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nadalama

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Heartsdelight

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We hope to hear about the wonderful meals you’re going to be making with all these goodies! I especially like the higher sides wok that you got. I try to find pans with higher sides it helps greatly with the splatter.
 

Bliss Doubt

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I know I have fellow preppers in this forum. My prepping started in the 1990's in Dallas. One night I was driving home when a light frozen rain began falling. I didn't think much about it, but when I woke the next morning the metroplex was one big white ice skating rink. I had no food in the house, and just half a roll of TP.

I didn't dare try to drive on the ice. I dressed as warmly as I could. Many Texans don't really use coats and neck mufflers, mittens and stuff like that, because we hardly ever need them, and when the weather changes from freezing in the morning to hot in the afternoon, we know we're going to leave the woolly gear behind somewhere, lost forever. That day I layered up in t-shirt, flannel shirt, sweater, jeans and boots, and headed toward the corner store, walking on the yards to avoid the icy sidewalk. I was afraid to step down onto the icy street, so at each block I sat down at the curb, put my feet down, stood up gingerly, and navigated my way slowly across the ice to the next curb. I made it to the store, where I picked up a couple cans of chili beans, a package of tortillas, and a 4-pack of TP.

On my way home, people were watching at their doors. I guess I made a spectacle of myself by tramping on peoples yards, sitting down and then standing up on the ice at each curb. I heard people snickering, "there she is", "here she comes". When I arrived back at my apartment I was grateful to still be alive.

Never again, I thought, and since then I have always had a few spare cans of food around, and a little extra paper supply, in case of a crisis. I really stepped up my prepping, as I have described, in March of 2020 when I went into the grocery store and found a completely empty paper aisle. Now I have an embarrassing hoard of food and paper supplies. The food hoard is almost pointless because I could never let people starve to death around me without sharing what I have.

But that's a different part of the prepper story than when I began to hear of Covid lockdowns being a cover for the controlled demolition of our economy. There were warnings that our currency would soon be worth nothing, fiat money that was so over-printed that it's been a long time since it had any real value. A little later, you started hearing of coming supply chain disruptions, food shortages, and then the food processing plants began to blow up and burn down. Mad Max world seemed to be materializing around me.

The last 2-3 years have been stressful, and I have found money prepping to be something of a comfort, when I could afford it. My income dropped so drastically in 2020 under lockdowns and restrictions, I couldn't buy much. I started with the tiny Mexican 2-peso coins, 95 percent pure gold because Mexico is that classy. These were minted in the 1940's. I bought one occasionally, 111.00 to 139.00 apiece depending on coin collector qualities.

Dos.JPG

I took out a safe deposit box and loaded them in, then decided to do some silver, which was more affordable, and in 2021 my income started to come back. The APMEX valcambi bars, sheets of 100 small break-off silver bars, in high demand, seemed like something you could more easily barter with and spend in Mad Max world. It's what they do in Venezuela now, barter with little bits of old jewelry and other kinds of silver and gold. Everybody down there has silver and gold testing equipment and kits. The Valcambi sheets started going up in price, so after getting, I dunno, 20 or 30 of those, one at a time, one delivered, next one bought, I started buying 1 oz. rounds and bars of silver. It's a periodic errand to get the loot to the safe deposit box.

Then I lately decided there is no point, in the current landscape, in buying for my young family members, nieces and my nephew, any holiday gifts that don't have lasting value, or value that will rise, so now it's baubles. I don't see how it's possible, but I continue to read and hear that the prices of gold and silver are suppressed by the banking empire of the world. I really don't know.

Anyway, baubles. I got this sterling silver purse mirror marked "Towle Sterling". I think I got a really great price on this. Some of these are listed as high as 100.00, even those that have been monogrammed. This one is unused, in the original box with the felt pouch, no monogram:

Towle mirror.JPG

I received it already and it's beautiful. That's one. I'm looking for two more little useful silver things for my other two nieces, and something for my nephew.

