“Rekenen,” Dutch: to count Am I reckoning month 5 already – or only? Sometimes it seems like we’ve been doing this all our lives, other times it’s like we only started yesterday. It shows that we’re not totally “in the habit” yet. I’m 16 (!) days late in reporting. Also, this month is ugly: our …
Category Archives: Freeze Yer Buns
Riot Reckoning: Month 4
“Rekenen,” Dutch: to count Gasoline: doing much better at 16% Between us we consumed 20.3 gallons. That’s 6.77 gallons/person, that’s: 16% of the US national average. I have this great deal with another mom from Amie’s preschool: in lieu of my watching her kids for four hours a week, she watches Amie for two hours …
Poll: Why Do/Don’t You Simplify/Prepare in the face of Peak Oil/Global Warming?
{This is a second attempt at this poll. I deleted the first one: the polling service wasn’t working properly. My apologies to those who already voted; please vote again.} I am curious about how my readers think about Peak Oil / Global Warming. Do you think the threat is real? What do we hope/fear for …
Continue reading “Poll: Why Do/Don’t You Simplify/Prepare in the face of Peak Oil/Global Warming?”
Riot for Austerity: Month 2 – Some Ouches
We finished our second month of the Riot while not at home, so my meter readings are a couple of days off. These numbers are for the period from 1 December 2008 to 4 January 2009. 1. Gasoline: OUCH! We did so well last month: 7.939 gallons of oil/person or 19% of the US National Average. …
Continue reading “Riot for Austerity: Month 2 – Some Ouches”
Riot for Austerity: Month 1 – Chippin’ Away!
We have one month of Rioting for Austerity under our belts. Let’s see how we did. 1. Gasoline: down but still a long way to go: 19% We’ve been extra careful with our driving. DH has gone into work a little more often than usual, but for the rest we’ve managed to consolidate our driving …
Continue reading “Riot for Austerity: Month 1 – Chippin’ Away!”
The War of Consumption and What to Say to Friends about “the Good Life”
Yesterday one of the headlines in Google was “Economy Contracts as Consumers Retreat“. There is a nice rhythm to that phrase, don’t you think? And, also like a good line of poetry, it says a lot in the most subtle of ways. The bellicosity of this phrase reveals what we all really know about consumption …
Continue reading “The War of Consumption and What to Say to Friends about “the Good Life””
Riot updates on Water and Heating Oil
Update on WATER I found the water meter reading from when we bought the place at the beginning of May. We only moved in at the end of June, but we’ve had house guests – sometimes 1, mostly 2, and sometimes 3 – for most of the time since then, so I will let those …
We Riot 4 Austerity
We have decided, DH and I, to try the Riot 4 Austerity. It was that whole business with Sharon’s run-in with the New York Times that finally did it: we got really upset about it and this seems the best way to address that kind of inanity. We’re now trying to establish our baseline (starting …
Freeze Yer Buns Challenge 2008
Yes, I’m taking the challenge, probably the most difficult one of all for me, because I’m one of those people who always feels cold. At the bookends of the summer, when other New Englanders are still/already wearing their t-shirts outside, I’ve got my scarf on and a sweater. I am unapologetic about that, but not …