Thursday, December 19, 2013
Sunday, December 8, 2013
SKIP THE FAKE TREE AND BUY A SMALL PLANTABLE LIVE TREE INSTEAD
What to do about a Christmas tree when you want to BUY AMERICAN? Buy a LIVING PALATABLE TREE!
Really, all the fake plastic trees are a landfill nightmare and a biodegradability nightmare and a rarely made in the USA. A live cut tree that was grown to be harvested is next best. That tree should not go to a bonfire. It should go to a city or other pick up that grinds the tree up and turns it into mulch.
WE NEED TO BE CONCERNED FOR THE EARTH'S ENVIRONMENT!
Here is the HOW TO PLANT from Better Homes and Gardens!
CHRISTMAS TREE PLANTING - BHG
"The key to success is timing. Purchase the tree as close to Christmas as possible, and keep in indoors for as brief a time as you can. It is also important to prepare a planting spot outdoors before the ground freezes so hard you can't dig."
Now, we grew up with the tradition of buying and planting live and didn't have a problem at all. We actually didn't dig a hole or worry about how long the tree was on the back porch. The tree roots should have dirt around them and be bound in burlap. Then it was left outside on the cold porch in a cardboard box, not where the snow drifts could get it. Soon as the ground unfroze we planted.
And every tree we planted took root and grew much bigger!
A better fate than old Charlie Brown' tree wouldn't you say?
Really, all the fake plastic trees are a landfill nightmare and a biodegradability nightmare and a rarely made in the USA. A live cut tree that was grown to be harvested is next best. That tree should not go to a bonfire. It should go to a city or other pick up that grinds the tree up and turns it into mulch.
WE NEED TO BE CONCERNED FOR THE EARTH'S ENVIRONMENT!
Here is the HOW TO PLANT from Better Homes and Gardens!
CHRISTMAS TREE PLANTING - BHG
"The key to success is timing. Purchase the tree as close to Christmas as possible, and keep in indoors for as brief a time as you can. It is also important to prepare a planting spot outdoors before the ground freezes so hard you can't dig."
Now, we grew up with the tradition of buying and planting live and didn't have a problem at all. We actually didn't dig a hole or worry about how long the tree was on the back porch. The tree roots should have dirt around them and be bound in burlap. Then it was left outside on the cold porch in a cardboard box, not where the snow drifts could get it. Soon as the ground unfroze we planted.
And every tree we planted took root and grew much bigger!
A better fate than old Charlie Brown' tree wouldn't you say?
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
OBAMA CARE - IN THE WORKS - DON'T PANIC YET!
We've started researching our choices for the new Obama Care Medical Plan. We got through a toll free number and were referred elsewhere and there are glitches on the computer systems, so we got off to a false start.
We know that people are feeling really challenged with this.
Some say only the uninsured are happy about Obamacare.
A friend of ours who is familiar with the Canadian system, what he calls socialism in medicine, and he said, if it turns out to be that bad people will regret it. He sites long waits for surgeries in particular.
We can't panic yet.
Panic only leads to iffy decisions.
You don't have to sign up for another four or five months...
We know that people are feeling really challenged with this.
Some say only the uninsured are happy about Obamacare.
A friend of ours who is familiar with the Canadian system, what he calls socialism in medicine, and he said, if it turns out to be that bad people will regret it. He sites long waits for surgeries in particular.
We can't panic yet.
Panic only leads to iffy decisions.
You don't have to sign up for another four or five months...
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
TRADER JOES CLOTH CARRY BAGS MADE IN THE USA
Lowell Massachusetts has historically been the scene of the textile industry in the United States. For less than $5.00 we bought a cloth Trader Joes bag, well designed in beiges and power blues and browns, with a proud MADE IN THE USA label, noting Lowell. WE WERE SO HAPPY TO SEE THIS.
In the past we have bought at least a dozen bags for about a dollar a piece to carry our groceries out of stores. Almost all of them were made in China. Of all the bags we bough that were not cloth, the Trader Joe's bags are the ones that lasted.
We don't see the end of plastic bags, just the end of free plastic bags. We still need them for picking up doggie do do, and many other things.
We do our best to recycle and reuse things, to pick up our garbage and take it home with us when we go to the beach or visit the mountains, because we don't want to contribute to the Sea of Plastic, or allow our streets to be filled with litter.
In the past we have bought at least a dozen bags for about a dollar a piece to carry our groceries out of stores. Almost all of them were made in China. Of all the bags we bough that were not cloth, the Trader Joe's bags are the ones that lasted.
