All of my light bulbs are compact florescent light bulbs , I had made the change several years ago to the curly shaped bulbs, at least from the time I moved into where I am at now (five years this month). The really do last a long time! I finally experienced one of the bulbs blowing out, or whatever they do. This particular one was in an outside porch socket, and its unlit mercury traced body reminded me that I have no idea how to dispose of the energy saving bugger.

So on to a search as to how to recycle the bulbs.


The above site gave some direction into seeking information from our local garbage service, municipal government, retailers who sell the product, "Earth911", an online clearinghouse of recycling information for US and Canada and commercial services (ie; a company in paid service of recycling CFLs would send a large mailing receptacle to collect your bulbs). Various ideas, but nothing concrete for this area, until I saw information pertaining to Home Depot.

Update: Home Depot has become the largest U.S. retailer to launch a general CFL recycling program. Almost 2,000 Home Depot locations will now accept any type of CFL for recycling without charge to the consumer.

At the Home Depot site, "The Home Depot Launches National CFL Bulb Recycling Initiative"


I called the Niagara Falls Home Depot to inquire if they indeed have a recycling center for CFL's, which they confirmed. They also confirmed that all of the area Home Depots should be on board with this as well.

Locate the "store finder" link on the home page if you want to confirm a recycling location.
For further programs and ideas, Home Depot Eco Options Home Page:


I did not check into local garbage services, so I am not sure if any of the the village-town-city garbage disposal and recycling services have any protocol for taking care of CFL s. But in case you were wondering, Home Depot is an easy option. I may take a large empty cat litter pail (plastic with tight lid and handle) and store them in there until I get enough to warrant a trip. A cardboard box will do too. The main idea here is to not break them or toss them in the trash.

So why recycle them?

There are plenty of articles, but they all say similar things, so I haven't really gotten a clear picture yet in my mind about Windows "7", the successor to Windows Vista that is aimed to be released sometime mid '09 to early '10. There is vague talk that it is meant to be more user-centric with a focus on performance improvements (WIKIPEDIA - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7) and that "it is not meant to be a new OS but an evolution of Vista", according to an article in internetnews.com. Therefore, likely a minor release as opposed to a major one. I'm still operating XP on my laptops, and have minimal exposure overall these past couple of years to Vista, but I've been curious about Windows 7 developments nonetheless. Computerworld and other tech sites relay that Windows 7 will be released at the end of October in a pre-beta version to developers attending the Professional Developers Conference.

Microsoft had said that it would also seek beta testers for Windows 7. "Our current plans call for signing up for the beta to happen in the standard Microsoft manner on

.

A few screenshots (milestone 3, most likely) taken from Windows 7 News:

are you sure?

"Every year thousands of people are turned away from the polls because they aren't registered or are registered at the wrong address.

You can check your registration on VotePoke, a new online system. You should check it out. It only takes 30 seconds-and if you need to change anything, they make it really easy.

Do it today. You're not going to want to miss this year's election."



I've been at the same address since the last presidential election, so I know I am set to vote. Hopefully this will help anyone who has moved around and hasn't gotten around to registering their new voting address.




PS the orange-fall theme is extra 'orangey'; maybe it has always been that way, but my brain is registering it as new or improved. Very vibrant!

I got rid of a lot of stuff this past week and I still have a bunch more. Last week I placed the items at the end of my driveway. I was pleased to see a few people stop in their vehicles and load up. Anything else that didn't get snatched up, was picked up the next day for trash. Most of it went though.

I have various things I still aim to get rid of, probably by selling. Haven't figure it out yet- how much effort do i want to put into it, ya know?

But I have a slew of old blankets and towels that I want to ditch, but not in the garbage. I was thinking that a veterinary facility, SPCA or something like that could use them?

My question is.. where? who? anyone know of any place that can use various materials like that?

Maybe eventually i will have a list of items I am tossing and/or selling and will post it here. I hate to trash items when they can be given away.

I've been obsessed with making blended smoothy drinks lately.

Do you make them- have any super awesome recipe blends that rock your world??

It began about a month ago. I had a desire for a chocolate milkshake. After consumption, although tasty, I felt generally "bleh". Yet I was still kind of in the mood for that taste/texture again a few days later. Well, I happened to be in a rush, and having not eaten, I intended to go to a drive-through restaurant. I also lacked sleep the night before, therefor needed caffeine too. While in my car looking at my immediate options, I decided to head to a Starbucks drive-through. My intention was strictly coffee, but I decided to give their Vivanno (banana, milk, whey protein and fiber blended together with Naked brand juice or Chocolate shot) a try. The "banana-chocolate" with a shot of espresso seemed to be a perfect solution to what I needed- a bit of sustenance and caffeine. My taste buds found it simple and yummy and it 'hit the spot'. Another time, I tried the "orange-mango-banana" with added Matcha; again, I enjoyed this simple concoction. I wanted more and wanted them every day, sometimes more than once. These drinks were becoming preferred over regular meals. On a side note, when I get into a specific taste/texture kick, it is all I want for several days on end.

Since I eat bananas, yogurt and other fruits on a daily basis and usually also usually have a drink made of juice and 'greens' (Barleans Greens ) and on occasion, any sort of meal-replacement powder mix (not for weight loss, but for nutrition when I don't want to eat, or to bridge the gap in nutrients when I think I need the extra vits/protein/fiber), I had the non original idea to blend those items together at home.

It is actually easier to blend all these items together and have it at once, than to incorporate them at different times throughout the day. I'm lazy like that. Sometimes eating is a chore. Sometimes it is all I want to do. Sure it takes more time to create a 'smoothy', but it is a welcome routine, a few minutes to center myself in the morning and again later on, if I wish. A mini-ceremony, if that makes sense.

My fave is blending together a medium banana, ice, milk (soy/skim, whatever i have), chocolate slim-fast powder (vitamins, protein, fiber, good strong chocolate taste--still searching for other taste/price/nutrient options), toasted wheat bran and instant coffee. (making espresso shots was an added effort I didn't want to engage in daily-- experimented with instant coffee, and it provides a genuine caffeine kick and pleasant balancing taste). Sometimes the milk is replaced with yogurt or more specifically black-cherry yogurt for a primarily cherry-chocolate taste. The banana flavor recedes with this option.

other concoctions include adding 'greens' to a banana/milk/ice/juice blend. Or adding other fruits (pineapple, blueberry, mango). I have tried various mixtures, all of which have turned out pretty yummy and nutritious. More ice makes for a thicker blend, which is my preference. I don't measure anything-- just 'eyeball' it. My boyfriend is often the recipient of these creations, which he accepts with amusement.

Adding a little bit of green tea is nice as well. I love maccha (or matcha), (WIKIPEDIA - Matcha)
but have only ordered it online.

I would like to find it locally. I like a high grade drinking maccha. The closest has been a drinking maccha-sencha blend from the asian market on Sheridan. Anyone know of a local retailer? Maybe I haven't looked hard enough as I rarely head into stores.

Alright, I'm off to create something else. The cooler weather makes me want to make soup too.

Have a good one, peeps!