I came across these posters on my walk home from work yesterday, plastered onto the graffiti-ridden pedestrian bridge over the tube tracks in West Hampstead. They're from the climate campaign group Just Stop Oil, and I assume they're related to the protests held a few days ago where Greta Thuberg (among others) was arrested. Apparently Just Stop Oil has plans for more protests in the immediate future.
Of course I broadly support efforts to protect our climate, but I also recognize the inherent hypocrisy in that support. I am, after all, flying to California on vacation in February. There's a tension to living in the modern world, trying to minimize climate damage while still living our lives. We all recognize it and we all feel it. At least Dave and I are staying in the UK for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so that helps with our carbon footprint. (And I always fall back on the fact that we're fortunate enough to not need a car.)
I have a lot of stuff swirling around in my head at the moment. In addition to planning for California (which admittedly is not urgent), I have to get yet another document notarized for a financial transaction that's too boring to go into here. Last time I went to the embassy, but they don't appear to be scheduling notary appointments at the moment, so I have to look elsewhere. I've found a British notary and we're going to try that, and hopefully it will be acceptable to all parties involved.
It's so funny that I haven't needed a notary in years and years and now I've needed one twice in a period of weeks.
Meanwhile, at work, we're reviewing our book weeding procedures in a meeting this morning. My boss is enthusiastic about removing shelf clutter, which is admirable, but I'm not sure we all ultimately agree on what's clutter and what's not. We'll see what transpires.
And then I have a flu shot and a blood test in the afternoon. Joy!
Olga had us up multiple times in the night. I think her stomach is upset -- who knows why. I let her out around 2 a.m. and she ran to the back of the garden barking, which usually means her expert radar detected a fox. But then we had to let her out a couple more times, and it seems like maybe she's feeling a little yucky.
I cut down most of the sunflowers yesterday. The blooms were over and they were ragged and broken from being climbed by (I assume) squirrels, so I cut off the flower heads and threw them into the center of the flower bed and composted the rest of the plants. And so we march ever steadily toward winter.
The paperwork (and notarizing from overseas) is a royal pain.
ReplyDeleteHope Olga's better today. That kind of graffiti on the bridge makes me crazy.
At least you’re not using your private plane for your trip to California. That choice alone significantly reduces your carbon footprint.
Notaries are standard professionals, most of them solicitors in their normal days work, and stamp and verify documents on a regular daily basis. I have often had to make use of their services. It is nothing unusual to have to visit a notary. Be ready with your fee and make sure you know in what form they will accept payment beforehand if you have not already done so.
ReplyDeleteJust thinking about travel, one reason for my lengthy stay in London is that I will fly across the Atlantic briefly, stay put and fly back. To go that far and to use that much juice ,it only makes sense to park myself for a while.But I understand the appeal of a quick trip to L.A..( quick is how I like L.A. not a fan .) a vacation for you , to me, seems counterintuitive, England offers so many wonderful vacation choices. Rent car , drive to northumberland, take Olga. Wear a pork pie hat and Harris tweed… write a book… beats L A hands down. ( I am teasing you, realize) pretty sure the sunshine is a factor, especially in February. The bear fest in Palm Springs also a draw.
ReplyDeleteGreta was arrested? I haven't heard that. I better go to Guardian electric newspaper.
ReplyDeleteNot having a car is perhaps your best contribution.
Book weeding at work must be like clearing clutter at home. Surly the beginning of thought was has this book been borrowed in the last year (or two)? Is it a classic or an important reference book?
Reading between the lines, it is clear that your new library boss is different from the last one. Of course I might be utterly wrong but I sense some tension. Maybe you should have been the new library boss Steve.
ReplyDeleteTHE RUSSIANS UPSTAIRS
ANASTASIA Vake oop Vladimir!
VLADIMIR Vot eez it my leetl cладкая?
ANASTASIA Eets zat vuckin' Olga! Barking like un vuckin volf!
VLADIMIR Oh sheet! I vill get zum Novichok from ze embassy. Now go to zleep Любовь моя!
If a dog is going to feel yucky, best it happen in the garden!
ReplyDeleteYes. We are marching steadily into winter, and each day feels like a little goodbye.
What do you do with your culled books?
I think your using public transportation regularly is a good contribution to climate stabilization.
ReplyDeleteI loved how Greta once crossed the Atlantic in a sailing ship as a symbol of saving the earth! Of course a lot of not the best and brightest claimed it was meaningless because "we can't all do that!" They walk among us.
We are so incredibly dependent on oil and gas. For everything. How in the world do we end that? It goes far beyond flying from one country to the next. Every morsel of food we put in our mouths has a carbon footprint whether the food was grown and/or processed in the next county or in another country.
ReplyDeleteI despair.
Sorry that Olga is under the weather. Hopefully she's feeling better soon. I also try and reduce my carbon print as well, but sometimes it is hard. Especially with all of the plastic stuff out there.
ReplyDeleteI was up till 3 with yucky stomach last night (bad BBQ?) so I feel Olga's distress.
