It’s funny, but the husband and I have been looking around the house and garage lately(especially in the closets, where no one ventures much) and saying, “why do we have all this stuff” (except we didn’t say stuff). I do think Americans are totally addicted to stuff and especially, we’re addicted to shopping for the stuff. Most of us need to get a life. One that doesn’t include daily shopping.
My crap is totally dumpster worthy. I wouldn’t miss any of it at my age. It’s my husbands “hobbies” that throw a wrench into the works. There are 3 motorcycles in the garage—one that’s been there since the 80’s. He won’t even part with some fancy boots he got in the 70s. —haven’t worn them since then either. Computer stuff. He worked at Office Depot after retiring. You cant imagine the stuff that came home from there or the adjacent camera store. I counted 22 small digital cameras behind a chair in a corner. 9 digital photo printers still in boxes in the basement. Full size printers on a shelf. 2 or 3 tool big tool thingies. Hard to tell—I don’t look too hard. There are no tools in them. Tools are everywhere there is a flat surface. . I can barely stand to go into the basement. I have to leave notes in some closets reminding him that it’s my space. KEEP OUT. His new hobby is solar. God help me. Lol.
We’ve been married almost 58 years. He’s in poor health and I’m in excellent health. Sadly, who do you think will have to deal with this 2 story, 4 bedroom, large yard,huge garage house? Me and my daughter 1000 miles away. I see the look on her face when she visits. A friend of mine had a true hoarder husband. Out Buildings and rooms filled to the top with stuff. He suddenly died and there she was. Saddled with all of it. It was horrifying. Guess I should be grateful, huh? It took her over 2 years to de-shite and get the hell out. She had 3 daughters and sons in law. I have relatives as old as me and a daughter. Sorry for the rant. I’ll have to just get Junk R Us or a match.
In moving, I discovered there are companies that will come and clear out your house for you at a reasonable cost! It can be painful to see all your treasures hauled away, but it's so nice to enjoy the empty left behind... now if only I hadn't brought most of it to my new home.
It makes me sad that all the precious little things ( some with actual value) that I have collected over the years will absolutely be tossed out when I’m gone.
Yes,certainly “people “ do want old,cool stuff…Just not my kids..which is what is sad..I doubt my heirs will even look at Each piece before it’s hauled away…🙁
Yes... that's how the psychology gets tough. We treasure our treasures, others just see it as garbage. My father got extreme to the point where you couldn't walk through his home.
My brother and I had ‘the talk’ with my parents about their moving near me. Brother’s wife has Lewy Body dementia so he can’t help out with them even though he lives closer.
So, the talk enforced their stubbornness to stay put but it also spurred them on to start cleaning out the house. They started with the family photos.
We lost dad 3 weeks ago, but now mom is really tackling all sorts of clean out chores. I guess it’s helping her process things. They were married 73 years!!
Unfortunately, I don't think it does any good to talk to them ahead of time!
Maybe you can get them to move? Certainly my daughters will have less to deal with after my move. Now I just need to avoid collecting more clutter! (or move again - but they weren't happy with me moving away this time)
Someone once said, “We spend our first 50 years acquiring and our last 25 getting rid of.” When I moved my mom from her home (that she had kept clutter free) she said she did don’t want her new apartment to be crowded. It is beautiful, decorated, spacious and comfortable. She gets to enjoy the other residents in the facility and every activity in her church and with family without having to move around stuff. She said other residents’ apartments are so crowded you can hardly walk around. The facility has used her apartment at times to show likely renters.
So true. The end of our driveway works well for general declutterring. It all disappears fairly quickly. Even old box fans and microwaves that don’t work. My next place will be the much more zen. I actually have 2 rooms like that. I take some blame too. As an artist, lots of things weird and wonderful catch my eye. I have a fascinating ball of scrunched up fence wire I found hanging on a gate in Wyoming. I hang it up with little lights in it or at Halloween those little mini pumpkins. It pleases me. Lol.
Right there with you Laura. Married 51 years. Unfortunately I am almost as bad about having all my stuff as he is. I’m trying to cut back and get rid of my stuff. He isn’t and see no reason that he should.
