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Sunday, July 29, 2012
The Plush Baby Seal I No Longer Own
I have a long history with the plush baby seal in the photo above, shown with my Moonshadow cat.
It first was intended as a gift for a friend in England, but the package got lost on its way to her. So I bought a second one and sent it off — and then the first package got returned to me.
So what to do with seal #1? I thought maybe my mom would like it, so I gave it to her — and it was a huge hit. So much so that when Mom died, I couldn't quite give the seal away. For years, it sat on my dryer — the best place I could find for it, but not really a good place. I didn't have a good place for it.
Until last week, that is. Last week, I had house guests from France — including two boys, age 10. They glommed onto the seal at first sight, and it spent a week sharing a double bed with them.
So as they got ready to leave, I gave them the seal. It got squished into a suitcase for a flight to New York, and will soon be going to its new home in Brittany.
And I couldn't be happier.
So sometimes we declutter because a possession finds its perfect new home, when we least expect it.
Posted by Jeri Dansky at 8:30 PM 1 comments
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Not Every Book is Worth Finishing
Photo by Documentally / Christian Payne, found on Flickr, licensed through Creative Commons.
Life is too short to finish crappy books. — Amber Naslund
A bad book may be one the critics panned or one they adored — but if you're forcing yourself to keep going rather than enjoying the read, it's a bad book by your own personal criteria. So here's a permission slip to put that book down. Set it aside for another time if you think it's really just a timing issue, or give it away if it's just not your thing.
Want more than just my word that it's really OK to give up on a book? A number of authors will tell you that, too. Most of the quotes here come from longer pieces, and I recommend following the links to read more.
Let's start with an interview with Neil Gaiman, where he addressed this in some detail, saying in part:
I remember the first book I didn't finish. ... I bought Mistress of Mistresses and abandoned it a third of the way through. It was gloriously liberating, the idea that I didn't have to finish every book.And author John Scalzi said on Twitter:
I put down books the instant they bore me.Philip McIntosh, also known as The Write Dude, has written for trade journals, scientific journals, and popular science magazines. He has a whole blog post about when to stop reading a book, which includes this suggestion:
When to stop reading a book once it's started? The obvious answer is of course "when it starts to suck." Sometimes this is obviously on page 1. ... In other cases it's not exactly clear when the suck button should be pressed, but it seems only fair to give it a fighting chance. I have a rule of thumb of my own here to share. It's called "The Page 80 Test."
I give a book until page 80 to get me hooked. If I am not into it by then, I pull the plug.And here's Mike Salisbury, who works in the publishing industry. He's written a blog post entitled Stop Reading Bad Books, reminding us that:
Books demand our time, of which we have so very little. In return, they give us entertainment, knowledge, humor, etc. ... Bad books won't give you back anything but regret. While you were wasting your time finishing, you could've been discovering something better.Let me leave you with these words from Tim Parks, in The New York Review of Books:
The more bad books you finish, the fewer good ones you'll have time to start.
Related Posts:
Book Lovers: Stop Reading Books You Don't Like
It's OK to Give Up on a Book
Posted by Jeri Dansky at 5:11 AM 5 comments
Labels: organizing the books, time management
Monday, July 16, 2012
Books on minimalism abound, but what about a book with a somewhat different take? Here's how Patrick Rhone begins his book:
I'm convinced that a successful life is largely driven by balance and moderation. Not too much of anything Not too little, either.And I liked that. I also liked this idea, just a bit further down on the first page:
Just enough.
Enough is a very personal metric.This is a short book and a quick read, and I found a few parts that really resonated with me. For example, here are some of the questions he challenges us to ask ourselves:
What if I did not have this?I also really enjoyed the chapter on sacred spaces. After a brief discussion of churches, synagogues, temples, mosques and meeting houses, Rhone talks about our offices and our homes:
Is this enough for me?
Would having more make it easier?
Would having less make it easier?
If one treats the space where they work as sacred then, in kind, all of the items in that space should be there to support the purpose at hand. ... If one treats the place they rest as sacred, one should remove and not allow anything that does not support that purpose.Both here and in another chapter, Rhone extends that idea of sacred space to our email inboxes, saying:
Treat your email inbox as sacredly as you do anything else that requires the high value un-replenishable resource that is your time and attention. Do not allow things in that are not worth it. Unsubscribe from newsletters you do not read. Opt out of merchant promotions and special offers. Or use rules and filters to automatically file these away for later reading. ...Another subject that was dear to my heart, as a Twitter addict, was Rhone's discuss about the fear of "missing out." How does an information junkie deal with this? Rhone suggests:
Treat others' inboxes as sacred, too. ... Get to the point quickly. Keep it as short as possible. Respect your reader's time.
Possibly, it is simply by admitting that we will miss out. We do already. All the time. We can't read every tweet. We can't see every photo. We can't watch every news story.Rhone also encourages us to limit the number of people we "follow" or "friend" on social media sites, so that we can actually have "meaningful connections."
And what did I do immediately after finishing this book? I unsubscribed from one email newsletter that I only rarely find useful, and I stopped following about 35 people on Twitter. I'm at 491 right this minute — way more than Rhone's 230, but moving toward a less-overwhelming Twitter feed than I've had in the past.
Posted by Jeri Dansky at 1:21 AM 4 comments
Labels: books, time management
Friday, July 13, 2012
Hoarding Gets a Human Face: one clarification
I've added this note to my original post, but I wanted to make sure everyone saw this. At least one reader saw my prior post as homophobic, which horrifies me. I apologize for my poor choice of words.
Update: Just to make things clear, I'm personally a proud adherent to many San Francisco values, including the city's support of its gay / LGBT community.
Update: Just to make things clear, I'm personally a proud adherent to many San Francisco values, including the city's support of its gay / LGBT community.
Posted by Jeri Dansky at 8:46 AM 2 comments
Hoarding Gets a Human Face
However you feel about "San Francisco values," here's one I hope you can rejoice in: providing a wide range of free services to people with compulsive hoarding issues.
I knew the Mental Health Association of San Francisco was a leader in this arena, with a long-running annual conference and a range of services — but until last night, I didn't realize the full extent of the services offered. I attended a meeting of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO-SFBA), and heard from the project coordinator for the Peer-Led Hoarding Response Team, as well as three of the peer responders.
