Month: December 2020

December 3, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I used to think Costco was the answer to life. Costco wanted us to think that it was the answer to life. Costco is still a great place, and pays good wages. But I am reminded that Costco is not the answer to life. It’s just a warehouse store that generally runs an ethical business but usually pushes us to overconsume and has too much plastic packaging. I have a lot of self-control these days and I can walk into Costco without leaving with three giant Olaf plushies. Yes, we once did that. The last plushie went to a good highschool friend who also re-homed/bought our extra care. No one needs an extra car. I was trying to find that bloglink, but can’t find it. I’ll try to link it later.

Anyway, last weekend my college sweetheart and only ever boyfriend now husband of almost 20 years Mr. Plastic Picker and I went to Costco. It was very romantic. We bought mostly things in bulk but I was tempted by a crate of mangos. I have family in our southeast Asian homeland that has a mango tree farm, and mangos ripe from the tree are delicious. Here in southern california, we make due with Costco. But do we really need to? The mangoes on the outside looked decent, and I am well aware due to my ethnic heritage how to judge the ripeness of a mango. The ripeness was about right to eat the next week. Our daughter loves mangos. So we bought a crate. Last night I had a semi-tiring day at work. Mostly dealing with some adminstrative things again in my non-adminstrative off time. When everyone has left the office, I was still sitting there. But I also had a conversation with someone I care about and the conversation was very similar to conversations I’ve had prior to becoming Dr. Plastic Picker. Filled with gossip and some catching up, and some pettiness. I felt myself reverting to pettiness. It’s funny that when I join again with old intermittent acquaintances that have not been with me on this journey, I get to starkly look back at who I was before this blog – before I just decided to really care. I did not like that version of myself.

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December 2, 2020

by drplasticpicker

Today I’ll reach my monthly goal of 20 bags of trash picked from either the street or the beach. Since I live just a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean and concentrate on the storm drains, I know that 100% all that litter would eventually end up in the ocean. I arbitrarily extended November into a few days into December, because this is a virtual world with my made-up rules and I just do it to keep myself accountable to the earth. I just looked at my excel spreadsheet, and I’ve picked up now 340 bags of ocean plastic pollution! Wow! That is a lot. I’m really excited to get to 500 bags eventually. I once won first place in my elementary school Olympics jump roping contest and I think got to somewhere in the 300s. It’s all about consistentcy, pacing oneself and rhythm.

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December 1, 2020

by drplasticpicker

How beautiful is the sweet potatoe? I didn’t realize last night when we each had a half baked sweet potatoe that it matched the edging of our well-loved silicone baking sheet. Mr. Plastic Picker and I went to Costco last weekend, and I find great joy is buying food in bulk now. We hardly ever purchase the ready made foods and now cook real food. This has mostly been to avert plastic packaging and to avoid palm oil which is in most frozen or prepackaged foods. The flip side is that it has really inspired me to be more creative in the kitchen. It’s amazing what you can learn on the internet if you are motivated.

Yesterday was a semi-normal non-frustrating day at work. I had a minor scheduling issue to work through with one of the young pediatricians, and she was patient enough to listen to my nonsensical rantings about Human Resources and Policies and Procedures. Trying to navigate the real world needs of physicians, rules and regulations and also common sense – can be challenging. It helps that Dr. Plastic Picker is very rule orientated and have common sense. It helps most that I am fiscally responsible and good with numbers. Mr. Plastic Picker is working with his sisters on finalizing his parent’s trust and estates. I am CFO of our family, and have nothing to do with my in-law’s finances and take just passing note of things I hear about. They buy onions, eggs and rice for our family and that is it. He asked me what I thought their networth was. I thought for 15 seconds and said a number, and I was almost right on. My dear husband paused for a second in astonishment. Yes, I am that good.

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