Saturday, February 10
Feb. 11th, 2024 01:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Okay temperatures, but I don't think it got as warm as they though it was going to be.
I had a good sized tote bag full of mostly craft stuff that I put together to take to the thrift store to donate. I had a few things set aside for a while that just didn't get into the car, but I also spent some time last night going through craft things (a lot of inexpensive stamps that I never used that I probably got at thrift stores in the first place) to donate.
I have a lot of things that I kind of like, but after a while have just become overwhelming. I can't really put things away nicely, so then you end up not using these things because they are not accessible. At that point, it's not worth owning them.
I am trying once again (always) to develop a habit of just parting with things that don't DO anything for me, in the hopes that I can easily find and use (or admire) the things that matter.
It's not easy, as I am a creative person, and there is ALWAYS the chance that I might find a use for these things, but I've lived long enough now that I'm starting to see that some of these things have sat in boxes for ten years in some cases, without being useful. That means I can probably live without it just fine.
We went to the city, and our first stop was the "good" thrift store that supports the women's recovery from addiction center. I looked around a bit, found a single shiny bauble to take with me, and happened to notice the jewelry I donated last week displayed nicely. I hope the money from it does some good.
Then we picked up turtle food, just a quick in and out of that store.
Then we went to Ikea, our main destination today.
We had a very good idea of what we wanted for a small section of cupboards to go in the mud room for storing pet related items mostly, and likely some gardening things, mitts and such.
We had our measurements, knew what style we wanted more or less, and so the process wasn't too bad. Everything with Ikea is modular, so what took the time is getting a list of the separate drawers and doors and the drawer slides and on and on, because then it gets sent down to a department that pulls all of those separate pieces together for us.
We looked at small display cabinets as I would like something for displaying my nice rocks. I have lots of nice ones, but they're in drawers or in boxes put away instead of being able to see them. We didn't get one today because our vehicle would be full, but I think we know what we want for another trip.
We did pick up a decent rug to replace the cat-shredded one we currently have.
We got all of that done in 1.5 hours, and thankfully without drama.
I also picked up a little cat cave on clearance on the way out.
We ate in town at a nice Shawarma place, and I had a very tasty falafel wrap.
We came home, brought everything in, and changed out the rugs.
We watched more of "The Expanse".
The Caroline Islands are part of Micronesia, a sub-region of Oceania.
It consists of about 500 coral islands (not sure how different this is from an atoll, other than an atoll forms a ring with a lagoon in the middle).
It is partly governed by the Federated States of Micronesia, and partly by another island nation called Palau.
Spanish explorers landed on these islands as far back as the 1500's, and though Spain had some very loose ties with these islands over the centuries, it was not occupied by the Spanish until the late 1800's, and by then there was also British and German interests, so there was some dispute over things like taxes.
After the Spanish-American war of 1898, Spain sold the Carolinas (as they called them) to Germany, while reserving the right to operate a coal mine there.
In the 1900's, it was a place for whaling ships to get food and water and rest ashore.
Then of course, Japan invaded in 1914, as it did so many of the islands in this region, and maintained control of them through most of WW II, at which point it was under the jurisdiction of the U.S.
The Caroline Islands then became either part of the The Federated States of Micronesia (gained independence in 1986) or , under the governance of Palau (gained independence in 1994).
This next bit is something I know I've covered here before under the daily "Today I learned" facts:
The inhabitants of Yap are noted for possessing an unusual currency. Besides the ordinary shell money, there is a sort of stone coinage, consisting of huge calcite or limestone discs or wheels from 6 inches to 12 feet. in diameter, and weighing up to nearly 5 tons. These are all quarried in the Pelew Islands, 200 miles to the south, and must have been brought by native vessels or on rafts; later they were transferred on European vessels. The stones, which are rather tokens than money, do not circulate, but are piled up round about the chief's treasure-house, and appear to be regarded as public property.[4] Some may not have been seen for some years, but the transfer of wealth is facilitated by a common understanding that a stone has a new owner.[5]
They are called "Rai stones".
https://youtu.be/Byy6RMVNkvo?si=bwPFJ6z9m5jK1KcM
Otherwise, kind of similar in terms of food, trade, and threat from climate change.
