There’s some good news in the headlines for car manufacturers. Although not all models have rebounded, there are signs of hope on the sales floors. As evidence, I submit an e-mail that came in late last night!
Hi everybody! Wally here, from Wally’s Intimida where you can get a great deal on a 2011 Sherpa – still the largest passenger car on the road and even moreso since so many of the other cars have gone tiny! And now is the perfect time to buy, because other people are buying too! Sales numbers for December 2010 are up and enthusiasm is contagious, so throw caution to the wind and plunk down some cash to start the New Year in a car big enough to make its own weather! That’s right, each Intimida Sherpa is like a geographical feature that affects air currents and cloud formation. We’re not kidding when we say the newest model is a butte! Park one in front of your house and see what happens! I’m betting your Sherpa can’t cause weather that’s any worse, and it might make things better!
Change the Geography!
People are also saying the minivan is cool again. That’s great for minivan lovers, but why try to jump on that bandwagon when it may have already left the soccer field? You know how trends are – by the time you catch on, it’s usually over. Remember – the SUV humiliated the minivan, and the Sherpa emasculated the SUV. So if you want to stay ahead of this curve of resurgence, go straight for the Sherpa right now! You can take it home this afternoon and by the time you have it broken in, it’ll be hip again!
Not that I ever thought the Sherpa had lost its hipness. But there was a time when a car as big as a mountain range struck some people as a bit over the top. And getting over the top of a Sherpa requires a lot, even for very tall people. But I know they’re being purchased and driven – all you need for evidence is to read those reports of birds being knocked out of the sky in Arkansas and Louisiana. What could possibly make that happen? Loud noises? Disease? What if those birds were hit by a car while they were still up in the trees? What kind of car could do that? Not a Mini Cooper, I can tell you that!
Americans are buying cars again! That new car smell is filling our noses with pride! Do your part and tower over the pack with a new Sherpa from Intimida – it’s a mighty big car!
Wally is always optimistic about the Sherpa, but it may be too big to catch on again. Though how many have lost money by assuming Americans desperately want whatever they’re looking at, but one size bigger?
What kind of product do you tend to buy on impulse?
You won’t believe this, but here it is: Post-It Notes. My true love. Every size, shape and color. I’m low on these right now, meaning there are only a half dozen unused pads in my drawer, so I am due for a trip to Office Max. There might a size I missed.
My favorite: 4X4 inch yellow, lined.
Just heard on the news that Michele Bachmann is considering running for president. I am certain she will be driving a black, tinted-windowed Sherpa for the campaign!
I have a really hard time staying away from those little cookbooks that they sell at the register areas of Cub and Rainbow. I have way too many (well, I have way too many cookbooks in general) and I am constantly arguing with myself at the checkout to “put it back”.
Like Jacque, I’m fond of post-it notes, but luckily in my industry, vendors tend to bring them in as cheap chatskis (sp?) so I don’t have to plunk down money too often to gratify my desires. I’ve always thought that the guy over at 3M who invented post-it notes should be canonized!
The cool thing about the Post-It inventor was that he sort of did it by accident. I love that that is still possible. Like some geek in the lab wants to make a cologne that would make chicks fall even for him and instead he comes up with some kinda chewing gum that adds 20 points to your IQ for an hour or two.
Legend has it that when Thomas Edison was interviewing engineering students to work in his labs, he gave them a challenging project to show what they could do. They had to figure how to make an incandescent light bulb with no air in it. The joke was that it was impossible. And then one kid who hadn’t been let in on the joke did it.
sox – and i always buy the “10 for $10” ones that wear out in a week or so.
“only” zero out there – a heat wave!!
a gracious good morning to You All – off to another busy day
yesterday you outdid yourselves and tim and Donna finished it off elegantly 🙂
Not much of a shopper here (I think the year I had to get shoes for all the Cratchitt children in 45″ at the nearby mall pretty much sated me).
I do try to stay out of yarn shops, as I have a hard time going into one without needing to carry out some sock yarn. It’s relatively small and inexpensive and provides hours of knitting joy-which is not to say I actually get to wear handknit socks-This Year Will be Different. I am going to knit a pair a month (that I get to keep) and head into winter 2012 with enough to wear them all the time-you heard it here first!
That, and licorice All-sorts, they are hard to come by, so you have to grab them when you can get them.
I once bought a silk suit on impulse…in my defense I was in Seoul, it was tailor-made and pretty inexpensive all things considered. Doesn’t fit quite right these days. Sigh. Clothes are either an impulse buy or a “gotta get a _____ (something simple)” followed by months of trying to find that basic whatever it is (jeans that fit, black t-shirt, cream colored tights….). So when I see something I like, I tend to buy it on impulse right then so I don’t have to go searching for something like it later (and take months doing it).
Lands’ End jeans (or any of their pants) are excellent because: 1. they have Tall sizes and 2. Hemmed to your exact length for free. Heaven on earth for a tall gal. 🙂 All stores sell men’s jeans by waist size and inseam, but NOT women’s! Go figure …
I’ve never, on impulse, bought cream tights. There are depths to which I have not yet slunk. But I’m a sucker for CDs and books, especially now that we can get them “used” on Amazon.com with a single mouse click. “Oh, what the hell, it is USED! I can afford that! CLICK!
Aw c’mon, you’ve never been tempted by an understated pair of cream colored cable-knit cotton tights that would be “just right” with that cute little skirt in the back of your closet?…
You’re right, stick with the black tights with the black skirt. Black is always slimming and black tights with a black skirt will make your legs look longer. ;D
I’ve had to scale back quite a lot, so many fewer impulse buys make it to the checkout anymore: no more magazines, manga or pencil boards, and very limited numbers of DVDs and books (Netflix and Hennepin County Library are my friends). My current danger spot is the olive bar at Lunds/Byerly’s. I am totally addicted to the huge green sundried-tomato-stuffed olives! And, of course, if I have olives I have to eat them with good bread. Speaking of which, the other danger is the olive bread at the Seward Co-op. Can’t remember the name of the bakery, but it’s the best olive bread EVER. Hmmmm, I have to go grocery shopping tonight…
Like Clyde… I’m trying to cut back. I have bookcases full of books, so for the past several years (since the Mpls Library went online) I have been soothing my book buying gene (inherited from my father) with book borrowing. In fact, I have a perfect storm coming up…. for some reason it looks like massive numbers of things on my “Requested List” are going to all show up at the same time in the next few days. I may have a record number of checked out books soon!
