Look closely.....

Catch the little frog and rain forest alliance certified. Going to check that out after work!

This made me smile!

Using recycled material

I'm not thrilled that we have these bags, but at least we use recycled material.  I hope everyone is having a great Friday.  I'm off and tidying up the house and getting my x-mas stuff up. Finally.  I've got the holiday pops channel on XM rocking.  Hank and I have been "waltzing" around the house to the nutcracker waltz and other classics.  Well, I waltz/dance/sing and he barks and runs around me.  Ellie is otherwise occupied stalking squirrels out back. 

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Check it out!

Quick post today.  Working a half day today and thought I'd hop on here quick.  Lots of changes over the past two months.  New job and a fresh start.  It's a new dawn, it's a new day, and I'm feeling goooood.  Maybe not as good as these cuties, but really damn good. 

For your reading pleasure.  Go check it out!  Run don't walk!

Happy Thursday all!

Recycling on a road trip....

Crossed the border into Wisconsin. First rest area featured a sweet recycle station. I did my part on aluminum, plastic, and glass. Huzzah for the win!

Rather pathetic posting on my part the last couple months. Had some issues to address and have now moved on to a more tranquil state. Translation....more blogging. Lots of stuff going on to share!

Go Big Red! Pray we don't get blown out on national television tomorrow. If we do I fear my friends and family will ban me from attending away games.

James Bond and the Costa Rica shower connection!

For all my Costa Rica peeps, this article made me laugh, A LOT! I  For those of you who may not know, Sámara is probably best described as rustic.  We did without air conditioning and hot water (among other things) for the majority of our time there.  My first thought was this cold water business is really going to suck.  As it turns out, it was so damn hot the shower felt pretty fantastic!  Most of us were told by our host families to not run the water the entire time we were in the shower.  Not a problem when it is ice cold.  Get a shot of cold water, shut it off and lather up....turn it back on when you're ready to rinse.  I think I timed one of my showers at four minutes.  Four!  That included shaving my legs.  It is nothing short of a miracle if I'm out of the shower in ten under normal circumstances.  My main problem is I'm not a morning person.  I spend the first five to ten minutes in the shower sleeping while standing up. As Hall sans Oates sang, you're living in dreamtime baby it's time to wake up.....and show some hustle in the shower. I set an alarm to go off after ten minutes.  I know, that's kinda pathetic but I know my weaknesses well.

I came home thinking about all the water I waste while I'm sleeping in the shower so to speak.  Gonna try to find a low flow shower head and try that out as well. The low flow shower heads can restrict the water flow anywhere from 2.5 to 1.6 gallons per minute.  Seriously, stop and think about that statistic. Gallons of water a minute and now think about how long you're standing in there. The timer is still running during my shower, but I'm not running the water the entire time.  The shower is a hot one although I have turned the temperature down a bit.  I've also started rinsing my hair with cold water and going Bond style with cold water for the last minute or so.  Definitely awake after the shower.  I will cease the Bond shower if I happen to start sprouting chest hair due to increases in testosterone.  I have my limits.

Amigos, es nuestro decisión

I walked by this sign almost every day while in Sámara.  Short and to the point.

Carpool road trip!

Road tripping with the boys to Lincoln for our fantasy draft! Car pooling for the environmental win! Now keep your fingers crossed for my draft.

Swap out your plastic bags!

Huzuh!  Finally a V for Victory in getting a picture from my phone onto the blog without a cord!

Pretty much every grocery store has these bad boys. Swap em out for the re usable bags peeps!

Please take a minute to read this

Really makes me re think a simple run to the store.  Again, consequences I would have given little to no thought to prior to my trip. Pretty eye opening stuff.

Da bus!

So, I mentioned I had taken my first ever trip using the bus system here in O town.  It was actually pretty easy.  Straight up fare is $1.25, if you require more than one route to get to your final destination, you have to pay a $0.05 fee, for a whopping total of $1.30.  I think I was lulled into a sense of thinking this was a can of corn right from the get go.  I had to walk three blocks to catch the bus.  It required no transfers and dropped me off within a block of work.  It did take forty minutes to get there as opposed to 10 to 15 minutes (depends on how heavy my foot is and whether the traffic light gods are on my side).  If you are prepared for the extra time you can get a lot of reading done.  The hardest part for me is having to get up earlier in order to catch the right bus.  It's incredibly tempting to hit snooze and just roll over knowing full well I can hop in my car.  This is why it took three days before I actually found the  motivation to get my ass outta bed and take the bus. 