I'm fairly well educated about hoarding issues, but there's nothing quite like listening to peer responders telling you their own stories. One woman told us how her daughters did a clean-out of her home, with her consent — but it was a shock when she came back home, because the clean-out team removed much more than she was expecting, including her good china and all her flatware. And within a year or so, her home was back in the same condition it was before the clean-out. She told us how she saw a show on Oprah, and finally realized she was not alone.
Things are much better for her now, although she says "I try to tell myself that I'm a work in progress." (And aren't we all, in some manner? I just loved that sentiment.)
John Franklin, the project coordinator, told us that the team often talks in terms of problems related to collecting and discarding, rather than using the term hoarding. So you'll read — on a flyer entitled Got Too Much Stuff? — that peer responders "self-identify as peers who have personal experience with collecting and difficulty in discarding objects."
John also mentioned that a city-mandated clean-out can cost $8,000 to $10,000 — and if the underlying issues aren't addressed, the problem will be back in a year, just as the peer responder said happened in her situation. He also said that 2-4% of the population is estimated to have hoarding issues — the same percentage as has Alzheimer's.
So hurrah for peer responders, who can help those ready to make a change, and connect with them in a way that no one else can.
Related Post:
Good Book: Digging Out
Update: Just to make things clear, I'm personally a proud adherent to many San Francisco values, including the city's support of its gay / LGBT community.
Posted by Jeri Dansky at 12:22 AM 1 comments
Labels: hoarding
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Storing the Plunger in Semi-Plain Sight
Plunger from Alice Supply Co.
Trust me (because, unfortunately, I know) it is mortifying to experience a clogged toilet as a guest at, say, your boyfriend's parents' house and then to find no plunger anywhere. Much worse than being visually reminded of reality by a plunger is to be unprepared when reality inevitably strikes. —Graefix, on Apartment Therapy
Most of us (at least in the U.S.) own a plunger — and sometimes storing it can be a challenge, especially if you want to keep it close at hand in the bathroom. My last post provided one idea; let me give you a few more.
The most common storage option I'm seeing is something along the lines of this one from Simple Human: a plunger that comes with a "housing to neatly hide the plunger out of sight." You can find similar products from OXO, and there's also the Waxman Hide-a-Plunger. Some products will hold both a plunger and a toilet brush, like this one from Polder. While many of these come with a plunger, Interdesign has a plunger house that comes without a plunger; it's a good option if you already have a good plunger, and don't really want a new one that might not work as well for you.
If you're willing to wait a bit, the Nautilus plunger from Quirky, which comes with a base, is going into production.
And take a look at Plungees, "the pretty plunger in a box." There are a number of designs: metallic, mirrored, and more. And then there's the custom line, which includes these birdhouse designs. The birdhouses are pricey, at $199 each, but some of the other designs are much less costly. Note: I was seeing problems with the online shopping cart, so you might want to just call the vendor if you're interested in any of these.
There are other designs, too — like these taller receptacles from Taymor, where the plunger is attached to the lid. There's a stainless steel version and coated oil rubbed bronze version, both of which get mixed reviews on Amazon.com.
A somewhat-similar product is the Sani-Plunge: an 18-inch tall receptacle that holds the plunger that comes with it. In this product, the lid is not attached to the plunger.
The Hy-Dit takes a totally different approach; it's an in-wall toilet plunger storage cabinet. You can buy it many places, including Amazon.com.
Don't want to buy a plunger-specific product? You could also use something like a decorative planter, as Crystal Ray suggests.
And if you want to minimize the yuckiness factor, you could consider the Rubbermaid Clean and Dry Plunger; see the review from Unclutterer.
Posted by Jeri Dansky at 10:08 PM 3 comments
Monday, July 9, 2012
It's Here... Somewhere
I have a huge collection of organizing-related books, and I've decided it's time to give some of them away. They did a fine job of educating me over the years — but after many years as an organizer, I don't need them the way I did when starting out.
But as I clear these books out and move them along to new homes, I thought I'd share some of the wisdom they contain — starting with the gems I found in It's Here... Somewhere, by Alice Fulton and Pauline Hatch. This is an older book, published in 1985 and 1991, but many organizing ideas are pretty timeless.
Let's start with the authors' definition of clutter:
Clutter is the fish food sitting on the kitchen windowsill for the fish that have been dead for three months. ... Clutter is the stack of Better Homes and Gardens magazines, standing in the corner of some room, ... that you intend to go through someday, to cut out all of the "good stuff." ... Clutter is, indeed, all the things in your home that don't matter.While the book is full of good ideas for how to tackle the clutter and store the good stuff, I particularly loved this little suggestion:
There's nothing sacred about the length of a plunger handle. If yours has a long handle, saw four or five inches off; then it will fit nicely under any sink.And I really relate to this idea:
You may not really need a linen closet for extra bed linens. ... Keep only what is currently on the beds, plus an extra set laid flat between box spring and mattress.Those extra sheets are only intended as back-up for emergencies; normally you'd just launder the sheets and put them back on. The authors acknowledge that perhaps the sheets will wear out a bit quicker, but feel the space saving is worth it. And here's how they reply to a second concern:
"But that's boring. I like a variety of sheets." ...For my own home, I'm with Fulton and Hatch; my linen closet has become my pantry. If you don't need a pantry, the authors have many more suggestions on how a linen closet could be repurposed — as a sewing closet, an arts and crafts supplies center, a toy center, etc. But, of course, some people really do want the variety, and have the room to store more sheets — and keeping more sheets can be a fine choice, too. It's all about making conscious choices as to what serves you best!
We just can't relate. We'd rather have clear, uncluttered space than a variety of sheets. The choice is yours.
Posted by Jeri Dansky at 10:32 PM 1 comments
Today's Top 10 Piggy Banks
Got some spare change? If you're looking for a place to stash the coins when you get home, a piggy bank can be a fun answer. (Of course, something as simple as a spare coffee mug can work just fine, too.) Londji makes this piggy bank from recycled cardboard! You can find it at Wannekes and at Hus & Hem. [via swissmiss] Update on A[ril 17, 2019: I'm no longer finding this product anywhere.
