Net Neutrality via Wikipedia:

Network neutrality (also net neutrality, Internet neutrality) is a principle proposed for user access networks participating in the Internet that advocates no restrictions by Internet Service Providers and governments on content, sites, platforms, on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and no restrictions on the modes of communication allowed.

From http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~raylin/whatisnetneutrality.htm

Simply put, net neutrality is a network design paradigm that argues for broadband network providers to be completely detached from what information is sent over their networks.

This basically means that the internet should remain as it is…the wild wild west: No laws, no rules, free speech. OK, that’s cool. So why is this being threatened and why do you have to worry about it?

We all know that corporations have way too much power as it is. They tell legislators what to do, they tell me what to buy. That’s all good and well, until they begin controlling the media as we’ve seen with FOX News. When you have a corporation telling you their version of a story (and only their version), you’re never sure what the truth is. In America, we tend to think there are two sides of every story. Right? At least I do. So what happens when mega-corporations band together and control the internet? They decide what you should see, hear, and how fast you should get it. But wait, don’t they already do that? Yes, some sights do and they control the content of their sites. What this could mean is that they control the content of all the sites. When you search for something on Google, Google will decide what it wants you to see. OK wait, but doesn’t Google already decide what it wants me to see? Yes. Google filters it’s search results in order to give you the information it thinks you want. It’s a pretty smart engine and but as far as I know, it’s not telling me what pages I can and cannot look at.

This could also mean that sites hosted by say, Verizon, would load faster than sites hosted with No Name Brand X. Why does this matter? For one, it’s stupid. Why should Verizon sites get the upper hand? Shouldn’t all sites load the same no matter who owns them? All sites should be equal in the eyes of the internet. This would also mean that bigger, more powerful companies make the rules. They decide, not you. It means that whatever Verizon or Google want you see, is what you will see. It could potentially mean that smaller search engine companies will be forced out of business.

Let’s say there’s a car race between two companies. Verizon, in this example, owns the race track and also own the cars being used in the race. Verizon, will obviously give their drivers a faster, better car. They might also tell their drivers what hazards the track poses and that you can only make 2 pit stops (I don’t actually know car races, so bear with me). Brand X, doesn’t have a choice. They’re given a Pinto and aren’t told the rules of the game. Verizon wins the race. Seems unfair, right? Well, duh. In this scenario, people watching the race won’t know Verizon had the upper hand and believe them to be a superior company, buying their services and products, while Brand X, looks like an idiot as his Pinto smokes to a finish 3 hours later.

That might have been a stupid example, but it basically means this: Corporations should not be able to buy the upper hand. The internet should be fair and everyone should have the same rules and access. What if the library told you which books you could check out? Right now, if you wanted to, you could start your own web hosting company from your bedroom and might do some nice business in your town. With these new rules allowing corporations carte blanche, you wouldn’t stand a chance. Right now, you can blog whatever you want, post videos of your cat dancing, watch porn, read news, and access whatever sites you want, even sites from competing companies. Say Verizon is allowed to do whatever it wants. They wouldn’t want you looking at AT&T’s site, so they’d make it load slower, put up road blocks, and ensure that the search engines always lead you to them.

Hmmm. Who else controls what the people read, see, and hear? Ummm, North Korea? If you want to know what no Net Neutrality really means, read 1984. How far can companies go? Do we really want to find out?

Here’s an even simpler way of putting it:

So many problem arise in this country because people sit on their asses and don’t speak up. We lose our rights and freedoms in small enough chunks that most people don’t notice until one day they’re all gone. Net Neutrality is just one scenario. You need to know about it, you need to get involved. That is, unless you want the corporations telling you how to live your life.

Save the Internet
http://www.savetheinternet.com/

Sen. Franken: Stop the Corporate Takeover of the Media

Oh wait. That article is almost 30 years old. It came on the back of a youth magazine that AJB’s friend sent him because it had Epcot articles in it. Oh, so GM isn’t leading the charge? 30 years ago? That was the early 80’s, right? Bummer.

