Another couple of good books to put on hold

The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler, MD

I don't know where all this book is being publicized but it's got over 50 hold on it last time I looked and for a non-fad diet book that's a lot. Kessler is a pediatritian that admits to being what he calls a "hyper-eater" and writes about how the obesity industry creates and enables him and others like him. After reading the book I realized I am not a hyper-eater but now understand the peer pressure of others who unknowingly try to coax me into one by constantly asking me about my diet especially the not eating cheese and high fat foods part of animal products. They are so conditioned into constantly thinking about and longing for the Fat-Salt-Sugar combo of most common gourmand foods that they need to draw others into their addiction. The final third of the book is different tools to help re-condition you lifestyle to overcome to pull of foods you know are not good for you. I didn't find that part very helpful to me, it was a lots of stuff I'd already figured out when I was quitting smoking but it might help Momcat. (as I am writting this I am eating a bunch of Halloween candy with milk chocolate in it from the Burgi collection:( I actually don't even like chocolate that much!)

Cheap; The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell

I am more than halfway through and am thoroughly enjoying it as much as window shopping at a discount outlet mall. I don't know what to call this genre of book other than non-fiction but it's a very interesting current western cultural history of shopping much like the book I read a couple months ago, "Delux: How Luxury lost it's Luster and this other book I can't remember the name of but Shell's book reminds me of it. The other book was about how the corporate chain stores took over the mom and pop grocery store at the turn of the century. I totally recommend all.

I don't quite understand why I like these types of non-fiction books so much, it's not like it will help me with a crossword puzzle or answer a trivia question or anything important like that.

Christmas plans?

I'm ready to look into airfares. Should I plan for CA or Chicago?

eating Animals

Here is a site describing a new book of interest:

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

I attended a vegan cooking class Monday night and got some new recipes as well as info about various products. I bought stick margarine and vegetable stock cubes as well as a vegetarian cookbook. I am still partial to my macaroni salad but will try something new for potluck at church.

The spice cardamom was recommended but it is outrageously expensive.

Why Wall Street is Booming While Everyone Else is Pinching Pennies

In case you'd like to be pissed this gorgeous Sunday morning, New York Times article for you. Excerpt:

Even as the economy continues to struggle, much of Wall Street is minting money — and looking forward again to hefty bonuses.

Many Americans wonder how this can possibly be. How can some banks be prospering so soon after a financial collapse, even as legions of people worry about losing their jobs and their homes?

It may come as a surprise that one of the most powerful forces driving the resurgence on Wall Street is not the banks but Washington. Many of the steps that policy makers took last year to stabilize the financial system — reducing interest rates to near zero, bolstering big banks with taxpayer money, guaranteeing billions of dollars of financial institutions’ debts — helped set the stage for this new era of Wall Street wealth.

. . .

A year after the crisis struck, many of the industry’s behemoths — those institutions deemed too big to fail — are, in fact, getting bigger, not smaller. For many of them, it is business as usual. Over the last decade the financial sector was the fastest-growing part of the economy, with two-thirds of growth in gross domestic product attributable to incomes of workers in finance.

Now, the industry has new tools at its disposal, courtesy of the government.

With interest rates so low, banks can borrow money cheaply and put those funds to work in lucrative ways, whether using the money to make loans to companies at higher rates, or to speculate in the markets.

Food, Inc.

Last night, the U of C student film group showed this movie, and followed it with a discussion led by a professor of geophysical sciences who studies how our food choices shape the environment.

The movie itself doesn't focus (much) on the environmental; instead, Food, Inc. scares you by showing you where your food really comes from, and how the massive agribusiness industry has been amassing more and more control over it.

The film challenges how agribusiness raises, processes and sells meat. What it doesn't do is challenge the sagacity of eating meat in the first place. Still, it is really eyeopening, and makes you want to act. (I signed back up for a CSA this morning!)

Momcat, I think you should show this movie to your "ethical eating" group when it comes out on DVD, which should be soon.

Corn Chowder

This is my latest version of corn chowder that my WIC nutritionist colleague calls "Starch Soup"

Cut kernels off one ear of corn.

In small pressure cooker add:
1 corn cob
1 bay leaf
1 celery stalk
1 washed and cubed small potato
1 cup water

Heat to pressure, cook for exactly 3 minutes and allow pressure to reduce to zero. Remove cob and celery but scrape and squash juice back into pot before adding

corn from above cob
1/8 to 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 chopped carrot
1/2 more cup of water.

Bring to pressure a second time and immediately turn off heat (that's all it needs!)

Optional: Stir in 1/2 cup soy milk with 1 tbls of Better Than Milk powder added in to make a thickish cream.

Share and enjoy with one cute little nephew!

VeganMania

Today, starting at 10:00 am, there was a convention in Chicago with tons of free vegan food and various vegan vendors. The first 100 people who showed up got a bag filled with free vegan stuff.

Vegans are dirty, lazy hippies for the most part, so I didn't think anyone would show up much before 10:30. Wrong! There was a line of 200 before it even opened (no free bag of goodies for me!) It was a madhouse.

Anyway, in addition to buying some vegan cheese made of cashews which turns out to be a bit nasty, I also bought 8 gourmet vegan chocolate truffles, figuring I'd share them with Kipsy and Uncle Sam if they come here for a spa ghettoway over Christmas. I didn't ask how much they cost before she made the box up... and let's just say, you had better LOVE those stupid truffles.

Do not try this at home!

Have you ever had an idea at night that seemed really good, but then in real-life it was not so much? Well, I recently read about how good kale is for me. I add flax seed to my smoothies to make them healthier. I got an idea that a little kale blended into my fruit smoothie would boost the nutritional value. I wish I could say I was drunk or something when I got the idea, but I haven't had a drink in months if not years!

So... I put a few pieces in with my fruit this morning; maybe 3 T or so. It was about as aweful as you might imagine. Kale doesn't actually "blend". It gets finely chopped and clumps together as kind of a suspension. I do not recommend kale as a smoothie-booster. I repeat: fruit + kale = YUK!

Victory

It's time to rejuvenate this blog.

On August 15 my cholesterol was 233. I went vegan that same day and have not eaten anything with cholesterol in it since. Yesterday my cholesterol level was 193!! That's lower than it has EVER been. Here is my favorite recipe which I make up in bulk and feed off of for a week

1 pkg whole wheat macaroni
3 chopped peppers (red, green, orange, or yellow)
chopped onions (to taste and after getting tired of chopping I have gone to frozen)

I added tofu at first but found it didn't last the week so dropped it.

I mix all the above ingredients in a large bowl. When I am ready for a meal I put a generous serving of the mix in a bowl, add a tablespoon or so of veganaise and a generous tsp of nutritional yeast and stir.

Snacks consist of pistachio nuts. Sometimes a peanut butter sandwich. I eat Kashi cereal with soy milk for breakfast. Costco no longer carries my favorite but other grocery stores do.

I've been cooking.

I used my Diet Coke reward points to get one of those electric grills. I grilled slices of eggplant and then made baba ganoush (or however it's spelled). It tasted great but I wish it didn't have such a dorky name. I call it eggpant dip. I think being vegan would be much more popular if we could replace the name of some of our foods: hummus, tofu, seitan, tempeh, texturized vegetable protein, nutritional yeast flakes, soy milk. Thay don't have appetizing names and/or are too hard to pronounce.

I made lentil burgers, which turned out VERY well. I don't like the name, but there you go.

I made brownies that were just alright. I need to try again and alter the process I used to mix all the ingerdients. I think they were so flat because I over-blended.

I don't know what I'll try next...

Ethical Eating

My latest cholesterol count was too high (233) so I am officially giving up cheese and other high cholesterol food. I have joined an Ethical Eating Group at church and have signed on to a 21 day vegan plan at

http://support.pcrm.org/site/PageServer?pagename=21day_vegan_kickstart&autologin=true

I made my first health trip to the grocery store and bought greens, salmon (in envelope), tomatoes, walnuts, and I already have mushrooms for salads.  Also bananas.  Am I right in thinking alvocados have high cholesterol?  Also I bought no-fat dressing and some more soy yogurt.  Eating out will be my downfall but I am going to give it a try.

Eating in London

Eating vegan (no cheese) would have been impossible in London - and Twiggy insisted on eating three meals a day. I ate a lot of mozarella and tomato; goat cheese salads and tortes; and other fattening stuff. Consequently I gained about ten pounds which I am working off. Getting back to exercise is helping, and not eating out.

I bought some nice books and learned a lot in the Children's Lit course. We had three field trips - British Library, V & A, and Oxford. Before the class we had a week of playing tourist and saw four plays. Touristing included Mme Toussaud's (very crowded especially around Michael Jackson and Obama), V & A Museum of Childhood, National Museum and Portrait Museum and the British Museum. I took lots of pictures and bought postcards when photos weren't allowed.

The plays were Stomp, The Calendar Girls and Oliver all of which we enjoyed. We also went to a new play, War Horse, which received rave reviews. The only good thing about it were the "puppet" horses worked by three people each. The play and the acting were overdone.

I am almost caught up. I only had one chance at e-mail so the accumulation was large.

Saving with Slave Labor

I should have gotten pictures while we were doing it, but we were so busy working that I didn't have time to take pictures! Anyway, this is the finished project.

The boys worked 3 and 4 days respectively doing back-breaking labor helping me dig out all the bamboo from behind the garage, and repairing the fence. To save money, we used the same fence posts, just put in steel "sleeves" that fit around the base of the post and are then pounded into the ground with a 50-pound sledge hammer. We took off the old fence boards, and replaced the boards across the top and the boards along the bottom that were too rotted to re-use, then re-attached all the boards.