And here's another piggy bank — OK, an elephant — made from an unusual material: felt. This one comes to us from Én Gry & Sif; you can purchase it from Clockwork Mouse or TheZenLily.com. And yes, it has "a zipped opening to take the coins out." Update on April 17, 2019: TheZenLily.com website has disappeared and I'm no longer finding this for sale anywhere.
Staying with elephants, let's admire the Moneyphant from Georg Jensen. You can buy directly from Georg Jensen, or from the Finnish Design Shop. [via Switched On Set]
Pearhead has a series of "fun friends" wood banks, including an elephant, a giraffe, an alligator, a bird, a whale, a bunny and a pig.
Want a real piggy bank? Here's a lovely stoneware piggy bank by Sandra McKenzie, sold by Sawbridge Studio. [via Apartment Therapy] Update on April 17, 2019: Sawbridge Studio no longer has any of her products.
Quail Ceramics makes quite a range of money boxes, some of which you can buy through Liberty. There's a pig, of course — but also three different cats, a guinea pig and a badger.
Of course, a coin bank doesn't have to be shaped like an animal. Zach Medler makes coin banks shaped like houses.
And the Cupcake Lady makes money boxes shaped like cupcakes, of course — as well slices of pie, penguins, ladybugs, turtles and much more. Update on Oct. 17, 2014: I'm no longer finding the Cupcake Lady.
And let's end with one more animal, because the Ophélie money box from Lilliputiens makes me grin. Update on April 17, 2019: I'm no longer seeing this money box at Lilliputiens, but the Wolf Nicolas money box is also quite nice!
Related Posts:
Conquering the Coin Clutter
A Piggy Bank Menagerie
Helping You Save: Coin Banks and Money Boxes
What a Pig! Piggy Banks and Money Boxes Worth a Look
June 2010 Organizing Tips and More: Product of the Month
6 Splendid Banks: Piggies and More
Beyond the Piggy Bank: Tzedkah Boxes
Piggy Banks and Money Boxes: Homes for the Spare Change
Posted by Jeri Dansky at 3:45 AM 2 comments
Labels: green alternatives, organizing products
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Should You Be a Costco Shopper?
Today I took a field trip to Costco. I'd never been to a Costco before, and I felt it was time to see what all the fuss was about. I walked past the furniture, cell phones, and such; what I was curious about were the food items and the household goods like toilet paper.
And I can certainly see the appeal of shopping at Coastco. If you're shopping for a party — or if you have a large household, lots of storage, or both — Costco might make sense for you.
But if you're someone like me — with a small household and modest storage — you'll need to be really careful in your shopping, or you're likely to wind up with items desperately in search of a place to be stashed away. Where would I put all those paper towels? Or all that toilet paper?
While there were some things that came in reasonable quantities that could work for anyone — a single watermelon, individual bottles of wine — I was amazed at how many things only came in large sizes. And it wasn't just the packages of TP and paper towels.
Tastes of various types of Aidells sausage were being handed out, and they were pretty good. But the packages at Costco each had 15 sausages; unless I was having a party, I'd never want to buy a package of 15. My local grocery has packages of 4; that's going to work much better for me. Yes, I could freeze them, as the salesman pointed out when I complained about the package size — but I have very limited freezer space, and I don't want to use that space for 11 sausages, all the same variety.
And why would I ever need a 33-oz bottle of steak sauce?
Even aluminum foil came in a 2-pack. I never need more than one roll of aluminum foil at a time.
About the only thing I'd want to buy in Costco-sized quantities is bottled water, which I need as an earthquake supply.
Now, I'm using Costco here just as an example — you can just as easily overstock at any other warehouse store, or even at a sale at a regular grocery store. Saving money (and saving on trips) by buying in volume can be great — but only if you're buying stuff you'll really use, and if you won't be tripping over the stuff for the next six months.
Posted by Jeri Dansky at 10:57 PM 12 comments
Labels: simplicity and consumerism, small spaces
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Whiteboards: Keeping To-Dos Visible
Figured out what I need as my ultimate To-Do manager. Whiteboard on the wall. Job done. — Richard Barley
Richard isn't the only one who finds a whiteboard (or a dry erase board in a color other than white) the best tool for keeping a to-do list. If a dry erase board seems like it might be the right tool for you, and you want something beyond the basic whiteboard, I've got some suggestions.
Some whiteboards come in the form of vinyl wall decals, like the "To Do" boards above, from Lulukuku.
Write on Walls has a couple dry erase decals that caught my eye: this one, and another one shaped like a page torn out of a notebook.
Some whiteboards will only appeal to a select few — such as this ferret-shaped dry erase board from Isabella Gucci.
And some whiteboards are also magnetic boards, such as this Mondrian-inspired dry erase board from Kikkerland. [via Cerentha Harris at Herman Miller]
But as an avid Twitter user, I'm especially enamored of the Tweet Bird Notice Board, from Signs for Homes. It's made of powdercoated steel. (Twitter users might realize that this looks more like the old Twitter logo than the new one rolled out in early June.)
