A visual account of my weekend

So here are the things I did this weekend:

Brand-new, and I’ve already cluttered up the top.

1. Bought a new refrigerator. Our house didn’t come with a refrigerator, and we were pretty much broke when we moved, so rather than shell out $400 or more for a full-sized appliance, we just picked up a 3.1-cubic-foot dorm fridge at Target and called it a day.

I delayed upgrading it because I assumed a tiny dorm fridge would use less power than a full-sized model, making it better for the environment. The old one did use less power, but only about 40 kWh per year less. The tradeoff: I had to buy a lot of products in single-serving packages, and I had to buy bottled water because my refillable bottles leaked when I laid them on their sides to get them to fit on the shelves. I also had to pass up a lot of organic products because they weren’t available in small packages. All of that adds up to a lot more than 40 kWh per year in environmental damage.

Another unexpected benefit: The old refrigerator had a brushed-stainless-steel surface. As you can see above, the smooth white surface of this new one doubles as a dry-erase board I can use for menu planning, thereby saving paper while increasing the odds that I’ll remember what I have on hand and use it up before it spoils. (In my world, every smooth surface is a dry-erase board. Just ask my former students, who thought I was terribly subversive the first time I pulled out a marker and worked a math problem right on somebody’s desk.)

You know I’ll seize any excuse to buy a power tool.

2. Insulated part of the basement ceiling. I ran out of insulation before I ran out of ceiling, but the bathroom and kitchen floors are now insulated to R-13. I’m getting ready to make some rice-filled draft blockers for the doors, too.

Do not judge my lifestyle choices.

3. Lived dangerously. Has anybody in the history of time ever paid any attention to this directive? This has to be the work of the same lawyer who was responsible for California’s idiotic ban on respectable cupcake sprinkles.

Reservoir Dogs?

4. Took this picture of Riggy and Song looking like a couple of badasses out of a Tarantino movie.

Hope your weekend was good, wherever you are.

Emily