I say slave labor, but I actually decided to pay them $50 and $40 respectively for the work. They were so happy they were jumping up and down. I'm sure it will be the last time I get to see someone excited about earning less than $2.00 an hour for hard labor. The total to repair the fence was less than $200, including the money I paid to the boys, and my neighbor is going to pay for half.

Now I can spend that $1600 to fumigate the house.

I had previously fixed my front fence with the steel sleeves, also. Now that needs to be painted.

Why do home improvement projects always lead to MORE home improvement projects? Can't we ever just be DONE??

The boys immediately spent their money on "Gundums" which are a Japanese version of a mix of Bionicles, Transformers and GI Joes.

More Reason Not to Get Too Excited

As the market go-go-goes, should we be breathing a sigh of relief? Probably not. For one thing, volatility is not the sign of a healthy market--in either direction. For another, I've already mentioned the false sense of solvency the changed in the accounting rules caused. But last and most important, this recent market surge has come on the heels of "less bad than expected" profit numbers from several big companies. But why are they less bad? Robert Reich, Clinton's secretary of labor, warns:

"[T]hose profits aren't being powered by consumers who have suddenly found themselves with a lot more money in their pockets. The profits are coming from dramatic cost-cutting -- including, most notably, payroll cuts. If a firm cuts its costs enough, it can show a profit even if its sales are still in the basement."

"The problem here is twofold. First, such profits can't be maintained. There's a limit to how much can be cut without a business eventually disappearing -- becoming, in effect, a balance sheet in space. Secondly, when businesses slash payrolls to show profits, consumers end up with even less money in their pockets to buy the things businesses produce. Even if they hold on to their jobs, they're likely to fear that they won't have the jobs for long, which causes them to retreat even further from the malls."

Read his whole blog post here.

Saving by doing it yourself

I'm back to cleaning my own apartment. While I was gone to New York/Texas/Germany, I had stopped my twice-monthly cleaning service, and I never got around to calling them back to start it up again.

And I realize that my apartment hasn't been this clean in years.

The trouble with delegating, well, anything, is that the person to whom you delegate almost always doesn't care as much as you do about whatever it is. Sometimes, it's worth it to farm it out anyway and accept lower quality for the convenience. But I think I'm back, at least for a while, to not accepting that trade-off for cleaning my house.

Maybe some day I'll be able to find someone who is willing to see dirt: remove cobwebs and wipe backsplashes and light switches without my asking; actually moving cords and furniture when sweeping, tucking in sheets properly, etc. In the meantime, I'm saving $120 a month and living in a substantially cleaner (albeit a sporadically messier) house.

Soapy cantaloupe

BC brought me a cantaloupe he bought from a guy selling them out of the back of his truck on the side of the road. It looked and smelled great. I washed, rinsed, and dried it off before I sliced it. It has a soapy taste. I am sure I got all the soap rinsed off before I cut it. Any of you ever had a cantaloupe taste like soap?

Snacking is my downfall

I read somewhere that to save money, you should buy full sized products and divide them into single serving sizes. I bought snack baggies and counted out 22 almonds per baggy. That's when I realized, I could eat 600+ calories of almonds as an afternoon snack! No wonder I'm having trouble getting rid of the 7 pounds I've put on in the last year. I divided my crackers, too. I haven't eaten any of them yet because I don't want to eat 120 calories. If they had been loose in the box, I probably would have nibbled 2 servings without even noticing. So, I'll see if this increased awareness has a positive impact on my belly. I can't believe how small an ounce of nuts is!

What Counts

When I told the dietitians/nutritionists at WIC that you guys wanted to count garbanzo beans, brown rice and hummus as vegetables they laughed (and one's a vegetarian). I looked up on the USDA food website and you can get by with calling fresh corn, peas, and green beans as a vegetable but beans should be considered a protein and rice and corn that's made into a bread should be a grain.

I tried to find a good vegan pyramid but I couldn't find one that listed serving sizes or one that I could easily see what constitutes a fruit and vegetable and what counts as a protein or grain.

Roothy, I like you're idea of having a smoothie at night. I haven't been able to force myself to make a smoothie in the morning because it's so cold and then I don't feel like cooking at night either when it's so hot. Why can't I have my smoothie at night and eat my toast or oatmeal in the morning?

So far today I have had a serving of avocado (on a sandwich), a large baby romaine lettuce salad (but the box still said one serving), and a cup of cantelope (with plain soy yogurt) I also had two pieces of toast with marmite, (does marmite count as anything?). Tonight I will have a smoothie and a left-over artichoke. That will clock me in at five servings of five different fruits or vegetables today.

Crack gravy?

More like crap. First, I burned the flour/yeast flakes in the microwave. Then, it turned into a watery mess with burnt flecks inside. I will try stovetop method next. My bisquits turned out well, though.

So far today, I had a smoothie for breakfast: 1 banana, mixed fruit (a good cup), flax seed, and soy milk (16 oz glass).
Lunch: veggie stir fry with noodles (mushrooms, broccoli, sprouts, and carrots).
Snack: apple

I've had a Luna bar and some After 8 mints, too.

Steal This Recipe #4: Sticky Rice with Mango

The sticky rice I had at the Taste was so good I thought I'd replicate it. Or try. It turned out pretty well:

1 cup cooked rice
1/2 cup coconut milk (I used lite, and then tossed in a tablespoon of powdered coconut)
1 packet of Splenda
pinch of salt
1/2 c frozen mango chunks

Heat the coconut milk in a saucepan, but don't boil. When hot, stir in Splenda and salt. Pour it over the rice. Nuke the mango chunks until they are only slightly frozen, put on top the rice. Voila! Simple and delicious.

Very filling--the above should get you two servings. Per serving: maybe 50 cents for the coconut milk, a dime for the rice, Splenda and salt, and depending on where you get it, a quarter for the mango.

New California Hijinks

So California is going to start paying certain vendors (including citizens awaiting their tax refunds) with IOU's. Nice.

Also, last night, the FDIC set a weekly record for this credit crisis by closing 7 banks in one day (6 in Illinois). Of course, they closed many more during the S&L crisis, but banks were smaller then and didn't have multiple branches. Dollar-for-dollar, including after adjusting for inflation, we've already outstripped the S&L, and we've only really just begun.

The stuff about the economy "stabilizing" is pretty funny/grim: the analogy is that we are no longer crashing into the ground at 300 mph, but instead only crashing into the ground at 100 mph. But in the end, we're still going to be smashed to bits.

I'm Still Here

Thanks to the excellent care I received from 3 of you I am feeling great and am back to my exercise class - plus a new one that is harder. This will help get me ready for London although I think Twiggy is going to be the one who is dragging.

Chip, I loved the dress. I agree with Roothy - you have a career.

I am making vegan spaghetti tonight for two friends (and Charles) using veggie burgers in the sauce. I have cut WAY down on cheese - I seem to eat a lot of butter, however. One thing at a time.

I will have a better blog when I get back from England.

Let's Get the Party Started!

Roothy, you're back. As soon as I saw your post I got up and ate a grapefruit. Okay, 1/2 a grapefruit, the 3 smews are here and I didn't feel like cutting up four so I just cut up 2 and said 1/2 is a serving. I have been trying to practise the 5 a day but so far have only been successful on the weekends. I can't remember if anyone else said they were going to give my challenge a go too.

Momcat? Kipsy? Anyone, Anyone?

Mrs. Spottletoe moves up in the world

Two years ago, Sharon helped me make a skirt for Dickens Fair. I wore it with a white blouse (boring!) I needed to make a bodice to go with it.

Anya had a pattern that was the wrong size for her, so she gave it to me. I found that I did not have enough matching fabric to make the whole bodice, so with Sharon's advice, I decided to cut off the bottom of my skirt (gasp!) to make the sleeves for the bodice.

I found a bed ruffle at Savers that was the same gold color as the stripe in my skirt, and sewed it to the bottom. Then I found some old curtains at Savers with this really great tassel fringe on them.

I'm going to use the curtain fabric (sans fringe) to make a 50s dance dress (the pattern for which I won on ebay for 10 bucks.) I also got some old pink curtains which I am using to make a cartridge-pleated skirt (to go with the white blouse) for the Victorian Picnic that I hope will happen again this year.

What I've Done with UncleSam's Leftovers

Uncle Sam left a lot of delicious leftover vegan ingredients. So far, I have made (listing only the ingredients she left behind):

a nice sambar (recipe earlier in the blog) using celery, onions, potatoes, carrots, zucchini

a mock chicken salad using tofu, celery, green pepper, Veganaise, and Bacos (served on spring mix--though that was on its last legs)

lentil soup using onions, potatoes, carrots, celery

cut cantelope as a side dish

I also ate her leftover bechamel/macaroni/fake meat casserole thingie.

It's been a lot of fun trying to use it all up so it doesn't go bad. It made me think that there should be a reality tv chef show where the contestants have to show up in a randomly selected US household and cook a meal using whatever happens to be in the fridge and pantry.

Sorry, haven't posted in a while.

Before roothy yells at us, I decided to break down and post even though I have nothing to say.

