tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post8638923788418782411..comments2024-01-03T01:40:26.911-08:00Comments on Life Drawings: 10 June 1955 “A Disaster of Speed, Planned Obsolescence, and Waste Not Want Not”50sgalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09250940806307766624noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-29910135491170270952010-08-13T17:28:38.375-07:002010-08-13T17:28:38.375-07:00A fabulous gift idea that any mom & grandma li...A fabulous gift idea that any mom & grandma <a href="http://www.linksoflondons.uk.com/" rel="nofollow"><strong>links of london sale</strong></a> would be glad to accept is a mother's ring. There are countless styles to pick from <a href="http://www.linksoflondons.uk.com/links-of-london-charms" rel="nofollow"><strong>london links charms</strong></a> and every one permits each of a mother's children's birthstone to be placed in the ring so mom & grandma can remember her children wherever she goes.Jewelry <a href="http://www.linksoflondons.uk.com/links-of-london-bracelets" rel="nofollow"><strong>links london bracelet</strong></a> that is personalized or engraved makes great jewelry gifts for mom. You can have a particular word or meaningful expression engraved inside a ring, necklace or bracelet <a href="http://www.linksoflondons.uk.com/links-of-london-earrings" rel="nofollow"><strong>links of london earrings</strong></a> to demonstrate to your mother the depths of your feelings.Stylish watches are an additional idea for great jewelry gifts for mom. Your mother <a href="http://www.linksoflondons.uk.com/links-of-london-sweetie-bracelet" rel="nofollow"><strong>sweetie bracelet</strong></a> needs a stylish watch to go with her favorite outfit and perhaps even a few to go with her entire wardrobe.Another example of mom's & grandma's jewelry that makes a great gift is mother's earrings.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-28654211637515303292009-08-05T05:04:40.191-07:002009-08-05T05:04:40.191-07:00The words 'accounting" and 'depreciat...The words 'accounting" and 'depreciation" are not mentioned here. buy a $2000 laptop and it will be worth $500 in 3 years. That is $1500 in depreciation. How much have Americans lost on the depreciation of automobiles since 1955. The nitwit economists can't tell us.<br /><br />http://www.toxicdrums.com/economic-wargames-by-dal-timgar.html<br /><br /><a href="http://www.toxicdrums.com/economic-wargames-by-dal-timgar.html" rel="nofollow">Economic Wargames</a><br /><br />umbrarchistAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-87933715325297160902009-06-13T19:13:02.176-07:002009-06-13T19:13:02.176-07:00"Some where along the way( it seems to have h..."Some where along the way( it seems to have happened after WWII) we have moved from the practical towards unskilled masses wanting to be always entertained."<br /><br />AMEN!!<br /><br />I haven't posted before, 50'sgal, but I have been reading your posts from the beginning, I have now just caught up with your current ones ( I am about a day or two off).<br /><br />First of all, I must agree wholeheartedly with you about the blind sheep attitude we have in modern times about having to buy the newest thing on the shelves. I have caught myself doing it in the past. Thankfully, I am trying to get away from it.<br /><br />I would also like to say that you have reminded me that being a homemaker is a respectable, challenging, and interesting lifestyle. And it is a lifestyle. I have been re-motivated to work harder to keep my house and put dinner on te table every night. I am even using some of the recipes you have posted. It is alot more difficult around here, for I have 4 children, and they range from 10 - 1. Believe me, they keep me hopping, haha.<br /><br />Still, I love that you have a writen correspondence with some of the posters and perhaps we can pick up with that. I think it would be wonderful to have a penpal who loves the past as much as I do.<br /><br />Keep up the good work and the question asking. It makes me look at my own world a litle more carefully.<br />LorieLorie Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14406168168009117387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-80156665477453658212009-06-13T18:40:03.002-07:002009-06-13T18:40:03.002-07:00The income breakdown is interesting. I put our sp...The income breakdown is interesting. I put our spending to the test based on our income. We spend a little more on housing but a lot less on food. You'd think food wouldn't be such a big difference since economists warned of huge price increases. But we spend closer to 8%- not 35%. Was food more expensive because it was less produced or do we just eat a lot more junk than I think? <br /><br />I agree we've, for the most part, become a nation of "employers". We employee others to fix our appliances, cars, our dinners. Like you said we "need" more money so we can pay someone else to do our work. It's just strange. <br /><br />What makes me mad about some technology is that it's not really better, it's just the new thing. Like DVD's. My kids scratch them so easily. Yes, rewinding VHS tapes takes time but they hold up better and are easier to get to exactly the scene you want. I cannot tell you how many times we've rented DVDs only to get them home to find them scratched. So the video store has to give us a credit and replace the DVD in their inventory. Sigh.