THE AMERICAN ECONOMY and THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

We really are still here!
WE ARE INTERESTED IN COMMENTS ABOUT THE AMERICAN ECONOMY and THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.

Are you personally doing well financially?
Is the cost of living in your area making it impossible for you to save money though you're employed? (What part of the country are you living in?)
When it comes to PAID WORK, are you working two or three jobs?
Have you delayed having children or limited the number of children you have, because you can't afford them?

Are you satisfied with what the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION has done for your personal finances?

LET US KNOW!

HELLO

We just wanted to let our readers know that we are still around.
We still hold to the same economic and political philosophy.
We still do whatever we can to buy American products and services, from our dog food and treats and our own food, to clothing and everything else we buy.  It isn't always easy and like YOU we are challenged financially to do so.  But we believe in our country first, the countries that are our allies second, with a keen eye for the rights of people living in other countries as well.


Thanks For Checking In With Us!

THANKSGIVING GREETINGS!

So much that we are Thankful for

has to do with Prosperity,

the Opportunities that Come

with being able to afford our lives.

THE UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES

THE UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION...

We've been reading around the subject more than we ever have in previous election years.  We know that as much as we think of the United States economy as a most important issue, that there are many other issues that are also important.  We know some people think we should take a very strong stand and choose one of those who wishes to win the next Presidential Election to help his or her process along but we refrain.

Instead, we encourage you to listen to the candidates and ask these questions.

Which candidate will represent the United States of America and its interests most effectively with foreign leaders in this world?

Which candidate would, having it his or her way, keep American jobs in America and RETURN jobs that left America back here?

Which candidate will preserve the programs that keep our poor in housing, in housing, in education, and in jobs?

STARTING OUT THE NEW YEAR RIGHT

RINGING IN THE NEW

OUR HOME HOLIDAYS IN THE UNITED STATES - LESS EFFORT - MORE TIME

This holiday season we have decided to cut back on not so much because of finances but because we find ourselves with not enough time. 

This year our outdoor lights are just around our front door. 

We have two very small trees indoors with ornaments; we've left most of our decorations unpacked.

We are sending Christmas cards today, in paper envelope with stamps.  We won't be e-mailing or electronically transferring greetings. We are not participating in any business oriented holiday gifting.  There is plenty of time throughout the year to remember people, especially on their birthdays, and to do networking and promotions.  We're not afraid we will loose anyone.  We figure they are just as tired and in need of down time as we are. 

We've decided not to deal with Fridays or Mondays or Purchasing on Line for bargains.  We decided that we can and should buy any and all food, drink, and gifts for this season within walking distance to our home.  We get the dog, walk to the store, walk back with what we can carry.

We went to the library and brought home some wonderful holiday music on CD's.  Some classical music, a jazz Christmas album, and one by Josh Groban.  We have these playing  We love the original Grinch Who Stole Christmas and Charlie Brown Christmas television shows but we aren't going to bring home rentals or library films with Christmas themes.

Our simple gifts are not stockings but REAL SOCKS.  We're buying nice ones that will last (finding ones made in the USA and local hasn't been easy) and filling them with the Old Fashioned and Simple things like fresh oranges, rolls of Life Saver candy, Real Money, but not gift certificates or cards.

Some time between Christmas eve and Christmas night we will call a few long distance relatives to touch base.

We are not depressed just stressed and cutting back on our participation in what has become a materialistic rather than spiritual time of year.

If you're reading this, it is our hope that we can all look forward to something so sadly rare in today's world; PEACE and with that, QUIET!

SHOPPING AGAINST THE WIND

FOR PEACE and PLENTY OF PROSPERITY

ECOSMART ANT and ROACH KILLER - SAFE but does it really work as advertised?

ECOSMART.COM  Manufactured in Rosewell, Georgia, USA
Active ingredients are peppermint oil, rosemary oil, and 97% other such as water, 2 propanol, wintergreen oil, white mineral oil, etc....

 

We bought a can of this stuff.  We wanted to kill the insects and not sicken and die ourselves.  We didn't want our dog to get sick either.  

