Floored

A glimpse of my superfun weekend. This is after we removed the tile--since then we've cleaned off the remaining adhesive from the old tile and have started sanding off the filler patches left from it. Doesn't look much different yet. It appears this project will stretch into next weekend, if not beyond.

Originally we ruled out placing new tile over the old, which is possible. It looks fine when most people do it, but we decided to rip out the old because we wanted to "do it right." But before most of the old tile was off, our old home improvement mantra began to fill the kitchen: "If only we'd known."

Good News?

From an editorial in today's New York Times:

A decade of excess consumption pushed consumer spending in the United States up to 72 percent of gross domestic product in 2007, a record for any large economy in the modern history of the world. With such a huge portion of the economy now shrinking, a deep and protracted recession can hardly be ruled out. Consumption growth, which averaged close to 4 percent annually over the past 14 years, could slow into the 1 percent to 2 percent range for the next three to five years.

The United States needs a very different set of policies to cope with its post-bubble economy. It would be a serious mistake to enact tax cuts aimed at increasing already excessive consumption. Americans need to save. They don’t need another flat-screen TV made in China.


The Times relayed this message in somberish tones, but hasn't reducing consumption been universally acknowledged as a key step to reducing strains on the environment? And don't an awful lot of people dutifully nod along with statements like "American society is too materialistic"? This ought to be hailed as a positive trend, despite the economic adjustments it entails.

I've long held the notion that if everyone lived within their means, the economy would collapse, and events of this fall may have proved me right, for whatever that's worth. It remains to be seen whether we will emerge from this mess with something resembling a sustainable economy, and whether people might embrace that with anything like the fervor with which they charged and spent for the last decade.

Thanksgiving Quote

"Give...more."

--A Nordic poet


I'll leave to you to decide what has to give, or be given.

Buzzwords for Blogging; Happy Thanksgiving

I had to force myself to type the f...i...into my browser. I was somewhat surprised Find the River still appeared as the first option. I steeled my nerves, clicked on it, and landed here. After that hitting the button for "New Post" was a breeze.

Returning after a while is difficult partly because of an embarrassment factor, knowing you've neglected something for so long for no really good reason. Not that this is of great concern to the reading public, but when I set out to do something, and enjoy doing it for some time, I want to keep with it. Remembering I haven't posted for over a month is a reminder I've let myself down. But enough hand-wringing.

Last Sunday my priest employed Teilhard de Chardin's phrase "passionate indifference" to suggest how a Christian might approach life, and especially expressing faith in life. To be passionately indifferent, in my priest's gloss, meant to be fully committed to one's beliefs and unreserved in acting upon them while remaining indifferent to the results. That fear of accomplishing nothing is, he noted, rightly I think, what holds people back from a deeper embrace and expression of faith.

I think this attitude is equally suitable for bloggers. The important thing is to keep saying what you have to say. Never mind the results.



Going to be an odd Thanksgiving at Casa Shupac.We haven't received a dinner invitation from any branches of the family, so we're on our own, this for the first time since Kristine and I have been married. Not a problem--it's been at least a year since we made a really nice dinner for the two of us. But we'll also be putting a new floor in our kitchen over the long weekend. I am not looking forward to that, but when we have it done, our kitchen-living room renovation will be nearly complete. Finally, we'll be able to live in our home without the dread of having to laboriously transform it somehow.

I hope your holiday leaves you with some experience to savor after the last turkey bone is picked.