So with my new found confidence in the bus system I set out again, this time for the journey home.  The temperature was hot, as in scorching hot and really humid.  I didn't give it much thought.  I only had to walk one block right?  Well, the return trip does NOT stop three blocks from mi casa.  Westroads was the stop.  I could have taken another earlier stop, but I was curious about how long it would take me to hoof it home from Westroads.  When people ask where I live, I generally reference a couple things, but I always say I'm close to Westroads.  I will now amend that to say I live close as in driving distance close.  I left work at 6:15pm, caught my bus at 6:27pm,  dropped off at Westroads by 6:55ish, and walked in my door at 7:24pm.  The walk would have been fine had the heat index not been 115.  It also could have been better had I not been wearing pants and a work polo that didn't breathe as well as I had previously thought.  There was one particular road that did not have sidewalks the entire way and I was reminded a bit of walking to school in Sámara.  Cars were passing me by doing no less than 45 and I was sharing the road.  I also stopped to take a few comical pictures.  Well, I was laughing anyhow.  I might have been delirious due to being dehydrated.

So here are a couple of the photos from the trip. Happy Friday gang!

Going through Benson, I was tempted to get off at Jake's and get a pint!



Best decision of the day! Adidas for the win!

Fellow traveler!

A bit further than I thought....

Really Omaha?  This is a stop?







Mobile blogging of photos should not be this difficult.....just saying.

The World is as Funky as YOU make it..........

so say the lyrics to a tune by one of my favorite bands, Satchel Grande.  Clearly, I need more Funk and less CO2.  I used the carbon calculator found on Carbon Footprint and calculated my monthly CO2 footprint.  When inputting my data I tried to be as accurate as possible.  I used my most recent utility bills for my numbers and kept an estimate of my mileage driven in both vehicles for the month of July.  What I came up with was 3.81 metric tons of CO2 in July, which averages to 22.40 metric tons of CO2 a year.  This is slightly larger than the national average of 20.40 metric tons.  In case any of you are wondering where you stand, I have placed the calculator I used at the bottom of this blog.  All courtesy of Carbon Footprint. 

Sooo, there are some areas with a large amount of room for improvement.  I could just mosey over and buy myself a Carbon Offset and plant tree's in Kenya.  That's a helluva lot of trees and way too easy.  I'm not making any changes so I'm essentially perpetuating the cycle.  So what am I doing personally?

Well, I have committed myself to using public transportation and walking more.  Last week I walked to Walgreen's and a local watering hole cerca de mi casa.  There isn't enough room here for that adventure so I will save it for a later post.  I also rode the bus in Omaha for the first time yesterday.  I had originally intended to write about that tonight complete with pictures, but my phone isn't cooperating.  I'm hoping to have that up by tomorrow.  Overall, it wasn't as difficult or as unpleasant as I had anticipated.  I did NOT anticipate a 115 degree heat index. I will discuss that in further detail when I post the pictures.  So drive less and walk, ride, and commute by bus more. Check. 

Cutting down on my water usage.  This includes not running the water the entire time I'm in the shower.  My CR peeps will get this.  I never run the water the entire time I'm brushing my teeth so why should I do it in the shower?  I've also turned down the temperature. 

I'm not running my air conditioning as low as before.  This has been a bit of a struggle but I'm working on it.

Recycling.  My first attempt was quite anti climactic.  They didn't pick it up.  The following week I forgot to put it out.  So we'll see what  happens this week.  I'm actually sort of surprised at how much glass I have accumulated in two weeks.

I am going to use the carbon calculator each month and track my progress.  I will also photo blog about each thing I under take to decrease my carbon footprint. That will give me plenty of material to discuss.

On that note, I'm gonna hit the sack and get some zzzz's.  I leave you with a link for some FUNK!

Huzuh!

It's not a word, but I say it all the time!  Kind of like my own for the win phrase!  I am back in action!  I have been buried under work, but I have everything mapped out.  Just a quickie post to let you know to look for an update tonight.  I will have my carbon footprint and my activities up.  Including a run down of my first experience with the bus system here in O town.  All my planning and I failed to take into account the 115 degree heat index.  Yesterday, was full of surprises!

Have a great day peeps!

21 days

I had a conversation today with someone at work and the topic of breaking habits came up.  I mentioned I had read articles stating that it takes 21 days to truly form a habit or break a bad habit.  While driving home from work I found myself thinking about those magical 21 days.  Panicking isn't the right word for what happened next, but let's call it an anxious moment.  I was at a stop light on Blondo and I noticed for the first time how freaking hilly Blondo street really is and cue my next thought....."how the hell am I going to bike that?"

It was like an avalanche of thoughts one after the other.  I needed a pause button for my brain.  Literally.  What at first seemed like minor changes suddenly seemed HUGE!  Individually, these things didn't seem like much, but add them together and the picture is staggering.  I'm not only trying to form new good habits, but break some bad ones as well.  So the analytical, type A side of me reared it's head and I sat down for some research on habits.  I don't want to fall flat on my face before I'm even out of the gate.  I needed more than my baby step approach.  Hard facts and numbers are comforting to me and I needed a heavy dose tonight.

I stumbled onto this link.  In the middle of the article is the six step (no not 12) 21 day habit practice. I thought step one and three were very important.  I mentioned that this blog is to help keep me accountable and for support.  These objectives fit in with those steps.  So here is my step three, my conviction, my why, and my motivation. 