I went to Texas to "nurse" Momcat after her surgery for 9 days in the middle of the month. I haven't checked how that threw off my finances but I think I was able to get the tickets for not too, too bad. The food issue was another matter. The only soy milk choice was Silk (which I like, but I like to change around too), one vegan butter choice, Smart Balance Lite and finally, after going to several stores to look, we found some Yo Soy yogurt. The most annoying thing was we kept accidentally buying things with hidden animal products in the processed foods I guess we should have stayed away from anyway. Smart Balance regular has whey in it, I bought some whole wheat poptarts that I checked and checked again but Kipsy found gelatin in the frosting and most irritatingly because we spent 30 minutes looking at each brand, some canned biscuits that had beef tallow in them! I will never complain about only being able to get the Tofutti Sour Supreme with the white top at my local Safeway ever again.

Other than that I was able to get all the ingredients to cook healthy meals for Mom and Woody and sometimes Kipsy every day I was there. I pretty much made all my standards that I can make in my sleep but Mom really liked all of them and I was able to sneak in enough fruit and vegetables that I think we even made the minimum standards of 5 - 9 servings a day. My big treat was finally being able to go to Spiral Diner. I just love supporting a vegan restaurant in Ft. Worth Texas and it was packed on a weekday pre-lunch crowd!

I brought enough books and DVDs to entertain myself while waiting for Momcat to wake from her daily naps and/or Woody to get off work so I was prepared for a lot of sitting around. We did do a small amount of thrift store shopping but I was hoping Ft. Worth would be cheaper than San Mateo but it was not and the selection was not as good either. Oh well, as it turns out, DFW airport are sticklers for the 2 bag rule and they made me condense the "Bullet" off brand personal blender I bought at Macy's (for 19.99,regularly 49.99!) and wouldn't have been able to bring anything home anyway.

It was nice having Momcat all to myself for that long of time and I realized when I saw Woody that it had been about 10 years since I've last laid eyes on him and it was very good to here him being comfortable and secure in his new job that pays well, has medical insurance AND appreciates him. I didn't get to see Kipsy at all until the last day and 1/2 but she was looking beautiful as always and also very happy in her new position. I was very sad that Roothy, who is taking over the next weeks nursing duties didn't get there before I had to go to the airport but I would have loved to see her new car.

So, my cheap Califonian sisters...

Did you vote today?

Looks like it isn't going to pass. Either way, California is going to have to figure out what the hell to do with its life tomorrow morning...

My meager attempts to reduce spending...

The ticket I got a few weeks ago finally came in the mail. It is $202 plus an additional $57 to take the traffic school (which is a must to keep the insurance from going up) plus the actual cost of the traffic school: about $300 as I suspected.

I went online to see what my options were. I SWEAR I did not see ANYONE in the crosswalk, but to take the ticket to court would mean suggesting the police officer either lied or was mistaken. They could just as easily come to the same conclusion about me. But deep in the small print I saw an option to go to court and either plead "not guilty" or "no contest" and the judge might reduce the fine based on one's driving record. So I took that route. I went to court, spent about 3 hours waiting for my case to come up. I didn't really say much, because I couldn't figure how to plead my case without just sounding like I was whining, but the judge acknowledged my good driving record and reduced my fine. He reduced to it to $15 (yay!) which, plus the state fees and the traffic school charges, came to $183 (hey, wait a minute...) I guess that's better than $259. So I took an on-line traffic school (took about 3 hours) for $20, and now its all done. It still rankles me though. Thirty-one years without a ticket!!!

I fixed my front fence by myself, instead of hiring someone. Two of the posts were rotted in the ground, and were wobbly. I purchased some metal sleeves that go around the base of the post, and pounded them in with a sledge hammer. My next goal is to paint the fence so that it is again a "white picket fence". I also need to fix the back fence, but I need to work with my neighbor on that, and she needs to get rid of her bamboo forest first.

I think I told you already about fixing the leak under my sink. I had to replace several of the pipes and fittings, but I did it!

I'm hoping to put mulch down on the yard, to control the weeds, and make it look nice without having to have grass. Easier to take care of, and no watering!

I read an article about checking ones toilets for leaks. It suggested putting food dye in the tank, and if the dye is in the bowl after about 15 minutes, there is a leak. Well, the dye was in the bowl, so I bought new flapper valves (I believe that's the technical term) and replaced them. Then the toilets did a double flush, which obviously used way more water than the stupid leaks did! I called the water department, to yell at them for suggesting I replace the valves to save water, and now they were using even more. She thought I was crazy for asking HER, she said I should call a plumber to fix it (yeah, right!) Anyway, I asked the water department to come out to do a water use survey and to check for leaks. When the guy arrived, I explained about the toilets, and he said I should have replaced the valve with the same kind of valve. The valves SAY they're "universal" but they're not. My old valves had little floats on them. So back to the store for valves with the floats (couldn't take the old ones back for a refund, because I'd had to cut a tab off them to install them.) Now the toilets flush fine. I talked to the guy about my concerns about my water bill. Almost every month, I use 4 ccfs of water, and then one month it went up to six and then was 5 for a couple of months. I wanted to ask if it could be a leak or something. He said, "That's a very low bill. Most people on average use about 2 or 3 ccfs per person per month. How many people live here?" "Uh, five." "Wow." So anyway, I'm not getting much sympathy or help to lower my bill, but it should be lower now that I've got the toilets fixed!

PG&E just replaced our electric meter for one that they can read remotely. I was talking to the installer, joking about how in ten years the meters would be obsolete since we wouldn't have any energy left. He said no, there was lots of natural gas, but acknowledged that it didn't address the global warming problem. He said he expected a lot of people to switch over to solar, and I said I had looked into it, but since my electric bill was only $50 a month, it would never pay for itself. He was amazed my bill was that low, even though we have a washer and electric dryer (which Pammy does her laundry in also.) So I guess I'm doing a pretty good job at conserving, huh?

However, Max has taken three showers this week (which is more than he's taken in the last three months.) I explained that it's great that he's taking more showers, but if he's going to take one every day, they need to be 5 minutes. A half- to an hour-long shower is only allowed if you take only one a month!!

Just think how much money I could save if I didn't have these rotten kids!!

Easy Lentil Soup

I don't know if this counts as a good lentil soup but it's what I do when I'm lazy and trying to use up cans of tomato soup in my pantry and the last veggies in my fridge. (actually this was the first time I used lentils, usually I use leftover pinto navy or garbonzo beans)

Saute 1/2 chopped onion (remove the parts that are starting to sprout)

After is has cooked for a while add last few carrots from baby carrot bag (okay if outside dried out, they'll rehydrate in the soup) and about 4 half celery sticks (sliced) and saute for another few minutes. Add 1 cup dried brown (washed) lentils and 1/2 half bag frozen chopped mustard greens (or whatever greens you have fresh or frozed, just make sure they're chopped).

Stir in one can of no-name tomato soup plus 3 cans of water.

Add 2 tsp of garlic powder, 1 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp oregeno and 1 tbl paprika.

Simmer on low for 45 mins. (or if you use old lentils like I did it might take a little longer). Make sure to check every now and then to see if you need to add water. Finish with juice of one slightly old lime.

Elliott gave it a 6 (out of 10) but said he doesn't like lentil soup. He did eat a whole bowl though. I give it an 8 but I think I'd have liked it better with spinach instead of mustard greens.

Happily Back to Being Part of the Problem

Last week, I purchased a brand new, 2009 Honda Fit.


I settled on the car after doing online research, and finding that it is very well recieved. I found out the MSRP and the invoice price by buying a report at Consumer Reports for $14 (though I probably could have gotten the same information for free if I looked hard enough), then I simply emailed about five or six dealers and asked them for their best price on a base model with manual transmission. About three dealers started bidding, and I managed to get one for about $650 below the dealer's bottom-line invoice price--a price that also included a $299 keyless entry system which is not standard equipment (my only upgrade). I don't think I could have gotten it any cheaper--I'm kind of amazed I managed to get it as cheap as I did. Dealers are really desperate right now to move product, even companies like Honda.

So the final price which did not include local taxes and registration fees which are uniform and fixed by the state and county, was just under $14,000. After the 10% (yes, 10%) local sales tax plus other licensing fees, I paid about $16,300 "out the door." Thanks to the stimulus package, I should be able to deduct $1400 (the sales tax) from my income next year, so I'd get 1/3 of that back, or $470. This means complete out-the-door price for me including adjusted taxes was about $15,800.

You can subtract the value I got for my 2001 Toyota Prius, which needed a $4900 repair to the hybrid battery and controlling computer. Amazingly, my old mechanic bought it from me for $2500. So true final price to me of the new car was $13,300. Because of all the safety features, amazingly, my monthly insurance cost is almost exactly the same. Also amazingly, I am getting about the same mpg as I did with the Prius--in the neighborhood of 40 mpg.

Thus blowing all to hell my plans to save, save, save and be frugal this year. But the car, she is cool. And my bike fits in the back.

Coal's Grandmother died

It's technically his step-grandmother, but he knew her all his life. She fell out of the shower sometime after Thursday (when Coal's uncle last spoke to her). The uncle found her body on Saturday. We're waiting for the autopsy report to find out what happened. We just hope she didn't fall and lay there for a long time in pain. She had one of the strongest faiths I've ever witnessed, so I know dying wouldn't have been that scary for her. When she got to talking about heaven, she started making me wish for brake failure on the way home, so I won't have to wait so long!

Also, Coal's first gun-dog Jake died 2 weeks ago. He had been sick and was pretty old. He just laid down and didn't get up again. He was alive Wednesday morning when Coal left for the mud farm and was dead when I got home that afternoon and went to feed the dogs. He looked peaceful. I figure Roxie is next. She loses her balance easily.

