Here's a virtual tour of my home (I might add some pictures tomorrow):
The hallway and Amanda's room.
Kitchen! I was heating up a tortilla.
Piggy!
Woohoo! The bathroom!
My sink.
My door.
My bed, the awesome kokopelli blanket Atty made me, the last 2 rugby calendars, a bunch of photos from rugby magazine...
The corner?
My plant's name is Albert because I got him at the Albert Heijn. That door doesn't go anywhere, but you can open it and smoke out of it... or dump your poo on a passerby below...
My desk, computer, random pictures, birthday cards from Billy Marks and Isaac, Dutch football (soccer) cards, my little brother's school picture, etc.
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While I'm thinking of them, a few random things:
1. Apparently they don't use 3-hole punchers here. All the binders either have 2 holes or a whole bunch of them. Very strange!
2. Charging for plastic bags is brilliant. Instead of having a huge pile of plastic bags sitting in a cabinet, I just have a few, which I re-use over and over again. Telling people they're destroying the planet is not nearly as effective as charging them a few cents.
3. My clothes are in the dryer right now. I can't believe laundry here is free! Free! I've never had washing machines where you could see your clothes go round and round before. Zippy suddenly makes soooo much more sense!
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And this doesn't have anything to do with anything, but I think it's cool. A parking garage for bikes:
You drink pigs?! For shame.
ReplyDeleteSeattle had a bag tax on the ballot last fall. It failed miserably. One main reason cited as to why people voted against it was that people liked that they could use their plastic bags for so many things other than groceries, e.g. trash bags, dog poo bags, bicycle seat covers, etc. The argument was made that this bag tax would put an end to this free source of a massively multi-utilitarian item. Paying 5¢ a piece for such a wonderful product was too much of a burden. After all, it represented an increase of ∞%. Somehow seven years ago a large majority of my city was enlightened enough to pass a ballot initiative making pot consumption the "lowest enforcement priority" of Seattle cops, but voters were shocked and appalled when asked to pay for a product they received from a store.
We read about Seattle's bag tax thing in Environmental Economics!
ReplyDeleteIt's really great! Some stores still give bags for free, but the super markets charge more than 5¢... i think it's close to 30. Since everyone bikes, most people carry around backpacks or messenger bags, and many people have saddle-bag-type things just for their bikes. Plastic bags aren't even ideal. It's also not much to pay for a bike seat cover or a dog poo bag, and it just makes you think more. I have about 5 extra plastic bags in my closet right now, and a reusable shopping bag in my backpack. If I run out and need a new trash bag, i'll pay the 30¢. But I probably won't even have to. It's so awesome!
Again, you would love this city so much! I think of you all the time. Like... a friggin parking garage for bikes!
LOVE your stories, and all your inserts too. Am getting quite a wide ranged education. LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteNot sure how well "little brother" went over ? Guess you older siblings duz those things.
What is an "Argumentation" class. It could be obvious. Not sure. Did I miss something earlier?
Enjoy the wind in your hair. Love,
Judi