Your Shopping Priority

[labelwench]

Thanks for the link to making your own bubble bath, SB__UK, very thoughtful of you. My personal concession to the environment when building this home, was to install a shower instead of a tub, as such utilizes far less water.

My washer is a small, portable unit,and is among the most water conservative of it's kind. At one time I owned a dryer, which visiters used more than I, so I sold it to a kindly gentleman and use an outdoor clothesline year round, and have a clothesline indoors to dry my fripperies and things I may need sooner when it is -35-40C outdoors, freeze-drying being a longer process.

I own no dry-clean clothing, and my wardrobe is all durable classic styles of washable fabric, as even most wool and some fabrics recommended for dry-cleaning may be gently handwashed and laid flat to dry.

No carpets in my home, as I consider them breeding grounds for bacteria, and my floors are wood, with a light penetrating finish. No paint, no gyproc, mini-slat blinds and valances to add a bit of colour. Very basic, user-friendly and comfortable, this simple abode.

Gravity feed oil stove as the main heat source, wood stove back-up, propane cook stove of whch the burners can be used during a power failure. Own plenty of candles and a kerosene lantern and when the power was out for 8 hours one winter night a couple of years ago, just guess where the neighbours showed up, as their homes got chilly and they needed a hot beverage. There is a water reservoir under my floor, accessible through a hatch, so I can draw water for basic amenities.

Basic creature who likes her creature comforts, is Labelwench.

[labelwench]

Most often, people are in a hurry when they shop, list in hand,and just wanting to get the task done.

Since most think of buying groceries as a task, they often don't apply their broader skills in the manner which might best save them money.

One such item is the 'coupon wall' offered in many retail grocery stores. These walls have a display of coupons, offering savings on big brand and house name products, and is usually located near the shopping carts.

A very quick glance can save you significant amounts of money, and you don't have to cut them out at home and remember to bring them with you. Just collect any items of interest as you grab a cart or basket.

In our store, I also post these coupon books in the aisles by the product and there are 'stop' signs perpendicular to the shelf, to draw your attention easily to the product of value.

Today, for anyone who likes a big brand juice, there is a really sweet deal. Saturday morning all the prices have changed yet the coupons don't expire until midnight. Last week this juice was regularly 1.99 with a 75 cent coupon, hence $1.24 per litre. Today, the juice is on sale for $1.00. So with a coupon, you get this juice for 25 cents a litre , until I change the coupons to other products tonight.

Every now and then, an item like that slips by the planning people, and you can pick up huge savings, as coupon offers seldom have set limits.

Sadly, most people are so distracted by other concerns, that they will walk right by such an opportunity.

And one last bit of retail shopping advice. The prices on most things always goes up just before any holiday, as trends show, that desperate people do not look at sticker price. Folks who have postponed their shopping, shall indeed pay the price, in more ways than one....sad but true.

Regards,

Labelwench

[eriqinmos]

My shopin' priority... ahahahah

Well, I'll tell you..

Stevia'n'TheRaw (b/c it's the most natural and safest to date + literally, 0 carbs, and least expensive non-sugar sweetener, plus it's grown in South America, which isn't that far for US)

No-soy-gluten-wheat-dairy

Lentils-and-Beans
10gfiberperserver---8gramsfiberperserving
Thus oatmeal (4g=pers)is no meal..

I like to add rosemary for extra Iron..

Ginger for making a great anti-oxidant Tea

Blood, b/c ...well, ...

[labelwench]

My shopin' priority... ahahahah

Well, I'll tell you..

Stevia'n'TheRaw (b/c it's the most natural and safest to date + literally, 0 carbs, and least expensive non-sugar sweetener, plus it's grown in South America, which isn't that far for US)

No-soy-gluten-wheat-dairy

Lentils-and-Beans
10gfiberperserver---8gramsfiberperserving
Thus oatmeal (4g=pers)is no meal..

I like to add rosemary for extra Iron..

Ginger for making a great anti-oxidant Tea

Blood, b/c ...well, ...

For that last item, perhaps we shall have to send you out to a traditional camp, make a hunter/gatherer of you, and teach you to live off the avails of the land.

