Make Earth Hour Happen In Your Town
Earth Hour 2007 was a Sydney event. Earth Hour 2008 is a global movement.
On 31 March 2007, more than 2 million Sydney businesses and households
turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour - sending a powerful national
and global message that it’s possible to take action on global warming.
At 8pm on 29 March 2008, Earth Hour goes global, with cities and towns
around the world taking stand on the greatest threat our planet has ever
faced, and millions of people uniting to turn the tide on global warming.
If you want to turn out the lights for Earth Hour in your town or city on 29
March 2008, this will help you get started!
Your GoalGet the most people, businesses and government involved in Earth Hour and
get them to turn off their lights for one hour at 8pm on March 29 2008.
Making Earth Hour happen
1) Building your Team
A good team is one of the biggest success factors for making Earth Hour
happen around the world. Put together a small team of committed people and
organisations to help plan how you can turn out the lights for one hour in your
area.
Members of your Earth Hour Team could include your friends or schoolmates,
members of your family or your neighbourhood, the local mayor or business
leader, or your local school principal.
Pull together a team of people and organisations willing to put the time and
effort into making Earth Hour happen and you’ll be ready to get started.
2) Spread the Word about Earth Hour
To inspire yourself and those you speak to about Earth Hour, check out
www.earthhour.org to watch the video of the first Earth Hour in Sydney in
2007. This video will go a long way to inspiring you and those you speak to, to
get involved in Earth Hour and to help take a stand against global warming.
Another Positive
As many of you know my dear, loving husband has a tendancy to collect automobiles. When we first moved into our current house 11 years ago I told him his *collection* was not coming to the new house. Well, it didn't. Instead he he just started adding to it here while keeping his already owned ones at his old house. {{{SIGH}}}
Back when I was pregnant with our youngest little bug we bought a minivan. While it had the left rear door I wanted it was not electric and I really didn't care for it so we got what I did want. We tehn set out to sell the other one to no avail. As soon as we started my oldest asked if he could buy it from us and that was a disaster. We then got it back and put it up for sale again when our DD & SIL said they'd like to buy it. That didn't work out real well either and when DD & her (now ex) husband split she said she'd rather have a smaller, more economical car so we traded her one of our others and there we were with *the van* back again. Trying to sell it has been a bear. This van has turned into the van that would never go away!!! After 4 years of it being in our possession we finally listed it last night on
craigslist at a ridiculously low price and it was gone in an hour. We got 8 phone calls within an hour of posting it. WOW! I hated letting it go for sooooo low but it is finally G-O-N-E!!!!!! That alone is worth something!!!
1 down and 2 to go!
P.S - He added to the collection a few days ago. His reasoning is that it would help us move without damaging my van. I'm not fooled. While he's right, I also know he's been wanting a P/U for a long time. LOL Men! Gotta Love 'Em!
It's Official...
The
house is officially ours now! We closed this afternoon. The sellers were very nice and I must admit I kept feeling quilty. We got this house for such a steal. Well below what they were asking for it and even lower than it had appraised for + they paid most of the closing costs. It was a steal! Whenever anyone asks me if we are selling our current house I keep saying "it's no time to sell; just ask the people we bought our new house from.
; ) I know, I know; they didn't have to accept our offer but they did and now it's ours.
We do have someone lined up to rent our current house but they don't need it until June/July so we have plenty of time to get moved in to the new one. Because of this I am determined that we are not taking anything to the new house that we don't absolutely want to. We have been toting around several packed boxes for years that we never get around to going through and won't get rid of because *such n such* could be in one of those boxes. So very sad, after all this time especially!!! {{{Burying head in shame}}} So I've decided that we will move out everything we know we want, then have a huge *indoor* yard sale. Bad weather? No problem! No hauling out to the yard to haul back in later. Whatever is left can either get donated to charity or go to
Freecycle. I don't care. I just don't want it littering up my life anymore! We heard a phrase on a
show awhile back that so fits us and is becomming our new motto so.to.speak: "Trying to find suitable homes for the material shards of my past that no longer inform my present."
So now the *fun* begins. First we'll paint whichever rooms we plan on painting then we'll start moving stuff in. Needless to say I may not be seen for awhile but I'll be around!
