So the cats were not happy at all with their flea medication yesterday. I usually put it on them and then feed them wet food so they forget about the event because they are so happy to not have to eat their dry food. I totally forgot and this morning Nathan found that his shoes had been urinated on. Our cats are very crafty when it comes to these things…strike at night while we sleep…push the surge-protector to turn off our computers and then run so we can’t tell who did it..these things happen when they decide that we’re meanies to them. I know they think it’s just ‘eye for an eye’ and yet I try to explain to them that flea medication is actually a good thing. Well at least Nathan got new shoes out of it.

Well I feel kind of bummed out today thinking about Santa Cruz and the students and housing etc. Santa Cruz is always in the top 5 most expensive places to live and I totally believe it. Housing here is a huge issue because the city is pretty anti-growth which I understand, but it’s frustrating because a lot of the housing is overpriced and rundown. This attitude is mainly because of students who tend to party and wreck the place so I think a lot of apartment places figure they can get away with these actions since students usually move out of santa cruz within a couple of years. Then there are all these new and somewhat nice apt/condo style places that are super expensive that are often rented to students who have parents willing to fork out the money. We both have known so many people who have parents who give them tons of money, buy them houses here, cars, etc and they turn out being super into drugs or just don’t ever do anything..sure they might work a part time job but that is just to fund their food, clothes and fun time. And I look at how we live…I just want to be happy, eat healthy food, ride my bike for all the good benefits, maybe start knitting items for those less fortunate when I get better…and I must say I feel a bit jilted when meeting people who don’t have to worry about things like rent or buying house items that we need. I’m not saying we’re struggling..in fact I think we’re very lucky to be able to buy organic and be able to splurge on new computers (I’ll be putting mine together sunday !) but it doesn’t mean we’re super loaded. It’s simply frustrating to see many young people my age who don’t seem to consider how lucky they are since they are separated from people who would love to have their parents buy them a house instead of living in a studio with 2 children. And I’m sure there are many young people who work hard and deserve all the family support that is given to them, but I’m only trying to point out the cases in which I know and see young people take for granted that they will always have money without ever having to work and worry about if their lifestyle will be taken away.

And of course I’m very privileged and I’m sure there are lots of things I take for granted both now and in the past that I continue to benefit from. Living on Beach Hill we’re very close to the Beach flats which is considered the ‘ghetto’ by many people which I think is really racist since it’s mainly latino families who live there. Actually that area is where the Pupusaria is and we go down sometimes to buy them. Anyway, we also live in an area that has a lot of students but also has a lot of druggies and homeless people. Over the years, Nathan and I have seen many homeless men sleeping next to our apartment, we’ve seen crack pipes on the ground and we had to eventually scare off this one resident crack head who was always around but didn’t live here.

Ah the tales are endless of prostitutes making calls here or druggies hanging around and lower downtown is more of the same. The one laundry mat that I used to go to was frequented by homeless people who would often steal laundry and buy drugs there. One time I was actually standing near the dryers (protecting my laundry) and on my left a woman was selling different drugs while the man in front of me was laying out his weed to show to the underage girls he was hanging out with. That place closed down because (from what I heard) the manager stole all the machines and sold them. Now I go to another place that is mainly frequented by latino families so I actually feel safe now and don’t have to worry about my stuff being stolen. It’s funny because the manager  used to manage the old place I went to but quit because of all the shady business the owners were doing. So we chat every now and then and it’s a nice little place. People talk to me and ask questions if they’re new and it’s great because I feel connected to people. They often play latino radio stations and I laugh at the funny parts that I can understand…and I get to see real working families do their thing and remember that I have a lot of things going for me. It’s a small weekly reminder of how I’m still connected with other people who aren’t just here for the university or Silicon valley.

Wow this is such a big post but I really needed to vent and just write. Let’s see..went to the Mercado today and bought some chili peppers and it’s nice because that Mercado is next to my laundry place!! We make burritos once a week so I had to stop and get them. Rode down and got Nathan some shoes because he doesn’t like his boots. He dislocated his toe last year while on vacation and it still hurts him every few months. After that I went to Petsmart where Nathan and I have made nicknames for all of the employees. They’re all really nice (although 2 of them are sort of loopy) and many of them know me.

I swear chili peppers are out to get me. I ran out of gloves so I carefully seeded the peppers but two of my fingers ended up burning anyway…Not as bad as the one time where I had to soak my hands in Mylanta for 8 hours. The avocados were lame because they weren’t Haas I think…we went to another market since ours is closed until sunday for reconstruction. So this week’s burritos were not inspiring. I baked some more focaccia bread for Nathan’s breakfast (bread and grapes mmm).

Oh I almost forgot to talk about housecleaning and cooking items!!! So my dream wish which I hope to fulfill in a couple of months is to buy the 8 set Calphalon stainless steel which has so many pieces I love. We already have one of their frying pans and a steamer and I lovingly wash them and dry them. I also want a Shun bread knife and maybe one of their Japanese vegetable knives. We have their paring knife and Santoku which is all we really need since we don’t eat meat. Anyway, I know sustainability and eco-friendly things are popular so I thought I’d post how I doing these things also. I use a vinegar/water mixture to clean most of the house and there are many websites that show different ways to employ vinegar in housecleaning. I still use windex for the bathroom but I’m going to finish that bottle and use vinegar because I’m scared the windex might absorb into my bum! It’s great for getting out cat urine and when the cats were urinating on the bed I used it to get the smell out and used baking soda to get the stain out. For awhile we were buying Swiffer wet pads to clean the floor…oh so easy and fast. But we realized after many pee episodes that the fragrance was irrating the cats. The Swiffer odor would stay for hours even with the windows open and they were so sensitive they’d become upset and pee to let us know ‘hey do something else’. So I went and bought a bunch of rags and use soap and water to clean the floors. I still use the swiffer mop and just wrap the rags onto the mop and do that. It’s more labor intensive but the cats are happy and it’s probably more eco friendly since I don’t throw the rags away and there are less chemicals in the house. Thanks to my mum, I have lots of great teatowels that are great in the kitchen and I’ve been buying these vegetable sponges that spring up when put under water. I’m not sure yet if they’re totally eco friendly but it’s less packaging material since I get 6 instead of just two since they are are dehydrated and thus look like wafers. We do have a lot of bottle/can recycling mainly because the water here is very lime/other mineral loaded. It took us about 6 months to find shampoo/conditioners that wouldn’t dry our hair out because of the water. And again vinegar on the tiles helps me clean the shower. So yes we need to work on not buying so much bottled water but for now we just can’t stand the taste of the water. Maybe a filter will do the trick. We do recycle a lot though so I think that (at the very least) is positive. I don’t know how my mom does it with just one trash bag a week. We range from 1-2 a week. It might have to do with the fact that I clean so much (not saying my mom doesn’t) but we live in a small place with 2 cats and 2 birds so they shed, poop, make a mess so that may be a factor. Anyway, this post is way too long but here are some pics of today. Notice my baskets on my bike! yay Nathan put them on because my rack is too thick and the clamps were too skinny so he had bend them to fit. He didn’t think until he recently put my 2nd one on that we could have just bought longer screws to reach the clamp holes..doh! Well at least he fulfilled his manly housework duties for the year. So until next time..be happy and eat yummy food.

These are of me, food, and the green bottle is my vinegar cleaning mix. Oh and mom that’s your Santo Nino de Atocha charm you gave me!