Room 524: Earth Hour

About ten years ago, I did a six week tour of various cafetoriums, gymnasiums and hallways of Midwest elementary schools called "The Earth Protectors".   Besides forcing me to wear a silver hardhat and cape, "The Earth Protectors" was a show designed to teach kids about recycling.  "Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Rethink." was the message.  (Although, I'm sure the underlying message was "Kids, don't be an actor unless you want to tour in a mini-van with faulty brakes and sleep in cheap, hygenically-challenged hotels and wear matching polo shirts."  But I digress.)   Reduce the amount of potential trash you make, reuse whatever you can, and recycle materials like cans and paper.  I can't remember what the "Rethink" was.  Probably something like, "Rethink how you live your wasteful life." Not that your life is a waste but all the waste you produce in your life.  We were Earth Protectors not Scared Straight.

I am a huge proponent of this mantra.  Yes, yes, I know that it takes a lot of energy to recycle things but that's why the Reduce and Reuse are first.  So say what you will about Climate Change, the condition formerly known as Global Warming, all you want.   I'm not talking about that.  I'm talking about Conservation, of which I am a big advocate.  I partly blame my ex-stepfather for this.  He charged me a quarter every time I left a light or the TV on when I wasn't in the room.  It used to really piss me off.  So you would think as an adult I would rebel and open all the windows and crank the AC, all the while biting into a styrofoam cup.  But no, weirdly enough, that quarter thing helped make me a believer.  And that's why I participated in the Earth Hour.  (I think I just heard "damn, dirty hippie" faintly in the distance.)

Earth Hour was tonight at 8:30pm local time and people were encouraged to turn off all electricity for one hour.  (I ended up in candlelight for two hours.  So if your schedule was not conducive to lights-out, I did an extra for you.) The Eiffel Tower went dark.  So did the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House. And the Acropolis.  Which didn't originally have electric lights so not much of a sacrifice there.

I lit the candles at 8:15pm and enjoyed the quiet.  OK.  Not quite quiet.  There was some traffic noise. The baby next door crying on one side and the sullen 20-year-old knocking things over on the other.  And my dog sneezing from the scented candles.  But overall quiet.  Enough for me to reflect on all the electricity I use, how to embrace simplicity in my life and whether or not it would be cheating to open the refrigerator door for a drink (I refrained, thank you very much).

So you can think whatever you like about Climate Change.  I honestly didn't do Earth Hour for the Earth.  I did it for me, if I can be so selfish.  Because Conservation is selfish.  You are essentially hoarding your energy.  And you are ultimately saving money.  I'm not a damn, dirty hippie.  I'm a self-centered miser.  And I'm getting back all those quarters...

Amenities of Room 524: Bible made of Unbleached 100% Post Consumer Paper.  Timer-controlled lamps. Possibly clean sheets.

 

Room 1225: Farmville

I'm now begging my "neighbors" to send me paned windows so that I can finish my "maison".  That's what happens when you're on  the crack that is known as Farmville.  

I held out as long as I could but a friend of mine (I won't tell you their name but their initials are Krista) pleaded with me to be her neighbor so that she could get to the next level.  I was assured that I wouldn't have to do anything except sign up and accept her as my neighbor.  The Facebook application equivalent of "the first one's free".  Because you can't just do nothing.  I mean you can, but then your six plowed plots get nasty and withered and weedy.  And I was happy with that.  So what happened between seedy vacant lot and public implorations for virtual house building supplies?  I really don't know.  I think the tipping point was when I customized my farmer-self.  I didn't want pigtails.  And I wanted sassy red lips.  Bam.  Committed.  I started planting seeds.  And then people gave me cute cartoon cows and horses.  A pink diamond appeared over their heads.  I had to milk the cows.  Damn it. 

I've even started fertilizing my neighbors' lands and feeding their chickens.  Why?  Hello, experience points.  And if the chickens are really happy then they lay a mystery egg.  I'm now scouring my friends' pages looking to see if they found a mystery egg so I can hatch it.  (Side note: "hatching" consists of clicking a button that says "Hatch egg".  Just wanted to clear that up.)  But I'm now so entrenched in Farmville that I get pissed off when I hatch an egg and get another damn chicken.  Yes, yes, logic states that chickens come from hatched eggs.  But I've gotten collectibles from mystery eggs.  Oh yeah, I'm also desperately looking for collectibles so that I can complete a collection and get a special gift.  I actually did complete a collection once and my gift was fuel.  What do I hate more than hatching chickens? Getting more fuel.  I've seen farms with elephants.  I want an elephant.  Not gasoline.  I can get that in real life.   I don't, however, have many opportunities for elephants in Burbank.  

Excuse me, my raspberries are ready to harvest and my foal needs brushing. 

Amenities of Room 1225: Paned windows.  Adjacent to petting zoo.  All-You-Can-Eat Omelette Bar.