Philosophy on sensible spending

 A few months back, I saw a diamond painting. It piqued my curiosity because I didn't know what is that. Who else is better than Google to answer such a question?

One thing lead to another, and I am on the Amazon website and interested in the diamond painting kits. I bought one kit. The kit was going to come from China. It took about two months to get it. (Oh, and several emails to the seller). By the time it arrived, my interest changed, and I was into propagating house plants! So the kit is still waiting for my attention. 

I spend money on things to do crafts without much thinking. If I was giving a bit of time instead of buying on impulse, I wouldn't have bought that to clutter my table. It was not a needed purchase. I could have thought of craft items I already had, like embroidery thread, acrylic paints, card stock, beads...  

That is the problem with needs and wants. "Want" has no limit. Being content with what I already own is the solution. 

I wanted to buy Blundstone boots when my daughter was looking at them. But, I have nice boots already at home, which is barely used last winter. It is very warm and comfortable. A new and expensive boot was not a needed thing. So I didn't buy new boots and was happy with my decision.

The spice rack with all the cute containers at Costco was pretty. My and hubby wanted it! But I already upcycle many of our plastic and glass bottles to store the spices. I have a good collection of similar containers now to keep things pretty too. Those containers came with spices we bought prior. some were glass containers of pasta sauce. That brings the second philosophy of finding multiple purposes for one thing. It will go with the 3Rs too. 

Do you find any philosophy to tame unnecessary spending? 

Bindu

A vist to Ripley's Aquarium

I visited Ripley's aquarium before with my family. It was way too crowded at that time. Last week, I was there with a friend. She wanted to go there for some time. Because of the pandemic, we had to postpone it. Finally, I booked tickets. 

At six in the evening, on a Friday, it was not busy. We wandered around for almost two hours. We were really got ourselves lost in the world of fish!

We saw a fish like this below. Was it dead???

Most were pleasant though. The sharks over your head were amazing! We happened to see a group singing "Happy Birthday" to a kid. 

I started taking that video because I wasn't sure what happened to it. Everyone was happy to watch his dance!

What do you think of the video?

Bindu

They don't have a house!

I got a book from the Toronto Public library.  "Nomadland: Surviving America in the twenty-first century" by Jessica Bruder. It is a study about the life of elderly nomads in America. 

I loved the narrative style. It feels like reading a novel, yet it is not. The author studies the life and working conditions of these people who chose to live in their vehicles. 

I always thought the vandwellers are not educated to have jobs. This book is really an eye-opener. Many vandwellers have a degree and had good jobs before. Then, life happens, the economy changed and jobs vanished. There was no money to pay for the mortgage. They can't sell the house because the current price won't even cover the mortgage debt. They were forced to walk away from the house, they paid for years! Because of their age, they can't find good-paying jobs anymore. They hit the road and work whatever comes on the way.

The working conditions Amazon provide for the seasonal workers was shocking. How a rich company like that can treat their employees like crap? 

The book is not glorifying the nomadic lifestyle as a fun way of living.  It was amazing to find out the websites helping the nomads to find jobs and parking. 

The book made me find the movie "Nomadland" on Amazon. Rented it and watched it too. I loved the movie. 

The book and movie made me realize the blessings of everyday life. It also encourages paying off the mortgage faster and having a bigger emergency fund. It also taught me the realities of nomadic life!

What are your thoughts about living in a van and surviving on low paying seasonal jobs?

Bindu

Conversation with a Geographer

Guess, I told you before: I work as a dental assistant. My job brings opportunities to have small talk with patients sometimes.  

I am responsible for setting the room for treatment. It also includes helping the patient and the dentist during the procedures. 

Sometimes we get nervous patients. Other times, the person comes with an apology "Nothing personal, but I don't like dentists and dental offices". Wow! It will be an excellent complement for the dentist, right? My standard response will be, " I understand. You are not the only person like that. But, I am an assistant. So, I am sure you have no problem with me". Then the person smiles usually.

On this particular day, I got an anxious patient. He is supposed to get a cavity filled on a lower back tooth. From the conversation between the doctor and patient, I gathered he got the dental anxiety only recently. After giving the local anaesthetic, the dentist left the room. We usually wait a few minutes for the drug to "marinate". 

