The First Garden at our New Place

Spring has been moving in over the last several weeks.  The snow is gone.  It has rained a couple of times.  The fields are turning green.  The daffodiles and tulips are blooming and the trees are going to leaf.  So, I couldn't stand it any more and prepared a bed for planting.

I dug it up,

found a bunch of these wormy guys (yay) in the mostly clay soil (boo),

added three and a half wheelbarrows of alpaca manure,

and selected some herbs, chiles and tomatoes.

I planted on Sunday.

I love my new garden (and hope the rabbits hate it).

A (small) Study of Packaging

I'm interested in packaging.

I occasionally drop in on the Dieline to check out new designs.

Packaging tells the story of a product.  It plays a roll in the consumer's initial decision to purchase a product and is a big part of the initial experience with the product.  I am reminded of how I felt when I received and opened my iPhone last year.  The packaging was clean and simple.  It felt like it was on purpose.  I had a similar experience with MarieBelle Chocolates.

So what about after the purchase?  Does the packaging continue the story or does it change it?  Does it allow efficient and complete use of the product?  I decided to take a survey of some of the bottles that reside in my bathroom.

Giovanni Leave-In Hair Conditioner

The package is clean and simple.  I really like this product, but getting the last little bit out is impossible.  I don't know why the bottle stood upside down for this shot, because it won't stay that way in my bathroom.  This drives me crazy when I'm at the end.  You can see some product is left inside.  The top will not come off and the flat surface does not guide the product to the opening.

Aveeno Skin Lotion
This bottle has a sloping top that fits nicely into a funnel.  I use a funnel with a smaller travel bottle to capture the remaining product when I can no longer pump it out.  The problem with this design is that the pump stem does not reach the bottom.  I would say there is a good inch to inch-and-a-half left when the pump is no longer useful.  Which means I have several days to more than a week of a Jenga-like structure when I'm finishing off one of these bottles.

Dermalogica Moisturizer
I love love love Dermalogica products.  They moisurize, clean and condition without causing acne or irritation.  The moisurizer bottles look like a good design with the product flowing out of the bottom.  Initial use of the product is smooth and easy, but getting the remnants out is down-right frustrating.  Everytime I think the bottle is close to empty, I do a toothpaste squeeze and a whole lot of product comes out.  If they would put the moisturizers in the same type of bottle as their cleansers, I would be very happy.

Aveda Styling Lotion
I love Aveda products as well.  They are mild and work beautifully without any irritating fragrances.  This bottle has a nice slope at the top and a flip-top lid that stands easily on it's head.  I never have an issue getting the final product out of bottles like these.



The result of my small survey
I like all of these products, which means the packaging changes the story for me.  The bottles cause me to search out the competition.

I have found another leave-in conditioner that I like just as much as Giovanni.  The new conditioner has a bottle design similar to the Aveda product. So I am not likely to buy the Giovanni products anymore.  Of course, time will tell.  I found the Giovanni leave-in conditioner when Aveda discontinued theirs.

I am looking for face moisturizers that are unscented, non-irritating and have a more useful package design.  Dermalogica is a hard product to beat, but everytime I get to the bottom of those moisturizer bottles, I am compelled to try something else.  The fact that Dermalogica is not in-expensive means I am even more motivated to find a replacement product.

The Boston Marathon

This morning, the 114th Boston Marathon was run.

Ernst van Dyk won for the 9th time.  He surpased Jean Discoll's 8 for the most wins for anyone, ever.

I'm an Author

I just realized it.

As a kid, I wanted to be an author. I did not want to be a journalist, but I thought one day I would write a book. I had no idea what my subject matter would be and wasn't confident in my writing skills.

I took extra writing classes in high school. Mrs. Vlasin's Expository Writing class was my favorite. We were allowed to write about what we wanted to write about. No book reports. No history research papers. Just writing about the things we cared about. We learned how to critique other people's writing and therefore our own. The class was about style and technique, not dates and names. Talk about the freedom! This class was right up there with the math classes. I loved it.