The Joys (and sorrows) of getting older
We've all seen those
ads about saving money on your insurance once your in your
Golden Years and chuckled that we won't need that for such a long time; if we even live
that long. Well, Hubby is apparently almost there! ROFLOL!!!
While shopping around for the best insurance coverage for the new house I noticed one
company gave us a Mature Home Owner Discount because Hubby turns the
BIG 5-0 soon (May). Then yesterday we got mail from that
illustrious group wanting us to consider them for savings on all our insurance needs.
OMG! The time has actually come! We're officially
OLD!!! Waaaaaaah! Oh... Wait... That's only him that's old! I've still got a few years to go! Whew! Saved.... For Now! But I'll go ahead and enjoy
his discounts in the meantime!
Year of the Rat: Caution, say fortune tellers
APhttp://www.xpress4me.com/news/international/world/20005629.html Caution will be the watchword for the Year of the Rat, the new lunar year that begins Thursday, as Chinese fortune tellers predict financial and political rumblings, tsunamis and epidemics in the year ahead.
The reason, they say, is that water and earth - two of the five elements Chinese mystics believe are at the root of all things - are in conflict in 2008.
“Earth usually conquers water, but it is too weak to control the rat, which symbolises the most powerful water,” said Raymond Lo, a Hong Kong master of feng shui, the ancient Chinese practice of trying to achieve health, harmony and prosperity by the arrangement of dates and numbers, building design and the placement of objects.
Year of the Rat predictions seem as though they’re already coming true in China, where freakishly frigid temperatures in the last three weeks have claimed at least 60 lives. The worst snow storms in five decades have crippled transportation, leaving millions stranded during the busiest travel week of the year, similar to the Christmas holidays in the West.
Meanwhile, the people in Vietnam have turned their thoughts to the animal being honoured this year.
Tran Quang Thieu, 54, director of a rat extermination company on the outskirts of Hanoi, was revelling in the Vietnamese belief that the rodent population multiplies during a lunar rat year.
“This holiday will mark the start of a booming year for us, so this is a special Tet,” Thieu said. “From a spiritual standpoint, I hope that our rat-killing techniques become more popular this year, so that everyone can protect their crops, factories and businesses from being ruined by rats.”
The legend
The rat is the first of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac’s 12-year cycle and symbolizes new beginnings.
Legend has it that the rat beat the other 11 animals in a race, not because it was any faster, but because of its cunning. After lying to the tiger about the day of the race, the rat rode most of the way on the ox before leaping off and making it first past the finish line.
Many people celebrate the day by eating a rice cake soup for breakfast, playing traditional games like a “yutnori”, a board game involving wooden sticks, and spending quality time with family.
In Hong Kong the banks have printed up millions of fresh notes to fill “hong bao”, or red envelopes traditionally given to children during the celebration.
Prediction
Some countries will see new leaders this year, including in the United States, where a new president will be elected in November. Celebrity fortune teller Peter So was coy about who he thought would win the race.
“I can only say Hillary Clinton stands a better chance, as I don't see that Barack Obama or (Republican hopeful) John McCain will have a good year,” So said.
People born on the Year of Rat
Authors William Shakespeare and Truman Capote, actors Marlon Brando and Cameron Diaz, Britain’s Prince Charles and climate change champion Al Gore.
He's Home. He's Home! YAY He's Home!!!
Hubby made it back from Taiwan safe & sound yesterday. It's
so good to have him back. We even got to have a private homecoming at the new house. No, It's not ours yet. Less than 3 weeks to go for that. I was out with the realtor hanging a
Radon test kit and she knew my oldest DD had not seen the house yet so she left us with the house for awhile so she could, then hubby called and said he'd just meet us there. So after DD looked at it and gave her vote of approval she took her son and went on to our current house so we could have a few moments with DH all by ourselves. She even made dinner for us. She's a good kid!!!
: ) We scrutinized various things in the house, made plans of what should go where, what colors we should paint and even found a few neat things we had not noticed before. All in all it was a very nice evening.
Today Miss K is heading off to Girl Scout camping after school. I'm not going after all so she will be without all of us but we're going to go see her off before she leaves. I'm going to MIL's over the weekend and maybe DH & Miss S will join me. I'm not ready to leave his side just yet!
; )
