neadods | A profane rant and a tiny leap of joy

THE PROFANE RANT:
It always makes me apeshit when the price of gas goes up beyond the ability of people to, oh, afford to go to a job not near public transport in their reasonable-mileage cars, and someone starts snotting about how "You don't bitch about the price of milk or bottled water and they're even more expensive."

Of course I don't. I don't need the latter at all, and I don't need to buy 10 gallons of the former every week just to go to work.

So when I click a link about "if you use these oil-based products you are partially culpable for the BP spill" and read "sweaters, dresses, clothes" on it and I'm sitting here in second-hand all-cotton clothing, my immediate reaction is "you can back that bullshit down several notches right fucking now, mmmkay?"

Acrylic and polyester clothing are made of oil. That's only one of the reasons why they're not your best choice, another being that they don't breathe and thus will kill you the hell dead if you wear them for long outside in a Southern summer.

On the other hand, second-hand clothing businesses are thriving in this economy, and you can get some really good stuff for prices that match or are lower than the budget "straight from the Third-world sweatshop to you!" chain stores. And the quality is often better because it has *survived* to be sold for a second time. I'm just sayin'.

And that's before I get to the rant about how there's plenty of excellent old wood furniture and not-plastic tools out there.

THE TINY LEAP OF JOY
For once, a home improvement possibility that doesn't cost me lots of extra time and money! Long story short, the smallest sheet of linoleum I could buy for the 3 x 6 pantry was 6 x 9. Rather than spend the time and $$ refinishing (or hiring someone to refinish) the coat closet floor, I'm going to have plenty of leftover lino to put down there as well. And then I won't have to worry about the carpet cleaner leaking onto wood or the vacuum cleaner scuffing up the finish. I doubt I'm even going to glue it down; just use vinyl tape to make sure it doesn't crawl.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

starcat-jewel.livejournal.com

You would be amazed at how many people just won't shop at a thrift store. In some cases, it's because their parents never did and so it's just not on their radar, but some of the most surprising people have the "but that's something only POOR PEOPLE do" meme stuck in their heads.

Admittedly, it's a different experience from going to a chain store. Some thrift stores, for reasons I have never been able to ascertain, sort clothing by color rather than size, which is a Major Pain. Skinny people will always have many more options than large people, because most of the clothing in a thrift store will have been donated by someone who gained weight and can't fit in it any more. You won't find the Latest Hot Trendy Stuff there, and you still have to watch out for synthetics. And good luck if you're looking for a specific item (this applies to household goods as well) -- thrift shops are more of a "go in and see if there's anything I can use" option.

OTOH, you will never see me in a pair of jeans NOT bought at a thrift store any more. The advantage to buying them already "broken in" is worth any amount of inconvenience.

From:

a wittie & learned lady which her many bookes do well testifie

A profane rant and a tiny leap of joy

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