I’m like you, Sherrilee – I generally have a list of books on DVD on my request list at the library. After the third or fourth time where I had too many books at once to finish in my allotted three weeks, I discovered the “suspend” option…you can tell the library to keep your request in the system, but don’t send anything until you re-activate the request. Pretty slick.
And sad to say, in addition to the “Suspend”, I also have a spreadsheet with books listed that I haven’t finished before they have to go back, with the page (or disk) on which I stopped. So when it comes back eventually I’ll remember where to start.
(OK, I have to say it… this spreadsheet did not start out as a “where was I”. I also write down each book as I finish it and also have a tab for books that I might want to read eventually.)
If you don’t know about the Goodreads site, you sound like a perfect candidate. I keep track on there of what I have read and what I want to read. I’m not religious about keeping it up-to-date, but it’s a pretty good site (and fun to see what friends are reading…in case there should ever be a time, horrors, when I don’t know what to read next).
You guys are so systematic! I stand in awe. My technique is to get all excited about reading and researching something, check out and request a pile of books, then get buried by a work project and suddenly find myself with a pile of fines and wondering where that last book got to.
I figure it is only a matter of time before they can build a new wing on the Highland Library and name it after me, as my fines have funded it 🙂
MiG — I can only maintain this relationship w/ the libary now that Mpls/Henn maintain accounts online. They send me an email about 4-5 days before something is due, in case I’m not paying attention. It’s a life-saver as I am like you… could not in anyway keep track of what I had out and when it was due!
I can attest that you can still get in trouble with library fines even if you have the online access and e-mail reminders. There are only so many renewals allowed, and then you have to actually physically find the book and return it. That sounds like it should be an easy thing, but not at my house.
Yup, and you have to actually open the emails and look at them, not just give them a glance and say, yeah, yeah, yeah, like they are your mother or something.
My book problem is compounded by the fact that we live in a community whose library has a terrible book collection. The few books in their new section are mostly 3-5 years old. If you give them a new popular-selling book in good condition and they do not have that book, they do not add it to their collection, but sell it for peanuts. They also cannot track their books well in their system. We used to go there some, but I four times got notices I had books overdo when I had returned the books on time. Two times the person I dealt with accused me of lying about it when I showed them they had the book on their shelves. For my wife the librarian to not go to a library is an unhappy choice, but it has not worked for us. They have no book she would want to read. They do have an excellent children’s library named after of course Maud Hart Lovelace. It would be so terrible Mankato not to have a good library in her name.
we are very lucky up here to have the Arrowhead Library Consortium, Clyde. one of Steve’s MAIN worries, moving out here to the hinterlands, was that he wouldn’t have access to a good library. but he can order thru Cloquet Pulic Lib. and access most books within days – and he reads a widely diverse list of books. whew!
One of the selling points of our house was its proximity to a library (it’s just around the corner – a one minute walk from my front door). Love love love being able to reserve and request online and pick it up while dinner is cooking…I am *so* spoiled.
I have trouble resisting exotic ingredients, spices, and herbs in Asian and ethnic markets. My husband and I also buy far too many plants and bulbs, saying to one another that surely we can find room for just one more. That is one reason our lawn is shrinking year by year.
I planted oregano about twenty years ago, and the oregano has taken over pretty much every area that used to be grass. Or whatever space hasn’t gone to oregano has been commandeered by the raspberry canes.
Soups, chili, pasta sauces, omelets, pizza. No particular recipes. Just dry it and crumble. Oregano is one of very few herbs that is better dried than fresh.
I probably am capeable of buying almost any thing on impulse, but don’t do too much of that. Seeds and tools might be my weakest area for impulse buying. From time to time I buy seeds that never get planted because I already have more than I can plant incuding things like artichokes, cumin, and fennel. If it is in a seed catalog, I would like to try it and am tempted to buy it. Same thing applies to tools in hardware stores. Fortunately, I am not too heavily inclined toward buy expensive power tools, but I do have some hand tools I have never used.
I would really like to try artichokes but never get to it. I have an old packet of seed that I will have to throw out. Last year I ate some grown by a near by market gardeners, so I know it can be done.
I was going to say CD’s… or perhaps the candy bars at the check out lane… but then I realized those aren’t true impulse; I’ll think about it for a minute and look it over before purchasing.
What is pure impulse are wiper blades. Just bought more the other day because I walk into Fleet Farm and there they are right at the front and the rear window wiper isn’t worth a crap these days and BOOM I’ve got two more wiper blades in the cart. Plus another for my son’s car and one for the truck.
Another vote in regard to yesterday’s blog– Go back and read it if you haven’t. Lots of good late posting including tim….
I don’t usually do much shopping at Fleet Farm, except for some pet supplies and a few odd items. However, if I spent more time there I would be tempted by the large collection supplies of all kinds and could easily end up with a bunch of “neat” stuff that most likely would get little or no use. An example would be the little air compressor that plugs into the cigarette lighter on a car which I thought would be good to have but doesn’t work very well and has only been used once or twice.
Tools of all sorts are what you can impulse buy at Northern Hydraulics. Which is why I try not to enter the place. I’d go in for a replacement battery for my drill and come out with an new panel saw instead.
