Many of the things we buy are like kitty litter. This is an essential product in our house, and we go through a certain amount of it a month. We buy more when we need it. There are some things we buy, and pay a little extra for it, because we want to. Can we eat cheaper cuts of meat than rack of Alberta lamb? Of course, and we often have chicken, or bison, or other cuts of lamb, or various kinds of fish. But BBQ rack of lamb in a specialty Linda marinade is an amazing meal, well worth it.
We buy various plants for the garden, and stuff to decorate the house or garden with, and periodically replace appliances. We suspect the fridge is the next thing to go, and that might be a problem. There is a relationship between fridge size, and waistline size for most people, and I'm not sure which is cause or effect. The problem is that our fridge fits inside a cabinet, and that cabinet is a limited size in comparison to the obese fridges of today. Last time we looked, a few years ago, there were a very few models of fridge that would fit. Mind you, it cuts down our choices, and therefore simplifies our life, so there is that.
There is a particular camera lens that I'm thinking about buying. Think wide and fast. Wider and faster and more expensive. This is purely a luxury, in that I don't need such a lens. If it had been on sale, I might have lined up, but not to save $50. Maybe to save $500. But it isn't, so there is no urgency to buy it now. Maybe in a few weeks. Certainly when the store is less crowded.
I try to scroll past all the other ads. I'm slowly learning how to do this, though developers do everything to make that difficult. Consider text on paper. Yes, old fashioned. I have decades of experience in reading text in various formats (books, magazines, newspapers (for my younger readers I'm not going to explain, ask Mrs Google what those are)) and looking past the advertising.
On line it's all pop ups, and pop unders, and embedded junk, and all sorts of other coding tricks. I'll tell you a secret. I will not click to a next page. Ever. If the web server complains about my cookie policy, or doesn't like my device, or wants me to enable something, I close it and go on to something else. The pain in the ass is sometimes finding that little x to close it. I have no patience for such nonsense.
Just think about all those consumer products that are advertised. You've seen the video of people lining up at some retailer and bursting through the door to grab some box of cheap shit made in China by slave labour. Sad.
You may recall me blogging about the clean up day my local community association puts on twice a year. The sheer quantity and variety of stuff is amazing and overwhelming. Once it was new, now it's mostly landfill. There are more ways to pass these goods to someone who needs them, but it's still really difficult to connect a giver to a wanter, and arrange transportation.
I find myself thinking if I really need a particular thing, and the answer is often no. Even the things I do need, are distressingly poor quality. I remember when new jeans were nearly bullet proof and lasted years if not outgrown. Now they're almost as fragile as nylons. Our garbage is killing our planet and we have to stop.
Humanity lived for millennia without an economy. Without businesses to provide jobs. We can't live for one day without our environment. We need to be smarter about managing our 'economy' to better sustain life on this planet, and I do not mean providing more toys and trinkets for the masses.
So Black Friday I'm going to avoid the stores. I'm planning to swim in the morning, then we'll have lunch with friends. Linda has a few finishing touches for the seasonal decorations in the planter pots. Here's a teaser for you.
This sky has been a bit of a tease sometimes as well. I saw this happening and had high hopes for a little later, but no. This was as good as it got.
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