Of Power Tools, Balcony, Milk Paint And Amanda Quick :)

Sorry for neglecting this journal for so long!

I've been ranting off-the record elsewhere, so if you absolutely must know what I rant about, drop me a line and maybe I'll send you the link (depending on whether I know you or not!:)

Mostly my days have been quite uneventful, minus the power tools and my family's lack of time management or any sort of organization. And it's not just my family, it's also the neighbours and the weather! Sooo...?
It's not easy to get organized or get things done (or make hay) if you depend on these 'outside' factors. I did read some Amanda Quick books, out of desperation. (Sis's fault for bringing them home!)

Oddly enough, they inspired me for eco things again! The heroines there are so brave and courageous and always getting into the oddest of messes, and out of them unscathed (mostly), and usually happily married!:)
They also have to deal with odd dilemmas and things like...
- who to trust? ('Those fossil diggers can be an untrustworthy lot!' lol! So it's not just the eco world that is full of iffy types and odd sorts?!:)
- how to date? (if you are really interested in other things - those heroines happily go about doing other things, until those brooding handsome-or-oddly-attractive heroes snatch them!:)
- how to be happy with own imperfections (all the heroines -and heroes - definitely have 'em, and are still happily in love anyway!!:)

So.. did I intrigue you yet? They are not for kids, so 18+ only. (My Grandma snickers over some scenes and only brushes past them.) They may return your faith in love (or life) or make you laugh, they are all invariably silly (and mostly look alike!) but that is kinda the point!:)

I did call some people inbetween re: eco things (and have some meetings next week!:), didn't manage to go to eco fair but did make some sort-of-hay (what is the non-hay for silos called?) helped create 1/2 of balcony (it'll be mostly glass and just polycarbonate roof. Plus, after my ranting about which color/polish would be less toxic - the neighbour painted the frames with - milk & wallpaint pigment-??!! ('You'll never guess, he said. We didn't. It looks pretty and yellow. Never thought I'd actually like yellow windows, and not sure if the black knobs really go with them??) He said wax paint (with turpentine - is turpentine toxic??) could be used on top of that for water-proofing/protection against water. (The milk paint is just pretty, offers no protection against water. And this is where the rain can be quite heavy.) I recently stumbled across the awesome milkpaint.com never thought you can just create your own lol!! :)
Not sure what to waterproof the windows with (can I get enough eco wax? How much would be needed? What about any oils or such?)

Some planks have been painted dark brown already, I called the company hotline and a friendly woman said the paint for wood outside contains an iffy preservative, so it's best to be not touched, and recommended painting over with a paint for indoors?
I asked Dad how much he thinks would be needed and he said, 'Oh don't bug me with that' or something like this, so Mum and I calculated a bit, still to do more Math..
Aunt A. suggested Dad's rash might be stress-related so we don't want to bug him with too much stuff anyway-??

Sorry if this is a bit scatter-brained, am awfully sleepy and going to bed at first possible opportunity! :) Been to a concert, a practical beekeeping class (unfortunately rainy so we didn't get to do a lot), to a funeral and a few other things... Wrote programs and ideas for a charity... Researched EU funding and project management... De-weeded some onions.. Got a pretty new pre-loved sweater (of cheerful colors!:) and tutored on global warming?? And what have you been doing? :)

I LOVE NAKED Amazon!! :)

Well, I have a terrible truth to confess: even though I try to get books in the local library, or the retro store/s - I just ordered and received a HUGE order from Amazon!

(Of course, I only dared to do so, after Mrs Green and other green sites approved my choice.)

I also read extensively on Amazon itself, including Amazon.de which I ultimately ordered from (cause I could get an extra book for the same price due to their much better postage pricing for new-EU states & 'the rest of the world'!)
(I hate it that amazon.uk puts us into the same category as, uhm, Uzbekistan or Zimbabwe, although the distances are quite different!!)
And it is terrible discrimination we're not able to buy things used on the Marketplace!! (surely the whole EU and US market would collapse if the new members of EU could shop for used things too?)

Well, I was still expecting the delivery with lots of despair & trepidation!
Would it be horrible and full of shrink-wrap plastics? Would every book be individually sealed in a completely useless plastic bag? (like many books here in Slovenia are!)

I ordered on February 9th, the first batch was dispatched on the 12th - & gotten on February 14th! YAY! AMAZON LOVES ME!!

I slightly despaired cause the site told me the 2nd batch (which I actually needed/wanted more) would come from 3rd-21st march! (I forgot not all books were 'in stock' at .de, as they were at .uk - 2 were 'ready to ship in 12 to 14 days')
I was wondering if I had done the right thing... /Maybe the Universe was punishing me for buying so many new books? - yes, there was some guilt involved! I actually wanted to buy the books last August already, but then didn't dare to../ (or maybe buying from co.uk would be better?) - But this Saturday, on Feb 21st, all the books arrived, so I was very happy!!

Unfortunately have forgotten the excellent idea of Mrs Green to sell the books on once she's finished with them... Mine are somewhat dog-eared already, some of them! (which only means they are EXTREMELY useful, and they will be of much use! Couldn't get them here in Slovenia, so I had to get them from abroad!)

I did remember to use the paperclips for the not-so-useful bits and books (so they can ideally be resold or donated to a library easier)!

Description: They were in a plain cardboard box (like promised), with only some cellotape :(, books were totally NAKED :) YAY!!, there was a dispatch-paper with a plastic-window-thingie part (is that recyclable too?), and in the big box some unrequested heavily-printed glossy flyers/coupons - I thought 'How pretty!' - but as I'm unlikely to order monthly German DVD service or business cards, or go on a cruise, these are pretty useless to me! and rather excessive - one would think they track customer addresses and at least send you what you might use?)

Other Nitpicks: I know TRANSPORT (from so far away) is not environmentally friendly.. The books were not available as e-books, and also, you need energy for reading e-books, and can't lounge with them on a sofa so comfortably.. so, hm? I do wish Amazon included some data on emmissions-footprint etc, so I could calculate the footprint of each book (or the lot) from individual stores - I might even go with another store if it proved to be eco-friendlier!
I've already asked them to reveal data & make less emissions, maybe you can too?

I do wonder about any previous wrapping-of-pallets-into-plastic too... (I hope that plastic gets to be reused or recycled at least!)
Also, the books do not say if they are TCF - Totally Chlorine-Free, & thus dioxin-free, so I'm guessing they're not! (I wish all books were!)
Some seem to have some recycled content & some not, though none mention this specifically - it would be GREAT to know!

They are really great books though, and I'm sure I will be using most of them for quite a while! (Unfortunately for some of them, I seemed to have learnt most stuff online already!:) /am still wondering if it's environmentally friendly to return them, or resell, or not?/

am also a bit bedazzled by it all, not sure which one to start proper first!! :)
/I've skimmed the lot of them briefly, I feel my head is HUUGE!!;)/ But I LOVE books!! Especially NAKED books!!

This whole thing did make me wonder though: if Amazon can ship me NAKED books from Germany - and they look great! WHY do Slovenian firms insist on individual-packinging every one of them into plastic?! It beats me!!

Maybe need to demand NAKED books in Slovenia too?!