Books: My New Online Addiction

Mike and I are book-aholics. My newest crack supplier is PaperBackSwap. It provides all the fun of cleaning out your old books, making lists, collecting credits, and getting new books. And it's all nearly free.

What happens is you request books you want and the person who has one sends it to you. There's no cost for you to receive a book. The sender pays the shipping. They say there's no catch but there sort of is. In order to get a book, you have to have credits. When you first join you get 2 credits when you upload 10 books to swap. Then for every book that you send to someone, you receive one credit. As the sender paying the shipping though, you're actually paying $2 to $3 in order to get that credit. That's still a pretty good deal.

I read about this at Green Tea Rocks a few days ago and finally decided to give it a try. It took me a while to decide which books I could part with. But it gets addicting and soon I was examining every book in the house. After my first 10 books were up, I learned that some of them were on other peoples' wish lists and within 24 hours 5 of my books had confirmed requests. Wow! My first taste of credits. What other books can I post?

Once you've confirmed you'll mail the books, you can print mailing labels directly from the site. There are options for postage-paid and delivery confirmation labels, or plain ones that you add stamps to yourself. Most books ship for the media rate of just over $2. If you do the PBS postage and delivery options, the price gets raised to just under $3. I used their handy mileage calculator and found that it's a whopping 3 cents cheaper to do all the paying and printing from home rather than take the books to the post office, even with the extra charges from PBS for those options.

Wrapping the books can be cumbersome. You can print out a 2-page PBS wrapper and use it to wrap the book in regular printer paper. I tried that with one book, but it happened to be one that was too big for printer paper. You can print out one-page labels that I used for the rest of my books. I already have plenty of packing materials on-hand without using up printer paper. I reused a padded envelope for a particularly flimsy book. But for most books I found a sturdy brown paper bag worked best (and depending on the size of the books you can wrap up to 3 of them with one bag). I hope I'm not only sending books, but also a message of reuse-reduce-recycle.

If you're using the postage paid option, you have to add money to your PBS account (with a 50-cent transaction fee). Also, double-check the estimated weight if you have a scale. All of my books weighed slightly more than the PBS estimate. I was planning on dropping my books in the mailbox, but since I have to go to the post office tomorrow anyway I'll have them check the postage.

Right now I'm concentrating on downsizing the book collectiong before we pack and move. Once we get settled somewhere, I'll start getting some new books. Although, I did want to try out the receiving part of the system, so I've requested 2. I can't wait to get them!

It seems like a lot of trouble, I know, but it's not that bad. It's easier than ebay. It's cheaper than Amazon and B&N. If you want a book that's not available, you can put it on your wish list and they'll notify you when someone posts it. It's like the library, only you don't have to return the book ever. (You can re-post it when your'e done reading it though.)

If this all sounds like fun instead of work to you, check out my books. If you decide to join by clicking the button below, I'll get your referral... and more credits! (If you are someone I know in real life and want me to send you a book without joining PBS, just email me and I'm happy to do so.)



Update:I just added a bunch of children's books, mostly from publishers I used to work for. There are some picture books but most are library/research books for middle- and high-school level. Mostly history and biography.

Giving thanks that we haven't completely depleted our natural resources

It's Thanksgiving, which means lounging around in PJs and being lazy until the last minute. All I have to do make icing for the cake I baked yesterday and we don't have to leave until 3:00-ish. That gives me all day to procrastinate making that icing.

I've made coffee and I ate breakfast. I took a shower and washed some dishes. I made the obligatory phone calls to parents. I have the Alfred Hitchcock marathon on AMC turned on. I checked my Scrabulous games on Facebook. I caught up on some blog reading.

At Brainsitting I learned about Carbon Conscious Consumer. Every month they put up a new pledge, a small habit you can easily change to reduce the amount of carbon you use. I'm not saying register and officially make the pledge, but keep some of the ideas in mind. This month they ask people to use cold water instead of hot for 4 out of 5 loads of laundry. That's easy!

