Little did I know...my portable laundry line would cause such a fuss in my 'hood. I put it on my back porch right outside my sliding class door. My 'undies' were pinned on the inside of the line...and my sheets were on the outside. You could not see my undies.

My neighbor complained. Our HOA allows for clothes lines...however they cannot be seen from the street (and you cannot even tell I have porch from the street). But a small notation that the line cannot be seen from neighboring properties. Unfortunately, my neighbor has chosen to remove every piece of vegatation between our properties. She wants a 'park like' setting.

I sent a letter to our HOA asking for clarification of the covenants.
The portable line is no bigger than a table umbrella...and actually fits in the table umbrella stand. I didn't leave it out overnight...and when I took the clothing in...I folded the line and put it back in the garage. I would not use the line on the weekends when folks entertain. Our houses are not on top of each other.

I explained that I was saving energy (did you know that your dryer 10-15% of your energy bill per year?) Of your appliances your refridgerator consumes the most energy...the next on the list is dryer and washers (particularly if you wash in hot water).
When I mentioned that I have had to be assaulted by the all the odors from dryers as everyone is trying to get that 'fresh as spring smell in the their clothing'....and I have the real things, she became unglued.
Apparently, she believes that hanging clothing out lowers property values. Hanging clothing out is not a sign of poverty...it is a sign of smart living.

I am still waiting a decision from the HOA.

FW

My odometer is past 70 and this is all true.

I received this in an email this morning, and some of the suggestions really fit this topic.


was written By Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio
To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 70 in August, so here goes:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11 . Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy . Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness, except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29 What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of whom God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative--dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift



Pat in Rockport, TX

One thing that I do is when we purchase bottled water is wash out the bottles and refill them half way. then put them in the freezer. Then when it is time to go on an errand grab one and finish filling it with with water. Then out the door we go. It also helps that we have a really good water. We own stock in a alternate energy company (not a lot) you would think that more people would be on board with this company but they aren't. Before 9/11 the stock was doing very well after 9/11, not so well. Rachel

I do hope that this will help save some money. I gave myself a birthday present on Earth Day. I purchased a Lotus Sanitizing System which ionizes plain, room temperature tap water to sterilize and sanitize and clean just about anything you could want to clean... surfaces, fruits and veggies, poultry, you name it. It is supposedly the same technology that hospitals use to sterilize equipment. We probably will never be a chemical-free household because I happen to love bleach. And it was a bit pricey, but we will be using a lot less commercial cleaning products which hopefully will save money over time. The one thing I do know is that it will be good for the environment. (And It sure can make stainless steel shine like new.)

I caught a little bit of a news bite about an oil field under North Dakota and Montana. We've known it's there and I guess it is as big as the field under Saudi Arabia. It hasn't been tapped because it is encased in shale. The news about it was that with advanced technology, they are now able to get at it. What really pleased me is that the ones looking to develope the area are the smaller independent oil companies. Anyway, I thought it was interesting. Gloria

Much of US crude is bought in the Middle East and other foreign countries.. It has to be loaded onto a ship, then shipped to the USA. Then it has to be refined. After that it has to be loaded onto tankers to distribute it. It takes a few weeks for the lower costing gasoline to get to the service station. Then the lower costs are passed on to the customer.

Suppose I had a gas station. Say I paid $3.50 per gallon for the gas in my underground tanks. I see that the price of crude has gone up 3%. I know that when the gas in my underground tank is used up, it will cost me that much more to refill it, so I'm going to raise my price right away so I'll have the money to refill it when I need to. Now, a week after I get it filled at the higher price, I see that the price of gas has gone down 3%. But I'm still selling the gas that had cost me 3% more, so I'm not going to lower my price until I can refill my underground tank with the cheaper gas.

Pat in Rockport, TX

The oil prices have fallen the past few days. Why is it when the price of oil goes up, gas prices shoot up within hours it seems; but when the price of oil starts to go down, gas prices don't follow??? Hmm.......................inquiring minds want to know.

I had a guy at the convenience store/gas station tell me it takes time for the prices to go down-they have to go through their phases. Oh yeah?? Where are these phases when it's sky rocketing?

eileenkny-it's up to $4.19 around here.

Lots of private companies are doing that research, so I see no reason why consumers (that's you and me, ladies) should have to get the government picking our pockets to do it. Stand back and let our free enterprise system find a way to do it economically and sensibly. I would be hard pressed to name something that the government can do better than the private sector, except for providing for the protection and security of our country.

Now that hurricane season has started, we went to Sam's Club and got 4 cases of bottled water to have on hand just in case. It worked out to about thirteen cents per bottle. On trips, I've gotten a bottle at the airport after going through security, and it cost almost $2 for one bottle. We used up the old ones from last year over the winter. This is the only time we purchase bottled water. We have all our important papers in two plastic file boxes, ready to grab and go if needed. We hope it's another slow season for hurricanes this year.

Gas is down to $3.72.9 this morning, hurrah.

Pat in Rockport, TX

I LOVE the suggestion about saving the cool water (from the shower or sink) until the hot water starts. I'm there with that!

I have to share that last night in our newpaper letters to the editor, someone wrote there should be a $1 per gallon tax on gasoline that would be earmarked for energy research. He felt we are all too "greedy" and need to pay. While I agree with his statement that, as a society, we need to change how we do things, or destroy ourselves and our planet, I can't help but think of the people making minimum wage, paying daycare and trying to honestly pay bills, having to absorb that kind of cost. Don't tell me those people are greedy.

Brink, you almost convinced me to move there. Now if I can figure out how dh can drive the motorhome across the Atlantic and I can find a place as warm as Texas in the winter, you might get me there. LOL Your "big sis", Ann

dogquilter wrote:
I know a lot of people are amazed by our gasprices..but it has only been lately that Norwegians has been saying enough is enough.
W do not import fuel at all..Norways welth is built upon the fact that we are a oilproducing contry. But, we buy the gas at the same price as every one else, no discount for our "own" gas. We are exporting a lot of oil.

BUT, I have to say,even though the prices for gas, fabric, batting, food etc is way much higer in Norway than most contrys, I do belive I live in one of the best contrys in the world when it comes to healthcare (we dont need no healthincuranse) no money to pay for the kids to go to college or universitys (we only need to buy the books), the best workhours (7,5 hours a day, 5 weeks paid vacation every year, 9 months paid leave when you have a baby (then dad can have 2 months paid leave too)), if I get real sick I get my paycheck every month for 1 year........

And Norway has its money to meet future struggles, not like USA with billions upon billions in debt.

Good ideas, everyone! And I agree that a united front works the best. My DH 'n I do pretty well, but when he goes grocery shopping (which is frequently since he retired before I did) he won't use coupons or shop sales wisely. He sees it as a chance to buy something he wouldn't otherwise buy - esp. meat!

Another idea: Coffee from inside a gas station is usually a bargain - and tastes pretty good too! My local station has a "buy 6, get 1 free" thing that's been going for years.

We save the cold water from the shower too for either the humidifer in the winter or plants - even outside ones - in the summer. I also save the cold water from the kitchen sink (running until the hot water gets there from the bsement) into milk jugs and use the same way. When we have a dry spell - like now - I even take out dishwater to dump on the bushes by the house. (My dad who died in 1976 used to say that in the future there'd be wars over water the way there's been wars over land.)

Re: quilting - learn to love making scrap quilts! I get a fair amount of fabric pieces and scraps from my friends because they know I love to do scrappy things.

Treat all this - wise shopping , etc. - as a game and do it without bitterness. You'll get a sense of satisfaction in using your "smarts."

Mary in MI who worked in the garden most of the day