Maybe I would think this is a secret I should keep to myself, but there is so much out there. People are onto the coins and the cambi bars, and those things tend to sell at or just over "spot", but I can observe that people are not yet onto the small silver baubles, and silver is silver. Sterling is .925 pure. There is a great ton of silver "junk" out there, which is priced under its real value. It's nice to feel that you've got useful, usable things of investment quality to give your young ones.

I always write too much. I hope this post will help other preppers.
 
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Bliss Doubt

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I really do not know who are the real futhermuckers who are trying to bring down our economy, our standard of living, and ultimately our civilization, but first it was food factories, food processing centers and food warehouses blowing up and burning down. Now it's attacks on power substations:

https://www.newsweek.com/physical-attacks-power-substations-multiple-states-1765225

I feel like there is a rising tide of justice, but how long it will be before things settle down so that we're not on constant high alert, I do not know. After we were promised long ago, in 2021, a coming period of rolling blackouts no matter where we are, and after the February 2021 stormageddon that left us without power, and many days without running water, I started investigating emergency heat. The first thing I did was buy this:

Kero1.JPG

And I had it restored, sandblasted, repainted with high heat resistant paint (engine paint). In this pic it's sitting on top of a trunk, and yes I know, you'd never use a kerosene heater in such a precarious position as this, but keep reading.

Kero crop.jpg

The guy who restored it brought it back with a gift can of kerosene. I could smell it without opening the can, and when I did I knew I would never, ever ever burn kerosene inside my home. The post restoration pic shows the heater with flicker flame Christmas lights inside, but that wasn't where it ended.

I kept researching indoor emergency heat and camping heat, and what I came up with was the 6-hour caterers canned heat, also called chafing heat. It's alcohol gel fuel, and be careful because some of the Sterno brand is not indoor safe (some of it is), but there are many brands. Again, only the 6-hour ones for a warm night of sleeping.

So I removed the kerosene burner from the heater and stored it in the basement. I put a tart pan in the bottom of the unit, and on that I set three 6-hour chafing cans. I did my experiment on a cold night in November of 2021. I turned off the central heat, lit the three heat cans, closed the heater, and went to bed. I woke up cozy warm the next morning. The heat rises in the cylinder and comes forward into the room through the upper pierced design, rather than just floating up to the ceiling, though eventually hot air will rise. The whole unit gets almost too hot to touch, and that radiates heat too.

Some would say you have to crack a window to avoid asphyxiation or toxic fumes, but with the safe caterers heat I disagree, unless you have a super updated modern apartment with double glazed windows, tight window and door frames, low ceilings, nowhere for air to enter or leave. My building is old, with old windows, shifty window and door frames. If it were kerosene burning, yah I would worry about it, but not something used all the time on long buffet tables in closed rooms at weddings, banquets, meetings, etc.

This will only work for a small space, like my small bedroom, or if you make a tent with a big table for your family. It won't heat a large living room, much less a whole apartment. In a heating emergency you have to choose a small space and stick with it. The heater needs to be on the floor where nobody is likely to knock it over.

So after a successful experiment I bought several 12-packs of 6-hour chafing heat. Then I saw the above linked article that inspired this post, so I bought three more packs of 12 (which is my latest purchase as per the title of this thread):

SafeHeat.JPG

The 6 hour chafing heat cans cost around 2.00 apiece when you buy the large packs, and it's peace of mind.

You can put a Jellyfish fuel can in the heater unit. Jellyfish is in a bigger, taller can, which gives a higher flame and will get the top of the unit hot enough to boil a big pot of water for bathing yourself or for making food, but the Jellyfish only burns for three hours. I did get 48 cans of the Jellyfish too, back in 2021. All of these kinds of alcohol fuel cans store indoors indefinitely.

JellyFish Fuel.JPG

The kerosene heater gives me enjoyment every winter day with the Christmas lights inside, and I'm satisfied that whenever I might need to, I can remove the lights, add the chafing heat, and have a successful emergency heat method with 5-minute setup. Here it is, still sitting atop the small trunk near my big chair, with the room lights off, the only way I could get a photo showing the effect. The flicker flame Christmas lights really look like burning coals. I used chicken wire to string them high inside, so the dancing light comes out of the top pierced design too.

