This is not my... Week 6
01/03/06 - Handy Hints Indeed!
28/02/06 - It's chilly up north!
27/02/06 - The drive of your life...
This Section; Background; The point
01/03/06 - Handy Hints Indeed!
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It was hard to get up this morning. |
The Good House Keeping handy hints were temptation itself.
Ok ok - perhaps a slight exaggeration. It may have been more the fact that I could smell toasting crumpets - and how often do you get crumpets...?
Anyhow - my Mum gave me a good 10 minutes for the coffee to kick in (she has a tendency to get up before 5am and so is a lot more awake than I am by 8am!) before heading straight into some of her tips.
I will just add in five so as not to overbear you - but there are a fair few I assure you.
1 - Cleaning really dirty hands
Ingrained dirt can be removed and hands made as soft as a baby's bottom by getting a little bit of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon and mixing it into a paste with a tiny bit of granulated sugar. Rub it into your hands and it will clean them perfectly.
2 - Using soda crystals
These are the 'unsung heroes' of the cleaning world. They contain no phosphates, enzymes or bleach and cost no more than £1. They remove stains on clothes, unblock drains and are the best multi purpose cleaner around.
3 - Cleaning marble (for all of you that have marble...?)
Rub a cut lemon over the marble.
Leave to dry.
Buff.
(Any excuse to use the word buff really!)
4 - Bicarbonate of Soda
Now - you will be pleased to note that Mum was so excited about bicarbonate of soda that she has made its many uses into... a poem! Well the start of a poem at least to be finished tomorrow.
Verse One
To remove the pong's, the smells, the odour
In your fridge - use bicarb of soda
Put it in a little dish
To remove the smell of fish
Literary genius ladies and gentlemen - you saw it first.
The hint that had to be my favorite though was....
5 - Mole Removal
As someone who doesn't have a garden I have no idea how much of a problem moles are but if you do have moles then apparently the safe, ethical and human way to get rid of them is by... peeing on their mole holes.
One night (in an utterly fabricated and undisclosed location that has absolutely no resemblance to my parents garden) apparently this was made into quite the party trick.
I can only pray that this was a party trick undertaken by 'someone who is absolutely not and bears no resemblance to' my father and not 'someone who is absolutely not and bears no resemblance to' my mother...
It's all crazy days in Lincolnshire I tell you!
Anyhow - have to go as I only have ten minutes left in the internet cafe (decided to save my sanity and avoid the computer at home after it took me an hour to send two emails this morning).
Anyhow - there is quite a bit of new stuff up on the site as well today so have a look around at that too.
28/02/06 - It's chilly up north!
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Forget the Arctic. |
Just visit my parents!!
This weeks Energy Efficiency Challenge is to turn down our thermostats.
Turn them down? Turn then down? They were never on!
I don't think they've had the heating on since a wildly extravagant weekend back in 84, when it was so cold that my brother and I made a snow house outside and refused to come back in.*
Anyhow - I am writing this looking astoundingly attractive in 4 of the jumpers my mother gave me the second I walked through the door.
I also am writing this just prior to a prolonged period of banging my head against a wall. A direct result of the computer that I am writing on being slower than a sloth which has been both tranquilized and sedated.
In addition, I am writing this without checking in the thesaurus whether tranquilized and sedated mean almost exactly the same thing, as to do so will take approximately 45 minutes!
Despite this extreme distress I would be happy to regale you with the 'handy hints for the home' my Mum had offered to impart. Sadly, though, she has hereto refused to do so, due to an 'ungrateful' comment in a previous posting. (I may have possibly been a little bit sarcastic about the many uses she can find for bicarbonate of soda...)
Luckily, I think I have managed to convince her that I was just joking and so - fear not - tomorrow the Good House Keeping Guides are coming out!
Also, if I can, I will try to gear these towards general hints on feasting and baking as tomorrow is.... PANCAKE DAY.
Mmmmmm
Hope that you will be able to gorge yourselves on these delicious treats filled with honey, lemon, sugar, chocolate, cinnamon etc etc.
Sadly, since our Angel or Devil challenge this week is eating only foods in season (such an error of week for this challenge!) we will of course only be eating pancakes filled with beetroot and cauliflower..
Nice.
Anyhow - I will let you know how I get on with all of that tmrw.
Providing, of course, that the computer lasts that long....
* Ok - so it may have been because we were 5 and playing but still...
27/02/06 - The drive of your life...
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Just got cheaper!
Well it could do at least.
And it could be a lot better for the environment too. |
On Friday the wonderful Colin at Capital City cars arranged for Ollie and I to try out one of their vehicles.
