The kids, tho, are still into High Tech, it seems.

I think it’s all just so new to so many of them, though. In terms of, erm, deprivation, if they grew up without, they still grew up on television and instant gratification and the total consumer culture thing. If they grew up with, then for so many of them, their every desire was satisfied instantly.

In terms of technology, they can’t conceive of a simpler way of doing things — everything in their lifetime was motorized or computerized or McDonald’sized.

Interesting times we live in!

I got a Very Cheap Computer through craiglist this week. The young man who was selling it has a landscape business and took it in trade for fixing a guy’s weedeater. While I was there, he tried to sell me a new lawnmower AND tried to buy my RAV4.

I asked him about push mowers and he was appalled that anyone would be interested in something that… archaic. You could almost see “Old fogey!” in the little thought balloon above his head.

::sigh::

And unfortunately, the ones telling you to relax! seem to disappear the minute you ask them to help you with the bills.

Funny how that works.

I’ve had a mixed bag week, too. On the one hand, I’ve moved, which will eventually cut my costs way down, not to mention, be much greener and give me a ton more time, even though I’ll be taking care of two places.

On the other, I’ve gone through a boatload of money to make the move.

As for the rest:

1. Plant something – for me, not yet. I was very tempted to buy tomato plants, but I don’t know the soil well enough here yet and don’t yet have all my “food” planting containers here. I realized I could very well end up killing a lot of innocent plants, so I desisted.

2. Harvest something – raspberries. Yesterday. Beautiful raspberries, enough that I was able to leave plenty on the bushes for the birds.

3. Preserve something – erm, no.

4. Self-reliance – I just bought a new cord for the dryer (which I only use in winter) and listened carefully to the instructions for changing it out. Paid $13 for it, which is a lot less than the several hundred $$$s it would take to have the plug rewired.

5. Cook something new – you and I must be on the same wavelength. I’ve cooked greens before, but not for a long time. I picked up a mess of collard and turnip greens, and a bit of ham this morning. But I forgot the sweet potato which, imo, is a must with greens.

6. Manage reserves – check. Primarily canned goods this week. I have enough cabinet and pantry space to put away food for a year. I could only put away a couple month’s worth before. I plan to fill these babies up, and I started this a.m.

7. Reduce waste – one of my chores this week is figuring out the local recycling system. I’ve been told it’s easy, but they all have quirks. So I’m going to figure it out before I do it.

8. Work on local connections – tomorrow, I’m going to a new local market to pick up produce and nuts. It looks like a good one – it’s very old, and I’ve heard about it for years but have never shopped there.

9. Learn something new – not so much this week. But I have a very long list of new skills I’m going to have to acquire here.

And now for the big one: I JUST BOUGHT A REEL MOWER! After lunch, I’ll be putting it together and trying it out.