Kero w xmas lights.jpg

Now I'm thinking about getting a Vesta Instafire, which I just found out about a few days ago, not for cooking but as another reliable heater using 6-hour chafing cans:


But I have to ask myself if I really need it. What I like is how the chafing heat causes its fan to start turning, non-electric, almost you'd say a "free energy" element, except it's the heat from the chafing fuel that makes it turn, blowing the heat forward into the room. I also like the warm visible flame. This video demonstrates it:


I can tell you that the first year I researched indoor emergency heat, mainly on YouTube, I found all sorts of ugly contraptions that required power tools to make, some that required venting to the outdoors. I tried some of the terra cotta pot heater options. Believe me, clay pots and tealights do not work for heating.

You can use the chafing heat that goes less than 6 hours, for cooking, heating water. The 2-hour cans are as cheap as a dollar apiece. You can start a can and snuff it when you're done, and if any fuel remains, just cover it until next time, but don't screw the lid back on tight until the whole can has cooled, or you'll get a "vaporlock" that makes it hard to re-open.

This is my favorite simple setup for emergency heat cooking, because it reminds me of an old country kitchen. I went to Home Depot and bought a quarry tile like that for safety, but I don't use bricks and rack. I found the wrought iron rack for a fondue set, all by itself without the fondue pot or forks etc., at a thrift shop, and that's what I use. It has a well for the chafing heat.

Brick Range.JPG

Finally, Heet in the yellow bottle only, not the blue or the red, is indoor safe, and safe for cooking. Campers and backpackers use it. I have a supply of about six of the yellow bottles I got on sale. You can fill a clean empty tuna can and use it underneath your cooking pan or pot, to make coffee or instant oatmeal, or fry an egg, even make a grilled cheese.

Final note: Don't use isopropyl or "rubbing alcohol" for indoor heating or cooking unless you want to spend days cleaning soot off everything. You'll find plenty of YouTube tutorials that make it seem hunky dory, and I tried it so you don't have to. You're welcome.
 
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Bliss Doubt

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Got my next gift bauble, a sterling silver sipping straw! I had no idea there was such a thing. Famous Taxco silver from Mexico, .925 sterling. This one is for my nephew. It's so cute.

Silver straw 1.jpg
Sterling straw.JPG

I see a little area of tarnish in the center in my first pic above. Guess what food safe solution you can use to clean sterling silver? Coca Cola !!! But don't drink the Coca Cola. Use it for cleaning silver and for rust removal projects around the house.

These close-up shots show the bird design. The spoony end goes into the glass. I turned it over to show the straw opening on the other side.

Silver straw 5.jpg
Silver straw back.jpg

The seller where I bought this straw has seven more. I was only going to get this one, because it's a perfect bauble for a guy, but now that I have it and can really see it, I dunno. I want my nieces to be precious too because they drink through a silver straw 😇

Anyway, whoever are the futhermuckers who are trying to take down our economy so fast, and turn us into serfs, chose a time at the peak of our abundant life in this country, when we have piles and piles of luxury refuse lying around in thrift shops, antique shops, attics, basements, in the jewelry boxes and safe deposit boxes of our seniors who are blowing silver kisses at us as they say goodbye, on their way to heaven. All we have to do is reclaim our true wealth, find it and store it, distribute it in our families, before it's too late, as a hedge against an uncertain future.

So go get yours. Beat me to it. There's enough valuable junk for everybody. I've been onto second hand most of my life, starting with hand-me-downs from my older cousins who outgrew expensive clothes that my folks could never have afforded, and handed them down to me. The only things I buy new are groceries, socks, underwear and shoes. All else is second hand, from the resources already taken from earth, the factories already fueled, the labor already given. Second hand is a strong secondary economy, individuals selling online to make a living, charity thrift shops selling to serve others, antique shops which are usually small individual local companies in your town, garage sales, yard sales. Might as well take some of this rapidly devaluing government paper we call the dollar, basically government counterfeit at this point, and trade it for things of real value.