A few years ago they built the new ‘Mega Whopper Super Duper Fleet Farm’ here. I remember walking into the store the first time and just being dumbfounded by the size of it. I looked to the left and the store goes as far as the eye can see. Same to the right… and straight ahead too. I stood there with my mouth hanging open.
Everything from leg bands for cows to chicken feed, mineral blocks to roofing cement. Air fresheners to Air Soft pellets.
And Northern Tool– lock picks, welding rods, tie wraps (pack of 10,000 . Seriously) And Toys!
Blevins Book Club Reminder! God and the weather permitting, we are meeting this Sunday afternoon at my pink bungalow in Mac-Groveland. Time: 2 PM. Address: 2168 Juliet Ave (near the intersection of Cretin & Juliet). I’ll make hummus and maybe tabbouleh, and I’ll have some cheap plonk wine. Bring whatever else appeals to you, possibly more wine or crackers.
We will discuss Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. Be prepared to say what book you’d like to read next. Come a little early if you’d like to select a few free movies on tape.
Along with mousse as previously promised, I will have a starter batch for Ben’s Amish Friendship Bread in tow. I believe tim expressed interest, but if he doesn’t want it, I’ll let you all thumb wrestle for it…
Chocolate mousse, Jacque, chocolate…(and not much else, really – some eggs to stiffen it up and a little sugar for sweetness…that’s about it…). No mice. Or moose. Just rich chocolately goodness.
Artwork. Original pulp magazine/comic book/comic strip artwork. Hideously expensive, so it’s not exactly impulse purchasing. More like, “Ooooooh! How can I afford that?” I could open a small museum. With some of my friends, I could open a large museum.
I have a book albatross right now: a set of encycl0pedias from 1975. Who wants to throw them out but there is no point in keeping them. Sigh. Who would want them–no one or no place? How do I recycle them–must find out.
I’m pretty sure that when my mom finally passes I will find an even older set in storage! Funk and Wagnalls from when I was a kid. Last time I saw them, they were in the attic at my folks’ last house, before they filled up my aunt’s basement with stuff that wouldn’t fit in their little condo.
I used the 1971 set of Groliers until finally purchasing a 2005 set of Britannica from the library’s Used Book store. AND I even got my son to use them once! Threw out the Groliers then… just no interest in them…
The powder blue ‘Popular Book of Science’ that came with the Groliers got me through my childhood and adolescence… read those until the pages wore out… sure miss them…
Funk and Wagnalls! We only had a couple volumes… where’d those come from? Gas station or grocery store?
my grandparents were always the big score at christmas. one year for the family instead of the boxes and boxes of colorful wrap for each of us, grandpa showed up with one big box for all of us. we knew it was a joke but the joke was on us. books of knowledge may be expensive but its a toss up as to sox or books of knowledge were ranked higher on the gifts of choice. we were all pissed that year.
Books are my largest impulse buy, while clothes are my most expensive. Don’t let me wander into a Barnes and Noble with any kind of money to spend. I’ve taken to going to the used bookstore in Owatonna and buying a bag of books whenever I go home. It’s a lot cheaper and I can sate my cravings for more books 😉 Oh, but clothing! I can’t stop at just one shirt, or one pair of jeans. I’m working on this addiction, haha, by not going to stores that sell clothing. I can’t walk into Target and only buy what I need, either. I end up buying a CD or two, maybe a movie… I’m an impulse shopper. Not good when you don’t have any money. I can justify the books because our library is tiny and hardly ever open (at least when I can go). I’ve been good lately though. No more impulse buying for me!
OT Movie Quickie Movie Reviews All are on Netflix.
“Winter’s Bone” might be my film of the year, but it has a few creepy scenes that are not for tender baboons. Powerful. Haunting.
“The Children Are All Right” features an intelligent script that doesn’t cheat you with easy resolutions for difficult situations. Great acting. More comedy than not.
“City Island” is a comedy that doesn’t insult your intelligence, and even when it gets a little predictable it is fun. Enjoyable.
steve would you be willing to head up the movie section of the blog. recommendations from the gang and such. tin men is a oldie that always makes me smile.
Sure tim, I’d be happy to help out, although I’m not sure what you have in mind. My big limitation is that I only watch movies on Netflix, so I’m not current with the big movies in theaters now. I know which are good, but I don’t see them until they have gone to DVD.
Whew! When I saw “the newest model is a butte!” I was afraid we might have a repeat of yesterday… Dangerous territory, Dale.
To answer the question, I too simply buy too many books. Often at Half Price, which is close. Then I go on a purging binge because I have too many books, take a couple boxes back to Half Price. I’ll bet I’ve actually bought the same book twice.
And sweaters from thrift shops. They look so fun and colorful and soft (I only buy soft), but my sweater shelf is already overflowing. So I do the same thing as the books, purge the shelf so I can get more. This is sick.
i am a sicko at savers and goodwill. 4 dollar hawaiian shirts and 5 dollar sports coats. life doesn’t get any better than that. just started doing hats. bought 300 in the last month and a half but they are for selling so it doesn’t count. i do get to wear nice hats out of the deal. tgith… if you have any wants let me know. i can get what ever your heart desires.
My weakness in grocery stores is cheese. Whole Foods know how to separate me from my disposable income – they set out those trays of little cheese cube samples, and I can’t resist. Have to take some home.
There’s a liquor store in Woodbury that uses the same strategy to good effect with free wine tastings a few times a year. Top 10, near I-94 and Woodbury Drive. You go in thinking, what the heck, it’s free! and then spend fifty or sixty bucks.
Ahh cheeeese. Another weakness. I have all my major weaknesses within a one block radius of my house. This is both good and bad. Library around the corner, red wine available at the liquor store behind the house, good cheese and chocolate from Kowalksi’s, good coffee…yeah. I’m not moving. Ever.