Other than that, my job is still going well. So is Coal's. He gets 3 weeks of vacation a year now since he's been there 5 years (his FT job, not the mud farm).

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Since our minister is vegan, members have been creating special items in our pot-luck lunches. Here is a vegan cake that is very good:

Wacky Chocolate Cake (aka Vegan Chocolate Cake)

3 c. flour
2 c. sugar
6 Tblsp cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 c. oil
2 Tblsp vinegar
2 c. cold water or coffee (I use decaf coffee)
2 tsp vanilla

Blend, by hand, the flour, cocoa,sugar, baking soda and salt.
Add oil, vinegar, vanilla and coffee.
Blend well. Pour into a greased and floured 9 X 13 inch pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for 35 - 40 minutes

Chocolate icing (off of the back of the Hershey Cocoa box with minor variations)

1 stick oleo (sometimes its called margarine spread, just look that it has no dairy or milk in it)
2/3 c. cocoa
3 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. milk substitute (soy, almond or non dairy creamer all work well)
1 tsp vanilla

Melt oleo. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and 'milk', beating on med. speed to
spreading consistency. Stir in vanilla. I sometimes use the whisk attachment on my mixer if I want it less fudge-like.

Smelliott's Cooking Dinner

Since I needed to go to Chip's anyway to do over 2 month's worth of laundry I decided to help out my nephew with his "cooking day". As I was at my house discussing menus with Smelliott I got a call from Pepper's sister (doesn't have a cat so I don't know what to code her) and I invited her to join us. We cooked pastitcio and watched a documentary that I wholly recommend, " Bigger, Stronger, Faster". It was a very well-made film about steroid use. It really made you rethink about a lot of issues, not just athletes and steroid abuse. It also introduced a lot of facts about steroids I didn't realize mainly that the evidence of long term damage from steroid use is shaky. It also didn't necessarily condone steroid use either. At the end of the DVD you couldn't really say what side of the debate the narrator was on.

Anyway, here is my recipe. The only think that we didn't quite do right was the macaroni; we should have cooked the macaroni to just underdone because it cooked a bit more in the oven. Also, I used 3 different bags of macaroni as they were each sitting opened (hidden) in my cupboard and they might have had different cooking times due to brand and age.

Pastitcio

Cook 2 cups of dried macaroni until almost done. Rinse well to quick cooking.

Meat Sauce

1 tbl oil
1 onion, diced
1 lb burger crumbles, I used 1/2 bag of Morningside crumbles & 2 Morningside Veggie Patties that I smooshed myself after nuking for a minute or 2
1 can tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Heat oil in pre-heated cast iron skillet. Saute onion until golden (or until nephew's arms fall off). Add crumbles, cook for a while then add the crumbles, then the paste and tomatoes and last the spices. Reduce heat and simmer (and stir occasionally) while you make the bechamel. Taste again before assembling to adjust spices, may need to add more.

Bechamel Sauce

4 tbl oil
4 tbl flour
4 cups unsweetened soymilk heated in microwave (don't boil)
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Heat oil in large sauce pan. Wisk in flour and cook until floury taste is gone (about as long as it takes to heat the milk) Pour in hot milk while wisking constantly. Heat on medium/high until it bubbles. Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until thickened.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 350. Spray Pam large casserole dish. Add the cooked macaroni to the bechamel sauce and stir. Should be soupy, the pasta will soak up a LOT of sauce. Layer macaroni and meat mixture and make sure you end with pasta on the top. (We didn't do it right last night and the meat sauce ended up in a funky layer top crust) Optional: sprinkle top with Parma, bread crumbs or French Fried Onions (last is expensive but if you have some left over from Thanksgiving it doesn't count)

Cook for 45 minutes then let stand for 10. Delicious and just as good the next day for lunch.

Prius Sucks

Glad you are alive, Kipsy.

After spending, as you know, $2500 on my 2001 Prius less than a month ago, it stopped working. Latest diagnosis? Catastrophic failure of the hybrid battery system. Cost for parts alone? $4900.

Kind of amazing, isn't it?

I have decided I don't need a car for the next month. I'll just take buses around town until I go to Texas next month, and I'll fly down there with Roothy (the Cat). Momcat said I could use her car while I am there. Maybe I'll buy a new car while I'm down there, and drive back.

Would anyone like to buy a large, green paperweight?

I am alive!

I'm doing this at school, but it's Saturday so I don't feel so bad. I don't get on the computer at home much (of course, I'm not THERE much!). I still can't write much because I'm here at school to get my materials ready for TAKS testing this next week. Last night was opening night of the play. I had a soccer game this morning in Waco (playing, not reffing)so I figured I'd come by the school and get some work done. I need to get home early enough to shower and get ready for tonight's show.

I'm planning to get an iPhone. That way I can check the blog regularly when I'm out and about. I can't do momcat's phone deal because I can't get cable where I live - we have satelite.

I'll be able to come to Momcat's on the weekends after surgery, but I'm still scheduled to work until we leave for Germany (and I will still owe the school some days).

Anyway, the play ends next week, TAKS testing will be (mostly) over by then, too, so perhaps I'll be home enough to blog (and clean).

More Health News

Now that I have my vertigo under control, I have another health issue to deal with. I had a CT scan a week or so ago and the scan revealed a mass attached to the outside of my uterus. No indication that it is malignant but I need a hysterectomy.

The surgery can be done vaginally but I will not be able to drive for at least two weeks. I am hoping Kipsy can come up and stay with me after school lets out in June. The doctor does surgeries on Wednesdays and ideally I can get an early June date so I will be ready to go to London on the 10th of July. If any of you other than Kipsy could come that would be great and I would pay the airfare - especially if Kipsy can't come in early June.

I will be in the hospital only 2 days and probably only need someone here for a week - I can get rides for the second week as I had to do when I was having vertigo attacks.

If anyone has a week in May that would be good too - give me more time to recover. Let me know so I can make further plans.

Meanwhile, I am getting ready for a visit from Aunt Twiggy and Uncle Farooz. Farooz has never seen the condo so I am running around making sure it looks good. I am having a party for them Sunday night. They leave here to visit Roothy I think.

I got a large tax refund - but as Alan pointed out, that is because I didn't make much money last year. Twiggy and Farooz got the first refund in over 30 years.

I have found a new plus in not buying anything new this year - I can throw away the catalogs I get in the mail without even looking at them!

Easter Eve Dinner at Bonny Doone

I was going to try to do a real recipe like Roothy but I gave up.

This is what I cooked for friends last Saturday. I'm really proud of myself because Pepper and her family were needing some TLC and I was able to put this together while they watched TV. I only messed up on the greens as they needed a lot longer to cook.

Country Fried Boca Burgers

Heat up on large cast iron skillet, once it's heated spray some Pam on it.

Take two pie pans, in the left one put about 1/2 cup of soy milk and add enough prepared mustard to make a thin batter. Into the right pie pan add about a 1/2 cup flour with some salt and pepper. (will probaly need to make a little more of one or the other as you make the burgers.) Oh, and this used 8 patties.

Drag each Boca burger in the batter then the flour mixture and cook about 4 minutes on each side.

Country Gravy

Microwave 2 cups soy milk for one minute

In a medium sauce pan lightly toast 2 TBL of flour with about 1 TBL of curry powder. Add 2 TBL of oil and wisk for about a minute.

Add heated soymilk while wisking constantly.

Cook until bubbling and thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Collard Greens.

Saute 1 small chopped onion in 1 tbl oil until soft.
Add 3 or more chopped garlic cloves and cook for a minute more.

Add 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup nutritional yeast to make a broth. Cook for a little while and then add cut up collard greens. (may need to add in batched to get it all in.

Stir the broth and greens to coat and may need to add more water.

Cover and cook for 45 minutes.

Mashed Potatoes

I'm not going to bother with a drawn out recipe for this as we all know how to make mashed potatoes. I will say that using a rice steamer to cook the potatoes is the way to go as you don't risk over boiling and getting water soaked potatoes.

Soy milk, pepper and that's it.

As an additional gravy choice I made Bryanna Clark Grogan's Brown Gravy that I learned at one of the celebrity chef weekends I did. At the conference she said her friend called it "crack gravy" and I totally agree. I don't wing her recipe, I go strictly by the book so I don't want to plagarize her. It's in her no fat vegan cooking book and it should be in your library anyway.

Steal This Recipe #3--Mujadara

This is a simple Lebanese peasant dish. It is very, very flavorful, and very, very cheap. All but Kipsy would love it, but since Kipsy is no longer seemingly a member of this group (growl), too bad.

2T. olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 T. cumin
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice
3 cloves garlic, minced

Sautee these in a medium pan for about 4-5 minutes, then add:

3/4 c. green lentils
28 oz. water

Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for ten minutes. (Meanwhile, you'll start making the blackened onions--more on that in a minute.) Then, add:

3/4 c. long grain white rice

Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for fifteen minutes. To prepare the blackened onions:

2 T. olive oil
2 large onions, sliced

Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for at least 20 minutes, until they start to blacken.

When the lentil/rice mixture is done, add a teaspoon or two of salt, then serve on a plate. Top with a generous portion of the blackened onions. Voila! (If you want to use brown rice instead, add at the same time as the lentils, bring to boil, and cook both for a total of 30 minutes).

Cost:
About $1 for the onions, .25 for the rice, and .25 for the lentils, at most. Maybe another .25 for the other ingredients (oil, garlic, spices). This easily makes four very large servings, so about .45 per serving.

Lose weight, save money!!