When I first saw that ad, I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. The car companies wanted alternative fuel – for whatever reason, they wanted it. They told us about it and had every intention of doing it. So what happened? My guess is that the oil companies wouldn’t hear of it. Enough said, so long alternative fuel. What boggles the mind is that it’s taken 30 years or more to finally get alternative energy to the people. 30 years! The oil companies have the government and the car companies by the gonads and whenever anyone talks about getting off oil, they squeeze pretty tight.

Try, for a minute, to imagine what the world would have been like had GM actually started providing alternative fuel cars in 1982. Other car companies would have followed. No Exxon Valdez, no Mexican Gulf Spill, and NO WARS! Our air would be pretty damned clean, because think of this: You’re just hopping on board the Green Train. Imagine if your parents hopped on 30 years ago and you were raised to care for the environment. What if recycling was easy in every community because everyone did it and city governments provided simple options? What if everyone composted and people grew their own vegetables? What if people en masse saw the future and realized we could actually halt global warming? People would be healthier. In general, people would have a healthier outlook towards life and wouldn’t need every shaky leg syndrome pill on the market – which eventually causes colitis or anal leakage. Diabetes would be unheard of. Autism, cancer, and AIDS would be non-existent. People would sing and dance in the streets! Places like Wal-Mart and Target might not exist because we only bought what we needed. This would mean that credit card debt would be low and people could afford to see the world they’re saving. Everyone would have solar panels. Our health care system would be free because people wouldn’t be sick all the time and the government knows it’s OK to provide free services that not everyone uses. McDonald’s would have introduced the Veggie Burger in 1986 and people would own cows instead of eating them.

I could go on an on. It’s easy to imagine a utopia based on the eradication of oil 30 years ago. Let’s face it, human beings are human beings and it probably wouldn’t have solved every problem, but it certainly would have helped. The fact that it’s taken the Green Movement 30 years to become part of the 1st world lexicon is staggering. It might have caught on sooner and the world might not be perfect, but it might be a nicer place to live, anyway.

It bums me out that the oil companies squelched these innovations so early on. I wish I knew what really happened and why it took the car companies 30 years to release a hybrid, which is basically just a half-ass compromise. Hybrids still run on gas; albeit less. Realize, it’s really only been the last couple of years that people are starting to become aware of these problems. Just 5 years ago, the word eco-friendly didn’t really exist.

Good news: It isn’t too late. You and your family can change the way you live and make new choices. Think about the world you’re leaving to your grandchildren. Granted, it’s so much easier not to care. One of the common arguments I’ve heard over the years has been “By the time the Earth is totally fucked, I’ll be dead” or “We can’t destroy the Earth, it’s been here for billions of years! It’ll survive long after we’re gone“. True indeed. True indeed. So why then is it important to care for the planet? It’s true that Planet Earth will be here long after we’re gone and the sickly world that Phillip K. Dick wrote about in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (AKA Blade Runner) is pretty far off. The time when the air is so thick with chemicals that human beings cannot breathe it is surely down the road.

I suppose the point is that we, this generation, are stewards of this world we inhabit. We live here now and it’s our job not to fuck it up for future generations. I’ll never meet future generations, what do I care? I have step-kids now and I care about the air their children breathe and the food they eat. Even before step-kids, I knew one thing: I didn’t want to be part of the problem. Naturally, we’re not just screwing up the environment for our nameless grandchildren. The problem is already here, as proved by the Gulf Spill. We’re seeing the world become noxious in our time, our food is poisoned and our water is undrinkable.

Ramble ramble ramble. You know what to do and if you don’t, get in touch. I’ll help.