I crave more than just Post-It Notes at Office Max, I fight an urge to acquire every office supply and organizational system known to man. I guess deep down I think that owning the tools will ensure the desired outcome. I’m good at putting things that have a place, in their place; not so good at creating that appropriate place. Too many things, not enough places. The libraries have stepped up and do a good job of storing books for me. Too many books, not enough places to put book shelves. We live in a decent size condo with indecently limited storage space. Most if it is manageble, even for me, but we have one 10×10 room not devoted to sleeping, eating, bodily functions, laundry, or conversation. It needs to serve as, and store the stuff for an office, library, hobby room, sanctuary, and hopefully someday, guest room when the grandboys no longer think it’s a kick to share an air mattress on the living room floor when they spend the night; tall order for 100 square feet. Ahhh, what was the question again? I don’t get distracted, it’s more like spontaneous redirection.
Caroline I just love the part of organizing my office stuff that involves buying the organizers. I’m not so much on the part where you really put stuff in stuff, if you understand me. Linda and Caroline, if you come to the book club meeting, I’d be prepared to give you some office organizing products.
good luck. the guy who does the twins tounge in cheek ad campaign is hitting the big time right now. maybe you will be next. used to love the schell’s beer guy.
my impulse items are cases of wine,( if one is good 10 is smart) trader joes 36- 60 dollar cases blow me away. art. i discovered art on ebay and got in trouble within a year. ( i have great art but don’t ask about my visa bill) spices. take more room than dishes at my house. i do the library thing with books but also with cds. grab 30 or 40 and put them on my laptop for later and then to the hard drive (external) its amazing how little room under your arm a 500 gig external hard drive is and how many albums you can fit on there. oh i do albums too, the garage is full and i hit a garage sale this summer where i bought an old radio stations owners stash of 5000 albums or so. interesting collection.. i just cant get to it when i want to find it. its in storage of in the attic or at my warehouse. some day maybe. until then i am like the guy who collectd stuff at house on the rock. that guy had a problem… when i got out of there i wasrelieved . it felt like a death spiral of everything you can imagine collectd in sick quantities. carosel horses ok but avon bottles and musicoxes and , and ,and..whew!!!
tim . . . do you refer to “The House on the Rock?” I found that one of the strangest places I have ever been. At first I was blown away by all the incredible, romantic old stuff. Then I began to understand that very, very little of it actually is old stuff. It is replicas of old stuff. And yet it has been collected with the fanaticism you’d associate with genuine antiques of great value. Weird. Just weird!
She sings the closing song in True Grit. They arrange and re-arrange an old hymn over and over, “The Everlasting Arms”, then she sings the final variation at the end. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L.
I hate this time of year! I just got up Wednesday night, saw the time on my clocks, and decided it was Thursday morning. Made coffee. Gave the dog her morning shot. Then began to fret about not getting the AM paper. Dammit. The world looks so much the same AM and PM.
I had two colleagues who both died young who had the impulse buying disease. One was books. She would not let anyone in her apartment but she needed some help with a piece of furniture so she let me in. Her modest apartment was paths between books that reached half-way to the ceiling. She died a few years after that. It was a huge problem when she died. The other bought clothes. After she died her husband had a sale. She had purchased 10 each of hundreds of specific items.
Clyde, do you remember stories in the 1980s about a fanatical book collector they captured in Minnesota? It was long ago enough that I have forgotten details, but the story is utterly fascinating. Some guy had the bug to collect precious old books and had it so badly that he became a master criminal who roamed the country making assaults on the world’s most protected precious libraries. Some of his attacks on libraries were straight out of James Bond movies. When they finally caught him, I think they found most of the missing stuff.
i have a pair of shoes i found that is the right pair for me when its too cold form my birkies. they have been on line for me when i need them but time has run out or will soon. i used to find a pair of shoes and buy 2 or 3 pair so they would not wear ot and be gone in a year and hopefuly this would work until my taste changed. well with birkies i am an old fashion arizona style guy so i am set there but born mules are getting harder to find in decent shape. i can find them in the same rotten shape as the ones i am trying to extend the ife on but new… not any more…. unless.
be right back.
Trail Baboon 
Chocolate
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Exactly.
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Chocolate is not an impulse purchase, it is a necessity.
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Hear, hear!
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Rise and Pull out the Plastic:
You won’t believe this, but here it is: Post-It Notes. My true love. Every size, shape and color. I’m low on these right now, meaning there are only a half dozen unused pads in my drawer, so I am due for a trip to Office Max. There might a size I missed.
My favorite: 4X4 inch yellow, lined.
Just heard on the news that Michele Bachmann is considering running for president. I am certain she will be driving a black, tinted-windowed Sherpa for the campaign!
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It doesn’t cost a lot to make you happy, does it? I married the wrong woman.
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Low Maintenance!
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wonder what kind of contribution you will have to make to get the Sherpa scaled bumper sticker…….
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We could make one out of post-it notes with Michele! written in pencil.
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or maybe Michelle?
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I have a really hard time staying away from those little cookbooks that they sell at the register areas of Cub and Rainbow. I have way too many (well, I have way too many cookbooks in general) and I am constantly arguing with myself at the checkout to “put it back”.
Like Jacque, I’m fond of post-it notes, but luckily in my industry, vendors tend to bring them in as cheap chatskis (sp?) so I don’t have to plunk down money too often to gratify my desires. I’ve always thought that the guy over at 3M who invented post-it notes should be canonized!
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The cool thing about the Post-It inventor was that he sort of did it by accident. I love that that is still possible. Like some geek in the lab wants to make a cologne that would make chicks fall even for him and instead he comes up with some kinda chewing gum that adds 20 points to your IQ for an hour or two.
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Friend of mine who recently retired from 3M said one of his interview questions to see how you think was: how does Mars get the “m”s on M&Ms?
and no, I never did find out.
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Legend has it that when Thomas Edison was interviewing engineering students to work in his labs, he gave them a challenging project to show what they could do. They had to figure how to make an incandescent light bulb with no air in it. The joke was that it was impossible. And then one kid who hadn’t been let in on the joke did it.