"At the moment, however, the only safe way of activating brown fat is to stay chilly, right at the verge of shivering, for prolonged periods. That reproduces the conditions that led to the evolution of brown fat — namely, life-threatening cold in babies and small furry animals that can't put on clothes to keep themselves warm."

http://www.mercurynews.com/nationworld/ci_12102140

So it turns out that refusing to allow anyone to turn on the wall heaters in my house helps me to maintain my girlish figure...I'm a genious!!

Sucker's Rally

The markets have been rallying. One huge reason for this is that under government pressure, the Financial Accounting Services Board just suspended "mark-to-market" accounting rules. Imagine you are running a bank. In a mark-to-market regime, say the bank owns an asset (or a liability)--how do you value it on your books? One obvious way is to look for similar assets, and see what they recently sold for. That's what you and I do when we look at "comps" before we buy or sell our houses.

What an asset is worth matters a lot to banks, because if their assets are too small relative to their liabilities, regulations may kick in and force them to raise money so that they are not undercapitalized. (This is, essentially, the issue of how much "leverage" an institution is allowed to have, which we've talked about before in email.) If they can't do it--say, investors no longer think they are worth pouring money into--then the bank could go under. The details don't matter: all you need to know is that if the bank isn't worth enough on their books, they are in big trouble, and might even have to declare bankruptcy if they can't raise enough cash to compensate for the losses.

One way to make it so that the banks don't have to recapitalize is to simply change the rules about how they value their assets. I mentioned the "mark-to-market" rule, but there are others. There's "mark-to-mark" which means, whatever I bought/sold this very asset/liability for is what I can claim it is worth. (That would be like Momcat, for instance, valuing the house we grew up in at its 1972 price.) No one uses mark-to-mark for pretty obvious reasons.

Another rule would be "mark-to-model," which says you figure out what something is worth by cogitating on it, and making a lot of assumptions, and using your "good" judgment (often with a computer model). Enron pioneered this method, and it is one of the things that got them into so much trouble. Nevertheless, many, many other companies followed their lead, because as idiotic as mark-to-model is, it wasn't illegal. This way of valuing assets effectively says to banks, "Your assets/liabilities are worth whatever you think they are worth!"

The use of mark-to-model is why, right now, we are on the brink of financial ruin: banks assumed that the trash on their books was worth far more than it was, because they assumed real estate only goes up, and people don't, en masse, default on their mortgages and credit cards and cars and student loans, etc. Finally, in 2007, mark-to-model was banned; suddenly, banks had to come clean. You have seen the ruin that followed.

And mark-to-model, friends, is what the government has just decided it should reintroduce. The market has gained massively on the news, because it has just been told that the doors to Fantasyland have been reopened. And when you stick your head in the sand, every day looks like a day at the beach!

Many people have ridiculed "mark-to-model" as "mark-to-myth" or "mark-to-make-believe." And mark-to-my-words: this is a sucker's rally. It cannot sustain. Maybe we squeeze a few more months of life out of the market. Maybe even a couple of years. But all we are doing is delaying the inevitable, and when the crash comes, it will be even worse than if we just admitted how many banks were insolvent, and nationalized those that are NOW.

You Live in a Red State Now

Whatever happened to that other sister we had?

Kipsy, you should talk to Momcat about the deal she got for her long distance and internet. Maybe it's available in your area.

I am debating right now whether to dust off my faded pencil-written Pasticio recipe from ten years ago and see how that works with soy milk bechamel and Morning Star Farm Crumbles OR make Tuscan White Bean Soup using frozen greens. Chip will be bringing Momcats old camera over so if I looks decent (or even if it doesn't) I can try to post a picture of it.

Darn, I guess that means I need to clean off my table...

More medical news, etc.

I completed my four treatments for Meniere's disease last Thursday and went back today to check to see if there was any hearing loss as a result of the treatments. I knew there was and in fact the hearing loss is almost total and a hearing aid won't help. There is also slight loss in my right ear (normal age deterioration) so they re-programmed my now useless hearing aid for the right ear and it does help. On the drive home I noticed an odd clicking noise and realized it was the turn indicator signal.

Other news - I now have unlimited long distance on my phone (and fax) and caller id for less than I was paying on my no long distance land line. I bundled with Charter cable and pay $60 for internet, basic cable tv and the phone. I have to re-negotiate the phone cost after a year.

Will you help save the world on Saturday from 8:30 to 9:30?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/03/090326-earth-hour-2009.html

I just got a fucking ticket

All my hard work at scrimping and saving, shot to shit.

The ticket is for "Failure to Yield to a Pedestrian in a Crosswalk." I think it was a sting or something, because there were two motorcycle cops pulling people over. I never saw any pedestrian, before during or after. I was late for an appointment (or at least I was after the ticket) but I wasn't speeding or driving recklessly. In fact when she pulled in behind me, I was really surprised, because I knew I wasn't speeding, and I had just put my new registration sticker on, so I knew it wasn't that. I haven't gotten a ticket in 30 YEARS!! I was shocked when she told me what the ticket was for. I asked her for details of what had happened, and she said that the guy was headed North across the street (I was heading West) and that he had to stop to let me go past (I was in the center-most lane of a 6 lane road.) I went back to the intersection later, and couldn't see how I could have missed seeing someone in the crosswalk there. It is so frustrating, because I never saw anything!

And now I'll have to pay a fine (I'm imagining $300, but it could be higher than that, I imagine it's considered a fairly serious infraction) plus traffic school fees and charges, both to the court and to the traffic school.

I had a friend and her husband and kids visiting on Monday, and I was making brunch for them, when all of a sudden water started gushing out from underneath my sink. So her husband and I spent the whole visit replacing pipes and washers under the sink. It took a total of 4 trips to the hardware store, and about $40 worth of supplies to fix it (and I'm still futzing with it trying to get all the leaks under control) but I saved a visit from the plumber.

Two weeks ago, I had to get the windshield wipers on the van fixed. I thought I would just live with them not working, since I only use the car to go camping in the summer, and it NEVER RAINS IN CALIFORNIA, especially in the summer, but I got caught in the rain taking my roommate to the airport, and almost got myself killed trying to get off the freeway, so I figured I needed to get them fixed. I took the car in, and at first they thought it was just the switch ($300) but that didn't work, so it was the Body Control Module, which is the computer that runs everything in the dashboard ($1000.) Well, I wasn't going to pay $1000 to fix the wipers for a car worth $2500 at the most anyway, even if I COULD afford it. So I went on-line, and apparently this is a common problem with the car, there were reports from people who had had to replace it numerous times. One guy said he just unhooked the wires from the BCM and hooked them up to a toggle switch, which I thought was genius. So I called the repair place and asked if they could do that, and they said yes. I was pissed at first, because I thought, "Why didn't YOU think of that?" When I went to pick up the car, I suggested that since this was such a common problem, they should suggest this fix to everyone, and he said they couldn't do that. They can't suggest a fix that they can't warranty, but since I had suggested the toggle switch to THEM, they could do it. They also gave me 10% off the cost. It still cost $300 but it works well enough now.

I am just so dis-heartened, because I am trying so hard to cut back on everything, and it just seems like the universe is out to get me. I am about at my limit.

Yet Another Cheap Pantry Dish

Since I went out of town this weekend for a conference, I didn't stock up at GSO for my usual week of greens. Needless to say, I find myself once again with only pantry items to eat. I made our traditional Easter "family" recipe of curried eggs. I still don't have a camera to take a picture and I can't do a cost analysis like Roothy on the pantry items used but it looked very similar to our traditional favorite, was very tasty and very, very cheap.

I started some brown rice in the steamer (I added nutritional yeast and some Thai seasoning to the water to make a broth because my nephew was here and wanted some of the rice). I melted 1 Tbl of Earth Balance in a small sauce pan and added a tbl of flour to make a roux. Wisked constantly while I heated 1 cup of soy milk in the microwave (fortunately I looked at the shelf life of unopened silk on sale last time I was at GSO and bought 6 1/2 gallons). I added the milk to the roux and about a 1/2tbl or a little more curry powder and made a sauce. Last I added cubed tofu, heated thru and poured over the rice. When I make this dish not as a last minute thing, I like to saute the tofu first. You can make this much lower in fat by using less oil and 1/2 milk and 1/2 veggie broth.

I probably should now go to GSO but I'm too full.

Hustle #4--Saving at Ikea

Ikea cabinets are well-regarded by both Consumer Reports, and kitchen designers (if you ask honest ones. Mine, in fact, has them in his own kitchen.) And they are a lot cheaper than the high-end Pohgenpols and Snaideros, and a lot nicer than the standard Home Depot standards.

But you can always do even better. For instance, once year, they have a sale where if you spend enough (typically $2500), you can get 10-20% off your entire kitchen purchase. This year, there is a sale from mid-March to mid-May, where you get 10% off a $2500 kitchen purchase, 15% off with the purchase of two appliances, and 20% off with the purchase of three appliances.

But wait! There's more! When you make an Ikea purchase using a debit card, you get a coupon for 3% off your next purchase. So, go in and pick out your cabinets, and then buy a $1.29 box of cookies (vegan, even!) with your debit card. Come back the next weekend after thinking it all over, and buy your kitchen with a 3% off coupon! This is not chump change when you are spending thousands.

Finally, pick your store carefully. Different Ikeas don't differ much in terms of the items you can buy, but do differ in the tax rates for the counties they sit in. Here, I can choose one Ikea with a tax rate of 10.25%, or another at 7.5%. Again, in the dollars we are talking, that difference is very large.

