Till everything falls apart. That's the American way, the tragedy of the commons, Gresham's Law. Kill the goose that lays the golden egg, cut off your nose to spite your face, I'm allright, Jack. OK when things are giood, but when things turn bad, this way of life will bite you, hard.
there is no added flavour to organic produce, none at all. Blind taste tests have proven this many times over. Nor is there added nutritional benefit. Organic is a scam from those points of view.
However, from the soil's point of view, it's much much better. Modern commercial agriculture destroys the soil, which is (or was) a living thing. Organic agriculture, when it's done properly, unlike with most of the organic produce you can buy in store, which is almost always a scam, will replenish and nourish the soil, keeping it healthy. And in the long run that means we are ultimately better off, but in the short term, there is no direct gain from organic methods, only for th soil. Which is why we should do it, doing the right things fro the right reasons.
You've got the pressure/boiling point relationship backwards. The boiling point goes down as pressure goes down and increases as pressure goes up. This is why folks who live in the mountains need to allow extra time for cooking since the boiling point could be just 175 degrees F instead of 212. The 175 degree water has less heat in it than the 212 degree water. Since you can't get the water temperature to be greater than the boiling point without raising the pressure, low pressure cooking takes longer than high pressure.
The phase change from water to vapor takes a LOT of energy, relatively speaking, so by INCREASE the pressure and INCREASING the temperature, you can put much more heat into the water before the phase change starts to occur.
To grow organic fruits and vegetables is really difficult, especially when pests come and eat all of the young flowers that have come out. One way or another, so far, farmers have to use pesticide but the side effect of the chemical goes into the fruits and vegetables. What else should a farmer do to kill of these pests if not with pesticide?
I use google several times a day. I find it to be the most useful tool on the internet. I have found prices on items that I've wanted to buy by comparing the items from different sites. It has saved me lots of money. In these tough economic times everyone wants to save some money. Plus, I love the wise bread site. It is a great way to save money and find free things. Keep up the great site.
I'm having my Wonderbox (that's what we call it here in Sacramento CA) made today. Went to someone's house and they had made bread in it for us to try. It was amazing! In these tough times, it is good to have viable options if an emergency arises. I am going to start using it now so that if/when there is an emergency and I have to use it for cooking, I'll already be well versed. I'm on the prowl for good recipes. I'm so excited about this new way of cooking!
Also, now would be a good time to start your food storage (if you haven't already begun). I'm testing out powdered eggs now. We've started a food storage/preparedness group in my neighborhood. Great way to buy dry packed goods, MRE's, etc., in bulk to get discounts and free shipping! Keep it in mind!
As a former healthcare worker who worked with children I am extremely concerned about the level of pesticides in many of our fruits and vegetables.
Small children have developing immune and neurological systems that make them susceptible to toxins.
We don't know whether pesticides have any effect on children because unfortunately no long term studies have effectively examined the effect that pesticides may have on young children.
These are wonderful suggestions that you have posted. In addition sometimes you can get coupons for organic products. Many produce farmers will allow you to come to their farms and harvest fruit. You pay by how much you pick. My family used to do this with peaches and apples. It was a fun family activity during the summer.
When we buy things on the internet, don't we leave enough information to make the purchase such as shipping/billing address, credit card number with expiration date etc for someone with malignant intent to commit fraud?
I am not saying that the internet store has the intent to commit the fraud, but the employees may?
It seems easier to steal identity information by creating an e-commerce website then to go stealing laptops.
All I can say is wow. Fortunately for me, I only sell services as I am in the business of writing.
I think to use product rebates that way is completely unethical and unacceptable. It not only hurts the company but it can threaten people's jobs within the company and cause the quality of a good product to become a product of not so good quality.
People that scam businesses like that don't understand the ramifications of their actions. Being poor is absolutely no excuse. My business was slow for a long time and I never resorted to stealing. Which is what using the rebate system improperly is, no matter how much someone wants to sugar-coat it.
There's plenty of legal or more ethical ways to get money if you need it that desperately. Most of the time however, it's just greedy and cheap people that do things like that. There's no reason for it at all and there's really no good excuse for it. Stealing is wrong.