I spend a lot of time on the tubes, buses and wandering the streets of our fair city but, other than the occasional late night emergency, I don't often get to travel by car.
Much as I hate the environmental problems caused by motor travel, I have to admit being lent a car when we needed to get around London on a rainy February afternoon wasn't all bad!
The fact that we got to travel in a spotless executive vehicle with loads of leg room and a driver who opened the door for me was, I suppose, slightly more enjoyable than the tube in rush hour...
Anyhow - although not perfect, we were being shown this car as it is far better for our environment than the diesel spewing black cabs which pollute our fair city.
By converting their fleet to run on LPG fuel, Capital City have taken responsible steps to protect the quality of our air.
Their Emissions Calculator can show just how much car travel effects the environment. It's a fair bit.
So - if you are someone who has trouble keeping your suit crumple free on your bike, or you finds that your clients don't really appreciate the novelty of being picked up by a cyclo, then using an LPG car service can at least go some way to reducing this impact.
It's just as simple as giving Capital City a call on:
08702 40 40 41
Shameless plug aside, I was also amazed by LPG fuel as it seems such a good idea in general.
If you have a car, travel in central London and can't be persuaded to instead get around by bike, horse, skateboard or pogo stick then converting it to run from LPG fuel would be a great thing.
Although there will be a big initial cost, by my (admittedly rudimentary) calculations, I would estimate that you can pay off the price of a conversion to LPG within a year.
Certain LPG conversions mean that you do not pay the congestion charge. Since this is now £8 a day that has to be a huge saving. In addition the cost of LPG fuel is less than half that of petrol or diesel.
How good is that!?
Also, if you would be worried about finding LPG fuel providers, there are apparently numerous service stations around London that now provide LPG fuel - and the numbers are increasing.
So environment aside, financially, it is a great idea!
To find out how much a conversion for your car would be, why not have a look at the Green Fuel site? Bear in mind, though, that if you do have an Astin Martin, V8, Le Mans Coupe (well I had to put in something...) that they don't have enough details to suggest a price.
Anyhow - other than that - crazy days this weekend. Went to some alternative jazz inspired by the nomadic tribes of Burkina Faso?! and spent a worrying amount of time dancing to the footloose soundtrack... badly!
Hope that you guys had a great time too.
Just a quick note about last weeks angel or devil challenge.
It all got quite involved.
Lara and I both ended up looking into the issue of plastic bag taxes and I still have more on this as it got a lot more complex than we originally assumed (which goes to show how helpful it is to do a bit of research).
Anyhow - I still have loads of stuff on it so I will put it all together in the Intrigue section - so don't feel that it will get forgotten now we are on a new week and a new challenge.
Have a lovely Monday all x
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Despite all my best efforts the pain was too great.
I was forced to... |
scavenge through the fruit bowl for headache pills.
Not sure how it began that the bowl, which otherwise contains a melange of healthy fruity yumminess, became the depository for our drug supply (well - half a packet of Nurofen, two settlers Tum's and a Nytol) but I was very glad that it did.
It was the mother of all hang overs.
Despite the personal pharmaceutical company boycott I reasoned that things already purchased would be permissible... shortly before being racked with guilt for my hypocrisy. (Though I could at least see which was a bonus!)
Anyhow - this prompted me to spend the next half an hour delving into the world of alternative medicine.
It seems that, rather than taking anything, the cure and prevention of headaches is.... yoga.
Lord above. Yoga. Really?
I have never actually made it through a yoga class. They make me laugh - which doesn't tend to go down so well with the other practitioners.
Still maybe I will give it another go... ah who am I kidding - nah - never going to get past the juvenile amusement at the upward facing dog and the fact that it results in wind expulsion.
But - if you suffer from headaches I thought I'd mention it in case you might want to give it a try.
If not, the Ethical Consumer advises that Galprofen and 4Head are better than some of the other medicinal alternatives.
Or, if your headache is entirely self inflicted like mine, you could just save money and not spend it on alcohol which would probably be the best option all round really.
I'm off to my parent's next week so might give it a go.
On paper this looks easy since they live two miles from the nearest pub. Unfortunately though my mother can usually drink me under the table.
For someone who "didn't drink till 30" she has certainly made up for lost time!
Mind you if any one I know is going to have a natural hang over remedy it will be my Mum. She is apparently going to help out with the site (oh dear) by imparting all of her knowledge on things to do around the home that our generation don't know.
As far as I can ascertain this is going to be a long discussion on the many merits of bicarbonate of soda followed by me practicing by cleaning the majority of the house...