Most people have no concept of the whole cycle of events that transpire that they can walk into a store with their shopping list and select the items of their delight.

One of my thoughts in starting this thread was to hopefully get people to think about the broader picture behind 'the shopping experience.'

Thank you, as always, for your contribution, Eriqinmos.

Labelwench

[eriqinmos]

Today, the juice is on sale for $1.00. So with a coupon, you get this juice for 25 cents a litre , until I change the coupons to other products tonight.

Perhaps there is a genius way to cause coupon prices on most the items in your store.. By doing away w/the redundant items.. Hell, you may lose supply quicker, but that would eliminate unnecessary costs of business...

we shall have to send you out to a traditional camp, make a hunter/gatherer of you

I already live like one.. I don't grow anything for myself, although I have a car or bicycle or shoes, for more convenient hunting/gatheriing. (none of which I paid for)..

- the realization that we can't be sure whether our purchases are supporting some sort of poor behaviour has driven me into an actual incapacity to buy.

lol to what degree?

care to review ??

i personally use this stuff
http://www.drbronner.com/

6 drops of eucalyptus oil
3 drops of spearmint oil
3 drops of peppermint oil
1 quart of distilled water
1 bar of castille soap. (4 oz. Bar)
4 ounces liquid glycerin

that's pretty much the same ingredients in dr.bronner's
you can use this sort of thing, for loofa showers

As for my shopping for soaps priorities,
I have been shown the crazy awesomeness of steam cleaning...I'm thinking it could be applied to dishes as well (the models w/detachable hand held steamer).. uber-efficient and healthy..
possibly almost totally removing the need for soap cleaner

[labelwench]

Your creative spelling, and the fact that you edited your post to make the changes, would lead me to believe that you request my attention.

State your question, then.

Labelwench, who just happens to be able with a wrench, and is the babe for labe(ls), is also a certified B.I.T.C.H., which before anyone feels the need to report this post, is the universal translated acronym for Babe In Total Control of Herself.

Later, eriqinmos. Thanks for the link and the recipe.

[eriqinmos]

i have no question.....ahhlol

[SB_UK]

Basic creature who likes her creature comforts, is Labelwench.

So many good posts about how to live well without destroying the environment
- there's a problem though

That problem is evident in (for instance) the statistic that
apparently ~10,000
(8,270 exactly a week or so ago when we were there)
heavy goods vehicles transport stuff from the continent into the UK per day.

Presumably the HGV drinks petrol.

~*~

My question

- does it really matter what a couple of lil' old human beings do?

If we want to make life better - aren't we in need of disabling the very vast majority of big business?

- where big business wants you to buy.

Our little big planet can't take much more of this Captain.

~*~

Our problem is that everybody knows the problem and nobody can solve it.

NIMBY-ism is our enemy
- nobody wants to be the first to suffer change

- there can be no quality of life whilst some perceive that they're (exclusively) being forced to take a hit -
- cries of victimization (the usual result) whilst they watch on as others (in more environmentally damaging industries) escape
intervention.

~*~

Wouldn't it be nice if we could evolve away from the need to eat, drink or require heating?
I can see a biological mechanism which'd allow this to happen.

That'd (wouldn't it?) effectively lead to human beings securing freedom from one another.

You wouldn't need anybody for anything -
- would be free to live as one sees fit.

~*~

There's absolutely no basis in fact to the statement that only those who go into an office between the hours of 9 and 5 pm are any more worthy members of society.

That notion is simply propagated by people who hate going into an office between the hours of 9 and 5
- for the duration of their lives
- and want a way of making themselves feel better about themselves.

I'm close to feeling (in much the same manner that prisoners become Institutionalised and cannot handle the freedom which they are given on release into the world at large)
- am close to believing that the workplace gives people a form of (exactly that type of) security
- a form of security which people should not need

- a form of security which they need because the corporation operates much as Warlords did
- display aggressive tendencies -
defeat competition,
capture, ensnare and abuse consumers
(who're left with no place else to turn)

- a form of security which people need by virtue of the type of work which their criminal CEO Warlord dictates from his staff.

