November 25, 2020

by drplasticpicker

My thesis in life now is that we can figure it out. We can figure this climate crisis out, and how to live a rich and meaningful life within the limits of what our climate can withstand. Indeed, we can live a regenerative life. I have been reading more about the circular economy versus a linear economy. I think it’s all the Story of Stuff Videos that keep on popping up on my facebook feed. But it’s true, we can be part of a circular/closed-loop/no waste economy and life. John Kerry has now been named as the special presidential envoy for climate as CNN writes “underscoring Biden’s commitment to tackling the global crisis.” John Kerry is a former presidential candidate and former secretary of state. To name a senior stateman like him means a lot. I rewatch Greta Thunberg’s UN speech periodically to remind myself of the fear that our children have and she said “You have to speak clearly.”

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November 24, 2020

by drplasticpicker

Flaxseed and Raisin Muffins. I have ground flaxseed that I needed to use up. We also have too much wheat flour and organic raisins. I offered Dr. Dear Friend a new 2 lb bag of Organic California Grown Sun-Maid Raisins, but I discovered that Dr. Dear Friend does not like raisins. She also does not like mushrooms, but loves cucumbers. We were going on our walk around the HMO parking lot, visiting the three wild rosemary bushes, the guerilla composter project soon to be succulent garden, and the new breezy shaded nature path I found. This is when I learned about how she does not like raisins. So with that excess of ingredients, I was inspired to make muffins today. I Ecosia (not Googled) a recipe and modified a recipe from Diabetes Forecast http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2009/feb/recipes/flax-seed-and-raisin-muffins.html and opted out of the splenda and just put in real sugar and honey.

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November 23, 2020

by drplastipicker

Everything is on the internet. My father taught me that. If you can wade through the disinformation, you can just about Ecosia (not Google) anything. Supplementing it with real-world advice from friends and experts is good. The reason you can learn everything and anything on the internet, is that the internet is just a virtual echo of us.

I’ve tried to do yoga in the past, and it just didn’t work. I would open my eyes and peak at the others around me. I can’t exercise in a group. I just can’t. This is why I’ve always been a solo runner and a solo beach cleaner. If I do group workout sessions or group litter-picking sessions, I don’t feel restored. Fundamentally being with others depletes my energy. I’d rather be alone. I’m fundamentally an introvert. This is the polar opposite to my younger sister. This all makes sense now. I blog in the early morning and in the silence of my kitchen. She started a podcast at her kitchen table chatting with her neighbor, and is rejuvenated from this.

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November 22, 2020

by drplasticpicker

Isn’t that picture above pretty? It’s a collection of my container gardening project. The picture at the end of the post is the 2nd picture of my container gardening project. My mother-in-law and mother are avid gardeners, and I have never been able to grow anything in my life. But these new adventures through blogging have made me excited to try new things. I realized that I could learn new things, and I ventured into gardening. My sister is a very insightful and a thoughtful person, and she said that this is common for accomplished people. You reach a point in your career where you reach mastery, and embracing a new venture or trying to acquire a new skillset is important for that personal renewal. I think this is why I became Dr. Plastic Picker in my 40s.

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November 21, 2020

by drplasticpicker

We watched Ocean’s Eleven yesterday. It was the Friday night after finishing the trimester, and the kids wanted a typical Friday movie night which we hadn’t done in a while. I didn’t take any photos or post on Facebook and Instagram, which made my tween daughter happy. She’s suspicious of my social media postings. We had her 2nd pizza from the dough she made last week, and again it was so fluffy! It had been a busy clinic day. I haven’t been monitoring most people’s schedules which I need to do sometimes as Assistant Boss, but gosh I’ve been busy. I wasn’t able to get to my 330pm virtual appointment until well after 5pm because I had lots of teen physicals and put in an implantable birth control in a patient. When I got home at 615pm or so, which is not bad but it’s so dark these days, the family had just started eating. So I got to have a slice of homemade pizza which was simply the most fluffy piece of pizza deliciousness and some salad. We moved onto movie and bagged carmel and chedder Costco popcorn we had purchased in bulk. The movie was really good with only a couple of scenes where Mr. Plastic Picker had to stand in front of the TV waving his arms at inappropriate parts. I actually did watch the whole movie and didn’t fall asleep. It was fun to see Brad Pitt and George Clooney is their hey-day.