I agree with Alli. Several years ago, Ritz crackers had a satisfaction guarantee when they changed their product to be made without partially hydrogenated oils. I thought it pretty silly that anyone would be dissatisfied with these crackers, which is why it sticks in my mind. Apparently, plenty of people were, because today, you cannot find Ritz crackers without hydrogenated oils.
If you travel with your laptop, you should make sure it is encrypted along with having a strong password for logon. It's fairly easy for someone that knows what they're doing to simply take an unencrypted drive and read the data off of it without ever having to logon. If it's encrypted, it cannot be read unless they have the encryption key or unless they can logon to the operating system.
Sometimes I do. Our local bump and dent store offers money back on spoiled merchandise. A bag of buggy flour, yes. One spoiled yoghurt out of a case of twelve (25c apiece), too much hassle to keep it until my normal shopping day. Smaller items that must be mailed in tend to be cost ineffective. Like shampoo that doesn't work in our hard water. I just don't buy that type again.
In India, Hindu's do cremations, as burning their loved ones after they die, which is different compared to other thing you mentioned. Parsi's leave their loved one dead bodies in special location where vultures can eat. every culture have own things, who are we to judge?.
BTW cremations are done in western countries such as USA and is much cheaper compare to burial services hence the interest in it by more people now.
Can we be civil about all other cultures, specially when one does not understand it fully.
People used to go year round without AC, but I think part of the reason was1) housing that was suitable to the location and to the climate, and 2) attitude.
In many areas now, housing is not built according to climate, but to a preplanned idea of what a house should be. Or it is built to maximize density. In either case, houses are hotter than they might otherwise be.
We alos expect to be comfortable no matter what the climate is outside!
that said, I do run my AC, but mostly to quell the humidity. I grew up in Texas, in both high humidity (60-90%) and lower humidity (40%) areas. Even then, in the 60s, most people had AC. Without AC in high humidity areas, there was mildew *everywhere,* which may be why my allergies are bad now. Without AC in lower humidity areas ....well, let's just say I really found the comments about "breezes" and "cool night air" amusing. It cooled down at night, all right--to 85 degrees by 3 am. (On the other hand, I have since lived, blissfully but alas, briefly, in Eastern Washington State, where there were only three weeks of hot weather at least by my standards, and where there *were* breezes and cool nights, and where I never ran my window unit.) Down here I keep the house around 85 during the day. It's the night where I am spendthrift, pshing it down to 79 at night or even 76, if I am sick.
One can survive, and do quite well without AC. But in southern locations there is a REASON for long afternoon siestas and concomitant late night dinners!
Groceries are an issue for poor folks, as well, for a number of reasons.
1) Quality. Grocery stores that cater primarily to a poor population that either walks to the store (by necessity, not choice) or takes the bus (ditto, at least in Southern towns) often have poor choices. I would not purchase many of the "fresh" veg at either of the two stores within walking distance of my house. Soft apples, limp celery, cucumbers already developing soft spots ... but canned goods are a problem, as well. Of the cans I checked, at least half were past their sell-by date. Let's not mention the meat or dairy, please. To co0ok well using real ingredients would take a lot of creativity and no little luck if I had to rely on either store.
2) Storage. Apartment kitchens can be minuscule, and that assumes a ratio of one family per kitchen. Houses are no better. In some of the houses near me, one family lives in each bedroom, and all four families share the single kitchen and two bathrooms. Or the house holds grandparents, parents, and several married children.With that population density, whwere do you store helathy food and can you rely in it still being there when it is time to cook?
3) Transportation. If you walk to the store or take the bus, you are limited to what you can carry in your hands or in a wheeled cart. (You see the whole family going shopping around here, with everyone carrying bags home.) I once challenged a colleague, who had gotten on his high horse about the spending habits of some of the poor, to shop as they did. We started from a parking lot of an apartment complex, walked to the bus stop, waited for the bus, walked from there to the store. .... you get my drift.
When you are blind tired, sometimes it is easier to shop at that "neighborhood" store--you know the one, only a little larger than a convenience store, with prices to match and few good choices. But it is on your way home, without taking an extra seven block detour in 95 degree weather with 68% humidity.