Related Posts:
Dry Erase Boards - Not Just Your Basic Whiteboard Any More
Posted by Jeri Dansky at 10:55 PM 1 comments
Labels: organizing products, organizing the office
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reopen the murder case of lavon gramse
FLINT, Michigan -- Lavon Gramse could sing like a bird. So when someone took the 24-year-old Flint woman's life with a rusty butcher knife on the city's east side on Fourth of July eve in 2001, no one raised much fuss. There was no public outcry. No big news splash. Just another killing in a city that would log 41 by year's end. The killer was arrested about three hours later, but the case was dismissed after it was decided she acted in self-defense. But Gramse's parents believe prosecutors took the easy way out and didn't press charges because her daughter was just another drug addict. Now, seven years later, they want the Genesee County prosecutor's office to rethink that decision. "She was a human being who didn't deserve to die the way she did," said her father, Von Robinson. Her mother, Lawanda Gramse, knows full well how drug addicts are viewed by those outside the life. Gramse, 49, spent the better part of 20 years inside of a crack pipe after her 3-year-old son, Lance, died in a 1985 Christmas Day fire in Flint. "I smoked to live, and I lived to smoke," she said. Gramse's downward spiral landed her in prison two years ago, where would she came face to face with her daughter's killer in the exercise yard. what was she in prison for is the supposed killer still in prison "She said she didn't mean to kill 'Von and that she loved her," said Gramse. Gramse said the killer claimed Lavon hit her with a hammer and that she fought back with the knife. But Gramse said a woman who witnessed the killing -- who also was in prison with Gramse -- said she was never questioned by police about the slaying and that Lavon never swung a hammer. When Gramse obtained a 12-page police report on the slaying from Flint police, she found no mention of that alleged witness. According to the police report, investigators were told that Lavon Gramse confronted the killer about spreading rumors about her aunt, and the two exchanged punches before the killer allegedly made five or six stabbing motions toward Gramse, who collapsed on the porch. No matter what happened the night her daughter was killed, Lawanda Gramse said it should be up to a jury to decide whether the killer is telling the truth. But unless Flint police bring new evidence forward, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said there would be no reason to review the case. Leyton, who was not the prosecutor at the time of the slaying, said the question of self-defense comes down to the reasonable belief that someone was in mortal danger. The Journal could not reach Leyton's predecessor, Arthur A. Busch, for comment on the case. The head of Flint's detective bureau referred questions on the case to the lead investigator, who also could not be reached by The Journal. Lavon Gramse's parents said they aren't going to go away quietly. Lawanda Gramse has asked the state attorney general's office to intervene and said she will continue to make appeals to anyone who will listen. "Somewhere, somebody made a mistake," she said. Robinson, 51, who now lives in Texas, just wants justice. "My daughter was a human being. ... I don't care what her lifestyle was," he said. "They basically let (the killer) off scot-free. It was almost like (Lavon) never existed."

subset: commoncrawl


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Devin Jaffe of Nature's Educators will be guest speaker for an upcoming meeting of the Englewood Camera Club at 7 p.m. June 12 at Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit, 6400 S. University Blvd., …
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Devin Jaffe of Nature's Educators will be guest speaker for an upcoming meeting of the Englewood Camera Club at 7 p.m. June 12 at Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit, 6400 S. University Blvd., Centennial. Jagge's organization cares for non-releasable birds of prey and is committed to educating the public about conservation. She will bring one of her birds to the meeting, which, weather permitting, will be held on the east patio of the church, or will be held in the all-purpose room on the south side in the basement if inclement. Weather permitting, she will fly her bird, allowing photographers to make a portrait. A small donation for the 501(c)(3) organization will be welcomed.
Music and arts
Plan to attend the annual Highlands Ranch Music Arts Festival on June 23-24 at Civic Green Park, 9370 Ridgeline Blvd., Highlands Ranch. Presented by the Highlands Ranch Concert Band, with 15 musical groups and arts, crafts, foods … Admission is free — more next week on this. Hrconcertband.org.
Art show
The "No Plateaus Art Show" will open from 4 to 7 p.m. on June 14. Guests are welcome to see remarkable paintings achieved by artists who have had a stroke. The exhibit will be at the Rocky Mountain Stroke Center, 5666 S. Bannock St., Littleton. Note: This building is a very special example of Littleton's 1950s-era buildings, now being studied by Diane Tomasso and Michael Paglia for the city's planning office.
Arapahoe Philharmonic
Two free summer performances are announced by the Arapahoe Philharmonic. At 2:30 p.m. on June 15 will be chamber music by Brahms, Hsu and Dvorak at Columbine United Church, 6375 S. Platte Canyon Road, Littleton. Starting at 5:30 p.m. on July 3 in the mountain town of Avon will be a pops program (Bernstein, Copland, Gould and Williams) by the full orchestra in the Harry A. Nottingham Performance Pavilion, 1 Lake St., Avon. A Dearling Band will play at 5:30, followed by the Arapahoe Philharmonic, followed by a fireworks display. Also, the Arapahoe Philharmonic will accept composition submissions from young composers for its annual competition from June 1-30. Guidelines are on the orchestra's website: Arapahoe-phil.org/competitions/composition-competition/. Submit online.
Art exhibit
"Beneath the Surface" will exhibit art by 45-year Englewood resident Smithie Mitchell and Katie Hoffin at Anthology Fine Art, 3419 S. Lincoln St., Englewood. Go to anthologyfineart.com for hours and more.
`Court the Arts'
Court the Arts 2018, a family-oriented arts fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 9 and 10 on the Courthouse Lawn (300 Block of Wilcox Street) in downtown Castle Rock. More than 30 artists will exhibit their works. (Note: Same day as the Ducky Derby — add to your family fun.)
Lone Tree Symphony
The Open Symphony 2018 concerts will be held from 7-9 p.m. on June 14 and July 12 at Lone Tree Arts Center. "Everyone is invited to play with the orchestra." You may decide to audition! Registration required: lonetreesymphony.org: give name, instrument, email address. On June 14, the music is Beethoven Symphony No. 7, Grandos Intermezzo from "Goyescus," and Bernstein: Three Dance Episodes from "On the Town."
Center for Visual Arts
"Pink Progression" is an exhibition running through Aug. 18 at the Center for Visual Arts, Metro State University's gallery at 965 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, addressing concepts of human rights, gender, sexual identity, feminism, womanhood and inclusivity. It celebrates the Women's Marches in 2017 and 2018, representing unity and empowerment. Admission free. See msudenver.edu/cva.
Douglas County Libraries
"Love in the Afternoon" will be at 2 p.m. on June 16 at the Parker Library. Jen Turano will moderate a panel of romance authors: Carla Laureano, Sarah Hegger, Sara Richardson, Lisa Brown Roberts and Lisa T. Bergren. Then at 6:30 p.m. on June 16, author Sandra Dallas will speak at the Castle Rock Library about her new novel, "Patchwork Bride." Craig Grossi and his dog Fred will appear at 6:30 p.m. June 20 at the Parker Library to talk about the book, "Craig and Fred: A Marine, A Stray Dog and How They Rescued Each Other." Register for each: 303-791-7323, dcl.org.