About a year ago, the veil of coffee consumerism lifted when I realized how many paper and plastic coffee cups I was sending to the landfills. I made it my mission to find a reusable cup I could take to the coffee house with me. It wasn’t easy. I’d heard rumors about Starbucks releasing a plastic iced coffee drink that looked like the ones they give you in their stores; you know with the printing, logo and green straw? I searched high and low, calling stores, and keeping my eyes out. No dice. Note: At the time, no one else was making resuable cold coffee cups. Finally, I found several sellers on eBay that were selling them at double the price. Starbucks said they sold them during the Summer, but sold out almost as soon as they put them on the shelves. Desperate to stop sending hundreds of cups to the dump, I bought one of the high priced ones on eBay. About a week later, various Starbucks stores had them in stock. Oh well. I bought another one just as a back up. About a month after that, I was in Bed Bath and Beyond and saw a company called Copco had come out with their own versions of reusable coffee house to-go cups. They have hot cups and cold cups. I bought a hot cup and I love it.

If you buy coffee from a brick and mortar store everyday, that’s 365 cups (that don’t biodegrade) being sent to the dump. That’s just you! Think about all the millions of people all over the world who buy Starbucks everyday on their way to work, at lunch, or even just a couple of times per month. My brain doesn’t like that kind of math, but I can tell you, it’s a lot. A campaign has begun where consumers are asking Starbucks to start using compostable or biodegradable cups. At the moment, their cups are recyclable, but if you walk by any trash can in their stores, you’ll see a lot of people don’t bother to recycle them.

That said, the only solution is to buy a reusable cup. I love mine and getting used to bringing my own cup wasn’t as hard as I thought. Sure, once or twice I had to turn the car around because I forgot it, but these days, I never do. I have one for cold drinks in Summer and another for hot drinks in Winter. The best part is, I’ve relieved a healthy portion of eco-guilt from my shoulders. Feels pretty good.

As for Starbucks in general, used to be I never went there and hated everything they stood for. I had various local favorites which have gone by the wayside and for a brief time, was forced into the corporate embrace of Starbucks. We’ve recently discovered an old favorite in Altadena that we stopped going to because they didn’t accept credit cards or ATM. They do now. Furthermore, their outdoor tables are shaded and despite the traffic on Lake Ave., it’s a rather comfortable little joint that keeps getting better. It’s a total hippie hang out and the crowd is a whole mess of alright. Coffee’s not bad either. I’m really happy not to be a Starbucks patron anymore.

You may not have the same icky feelings about Starbucks that I have, but do your conscience and the Earth a favor, buy a resuable coffee cup and take it with you every time.

Copco To Go Cup
Bonus: They come in different colors. They’re approximately 16 ounces which translates into a “medium” or “grande”.

When I remind myself of all the things that are going on, it’s no wonder I’m tired all the time. The good news is I have my loving husband around, who despite any irrational girl behavior I might display, loves me and comforts me. He’s a pretty sweet guy and I am so lucky to have him in my life. He really is the only guy who could handle my craziness – he handles it so well, I should probably marry him…oh wait.

Oh, did I mention the car crash? About 2 weeks ago, I was driving the kids to their mom’s house when all of a sudden….BAM! Crashed. The kids were fine, but I got a nice case of whiplash and slammed my chest into the steering wheel. The bags didn’t go off because we weren’t going fast enough. Regardless, the car is totaled. I’ve currently got a rental and am doing my research for a hybrid. What’s funny about the crash is that just a few days prior, I wrote a blog post about not wanting to drive so much, about how I was riding my bike more. Suddenly, no car. Makes you wonder. I’m not saying I did it on purpose, but it’s a strange coincidence. It’s great for the environment not having a car, but I still need one. I have to work and buy groceries. The good news is, our insurance company is paying me fair market value for the car and it’ll be a good down payment on a used Prius or something.

