The 80/20 Principle - Richard Koch - Part 5

The 80/20 Principle - Richard Koch

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 90

  March 31, 2017 

Book 28 - The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less
by Richard Koch (2008)
 Part 5 - pages 207-255
Reading Time - 1 hour

The last few chapters and I'm still looking for value in this book. A chapter on how to money begets money thanks to compounding interest and investing. "To succeed you must aim for the top". I don't agree with that statement and maybe that's why I find this book such a hard slog.

He also makes an attempt to shoe-horn Happiness into the 80/20 principle. While I didn't find a lot of correlation with his ideas and the 80/20 principle, he did have some interesting ideas on happiness. We have control over our happiness - it's not cast in stone based on our childhood, history or genetics. There is a delicate balance between what we think and feel on a daily basis and our physical and mental health. This resonates for me based on my own experience. The author notes that we are free o change the way we in which we think and act. If we change the we think, then we change the way that we feel. We are always telling stories about ourselves and life... so why not tell positive stories rather than negative ones.

The last chapter is an add-on to this edition in which the author looks at some criticisms of the first edition and how people have used the principle. I did see the point in this chapter. Really seemed like an afterthought.

On the whole... I wouldn't read this book again, unless I was a business person interested in clawing my way to the top. But I'm not... so I won't.

On another note... 28 books in 3 months is a pretty good rate. I have gotten a bit behind the 8-ball here... and am trying to catch up with the present (April 7).

The 80/20 Principle - Richard Koch - Part 4

The 80/20 Principle - Richard Koch

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 89

  March 30, 2017 

Book 28 - The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less
by Richard Koch (2008)
 Part 4 - pages 166-206
Reading Time - 1 hour

Here's a tidbit to get ahead in life. Focus on what you find easy and enjoy. Pursue the things where you are amazingly better than anyone else that that you enjoy the most. There's a theme like this that runs through the book - how to get ahead. How to become one of rich, ambitious elite. Given that this book was originally written in the 1990s and rejigged in 2008... it seems a bit out of date to me.

There was an interesting idea originally presented by a commander in the German Officer Corps. It's a chart based on Industriousness and Intelligence.

In terms of evaluating officer material, it is kind of eye-opening. On the other hand, the author of the 80/20 book tweaked the descriptions a bit. Stupid and Lazy were to be left alone. Stupid and Hard Working were to be fired. Lazy and Intelligent were General material. Intelligent and Hard Working were Staff Officer material.

I look at this and think of other organizations that this might apply to... like the Church and it's seminarians. Except I don't think the Stupid and Hard Working ones are eliminated... interesting though.

The author goes into a long chapter on how to achieve career success... find your niche and develop that. It's all about making money in the shortest amount of time as possible. Which is nice... but I'm not really wanting to be one of those elite super-achievers who hold 80% of the world's wealth. I'm thinking again, that this book is dated and out of touch with reality and the Millenials.

The 80/20 Principle - Richard Koch - Part 3

The 80/20 Principle - Richard Koch

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 88

  March 29, 2017 

Book 28 - The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less
by Richard Koch (2008)
 Part 3 - pages 115-165
Reading Time - 1 hour

More business applications of this principle. An interesting idea... a few employees are priceless and worth more than their weight in gold. Many employees add a bit of value to an organization. Some employees actually subtract value from an organization. The thing is, it's not as simple as firing the slackers and hiring more stars. Sometimes you have to look and see if there is potential in the slackers.

The last couple of chapters in this section take a look at the notions of freedom and time. The time chapter was the one I was most looking forward to. It puts out the idea that most of our achievements happen in 20% of our day. We don't need to organize or manage our time better... we simply need to alter how we spend our time. Change the way we think about time. Because we all have a tonne of time, we just don't use it efficiently. I have to say... I didn't find this chapter as helpful as I expected. It's a bit vague I guess and I was left feeling short-changed somehow. I didn't really get a lot of takeaways from it. But... tempted as I am to toss this book back in the library hatch... I am going to complete it!

The 80/20 Principle - Richard Koch - Part 2

The 80/20 Principle - Richard Koch

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 87

  March 28, 2017 

Book 28 - The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less
by Richard Koch (2008)
 Part 2 - pages 58-114
Reading Time - 1 hour

I think I started this book months ago and don't remember finishing it. This time, I am determined to slog through. The author goes into how the 80/20 principle applies to sales. Which, I have to say, is very boring, at least for me. On the other hand, I did glean a little nugget of value from this section - simple is where it's at. Simple = huge cost savings. Waste thrives on complexity. This makes sense to me. Not quite sure how to apply it to my own life at this point. I could say that a complicated life is going to have a lot of wasted time in there, I guess. Maybe... on to the next piece of this book.

The 80/20 Principle - Richard Koch - Part 1

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 86

  March 27, 2017 

Book 28 - The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less
by Richard Koch (2008)
 Part 1 - pages 1-57
Reading Time - 1 hour

I'm pretty sure I've read this book before but, again, I was browsing the library shelves and it jumped out at me. It's still an interesting read and a bit of a procrastination. Betty Friedan's book, The Feminine Mystique, arrived via the library and it is a substantial and weighty book which, judging by the number of pages and density of text, might take me 2 weeks to read! So, a bit of light reading before I dive into that.

The 80/20 principle was originally developed by an Italian, Pareto, in 1897. It's a pretty simple idea that basically says things are unbalanced. For example, 20% of people own 80% of the wealth. Or, 20% of a company's products generate 80% of its revenue/profits. The numbers don't have to be 80/20... they could also be 70/20 or 80/10 or 90/15. The idea is that things aren't 50/50, at least not naturally.

The 80/20 rule has been applied by corporations, economists and computer programmers for decades. The author suggests, however, that we can also use it to good effect in our own lives. If, for example, we wear 80% of our clothes, 20% of the time... why not clear out our closets (or our houses). That's a kind of simple example but... I'm looking forward to seeing where else I could use it. The idea is that if we get clear on the 20% of whatever it is that we do that generates 80% of the results, then we can either devote more resources to those activities or modify the rest of what we do to be more productive.

The author touched briefly on the idea that even a tiny bit of an edge (for an animal, or a company) means that it will eventually outperform all the others. Even a bit of an edge - being a bit faster, or a bit stronger, means that one gets more than the others. Which means that on the next go around, we'll get even more. It's this tiny edge that leads to the imbalance where some end up with 80% of the resources and others don't. Which makes me wonder at some of the other stuff I've been reading which says that income inequality is a major cause of the misery in some first world countries. In a free-market economy though, one that is not regulated, nature dictates that there will be an inequality. 10% of the people will own 99% of the wealth. Sooo... how can we counter that? Hoping that this book might lead me in that direction.

