One man's trash is another man's treasure

Coupon clipping. Bargain hunting. Selling on eBay.  Buying on Craigslist. Finding on Freecycle. All are excellent ways to help the old budget, especially while the economy is in the toilet, people who have jobs aren’t getting – or requesting – raises, and many of us don’t have jobs.

I’ve noticed that even people who are employed are more conscientious about their spending, apprehensive about possible layoffs in their companies and fearful about the future.  We’re all looking at ways to save, live more frugally, and still enjoy life.

So, I have been looking at all kinds of ways to stretch my budget yet still allow me to do the things I enjoy doing – concerts, movies, travel, home projects.  I have been using this time off to get rid of things I no longer need or want through donations to Goodwill and Salvation Army (think tax deductions as well as clothes and home goods going to people who need them). I’ve also subscribed to Freecycle.org, the online site that allows people to recycle items they no longer want—at no charge. People post an item they want or one they want to get rid of. There is no charge for either the giver or the receiver; it’s simply a way of recycling goods that might otherwise get thrown into the trash or clutter up one’s home. There are some great things on Freecycle and what a terrific way to match items with people who are happy to have them.

But, I have to admit, I am amazed by how many things have the “ewwww” factor. Do people really give away opened and partially used personal things (I’m not talking appliances and building supplies here)…and do other people really want them? In the name of public interest, saving money, and my own sense of “can you believe people really do that,” I had to share with you some of the items I have legitimately seen posted on these sites. Really. I’m a big believer in recycling, but some of these have gone too far for my taste…plus some of them make me very curious about the person offering the goods…or they are certainly worthy of a good laugh.

(Note: The spellings and language are those of the posters – not mine; I have eliminated all contact information, in the interest of privacy of the posters.):

FREE TO GOOD HOME - The following products have been opened but are fine & I'd rather not throw away if someone wants them.
1)1/4 container (30oz) of Thick it
2)1/2 container (64oz) prune juice
3)1/4 container (18oz) prunes

Call if interested or you know anyone who is.

Well, sounds like someone needed some help with stomach issues…

OFFER: King Size Bed Spread

King Size bed spread with a few matching pillows (gold and beige threading)- gently used but needs to be dry cleaned

Really, would you honestly offer a bedspread to someone that you had not washed or cleaned first???

OFFER: My daughter has decided that she does not like the trix yogurt.
3 strawberry/kiwi
2 cotton candy
expire. Oct.2

OFFER: Long-Handled Dog Pooper Scooper Pan.  This is one half of a set purchased this year -- shovel/hoe not included. In great condition, used very little.

OFFER: 1. Two white cat statues ~ 7inchs high with blue ribbon collors and straw hats (hollow, light weight ceramic)
2. Thermas #1: Aladdin 1 liter. good for soup, has lid/soup bowl --- NEEDS GOOD CLEANING, BEEN IN GARAGE FOREVER
3. Thermas #2: Igloo 1/2 gallon with flip up pour spout in lid --- NEEDS GOOD CLEANING, BEEN IN GARAGE FOREVER
4. Four misc glasses and two misc mugs (not matching set)
5. 2qt/liter tall plastic container with pour lid (not a spout, just able to pour throw hole in lid w/ it's own little lid)
6. Good Seasons Oil holder? I'm not sure if that's what it is but it's my best guess

all items will need some level of cleaning...they' ve been stored in a dusty garage for some time. Please let me know which one(s) you are interested in in your reply.

Who gives away thermoses or other things they haven’t even washed first!!

OFFER:  crutches (20878)
1 pair aluminum, like new, adjustable for height 5'2" to 5'10"
I can leave by front door.  Just let me know when.

Coupons – even those that are mailed to your house regularly—seem to appear regularly on freecycle:

OFFER: 3 Coupons for Nasonex worth the lessor of your co-pay amount or $15 each. Expire 12/31/09

WANTED: alli pills
hi im looking for alli pills, that are not open,thanks! !

You can't fail to be amused by the bathroom-related postings:

TAKEN:  Potty Ring for Toddler

Wanted: Training Underwear (Vinyl )
Does anyone have some training pants available that are not being used? I could really use some for potty training. With or without the cloth diaper built it. Thanks.

