Cutting the Crap at Work

In an effort to be more efficient around here, upper management has decided that we need to cut out as many afternoon meetings as possible.  This, they say, will allow project teams to work uninterrupted through the afternoon, and hopefully they will be more productive.  I say HUZZAH to this new cutting-of-the-meetings edict.  After all, Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings… They did it by killing all those who opposed them.  Just sayin’…

So that made me contemplate how I can cut the crap at work.  I probably shouldn’t be looking at Facebook or writing for my blog… Those two are givens.  But I think I can actually make a difference by really sharpening my meeting agendas and making sure only the necessary people attend.   I also think I can be more efficient in my email writing strategies.  I need to make them information dense.  I can do that.  I think.  I’m sure there are a TON of other ways to make things better.  I’m going to look into that more. 

Last year I started reading a book entitled Managing Workplace Chaos by Patricia Hutchings.  It’s a pretty good book that advocated the idea of speed reading to get the info we need.  I think I need to pick up this book again and re-read it.  Do any of you have good reading suggestions?  Or ideas?  Tricks? Tips?  Anything on cutting the crap at work to become more productive?  Talk to me!

Cutting the Crap: Cable TV Edition

Today we severed our cable and phone ties with Comcast, and we are now Netflix subscribers.  We aren’t really saving a lot, since we had a bundled package that included cable, internet, and phone.  We’re keeping internet, because frankly, we use it for work.  When we canceled the other two services, Comcast wanted to charge us $150 for getting out of our contract.  Rob got that negotiated to NOTHING, AND they gave us our internet at $24.95/mo for the next 6 months.  It CAN be done, People.  We went from a $130/mo bill to $24.95 for internet and about $10 for Netflix per month.  I’d say we really cut the crap.  Here’s the kicker: because I use my internet for work, my company reimburses me $50/mo.  You do the math.  Even after the promotional period ends, I’ll be paying next to nothing. 

I’m almost giddy now that we’re getting rid of all those useless cable channels that we don’t watch.  You know, those channels that are thrown into the package but provide no value whatsoever?  No more wading through sports and foreign language channels (which numbered in the hundreds).  Now we can look at the Netflix library and say, “I feel like an action movie.” And find that.  Much more simple.  Less expensive.  This also gives us a GREAT deal of control over what our children watch.  More than the savings, more than the simplicity, to me that is the best thing.  I mean, have you guys checked out the content on Cartoon Network lately?  OMG.  It’s AWFUL. 

I’m learning that we’re not the only ones getting rid of cable these days.  My best friend cut cable last year and hasn’t looked back.  My brother doesn’t use it.  His best friend never had it.  The one thing these three families have in common is Netflix.  They pay about $10/month to stream and/or get dvds in the mail.  That’s all they need.  And you know what? They’re happy with that.  I think we will be, as well.

My internet research suggests that many people are going down the cable-free path as well.  Here’s another blog that explores this idea and offers some pretty good links to boot.  The comments show a good discussion as well.  http://www.tvonthecheap.com/ has some interesting ideas.  Take a look if you’re interested.   This article at Lifehacker.com lists some of the other services (like HULU) that are available to people willing to cut the cable.   

Overall, I think our cutbacks are necessary for our family to enjoy other things (Megan has been begging for dance lessons), and really.  We don’t need all the crap that’s on TV anyway.  I encourage you to have a look and really decide if you can live without cable.  It might be the best thing you’ve ever done. 

How do you travel light when children are coming along? HELP!

I’ve missed two whole weeks writing here!  There are good reasons for that, most of them are health issues.  I’m going to condense these issues as succinctly as possible.  More tummy issues occurred, and we figured out that our fridge filter was bad.  Fixed that, and we’re fine tummy-wise.  Rob took anti-inflammatory drugs to help with his injured heel.  Those drugs decimated his immune system, and now he’s got a raging cold… and he gave it to X.  Lord, PLEASE let us all be well before we travel to CA on the 14^th!

Speaking of CA, we finally reserved our flights and rental car online.  That was a huge undertaking, but it got made.  We have procured lodging for at least the last half of our week… still working on the rest… so the topic of this post is to solicit advice from all of you regarding how to travel light.  We are only checking one big bag.  The rest will be carry-on.  So tell me, Fellow Travelers, what’s the best stuff to pack for a week-long trip?  Keep in mind that I have children, one of which is a toddler!  I’m hoping for a lively discussion!  Help me out!    

Does eating healthy cost more?

Last week we got a membership to Sam’s Club.  We had one before, and now that we again live within a reasonable distance from one, we decided to get another membership.