<br /><br />SAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-50856484745852171962009-06-12T15:56:35.413-07:002009-06-12T15:56:35.413-07:00I can't get past the musk of goats' milk/c...I can't get past the musk of goats' milk/cheese. It would be fun to try, though!Renee of the Faehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13081022805749169331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-45143174834847291862009-06-11T15:33:38.204-07:002009-06-11T15:33:38.204-07:00I was looking at the regulations for livestock in ...I was looking at the regulations for livestock in Boston last week (after watching more of The Good Life (yes, the 1970s British series)). You need special permission for any farm animals, but over the river in Cambridge you can have laying hens. A goat would be fantastic! I haven't milked anything* in years but do know how to make cheese. Soft goat cheese in incredibly easy too.<br /><br />*that sounds odd - it was a cow I last milked btwTeruhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03572270900311752419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-3801752950462060282009-06-11T13:48:22.666-07:002009-06-11T13:48:22.666-07:00Yes,we do. In fact where we live in Boston, in the...Yes,we do. In fact where we live in Boston, in the Back Bay, there is a few blocks down, the Fens (Fenway) and they have quite a large community garden. I don't believe it costs, you simply need to live in the area and be on a waiting lists, but I know of no such gardens in any areas around here that would allow say, an apt dweller, to use the land to keep chickens or a goat, instead of using their plot for veg and I was thinking more along those lines as well. The idea that food is not only vegetables, but meat and eggs and milk. One milk goat in a small area could probably make enough milk and cheese to barter with the neighboring plots for veg and fruit etc and it would be a little closer to local-sustenance. You know what I mean? I have an aunt who has quite a few hundred acres on a lake where she has a house and she rents out a large parcel of it to local farmers for crops and now some of it for their horses, but I don't know if that is the norm. Even here where I live, it would be interesting if towns had areas that they were marked as parks to become shared gardens for animals and vegetables. Perhaps it will be something I will recommend if I take next year to be my 'social/community' year. This year, though, I need to get things into shape and my skills down before I can have local townies and town officials over for dinner and swaying bridge nights to help improve the town, wink wink50sgalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250940806307766624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-63433947092446931232009-06-11T13:46:31.971-07:002009-06-11T13:46:31.971-07:00We do have community gardens. In fact, they just s...We do have community gardens. In fact, they just started one in town, and a few neighboring towns have some well-established plots. They're certainly nowhere near as extensive as I would like to see, that's for sure!Renee of the Faehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13081022805749169331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-64199219938947541472009-06-11T12:54:33.668-07:002009-06-11T12:54:33.668-07:0050s gal, it may be interesting for you to know tha...50s gal, it may be interesting for you to know that in Europe in some places, at least, you can rent a piece of land from the city government and have a garden. You could grow vegetables or flowers, or both - whatever you wish.<br /><br />We have those gardens in our town, too. Most people put houses on their land, so that it becomes a recreation place It's not that expensive, either, though it's mostly older folks and mid-eastern immigrants who seem to do it. The point is, if you rent it you are kind of tied to it and you end spending a lot of free time there and younger folks prefer travelling and partying and going on vacation.<br /><br />Don't you have community gardens in USA?<br /><br />Greetings from HollandAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-26195774574358384462009-06-11T12:41:17.029-07:002009-06-11T12:41:17.029-07:0050sgal:
Oh yes, the idea of property taxes scares...50sgal:<br /><br />Oh yes, the idea of property taxes scares me, too. Is there a limit to the amount we can be charged? Our taxes around here have gone up to allow for the population increase (for schools, mostly) and older people are being taxed out of their homes. It's sad and unfair.<br /><br />Kris7Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-58796015820179533972009-06-11T12:14:00.475-07:002009-06-11T12:14:00.475-07:00I guess I mean that total self-sufficiency is impo...I guess I mean that total self-sufficiency is impossible because we would still need professions like dentists and there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to become proficient at every needed thing. <br /><br />Then, I guess we could define "needed." Survival needs are provided for us in the wild, I believe, but how much do we want to sacrifice? And, to consider less-than-enthusiastic family members, compromise might be more palatable. <br /><br />Anyways...I have also had a self-sufficiency wish since I saw The Adventures of the Wilderness Family movie in 1975. BTW...I could be defined as a boomer. Ha!<br /><br />Teru: Is that the Good Life British sitcom? I like those, too.<br /><br />Yay! I like these comment days. (I don't feel so crazy--no offense everyone)<br /><br />Thanks 50sgal!