HennyPenny's random thoughts. New set of goals!

Farmfresh

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Glad to hear from you. I was worrying! Glad you are soaping again. I think you are so much more Self Sufficient already!
 

hennypenny9

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Well my soap is ready! I love the rosemary and peppermint goat's milk one. I'm also trying to wait to go to the store until my mom visits, as she doesn't mind buying food. Trying to finish paying off my three year old desktop. Trying to pay my mom back for it, lol! Since my laptop is ancient, I want to start saving for a new one, but obviously can't until I've payed for the desktop. I'm already looking into upgrading the desktop's RAM, graphics card, and getting Windows 7. I'm running Vista now, and although I don't hate it as some do, I think it bogs everything down. And I heard that Win 7 doesn't do that as much.

I've been trying to use up old fabric, since I have so much of it! I bought a big plastic bin to store some in (in case I EVER move) and found that the bin did not hold even half of my fabric. :rolleyes: So I made some stretch pants, a fleece hat, and am almost finished with a long fleece robe.

On a slightly annoyed note, I wanted to log into my work's website for employees, and came across massive websites dedicated to complaining about rude employees. Are we living on planet earth? Do we have a special breed of people who were BORN to work retail and are always perfect all the time? No? Okay then. :hide Sorry. I know that some of my co-workers are absolutely terrible, yes I'll admit it! One even stands with her back to where most customers stand, and when I asked for her to come help she wouldn't turn around and said "WHAT? I don't understand???" So trust me, I know that sometimes employees are rude. But not all the time, and I'd say the rude employee is the exception, not the rule. Plus, many people come in already irritated. I must admit that if you are on your cell phone I will not say one word to you, so think what you like about that. We get paid barely anything, to get yelled at and treated like a lower form of life. How about a massive site dedicated to complaining about customers?? Okay, done. It just struck raw nerve, and I really hate retail. Sorry sorry.

It's been so warm here (unlike the rest of the country!) so my heating bill is going to be awesome!

I found a free pattern online for leggings!

Although I probably don't really need to, I started keeping a food journal. You know, writing down what I eat and drink each day. I've already lost a bit of weight, which I didn't expect. I'm 5' 4", so I'm not tall, and it seems as though I am stubby, lol! Anyway, I realized how long I can eat one dish. Six days. SIX. One casserole!

Okay, really done. :cool:
 

FarmerDenise

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I've worked retail too. It is amazing what some customers will try to get away with and how rude they can be!!! And we won't even mention their children.... :rolleyes:
 

hennypenny9

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If anything, I was born to work in a small cubical, doing the same thing day after day, with minimal contact with people who utter the phrases "let me talk to someone who CAN help me, " or "Wal-mart has it cheaper."

Oh, I found all my old natural gas bills from last year, and made a chart to compare how much I paid a year ago, to this year. Last month I paid over $70 less this year, than last! Of course, year I made the huge mistake of turning on the gas fireplace. The programmable thermostat is a great thing, too.

So I was using liquid Castille Soap from Mountain Rose Herb. I re-ordered it, without reading the ingredients, because I assumed (not good!) that since it was the same packaging, price, and title, that it would be the same thing. It is not. The old soap had coconut, olive, jojoba, and aloe vera. The new one has coconut, sunflower, and castor, no olive or jojoba or aloe. I emailed customer support and they did reply nicely, but I'm still not buying it anymore. I find it wrong that they label it "castille" soap, when it has no olive oil in it. I did mention that in the email, and they said that that is not the definition of castille soap. Anyway, they are charging the same amount for a cheaper product in my opinion. Oh, well, I found a place locally that sells Dr. Bronner's Unscented Castille soap, which has all the ingredients that the old MRH soap had. I just had more faith that MRH sold quality products, but they seem to be slipping. :(
 

hennypenny9

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You know when you see an ad on tv, and you just know that it won't work as well in real life? Well I was proven wrong! I can't believe it, but I spent $4.99 on that Pledge fur sweeper. It really does a great job on my couches! But! Here's a quote from their website. "Do not try to empty or disassemble disposable sweeper." They actually want you to toss it when it's full! Ridiculous. The lid is held together with small plastic knobs. I used needle nose pliers to squish the knobs small enough to pop out, and voila!~ The lid easily comes off and on, so no throwing away here!

I'm working on using my huge supply of fabric. I think I'll make some sort of list like "Ways to Use Extra Fabric" when I'm done. It's been really fun to do, actually.

I installed a new graphics card on my desktop! Super excited. Now can play my game on medium-high settings. This is not the most self sufficient thing, but hey, at least I upgraded it myself, right?
 

DrakeMaiden

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:frow

Good to see you around again.

I know what you mean . . . I don't even bother trying to keep up on all the threads. Not enough hours in the day.
 

prairiegirl

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Good to know that the Pledge sweeper works. Crazy how they make so many things disposable. I'm not sure if this would work for this sweeper, but I've read that fleece and old terry cloth towels work well for the Swiffer replacement cloths. Oh, and those very old-fashioned things - cloth diapers. Yep, I still have them from our daughters. I just haven't tried it yet.
 

lorihadams

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Washclothes are perfect for the swiffer thingy. It''s all I used until I broke the darn thing. Now I just get down on my hands and knees with a washcloth and wipe the floors.....ugh.
 

hennypenny9

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Great tip about the washcloths. I have an old green towel which has big bleach stains on in, which I think I will cut up for the Swiffer "wet" cloth. I already made several of the dry kind out of fleece. It works great! I think the fleece actually attracts the fur and holds on to it better than the store-bought cloths. It does fine with dust, too, but my main problem is cat fur. I can easily get roving fur balls if I go a couple days without sweeping. :rolleyes: I made them to look like this. http://www.flickr.com/photos/merwing/2044345041/in/pool-craft/ I think you could just cut a bit of fleece and tuck it in, but this is more secure, and well... I have the time.

I bought my very first tent! I watched a video on Amazon of someone setting it up, and realized that I could totally do it! It's "one touch" so you just pull some strings and it pops open. It's not for hardcore hiking, but just because I'm being paranoid. After the earthquake in Haiti where everyone is afraid to go back inside, so they're sleeping outside. I know, I know, we have better built homes and such, but hey it's a tent! There are many reason why someday I could be happy I have it. And it was on sale from $200 to $45+free shipping.

I'm working on an emergency kit, partly because I really should (emergency water? what is this??) and because my mom is also paranoid and keeps asking if I've gotten it together. The sad thing is that part of me thinks it would be fun and exciting. Cut off from the world? Yay! Unable to drive? Yay! Forced to be more self sufficient? You get my drift. But I know the reality would not be fun, so I should be more serious about it.
 

lorihadams

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Oh girl, I have 2 labs in the house.....I don't get fur balls I get TUMBLEWEEDS!!!! I have to sweep 2-3 times a day....if the weather is nice they will hang out on the porch all day but not now.....they are big babies when it comes to the cold!

The only problem I had with the washcloths was that I had to move them and tuck them back in about halfway through cleaning. If I do it again I'll cut them to fit exactly or sew some with elastic around it or a drawstring kind of thing sort of like a cloth showercap that would completely surround the flat part of the swiffer.
 
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