The Hyperbolic Pants Explosion

Blogger Problems

2005-09-20T21:16:00.000-05:00

Trying to update, but Blogger seems to be experiencing some problems. Don't even know if I'll be able to post this, actually.

Heart Melting

2005-09-18T22:36:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's just because I have cats and I can not imagine what I would do if I had to leave them, but this picture just melts me.

Better yet, you choose.

2005-09-18T14:45:00.000-05:00

Instead of making an executive decision to refunnel all donations to another organization, I'm just going to throw it open to each of you. Those who would like to see their donation go to the Red Cross will have their wishes honored, and those who would like to see it go to another worthy organization will also have their wishes honored.

Here is how this will work: You choose your organization from the list below, and I send your $10 to that organization. You will also choose a second and third choice as backups.

Why are backups necessary? My employer's matching funds only kick in with a minimum $25 donation. That means 3 people will have to earmark their donations ($30) to any one organization for the matching funds to mean anything. If you list three organizations, chances are one of them will get enough "votes."

If you've already ordered, you can communicate your wishes via e-mail (I'll be sending out an e-mail to all of you with details). If you haven't yet ordered, you can specify your wishes in the additional comments field that Paypal offers on the payment page or you can also just e-mail me. If an order comes in unspecified, I'll contact that person for their wishes.

Keep in mind that only non-religious, non-political, registered 501(c)(3) non-profit charities are eligible for matching funds, so there are some very worthy organizations who have to be left off this list.

You can click on any of these organizations to find out more about them.

American Red Cross
.

America's Second Harvest
.

Best Friends Hurricane Relief Fund
(Animal Rescue)
.

CitiHope International
.

Direct Relief
.

Feed the Children
(They describe themselves as a Christian organization, so I will have to check to see if they're matching fund eligible.)
.

Foundations for Recovery
(a collaboration of The Baton Rouge Area Foundation and The Greater New Orleans Foundation)
.

Global Lifeguards Hurricane Katrina Emergency Workers Relief Fund
(Cares for emergency relief workers and volunteers and their families.)
.

Habitat for Humanity
(Also a Christian ecumenical organization. I'll check on eligibility.)
.

Humane Society of the United States
(Animal Rescue)
.

Institute for Marine Mammal Studies
(Based in Gulfport, MS. Completely destroyed and must rebuild.)
.

International Medical Corps
.

The International Rescue Committee
.

K.I.D.S (Kids in Distressed Situations)
.

Louisiana SPCA
(Animal Rescue)
.

Mercy Corps
.

NAACP Disaster Relief Fund
.

Next of Kin Registry
(Helps dispersed victims find each other.)
.

Noah's Wish
(Animal Rescue)
.

Pan American Health and Education Foundation Hurricane Katrina Disaster Fund
.

Preservation Hall New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund
.

Save the Children USA
.

United Way
.

America's Second Harvest

2005-09-18T12:05:00.000-05:00

Update:
I've had third thoughts after my second thoughts. You can now just choose which charity you want your money to go to from a list of charities doing hurricane relief. Details here.

Original post:

I have been struggling with all the stories I've been hearing about problems getting help from the Red Cross in the hardest hit areas of the Gulf. Disaster recovery is excruciatingly difficult work, and organizing and executing it is the proverbial herculean task. I'm inclined to give organizations the benefit of the doubt until they demonstrate some evidence of real negligence (FEMA, anyone?).

But this thread is sort of a last straw for me with the Red Cross, and not because it's any particular degree worse than any of the other stories that have been drifting around, but because enough is enough. I want to give where the dollars seem most effective.

Money is pouring into the Red Cross in great waterfalls of green right now. They're not going to miss our $1260 (or whatever the final tally is going to be). The Red Cross is well-supported. But, because the push to donate to the Red Cross is so ubiquitous, I'd be willing to bet that other worthy organizations are not seeing nearly the same percentage increase in their donations. Why not give where the giving matters more?

Therefore, unless the overwhelming majority of you who have already "donated" through the purchase of Casey and Orleans bracelets wish otherwise, my intent is to redirect the donations to

America's Second Harvest

Here is their general mission statement:

The mission of America's Second Harvest is to create a hunger-free America. We distribute food and grocery products through a nationwide network of certified affiliates, increase public awareness of domestic hunger, and advocate for policies that benefit America's hungry.

Our network includes more than 200 food banks and food-rescue organizations, serving every county in the U.S. The effectiveness and operating efficiency of this network depends on the cooperation of food banks, food-rescue organizations, service agencies, donors, and national programs.

Food banks serve people in need by securing and storing surplus food and distributing it through their own network of local service agencies. Food-rescue organizations often operate within a shorter time-frame, picking up and delivering perishable foods on a single run. A number of America's Second Harvest affiliates secure and distribute food in their local community through both of these methods.

In particular, their home page documents their Katrina efforts, and you can find a bit more Katrina relief details here.

I will be e-mailing those who have already made donations through the purchase of bracelets to see if anyone has any major objections to the switch, but I suspect there won't be many. If necessary, I will split the donations that have already come in.

Update! $1260 raised for hurricane relief!