According to CCC:

U.S. energy consumption is a major cause of climate change and, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute, water heating accounts for approximately 19 percent of total home energy use. Today's more efficient clothes washers and laundry detergents make it possible to get both white and colored clothes clean in cold water. Unless you are dealing with extradordinarily tough stains, washing in hot water is more likely to clean out your wallet than your apparel.

We live in an apartment that doesn't give us the option of energy-efficient appliances so I try to take as many steps as possible to reduce our energy consumption. It takes just a small amount of effort to make an impact on your energy usage... and your energy bill.

Even if you don't believe in global warming, surely saving money on your bills appeals to you.

"No Country for Old Men"

From IMDB: Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon some dead bodies, a stash of heroin and more than $2 million in cash near the Rio Grande.

There's a little more to the story than that.

I thought it was beautiful. This was a great Coen Brothers film. It was a little too suspenseful for me; I like to know who lives and who dies before I see a movie so I can relax a little. But I didn't know that about this one and it had me on the edge of my seat and peeking through my fingers.

This is more like Blood Simple than the fast-talking witty films they've done. Of course it is a visually stunning film with wide shots of the desolate desert. Every frame of a Coen Brothers film is perfectly put together.

I'll note that there were a lot of groans at the end of it; I guess my fellow audience members didn't like the ending as much as I did. I thought it was appropriate.

If you watch a lot of movie trailers and start thinking, hmmm the guy in No Country for Old Men looks a little like the guy in Love in the Time of Cholera, like me, you'd be right. Javier Bardem is the perfect scary, creepy psychopath in NCFOM. I don't think I could watch him in anything else now without being frightend. (I feel the same way about Clive Owen.). He cleans up real nice, though. Check out some photos.

Celiac Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving can be the most depressing holiday for a celiac. It's a whole day that centers around food. And no one wants to feel left out of the festivities. Part of being a celiac isn't just the food, it's the psychology of standing out in a crowd or having to worry about every bite. I've found that I hate standing out with the "special meal." I want to fit in and eat the same food as everyone else. Thus, the most comforting thing for me is being invited to the home of someone who is aware of the simple steps that can be taken to make a gluten-free Thanksgiving that's delicious for everyone.

Turkey. Make sure it's gluten-free. It seems like a no-brainer, but some turkeys are injected with, I don't know, delicious turkey flavor I guess. Whatever it is, some of those injection juices contain gluten, so check the ingredients on the turkey before you buy it.

Stuffing. If you absolutely must serve grandma's traditional bread stuffing, bake it on the side rather than in the turkey. Gluten can be transferred. If you want to stuff the bird, use a rice stuffing or a pure cornbread stuffing. Check those packages of cornbread mix--some add regular flour. Make sure the cornbread is made from pure cornmeal or corn flour. If you add sausage to the stuffing, make sure it's a GF sausage. Sometimes wheat is used as a filler. MSG is okay, though. It's not gluten, it's a corn-based additive.

Gravy. Use cornstarch instead of regular flour.

Potatoes, squash, and other vegetables. They are inherently gluten-free. If you're adding sour cream or cream cheese to mashed potatoes, though, check to make sure modified food starch is not on the ingredients list.

Cranberry sauce. Check the cans and tubs for wheat, modified food starch, or suspicious "natural flavoring".

Rolls and bread. These can be tricky because most GF bread just isn't as good as the regular stuff. (Although in my family those terrible, tasteless snowflake rolls were always served. I've learned to just skip the rolls altogether.) It's one thing I'd rather politely decline than eat a GF substitute.

Dessert. Traditional pies take a little effort. But I think it's worth it. The celiac doesn't want to be eating plain old GF cookies while everyone else digs in to pumpkin pie. At Whole Foods and many other specialty health food stores you can buy GF pies frozen. Some health food stores also contract with local bakeries for fresh pies. GF pie crust mixes and recipes are readily available if you want to bake your own.

Appetizers/snacks. Corn chips are safe as well as vegetable crudites. Make sure dips are free of modified food starch and wheat. Have two cheese plates: one with GF crackers and one with regular crackers.

