Think Local, Act Global:
For the LONGEST time, I was all poo-poo on chain restaurants (well, I’m still no Olive Garden fan… there was that one time when I was 7 months pregnant…) “Support the little local guys!”, I’d tout and wait an unreasonable 7 minutes for my chai latte at the tiny place rather than waiting 2 minutes at Starbucks; though this problem has been entirely eradicated since I fell in love with our Tassimo Brewbot. I digress.
I’m not quite sure what short-circuited in my brain recently, could be the addiction to amazon.com, but I realized something.
Who sorts my packages at the UPS hub? Who delivers my mail? Local People. Who runs the register at Wegmans when I buy Jamine Rice? Who sorts shirts at the mall? Who opens the Smithwicks tap at the pub? Local People. Who serves my sushi? Immigrants, but (hopefully) legal, local ones.
I’ll be. So, even if I’m not totally supporting “the little guy” I’m still keeping some people in jobs.
Now, if I could find reasonably priced American made toys for a baby who like to stick EVERYTHING in his mouth, I’d be happy to have the Fed Ex guy deliver it.
Upgrade:
YOT is now, er, YOT.
Ye’Olde Trailblazer’s lease was up, so I had to get a new vehicle. Well, not HAD to, I could have chosen to pay off the balance… regardless, I ended up getting a GMC Terrain.
Ye’Olde Terrain.
The name reminds me of the Canyonero.
Stop Bitching About the Weather:
It’s winter people. It will be cold. It will snow. People will be stupid and drive when they’re not supposed to and get stuck in snowbanks.
Unless you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case you’re complaining about the heat.
High on the list of “Stupid Ideas”:
Reading “The Shining” during an epic snowfall winter.
No Way to Wake Up:
MiniMak’s monitor has a temperature gauge on it to alert us if it’s too hot or too cold. His monitor also measures motion (respiration and movements) and alarms if he stops moving about.
That being said, being startled out of sleep by a monitor alarming is bad, even it was for a “‘s chilly in here!” alarm.
Doubly upsetting when your childhood friend’s son passed the night before.
please, stop bouncing 
Yes .. it is cold and we will complain. But what makes me laugh is how “horrible and awful and bad it is compared to last year …” which was, of course, “horrible and awful and bad in comparison to the year before …
And, thank goodness for baby monitors ….
“Worst winter this year!”
Local businesses, whether they are locally owned or not, are employing local people.
I hear lots of stuff about whether or not to shop somewhere here in Canada. Everybody is either “Oh, you have to shop at the Canadian stores to help Canadian business” or “Oh my God, I can’t wait ’til that American store comes up here.” (When Victoria’s Secret opened in Toronto, there was a mad rush of women. Yeah, because apparently there were no Canadian stores selling slutty bras before. [cough cough] La Senza.)
Whether or not the company is based in Canada or the US, the ownership are shareholders who can exist anywhere on the planet. So, save up your pennies and buy some stock.
My favourite line is when Canadians talk about buying domestic cars. Hello? This is Canada, there is no domestic automobile manufacturer. Those idiots think that domestic autos are the big three American companies (Ford, GM, Chrysler) because those three companies have plants in Canada. Guess what! Honda and Toyota have plants in Canada too. In fact, when the big three were threatening to close all of their Canadian plants, Toyota was building a new plant in Canada and Honda was building a new Canadian HQ. The Japanese companies were saying “Hey, we wanna employ more Canadians” while the American companies were saying “We’re picking up our failing businesses on our private jets and leaving town.”
I was wondering what kind of domestic car Canada had… my initial thought of “none” was correct.
Buy Quazi-American!
Or Canadian.
Steph, I am so sorry about your friend’s loss. So very sorry. Puts all the rest in perspective certainly. Happy about the new car. But still sad..
It was a hard thing to have to deal with… Mr. C was always smothered in hugs before, but now, well, they’re a little tighter.
Canyonero – it’s a deer smackin’, squirrel smashin’ drivin’ machine…
oh, and bad news… those fears you have when the monitor alarms go off? they never really go away… the baby monitor is replaced by a telephone. and when it rings in the middle of the night? you’ll still feel it (sigh).
The next 60 years of my life are going to be spent worrying… ho-ray. Add that the the “things they don’t really tell you” child-rearing pamphlet.
Daisy is right..it doesn’t end.
Sorry to hear about your friends little one..
D*mn super-saver shipping has me hooked worse than Swiss Miss on a frigid Friday morning.
BBEEEEHHHHH! The free shipping! It’s evil, pure evil!
Terrain, looks like a Very nice car! 🙂
Oh Stephanie, there are no words to express my sorrow and sympathy for your friend. Very sad for them. I will say many prayers that God’s grace will see them through.
They’ve got a strong family… she’s a strong woman… just makes ones heart heavy.
But the influx of kisses to Mr. C is quite wonderful.
Baby monitors are one of the best inventions yet.
I rarely complain about the cold but always complain about the heat. People who do both live in the wrong place.
If I was alive and had a kiddo 50 years ago, I wouldn’t have ever slept. Not that I don’t sleep now, but I’d sleep even less.
I guess I should go to McDonald’s then & provide something for the local teenagers to do when serving me. Girl serves me, boy cooks a burger that’s 2 teenagers gainfully employed. I am sitting here in my Southern Hemisphere without a shirt on & a fan going behind me. It was hot today but a nice not too hot. See I am satisfied, enjoy winter…
Oh & a baker makes the bun, a cheese maker makes the cheese & a pickle maker makes the little pickly thing. And not to forget the potato farmer that supplies the fries potatoes, the salt producer for the fries, the lettuce farmer, the coke factory & also the ketchup & mustard makers, the onion farmer, the paper napkin maker, the cleaner who cleans the floor after I spill my coke. The profiteering multinational oil companies so I can drive to McDonald’s… Hey maybe I should walk there. They got enough money. Why I’m a veritable one man employment agency. Gosh I have written a whole post with my rambling on. OK I will shut up now. Bye.
P.S. I nearly forgot the plastic drinking straw maker & the cardboard food container makers too. Kitchen appliance manufacturers, McDonald’s staff uniform makers & the people who design all the TV advertising. I could go on more but I will shut up now for real this time.
I nearly forgot the painters of parking bay lines in the McDonald’s carpark too, they did a good job & I didn’t want to let them slip by without an acknowledgement. Shutting up now…
I really felt bad about forgetting the cattle farmers, abattoir workers & butchers that supply all that burger meat too so I had to mention them. OK leaving now…
Back again a day later because I remembered the Apple farmers for the awesome Hot Apple Pies…
Wow… do you need to borrow some Nyquil or Benedryl (or something else to calm the nerves)
Though, you did make up for everyone I forgot, so thanks!
Sorry to hear about your friend’s loss. It’s such a sad situation.
Yes, winter is going to be cold. But this winter started in September… where’s Spring got to?
At this rate, it’s got to be just around the corner.