Wanting less and living more

[crabapples]

Today is a good day to start my journal. My husband has Covid 19 and I just sent an email to my manager to let her know that I won't be at work this weekend so that I can be home to care for him and our four kids. It's not technically an FMLA protected absence (unless, God forbid, things get a lot worse). As a result, I'm possibly placing my weekend contract status in jeopardy by calling off on a holiday weekend, but I am a mother and a wife before I'm a nurse and an employee, and it felt great to send that email.

The other E.R.E.-ish thing I did today was construct a "self-closing" portiere rod for our front door curtains. They are there to keep the draft out of our 100+ year old house, and the door was running into them every time we opened it, which was very inconvenient. I could have ordered a purpose made rod for $80 plus shipping from England. God, the carbon footprint on that would be enormous, although it appears to be beautifully made by blacksmiths instead of machines. But, I took the curtain rod we already hand, hammered the brackets into new shapes, hammered one end of the rod flat, drove a nail through it for a hinge, and hung it all back up. Now the curtains move back and forth with the door. I don't think I could be more pleased with myself.

Anyhow that's why I'm here. I'm interested in doing things for myself, and living as a human being, not a wage worker. I like wanting less instead of earning more. I want to be rich in skills and relationships; status is boring.

The small details: My husband and I both work part time (me: two 12 hour days, him: four 8 hour days). One of us is always home with the kids, and the school aged ones are home schooled. We have some savings, and a mortgage, a paid off old car, and a small amount of consumer debt from when we were facing some health challenges last year and resorted to buying convenience in order to make margin. I also have some low interest student loans that are almost paid off. In the next six months, our focus is paying off the higher interest consumer debt. I'll continue to make minimum payments on the student loans, but I'm not in a hurry there. I would like to accelerate our mortgage payments, though. We live on a small urban lot, and over the next year there are some changes I want to make to our house to become more circular. These are things like installing rain barrels, digging small trenches through my front garden so that the rain coming from the gutter there will irrigate my food plants. I also would like to install a wood-burning stove, in light of what just happened in Buffalo.

I have a feeling I will mostly write about small projects because they represent a change of mindset. Instead of solving a problem by buying a product, I can solve a problem by making observations, thinking about how things work, using what I have, and trying something new.

[bostonimproper]

Welcome to the forum! Excited to hear about what you can achieve on the resiliency front in an urban setting.

[UrbanHomesteader]

I'm interested to hear about your projects. I hope your husband feels better soon!

[guitarplayer]

I like crabapples. Welcome!

[GreenMonsta]

From a new forum member to another, welcome! I look forward to seeing how your projects come along.

[crabapples]

Hi folks. Thank you for the welcome. Sorry it took an entire year for me to reply! Life happened....

Anyhow, some great things happened recently. First, I had been writing letters and filling out surveys to complain that the bus arrives at my workplace 8 minutes after the start of the shift. I work for the second largest employer in the region.... come on, I can't be 8 minutes late every day. Well it's paid off because now the bus comes 15 minutes before the start of the shift!

So, I ride the bus to work in the morning. I no longer have to pay for parking ($6/day) AND my employer pays my bus fare! AND my husband gets the use of the car while he is at home with the kids.

On the way home, I walk. I love walking home. I get to enjoy being outside, get some exercise, and have time to unwind from my shift. It also makes for fine scavenging.

Two nights ago when I was walking home, I found a sewing machine on the curb. There was a note that said "tension needs to be fixed." So I carried it home. Most of the time "tension problems" are easily solved by blowing out the lint, putting on a fresh needle, using decent thread, and making sure you threaded everything correctly.

All this was true. I now own a perfectly functional sewing machine. Not sure whether to sell it or just keep it set up in my bedroom. I already sewed a cover for a hot water bottle. That took 5 minutes and an old sweater, and now my daughter is snuggling it in bed.

Speaking of the hot water bottle, it came from our local "by the pound" thrift store. I've been scrounging there and selling on FB marketplace. Just pocket change but it's fun and scratches my foraging itch in the winter.

The last fun habit I've revived this year is using the library. Been reading a lot of Jared Diamond and Nassir Taleb. Next up, though, is "The Scavengers Manifesto" by Anneli Rufus and Kristan Lawson.

[ertyu]

Sounds awesome! Congrats both on the bus situation and on the machine. These are both great wins. Seems like you've found a couple of ways to solve problems in your life that are both frugal and at the same time make you healthy and happy, an excellent win

[Biscuits and Gravy]

Excellent! Please keep posting!

[Henry]

Speaking of the hot water bottle, it came from our local "by the pound" thrift store.

My wife uses a hot water bottle and I've noticed their decline in popularity. They are bottom shelf items, limited in inventory (I never see more than 2) placed next to Medieval looking shit like forceps and enemas and possibly douches but I make it point not to look at those items because I hate all things related to the care of the human body especially those things that require insertion. I get weak kneed at the site of a Q-Tip. I always have to ask the worker where they are and it often takes a tour of the pharmacy to locate them because they don't know where the fuck they are either. They last for a good while but eventually the screw in thingy gets stripped and the hot water leaks out and you get a mild burn and stain on your couch. Life is so fucking disgusting when you think upon it.

[sodatrain]

Welcome!

Looking forward to next year's update!