If the celiac or the parents of the celiac are making the bulk of the meal, I'm sure you'll be making it gluten-free and none of the non-GF guests will even notice. If you are inviting celiac guests and they ask if they can bring something, tell them "Yes!" Celiacs need to be assured that we have control over some of our food.

This year I've been asked to bring a dessert and I think I'll go with my carrot cake. The cream cheese icing is so sweet and decadant! I know that GF crackers will be present and the stuffing will be rice. (I'm not a huge gravy fan, but I know it will be made with cornstarch anyway.)

I give thanks to my friends and family members who help make my life a little easier when it comes to eating.

(Cross-posted at What I Eat

oh healthcare

I'm trying to get this Medical Clearance done so that Mike's job can move us overseas. A month since my first doctor's visit and I'm still working on this.

There's one test that keeps coming back inconclusive. Today I went back to the doctor's office for the third time just for this test. Because of the bureaucracy, the powers that be cannot see that I've spent the last 31 years living a perfectly healthy life and waive this test until my next annual physical. There's a little box on a form somewhere that absolutely must be checked off.

And I'm stuck in a battle between the doctor's office and the lab that examines the samples. Apparently, the lab has recently stated that the doctor must use a certain device in the sample-taking procedure. Ever since the doctor has been forced to use this specific device, the lab has been saying that the samples are inconclusive and must be re-taken. It sounds like a racket between the lab and the device-maker if you ask me.

I'm not the only patient having this problem, apparently. The lab has been rejecting the majority of samples sent by all the doctors in this office. But I seem to be the only patient who absolutely has to keep coming back in for re-tests. Everyone else who's healthy is able to defer the test until their next physical but I don't have that option.

I guess my next option is to find another doctor that uses another lab, but I don't want to take the time to do that at this point. I am in a time crunch to get these medical forms finished up. I'll wait a few more days to see what the results are and hope for the best.

The doctor's staff gave me gift cards for Starbucks and Barnes & Noble today for being such a good sport.

After all this trouble, there's still a chance we could just end up in D.C. instead of overseas and I'll have to go through the medical clearance process again in two years.

At least all the retests are free!

And my blood pressure was much lower today. (I guess yoga and raspberry tea are working.)

Hipsters Are Wii

This post could also be called "Dorks R Us," subtitled "It fell off the back of a truck".

Mike's home now, after 6 weeks of working in the Middle East. We both took the day off from work yesterday to have a perfect day for us. First we walked into Walnut Creek for coffee at Peets. Then we decided to check out electronics prices at Target. We have many Target gift cards as wedding presents and we knew we wanted a new TV and a new Bose sound system for it. While we were there, though, we both confessed "I kinda want a Wii." We looked around. You can't buy them at stores right now; there's more demand than supply. So Mike looked around on Craigslist and Ebay and he made a couple phone calls. We made a plan to meet a guy in the parking lot of a Firestone tires with cash in 45 minutes.

We felt so shady, even though we are the whitest white kids in town, driving our Subaru station wagon (also white), casing an empy mall parking lot with a handful of cash. It felt like a drug deal, but like on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, with us feeling like entitled suburban white kids.

Then we catch up with the guy selling the Wii, and he's a perfectly nice gamer-geek kind of guy. We make deal, exchanging a wad of cash for a brand-new Wii, still in the original packaging and all.

But we didn't rush home right away to try it out. Our original plan for the day was to see The Darjeeling Limited, and we wanted to make a 1:30 show. We loved the movie. It's perfect for Wes Anderson-ophiles like us. (Attention Arrested Development fans: Jason Bateman and Michael Cera are in a new movie together called Juno. We saw the preview yesterday and it looks pretty funny.) We want to live in a Wes Anderson film.

