Boarding passes... whodda thought...

Don't just throw away your boarding pass. Shred it!

A few words of Wisdom

Words of Wisdom...

shared by Manuel Costa...

1. A day without sunshine is like night.
2. On the other hand, you have different fingers.
3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
5. Remember, half the people you know are below average.
6. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.
9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.
10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.
14. OK, so what's the speed of dark?
15. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
17. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?
18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?
20. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, "What > the heck happened?"
22. Just remember -- if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.
23. Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
24. Life isn't like a box of chocolates; it's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.

Thanks, Manuel! These are fun.

Beginners Guide to Hashtags

#hashtag

<a href="http://mashable.com/2013/10/08/what-is-hashtag/?crlt.pid=camp.Gxjj4sXBL6v0"<Beginners Guide to Hashtags</a>

If you’re a social media novice, hashtags — those short links preceded by the pound sign (#) — may seem confusing and unnecessary. But they are integral to the way we communicate online, and it’s important to know how to use them (even though some people, like Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, are not the biggest fans). Plus, they can be a lot of fun.

Sunday, Feb 22, 2015: Abu Simbel Festival (Egypt)

For years, I've been intrigued by the semi annual solar phenomenon occurring at the Abu Simbel temple in Egypt every February 22 and October 22nd.  



It is believed that the axis of the temple was positioned by the ancient Egyptian architects in such a way that on October 22 and February 22, the rays of the sun would penetrate the sanctuary and illuminate the sculptures on the back wall, except for the statue of Ptah, the god connected with the Underworld, who always remained in the dark. People gather at Abu Simbel to witness this remarkable sight, on October 21 and February 21.^[6][7]

Freecycling... a broader perspective.

At the beginning...
When it first started back in 2003, freecycling was intended to be all about keeping stuff out of landfills.

And then...
But, it very quickly became apparent to me that it was being used for much, much more than that! People immediately began using freecycling to clear out their clogged living spaces... to get rid of stuff they weren't using, but would never ever thinking of sending to the landfill.  Still valuable, but stuff they no longer used or no longer wanted. Stuff that was probably too much effort to sell.  In fact, probably more than 90% of the stuff changing hands on freecycle in all its iterations and flavours (reuseit, fullcircles, buy nothing, BCG... etc.) was that kind of stuff.

Freecycling... It's kind of like an iceberg 

Think of it like an iceberg. That stuff which would have ended up in the landfill is like the tip of the iceberg; maybe 10% of the stuff exchanged on freecycle venues. And all that other stuff clogging our homes and living spaces is like the hidden 90% of the iceberg.

Metaphors I like... Mashup of ideas

Metaphors are useful for helping people see things more clearly... and from another perspective.  I like using metaphors to help describe what freecycling is all about.  Sometimes a metaphor helps the penny to drop... for people to see the light... to finally get it... to understand with absolute clarity.

Here are some metaphors I like...

• Low hanging fruit
• Rescue / Recovery mission
• Stranded Assets
• Asset / liability
• My icebreaker metaphor - Thinking about clutter like the ice that builds up on a ship as it sails on its journey in a winter sea.
• Biomimicry - scavenging
• Mining... searching for the treasures buried in the overburden of clutter.
• Iceberg
• Safety/pressure valve - Freecycling allows us to "release" the pressure of all that stuff clogging our living spaces
• Cholesterol - stuff is like cholesterol clogging the passageways in our living spaces
• Conservation of resources
• GPI - Genuine Progress Indicator
• Taking up the slack
• Collaborative consumption - Matching "wants" with "haves"
• The Redistribution Market - Rachel Botsman 2010
• Sharing Our Abundance
• Our embarrassing abundance
• An embarrassment of riches
• Superabundance

Out of the starting blocks

This morning I decided it was time to start logging some of my stream of consciousness on the topics I find myself thinking about.  And this blog was just sitting there, waiting to be put to use.  So here goes!

Yesterday, Helen and I visited my 94 year old cousin Marge here on St. Simons Island.  In the course of casual conversation, Helen mentioned that her iron is no longer working properly.  She asked Marge if, by any chance, she had any irons she wasn't using that we might borrow.  Marge brought out three irons she doesn't use and she also confessed that she no longer irons anything.  All wash and wear now.  She can't be bothered at her age!  So, Helen gets to borrow one of the irons for the duration of our snowbird stay on St. Simons Island this winter.

Got me thinking this morning...  What a waste!  Those irons are kind of like "stranded assets".  Still useful, but not being used.  In their current state, they were liabilities... unused stuff... clutter... just taking up space in Marge's cupboard.  So, one of the three will now be productively used.  In fact, Helen's using it as I write this.  This is the magic of freecycling / reusing.  Liabilities in our community can become useful assets, contributing real value.

Got me thinking that this was sort of a rescue operation.  (think rescue vs. recovery).  This iron still has lots of life left in it, maybe 80 or 90% of its life.  One of the other of Marge's irons was much closer to being useless trash!  Well used and pretty much used up.  Dealing with it might considered more of a recovery operation.  Recovering and disposing of the corpse (metaphorically speaking).