I got a cute text from Boy tonight. It simply said "I need 4x4 just fyi." This from Mr. I Don't Text All Week, You'll See Me Friday. I asked why and of course in typical fashion nothing but crickets. I then went on Autotrader.com and pulled up one of the most gaudiest, overpriced, 4x4 Jeeps you could find and sent him a picture. Of course he liked that. He comes backk with "Can we get that now?" No, Silly Boy, that example was $88,888. Then I put the challenge on him, "Can you come up with $3000, for a down payment? I'm thinking maybe since he is working and going to school, sometimes there are deals to get students into newer vehicles. I say yeah, for a down payment. He is still stuck on "that one?" I repeat no, something cheaper, in the $20,000 range.
I then repeat why do you need 4x4? And his response is perfect, for him. "Well we travel, a lot." I say yeah, but everywhere you go is paved. Texas is pretty much completely bought up. There are no places where you can go and do some mudding or anything "manly" you would do if you lived in a Jeep commercial. He is not done, saying it doesn't have to be a Jeep, he just really wants 4x4. I say you still haven't giving me a great reason what for. He says he went out today to look at a house they are considering renting for next Fall school year and they turned the wrong way and he entered a muddy road in which he got stuck.
I'm sorry, but when he started driving, I offered him my F-250 King Ranch which was the perfect truck for me at the time, with 4x4. He wouldn't drive it no matter what I offered. He just kept saying it was too big. Here we are now, two years later, has a little experience driving, now thinks he's ready for an upgrade. Sorry Boy, but I can't do it. My new truck has 4x4, and I probably will never use it. I wanted the lifted part and the leather part, so you just gotta accept them as they come, which most of the nice Lariat, King Ranch, and or Platinum series are going to be 4x4.
The one time I did use it was on the beach in Corpus Christi, with the King Ranch one. We got on the beach, I set it to on, and the ride from one dune entrance to the next dune entrance was rough, specially turning the wheel. All the wheels spin at the same rate, and something about the outer wheel on a turn versus the inner wheel makes it kind of hop and scrape on the rubber. I understand the rickety motion, but I just did not appreciate it.
I got off the beach as fast as I could, and figured we'll just park in the designated parking lots with the asphalt and we'll be alright. It is like a gun, I hope I never need it, but it is nice to know I have one at my disposal. I feel like I should carry some tow rope or something. If I ever have to save somebody and be a hero, I should be ready and packing the necessary tools. I should probably practice driving in 4x4 mode, anybody know a place? Maybe I'll go drive my truck down the road he got stuck in, see how I handle it.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
4/13/16 What Do We Do If It's Going To Get Worse?
I listened to a video with Ron Paul declaring that the US is headed for another recession soon. He was talking about how the solution for the last recession in 2008-09 was kind of salvaged by the US gov't just printing money and giving it to the banks. Apparently, our currency is no longer supported by gold, and that has been the case for at least 40 years. The whole thing was very doom and gloom. It explains how because of inflation, our money is not worth what it was worth in the past.
I was then discussing it with a coworker here and he seems to already know all this stuff. Is everyone aware that things are so bad all around? I live in a pretty small bubble where I interact with few people. My family is good, we all have degrees which have helped us in different ways to accomplish pretty comfortable lives. Nothing is guaranteed, I could lose my job tomorrow, but I figure worse case scenario, I could always become a teacher. I then brought up this fact to my buddy I was discussing with, and my conclusion is that I can't end up worse than some of the other people I know who don't own anything. He says that the beauty of our system is they will come through unscathed because they don't own anything. The gov't can't go after them. The people that will get ruined are the middle class because we have just enough that the gov't can try to take away a little bit more.
What I want to know is fine, what do we do in this coming doom and gloom? I ask about buying gold, it seems to be the standard, but then what? It's not like I can buy a gold brick and solve all my problems. Should we run off into the country and become farmers, move to Alaska like the Kilchers from yesterday's blog? If one was to buy a bunch of gold and the country dissolves, you'll get shot that much quicker for your gold. Should we arm ourselves? That seems very primitive thinking to me, and I hate that there is a scenario where that is the best solution, but we are animals, after all.