 

Unfortunately the "INSTANTLY" part about how it kills ants and roaches is NOT TRUE.  We targeted them and sprayed and watched them flip over and try to live.  Some of them managed to keep running and disappear.  We did spray around the underside of the sinks but have no reason to believe this was a deterrent since a spray can later, we still have the problem.  The INSTANTLY mattered to us.  We wanted the least suffering.  We didn't really want to kill anything but damn, TALKING to the tiny critters about how they had to live OUTSIDE didn't seem to work.

 

When you spray all this OILY stuff out, it smells good if you like intense minty smells.  It also slightly coats your finger from the button.  You can feel the tingle and YOU MUST WASH YOUR HANDS RIGHT AWAY - thoroughly - or you will possibly touch your face, your mouth, your eyes, just as human's do, unthinking.  So we would walk into the kitchen or bathroom at night, grab the bottle, spray, and then wash our hands.  We thought, OK it's only temporary.  But other than the smell, we think this product is a pain in the butt and doesn't really deal with the problem.

 

By the way, before we tried this, we tried the cheap $1 for two boxes of glue attractant, and watched as the insects went into shock that they were so stupid to be stuck and tried to pull their limbs out.  Looking in there, all dead or dying is awful.  Some actually got away amputated... that's how much they wanted to live.  We also mixed up simple boric acid with powdered sugar, but it soon lost it's powder due to humidity.  So what we have now are those "hotels" that say that the insects go in, eat, and take it back to the nest. 

 

We shall see!

We're actually hoping that all the SPIDERS who moved in this summer will eat the other bugs for us, or at least scare them.

 

Review by PATRIOTIC PURCHASE BLOGSPOT

All Rights Reserved

OUR PILE OF CHEAP BROKEN CHINESE CRAP - IN THE LANDFILL FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS

We're tempted to start piling up all the cheap broken Chinese crap we've bought, take a photo of it, and then set it on fire. 

But we won't.

Sufficient to say, we too, though we try NOT to, have bought cheap things that are made in China, even from American based companies and other European countries that import manufactured goods from China.  Sometimes you have to look at the packaging real hard to find out that some or all of the product was made in China.  For instance we've found notations that something was made in China of American made parts.  Or something was made in the United States from China-made parts.  Or something was made in the United States but one part of it - say the lids of a pot - were imported from China.

But whatever it is, the Chinese-made part or the Chinese-made whole, it breaks or falls apart quickly.
And belongs on our pile, for photographing, and setting on fire.

We won't set the stuff on fire.  We won't even make a pile.  WHY NOT?

Because we DO CARE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT which means that we put everything we can in the proper recycling bins.  We take batteries to a drop off at the library.  We wait for special events to turn in light bulbs, nail polish, small electronics, etc.  So no smoking toxic fires for us or our neighbors to breath.  And no clutter waiting in the basement.

BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU BUY SOMETHING THAT LASTS ONE USE OF A FEW WEEKS and you throw it into the recycling bin?  At best it gets segregated out and is possibly sold to those who can use some or all of it's parts or remake the plastics and metals.  (In our neighborhood old TV sets are often broken into and smashed before the garbage pick up comes.)  

THE REST GOES INTO LANDFILLS where it can take hundreds of years for the buried items to turn into something resembling dust.  This is true of newspapers.  This is true of hot dogs.  This is particularly true of PLASTICS.   So when you buy crap, it also costs us all in garbage related fees.

SOME THINGS WE BOUGHT, made in CHINA, that broke fast.

A plunger.  It had a sturdy wood turned handle and we couldn't imagine that the rubbery head of it would break after the second use.  (We're trying to find a garden use for the handle.)

Hair clips - the kind with a spring and teeth - to keep hair back when swimming.  The set of 12 broke the teeth easily.  We got about 2 uses for each clip before it broke.  So badly made actually using them broke them.

Umbrellas.   We lost our $40 at purchase, heavy duty old fashioned American made umbrella.  So after having a few break after one good wind or rain that we had purchased for under $5, we bought $1 ones that did the same.   We're trying to figure out a way to reuse the fabric.

