Thrifstore shoes, shorts etc

This is Sunday, the first day of Advent and last day of the Thanksgiving weekend.  Back to school/ work tomorrow.  The highlights of the long weekend are as follows:

We had to ditch James' fidget spinners. There was a report that they may contain dangerous amounts of lead.  So we rounded them up and put them in the trash. Bye bye....

A got a juice shop in Pasadena called Movita to give me their carrot peels etc for our compost.  And they say they will save more for me next Saturday. We'll see.

Today, James and I did some 100 yard sprints over at the PHS track.  We planned on doing 10, but did 6.  Still, it was a good first start.  For the earlier ones, our times were 19 seconds, and then slowed to about 20 seconds for the last one.  Then we went to Hamilton Park and played a little tennis.  I have not trained him in this sport, but the young man played enthusiastically.

Then we went to a thrftstore called Savers in Arcadia. I got a new old pair of beater running shoes for the yard and dusty walking trails for $7. The shoes are worn a bit around the heel but comfortable.  They're better than my current beater shoes, as those have a hole.

I also got sports shorts for $3.  These are very similar to the ones I have.  There are no holes but the elastic band is stretched out.  So what.  These are much better than my current sports shorts, which have holes in the pockets.  Stuff falls out.

The trick with these used things is to see how much quality wear you get for what you pay.  Let's see how long they last.

Grandparents day at St. E

was 11/20/2017.  Pictures of James with Grandma.

Major bike ride

James and I did a 17.2 mile bike ride with a bicycle advocacy group, San Gabriel Valley Bicycle Coalition. It was a ride on a part of the Emerald Necklace, which is a multi-use path in the San Gabriel Valley. 

It went from El Monte down to Whittier, and then west through Pico Rivera (I think( and then back.  We did pass Rio Hondo college, which is where I took classes 25 years ago.  It took 3 hours, which included the ride and the sightseeing and the speeches.

It was a beautiful this day and inspiring to be with people trying to clean up the planet in our area. And this area is noticeably better than 25 years ago.

The Confusion of Languages (2017( by Siobhan Fallon

I'm not yet done with the book. I'm still reading the epilogue. But there's nothing that I can imagine changing my opinion, so I'm getting my thoughts out now.

I thought the concept was promising-- two army wives in Jordan. One is in jail and the other has to bail her out.  How do you do that in a Middle Eastern country that is an ally of the US but perhaps is not liked by the people?  But it never really spun out the story like that.  

This is a dud. 

Leather Jacket etc

Today is Saturday, 11/18/2017.

Today was our first Riverside run of the season.  We picked up 25 lbs of navel oranges, 5 lbs of tangerines, and a giant mango.  The citrus is good but not quite at its peak.  Taoster must have eaten 6 oranges.

I dug up the rest of the sweet potatoes and onions from the circle.  I added to the concoction we started last week. Last week Taoster dumped in enzymes and I put in grounds and compost.  Today, I put in more grounds and compost and mulch, and covered with mulch.  Then I put bricks around the edge.  The goal is to make great soil for a tree.  It's too sandy now.

James and I got 2 new jackets at Goodwill for him, for a total of $7.49.  This is a purchase for the ages.

We also got 1 pair of school uniform pants from Target. 

Then we played a little one on one football.  The young man can nearly outsprint me.

Cross Country and Football

This Friday, Veteran's Day, James ran with the big boys.  He, as our dear reader knows, is a second grader, and had been invited to up the next level.  He ran a 3/4 mile with the 3-4th Graders along with one other second grader.  He ran a cool 5:49 to come in 54th out of 136.  It's a great result following lots of hard work and dedication over the season.

Then Saturday he finished off the football season with a post-season double header. They won the first, and lost the second.  He got one handoff on a reverse and advanced at least 10 yard for a first down.  It was a positive experience, even though we came in when the season was half way over.

On the garden, we dug into the container with the mangos.  The contents are nearly completely composted and there are good worms.  We moved the mango trees to their own bucket and moved hte melons around.  Almost every tree in the backyard has its own bucket.

I got 4 bags of coffee grounds from the Hastings plaza Starbucks.   I asked for food waste at teh Hastings Jamba Juice and got the run around. We'll keep trying.

No is not Enough by Naomi Klein (2017

This is a political critique of Donald Trump and the causes and conditions of his rise by Naomi Klein, who is a journalist and author who writes very well.  She is a committed socialist, and so the critique is what you would expect.  This is what happens to society and our planet when you put profits over people, when you live in the ownership society, etc.

She's written several books.  If you read one or two, you get the idea.