I can't imagine society breaking down. If it started looking that way, I guess we'd take our RV and head back to the small town I came from, no reason to stay in the big city and get killed by strangers for a couple nickels. But then what? Life has to continue, we can't live in a permanent state of panic and fear, that is not living. Another recession may indeed come, but like everything else, it will pass. Nothing lasts forever, people will continue to do what people do. I believe people are mostly good, maybe we need to shake the tree and get rid of a few bad apples, but overall we need to have trust in our fellow man, and together we'll get through the turbulent times.
I was then discussing it with a coworker here and he seems to already know all this stuff. Is everyone aware that things are so bad all around? I live in a pretty small bubble where I interact with few people. My family is good, we all have degrees which have helped us in different ways to accomplish pretty comfortable lives. Nothing is guaranteed, I could lose my job tomorrow, but I figure worse case scenario, I could always become a teacher. I then brought up this fact to my buddy I was discussing with, and my conclusion is that I can't end up worse than some of the other people I know who don't own anything. He says that the beauty of our system is they will come through unscathed because they don't own anything. The gov't can't go after them. The people that will get ruined are the middle class because we have just enough that the gov't can try to take away a little bit more.
What I want to know is fine, what do we do in this coming doom and gloom? I ask about buying gold, it seems to be the standard, but then what? It's not like I can buy a gold brick and solve all my problems. Should we run off into the country and become farmers, move to Alaska like the Kilchers from yesterday's blog? If one was to buy a bunch of gold and the country dissolves, you'll get shot that much quicker for your gold. Should we arm ourselves? That seems very primitive thinking to me, and I hate that there is a scenario where that is the best solution, but we are animals, after all.
I can't imagine society breaking down. If it started looking that way, I guess we'd take our RV and head back to the small town I came from, no reason to stay in the big city and get killed by strangers for a couple nickels. But then what? Life has to continue, we can't live in a permanent state of panic and fear, that is not living. Another recession may indeed come, but like everything else, it will pass. Nothing lasts forever, people will continue to do what people do. I believe people are mostly good, maybe we need to shake the tree and get rid of a few bad apples, but overall we need to have trust in our fellow man, and together we'll get through the turbulent times.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
4/12/16 Alaska: The Last Frontier, Are They Smarter Than All Of Us?
I have been binge watching Alaska: The Last Frontier over the last couple weeks and I like what I see. The show follows the Kilchers, Otto being the patriarch, but his brother Atz also is an important member. In reality, this type of living works because they all contribute to the workload of making for the 8-9 months they are living below freezing. The narrator constantly tells us they have roughly 4 months to do as much as possible outside between seasons of terrible coldness.
Otto spends his days tending to his cows and making their life better by building contraptions which are supposed to make things cleaner and better. One of those is a milking station, to try and get milk from the cows before pieces of mud and or poop fall in the bucket. The latest one was building a feeding station so the precious grass that they grow and save for the winter months doesn't all get trampled and become part of the muddy goo the cows walk on.
Atz seems to spend his time out with the cows "range riding", protecting the cows from wolves and bears. Atz Lee is one of his sons married to Jane who came from the city. She is not new to a lot of what is going on, but she does like to fish, and is proud of her skills bringing in more than 300 pounds of fish a year for the family. An interesting sidenote, Jewel, the singer, is one of Atz daughters. She is not involved with the show, but it is cool to know these are the people she grew up with. Otto, also has a couple sons, Eivin has the biggest presence on the show. He is married to Eve who had a son in season four. Him and Atz Lee roam around helping where needed, going off usually on hunts for meat. Eve stays home tending to their garden and their flock of chickens, ducks, and even turkeys. They mostly get eggs from them, but if the bird stops being productive, then they chop off its head and the bird becomes a meal.
They live in a miserable place when it is cold, but if they have prepared well, they are basically indoors with their family and that can't be all bad. I ask if they are smarter because they work for themselves, they depend on each other, living as homesteaders they don't waste much. In a perfect world, I wouldn't mind a scenario where we had a few hundred acres at our disposal. I like that they get to not only eat cow and chicken, but bear is regularly on their menu, even octopus and clams are items they go after.
I read that in reality, they are actually well off, and that is good, but I don't see them flashing money to solve problems. If they need to build something, they figure it out. I just don't think I could handle the months locked in the house, due to the weather.
