Came across this interesting visual on the web, as part of the article: The Fading Glory of the Television and Telephone.

Via but props go out to Musings of an Adbstract Aucklander for leading me to Living Well on Less.

Go to my blog and take the survey at the top!

I think a lot of people get necessity and luxury confused.

Necessity, if you want to be really technical about it, is: basic shelter, clothing, food & water and warmth.

Everything else, is a necessity, even if we don’t think it is.

That being said, here are my answers:

• Green & Bold = Necessity
• Red = Unnecessary
• Blue = On the Fence

Here we go!

• Home Computer = I suppose I could do without, but I rather enjoy having my own laptop
  
• Microwave = I could use the oven instead, but that’s just an inefficient use of energy
• High-Speed Internet = Goes with the computer. Alternative would be to go to the library
  
• Car = Only for now, because I can’t get to the client site otherwise, unless I pay a cab to & fro
• Cellphone = Could always move to Skype/Google Voice and stick to email instead
  
• Landline Phone = I have a cellphone instead
• Clothes Dryer = Definitely unnecessary for me. I wash everything & then let it dry on its own
• Air Conditioning = Uncomfortable, but unnecessary for me. I don’t live in Florida
• Dishwasher = Not necessary, but BF would like one if possible, as he hates doing dishes
• Cable/Satellite TV = Again, too many channels and choices, not enough content I want to watch
• TV Set = Have a hotel TV now & I have to THINK to turn it on, and then I get frustrated trying to find a show
• Flatscreen TV = Same as above, I have it in the hotel, I just don’t use it

Well that wasn’t so bad.

I only consider my computer, high-speed internet and microwave as “necessities”, but even I am sure that I could do without them, by going to internet cafes or using the library.

I could even get rid of the car if I could find clients that had bus stops and subway stops near them!

I know I could always bike to work instead, but it’s quite a trek, and I am not comfortable with in-city biking, because I’ve seen the way cars treat bikes on the road.

If they had dedicated bike lanes, I’d bike for 50% of the year, and take public transport during wintertime (which can typically be 6 months, here).

What do you think? Could you do without?

Go to my blog and take the survey at the top!

This is one of our classic Me & BF moments that always makes me laugh when I  look at a cake:

BF: I’m going to go cake now.

Me: You can’t use “cake” as a verb.

BF: Why not?

Me: Because you BAKE a cake. To bake is the verb.

BF: But my English books say that “to cake on” is also a verb of sorts.

Me: Yeah, well you can cake on the icing if you are baking a cake.

BF: Then I’m getting my cake on. Your language is so confusing.

Okay I have another one on my list.

How about “to tract”? Do you have that? It means to drive a tractor, like “I’m tracting”.

Me: WTF? No! Go get your cake on, I’ll talk to you later.

BF: Okay. Bye.

Never fails to make me laugh.

To be fair, I also don’t understand why when we say “I miss you” in French, it’s really “You will miss me” (Tu va me manque).

I heard that in Coco before Chanel and demanded BF explain to me that twisted logic.

I still don’t get it, but I’ve memorized it.

This is what I was bitten by in Paris.

I’m 99.99% sure, although I am no doctor, and it’s so recent (since 2007, it’s been identified in Chicago), that no one really knows about it.

The signs were too similar:

Everyone, drop what you are doing THIS VERY INSTANT and go to this site to laugh so loud you’ll scare little children on the playground.

I’m pretty sure I’m way behind the laughter wagon here, but I don’t care because I haven’t had proper, high-speed internet for at least 4 weeks now.

I just don’t.

Unless it’s kitchen towels covered in grease, or really muddy, greasy clothes in the load, I don’t bother.

It comes out smelling fresh and is perfectly clean without that horribly over-perfumed scent of fake flowers or fake mountain breezes.

The agitation, and the warm water does the trick, and I have never looked back since.

I did try a load here at my parents, with a bit of detergent and I almost threw up from the nausea of the strong chemical-laden ocean mist scent that came off the clothes.

I have to re-wash them later on. This time, sans detergent.

I don’t do it because I’m cheap, eco-friendly or that I want to save a boatload of money.

I do it, because it has made a slight difference, for the better to stop using detergent. My clothes seem to last longer/better without chemicals attacking the fabric, and the fresh-without-being-nauseating scent is a huge bonus for my (now) sensitive nose.

So unless you are covered in grease, huge chunks of dirt, and/or feces on a regular basis, give washing just with warm water and a cold water rinse, a shot.