Littleton concerts
At 6:30 p.m. on June 13, music lovers will gather on the Littleton Museum lawn to hear Dakota Blonde, the first of a Wednesday series of free concerts sponsored by the Friends of the Littleton Library and Museum. The museum is at 6028 S. Gallup St., 303-795-3950. Bring blankets or chairs. Food trucks available or bring a picnic. Next: Michael Friedman Band on June 20.
Colorado Shakespeare Festival
The 2018 Colorado Shakespeare Festival runs from June 8 to Aug. 12 on the CU-Boulder campus. "Love's Labour's Lost," "Richard III,' "Cyrano De Bergerac," "You Can't Take It With You," and "Edward III" Tickets start at $20. Coloradoshakes.org.
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Sowbugs and Pillbugs
ENTFACT-439: Sowbugs and Pillbugs | Download PDF
by Michael F. Potter, Extension Entomologist
University of Kentucky College of Agriculture
Sowbugs and pillbugs are similar-looking pests which are more closely akin to shrimp and crayfish than to insects. They are the only crustaceans that have adapted to living their entire life on land. Sowbugs and pillbugs live in moist environments outdoors but occasionally end up in buildings. Although they sometimes enter in large numbers, they do not bite, sting, or transmit diseases, nor do they infest food, clothing or wood. They are simply a nuisance by their presence.
Sowbugs and pillbugs range in size from 1/4 to 1/2 inch long and are dark to slate gray. Their oval, segmented bodies are convex above but flat or concave underneath. They possess seven pairs of legs and two pairs of antennae (only one pair of antennae is readily visible). Sowbugs also have two tail-like appendages which project out from the rear end of the body. Pillbugs have no posterior appendages and can roll up into a tight ball when disturbed, for which they are sometimes called "roly-polies".
Biology and Habits
Sowbugs and pillbugs are scavengers and feed mainly on decaying organic matter. They occasionally feed on young plants but the damage inflicted is seldom significant. Sowbugs and pillbugs thrive only in areas of high moisture, and tend to remain hidden under objects during the day. Around buildings they are common under mulch, compost, boards, stones, flower pots, and other items resting on damp ground. Another frequent hiding place is behind the grass edge adjoining sidewalks and foundations.
Sowbugs and pillbugs may leave their natural habitats at night, and crawl about over sidewalks, patios, and foundations. They often invade crawl spaces, damp basements and first floors of houses at ground level. Common points of entry into buildings include door thresholds (especially at the base of sliding glass doors), expansion joints, and through the voids of concrete block walls. Frequent sightings of these pests indoors usually means that there are large numbers breeding on the outside, close to the foundation. Since sowbugs and pillbugs require moisture, they do not survive indoors for more than a few days unless there are very moist or damp conditions.
Minimize Moisture, Remove Debris
The most effective, long-term measure for reducing indoor entry of these pests is to minimize moisture and hiding places near the foundation. Leaves, grass clippings, heavy accumulations of mulch, boards, stones, boxes, and similar items laying on the ground beside the foundation should be removed, since these often attract and harbor sowbugs and pillbugs. Items that cannot be removed should be elevated off the ground.
Don't allow water to accumulate near the foundation or in the crawl space. Water should be diverted away from the foundation wall with properly functioning gutters, down spouts and splash blocks. Leaking faucets, water pipes and air conditioning units should be repaired, and lawn sprinklers should be adjusted to minimize puddling near the foundation. Homes with poor drainage may need to have tiles or drains installed, or the ground sloped to so that surface water drains away from the building. Humidity in crawl spaces and basements should be reduced by providing adequate ventilation, sump pumps, polyethylene soil covers, etc.
Seal Pest Entry Points
Seal cracks and openings in the outside foundation wall, and around the bottoms of doors and basement windows. Install tight-fitting door sweeps or thresholds at the base of all exterior entry doors, and apply caulk along the bottom outside edge and sides of door thresholds. Seal expansion joints where outdoor patios, sunrooms and sidewalks abut the foundation. Expansion joints and gaps should also be sealed along the bottom of basement walls on the interior, to reduce entry of pests and moisture from outdoors.
Application of insecticides along baseboards and other interior living areas of the home are of little use in controlling these pests. Sowbugs and pillbugs which end up in kitchens, living rooms, etc. soon die from a lack of moisture. Removal with a broom or vacuum is all that is needed. For large infestations, insecticides may help reduce inward migration of these and other pests when applied outdoors, along the bottom of exterior doors, around crawl space entrances, foundation vents and utility openings, and up underneath siding. It may also be useful to treat along the ground beside the foundation in mulch beds, ornamental plantings, etc., and a few feet up the base of the foundation wall. (Heavy accumulations of mulch and leaf litter should first be raked back to expose pests for treatment.) Insecticide treatment may also be warranted along foundation walls in damp crawl spaces and unfinished basements.
Various insecticides sold in hardware/lawn and garden shops are effective, including Sevin, and permethrin (Spectracide Bug Stop). Treatment can be accomplished with a compressed air (pump up) or hose end sprayer.
Issued: 4/98
Revised: 7/19
CAUTION! Pesticide recommendations in this publication are registered for use in Kentucky, USA ONLY! The use of some products may not be legal in your state or country. Please check with your local county agent or regulatory official before using any pesticide mentioned in this publication.
Of course, ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS FOR SAFE USE OF ANY PESTICIDE!


