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Perhaps it's for lack of anything better to do (though I did get an interview this week, more on that below), but I keep finding myself planning things I want to do when I live alone.
Some of them, I can do as soon as I've moved out of my parents' house, some might have to wait until I'm in a more permanent place. Living alone here is still only a pitstop before I move to the UK. The only thing they have in common is that they do require some independence.
Napkins, for example.
"What?" You say. "Napkins?"
Yes. Napkins. You might not think they require any amount of independence, but considering that we only use napkins when we have company and that they are always, always from Ikea, having or making my own is just not possible right now. Messy food for dinner is just met with kitchen roll in this house (not that I'd want my nice napkins stained with bbq sauce, but...).
My family isn't particularly green. Earth hour was met with a solid "uh, yeah, sure" and the ever present "what is she on about now?" look. Laundry takes much more water because my mum uses an arcane and mystifying method of sorting based on colour of item, temperature, material, day of the week, colour of the sky, hunches, a set of dice and probably a few other things. We've only recently started turning appliances (laptops, tv, etc) off completely, sometimes even unplugging them.
I'm not saying I'm the most energy efficient, water preserving, plant loving hippie on the block (I take too long in the shower to claim that), but I'd like to be a little more eco-friendly. Getting back to napkins, this means, of course, cloth over paper.
And why not? You can make adorable napkins with prints or colours to suit your style or your plates or whatever you want. And whatever water it takes to wash them doesn't measure up to the garbage created by tossing all the paper ones. In related cloth items, the same goes for diapers.
But there's more to it than napkins.
Cars, for example. More specifically: knowing how to drive and the fact that I don't.
I take public transport all the time. I walked to school for five years and when I moved on to uni, I took the train/bus for six. This summer, I'll be going to Graspop by train (though because of the late hour, have to hitch a ride back home, though I could also shell out for the campsite, drag along a tent and go home on Monday). Every time I go to Nikki's, I go by train.
I recognise that their are downsides to not driving: doing a large amount of shopping suddenly becomes a much more daunting task. You're also pretty screwed when it comes to emergencies, terrible weather and train personel going on strike.
At the same time though, I think it gives us some advantages too. Exercise is good for us, whether we like it or not; it forces us to interact more, even when we staunchly stand by the fact that people are largely made out of stupid and, my favourite, it takes away most of the excuses we might have about why we don't support our local stores. I understand that this isn't always possible and not within everybody's budget, but I believe it deserves consideration.
For now, I'm still on the fence. My parents are pushing me to do it and I can see the advantages, but I don't know if I want to drive. Perhaps part of it is fear, perhaps I should just learn and then not do it, but I don't right now, I rarely beg anyone for a ride and it works for me. Watch that change the second I've moved out.
I realise that by now half of you, if not more, have stopped reading, but I'm not done yet.
Another plan that I have is probably better suited for when I have a permanent place to live, but I don't know. I'm really eager about this.
I want to make my own hydroponic garden. For details and a more detailed explanation, visit Windowfarms, but basically, it's a garden that uses water, nutrients and clay pellets/other water retaining pellets instead of water and dirt. These exist in large round almost table like boxes that fit several plants, but windowfarms has a model that, with the help of an aquarium pump, some tubing and some old plastic bottles makes a kind of hanging garden.
I'm not very big on gardening. The "oh god oh god my hands are filthy" put a stop to that around when I hit puberty and nowadays allergies make it a bit of a bitch to go outside in nice weather, but I do like the thought of producing at least some of my own food. When my grandparents on my dad's side were still alive, my grandpa had a vegetable garden and several chickens. The idea that what you were eating came from there made it that much more delicious. The fact that you control exactly what goes into the food (and even better: what doesn't) always helps. From what I've seen, it pretty much accepts all veggies, too. I've seen people growing lettuce, which is fairly basic, but also eggplant, brussel sprouts, green beans, strawberries and habanero chilis.
So yes, this is definitely something I'd like to do. And for once, I think my parents actually did have a hand in this. Not that we have our own vegetable garden, god forbid the garden look anything but pristine and 'nice', but we do have and have for a long time, our own herbs. We are currently, and it's switched up fairly often, growing basil, thyme, sage, rosemary, chives and something lemony. So much nicer than the dried stuff (which has its uses too, but...).
Maybe it's partly my inner foodie talking, maybe the part of me that goes "make your own stuff! knit clothes! sew things! darn your socks!" is just waiting to break free. Even more, that is.
In knitting news: socks, socks, socks. On my third pair, might finish these tonight.
As for that job interview: I applied for a shop clerk job in a videogame store and they called back yesterday morning about an interview that same night. Super! Awesome! I'm in want of a job so minor stuff like short notice is not an issue. Other people apparently don't have that same attitude and I got another call a little later, saying the interview will now be on Saturday next week, since not enough people could make it yesterday.
If I were the one hiring, they wouldn't have needed to bother coming back, but I'm not, so there's nothing I can do but wait for a confirmation call and, at the interview, subtly point out that I would have been there. Fingers crossed, anyway.
And to prove again that I am not all green and hippie (I don't trust hippies, they tend to be vegan), my materialistic side is in shambles and tears upon finding out just how much a kitchen aid stand mixer costs.
