human interaction with various plants

Today I learned that biodiesel costs about $2 more per gallon than regular diesel, so only people with a serious commitment to the environment are likely to buy it right now. In completely unrelated news, you can keep berries in the fridge longer if you put them in scalding water first, which kills the mold.

it might not be the government

Today I learned that a fiberglass manufacturer near the Air Force base has been fined by the EPA for releasing too much styrene into the air over the course of several years, and inhaling styrene is supposed to make people sick. I am not at all surprised that inhaling styrene makes people sick since I can't even drink cold water from innocuous-looking clear styrene (#6) fast-food cups, but there was this EI a few years ago who was getting into trouble near the base, and the Air Force was denying everything. Since we expect the government to lie to us, it likely never occurred to anyone she discussed the problem with that they could be telling the truth, not that we have any way of knowing who caused what at this point.

went shopping

Today I learned that if I wear a mask to the outlets, I can be in there long enough to buy real clothes for ridiculously tiny amounts of money. In extremely related news:

• I now understand the art of changing shirts over a half-face respirator.
• I can't go shopping two days in a row, mask or no mask.
• Either the fashion world really moved on these last 4 1/2 years or I dressed really conservatively before I got sick. I recognize pretty much nothing blouse-wise that isn't just as boring as my solid-color t-shirts that I didn't have to try on.

So all I got was a bunch of bras. They are very much superior to the comparably-priced bras you can get at Target without trying them on.