It makes me optimistic. I heard our big national banks are lately seen buying significant quantities of gold, not the federal reserve but the large banks of the more famous names. Maybe they'll keep us all ahead of the collapse of a fiat based economy. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. I still think doing business with a local credit union is the better bet.
 
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Vape Fan

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1675714299517.png
New sheriff in town? P45B
I'm under 45w when I dual 18650 and these 18A max 30Q's give me good run time.
And 20A 21700's for single regulated, W/over 5kMah & higher comparative Wh per Mooch.

Good shipped price for this charger. Probably take forever, and a day.
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5150sick

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View attachment 202538

:bingo:
Not vaping related though, oops
Where did you find the deal on the Samsung S5 watch?

I have a S3 Classic with a metal band that I installed myself.
I can't do plastic bands for some reason. I start flipping out and have to take it off. :giggle: My wrist starts sweating and from there I bug out.
I have a small collection of Automatic Invicta & Croton watches. I used to wear them all the time, now they just sit collecting dust. lol
I have been wearing the S3 every day ever since I got it.:)

Last night I ordered one of these DNA25c Steamcrave Hadron Pro mods directly from Steamcrave
$66.50 shipped w/ free leather case. :bliss:

1676838384788.png
 

Vape Fan

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Last night I ordered one of these DNA25c Steamcrave Hadron Pro mods directly from Steamcrave
$66.50 shipped w/ free leather case.
Let me guess, you're having Vape Fan engraved on it and you're going to send it to me.....:idea:

I have a trade in on the watch for 70 off + 50 instant savings + 38 off for some reason I don't know - may have even been a glitch somehow (Samsung.com). One time it was 229 in the cart, then it was 189, then added it another time the next day and it was 151.99. May have had something to do with having a few things in the cart then removing all but the watch, idk. Said the price was lowered because I chose the best deal loll. I didn't complain. And I had 100 in promo's from the S22 debacle last year, and 25 for watching a Samsung Live Influencer info thing for 15-20 mins.

I was looking at SS case w/ hybrid leather camel colored band and it has SS clasp too, but couldn't be had.
So I went for graphite case w/that navy band with black accent but the only configuration available to ship (no option for pu) was graphite case, w/ graphite band in small, that I thought I couldn't put on, but it still wouldn't let me put in the cart even though the page said yes to ship. Meanwhile, I was on the phone with them spanning 2 days and 10 agents, then made the deal where I buy the graphite/graphite small, and they give me 50 for the other band and in large to fit (or whatever i want to get).
So I did go with that navy/black large band, and the drive...the 128gb drive is only like 3$ more but its been out of stock for a while and they seemingly sell out as soon as they get them. don't really have to have it but since there's nothing else i wan. I can put some movies/shows or something on it.

So there you have it
The mystery 38 off the 189 = 151.99 - 100 - 25 = 26.99 / 29.04 after tax. And still getting the band and a bonus drive.

It was delivered today so just starting the week+ to get it like I want. And I can get it on w/ the last hole so I can at least wear it around the house while waiting.

Didn't know about that can of worms did ya ! :giggle:
 
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Vape Fan

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I can't do plastic bands for some reason. I start flipping out and have to take it off. :giggle: My wrist starts sweating and from there I bug out.
I have a small collection of Automatic Invicta & Croton watches. I used to wear them all the time, now they just sit collecting dust.
I might go with a different band too, now that I see this one.
I have a few Invicta's too ! And a Lucien Piccard skeleton that sounds more expensive than it was, A vintage Hamilton jeweled day/moon phase chrono type that needs work, and a Tudor. Like you, they mostly sit.
 

nadalama

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View attachment 202538

:bingo:
Not vaping related though, oops

Doesn't have to be vaping related in this thread. I actually have always thought this thread was for non vaping stuff.

My latest non-vaping purchase was my meds. I'm so excited.....not.....

My last fun purchase was some clothes for my newest granddaughter, who turned 1 on Feb 17.
 