And miscellaneous stuff:

Wanted:  fill dirt
We need some fill dirt or loose rocks/stones to fill in a big hole.

OFFER: 5 Empty McCormick spice jars with green cap

All in all, freecycling, recycling is a good thing. But the postings often make me very curious about some of the people, their homes, and what in the world they are thinking. Happy recycling.

Beauty in the US...and opportunities

View from Arlington House

(Photo taken with my iPhone so it's impossible to see the detail and vast perspective one sees from Arlington.)

Take advantage of opportunities that come your way. I was fortunate to receive an invitation to attend a special WETA screening event this past Saturday night – a preview of the new Ken Burns and WETA production of The National Parks for PBS.

We who are temporarily idle (otherwise known as PLODs -- People Laid Off-Damn!) are thrilled to be invited to something new and free, particularly if it’s in a spectacular setting. Along with local friends as well as friends visiting from Seattle and Dallas, I was delighted to attend the preview screening on the front lawn of Arlington House, a spectacular and historic national park site itself (it was the home of Robert E. Lee and his family), at the top of Arlington National Cemetery.  With a panoramic view of Washington, DC across the river, on a crystal clear evening as the sun was going down and a Fall chill in the air, stars twinkling above us and the enormous columns of Arlington House looming behind us, it was a brilliant and thought-provoking environment for a historical and beautiful look at the U.S.

I was reminded of the immigrants who were so struck by the natural beauty of the land and trees that they were inspired to paint and photograph and preserve the spaces that we now know as The Great Smoky Mountains National Park or as Yosemite. I was reminded of the Native Americans who were living here, creating homes and sacred spaces long before many of our European ancestors had even heard of the New World. I was reminded of the abundance of trees and wildlife native to the U.S. and preserved for us to enjoy now and for generations to come.

And now some flacking for PBS and WETA (and in the name of full disclosure, I am a contributor to WETA and a big fan of PBS).  The National Parks (the series) was filmed over 6+ years at some of nature's most spectacular locales: from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades to the Gates of the Arctic. The National Parks: America's Best Idea is a story of people. The show premieres Sunday, September 27. It’s a must see.

You can find out more about the program at:

http://www.weta.org/local/parks/about

I’m planning to not miss an episode and to travel vicariously through my television and PBS…all the while planning my next USA adventure to a National Park.

Reminder to self:

There is still a world to discover in the U.S. – from Yosemite to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon to Big Bend. As much as I want to visit India and Peru and Egypt and scores of other countries, there is so much of the U.S. that I still haven’t seen. I need to hit the road again!

And for the unemployed, underemployed, or mis-employed (i.e. you don’t like your job):

• Don’t turn down an invitation.
• Don’t sit around moping and feeling sorry for yourself. Get out and do something.
• One never knows where inspiration or a moment of clarity will come from. It may be right in your own back yard.

What's a Job Got to do With It?

I feel so fortunate to have the extensive benefits that are available through my former employer-sponsored health care insurance and through COBRA. I am able to go to almost any doctor and get every concern taken care of, including skin problems, dental checkups, eye exam, and any illness or major health problem, if I had any.

I am also very blessed to be in good health: no broken bones or accidents, no diseases or illnesses, no major health concerns. (Thank you good family genes!) However it's incredibly reassuring to know that I can be treated for any small concern I have and that my office visit, the lab tests, any procedures, and prescriptions are all or mostly covered by my health insurance. I still have out of pocket costs, but they are usually not terribly expensive.

Many Americans who do not have employee-sponsored health insurance (and I will be one of those people when my COBRA runs out) elect to purchase individual, private health plans (very expensive), go without insurance, or go without health care entirely unless some catastrophic emergency lands them or a family member in the hospital. And these are not necessarily all unemployed folks who fall into this category. Many who decide they must (due to financial concerns) forgo health insurance are people who work part time, are self employed, work as contractors or freelancers, or work for very small companies with no health care benefits.

A comment I have heard many times this year from my unemployed friends and colleagues is, “I really need to look for a job in order to be eligible for health insurance.”  Many of these are people who would love to do freelance consulting or be self employed and could probably make enough income to make it work…cover their mortgages, put food on the table, live a pretty normal life. In other words, they could be successful, taxpaying, small business owners, consultants, and freelance workers.

