quite effectively. It's like the letters on the keys are training wheels.... I could still function without seeing them. No so with number keys or some of the upper case number keys like # or ^ or *. I still need to look for those sometimes.

But... if those little raised bars on F and J ever disappeared... I'd have a much more difficult time. Those are the things that keep my fingers moving. If I lost those, I'd be pretty much hooped and would have to look at the keys.

Which is kind of interesting... it isn't so much the lettered keys that help me to type... it is two small raised bars (or raised dots on some keyboards) that really help me to type. It is they that guide me back to "home". It isn't always the obvious things in life that guide us... but sometimes the more subtle things. We rely so much upon sight but oftentimes our other senses are working away as well - sound, smell, taste, touch... helping us to move through the world.

Status of Kicking Sugar to the Curb

Well... what to say. I did pretty well in January and February, not so good in March and horrible in April! My goal was to limit by consumption of Starbucks hot chocolate and to reduce my sugar intake. I haven't been doing so well on either front.

I know that sugar is an addictive substance... and I seem to be living proof of that! I like my peanut M&Ms. If I don't go to Starbucks, I make my own hot chocolate, which has sugar in it... and sometimes even have two of those in a day. I come up with all sorts of excuses.

• I've been working hard
• I deserve a reward
• It's just one packet of M&Ms
• It's just one hot chocolate
• I'll turn over a new leaf tomorrow

A small part of the sweetener section at Superstore.

But tomorrow never seems to come. The funny thing is... I've been here before, many times actually.

I used to drink quite a bit of Coca Cola... up to 3 or 4 cans a day. Every once in a while I would go cold turkey and suffer the effects of caffeine and sugar withdrawal for a week. But then I would slowly start drinking Coke again - a can at 2 pm... then 1 pm... then 10 am and another at 2 pm. And so it would go.

I quit Coke many times... but always started drinking again. Until, one day, I did actually stop. It was July 7, 2009. It wasn't easy. I had cravings for months afterwards. I had trouble watching other people drink Coke. I would look at it longingly through the glass doors in the convenience stores. But... eventually... I got over the hump, and I've been good ever since. And that gives me hope.

Part of the problem with Starbucks hot chocolate is the ambience here. I like the comfy leather chairs. I like the sombre paint colours (brown, beige, grey). I find it all very soothing. And that is probably part of the problem. I'm not just addicted to the hot chocolate and sugar, I'm addicted to the environment at Starbucks. And the addictions go hand-in-hand. I've tried to come to Starbucks and have a tea... it's not the same. I have created a ritual with my Starbucks visits and deviating from that ritual doesn't satisfy me in the same way.

So, perhaps it is time to alter my morning routines/rituals. Particularly on the weekends when I am most susceptible to the siren call of Starbucks. I get up early, grab my laptop bag and head out at 5:30 in the morning. It is calm and peaceful here and I can get some writing done. But perhaps it is time to try something else... get up early, grab my camera bag and head out at 5:30 a.m. to get some cool early morning pictures. I used to do that... but I don't anymore. So, if I am going to eliminate Starbucks, I need to replace it with something else, something that is soothing and brings me joy.

Looking back over the last 6 years, all I really did was replace my Coke habit with my hot chocolate habit... replaced one sugar addiction with another. I suppose at some point, I just have to make the decision and stick with it. And be alert to the other ways in which sugar might try to sneak into my life.

The Lowly Appendix

Most of us are born with an appendix, a small dead-end tube attached to the colon, where the small and large intestines meet. For decades, scientists were baffled by this little biological mystery. The appendix didn't seem to do anything. Unless it go inflamed of course... in which case, the appendix could burst, cause a serious infection and possibly even death.

Most often though, the person suffering from appendicitis got to a hospital, the surgeons operated, removed the appendix and all went well. The person suffered no ill effects and the body didn't seem to operate any less efficiently.

So, the lowly appendix was considered to be a weird vestigial appendage that may have done something useful in the past, but no longer. That's what I thought for many years. But recent studies have shown something different.

Appendix function diagram by WebHamster - Wikipedia.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Turns out the little dead-end appendix has a one way valve where it meets up with the colon. Material can get out of the appendix but not into it. Which is kind of weird. Scientists now think that the lowly appendix serves as a reservoir of healthy gut bacteria.

For example, if you get a tummy bug that causes diarrhea (think a C. difficile infection), the infection moves everything through your gut and cleans everything out. But your gut needs good bacteria in order to function - and the appendix releases them out into the colon to assist in the healthy recovery of the digestive system. The idea that people who have had appendectomies don't experience any ill effects also isn't exactly true. People without an appendix are four times more likely to be reinfected by C. difficile.

Soooo... not a lowly appendix but actually a hardworking member of the human digestive system.