I'm not trying to make the claim that people bear no responsibility for what food goes in their mouths. There are plenty of people who have opportunities and who pass them by, who make poor choices from ignorance or habit, not necessity. There are plenty of cuisines, after all, that combine nurtition, flavor, and a lack of expense -- but you have to know how to cook that way and be willing to try foods from other cultures. (Seriously, I have taught adult students, older than I, who have never ever eaten anything "ethnic'" and who were afraid to try.) And you have to see those foods as desirable. There's some research (Winkler, 1998 (?) that indicates that the more acculturated Mexican Americans become to the United States the more gallbladder disease and other diet-related illnesses they contract, and other (Pilcher, date?) looking at the spread of sodas and sugar among the rural Mexican poor. Corn and beans and chiles are cheap --but if they are seen as "poor folks' food" or as "too Mexican" or whatever, and if fast food is what "real city folks / Americans" eat ....
Over at the Simple Dollar Trent observed that frugal options are often seen as indicating poverty. My neighbors certainly bear out that observation. My out-of-work next doors are appalled that I drive a ten year old car and hang my washing out to dry rather than using the dryer, or that I buy resale clothes. Those were the things that separated them from others when they were young, and voluntarily choosing to do them is not something my neighbors understand. And, of course, I have to acknowledge that I do have the luxury of *choice.* If the weather is bad, I have a dryer. When my car becomes unreliable, I will be able to get another one. I *could* buy new clothes. .....
Ignorance also plays a large role. My neighbors are surprised when I change my own locks, or freeze the blueberries from another neighbor's overflowing bushes, or sew something, or bake my own bread / make my own yogurt ... just because *I know how.* I was taught how to gather SKILLS from an early age, and their parents were too busy working to teach them how to do much of anything.
Every person, poor or otherwise, is different. But the problems of poverty are multiple and interlocking, and we need to do what we can. Me, I teach the kids I meet in the local park how to do things ... how to find out on their own how to do things ... and encourage them to believe that they CAN exercise skills. It isn't much. But it is *something*.
@guest - It depends entirely on the nature of the policy your father bought. I would suspect that the policy is worth considerably more than $1,000. If I had to guess, I would say that $1,000 was the flat death benefit amount (life insurance amount), and that there is a significant cash value as well that will:
a) pay out on his death (assuming he keeps the policy up to date and that he is the life insured on the policy,
b) be a cushion for the policy owner to borrow against now.
Finish on the chair tarted to peel one, yes 1 week!, after I put it together and the they won't refund my money until I send it back. That means too much time and effort on my part but I sent them a photo of the crappy quality of their product but they do NOT care. Need to spread the word that their Chinese made outdoor furniture is garbage and a pain to return and they don't stand behind it.
Best
after months of going to doctors and medicines and even heel supports my foot hurt so bad that to try and stand on it was just impossible.I bought the cheap Apple cider vinegar and started soaking my foot in this and in 2 days ALL the pain was gone and i could walk with no limp after soaking for 2 weeks the heel spurs had disolved
I signed up on Friday. By Saturday, I had made several purchases with my check card. I checked my acct. oline. Although I was clearly enrolled in Keep The Change--none of the purchase amounts had been rounded up. So, I contacted a B of A representative online.
This is amazing, the rep told me that, yes I was enrolled and on Monday or Tuesday--the "change" would be put into my savings accout. I mentioned that the amounts had not been rounded off in my checking account (I was looking at it online) and the rep. said, they wont be. On Monday or Tuesday, they will calculate the TOTAL amount of change resulting from the purchases, subtract that whole amount from my checking and move it to the savings side of my account. This sounds like a nightmare to track and balance. Im hoping the rep. has misunderstood the process.
I go into a purchase assuming that I will like the product I buy and usually throw away any packaging immediately. For me to submit the label, proof of purchase, etc., to get a dissatisfaction rebate usually requires that I dig through the trash to find them.
That said, I WILL dig and find the necessary documentation if I truly am unhappy with a product. After all, I spent my money in good faith that I would be happy. If I'm not, I deserve my money back.
The reason they are selling "family value packs" at a lower cost is that THAT specific meat is older than the other stuff, and they are just trying to get rid of it before they end up throwing it out for spoilage.
They're just trying to make sure less food goes to waste. Is that really dishonest?
Till everything falls apart. That's the American way, the tragedy of the commons, Gresham's Law. Kill the goose that lays the golden egg, cut off your nose to spite your face, I'm allright, Jack. OK when things are giood, but when things turn bad, this way of life will bite you, hard.
