Where Do Old Electronics Go To Die?

What do you do with them? I pulled out my old Sony video camera I bought circa 1998 – it weighs about 5 lbs and is the size of a tonka truck. I don’t want to throw it away, but is selling it an option? Is it even worth more than $10? After some research I determine it is worth about $45 but after several weeks on craigslist.com its clear no one wants a twelve year old video camera. Apparently sony.com has a trade-in program for old electronics, but you won’t know what your item is worth until they receive it – minus shipping costs of course.

In addition to the Sony video camera I have a Minolta SLR which I rarely use due to the cost of having the film developed. It too is worth some money, roughly $100, but again after several weeks on craigslist.com I have had no interested buyers. It is rather sad because there must be some recyclable parts in these electronics but how do you get them to someone to recycle them? This is the same with used laptops and desktop computers. In the past we have tried to sell our outdated computers but to no avail. Of course, you may be thinking we are asking too much but that is not the case. I think people simply don’t want to buy used electronics because it is too risky.

When my phone was stolen we considered buying a used BlackBerry from craigslist.com but when it came down to buying a used phone for $150 we decided it was just too risky. Which brings me back to what do you do with old electronics? Donate them to charity? Throw them away? Sell them for dirt cheap at a garage sale? I don’t know the answer but when I figure it out I will let you know.

A Fish Tale

Would you believe we found a fish in our backyard? There we were pulling weeds at about 7 pm and my husband hears our son say “fish”. Low and behold there was a three inch fish lying in the grass. Needless to say we do not have a pond in our yard, but there is a small lake across the street. Could it be the fish walked across the street and climbed over our fence to die in our grass? Was it his life’s dream to go where the grass is greener? Probably not since fish don’t climb fences. We guess a bird flying over had it in its mouth and dropped it. Really, how else could it have got there? Either way it was a treat for the three year old to find it, hold it and toss it in the garbage. Now that I think about it ….maybe we should have buried it for the sake of recycling.

Bye Bye BlackBerry

On Friday, my brand new white BlackBerry Curve, only two weeks old, was stolen from the family changing room at the Awatukee YMCA (I know, I couldn’t believe it either – home of the perpetually rich and plastic). I don’t know what sucks more the fact I only had my new phone two weeks or could have prevented it from happening by taping it to my body (or putting a lock on the locker). Or maybe it sucks more I really wanted a white blackberry and in order to get one we had to buy the monthly data service for $25 a month and extend the contract another two years. So now I have a longer contract costing more money per month and no phone. To top it off I did not buy the insurance. The question is do I buy another phone for $232 ($132 more than I just paid), just use my old one or cancel the contract for $200 and sign up with a new company and get the phone for free?

Of course keeping the old phone brings me back to square one, having my old black Blackberry, but paying more money per month with a longer contract. Perhaps its karma. I didn’t really need a new phone since my old one worked just fine – I just wanted a white one. Getting the white one entailed many phone calls to T-Mobile arguing about why I had to buy the data service for the new BB when I have a BB currently with no data service. Apparently this is a new LAW with all mobile companies in an effort to recoup their financial losses – they require all smartphones to have the expensive monthly data service. Fortunately, when I presented T-mobile with my choices of canceling my contract for $200 or buying new phone for $232 they came through with a great offer of $157 for new phone (of course with contract extension). Now if that doesn’t create feelings of loyalty I don’t know what will!

What I don’t have anymore are feelings of trust. I bought a padlock and now I take it with me to the YMCA or leave my phone in the car. However, in Arizona that requires carrying some type of cooling device to keep expensive electronics from melting. I put my phone in a Ziplock bag inside a little ice chest which I used to keep my son’s car seat cool when we are not in the car and it has worked out great. And just in case the woman who stole my phone is reading this:  I am watching and waiting for you.  In conclusion, the moral of this story is trust no one – especially those rich people at the Awatukee YMCA.

Raising Children

I am convinced parents are the reasons their children are selfish. Who else could be at fault? We give and give and give and give thinking it is the right thing to do, but it is not. Of course, who can blame me or any parent– it is our culture here in America. Bend over backwards for your kids early on and stay in that position so they can properly thank you in their teenage years and beyond – that’s the American Way. While raising my oldest son I didn’t feel I gave him too much materially. Although looking back I suppose he did have a lot. His father definitely made up for what I didn’t give in terms of toys, fancy shoes and what not. And in true-to-those-who-get-too-much fashion my son destroyed, lost, or gave away the majority of things his Dad or I bought. He simply had too much, and therefore, it didn’t matter if he lost some of those things. It’s funny, but as a parent you want your children to have more than what you did. You want them to have all the things your parents couldn’t give you.