C 2015  Patriotic Purchase BlogSpot  All Rights Reserved

IS IT TRUMP VERSUS SANDERS? : RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT FAR AHEAD OF THE ELECTION

We wouldn't be patriotic citizens of the United States of America if we had no interest in the election of our President, if we had no idea who are elected officials are, or if we didn't bother to reach out to them once in a while.

Over the last few months we reached out to a local representative of our City Council over a myriad of problems from street services to graffiti, to the ecology of local parks, and other matters more personal.  This is a City Council member who we elected, someone who we have heard speak at patriotic holiday events and a police picnic in a park.  He's a likeable fellow but his staff must be overwrought.  After we typed out a list of our concerns and personally presented them to a staff member who appeared to be interested in going over the list, making some phone calls that we could not, and a promise of getting back with us in a couple months to go over it, we were stunned when our next visit went so badly.

We had feared that our own business had delayed us in getting back with her and we hoped that all that extra time would mean a better report, but instead IT BECAME CLEAR THAT NOTHING MUCH AT ALL HAD HAPPENED.  She told us to become a member of a local neighborhood watch type web site - a social networking deal - where, apparently, neighbors complain and comment (but don't roll up their sleeves), and claimed (though we have a photocopy showing it right there) that she didn't even have our e-mail address.  First of all referring people out to a social networking community web site EXCLUDES ALL THE PEOPLE - particularly seniors - who do not have typing or computer skills (or whose arthritis prevents them from typing) - cannot afforded or do not have access to computers - and people who simply do not have the time to do so.  Further, she told us to call 311.  We've called 311 and gotten referrals that turned out to be incorrect - real time wasters.

So we are totally turned off.

But we did call back with this one question:  "WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A CITY COUNCIL OFFICE and STAFF.  WHY WOULD WE CALL YOU?"

When we originally asked to speak to this elected official in person we were told his office was downtown and he only met with people one day a week.  We feel as if his office staff is not following through and keeping us from him.

SO NO MORE EVENTS WHERE HE WILL APPEAR FOR US... and... we'll see who is running, but we may not vote for him again.

So we note the state of our next Presidential Election here in the United States of America.   We've read hundreds of news reports off our cell phone news aps and in the newspapers and magazines to be as well rounded in our reading as we can be.  It sometimes seems as if the vote will be for Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders.  We're not socialists, but we do think this Capitalist Country, if it really were being run on "Christian" principals, would take care of the entire population including those poorer than us. Is it really going to be CAPITALISM versus SOCIALISM?

We were cheered to see some CITIZEN ACTIVISTS holding signs "Honk if you're for Bernie" on a busy intersection.  We were glad SOMEONE WAS OUT THERE.  But we didn't hear much honking.

Along with DONALD TRUMP it seems that POLITICAL CORRECTNESS is coming into question.  The ultra-rich Trump seems to be unconcerned with what saying something unpopular or in an unpopular way is doing to his reputation.  He's theme seems to be "You can't argue with Success."



C 2015  Patriotic Purchase BlogSpot  All Rights Reserved including International and Internet Rights.

BUYING PUMPKINS

FREE SEEDS and PLANTS -- GARDENING and HARVESTING IN A TIME OF DROUGHT - GLEANERS

There are so many people here applying for money to let their grass lawns die and instead plant drought tolerant plants, along with putting down gravel, stone, and wood chips, in order to save water, that our Water and Electric companies have closed the list for lack of enough essential funding.

Some people are still allowing some or all of their properties to go unwatered, thinking that if God intends there to be rain it will rain and save what plant (and animal?  and human?) life He intends to let live, others are praying for rain as a kind of Mass-Mind-Metaphysical experiment (and we keep thinking pray for just an inch or so at a time so that we don't have landslides, house slides, and road slides!).  When a sprinkler extends over the sidewalk and into the street and a pond forms, we think what waste, but we also see that the birds, especially crows, are landing and making use of it as if it were a pond.

