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Monthly Archives: January 2026
This “underconsumption” business is baffling to me. Do people actually buy new heavy coats and all new Christmas decorations every winter? Do they throw away their Valentines themed coffee mugs on February 15th and then shop for new ones the following January? Do people buy a new car every year or two? Like, seriously. I’m confused. How is wearing the same pair of well-fitting jeans till they get holes in them “underconsumption”? How is buying a well constructed pocketbook and carrying it for a few years not normal? Or boots? Or anything else? I mean, if you buy what you truly love you wouldn’t want to replace it, right??? These influencers are showing their insulated travel cups with chipped paint and small dents like it’s something to celebrate and be congratulated on. ???? Was I supposed to run out and buy a big, bulky Stanley for every day of the week, plus holiday editions? Am I supposed to throw away leggings that I only wear around the house because they get a pull or a bleached spot? I mean, somebody please explain this to me. I can’t make it math, or understand the WHY. Even if I was using some mythical rich husband’s money, I can’t see replacing anything that’s serviceable and not stained beyond repair. Maybe I’m the odd one…
Thursday afternoon, right after I posted my first hand account of my utter disgust in the system (about quarter till 5), I witnessed an honest-to-God miracle. So for those of you who messaged me and didn’t get an immediate response, here’s what I was doing: I’d just crossed the bridge at the Dollar General on Chapman Highway at White School Road & I see something large laying close to the side of the road. I thought it was a contractor sized garbage bag, it was the right shape. Then I see a pickup truck ahead pulling over and I looked again and the garbage bag had FEET!! And it wasn’t a garbage bag at ALL, it was black pants on a husky body. But that couldn’t be right, a patrol car was less than a quarter mile in front of me. Surely he’d seen it. Is this a joke? A training exercise?? So I whip it over in front of the truck and am watching traffic for a safe opportunity to get out, and digging my phone out to call 911, because the other guy wasn’t out of his truck yet. I start running back down the side of the road to the victim, who’s laying flat on his back, feet close to the white line of the road. When I say close, I mean less than 12″. There are no cars or anybody…
I have a friend who has been unable to flush a toilet or take a shower since January 2nd. Why not call a plumber, you ask? Well, she did. Six of them. Two eventually called back. One was just calling to let her know he got her message and couldn’t come (appreciate the honesty), the other could come from Sweetwater. And he did, on Tuesday the 6th. He was there less than ten minutes. He poked around in the vicinity of the septic tank, declared it and the field line full of roots, told her it’d be $13,000 to fix, and left. That’s terrible news for anybody, right? Now let me tell you my friend is disabled. I don’t mean that she simply draws disability (which she does, a pittance). I mean she is completely blind in one eye and only has 5% vision in the other. She has a disorder called myasthenia gravis, MG for short, which causes muscles to involuntarily quit. This includes muscles in the throat that make you swallow. You don’t think about that, right? Your neck supports itself and you just swallow spit all day as needed. She doesn’t always have that luxury. On flare up days (sometimes lasting a week and often as once a month) she has to sit up and let saliva come out her mouth or else she can choke. Her diaphragm muscles will sometimes get lazy and…