As for the Prius, ok, look, I know douche bags drive them. Ok, so maybe they’re not douche bags, but they’re those hippies – the ones that replaced yuppies with their designer-eco-friendly clothes, making above average income, drinking 2% lattes, and bragging about their recycling bins, converting to veganism, doing Yoga, and taking all the good parking at the farmer’s market. I know, it sounds a lot like me. I just hope I’m cooler than that. Oh wait, I’ve got it! I shall call them Eco-Yuppies! I’m a genius. Remember, you heard it here first. Alright, so since I married AJB I’m kind of an eco-yuppie myself, but only by default and not really by choice. Part of that label comes from this house and this neighborhood. This whitey white neighborhood, where sure, everyone is nice, but they’re rich and they know it, it’s a bit too Stepford for me. If this is the Stepford Wives, I’m Joanna Eberhart – aw shit, she was a photographer too. Damn. Good thing I never answered that “Ladies Who Lunch” invitation. I take two steps and I’m in the golf course. I can’t wait to move. I grew up in a neighborhood with one tree and that fell over one day in an amazing crash. Then? No more trees. The kind of street where Dads egged their kids on in fights, where if you weren’t friends with the gang-bangers, you were asking for trouble. I hated it. I don’t fit in with high-society and I certainly don’t fit in with low-society. I’m looking for a happy medium.

I kind of trailed off at the end there. That about catches us up.

What is Delicious Healthy Soda? It’s soda, made in your very own kitchen with several basic ingredients. DHS, as we’ll call it, is apparently how the old timee peoples of yore made sodas. Alright, so I don’t know the history of it, but all you need to know is that it’s made at home, it’s easy to make, and it’s about a thousand times better for you than regular soda. Does it have carbonation? Yes. Yes it does.

The big question is, why make soda when you can just buy it? That’s a silly question, but read “8 Ways Soda Fizzles Your Health” Besides the 8 reasons given in the link, anything made at home is always better for you and the environment. It’s a win/win situation. It’s also fun.

For a long time, I’ve worried about the health and teeth of my husband and family at the hands of disastrous sodas. But sodas are GOOD! Yes. Yes they are. I used to be a hard-core Pepsi fiend. I used to drink more Pepsi than water and a 24 pack was always on my shopping list. Then I began learning how bad it is for you so I chose to abstain from it. It wasn’t easy, but the more I thought about it, the more I began to hate store brand soda. Furthermore, as I got older, I realized that getting old sucks…why make things worse? Why be old and sick? Isn’t it bad enough being old? Sure it is. I figure, maybe it’s not about living forever, but living well in the time you have. Besides, being healthy is pretty great. There’s no quick fix and it’s a long journey to toss aside the bad habits we grew up with. We must unlearn what we have learned. Part of that involves doing things like making Delicious Healthy Soda. It’s a small thing you can do at home, improve your health, make the world a better place by not buying from huge corporations that destroy the planet, and like I said, it’s fun. The best part is, you get to drink sodas without actually drinking sodas!

Delicious Healthy Sodas are made from several basic ingredients: Ginger, water, sugar, and fruit. Wait! Sugar? I thought you said sugar was bad!? Yes, but you need to start by making the soda culture, which is a living micro-organism that consumes the sugar so you’re actually getting very little sugar. Wait! It’s alive? I’m making a living thing and then I’m going to drink it? What the hell? It’s bacteria, like in yogurt. Good bacteria that your body needs to stay fit. Read more about lacto-fermentation here. If you’re grossed out by eating living organisms such as those found in any yogurt, then perhaps Delicious Healthy Sodas aren’t for you, but they should be and you should get over it.

It takes 2 weeks to create Delicious Healthy Sodas. 2 weeks?!! I don’t have that kind of time! Yes you do. It takes very little time to care for the soda culture and you only need to hassle with it twice a day – once in the morning and once at night. I tend to it as I’m making my morning coffee and then give it a quick stir before I go to bed at night. Simple. Honestly, when I heard it took 2 weeks to make, I was like, what’s the point? It turns out, it’s very little work. The majority of the work comes after week 1 when you’re making the fruit flavoring; which takes maybe half an hour.

Convinced? I probably don’t make a good case, but check out these videos: Part 1 and Part 2.

So now that I’ve sold you on Delicious Healthy Sodas, I have to admit, I’ve never tried them. I’m currently in the process of fermenting my first batch. I’m about 3 days away from making the fruit flavoring and am still awaiting my shipment of reusable amber glass bottles. How can you sell me on something you’ve never tried? Well, after 4 days of brewing the soda culture, I can already tell it’s going to be awesome. It already smells good and I’ve read amazing accounts of how awesome they taste. Also, I believe my sister when she tells me she and her wife can’t get enough of the stuff. Besides, I’ve banned regular sodas and diet drinks from the house…I need to figure out a way to satisfy my family’s addiction to soda in a healthy, environmentally friendly way. This seems like the best way to do it.