Which makes me wonder about the hubris of science. Just because we can't see an obvious use for something doesn't necessarily mean there isn't one. There are so many insects in the world, so many plants, so many animals, so much sea life. Just because we don't understand the purpose of something... doesn't mean it doesn't have a purpose. Just because something doesn't appear to be useful doesn't mean it doesn't serve an important function.

Today, we are losing insects, plants and animals at an alarming rate. Climate change, loss of habitat, pollution - all play a role in the extinction rate. The scary thing is... we really don't know what we are losing. We don't know the purpose of all of those organisms... or their usefulness.

For example, the West Coast of British Columbia is seeing an unprecedented collapse in starfish populations - courtesy of sea star wasting disease. It's caused by a pathogen and exacerbated by warming ocean temperatures. What will happen to the coastal marine ecosystem? We don't know. Do we care? After all, it's only starfish??

As humans, we think we are the most important creatures on the planet. The truth is... the planet will survive without us... plants, animals, insects, sea life... we really won't be missed.

Book 2 in the Wayward Pines Trilogy

Well... I got the second book in the trilogy yesterday - from the public library... of course! I started reading it over lunch, continued while waiting for my Dad to have a CT scan at the hospital, squeezed in a bit more in the bathtub and then finished it off in bed (9:30 pm).

It was very good - but... I have got to learn to STOP reading the last few pages of books. I still totally enjoyed the book but... lost some of the suspense as I knew what was coming and who was who.

As for the third book...I am still #5 in line for 2 copies. I might not get it by the time the series premieres on May 14 but... I am making a commitment here to NOT read the last few pages of The Last Town!

I've seen no spoilers for the third book - a problem that plagued me in the second book. I guess I figured that the ending of the second book was already wrecked, so I might as well read the last few pages but... there were still a few surprises and I kinda wrecked them. So... again... no flipping to the end for the third book!

I can't even use the "When Harry Met Sally" excuse that I am a "dark" person who reads the end of a book because I might die before I finish it and I don't want to die unsatisfied not knowing the ending (the excuse used by Harry (Billy Crystal) in the movie). I just don't do anticipation very well... or surprises. I want to know things NOW! So this will be good practice for me... if I can stand the suspense.

Status of the No-Book-Buying Year

Four months ago, I decided to try and make 2015 a "no-book-buying" year. No Chapters book purchase. No ebook purchases. No second-hand book purchases. Instead, I committed to getting books through my local library.

Four months into this adventure I have to say it's been working pretty good. According to my "read" shelf on my library account, I've read 17 books in the past four months. That's about four books a month, or one book a week, which I figure is pretty darn good. At this rate, I could have read 52 books by the end of the year. Quite an accomplishment.

There are some good points and some bad points to this library thing:

Perks
Money - I am saving mega $$ in my budget. No money spent on books means there is more money for other things. If I bought 52 books over the course of a year, average price $15... I would end up spending close to $800. Which isn't too far off from what the library has calculated. They took the market value of resources borrowed divided by the number of registered borrowers and voila... the value of my library card is $840.

No Remorse - Not buying all these books means I don't have buyer's remorse. You know how it is... a book looks good, sounds good... but ends up being a waste of time. This way... if I don't like a book... I don't have to finish it! And there are a few of those not included in my grand total of 17 at this point. And they didn't cost me anything!

Space - at this point, I have more space on my bookshelves. If I had bought those 17 books, I'd need to find room for them... which goes against my current desire to live a more minimalist lifestyle.

Ease - I let my fingers do the borrowing. I have yet to go into the library and browse the stacks. I hear about a book I want to read... or I do a subject search in the online library catalogue... or an author search...  and I am good to go. It can be a bit hit or miss sometimes because I don't get to read the back cover or the inside of the dust cover but... on the whole... it's been working well for me.

Environment - The library is really an environmentalist's dream. Instead of hundreds of books being mass-produced to satisfy hundreds of customers... five books can be printed and satisfy hundreds of customers over many years.

Peeves
Waiting - Big peeve. I have a "hold" list of about 11 books. These are books that I've requested and want to read but... I am way down the line and just have to be patient.

Feast or Famine - I have yet to figure out a way to regulate the flow of books. Sometimes I only have one library book at home. Other times, a slew of them come into the library at the same time and I end up with seven of them at home, waiting to be read.

Not enough time - When I end up with seven books at home, I find that I can't quite read all of them in the three week borrowing period. I can try to renew the books but if someone else has a hold on them then... they have to go back. So... that is a bit of an annoyance, but hasn't been too bad so far.

On the whole, I would say that I love this way of reading books. It's easy, it's cheap and it's good for the environment. Which is kind of funny because... when I was a kid, my mom took me on weekly trips to the library and I would always come home with a stack of books. At some point though... I started buying books or received books as presents. The Hardy Boys. The Black Stallion. Scholastic Book Services. I think it's kind of neat that I am returning to my library borrower roots....