My why and my inspiration was experiencing an entirely different way of life in Sámara Costa Rica. Things that I considered important prior to this trip actually don't even make the list of things that are  truly important.  To a degree I am a lazy, materialistic American with no immediate thought to how I  am impacting the environment.  I drive everywhere, and waste no time in lamenting about high gas prices.  I chose a gas guzzling Jeep and I choose to drive that vehicle daily.  The United Arab Emirates didn't make me buy it or drive it.  I made the choice and have continued to make the choice.  I discovered that I can make due without my Jeep, without my cell phone, and survive without modern conveniences.  Much to my surprise, not only did I not have a seizure or go into a prolonged state of catatonia, but I ENJOYED every minute of my experience.  If there was a way to thank every single person in Sámara for this experience I would.

I didn't find the kinds of facts I was looking for tonight.  I did strengthen my conviction for why I'm doing this.  Obviously, there are some limits to what I can change here.  Omaha is slightly larger than Sámara.  So there is my conviction and my why out there forever on the net.  It will be my reference point for when I am frustrated or having an anxious moment on a hilly road. I also plan to spend plenty of time on step five.  I'm gonna celebrate every little milestone no matter how long it takes me to get there. 

My glass Snapple bottle is the first of many to go in the bin.

:::high five:::

Recycling and other odds and ends

So, I attained half my weekend goal.  I now have three recycling bins in Casa de Caila.  One from the city and two newly purchased blue beauties from Menards. 

Also purchased was a lovely can crusher that thanks to my brother is now handily mounted in the garage by the fridge.  For any of my friends out there reading this, I'm sure we could get a significant chunk of change back if we recycled all the cans from my yearly Cinco party and Griswold x-mas get together.  Making it happen this year.

Apparently, the city of Omaha does NOT pick up glass.  Ugh.  I gave up pop for Lent so my new habit in a glass bottle is Snapple.  I will need to make a trip periodically to drop that off.

 I updated the links to include the city of Omaha's website, wasteline.  Lots of great info on recycling and other things regarding waste/trash pick up.  You can also sign up for a monthly recycling newsletter. 

I also bought some reusable grocery bags.  I will take the remaining plastic ones back to the store to be recycled.  Plastic Fiji water bottles are now a no no as well.  In its place will be a lovely water bottle from home.

I've searched high and low for my pedometer and have had no luck.  I'm pretty sure I have in my house somewhere at least two if not three pedometers.  Nearly every pharmacy convention I've ever been to has handed out free ones.  The irony here will be thick if I can't locate any of them and I end up having to actually buy one.  Since I will be making an effort to walk and/or bike more I want to be able to track how far I'm walking. 

On that note, the spreadsheet is not complete. Started, but not complete.  I kept coming up with more variables and things I would need to keep track of.  So far I have vehicle 1, vehicle 2, bike, bus, and cab.  If I travel out of state by plane I will need to factor that in as well.  However, I'm going to worry about that if and when it should happen.  Really close to the final number for my carbon footprint. Hopefully, that will be up on Wed or Thurs. 

It's late and I'm exhausted.  Sorry if this entry is a bit jumbled.  Here's hoping tomorrow is a bit less of a scorcher in the heat index dept.

Until next time!

And so it begins....

I have spent entirely too much time trying to get the "look" of this page exactly as I desire. I finally threw in the towel and just went with a generic background. I had to remind the OCD part of myself that I want people to read the blog not stare at it.

This is a huge work in progress (both the blog and my goal) and I will be adding things along the way. Right now my goal is to get organized so I can jump in with both feet. So what is the goal exactly? Well, I'm appalled at my own personal carbon footprint. I had never given the topic any thought until I started required reading for a study abroad class to Costa Rica. Looking back it was the equivalent to opening a huge can of worms. I became slightly obsessed trying to get more information on the topic. In a nutshell, when I returned I had an entirely different outlook on my own personal life and decided to make changes. So this brings us to the goal.

I intend to make changes to my lifestyle in an effort to make myself as carbon neutral as possible. I know I can't put in solar panels, but I can drive less and walk more. I can recycle. I can use public transport. I can remember to shut off the appliances when not in use. I can certainly use less water when I'm in the shower. All of these things are attainable but not necessarily easy. The blogging process is a way to help keep myself accountable and also for support. Perhaps it will also serve as a good venting session from time to time.

This weekend I intend to sit down and try to come up with a hard number for my carbon footprint. I need to look at a lot of things. I'm not going to go super science geek on this, but I want to try and be as accurate as possible. I also need to come up with a template to track not only my mileage but my mode of transportation as well. None of those sound like any fun, but I need to get them done. When I'm counseling people trying to lose weight or to stop smoking I always stress that they need to make small changes first. Too many changes or too many big changes can be a set up for failure. So with that in mind, my first "change" will be to get my recycling in order. Baby steps.

Finally, I hope this blog is informative and at the very least an entertaining read.

Later gators!