Among Friends

[rnmom]

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@geezerette wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

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@aprilskies wrote:

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@geezerette wrote:

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@aprilskies wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

I ignored Black Friday and now I'm avoiding Cyber Monday.

I've decided to wait until 2022 to shop.

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@just bee, so smart.  I pulled the plug on myself yesterday.  The only thing I will allow myself are shoes and a decent coffee grinder.  I do need them.  Otherwise, no.  And I won’t be looking hard either for them either.  I might just wait until 2022. 

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@aprilskies 

@just bee 

I've already done more damage this month than I had intended, so I'm giving myself today for a purchase or two because of the sales, then I'm done too.  

Then I'm going to try a whole year without buying anything but what I need and use, basics.  I keep making buying exceptions for myself and half of those end up being regretted, as usual.

Add to that, not only is everything going up in price, but it's getting cheaper in quality and I'm sick of it.  I'm wasting my precious resources for junk and disappointment.  And worst of all, I'm doing it to myself.  I know better.  I know what's going on and yet I participate anyway.  That's insane.

Especially since none of it is necessary or makes me any happier.  Now that's even more insane.

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@geezerette Yup, exactly.

The quality of things is sickening. 

 I am also ready to stop shopping frivolously.  

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@aprilskies 

@geezerette 

Remember that I saved a lot of clothing and had items restored after the fire.  These are things I purchased in the 80s and 90s.

They look new.  The material is so much better than anything I've purchased in the past couple years.

I bought some simple black and gray turtlenecks and I dread wearing them because they actually itch.  They were advertised as "cozy T-shirts."  These are anything but cozy.

And God forbid you wash any of this c__p.

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@just bee 

No kidding.

I'm always lamenting that I don't have the opportunity to actually look at and feel clothing if I'm ordering online.  But even if you find something you think is suitable in a brick and mortar store, who knows what it's going to turn out like after being washed and dried?

I keep wearing my old clothes around the house.  Between being mauled by the animals and no one seeing me, why in the world wear anything decent?  I only go out for a few hours once or twice a week, so why do I keep thinking a need a closet full of "good" clothes?

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@geezerette - I totally hear what you are saying about wearing old clothes around the house. I do the same thing. Why in the world would I wear anything decent to clean the house and get covered in dog hair and slobber? I dress nice for church and that's about it. Jeans and a sweater if I'm going to a school event, maybe. 

[geezerette]

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@just bee wrote:

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@bikerbabe wrote:
Too bad Mel did NOT get better with age. 😒

Trying not to buy as many groceries these next 2 weeks since we are leaving. Meh. Holding out on an order until late this week. Of course, now everything that sounds good I don’t have. 🤣 Clearly, I must not be starving. 🙄

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@bikerbabe 

He's lived hard.

But, to his credit, he has eleven different projects in the works -- and that's just acting.  He's also writing, directing and producing. 

Still watchable after all these years.

And so the countdown begins.  Packed yet?  Some time away from work will be nice.

I think this will be a good time to escape.

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@just bee 

I still think he looks like Soupy Sales.

[geezerette]

@just bee 

Youth Day and Methamphetamine Awareness Day?

Surely just a coincidence...

[geezerette]

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@aprilskies wrote:

 

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@aprilskies 

See, this is just another sign that you are of a "certain age."

Imagine -- being concerned about the condition of your underwear when it's like Road Warrior out there.

I bet you know cursive, too.

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@just bee,

I cant believe I am at the age where "things" are obsolete. I am not sure how I feel about that. 

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@aprilskies 

Old.

😉

☺️

[geezerette]

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@aprilskies wrote:

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@geezerette 

I've curtailed my consumption by not only asking myself, "Do I need this?" but also, "Why do I need this?"

Sometimes I ask: "Who says I need this?"

Most of the time I don't need it.

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@just bee 

I think I need to rethink my definition of "need".

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@geezerette @just bee, another question that worked well for a while - for a very brief while - is how will I dispose of it?

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@aprilskies 

Interesting you should mention this.

Lately I've been looking at all the packaging materials I have to find a way to dispose of from the stuff I've ordered online and has been delivered to me.

Even taking recycling into consideration, I have to weigh how much more wasteful it is to buy like this than using brick and mortar.  Just thinking through the process of acquiring goods via each method, are we really better off with this way of shopping?  I wonder if anyone has done any studies about this.