text: The U.S. National Security Agency has reportedly developed technology to commandeer computers even when they are off the Internet, and security experts warn it's only a matter of time before similar tools become part of cybercriminals' toolbox.[NSA spreading malware to further goals for more power]Since 2008, the NSA has used radio technology to send and receive data to compromise nearly 100,000 systems in a number of overseas targets, the New York Times reported Wednesday. While based on technology that has been around for decades, the level of sophistication of the tools developed by the NSA is impressive, experts say."The latest technology that they're using now, and the components that they're using, is infinitely more complex and is well-suited for the mission," Drew Porter, senior security analyst, for consulting firm Bishop Fox, said.The NSA reportedly developed a radio transmitter\/receiver that could fit in a USB plug or embedded in a laptop as a tiny circuit board. The technology can then move data over a secret radio channel back and forth with a relay station small enough to fit in an oversize briefcase and located as far as eight miles away.To compromise the system the NSA would have to surreptitiously plant the technology using a spy, computer manufacturer or unwitting user, The Times said. Some of the tools used in such an operation were listed in an NSA catalog published last month by German newsmagazine Der Spiegel. Such technology is far more advanced than the malware hackers use today to infect corporate networks to steal sensitive documents that can be sold on the black market or handed to government agencies. As long as these techniques are effective, the majority of run-of-the-mill cybercriminals will use them, instead of going through the trouble of using something as complex as the NSA technology."They would go after another target before going to this length," Sean Sullivan, security adviser at F-Secure, said.However, the technology and techniques used by spy agencies today will make their way into the criminal underground eventually."Within the intelligence community, it's known that the technology they are developing today is probably going to be used for corporate espionage or cybercrime down the road," Porter said.In the case of the NSA's radio technology, successful cybercrime organizations would have the money to build the equipment or hire someone else to do it, if the technology's use would be highly profitable.[RSA boycott splits security industry on tactic's effectiveness]"Looking at a piece of equipment that costs $100,000 may be a lot for the average person, but if it means you can make $1 million off of it or $500 million for stealing (intellectual property), then it's definitely an investment (cybercriminals) would be willing to make," Porter said.Some NSA technology has already found its way into criminal circles. The agency reportedly developed malware used to destroy centrifuges in Iranian nuclear facilities in 2010, The Times reported. The NSA used its radio technology for two years to gather information on the facilities in preparation for the attack.Due to a technical error, the malware, later called Stuxnet, was discovered on the Internet and dissected by security researchers. NSA gadgets that seem to come from a James Bond film will take years to find their way into criminal circles. Therefore, companies should focus today on keeping up with the less dramatic updates that occur regularly to hackers' malware and exploit kits."More sophisticated spying techniques and malicious attacks continue to be developed and organizations need to re-examine their critical applications and security processes to ensure that sensitive information and systems are protected," Sam Erdheim, senior security strategist for network security company AlgoSec, said.


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America's Best History where we take a look at the timeline of American History and the historic sites and national parks that hold that history within their lands.
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Security News
Top 10 BYOD Risks Facing The Enterprise
Robert Westervelt
10. Jailbreaking And Rooted Devices
Employees who demand the latest and greatest technology may also be technically savvy enough to jailbreak or root their device firmware. Tools have helped automate the process, getting the job done with a few mouse clicks. Jailbreaking removes the limitations imposed by the device maker, often eliminating restrictions designed to improve security of the devices. Rooting gives the device owner administrator-level permissions, enabling them to install and run apps that could be potentially malicious in nature.


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Alvin Roth Transformed Kidney Donation System
For Alvin Roth, joint winner of the 2012 Nobel prize for economics, studying the economy is about finding real-life solutions for real-life questions and never more so than in a revolutionary new system to match kidney donors with patients.
Roth and fellow laureate, the mathematician, Lloyd Shapley, have seen their groundbreaking work used in such diverse areas as matching up employers with job seekers, doctors with residency programs, and students with schools.
But arguably its greatest impact has been matching kidney donors to patients in a system that was first applied in New England hospitals under the New England Program for Kidney Exchange (NEPKE), a scheme Roth helped found in 2004-2005.
The computerized pairing of groups of donors and patients that Roth's models inspired has revolutionized the way kidney transplants are handled in the United States and has actually increased the possible number of transplants.
Throughout the United States nearly 2,000 patients have received kidneys under the system developed on Roth and Shapley's models that would otherwise not have received them, according to Ruthanne Hanto, who has worked with Roth since 2005 after being co-opted to manage NEPKE.
In 2003, the year before the system was implemented, there were just 19 kidney transplants from live donors in the United States nationally, said Hanto. That number rose to 34 when the system was introduced in 2004. Last year it reached 443.
"The majority have been done with some kind of computer matching," said Hanto, who is now project manager of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a national kidney matching organization that NEPKE operations were folded into.
UNOS administers a kidney pared donor program for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, a public-private partnership established in 1984 that links all of the professionals involved in the donation and transplantation system.
"He (Roth) had a hand in having these nearly 2000 transplants occurring in some form, because without his initial work none of the others would have been able to follow," said Hanto.
Before wide-scale kidney-pair donations, donors and patients mostly worked through a single transplant center. A patient would identify friends and family that were willing to donate. But if those Kidney's were not compatible with the patient the transplant could not take place and they would have to go on the waiting list for a deceased donor.
The system that Roth helped build uses complicated computer algorithms that allows patients to effectively swap incompatible donors with compatible ones from other donor-patient pairs. This can be done with single or multiple pares or in chains of unrelated donors and recipients.
Donors that were not used and were willing to donate to someone they did not know were also not lost to the system as they had been before, but could be matched up to other patients.
The system actually increases the number of kidney donations that are possible because it means that only people who really need deceased donors are given them while others are matched with live donors.
"Paired kidney donation is one of the few things that has happened in the recent decade or more that actually has come along and said we are going to get more kidney transplants into the system," said Richard Formica, medical director of the kidney transplant program at Yale University.
Formica, who has worked on a committee called the kidney paired donation workgroup with Roth for about a year, says that with pared donations the number of transplants could rise from between 1,500 and 2,500 a year on top of the 15,000 transplants currently undertaken in the United States.
Formica also points out that because more people are able to have live donor transplants fewer have to return for second transplants as kidneys from live donor tend to last longer.
"His algorithm allows us to see combinations that you wouldn't see," said Formica. "It revolutionized the way we do it."
Roth's award is a reminder of kind of hands on work done by some economists that can often remain in the background while most of the attention focuses on economists who tackle the big, global policy issues du jour, such as eurozone debt crisis and the financial meltdown.
"Economics is about the real world," Roth told Reuters shortly after finding out he had won the Nobel prize. "We are interested in how people lead their lives and like to think of economics as being not just a social science but a humanity."
Roth works in a little known field known as market design that he affectionately describes as modeling the various "courtships" that occur when choice is not free, but depends on a second element in a pair.
Both Formica and Hanto describe Roth as a man who is both highly intelligent and good a describing his ideas in a way people can follow.