Beyond Gender - Betty Friedan - Part 2

Beyond Gender - Betty Friedan

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 85

  March 26, 2017 

Book 27 - Beyond Gender - The New Politics of Work & Family
by Betty Friedan (1997)
 Part 2 - pages 49-116
Reading Time - 1 hour

Friedan tackles a bunch of different issues in this section: affirmative action, community, family values, children. The big message is this... without jobs, people can't take care of their children or support family values. Women in the workforce is not the issue. Income inequality and job down-sizing is the issue. "They create a climate of rage, frustration and fear that fuel politics of hate." Given how the current president of the US ran his campaign, I think we can safely say that Friedan hit the nail on the head before most of us even knew it was there.

Friedan argues that politics in the US is essentially a choice between big anonymous government (think Democrats) or corporate commercial sector (think Republicans).  She says we need something else, we need a community space where citizens can meet, discuss our common problems and rediscover the language of citizenship. But if the only spaces in which we can meet our government offices, or the mall, we're kind of stuck. Where are the town halls and public squares? Good question.

If the 1960s and 1970s gave us the sexual revolution... I'm kind of wondering what the 2020's are going to give us? What sort of a revolution that puts the US on track for a society driven by citizens not by corporate lobbyists?

Beyond Gender - Betty Friedan - Part 1

Beyond Gender - Betty Friedan

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 84

  March 25, 2017 

Book 27 - Beyond Gender - The New Politics of Work & Family
by Betty Friedan (1997)
 Part 1 - pages 1-48
Reading Time - 1 hour

Yup, this is the Betty Friedan who wrote The Feminine Mystique in the 1960s. Her book helped ignite the feminist movement and gave voice to frustrated housewives everywhere (or at least in the USA). Thirty years later, she wrote another book based on her experiences.

Friedan suggests that the issue nowadays is not so much gender equality (although that is still an issue) but income inequality, or economics. She says we need a need paradigm shift, one that takes us beyond feminism or identity politics (women/men, black/white, gay/straight). We need a new way of looking at the system.

She suggests that while many women have entered the workforce, a lot of them are stuck in low-paying service jobs. Similar to some of the other feminist books I've read, Friedan notes that there are no policies on how women can combine a career and child-bearing. Australia, for example, has excellent policies that support women in the workforce.

On the other hand, Friedan notes that the rage of some feminists (down with men) has been replaced by the rage of white middle-aged men who feel that they have been down-sized in large part because women have entered the workforce. In reality, the issue, according to Friedan is a job crisis due to down-sizing and profit-chasing by corporations. Fewer jobs but employees working longer hours. She specifically notes the 1994 elections where the unhappy middle class made their feelings known. Apparently their targets of rage were immigrants, welfare moms and gays. Kind of weird when you consider the US presidential campaign of 2016. Same old, same old?

Friedan says that we need to look at different options: flexible work weeks, job sharing, benefits/hour (not per person), shorter work week, tax deductions for volunteering. All of these are in place somewhere in the world and work well. But there seems to be a corporate resistance in the US to anything that might reduce profits. Better to have employees work 80 hour work weeks apparently.

It is interesting to read one of the big feminist writers and see her (23 years ago) putting her finger on the issue that is still the issue. The growing income gap between the rich and the poor, with a shrinking middle class.

The Man Who Loved Books too Much - Allison Hoover Bartlett - Part 4

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much -
Allison Hoover Bartlett

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 83

  March 24, 2017 

Book 26 - The Man Who Loved Books too Much -
The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of 
Literary Obsession
by Allison Hoover Bartlett (2009)
 Part 4 - pages 148-258
Reading Time - 2 hours

Interesting story about a strange guy - that's for sure. A book thief who knew it was illegal but didn't think it was wrong. Kind of warped thinking even by his own admission.

I guess the thing that stuck with me here is the idea of owning books as evidence of identity. The idea that your book shelf says something about you - whether you've read them or not. Just having the books is enough to make you "something"... at least in your own eyes, if no one else's.

We've got bookshelves... but I can safely say, I've read 90% of the books on those shelves. For me, books are there to be read... not looked at. And once I've read it, I can let it go... unless it's a realllllly good book... in which case I might keep it to re-read over and over again. Still, it was interesting to get a window into the minds of others.

The Man Who Loved Books too Much - Allison Hoover Bartlett - Part 3

The Man Who Loved Books too Much -
Allison Hoover Bartlett

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 82

  March 23, 2017 

Book 26 - The Man Who Loved Books too Much -
The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of 
Literary Obsession
by Allison Hoover Bartlett (2009)
 Part 3 - pages 96-147
Reading Time - 1 hour

All I've got to say is that this rare book collecting thing is kind of weird. And John Gilkey is weirder still. He decided he wanted to collect the books from Modern Library's list of 100 Best English Language Novels. Which seems like a bit of a random choice. The more that he got, the more that he wanted. For him it was like a hunt... just to find the next book.

That last bit actually does resonate a little bit, if I think about my fascination with genealogy. I guess collecting ancestors is kind of like book collecting in a way. It's all about seeing how far up the family tree one can go, and there is a certain pride in being able to say, "I've pushed my tree back 17 generations". Kind of a trophy hunt in a way. So maybe book collectors aren't that weird... just different.

The Man Who Loved Books too Much - Allison Hoover Bartlett - Part 2

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much -
Allison Hoover Bartlett

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 81

  March 22, 2017 

Book 26 - The Man Who Loved Books too Much -
The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of 
Literary Obsession
by Allison Hoover Bartlett (2009)
 Part 2 - pages 54-95
Reading Time - 1 hour

The author conducted about 3 years worth of interviews with book thief John Gilkey, trying to get at the heart of what drove him to steal so many books. At the core of it seems to be admiration. He wants people to look at his collection of rare books and admire him for it. Apparently this is not uncommon for rare book collectors. Rarely do they ever read the books that they collect. It's all about having the books, touching the books, looking at the books, displaying the books. Which... for someone who loves to read books... seems rather odd. Books are there for reading, at least in my mind. Using books as a status symbol seems kind of weird... to me at least!