We don't see the end of plastic bags, just the end of free plastic bags. We still need them for picking up doggie do do, and many other things.
We do our best to recycle and reuse things, to pick up our garbage and take it home with us when we go to the beach or visit the mountains, because we don't want to contribute to the Sea of Plastic, or allow our streets to be filled with litter.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
THE NEW $100 BILL BEGINS CIRCULATION TODAY : INSPECT THE NEW FEATURES HERE!
NEW MONEY GOV - THE NEW $100 BILL Bell in the Inkwell. New 3d thread... Here's the new Benjamin ... It is the policy of the United States that no matter when currency was manufactured it remains legal currency.
Little story... A man walking his dog down our street several months ago thought he was rich when he found a roll of $20 bills laying on the ground. He showed the money to another dog walker, someone with a business, who quickly ID'd the money as counterfeit. It was handed over to the local police. Our government is always trying to be one step ahead of those who circulate fake bills. Purchases made with fake bills equals theft, stolen merchandise, though it's sure not funny when you're the dupe a fake bill was passed to and the one who gets caught trying to use it!
Little story... A man walking his dog down our street several months ago thought he was rich when he found a roll of $20 bills laying on the ground. He showed the money to another dog walker, someone with a business, who quickly ID'd the money as counterfeit. It was handed over to the local police. Our government is always trying to be one step ahead of those who circulate fake bills. Purchases made with fake bills equals theft, stolen merchandise, though it's sure not funny when you're the dupe a fake bill was passed to and the one who gets caught trying to use it!
Monday, October 7, 2013
HOMELESS MAN WHO RETURNED $40,000 REWARDED : GOAL $250,000, HOUSING, JOB TRAINING
CS MONITOR : HONESTLY EARNS HOMELESS MAN $104,000 AND COUNTING
EXCERPT: Glen James said it was the right thing to do and now that selfless act is paying dividends. Big dividends.
He's being rewarded because another man, a 27-year-old marketing firm employee from Virginia, Ethan Whittington, heard about him and set up a website for the homeless man at an online fund-raising site called GoFundMe. Whittington enjoys helping and said James is "inspiring."
Monday, September 23, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
THE MINIMUM WAGE AND COST OF LIVING - LIVABLE WAGES STIMULATE THE ECONOMY
We are all for a LIVABLE MINIMUM WAGE. We know that fast food workers are striking. We know that in Southern California, it takes about $18.00 an hour to rent a one bedroom or single apartment, drive, gas up, and insure a used car, and so on.
If we do not pay people a livable wage, then they cannot participate in life. They cannot stimulate the economy by spending on things that those with livable wages can.
People who don't make a livable wage often have to by USED rather than new products. We're all for recycling and reusing. We do it. However, buying a new product, if it's made in the USA, will provide more business stay in business and more employees stay employed.
If you are not for a livable wage, we ask you to see if you can live on about $10 a month. You'll have money in the bank that a minimum wage worker doesn't, but you may start to understand the limitations.
You probably won't be about to eat out much, maybe only the $1. menu at the fast food restaurant.
If we do not pay people a livable wage, then they cannot participate in life. They cannot stimulate the economy by spending on things that those with livable wages can.
People who don't make a livable wage often have to by USED rather than new products. We're all for recycling and reusing. We do it. However, buying a new product, if it's made in the USA, will provide more business stay in business and more employees stay employed.
If you are not for a livable wage, we ask you to see if you can live on about $10 a month. You'll have money in the bank that a minimum wage worker doesn't, but you may start to understand the limitations.
You probably won't be about to eat out much, maybe only the $1. menu at the fast food restaurant.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
RED WHITE BLUE : 2 ? MILLION BIKERS RIDE TO WASHINGTON DC TO REMEMBER 9/11
We don't know what the title of the song is that goes with this video... Does anyone know? Maybe "I Am American?
"NBC - BIKERS ROAR COVERAGE link
EXCERPT:
"Although they didn't reach a goal of two million riders, thousands of bikers rolled through the Washington, D.C. area to mark the 12th anniversary of 9/11 on Wednesday.
The bikers -- riding with the group "Two Million Bikers to D.C." -- snarled traffic on the Beltway with a ride honoring the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the members of the military called to serve after the attacks.
Many participating riders were veterans who said they rode to protect Americans' freedom in the midst of tumultuous times."