2005-09-14T21:51:00.000-05:00

So, the orders page is finally updated!

63 bracelets were ordered between 8/29 and 9/14 (today). That's $630 plus the $630 kicked in by my employer's matching funds program.

$1260! Woot!

How high can we kick that total?

PS
New supplies have arrived, so the few from this past week that haven't been shipped yet, will soon be on their way.

Actually almost caught up!

2005-09-12T21:23:00.000-05:00

For real!

Anything ordered before 9/7 has either already been shipped or will be shipped tomorrow. The last few stragglers in the inbox will be out by Saturday probably, depending on when my new shipment of supplies comes in.

Everything would be shipped by tomorrow but for the fact that the place I order supplies from sent me a bag of <2mm round sterling silver beads mislabeled as 2.5 mm sterling silver beads.

Honey, Pants knows the difference between 2mm balls and 2.5mm balls. <snap>

La Belle Ville Orleans

2005-09-02T20:36:00.000-05:00

La Belle Ville Orleans: Sterling Silver and Glass
All proceeds go to the Red Cross
$15
(click to see larger view)

The Beautiful City, Orleans.

The colors of Mardi Gras. The colors of hope.

The money from this bracelet will forever go to the effort to rebuild New Orleans and care for its people. For now: The Red Cross.

Because my employer does matching donations, the $15 you spend on this bracelet will actually mean $20 goes to the Red Cross. $15 = 1 bracelet + $20 donation to the Red Cross. Hard to beat that.

New domain, caseybracelet.com has been registered, but is not live yet. The new site will allow me to more easily maintain the recordkeeping and information part of this. I'll let you know when it is ready.

Big Casey bracelet shipment goes out Tuesday.

Thoughts and prayers are with everyone hurting right now.

Meet Operation Truth and the Red Cross

2005-08-29T22:54:00.000-05:00

Now that we've reached the end of Cindy's time in Crawford, ongoing donations will be split between Gold Star Families for Peace (as before) and Operation Truth.

Operation Truth is the largest Iraq war veterans organization, and it is dedicated to telling the truth about the war from the veterans' perspective.

[Many thanks, of course, go to the Crawford Peace House for all the hard work they put in supporting Cindy's Crawford protest. Please bookmark them and remember to send them a few dollars every once in awhile. They've earned it.]

However...
In the wake of the awful devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, I would like to propose that the switch to Operation Truth be delayed for a month in favor of making donations to the Red Cross. If anybody has strong objections to sending September's donations to the Red Cross, please let me know.

Men's Casey Bracelet is Here!

2005-08-29T22:30:00.000-05:00

The Men's Casey Bracelet is here and ready to order.

They're $5 more than the original bracelets because material and shipping costs will be greater. This price should still allow us to approach the $10/per bracelet donation to the charities.

I have six Size 8.5 bracelets~~, and one Size 9.5 bracelet~~ made and ready to ship. After that, the turnaround time will be a little slower on the men's, as they take twice as long to make

Click the images below to order the size you want. (There are no extra small sizes because this design doesn't lend itself well to children's sizes.)

Casey "Men's" Size: 7"

Casey "Men's" Size: 7-1/2" (fits most women)

Casey "Men's" Size: 8"

Casey "Men's" Size: 8-1/2" (fits most men)

Casey "Men's" Size: 9"

Casey "Men's" Size: 9-1/2"

Casey Original Size: 7-3/8"
This is a very thin design with a generous fit. Fits like a comfortable 7-1/2".

Making some adjustments

2005-08-29T22:12:00.000-05:00

Stay tuned.

New Orleans

2005-08-28T12:57:00.000-05:00

I'm really worried about the potential disaster facing New Orleans. If the absolute worst happens, would anyone mind very much if I diverted part of the donations for September's orders to relief efforts?

Sneak Peak: Men's Casey Bracelet

2005-08-27T21:03:00.000-05:00

Due to popular request, I've been working up a "men's" version of the Casey bracelet, though anyone could wear it, of course. It's just a little weightier and less sparkly.

Click for a larger view.

It's goldstone, sodalite, and sterling silver, with a black leather band.

It's not ready for ordering yet. I still need to figure out how much the materials are going to cost, so I can know how to price it. I suspect it will have to be more than the original.

What do you think?

Another week, another set of orders

2005-08-26T20:05:00.000-05:00

Another work week down. My good boss left today, leaving behind only the bad boss. So sad!

A number of new Casey orders came in over the course of this week. I'll be putting those together this weekend.

I'm also working on a men's version.

Also also, I still have to gather all the receipts and expenses from the first run and get a "final" accounting together.

Busy weekend!

And then there was today.

2005-08-23T22:28:00.000-05:00

Pardon the interruption.

I had to kick my roommate out today for not paying his rent. Not literally. I mean, not even the figurative literal meaning. What I mean is, I informed him in fairly blunt words that he needed to spend this week looking for another apartment because he won't be living in mine come September.

And then I spent the day at work worrying about whether he might be trashing my place or kicking my cats or whatever. And then I came home (cats and place OK) and spent the evening making up flyers to post for a new roommate.