By the way, this was in reply to Comment #16...
there is no added flavour to organic produce, none at all. Blind taste tests have proven this many times over. Nor is there added nutritional benefit. Organic is a scam from those points of view.
However, from the soil's point of view, it's much much better. Modern commercial agriculture destroys the soil, which is (or was) a living thing. Organic agriculture, when it's done properly, unlike with most of the organic produce you can buy in store, which is almost always a scam, will replenish and nourish the soil, keeping it healthy. And in the long run that means we are ultimately better off, but in the short term, there is no direct gain from organic methods, only for th soil. Which is why we should do it, doing the right things fro the right reasons.
You've got the pressure/boiling point relationship backwards. The boiling point goes down as pressure goes down and increases as pressure goes up. This is why folks who live in the mountains need to allow extra time for cooking since the boiling point could be just 175 degrees F instead of 212. The 175 degree water has less heat in it than the 212 degree water. Since you can't get the water temperature to be greater than the boiling point without raising the pressure, low pressure cooking takes longer than high pressure.
The phase change from water to vapor takes a LOT of energy, relatively speaking, so by INCREASE the pressure and INCREASING the temperature, you can put much more heat into the water before the phase change starts to occur.
To grow organic fruits and vegetables is really difficult, especially when pests come and eat all of the young flowers that have come out. One way or another, so far, farmers have to use pesticide but the side effect of the chemical goes into the fruits and vegetables. What else should a farmer do to kill of these pests if not with pesticide?
I use google several times a day. I find it to be the most useful tool on the internet. I have found prices on items that I've wanted to buy by comparing the items from different sites. It has saved me lots of money. In these tough economic times everyone wants to save some money. Plus, I love the wise bread site. It is a great way to save money and find free things. Keep up the great site.
I'm having my Wonderbox (that's what we call it here in Sacramento CA) made today. Went to someone's house and they had made bread in it for us to try. It was amazing! In these tough times, it is good to have viable options if an emergency arises. I am going to start using it now so that if/when there is an emergency and I have to use it for cooking, I'll already be well versed. I'm on the prowl for good recipes. I'm so excited about this new way of cooking!
Also, now would be a good time to start your food storage (if you haven't already begun). I'm testing out powdered eggs now. We've started a food storage/preparedness group in my neighborhood. Great way to buy dry packed goods, MRE's, etc., in bulk to get discounts and free shipping! Keep it in mind!
As a former healthcare worker who worked with children I am extremely concerned about the level of pesticides in many of our fruits and vegetables.
Small children have developing immune and neurological systems that make them susceptible to toxins.
We don't know whether pesticides have any effect on children because unfortunately no long term studies have effectively examined the effect that pesticides may have on young children.
These are wonderful suggestions that you have posted. In addition sometimes you can get coupons for organic products. Many produce farmers will allow you to come to their farms and harvest fruit. You pay by how much you pick. My family used to do this with peaches and apples. It was a fun family activity during the summer.
When we buy things on the internet, don't we leave enough information to make the purchase such as shipping/billing address, credit card number with expiration date etc for someone with malignant intent to commit fraud?
I am not saying that the internet store has the intent to commit the fraud, but the employees may?
It seems easier to steal identity information by creating an e-commerce website then to go stealing laptops.
All I can say is wow. Fortunately for me, I only sell services as I am in the business of writing.
I think to use product rebates that way is completely unethical and unacceptable. It not only hurts the company but it can threaten people's jobs within the company and cause the quality of a good product to become a product of not so good quality.
People that scam businesses like that don't understand the ramifications of their actions. Being poor is absolutely no excuse. My business was slow for a long time and I never resorted to stealing. Which is what using the rebate system improperly is, no matter how much someone wants to sugar-coat it.
There's plenty of legal or more ethical ways to get money if you need it that desperately. Most of the time however, it's just greedy and cheap people that do things like that. There's no reason for it at all and there's really no good excuse for it. Stealing is wrong.
I agree with Alli. Several years ago, Ritz crackers had a satisfaction guarantee when they changed their product to be made without partially hydrogenated oils. I thought it pretty silly that anyone would be dissatisfied with these crackers, which is why it sticks in my mind. Apparently, plenty of people were, because today, you cannot find Ritz crackers without hydrogenated oils.