I’ll post my continuing experiences when the sodas are finally bottled and ready to drink.

As with all these situations of planetary crisis, I ask myself what I can do. What can I change? First off, I’m boycotting BP and all their brands: BP, AMPM, Aral, ARCO, BP Travel Centre, BP Connect, BP Shop, BP 2go, and Castrol. Anything with BP in it…boycotted.

Secondly, I used this disaster as the final push to get that bike I’ve been dreaming about for ages. My master plan includes two bikes: My 3-wheeler with a basket for shopping and my 1974 Schwinn Breeze for getting around town. Right. Excellent. I’ve got the bikes, now what? I haven’t rode a bike since I was 12. While I’ve never been totally out of shape, I’ve never been in great shape. Turns out, riding a bike is hard work – especially around Pasadena which is incline-city. I found out on Friday how a minor incline doesn’t even occur to you in a car, but it really kicks your ass on a bike. The good news is, it gets easier.

Day One I just about died, but I hit it again the next day and the next and the next, going further and further each day. Sure my knees are now more apparent to me and my ass is complaining, but you know what? Riding a bike is damned fun! Holy crap is it fun! I feel free, the breeze on my face, working up a sweat on those baby inclines and then gliding all the way back home. The best part is, BP can suck it.

In the real world, I don’t actually live in riding or walking distance of all the places I need or want to go. For work, I need my car and will use it for out of town excursions and trips I don’t have time to bike to. What I figure is that I can cut my driving by half which means I buy half as much gasoline. I’ll save money, I’m pretty sure I’ve already lost some weight, I’ll get healthy, and I feel pretty darned good about myself. I’m gonna pat myself on the back…hang on. OK. Dude, I seriously deserve it. I’m putting my money where my mouth is and in my own way, I’m sending BP et al. a message: “Fuck off“.

Biking half the time doesn’t solve the problem. It does a bit and I feel pretty great about it, but one person biking half the time doesn’t make a big enough dent. We all need to figure out ways to drive less, walk more, bike more, save ourselves, save the planet, and send a real message to these assholes who are cashing in by killing our home.

Some tips:

1. Google has walking, biking, and public transit directions for just about everywhere now. Use it. I’ve been charting my bike routes with it and it’s great.
2. Buy a bike. I got both of mine on Craigslist – sweet little vintage numbers that need a little TLC, but work great for under $200.00.
3. Don’t drive if it’s a mile or less. A mile is less than you think. Walk or bike.
4. Read this: No Excuses! Ride a bike.

You’re pissed about the oil spill too. So what are you gonna do about it?

Over the last decade or so I’ve watched as more and more amazing green products become available on the consumer market. It’s only really been the last 2 years that the world is making a major shift and there is now such as thing as biodegradable plastic bags that decompose and don’t hurt the environment. Up until recently, they just weren’t readily available. Now they are and I couldn’t be happier.

So here it goes, we’re breaking our dependence completely on plastic bags. I will inform my husband as he’s really the only person who brings them home anymore. Alright, so sometimes I forget to take a bag to the store. It doesn’t happen often.

If you’re interested in seeing what I use to bring home my groceries in, check out this 2007 post. They’re awesome and built to last! You can buy biodegradable bags here. I bought 50, which ended up being 27 cents per bag. Now, where’s my medal?

That said, this is a really important cause and while I won’t sign the petition via the website, I did write a personal letter to Mary-Ann Warmerdam. I looked her up online and found her email address and contact information. Click here for contact info.

I already buy organic strawberries from the farmer’s market. They’re so delicious and juicy and freakin’ huge! I very rarely buy non-organic fruits and vegetables. I figure, why push it? As citizens of a industrial society, we’re already exposed to so many chemicals – why add more? Why ingest them? Why pass them onto our children? Besides, organic looks and tastes better. It’s the way nature intended. I like nature.

