Posted on 11/11/2013 7:57:32 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Am so sorry about your mom. I still miss mine.
Here in NC, where the state-level problems are many and series...
we turned over EVERY state office to the Republicans...
their first two priorities were paying off large campaign contributors with public money (all very legally)...
and spending weeks arguing whether we should allow sharia law here (to appease the religious kooks).
meanwhile our 62 new taxes haven’t fixed the educational system, crumbling roads, soaring state debt, etc. etc.
People wonder why I’m not voting any more
I found a really good red from Trader Ho’s last week for $3.99 a bottle.
Bought a case the next day.
Was told they sold out within 72 hours of my first purchase.
/loves me some TJ’s
Oh, but we’re told by the news media that the recession is over....
Could Obama’s Ministry of Truth be lying to us?
Say not so!
Gas was $1.77 a gallon when Obama first took office...
My eBay sales went dead this past summer. I sell antique and vintage perfume bottles in all price levels. It is a niche market with nice clients and hasn’t been this slow since 2008-2011.
My manufacturing biz has been doing ok at wholesale to distributors who sell both to shops and to individuals. My online retail is just now showing signs of life after 3 months of doldrums.
Interesting that last summer the MSM was trumpeting the huge amounts of imports arriving for Christmas retail while just 6 weeks ago or so, I was reading glowing predictions for Christmas retail sales.
I have been busy with distributor orders since May with very little down time and steady reorders.
It is a very mixed market.
Well, to be fair, Seattle’s liberalism is born of success without God. The more successful you are, the more you have to lose. Also, you are so busy that you need others doing stuff for you - stuff like raising your kids. Success kind of breeds liberalism. It’s actually all covered in Fred Reed’s excellent article, “The Suicide of Marlboro Man”.
Poor areas are often poor because people really don’t need all that much to be happy. Heck, where I live there are people actually making a living selling stuff on Ebay, and with a bunch of booths at antique malls or peddler’s mall. I know one guy that has six booths at a single peddler’s mall. That’s $720 a month. And he makes a living with these.
People just don’t need as much out here. I’m an example. I lived it up in Seattle but I’ve “been there, done that” and besides, Louisville has most of it and is a lot friendlier and much more parking/traffic friendly.
But now on our property, we need never leave the place to get all the enjoyment out of life that we need. The only extravagance is $80 a month for satellite internet. We can live off this land. And just walking it, trimming it, growing stuff on it, and enjoying each other’s company makes it our own personal “Garden of Eden, but with extra chiggers and ticks.”
And we could live here on $2000 a month. The house payment for the last house we lived in in Seattle was ~$3,200. But the same federal tax categories exist for both places. What is middle class in Seattle is “rich” where I live, but the Fed. tax is paultry. It’s wonderful.
But I ramble. Cities have prosperity because they are centers of commerce - and there are a LOT of poor people there that support the infrastructure. And the cost of living is so high that you HAVE to make good money just to keep up.
Fred’s article:
http://www.fredoneverything.net/Liddy.shtml
i picked up a dyson dc14 for $10 because the guy was selling it for parts. i got it working - he didn’t find what the real problem was
My husband works with the public in a health service practice. Our closest friends own a small vet clinic.Neither of us are hearing any real complaints. Business is *new normal*, at least, the same as the past few years.
I think we are underestimating the number of folks delighted with Medicaid &/or getting subsidies.
I don’t give gift cards because stores go bankrupt. Bank cards or plain cash works better.
The only stock market I'm in is through my retirement funds. While that makes my net worth go up, that has no bearing on what I spend.
I have found lots of good deals on used items at my local pawn shop. I frequent the store and get some good deals on used items from the staff.
Be polite and if you make an offer and they accept be prepared to follow through on the offer. You just have to negotiate and be prepared to walk away if the price is too high. If the price is too high lots of times the item will sit a few months, then go back and make your original offer or slightly lower and you will find it is accepted in most cases.
And always negotiate the Out The Door price, which means taxes included. If you don’t know the fair market value of the item then don’t make an offer, research and then go back and then negotiate on the item. You can get skinned unless you do your homework.
Really?
Why didn't you use pre-mixed fuel that doesn't contain ethanol?
That stuff is atrociously priced. If you’re using significant amounts, (most folks with a 1000 dollar saw probably are) get some 100LL at the local airport.
Looks like he did neither.
By the way, how much is racing gas?
I’ll bet it would make a good fuel additive for your commuting car.
Usually pretty high:
http://www.us131msp.com/racer-info/race-fuel-prices
E85 is really cheap, high octane, and if you mod your engine to take advantage, good for the purpose. But every association has different regs for what can be “legal”.
you have to be able to tell between used in good condition and used in bad condition, plushow critical the item is to you. i’ve turned stuff down after seeing it in person.
Yeah. Very true. One thing I find kind of interesting is that we have this annual 400 mile garage sale that goes right through our town. The first year we were here we were very excited, having purchase a LOT of stuff in Seattle at garage sales.
So we did about 40 miles of it and bought a few books and that was it. The prices people were asking were nuts. We don’t even bother with it any more. Sure, you MIGHT find that deal of a century, but we haven’t the time to risk on such a longshot.
No money for the holidays, no money for restaurants, no money for movies and other entertainment...yep; it’s going to suck for retailers.
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