The Man Who Loved Books too Much - Allison Hoover Bartlett - Part 1

The Man Who Loved books Too Much -
Allison Hoover Bartlett

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 80

  March 21, 2017 

Book 26 - The Man Who Loved Books too Much -
The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of 
Literary Obsession
by Allison Hoover Bartlett (2009)
 Part 1 - pages 1-53
Reading Time - 1 hour

I had never heard of John Gilkey, but apparently he has stolen over $200,000 worth of rare books and documents in the United States. Mostly through credit card fraud, but also using fake checks. He's been in and out of jail so many times, it makes your head spin. The "hero" of the story is a rare book dealer named Ken Sanders from Utah who, through persistence and some luck, manages to track down this thief.

I came across this book while browsing the library shelves. It looked kind of intriguing, mostly because it sounded a bit like a fictional story but wasn't. The author loves books too and takes us on a bit of a tour of the rare book trade. It's a good story and an easy read. I know this isn't on my official 2017 reading list but... I'm behind and I need to get caught up!

The 5 Second Rule - Mel Robbins - Part 1

5 Second Rule - Mel Robbins

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 79

  March 20, 2017 

Book 25 - The 5 Second Rule - Transform your Life, Work and Confidence with Everyday Courage
by Mel Robbins (2017)
 Part 1 - pages 1-240
Reading Time - 4 hours

Okay... I came across Mel's YouTube TEDx talk and it grabbed me, so I bought the e-book. The premise of the 5 Second Rule is really simple.

We're going through life and we get an impulse to do something - go and talk to someone, pick up a pen and write a book, work on a project - but we hesitate. We second guess ourselves, we don't "feel" like it. Our brain reads that hesitation as danger and is there to protect us from uncertainty and danger so we very quickly don't move forward on what was there in the impulse. As the quote goes "she who hesitates is lost". Yup... so there's the 5 Second Rule... when that impulse comes and you can hear the thoughts going up... just go 5-4-3-2-1 GO! And start moving... pick up the pen, start walking, open the email or the document. The idea is that the count-down in your head (and you do have to count down) gets your thoughts away from "protection" and into something else. Then you just start acting... and that carries with it a momentum. It makes a lot of sense to me. There is an inertia that comes with not doing something. A body at rest, after all, is at a more stable state than a body in motion. So there's some energy required to get moving... but once we're moving, it's a lot easier to keep moving.

Sooo... that's it. Did it need a whole book? Probably not. She quotes a lot of people who have used the 5 Second Rule - quotes from Facebook and Twitter and wherever. I thought those got a bit tiresome after a while, particularly as she tended to quote and paraphrase them before then giving you the actual screenshot of the comment. Meh... not necessary. Kind of a short-cut to actually providing us with some in-depth anecdotal stories.

Anyhow... does the 5 Second Rule work? Yup, I would say it does. Is it a good antidote to procrastination? I think it is. It makes a lot of sense... that we end up being manipulated by our feelings and thoughts into not doing something. Will I use this trick in the future? Yup... and we'll see how it goes. Would I buy the book again? Nope... just watch the TEDx talks and whatever other YouTube videos are out there by her.

Wonder Women - Debora L. Spar - Part 5

Wonder Women - Debora L. Spar

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 78

  March 19, 2017 

Book 24 - Wonder Women - Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection
by Debora L. Spar (2013)
 Part 5 - pages 203-248
Reading Time - 60 minutes

Aging... ah yes... apparently men age with grace while women just get old. After the age of 35, women are done for. No longer sexually appealing. Men, on the other hand, somehow manage to keep it all, even with their balding, dyed orange comb-overs, potbellies and skinny legs. Go figure. And so women are pressed to stave off the aging process: botox, make-up, tummy tucks, facial tucks, dye jobs - anything that will deny the reality of growing old. Someone we have again, come to the point, of aiming for some perfectionism that never really exists.

The funny thing is, feminism was supposed to give women "the freedom to life one's life apart from any prescribed pathway". It sounds like we just traded in one set of expectations (perfect housewife at home) to a whole other series of expectations (perfect career, perfect wife, perfect mom, perfect homeowner). No wonder we are stressed out! The bar has been raised so high that no one can reach it. Feminism was supposed to free us from unreasonable, impossible demands... not sure what happened there.

The thing is... feminism isn't about personal perfection... or privatized feminism. It's about the political and communal. We are the self-help era, always looking to improve ourselves... to be more productive, to procrastinate less, to have better self-talk... just more pressure though. We end up paralyzed by options and choices... have a career, have kids, with or without a partner. The truth is that having it all means giving something up. What if we took whole chunks of activities off of our to-do lists and even made some things "do-less-of-this"? After all we have finite energies for infinite demands.

I know that for myself, I can't be everything and do everything that I want to do. I want to volunteer but I realize I don't have the time or energy. If I want to do that, then something else has to give. I only have 24 hours in a day. I only have so much energy. I need to pick and choose where I want to devote my time, my energy, my passion.

The author concludes that we can move forward but we need to set systems in place to support women in the workforce and at home. We also need to aim for fewer individual good works and more collective efforts. Efforts that will change the world for the better... instead of focusing on getting our brows wrinkle free. Something to think about....

Wonder Women - Debora L. Spar - Part 4

Wonder Women - Debora L. Spar

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 77

  March 18, 2017 

Book 24 - Wonder Women - Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection
by Debora L. Spar (2013)
 Part 4 - pages 149-202
Reading Time - 60 minutes

Well... no surprise... but with women entering the workforce in droves, all we really got was more work. Working outside the home and then coming home and doing all the work that needed to be done there as well. Married women generally do 17 hours of housework while married men do 7 hours. The thing is... we are also aiming for perfection in our housework. Thanks Martha Stewart. We're also aiming for perfection in our child raising. Making sure that the kids have all the activities that they supposedly need to become well-educated and successful.

The author argues that we can't go back to the home and the hearth but... the quest for perfection must end. Feminism wasn't supposed to make us feel guilty. And we need to rediscover the political and communal aspects of feminism. which makes total sense.

I know for myself, I struggle with being the perfect daughter... caring for my father in a way that ensures he has everything that he needs. I get that I have an impossibly high standard for myself... one that has been put out there by society. Home Support isn't perfect... we could do a better job... but that puts a lot of pressure on us. Pressure to take care of the aging parent perfectly. I don't want that high standard.