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there is much to be said for not knowing something is impossible.
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Exactly; I’m too dumb to know it wasn’t possible….
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I believe it is an M & M trade secret they protect very carefully.
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trying to make a stickum that would never come unstuck and discovered one that would always come unstuck. be ready !!!
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sox – and i always buy the “10 for $10” ones that wear out in a week or so.
“only” zero out there – a heat wave!!
a gracious good morning to You All – off to another busy day
yesterday you outdid yourselves and tim and Donna finished it off elegantly 🙂
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My wife too. Diamonds, jewelry, shoes…? Nope. Want to make her happy? Socks. Especially socks with cats on them.
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Not much of a shopper here (I think the year I had to get shoes for all the Cratchitt children in 45″ at the nearby mall pretty much sated me).
I do try to stay out of yarn shops, as I have a hard time going into one without needing to carry out some sock yarn. It’s relatively small and inexpensive and provides hours of knitting joy-which is not to say I actually get to wear handknit socks-This Year Will be Different. I am going to knit a pair a month (that I get to keep) and head into winter 2012 with enough to wear them all the time-you heard it here first!
That, and licorice All-sorts, they are hard to come by, so you have to grab them when you can get them.
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I once bought a silk suit on impulse…in my defense I was in Seoul, it was tailor-made and pretty inexpensive all things considered. Doesn’t fit quite right these days. Sigh. Clothes are either an impulse buy or a “gotta get a _____ (something simple)” followed by months of trying to find that basic whatever it is (jeans that fit, black t-shirt, cream colored tights….). So when I see something I like, I tend to buy it on impulse right then so I don’t have to go searching for something like it later (and take months doing it).
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Ditto–jeans that fit. The Story City Iowa outlet has a Lee store that always does that supplying for me. AT 50% off.
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I have become a fan of Lands End jeans. Sizing is pretty consistent. Not high fashion, but practical. That’s all I need.
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Lands End has always struck me as a weird name for jeans, like Huffy bicycles.
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Lands’ End jeans (or any of their pants) are excellent because: 1. they have Tall sizes and 2. Hemmed to your exact length for free. Heaven on earth for a tall gal. 🙂 All stores sell men’s jeans by waist size and inseam, but NOT women’s! Go figure …
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I’ve never, on impulse, bought cream tights. There are depths to which I have not yet slunk. But I’m a sucker for CDs and books, especially now that we can get them “used” on Amazon.com with a single mouse click. “Oh, what the hell, it is USED! I can afford that! CLICK!
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Aw c’mon, you’ve never been tempted by an understated pair of cream colored cable-knit cotton tights that would be “just right” with that cute little skirt in the back of your closet?…
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Cream tights and a cute black skirt make me look fat.
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Clearly you just need to find the right silhouette for your shape – it’s not you, it’s the cut of the skirt. 😉
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You’re right, stick with the black tights with the black skirt. Black is always slimming and black tights with a black skirt will make your legs look longer. ;D
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Books. I rarely count the cost if I see a book that catches my fancy. Never too many books.
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I’m with ya there – totally with ya…found some favorite authors buying on impulse (like Walter Mosley).
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Yeah. Books for me too.
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I’ve had to scale back quite a lot, so many fewer impulse buys make it to the checkout anymore: no more magazines, manga or pencil boards, and very limited numbers of DVDs and books (Netflix and Hennepin County Library are my friends). My current danger spot is the olive bar at Lunds/Byerly’s. I am totally addicted to the huge green sundried-tomato-stuffed olives! And, of course, if I have olives I have to eat them with good bread. Speaking of which, the other danger is the olive bread at the Seward Co-op. Can’t remember the name of the bakery, but it’s the best olive bread EVER. Hmmmm, I have to go grocery shopping tonight…
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for olives go to i\bills imported foods on lake street. its about half price with a huge selection
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never mind i/ i have no idea where that come from . it bills
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Like Clyde… I’m trying to cut back. I have bookcases full of books, so for the past several years (since the Mpls Library went online) I have been soothing my book buying gene (inherited from my father) with book borrowing. In fact, I have a perfect storm coming up…. for some reason it looks like massive numbers of things on my “Requested List” are going to all show up at the same time in the next few days. I may have a record number of checked out books soon!
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beware the interlibrary loan!
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I’m like you, Sherrilee – I generally have a list of books on DVD on my request list at the library. After the third or fourth time where I had too many books at once to finish in my allotted three weeks, I discovered the “suspend” option…you can tell the library to keep your request in the system, but don’t send anything until you re-activate the request. Pretty slick.
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And sad to say, in addition to the “Suspend”, I also have a spreadsheet with books listed that I haven’t finished before they have to go back, with the page (or disk) on which I stopped. So when it comes back eventually I’ll remember where to start.
(OK, I have to say it… this spreadsheet did not start out as a “where was I”. I also write down each book as I finish it and also have a tab for books that I might want to read eventually.)
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If you don’t know about the Goodreads site, you sound like a perfect candidate. I keep track on there of what I have read and what I want to read. I’m not religious about keeping it up-to-date, but it’s a pretty good site (and fun to see what friends are reading…in case there should ever be a time, horrors, when I don’t know what to read next).
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Yes, I am actually a member of Goodreads – a friend encouraged me to join several months back, but I never get around to going on the site.
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You guys are so systematic! I stand in awe. My technique is to get all excited about reading and researching something, check out and request a pile of books, then get buried by a work project and suddenly find myself with a pile of fines and wondering where that last book got to.
I figure it is only a matter of time before they can build a new wing on the Highland Library and name it after me, as my fines have funded it 🙂
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MiG — I can only maintain this relationship w/ the libary now that Mpls/Henn maintain accounts online. They send me an email about 4-5 days before something is due, in case I’m not paying attention. It’s a life-saver as I am like you… could not in anyway keep track of what I had out and when it was due!