Vape Fan

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Doesn't have to be vaping related in this thread. I actually have always thought this thread was for non vaping stuff.

My latest non-vaping purchase was my meds. I'm so excited.....not.....

My last fun purchase was some clothes for my newest granddaughter, who turned 1 on Feb 17.
Yeah, 2 threads were merged last year and, I think one was just latest purchase and maybe not in the vaping related sub like this one.
 

Bliss Doubt

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I could really be excited about this if it weren't 1.99 per can even at Big Lots, but it is a big ole 16 oz. can, Jelly Belly french vanilla sparkling water, no sugar, no sweeteners, just a flavored sparkler.

1677101832986.png

They were only offering singles, not the 12 pack, which you can get on Amazon. It was delish. They make a chocolate one too, but Big Lots didn't have it.
 

f1r3b1rd

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oh, why was I thinking IV....typo?
No typo, the only place that has the iv in stock was crème devape. I didn’t see a purpose in getting the extra chimney to bypass tpd and I wasn’t about to do a bank transfer to pay for it.
I found the V in stock at enushi so I pounced on it
 

nadalama

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I could really be excited about this if it weren't 1.99 per can even at Big Lots, but it is a big ole 16 oz. can, Jelly Belly french vanilla sparkling water, no sugar, no sweeteners, just a flavored sparkler.

View attachment 202636

They were only offering singles, not the 12 pack, which you can get on Amazon. It was delish. They make a chocolate one too, but Big Lots didn't have it.

That sounds really yummy. I just adore vanilla.
 

Vape Fan

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This charger came on a few days ago and wanted it desktop but not flat and is too big to stick it to pc tower like the 2-bay was. So I looked for something than would work. And came up w/this. It's ok, not what I envisioned. It'll probably change when I get this room rearranged, and all the power etc cables managed, ughh.
I swapped the mounts around. I thought I'd be able to somehow put my wireless phone charger in the mount then just set the phone on that...not working out.
yes.jpg

My new $24 Wifi 6 router in the back. Quite the upgrade from my antique one. More like ancient, it always worked but this one has up-to-date security features and is working great.
 
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Bliss Doubt

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My latest pretty prepper silver bauble for my nieces and nephew. I didn't accumulate enough to do this at Xmas 2022, but I'm on track to finish getting enough by the end of this year to give all of them good investment quality items as a hedge against mad max world, but things they can enjoy if they can hang onto them.

These are two sterling silver cordial cups or shot glasses:

SS Cordials 2.JPG

I received them yesterday. I need to figure out how to store them (in the loot box at the bank) that will keep the wonderful tarnish-free polish they have now. The spot price of sterling silver is currently 16.50 per ounce. The price I paid for these, 40.00 for the two plus 16.95 shipping, comes to 57.00, or 28.50 each, each of them at a weight of 1.5 oz., so I'm a little over spot with these, not a lot, and that's okay.
 
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Lady Sarah

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Back in the old days, folks would have their "smoking jackets". Today, I think I got that beat. At an estate sale, I got an old fully embroidered robe made in Japan that was brought to the states back in the 1960s. The only repairs needed were to sew an end of each of the belt loops. Sweet deal for 10 bucks.

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Bliss Doubt

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Back in the old days, folks would have their "smoking jackets". Today, I think I got that beat. At an estate sale, I got an old fully embroidered robe made in Japan that was brought to the states back in the 1960s. The only repairs needed were to sew an end of each of the belt loops. Sweet deal for 10 bucks.
Love that. And now we can call it a vaping jacket.
 

Vape Fan

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The picture I posted doesn't clearly show what the embroidery subject matter is of, so I'm putting it here. A little research tells me the robe was indeed made in Japan, in the 1950s. It is a rare find, as there are not many in existence anymore.

View attachment 203824
You know, I've been thinkin. That looks like a man's. You should send it to me.
 

Bliss Doubt

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You know, I've been thinkin. That looks like a man's. You should send it to me.