In the second chapter of this section, the author notes that women are, in fact, different than men. We are more relational... more interested in consensus, intimacy and closeness. Men, on the other hand, are more interested in status. Not good or bad... just how we behave. We operate differently. But so many women enter the workforce, which is often male-dominated and find that they don't fit in there. Some do... but mostly because they succeed by behaving like men. Women drop out of careers before they get to the top... unless, of course, they are lower income women who don't have a choice. Husbands generally earn more than women so when the kids come along... and the woman finds her job less fulfilling... she's the one who stays at home.

I can't really speak to these issues from the perspective of most women... never having had a kid or a male partner. But I also get that there comes a point where the care of the home and the aging parents becomes an issue. Something needs to give... someone needs to devote the time and it will usually be the person who has the flexibility to work from home... to work part time... and who often earns less as a result. It just makes sense to keep the higher wage earner in the workforce. And what happens to the one who stays at home... good questions... to which I haven't yet found answers.

Wonder Women - Debora L. Spar - Part 3

Wonder Women - Debora L. Spar

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 76

  March 17, 2017 

Book 24 - Wonder Women - Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection
by Debora L. Spar (2013)
 Part 3 - pages 103-148
Reading Time - 60 minutes

Marriage... nowadays we don't need it. But women still want it? Why? I mean, it's still helpful to have a partner around the house to nurture the offspring but... lots of women do it on their own. Ya see, marriage was all about making sure that the male knew the kids were his, so that he could pass on his specialized skills (woodworking, shoe repair, castle management). Nowadays though, marriage is about very different things. Overall, it seems to be driven by love as opposed to kids, sex, lineage or inheritance. At least in Western society. The thing is... we expect a lot of marriage. The ideal of the perfect wedding, the perfect partner, the perfect life. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to reach those goals and judge ourselves if we fall short.

Same thing with kids. Women want babies... more than men do... in general. Cause men and women experience babies very differently. and that's just biology. In the past, being fertile was an important thing for a woman. Barren or childless women were scorned. It was all about being fruitful. Which is also why, until the 19th century, women bore the brunt of blame for infertility. Nowadays though, a lot of those issues have been fixed. Pregnancy can happen in all sorts of ways, circumventing the problems that stopped couples from conceiving in the past. Women can even choose the genetic characteristics of their offspring. But there too... we are putting a lot of emphasis on the perfect pregnancy and the prefect mothering. That's a lot of pressure on perfection. And nature is messy.

I have to say... I am not one of those women who wanted a baby desperately... or even luke-warmly. It's just not my thing. Even as I was reading this chapter, I was thinking... would I want a kid? Do I feel like I missed out on something? I never had that biological clock thing. I have a niece and that is good enough for me. Borrow-a-kid works well for me! But I get that women have a lot of pressure placed on them. At the same time, though, I can see that men too have pressures being placed on them. Being the perfect Dad and husband. Needing to help around the house while still working full time. Somewhere along the line, we've been sold impossible ideals that we can never meet... but that society... or the world... convinces us we need to aim for. Interesting...

Wonder Women - Debora L. Spar - Part 2

Wonder Women - Debora L. Spar

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 75

  March 16, 2017 

Book 24 - Wonder Women - Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection
by Debora L. Spar (2013)
 Part 2 - pages 53-102
Reading Time - 60 minutes

Sooo... we put a lot of pressure on our girl children apparently. Tell them that they can be anything - astronaut, architect, lawyer, doctor... and they are trained in the art of princess. Which is kind of a recipe for failure. No wonder so many girls are depressed. Impossible expectations are being placed upon them. It's all about how you look and who likes you. But don't forget you need to use your brains too.

Then we get into the Sex Contract chapter... which is kind of eye opening. It used to be... back in the olden days... that women got something for sex. If a guy wanted sex with a woman, and ongoing sex in particular, he'd have to marry her and support her and make a life-long commitment to her. Or he could go an use a prostitute. But on the whole, women held some power in withholding sex until marriage. But then came the sexual revolution. All of a sudden, women were like men. They could have sex when they wanted, with whom they wanted and have no fear of pregnancy. Thing was... women give away sex now and don't get much in return - no orgasm (for many young university women), no relationship. And studies of university women find that it leaves a lot of women feeling used. Which doesn't seem like it should be the outcome of a sexual revolution. Does it? It almost feels like men got the better deal. They can now have sex with whomever they want... no strings attached. They don't have to give away anything... no freedom, no promises.

Really makes me wonder... cause the truth is... women are the only ones who can have babies. And that's just a physical fact. But with that come some biological drives... the desire for children. The need to nurture those children. The next section of the book heads in this direction...

Wonder Women - Debora L. Spar - Part 1

Wonder Women - Debora L. Spar

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 74

  March 15, 2017 

Book 24 - Wonder Women - Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection
by Debora L. Spar (2013)
 Part 1 - pages 1-52
Reading Time - 60 minutes

So this seems like a bit of a radical book. The author grew up in the 1970s and 1980s and never really considered herself a feminist. She nodded to the earlier generation of feminists and then merrily went on her way getting a family and a career. She bought the idea that she had it all. She believed that she could be a feminist without being a feminist. But as life went on, she began to experience a bunch of little things that drove her nuts and began to see that the top tiers are stacked against women.

Despite the "equal rights for women" movement... women are far, far from being equal to men. She's convinced that the goals of the early feminist movement are still relevant. At the same time she has some questions. Just because women could do everything, they felt as if they had to do everything.

There's some history in here which is good for me... as I have no idea of the feminist movement. Betty Friedan, in the 1960s, wrote a book that questioned the role of housewives... "is this all that there is". Women were "liberated" and all of a sudden they could have careers and families and have it all. Except... they still continued to do their historical roles PLUS the new feminist roles. So, really... we just added to our workload.

This book reminds me of one I read last year... Unfinished business : women men work family by Anne-Marie Slaughter. She argued something similar. There is a trade off to working successfully outside the home. Someone needs to be in the home, taking care of the kids and the house and the stuff that goes with maintaining a home base. Men had successful careers because they usually had a woman at home taking care of everything. But... with the entry of women into the workforce... they have no one at home to take care of things sooo... they are expected to do it all.

Not sure that "having it all" really meant we had to "do it all". Because, for me, that is a recipe for burnout! We'll see where Debora L. Spar takes this book next!

