A few years ago, I had to buy new handkerchiefs, the ones made of cloth, and it was so hard to find a place to buy some it made me realize that these type of handkerchief had become obsolete. There is no issue with them, they are easy to wash and reuse, they are soft on your nose, though they got replaced by their throwable ersatz.
How did it happen ? What made us think that we could throw away most of the things that we use ?
Paper plates, plastic cups, q-tips, tissues, clothes, electronic gadgets, wrappings, plastic bags, and so on...
How did we enter this economy and life where one throws most of the objects after their first use without question ?
I guess we believed our resources were infinite and our trash cans are infinitely expandable.
What the hell are we thinking ?
What are we waiting for to change our bad trashing habits ?
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Stupid Health Insurance
This time the private health insurance system has showed his sillyness to me so I felt the need to write and complain about it !
I asked authorization to my health insurance to get reimbursed for the expected purchase of orthopedics for my flat feet.
I need this gears under my feet to keep me balanced, avoid knees, heels and lower-back pain when I walk.
I've been wearing these for years because I was born with flat feet.
But now that I live in the US, I discover that my health insurance let me and my employer pay big premiums but decline to reimburse for orthopedics ($350) that prevent worse pain and disease (see above).
The probably prefer to reimburse thousands of dollars for surgery later...
Ah the free market fairy... ;-)
I asked authorization to my health insurance to get reimbursed for the expected purchase of orthopedics for my flat feet.
I need this gears under my feet to keep me balanced, avoid knees, heels and lower-back pain when I walk.
I've been wearing these for years because I was born with flat feet.
But now that I live in the US, I discover that my health insurance let me and my employer pay big premiums but decline to reimburse for orthopedics ($350) that prevent worse pain and disease (see above).
The probably prefer to reimburse thousands of dollars for surgery later...
Ah the free market fairy... ;-)
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Organic Vegetable and Life
Happy cooking session, I rediscover the pleasure of smelling and touching organic vegetables while I prepare them for cooking.
These simple things ground me in the earth, from where I come, where I am and where I'll end.
After baking 2 blue berries cakes for friends and family that will gather tomorrow, I'll enjoy a little Ricard in the patio.
Sebastien
These simple things ground me in the earth, from where I come, where I am and where I'll end.
After baking 2 blue berries cakes for friends and family that will gather tomorrow, I'll enjoy a little Ricard in the patio.
Sebastien
Friday, July 10, 2009
Real Time Stream vs Action
Real Time stream of information from around the web can be displayed on our screens these days.
What does it change in our way of thinking and being ?
We know almost instantaneously a lot of things but we don't have time to think about the information we get.
Only a rigorous discipline can allow us to get some real time feed for our brain, some digested article or book and take the time to think about it, to make our own opinion and decide to do something about it.
We have to find the balance between passive information consumption and uninformed action.
I like to know about almost everything but what I like more is to build things, imagine, create, make useful things available to everyone !
We shall not forget that we are made to be creative !
What does it change in our way of thinking and being ?
We know almost instantaneously a lot of things but we don't have time to think about the information we get.
Only a rigorous discipline can allow us to get some real time feed for our brain, some digested article or book and take the time to think about it, to make our own opinion and decide to do something about it.
We have to find the balance between passive information consumption and uninformed action.
I like to know about almost everything but what I like more is to build things, imagine, create, make useful things available to everyone !
We shall not forget that we are made to be creative !
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Seagulls
The day we started this walk in Santa Cruz, the weather was perfect.
Blue sky and sunny beach were welcoming us in the mid-morning.
We walked freely along the coast, enjoying the sand below our feet, risking some toes in the icy-cold water of the Pacific ocean.
Around noon, our daughters were screaming for food so we found a big rock where we could stop for lunch. Everyone sat around the backpack full of sandwiches and fruits.
Eleanor and Eglantine picked a sandwich and started biting like hungry girls in a fast-food.
A few minutes later, coming suddenly from this blue-blue sky, a seagull plunged on Eleanor's sandwich, fetched it and flew away. Immediately followed by a second one that bit Eleanor's hand, ignoring the absence of sandwich.
The panic took us right here, our daughter's hand was bleeding as a third seagull attacked Eglantine's sandwiches. Scared as hell, two children screaming in pain, two parents trying to take care of the situation...
Shouting and waving as a daemon, I tried to scare the birds while my spouse tried to help and protect Eleanor and Eglantine. We were rapidly overwhelmed by the situation as the seagulls outnumbered us, joined by dozens of birds encircling us with no good intentions. It was time to run and to run fast !
Blue sky and sunny beach were welcoming us in the mid-morning.
We walked freely along the coast, enjoying the sand below our feet, risking some toes in the icy-cold water of the Pacific ocean.
Around noon, our daughters were screaming for food so we found a big rock where we could stop for lunch. Everyone sat around the backpack full of sandwiches and fruits.
Eleanor and Eglantine picked a sandwich and started biting like hungry girls in a fast-food.
A few minutes later, coming suddenly from this blue-blue sky, a seagull plunged on Eleanor's sandwich, fetched it and flew away. Immediately followed by a second one that bit Eleanor's hand, ignoring the absence of sandwich.
The panic took us right here, our daughter's hand was bleeding as a third seagull attacked Eglantine's sandwiches. Scared as hell, two children screaming in pain, two parents trying to take care of the situation...
Shouting and waving as a daemon, I tried to scare the birds while my spouse tried to help and protect Eleanor and Eglantine. We were rapidly overwhelmed by the situation as the seagulls outnumbered us, joined by dozens of birds encircling us with no good intentions. It was time to run and to run fast !
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Terre de soleil
La terre craquelle chaque jour
Un peu plus sous les assauts du soleil,
L'onde des arrosages irise alentour
L'air de nos enfants emerveilles.
Chaleur du ciel obstinement
Bleu pur, rare periodes de nuages
Clarte des yeux, enfants sages
Baignes de chaleur,passionement
Un peu plus sous les assauts du soleil,
L'onde des arrosages irise alentour
L'air de nos enfants emerveilles.
Chaleur du ciel obstinement
Bleu pur, rare periodes de nuages
Clarte des yeux, enfants sages
Baignes de chaleur,passionement
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Un hiver Californien
Jour de pluie sur la Californie. Apres une matinee grisaille, de brefs rayons de soleil, nosu revoici sous la pluie. Mais je ne m'en plaint pas. Cette pluie douce, genereuse, parfois violente, je l'accueille bien volontier car je sais que les mois suivants seront chauds et secs. Cette mecanique m'amuse. La Californie doit se rassasier d'eau au plus vite avant de passer de longs mois a faire la fete sous le soleil et sans la moindre goute d'eau !
Quand viendra l'ete le beau temps et la chaleur en deviendront petit a petit lassants ! Mais seulement apres 6 mois de ce traitement de faveur !
J'aime beaucoup vivre ici, malgre la crise, je crois toujours a cette dynamique de l'effort et de l'entrepreunariat que j'ai ressenti quand nosu nous sommes installes ici.
Quand viendra l'ete le beau temps et la chaleur en deviendront petit a petit lassants ! Mais seulement apres 6 mois de ce traitement de faveur !
J'aime beaucoup vivre ici, malgre la crise, je crois toujours a cette dynamique de l'effort et de l'entrepreunariat que j'ai ressenti quand nosu nous sommes installes ici.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)