Red Cedar
More apocalypse, less angst
What’s real.
“Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness”
Samuel Beckett
And yes, it is with words Samuel Beckett expresses himself. But I agree anyway. To my aching and overflowing self it seems the world is so much words. So much talking. So much noise between here and there – that we can’t get to the other side of each other and start doing what needs to be done. Working in the service of life. Living in the arms and joys of one another. Resting in the cool shade of what is real.
Post-semester reading
I spent my day working on my final term paper for class, managing a dismal 2.5 pages of the 15 I have to write. They are a fairly well-formed 2.5 pages, consisting of my core argument and introduction, but nonetheless the bulk of the writing still lies ahead. In lieu of an actual post, I am uploading this photograph of the stack of books awaiting me upon the end of the semester. Recreational reading here I come!
This, is about the most exciting thing a girl like me can have. Ah.
A penny for your…. prediction
A passing prediction on the demise of the penny announced in yesterday’s budget (and yes, I have done my share of handwringing over that budget already):
Though I care little about the Canadian penny’s death, I think it should be recognized as the hidden transfer to business that it is- particularly brick and mortar business which still offer cash transactions.
How so?
Since taxes in Canada are percentage-based, it is rare to see a cash-register ring up an even number. HST, GST, whatever… if it costs $1.00 in store price, it costs $1.12 at the register. Without the penny, how will change get made?
Obviously a shop isn’t going to round down on transactions, particularly for small business that could really hurt them because they would fall short on their tax-remittance to the government at the end of the year. So that leaves round-up as the only real option – which means if something comes to $5.11 the consumer will pay $5.15 and the 4 cent difference will go to the business.
Because that will seem unfair to the consumer at the till, I believe Canada will shortly move to after-tax pricing which both hides the tax rate, and the fact that the business is charging more than goods + tax cost will also be hidden. Some people prefer after-tax pricing, some people hate it – I’m ambivalent myself – but the fact remains that this scheme gives business the chance on some transactions to make as much as an extra 4 cents.
This really is nothing to a small business with a hundred transactions per day (the most this could work out to is $1460 per year which would then be taxed on top). But if you are Walmart or Safeway, doing thousands of transactions per day in dozens of stores then it adds up. 10,000 transactions with an extra 4 cents added on for 365 days amounts to $146,000 – and I am sure that these chains do more than 10,000 transactions per day.
As a consumer, I’m really not too fussed about an extra 4 cents on a bag of groceries – but as a taxpayer, I am concerned that the government isn’t being more transparent about the implications of eliminating the penny in a percentage-based tax system. It certainly opens the door for another wealth transfer, one that doesn’t do much for the small business, but does an awful lot for the retail giants who are already advantaged in our cheap-good-loving society.
Instant (mobile) America Infographic
This was shared with me today via this blog (thanks for sending me the link!) – since it fits nicely with some mobile application development I’m working on the concept for, I thought I would share. Though this focuses on the US, I don’t think Canadians would be far different in these statistics. I know for sure that I’ve become one of those very impatient searchers. On the other hand, waiting in line doesn’t bug me that much if I know something good is at the end.
Created by: Online Graduate Programs
In the garden first week of spring!
We got two full days of sun on the weekend which lead to a flurry of garden activity for the first time since I got the pea trellis and the vertical garden frame installed in February. There was the lemon/lime tree planting last week, but the awesome weather really allowed for us to get going on the garden prep. B and I working together managed to:
- Tidy! Winter leaves, twigs, and branches were all gathered and processed as either mulch or fire starter.
- Prune! Hydrangea, fuschia and other plants got some much-needed trimming.
- Fill! We went to garden works and bought some mushroom manure and compost to fill the veggie boxes with since they have lost about six inches of dirt in the past couple of years. Adding a leaf layer and then the soil we purchased, I now have six refreshed boxes for planting veggies in.
- Irrigate! I fixed our irrigation system to get rid of the drip tubes that didn’t work so well last winter.
- Pot! I made a new hanging basket and repotted some plants in need of more growing room.
- Fertilize! Using an organic fertilizer (fish), and some compost I fed all the potted plants to invigorate them. I also spread fish fertilizing pellets on all the beds as I had a rotting bag of the stuff that needed to get used up and soon.
- Plant! This weekend I planted potatoes (in bags) and peas. In the flower bed went dahlias, gladiolas, anemones and a lily. I also got my tea bush (Camellia sinensis) in the ground.
About the Tea bush
When I purchased the lemon and lime trees from Bob Duncan, I noticed he also had tea bushes for sale. This intrigued me, even though I didn’t know much at the moment I put my $25 down – but since then I’ve only grown more excited about the possibilities of growing my own tea.
According to Wikipedia: “Camellia sinensis is mainly cultivated in tropical and subtropical climates, in areas with at least 127 cm. (50 inches) of rainfall a year. However, the clonal one is commercially cultivated from the equator to as far north as Cornwall on the UK mainland.” Even more interesting is that black, green and white tea (and twig tea) are all from the same plant – but varied processing techniques create several final tea products.
Although I had to plant the tea bush in the north-facing backyard (the south-facing yard gets even less sun), I chose one warmer spots beside the bookshed, which gives it some further protection from the overhang. I’m hoping this will be a satisfactory spot for the tea plant. I have a rosemary flourishing along that wall at present and since it likes similar climactic conditions as the camellia, I thought it was the best option available.
My understanding is that the Camellia sinensis is best kept pruned as a bush (even though it will grow in height) for easier harvesting, and that I shouldn’t try to take any tea from it for at least a couple of years. Hopefully I will keep it alive that long and learn about processing tea of my very own!
Red Cedar 