ReplyDeleteI've come to think of energy like conscious weight management. Some things you cut out and/or find a substitute for. You make adjustments. Other things are like treats -- a piece of birthday cake or a plane trip. You don't do it regularly, you are careful most of the time, but it's what you need or really want to do. I've radically trimmed use of plastics but some things will always come wrapped that way. I can't help that. But I can use pottery bowls with lids to store stuff. (And dp.) You walk frequently or tube and aren't driving. We just do what we can -- consciously.
Maybe I over rationalize.
Over here, we just go to the bank for a notary. They always have things needing officially signed I guess.
ReplyDeleteI think that climate change left the station a long time ago. We will suffer. Sorry to be so dismal .
ReplyDeleteWe all have a carbon footprint, so we have to really try to do the best we can. You are doing fine.
ReplyDeleteI hope Olga is feeling better.
I would have more sympathy with Just Stop Oil if they were prepared to actually do without every oil- and gas-derived product that they take for granted. Shoes, clothes, the plastic cases of everything electronic that they use - the list is endless....
ReplyDeleteAnd all for a plant food that is largely of natural origin.
I don't know that I'm quite ready to fly on an electric airplane. :) I have trouble getting rid of books, even when I know I should.
ReplyDeleteNothing is ever clearly black and white. People don't realize just how many places petroleum is used! We just have to do what little things we can to limit our carbon footprint.
ReplyDeletePoor Olga. I hope she feels better today.
I'm looking forward to your trip to LA. We always drove around it when we had the RV, so I've never been there. They do have public transportation, I think it's subway-like. Their traffic is legendarily bad, so if public will work that will be good.
ReplyDeleteMy cousin's neighbour and their family fly off to the Algarve every three weeks to visit their favourite restaurant.
ReplyDeleteI am just in from the garden having cut down most of our sunflowers, so there's that we have in common.
ReplyDeleteI left two sturdy ones for the parakeets, they look so funny when they hang on for dear life just picking maybe one seed before they have to fly off or fall.
It makes me angry and sad that so many people are careful with the consumption in their lives and there go politicians and rock stars in their private jets undercutting all the efforts of the rest of us. Just as one example. Aargh!
ReplyDeleteHope Olga feels better today. And hope you and Dave get a better snooze tonight!
I hate graffiti and the fact that its perpetrators are called "artists". It was 90 degrees here this afternoon and the tomato plants are going into their final desperate spurt, we think.
ReplyDeleteThe planet will survive and evolve and endure; the people on it will not.
ReplyDeleteMitchell: Yes, unfortunately, we've loaned the private plane to Mick Jagger that week.
ReplyDeleteRachel: I'm sure getting a notary here is no different from getting one in the USA. I'm just hoping the bank accepts a British notary.
Linda Sue: By the time February rolls around, I am ready for sun and warmth! Being in Northumberland does not sound appealing!
Andrew: Yes, those are the two main criteria, although we don't weed until a book goes about five years without checkout, classics excepted.
YP: You are very perceptive, YP! This new boss is OK but she has a much more intense vibe.
Debby: We usually give the culled books to charity. Unfortunately, not ALL of Olga's illness occurred in the garden!
Boud: Ha! Yes, I will never understand climate deniers.
Ms Moon: I know! It's not feasible unless we are willing (or forced) to make drastic changes in our lifestyle. We'll be growing a lot more of our own food and traveling a lot less. The future is going to be interesting. Glad I won't be here to see it.
Michael: Olga goes through these spells -- she always has. I think it's because she eats weird stuff while out on her walks. (Not with me.)
Jeanie: No, I think you're exactly right! We do what we can but we can't be extremists.
Ed: Oh, I wish it were that easy!
Red: I tend to agree. I think much of the damage is done. But it can still get worse and we should do what we can now.
Robin: As we said above, you have to do what you can! I think all things considered I don't do too badly.
Will: Well, things can be of natural origin and still be harmful in the environment. I think it's hard for many people to grasp how deeply oil is ingrained in our modern lives.
Margaret: I know! I suspect flying would have to come to an end entirely in a "no oil" culture.
Kelly: That's right. We just have to do what we can. Same with recycling and that kind of thing. Nothing will ever be perfect or absolute but we can do out best.
Allison: Yeah, I have never used public transport in LA. That will be an interesting experience! (If it's feasible for us.)
Tasker: OK, far be it from me to judge others, but that's just crazy!
Sabine: Yes, I left two of ours, too, for the same reason!
Jenny-O: But to be fair, politicians and rock stars DO need to travel more widely and speedily than most of the rest of us. I sure wouldn't want to be either one.
Catalyst: I wouldn't call ALL graffiti writers "artists." The ones on that bridge are more like taggers. But some graffiti is very artistic.
Bob: Are you quoting Kandiss Taylor again?!?! :)
Hi Agaih -- sorry to answer a comment from you on my blog here but I don't have other contact info for you Anyway -- the poster on the wall of that college dorm room is from Man of La Mancha. It was a great poster -- black and white of Don Quixote. Love that show!
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