Janet, I don’t want to encourage your husband but ask him if they still make those photo things that one sends mom or grandma that requires nothing on their end technology-wise. Brother and I can send photos to her via our phones or email…via WiFi I guess.
He always thought that he’d sell this stuff on line. A justification used by many collectors but they lose interest in that part. He doesn’t even take pictures on anything. I’m the one with 29,000 pics on my devices. 😱 I’m an artist. I take too many landscape photos but at least they aren’t cluttering the house up. It’s too late to get him involved in clean up. Just live with it in more ways than one.
Very true! They have huge aspirations and quickly learn that selling crap online is a pain, sounds like he didn’t even get that far.
Janet, I’m an artist too! Yep, those device photos are overwhelming but so are all my completed canvases. There’s only one really nice gallery here, the others are member run, the only one I would consider is full of flipping liberals! I think the drama would get to me real fast. Besides that, I owned my own store, that doesn’t make one a very good team player! 🤣
What is your work like? Oils, acrylic, watercolor?
OMG. Do you live where I live ? Yeah, liberals are all over here. A few galleries around but I don’t want to join and have to sit there for some hours a month while someone comes in and walks out. I have exhibited a few local places but our town is 65% Hispanic here in Illinois They don’t buy paintings. I didn’t start painting again until I retired. I dont really want to get involved in online selling either. I basically do it for my own enjoyment, selling here and there. They are stacking up. 😱.
I paint in oils in the winter but all the rest of the year I paint plein air. I took it up regularly during that first Covid year and I love doing it so much. Makes me feel alive and rooted in nature. I use slow-dry Golden Open acrylic paints. They work like oils but suit my more impressionist style. I put it all in a backpack and find a nice spot. I have to paint fast so I think my work is looser and more exciting. I was painting with a group at Door County at the tip on Lake Michigan one fall. The wind was so high I had to tie my tripod to a fence post and put a large rock in my wheeled trolly to hold it all down, but, boy, was it exciting. Showed in my painting. I try to get out in winter but it has to be over 30 degrees, no wind, sunny and snow for lovely shadows. I love painting snow. What do you do? Are you online anywhere? What medium? I’m going to start giving them away but the plein air ones are harder. I remember the day I did them, the atmosphere and they are more personal. We had to leave a location in Wyoming once after seeing fresh bear scat as I set up.
You’re so passionate about your painting, I love it!! I would love to see some of your work. You can reach me via email via my website Karenbandy.com
I have painted now for about 20 years. I painted a bit in college but was more interested in jewelry and made that my career. I paint in acrylic mostly but also do oil and coldwax. Ventilation is a problem as I’m sure you know.
Caveat, my website isn’t up to date, I really need to get my act together, lol! There are some fun still life paintings on instagram too. Actually, that’s a good place to look for me. KarenBandyStudio
I live in Oregon which explains a lot about being surrounded by libs.
I don’t have family nearby. Most of mine are landscapes. A lot of memes I screenshot. I’m sure you know what kind. Lol. Not so much people. My only grandkid (who will be 20 next spring) runs away if I try to get a picture. My sisters also. Lol.
Yes, my oldest sister has one that her daughter & grand-daughter send pics to. It just rotates through all the pics on it and they send new pics on their phones to it. There's all kinds, sizes and prices. Some use SD cards. Once they plugged it in and set their phones to it, that's all. She just looks at the pics as they cycle and doesn't have to do anything.
My mom has a Skylight frame. You do have to have wifi for it to work though. You can send pictures via email or if you put the app on your phone you can load them that way and, from the app see all of the pictures others have shared. She's 87 and has bad arthritis in her hands and so touchscreens or a mouse are all non-starters. She loves it as it helps her keep in touch with out of town and even in town family via pictures they send her.
