Sorry for the silence...updated

Yes, I've been busy. And actually a little worn down by all this inconvenient truth biting me in the ass.

• I went back to the hardware store and located the correct type of light bulbs and now I have replaced the front porch light, the back porch lights, the lights in my kitchen and bedroom, the lights in our bedside lamps and the light in the living room lamp. I read that the light cast by the energy-efficient bulbs can be a little harsh - they are in effect, fluorescent tubes - but I must say I've been impressed with it. It doesn't make me look any more hideous than normal. And I actually like the light it casts in the bedroom, which has always been a bit gloomy. So, ironically, I'm actually using the lights in the bedroom more. Great.
  
• I have been using the basin insert into the sink and not running the water so much which makes me feel all supercilious and smug. At least while I'm washing the dishes.
  
• Man of the House (snerk!) has made enquiries about solar hot water systems. About $4000 to install but will pay for itself in about 5 years, provided it doesn't have that charming 'inbuilt obsolescence' feature common to most household appliances and it craps itself 4 years and 364 days after installation. We need to figure out how to work that into the household"budget" (double snerk!!). But I think we'll go ahead with that sooner rather than later. We'll go hungry but at least we'll be clean.
  
• Prius...no, haven't gone there yet.
  
• I have caught the train to work and the bus back once a week for the past two weeks and it wasn't awful - because I don't go to work in peak time, I always get a seat and it's always amusing to see what the young'uns are wearing these days.
  
• I haven't tackled the phone thing yet. A friend told me that the phone company will supply a non-electrical phone if you go ask them for one and I could just get rid of the answering machine altogether which is a possibility as no one calls me anyway or knows to get a hold of me on the mobile. The jury is still out...

So - not all bad. I'm still trying to work my brain out of the "too little, too late" mental patterning. I have to believe that all these little things will make a difference. Look at what chaos those damned butterflies in the Amazon can cause with one wing flutter...damn those butterflies and their wing-flapping ways!