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I can attest that you can still get in trouble with library fines even if you have the online access and e-mail reminders. There are only so many renewals allowed, and then you have to actually physically find the book and return it. That sounds like it should be an easy thing, but not at my house.
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Yup, and you have to actually open the emails and look at them, not just give them a glance and say, yeah, yeah, yeah, like they are your mother or something.
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My book problem is compounded by the fact that we live in a community whose library has a terrible book collection. The few books in their new section are mostly 3-5 years old. If you give them a new popular-selling book in good condition and they do not have that book, they do not add it to their collection, but sell it for peanuts. They also cannot track their books well in their system. We used to go there some, but I four times got notices I had books overdo when I had returned the books on time. Two times the person I dealt with accused me of lying about it when I showed them they had the book on their shelves. For my wife the librarian to not go to a library is an unhappy choice, but it has not worked for us. They have no book she would want to read. They do have an excellent children’s library named after of course Maud Hart Lovelace. It would be so terrible Mankato not to have a good library in her name.
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we are very lucky up here to have the Arrowhead Library Consortium, Clyde. one of Steve’s MAIN worries, moving out here to the hinterlands, was that he wouldn’t have access to a good library. but he can order thru Cloquet Pulic Lib. and access most books within days – and he reads a widely diverse list of books. whew!
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One of the selling points of our house was its proximity to a library (it’s just around the corner – a one minute walk from my front door). Love love love being able to reserve and request online and pick it up while dinner is cooking…I am *so* spoiled.
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Anna – I agree… walking distance to our little library is fabulous! I figure I’m there at least twice a week!
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I have trouble resisting exotic ingredients, spices, and herbs in Asian and ethnic markets. My husband and I also buy far too many plants and bulbs, saying to one another that surely we can find room for just one more. That is one reason our lawn is shrinking year by year.
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Renee — you have hit upon my long-term strategy for my yard. My goal is to eventually have no grass… just shrubs and flowers.
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I am almost there (helps when the estate is the size of a postage stamp!)
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I planted oregano about twenty years ago, and the oregano has taken over pretty much every area that used to be grass. Or whatever space hasn’t gone to oregano has been commandeered by the raspberry canes.
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any good oregano recipes? i know basil but oregano???
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Soups, chili, pasta sauces, omelets, pizza. No particular recipes. Just dry it and crumble. Oregano is one of very few herbs that is better dried than fresh.
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Goode morning to all,
I probably am capeable of buying almost any thing on impulse, but don’t do too much of that. Seeds and tools might be my weakest area for impulse buying. From time to time I buy seeds that never get planted because I already have more than I can plant incuding things like artichokes, cumin, and fennel. If it is in a seed catalog, I would like to try it and am tempted to buy it. Same thing applies to tools in hardware stores. Fortunately, I am not too heavily inclined toward buy expensive power tools, but I do have some hand tools I have never used.
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Oh yes, the siren call of the seed racks!
It’s January, time for the seed catalogs to start rolling in and to vow that This Year Will Be Different!
Artichokes? You’ve got guts, Jim!
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I would really like to try artichokes but never get to it. I have an old packet of seed that I will have to throw out. Last year I ate some grown by a near by market gardeners, so I know it can be done.
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Morning–
I was going to say CD’s… or perhaps the candy bars at the check out lane… but then I realized those aren’t true impulse; I’ll think about it for a minute and look it over before purchasing.
What is pure impulse are wiper blades. Just bought more the other day because I walk into Fleet Farm and there they are right at the front and the rear window wiper isn’t worth a crap these days and BOOM I’ve got two more wiper blades in the cart. Plus another for my son’s car and one for the truck.
Another vote in regard to yesterday’s blog– Go back and read it if you haven’t. Lots of good late posting including tim….
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It was all too PUNNY!
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I don’t usually do much shopping at Fleet Farm, except for some pet supplies and a few odd items. However, if I spent more time there I would be tempted by the large collection supplies of all kinds and could easily end up with a bunch of “neat” stuff that most likely would get little or no use. An example would be the little air compressor that plugs into the cigarette lighter on a car which I thought would be good to have but doesn’t work very well and has only been used once or twice.
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Got one of those for Christmas!
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You might have one that works better. I hope so.
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Fleet Farm is enemy territory to me, when it comes to impulse buying, that and Northern Hydraulics, or whatever it is now called.
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Enlighten me, what does one impulse buy at a place called Northern hydraulics?
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Tools of all sorts are what you can impulse buy at Northern Hydraulics. Which is why I try not to enter the place. I’d go in for a replacement battery for my drill and come out with an new panel saw instead.
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A few years ago they built the new ‘Mega Whopper Super Duper Fleet Farm’ here. I remember walking into the store the first time and just being dumbfounded by the size of it. I looked to the left and the store goes as far as the eye can see. Same to the right… and straight ahead too. I stood there with my mouth hanging open.
Everything from leg bands for cows to chicken feed, mineral blocks to roofing cement. Air fresheners to Air Soft pellets.
And Northern Tool– lock picks, welding rods, tie wraps (pack of 10,000 . Seriously) And Toys!
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Blevins Book Club Reminder! God and the weather permitting, we are meeting this Sunday afternoon at my pink bungalow in Mac-Groveland. Time: 2 PM. Address: 2168 Juliet Ave (near the intersection of Cretin & Juliet). I’ll make hummus and maybe tabbouleh, and I’ll have some cheap plonk wine. Bring whatever else appeals to you, possibly more wine or crackers.
We will discuss Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. Be prepared to say what book you’d like to read next. Come a little early if you’d like to select a few free movies on tape.
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I’ll be there, if you’re keeping track. Not sure what I’m bringing yet.
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I wish I could come. I have a wedding up here this weekend. Enjoy!!
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I’ll bring wine and something else… it shall remain a mystery.
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Barbara, you mentioned egg nog last time….is it too late for egg nog?
I have a bottle of wine (red) and planned to bring some nuts and maybe fruit to munch on.