Thank you. 🤣. Substack is a great stress reliever, although sometimes it creates more stress. Our travails as we tried to install a new dishwasher this entire week could amuse or trigger similar memories in others. Ours involved leaking valves and pipes. Laying flat on the floor grasping a fitting in an impossible location, bruised hands, 4 visits to ACE hardware. every rag and sponge we have and a security whistle. Our first successful load last night, sans sponges. 1997 hookups don’t correspond to 2025 fittings. Kiddies, don’t try to do this yourselves to save 50 bucks. Then on YouTube we found this particular model is the most dastardly one to install of all the dishwashers around. Perhaps we should feel better that we succeeded under inhumane conditions. (No yelling from either side) 🤷🏼♀️. My man is a genius at this normally. So calling a plumber —-never ever. The original owner of this house WAS A PLUMBER. Couldn’t tell from what we’ve had fixed over the years. Have a Happy Christmas, Michael.
So a bit of appliance installation yoga involved. Dishwasher clearances are so tight underneath, I usually discover some sharp metal and give blood that the Red Cross wants.
I'm sure Donald Trump had no idea the delightful thread his pencil comment would create. Perfect for an uplifting mood for the holidays.
I gave up. Now, our daughter may be able to have more sway over him. Her mother in law revealed to me she’s a little bit afraid of my daughter. Yeah. I can see that.
In big cities the Salvation Army might send a big truck to clear out an entire house full of donations from an estate. Provide tax write-off paperwork, too!
Have you seen all the storage facilities everywhere? We moved to a new area, outside the city limits with lots of fields and open land. I thought surely they would not have any of those monstrosities out here for a while. I was wrong, there are 3 new ones. A friend of our runs one of them and he said there are people with 3 or 4 units full of stuff. And they never come look at it, just pay every month. Madness.
We ARE addicted to "stuff"! We do need to get a life! Stop buying, read more Substack articles! (this is a message the youth need... if not they will grow old and overburdened with "stuff" like those of us in the older generations)
Yep! Completely addicted to BUYING the bobbles, trinkets, and shiny things!
I have never been “normal.” I am not even going to put a label on it. I don’t/can’t multitask, I despise shopping, I loathe clutter, I started saving and investing at the ripe old age of 23, and bought my first piece of real estate at 25/26. While my friends were whooping it up, I was quietly accumulating enough cash to buy my first REAL tangible asset.
Everything else is a decoration which depreciates faster than a wildfire in SoCal.
So, yes, our society has been completely brainwashed and addicted to buying garbage-literally!
My guess is the art supplies bring you joy! There in lies the difference. Buying shite because you’re addicted to buying shite is pure unadulterated insanity.
I buy “too much” stuff for my garden which brings me joy and is the cheapest and best therapy ever! My rationale is, gardening keeps my brain functioning sans chaos and overwhelm,so that Redmond soil test kit for $40 is worth ever penny spent. Brain is calm and our garden soil is going to rock in time for a blockbuster spring 2026!
I'm an Artist so they are tools! That's my story and I'm sticking with it. 😂 I'm sure gardening is the same. I actually enjoy it too, kind of an art form and gets you outside in the sun.
My best friend passed about 6 years ago and I talked to her husband about donating her art supplies to the local high school and jr high, so we spent the day with the two teachers going through her stuff. It was all gone by the end of the day. She was a retired art teacher and had a lot of different mediums.
He gave me her oil and coldwax, which was her newly discovered love. That was so special to me.
This is pretty cool… before she passed she started giving away her paintings to her friends. I guess that’s the beauty of knowing you’re going.
Our house was built in 1830. A family who lived here in the 1950s finally built a closet in our bedroom, and a second storage space in a room on the first floor. And there is no garage or attic. Our decisions to buy more stuff is necessarily constrained.
My "new" home was built in 1900. "Storage" is very different. This home is actually bigger than my previous home, yet even after donating and trashing a TON of stuff, I still don't "fit" in my new old home! But hey, this place has charm!
We downsized 2 1/2 years ago. The amount of crap we got rid of was scary. We had been in the same house for 15 years. It accumulates. Sure there were a few things that we kind of regretted getting rid of after the fact (and quickly repurchased) but in general, we haven't missed ANY of it. We just had too. much. stuff.
As someone who has 47 pairs of panties I simply cannot support Trumps pencil austerity measures. First they came for the pencils, but I said nothing because I didn’t care about pencils. But then they came for the panties. It’s a slippery slope.