Owwwww. That's not going to be in my budget for ages. I think I'll refrain from looking up how much a proper sewing machine costs.
Some of them, I can do as soon as I've moved out of my parents' house, some might have to wait until I'm in a more permanent place. Living alone here is still only a pitstop before I move to the UK. The only thing they have in common is that they do require some independence.
Napkins, for example.
"What?" You say. "Napkins?"
Yes. Napkins. You might not think they require any amount of independence, but considering that we only use napkins when we have company and that they are always, always from Ikea, having or making my own is just not possible right now. Messy food for dinner is just met with kitchen roll in this house (not that I'd want my nice napkins stained with bbq sauce, but...).
My family isn't particularly green. Earth hour was met with a solid "uh, yeah, sure" and the ever present "what is she on about now?" look. Laundry takes much more water because my mum uses an arcane and mystifying method of sorting based on colour of item, temperature, material, day of the week, colour of the sky, hunches, a set of dice and probably a few other things. We've only recently started turning appliances (laptops, tv, etc) off completely, sometimes even unplugging them.
I'm not saying I'm the most energy efficient, water preserving, plant loving hippie on the block (I take too long in the shower to claim that), but I'd like to be a little more eco-friendly. Getting back to napkins, this means, of course, cloth over paper.
And why not? You can make adorable napkins with prints or colours to suit your style or your plates or whatever you want. And whatever water it takes to wash them doesn't measure up to the garbage created by tossing all the paper ones. In related cloth items, the same goes for diapers.
But there's more to it than napkins.
Cars, for example. More specifically: knowing how to drive and the fact that I don't.
I take public transport all the time. I walked to school for five years and when I moved on to uni, I took the train/bus for six. This summer, I'll be going to Graspop by train (though because of the late hour, have to hitch a ride back home, though I could also shell out for the campsite, drag along a tent and go home on Monday). Every time I go to Nikki's, I go by train.
I recognise that their are downsides to not driving: doing a large amount of shopping suddenly becomes a much more daunting task. You're also pretty screwed when it comes to emergencies, terrible weather and train personel going on strike.
At the same time though, I think it gives us some advantages too. Exercise is good for us, whether we like it or not; it forces us to interact more, even when we staunchly stand by the fact that people are largely made out of stupid and, my favourite, it takes away most of the excuses we might have about why we don't support our local stores. I understand that this isn't always possible and not within everybody's budget, but I believe it deserves consideration.
For now, I'm still on the fence. My parents are pushing me to do it and I can see the advantages, but I don't know if I want to drive. Perhaps part of it is fear, perhaps I should just learn and then not do it, but I don't right now, I rarely beg anyone for a ride and it works for me. Watch that change the second I've moved out.
I realise that by now half of you, if not more, have stopped reading, but I'm not done yet.
Another plan that I have is probably better suited for when I have a permanent place to live, but I don't know. I'm really eager about this.
I want to make my own hydroponic garden. For details and a more detailed explanation, visit Windowfarms, but basically, it's a garden that uses water, nutrients and clay pellets/other water retaining pellets instead of water and dirt. These exist in large round almost table like boxes that fit several plants, but windowfarms has a model that, with the help of an aquarium pump, some tubing and some old plastic bottles makes a kind of hanging garden.
I'm not very big on gardening. The "oh god oh god my hands are filthy" put a stop to that around when I hit puberty and nowadays allergies make it a bit of a bitch to go outside in nice weather, but I do like the thought of producing at least some of my own food. When my grandparents on my dad's side were still alive, my grandpa had a vegetable garden and several chickens. The idea that what you were eating came from there made it that much more delicious. The fact that you control exactly what goes into the food (and even better: what doesn't) always helps. From what I've seen, it pretty much accepts all veggies, too. I've seen people growing lettuce, which is fairly basic, but also eggplant, brussel sprouts, green beans, strawberries and habanero chilis.
So yes, this is definitely something I'd like to do. And for once, I think my parents actually did have a hand in this. Not that we have our own vegetable garden, god forbid the garden look anything but pristine and 'nice', but we do have and have for a long time, our own herbs. We are currently, and it's switched up fairly often, growing basil, thyme, sage, rosemary, chives and something lemony. So much nicer than the dried stuff (which has its uses too, but...).
Maybe it's partly my inner foodie talking, maybe the part of me that goes "make your own stuff! knit clothes! sew things! darn your socks!" is just waiting to break free. Even more, that is.
In knitting news: socks, socks, socks. On my third pair, might finish these tonight.
As for that job interview: I applied for a shop clerk job in a videogame store and they called back yesterday morning about an interview that same night. Super! Awesome! I'm in want of a job so minor stuff like short notice is not an issue. Other people apparently don't have that same attitude and I got another call a little later, saying the interview will now be on Saturday next week, since not enough people could make it yesterday.
If I were the one hiring, they wouldn't have needed to bother coming back, but I'm not, so there's nothing I can do but wait for a confirmation call and, at the interview, subtly point out that I would have been there. Fingers crossed, anyway.
And to prove again that I am not all green and hippie (I don't trust hippies, they tend to be vegan), my materialistic side is in shambles and tears upon finding out just how much a kitchen aid stand mixer costs.
Owwwww. That's not going to be in my budget for ages. I think I'll refrain from looking up how much a proper sewing machine costs.