"Al is great to work with. Obviously he is highly intelligent, but very down to earth, which I think is a great combination," said Hanto. "He is obviously very good at building a theory, but then taking that theory and putting into practice and looking at the practical implications of it."
For Hanto, the challenge now is uniting the three national kidney pair donor systems into one unified system.


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Preview: Los Angeles at Florida
When: 7:30 PM ET, Thursday, February 9, 2012
Where: BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Florida
THE STORY: The Los Angeles Kings will continue their six-game road trip when they face off against the Florida Panthers on Thursday. Los Angeles is just 1-2-0 on its trek but has won three of its last five games. The Kings have owned the Panthers of late, winning seven straight overall meetings and three in a row in Florida. The Panthers, who haven't beaten Los Angeles at home since Oct. 26, 2001, are 2-0-2 in their last four at the Bank Atlantic Center. However, they have lost nine of 13 overall.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), FSN (Florida)
ABOUT THE KINGS (26-18-10): Mike Richards appeared to be as good as ever in his return from a concussion in December, scoring a goal in each of his first two games back. But the center has tallied just once in 19 contests since. Richards insists health has nothing to do with his struggles. "I feel good out there," he said. "That's what is frustrating. When you're feeling good on the ice, you think that good things should come from it. It's frustrating when you work so hard and get nothing from it." Despite ranking just 21st in the league on the power play, Los Angeles has excelled with the extra man of late, going 10 for 37 over its last 12 games.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (24-17-11): Florida fell significantly in the Eastern Conference standings when it lost to Washington on Tuesday. The Capitals moved one point ahead of the Panthers for first place in the Southeast Division and third in the conference. Florida dropped from third to ninth, two points behind Ottawa for the final playoff spot. Jose Theodore could return from his knee injury Thursday. The goaltender has not played since Jan. 20 and has made only two starts since Dec. 31. Marco Sturm is expected to miss another month after undergoing knee surgery Monday. Sturm played in his first game since Dec. 20 last Wednesday against Washington but hurt his knee in that contest.
You can still purchase Panthers Vs Kings Tickets for tonight. We stock Kings Tickets for all home and away games.


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Town of Holland residents speak out about proposed power line route
TOWN OF HOLLAND, WI — A high-voltage power-line project known as CapX2020 has been approved to run through Minnesota. La Crosse County residents are expressing their concerns over what happens when those power-lines reach the Holmen area.
The plan is to have the CapX2020 project connect with another power-line project, known as the Badger Coulee Line, at a substation in the Holmen area. The Badger Coulee Line would stretch from the La Crosse area to the Madison area. The route those power-lines could take through the Town of Holland has many concerned about the impact on health, the environment, and property values.
Representatives from both Xcel Energy and the American Transmission Company were at a special Town of Holland meeting Wednesday night, fielding questions from residents and members of the town board.
One of the proposed routes for the Badger Coulee project would have power-lines, possibly on poles 150 feet high, running near a neighborhood.
Residents say while there have been public meetings on the project, the proposed route that has many people the most concerned was not presented to them until just recently.
"We have a couple different routes that could really affect the whole Town of Holland. Not only through farms, but residences and MVC property as well," says Town of Holland resident Brian Meeter. "We just found out about that three weeks ago."
Meeter says his research shows property within 1,000 feet of power-lines like the ones part of the Badger Coulee project could lose 15% of their value. He says there are at least 20 properties along one of the proposed routes.
One proposed route for the power-lines through the Town of Holland would start at the Briggs Road substation, head toward Onalaska, then to Sparta, and on to Madison.
Another would have the same starting point, but would head north to Galesville, then to Madison via Black River Falls.
Brad Nelson was at Wednesday night's meeting. He's a manager with Xcel Energy. Nelson says the plans are tentative, and were chosen after several meetings with the public, government officials, and people invested in the project. He say the possible power-line routes are chosen objectively. "There are many factors that are considered," says Nelson. "Some are environmental concerns, construct-ability, cost, impact on land uses, residential properties, just to name a few."
After choosing a preferred route, project officials will submit a permit application to Wisconsin's Public Service Commission. Nelson says they expect to do that by the end of this year. He doesn't expect a decision from the PSC before 2015. If approved, construction on the Badger Coulee Line could start in 2016, and be finished by 2018.21699828
There will be a few more meetings before anything is submitted for the state's final approval.
For more information, check out the Badger Coulee Line project's website.


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MSW Spells Self-Sufficiency for Isle of Wight Residents
U.K. island uses gasification technology to turn municipal solid waste into power , bringing it closer to energy independence.
Isle of Wight, U.K., residents are no longer completely reliant on the mainland for their energy. The island is the first location in the country to obtain and operate a municipal-solid-waste-to-energy plant using advanced thermal conversion technology.
In operation since February of this year, the gasification technology generates 2.3 megawatts of electricity, enough to power up to 3,000 homes on the island that is home to about 139,000 people. The plant is designed to run on 30,000 tons of fuel annually, produced from 60,000 to 70,000 tons of waste. The biomass plant, which utilizes some of the existing equipment from an old incinerator, runs alongside the Isle of Wight Council's Resource and Recovery Facility in Newport, where the waste is processed.
"The Newport plant will allow the Isle of Wight to become even more self-sufficient in terms of waste," says Steve Boswell, operational manager for the Isle of Wight Council's Environment and Waste division. He adds that the plant has been well-received by residents and the council.
The gasification technology was developed by Energos Ltd., a Norwegian company acquired by Ener-G in 2004. The company has six municipal-solid-waste-to-energy plants operating in Norway and Germany using the same technology, with a total of more than 300,000 operational hours.
The Gasification Process
The Energos waste plant on the Isle of Wight is an ideal model for small, community-based facilities. Drying and gasification of the waste is done in the primary chamber under sub-stoichiometric conditions. The resulting gas is transferred to a separate secondary chamber where high-temperature oxidation occurs. The process is monitored and controlled via a software system.
"We don't separate the syngas out," says Tony Grimshaw, technical director of Energos. "We immediately combust it at 1,000 degrees [Celsius] (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit), which eliminates all the problems that traditional gasification actually has including tar deposition and fouling, and all those kinds of things. We just basically don't allow the tar to condense out." The advantage is that it's a bankable solution and it's reliable, Grimshaw says.