A girl needs 47 pairs of panties in case she has to travel. It’s important to always pack way too many pairs of panties to travel. (Why do we do this?)
OMG I have home panties, workout panties, and dress panties. 🤣😏🤓
You’d be proud of me, recently I cleaned out the drawer and threw away few dozen pairs including those fancy thong panties, I forget the brand but they were ‘big’ in the early 2000’s.
Yea, I stopped wearing them years ago, but they were so pretty! 😆 I remembered the name Hankie Pankies. I think they were still pretty and in good shape cuz I rarely wore them… butt floss was not comfortable!
My wife and I moved several states away two years ago. The "stuff" was almost infuriating. We had accumulated over 30 yrs of living in that house approximately 5 dumpsters and endless free yard sales of "stuff" and yes a million pencils from the fall teachers list of required items, that ended up not being required. As a society we are too consumer orientated and do not fully appreciate that it is not the items. It is the quality. We used to be able to have quality appliances and electronics now everything is planned obsolescence and we throw the stuff away with no worries.
With that move we have found that minimalist is the best way forward. Besides when we go, we cannot bring anything with us but our souls and memories.
Actually he wasn’t saying anything at all meant to encourage people to think about owning less frivolous things. It wasn’t about that at all. That wasn’t the context. He was making the point that we will ALWAYS need steel, even if we don’t always need other silly things, steel is the one thing that we must have. He just used pencils as an example of silly things. His pointing to China was to show how some countries limit these silly things while in the past OUR country was limiting true importance like steel.
They are usually judging soundbites and hearsay. I actually sat and listened to his whole rally and it’s a lot different when you actually hear the before, during, and after.
What’s more hysterical is taking what DJT says off script as literal. It’s getting tiring that people can’t understand what he referencing. We are a country of materialistic dweebs. We have definitely too much stuff, cringe worthy really. If you can’t handle or understand what he means, then I have no hope for us as a species. Just watch any documentary on all the stuff we throw out that ends up in a landfill or the ocean that poor people pick through. It’s sad really. I can’t walk into a TJ Maxx or Marshall’s anymore during any holiday season without feeling like I want to vomit. Can’t walk through the aisles as it’s piled high with stuff. And idiots waiting in line to get bear cups at Starbucks….don't get me started!
No matter what Trump says or does, opposition media and influencers will spin it into a daily dose of “Trump is Nazi”. It keeps TDS sufferers from discovering that Trump is really a common sense guy.
Yes, yes, I think I can get by with just this one Substack subscription (but it would be really nice if you subscribed and read my articles too). 😇
We only need a couple pencils. Heck, I don't even need any pencils, I have a keyboard!
"the federal government comprises roughly 430–460 distinct agencies, bureaus, and independent commissions." - Heck, they don't even known how many agencies they have. They don't need so many. Let's have just two or three agencies. Okay?
😇 Beware! I have a thing for trying to get people to think about different viewpoints! (and sometimes I ramble on about random topics... but at least I try to keep my articles short and easy to read)
Trump should remind everyone many tariffs are RECIPROCAL tariffs.
For example, there was a time when the Philippines had import duties (tariffs) on many imported items like toilets. But if you were an OFW, those duties were waived. A colleague in Jeddah shipped plumbing fixtures from Saudi Arabia to Philippines because the taxes were waived and the quality was better.
In the late 90s, the State Dept began charging reciprocal visa fees. Saudi Arabia increased its fees for visas so the US began charging Saudis the equivalent fee.
ironically he says this in pencil-vania ?
Winner winner chicken dinner!! 🐔 🤣🤣
lol 30 yr vegetarian here
I love animals too!
... they taste delicious. ;)
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Good one!
state motto u'll find a pencil , in pencil-vane-ya
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 bravo!!!
Excellent! Of course sylvan means to do with woods so it is in a sense Pennsylvania is 'wooden Penn'.
And that might be a pencil.