Example: say I spend $5000 on stuff. Just by exploiting the "debit card" purchase trick, and choosing the lower-taxed store, I will save $311.25 versus what I otherwise would have paid. In other words, it's like getting my dishwasher for free.

We Are Now Printing Money Engaged in Quantitative Easing

I can't decide whether to be disappointed or elated about the Fed's announcement that they will be buying about a trillion dollars worth of US Treasuries and Mortgage Backed Securities. These actions, known euphemistically as "quantitative easing," are really just the modern version of printing greenbacks. A lot of 'em.

I'm disappointed for conflicting reasons. Reason #1 is that expanding the money supply leads to inflation--which is great for people who owe money, but is rotten for people like me who have no debt and save. Still, given the amount of money that is being destroyed because of the falling value of assets across the board (houses, stocks, you name it), this is the only thing the Fed can do. Indeed, it's the main lesson that we learned from the Depression: avoid a deflationary spiral at all costs. A little bit of inflation is a good thing. Even a lot of inflation is not a particularly bad thing, especially compared to deflation--which knocked this country flat on its ass for twelve years, and took a massive World War to begin to recover from. Inflation is easy to control, even if the medicine is very unpleasant. But deflation? Once it starts, it takes a miracle to stop it.

But this leads to disappointment Reason #2--a trillion dollars doesn't seem like nearly enough. This country has lost about a trillion dollars just in the value of homes, and the declines probably haven't ended yet. It seems to me like the Fed needs to print more like three trillion; anything less is pissing in the wind.

In sum: I'm still pretty scared. But I'm glad Bernanke is acting like an adult and doing what is necessary, even if it is politically unpopular.

A video tour of the deplorable state of my kitchen/dining room, what I hope to accomplish with a renovation, and how much I hope it will cost:





I just got an estimate for the pipework--undoubtedly the most expensive of the tasks--for $13,500. More than I hoped for, but less than I'd feared. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it; it would remove the pipes throughout the apartment, which are the worst feature of the place. I priced the new cabinets (Ikea, naturally) at $900. I could install them myself (because there's really only three: the dishwasher cabinet, the tiny cabs to the left of the stove, and the tall cabinet next to the fridge.) I'd pay to have the sink installed and the new counter--I'm guessing the total price would be about $1000 for that. The dishwasher and new range are kind of a wildcard--I could spend a lot ($2000), or almost nothing (maybe $200 buying used). The price to knock out the walls would be, I'm guessing, $1000. Lighting and adding a few electrical sockets, add in another $1000. Add in miscellaneous supplies like paint and wall patch for projects I'm doing myself ($250?), and the total comes to $18,000-20,000.

There are other things I'd like to do sooner rather than later. I'd like to repair my fireplace ($2-3,000); the woodwork needs a lot of attention and there's painting to be done. Eventually, I'd like to spruce up the bathroom a bit ($2000?) and improve my lighting throughout (another $2000?) It feels weird to me that when all is said and done, I will have spent about as much fixing my place up as I spent purchasing it in the first place ($42,000), but the rational part of me remembers that that is an irrelevant consideration.

What do you guys think? Any advice for me?

Where I get my greens

Ingredients:

1/4 pound organic Spring greens ($1)
1/4 English cucumber ($.25)
1/2 large avocado ($.60)
2 small tomatoes ($.50)
2-3 baby bells or 1/2 red bell pepper ($.25)
1/4 c. good quality balsamic, salt, pepper ($.10)
Total: $2.70

Sometimes, instead of avocado, I'll put in 1/4 c. garbanzoes, 1/8 c. pistachios or walnuts, 10 cured black olives, or a crumbled veggie patty. I don't put oil on the salad--the fat from the avocado (or its substitutes) is enough, and the salad is already pushing 400+ calories. None of these substitutions changes the price substantially. I buy pretty much everything from Costco. I eat a salad like this about four days a week (in other words, as long as it takes to go through the lettuce. I usually hit Costco twice a month, so I buy two one-pound containers of lettuce each time--if its pack date is fresh enough. You gotta be careful at Costco.)

Where do you get your greens?

Like most vegetarians I know, I'm worried about getting enough vegetables. Non-vegetarians are always concerned that I'm not able to get enough protein but just like the general American population I probably get too much protein. I go though more than a 1/2 gallon of soymilk, 2 14 oz packages of tofu, a loaf of whole wheat bread, pasta, tons of beans etc, etc, etc a week. What I don't eat enough of is true vegetables. (Corn and potatoes don't really count) I have finally made it a rule that I HAVE to eat a plate of collard, mustard or turnip greens a day. My favorite cheap food store, Grocery Store Outlet, always carries pre-washed bags of at least one and usually all three kinds of greens for just 1.99 a bag. I was amazed when I looked at how good they are for you. I always prepare them the same way (saute onion, garlic, then nutritional yeast and a cup of water add greens, cover, cook till done) but if get really bored I might play around with adding other things or spices. Yesterday I had mustard greens but added an orange bell pepper to the onion. It was absolutely fabulous, the sweet peppers contrasted the bitter of the greens and the savory of the NY perfectly. The day before I had turnip greens, which are my least favorite, but I added some tumeric after the greens had been cooking a while and then some leftover cubed tofu. It looked like that indian dish with spinach and paneer cheese and was delicious. The tofu absorbed a good portion of the the broth and softened the bite of the turnip greens. I'm definately going to start experimenting more, especially since I could then count the first as THREE servings of vegetables and the second as a complete meal. Unfortunately, greens are a real hard sell to most people and an aquired taste so I doubt I'll win over any converts with my exciting recipes.

Next, I'm going to work on getting a variety of veggies into my diet on a DAILY basis.

Kitchen Rehab Dilemma

So for years--years--I have been planning to fix my kitchen. It's really in an appalling state. I've always planned on doing the work myself, and it's just plain not getting done. The alternative is to pay to have someone do it for me. The difference would probably be on the order of: less than $5000, versus probably more like $15,000. Yes, I should do it myself and save $10,000. But it's been 12 years. Realistically, I'm never, ever going to do it.

What should I do? Help!

Car Trouble

I'm glad to see this blog has come back to life!

As you may recall, I had budgeted $500 for the year for my lousy 2001 Toyota Prius. As is usual, the thing has let me down badly. I got the Terrifying Exclamation Point in Triangle light, and took it into the dealership. They quoted me well over $3000 to fix an incredibly long list of ailments--including YET ANOTHER "computer" at around $800 for the part. (The last one went bad two years ago--naturally, they only offer a one-year warranty.) I complained--heartily--and demanded they file a "claim" with Toyota, as the car has needed, not including usual maintenance items like brakes/rotors, tires, oil changes, tune-ups, multiple $250 batteries and the like, well over $15,000 in full-on repairs in the time I have owned it (six years).

The transmission alone was a $10,000 fix. Keep in mind that the Prius transmission is not like other fidgety and breakable hydraulic transmissions. The Prius transmission, which is far more impressive than their hybrid battery, should outlast us all. If it breaks, it is because it is a design defect or a manufacturing defect--and indeed, in my trials and tribulations with the tranny, I found many Gen 1 Prius owners with catastrophic failures of their transmission. After a full month with no car and about forty hours of my time (including several costly fed-exes), Toyota did me the "kindness" of agreeing to replace the transmission for a mere $2500. God bless 'em.

Anyway, after complaining to the dealership about the latest $3000+ worth of insults, they said they'd get back to me. They didn't, and now they aren't even returning my calls. (I am thinking of stopping payment on the $98 "diagnositic" fee I paid them.) I took the car to my favorite nondealership fix-it place, and he repaired everything for $2000--though he didn't, and can't, touch the "computer." (Why the big difference? Just as one example: the dealership claimed the CV boot was "torn"--cost to replace, about $250. My guy said a simple bracket had come loose instead. Cost to replace, about $15.)

So I'm way, way off budget for car repairs now. It's still cheaper to fix than buy another car, of course, but it makes my eyes water to keep paying and paying on this lemon. Toyota's short sightedness is really remarkable. I've had numerous people ask me about whether they should buy a Prius, because with my long-term ownership, I'm in a good position to report on reliability and costs. I have always simply told the truth: that things--expensive things--go wrong with it with frightening regularity, and it is never less than an ordeal to deal with Toyota. I know that I will never, ever buy from Toyota again. And I know that at least two friends who had been thisclose to buying a Prius changed their minds based on my experiences.

More Medical News

I had the first of four treatments for my Meniere's disease this afternoon. It really wasn't too bad - the worst part was having to lie still for 20 minutes afterward - it was more like 45 minutes because the nurse forgot me! The four treatments are given over two weeks and then we wait and see if I need any further sessions. The doctor is going slow in order to preserve what hearing I have in my left ear. At this point I would gladly sacrifice the hearing in order not to have any more vertigo episodes.

The trip to Egypt and Jordan was great and I am glad I went because the older I get the less likely I am to be able to travel let alone survive 16 hour plane rides. My three half days with Ben were the highlight. Every one knew Dr. Ben and were only too happy to show us around their particular dig or site. I got to see the Queen's tomb (a pyramid) which was only discovered 6 weeks ago - and a dentist's tomb that was found nearby. I also spent 2+ hours in the Cairo museum with Ben showing me (and explaining) the best items. The museum is a hodge podge, badly lit with sparse explanations. I had spent 2 1/2 hours with our tour group and still only touched the surface. I had studied a catalogue before I went so I knew pretty much what I wanted to see. A portion of the King Tut stuff was in Dallas and I had been to see it before I left also.