Otto spends his days tending to his cows and making their life better by building contraptions which are supposed to make things cleaner and better. One of those is a milking station, to try and get milk from the cows before pieces of mud and or poop fall in the bucket. The latest one was building a feeding station so the precious grass that they grow and save for the winter months doesn't all get trampled and become part of the muddy goo the cows walk on.
Atz seems to spend his time out with the cows "range riding", protecting the cows from wolves and bears. Atz Lee is one of his sons married to Jane who came from the city. She is not new to a lot of what is going on, but she does like to fish, and is proud of her skills bringing in more than 300 pounds of fish a year for the family. An interesting sidenote, Jewel, the singer, is one of Atz daughters. She is not involved with the show, but it is cool to know these are the people she grew up with. Otto, also has a couple sons, Eivin has the biggest presence on the show. He is married to Eve who had a son in season four. Him and Atz Lee roam around helping where needed, going off usually on hunts for meat. Eve stays home tending to their garden and their flock of chickens, ducks, and even turkeys. They mostly get eggs from them, but if the bird stops being productive, then they chop off its head and the bird becomes a meal.
They live in a miserable place when it is cold, but if they have prepared well, they are basically indoors with their family and that can't be all bad. I ask if they are smarter because they work for themselves, they depend on each other, living as homesteaders they don't waste much. In a perfect world, I wouldn't mind a scenario where we had a few hundred acres at our disposal. I like that they get to not only eat cow and chicken, but bear is regularly on their menu, even octopus and clams are items they go after.
I read that in reality, they are actually well off, and that is good, but I don't see them flashing money to solve problems. If they need to build something, they figure it out. I just don't think I could handle the months locked in the house, due to the weather.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
4/11/16 Busy Awesome Weekend?
I went into the weekend worried I wouldn't be able to keep up the faster pace we have started. At work, there is a natural flow which allows me to walk. At home, it just seems hard to justify going for a walk. We went to the mall Friday, looking for Luggage, but we didn't decide on anything.
Saturday, Wife was doing another work thing. I got up around 2:00pm, and even though I didn't want to forced myself to go take care of the hot tub and its green water. Hunkering down with a big bucket, I emptied most of it in 20 min or so. I then spent another half hour scrubbing, letting it fill some more then using the bucket to empty it out again. I did this about four times until the water stopped looking green and dirty. This was some vigorous work that left my lower back stiff and hurting the next day when I woke up. After doing all that cleaning, Wife got home, and we went for a drive to the outlet malls in San Marcos. We saw luggage we not only liked, but we thought was awesome. American Tourister has a new line of hard shelled bags in the chapes of Star Wars characters. We couldn't help ourselves, we bought a large ~28inch R2D2 bag for Wife, a small 21inch R2D2 and another small 21 inch Darth Vader for Boy. I insisted on my Victorinox bag, but they were cheaper than at the mall.
Sunday was a slow starting day. It didn't seem we were going to complete my goals of getting the pool pump working. We headed out to Lowe's to buy hot tub chemicals, and other house stuff, but I really wanted to look at their paint as we are thinking of painting the interior of the house over the next few months. We got back home and I started promptly cutting the grass and trimming the front. I was hesitating changing of the pool pump because the area was covered in fire ants. Before we left the house, I dumped a bunch of ant killer over the area which seemed to help as I didn't get bit once.
I was then able to hook up the pool pump and get it running while I also cleaned and lit the grill. Just for fun, we also picked up all the palm leaves, which had hid a snake from me a couple weeks ago. I can run the pool pump and filter now, hopefully, beat the city before they start calling that my pool is a nuisance again like they did last year.
This is all on top of being on a high from being on this diet that is really working for us. I started two weeks ago at 409, I am down to 395. Chubs was at 226 and is back down to 219. Wife is having equal success, you know women don't like to discuss real numbers. The best part is that we are still eating normal food. We went Saturday night after we finished shopping at the Outlet mall and ate at Outback, even had wings and a blooming onion as appetizers. Sunday night was BBQ in the backyard, and that is about the healthiest way to heat up meat as far as calories. I am trying to tackle all my chores with the idea that they are exercise, hopefully the yard stays cut all summer as I keep up the diet. I am hoping to tackle my next project, which is getting the boat running, so we can go hang out at the lake.
