Old Habits Die Hard

 

For around two decades we've had a household waste sorting system in my town based on black vs white plastic bags: Black for food leftovers (used to produce bio-gas), and white for various smaller non-recyclable stuff (to be burned, producing energy used for district heating). The black vs white plastic bags have been thrown in the same bin and then optically sorted at their destination. (Besides this, we are also sorting newspapers, cardboard, plastic, glass and metal packaging stuff, to be taken to separate recycling bins.) 

Now they're changing the sorting system. They've been introducing the change gradually, starting with those who live in their own houses (i.e. have their own dustbins); but now the turn has come to also include us who live in apartment blocks. The main change is that we must now use only paper bags for food waste (+ paper towels); which are to be thrown in new separate bins outside.

Less use of plastic is of course good for the environment, and the whole thing may not sound too challenging. But when I received the new special holder for the paper bags this week, I realised that it would require some rearranging of the receptacles in the cupboard under my kitchen sink - which is where I sort everything until I can take it out to the bins.

For twenty years or so I've been used to throwing my food waste (black bag) in a small receptacle with a lid, hanging on the inside of the cupboard door; and residual waste (white bag) in a taller one on the cupboard floor. But the new paper bags for food waste need a special holder allowing air to circulate around it - and that is too big to be hung on the inside of the door. So I realised I'd have to shift things around.

I cleaned out the cupboard and reorganized yesterday: I placed the new holder for the paper bags on the floor (with a supply of empty bags right behind it); and prepared the smaller receptacle on the inside of the cupboard door to be used for residual waste instead.  

So far, so good. I was able to fit everything in.

However, I soon found that getting my brain to re-learn where to throw things is quite another matter! In spite of even having put a warning triangle on the lid of the receptacle hanging on the door, I still find myself automatically throwing banana peels or  emptying used tea-leaves in there... Movements so familiar that I obviously perform them without looking, or consciously thinking about what I'm doing!

I think (hope!) that I've been somewhat better at not throwing too much non-biodegradable kind of waste in the paper bag, though. Besides that bag itself hopefully still signalling "Hello! I'm new here!", I've also put an orange post-it note above it that should hopefully help me stop and think twice.

It's all made me ponder about how much our everyday routines are rooted in habits, though - like doing things in a certain order, keeping things in certain places etc. And living alone, those habits are not often challenged; except if we have guests staying, or visit other people in their homes (none of which happens all that frequently for me these days) - or some new thing or circumstance is otherwise introduced (or removed) that forces us to "rethink". 

Have you had to change any deeply rooted habits lately?

Booking Through Thursday: Ideal

from Deb @ http://btt2.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/ideal/

I want you to think about your ideal reading experience. Think about the location. (Your bed? Favorite chair? The beach? Indoors or outdoors?). Think about the sounds. (Is there music playing? Happy children playing in the background? Utter silence?) Is there a snack or beverage nearby? Are you alone or with friends/family (presumably being quiet enough for you to read in peace)? What kind of lighting is there? Are you dressed in something ultra-comfy? What’s your position? Curled up? Stretched out?

Now … describe it so that we can all feel exactly how perfect it is … and why.

My preferred reading position is leaned back with good support for my neck and arms – and the book. Sometimes a proper fuss to get everything right (pillows and reading glasses and whatever). (I often prefer reading on the Kindle now as then I can change the font size etc and it’s easier to hold as well – plus it has built-in dictionary.)  Depending the time of day, season, light and noise etc it can be either my bed or my sofa or my TV-lounger or my sun-lounger on the balcony.

Usually I prefer silence; but if it’s not quiet (like the beat of music from some neighbour, or disturbing noise from outside) then I prefer to put on my own music… something with a “steady flow”. I like Celtic music so that’s often my choice in those situations; but it depends a bit on what it is I’m reading.

While I sometimes read while I’m eating, I don’t usually eat while I’m reading. Do you agree there’s a difference?

What I mean is that I can sometimes take a book to the kitchen table and read while I eat there. But I don’t very often eat snacks while reading in my “comfy” reading positions, as sticky fingers don’t go well with turning pages. Perhaps a cup of tea or another drink within reach though. (And I might take a break in the reading for snack!)

 

 

BTT: On Loan

from DEB

Do you lend your books? Are any out on loan right now? Do you have any that have been loaned to you? Do you put a time limit on these? Do you think people should make an effort to read the loaned book quickly?

My short answer would be: It depends…

I both lent and borrowed more books among friends in the past than I do now. One reason is that there are fewer people now that I see regularly, and most of the people I discuss books with these days don’t even live in the same country!

