Monday, February 28, 2011
A Wild Hair
February 27, 2011
Sometimes I get a wild hair and it happened last November in Tanzania.
We stayed at The Lutheran Centre, a motel like accommodation run by the Southern Diocese. It is comfortable and welcoming. When they handed us the key to our room, that’s what we got…a key with no fob. It became a challenge for me to keep track of it. Sometimes I didn’t have a pocket, if I put it in the backpack I was searching for it in the depths while holding other things, so I put it on a safety pin.
In my head I thought….hey, how hard can this be?….I’ll get key fobs for The Lutheran Centre. And now three months later and it is done…although it has been interesting.
My first thought was to order some that had The Lutheran Centre on it…I went to my cousin’s business website (Premium Solutions) and found out that the minimum order is 250 so while the price per item was reasonable the quantity was overkill for a Centre with 28 rooms! I checked many other sources….and decided that plastic fobs from Walmart and a computer template would work. I could print the text – which could now include room numbers and cut them to size.
It is now the second week of December. (My first deadline was early January when another group was traveling to Tz that could deliver them). So I talked to the auto department (key fobs are in auto!) and they willingly ordered 25 (two per packet).
And the fun begins and even the store manager gets involved. The warehouse would cancel the order for 25 (apparently no Walmart auto dept. needs that many key fobs) and send 5 or 10 …and snow and trucks also meant delays. I checked about once a week. Is it good if the auto dept recognizes you as the key fob lady?
Last Friday I finally got the last 10 packets and printed the fillers, cut them to size, slipped them into the fob, attached a key ring and finished this project!! We have guests coming from Tz in June so hopefully there will be room in a suitcase for a sack of key fobs.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
February 23, 2011
Today I call the recycling center at 8:30 and she asks that I delay delivery for at least an hour, they are full up. I find our bin ¾ full…but the bottom half was last week’s bundles. And again I find bottles…so much for the hope that people can read. Today it is windy and the temp is dropping. That means the small plastic bags blow easily (and even some of the larger ones) and it means that a dropped can skitters and tumbles across the lot and under a car. I wait on the other side and it skips out!
Feb 18,
Another week passes and I call ahead to the recycling center and hear, “No, I’m sorry we’re full up. You’ll have to bring them next week.” I go to the bin and still sort. It is way above freezing and we’ve lost snow and ice…unfortunately this means we’ve gained liquids running out of cans and bottles and bags. The positive is that it isn’t until the last bag I find 4 glass beer bottles! People can read. I observe that Busch Light Beer wins the popularity contest with 8 full garbage bags. Too bad Bud Light! One bag has large bottles of Pepsi all half full.
Feb 11, 2011
A week later there were fewer cans just one pickup load instead of 1 ½ loads. I’m again decked out in clean red coat and hat. The HyVee wine and spirits manager has extra boxes for the glass bottles. As I’m bringing the load home on business 71 one bag of Mountain Dew plastic bottles blows out. I turn the corner, turn around, drive about a block and park. By now the bag has been hit by a car….and the 6 bottles are blowing around. I wait and wait for a traffic break and make a mad dash…of course it is pick one up, one blows, grab another…and a semi is coming….we make eye contact , he grins and stops and I proceed my bottle dance finally gathering all 6 including one fully flattened. I wave and call out thanks and traffic proceeds! I never did find the plastic grocery bag! Because it is melting, the coat is dirty! This time it took 2 hours. I’m getting better!
People spend more time planning a two-week vacation than retirement. Phil Blom
What are you doing in Retirement?
This is one thing I am doing.
What can I do that confirms people don’t read, Chardonnay and Bud Light are popular and I end up cold and smelling like a brewery? This would be CAN DUTY for Dollars for Scholars. This local program provides scholarships for students and every dollar given goes to scholarships. The board collects 5 cent refund cans in a large fence bin and uses that money for all administrative costs.
This bin is about 6 feet tall with a padlocked gate. There is a sign that says Dollars for Scholars and requesting no glass – see above that people can’t or won’t read. In one week’s time the bin will be from ½ full to 2/3’s full. Sooo…when a board member has the beloved CAN DUTY, here’s what happens.
· Call ahead to the recycler to reserve a space in a bin
· Gather directions, tape, bags, key…a vehicle…pickup or van is best
· Arrive at the collection bin and unlock
· Any grocery store bags need to be opened and put into a large bag
· Any glass must be put in a box….and broken glass put in trash
· Boxed empty cans can be taped shut and bags must be tied shut
· Load all the cans and redeemable glass into vehicle
· Deliver to recycling center and label it so the check is sent to Dollars for Scholars!
It has been winter so I’m bundled up in my red coat, red Peruvian hat, gloves and mittens, and boots. Go to our pickup and find the bed full of snow. So I shovel out the bed. I thought I’d be done at the outside in an hour. The bin is really full. Some of the bags felt really heavy…a good sign that there is glass. (I’m amazed that you can throw bags of glass over a 6 ft fence and so little actually breaks!) I started the sorting process and it was really cold, so I filled the truck and came home to the garage sorted…delivered that to center and went back to the bin to get yet more! Sorted that and delivered it to the center…Three hours later I was home…and washed the coat, gloves and mittens. Next time surely there will be fewer cans!
Friday, February 18, 2011
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