Radical Homemakers - Shannon Hayes - Part 4

Radical Homemakers - Shannon Hayes

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 73

  March 14, 2017 

Book 23 - Radical Homemakers - Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture
by Shannon Hayes (2010)
 Part 4 - pages 184-230
Reading Time - 50 minutes

Last part of the book and the section that I found least inspiring. Or at least, it wasn't what I was expecting. The first few chapters were really good but someone I expected more... maybe a template for what a Radical Homemaker does or looks like or something. But I also get that Radical Homemakers come in all shapes and sizes and do what they do in myriad different ways.

In this last section, the author pulls together the 7 Skill Sets that she has identified as being key for Radical Homemakers.

1. Nurturing Relationships - family, friends, community - no one can go it alone and relationships are at the heart of a life-serving economy. Which makes sense for me based on the other stuff I've been reading.
2. Working with a Life-serving Economy - include everyone (even kids), capitalize on available resources (salvage) and minimize waste. The idea is to go from being net consumers to net producers. The idea that we can barter and spend money where it matters most - that means locally. Every dollar that we spend locally triples in value.
3. Cultivating an Ability to Self-Teach - find teachers, work with what you have and don't be afraid to make mistakes. It's all about thinking independently.
4. Setting Realistic Expectations and Limits - fairly obvious... if the garden is taking way too much time then cut back.
5. Redefining Pleasure in our Lives - producing vs. consuming. TV is a consumer activity. And if pleasure is an intentional and conscious experience... one wonders why we spend so much time in the front of the TV and never feel rested. 
6. Rediscovering the Taste of Real Food - our taste buds have been seduced by the unholy trinity of salt, sugar, fat. Figuring out what our regional, local food tastes like can reboot our taste buds.
7. Adopting a Fearless Attitude in Withstanding Contrary Cultural Expectations - stand up with courage in the face of people who don't understand why your truck is 21 years old. The goal isn't to impress people but to live life with courage.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely! I do think it needs a further read and time to sit and simmer.

Radical Homemakers - Shannon Hayes - Part 3

Radical Homemakers - Shannon Hayes

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 72

  March 13, 2017 

Book 23 - Radical Homemakers - Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture
by Shannon Hayes (2010)
 Part 3 - pages 109-183
Reading Time - 70 minutes

This section starts off with the novel idea of rethinking how we classify wealth and poverty. Rather than wealth being measured by money and/or things... what if we defined wealth as: relationships, clean food/air/water, time to rest and play, and the ability to live without money. The idea that wealth means we can access those things in life that keep us happy and healthy.

She notes that oftentimes 2 income families are worse off than single income families... particularly if the family is dependent on getting that second income. Two incomes comes with higher risk and higher expenses. Much better if the second income is only needed for extras. Which makes sense. She also says that mortgages and health insurance are what kills families financially. All of those fixed expenses that we see as "essential" and "normal".Things like transportation, housing, health, child care, education, retirement.

We tend to buy into the prevailing wisdom of society. We need a better car or a bigger house. Need to go to university for 8 years to get a degree. The author argues that no one cares what you drive. Houses could be lifelong investments rather than purchased with the intention to flip them. What if we ate healthier, exercised more and had less health care worries? What if we acquired our education instead of buying it.

All of it makes sense and resonates well for me. Our truck is 21 years old and running fine (thank you Toyota). Our house is just a standard house - no bells or whistles. No granite counter tops. No tile floors. No hardwood floors for that matter. We are upgrading our kitchen by adding some cupboards that match our existing 1970s ones... We found them at the Restore - $50. We might even splurge on a new counter top to tie it all together - but it'll be laminate. We also love salvaging stuff - reusing and repurposing things rather than buying new. Whether it's for the house or the garden. Trying to eat healthier... reading a lot of books. And saving a tonne of money while also paying down our mortgage as quickly as we can.

Mind you, all of this requires a bit of time and energy. I really get that people nowadays feel time starved... and so they cave in to convenience. Which comes at a hefty price.

Radical Homemakers - Shannon Hayes - Part 2

Radical Homemakers - Shannon Hayes

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 71

  March 12, 2017 

Book 23 - Radical Homemakers - Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture
by Shannon Hayes (2010)
 Part 2 - pages 49-108
Reading Time - 1 hour

Our corporate-driven economy, which values the GDP above all else is, I think, broken. We might not all realize it but... if I step back far enough, it's pretty obvious. Corporations get richer and the average family goes deeper into debt. We're just asleep... I think.

But there is a solution... instead of an extractive economy (one driven by the extraction of resources - a.k.a. raping and pillaging the earth) we could have a life-serving economy. There have been many people who have suggested that our economy, as it currently functions, is not sustainable. Infinite growth is not possible in a world of finite resources. But advocates for social change have to argue that their idea won't hurt the economy... won't hurt corporate America. Cause corporate America dominates our politics, foreign policy, food industry, environmental policies, music, entertainment and education. If it doesn't make money... corporate America is not interested in it. If there's a way to make money... then they are all in. The thing is... we've bought into the corporate model.

We go to school to choose a career track. We write our resumes to get a job with good pay and benefits. We then spend our pay cheque on a killer mortgage for that house in the burbs. We then need one, and probably two, cars to commute back and forth. We go into debt trying to buy all the stuff that we need for our careers... or our lives in the burbs. Although the author doesn't say it quite so bluntly... I would say that sounds a bit like slavery to me.

We think that life will be better with more money, a bigger house, a better car, more stuff. But will it? They've done studies, and after you get $10,000 annual income/year, your happiness doesn't increase if you earn $20,000, $60,000 or $200,000. We think it will... but it doesn't.

The thing is... the foundation of our wealth isn't oil or money... it's water and sunshine. I would say clean water and unfiltered sunshine. Not sure what the people in Beijing would say when their water is polluted and their sunlight is filtered through thousands of feet of atmospheric smog.

Here's the thing... back in the 13th Century, you could be a member of the aristocracy, a member of the peasantry or a member of the emerging "middle class". A couple who owned or rented their own home. The man was the hus-band = house-bond (bonded to the house, not to a feudal lord) and the housewife was his partner. They supported themselves and their household from the land that they owned. They were a team. A team of producers. But the Industrial Revolution changed all that... men went to work in factories that produced the goods that he would have normally made at home. The kids went to school. The family moved from their ancestral village to the city to be closer to the factory. They left behind their friends and relations. So you have the housewife, alone at home, doing all the tasks of the household... without the aid of the husband, the kids or the extended family. See how it starts to go sideways? Men went to "work" and women stayed "home". But then the factories made products to make her life easier too... washing machines, irons, processed food. Advertisers made sure that they targeted the housewife. And so it went until the housewife was the one who chauffeured the kids around, put a TV dinner into the oven and did all the shopping. The ultimate Consumer. No wonder the 1960s housewife was bored, depressed and disillusioned.

