Month: July 2021

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CITY CAN’T MANAGE TRASH CANS

Should someone be paid if they don’t do their job?  Obviously not, in ordinary  circumstances.  The lawn service get paid when the grass is cut. A food server gets paid for the hours they’ve worked.  But when it comes to city contracts, it’s  a different story.  In the case of trash pick up in our city, the Waste Management  contract is awarded by  the Board of Public Works.  I’m not sure what those people do after the contract is awarded.   Apparently, they turn the whole thing over to an office administrator, and that’s who you call if you don’t have enough trash cans.  Trouble is, that person seemingly has no control over what the Waste Management  company does or does not provide.  If you complain about busted or missing  trash cans, the reply is:  “all I can do is e mail them.” And if they don’t do what you pay for?  Repeat: “all I can do is email them.”  Why such a flaccid response?   Obviously, the city can’t manage trash cans.

City Can't Manage Trash Cans. The Board of Public Works doesn't monitor their efficiency.
City Can’t Manage Trash Cans. The Board of Public Works should hold the Waste Management company accountable.

The Board members, themselves, are appointed by the Mayor, but the entire process is shrouded in mystery. If you go to the Board of Public Works website, you can’t find the names of the board members.  I did see a notice on the internet  from 2009 that a new man had been appointed to the board after someone retired.  But that was twelve years ago.   Actually, the decision on who to hire for trash services is a fairly major decision, amounting to more than half a million dollars.  But do any of these four people feel  responsible for the efficacy of local trash pickup?  Do they care if you have busted trash cans or fewer than you need for your rental property? Who holds the Waste Management  Company accountable ? Some cities fine companies for violating contracts.

The company won’t empty overflowing trash cans, but the cans are overflowing because there aren’t enough of them.  As Winston Churchill once said, “ It is a riddle,  wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”  Why does our Waste Removal  contractor have such a stranglehold on the Department of Public Works?    Seems to me that the city can’t manage trash cans.  Or maybe they don’t want to.

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BEWARE OF SUMMER SCAMMERS

When you’ve lived in a small town for awhile, you know a lot of people who’ve held a variety of jobs.  Sometimes,  gossip about  former employers reaches you through  the grapevine.  Here’s what you may  hear  if they’ve worked for an air conditioning company:   A customer calls on a sweltering hot summer day because the A/C went out.  Repair man shakes his head and says it can’t be fixed.  You’re miserably hot, unable to sleep.  You believe him when he tells you that you need a new unit.  They do you a favor and get the new one installed the very next day.  And  remove the old unit at no extra  charge.  Then, guess what? Instead of taking it to the junk yard, they  replace  a minor part, then sell  your old unit  to another customer.  Yes, it happens.    Beware of summer scammers! .

Beware of summer scammers. When you're air conditioning goes out, they may push you to buy a new one.
BEWARE OF SUMMER SCAMMERS. If your air conditioning goes out, they may try to sell you a new unit instead of repairing the one you have.

Summer is when folks  get serious about roof leaks, chimney repairs and other outdoor jobs.  Have you ever gotten bids to fix a roof?  The price range is nothing short of amazing.  Half of them refuse to do a partial roof install.  They will tell you that unless you get a whole new roof,  they can’t guarantee it won’t leak.  And  if  you start getting bids on a roof replacement,  you’re bewildered.   The bids may differ by as much as ten thousand dollars—or more .  Now is the time to pause before making a decision.  Talk to people, call different roofers, check BBB ratings and online reviews.   You’d be surprised what you can find over the internet.  Just gather the facts on your own.   And beware of summer scammers.

But scamming can also occur in other professions.  There are doctors who convince you that your backache cannot be cured unless you undergo expensive surgery. Tire salesmen who say they can’t fix a low tire..  They feed on your desperation:   Afraid the back pain can’t get better, or  of what you’ll do without a car for a day or so.

When you sense that a provider is pressuring you to make a quick decision, it’s time to stop and think.   Get bids from other companies.  Get second and third doctor’s opinions.  Check with another tire company and see if a nail can be removed..  Beware of summer scammers.

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CAN WE LIVE WITHOUT SINGLE-USE PLASTICS?

Everyone agrees that single-use plastic is one of the worst things that’s happened to the environment.  Plastic sticks around  for ages, threatening wildlife and spreading toxins.    Activists have banned the use of plastic bags in a few American cities,  but the trend really hasn’t taken hold. Even though I bring cloth bags to Aldi’s because I have to, I will admit to laziness when it comes to supermarkets who provide multiple plastic bags. It’s so much easier to let them do it. Environmentalists insist that the day must come when we stop jamming up our oceans with piles of plastic trash.  But the question is, can we  live without single-use plastic?