People clamouring to be a part of a system which first enslaves and then rewards by returning only a fraction of the freedom which they possessed prior to voluntarily swearing allegiance to this whole messed-up charade.

... ... by returning only a fraction of the freedom

The annual Christmas bonus as the highlight of yet another year lost to wage slavery.

So -
- the workplace as currently necessary for the individual to feel secure.
A sense of security required because of the insecurity which comes from warring wealthy private Corporations working to ... ...
- inadvertently undermining the individual's civil liberties in the process.

- a society which inadvertently engineers fear and hence results in people feeling the need for a form of security to protect themselves from the corporate storms which're unleashed from outside of the span of their 'protective' corporate umbrellas.

So -
- the workplace as currently necessary for the individual to feel a sense of security.

The workplace first generating and then satisfying the need for security
- a need which'd be (to the greatest extent) ameliorated by dispensing with the corporation.

To end the (now unworkable) distinction between private and governmental Institutions?

The Worldwide collapse in the banking system and bailouts of private banks heralds the beginning of the end for the private corporation.

With a loss of the private corporation will come a loss in 'fear'
- with a loss in 'fear' will come a diminished need for security -
- a diminished need for security which freedom mandates that we lose
in its entirety -

No freedom whilst we're made to feel the need to be enslaved by society, believing it necessary for our own security.

A loss in the perceived need for security as an essential a priori to the workplace standing any chance of morphing into a place which all people can enjoy both presence within and the produce thereof.

~*~

Summary

Human history is characterized by battles the world over between two warring factions -
- the winner (if there is one) sequestering the property of the loser as his own.

This pattern has shifted from actual physical battles between warlords
into
battles over money between corporations.

The exact same basic tendency (original sin) which was expressed by the feudal warlord of yesteryear is being expressed by the CEO of this present time.

The behaviour is unconscious
- we're not (haven't been) aware of it as underlying motivation.
Haven't (until around about now) been granted sufficient insight into our own workings to divine the pattern.

The armies are formed in the workplace and battle for dominance over one another.

Pepsi vs Coca cola
McDonalds vs Burger King
Nvidia vs ATi Radeon
Microsoft vs Apple
Intel vs AMD

... ... presumably the very few advantages which're gained through competition are lost as the leaders of the two warring factions work out that it's easier for them to subdue their own staff and keep people (the consumer) at bay -
- if they collude.
This form of collusion would (I guess) be called something like a 'strategic alliance' if framed within terms which the Warlord could comprehend.

The warring CEOs 'd ensure
(that way)
- their own dominant position -
- would live a life free from worries - and all through cutting a deal with the supposed enemy (in characterization to their staff) or their competitors (in characterization to the consumer)
- the opposing corporate entity (to the consumer they state) ensuring that both corporations strive towards optimal output

neither enemies nor competition though
- all just an illusion to keep themselves in po$$$ition on top of the rest.

Not until we have 1 global government under which we all work
- will we have learnt
generalized the one simple pattern which has recurred (and over and some)
- will we have learnt the one (and only) lesson which we need take from entire body of recorded human history.

Summary II

The drive to community operates by division until there is only one community
- one nation under God
- no conflicting colours
- a harmonious whole.

[racecar]

For Halloween we killed two birds with one stone, so to speak... Buying what could be re-used or using what we had on hand. One ninja, one super mario bros., and one Rambo

Sweat pants/shirts
Snow pants
Hats
Gloves
Pillow cases (loot bags)

We did splurge on two cheap toys and candy.

One wanted to be a little big planet character, but I couldn't figure on how to do it well, in a practical way.

Lots of home-made costumes or re-used ones around here.

[labelwench]

Halloween seems to slipping from favour hereabouts, or perhaps it is just the demographics at present.

In 2001, my Mother had 138 visitors to her door, as she resides adjacent to downtown Whitehorse, in a well populated region which affords easy and safe access for the children.

This year, she had barely three dozen guests.

That is a drop of 75%.

Rather dramatic, especially as it speaks to the upcoming workforce, with a top-heavy and aged population to support, under the current model.

Will the model hold?

Meanwhile, it's life as usual, all the way to the brink....

......of change.......

But don't worry,

Be Happy,

Change is the only known constant....