The heat recovery steam generator is connected downstream of the oxidation unit and recovers energy from the flue gas, which is then converted to steam. The resulting energy is supplied directly into the national grid.
Typical measurements of syngas concentrations between the gasification and oxidation stages show 7 percent hydrogen, 3 percent methane, 9 percent carbon monoxide and 14 percent carbon dioxide, Boswell says.
The adjoining Resource Recovery Facility accepts all collected residual household waste from the island. Recyclables such as aluminum, steel and organic fines are extracted and the plastic, cardboard and paper are used to produce a low-densified floc fuel that is baled and transferred to the gasification plant. Previously, it was trucked to the mainland.
The gasification process produces two types of ash: an inert bottom ash and fly ash. The bottom ash is sent to a landfill on the island and used as daily cover. The fly ash is transported off the island for treatment and disposal, according to Ener-G. The Energos research team also developed a new reactor for the Isle of Wight plant that increases combustion efficiency and improves dust removal, increasing availability and enabling fewer interruptions and downtime.
The project is part of the U.K. government's New Technologies Demonstrator Programme managed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), a government agency that promotes innovative ways to reduce the volume of waste sent to landfills. Defra is contributing �2.7 million (about $4.4 million), 35 percent of the cost of development and operation in the first year, which totals �8 million (about $13.1 million), according to Boswell.
An Excellent Opportunity
The plant uses existing equipment from an incinerator that was closed down, which put the cost of the project development at about $6.6 million. The cost of building a new facility would have been $20 million to $25 million, Grimshaw says. "It was very much an opportunity to do it quickly and do it cheaply." The project uses the existing steam boiler, steam turbine, flue gas cleaning equipment, chimney and water cooling process from the closed incinerator, he says. "All that equipment is being reused and we simply put on a new front end in terms of a gasifier and the oxidizer, put in a new control, added a new building, and a new fuel delivery system."
Many municipal solid waste plants in the past have failed because of poor design and technical base, according to Grimshaw. "The operation is easy to understand, so we're not really taking any step-outs in terms of the technology base and the equipment type," he says.
The simple design was developed by Norwegian petrochemical engineers with Ph.D.'s, Grimshaw says, and the chemistry used in the process is controlled, making emissions low. "It's not a complicated bit of equipment," he says. "The waste industry is not necessarily particularly sophisticated. They're more used to running trucks about and putting waste into holes in the ground. If you try to sell them a solution that is quite sophisticated, they won't have the experience and staff to operate those kinds of facilities. So it seemed for us that it was a relatively simple piece of equipment with unsophisticated controls that would be easy for them to operate."
Localized Solution
"This project will deliver significant environmental benefits to Isle of Wight residents," Boswell says. "It is also a localized solution because the energy will be used on the island, and there will be little wastage during the transmission phase." It also supports the island's goal to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste sent to the landfill.
"The Isle of Wight has an objective to be an eco-island-to be carbon neutral-by 2020," Grimshaw says. "What we're doing will contribute to that strategy."
"This is an exciting project, which should enable the Isle of Wight Council, with the support of its partners, Island Waste Services and Waste Gas Technology, to remain one of the leading waste management authorities in the U.K.," Boswell says. "The process will be monitored closely, which will be a factor in enabling the council to develop its long-term waste strategy." The plant also provides nine jobs for islanders.
Incineration is not a popular process in the U.K. because of the pollutants it emits, Grimshaw says. "When you negotiate with a community, it's positive to be able to say the emissions are very low and, because we have six reference plants operating, we can demonstrate that it's real," he says. The communities on the island were consulted and engaged in the decision-making and welcomed the technology, Grimshaw says. "They are satisfied when they can see that a waste stream they were exporting off the island to dispose of is now generating power for up to 3,000 homes," he says. "There's a feel-good factor. On the Isle of Wight, there were no objections whatsoever, but this is better technology than the old plant. They could see it was a better solution than moving waste off the island on a ferry; driving it 100 miles and putting it in a cement kiln."
Some communities are less receptive to building these types of facilities in their neighborhoods, but the facilities are justified because they use only the waste generated by the communities, Grimshaw says. Community-level systems can be more attractive and efficient because bigger facilities produce a large amount of heat and sometimes are unable to find consumers to purchase it, Grimshaw explains. The Isle of Wight system doesn't sell heat, but most of the systems in Norway and Germany do. When developing new projects, Energos is selecting sites near large heat consumers to ensure there is a market, he says.
Another problem with large facilities is the increase in truck movement, he adds. They require more fuel and therefore need more trucks to deliver it, to the dismay of neighbors. "If you have a small facility, you're minimizing truck movement," Grimshaw says. "You're minimizing the amount of miles you have to drive with the waste onboard the truck."
Driving Interest
A visitor center also was established at the site to drive development of similar green projects and it has seen heavy traffic thus far, Grimshaw says. Energos' technology and experience has also increased its popularity. "As a company, we have more opportunities than we can easily manage, so we're trying to be selective," he says. "Gasification is attractive at the moment and we're in a position where we have little competition." Legislation in some countries also helps generate business. In Germany for example, laws limit the amount of biodegradable waste that can be landfilled. "The economics are very much in our favor," he says.
Energos is in discussions to build several more waste-to-energy plants, including some in the U.K. and one in Italy, and expects to have another up and running in Norway by the end of the year, according to Grimshaw.
Expansion on the Isle of Wight might be more difficult, though, as there is not enough domestic waste to power the entire island. Energos' contract with island waste management expires in 2015. At that time, the contract will be retendered to procure either an integrated contract or a series of smaller contracts. The arrangement could expand to include commercial waste, but that would only double the capacity of the plant, Grimshaw says. The new arrangements could mean new and bigger equipment, too. "It's that contract that will trigger what we do," he says.
Lisa Gibson is a Biomass Magazine associate editor. Reach her at [email protected] or (701) 738-4952.


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Dressed in a Balinese sarong and honour the full moon with flowers and blessings in a team. A private dinner for two on the moonlit seashore completes the experience.
Full Moon Dates:
|6th January, 2023
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