While we have cut our shower time and are flushing not as often, we are still watering our small flower and herb garden, much of which exists because of FREE SEEDS, every other day.

Seems every time we go to a mini convention about LIVING GREEN, be it about drought tolerant gardens or solar panels, or whatever, some booth is giving out packages of free seeds.  Some of these seeds are from NATIVE PLANTS, and we're having some success with those.

It's not just that the blooming plant is a reward, it's that our little garden has been found by bees, hummingbirds, crickets, grasshoppers, and various caterpillars (which we hope will become butterflies) that are dining out on our plants, probably because they are desperate.  Other yards have been more lush in the recent past, and are now dead or dying.

The other day, one of our neighbors decided to uproot his decorative bulbs, because he is going to plant some version of a Victory Garden.  While he contemplates what vegetables will love his naturally sandy soil, we wonder if his water bill will make planting one's own vegetables an act of reason.

Here in California the lack of water resources is being blamed on two crops - almonds and medical marijuana.  But citrus trees have always taken a lot of water to grow and result in fruit and most yards have one.  Many yards have one grapefruit, one lemon, one lime, a cumquat, an avocado, and some have olives or apricots.   These trees were planted back in the day when people from colder climates moved to California and imagined having their own orchard, never having to buy from a store again.

AND NOW A LOT OF THESE YARDS GO NEGLECTED, so a volunteer harvester group is willing to come and take away the fruit to food banks!  A wonderful idea, wherever you are, so that food (and water) do not go to waste.

VILLAGE HARVEST ORG  is one such organization.

FREE PLANT NET is another organization that intends to spread plant life around FREE.

ARE YOU A CITIZEN ACTIVIST IN YOUR OWN TOWN? CONSERVING WATER IN DROUGHT IS PATRIOTIC!

We consider to be Citizen Activists here at PATRIOTIC PURCHASE.  We wonder how many of our readers also consider themselves to be Activists for their own town.  Besides attending City Council Meetings and so on, there are always little things you can do to support your community that don't take as much time or responsibility.  Like most people, especially with children, you may find yourself always trying to catch up, weeks behind on your lists of things you should do.

We find RECYCLING to be an activity that contributes to the well being of our country and our planet, as is COMPOSTING, having a small vegetable "Victory" garden, and CUTTING BACK YOUR WATER USE IN THIS DROUGHT.

  This video mentions desalinization as a very expensive possible answer.

In our area the public swimming pools are filled, but most of the water fountains are shut down.  People are reporting their neighbors who are wasting water by hosing down driveways and sidewalks and are letting their grass lawns die off.

You can still have some green around you for we and the insects and other animals still do need water - or they will come into your house seeking it.  We can water plants in pots and trees around their base.

Using Grey Water to water outdoors is a great idea.

Grey Water is rinse water that has biodegradable detergents or just a small amount of detergent left in it. 

When we rinse out or coffee or tea pot we take that water and pour it in one of our outdoor plants in pots.  When we change out the water in our dog's bowl, we take that outside as well.  We are hand washing more since the clothing can dry out easily in the summer heat.  We don't want to leave the clothes soapy but the 3rd rinse goes out under the lemon tree.

Try not to flush your toilet each and every time you use it.  There's an old saying, "If it's brown flush it down.  If it's yellow let it mellow."  In our house we flush the yellow down after three uses.  The plumbing pipes do need to be flushed out with water.

We aren't taking tub baths.  Since it's hot out we have lowered the temperature of our hot water and when we shower we get wet, shampoo our hair and rinse it, shut the shower off, put in the conditioner, soap up, and then turn the shower back on to rinse off.

We are also resorting to sink baths also known as "Washing the smelly parts," more often.

Sometimes shampooing your hair in the sink and washing your face, hands, and feet is all it takes to feel refreshed.

We are using our public swimming pool, grateful to have it available to us.

We are also drinking MORE PLAIN WATER to stay hydrated, or adding lemon juice or fruit for an infusion rather than buying soda.

ANY OPINIONS?  IDEAS?  Let us know!