What I've Got, They Used to Call the Blues

::sigh:: No motivation and feel like I don't belong anywhere. I hate it. Hope the rest of you are feeling good and have a great weekend.

Jenie

My Friend Joey RAWKS

See, back in the day (like, last summer or spring or so), Joey had this idea to convince the masses in his burg of Toronto, up in the Great White Canuckistani North, to take the transportation belonging to the public every day, rather than keep pollutin' up the air with their big, oil-burning automobiles. And also from terrorizing poor defenseless bicycle riders who are just trying to leave the world a nicer place. So Joey goes to the big red-tape suit types up there in his neck of the woods, and says, "Hey. I have this idea to entice people to ride busses more, thus freeing up the roads and cutting congestion, and also providing cleaner air for ducks and people and cute little bunnies named Homer." (not really about the bunnies and ducks; i made that up. but he could have mentioned them. i wasn't present for the actual discussion, so i don't know. i'm sure bunnies could have conceivably come up, though. somehow.)

So the big suit guys said, "Okay, float us the idea." (again, paraphrasing. i was not there. for all i know, they said "fire us over an email then, you scallywag," but like i said, i was not present.) So Joey did, and they went, "Hmmm."

And then those guys showed it to other guys - and maybe some women as well - and Joey went and talked it up and explained how it could work, and then those persons were impressed and showed it to others, and Joey talked to them, too, and now, finally, Joey's idea has actually been implemented, and not only that, but the suits up there in the GWCN thought so much of the idea, it got floated around to other cities, and even some in the US went, "Wow, really? That's an AWESOME idea," and now they are talking about implementing it, and all because my friend Joey is a really smart, action-oriented hero and cool guy, and all-around dedicated protector of ducks and bunnies. (again, making up. i'm sure he is, though, because joey is cool like that.)

So you should swing by Joey's and say hi and sign his guestbook (his comments are off at the moment), because he totally deserves the clap on the back. Or maybe leave him a note at his Biking Toronto blog, which is about biking in Toronto. And bunnies.

(not really about the bunnies.) (but it could be.)

Ciao, fellow babies,
Jenie

ps. i meant to write about this a long time ago, when joey first started working on it, so people could help him by encouraging the city to do it, but i dropped the ball totally, and joey did this all on his own (at least mostly, even though he will say he didn't), and so i suck as far as the support goes, but he totally deserves the kudos and acclaim, and if your city is one of the ones in the US considering it, or maybe especially if it isn't, then maybe you could drop your city council representative or mayor a short note saying, "hey, i want this in my community, too." then you can be a hero too, just like joey. i'm just sayin'.

Finally Friday

What a week. I hate having to work when I'm fluey.

Since it's Friday, here's a picture of Meows that one of the boyfriend's bandmates took a little bit ago. (she's lying on top of the little hose shed next to the garage door)



Also, I made 44 cents off of one of my Squidoo lenses this month. Oo, ah! ;)

Have a good weekend.

Remove Tarnish Without Using Toxic Chemicals

I realize you guys might already know this, but I just tried it and could not believe how awesomely it works. I hate using dips and find the tarnish actually comes back quickly when I use them. This method should keep your jewelry tarnish free for much longer and isn't harmful to you, your children (if you have any), or the environment.

Place a piece of aluminum foil in the bottom of a shallow dish. (I use a glass baking dish.)

Set the tarnished item directly on the aluminum foil; it has to be in contact with the aluminum.

Heat a quart of water to boiling in a saucepan.

Set the pan in the sink and slowly add 1/4 cup baking soda. Be careful, because it might fizz up and spill over, which is why you add the baking soda slowly & in the sink. Stir until the baking soda is dissolved.

Pour the water into the dish until the tarnished item is immersed. Slightly tarnished pieces will return to silver almost instantly; badly tarnished items will take longer.

You can also use this for flatware or silver/silverplated dishes. Very badly tarnished pieces will look ruined and scare the living heck out of you. (Seriously.) All you have to do is get a little baking soda on a soft, 100% cotton pad, and *gently* buff the silver. The dull grey and residual black will fall away, and the silver will be nice and shiny again, though it may have some "water spots" or "pits" from the tarnish - tarnish is destructive and eats into the silver, just like rust is destructive and eats into steel. For larger pieces, just use more water. The ration of water to baking soda is one cup of soda for every gallon of water.

Why does it work?
Tarnish is composed of silver sulfide, a mix of silver and any sulfur it comes into contact with thru contact with the air and other objects. It basically eats away the surface of the silver. Most removal methods involve removing the tarnish AND the silver that has been destroyed by it. Instead of doing that, this method converts the tarnish back into silver thru an electrochemical reaction. Sulfur more easily attaches to aluminum than it does to silver. The baking soda and hot water are the catalysts for the chemical reaction that causes the silver sulfide atoms to react with the aluminum. Give it a push with a tiny electrical charge (generated between the silver and the aluminum), and the sulfur atoms let go of the silver to go bond with the aluminum instead. Think of it as a choice between one bite of chocolate cake and the whole piece...which would you go for? Apparently, sulfur atoms are no different than you or I. And that, in a simplified nutshell, is why this works and is less damaging to your sterling silver pieces than dips or polishes!

Hooray for Kindly French Auto Mechanics!

I took my car in to Rene, who was recommended by my friends Erik & Nicole, today, and he charged me absolutely nothing to put my window back up and check my alternator, which he pronounced sound. Yay!

See? If you are nice to zee French, zay are nice to yew!

When it rains...

Man, does it pour. Last weekend, as you know, I had to spend $300 on a new pair of glasses. Then last week, the rear passenger window of my car decided going all the way up was for wimps and that it wanted to fly in the face of convention and shirk closing for the rest of its life...the day before it rained. Today at lunch, I lost the case, cleaning cloth, and gold bali beads that were in it, to my RayBan sunglasses. The ones I bought for entirely too much money ($180...don't ask) on the Champs Elysees in Paris the first time I went, in 2003. And then when I came out of my office at 6:00 this evening to drive home from the mid-Valley, my battery light was on and wouldn't go off...which means either I have an electrical short, or my alternator has died or is dying. All of this mere hours after plunking down $1600 on a plane ticket to Paris.

There are days it really just does not pay to be me.