Candor Creek

Oooooh. This is a home water distiller. I got it about a month and a half ago and, after slowly introducing the resulting water into my diet, found my first safe alternative to the only brand of distilled water I could regularly drink. I'm quite proud of it. For over a decade I've only tolerated distilled water for drinking and cooking (and I should be brushing my teeth with it, but I wanted to keep costs down) due to reacting to additives and impurities in tap or normal bottled water. I even struggled with other brands of distilled; my theory on this point was some sort of post-distillation filtration (normal forms of filtration are a known issue for me). Buying all those bottles of water meant that I essentially had a guaranteed monthly bill of around $40/mo for clean, drinkable water. That doesn't sound like a lot unless you have to live on disability and the meager amount of food benefits you do get don't cover the *water* expenses you have due to your dis...

Thanksgiving spread at the pantry. Dear everyone in my homeroom in my high school during the late 90s: I liked food drives, and they were my favorite part of being your homeroom representative my junior year. There were two reasons, however, that I'd make a very large point of asking you to check your food dates and go out and get a few new items - maybe one can each, ones that you might like - rather than getting your parents to clean out the cupboard during our various collections. First, regardless of faith or philosophy, the "do unto others" thing is a central tenant in most of them and, as a Catholic school, this concept was never far from our eyes and ears. Beyond that, I've always believed one should treat others with respect and dignity - waitresses, cashiers, janitors - because it could be you or someone you care about in that situation someday. (What you didn't know is that, before the boxes went to local pantries or families, I sorted every box...