Change found in 2014

California's record for Green Party members in the State Assembly is one, Audie Bock (back in 1999). Greens seem to be doing better in Canada right now than they did in California back then...

January 6, 2014: I continue to find ways to use less power than I did last year. I also continue to find more change in my change. I found this coin today in one of the two rolls of quarters I got from California Bank & Trust. I needed the change to do my laundry with. This means that I've found all five quarters that came out in 2013! Still looking for a Virgin Islands quarter from 2009, the Gettysburg quarter from 2011, the El Yanqui and Acadia quarters from 2012 and everything that comes out in 2014.

February 4, 2014: It's hard to think of anything cheaper the Texas Democrats could give us than an uncontested spot on the ballot! For sure the California Democrats avoid giving us that kind of opportunity.

February 27, 2014: These items both came in today's mail. I'm proud that my home uses less energy than the average efficient similar home, which is one of the more efficient categories of home that can be found around here. Yeah there are people that use less energy, but they are the exception. Yeah, that small a carbon footprint is more worthy of bragging rights than this, but mine is okay to. The problems are those consumers that use way more energy! Don't get me started on how opposed I am to having a gasoline bill on top of your power bill. Now I'm over seven years car free and still loving it!

April 19, 2014: I've finally found a complete set of 2011 quarters in my change! It only took two and a half years to get to the point where I could say that. The holdout was the Gettysburg quarter. I only found that in my change recently. Then it only took a week or two to get around to putting it up here.

May 5th, 2014: For years I've been pondering how to make a movement out of building a more sustainable world out of the one we've around us. Somewhere back there I figured out that pollution prevention is the holy grail of the environmental movement. About then I realized how theoretical the idea that Helium is a noble gas is. How many people are really tuned in to the practical implications of that? That idea crystallized somehow when I heard the phrase "low carbon lifestyle" on the local public broadcasting station. All of this update was done while the staff of that station were on the radio begging for money like politicians or consultants. I figure there is a good chance that the people behind those voices have larger carbon footprints than I do, but it's still not the extreme thing I really disapprove of. For that I like to point to the captains of industry that back the Republican Party. I wish they would get a clue.

June 2nd, 2014: Tomorrow I'm serving as an elections clerk in Palo Alto. Because of this, I voted on Saturday. In case you're curious, I voted Green for most of the partisan offices. That is except for Attorney General where I voted for the Libertarian, Insurance Commissioner where I voted Peace & Freedom, Member of the State Board of Equalization where I voted Democrat, United States Representative, where I voted Republican, and State Assembly member. where I voted Republican. On the initiatives I just said no because they all sounded like excuses to run up the public debt, and I'm tired of voting for that.

October 11th, 2014: I traded Katie that $3 coin for fair market value in greenbacks in Fairfax, California. Later the salmon was given me by someone tabling for the State Parks. They had temporary tattoos like that one for a lot of different good species that are currently threatened one way or another. Near the end of the day I pedaled all the way from there to Millbrae because of schedule comedy and a general desire to follow my nose thataway for a change. By the time I got to Millbrae I was very hungry. Went to the In-N-Out, where I got that Great Sand Dunes quarter in my change. I rode the train home from there, but it still added up to 66.6 miles of pedaling in one day.

October 19th, 2014: I opened my power bill while cleaning the accumulated stack of paper off the counter where I charge my NiMH batteries. Surprise, surprise! This "California Climate Credit" made my $23ish bill into a $7+ credit. Thank you California, or should I say "Thank you Governator Schwarzenegger!"?

November 3rd, 2014: I didn't inherit much from my father. A few boxes of books, a few items of clothing, a few nick knacks, and this account. I was leaving it alone, wondering what to do with the money. Then I got this statement. As you can see, USAA stole it. Yeah, I know they wouldn't put it that way. Something about "risk". As far as I'm concerned those two pennies I picked up in the Levis Stadium parking lot during the 49er game last weekend are worth more than that banks credibility. My advice is take your money out of USAA if they are holding it.