(no subject)
wow. what a weekend. despite the weather, Land of Nod fucking rocked. i'll write a separate post about it later.
very discombobulated after the weekend though. i think i'm topped off on stress for a little while and until i take some time off for myself, i'm just going to be scatter brained. the world will have to deal with it. stick a fork in me, i'm done.
been having recurring dreams about a wolf and a coyote. they haven't done anything significant in the dream, except pop up in places that i don't expect them. i'm seeing a sort of representation of balance... the teacher and the trickster... need to explore that notion a little deeper.
we've had a *HORRIBLE* oil spill on the Kalamazoo River. over 800,000 gallons of crude oil from the Canadian pipeline. it's not too far up river and we only live a block away from the river now. erik and i are planning to go see it today. i'm already very upset, so i figure i'll be pretty devastated once i see the affects on the animals and plant life. but it's so important to realize the horrific damage our dependence on oil is causing. and this is pretty small compared to the Gulf spill and other ginormous spills in Africa and the Middle East.
we definitely make conscious decisions to limit our car usage and only own one small car between the two of us. but i still feel guilty. i know that ultimately, it's not my fault that there aren't better energy alternatives out there, but i still have a choice as to whether or not to own a car.
on top of the guilt, i'm also getting to deal with the fun expense of car maintenance. we replaced the battery two weeks ago. last week, our tire blew, so we replaced that. this week, our brakes started grinding, thus requiring new pads and discovering that we will need to put on new rotors (next week). also, the driver side tire has rubbed through to the threading and will be blowing at any time, so we're buying a new tire tomorrow. at this rate, we'll have a brand new car in a few months. at least it's summer, so if something goes bad, we won't be in the bitter cold trying to deal with it!
when i lived in a small town, i didn't own a car. i walked or rode my bike *everywhere*. but with the job i have, i expend HUGE amounts of energy while working and cannot ride a bike everywhere. i could be a hermit, but then wouldn't be able to work and would then have to be a hobo instead. and while it sounds all nice and romantic, i spent the weekend living outdoors in tornadoes and drenching rain with no electricity or toilets. it can be *very* not fun.
so, i'm at a loss as to how i can change any of this on a personal level. i'm certainly more conservative with how much gas i use compared to most people i know. i try to talk about it when i think people will soak up some of what i'm saying. but, short of shutting down my life, there just isn't anything else i can do at the moment.
very discombobulated after the weekend though. i think i'm topped off on stress for a little while and until i take some time off for myself, i'm just going to be scatter brained. the world will have to deal with it. stick a fork in me, i'm done.
been having recurring dreams about a wolf and a coyote. they haven't done anything significant in the dream, except pop up in places that i don't expect them. i'm seeing a sort of representation of balance... the teacher and the trickster... need to explore that notion a little deeper.
we've had a *HORRIBLE* oil spill on the Kalamazoo River. over 800,000 gallons of crude oil from the Canadian pipeline. it's not too far up river and we only live a block away from the river now. erik and i are planning to go see it today. i'm already very upset, so i figure i'll be pretty devastated once i see the affects on the animals and plant life. but it's so important to realize the horrific damage our dependence on oil is causing. and this is pretty small compared to the Gulf spill and other ginormous spills in Africa and the Middle East.
we definitely make conscious decisions to limit our car usage and only own one small car between the two of us. but i still feel guilty. i know that ultimately, it's not my fault that there aren't better energy alternatives out there, but i still have a choice as to whether or not to own a car.
on top of the guilt, i'm also getting to deal with the fun expense of car maintenance. we replaced the battery two weeks ago. last week, our tire blew, so we replaced that. this week, our brakes started grinding, thus requiring new pads and discovering that we will need to put on new rotors (next week). also, the driver side tire has rubbed through to the threading and will be blowing at any time, so we're buying a new tire tomorrow. at this rate, we'll have a brand new car in a few months. at least it's summer, so if something goes bad, we won't be in the bitter cold trying to deal with it!
when i lived in a small town, i didn't own a car. i walked or rode my bike *everywhere*. but with the job i have, i expend HUGE amounts of energy while working and cannot ride a bike everywhere. i could be a hermit, but then wouldn't be able to work and would then have to be a hobo instead. and while it sounds all nice and romantic, i spent the weekend living outdoors in tornadoes and drenching rain with no electricity or toilets. it can be *very* not fun.
so, i'm at a loss as to how i can change any of this on a personal level. i'm certainly more conservative with how much gas i use compared to most people i know. i try to talk about it when i think people will soak up some of what i'm saying. but, short of shutting down my life, there just isn't anything else i can do at the moment.