Saturday, Wife was doing another work thing. I got up around 2:00pm, and even though I didn't want to forced myself to go take care of the hot tub and its green water. Hunkering down with a big bucket, I emptied most of it in 20 min or so. I then spent another half hour scrubbing, letting it fill some more then using the bucket to empty it out again. I did this about four times until the water stopped looking green and dirty. This was some vigorous work that left my lower back stiff and hurting the next day when I woke up. After doing all that cleaning, Wife got home, and we went for a drive to the outlet malls in San Marcos. We saw luggage we not only liked, but we thought was awesome. American Tourister has a new line of hard shelled bags in the chapes of Star Wars characters. We couldn't help ourselves, we bought a large ~28inch R2D2 bag for Wife, a small 21inch R2D2 and another small 21 inch Darth Vader for Boy. I insisted on my Victorinox bag, but they were cheaper than at the mall.
Sunday was a slow starting day. It didn't seem we were going to complete my goals of getting the pool pump working. We headed out to Lowe's to buy hot tub chemicals, and other house stuff, but I really wanted to look at their paint as we are thinking of painting the interior of the house over the next few months. We got back home and I started promptly cutting the grass and trimming the front. I was hesitating changing of the pool pump because the area was covered in fire ants. Before we left the house, I dumped a bunch of ant killer over the area which seemed to help as I didn't get bit once.
I was then able to hook up the pool pump and get it running while I also cleaned and lit the grill. Just for fun, we also picked up all the palm leaves, which had hid a snake from me a couple weeks ago. I can run the pool pump and filter now, hopefully, beat the city before they start calling that my pool is a nuisance again like they did last year.
This is all on top of being on a high from being on this diet that is really working for us. I started two weeks ago at 409, I am down to 395. Chubs was at 226 and is back down to 219. Wife is having equal success, you know women don't like to discuss real numbers. The best part is that we are still eating normal food. We went Saturday night after we finished shopping at the Outlet mall and ate at Outback, even had wings and a blooming onion as appetizers. Sunday night was BBQ in the backyard, and that is about the healthiest way to heat up meat as far as calories. I am trying to tackle all my chores with the idea that they are exercise, hopefully the yard stays cut all summer as I keep up the diet. I am hoping to tackle my next project, which is getting the boat running, so we can go hang out at the lake.
Saturday, April 9, 2016
4/10/16 Slowing Down Is Changing My Perspective?
We have been dieting for going on two weeks, and I finally bought in and really want to see some change. Yesterday, Chubs and I went and did our now becoming familiar routine of going to get snack stuff for his Friday sleepover, but he didn't really want junk food. I spent some time looking for stuff I can eat that isn't high in calories but still enjoyable. The easiest food to eat while dieting, for me, is tuna. Tuna is mostly protein, very little fat, and no carbs. I bought a bunch of those little vacuum baggies, and even got some salmon ones to try. Wife wanted some diet green teas and I went overboard getting two cases of that along with some diet Snapple twelve packs.
We then waited for Wife to get home, and we were going to go eat something, probably at the food court, but she had to finish something on the computer for work, so I sat and decided I would have a taste of my tuna, the pack said only 80 calories. I opened it, and took some chips laying there, which added another 100 calories, one of the diet Snapples, an apple and an orange turned it all into a meal. Before long, Chubs was eating something similar, and even Wife did the same thing. We turned what would have cost easily over $30 at the food court and added over 1000 calories to each of us into a probably $10 expense and less than 500 calories for each of us. We then headed to the mall, I was on my quest to go get the expensive luggage I had talked about yesterday, so I didn't even park at our usual spot. I parked right outside Macy's, since I knew what I was there for.
They had a huge area compared to Dillard's, and many different brands, but of course, I wanted the Victorinox name. Wife ran off to the pretty bags, Chubs ran off to the shiny bags, and I found my name brand. I about choked at the price, the standard 21" bag everyone uses was $370. Wife wanted a larger size, so it would have been over $450. Plus we talked of a smaller bag for all our toiletries and Chubs was going to get his own and that would have been another 21" bag at $370. I wanted four and possibly five bags, but I didn't want the over $1200 cost.
