Just saying - but maybe the increase in carbon dioxide is another reason I feel short of breath?
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Monday, 21 December 2009
Me: Power Guzzler
This is hardly fair, but neither are any of the alternatives: "Power guzzlers face higher electricity tariff." As the article reports and Kate Doust points out, it's not necessarily the high-income households that will be classed as "power guzzlers." What sort of a fucked up term is that, anyway?
I'm a low income household. I'm on a disability pension because I have emphysema. Let's examine my household for a minute shall we?
I live in a "second house," a cottage on a large block south of Perth. That was for various reasons, one it's cheaper than being in a caravan park by about $20 / week, two it's a fixed home so I can kind of qualify for things that a person in a caravan or motorhome paradoxically can't, three it's away from the city and the pollution so I can breathe a lot easier.
The cottage is nowhere near a gas main so it's all electric, the hot water system, the oven, the stove, the fridge, and an air conditioner so that I can at least drop the temperature and reduce the humidity inside so I can breathe without distress. There is no insulation as it's an original beach shack of a cottage, meant only for holiday use originally I suppose. I know there are government insulation rebates but they are for the landlord to apply for, not me. And in this type of construction would be difficult to install anyway, and be of limited effect. That means the a/c (when it's working - right now I need to get it repaired and can't afford to do so.) is pushing shit uphill all day and half the average night, sucking down electricity like I have a bottomless wallet.
And I get a pension, remember? Lowest income in Australia bar none, still officially below the poverty line.
My fridge was a hand-me-down I was given because it "makes our meter jump off the wall" when it's operating. I can't afford a new one no matter what.
I like to cook but I have the choice of using up several units per hour cooking, or else spring for a gas regulator and small gas cooker off my own bat - again, not gonna happen unless I win Lotto.
So I'm in just one possible situation where I'd be consider "power-guzzling" but in reality if I didn't, I might as well go back to living in a tent.
Just one more way that the government is here to serve me....
I'm a low income household. I'm on a disability pension because I have emphysema. Let's examine my household for a minute shall we?
I live in a "second house," a cottage on a large block south of Perth. That was for various reasons, one it's cheaper than being in a caravan park by about $20 / week, two it's a fixed home so I can kind of qualify for things that a person in a caravan or motorhome paradoxically can't, three it's away from the city and the pollution so I can breathe a lot easier.
The cottage is nowhere near a gas main so it's all electric, the hot water system, the oven, the stove, the fridge, and an air conditioner so that I can at least drop the temperature and reduce the humidity inside so I can breathe without distress. There is no insulation as it's an original beach shack of a cottage, meant only for holiday use originally I suppose. I know there are government insulation rebates but they are for the landlord to apply for, not me. And in this type of construction would be difficult to install anyway, and be of limited effect. That means the a/c (when it's working - right now I need to get it repaired and can't afford to do so.) is pushing shit uphill all day and half the average night, sucking down electricity like I have a bottomless wallet.
And I get a pension, remember? Lowest income in Australia bar none, still officially below the poverty line.
My fridge was a hand-me-down I was given because it "makes our meter jump off the wall" when it's operating. I can't afford a new one no matter what.
I like to cook but I have the choice of using up several units per hour cooking, or else spring for a gas regulator and small gas cooker off my own bat - again, not gonna happen unless I win Lotto.
So I'm in just one possible situation where I'd be consider "power-guzzling" but in reality if I didn't, I might as well go back to living in a tent.
Just one more way that the government is here to serve me....
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Gardens, Cliche, Inner Peace
Do you garden? Even if you have just a pot plant on a window ledge, I guess, you can call yourself a gardener. Me, I've always found that growing something makes me feel so much better about life. Look, there's this thing that I nursed and cared for, now large and happy, be it a flower, a vegetable, or a kitten I've looked after since it was less than a handful.
The sentiments expressed in this article prompted this blog post, because I've seen how much a garden can do for making one feel at peace. I did go through a stage where I was inclined to think that real life was a messy dirty thing that's better avoided, but somehow, it prevailed. I've had the best experience the last two weeks, of having a visitor from interstate, and it was even better because I had growing things to show and to use in meals, there was the rabbit shed, the ducks, and some lovely local scenery. Safe to say that had I been living in the city itself, we'd have been sat indoors and bored solid.
Okay, brainfart over, go back to LOLcats.
The sentiments expressed in this article prompted this blog post, because I've seen how much a garden can do for making one feel at peace. I did go through a stage where I was inclined to think that real life was a messy dirty thing that's better avoided, but somehow, it prevailed. I've had the best experience the last two weeks, of having a visitor from interstate, and it was even better because I had growing things to show and to use in meals, there was the rabbit shed, the ducks, and some lovely local scenery. Safe to say that had I been living in the city itself, we'd have been sat indoors and bored solid.
Okay, brainfart over, go back to LOLcats.
Monday, 14 December 2009
Burning iMam 2009
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