Not so fast. Menswear was made for women. Most of us just don't know it. I have an absolute fetish for Hilfiger cotton robes, short ones for the beach, long ones for after bath. The cotton is thicker and softer than any womens robes. Some of them are embroidered with little boats and other charming things. They last and last. I get them second hand, and usually have to unstitch the belt loops at the bottom, flip them up and re-sew them, just a few minutes' job, to put the waist in the right place when the belt is tied.

Pullovers too, Lauren, Klein, Roundtree, many other brands all with better cotton, higher thread counts, longer lasting, softer, longer tails.
 

nadalama

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Not so fast. Menswear was made for women. Most of us just don't know it. I have an absolute fetish for Hilfiger cotton robes, short ones for the beach, long ones for after bath. The cotton is thicker and softer than any womens robes. Some of them are embroidered with little boats and other charming things. They last and last. I get them second hand, and usually have to unstitch the belt loops at the bottom, flip them up and re-sew them, just a few minutes' job, to put the waist in the right place when the belt is tied.

Pullovers too, Lauren, Klein, Roundtree, many other brands all with better cotton, higher thread counts, longer lasting, softer, longer tails.

I agree with this. When I was much younger I used to buy my jeans in the men's department, too. Men's cable-knit sweaters are my favorite, and I wish I could still wear them. My sister is skinny, so she does. She has no butt. :)

I'm a sucker for nearly anything Ralph Lauren. Even sheets and towels. Good stuff.
 

Mister

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What i will never understand is how all women seem to be able to fit in all other womens clothes. And what is with your jeans sizes, what is a 4, thats not a size, lol
Men have length and width, that makes sense, last i checked women come in different sizes too.
 

nadalama

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What i will never understand is how all women seem to be able to fit in all other womens clothes. And what is with your jeans sizes, what is a 4, thats not a size, lol
Men have length and width, that makes sense, last i checked women come in different sizes too.

My best friend's daughter wears a flippin size ZERO. Wth is that? Well, it's a very tiny person, is what. It's like a size 22 or something in a young adult size, like the size of a normal 10-year-old kid. I think she weighs about 90 pounds soaking wet..
 

Bliss Doubt

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I'm a sucker for nearly anything Ralph Lauren. Even sheets and towels. Good stuff.

Uh oh, you'll get me started.

I love Lauren too, the unparalleled essential American designer. Unfortunately his clothes don't fit me well. They aren't cut, er, generously enough? Except for pullovers. But my shoulder bag in current use is second hand Lauren. You look for those Ebay listings saying granny died and they're going through her stuff, and that it looks unused. But Ralph Lauren bags always look unused, no matter how much you use them. They never crimp. Every stitch in the leather is perfect. This is my second one. The first one was a black & tan too, but a friend of mine wanted it so bad, I filled it with Godiva and gave it to her for her retirement gift in 2021. It still looked new after I'd bought it used in 2018, and used it continuously. We had lunch recently where I noted she's still using it, and it still looks new. The finish somehow prevents the leather from absorbing skin oils that darken other natural leather bags. In fact Ralph Lauren converted me from my previous fetish, which was USA made Coach leather, from before the time when Sara Lee bought Coach and started having the bags made in China. I think Sara Lee has since sold it off. Anyway the old USA made was beautiful, stitching perfect, with an embossed leather plaque inside stating "made in USA", but with enough use it would get that dark stain from skin oils.

But I still have my original fetish too, Mark Cross from before it was bought by Gucci, who ditched the classic Mark Cross designs and made all of the new ones look like Gucci.

Gawd, help me. I think I used to be a normal person.
 

Lady Sarah

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What i will never understand is how all women seem to be able to fit in all other womens clothes. And what is with your jeans sizes, what is a 4, thats not a size, lol
Men have length and width, that makes sense, last i checked women come in different sizes too.
Sometimes, shopping can be a hassle. Too many times, everything I like is only available in petite (short) sizes, and thats by Chinese standards. Forget about looking for clearance items, of which everything is small or extra small.

