i've picked up a bit of casual work and if i had read the massive envelope full of stuff HR sent me i would probably know that there are some kind of regulations about confidentiality. i haven't (yet) read it but i'll cover my butt and not mention names.
my chief occupations are opening mail and taking people off the mailing list of a large charity organisation. that sounds easy enough, right? well there are about 1000 envelopes per day returned to sender which all have to be opened and the intended recipient taken off the mailing list. in my very rough estimation the backlog is somewhere near the 7000 mark and i manage to slog through them (estimating optimistically) at a rate of about 150/ day. should they choose to keep employing me and should i choose to stay i can anticipate taking some time to get through it all!
i haven't worked for money in a couple of years so it's novel to be back at the coal face and its all a bit of an adventure, not least because i am obliged to take the bus, two buses actually, to get there. i haven't really travelled on buses much since my school days and what a different view of the world they offer! i have seen a lady feeding pigeons (why?) a very large backyard sheep and a very small dog habitually hanging out the window. who knows what other treasures are out there?
the mail that comes in is mostly standard stuff but occasionally someone takes the trouble to put a wee sticker on the envelope or write a quick message on a donation slip and how i like those people! then there are the letter writers, i am touched by the letter writers: their thoughts are usually not particularly relevant to what we are doing but they have taken the trouble to write and they have the faith to believe that someone is interested, their faith in humanity is greater than most and their motivation is, too. the other thing that i love is seeing the bank cheques and money orders. it takes serious commitment to organise either of those things, not at all like the convenience of phoning or making an internet transfer. there are quite a few people who are willing to make the effort to go to the bank or post office to get a cheque/ money order and then post it. those people impress me. the people who write shaky copperplate and are probably well into their nineties impress me too, they are obviously old and possibly dont have a great deal of income but they donate faithfully.
i wonder about the folks who write " my mother is *insert age* please stop mailing her"
dont get me wrong, i uphold their right to decline mail and i have just applauded the elderly donors but i cant help mentally asking those correspondents "why does charity end at old age?" or i might imaginarily ask "so how come 97 is too old but 96 wasn't?" then there are those who write "charities keep asking me for money" well, i understand that its overwhelming but do you want to be taken off the list or do you just want me to know that you are tired but you made the effort all the same?
every day can be an education if we are willing, cant it?
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Monday, 11 November 2013
adventures in fermentation
Over the last year or thereabouts I have become increasingly aware of the importance of gut health in overall wellbeing and have started connecting the dots with a number of minor but niggling ailments that Briony has. To her horror and everyone elses mum's-on-a-soapbox amusement, i have embarked on an attempt to improve all of our guts. The people in the know say that in the quest for gut healing we should (among other things) be eating fermented foods everyday so I decided to try my hand at sauerkraut.
I know nothing about sauerkraut, I have never eaten it and I didnt know what it should be like but undeterred, I did lots of googling and websurfing and formulated my plan.
I bought a purple cabbage and some sea salt. I sliced the cabbage finely and did the whole salting, bruising, packing process. I put it on the bench and I waited. It bubbled and pushed the lid off the jar several times over the next few days and then there was the taste test!
I was a little hesitant. In this culture of obsessive sanitising and sterilising, even for a notably sanitation phobic person like I am, the fermentation thing takes a bit of getting past but it was good! It was crunchy and tangy and a bit unusual but completely edible.
I know nothing about sauerkraut, I have never eaten it and I didnt know what it should be like but undeterred, I did lots of googling and websurfing and formulated my plan.
I bought a purple cabbage and some sea salt. I sliced the cabbage finely and did the whole salting, bruising, packing process. I put it on the bench and I waited. It bubbled and pushed the lid off the jar several times over the next few days and then there was the taste test!
I was a little hesitant. In this culture of obsessive sanitising and sterilising, even for a notably sanitation phobic person like I am, the fermentation thing takes a bit of getting past but it was good! It was crunchy and tangy and a bit unusual but completely edible.
I was so pleased I made kimchi as well!
I think fermented ketchup might be the next project........
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
strolling back in time, modernly
once upon a time i dreamed of a semi self sufficient life. and then i realised that i, in fact we, were confined to a standard suburban life. it wasnt a bad realisation, who wants to work a veggie garden and slaughter chooks, anyway? who wants to work that hard when a trip to the supermarket will fulfill the needs of the family with regards to food and cleaning products, toiletries and innumerable trivial but urgently "necessary" consumer goods?
then i stopped working (ie for money) and i browsed the web way too much, which led to the no-poo (no shampoo) experiment, which for what it's worth, i was having some success with. then i wanted to try a hair "straightening" system and it has a matching shampoo so the no-poo experiment was ditched for the time being, in favour of the hope that compliance with the system would bring newly smooth and manageable tresses. it worked for a while. i will be working my way through the shampoo for a while.
the next stage of my stroll back in time was when i suddenly got to be excessively irritated about paying over $5 for a fairly average loaf of bread. i bought a bread maker for $70 and i use bread mixes which take no effort except for dumping the flour from a pre-measured bag into the tin with some water and a spoon of yeast. they cost $2 a loaf. the bread is as good as or better than the $5 supermarket loaf. i have yet to perfect the slicing process but i estimate i have an extra $15 a week in my pocket. for that i can deal with crooked slices.
after a brief teething period with the bread maker i was feeling pretty darn pleased with myself. making bread at home is easy, could yoghurt be just as good i wondered? enter the $20 yoghurt maker that makes a lovely smooth, thick product. i doubt that i'm saving anything on that because at around half the price of shop bought stuff, i've stopped rationing it as i once did and i reckon they are eating at least twice as much!
not only am i saving some cash but i dont have to go to the shops as often and you have to be happy with that! there is less plastic in the recycling bin and most of us are still enjoying the novelty. the kids come home from school and ask what my latest weird project is, they roll their eyes and give me a hard time so dont tell them i'm going to try my hand at yogurt cheese sometime soon, will you?
then i stopped working (ie for money) and i browsed the web way too much, which led to the no-poo (no shampoo) experiment, which for what it's worth, i was having some success with. then i wanted to try a hair "straightening" system and it has a matching shampoo so the no-poo experiment was ditched for the time being, in favour of the hope that compliance with the system would bring newly smooth and manageable tresses. it worked for a while. i will be working my way through the shampoo for a while.
the next stage of my stroll back in time was when i suddenly got to be excessively irritated about paying over $5 for a fairly average loaf of bread. i bought a bread maker for $70 and i use bread mixes which take no effort except for dumping the flour from a pre-measured bag into the tin with some water and a spoon of yeast. they cost $2 a loaf. the bread is as good as or better than the $5 supermarket loaf. i have yet to perfect the slicing process but i estimate i have an extra $15 a week in my pocket. for that i can deal with crooked slices.
after a brief teething period with the bread maker i was feeling pretty darn pleased with myself. making bread at home is easy, could yoghurt be just as good i wondered? enter the $20 yoghurt maker that makes a lovely smooth, thick product. i doubt that i'm saving anything on that because at around half the price of shop bought stuff, i've stopped rationing it as i once did and i reckon they are eating at least twice as much!
not only am i saving some cash but i dont have to go to the shops as often and you have to be happy with that! there is less plastic in the recycling bin and most of us are still enjoying the novelty. the kids come home from school and ask what my latest weird project is, they roll their eyes and give me a hard time so dont tell them i'm going to try my hand at yogurt cheese sometime soon, will you?
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