<br /><br />Kris7Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-64121606106047036942009-06-11T11:37:00.693-07:002009-06-11T11:37:00.693-07:00Teru-I wonder if Kris7 meant that even if one were...Teru-I wonder if Kris7 meant that even if one were to go out into the woods on a few acres of land paid for, there would still be need to pay taxes and the like. One of my pipe dreams (and we have gone as far as look at property in the past years) is to have some acreage in maine or nh to have a handbuilt home of antiquity one day. Live rustic etc. Not sure if I could do it year round, but it'd be a great experiment and would make a wonderful year long project/book. Dream on, I can, right?50sgalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250940806307766624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-55638860545965477362009-06-11T08:34:01.975-07:002009-06-11T08:34:01.975-07:00Kris7, why do you think that total self-sufficienc...Kris7, why do you think that total self-sufficiency is impossible? It would just be a matter of seeing what you could do without.<br /><br />I've been having partial self-sufficiency fantasies a lot lately though (been rewatching 'The Good Life'), including a great deal of barter and bulk-buying for things we couldn't grow (bulk buying of grains to home grind and the like). Of course it's all a pipe dream for me now as I don't even have a fire escape, let alone an inch of ground to grow things.Teruhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03572270900311752419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-91950231840163804192009-06-11T02:58:21.193-07:002009-06-11T02:58:21.193-07:00YES we definitely HAVE been brainwashed. The mere ...YES we definitely HAVE been brainwashed. The mere fact that the majority of people spend their 'free time' and many their 'work time' plugged in and tuned on and into the media/ad machine, how could we not be. I sometimes feel as if we are all just living some giant advert of the 21st century. It as if since tv (and radio in the beginning) most technology has been in the guise of entertainment, but was really just amazing adverts. Even the early tv shows were just commercials for products with some show tagged on. It is scary to me how controlled we are and amazing to me with Walmart. I know I always seem to pick on them, but they to me seem to represent the ultimate in reprhensible. They have the best spin that has them come off "American as apple pie" so if you try to talk against them it seems as if you are anit american or leftest, while they sell their 'american named' products made in china by the sweat of children and highly support communism! If any one took a second to see what price is paid to save a few bucks, they would stop shopping there. The old adage still and will always hold true, "nothing is free and you get what you pay for".<br />I know it is easy, I fall prey to such activity myself, but when I consciously try not to and think about how to not fall into that trap, I save money, feel better about myself and seem to end up doing more myself. It is sad to me that even that great generation has fallen into the trap of ease in their age. I wonder how many of them have set aside their own abilites to the ease of Walmart and etc? It is up to us, the younger generations even any of you boomers out there, to try and make a difference. It will never just happen. And, I also agree, that it is annoying the term 'green' but if it does help. But, then again, is it good if those who change because of popularity and buzz words without understanding or educating themselves? For, when it suits, won't they simply fall prey to the next big thing? Even the concept of the hybrid car. It is good in and of itself and we should have had it years ago (it was crushed by auto makers/oil) but the idea is 'how can we get a new fuel source to continue on as we are' instead of 'how can we rely on such transportation less!' We just replace one consumption with another. I don't want to again to always be pointing out the negative, so I really am glad that we here are trying our best to change, that is a positive that makes it all seem better somehow!50sgalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250940806307766624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-7652208079602031072009-06-10T21:33:40.959-07:002009-06-10T21:33:40.959-07:00I have always found self-sufficiency an intriguing...I have always found self-sufficiency an intriguing idea. Total self-sufficiency is impossible, of course, but just how far could a person go? <br /><br />The idea of living within a community and sharing resources is smart. We don't all have to raise animals for milk while at the same time, grow wheat, be carpenters, metal workers, etc. It would be wonderful for each household to pick a few areas of expertise and then all neighbors could get together and barter or sell wares and services. <br /><br />Anyway, I was saying to some boomer relatives just the other day this idea about self-sufficiency and they kept coming back with, "yeah, but it's so much easier to run to Wal-Mart." I just couldn't break through. It was actually scary to me.<br /><br />Have we been brainwashed by big boxes?<br /><br />Kris7<br />Working hard at www.sccworlds.