Change back from your dime!

Think I'm kidding?  What, you ask, can you get for under 10 cents?  Well, I was in CVS picking up a prescription for my hubby, and I had these Extra Bucks that were going to expire soon.  Now I wasn't about to let that happen.  No siree, that's money!  So I started looking around the store for something I wanted, needed, someone else needed, but I came up empty, not even a Valentine card.  I was about to walk out when I decided to hit the food aisle.  No, I don't usually buy food at a drug store, but sometimes you get lucky.  Now, I had $3 in Extra Bucks and the DAK canned hams just happened to be on sale for, you guessed it, $3.  That's not the brand I normally buy, so I was going to pass.  I walked a bit further up the aisle and spotted small boxes of Wheat Thins for $1 each (marked down from $1.99).  It just so happened that I had a coupon for $2 off any 2 boxes of Nabisco snack crackers (no size or variety restrictions).  I couldn't pass that up - 2 free boxes of crackers.  Thinking just how great a deal it would be to get the ham with my Extra Bucks and free crackers, I went back for the ham.  After the EBs and coupon, my subtotal was $0.00, and I paid only tax.  And that, folks, is how I got change back from my dime.  I mean it didn't seem right to swipe my card for 8 cents.

Good things come to those who coupon.

Giving Plastic a New Life

A ban went into effect on October 1, 2009 requiring all plastic bottles such as soda bottles, milk and laundry detergent containers, etc. to be recycled rather than tossed into the garbage.  This posed no problem for the folks of Winston-Salem.  City residents have been recycling at a rate of 84%.  The city's curb-based recycling program makes that easy.  It is not so easy for people outside the city limits where there is no curbside pickup.  One company is working to make recycling available for their customers.  Rural Garbage Services, Inc. which services eastern Forsyth Co. is currently providing that service for free, with pickup of recyclables on regular trash collection days.  Chris Parrish, president, says he has been an environmentalist and recycling for years, and will continue to provide this service until there is a better solution.

While the ban on disposing of plastics is difficult to enforce, it does encourage recycling.  The success of this can be measured by the amount of plastic collected.  For the one-year period from September 2008 - September 2009, collection averaged 14,000 lbs. per month and increased to 19,000 per month for the first three months following the ban.  

There is a huge market for plastics to recycle, and North Carolina has some of the largest processors, with a new plant under construction in Fayetteville.  With one out of two bottles going to China, it leaves the US fighting for recyclables  The ban should help us retain more for our own use.  There are many items made with recycled plastic such as flower pots, strapping, tiles, plastic furniture, and yes, even new plastic bottles.  

While there is an expense to collecting and recycling these items, and a it is a much discussed issue between city and county officials, it does help extend the life of our landfills by not filling them with unnecessary items.  

So please help give used plastic a new life.  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle today.  For more information see the full story in the Winston-Salem Journal, or my original post on the ban.

Quote of the Week

When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.  - African Proverb

I've had a tough time with this one, trying to find the deeper meaning here and express it successfully.  I think it means that if you are at peace with yourself, if you are not torn or conflicted by things going on in your life, then you will be better prepared to weather the ups and downs of life and less likely to fall victim to the wrath of others.  This state of being, however, will not protect you from the physical side of living.



 

Just Messin' Around

If things look different at times, it is because I'm messing around with colors, fonts, pictures, etc.  Maybe I'll come up with something I like better.  This is a work in progress with a lot of experimentation going on, so don't be surprised and think you've landed in the wrong place. 

For your viewing pleasure, here is a gorgeous sunset from last year.

  View from my front door

Snow Again!

It's not your average winter here in North Carolina.  I mean we do get snow and sometimes a lot of it all at once, but that doesn't happen every year, and some years we're lucky (or unlucky if you dislike snow) if we get a dusting.  This is an unusual winter because we've had three ground-covering snows since the middle of December.  We even had a white Christmas thanks to the deep freeze that descended on us after that first snowfall.  Lots of times it snows, and the next day the temperature is 50 degrees.  Bye-bye snow!

Not this year.  No sir.  Why we even went sledding.  I dusted off my nearly antique sled, waxed the runners and took off.  We bundled up and went over to Ashley's to sled on their street.  Unfortunately, since I said we wouldn't be able to go sledding by 11 a.m. they made other plans.  [pouty face].  They did stay and sled for about 20 min. before they really had to leave.  They said "Go to Mt. Carmel".  There is a hill there beside the church that is just the best for sledding.  We weren't first.  There were lots of kids (big and little if you know what I mean).  We were among the "big" ones.  My sled did OK, but it is made more for street sledding where the snow is really packed down and slick.  This hill was snow-covered grass but it had been semi-packed by the tube sleds.  Those are great, by the way.  We borrowed one for a few trips down the hill, and it was a wild ride.  You end up spinning around and flying down the hill backwards.  It leveled out to a flat straight away and some tall grass before you go into the woods.  Such fun.

Later I paid for that fun with sore muscles over the entire body.  I'm not too old for this.  Repeat.  I'm not too old for this.  I have recovered and would do it again except now all we have is white slush, and we are engulfed in a cold rain.

Here are some more pics from the last snow on Sunday after the sun came out.  Compare with these.  What a difference the sun makes!

View from the front door.

Street view looking left.

  

Street view looking right.

Here is what it looks like today.  We got about 2.5 inches of snow overnight, and the road was snow covered about 7 a.m., and then the rain started.  These were taken around 11:30.

Today's view from the front door.

Slushy footprints on the sidewalk.