I believe now giving your child too much is doing them a disservice. I am going to give less from now on. Give less stuff, give less of my time and maybe even give less love (it doesn’t mean I don’t feel love the size of the universe for my children, but I am not going to show it). I am not going to be as available as I was the first time around. With my oldest I never missed a soccer or basketball game – a train couldn’t have stopped me from going. I should have missed a few games just to show him the world didn’t revolve around him. But he was an only child and I was a single mom trying to make up for the fact that I was the only parent. In doing so I gave too much and now my oldest thinks he doesn’t have to work hard for the good things in life. It should just come for free like everything else did – or at least it is what he believes. But I did him the disservice and now he has to undo it. I will be there for him while he figures it out – not all the time, but at least most of the time.

Three Cups of Tea

At first I was not impressed with the pace of the book or the writing style. I found myself reading and rereading run-on sentences trying to understand their meaning (could be related to my lack of state-of-mind). Once I got passed those little annoyances and focused on the message, or the essence of the book, I began to enjoy it.

The purpose of this post is not to critique, but to share what I enjoyed about the book. First and foremost, I think it was very inspirational and once again a demonstration of what one person can do to help thousands (ie… Mother Theresa). I admire Greg Mortenson for his perseverance and his ability to live so simply. I also admired his reason for building these schools -- not to teach American ideologies, religious or otherwise, but out of genuine desire to help. He built these schools not because he had a hidden agenda as so many foreigners do but because he wanted to give these people something they needed and requested. I also loved that Mr. Mortenson adapted himself to their way of life not expecting them to adapt for his – he respected the Pakistani people and they respected him.

There are so many quotable passages from the book, but one of my favorite is:

“The only way we can defeat terrorism is if people in this country where terrorists exist learn to respect and love Americans and if we can respect and love these people here. What’s the difference between them becoming a productive local citizen or a terrorist? I think the key is education.”

Mr. Mortenson stated this for an interview after 9-11 when many of the local people were being forced to flee their homes with no assistance from the US as promised. This message of this book seems appropriate especially now as Afghanistan is supposedly poised to take the reins of their government back, yet are still sustaining casualties by those who promised to help them.

Greg Mortenson demonstrates a very in-depth knowledge of the Pakistani people and their ways of life. I think this book should be read by every American so they may be enlightened about the peoples of these regions and their hospitality toward those who care.  I really liked this book and I am looking forward to reading his next one Stones into Schools.

Things to Do When You Can’t Go Outside

It is too hot to go outside right now and I have been sitting here thinking what we could do that doesn’t involve going outdoors. This is what I came up with:

• Read a book
• Play a game
• Color
• Finger paint
• Rearrange your furniture
• Dust all those out of way places
• Organize your photo albums
• Bake something (but not if you live where it is hot)
• Give yourself a pedicure
• Paint a room
• Paint part of your child’s room with chalkboard paint for drawing
• At this point I am actually running out of ideas… I don’t like being inside
• Look out your window and watch your plants wither and die in the heat (I didn’t say it would be a "fun” list)
• Do pilates or yoga
• Find a recipe and make a special dinner ;)
• Have friends over
• Surf the internet 
• Look for houses in California, Oregon or Hawaii while surfing the internet (great weather, never too hot or too cold)
• Look for jobs for your husband in the above mentioned states 
• Send your husband an email when you find a great house in a beautiful green state with beautiful outdoor weather all year long begging him to change jobs because you are tired of being stuck inside for seven months out of the year (YES! it is seven months of over 100° temps in Arizona)

It is really hot today and I am stuck inside. I was trying to think of things to do and this is what I came up with. I am sorry my list of indoor activities sucks. Frankly, there is very little to do inside if you are an outside person except move to where the weather is nice all year long.

Making Cake with a Toddler

I said in a previous post I am not a baker or even an enthusiastic cook, but it appears my toddler is. Obviously, he inherited the baking gene from his father. A couple of days ago my son helped mix the ingredients for his own birthday cake and he did a great job. Today is his father’s birthday and he wanted to make the cake. I prepared all of the ingredients at the counter and he took it from there. He poured each ingredient into the mixing bowl saying each one out loud as he went along: “Water. Oil. Eggs. Mix, mix, mix.” He has baked so often with his father he knew how to turn on the mixer. When it was all done in true baker fashion he licked the mixing sticks (I am sure there is an official name for those things but I don’t know it) and the scraper (the little rubber tool to help frost) until all the chocolate was gone. Of course I put the cake mix into the pans and then into the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Once the cakes cooled we frosted each layer. Since his father loves chocolate we used not only chocolate cake mix, but chocolate frosting and topped it with crumbled German chocolate candy bar. To which again, in true baker fashion, my son sampled the broken and shredded chocolates to make sure they were of the right quality for his father’s cake.

This was a very fun activity to do with my son since I really did very little of the actual baking part. The fact that I did not overcook it is a testament to my son’s excellent baking skills since he checked the oven window frequently. I would definitely recommend this activity to other anti-baking mom’s and dad’s.