Skip to main content

The desperate things we do

Financial woes from the downturn in the economy are leading people to rediscover the joy of simplicity, Maclean's told us this week. People are even considering lowering themselves to desperate measures.

"Never mind brown bagging lunches, people may reuse everything from gift wrap to zip-lock bags," write Colin Campbell and Jason Kirkby in "Living on Less", Maclean's, Nov. 3, 2008.

Funny, I always thought that was normal.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Broken people...

After reflecting with one coworker on how often churches in all their forms really mess up and hurt a whole bunch of people in the process -- and how "we gotta do better" -- I stumbled into another conversation with a coworker which highlighted our brokenness, and I suddenly realized what was wrong with my take in the first. I wanted the church to be better at fixing our mistakes, or better yet, at not making them in the first place. But maybe this "fix-it" attitude is partly the reason we keep blowing it again and again! My friend recollected an experience when a church community was in a terrible place: compounded mistakes, hurts, and frustrations had blown up, spewing pain all over all parties. (I'm sure anyone with a long history in the church can think of one, if not several, such occasions in their past.) A new Christian who observed all these goings on responded in an unexpected way. Instead of "you people are a bunch of screw-ups! How could this pos...

Deep breaths, just relax

I am immensely relieved to have my visa application in the mail...except I won't be free of trepidation until I have my passport back, visa approved. Sending my visa makes me realize it's actually going to happen -- sooner rather than later. Just one more day of work at the newspaper, 2 1/2 more shifts at the bookstore. Training the new guy today went well for me; I hope it went well for him as well! Thankfully, I have news that I will not be wandering around Douala by myself upon my arrival in Cameroon. (Okay, not that that was going to be the case, but it sounds more dramatic.) The original plan was that I'd meet Dan and Lisa at Charles de Gaulle and continue with them from there in on. Just the way I like it -- being "adventurous" within the safe parameters of responsible and experienced oversight. However, the U.S. government got in the way of those plans with delay after delay with Joshua's paperwork. To say I was worried about arriving in Douala all alo...

Flights

I've got tickets! In faith that all the money will come together, my tickets have been purchased. So now I have to go! There was a significantly cheaper flight option with Air Maroc that involved an overnight in Paris and in Casablanca, but I opted for the same Air France flight from Paris to Douala that Dan and Lisa will be on. Frankly, I'm somewhat relieved the latter option was available. Obviously, I must have some sense of adventure to be willing to spend 10 months in Cameroon--and I do--but it's not quite up to the former challenge just yet. I'll likely be quite wound up as it is--the last thing I'll need in my state of excitement and fretful anticipation is to spend three days alone trying to reach my destination, getting no sleep, dealing with unfamiliar languages, and arriving alone to spend a half-day cartrip down roads in less than perfect condition with a local stranger. Now I'm not saying I'm unwilling to be challenged or that any one of these ...