Actually, in all seriousness, there seem to be so many things that we of the 'throw away' generation don't do which are common place for older generations. It should be pretty interesting so I will let you know how it goes.
Anyhow - no headache this morning which is great as I can get back to the excitement of the plastic bag tax!!
Had a really helpful email from Andy of selfsufficientish.com and found out loads of new information so will get this up in the Angel or Devil section later today.
Anyhow - loads to do so I will love you and leave you but if you are having a lazy moment of a Friday afternoon why not have a play with Trevor. No idea who made him but he's great. He fly's and everything.
Have a fantastic weekend and - if you end up drinking too much - let me know if you come up with any sensational new cures!
x
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It's like a addiction.
I can't stop - I have to tear myself away from the exciting quest for plastic bag information... |
Which means that there is actually loads more information in the Angel or Devil challenge section too.
Quite a few people have written with strong opinions on this actually (ha ha it's got you too..) so, we set up a new debate if you want to have your say.
Should we impose a plastic bag tax in England and Wales?
I just received an email from a great guy who has already started an email campaign to ask for just that.
I will get all of those details up a bit later in the Angel and Devil section as well as some arguments for and against.
If you think we should be imposing a tax then maybe you can use this as the basis for an email you send to your own MP?
What else - oh while I was looking for related things I came across a great site!
Not sure why I haven't come across it before so maybe you know about it - if not it is:
Have a wee look. It gives you a check list of things that you can do to make positive changes which is pretty fun if, like me, you enjoy check lists.
(I find it very satisfying when I can answer all of the questions - form filling also being very entertaining in a sort of: "Why yes I do know my middle name - ooh AND my address..." kind of way.)
Anyhow, some great ideas of things we can do, including turning down our thermostats, which ties in nicely with our ten weeks to energy efficiency challenge for next week if you want to sneak ahead and do it now.
Right going to keep this short.
Not least as it was my friends leaving party last night and despite my best intentions not to drink I have little to no will power so my head is currently pounding in an evil and eye squint inducing way (it's very attractive).
I would get some tablets for it but read something over the weekend about pharmaceutical companies in the Ethical Consumer (great magazine by the way) so I am boycotting most of them.
Thankfully some actions by the big drug companies to stop cheap generic drugs reaching Africa have been stopped. Oxfam, though, points out that there is still a lot more that could be done to amend the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights agreement when it so seriously affects life.
I haven't had chance to look into this fully. I know that we need to have patent laws to encourage advancement and research into new preventative medicines but I am also sure that if someone can make AIDS anti retrovirals at a cost that is affordable in Africa that I want them to do so!
Anyhow, have a read of the report.
Me and the persistent drum beat are off for a soothing cup of tea
22/02/06 - The new conspiracy?
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I had found something.
Something about which, even now, I must find out more. |
Plastic Bag Tax Implementation!
No - seriously - I started to look through the information on the internet at 4 and suddenly my phone was ringing.
It was 8 and my friend was not best pleased with me.
She was waiting for me outside London Bridge station in the cold and rain.
It is possible that, despite her being a very nice person, she may have issued a couple of expletives..
I hadn't realised that the time had flown so quickly!
I mean I had only just found that a motion to get a plastic bag tax through the Scottish parliament had failed and that, Michael Meacher, the former Minister for the Environment had suggested that we would implement one in England and Wales and then.... no more information.... what happened?
Maybe you know? Maybe everyone except me knows...? Maybe there is an international conspiracy theory about it like the moon landing and the Kennedy assassination..
I was hooked.
I insisted that it would be but a brief moment before I too was at London Bridge (a blatant lie as I live in north west London) and then, as I went to turn of my computer, got suckered in for another ten minutes!
The shame.
I eventually made it down south to our friends comedy night which, by the way (quick and unapologetic plug coming up) is always hilarious. It's called Falling Down with Laughter and every 2nd Tuesday in Belushi's Bar on Borough High St if you fancy going - next one on the 7th March.
It was so good in fact that I did not once think about plastic bags - despite the fact that they have actually been banned in some Indian provinces....
Anyhow - the plastic bag excitement was all for a reason.
As I explained yesterday, we have decided to write to our MP's this week in our Angel and Devil challenge but to thoroughly research before we do so to ensure we are not wasting their time in doing so.
La was talking the other day about the fact that she thought that years ago in England we had to pay for plastic bags. I can't remember this (probably because she is old and I am youthful...). So I wanted to see if it was true.
(Which I haven't actually done yet by the way so if anyone can put me out of my misery with the answer that would be great.)
The problem is that this is her question for the Angel and Devil this week and I haven't even started on mine! Oh my.