I have some experience from far back in the past of people not returning books…  Keeping them for years, or even for good. Whether I’d lend a book to someone now depends on what book, and who’s asking.

Right now I think I’ve only got one book on (private) loan myself. I’ve had it for a while as it’s part of a series and I’d not read all the previous ones yet. But my aunt knew that when she lent it to me…  (It’s probably in turn now next time I feel like holding a “real” book instead of the Kindle.)

Generally speaking, if someone asks to borrow a book from me, I’d probably expect them to read and return it sooner rather than later, if nothing else was said. But if it’s the other way round - if I say to someone “this is a good book, borrow it if you like” - then I wouldn’t automatically assume them to dive right into it.

Out with the old, in with the new

In Sweden 6 January is called the Thirteenth Day (trettondagen), and is a holiday; and Twelfth Night is "Thirtheenth Day's Eve" (trettondagsafton)(analogical with Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, Easter Eve etc). Most people (I think!) leave their decorations up over the 6th, and some keep them longer. In old Swedish traditions the Christmas tree is/was thrown out on (or around) the "twentieth day" = 13 January.

This year I had to start taking down most of my Christmas decorations straight after New Year; it was not that I was particularly eager to get rid of them, but because the Cable Guys will be coming on Tuesday to install a new optic fibre cable for broadband and whatnot. I muttered back in December about the contradictory info we’ve been receiving about the procedure, and it’s not got much clearer since then. I still don’t know exactly how they’re going to draw the cables; but have been told we don’t have to move bookcases, as they’re going to draw the cables high along the ceiling and not along the floor. So I’m just taking down things on top of the shelves along the walls that I think may be involved. And anything else small that may break if it’s knocked over. Anything heavy (like the TV) I cannot move, however, so therefore I’ll just innocently regard that (and the chest of drawers it’s standing on) as a part of the bookcase and hope for the best!

Before Tuesday there is tomorrow; and tomorrow I’ll start  back to the rehab pool at the hospital again, two mornings a week, for another six months. Hopefully that will be good. It’s just always something of a hassle to get used to getting up early again after not having had to worry about that for months… and especially not over Christmas/New Year…  (Don’t take my complaint too seriouosly. I don’t have to leave home until 8.45 and I’ve chosen the time myself among those available.)

My Cup of Tea

Idiom: “my cup of tea” = something that one excels in or enjoys

When I did my T for Tea post last week, I got so fascinated with various facts that I forgot to mention much about my personal tea habits. So I got some questions ;) and I thought I might as well turn some of the answers into a second post.

First of all maybe I should repeat that I never learned to like coffee, so I always drink tea. In Sweden, coffee is the more common choice for most people. Even more so back in my youth perhaps, but it can still be a problem to get a “decent” cup of tea in some places. (An indecent cup of tea = luke warm water poured from a jug that is sometimes also used for coffee, over an old tea bag that has lost most of its aroma.)

At home I use loose-leaf tea, which I usually buy at a tea/coffee shop in town (see picture in the other post). In my own tea cupboard just now you’ll find four black teas, three greens, one rooibos (which comes from another plant altogether and contains no caffeine) – and also some herb peppermint tea bags. I’m not otherwise a fan of herb teas.

In the morning, with breakfast, I have either black or green tea.

Before/around noon and/or after lunch, and in the late afternoon, I tend to drink black tea. In the evening, I usually prefer green tea, or rooibos; i.e. less or no caffeine.

I guess my normal tea consumption in one day would be two or three mugs of black tea and one or two of green.

Since I’m lactose intolerant I never take milk. I usually drink it unsweetened but occasionally add a few drops of honey if I’m not eating anything or if it’s very strong. (I prefer my tea “medium” strong – not too weak, but not bitter.)

I mostly buy flavoured teas. Just now I’m having a bit of a “love affair” with a new black tea that smells like peppermint rock candy. (Not a breakfast tea, but just the thing for the afternoon.) More constant favourites are black currant tea, and a popular local blend which I’m not really sure what it contains. I also like Earl Grey but since I’m a bit oversensitive to citrus I hold back a bit on that. One of my new green favourites contains Goji berries (wolfberries); another one has dried raspberries and blueberries in it. In the winter I tend to drink more “spicy” teas and in the summer more fruity ones.

On a hot day I also like iced tea. Sometimes I buy ice-tea powder that one just mixes with cold water; or when I have the time, I brew my own (with less or no sugar).

