the greener side

Hopping along

Here are some other stories I did, not long before joining the ranks of more than 2 million Americans laid off in 2008.

How to get thrown into a Chinese prison

Green graffiti makes paint-free protests

Gadget trade-in services that pay off

'Buy Nothing Day' a sign of the times?

Going solar? 7 sites map your plans

Hybrid makeovers help owners dump the pump

Review with video: USB Cell AA batteries

Review with video: Medis 24/7 fuel cell power pack

Video recorded live: Green-powered gadgets

Review with video: Adobe Creative Suite 4 (plus Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks)

Photos: Solar players show off their wares

Building a 'greener' flashlight with photo gallery: Let there be light off the grid

Tech companies aim to untangle power supplies

Retailers adopting renewable energy

'Green' gadgets need better labeling, report says

Solar grants sweeten San Francisco for start-ups

Better Place eyes $1 billion electric-car network for Bay Area

LCD making worse for environment than coal?

Chemists brew 'greener' fireworks

As gas costs climb, driving dwindles

In the theatre world they tell you to break a leg. But I'm in journalism, so I mixed it up and broke the left ankle instead, then shredded the ligaments in the leg for added drama. I was down for a little while, but not out. Stay tuned for updates to come.

Sustainable: single-income family?

My grandmother Elsie Louise Jacobson (nee Busching, 1910-2008) waited in a line snaking longer than a block one Chicago morning to apply to a secretarial job during the Great Depression.

She got the job, at Harry Atkinson in advertising. She's behind the table here.

In a family of six children, she was the only one to work for some time while unemployment was in the double digit percentages. Her sister, Gertrude, was accepted by the University of Chicago--as a woman, please note--but could not afford to go.

The family instead prioritized money to pay for their brother to attend the same school. Funds set aside for that purpose vanished overnight in a bank mere days after being deposited.

Three generations of this family continued to  live together under one roof for at least three more decades. They feasted together--not hungry a single night, Gertrude said.