The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,700 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Found a dozen energy bars tonight, intact. Haven’t been finding much lately. There has been so much auto traffic with Christmas shoppers, it’s a real hassle to dumpster dive right now.
My husband has a good heart and sometimes too good. Tonight a young lady approached us and asked us if we had some money for gas. The lady immediately left our space and went away from the gas station. I yelled hey! Your car is over there (she was walking towards the bar). Now I wonder if she was looking for booze money. Hard to say. Had my husband not been hungry (we were on our way to the local bookstore to get a bagel) I would have followed her into the bar and gave her a tongue lashing for taking advantage of people’s kindness.
Many times I’m leery of beggars as I don’t know their motive. When I lived in CA, I had a young lady approach me for money for gas. I said OK (thinking this is a scam), I have no money on me, but if you’ll pull over at the gas station across the street, I’ll be more than happy to fill up your tank. She himmed and hawed and said oh no, that’s ok. So she was full of it.
My husband learned his lesson. I told him from now on, if someone approaches you for money for food or gas, offer to buy them gas or a meal. If they say no, they’re scamming you. It’s sad that it has come to this, but this is how our world is right now.
I told my hubby tonight (who’s exhausted from work) that we’re not diving for the rest of the year. We need to get rid of the some of the stuff we now have either to charity or people we know. We also need to be a couple and have bonfires in our backyard and reconnect to our Celtic roots through the ritual of fire. He’s a heathen pagan and I’m a Hindu (religion not race) so ritual fires and winter solstice is important to us. There is way too much traffic out right now to do any good diving. There will be plenty of Christmas goods and returns after the beginning of the year.
My husband has a few people he knows who have no family here. They’re both men in their 50’s and up. They need a good friend and my hubby could be one for them. One of them I’ve invited over for a holiday dinner, so we’ll see if he actually decides to come over. Since I’m a naturally friendly person, I make friends easy. We have a huge backyard and grill. Since I’m a good cook and entertainer this will start the year off right by having people over for food and conversation.
Tonight we were in a mall buying Christmas gifts for each other. My hubby gave me a robe, gown and slipper. He wanted this huge book so I indulged him. That was our gift exchange. I loathe malls and only go if I have to. The crowds, the lighting makes me very nervous. PLUS I feel like a rat in a cage, surrounded by tons and tons of advertising, buy this and you’ll be successful, buy this and you’ll be the envy of your girlfriends. Please.
Our values have been shaped by what we buy, not by what who we are and our character. That’s completely upside down. Our ancestors lived a simpler happy life. So for me, it will be making quilts and crocheting blankets, reading a good book and making time for my fitness and health goals.
In 2012 I vow to make more friends, have people over for food, conversation and bonfires and less time thinking about the lousy economy. If we continue to focus on this lousy economy we’ll lose years of fun and laughter that we’re supposed to have.
I recently came back from a road trip visiting family. Traveled 3,000 miles in 3 weeks. I’m done with driving. I’m home for the holidays. If I do any driving it’s to the local grocery store or local dumpster diving.
Traveled through east Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama.
While in Alabama came upon an older lady (probably in her 70’s) who was dumpster diving behind a spot I’d frequented. The DD rules are simple, who is there first, gets the goods first. We talked a little. I asked her what she found and she showed me. Lots of crackers, food and odds and ends. I asked her if she did this a lot and she said, “this is how I survive”.
Isn’t this sad? THIS boys and girls is the face of America. Older seniors dumpster diving for food. I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again, your politicians do not give a damn about you. Neither do most of these non-profit agencies OR the churches. The people who do need their help, i.e the disenfranchised, the homeless, the mentally ill are simply left behind and many of them die without family knowing it. Many homeless people and runaways are dead years before their family find out.
While traveling found some good stuff; paper plates, another Keurig coffee maker, a lovely memory foam neck pillow (perfect for sitting on the recliner typing on my laptop), a couple of glass tumblers (the kind with the straw into the hole of the lid), shelves for my husband’s storage shed, 15 containers of sweet tea, strainer for the kitchen sink, food, bags of fruit (only one apple had a bruise), vitamins (brand new in box), new magazines and paperback books, nutritional supplements and energy drinks, Christmas ornaments (one was broken, they threw the entire box out), bunch of boxes and bubble wrap (no need to buy bubble wrap and boxes to ship Christmas gifts, there are tons in the dumpster).
It was good to see my family, real good.
Urbandumpsterdiver's Blog 