After the movie we went home and tried to hook up the Wii. Unfortunately we are not 17-year-old potheads and it took several hours, including a call to Nintendo support, before it was all set to go. We only got in a couple rounds of bowling before it was time to head out again. (By the way, it's so much fun!) We were going to yoga but wanted to stop by Target first to actually use our gift cards. We bought a Bose sound system and the Wii Lego Star Wars game. (For the big TV we'll keep an eye on holiday sales prices and maybe even battle the crowds on Black Friday.)

I went to bed as soon as we came home from yoga but Mike wanted to set up the Bose. I dozed off to the sound of hobbits, so crystal clear it was as if they standing over the bed yelling in my ear. Yay sound! (LOTR is a perfect DVD to test your new sound system with)

So, that's a perfect day for dorks like us.

Green Is Universal ... Buy the DVD! ... Wait... Huh?

Even though I hate the Today show, since I have a girl crush on Ann Curry I had to tune in this week to see if she made it to the South Pole. She did! But I missed some of her segments. No worries! NBC is kindly packaging all of their "Ends of the Earth" segments into a handy DVD on sale for the low, low price of $29.95 (plus shipping and handling). Um, the last time I checked, DVD packaging isn't very green. Unless they're putting the disc in a simple cardboard sleeve made from recycled fibers. Somehow I don't think so, though. All the plastic and petroleum used in DVD packaging and shipping will negate any green efforts anyone was inspired to take (while watching their energy efficient GE televisions?).

(And while we're at it, how environmentally friendly is the practice of putting up the Rockefeller Christmas tree? Green programming is officially over. We can go on to be good lil holiday consumers now.)

I had to laugh at My Name Is Earl and 30 Rock last night with their obvious messages that this green programming was forced upon them. Earl and his fellow prisoners were planning a Scared Straight program and the warden made them include some positive green messages. But Earl thought that seemed obviously forced and off-message and didn't really fit into the theme of his Scared Straight script. And Tina Fey used the opportunity to point out that the whole green programming thing is an advertising gimmick.

At any time during green programming did NBC suggest that you reduce electricity usage by turning off the tv?

yoga is supposed to be relaxing

I took my first-ever yoga class last night. And I loved it. All the stretching felt great. I loved opening up and stretching out and balancing and all that. Plus I like animals, so downward dogs and upward cats are right up my alley. I slept great last night, totally relaxed. I can't wait to go back next week and hopefully bring Mike with me.

This morning I woke up feeling a little funny. My left side feels different. Not painful or achey in any way, but I'm definitely aware of my right side and left side feeling differently from each other. Is this what relaxation feels like? I'm not sure.

Today I had yet one more doctor's appointment for my medical clearance, most likely the last one. (How many times have I thought that though?) My blood pressure popped ridiculously high. It was 170-something and three weeks ago it was 120-something. The nurse said, "Well either you just had a big cup of coffee or you're stressed out over being here." "Both, actually," I said. All my relaxation has been wiped out by one stupid test that had to be re-done. And the lab says it's the doctor's office's fault, the doctor says it's the lab's fault. What it boils down to is this byzantine medical clearance procedure still isn't finish. I'd really like to close this chapter yet it remains open for a few more weeks.

And I really want to drink a bottle of wine tonight but I should probably do my newly learned yoga moves instead.

Skirts

My stash-sewing skirts are coming along. Two are all finished. One just needs to be hemmed. Another has just been cut out. It feels good to be cutting fabric and throwing away the scraps. The lessening of the stash is probably imperceptable to anyone but me, but it's enough for me to know it's getting smaller.

Both skirts are New Look 6177, View C/D. This one to the left is two different brown cotton gauzes. For the main part and the upper flounce I used a chocolate brown, for the bottom flounce, obviously, a light brown. I added lace trim to make it a little flirtier.

The second skirt is two different cotton/poly blends, white-on-white Hawaiin floral prints. The bottom flounce is white cotton gauze.

I apologize for the lousy photos. I had no luck taking them of myself with the good camera, so I'm back to posing for the laptop camera. You can see larger images at flickr.

I'm trying to sew with Tim Gunn's basic wardrobe elements in mind. I like to think he'd approve of these as a sweatpants alternative. With an appropriate top and sandals of course.