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Certainly not too late for eggnog, and if I can’t find any retail, I’ll make some.
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Along with mousse as previously promised, I will have a starter batch for Ben’s Amish Friendship Bread in tow. I believe tim expressed interest, but if he doesn’t want it, I’ll let you all thumb wrestle for it…
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I don’t eat mice!
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Chocolate mousse, Jacque, chocolate…(and not much else, really – some eggs to stiffen it up and a little sugar for sweetness…that’s about it…). No mice. Or moose. Just rich chocolately goodness.
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Pretty much everything, especially big things–cars, houses, TV’s, etc. Our whole marriage was an impulse.
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Artwork. Original pulp magazine/comic book/comic strip artwork. Hideously expensive, so it’s not exactly impulse purchasing. More like, “Ooooooh! How can I afford that?” I could open a small museum. With some of my friends, I could open a large museum.
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Let us know when you open said small museum… sounds very interesting.
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I have a book albatross right now: a set of encycl0pedias from 1975. Who wants to throw them out but there is no point in keeping them. Sigh. Who would want them–no one or no place? How do I recycle them–must find out.
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I’ve got the same thing, Clyde. Mine are from 1979, I think. I’ve been trying to give them away for six years.
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I’m pretty sure that when my mom finally passes I will find an even older set in storage! Funk and Wagnalls from when I was a kid. Last time I saw them, they were in the attic at my folks’ last house, before they filled up my aunt’s basement with stuff that wouldn’t fit in their little condo.
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We can’t even use them as or call them boat anchors.
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You can take encyclopedias to Half Price Books. They will take pretty much everything, and recycle anything for which there’s no secondary market.
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I used the 1971 set of Groliers until finally purchasing a 2005 set of Britannica from the library’s Used Book store. AND I even got my son to use them once! Threw out the Groliers then… just no interest in them…
The powder blue ‘Popular Book of Science’ that came with the Groliers got me through my childhood and adolescence… read those until the pages wore out… sure miss them…
Funk and Wagnalls! We only had a couple volumes… where’d those come from? Gas station or grocery store?
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Knowing my mother, probably from the grocery store…. every week a new volume with your groceries!
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my grandparents were always the big score at christmas. one year for the family instead of the boxes and boxes of colorful wrap for each of us, grandpa showed up with one big box for all of us. we knew it was a joke but the joke was on us. books of knowledge may be expensive but its a toss up as to sox or books of knowledge were ranked higher on the gifts of choice. we were all pissed that year.
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Books are my largest impulse buy, while clothes are my most expensive. Don’t let me wander into a Barnes and Noble with any kind of money to spend. I’ve taken to going to the used bookstore in Owatonna and buying a bag of books whenever I go home. It’s a lot cheaper and I can sate my cravings for more books 😉 Oh, but clothing! I can’t stop at just one shirt, or one pair of jeans. I’m working on this addiction, haha, by not going to stores that sell clothing. I can’t walk into Target and only buy what I need, either. I end up buying a CD or two, maybe a movie… I’m an impulse shopper. Not good when you don’t have any money. I can justify the books because our library is tiny and hardly ever open (at least when I can go). I’ve been good lately though. No more impulse buying for me!
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OT Movie Quickie Movie Reviews All are on Netflix.
“Winter’s Bone” might be my film of the year, but it has a few creepy scenes that are not for tender baboons. Powerful. Haunting.
“The Children Are All Right” features an intelligent script that doesn’t cheat you with easy resolutions for difficult situations. Great acting. More comedy than not.
“City Island” is a comedy that doesn’t insult your intelligence, and even when it gets a little predictable it is fun. Enjoyable.
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Steve we just finished watching “Stranger Than Fiction” – i loved it; it wasn’t depressing or violent enough for Steve 🙂
thanks for the tip!
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steve would you be willing to head up the movie section of the blog. recommendations from the gang and such. tin men is a oldie that always makes me smile.
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Sure tim, I’d be happy to help out, although I’m not sure what you have in mind. My big limitation is that I only watch movies on Netflix, so I’m not current with the big movies in theaters now. I know which are good, but I don’t see them until they have gone to DVD.
What do you want me to do?
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brrrrr–that was my recommendation. I love it; own it, seemed like a Steve movie–your Sg\teve.
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Whew! When I saw “the newest model is a butte!” I was afraid we might have a repeat of yesterday… Dangerous territory, Dale.
To answer the question, I too simply buy too many books. Often at Half Price, which is close. Then I go on a purging binge because I have too many books, take a couple boxes back to Half Price. I’ll bet I’ve actually bought the same book twice.
And sweaters from thrift shops. They look so fun and colorful and soft (I only buy soft), but my sweater shelf is already overflowing. So I do the same thing as the books, purge the shelf so I can get more. This is sick.
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Thrift shops are dangerous for me. Everything seems to be saying, “Look how little I cost! Please take me home! You know you want to…”
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i am a sicko at savers and goodwill. 4 dollar hawaiian shirts and 5 dollar sports coats. life doesn’t get any better than that. just started doing hats. bought 300 in the last month and a half but they are for selling so it doesn’t count. i do get to wear nice hats out of the deal. tgith… if you have any wants let me know. i can get what ever your heart desires.
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My weakness in grocery stores is cheese. Whole Foods know how to separate me from my disposable income – they set out those trays of little cheese cube samples, and I can’t resist. Have to take some home.
There’s a liquor store in Woodbury that uses the same strategy to good effect with free wine tastings a few times a year. Top 10, near I-94 and Woodbury Drive. You go in thinking, what the heck, it’s free! and then spend fifty or sixty bucks.
Socks with cats on them tend to accumulate too.
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Socks with cats on them? Would they be a good match for my cream tights?
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Of course, you can never over-accessorize. More is more.
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Cream goes with almost everything. Go for it.
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but if you’re lactose intolerant, stick with those slimming black tights!
