Seems the prevailing attitude is that the closer the spot is to the door, the better. As a domestic engineer with 1-3 little ones in tow, I find that the smarter way is to find a spot next to a cart corral.
I ALWAYS need a cart. Even if I'm only going in for a few things, I need the cart for the baby carrier, and it helps to corral the toddler. And when I've got a whole load of things, watch out. I also once read that the best way to load the car is to put the most precious cargo in first, so I always put the kids in the car, and then load the groceries into the trunk.
This means that I leave the kids in the car when I put away the cart. I have a slight paranoid tendency, born of too much tv, that makes me afraid to let the kids out of my sight for even the few moments it takes to return a cart to a corral. Don't want any serial kidnappers here in this quiet little farm town to hijack my car and sell my kids. So I park next to the cart corrals, because I don't have far to go to put the cart away. And if the weather's nice and I catch a break, there just might be one of those monster carts that look like cars for the kids right there when I pull in.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Education
For a while now, I've been thinking about my engineering education, and feeling a little bummed because I wasn't using it. That is, until I realized that although I don't deal with metals and materials like I was trained in, I am an engineer.
To me, engineering is simply designing the best way to accomplish a certain task, optimizing all resources in the process. Running a household and raising children is the task, money, time, energy, and intelligence are the basic resources. There are sub-tasks involved, such as creating fun, economical Halloween costumes, or covering those disgusting dining room chairs (seriously, cushioned dining chairs do not go well with kids).
And although I talk about optimizing resources, tasks, and processes, the most important outcome of my work is the joy and love shared in this family, as we work toward our eternal goals.
This site is going to be an outlet for my engineering results. So many times when I'm working on a project, I'm thinking to myself how much I want to 'show and tell'. So that's what this is. Hopefully it'll be interesting, with projects I complete, time and money saving ideas I come across, whatever. We'll see; I know it will evolve as I go along, because I evolve.
To me, engineering is simply designing the best way to accomplish a certain task, optimizing all resources in the process. Running a household and raising children is the task, money, time, energy, and intelligence are the basic resources. There are sub-tasks involved, such as creating fun, economical Halloween costumes, or covering those disgusting dining room chairs (seriously, cushioned dining chairs do not go well with kids).
And although I talk about optimizing resources, tasks, and processes, the most important outcome of my work is the joy and love shared in this family, as we work toward our eternal goals.
This site is going to be an outlet for my engineering results. So many times when I'm working on a project, I'm thinking to myself how much I want to 'show and tell'. So that's what this is. Hopefully it'll be interesting, with projects I complete, time and money saving ideas I come across, whatever. We'll see; I know it will evolve as I go along, because I evolve.
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