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November 19, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I miss my parents. It’s been almost 9 months of quarantine due to COVID-19. My parents live just about 2 miles from us, and I’ve stopped by to exchange food and drop off things. But it’s a hurried exchange and I’m always masked. My mother remembers to put her mask on now because I’ve scolded her enough. My father stays up on the 2nd floor and doesn’t come down. Life is just different. I’ve been strong this entire time and refused to see them, or come in to eat with them. It’s because I love them and I’m the most likely person to infect them given that our kids are back at school and I’ve worked every day of this pandemic seeing patients.

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November 18, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I’m not listing all the environmentally friendly activities that I’m doing as much on the “Secondary Environmental Net Positives.” I will publish that blog series maybe every other month now. The entire reason I had that series was to motivate me to make those small environmental changes and to give myself “credit” on the blog. It seems like these changes are just happening naturally, and I’m just going with the flow of life.

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November 17, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I’m not sure when drplasticpicker.com became a semi-food blog, but it has. I’ve been motivated due to the deliciousness of my creations and also various cooking projects have let me to new and different ingredients. Yesterday was likely the first time I ever created my own dish. I call it “Costco Rotissierre Chicken and Cous Cous and a Whole Lot of Stewy Vegetables!!!” It was really good and even Mr. Plastic Picker loved it (he loves Jambalaya type dishes). My mother-in-law was asking me about the recipe.

I’m not sure how I developed the dish. I got home after a decently busy day in clinic. It was just an off day for Dr. Dear Friend. She had 3 complex cases in the morning. I was busy but with the normal outpatient pediatric issues. I empathized with her so much that I went to the coffee cart and picked up lunch. Wearing my mask and a faceshield, I got in line and bought way too much plastic encased food. I bought the chimichanga, tuna on whole wheat, pesto pasta salad and a soy latte. As I was carrying it back to Pediatrics, I walked by one of our RN-workers and I confessed, “I bought the whole cart. ” Dr. Dear Friend was still talking to Child Protection Services when I brought in the booty. We split the lunch as she finished her call and we chatted about her complex cases. She’s had COVID already which is why I eat with her. I have to eat with her first before other doctor friends try to snag her as a safe lunch companion.

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November 16, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I honestly thought I was the only one who was a bit off these days. I chalked it up to post-election euphoria dysphoria. You know the feeling after being so happy, and then you crash emotionally. I was it a semi-catatonic state and only able to blog and tend to my vinegar and plants (which since I’m planting radishes – doesn’t require much of anything). I was able to finish clinical care, but my imagination and motivation for bigger projects both at work and with the climate began to ellude me. I became incapacitated with worry two nights ago because I worried about my right 2nd toe. The medial side of my toe had a paronychia and it had became inflamed. I was worried it was becoming infected and upset at my feet for once again giving up on me (I have had plantar fasciitis and achilles tendon issues and chronic ankle instability). Why was middle-age doing a number on my poor toe? I have been trying to treat my feet well with good shoes including two sturdy pairs from Goodwill and a new Nike Air-Pegasus sneakers? Was it the litter-picking? Was trying to get an extra bag that morning while street picking too much for my toe? I was mad at Mr. Plastic Picker for not caring about my toe, and glared at the puppy for loving Mr. Plastic Picker more than me. That night, I just scrolled through Instagram and worried about my toe. I could do nothing more for the earth nor for work, because of my right 2nd toe paronychia. I ended up applying some peroxide to the area and trimming the nail, and went to bed.

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November 15, 2020

by drplasticpicker

One of my favorite posts from Mr. Money Mustache is his “Pizza Delivery is for Millionaires.” https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2019/11/18/pizza-delivery-is-for-millionaires/ If you don’t know Mr. Money Mustache, he is one of the most popular FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) bloggers out there. He has a cult-like following and I used to read him semi-religiously. But life moves on and we reached our FI (Financial Indepedence) Number and decided not to retire. I will always appreciate the years of entertainment and inspiration his blog gave me. I sometimes check in on his blog, but he doesn’t actively blog much anymore. His blog is still generating probably hundreds of thousdands of dollars of revenue, but he lives a ridiculously simple life so doesn’t really need the money. What I do admire about him, is his closet environmentalism of his blog. The cult following I could do without. It’s a very masculine testosterone drive part of the internet, so I had to find somewhere else to go. But definitely check his blog out because the way he thinks about sustainable living and money is really interesting.

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