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Kay in Cal

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Posts posted by Kay in Cal

  1. Solar power can be cost effective.

     

    Let me tell you about my best friend--she lives in Pasadena. When they bought their house, they took out a 2nd mortgage to pay for the installation of photovoltaic panels. Yes, the system cost $100,000... a big chunk up front, right? However, they got significant tax breaks.

     

    They power their house (a large ranch style probably around 3000 sq ft). While their appliances are energy efficient and they use efficient bulbs, they still must use a lot of power--they have 7 computers in the office and a heated pool. Also, they power two electric cars from their solar, so hey--free gas. (Used to have a EV1 before those were crushed by GM).

     

    With all that... they still make money. That's right. Their panels usually provide enough power that there is enough to sell (they have a reverse meter, and the state buys their excess power). Their reverse meter usually covers the cost of the mortgage they took out. Some months they have had to pay a small amount of power, but for the most part the savings and rebates totally cover the cost of the panels, plus some.

     

    Now, this is not an "average", but an individual. Still, if I had awesome credit, and lived here in So Cal, land of sunny days---I'd be investing in a system absolutely.

     

    Let me find an article about them to link:

    http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/going_solar/6171/

     

    there are pictures of people with RAV4 electrics on this page, inlcuding them with their solar panels in the background.

     

    http://www.evnut.com/rav_owner_gallery.htm

  2. Another mom to a quirky son here. We work on some social skills things, but I'm trying to be better about just letting him be himself and figure it out. I know he gets excluded and picked on in groups... but it doesn't seem to bother him. As long as the adults are nice to him, he's happy.

     

    I was a weird kid, and so was my dh (geeks breed with geeks, you know)... and we have a very happy life. As long as it works out that way for my boys, I'll be triumphant.

  3. I feel your pain... I have a son with many issues for whom we never seem to have coverage for diagnosis or treatment.

     

    However, many of the things you describe could indeed by ADHD. My dh has ADD, and he will wear clothes inside out, forget what he's doing, has to be reminded of the need for showers and clean clothes, he needs direct supervision for detailed tasks--ie, cleaning, sorting, daily errands... and he's 38. We were in an adult ADHD support group for a while, and I learned that he really does need me to be his coach in these things. My oldest will probably follow in dads footsteps. Of course, dh is also about the smartest person I know, amazingly creative and funny, and as loving and nurturing as they come. He simply lives in his head, not his body. I love him dearly, shirt inside out or not. Just had to get that in there in case you think I'm dissing my dh!

  4. Yes! I buy almost all my milk, eggs, meat and bread at Costco. Meat especially... the savings is quite steep, and the quality is very good. Also asparagus. We eat a lot of asparagus, and the three pound bags at Costco are frequently less than a pound at my supermarket.

     

    However... I always get my membership through my job (church). We buy paper, toner, pens, etc for the church office there. Does your dh work someplace with a Costco account? It is cheaper to add additional cards rather than a whole membership.

     

    Costco/Trader Joes is our usual bi-weekly shopping trip.

  5. Bumping this up because we are watching right now.... I love that I'm not the only person in the world who thinks of the Spelling Bee as a major sporting event. My ds7 woke me up at 7 am... "Wake up! It's time to watch the spelling bee!!!"

     

    Three homeschoolers in the running so far.... but we are a bit behind "live". We like to root for the homeschoolers!

  6. Oodles...

     

    I've been packing the kids rooms, so I know.

     

    They both have 4 bookshelfs of personal books & comics, a bunch of stuffed animals, and one set of those slanty bin racks with 12 bins full of small toys (dh 7 has cards, some figures and toys, ds 5 has cars, blocks, viewmaster stuff, small figures, etc) in thier room. Oh, and a wooden play kitchen with a lot of kitchen toys in ds5 room.

     

    Plus we have the school room-- mostly books, but we have one full sized shelf of board games, large bins of playmobile, thomas, quadrilla, blocks. Ikea sliding toy bin furniture (a stepped bin piece, and two straight ones) that hold bins of legos, linking cubes, wedgits, action figures, lincoln logs, mr. potato head stuff and puzzles. A big trunk of dress up stuff, silks, etc. Some random things.

     

    The next shelf down is craft items, etc. Does that count as toys?

     

    All are labelled and sorted... but it's more than enough. Now that we are moving to a house where they will share a room, I'm paring down the room items severely, but the new school room will have room for the toys.

  7. Don't duck and weave. You wrote a wise post! It is dangerous to think that we're immune!

    I trust my husband 100%, but I take care to make sure that he is happy and content at home. I try not to nag and complain. I try to build up, not tear him down. I pay attention when he talks to me.

     

    Now, I think there is a difference between thinking we are immune, and thinking that a woman who speaks to our husband in a friendly way is about to leap into bed with him. I want my husband to be happy and content with our marriage as well... but not from fear, from love. He is my favorite person in the world, my partner--of course I want him to be happy, and he wants me to be happy in general and with our marriage in particular.

     

    It is too bad about your friends. I've been there... I had a good *female* friend in whom I was very disappointed when she was unfaithful. But there were other problems in her marriage, she was cruising sex sites on the internet, and the adultery was a symptom of a lot of disfunction between her and her dh. But it had nothing to do with a man who was her friend saying "hi" or having lunch with her.

     

    Now, if the question was "My husband likes to hang out at strip bars" or "We never talk" or "Where is he when he stays late for work", that, I might understand the worry. It's the idea that any relationship with the opposite sex is a gateway to sin that doesnt' sit well with me. It seems to discount personal responsibility.

     

    There are so many folks here who disagree with me, that I brought it up with my dh. He thought it was pretty ridiculous to worry about a friendly coworker.

  8. Lol! No gloves donned here...

     

    I only knew about the Polish Orthodox church because my music director (in a Methodist church) was raised in a Polish Orthodox community. She was telling me recently about a service she attended because her aunt asked her to... apparently it's all in Polish and my friend is not a native speaker. I didn't know if it was a cultural distinction or a separate denomination--I don't even know if they meet weekly (we are in L.A., there might be a Polish community I don't know of), or this was a one time thing.

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