And speaking of studies, apparently more than one is starting to show that we actually use more energy working from home than going to our various work places.

Doubt you'll be hearing much about that, though...

But back to my first thought:  ordering "stuff" brings with it not only the "stuff" we ordered, but all the "stuff" that's needed to get that "stuff" to us.  Just another reason to slow down buying "stuff".😵‍💫

[geezerette]

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@aprilskies wrote:

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@geezerette wrote:

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@bikerbabe wrote:
If I met Mel Gibson in his heyday I needed nice undies. Just sayin’. Today? Not so much. 🤣

Maybe Hugh Jackman.
Definitely Jason Momoa.
Or the Mandalorian. 🤣
Dwayne. 😁
I’m not picky. 🤗

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@bikerbabe 

Multiple choice?

F)  All of the above

😉😆

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See, there was a day where nice undies were "important."  

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@aprilskies 

😂

[geezerette]

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@just bee wrote:

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@aprilskies wrote:

 

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@aprilskies 

See, this is just another sign that you are of a "certain age."

Imagine -- being concerned about the condition of your underwear when it's like Road Warrior out there.

I bet you know cursive, too.

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@just bee,

I cant believe I am at the age where "things" are obsolete. I am not sure how I feel about that. 

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@aprilskies 

And that so many things are gone.  Department stores, restaurants, technology, cars, foods...  Things that were common when we were kids and even young adults.  Things like typewriters.  Telephones.  Station wagons.  Movie theaters.  Caravelle candy bars.  Creme Savers.  Slo Pokes.  Marshall Field.  Mervyn's.  Montgomery Ward.  Liberty House.  Carson Pirie Scott.

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@just bee 

I keep saying that it's not really the amount of change that's unsettling.  

It's the speed of that change.

Species are able to adapt to environmental change if that change occurs over time.  It's the sudden changes that do us in.

Things change so rapidly now that we don't have a chance to adopt and adapt.  And we move from original basic things to the new and improved version before the basic premise has the kinks worked out.

It's kind of like building the house before the foundation is dry.

[geezerette]

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@rnmom wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

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@rnmom wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

In local news this week...

Our state is facing a critical nursing shortage. Hospitals have 450 beds available statewide but not enough staff to cover them.

Doctors say New Mexico hospitals are at a breaking point. Seven are operating under crisis standards of care.

It's the story of the pandemic. Hospitals are at capacity being filled with COVID-19 patients, but the New Mexico Hospital Association says the medical staffing shortage is even more worrisome.

"Our hospitals are simply overrun serving the patients who need care," says Tim Johnsen from Presbyterian Healthcare. "Our nurses are a very precious resource, and they are in the most fragile state I've ever seen them in my career."

Johnsen says the nursing shortage is a big reason the state is running out of hospital beds fast. "Twenty-one percent of nurses say they plan to leave the job within the next six months. Half of those said it was because work was negatively affecting their health and well-being."

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@just bee - So many thoughts on this but like usual, I just have to keep my mouth shut lest I get my hand slapped for saying something that offends someone. 

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@rnmom 

So can I assume you haven't told coworkers that the anagram for Omicron is moronic?

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@just bee - Actually, no, I have not. I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but I was able to come back and work from home again about a month ago. I worked from home briefly last year during one of the Covid surges and loved it. So did one of my coworkers, so she and myself got the ok to return to work from home. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for that. I am perfectly content to just stay home with my dogs and not have to deal with any co-workers on a regular basis. I will have to go in once in a while, but it's so much nicer than having to deal with it every day. 

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@rnmom 

I can't blame you, I would too.

It must keep you much more sane.  On so many levels.

[geezerette]

I can't believe that it's now...

[viva923]

hey all

did chores,did walk,hung clothes outside, warming up. full sun today. 

yesterday on my walk,just about back home when i heard this loud rumbling noise coming up from behind me, it was 53 footer semi, the streets in our development are old,so very narrow. he saw me and stopped and yelled out his window (HELP I AM LOST), there is only one way in and out. told him to keep on driving in the circle O for 1 miles to get out, funny part of this, there is absolutely NO BUSINESSES on my street that run 3 miles from the major road at the stop sign, it is just bank,church,3 developments. so where this truck wanted to go is beyond me. anyway,he must have gotten out, saw nothing this morn on my walk

ok guys,later