I like Sam’s as much as the next person.   It has a pretty good offering of things that you can’t get elsewhere, and the produce is great.  I also like their selection of meat.  I’m not necessarily seeing better food prices, though, so I’ve come to a dilemma.  As you know, I want to eat better.  I want my family to eat better.  You also know that we are on a tight budget.  All of that being said, do we dig into our budget so we can spend more money on better food?  

To some of you this is a no-brainer.  Of course we should spend money on food that’s better for us.  For me, though, dealing with a tight budget… what do I do?  In my experience fresh food is less costly than processed, preservative-laden food, but I’ve found contradictory articles on this.  This article states that calorie for calorie, healthy food costs more.  It also states that people with lower incomes are likely to be overweight for this reason.  However, THIS article in Shape Magazine says that you can avoid higher costs by simply following a few guidelines.  It also says there are no “bad” foods.  Hmmm… I think I need to chew on that a bit.  As you can guess, most of what I read fell into either of these two categories.  Didn’t help me much.  And I didn’t really see anything different coming from nutritionists or doctors.  I found that odd.    

Certified Organic food is more expensive.  Period.  I’ll leave that one alone, even though I’m going to try to move in that direction.  That’ll be fodder for another article.  

After all of that soul-searching, I’m hungry.  So I’m munching on some grapes.  And I’ve decided that I’m just going to go for it like I’ve wanted to all along.  I’ll let you know what my experiment produces.  In the meantime, let me know what YOU think.  Are healthy foods more costly? 

Cut the Old Food Out of Your Fridge

It can kill you.  And if it doesn’t, it’ll give you wicked food poisoning.  

What is the reason for this rant, you ask?  Salsa.  OLD salsa.  I mistakenly thought it was “okay” and ate it with my chimichanga on Tuesday.  A few hours later I was SORRY.  REALLY sorry.   I was miserable and missed two days from work. 

All of that got me wondering about how long we should leave opened bottles of Pace Picante Sauce in the fridge.  Among other things.  I know that food I prepare myself should stay in the fridge no longer than 4 days before it goes in the trash.  But what about all that preservative-laden stuff I’m currently trying to get rid of?  (Yes.  I’m eating it.  I don’t want to waste it. )  So I did what every person of the 21^st Century does.  I Googled it. 

I found this article that gives a pretty good idea of time frames on how long we should leave certain things in the fridge.  But it wasn’t enough, really.  It says that pasta sauce lasts 5 days after being opened.  Does salsa fall in the same category as pasta sauce?  I want to know about PRESERVATIVE-LADEN foods. They do have a shelf life; I get that.  But what about that expiration date?  Does that mean on the shelf, before it’s opened?  Or in the fridge AFTER it’s opened?  Does that expiration date mean you should eat it BEFORE?  Or is that really a guideline?  You know… like the pirate code that nearly screwed Johnny Depp out of the Black Pearl?  I’m just sayin’…

So that brought my search to THIS article on WebMD.  This article states that the expiration date is the “eat by” date.  The “sell by” date is another story altogether, and the two should not be confused.  To make matters worse, most items have “sell by” rather than “expiration” stamped on them somewhere.   There are other pesky things on packaging that don’t really help us much… such as “best if used by” and “pack” dates.   The article goes on to talk about other things with expiration dates like drugs and condoms, but since the main crux of my search was focused on food items, I skimmed over these sections. 

I read other items that pretty much say the same thing.  These “dates” they put on our food are guidelines.  Just like I thought.  What have I learned from all of this, you ask?  I need to look at dates on packaging and be more vigilant about what I put in my body.  Hopefully, once I get all the food-flavored preservatives out of my house, I’ll not have to worry about such things.  

Wish me luck.      

And OH How Our Garden Grows!

So, after the success we had last year with our small experimental garden, we are going to plant an even bigger garden this year.  We’ve already started growing our seeds in little pods that sit in our kitchen.  Megan is having great fun checking them every day to see what has sprouted and what is growing larger.  This weekend we put these seedlings in bigger pots to start acclimating them to the great outdoors.  Eventually, we’ll put these plants in the ground when the threat of frost/snow has passed.  Can’t wait for that!

I can’t begin to tell you how much I love eating fresh fruits and veggies.  There really is no substitute.  We hope to harvest and freeze right away to seal in freshness.  In the meantime, though, I’ve found a wonderful site of which I might consider becoming a patron: Door-to-door Organics.  I think this is a wonderful idea!  Why not support our local growers? Of course, part of the year this company procures it’s produce from California growers.  Still, I think this might be something I’d like to explore a little bit more.    

A Zero Waste Family! Check it out!

It's amazing what this family did to go to Zero waste! Talk about cutting the crap!

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