If you travel with your laptop, you should make sure it is encrypted along with having a strong password for logon. It's fairly easy for someone that knows what they're doing to simply take an unencrypted drive and read the data off of it without ever having to logon. If it's encrypted, it cannot be read unless they have the encryption key or unless they can logon to the operating system.
Sometimes I do. Our local bump and dent store offers money back on spoiled merchandise. A bag of buggy flour, yes. One spoiled yoghurt out of a case of twelve (25c apiece), too much hassle to keep it until my normal shopping day. Smaller items that must be mailed in tend to be cost ineffective. Like shampoo that doesn't work in our hard water. I just don't buy that type again.
Paul,
In India, Hindu's do cremations, as burning their loved ones after they die, which is different compared to other thing you mentioned. Parsi's leave their loved one dead bodies in special location where vultures can eat. every culture have own things, who are we to judge?.
BTW cremations are done in western countries such as USA and is much cheaper compare to burial services hence the interest in it by more people now.
Can we be civil about all other cultures, specially when one does not understand it fully.
People used to go year round without AC, but I think part of the reason was1) housing that was suitable to the location and to the climate, and 2) attitude.
In many areas now, housing is not built according to climate, but to a preplanned idea of what a house should be. Or it is built to maximize density. In either case, houses are hotter than they might otherwise be.
We alos expect to be comfortable no matter what the climate is outside!
that said, I do run my AC, but mostly to quell the humidity. I grew up in Texas, in both high humidity (60-90%) and lower humidity (40%) areas. Even then, in the 60s, most people had AC. Without AC in high humidity areas, there was mildew *everywhere,* which may be why my allergies are bad now. Without AC in lower humidity areas ....well, let's just say I really found the comments about "breezes" and "cool night air" amusing. It cooled down at night, all right--to 85 degrees by 3 am. (On the other hand, I have since lived, blissfully but alas, briefly, in Eastern Washington State, where there were only three weeks of hot weather at least by my standards, and where there *were* breezes and cool nights, and where I never ran my window unit.) Down here I keep the house around 85 during the day. It's the night where I am spendthrift, pshing it down to 79 at night or even 76, if I am sick.
One can survive, and do quite well without AC. But in southern locations there is a REASON for long afternoon siestas and concomitant late night dinners!
Groceries are an issue for poor folks, as well, for a number of reasons.
1) Quality. Grocery stores that cater primarily to a poor population that either walks to the store (by necessity, not choice) or takes the bus (ditto, at least in Southern towns) often have poor choices. I would not purchase many of the "fresh" veg at either of the two stores within walking distance of my house. Soft apples, limp celery, cucumbers already developing soft spots ... but canned goods are a problem, as well. Of the cans I checked, at least half were past their sell-by date. Let's not mention the meat or dairy, please. To co0ok well using real ingredients would take a lot of creativity and no little luck if I had to rely on either store.
2) Storage. Apartment kitchens can be minuscule, and that assumes a ratio of one family per kitchen. Houses are no better. In some of the houses near me, one family lives in each bedroom, and all four families share the single kitchen and two bathrooms. Or the house holds grandparents, parents, and several married children.With that population density, whwere do you store helathy food and can you rely in it still being there when it is time to cook?
3) Transportation. If you walk to the store or take the bus, you are limited to what you can carry in your hands or in a wheeled cart. (You see the whole family going shopping around here, with everyone carrying bags home.) I once challenged a colleague, who had gotten on his high horse about the spending habits of some of the poor, to shop as they did. We started from a parking lot of an apartment complex, walked to the bus stop, waited for the bus, walked from there to the store. .... you get my drift.
When you are blind tired, sometimes it is easier to shop at that "neighborhood" store--you know the one, only a little larger than a convenience store, with prices to match and few good choices. But it is on your way home, without taking an extra seven block detour in 95 degree weather with 68% humidity.
