On Driving Through Kansas

We went to see GrandM recently and as usual we drove all the way through Kansas. I was reminded as I drove that people often complain about driving through Kansas. They say it takes forever. They say it is boring.

This picture was taken in my backyard.

I don’t agree, but maybe that’s because we usually go North to South and back again.

I mean the few curves in Kansas aren’t hairpin turns, but they are decent.

No, there are no stunning views, but the sky is great especially if you like the look of farmland as a foreground.

And the complaint that it takes forever? Five minutes? Really? That is “forever”?

So, maybe we drive through on the eastern edge of it.

So, maybe …

… I wasn’t talking about the state.

In Defense Of Plastic Grocery Bags

What. This is supposed to be a Sustainable Tuesday post and I’m trying to defend a single-use plastic? Yep, nobody ever said I couldn’t so I am.

With most of my family being in New York state, I’ve managed to hear that recently New York has made using plastic grocery bags a fineable offense.

Most Tuesdays I volunteer at a food pantry and grocery bags are one of the most important things that can be donated. If you’re just an ordinary person there are two things that can be donated in a helpful quantity. Time and grocery bags. Food is also acceptable, but most people don’t have much extra.

The food pantry gets these “single-use” bags and we re-use them. Shocker I know. They are super useful for bagging up loose vegetables, fruits, and yogurts.

Sarcasm aside, we bring home some bags of food and re-use them again. As trash bags. And maybe then they get recycled. I don’t know. I’m not going to talk about that.

I’m going to talk about what plastic should be a finable offense. Unreusable plastic bags, like what lettuce comes in. Or any number of foods that come in little bags that can’t be reused.

Why is NY banning a product that gets re-used and recycled, when there is hiding inside that a much worse product?

He’s Making Diamonds: Blog Tour; An Interview

Truthfully I should have written this up ages ago and put it on scheduled, but I haven’t been feeling like doing anything on my blog. I think about posting then I think “no, not right now” I’m really close to my two hundredth post and I don’t know what I want to do about it. So enough bad excuses. Alright so you may have noticed the

Here is my interview with Hailey Hudson

 

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

I’m 21 years old, I live in an apartment in Atlanta with my cat, and I’m a full-time freelance writer and content marketer. I enjoy participating in dance and theatre in my spare time as I’m able, and I live with multiple chronic illnesses. 

Representation in superhero movies. What would you like to see?

I think all movies and books could benefit from increased (respectful and accurate) representation of chronic illnesses and other disabilities. 

Well, I need to get to writing.

Do you have an aspect of your health that you find fun/amusing to share with people? If so can you tell me about it?

Unfortunately, my health issues are not very amusing!

I’m really sorry to hear that. I try to find some amusing detail in everything.

What Bible passage has inspired you recently?

Recently I have been inspired by the words of Jesus in John chapter 11, “Your sickness will not end in death.” Over the course of the last several months as I have been getting sicker, the Lord has been revealing the purpose behind the pain to me and it is so beautiful.

Alright, so you may have noticed the slight oddness of the questions. It’s because there was a mix up and these questions were more tailored to someone else’s response to the first question.

I hope you enjoyed.  And Hailey, if you read this, about the last question, I’ve finally figured out how better to word it without stumbling all over myself. In your mind what is the most important thing for me to remember about your illness and what should I pray most for?

Esther

A Bookish Endeavour

As I mentioned in my End of the Year post I’ve started a YouTube channel. It’s a bookish channel.

I feel weird in some ways when I talk about books on here, because this isn’t a book blog. But so often I find that I want to talk about books, so I’ve come up with a solution.

I’ve only had it for a couple of months and I’d been struggling a bit to post to it. That being said I’ve gotten fairly good at the rhythm recently, so expect at least one video a week.

Right now there is a fairly good representation of what I will be posting, but I admit there will be some ideas that are still in the works.

I am planning on/working on more relevant content I promise. If you don’t know what I mean go actually look at my YouTube channel.

I know the name of my channel is Wanda Gambling. I chose that name because that is the name of a book character who is an actor. I do plan on doing a video about the name at some point.

Feel free to leave me suggestions about books. If you’re an author and you don’t care if an absolute nobody talks about your book feel free to get in touch.

Sustainable Tuesday: Hanging Desk

I admit, most people won’t be able to make a desk like mine. I used what I had and spent no money. Someday, my desk will have to come down, but we hope to move, so that matters little.

Things I had before I started.

1. Pallet Boards.
2. Pallet Nails and a Container of Nails.
3. Twine
4. Two Bunk Beds about 2.5 feet apart.

Using these I was able to make an awesome desk.

Realistically I shouldn’t say that I had pallet boards. I had left one pallet only three quarters apart.

Step 1. Making the Top

It super simple. I found boards of a similar thickness and ordered them on the top side. A couple of nails each and I had a lovely top.

Step 2. The Shelf

One of a desks most important parts is the storage. Yes, having a smooth top is great, but having a place to put things nearby, is the best.

So I flipped the desk over and added a couple of boards to the bottom of the pallet. Due to the forklift slots I had to get a bit creative and used a short section of board to hold them in place.

Step 3. Making it fit

Then I had a desk that was just too large to fit into my only space so I had to cut it smaller. Sadly I only had a hand saw so this took a good amount of time.

Step 4. Preparing to hang

Part A. Drilling the holes.

Very Simple I found the drill and placed some holes.

Part B. Braiding the twine.

I didn’t trust the twine to be strong enough by itself so I found three strands and braided them together. Fun Fact I did most of the braiding while I went on a three mile walk.

Step 5.

Hang it up. This was a tiny bit difficult, but I was able to balance the desk on a couple of boxes and thread the twine through the loops.

And TADA! I have a desk.