About Methyl Iodide.

Methyl iodide has an LD50 for oral administration to rats 76 mg/kg, and in the liver it undergoes rapid conversion to S-methylglutathione.[6] It is a possible carcinogen based on ACGIH, NTP, or EPA classification.

Breathing methyl iodide fumes can cause lung, liver, kidney and central nervous system damage. It causes nausea, dizziness, coughing and vomiting. Prolonged contact with skin causes burns. Massive inhalation causes pulmonary edema.

This is what I wrote to Ms. Warmerdam:

Dear Ms. Warmerdam,

It has come to my attention that the carcinogen Methyl Iodide is about to be approved for use on our local strawberry crops. This is concerning for numerous reasons, which I am sure you are aware. You should know that the people of California (and the world) are leaning more and more towards organic and eco-friendly options and WANT healthier food on their table. Dangerous chemicals are not the way. There are better ways to keep our food pest free and provide Californians healthy, organic food without destroying our immune systems in the process. Real change begins by making a simple decision to do the right thing. It starts with people like you.

Please do not approve this horrifying chemical. Help the world, help California, and help our children grow and flourish in a world that provides healthy food for us all.

Thank you for your time,

Kristen Bezark
Pasadena, California

If you care about the food you put on your table or send to your children’s little bellies, send Ms. Warmerdam a note and let her know you don’t approve of this new chemical being used on our food. Decision makers need to know we don’t want it. They need to look for healthier options and they need to hear from us.

mwarmerdam@cdpr.ca.gov

Photo Credit: Unknown

It all started with restaurants. First they got rid of the smoking sections. In the beginning, I was fine because I understood why people didn’t want smoke in their faces while they ate. Cool, whatever. Then smoking was banned in clubs and bars – the places where people smoke the most. This was especially annoying because smoking and drinking are like chocolate and peanut butter: Two great tastes that taste great together. Trouble was, if I wanted to smoke, I had to trudge all the way out to the outdoor patio, stand with a bunch of miserable jerks and freeze my tail off. Eventually, I got used to it and got to like the miserable jerks out on the patio because I was one of them and we were like a 2 minute family who had just one thing in common: smoking. It’s funny how that’s often enough in conversations.

Soon after, I started hearing about not being able to smoke in your house if you had a paid worker there. And then something about not being able to smoke in your car if you had passengers. Was it illegal? Who knows. The worst of it came when entire city streets started banning smoking not just 20 feet from any doorway, but on whole blocks, anywhere, everywhere. This meant you couldn’t sit in an outdoor patio of a coffee shop, restaurant, or bar and smoke. Not anywhere. No way, no how. You couldn’t even smoke while walking down the street. My own hometown, the backstabber that it is, recently enacted this law and I have since given it the middle finger. At first I was wary, but over time I realized that they couldn’t enforce it, weren’t enforcing it, and no one cared.

As I proudly defy the law like the rebel I am, like every other smoker in town, I must also defy the laws of hotels around the world. AJB and I travel quite a lot and I’ve encountered more and more hotels instituting non-smoking rules with ridiculous fines up to $250. They reason that smoking is a danger, that extra work must be done to clean the room after you leave, the smell doesn’t come out of the carpets and draperies, and that other patrons dislike it. These all sound like perfectly reasonable reasons. And they are, but what really grinds my gears is that because I smoke, I am treated like a second hand citizen and forced outdoors in inclement weather – which is rude. As a paying customer, I shouldn’t be treated this way.

The bans on smoking are similar to alcohol prohibition in the 30’s. You know how riled up people got over that. I suppose smokers are more apt to abide by the rules because we’ve been conditioned all our lives that smoking is bad for you, it kills, it smells, etc. etc. We have been inundated with anti-smoking ads since we were kids and are generally poorly tolerated wherever we go. It’s as though we’re branded with a gold star. We endure looks and fake coughs by prissy bitches when we walk down the street. We’re also made to feel guilty about our habit – that our smoking isn’t just bad for us, it’s bad for everyone around us, and we will literally kill everyone we love.