Can we live without single use plastics? The oceans are full of plastic .
Can we live without single-use plastics? By the year 2050, the ocean will have more plastic debris than fish.

Let’s start at the bottom with disposable diapers.  There are charitable organizations that provide free disposable diapers to low income  women.  Can anyone of child bearing age believe that you can do without them?  Well, I did.  Used cloth diapers, which could be thrown in the washing machine and reused for years on end.  However, by the time my third child was born, I succumbed  to the lure of disposable diapers.  Which are actually coated with plastic.

Disposable baby diapers  form a sizeable portion of non-recyclable landfill waste. They also contain many harmful chemicals that are subsequently dispersed into the environment.

Let’s move on to packaging.  Half the products on our shelves are in plastic containers.  Laundry detergent, ketchup, mustard—the list goes on and on. They used to sell such  products in either cardboard boxes or glass bottles. I guess that was a lot more expensive than using plastic.

According to the National Geographic:

“The conveniences plastics offer a throw-away culture that reveals the material’s dark side.  Today, single-use plastics account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year. Many of these products, such as plastic bags and food wrappers, have a lifespan of mere minutes to hours, yet they may persist in the environment for hundreds of years.”

Take the time to look around your house—the kitchen and bathroom, in particular.  How many of the items you use every day are packaged in plastic?  The alternative, of course, is paper.  Paper and cardboard are renewable materials that are easy to source. They are also inexpensive and can be used for a variety of different  packaging elements.

Can we live without single use plastics?  Decades from now, our descendants may wish that we had.

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WARNING! HELP WANTED IS A BAD SIGN.

July 4 started out to be a pretty good day.  Decided to go out for brunch to celebrate our country’s independence. There aren’t a  lot of choices in our city, but we decided to try a place we hadn’t been to for years.   The parking looked great—plenty of handicapped places.  And we were pleased when seeing so many customers wearing patriotic clothing.  Got inside, and looked for the host, or whatever they call the person who meets you at the door and arranges for seating.  Nobody at the desk. Waited awhile.  Nada.  Finally called out, ‘anybody here?” That brought someone out from the back. Everything went downhill from there.  Warning! Help Wanted is a bad sign.

Warning! Help Wanted is a bad sign. The service will be poor.
Warning! Help Wanted is a bad sign. You will not receive good service.

Got seated by a pleasant young woman who brought us our coffee right away.  We perused the menu, and decided what to have. She took her time getting back to our table, but we weren’t unduly concerned. While waiting, we looked around.  The place was half empty.  Unusual for a Sunday morning. She finally came back and took our order.  And then the long wait began.

They didn’t have WIFI, so I couldn’t get much on my phone to pass the time.  After half an hour, she came and asked if we wanted more coffee.  We said, “no, we’d like to have our food, if that’s possible.”  She swallowed hard.  “I’m afraid it’s going to be awhile,” she said.  “Like, how long?” I asked.  “Maybe 20 minutes,” she replied.

We debated whether or not to leave.  But by now, we’d invested too much time to leave, go somewhere else, park, and start all over again.  The hunger pangs were making us cranky, so I looked for the waitress.  Nowhere in sight.  I rose from my seat to find her standing outside the kitchen.  Asked her if she could fix us a couple pieces of toast while we waited.  She agreed.  I looked back in the kitchen and saw only one cook at the grill.  No wonder the service was so slow!

We had never waited that long in any restaurant for a simple brunch.  How much time does it take to cook bacon and eggs?  But as we drove away, we looked at the sign outside.  It said, “HELP WANTED.  SERVERS AND COOKS AT BOTH LOCATIONS.”  If only we had seen that before we walked in.

Obviously, the poor service is a result of the federal  unemployment compensation due to Covid-19.   When combined with state unemployment checks, restaurant workers can make more money  staying at home than going to work. Especially in places that don’t serve liquor– which generates bigger tips..  I felt sorry for the young people who were working that day.  Glad we left our waitress a good tip.  It wasn’t her fault.

Warning! HELP WANTED is a bad sign.

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CAN YOU CURE LAZINESS?