I hate having to be the bad guy. Even though I'm really not the bad guy at all here.

As terrified as I am about how I'm going to pay the rent in September, though, I feel immensely relieved at finally having made the decision to get him out of my home. Who needs to live with that stress?

I think I'm going to sleep pretty well tonight.

PS:
Finally got around to adding a permanent link to the Orders page over on the menu to the right. It's updated as of tonight.

Yes, you can still order bracelets

2005-08-23T18:01:00.000-05:00

People have been asking if it's still OK to order bracelets, even though we've completed (mostly) the original run of 100.

The answer is "Definitely!"

I'm going to be a little more low-key about it. Not so much publicity. I probably won't devote any more diaries to it at Daily Kos, for example. The pace of the last couple of weeks has been intense. But, I don't mind making more of them at all! If you want one, please go ahead and order one! I will continue to post updates and keep public track of everything as best I can right here.

Also, a quick update:
The entire first run has shipped, including the shipment to Crawford, which I mailed from deep in the heart of Red America today. Did you know the post office does not deliver overnight to Crawford? It really must be in the middle of nowhere!

Cindy's Package is Ready to Go

2005-08-22T23:56:00.000-05:00

So, all of the sponsored bracelets and, of course, Cindy's special bracelet (with an extra sterling silver star hanging from the clasp), are packaged up and will be traveling overnight to Crawford.

Along with the bracelets, I have also included the printouts of the Paypal payment pages from the donations that have gone to Gold Star Families for Peace and The Crawford Peace House.

Which brings me to this... more donations!

Tonight I sent another $200 via Paypal to CPH. Gold Star Families for Peace will also get another $200, but they're no longer using Paypal for their donations, so I'll have to get the $200 from my Paypal account before I can then give it to GSFP.

Donation pictures and budget stuff tomorrow, kids. I spent all evening wrestling with my printer. After a year (yes, a year) I finally got the damn HP Deskjet 5850 wireless printer to communicate with Macintosh OSX. Seriously. Google it. Widespread horror stories.

Anyway, I gotta sleep!

All Ready to Go

2005-08-21T22:48:00.000-05:00

All of the remaining bracelets have now been packaged and will be mailed out tomorrow!

Now that I have all that taken care of, I can get back to the business of accounting. I have a number of receipts to document (more supplies, all the shipping, etc.), and add to the total material costs. Once I've done that, I can figure out how much the second set of donations to GSFP and CPH will be and then make the transfer through Paypal (which I will, of course, post here).

This has been a lot of work, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Postal Service Snafu

2005-08-20T20:17:00.000-05:00

Argh!

So, while I was mailing some more packages, I noticed the postal service employee behind the desk was ringing up a price that was significantly different than it was when I mailed the first batch using their automated postal station (basically a kiosk with a scale that weighs your package and spits out a postage sticker).

I asked the clerk about it and she said that the padded envelopes weren't machine readable, so there's an additional fee on them. Of course, it doesn't indicate this anywhere on or in the automated kiosk, nor is there anywhere in the software to allow you to indicate what shape your package is.

The clerk seemed to think that all those packages I mailed using the automated kiosk (the first 20 or so) will either be returned to me, or will arrive COD.

If yours arrives COD, I truly apologize. I put the postage on it that the kiosk said it needed. It shouldn't be more than about 10 cents.

If it gets returned to me, I'll e-mail you and get it back in the mail the next day.

I'll e-mail everyone whose packages went out that day a heads up tomorrow.

Shipping Status Now on Order List

2005-08-20T03:53:00.000-05:00

I've added a column to the Order List so you can see which packages have shipped, and which are packaged and ready to go.

Still have to photograph the USPS receipts. When I do, I'll link them to the Shipped column.

Shipping Update

2005-08-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

Shipped a whole bunch of packages today, and have some more going out tomorrow.

Will post the receipts with the zip codes tomorrow after work.

Boulder, Colorado

2005-08-18T03:56:00.000-05:00

Sheehan Vigil #5
Originally uploaded by spincycle.

DSC_2688
Originally uploaded by scottyallen.

Another Mother and Son

2005-08-18T00:57:00.000-05:00

mom and son
Originally uploaded by zepplin.

At the vigil in Thousand Oaks.

Cindy Sheehan Vigils

2005-08-17T21:54:00.000-05:00

America Stands with Cindy
Originally uploaded by Randal Dean.

Vigils all around the country tonight. I'm sorry I wasn't able to be at the one in Evanston, but I hear it was wonderful. Got good local news coverage, too.

Orders Updated

2005-08-17T21:46:00.000-05:00

Orders from Monday night and Tuesday have been added to the list.

We're at 97!

Order list will be updated later today

2005-08-17T02:50:00.000-05:00

Ugh, peeps. I got some sort of stomach ickiness (I'm betting on a really mild case of food poisoning, which I seem to get if a microbe even looks at me funny). I've e-mailed in sick to work, so I'll be around on Wednesday. I'll be putting together packages, making more bracelets, and updating the orders list with all the orders that came in Monday night and Tuesday. And, of course, consuming lots of fluids (and maybe not much else).