What strikes me as curious is why smoking has become the villain of this decade. Why not alcohol which accounts for more drunk drivers, domestic violence, cirrhosis of the liver, alcoholism, girls gone wild, fights, drunk texting, drunk dialing, and a host of other annoying problems? Why not? Because no one is telling us it’s bad. There are a hundred sickly death commercials against smoking, but every alcohol commercial depicts it as glamorous and elite. P Diddy drinks and looks like a bad ass, so can you. Alcohol will get you laid and smoking will give you lung cancer. Ok, so this is probably true, overlook but overlooking the problems caused by drinking creates an imbalance.

I have no idea why smoking has been villainized and other indulgences have not. McDonalds makes you fat and gives you diabetes, but they’re not banned. The world is a fucked up place and while I really do understand that smoking is bad, it’s shameful that smokers are treated like dogs to sit out in the rain. I suppose the reason I don’t really do anything about it because I know that I’m going to quit someday. I don’t really want to be a vigilante for smoker’s rights, but there is a true injustice happening and frankly, people need to have their attitudes adjusted. Until then, I’ve figured out some crafty ways to get away with smoking in hotels rooms and I ain’t been pinched yet.

P.S. I just found a website that indicates California law states 35% of rooms in hotels and motels must be smoke-free. So why are they all smoke-free? WTF?

After two grueling weeks of packing (most of which was done by AJB’s assistant) we are officially on the market and had out first agent caravan today. While I remain confident that this is the right choice, it still adds a major element of hardship. We were told by our agent that we should pack as much as possible and clear out the house as best we could. We took this as gospel and cleared out about 80% of our belongings. While packing, it’s hard to know what you may or may not need access to. I asked myself what I could live without and crossed my fingers I was right. At the time, it seemed like I could do without a lot. Little things, like a toaster…we packed it because it takes up space and you can make toast in the oven. OK, so getting along without it hasn’t been horrible. In fact, oven toast is pretty good. I packed up most of my Winter clothes because Spring is here and it’s warming up…except, it keeps warming up and cooling off. And because everything we own that’s left has to be stashed during showings, I don’t know where anything is. We are literally living a bare bones existence, I have one pot holder and no casserole dishes. I did, however, take a stand and kept most of my clothes. Although, it wasn’t much of a stand since I made no formal declaration.

Realizing that there are people in the world who don’t have electricity, let alone toasters, I’m reminded that as an American, I have many luxuries. The hard part isn’t so much living without, it’s that my normal life is disrupted. My day to day routine is fucked up and I can’t find the book I had to return to the library. Things we take for granted are now in new places or in storage. Our kitchen trashcan is in the basement. Our water dispenser is in the garage. It’s like living in Wonderland: Everything is nonsense. Nothing is what it is because everything is what it isn’t. It’s like living someone else’s life. This isn’t our furniture, these aren’t our smells, and strangers are walking through our home leaving lights on and windows open. I can’t cook, I can’t leave my socks on the floor, and aw crap…I packed up The Sims!

Our cats are staying with my brother and I miss them. Knowing that they’re over there, miserable (because they hate change), wishing they could come home, not seeing their little curled up bodies at the foot of the bed…it’s been rough. Not to mention JCS isn’t loving his new guests. I guess this is how parents feel when their kids are off at Summer camp. Empty nest syndrome.

I’m dealing. Some days better than most. With any luck, it will all be over soon and we can start shopping for a house. Of course, this brings up the all new technical difficulties of house hunting, packing up the rest of our stuff, waiting for the old house to clear, waiting for the new house to clear, unpacking, finding new and exciting places for all our things, getting used to new noises, a new neighborhood, and every other challenge that comes with moving out, moving in. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to work, build my new website which should have been done in January, trying to eat right when take-away is so much easier, not getting enough sleep, missing my cats, and living in a fishbowl.

Soon it will all be a distant memory. We’ll be in the house we really love and wonder why we ever moved to Linda Vista Ave.