Friday, November 25, 2011

Misc.

Why would anyone stand in line in cold and snow at midnight to get into a store to buy stuff?  They are slaves to consumerism foisted on us by corporate America I guess.  Remember when the economy melted down in 2008 and President bush said that people just needed to go out and shop some more?  As if that was going to fix things when everyone was already in debt up to their lower lips.  I suppose some people get some fulfillment from buying stuff and apparently deals can be abundant.  It just seems over the top.

In my old double standard dilemma I do my consumer overspending from the comfort of my I-Mac.  Maybe I should join the social madness and get a little more exercise and combat training.  It might be good for me.  Who knows?

This is a picture of our daughter Noelle at Christmas time back in 1992 with our Christmas tree.   Now the big debate around here is whether to buy a new artificial Christmas tree.  Our old one was, well old.  The lights were not working and it was a labor intensive thing to put up.  A new one would have to be an easier one to haul out and set up.  Bobbi has been shopping around for a new one but they are pricey.  Since we may not be here for Christmas I suggested we wait for the last minute sales prices and get one for next year.  We still put up many other decorations. With few kids around this year I wonder if it is even necessary.  I probably won't win this argument.



2 comments:

Karly said...

Hi Jim, we were doing some research on this today, and it looks like real Christmas trees may be, surprisingly, more environmentally friendly than artificial. The latter are made in China of PVC (possibly THE most toxic plastic) and often lead, and will sit in a landfill for eternity when we replace them every 10-15 years. If you can get a local tree from a responsible grower, it may be a (literally) greener solution. And it will smell fantastic!

Anonymous said...

I was in Gallup at 4:30 a.m. and people were lined up outside a Big Lots store. I didn't get it. Isn't Big Lots short for Big Store With Lots Of Stuff Nobody Else Could Sell?

Later I tried making that case to the assistant manager of the Bealls in Farmington. I was making a delivery and she had come to let me in the back door. She said, 'Oh I don't know. I saw their flyer and they've got some pretty good deals.'

She was in a tizzy. They had been swamped since 6 a.m. with people wanting to buy $200 projectors for $49, and woman's boots. Ten minutes after they opened, the store was a big mess from people taking the wadded up paper out of woman's boots and throwing it everywhere.

There's a Big Lots at the end of my street, at Coors. I shop there quite a bit. Occasionally they have what I'm looking for. I buy it and go home unfulfilled. Usually they don't have what I want, and I just go home unfulfilled, but I congratulate myself for sticking to my budget.

But yes, we are a sick people. Enough was spent today to balance the budget, pay for tax breaks for the 1 percent and the 99 percent, pay off the mortgages of everyone who's been foreclosed on, including those who got subprime loans, and to buy everyone who defaulted on a subprime loan a Cadillac and put all their illegitimate children through Harvard University, and to put every illegal immigrant and their children on welfare and Medicare for a year, and I have not heard one Republican howling about it.