But there is the overwhelming fear of not having or not being able to afford health insurance…and the greater fear of “what if.” What if I get cancer? What if I have to go to the hospital? What if I have to have expensive tests? What if I get into a car accident and have serious injuries?  This becomes even more of an issue as people age (I’m talking middle age here, not the elderly) and become more conscious of the growing potential for something to go wrong.

Isn’t there another way to help make health insurance affordable for people who would like to achieve the “American dream” and be entrepreneurial and forge their own way?  We all know that it’s harder to find a professional, corporate (or government or association or healthcare or education) job as we get older--ask any middle aged person how many job interviews he or she has managed to arrange after sending out scores of resumes.

Does anyone really want to take a job just to obtain health insurance benefits? Of course, there is more to it than that…there is the regular salary and helping an organization reach its goals, and learning new skills, feeling a sense of personal achievement and satisfaction, and security.

If the rate of unemployment continues to grow, as economists predict it will (at least until 3Q10), then inevitably there will be more and more people without health care. I’m convinced that a good number of those people will never be employed by a corporation again, thus will not be eligible for employee health insurance.

Employee-sponsored health insurance is a wonderful thing. It would seem that the brilliant minds in this country should be able to put together ideas and a plan so it’s not the only option for people seeking affordable health insurance. 

Is anyone looking out for the best interests of the people?

Advice for the Newly Laid Off

Baltic sunset

The sad reality of 2009 is that many people continue to lose their jobs...not just from a slumping economy but as a result of corporate re-organization (join the club!), new management, a change of administration, re-prioritizing how budgets are allocated, corporate mergers, and changing business models, just to name a few.  It certainly helps those of us who have been laid off to not feel so alone or so stigmatized that we're not currently in the workforce. We know that we're out of work, not from some egregious mistake or poor performance in our previous jobs, but from circumstances totally out of our control.

We now have more people to lunch with, to sneak off to a movie with in the middle of the afternoon, or to commiserate with about the resume and job search process. It helps to know we're all in this together.


I am feeling particularly sad this week that many dear friends and colleagues have lost their jobs in the past week. These were long-time, highly-dedicated, competent professionals who dedicated long hours to the success of the organization they worked for, insuring their teams, their clients, and their company thrived and met their goals. They are people who would always go the extra mile to insure the work was done to perfection or to take on additional projects and responsibilities.


It's very difficult to say anything to help the newly jobless feel better about their situation. They know it wasn't their fault but still there are the personal and professional ties with a former workplace...and the odd feeling to be at home during the day. There will be ups and downs each week but, based on personal experience, most of us come out of these transitions smarter, stronger, and better able to deal with what life throws at us. 

Copenhagen mailboxes

A few words of advice -- partially based on what I've learned and on what wise people have shared with me -- for my friends and others:

• Make time to relax and rejuvenate yourself: use this time to break away from the stress-filled, deadline-driven corporate world by doing something you enjoy or have wanted to accomplish at home. Pot a plant, read a book, plan your next vacation, go to a movie, clean the garage.
• Get outside every single day: go for a walk and really see things, or simply sit outside and enjoy the sounds around you, bike to Starbucks, rent a kayak or canoe at a local lake. (Then remember that most people are toiling away in dull cubicles or offices while you're enjoying this beautiful time of year.)
• Read: novels, non-fiction books, career planning books, online trade newsletters and magazines, creative blogs, newspapers...anything to keep your mind stimulated and active.
• Move: exercise, do yoga, swim, walk, take a dance class...all these things make us feel better physically but also affect our mental well-being. 
• Stay in touch with people: talk to friends, family, former colleagues. It can help to have someone you're accountable to for getting something done each day, or whose shoulder you can cry on when you're having a bad day. Plan lunches or dinners with friends and surround yourself with a "support group" of people who are going through what you're going through. 
• Intellectual and cultural stimulation: think about professional or personal skills you want to enhance and sign up for a class...Spanish, cooking, art history, HTML? Take advantage of museums, art galleries and historic sites -- a weekday is a great time to go and we're surrounded with great things to see and do for free.
• Take advantage of free: since we unemployed people are very conscientious about money, be on the lookout for the multitude of free concerts (military bands play all over the DC area and many communities have free concerts occasionally), area gardens and parks (such as Brookside Garden in Wheaton, MD), walking the C&O Canal, drive to a local orchard, DC museums (and those off the beaten path places like Dumbarton Oaks), 
• Revel in your freedom while you plan your next step in life!!!