Wife tried getting me looking at the other brands, which is hard for me. I am an idiot when it comes to name brands, on certain things, specially like this, where one may only buy them once ir twice in a lifetime. I thought the blue color of the name brand really popped, but then Samsonite, another big name in bags, also had a blue set and this blue was prettier and shinier than the Victorinox, not to mention, like half the cost. Suddenly, I was doing the math, and the four bags I was contemplating were going to be around $500. A lot of money, but much more reasonable. Chubs started fidgeting at this point, we went and got him a bubble tea, and before I knew it, we killed too much time at Spencer's plus his friend who was coming over for the sleepover called. I decided I didn't want to rush into a purchase, so I left a little butthurt, but not poorer.
As we left, Wife thought I was mad at her, but really, I was adding it up in my head. Why spend a bunch of money? We have our old Samsonite giant luggage bag, plus the cheapy ones from Disney might give us another year. Maybe we just need a good new toiletry bag, that is the one with the torn liner and being the smallest size, it would be real cheap to just replace that one.
So slowing down saved me some calories, which will help at weigh-in come Sunday, I am already seeing real pleasing results just from using this diet app for a week. Plus taking a step back might have saved me $1000 I don't need to be spending. We shall see, stuff like this rattles in my head until I solve it, so we might go back today and do the whole dance over again.
We then waited for Wife to get home, and we were going to go eat something, probably at the food court, but she had to finish something on the computer for work, so I sat and decided I would have a taste of my tuna, the pack said only 80 calories. I opened it, and took some chips laying there, which added another 100 calories, one of the diet Snapples, an apple and an orange turned it all into a meal. Before long, Chubs was eating something similar, and even Wife did the same thing. We turned what would have cost easily over $30 at the food court and added over 1000 calories to each of us into a probably $10 expense and less than 500 calories for each of us. We then headed to the mall, I was on my quest to go get the expensive luggage I had talked about yesterday, so I didn't even park at our usual spot. I parked right outside Macy's, since I knew what I was there for.
They had a huge area compared to Dillard's, and many different brands, but of course, I wanted the Victorinox name. Wife ran off to the pretty bags, Chubs ran off to the shiny bags, and I found my name brand. I about choked at the price, the standard 21" bag everyone uses was $370. Wife wanted a larger size, so it would have been over $450. Plus we talked of a smaller bag for all our toiletries and Chubs was going to get his own and that would have been another 21" bag at $370. I wanted four and possibly five bags, but I didn't want the over $1200 cost.
Wife tried getting me looking at the other brands, which is hard for me. I am an idiot when it comes to name brands, on certain things, specially like this, where one may only buy them once ir twice in a lifetime. I thought the blue color of the name brand really popped, but then Samsonite, another big name in bags, also had a blue set and this blue was prettier and shinier than the Victorinox, not to mention, like half the cost. Suddenly, I was doing the math, and the four bags I was contemplating were going to be around $500. A lot of money, but much more reasonable. Chubs started fidgeting at this point, we went and got him a bubble tea, and before I knew it, we killed too much time at Spencer's plus his friend who was coming over for the sleepover called. I decided I didn't want to rush into a purchase, so I left a little butthurt, but not poorer.
As we left, Wife thought I was mad at her, but really, I was adding it up in my head. Why spend a bunch of money? We have our old Samsonite giant luggage bag, plus the cheapy ones from Disney might give us another year. Maybe we just need a good new toiletry bag, that is the one with the torn liner and being the smallest size, it would be real cheap to just replace that one.
So slowing down saved me some calories, which will help at weigh-in come Sunday, I am already seeing real pleasing results just from using this diet app for a week. Plus taking a step back might have saved me $1000 I don't need to be spending. We shall see, stuff like this rattles in my head until I solve it, so we might go back today and do the whole dance over again.
4/9/16 Who Do You Blame When A Kid Is Getting Bullied?
Wife was talking to the parent's of one of Chub's buddies. She let on how her older kid is having a hard time since he moved to middle school. There is a group of kids that get in his face and I guess for lack of another word are bullying him. The kid has brought it up to the counselor a couple times and he was hesitating but finally told his parents. His mom went and asked the principal what was going to be done about it, and the principal seemed confused and his solution was to move the kid being bullied to a different class. This is the second time I hear of a situation where a kid is being bullied and the solution is to remove the bullied kid? Why? The asshole bullies should be getting displaced, preferably to alternative schools where they can bully on other bullies who aren't really interested in the whole learning process.
