manna unappreciated

If you’re going to be an Ebay seller of used merchandise, where are you going to get your stock?

Thrift stores, of course!

Man.

I hate that mentality.

We don’t buy to flip.

We buy to use…and, at this point, we only buy what we use.

We don’t always buy what we want, although we still do some of that if the opportunity is too good to pass up.

We buy what we use.

We find less of what we could use….use personally…..because we’re in “competition” with the people who are only buying for resale.

But, I guess that’s their business.

What we find we consider blessings.

We don’t stem the flow of “blessings” by attaching them to a business.

There is a big business in reselling what is found in thrift stores.

With smart phones and always available internet access, it’s easier than ever to instantly research a potential purchase.

It’s distasteful….only because it creates competition with people who have no intention of using an item personally.

Awwww….it’s just sour grapes on my part.

Selling used clothing is still more environmentally friendly than producing and selling new stuff.

It just bothers me that all these dealers are taking useful and affordable stuff and jacking up the price on Ebay.

Dealers are my nemesis.

Greedy dealers.

Filthy lucre.

11 Years in an Earthship…..

Here’s some folks who’ve spent 11 years living in an off-grid earthship.

From the YouTube description::

Hélène Dubé and her partner Alain Neveu from Es-Cargo (http://www.es-cargo.qc.ca/) have lived off-grid in Quebec, Canada for 11 years in a self-built earthship style home made of recycled tires filled with earth and large south-facing windows.

Pretty cool.

There are so many interesting ways to live.

There are so many interesting ways to live within the context of a traditional situation.

That’s something to remember….you can do it and still live in a way close to what people consider “normal”….flying under the radar.

Whatever you do…..fly under the radar.

St. Maries Lavender Farm….

Here’s the Young Living Lavender Farm just up the road from some property that we own in Idaho.

Man.

It is so beautiful here.

It is so freaking amazing and beautiful out there….trout streams that are outrageous….big vistas….THE WEST!!!!

And…..a bunch of lavender.

How cool is that?

It’s a good thing to travel.

Hmmmmmm….it is really good, isn’t it?

Bill Nye (the science guy)….and climate change

How’d this get to be such a strangely politically divided issue?

Is it that we can’t find ourselves able to accept that we have an effect on our environment?

Or is something bigger at play?

Is there money involved?

Is changing some of our habits going to affect someone else’s profits?

It would be bad to get in the way of someone’s profits…..right?

Something big must be at stake.

Maybe something like….OUR WORLD?!!!!

Awwwwww, who cares, anyway?

I’ll just go to WalMart and buy another pair of short pants if it really hits the fan and starts trying to burn us all out.

I hate politics.

Yusuf at his Tiny Desk

Here’s two good things: Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) and…..a Tiny Desk Concert.

NPR puts on the Tiny Desk Concerts…..and they are uniformly excellent and fun.

Thanks for sharing this with me, Yusuf and NPR!

palouse

This is one of the places that I’ve been that’s so halucinatorally (is that a word? It should be….) beautiful that it floored me.

Another place was in the Valley…out where Jenny’s family lives….but this place is a little farther West than that.

“Downstate” about a half an hour from the old family homestead in Idaho.

Where we live can do that to….but, I’m so used to it that I guess that I get a little jaded or something and don’t notice.

Anyway….THE PALOUSE!

MAN!

another guy….living in another van

Here’s a young guy…living in a van.

Haven’t we seen this story before?

Well….sure we have…but it’s still kind of interesting.

Here’s another short video that’s kind of funny….on purpose:

acute bronchitis

I went to the doctor this morning, and he gave me more medicine than I’ve had in 30 years.

That’s pretty crazy….4 seperate prescriptions…..steroids…inhalers….codeine cough syrup.

And, in spite of my usual reluctance to take any medicine….even aspirin….I welcomed it all.

If it will help me stop coughing after 5 days of hacking and barking all night, I’m all for it.

Hopefully I can get better in case Jenny or the kids get sick.

Jenny took good care of me….even diagnosed the potential for bronchitis before I went to the doctor.

I’m not so good at taking care of her….but I’d like to try.

I’m glad that I’m not used to being sick.