Now have I answered all the tea questions? ;)

Today was not a day to wait for hot tea to get cold, actually it would probably have been quicker to put a cold drink out in the sun and wait for it to boil! Well, perhaps not quite. But we suddenly had 30°C in the shadow, “desert winds”, and it feels like we’ve been waiting all day for thunder that never came!

A week ago I was still complaining about the cold; and for all I know I might soon be back to that again... Remains to be seen!

 

 

 

 

Swedish Summer Holiday Rules

Sunglasses for sale at the Spring Market
for Straight Out of the Camera Sunday

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This time of year, whenever people get talking, the standard question is: “And what are your plans for the summer?”

It’s an implicit rule that you must have plans for the summer.

Holiday plans should always include leaving home for at least a couple of weeks. The longer, the better.

If you have a house and garden of your own, rebuilding the house or digging up the garden may be accepted as “plans”, even if it means staying home.

But if you live in a flat you definitely have to get out of town, or you will be getting very strange looks.

Going away to stay in another town however, is quite all right. Although preferably it should be either a really big one (in Sweden that would be Stockholm) or a small, old and picturesque one. In the summer, any town on the coast or by a lake is okay. (Unless you happen to live there all the year round. Then you should go probably go hiking in search of the North Pole or something for a change.)

The farther away you go, the higher the holiday status.

If you are not going far or doing anything very exciting you should humbly add a “just” or “this year” or something of that sort to show that you are aware of the inferior status. For example: “Oh, we’ll just be at the cottage, as usual.” or “We’ll only be going away for one week this year.”

Since several years now I’m of no use at all when I comes to keeping a normal pre-holiday conversation going. The last time I had “plans” was in 2005 – and even then it was just (see?) to spend less than a week with friends in a town I’ve revisited quite frequently since I used to live there. (Revisiting does not rank high on the wow-scale.)

The next year I actually also spent a few nights away from home, but alas that was in hospital. I guess surgery must be considered an acceptable excuse for not going out of town though.

Possibly I may also be excused for the summer of 2008, because then I made plans to move right in the middle of July. (Not only did I make plans – I actually went through with them. But they did not take me out of town!)

If I had had any plans for the two following summers, they would have been thwarted anyway because of family troubles. So from my own point of view just as well that I never even did get round to much planning. In pre-holiday conversations however, it is of course the planning that matters.

To “take the day as it comes” is really only acceptable if you are planning to do it somewhere else. Then people say ah and oh and how good that sounds and oughtn’t everyone to do that more.

But if you plan to take the day as it comes from your own flat, then you get raised eyebrows, and the ah’s in a different tone of voice.

So at times I feel a certain pressure that I should at least pretend to have some kind of grand plan for the summer. But now it’s June already, and I haven’t even come up with a pretend plan yet! On the other hand, since I don’t really get a specific vacation anyway (not having a job to get time off from!) I suppose I might get away with pretending that perhaps I’ll do something “later”…

Who knows. Maybe some day I will.

Booking Through Thursday

http://btt2.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/rut/

Do you ever feel like you’re in a reading rut? That you don’t read enough variety? That you need to branch out, spread your literary wings and explore other genres, flavors, styles?

I'd say my whole life tends to get into periodical ruts, which sometimes include reading habits as well. On the whole, though, I think I prefer to look at it more as going through different phases - in life, as well as reading. Sometimes I do get kind of absorbed by a certain genre or subject or author; but then, when I've had enough, I move on, or take a break. There are certain books and authors I keep returning to; but I read other things in between as well.

Over the last month I think my reading has been pretty varied:

The World According To Bertie by Alexander McCall Smith (4th in the 44 Scotland Street series), in English.

A novel by Anna Gavalda (French author) as audio book in Swedish. The English title is Hunting and gathering. "focus on the lives of four people living in an apartment house: a struggling young artist who works as an office cleaner at night, a young aristocrat misfit, a cook, and an elderly grandmother"

A novel by Swedish author P O Enquist, English title Lewi's Journey, (but I read it in Swedish of course), about the life of Lewi Pethrus: founder of, or at least very influential in, the Swedish Pentecostal movement back in the early 20th century.

The Zahir by Paolo Coelho (in Swedish; I have not finished it yet) "about pilgrimage. The book touches on themes of love, loss and obsession."

And parallel to these, I have also been re-listening to the last two books in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (read by Stephen Fry) (The Half-Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows)

I don't think this selection suggests exactly being in a reading rut - do you? Hmm. If these books have anything in common I suppose it might be a certain struggle with one's own true identity and goals in life. But then again - isn't that what most books are about?