Monday, September 2, 2013
LABOR DAY : WE SUPPORT AMERICAN LABOR
On this Labor Day, we encourage you to browse through our archives - previous posts - where you will find links to the U.S. Department of Labor, and so much else. WE SUPPORT AMERICAN LABOR. We're all for MADE IN THE USA! We are consumer advocates. We believe that American Made products are among the BEST IN THE WORLD. We want everyone who is able bodied working. We even want disabled people to be able to support themselves as much as they are able!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
BUYING LOCAL GROWN PRODUCE IS RIGHT FOR OUR ECONOMY and HELPS SOLVE HUNGER
We've been reading around the subject of buying locally grown produce.
As you may know, eating lots of veggies, especially fresh veggies, washing them, and lightly steaming them, is very good for your diet - your health and your weight.
WHEN WE LEARNED THAT about ONE THIRD of all produce is wasted before it even makes it to the market, we realized that there is also a good reason to buy local and fresh! LOCALLY GROWN AND PURCHASED FOOD is more economical. It doesn't require the high cost of shipping it! More of the food is actually eaten. Less is wasted. If we all try to do this, by say, shopping at the local farmer's market, growing some of our own veggies and fruits and trading with neighbors, we can actually make more food available to more people for less money!
STILL THINK THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU?
Consider that millions of Americans who never were before are now using FOOD STAMPS - EBT - CALFRESH - to SUPPLIMENT their food budget except that they HAVE NO FOOD BUDGET AT ALL. These people are using EBT and going to FOOD BANKS too!
As you may know, eating lots of veggies, especially fresh veggies, washing them, and lightly steaming them, is very good for your diet - your health and your weight.
WHEN WE LEARNED THAT about ONE THIRD of all produce is wasted before it even makes it to the market, we realized that there is also a good reason to buy local and fresh! LOCALLY GROWN AND PURCHASED FOOD is more economical. It doesn't require the high cost of shipping it! More of the food is actually eaten. Less is wasted. If we all try to do this, by say, shopping at the local farmer's market, growing some of our own veggies and fruits and trading with neighbors, we can actually make more food available to more people for less money!
STILL THINK THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU?
Consider that millions of Americans who never were before are now using FOOD STAMPS - EBT - CALFRESH - to SUPPLIMENT their food budget except that they HAVE NO FOOD BUDGET AT ALL. These people are using EBT and going to FOOD BANKS too!
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
CELL PHONES and OTHER METHODS OF SPYING ON INDIVIDUALS - SHOULD YOU DUMP YOUR CELL PHONE? WORRY?
We've been reading around Edward Snowden, and the results of the information he has given us as U.S. Citizens, that our every cell phone call - in and out - and our every Internet search can be traced.
We've read hundreds of articles by now over the last 6 weeks since his name became a household word here in the United States of America, and all over the world.
These days your politics is word dependent on the adjective you use before Snowden's name ; spy or whistle-blower?
We have to wonder, were we really *INFORMED* before we made those calls and searches? Let's just say that we sure didn't "read the fine print" or that as smart and knowledgeable as some of us can be, we can't be smart and knowledgeable about everything.
We're not paranoid about it. Should we be?
A few years back - true story - I was sitting talking to people I didn't know so well - and one of them, a man whose mother owned a small specialty store in our area, told me that he had his car in for service at a mechanics a few miles away and asked me if he could use my cell phone to call the mechanic. (You're saying "You mean he didn't have his own cell phone? I had just recently gotten a very primitive one myself, so no, I didn't find his request bothersome or strange.) So I handed my phone over and he went with it about 20 feet away, kept the call brief, and returned the phone to me and sat back down. He said the mechanic said to call back in a couple more hours. I thought nothing of it at all until someone from that number kept calling me and I kept telling this person not to call me anymore. They must have called a dozen times before they quit. I was not happy about it.
Well, it turns out that this man had called a heroin dealer on my cell phone, but I didn't know that for some time after he got busted and went to jail.
THERE SHOULD BE LIMITS WE SET TO PROTECT OUR OWN PRIVACY. I'm told that privacy is an Old School Notion = I am hopelessly out of it.
These days when I'm asked, usually by a young person, if they can use my cell phone I start out by asking who they are calling and why and then say "tell me the number and I'll dial." The effect is that they usually tell me to "forget it."
MEANWHILE TELEPHONE BOOTHS HAVE BECOME HARD TO FIND IN OUR AREA, the presumption being that everyone carries a hand-held tracking device that alerts anyone who may have interest in them as a suspect - even if falsely accused - of their movements and whereabouts, in relationship to a cell phone tower.