I can't really find anything at places like Goodwill either, since resellers buy up stuff to put on their online shops all the time. Plus, the sizes I happen to wear are the same sizes most physically fit women in my area wear.

So, I just try not to buy too much when I do shop for clothes. Stuff is expensive. Hopefully, yard sales will start getting better now that the whole Corona thing is no longer a major threat.
 

Bliss Doubt

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I am happy. As soon as I wash it, I'll be rollin' around in silk, vintage pure silk nightie, the color of ice. 20.00.

Silk nighti.jpg

The label says dry clean only, but I never do. Washing silk in cold water doesn't harm it. If you take it out of the dryer and don't let it sit and rumple, immediately fold or hang it, it's as smooth as, well, silk.
 

Bliss Doubt

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Every time I think I'm done with hoarding...

I used a 5 percent off Cinco de Mayo promo to get six more 5-packs of 1.6 ohms BVC coils for my Aspire ET-S glassomizers (those coils are disappearing from the market) and two more eLeafs. They're only the 20W, but I vape at 10.5 watts, so no need for anything more powerful.

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It is nice to just change a coil when needed without thinking about it. I don't think I needed any more eLeafs, since my fridge has so many of them there's hardly enough room for food, and they last so long, but I promise, promise promise myself, no more of those.
 

Bliss Doubt

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
I take two drops of iodine daily, Lugols 5 percent from J Crow. I drop it in my coffee and never taste it. As best I understand, iodine occupies the same receptors as for fluoride (it's in our water), chlorine (is in our water), bromide (is in bread flours), perchlorates and heavy metals, all which are toxic (because the governments want to kill us). Iodine is on a time honored list of essential medicines, which nowadays is suppressed online. Iodine is so effective that you can no longer get the 5 percent Lugols on Amazon or Ebay, but you can get it from online sellers. I get the 5 percent from J Crow's, but the dropper squeeze bulb often tears from use, so I have to transfer the rest of the bottle to one of the 30 ml. dropper bottles I formerly used to mix my vape flavor experiments. I ran out of those, so I looked for new 30 ml. dark glass dropper bottles, amber or cobalt or black. In searching on Ebay I found this family of skulls, new old stock, unused in box, only a couple more bucks than chemist or aromatherapy supplies lots, free shipping, so what the heck, I went for it.

Taking my own pics proved tricky because the light on the shiny cardboard box flashed out parts of the images, so I'm going with the listing photos of the front and bottom of the box.

Skull bottles.JPG

Skull bottles label.JPG

My pic of the back of the box. These were apparently made for a vape seller. See where it says "3 mg max VG".

Back.jpg

It was difficult to get a family photo of the triplets because each color reflects light differently. The colors didn't photograph accurately in either the listing photo or my own. There is one silver, one black, one copper.

Triplets.jpg

Made in USA by Apie Laboratories, but I guess they went out of business. There is a web address on the box, but it is no longer a site.
 

SteveS45

Diamond Contributor
ECF Refugee
Member For 5 Years
Latest Purchase was Pressure Washer Pump Oil at $26 a Pint~! WTF?

It is a Special Oil required for Heat Dissipation but Damn~!
 

Bliss Doubt

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Sometimes it's hard not to like Amazon. I know it's an evil empire and all that, but it also is a marketplace of thousands of sellers.

A fave prepper product is B&M brown bread. It stores for years, and is known to even be good way past it's expiration date. The ingredients are pretty clean, compared to other storable foods you can get. Each can is BIG, several days of bread in a grid down situation. To me it tastes kind of like gingerbread, though it doesn't contain any spices.

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Since I can't find it locally, I found a great deal on Amazon for six cans. They arrived quickly, all good except for one of the cans that was really badly bent up, to the point that I'd be afraid to eat it now, much less many years from now. The shipping box was not damaged, so it was obviously shipped in this condition.