If you live in an area of single family homes, it’s easy to identify laziness.  These are the folks who seldom mow their lawns or  bring their trash cans in from the street. Their kids leave toys strewn around the property, and swim  towels hang on their clothes lines for weeks after the summer ends.  In the office or workplace, it’s the person who spends more time socializing with co-workers than actually doing much work.  The list could go on and on.  The question is, can you cure laziness?

Can You cure Laziness? Maybe, but first you have to ackowlege it
CAN YOU CURE LAZINESS? Psychologists say you can, but it’s not easy.

Psychologists have tried to come up with ways to cure laziness.  They say a person should set goals, and stop procrastinating.  They might blame a person’s parents. Apparently, an overly critical and demanding parent causes the person to give up and stop trying, because they know they can’t please. Therefore, if you work on improving your self esteem,  you will not be lazy.  It all sounds like psychobabble to me.

The Bible has this  to say about laziness:

“The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work” (21:25); he loves sleep: “As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed” (26:14); he gives excuses: “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets’” (26:13); he wastes time and energy: “He who is slothful in his work is a brother to him who is a great waster” (18:9 KJV); he believes he is wise, but is a fool: “The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly” (26:16).

Proverbs also tells us what happens to lazy people: : A lazy person becomes a servant (or debtor): “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor” (12:24); his future is bleak: “A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing” (20:4); he may come to poverty: “The soul of the lazy man desires and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich” (13:4 KJV).

When politicians start talking about welfare and  extended  unemployment benefits , laziness is the elephant in the room.  No one wants to accuse a potential voter of  preferring life on the dole.

Intellectual people are sometimes lazy.  They’d rather sit at a desk than do any physical labor.  The internet hasn’t helped matters.  We all know someone  who spends hours online playing video games or maybe watching porn.

Physical therapy doesn’t appeal to the lazy patient.  When the doctor orders six weeks or so after some  type  of joint surgery, he/she may opt not to “bother.” Which results in a poor recovery.

The fact is, most of us are  somewhat lazy.  As an example, if you don’t see the importance of having a clean car trunk, it will probably always be a trifle messy. A little bit of laziness makes you more relaxed, and feeling less stressed.  Anyway, messiness and laziness are two different things.  A lazy person can keep a very neat desk drawer,  while  a messy person may be too busy  working to sit down and  take the time.

Can you cure laziness?  I doubt it.  But here’s the good news.  If you’re not lazy, you’ll probably exercise more, take the time to prepare nutritious meals, and lead  a healthier, happier  life.

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HOORAY! BACK TO PRE-PANDEMIC WEIGHT

It doesn’t take a whole lot to make me happy.  I don’t want to be rich and famous.  But I do want to be in control of my weight.  That’s what comes from being a hospital dietitian for so long.  But stepping on the scales after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns was a downer.  I don’t have unrealistic goals.  What I weighed at 25 and even 55 is not going to happen again.  In fact,  elderly women who are slightly overweight have longer life expectancies.  So who wants to look like Jane Fonda? I’m okay with being at the far end of a normal BMI (body mass index), and have kept my weight about the same for many years—until the end of March , 2021.  But today,  I had to celebrate, just in time for the 4th of July.  Hooray! Back to pre-pandemic weight.

hooray! back to pre-pandemic weight
HOORAY! BACK TO PRE-PANDEMIC WEIGHT. Don’t let 4th of July foods ruin your diet.

How did I gain weight last year?  We fixed the same types of food—lots of salads and weight watcher type frozen  dinners.  And we didn’t eat in a restaurant  for over a year.  However,  we did more carry out, which often had a side order of French fries.  Who can resist hot, steamy, fragrant French fries when they’re sitting right in front of you?  But more importantly, I didn’t get nearly as much exercise.  My frequent shopping trips were condensed to once a week.  Daily walks had to be outside, and were often canceled by rain, sleet, snow, and extreme heat.  The lesson to be learned here isn’t new.  If you want to lose  weight, eat less, exercise more.

But the pandemic didn’t affect everyone the same way.  In fact, at groups and gatherings, I’ve noticed that some people  actually lost weight.  I don’t know how they did that, but I’m thinking they didn’t eat out as often, and don’t really like to cook. Or maybe they invested in some type of home exercise machine.  Good for them!  I’m hoping they weren’t depressed, which could have affected their appetite and resulted in weight loss.  But it’s possible.

 I’m happy to be back to pre pandemic weight. However, new challenges are ahead this coming weekend.  Who can resist 4th of July food?  Potato salad, deviled eggs, baked beans…yum!

Happy 4th of July to all!