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At first, I read that as “Cats with socks on them”, and I thought, how nice, she really takes care of her animals.
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They only look like they’re wearing socks.
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Ahh cheeeese. Another weakness. I have all my major weaknesses within a one block radius of my house. This is both good and bad. Library around the corner, red wine available at the liquor store behind the house, good cheese and chocolate from Kowalksi’s, good coffee…yeah. I’m not moving. Ever.
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I crave more than just Post-It Notes at Office Max, I fight an urge to acquire every office supply and organizational system known to man. I guess deep down I think that owning the tools will ensure the desired outcome. I’m good at putting things that have a place, in their place; not so good at creating that appropriate place. Too many things, not enough places. The libraries have stepped up and do a good job of storing books for me. Too many books, not enough places to put book shelves. We live in a decent size condo with indecently limited storage space. Most if it is manageble, even for me, but we have one 10×10 room not devoted to sleeping, eating, bodily functions, laundry, or conversation. It needs to serve as, and store the stuff for an office, library, hobby room, sanctuary, and hopefully someday, guest room when the grandboys no longer think it’s a kick to share an air mattress on the living room floor when they spend the night; tall order for 100 square feet. Ahhh, what was the question again? I don’t get distracted, it’s more like spontaneous redirection.
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Caroline, have you met Ikea? If you find Office Max tempting, you’d probably fall in love with Ikea.
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enabler
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I get a little overwhelmed in Ikea, but I know what you mean. (And you are an enabler.)
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I love this article, an ode to stores that promise to organize your stuff.
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Caroline I just love the part of organizing my office stuff that involves buying the organizers. I’m not so much on the part where you really put stuff in stuff, if you understand me. Linda and Caroline, if you come to the book club meeting, I’d be prepared to give you some office organizing products.
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IKEA lowered my opinion of /Swedish culture.
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Just got word…first paying voiceover gig of 2011 next Monday afternoon. Anytime you get paid to talk, it’s a good day.
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Congrats!
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woo hoo!
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Wonderful! Did you see the YouTube video of your competition in Ohio?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DLqB-s89C8
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Yeah. That’s fine…haven’t started trying for singing gigs yet.
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Nope, he’s a talker. Radio voice.
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good luck. the guy who does the twins tounge in cheek ad campaign is hitting the big time right now. maybe you will be next. used to love the schell’s beer guy.
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I loved the Dayton’s Warehouse Sale Guy. Mr. Shirley was always sneaking out to the sale. The voice over was entertaining.
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yep he was memorable
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my impulse items are cases of wine,( if one is good 10 is smart) trader joes 36- 60 dollar cases blow me away. art. i discovered art on ebay and got in trouble within a year. ( i have great art but don’t ask about my visa bill) spices. take more room than dishes at my house. i do the library thing with books but also with cds. grab 30 or 40 and put them on my laptop for later and then to the hard drive (external) its amazing how little room under your arm a 500 gig external hard drive is and how many albums you can fit on there. oh i do albums too, the garage is full and i hit a garage sale this summer where i bought an old radio stations owners stash of 5000 albums or so. interesting collection.. i just cant get to it when i want to find it. its in storage of in the attic or at my warehouse. some day maybe. until then i am like the guy who collectd stuff at house on the rock. that guy had a problem… when i got out of there i wasrelieved . it felt like a death spiral of everything you can imagine collectd in sick quantities. carosel horses ok but avon bottles and musicoxes and , and ,and..whew!!!
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tim . . . do you refer to “The House on the Rock?” I found that one of the strangest places I have ever been. At first I was blown away by all the incredible, romantic old stuff. Then I began to understand that very, very little of it actually is old stuff. It is replicas of old stuff. And yet it has been collected with the fanaticism you’d associate with genuine antiques of great value. Weird. Just weird!
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OT – Iris Dement is 50 today. I’m putting on “Infamous Angel” and humming along.
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Is she still married to Greg Brown?
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As far as I know, they’re still together.
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She sings the closing song in True Grit. They arrange and re-arrange an old hymn over and over, “The Everlasting Arms”, then she sings the final variation at the end. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L.
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I hate this time of year! I just got up Wednesday night, saw the time on my clocks, and decided it was Thursday morning. Made coffee. Gave the dog her morning shot. Then began to fret about not getting the AM paper. Dammit. The world looks so much the same AM and PM.
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Twelve bonus hours! It’s not so bad if you look at it that way.
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I had two colleagues who both died young who had the impulse buying disease. One was books. She would not let anyone in her apartment but she needed some help with a piece of furniture so she let me in. Her modest apartment was paths between books that reached half-way to the ceiling. She died a few years after that. It was a huge problem when she died. The other bought clothes. After she died her husband had a sale. She had purchased 10 each of hundreds of specific items.
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Clyde, do you remember stories in the 1980s about a fanatical book collector they captured in Minnesota? It was long ago enough that I have forgotten details, but the story is utterly fascinating. Some guy had the bug to collect precious old books and had it so badly that he became a master criminal who roamed the country making assaults on the world’s most protected precious libraries. Some of his attacks on libraries were straight out of James Bond movies. When they finally caught him, I think they found most of the missing stuff.
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I vaguely remember that… Wonder where he is now.
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i have a pair of shoes i found that is the right pair for me when its too cold form my birkies. they have been on line for me when i need them but time has run out or will soon. i used to find a pair of shoes and buy 2 or 3 pair so they would not wear ot and be gone in a year and hopefuly this would work until my taste changed. well with birkies i am an old fashion arizona style guy so i am set there but born mules are getting harder to find in decent shape. i can find them in the same rotten shape as the ones i am trying to extend the ife on but new… not any more…. unless.
be right back.
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tim, you’re not Mr. Magorium are you? Please tell me this isn’t your last pair of shoes??
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i am not familiar but when googleing the name a wonderful soundinf story comes up. i will check into it thanks for the reference
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