Anyhow - it may be that you aren't quite so excited by the whole plastic bag issue as I am so might take this opportunity to move on and let you know what other stuff there is to read about on the site today.
We have a new article - woo hoo - and La has updated the news comparison (really just an excuse for her to check out 'Jihad Watch' again).
There are a few new books on the 'books we love and would recommend list' Sammy has gone for a really creepy sounding film in her review and I'll get a new debate on in a minute.
Have a potter round in any case.
Will be back tomorrow to let you know the next installment of the Great Plastic Bag Plot of 2002!
(You're so not going to come back now are you....)
Hold on - wait! I've just had a complaint....
I am writing in regards to your editorial of today AND I OBJECT on two counts:
1. "So i wanted to see if it was true." This statement purports that what I told you was not true. I am telling you that when I was living in England when I was 10 and 11, we used to have to pay for plastic bags. It might not have been a law, but the shops made us! (and I dont think it was only a charge just for my family).
To back myself up, call:
a) My mum (she will tell you, and my mama don't lie)
b) my old village post office
2. I write to complain about the statement regarding my age. It would never have occured to me that this site would be ageist, especially against its own Directors! Does being six months older really make me so old?
I ask that you retract your statements and issue a full and formal apology. Should you not give me what I am asking, I resign* AND I promise to set my radio alarm clock for every day at 4 am and stick it right outside your door, and I will run the hot tap in the kitchen every time you are in the shower so it goes cold on you.
Also, I may just let you write to our MP about the bags, and in keeping with the swing, I will you charge 5p for every bag of mine you ever use again. xxx
*not all statements in this sentence are true.
Lara
Vicious - deary dear
Just here innocently delving into the exciting world of plastic bag legislation and that arrives in my inbox.
Alright alright.
I apologise for being ageist and pointing out that you are older than me (closer to 7 months I'd say).
But come on - a shop charge is not the same as a nationally collected tax.
I thought you meant that it was something implemented across the country! Not just in the post office of the small village of Cuddington...
This section will be a daily, well - Monday to Friday daily, editorial. (Have to keep some time aside to keep up the ritual wine drinking / dancing as if being chased by bees.)
I promise to make it my mission to investigate something each day on exciting forays to find new stuff, fun stuff, ethical stuff and anything involving break dancing men with extremely toned physiques.
Let me know if you think of something I should go and visit or if you have any great ideas or information. (Any dodgy suggestions will be politely declined... or not so politely, depending entirely on what they are!)
For today, though, please just have a look below to find out how this whole thing came about. I hope that you are having a lovely morning.
See you tomorrow,
Susie x
Background to This is not my...
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What is this site all about?
Well, as all good ventures do, it started in the pub with the ominous words "I know, why don't we...?" |
What was different, though, was that it still seemed like a good plan in the morning (and somewhat less injurious than trying out extreme ironing, the other suggestion...)
Anyway - once again we had been supping beers and putting the world to rights when someone mentioned the unmentionable, despite our disaffection with the state of the world, none of us was actually doing anything positive to change it.
Whether this was complacency or apathy, who knows - but we were definitely leaving it to others to make decisions and take action for us on issues about which we felt strongly.
We live in a free society, but often things seem to happen as a fait accompli. The war in Iraq, ID cards, the fact that we will eventually succumb to watching some of Big Brother no matter how hard we try...
And we just go along with it. But that is ok, right? I mean, we aren't exactly encouraging the abuse of others - are we?
Ok - so maybe my new top might have been made under less-than-perfect conditions and I suppose that means I am supporting those conditions, but - I have to buy something to wear, so what other choice do I have?
And that was the problem. What - and where - are the choices?
So we decided to investigate. Surely in this free society we have other options; we just need to know how to find them.
So we went online. There are some great directories already for ethical and/or environmentally friendly products, but for us these didn't go far enough. We were on a bit of a roll and decided that these products deserved more active promotion.
We wanted to make as many people as possible aware of the practical things they can do to live life in a better way.
So on this site we will provide information about easy, positive and ethical consumer choices. These are choices that won’t necessarily cost you more, either.
In our directories you will find environmentally friendly and ethical companies and products across the following categories:
Clothes
Energy
Food and Drink
Health and Beauty
Home and Garden
Office
Recycling
Restaurants
You will also find debates, downloads, fun stuff and plenty more to lure you back to the site on a regular basis.
We’d love you to get involved with some curious antics to keep important issues in the public eye – and provide us with much entertainment and amusement at the same time.
So - take a look. Explore… investigate… probe away.
We hope you like it; we hope you use it.