Lots of drama over the centuries with various missionaries from Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Islands#External_links
Okay temperatures, but I don't think it got as warm as they though it was going to be.
I had a good sized tote bag full of mostly craft stuff that I put together to take to the thrift store to donate. I had a few things set aside for a while that just didn't get into the car, but I also spent some time last night going through craft things (a lot of inexpensive stamps that I never used that I probably got at thrift stores in the first place) to donate.
I have a lot of things that I kind of like, but after a while have just become overwhelming. I can't really put things away nicely, so then you end up not using these things because they are not accessible. At that point, it's not worth owning them.
I am trying once again (always) to develop a habit of just parting with things that don't DO anything for me, in the hopes that I can easily find and use (or admire) the things that matter.
It's not easy, as I am a creative person, and there is ALWAYS the chance that I might find a use for these things, but I've lived long enough now that I'm starting to see that some of these things have sat in boxes for ten years in some cases, without being useful. That means I can probably live without it just fine.
We went to the city, and our first stop was the "good" thrift store that supports the women's recovery from addiction center. I looked around a bit, found a single shiny bauble to take with me, and happened to notice the jewelry I donated last week displayed nicely. I hope the money from it does some good.
Then we picked up turtle food, just a quick in and out of that store.
Then we went to Ikea, our main destination today.
We had a very good idea of what we wanted for a small section of cupboards to go in the mud room for storing pet related items mostly, and likely some gardening things, mitts and such.
We had our measurements, knew what style we wanted more or less, and so the process wasn't too bad. Everything with Ikea is modular, so what took the time is getting a list of the separate drawers and doors and the drawer slides and on and on, because then it gets sent down to a department that pulls all of those separate pieces together for us.
We looked at small display cabinets as I would like something for displaying my nice rocks. I have lots of nice ones, but they're in drawers or in boxes put away instead of being able to see them. We didn't get one today because our vehicle would be full, but I think we know what we want for another trip.
We did pick up a decent rug to replace the cat-shredded one we currently have.
We got all of that done in 1.5 hours, and thankfully without drama.
I also picked up a little cat cave on clearance on the way out.
We ate in town at a nice Shawarma place, and I had a very tasty falafel wrap.
We came home, brought everything in, and changed out the rugs.
We watched more of "The Expanse".
The Caroline Islands are part of Micronesia, a sub-region of Oceania.
It consists of about 500 coral islands (not sure how different this is from an atoll, other than an atoll forms a ring with a lagoon in the middle).
It is partly governed by the Federated States of Micronesia, and partly by another island nation called Palau.
Spanish explorers landed on these islands as far back as the 1500's, and though Spain had some very loose ties with these islands over the centuries, it was not occupied by the Spanish until the late 1800's, and by then there was also British and German interests, so there was some dispute over things like taxes.
After the Spanish-American war of 1898, Spain sold the Carolinas (as they called them) to Germany, while reserving the right to operate a coal mine there.
In the 1900's, it was a place for whaling ships to get food and water and rest ashore.
Then of course, Japan invaded in 1914, as it did so many of the islands in this region, and maintained control of them through most of WW II, at which point it was under the jurisdiction of the U.S.
The Caroline Islands then became either part of the The Federated States of Micronesia (gained independence in 1986) or , under the governance of Palau (gained independence in 1994).
This next bit is something I know I've covered here before under the daily "Today I learned" facts:
The inhabitants of Yap are noted for possessing an unusual currency. Besides the ordinary shell money, there is a sort of stone coinage, consisting of huge calcite or limestone discs or wheels from 6 inches to 12 feet. in diameter, and weighing up to nearly 5 tons. These are all quarried in the Pelew Islands, 200 miles to the south, and must have been brought by native vessels or on rafts; later they were transferred on European vessels. The stones, which are rather tokens than money, do not circulate, but are piled up round about the chief's treasure-house, and appear to be regarded as public property.[4] Some may not have been seen for some years, but the transfer of wealth is facilitated by a common understanding that a stone has a new owner.[5]
They are called "Rai stones".
https://youtu.be/Byy6RMVNkvo?si=bwPFJ6z9m5jK1KcM
Otherwise, kind of similar in terms of food, trade, and threat from climate change.
Lots of drama over the centuries with various missionaries from Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Islands#External_links