Since the patient was anxious, I started talking with him. I wanted to make him engaged in speaking to deviate from his thoughts about the procedure. After talking about the kind of hobbies and current Covid situation, I wanted to know about his line of work. He studied Geography and teaches Geography. I started asking more about Geography and jobs. I didn't realise there were so many things to do with Geography. 

Geographists study about earth's environment. That is all I thought about it. He explained that he collects geographical data to analyse human nature and culture. The collected data can help to predict where a business should start to thrive. 

I was thinking, geographers, make maps. They teach people to learn about geography. He told me many people don't know the jobs in his field. He said geographers actually can work as city planners, environment consultants, conservation officers, etc. He also told e with geographical data, he can predict where to even start a dental office to have a busy and thriving practice. The owners of those offices might have used the service of a geographer!!! Think of those "smile makeovers" on Instagram?

What comes to mind when you hear about geography and geographer?

Bindu

Hydroponic: Experiments

Most people like to have some indoor plants. I also have some houseplants. Easy growing plants are my favourites. Pothos and Snake plants can grow without much care. 

There are some videos from Planterina showing plant propagation in water. Following her methods, I propagated some of my plants in water. 

I learned to propagate even a tomato plant from cutting! It was planted a little late in the soil after rooting in the water. So, I didn't get any tomatoes from that particular plant. 

One day I stumbled on an easy hydroponic method called the Kratki method. It uses only a container of water and some nutrients. 

There is a history of me killing my plants by forgetting to water them. So, my family was teasing me when I started with hydroponics. In summer, my indoor plants in containers were attracting fungus gnats. One more thing to irritate them, right?

Kratki hydroponics will not bring any fungus gnats. I wanted to try it.

Of course, Youtube is the go-to place to learn DIY methods. I watched few videos and decided to recycle some containers at home.

I found that the lids of yoghurt containers are easy to cut. The plastic containers of the rice pudding can serve as net pots if I can put holes in them. I learned that expanding clay pebbles can be used to keep my plants steady in the makeshift net pots. I used the water-soluble fertiliser at home for my first plant. It was growing new roots. So I am happy.

That is my polka dot plant. I was having trouble with keeping it alive for two years in a row. This is a cutting I got rooted in late summer. Since she started growing nicely, I bought Rockwool and net pots from amazon along with hydroponic fertilizer. This last weekend, I placed some plant babies I got from my relative in my new containers. I am all into using what I have right now. So, most things are re-purposed for the project.

Now, I have rosemary starting to grow. It is a cutting from my summer herb container. It got a tiny root by keeping in a glass of water. Hopefully, it will develop more roots in the Kratki system.

This one has net pot and Rockwool. The lid is from a disposable food container. I used only a knife and scissors to make a hole in the lid. Hoping to make the herb alive till next spring. 

Have you ever tried hydroponics at home? How do you care for the indoor plants?

Hibiscus plant

 

Bindu

Me and The library.

I love books. 

That also means I read a lot of books. But, I don't buy that many books. 

That is where the Toronto Public Library comes. The library has a great collection of ebooks. 

I have an app called Libby. It is connected to the library with my card. So, I can download any Overdrive ebook for free. 

Library made me sane during the lockdown in 2020. Still, I find time to read while working full time.

Years before, while I wanted to do crafts, TPL gave me tons of books to learn crochet. Crochet learning led me to find other crafts like card making and bead &wire jewellery. 

Now, I am reading thrillers to kill time on the subway. I got interested in backyard gardening last summer. After reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable Miracle", I want to know more about homesteading. My shelf on Libby carries "The Weekend Homesteader" to delve into that.

Toronto public library is a well-used library system. Linkedin learning is free for all library members. I am so blessed to have access to the library.

Do you use your library at all? What features of the library do you like most?

Bindu

Unexpected free day

I haven't been writing that much

I was reading several books though.

It is Friday! I woke up by 4.50 am because the work starts at 7 am. 

As usual, went to the office and started working. While the first patient was still on the chair, the power went out. Luckily, no one was in the middle of a procedure.

We waited for a few minutes, hoping the power will come back. 

Then dismissed the patient. Staff continued to wait for about another hour. Then called and cancelled all the patients. Luckily, we have paper records of contact numbers to make calls. 

Then everyone was sent home. 

Outside, the day was hot and humid. I got a really good afternoon nap though. It felt so nice to do nothing. 

What you will do if you get an unexpected off day?

Bindu