Petra was the site to see in Jordan. Unfortunately the horse and cart Edie and I rode in collapsed after a few feet - falling over and hurting Edie's leg and I bumped my head and knee. The horse got up after a few minutes and seemed okay. Edie went off to the hospital but I went on in another cart - fearing another collapse every minute. Not as great as the pyramids but definitely worth the trip.

I am putting together my pictures, brochures, postcards etc. and it should be a hefty tome. I bought very few souvenirs - trying to be a good cheap sister - and I don't have room for more stuff. I bought a galabeya (dress), stone necklace, papyrus scarab painting, enamel frog and tons of postcards. I never saw any scarab bracelets like mine and everyone wanted to know where I got mine.

I'm glad to be back. I will write more as things occur to me.

February Cheap Update

Well I only spent @ 500 less than I made in February. I lost the sheet of paper where I had the exact figures but I think that's about right. I did look at my spending and realized that about 200 of the 500 was unnecessary things like a couple of lunches out and a few trips to Safeway because I was too lazy or forgot my lunch. I also spent a bit on dinner ingredients for a trip to Bonny Doone that I wouldn't otherwise have done. (I made Cincinnati Chili Mac from one of Nava Atlas' cookbooks, really good) I also went to Saver's twice and spent about 100 on both trips on clothes I didn't need that was definately unnecessary.

Other than that I did stick to my "pantry" diet with the only exception of fresh greens and soy milk. I checked out a library book called "The Tropical Vegan Kitchen" and cooked a delicious Cuban Black Bean soup for [M]'s birthday that was fantastic. I had traded with Chip for 2 cans of refried beans for 2 cans of diced tomatoes so I wouldn't have to go to the store. (I'm making that count as "eat from the pantry" even if it's someone else's pantry) The recipe called for black refried beans which I have 3 or 4 cans of and needed to get disapeared, a can of coconut milk, the afore mentioned diced tomatoes and cilantro, (I substituted oregeno). It also called for vegatable broth but water worked fine and I added 1/2 onion and a can of corn (which I also needed to get rid of). It was even better the next day. Anyway, this book just came out and you guys should check it out at your library. I am especially looking forward to trying some of the Thai dishes.

I'm A Bad Blogger

I don't have a handheld devise to get online. I have to use my super slow dial-up when I can squeeze out a couple of minutes of computer time at home. I haven't been good about my resolutions either. I started putting on weight when I cut out Diet Coke because I snacked instead. So I'm back off the wagon (or is it on? I can never remember). I keep the plastic bottles and recycle them and I drink from cans at home. I do try to cut back.

For lent this year I gave up sweets and TV. I also do Wild Wednesdays where I only eat things that come from the earth directly (fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds) on Wednesday. Nothing processed - no bread or grains since I wouldn't eat a grain that hasn't had something done to it. It's only been a week and a half, but so far so good. I'm on Spring Break this next week. Yay! Rabies shots for all the animals since I will actually have time to take them!

I am dog tired. I got back from Houston last night about midnight and THEN lost an hour from the time change. I skipped Sunday school this morning, but I had to sing in choir at church. I brought a black belt home with me from Houston, though. :-)

Canned vs Dried Beans

Back to the original intent of the blog...

I am in love with my pressure cooker for cooking dried beans. I get home from work at 6:30 and can have a side of beans ready to eat by 6:45 or a bean soup or main dish by 7:00 (I don't bother soaking though). I prefer the taste and texture of cooked dried beans, they are less mushy and healthier because I tend to use a lot less salt than canned. It is also MUCH cheaper! A 16 oz bag of black beans costs .99 cents and makes 12 servings vs the same amount for a can of black beans that makes about 3.5 servings. (These are Grocery Store Outlet prices) There is less waste; 3-4 empty cans vs 1 single plastic bag that also makes a handy doggie poop bag. Dried beans also take up less space in my cupboard. And did I mention they taste better?

I haven't been as successful making other things, namely grains that are supposed to be much easier with a pressure cooker but then I haven't tried much. Maybe that can be a March project.

Medical Problem Solved

After having a vertigo attack last Saturday (while driving) I went to see an ENT doc who referred me to an ear specialist who was able to see me yesterday.

It turns out I have Meniere's Disease - an inner ear problem related to my vertigo and sudden hearing loss in my left ear. The disease is incurable, but the symptoms can be treated sometimes. Treatment cannot begin until I return from Egypt, but the ear doctor said I might as well go on my trip and just live with any attacks I have. He will inject antibiotics in the ear when I am tired of the attacks and want to try treatment.

good website is http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/balance/meniere.asp

Ben is already in Egypt and has sent me his cell phone number. He will be our guide in Luxor and has planned some great stuff for us (or just me depending) in Cairo too. I have been packed for a week and thought I might have to cancel at the last minute. I think the stress has probably added to the disease. It is not hereditary - due to some trauma to my ear or a virus.

So, don't expect to hear from me until March 7.

Lead in Toys Imported from China

I don't know how to do the links like Roothy but this was in yesterday's San Jose Mercury News. After you read it look at my comment about it... (sorry I'm making our blog look stupid because I'm internet UNsavvy)

Librarians relieved that most children's books exempted from new lead law
By Suzanne BohanOakland Tribune
Posted: 02/09/2009 06:39:34 PM PST

Libraries are the latest organizations to win relief from a tough new federal law taking effect today that all but bans lead in children's products.
On Friday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission exempted children's books printed after 1985 from the new law's enforcement provisions, which allow fines of as much as $100,000 per violation for selling or distributing products that contain more than 600 parts per million of lead intended for use by children 12 and younger.
"We're jubilant," said Barbara Roberts, president of the California Library Association on Monday. Before the exemption, Roberts said libraries across the nation faced the prospect of closing their children's sections and discarding thousands of books from their collections.
Roberts added that she was bewildered that lawmakers would pass a law with such broad reach "without thinking of the ramifications in the field."
Like many libraries hoping for a last-minute reprieve, the Oakland Public Library monitored the situation without taking action, citing the "enormity of the process," said Diane Satchwell, administrative librarian for policy and strategic planning with the Oakland library.
The new law, called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, heralds the most sweeping change in consumer product safety law in decades. It aims to protect children from lead, which at any level of exposure is deemed a threat to the developing neurological system. The law
also limits the amount of phthalates, a chemical used in plastics, to 0.1 percent in children's products.
But Jennifer Baker, library director with the St. Helena Public Library in Napa Valley, said the law still puts off limits to children rare, older books. She said one library at which she worked kept a collection of Mother Goose books from the early 1900s, while others retain original copies of old classics, like those from the Nancy Drew or Tom Swift series, she said.

The Truth Will Out

I know I've been delivering up a lot of disaster porn lately. I know a lot of it is hard to take; maybe even a little hard to believe. But I've just learned something that explains everything that has happened in our economy over the last few months. Seriously, it is all perfectly clear now.

And the truth is terrifying.

Click at your own risk; not for the squeamish.

Remember TARP I?

When Paulson got on his knees before Nancy Pelosi, to literally beg for her help in getting Congress to pass the bailout? Ever wondered what Paulson and Bernanke told Bush for him to (stupidly) announce on television, "This sucker's going down"? I know I sure have. Well, one of the Congressmen involved in the negotiations finally spilled the beans:

"Over a period of an hour or two, there was a "tremendous draw-down of money market accounts in the United States, to the tune of $550 billion dollars. ... The Treasury opened its window to help. They pumped a hundred and five billion dollars into the system and quickly realized that they could not stem the tide. We were having an electronic run on the banks. They decided to close the operation, close down the money accounts, and announce a guarantee of $250,000 per account so there wouldn't be further panic and there. And that's what actually happened. If they had not done that their estimation was that by two o'clock that afternoon, five-and-a-half trillion dollars would have been drawn out of the money market system of the United States, would have collapsed the entire economy of the United States, and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed."





"It would have been the end of our political system and our economic systems as we know it."

Well, guess it has to happen sooner or later.

Another Economic Bellwether

During tough times library usage increases and I am really seeing that at my library. We have an intra-county system where you can borrow or place holds on any material and at any library in the county (county library or city owned library) and return it and our central sorting will send it back to the right library. Since my office is up at county central I can see how many bins the sorters have to go through and deliver each day. In the last 6 months the bins have almost doubled. In the morning when I come in I can barely make it to my desk because of all the gray bins and that's with reduced book buying. As far as jobs go, my library position is pretty secure. I may start to see a tougher time getting the money to buy all the outreach give away books and materials than I've gotten used to but at least my paycheck is secure. Worse case scenario is they'd send me to one of the branches (and I am making SURE the branches like me by offering to cover other peoples story times and giving away lots of Saturday's for outreach events).

That said I am still worrying. I am thinking of looking for a second, very part-time job. Just in case.

I'm Here!!!!

I'm kind of chicken to post on my work computer (although I've done it once or twice). One time I did it, and it didn't show up. That was SUPER annoying! I've been working soccer games about 4 times per week. I still have tae kwon do classes to attend and sing in the choir at church (and UMW on the first Wednesday of the month). I don't get online at home much. I'm doing well to keep up with laundry and the dirty dishes. Things will slow down mid-march. A little.

I kept a spending journal last month, but I haven't analyzed it. When I do, I'll post anything I find interesting there. For the first time in my 6 years as a school counselor, my campus celebrated National School Counselor Week. I got a card which people signed and wrote nice things on, and they got me a $25 gift card to JoAnn's. It's so nice to be somewhere I fit in and am appreciated.