Mount Vernon

Smithsonian Castle/Enid Haupt Garden

Washington National Cathedral

Road trip

National Arboretum

Waterlily at Kenilworth Water Gardens


















Plan, dream, play, live, enjoy...what do you want to do?

Help Wanted: Branding Expert for Obama Administration

Why is the Obama administration having such a hard time branding their health care reform package? With some of the brightest minds in the country and loads of people who acknowledge that change needs to be made, this seems to have become a huge communication fiasco.

Now, I don't know that the health care reform ideas that have been presented are the end-all, be-all of what the country needs, and there is much work and discussion to be done, however someone in the administration seems to have miscalculated that how you sell in an idea is often just as important as the idea itself. Ask any advertising person! Advertising creatives come up with brilliant ads and TV spots every day...insuring the work is on strategy. But the work also includes telling a story, insuring a client gets how the idea makes sense and relates to its target audience and how it will make a difference.  There is persuasion and communication. If an advertising person just put the ideas on the table with little or no engagement, then they aren't doing their job effectively.

The conservative pundits and outspoken minority have been skilled at creating phrases for people to latch onto and to scare the heck out of the public: death panels and government run health care, among them. Remember that they also brilliantly created the "pro-life" movement (is there any one on both sides of this issue who honestly can say that they aren't in favor of life), "Country First," and "Contract with America."

A lot of advertising and marketing people have been laid off in the past year. Can’t someone help this administration do a more effective job of:

• Selling in their ideas
• Communicating the benefits
• Dealing with opposing views.

Just Breathe

Glacier Point, Alaska

There is something uniquely relaxing about regular and focused breathing. I get so involved in what I'm doing--whether walking or cleaning or weeding through emails--that I often forget to take those nice, deep, cleansing breaths that feel so good.

I was lucky enough to have a personal Pilates instruction last week led by one of my dearest friends who reminded me throughout about the rhythmic breathing to accompany each exercise, each movement. Just a deep breath in and a nice long exhale. I could almost feel it slowing my heart rate and helping me to be more mindful of what I was trying to do. Plus the exercises felt rejuvenating and calming at the same time.

Though not a yoga practitioner, I'm sure it's this regular and concentrated breathing that enables yoga aficionados to do such beautiful poses and feel a sense of calm and well being.

I have found that focusing on my breathing – deeply breathing, then exhaling -- has helped me through multiple medical procedures and trying situations in the past year: I used concentrated breathing during a long and uncomfortable dental procedure; breathing helped me to not obsess on the severe discomfort of a gyn procedure; focused breathing helped me to cope with 2 skin biopsies and a laser procedure which felt like bees stinging my skin. I find I also am concentrating on my breathing when in traffic jams or when going on a job interview. It's an amazing tool that I will continue to cultivate.

Now, what happens when told to take a breath...then don't move and don’t breathe? If you're like me, and you are also being squeezed in the gigantic machinery called mammography, you immediately can't breathe anyway and any semblance of relaxation is immediately dissipated. Poof! Inhale. I gasp for air as soon as I can pull away from the monster machine. Nope, breathing didn’t really help me through this one, but I won’t give up.

Imagine how focused breathing might change the world for the better if everyone learned to take a deep breath then exhale slowly on a regular basis or before they open their mouths to speak. Perhaps politicians could learn take a deep breath (or several) before making rude and insensitive remarks about colleagues or people who have different opinions than they do. People could be taught to take a deep breath when they are dissatisfied and frustrated in a restaurant, or a store, or in traffic. Young people could learn to breathe deeply and concentrate before lashing out in anger or using weapons to settle a dispute.  Maybe we need some deep breathing to open up civil discussions on health care for Americans.

Now, just breathe…

Labor Day Redux

I had intended for a Labor Day post to be published while I was blissfully away with no Internet access for 5 days, however I was ill-prepared before I left so am resurrecting my Labor Day thoughts today (while it's still Labor Day week).