Now... the thing isn't to go back to the past. Nope. I don't need how to learn how to knit or sew or make my own shoes. But... each daily need that we can re-learn to provide in our homes, strengthens our independence from the corporate machine. We can simplify our demands and rebuild our domestic culture.

Interestingly enough... since about WWI, Americans have been getting much, much unhappier. They earn more... but that doesn't equate to happiness. In fact... there is a huge increase in depression... not to mention obesity. The author of the book identifies three key "home-wreckers":

1. Compulsion to Overwork - we work more hours today than did the feudal peasants. Americans work more than the Japanese. But even though people work more... they are saving less. And studies have been done which show that the more you spend... the bigger your ecological footprint. But ya gotta work, work, work... more and more hours to save your job or look better than the other person. But it's killing us... and the planet.
2. Reckless Pursuit of Affluence - The average American spends 6 hours/week shopping and 40 minutes/week playing with their kids. Is there something wrong with those numbers? We want more... and more... and more. So we earn more... so that we can buy more... so that we can earn more... but we can't even enjoy the stuff that we buy. Buying stuff doesn't make us happy. But advertisers have figured out that all they have to do is "sell them their dreams... sell them hope". Which made me think... all those HGTV shows... you know, House Hunters International, Tiny House Hunters, Property Brothers... ALL of them... are a big marketing scam. They are selling us dreams and hopes! "Ooohhh... tiny living... that sounds like it would be soooo good... let's buy a tiny house!" or... "Ooohhh... granite counter tops... they all have granite counter tops... let's rip out our kitchen and install new cupboards and granite countertops... it'll only take 30 minutes (like it does on TV)." I have to admit... those shows are starting to make me sick. Am I the only one who wonders why people can't be happy with the existing cherry cabinets and granite counter tops? "I don't like the colour." Give me a break. I'm starting to see the "script" behind these shows. 
3. Credo of Individualism - Only 28% of families eat together for one night a week. Most houses nowadays are built so that everyone has their own TV in their own room. No one spends time together anymore. We do the same thing in our neighbourhoods. Do we know our neighbours? Do we get together with them? The life-serving economy is based on interdependence... on relationships and community.

Alright... so I'm glad we don't have to go back to growing our own flax and making our own linen. In the next section, the author is going to touch on the How of all of this...

One final thought... the history of the British Empire involves a lot of colonies. Why did the empire need colonies? For raw materials and trade. But the British government (and other governments) didn't harvest the raw materials... they gave that task to chartered corporations and companies... Hudson's Bay Company, Dutch East India Company, British South Africa Company, etc. The thing was... some of the "colonies" had local inhabitants who often got in the way of raw material extraction. I mean... it's hard when the local inhabitants keep attacking your trading posts and your traders and stuff. Those companies/corporations had a hard time of it. Better for the British government to handle the "inhabitants" and clear the land for all those happy traders to extract the resources... Profits above all else you know. Each empire (British, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch) handled the local inhabitants differently... reserves, extermination, slavery. All in the name of corporate greed.

That might not be historically accurate... but it's what came to me.

Radical Homemakers - Shannon Hayes - Part 1

Radical Homemakers - Shannon Hayes

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 70

  March 11, 2017 

Book 23 - Radical Homemakers - Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture
by Shannon Hayes (2010)
 Part 1 - pages 1-48
Reading Time - 1 hour

I've been reading quite the mishmash of books, most of them with an ecological or environmental theme. I thought I'd try to get a few feminist books in there. Betty Friedan and Simone de Beauvoir are on my list but I have to wait for the library books to arrive. Sooo... I came across this one and... given that I am a part-time housewife... I kind of liked the title of this one!

With the books that I've been reading, I've been wondering at how our society got into the predicament that it is in. We trade our time for money. With that money, we buy processed foods, take-out foods, factory-produced meat, clothes, plants, etc. With all those products we produce a huge amount of garbage. We also find ourselves overwhelmed... not enough time for house chores... or for gardening or for the kids. So we hire someone at a lower pay scale to do those things for us. We get a house-cleaner, a landscaper, a nanny... or we put our kids in day care. All because we trade our time for some money. It's not even healthy for us... or for the planet. What is the answer? Growing more of our own food? Eating locally produced vegetables and meats? Making our own clothes? Shopping the thrift stores? It just made me wonder.

And this book is right in line with that. We have gone from being a society of producers to a society of consumers. Yes... that makes sense. In the pre-industrial revolution era, a husband (house-bond - bonded to a house) and a housewife produced a LOT of what they needed to survive. There was a partnership of domestic life. But the industrial revolution changed that. Take the man out of the house and make the family spend his earnings on things that he would have done if he was home. And... make the family crave things that they never even knew they needed. But the housewife was still doing home production - gardens, canning, sewing - creating things. Fast-forward to the 1950s and the housewife deteriorated to a chauffeur for the kids, a shopper, a "cook" who bakes Duncan Hines cakes and a "cleaner" who uses Lysol to disinfect her home. Talk about an empty existence. Which is where Betty Friedan's book came in... no wonder housewives were bored and depressed. Send the women out into the workforce, so now there are two incomes to buy all those things. And no one at home... to cook meals, to garden, to harvest, to can, to create something from nothing. No one left at home to produce.

We have become worker bees in someone else's hive. So we hire other, poorer worker bees to do our housework... but that means they aren't at home caring for their hives. It's a vicious downward spiral.

The author notes that we are living, in the last 5000 years, in a society based on Empire. Based on domination. Can we move to a society that is based in partnership and productivity? The author says it's not just about getting back to basics of domestic productivity... it's about contributing to society... to transforming the world. That's a pretty good challenge... and one that would make a bigger difference to the world than working for a bank and selling people an over-priced chequing account or a line-of-credit so they can go deeper into debt.

I don't want to be a Consumer. I want to be a Producer!

Junkyard Planet - Adam Minter - Part 1

Junkyard Planet - Adam Minter

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 69

  March 10, 2017 

Book 22 - Junkyard Planet - Travels in the Billion Dollar Trash Trade
by Adam Minter (2013)
 Part 1 - pages 1-304
Reading Time - 5 hours

Read this book. Now.

I picked this book off the library shelf at the library, not quite sure what it was going to be. It was fascinating... as in... "can't put it down" fascinating. Eye-opening. Sobering. Amusing. Sad. And ultimately... introspective.

