Author: N

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Advancements in hair-cutting

I’ve been cutting my hair for a while now, since it’s so hard to get a good and not-expensive professional haircut. Unfortunately, it’s pretty hard to do with just scissors and no helpers! I’ve tried to train J to cut my hair, but he has no experience and isn’t confident enough to learn. I would be willing to have a few months of bad haircuts in return for years of free grooming services (:

Soooooo, I decided to invest in an electric hair trimmer, the type with guards. Only $25 used on eBay, about the same cost as a single mid-tier professional haircut!

Unfortunately, in the first attempt, I received an alarm clock.

At least it’s a fancy alarm clock?

It took some finagling, but I eventually got the hair trimmer, and the alarm clock buyer got the alarm clock. (The boxes were almost exactly the same size and shape; I can see how they got mixed up.)

The trimmer works well! I’m not sure if my haircut is good, but at least it’s even.

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Infestation?!!

Back when sibling C was visiting J and me in the Bay Area, C started off one day with CPR training (and took the light rail there!), and we were supposed to work on food or crafts afterwards, but… all other plans were overshadowed by fear of bed bugs!

Right before visiting J and me, C stayed at a hostel in Boston, where she got some bug bites. The bites weren’t particularly bad, and it isn’t that common for pests to be carried on people or luggage, so we weren’t worried (at first!).

Unfortunately, a couple days after arriving at our place, C got another bug bite! (While our first worry is always bed bugs, fleas and spiders are also possibilities. In any case, bed bugs are particularly safe – they don’t carry human diseases.) So we went on an emergency search for boric acid (couldn’t find it) or diatomaceous earth, which we proceeded to liberally sprinkle around the apartment.

It also became a major laundry and cleaning day. C and I ran her sheets and the mattress cover for her mattress through the dryer (high heat kills bed bugs), and we froze all the pillows for a few days. All of our efforts seem to have worked, ’cause no one got bites after that. I hear you have to go a year without any bites to be completely sure the pests are gone… Wish us luck…

And C is now using the rest of the diatomaceous earth for gardening!

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Unsubscribe from Xfinity marketing emails?

I have Xfinity (Comcast) internet and, unfortunately, part of signing up is getting sales emails that are impossible to unsubscribe from. The emails include an “unsubscribe” link, but it sends you to a webpage with an “unsubscribe” button that doesn’t actually do anything. Maybe if you click the button a bunch you’ll forget that you’re getting unwanted spam…

I contacted Customer Service to try to get unsubscribed (and told multiple representatives that the Xfinity unsubscribe tool doesn’t work) – we’ll see how that turns out. I figure I can just keep bothering them until they finally get it fixed.

Let me know if you’ve managed to fix this particular problem! I’d be glad for tips!

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Usaato exhibition

Usaato is having an exhibition at the San Francisco Japan Town mall. It is going to be from 11am to 6pm on Saturday-Sunday October 6-7.

Natural fiber, plant dyed, and hand-woven clothing from the Usaburo Sato collection will be displayed and sold. Usaato clothing is made from cotton, hemp, and silk fabrics woven and sewn in farming villages in Laos and Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is Usaato’s mission to support sustainable agriculture, respect village traditions, and bring a healthy economy and quality life to these villages.

 

Have fun!

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Goats on campus?

This morning, I saw a (small) herd of goats on campus. I was quite taken aback for a moment, then figured they must be there for landscaping purposes. I don’t know what exactly they were eating – this particular hill is mostly covered with vines and invasive-looking trees (which the goats were chewing the bark off of…).

It turns out there was a news feature on the goats!

CMU Goes Eco-Friendly, Brings In Goats To Landscape Overgrown Hillside

Apparently this particular hill is too steep and weedy for easy landscaping, hence the goats. I hope they get used for milk or meat!

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Fancy food

J says he doesn’t cook much by himself, but when he does it sure is fancy!

Twice-cooked pork belly.
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Usaato event

For those of you in the Bay Area, Usaato is having an exhibition!

Place and Time: San Francisco Japan Town, 2nd Floor of Kinokuniya Book Store Bldg, Saturday, September 1, 2018:  11am to 6pm, and Sunday,   September 2, 2018  11am to 7pm.

In the email advert I received, Usaato described itself as:

  • Making fully handcrafted artisan fabrics using sustainably grown cotton, hemp and silk: hand spun, hand woven, plant based dyes
  • Using high quality designer-spec construction and seamwork: durable, long lasting
  • Using an innovative fair trade model

“USAATO clothes are made in specially selected villages in Thailand and Laos practicing sustainable agriculture and known for their traditions of spinning, weaving and plant based dyes. The fabrics are mostly handspun and hand woven by their traditional weaving machines from cotton, hemp and silk with natural dyeing by artisan women in various areas of these two countries.

USAATO clothes are sewn by individuals and groups in worker friendly environments in Chiang Mai Thailand. These beautiful fabrics are unique to the various villages which is further reflected in the individuality of Usaato designs.

It is the Usaato mission to support sustainable agriculture, respect the village traditions and to bring a healthy economy and quality life to these villages. We would like to invite you to be a part of this Usaato movement.”

 

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Sock update

On sibling C’s socks, I had to redo the bind-off around the cuff. The previous edge was so tight I couldn’t get the sock over my heel! I redid the edge using this bind-off. It works great!

Tonight I washed and blocked the socks, so they should be ready to go tomorrow!