Grannymar

If you visit my blog on a regular basis the name Darlene will be familiar as a regular commenter. She lives in Tucson, Arizona and joined the world of blogging last July. So what is so unusual about that? I hear you ask. Nothing really unusual I agree, until you read her bio:

I am an 83 year old widow living alone.

How many other folk at 83 years of age do you know that set up and run a blog? Why am I telling you about Darlene? Think about it… with all those years of living behind her, what wonderful stories and experiences she has to tell us.

One post in particular is very well worth reading in these days of world recession. I realise, that to many young people the idea of scrimping and going without may seem a little like science fiction. I remember life in the fifties, a time of make do and mend. A time when ‘Credit’ and ‘Debt’ were considered as deadly as cancer and aids, we scrimped and saved for weeks, months and sometimes years before buying luxuries.

Now go and visit Darlene and read her piece about the Great Depression and the years that followed. I hope we don’t ever have to go back to that way of living, but can continue on as normal.

My good friend Rowan asked a question earlier in the week: What is normal? His quotation from Ellen Goodman voiced my thoughts more eloquently than I ever could.

Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.

Does Ellen have it in the bag?

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So my final attempt at creating spot colour in my photos for p4oi stays with the bag theme. I have to admit this spot colour idea proved much more difficult than I first imagined and I doubt that it will become a favourite pastime. Worth a try though.

According to todays Breaking News

Pope Benedict XVI today denounced what he called the world’s “profit mindset”.

He warned money can turn people into “blind egoists” and urging the wealthy to share their riches with the poor.

Benedict said life was about making choices between good and bad, between altruism and egoism, honesty and dishonesty.

Ultimately, he said, it was about making the choice between God and Satan.

“Money in itself isn’t ‘dishonest’, but more than any other thing it can close man off into a blind egoism,” Benedict said.

He called for a “conversion” of economic goods, “rather than using them for self-interest, we should also think about the needs of the poor, imitating Christ”.

I particularly like the ” urging the wealthy to share their riches with the poor.”

I wonder if he will lead the way and stand on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica to distribute the enormous funds of the Catholic Church.

I have counted my light bulbs. There are 27 of varying types in the house, but don’t forget about the one in the garage, so that makes a total of 28. We are told “Energy saver bulbs typically use around 80% less electricity than normal incandescent bulbs”. They cost a bit more than ordinary light bulbs (about £3.50 each) but they last 12 times longer and could save up to £9 on my annual electricity bill or £100 over the bulb’s lifetime! So making this effort will really make a difference! I can feel justifiably proud of myself.

About six years ago I changed the light fittings in my living room. The central light had three bulbs. One of these bulbs had lasted since the house was built. I know this because it had become completely soldered into the fitting. That means that particular bulb worked for 30 years. So if the new bulbs last 12 times longer I should not have to replace them again for 360 years! I hope I live long enough to find out.

A high powered flashy car has raced passed my window … Now that makes me think….

Today, the average new car has some 14,000 to 15,000 parts and accessories. These parts must fit and work together. They are made by many different companies, in different countries. The workshops are all hi-tech nowadays with robots doing the work of several men. While in the past men used blood, sweat and tears to build the parts and the cars, the robots use electricity. Much more than my measly 28 bulbs worth!

Cars come in all the colours of the rainbow. When finished they have a high gloss shine. How many coats of paint does it take to achieve this effect? The paint is not applied by paint brush, oh no, it is machines yet again doing the work. The fumes given off while one car is sprayed, would I am sure, cause more pollution than my bulbs. Is such a high shine necessary? Travel around Dublin or any city and you will observe many cars that have never been washed since they left the showroom.

New cars are designed to travel faster than all legal speed limits. The higher the speed the more fuel used. I would imagine the faster they travel the more wear and tear on the roads. How do they make the tarmac type surface for the roads? I am sure it causes yet more pollution.

I am not anti motorcar I have taken it as an example. I do drive and own a car. At times it means the difference in my being able to get out and about or being trapped indoor for days on end. I live on a hill and walking down to the town is fine, but walking back up again with shopping is a no-no. For me a car is a necessity and not a luxury.

I suppose if I gave up eating, drinking water and washing my clothes I might save the world!