Over here... we're so darn proud when our recycling bin gets picked up. "Look at all that stuff we kept out of the landfill!". That's only because most of that recycling has a market in Asia. Yup... your Tide bottle gets shipped over to China where it gets melted down into new plastic. And when plastic melts, it releases toxic gases. And there aren't really any environmental protection laws over there. The reason it gets shipped to China is because of cheap labour. They have people who are eager to work for $100/month sorting out tiny bits of metal from shredded cars. But the environmental and health impacts are HUGE!

The author of the book is the son of a scrapyard dealer. He knows the business of scrap metal... and learned a lot about how other scrap is "recycled". I learned how North America and Europe ship tonnes of scrap to Asia for a piddly amount. How Asia then turns around and breaks it apart, sorts it and sells it for $$$ to factories who make new things which are sold back to us. How we toss away broken things that aren't worth fixing - blenders, radios, TVs, computers, lawn mowers. You know... all those electronics that the recycling depots now take. Where do they go? They get shipped to Asia where cheap labour either fixes them for resale or takes them apart for all the goodies inside.

Did you know that the average North American car lives 10 years before it lands in the scrap yard? 10 years. We have become a society of consumers and disposers. It really is unsustainable. In ways, Asia is doing the world a huge service... because recycled copper and steel is much cheaper than freshly mined stuff. And if Asia weren't taking our "recyclables" we'd be drowning the stuff and it would ALL end up in the landfill. North America doesn't have the facilities or the time or money to recycle cardboard (for example).

It's crazy... but then here's the thing. The motto of a Green world is: Reduce Reuse Recycle.

But here's the thing... Recycle is the 3rd best option in there. Not the first, not the second... the third. We, however, treat it like it's the be-all and end-all. It's not.

#1 - Reduce - reduce our consumption. Do we really need the latest iPhone? Do we really need a new car? Maybe we could bring our own traveling mug to Timmies instead of using yet one more Roll-up-the-Rim-to-Win cup. We are Consumers of the Highest Order. And the Earth can't sustain our level of consumption.

#2 - ReUse- think Thrift Stores here. Maybe... instead of buying new jeans... we could get used ones at Value Village. Maybe... instead of using another roll of that metallic Christmas wrap, we could reuse some from last year? And how about reusing those Ziploc bags a few times?

#3 - Recycle - Yup. It's important. Just keep in mind that it only works as long as there is a market for what's in that bin. No market... and it all goes to the landfill.

Which got me thinking... the Cradle-to-Cradle book - or The Upcycle that I read earlier really have the jump on this. Make things so that they have an easier transition at the end of their lifetime to something else. Make it so that they are easier to take apart. Make them without toxic things in them. Make it easier to recycle them at less cost. That would be a start.

When I look at our recycle bin... I see a lot of plastic, mostly from food. Yogurt containers (big ones), peanut butter jars, soya sauce bottles. I know that buying in bigger quantities is better. So a big tub of yogurt uses less packaging than a dozen of those little individual servings.

I've also read about zero-waste grocery stores - where you can bring your own container to pick up peanut butter or whatever. It's still a movement in its infancy.

There are lots of questions and not a lot of answers sometimes. What I do know, I think, is that we have to change our habits. I will also say... again... Read this book!

The Town that Food Saved - Ben Hewitt - Part 1

The Town that Food Saved - Ben Hewitt

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 68

  March 9, 2017 

Book 21 - The Town that Food Saved
by Ben Hewitt (2009)
 Part 1 - pages 1-240
Reading Time - 5 hours

I had read one of Ben's books a few weeks ago and the title of this one caught my eye as it looked interesting. "How one Community found Vitality in Local Food".

It's an interesting read... that's for sure. It tells the tale of Hardwick, VT (population 3200), a former granite-mining town that slumped back in the 1930s. Local dairy farms carried the day for many years and then the hippies bought up the farms in the 1960s and 1970s and started small scale hobby farms. Today, there are all sorts of agripreneurs, young people who are producing artisanal products (think expensive cheeses and breads). Those products are sold in places like Boston and New York. The question the author asks is... with such a vibrant agricultural community, can the local population actually be fed by it? It's a question, ultimately, without an answer. Which, for me, made the book kind of frustrating.

Is it worth a read, for sure. Can we find similar situations here in Canada? For sure. I think of Salt Spring Island and Vancouver Island. We too have small scale farms that are trying to eke out a living. But we're back to the problem that we North Americans spend 9% of our income on food, the lowest of almost any country in history. Europeans spend 25% of their income on food. We are "blessed" with cheap food courtesy of the agri-industrial complex. But it means small-scale farmers can't really make a living and are forced to upscale their products into value-added products which then put them out of the reach of the locals. Kind of a vicious cycle.

The Book of Awesome - Neil Pasricha - Part 1

The Book of Awesome
- Neil Paricha

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 67

  March 8, 2017 

Book 20 - The Book of Awesome
by Neil Pasricha (2011)
 Part 1 - pages 1-416
Reading Time - 8 hours

This book was a find in a second-hand store and I've been reading a few pages at bedtime. It's made up of short little vignettes that document Awesome things in the world! Like when a parking spot opens up right in front of you. Or popping bubble wrap. Things like that. Those little moments that can give us a burst of pure joy. Sometimes expected, sometimes unexpected.

It was a nice easy evening read, a perfect way to wind down at the end of the day and think of those serendipitous moments when the stars align and thins go our way! Like finding $20 in a parking lot!

I'm realizing a couple of things during this book challenge:

1. I am easily distracted from my "official" list by other books. I'll read Silent Spring (which is on my list) and end up chasing other books that she mentions. Or I'll find a cool book in the airport and order it from the library.
2. Having started with some environmental books... and chasing after other like-minded books, the first 2 months of the challenge have been kind of heavy on ecology books. I'm hoping to get into some other ones. Maybe some economic books as the whole ecology thing points in that direction over and over again. The way we are living is not sustainable. So what are the options to a capitalist, consumerist society?

Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopold - Part 1

Sandy Couny Almanac -
Aldo Leopold

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 66

  March 7, 2017 

Book 19 - Sand County Almanac
by Aldo Leopold (1949)
 Part 1 - pages 1-211
Reading Time - 5 hours

I gave a bit of a squeak of dismay when I picked up this book from the library. It is over 800 pages long!! I heaved a sigh of relief when I realized that this was a collection of Leopold's writings and that the Sand County Almanac was a very palatable 200 pages or so. I tucked right into it... and got a bit bogged down.

