Subdivided receipt

It'd be great if grocery and department stores could subdivide our receipts into sections by product type with subtotals.  For instance, one grocery store that I use does group the purchases into categories like dairy, meat and bread but there's still only one total at the bottom.  Subdividing would be most beneficial at large department stores like Target or Walmart since they have a wide range of products from groceries to automotive.  For someone - and I'm sure there are many - who is operating on a budget, this would speed up the time spent tracking how much one is spending on different types of products. 

In the meantime, I'll continue to decipher the store codes on the receipt and add up each item in their separate categories on my own.

Camping at New Brighton State Beach, Capitola, CA

I like this place.  Especially after having been sand-blasted, wind-burned and subjected to 40 degree (F) wind chill factor at Jalama Beach.  When I first arrived though, I thought, 'oh great now I'm at a campground with 1,000 children and a campsite in the direct sun.'  I feel like I can't breath when the air is hot and was tired of being overexposed to the elements by this point.  However, I soon realized that with all the tall trees at this place, the sun would cast a shadow where I could easily seek shade.   Although the campground is up on a bluff, getting down to the beach was very quick and easy and totally worth it. 

The beach here is narrow, but its filled with lots of people clearly having a good time.  This is also an interesting beach since its on Monterrey Bay and there appears to be lots of driftwood and fire rings available.  A short walk heading northwest reveals a cliff face with several layers of shell fossils which was very cool indeed.  I wonder how many millions of years ago each layer represents and shall endeavor to learn about this some more.  Perhaps there's a book I should acquire.

I also realized that while there are many families around, most parents put their kids to bed early versus a campground filled with twenty-somethings staying up until 3 AM with their drunken drum circles.  So, this place suddenly got very quiet around 9PM, and since kids were sleeping, the adults were also being very quiet so as to not wake the kids.

The amenities include bathrooms, coin operated showers, plenty of dumpsters and recycling bins and the campsites are spacious.  The sites around the edges are enshrouded in trees while the central campsites are more open.  This campground isn't overly manicured so the grass is tall and has a rustic feel to it despite being near an urban are.

I stayed at site 69 which is tent only and there was a full family next to me.  The huge plus about this site is that its at the end of the line.  So there was only the forest and the things that lurk in there on the other side of me and very few passersby.  Everyone here is cordial and I felt safe.  Since most groups are families and I encountered no loaners I didn't strike up a conversation with anyone.  In the future I will seek a site similar to #69 by being on the periphery, however I will look for something that is a little closer to the bathrooms since I often have to go when enjoying bourbon by the campfire and it is far to quiet for me to get away with pissing in the woods near my campsite.

Spatial Temporal Organization

A while ago I was lamenting my lack of productivity.  Then it occurred to me that the place where I eat, watch TV, work and do pretty much everything are all the same spot; sitting in the same chair at the same desk and computer.  So this semester I decided to separate those things.

So far I at least get my work done at my desk at school.  Some entertainment does take place there (Hulu & Facebook).  I also save time on the commute, since I now spend half of my Mondays through Thursdays at school, working from 8 AM to 8 PM but at least it gets done there.  I view it as my job, since "student" is what I put on my tax return and its the reason behind my primary sources of money.

Now I need to separate it a little further.  Somehow separate the eating from the entertainment and work. This may be hard to do, but I'll try to figure something out soon.

Considerateness

I had a good friend who had one set of rules for his room mates, which were the three Cs; Cleanliness, Courtesy-ness and Considerateness.  These seem like a good philosophy to have when one has to share space with others in modern society.  This post of course is not for those that intend to live alone and not interact with others or only intend to interact with others who tolerate their every activity.  This post is for those that choose to live amongst other people especially in a populated area where many share public spaces.

There are too many that seem to be living in a vacuum, especially here in the Greater Los Angeles Area.  This attitude is surprising to me because I would assume that when one shares an area with 18 million others that people would be more accommodating but apparently the majority seem to more concerned with ignoring the others around them.  Or at the very least many seem to have a complete lack of concern over how their actions effect others.  There's much evidence of this on the highways which I'll be sure to expound upon in later posts.

Specifically, today I encountered two examples.  The first is a neighbor who, on Sunday morning, has her lawn sprinklers come on at 8 AM.  These sprinklers spray across each other, over the sidewalk and onto cars parked along the street.  I've observed people on their morning walk having to go out into the street to avoid getting soaked including a mother with a toddler in a stroller.  Perhaps this neighbor is unaware of when her sprinklers come on, or she doesn't know how to adjust them.  Whatever the reason may be, it seems to me that one should have awareness of how their possessions are affecting others.  For instance one wouldn't start mowing the lawn at 6:30 AM even though the sun has risen, I think many know that such an action would be considered rude.  So, why let other actions have an equally as rude of an effect.

The other example is one I'm sure many others have come across too and that is people who let their dogs take a dump without picking it up.  Someone then steps in this and then tracks dog shit into their car and apartment.  This is just wrong and rude.

Sometimes I wonder if these actions are just mindlessness or are people just being inconsiderate towards others because someone was inconsiderate towards them.

So what is the best way forward, should I become the one who polices everyone's actions?  Or send the neighbor a letter?  Should we establish laws or some other method of repercussions?  One thing I am working on is being more tolerant.  I try to let things wash over me; but must I always be the one who gives way to everyone else when so many seem to just take and take and take whatever others will give them.  Is it possible to become the kind of person that laughs at getting dog shit stuck in their sneaker?  Although I am working on being more zen about things, since I'm not there yet, hopefully bitching about inconsiderateness within the blogosphere will be enough to satiate my needs, otherwise I might snap and give one these people a verbal thrashing.