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-25276721546617126262009-06-10T19:17:36.358-07:002009-06-10T19:17:36.358-07:00As usual, some well considered points 50's gal...As usual, some well considered points 50's gal. I hope that those of us like-minded individuals in the blog world are doing more than preaching to the choir. I was very fortunate to grow up with a vegetable garden that supplied a large part of our diet ( and in which my sister and I were required to toil)and have a mother who made our clothes and taught us to cook and sew. I believe that my father would not let me get my driver's lisence without me knowing how to check the oil and other little car maintance details and I certainly was also taught basic carpentry. We watched TV but it was not mindless watching and usually a family event. I enjoyed home-economics and wood and metal shop form grade six to eight. These courses are unavailable to my children and only offered to students in the few technical highschools where most of the young people have had an history of poor performance in school and often behaviour problems and learning disabilties. My husband and I are doing our best to teach these skills in the home but as they our children are involved in music, dance and some athletics, there is limited time during the school year. <br />I have re-upholstered and chair and I am not yet finished my secound sofa. This was not a skill learned in school but an attitude that most skills can be learned with a little effort. A book later and some careful examination of what I was taking apart combined with the knowledge that I could do it led to success. I strongly feel that the middleclasses have given up their children's birthright of resourcefulness in favour of the easier route (for the parent) of consumerism. It means that the younger generation will not have a better life than their parents or grandparents and they will lead an existence not unlike nineteenth century factory workers. That environment will not engender the humanity required to fix some of our societal problems and will only push them farther from the quality of life that our grandparents work so hard to attempt to achieve. If you are worried about appearing bossy in your rant, remember that we need to be thinking of these issues. Also consider the value that living the life you are choosing and sharing its successes and fulfillment is what will likely create the most impact on others.Jenifirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06307720101656463930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-67667331002657885712009-06-10T17:36:10.096-07:002009-06-10T17:36:10.096-07:00You know? So many children come to the farm not re...You know? So many children come to the farm not realizing that this is where your food comes from. *This* is a goat and *that* is an alpaca. Even when I was in elementary school, we had a "banking day" every week. I was always so excited to deposit (real)money and see how much I'd saved. Perhaps that's why I enjoy paying bills and balancing my checkbook, now? It was presented as a positive experience way back then. When I entered junior high, Life Skills class was a joke! They "taught" us how to cook. Sure. We cooked macaroni and cheese from scratch or cake and cookies. High school elective time. What did I choose? Fashion (to learn how to sew, because, no matter how easy my sister made it look, I just needed someone to teach me) and Wood shop (I'm the only girl on the farm now that can use all of the tools given me!) Classes kids should be required to take. Skills we should all learn beginning at an early age. I'm glad I did, but it was all merely by choice.<br />Hark! My flute and harp and dulcimer call! Add to that the plans for French lessons. Then, of course, there is the planning I must do to decide on what shall be done for my plot of garden beginning in the Fall.Renee of the Faehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13081022805749169331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6960946442922071473.post-59854564917538553012009-06-10T15:28:04.080-07:002009-06-10T15:28:04.080-07:00Yeah, it's interesting to me how disconnected ...Yeah, it's interesting to me how disconnected everyone is in the age of connectedness. People tweet and IM and watch things all the time but there is so little actual living going on in people's lives. I love the idea of restoring "Commons" as part of parks.... By the way, what is it that is so offensive about food animals in their pens and pastures? Only the worst managed ones are really dirty or have awfully gross areas.... It always puzzles me how people can't stand the idea of say, chickens, in an area. They cluck a little, but one would think that TV, etc. would have trained everyone to block out noise they don't want to hear. Oh well. If I were famous or in public office I would campaign really hard for reformed "small farmer" laws to make it much easier to sell small amounts of eggs and meat and still have people be assured of sanitariness. Right now the modern famer model includes several thousand acres, the skills of a NYSE trader, the constant paid professionals to administer chemicals, the ability to wade through seas of government paperwork all year round, lots of money for licenses, and really good luck to have one profitable year out of three. Being a farmer in the best circumstances today is like trying to keep from getting strangled, and only half succeeding. There are many people who would love to contribute a little to local food chains but can't because the laws are too difficult and not doable for little people.<br /><br />I liked what you said about waving keys in front of a baby. :-) That's a good analogy for TV!Original Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08503068909740890309noreply@blogger.com