Back when Boy was in Elementary school, probably second grade, I would go pick him up every day, and since it was before 9/11, I could walk all the way up to his class and wait right outside. At one point, he said a couple of kids were giving him a hard time, eventually he pointed them out, and one day while the teacher was lining them up I eyeballed them and said something rough but without curse words like "why the hell are you messing with Boy?" The kids reacted like they didn't know what to do, and he never really had problems after that. I guess I was the bully in that scenario, but Boy was a little space cadet when he was little, he didn't bother anyone, he would rather chase bugs, than mess with other boys.
Chubs had a kid trying to mess with him in one of the after school programs he is involved in, but he handled him beautifully. The kid was saying that Chubs was the biggest kid around so he had to beat him up to be considered tough. Chubs said he was a tiny kid, and he kind of bounced him against the wall a couple times, in a kind of trip him and push him towards the wall. Chubs had another buddy in the class who likes to fight and he kept telling the kid "I'm bigger and I'll kick your butt." Not sure if he did it to defend Chubs and get the kid off of him or he just likes to throw down, but the kid has been over to the house, and I am hoping he sticks around. It's nice to have your own toughie when you need him, but I also loved that Chubs handled his business. He was also telling the teacher what was going on, he has no problem being a snitch, which we say good, because if he gets into a fight it is only going to be because he was provoked. We told him we will defend him quickly, no piece of shit kid is going to ruin his school experience, so use your size and punch away if someone wants to mess with you.
Really, the blame falls on our shitty society. Everybody wants to think they are special and unique, men aren't being men. They impregnate stupid/naïve girls who then try to raise babies when they aren't capable of raising hamsters. Eventually, the neighborhood is parenting the kid more than mama and that is where the problems start. Kids don't learn to talk through differences, they learn bigger kid on the block rules. Only way to be on top is to be the biggest shit around. Kids like this never even understand there is a whole bigger world than their zip code. We need to start accepting that not everyone is striving to grow up and go to college. There is a huge population that use school as a daycare, college is just a fantasy for many. Somewhere in junior high, we should be separating the student populations. If school is just a nuisance, fine, learn a craft, and get out of the system and start making money. Leave the confines of learning for those that appreciate the nuance between their, there, and they're.
Back when Boy was in Elementary school, probably second grade, I would go pick him up every day, and since it was before 9/11, I could walk all the way up to his class and wait right outside. At one point, he said a couple of kids were giving him a hard time, eventually he pointed them out, and one day while the teacher was lining them up I eyeballed them and said something rough but without curse words like "why the hell are you messing with Boy?" The kids reacted like they didn't know what to do, and he never really had problems after that. I guess I was the bully in that scenario, but Boy was a little space cadet when he was little, he didn't bother anyone, he would rather chase bugs, than mess with other boys.
Chubs had a kid trying to mess with him in one of the after school programs he is involved in, but he handled him beautifully. The kid was saying that Chubs was the biggest kid around so he had to beat him up to be considered tough. Chubs said he was a tiny kid, and he kind of bounced him against the wall a couple times, in a kind of trip him and push him towards the wall. Chubs had another buddy in the class who likes to fight and he kept telling the kid "I'm bigger and I'll kick your butt." Not sure if he did it to defend Chubs and get the kid off of him or he just likes to throw down, but the kid has been over to the house, and I am hoping he sticks around. It's nice to have your own toughie when you need him, but I also loved that Chubs handled his business. He was also telling the teacher what was going on, he has no problem being a snitch, which we say good, because if he gets into a fight it is only going to be because he was provoked. We told him we will defend him quickly, no piece of shit kid is going to ruin his school experience, so use your size and punch away if someone wants to mess with you.
Really, the blame falls on our shitty society. Everybody wants to think they are special and unique, men aren't being men. They impregnate stupid/naïve girls who then try to raise babies when they aren't capable of raising hamsters. Eventually, the neighborhood is parenting the kid more than mama and that is where the problems start. Kids don't learn to talk through differences, they learn bigger kid on the block rules. Only way to be on top is to be the biggest shit around. Kids like this never even understand there is a whole bigger world than their zip code. We need to start accepting that not everyone is striving to grow up and go to college. There is a huge population that use school as a daycare, college is just a fantasy for many. Somewhere in junior high, we should be separating the student populations. If school is just a nuisance, fine, learn a craft, and get out of the system and start making money. Leave the confines of learning for those that appreciate the nuance between their, there, and they're.