I'm not trying to make the claim that people bear no responsibility for what food goes in their mouths. There are plenty of people who have opportunities and who pass them by, who make poor choices from ignorance or habit, not necessity. There are plenty of cuisines, after all, that combine nurtition, flavor, and a lack of expense -- but you have to know how to cook that way and be willing to try foods from other cultures. (Seriously, I have taught adult students, older than I, who have never ever eaten anything "ethnic'" and who were afraid to try.) And you have to see those foods as desirable. There's some research (Winkler, 1998 (?) that indicates that the more acculturated Mexican Americans become to the United States the more gallbladder disease and other diet-related illnesses they contract, and other (Pilcher, date?) looking at the spread of sodas and sugar among the rural Mexican poor. Corn and beans and chiles are cheap --but if they are seen as "poor folks' food" or as "too Mexican" or whatever, and if fast food is what "real city folks / Americans" eat ....
Over at the Simple Dollar Trent observed that frugal options are often seen as indicating poverty. My neighbors certainly bear out that observation. My out-of-work next doors are appalled that I drive a ten year old car and hang my washing out to dry rather than using the dryer, or that I buy resale clothes. Those were the things that separated them from others when they were young, and voluntarily choosing to do them is not something my neighbors understand. And, of course, I have to acknowledge that I do have the luxury of *choice.* If the weather is bad, I have a dryer. When my car becomes unreliable, I will be able to get another one. I *could* buy new clothes. .....
Ignorance also plays a large role. My neighbors are surprised when I change my own locks, or freeze the blueberries from another neighbor's overflowing bushes, or sew something, or bake my own bread / make my own yogurt ... just because *I know how.* I was taught how to gather SKILLS from an early age, and their parents were too busy working to teach them how to do much of anything.
Every person, poor or otherwise, is different. But the problems of poverty are multiple and interlocking, and we need to do what we can. Me, I teach the kids I meet in the local park how to do things ... how to find out on their own how to do things ... and encourage them to believe that they CAN exercise skills. It isn't much. But it is *something*.
@guest - It depends entirely on the nature of the policy your father bought. I would suspect that the policy is worth considerably more than $1,000. If I had to guess, I would say that $1,000 was the flat death benefit amount (life insurance amount), and that there is a significant cash value as well that will:
a) pay out on his death (assuming he keeps the policy up to date and that he is the life insured on the policy,
b) be a cushion for the policy owner to borrow against now.
You must have the PC version.
http://chris.pirillo.com/do-you-want-a-logitech-quickcam-vision-pro-usb-...
That is an excellent idea! ^_^
My father purchased a $1,000 whole life policy in 1943 has paid $20.00 a year on it. Would this policy just pay out 1,000. He is 91 yrs. old now.
Finish on the chair tarted to peel one, yes 1 week!, after I put it together and the they won't refund my money until I send it back. That means too much time and effort on my part but I sent them a photo of the crappy quality of their product but they do NOT care. Need to spread the word that their Chinese made outdoor furniture is garbage and a pain to return and they don't stand behind it.
Best
after months of going to doctors and medicines and even heel supports my foot hurt so bad that to try and stand on it was just impossible.I bought the cheap Apple cider vinegar and started soaking my foot in this and in 2 days ALL the pain was gone and i could walk with no limp after soaking for 2 weeks the heel spurs had disolved
I signed up on Friday. By Saturday, I had made several purchases with my check card. I checked my acct. oline. Although I was clearly enrolled in Keep The Change--none of the purchase amounts had been rounded up. So, I contacted a B of A representative online.
This is amazing, the rep told me that, yes I was enrolled and on Monday or Tuesday--the "change" would be put into my savings accout. I mentioned that the amounts had not been rounded off in my checking account (I was looking at it online) and the rep. said, they wont be. On Monday or Tuesday, they will calculate the TOTAL amount of change resulting from the purchases, subtract that whole amount from my checking and move it to the savings side of my account. This sounds like a nightmare to track and balance. Im hoping the rep. has misunderstood the process.
I go into a purchase assuming that I will like the product I buy and usually throw away any packaging immediately. For me to submit the label, proof of purchase, etc., to get a dissatisfaction rebate usually requires that I dig through the trash to find them.
That said, I WILL dig and find the necessary documentation if I truly am unhappy with a product. After all, I spent my money in good faith that I would be happy. If I'm not, I deserve my money back.
The reason they are selling "family value packs" at a lower cost is that THAT specific meat is older than the other stuff, and they are just trying to get rid of it before they end up throwing it out for spoilage.
They're just trying to make sure less food goes to waste. Is that really dishonest?