Beauty

[just bee]

Amazing sunrise this morning.  Trying to remain optimistic here.

[just bee]

I have to remain optimistic.  The Cubs are playing the Brewers today in a tiebreaker.

Must walk the sublime canine.

[just bee]

Four days, twenty hours, twenty-two minutes, two seconds.

[just bee]

Four days, one hour, fifty-five minutes, thirty seconds.

[geezerette]

@just bee

But who’s counting, right?  😄

[geezerette]

Another two big garbage bags went to the animal shelter donation site yesterday.  Along with several returns to Hobby Lobby that I succumbed to over the weekend while shopping with a friend.  I’ve never been to that store before and we just got a brand new one in our little town.  My friend is very much into crafts (big-time crocheter, if that’s a word), and I’m afraid her enthusiasm influenced me.  When I got home, I realized that I not only didn’t want most of my purchases, but these are the very things I’m now throwing out!  I did keep a photo frame and some iron cleaner, both of which I haven’t been able to find elsewhere.

As I go through closets, tossing and rearranging, I’m realizing more than ever just how much excess I have.  I think I’m going to have to implement a strategy of not buying new until I am ready to toss out whatever I’m replacing.  I replace things with new, but keep the old ‘whatever’ because it’s just not quite bad off enough to throw out.  Then I have two ‘whatevers’ when I only need one.  That’s how all this stuff accumulates.  If it’s worn enough to want to replace, it’s worn enough to throw out!

[geezerette]

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@just bee wrote:

Still tossing an item a day even if it means tossing a week's worth at once.

Yesterday I put a new sticker on my license plate.  What do I do with my annual registration paperwork?  The same thing I do with my AAA road service paperwork.  I open the glove compartment and shove it in there.

This time I opened my glove compartment and before I put the new registration in there, I removed years of old registration and AAA paperwork.

Went one step further: I removed my collection of parking permits.

A whole stack of stuff was removed and shredded.

Why was it there in the first place?  Just another example of taking a minute to do something that has long term benefits.

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@just bee

Oh my gosh, I thought I was the only one that saved old registration slips.  I just can’t bring myself to shred them, for some reason.  Maybe because they’re “official” and my “follow the rules” personality takes over my mind.  I have been able to shred the proof of insurance cards when they expire, which is a step in the right direction.

Don't even mention all the years of tax returns I have waiting for me in the attic.  The boxes are dissolving they’re so old.😧

[geezerette]

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@just bee wrote:

I've purchased some Acure Organics products -- mostly oils and shampoo/conditioner -- and I've liked many of the items.  I was drawn to their website because it seemed like a company that didn't take itself too seriously and it had a sense of humor.

They've been redesigning their website.  It'll be up and running on this day, they said.  I'd check and it was still down.  We'll be back on this date!  No, you're still not there.

We played this little game for weeks.  I started to get concerned because it started to feel like a security-breach instead of a new design.

Anyway, the site is back -- not much of a design change, by the way -- and there are a few new products.  But there are also several missing in action.  I was getting ready to line up their body washes as replacements for my old philosophy and B&BW shower gels once they're gone.  Now they're gone.

Maybe they're just reformulating?  If so, why not say that on the website?

So I found their Facebook page.  Let me preface this by saying that I don't do Facebook.  At any rate, it was an interesting experience.  I'd noticed when they did their big repackaging change that the lightheartedness and humor went the way of the old packaging.

The Facebook page is revealing.  And slightly pedantic.  And definitely political.  Why can't I buy a "cruelty-free" product without getting a lecture?

Hmmm.  So now I'm on hold.  I won't be purchasing any more of their products unless I run out of shampoo and conditioner.  I need time to line up a new company.

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@just bee

I still don’t understand this philosophy of doing business.  The companies—whatever they products they are offering—want you to be loyal to them.  So why then, do they continually change their product lineup?  If something isn’t selling enough to warrant continuing production, why not just hop on their website and say, “Hey Guys, those of you who like this better get your act together and buy some more of this because we’re going to stop making it if you don’t.”  Or, “We know you love ‘X’ product, but we can’t get ‘X’ ingredient anymore so we’ll be changing the formula.  Sorry.”  

Or the big thing that gets me lately is finding a product or company that you love, only to have them sell out to a huge conglomerate that totally trashes everything you loved.  Not that I can blame them for getting the money while they can.  

Yeah, I know.  First world problems.  Guess I’d feel a whole lot worse if I couldn’t afford to eat, let alone find the right shampoo.

[geezerette]

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@Sweet_Serenity wrote:

@just bee 

Excellent point! Time and energy on acquiring stuff.

George Carlin routine on- Stuff! Brilliant so true. Never gets old. 

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@Sweet_Serenity

So right!  It truly never gets old, and is probably more appropriate today than when he came out with the original routine.

One of my all-time favorite comedians.

[aprilskies]

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@geezerette wrote:

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@just bee wrote:

I've purchased some Acure Organics products -- mostly oils and shampoo/conditioner -- and I've liked many of the items.  I was drawn to their website because it seemed like a company that didn't take itself too seriously and it had a sense of humor.

They've been redesigning their website.  It'll be up and running on this day, they said.  I'd check and it was still down.  We'll be back on this date!  No, you're still not there.

We played this little game for weeks.  I started to get concerned because it started to feel like a security-breach instead of a new design.

Anyway, the site is back -- not much of a design change, by the way -- and there are a few new products.  But there are also several missing in action.  I was getting ready to line up their body washes as replacements for my old philosophy and B&BW shower gels once they're gone.  Now they're gone.

Maybe they're just reformulating?  If so, why not say that on the website?

So I found their Facebook page.  Let me preface this by saying that I don't do Facebook.  At any rate, it was an interesting experience.  I'd noticed when they did their big repackaging change that the lightheartedness and humor went the way of the old packaging.

The Facebook page is revealing.  And slightly pedantic.  And definitely political.  Why can't I buy a "cruelty-free" product without getting a lecture?

Hmmm.  So now I'm on hold.  I won't be purchasing any more of their products unless I run out of shampoo and conditioner.  I need time to line up a new company.

---

@just bee

I still don’t understand this philosophy of doing business.  The companies—whatever they products they are offering—want you to be loyal to them.  So why then, do they continually change their product lineup?  If something isn’t selling enough to warrant continuing production, why not just hop on their website and say, “Hey Guys, those of you who like this better get your act together and buy some more of this because we’re going to stop making it if you don’t.”  Or, “We know you love ‘X’ product, but we can’t get ‘X’ ingredient anymore so we’ll be changing the formula.  Sorry.”  

Or the big thing that gets me lately is finding a product or company that you love, only to have them sell out to a huge conglomerate that totally trashes everything you loved.  Not that I can blame them for getting the money while they can.  

Yeah, I know.  First world problems.  Guess I’d feel a whole lot worse if I couldn’t afford to eat, let alone find the right shampoo.

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@geezerette, dont even get me started.  I have really been missing Amazing Grace and I have been debating just buying a bottle even though the scent to me is different, but the last I remember, still okay. Well, I went in to Ulta the other day so I can use my 5 dollar coupon on some hair color and amazing grace was right in the path I was walking so I sprayed some from the tester. Um, just no. It is much different and I was sick of the scent at the end of the night. What a shame. 

The other day I was thinking, if only I had my holy grails, but no, I think I have given up on finding them really.  Just when you find something you love, it changes anyway.  Or you try and support a small brand and then they sell to a big conglom and the heart is lost, so is the quality of the products. I dont blame them, it is big money, but it sure is irritating.