Of course I went to college to become an engineer and forgot about the fabulous experiences in Mrs. Vlasin's class for quite a while. As I moved into Project Management and Business Process Development, I felt the lessons returning. I enjoyed writing and was often requested to edit the work of my colleagues.

Then it hit me this morning. I have a blog. I post to it on a regular basis. I write about things I care about. I'm an author.

I would still love to write a book. I've started a couple but have finished none, so far. The subject matter is still elusive, but I feel I'm getting close.

Mrs. Vlasin's used to say, "I'm not a good writer. I'm a good re-writer." By that she meant that editing is important for good writing. She would say to write what you're thinking, just dump it all out on paper. Then refine and rearrange, save some sections for other pieces and finally remove all of the "th" words you can.

I know being a high school teacher is a very hard job. Teachers do not really know if they've ultimately made a difference or not. So I want to thank my public high school writing teacher for inspiring me and for making a difference in my life.

Mrs. Vlasin, I am an author because of you. Thank you for teaching and inspiring me.

Miss Kitty has gone Missing

Our Bad-A$$ Kitty-Cat went missing last week.

We have many predators that would enjoy a kitty-cat dinner such as fox, coyote and bald eagle.  So Hubba was very concerned that something got her.  He told me the birds were acting differently that morning and that he just felt something was not right.  I told him she was probably hunting and would be back later, knowing that Hubba's gut is usually correct.

The last time she went missing, hubba found her under our neighbor's air conditioner.  She had a bulging and infected eye that was most likely from a skirmish with a road runner.  We took her to the kitty-cat emergency where the vet told us the infection was only in the eye.  So we opted to have it removed, which didn't slow her down for long.

The mono-optical kitty continued to be an effective mouser and finally caught the humming bird she had been coveting for years.

Since we moved to Colorado, she had been sticking close to the house.  But the nicer weather and rabbits, squirrels, birds and mice for hunting had been grabbing her curiosity.

Hubba, the Alpaca Dog and I have been searching for her in bushes, under porches and basically in all of the hiding places we can find.

There is no evidence of her.

We're really sad that she's gone.  It's amazing that such a small kitty was such a big part of these dog people's lives.

Fiber Arts Friday - Baby Hats Part 3

Ta-da!! My second baby for adult hat!

As I mentioned last week, I did the eyelet detail knit-wise instead of purl-wise.

One thing I like about knitting, is that it's ok to do it incorrectly.  If the incorrectness is consistent throughout, then it looks like it was on purpose. :-)

I did do the swatch math correctly so the hat fits perfectly. :-D

Please enjoy the rest of Fiber Arts Friday over as Wisdom Begins in Wonder.

Intelligence vs. Conditioning

The TSA Screener said that I'm a "smart traveller" today.  I told him that I just do it all of the time.  Which got me thinking.  Is it really intelligence, or just conditioning?

I certainly like to think I'm a smart person, but some may think I'm just a smart-a$$.  So I have to think when it comes to navigating the airport security checkpoint, conditioning is more relevant than intelligence.

Honestly, once you get past understanding what can and cannot be brought on to an aircraft, it's really just behavior modification due to simple rewards and penalties.  You know, the whole Pavlov's dog thing.

I travel a lot, so my incentive is to pass through security as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Recently the screeners have been pulling my quart-sized bag of fluids out of the bin and asking me about it.  I tell them that it IS quart-sized and then they tell me they'll let it pass.  Since the bag is oriented horizonally and came with my luggage, rather than a food-storage zipper bag that is oriented vertically it did not meet their expectations of what a quart-sized zipper bag looks like.

I realize a picture to show these two bags together would be beneficial here, but you'll just have to trust me and let it pass.

I'm not sure why this has been a recent occurance.  I've been using the same zipper bag for more than two years with out any issue or questions.  So this morning, right before I left for the airport, I decided to move my fluids to a quart-sized food storage zipper bag.  Then ta-da.... suddenly I'm a smart traveller.