IT SCARES ME THAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING THAT YOUNG PEOPLE CHECK THEIR CELL PHONE ON THE AVERAGE OF EVERY 6 1/2 minutes! I think of that as desperate, as in "has not one real friend."
TOOLS - which cell phones are - are intended to MAKE OUR LIVES EASIER. Dependency and addiction? Life without one?
I remember when cell phones came out and were considered an expensive indulgence. Then some of our friends said that their husbands wanted them to have one to take with them when they drove so they could call for help if there was an emergency. So, the cell phone was thought to be only for emergency use!
Now, you can't walk around a grocery store and not hear snippets of conversations that should be private; someone firing their maid, discussing the salary review for an employee, talking about the sex they had the night before or their medical diagnosis and you know what, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT!
The OVERALL LEVEL OF NOISE KEEPS GOING UP and with it THE NOISE OF OTHER PEOPLE'S CONVERSATIONS.
There is also the question - a serious one - of HOW MUCH ATTENTION DRIVERS ARE PUTTING INTO SAFELY DRIVING - while on cell phones.
So much to think about!
I DARE YOU TO NOT USE YOUR PHONE FOR A WEEK!
C 2013 Patriotic Purchase blogspot.com All Rights Reserved.
We've read hundreds of articles by now over the last 6 weeks since his name became a household word here in the United States of America, and all over the world.
These days your politics is word dependent on the adjective you use before Snowden's name ; spy or whistle-blower?
We have to wonder, were we really *INFORMED* before we made those calls and searches? Let's just say that we sure didn't "read the fine print" or that as smart and knowledgeable as some of us can be, we can't be smart and knowledgeable about everything.
We're not paranoid about it. Should we be?
A few years back - true story - I was sitting talking to people I didn't know so well - and one of them, a man whose mother owned a small specialty store in our area, told me that he had his car in for service at a mechanics a few miles away and asked me if he could use my cell phone to call the mechanic. (You're saying "You mean he didn't have his own cell phone? I had just recently gotten a very primitive one myself, so no, I didn't find his request bothersome or strange.) So I handed my phone over and he went with it about 20 feet away, kept the call brief, and returned the phone to me and sat back down. He said the mechanic said to call back in a couple more hours. I thought nothing of it at all until someone from that number kept calling me and I kept telling this person not to call me anymore. They must have called a dozen times before they quit. I was not happy about it.
Well, it turns out that this man had called a heroin dealer on my cell phone, but I didn't know that for some time after he got busted and went to jail.
THERE SHOULD BE LIMITS WE SET TO PROTECT OUR OWN PRIVACY. I'm told that privacy is an Old School Notion = I am hopelessly out of it.
These days when I'm asked, usually by a young person, if they can use my cell phone I start out by asking who they are calling and why and then say "tell me the number and I'll dial." The effect is that they usually tell me to "forget it."
MEANWHILE TELEPHONE BOOTHS HAVE BECOME HARD TO FIND IN OUR AREA, the presumption being that everyone carries a hand-held tracking device that alerts anyone who may have interest in them as a suspect - even if falsely accused - of their movements and whereabouts, in relationship to a cell phone tower.
IT SCARES ME THAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING THAT YOUNG PEOPLE CHECK THEIR CELL PHONE ON THE AVERAGE OF EVERY 6 1/2 minutes! I think of that as desperate, as in "has not one real friend."
TOOLS - which cell phones are - are intended to MAKE OUR LIVES EASIER. Dependency and addiction? Life without one?
I remember when cell phones came out and were considered an expensive indulgence. Then some of our friends said that their husbands wanted them to have one to take with them when they drove so they could call for help if there was an emergency. So, the cell phone was thought to be only for emergency use!
Now, you can't walk around a grocery store and not hear snippets of conversations that should be private; someone firing their maid, discussing the salary review for an employee, talking about the sex they had the night before or their medical diagnosis and you know what, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT!
The OVERALL LEVEL OF NOISE KEEPS GOING UP and with it THE NOISE OF OTHER PEOPLE'S CONVERSATIONS.
There is also the question - a serious one - of HOW MUCH ATTENTION DRIVERS ARE PUTTING INTO SAFELY DRIVING - while on cell phones.
So much to think about!
I DARE YOU TO NOT USE YOUR PHONE FOR A WEEK!
C 2013 Patriotic Purchase blogspot.com All Rights Reserved.
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