Quick Stops

Do you drop off donations at local drop boxes? Make sure it's going to a charity, not a for-profit organization:

Though the drop-off boxes may look similar at first glance, only some are operated by charities. Other boxes are placed by commercial companies that may — or may not — donate some money to charity. And some of the charities involved don't meet the baseline standards of the Better Business Bureau or the Chicago-based American Institute of Philanthropy.

During a day's drive around the Chicago area, the Tribune spotted about 10 types of boxes that ran the gamut from collecting the clothes almost entirely to benefit charity (Salvation Army) to collecting the clothes purely for profit (USAgain).

Some of these non-profits will even take... and use even the most motley of your donations:

By government estimates, Americans throw 85 percent of their unwanted textiles in the trash each year. That may be, in part, because of a widespread perception that charities want only those items that can be resold in their thrift shops. While these are the most valuable donations, other castoffs can still make millions for charities on the secondary materials market, which includes selling used clothes in developing countries and recycling them for industrial uses.

So the Salvation Army's Maj. Mark Anderson stresses that he doesn't mind when people donate ripped jeans, stained shirts and coats with broken zippers.

"We want to receive any and all articles because, if we can't sell it in one of our stores, then we can sell it to what they call the 'rag market,'" Anderson said. "They can repurpose those textiles for anything from wiping rags or materials for new textiles to even as an additive to asphalt. (That revenue) is a big deal for us."

One of the oldest trades in the world, textile recycling today represents a nearly $1 billion business, according to the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles association (SMART), an industry trade group. Eric Stubin, president and CEO of Trans-America Textile Recycling Inc. in the New York City area, said many businesses work closely with charities to recycle clothes that can't be sold in domestic thrift stores. According to Stubin, used textiles unfit for resale in the U.S. can fetch up to 35 cents a pound.

See? You can feel good about even your flimsiest, ripped up, worn out our torn cast-offs.
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25 manners every child should know by age 9? I've met adults who haven't learned half of them.
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After reading this article, it's a wonder that anything other plain filtered water is good for you.

Sunday Schedule

Seems I'm not the only one who finds people who are constantly, egregiously late are a huge a problem:

10 people kept waiting in a meeting for 20 minutes, while some selfish pratt who idles his way via the coffee shop, is actually 20 minutes times 10, which is 200 minutes wasted – while you keep us waiting because you did not catch the earlier bus. That is over 3 hours wasted. By you! How much has that cost the business? Shall I send you an invoice?

Yep.

Why do people, invited for a dinner party at 7.30, think its cool to arrive at 8.30? It’s rude. It’s inconsiderate. And it’s selfish, as I witnessed in a coffee shop near my home one weekend. Three “ladies who lunch” (a species not confined to, but heavily represented on, the lower North Shore of Sydney) were chatting loudly at the table next to me. One inquired what time the ‘drinks do’ was that night. The reply for all the world to hear was ‘Oh 7.30, but we won’t get there till 9 because by then it will have warmed up and all the interesting people will have arrived’. Nice. Imagine if everyone took that view. Cocktail parties would start at 3 am eventually.

Yep.

And it is not that we lead ‘busy lives’. That’s a given, we all do, and it’s a cop out to use that as an excuse. It’s simply that some people no longer even pretend that they think your time is as important as theirs. And technology makes it worse. It seems texting or emailing that you are late somehow means you are no longer late.

Rubbish.

You are rude. And inconsiderate.

Double yep.

Everyone runs into something that causes them to be late sooner or later, and I can excuse it if it's occasional and unavoidable.

But when you are chronically late, you'd better believe I take it as a measure of how valuable the friendship really is to me, because it clearly is not a priority to you.

Don't be surprised if I'm gone by the time you finally show up.

Don't be surprised if I'm busy the next time you want to get together.

Don't be surprised if I don't want another date.

Don't be surprised if I put you in as the last item on the agenda and you miss all the important stuff that happens before you get there, because I'm not waiting for you to show up any more.

Why? Because you are rude and inconsiderate... and not worthy of my valuable time or consideration.

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I saw Life as We Know It Friday night. I'm not sure I'd call it a rom-com, though there were a couple of cutesy moments in the film -- it's really more of a drama with a bit of comedy. And I'm not sure I'd call it a romance, as the main characters (and they were characters, not caricatures) really don't so much fall in love as grow used to one another's company... but overall I really liked the movie. Josh Duhamel was pretty good. Katherine Heigel was more understated than usual. The triplets who play the baby are adorable. And I've never heard of Josh Lucas before, but... YUMMM!

Yeah, it's a chick flick... but guys won't outright hate it, either, because it's as much about friendship and life/career choices as it is about the icky touchy-feely stuff.

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The weather here is gorgeous, and we're enjoying it while we can!

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Do you belong to a VFW post? Are you aware of who their PAC is and is not endorsing in this latest election? If not, go read Blackfive. It's guaranteed to set your hair on fire.

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