Since I can't comment from home, here are all my comments from various posts:

Uncle Sam, another good way to get rid of unwanted pantry items is to donate them to your local food bank. I bought some black beans that were the same brand where someone found a rat's head in a can of their green beans, so I decided I didn't want those beans. I took them to the food bank. The TV said it was a fluke and that brand is OK, but I just couldn't bring myself to open one up.

Momcat, it freaks me out that my cholesterol isn't a whole lot lower than yours (who eats white bread, butter, and cheese). My ratio was a lot better, but my overall is 183 and my HDL is 72. I'd like to know what the other sisters' numbers are like. It will be interesting to see if cutting back on protein will improve my numbers.

Roothy, the dental hygenist I go to says my teeth are in exceptional shape and she credits the Sonic Care for that - so splurge away. You'll save money in the long run by protecting your oral health (since it appears we got crappy cardiovascular genes and will need extra money to keep our arteries clear).

As far as the economy goes, I know my personal retirement accounts have lost money, but I just live on the hope that the stock market has these dips periodically, but that the overall trend has always been up. I should be able to count on my teacher retirement. The other accounts are just extra for me. Worst case - I have to continue to work well into my 60's instead of retiring in my late 50's or early 60's.
(I just had to edit my post because I misspelled school!)

Rebooting the Economy

Found this online, thought it was very funny:

kernel panic detected in worldcrisis.sys

C:>del financial.sys

Can't delete, corrupted file

Please insert *.* cash into system

C:> run TARP_01.exe

Can't reload ponzi_scheme.sys, cash.tmp not found

C:> run TARP_02.exe

Can't reload ponzi_scheme.sys, cash.tmp not found

C:> restore economy.sys

fatal error- File is corrupted or missing

C:> reformat /S

Can't reformat obsolete system... Please upgrade to economy 2.0

Salmonella Poisonings

I was just reading about the peanut butter plant in Virginia. Reports are coming out from past inspections and ex-employees that the plant was known for being filthy. I'm expecting that we may also eventually hear about some kind of pay-off from the family owned company to the inspectors or some other egregious misdoings. In China they sentenced 2 or 3 dairy company executives to death for the 3 deaths in China from melamine added to artificially increase the protein of baby formula. So far 8 people have died from the peanut butter/salmonella in the US. Do you suppose any of the owners of this peanut plant are going to do so much as community service for this?

Lab Report

I want to brag about my lab report re cholesterol.

12/5/07 Overall 223 HDL 56 LDL 143

1/20/09 Overall 218, still high BUT HDL 71 and LDL 118 and the ratio is 3.1

It is either exercise or Niacin, the only changes since the first results.

I am eating yogurt daily to cleanse my intestines of bacteria so I won't get sick on my trip. I read about this in a Consumers Report health newsletter.

January Savings

I deposited a little over $2,000 than I spent in January. This was definately helped by the fact that there were 3 pay periods in January but I also paid the big X-Mas bill this month too. Next month should give me a truer picture of what I can really save following my "buy nothing new and only if you really need it year".

I still have a ways to go on emptying everything in my pantry and fridge but I can now see the back of the top shelf of my freezer. I vow to continue my quest to "eat from the pantry" one more month with the single addition of soy milk & vegetables.

I did not go to the Y at all in January so according to my rules I am supposed to drop it. I am going to give myself one more week on that one and if I don't go it's history. I am also going to drop Netflix. I keep the same 3 DVDs for over a month. That's another one where I really like the company so I want to support them but they will just have to do without my $26 bucks a month.

Costco Coupons!

Does anyone else look forward to getting her Costco coupons in the mail, wanting to sing like the town waiting for the Wells Fargo Wagon in the Music Man?



I wait and wait and wait to refill staples, because I just know that the coupons are going to come and I'll regret it if I buy now. I really hit the goldmine with today's batch: toothbrushes, cat litter, cetaphil cleanser, jet dry, V-8, new pillows for my guest room. I'm bummed, though, that a couple of months ago I broke down and bought a bunch of stuff for which I now have useless coupons: ziplocs, tooth floss, and worst of all, contact lenses ($20 off, dammit!)

What do you hold off buying until a coupon comes along, if anything?

So, what's the difference between a recession and a depression?

It's like the government wants to deny how bad things are, so they just call it a 'recession'. And it took them forever to officially acknowledge it was even a recession.

I have never seen generalized pessimism like this ever before, even after the dot-com bust.

I was reading in the paper about how economists are decrying the fact that people are saving more now than they were before (over 2%, when it was less than 1% about a year ago.) That means we aren't spending, so the economy is not recovering. It's as if the economists hope that we can somehow resurrect the 'old economy' by doing the same old things and everything will come up roses.

Blogs like this, discussing how to live as cheaply as possible, will be considered un-patriotic and banned.

I guess that will take care of the 'dead blog' argument.

Blog

I am proclaiming this blog legally dead. Time of death = last post by someone other than me, well over a week ago.

I'll start posting again if you guys do. Otherwise, I guess we had a pretty good run of about a month. Longer than most blogs last, anyway.

Double Plus Good GDP

The newspapers are crowing that the GDP is better than expected; we "only" dropped 3.8% instead of the forecast 5+%.

Unfortunately, this is because the agency that released the numbers counted unsold inventory as "growth." Think about that: that means that if a company increased its output of widgets by 20% but wasn't able to sell them, and instead has them languishing on warehouse shelves, gathering dust and carrying costs, and might eventually have to sell them at a steep loss to get them out the door, then we count that increased output as "growth."

I think I'm going to write myself a check for $20,000 today, and crow about how I just got a raise.

Naturally, as soon as you exclude that stagnant inventory from the GDP estimates, we contracted at a rate of... 5.1%.

We are through the looking glass.

Here's a picture of Milkie, for those who haven't met her.

This Weekend

Watch your headlines, ma famille--this is Obama's first weekend. Most of the interesting and most aggressive fiscal/monetary/macroeconomic activities happen between Friday close-of-business and Sunday evening before the Asian stock markets open.

I predict (or at least hope for) big things for this weekend.

Being Bad Feels So Good

AnnRichards was visiting me over the new year, and I was hemming a new pair of jeans I bought at Costco. The jeans were Sevens, and I paid way, way too much money for them. (Okay, fine, confessional is open: they were $115, before tax.) As I worked, I mused to AnnRichards about how I was really developing rich people's tastes. He laughed in my face, saying, "You are sitting there, hemming your own jeans, that you bought at COSTCO, and you are telling me you are developing rich people's tastes?"

I guess he had a point.

But not really. My taste in jeans has become almost irretrievably fancypants (so to speak). I have already confessed to you guys my taste for expensive sunscreen and my absolute refusal to clean my own bathtub. Sure, sure, when I overpay for an item that I really don't need, that I simply want because I enjoy the luxury, I do try to get the best price possible. So those $115 jeans would have cost me $250 at Macy's. But hell, I know that $15 Target jeans (or $10 used one) would have served the purpose just as well.

So what are your unnecessary luxuries? I know for Momcat one is new clothes purchased at places like Talbots. For her, UncleSam and Kipsy, it is buying cars new instead of used. I don't know what it is for Chip. And I know there are more for all of you. The question is: what do you spend on? Come up with all the lame rationalizations you like ("But they fit so well, and they last so much longer!"), but come clean.

Health Issues etc.

I have not submitted a blog for some time because I was dealing with health issues and didn't want to send out information until I had a complete picture. Shortly after Christmas I had what seemed to be a period. I went to the doctor and she took an endometrial biopsy and did a sonogram. The results of the biopsy led her to do another test to rule out ovarian cancer - which came back negative for cancer but still not completely clear, so I am going to have a CT scan when I get back from Egypt.

The blood was the disintegration of a polyp which I have had before. My cholesterol is back down as low as it was in 2003 (218) so I guess the Niacin, flax seed oil and exercise are working.

Meanwhile I am cramming on Egyptology and learning about Jordan - which lies just south of the Gaza strip. The cruise company sent a letter saying we are perfectly safe. (right) I leave on Feb. 14 and return March 6. I am traveling with Edie Jones (Heil) and expect to have a grand time.

I can't compete in the recipe department. I am taking rolls to my potluck dinner Saturday night. I am cutting way back on my buying - except I splurged on a scarab bracelet at the Tut exhibit in Dallas. I organized a train trip, lunch at the museum and half-price tickets for the exhibit for my Wednesday lunch buddies. The lunch was the highlight; they have not let the best Tut goodies out of Egypt this time. I will see them in Cairo! I am only buying clearance half-price books and am reading a novel a week or more. Nothing on TV except Lost.

I passed up an opportunity to go to our local Dems inaugural ball because it cost $50, but my friend Ann's husband was sick and she offered to take me. There were 1,000 decked out in their finest at the Hilton hotel - historic and exciting. I even got a vegetarian meal, squash raviolis. I had watched the swearing in and Obama's speech in the doctor's full office, and I was the ONLY ONE watching. Did you notice he mentioned the nonbelievers? There were 11 from my church in attendance at the ball.

It's a good thing I have been saving money because I just found out that USAA has not been redistributing my IRAs since I turned 70 and a half. They said there was a problem with how I filled out the request form and they couldn't reach me by phone so they just didn't do anything. There is a huge penalty for not complying but my tax man says there is a 20% chance I will get by without penalty. If I am charged, USAA is going to get a very nasty letter and a demand that they pay the fee.

Speaking of fees, I got 2 tickets for supposedly going through a red light. You can clearly see in the photos that I have turned right and not gone through the light. I get my day in court next Wednesday. I may ask them for damages for my time and suffering.