Labor Day: a "day dedicated to the social and economic achievements of the American worker...a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country."*


It seems like a weird concept to celebrate when one isn't working. For years, I would look forward to Labor Day weekend and a chance to enjoy 3 glorious days of R&R. In my area of the country, that typically means 90-degree temperatures, humid days, lots of sunshine and, with so many people at the beach or traveling, the neighborhood is often quiet and peaceful. Typically I might visit with friends, see a movie, visit the National Gallery of Art or another museum or art gallery, go shopping, and do yard work (what fun).  The weekend was always a chance to rest and get reinvigorated for the next few months of work craziness before year end: often business planning, budget review, clients spending money or getting incremental money to support new initiatives. In other words, gearing up for crazy time.


But this year, as an unemployed worker-in-transition, can I legitimately still celebrate Labor Day? Do my past 30+ years of labor count and are they something to celebrate?

I suggest that Labor Day should be a celebration of and for all American workers: those currently and happily employed, those not employed but who would like to be, those who are now retired, the self-employed, and former workers who are having a hard time finding a new job in this horrible economy. In their own way, they all contribute to the economic well being of the U.S.


Even we unemployed Americans buy groceries and gasoline, pay our mortgages, keep up the car payments and maintenance, subscribe to newspapers and magazines, go to the movies, do home repairs, visit the dentist...all of which contribute to the employment of other Americans. I feel good about that. I want to think that our economy will improve, that Americans -- employed and unemployed -- will have access to health care, that we will all continue to save for that "rainy day" that is here now, that I'll be able to save for a future retirement once again, and that my friends who have also been laid off this year will find meaningful and rewarding employment.


So for Labor Day 09, I believe it's a time to celebrate those of us who work and those of us who wish we were working. We've all been carrying an extra load for the past year: the employed pick up the slack for people who have been laid off, and the unemployed try every way possible to muddle through and keep going and remain optimistic that the right job is out there. So cheers to all and wishes for future Labor Day celebrations!

 
*U. S. Department of Labor

Nostalgia for First Day of School

Remember the promise of that first day of school? It was the start of a new school year, with the unknown but the excitement of what was to come...teachers whose reputations we were already aware of, interesting classes but not-so-fun homework, seeing friends again. 


And we all "refreshed" ourselves to start the school year: new back to school clothes; shiny, leather shoes (we didn't wear sneakers in those days); new crayons, pencils, and erasers.

I loved that feeling of the new-ness of it all – the fresh sharpness of a new set of crayons in elementary school before I’d worn the periwinkle or the cornflower blue down to a stump of a crayon (and longing for the box of 48 or 64 crayons which I never seemed to have). I liked the feel of the yellow No. 2 pencils before the erasers had worn down to the metal and the wood snapped in half while pressing too hard during a test.  I liked putting on those nice, unscuffed shoes with my brand-new white anklets (even though I probably wore the same style of Buster Brown shoes for years because of my narrow feet). I don’t think stylish was a word we considered in back to school shopping in those days; the overriding concern probably was to purchase things that were functional and durable.

I remember that feeling of adoring the start of a new school year so clearly, and after 16 years of orienting our lives around the school calendar and continuing that focus with my children, I still sense that anticipation about the start of a new school year. I enjoyed helping my daughters to get ready for the new year and visiting the classroom the day before school began to meet the teacher so she would know, of course, that my children were unusually bright and gifted and extraordinary students. I loved the tradition of taking their pictures on the first day of school, with lunchboxes in hand and new backpacks – from Little Mermaid to JanSport to Vera Bradley – in front of our house on that first day as we awaited the school bus. Usually someone had a goofy grin and begged me to not take a photo or to at least do it quickly. Then as I walked them to the front door of school (early elementary years) or as they boarded the school bus, I always had tears since I knew my little ones were moving on without me and growing up and I was so proud of them. They were off to face new challenges and to become people on their own, with the nurturing of many wonderful teachers.

However, this is the first autumn in many, many years that I'm sending no one off to school. I still had that yearning to buy new supplies, stock the refrigerator, buy a cute lunchbox, check the stores for back to school sales…but my better sense prevailed. As I saw parents walking their little ones to school this week, cameras in hand, I missed that sense of excitement and waiting to find out how the first day went.

But as adults, the school year still feels like a time for a fresh start and I do have a renewed energy for what lies ahead.