Friday, April 8, 2016
4/8/16 Do We Buy Quality Or Save Some Money?
Boy asked when we were going to buy some decent luggage after he saw us loaded going to my Mom's house. I fully had the idea to get all of us a top of the line Victorinox luggage to match our clothing choices. I only got as far as Boy, and even the bag that was perfect in high school, does not fit him today. Back when I thought I was going to buy one of each size bag, I started with the suitbag for him. In high school, he took suits to school, 90% of the time. We encouraged it, as I liked him dressing nice, if not a little weird for a high school kid. Now in college, he has started dressing accordingly, which means beat up pants, and Affliction shirts. He also likes the cowboy shirts with the pearl snaps for buttons and one type of boot or another.
We went this weekend to Dillard's and we were going to buy something in luggage form, but the salesman would not give us a minute to breath. He was all in our personal space and going out of his way to make sure we noticed every nuance in the bags. His biggest mistake was when I mentioned my son already had a Victorinox bag, he said, oh yeah, that is a nicer bag than anything we have here. He might as well have patted us on the back and said thank you for wasting everyone's time. How can I buy inferior bags now?
We are a couple months away from the summer, and I think Wife will go for it, as she is excited for the upcoming trip. Our current travel bags are some cheapy ones we got for like $20, when you spend $100 at Disney. The inner liner is torn, and some of the handles are starting to get loose. We keep using them because they just go in our car and nobody really sees them. I want to have bags I would be proud to take on a weekend to Vegas, someday, or even a cruise on a cruise line to Mexico.
If the sales guy had not come all bull in a china shop on us, we might have bought some of the cheaper bags. Wife is kind of a hippy in that she likes stuff that looks crappy. I would rather have a leather bag costing $1000, where she would opt for some cheap cloth bag because it had a pretty color pattern on the outside. Reba (the musician?), has a line of bags, and they are colorful, and Wife was drawn to them instantly, sales guy comes in saying I would stand behind every bag here, except the Reba line. We've had a couple returns and they just don't seem as robust as some of the other brands.
I don't know though. The price on those Reba bags was in the $100s, the Victorinox bags are going to be more like $300 per bag. Curious to see where we end up. I did buy a leather bag for traveling once, but I filled it so tight, the zipper gave way. I managed to return it, after paying like $500, you expect stuff to stay intact. Wife might use this to get me into some more cheap shit.
We went this weekend to Dillard's and we were going to buy something in luggage form, but the salesman would not give us a minute to breath. He was all in our personal space and going out of his way to make sure we noticed every nuance in the bags. His biggest mistake was when I mentioned my son already had a Victorinox bag, he said, oh yeah, that is a nicer bag than anything we have here. He might as well have patted us on the back and said thank you for wasting everyone's time. How can I buy inferior bags now?
We are a couple months away from the summer, and I think Wife will go for it, as she is excited for the upcoming trip. Our current travel bags are some cheapy ones we got for like $20, when you spend $100 at Disney. The inner liner is torn, and some of the handles are starting to get loose. We keep using them because they just go in our car and nobody really sees them. I want to have bags I would be proud to take on a weekend to Vegas, someday, or even a cruise on a cruise line to Mexico.
If the sales guy had not come all bull in a china shop on us, we might have bought some of the cheaper bags. Wife is kind of a hippy in that she likes stuff that looks crappy. I would rather have a leather bag costing $1000, where she would opt for some cheap cloth bag because it had a pretty color pattern on the outside. Reba (the musician?), has a line of bags, and they are colorful, and Wife was drawn to them instantly, sales guy comes in saying I would stand behind every bag here, except the Reba line. We've had a couple returns and they just don't seem as robust as some of the other brands.
I don't know though. The price on those Reba bags was in the $100s, the Victorinox bags are going to be more like $300 per bag. Curious to see where we end up. I did buy a leather bag for traveling once, but I filled it so tight, the zipper gave way. I managed to return it, after paying like $500, you expect stuff to stay intact. Wife might use this to get me into some more cheap shit.
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