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So I took the pics and logged into my Amzn account to request a refund for only the one can out of the six. It said "item not eligible for refund". So I clicked the usual "help" link and selected the item for help. The response was "this item is not eligible for return or refund. Anything else we can help you with?" So I navigated for five minutes to get live chat, where I described the situation and offered the photos. The live agent said "no, we trust our customers, you don't have to supply photos. let me see what I can do about getting you a refund". She came back a minute later offering a refund of the whole purchase. I said I didn't want to cause anybody a hardship, and that I only wanted a refund for the one can out of the six. The long and short of it was that they don't do a partial refund on an item like this, so I got a refund of the whole 6-can purchase without having to return them.

That's all great, but shame on Amazon for trying to deflect complaints and refund requests for damaged food items in the help routine in the first place. They shouldn't make it so hard. On customer reviews you can see it, all over the place on all sorts of products, customers talking about damaged items, no refund, lost the money. Amazon needs to get that righted.
 
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SteveS45

Diamond Contributor
ECF Refugee
Member For 5 Years
That's all great, but shame on Amazon for trying to deflect complaints and refund requests for damaged food items in the help routine in the first place. They shouldn't make it so hard. On customer reviews you can see it, all over the place on all sorts of products, customers talking about damaged items, no refund, lost the money. Amazon needs to get that righted.

I have found with Amazon if there is an issue I usually get it solved to my Benefit~!
 

Bliss Doubt

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Four new tires for the Mini. The dealership service advisor tried to sell them to me a year ago. It's their job to try to sell you things, and she told me that even if the tires look fine and don't have a lot of wear, they dry out. I bought the car new in 2016, and it has had only one new tire since then, in 2018 when I let someone borrow my car and he drove over something and ruined one of them. Anyway, last year I passed on the sales pitch.

But lately the trustworthy financial commenters I listen to are saying that in the current era of uncertainty in the banking industry, it's better to have your money in things you need, rather than sitting in the bank. So I figured that at seven years old, it might be a good idea to replace my tires, and indeed the price of a this particular tire has risen by 50 percent since 2018, gawd, and it was expensive enough to begin with. Better I did it now than wait for them to go up another 50 percent.

Not a great pic in the early morning light in our parking garage:

New 1.jpg

And an oil change, a new strut, four wheel balancing, state inspection, and it's nice to be all caught up.
 

Vape Fan

_evil twin_
Staff member
Senior Moderator
VU Donator
Platinum Contributor
Press Corps
Member For 5 Years
Four new tires for the Mini. The dealership service advisor tried to sell them to me a year ago. It's their job to try to sell you things, and she told me that even if the tires look fine and don't have a lot of wear, they dry out. I bought the car new in 2016, and it has had only one new tire since then, in 2018 when I let someone borrow my car and he drove over something and ruined one of them. Anyway, last year I passed on the sales pitch.

But lately the trustworthy financial commenters I listen to are saying that in the current era of uncertainty in the banking industry, it's better to have your money in things you need, rather than sitting in the bank. So I figured that at seven years old, it might be a good idea to replace my tires, and indeed the price of a this particular tire has risen by 50 percent since 2018, gawd, and it was expensive enough to begin with. Better I did it now than wait for them to go up another 50 percent.

Not a great pic in the early morning light in our parking garage:

View attachment 206254

And an oil change, a new strut, four wheel balancing, state inspection, and it's nice to be all caught up.
1 strut? Suspension is best done both sides at same time. The old one takes more of the brunt than the new one and wears itself out faster. Then that repeats when the 1 old one is replaced. Both at same time lasts longer, drives better.

Just like brakes, tires, etc
 

Bliss Doubt

Platinum Contributor
Member For 5 Years
1 strut? Suspension is best done both sides at same time. The old one takes more of the brunt than the new one and wears itself out faster. Then that repeats when the 1 old one is replaced. Both at same time lasts longer, drives better.

Just like brakes, tires, etc

They sent me a video to show that just the one strut was broken. Maybe they did replace both. I didn't look that closely at the receipt.
 

SteveS45

Diamond Contributor
ECF Refugee
Member For 5 Years
Long story but after having one fron my GF's house is selling I had return it because the new buyers made a stink. So I bought this sine I couldn't keep the one with sentimental value. But this is a working pump but just a decoration.

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