Leopold is kind of like an early 1900s version of Thoreau. Think Walden's Pond but the field and forest bit. Leopold has a keen eye for nature and an even keener eye for how humanity runs roughshod over nature. Even though this was written in the 1930s and 1940s, it is still as poignant today. I had never heard of Leopold before... but Amazon has this to say about him:

Since his death in 1948, Aldo Leopold has been increasingly recognized as one of the indispensable figures of American environmentalism. A pioneering forester, sportsman, wildlife manager, and ecologist, he was also a gifted writer whose farsighted land ethic is proving increasingly relevant in our own time. Now, Leopold’s essential contributions to our literature––some hard-to-find or previously unpublished––are gathered in a single volume for the first time. Here is his classic A Sand County Almanac, hailed––with Thoreau’s Walden and Carson’s Silent Spring––as one of the main literary influences on the modern environmental movement. Published in 1949, it is still astonishing today: a vivid, firsthand, philosophical tour de force. Along with Sand County are more than fifty articles, essays, and lectures exploring the new complexities of ecological science and what we would now call environmental ethics. Leopold’s sharp-eyed, often humorous journals are illustrated here for the first time with his original photographs, drawings, and maps. Also unique to this collection is a selection of over 100 letters, most of them never before published, tracing his personal and professional evolution and his efforts to foster in others the love and sense of responsibility he felt for the land. 

I didn't read anything other than the Sand County Almanac. Leopold is a guy that you can't read quickly. A 5 page essay on conservation really needs several readings and a bunch of thoughtful mulling in between. I definitely recommend the book, but beware, it's not something you want to rush through. In some ways, I think this book is best read when you are sitting outside, maybe just before sunrise, at a marsh, or river bank, perhaps the ocean, watching the world wake-up. Read Leopold and then put him down and read the world around. That's what he did. He just managed to write his experience down much more articulately than most of us!

The Book of Awesome - Neil Pasricha - Part 1

The Book of Awesome
- Neil Paricha

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 67

  March 8, 2017 

Book 20 - The Book of Awesome
by Neil Pasricha (2011)
 Part 1 - pages 1-416
Reading Time - 8 hours

This book was a find in a second-hand store and I've been reading a few pages at bedtime. It's made up of short little vignettes that document Awesome things in the world! Like when a parking spot opens up right in front of you. Or popping bubble wrap. Things like that. Those little moments that can give us a burst of pure joy. Sometimes expected, sometimes unexpected.

It was a nice easy evening read, a perfect way to wind down at the end of the day and think of those serendipitous moments when the stars align and thins go our way! Like finding $20 in a parking lot!

I'm realizing a couple of things during this book challenge:

1. I am easily distracted from my "official" list by other books. I'll read Silent Spring (which is on my list) and end up chasing other books that she mentions. Or I'll find a cool book in the airport and order it from the library.
2. Having started with some environmental books... and chasing after other like-minded books, the first 2 months of the challenge have been kind of heavy on ecology books. I'm hoping to get into some other ones. Maybe some economic books as the whole ecology thing points in that direction over and over again. The way we are living is not sustainable. So what are the options to a capitalist, consumerist society?

Keeping the Bees - Laurence Packer - Part 4

Keeping the Bees - Laurence Packer

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 65

  March 6, 2017 

Book 18 - Keeping the Bees
by Laurence Packer (2010)
 Part 4 - pages 173-228
Reading Time - 60 minutes

Bees are in trouble. No doubt about it. Through a combination of climate change , invasive species and habitat fragmentation (all our fault) bees are in trouble. There have been 5 mass extinctions in the last 600,000,000 years... and we are on the edge of causing the sixth. No big deal right? The earth recovered the other 5 times, right? Yup... it just took 10-30 million years to recover. We don't have that sort of time.

Sooo... what can we do? Here ya go!

1. Grow Bee Friendly Plants - preferably Native Species
   - horticultural flowers are not bee friendly (think showy blooms like gladioli, delphinium and monkshood, and prize roses)
   - grow open flowers - asters, umbellifers, squash, lupines, sunflowers, goldenrod, bergamot
   - for fruit and veggies - squash, tomatoes, strawberries, fennel, coriander, parsley, beans, peas, raspberries & blackberries
2. Provide Nest Sites
   - leave old raspberries canes standing OR cut them into foot long lengths, bundle them and hang them from tree branches
   - use bamboo canes to stake plants
   - hoe shallow
   - don't mulch
   - no wood chips or pebbles
   - get rid of lawn and turn into bee friendly flower or veggie garden
3. Do not use Pesticides
4. Buy Organic Food
5. Walk on the Grass
   - cause that makes a well-trodden path that then creates bee habitat (funny)
6. Encourage Bee Friendly Practices at different Government Levels

There you go... time will tell if we can turn around the Titanic of ecological disaster that we have created and that is looming ahead. I'm going out to bundle some raspberry canes into bee habitat...

Keeping the Bees - Laurence Packer - Part 3

Keeping the Bees - Laurence Packer

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 64

  March 5, 2017 

Book 18 - Keeping the Bees
by Laurence Packer (2010)
 Part 3 - pages 117-172
Reading Time - 60 minutes

Did you bees have weird sex? Well... not exactly... but they do. The females can lay virgin birth eggs (no males required). Their chromosomes are a bit strange too. The way in which they pass along their genes means that as populations get smaller, the bees are at a much higher risk of extinction. Which means... we may reach a tipping point with bees much more quickly than we realize.

Bees generally like warm and relatively dry habitat. On the other hand, the more diverse the habitat, the greater the bee diversity. So... if you just have a forest and some meadows but then build a few pathways or dig a soil pit... you've upped the habitat diversity and the bees like that. Which is nice... again... when I look in our backyard. It's good to have some bare soil and some moss and long grass and a pile of twigs and yard waste. It's good to have stones and wood. I hope bees look at our yard and think... wow... bonanza!

On the other hand... there are all sorts of bee enemies out there. Beetle larva that hatch rides on the male bees and then, during the bee mating, switch to the females. They end up back at the nest and decimate the baby bee populations. There's also birds, thunderstorms, Mr. Kravitz with his pesticides and weed-killer and moss-killer and fertilizer, cuckoo bees (who lay their eggs in some other bee's hive), spiders (some of them) and wasps. It's a dangerous world out there for our little bee friends. And we make it much more dangerous.