February 21, 2001
Dear Everyone:
Still busily looking for places to hold candles. I understand that a certain fellow California resident was quite amused to read about my alternative-lighting approach, until he got his latest energy bill. Now he’s busily looking for candles, too.
Tips on candles: Buy the more expensive, “hand-dipped” kind. They last a lot longer than the “cheap” ones and burn cleaner. The two major disadvantages to using oil lamps and candles are: 1) (the more obvious one) chance of setting the place on fire. 2) keeping the ceiling clean. Candles and lamps cause smoke, which ultimately ends up on the ceiling. And since most ceilings these days are that textured, “popcorn”, style, they are virtually impossible to clean. All you can do is paint them and that’s a problem all in and of itself. The cleaner-burning the candle(s), the less soot winds up on the ceiling.
More tips: Small, relatively inexpensive votive candles can last up to three times as long as candle sticks, while providing just as much light. Put a spoonful or two of water in the bottom of the holder before placing the candle inside. That way, any “runoff” wax floats on top of the water, thus extending the length of time the candle will burn. It also helps protect the surface of whatever the votive is sitting on, and makes cleaning the holder out for a new candle much easier.
Getting candle wax out of the carpet and/or furniture. I used to have these wall sconces in the hallway and some wax spilled over and landed on the carpet. I never believed this would work until I actually tried it. Place a paper towel over the spot on the carpet. Pass a warm iron over the towel. Believe it or not, the wax will melt and be immediately absorbed by the towel. It even works with colored wax.
(A bobeche will help with wax runoff. It’s a small disk, with a hole in the center, that fits around the candle stick, either over or under the base. You can find them at most of the less expensive import places.)
Of course, I don’t bother with all of this candle-and-lamp stuff in the mornings. I’m in too much of a hurry, getting ready for work. I just try to remember to turn lights out when I leave the kitchen and bathroom, instead of leaving them all on until I actually leave the house. Two lamps used to stay on until after I had left and would come back on just before I got home, but that’s too extravagant now. The only extravagance I still allow myself is popping my jacket and gloves into the dryer for a couple of minutes to warm them up before I head outdoors.
In other news…
Last Saturday, I joined “Jeannie” and one of her friends for training in the new Reporting software that they both had bought. When you buy the software, you get a voucher for one “day’s” training. After that, you pay the trainer by the hour. I had volunteered to sit in the background and take notes on a laptop borrowed from work. This produced three pages of “stream of consciousness” notes as the trainer had a tendency to bounce all over the place. She also had a tendency to spend much too much time on what I would call “general Windows skills”, like how to resize a window and how to click-and-drag things.
I have suggested to “Jeannie” that she, and her friend, and anyone else who’s interested, get together with me and I’ll teach them all the basic stuff before they go back for more training. After all, I don’t charge $40/hour. Lunch, maybe; but not $40/hour.
All this training took up all of Saturday and I typically spend all of one day each weekend in the office, doing things that need to be done, but can’t be done while anyone else is in the system. That day was Sunday. But, Monday being a holiday, “Jeannie” and I did find time to go to a movie. What we didn’t expect was all the other people who had the same idea.
Nevertheless, we did get in to see Traffic. This is one of the Best Picture nominees and only one of two that we hadn’t seen yet. (The other is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.) Traffic follows three story lines, all loosely connected to the drug traffic between Mexico and the United States.
The director uses film color to indicate where the action is taking place. For instance, scenes in Mexico are filmed in sepia (brown) tones and are in Spanish, with English subtitles. Scenes in Washington, D.C. are filmed in blue, as are other scenes pertaining to the government. Very artistic, but completely unnecessary and ultimately annoying. Most people can pretty much tell at a glance if they are looking at Washington or Tijuana.
Nevertheless, it’s a good film with a very strong cast. Many small roles are played by people who might otherwise expect to see their name over the titles. Clearly, a labor of love. Better than Gladiator, Chocolat or Erin Brockovich? Hard to say. But don’t wait until March 25th to find out.
Love, as always,
Pete
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