It’s funny, but the husband and I have been looking around the house and garage lately(especially in the closets, where no one ventures much) and saying, “why do we have all this stuff” (except we didn’t say stuff). I do think Americans are totally addicted to stuff and especially, we’re addicted to shopping for the stuff. Most of us need to get a life. One that doesn’t include daily shopping.
My crap is totally dumpster worthy. I wouldn’t miss any of it at my age. It’s my husbands “hobbies” that throw a wrench into the works. There are 3 motorcycles in the garage—one that’s been there since the 80’s. He won’t even part with some fancy boots he got in the 70s. —haven’t worn them since then either. Computer stuff. He worked at Office Depot after retiring. You cant imagine the stuff that came home from there or the adjacent camera store. I counted 22 small digital cameras behind a chair in a corner. 9 digital photo printers still in boxes in the basement. Full size printers on a shelf. 2 or 3 tool big tool thingies. Hard to tell—I don’t look too hard. There are no tools in them. Tools are everywhere there is a flat surface. . I can barely stand to go into the basement. I have to leave notes in some closets reminding him that it’s my space. KEEP OUT. His new hobby is solar. God help me. Lol.
We’ve been married almost 58 years. He’s in poor health and I’m in excellent health. Sadly, who do you think will have to deal with this 2 story, 4 bedroom, large yard,huge garage house? Me and my daughter 1000 miles away. I see the look on her face when she visits. A friend of mine had a true hoarder husband. Out Buildings and rooms filled to the top with stuff. He suddenly died and there she was. Saddled with all of it. It was horrifying. Guess I should be grateful, huh? It took her over 2 years to de-shite and get the hell out. She had 3 daughters and sons in law. I have relatives as old as me and a daughter. Sorry for the rant. I’ll have to just get Junk R Us or a match.
In moving, I discovered there are companies that will come and clear out your house for you at a reasonable cost! It can be painful to see all your treasures hauled away, but it's so nice to enjoy the empty left behind... now if only I hadn't brought most of it to my new home.
That will be the solution. Auction and clear out. Nobody in family wants anything. Young folks don’t want this stuff.
It makes me sad that all the precious little things ( some with actual value) that I have collected over the years will absolutely be tossed out when I’m gone.
They don’t have to be, it just takes a bit of effort to find venues that reuse and find new homes. People do want the older stuff.
Yes,certainly “people “ do want old,cool stuff…Just not my kids..which is what is sad..I doubt my heirs will even look at Each piece before it’s hauled away…🙁
Yes... that's how the psychology gets tough. We treasure our treasures, others just see it as garbage. My father got extreme to the point where you couldn't walk through his home.
That’s my parents. I’m dreading the clean out when they die.
My brother and I had ‘the talk’ with my parents about their moving near me. Brother’s wife has Lewy Body dementia so he can’t help out with them even though he lives closer.
So, the talk enforced their stubbornness to stay put but it also spurred them on to start cleaning out the house. They started with the family photos.
We lost dad 3 weeks ago, but now mom is really tackling all sorts of clean out chores. I guess it’s helping her process things. They were married 73 years!!
Unfortunately, I don't think it does any good to talk to them ahead of time!
Maybe you can get them to move? Certainly my daughters will have less to deal with after my move. Now I just need to avoid collecting more clutter! (or move again - but they weren't happy with me moving away this time)
Someone once said, “We spend our first 50 years acquiring and our last 25 getting rid of.” When I moved my mom from her home (that she had kept clutter free) she said she did don’t want her new apartment to be crowded. It is beautiful, decorated, spacious and comfortable. She gets to enjoy the other residents in the facility and every activity in her church and with family without having to move around stuff. She said other residents’ apartments are so crowded you can hardly walk around. The facility has used her apartment at times to show likely renters.
So true. The end of our driveway works well for general declutterring. It all disappears fairly quickly. Even old box fans and microwaves that don’t work. My next place will be the much more zen. I actually have 2 rooms like that. I take some blame too. As an artist, lots of things weird and wonderful catch my eye. I have a fascinating ball of scrunched up fence wire I found hanging on a gate in Wyoming. I hang it up with little lights in it or at Halloween those little mini pumpkins. It pleases me. Lol.
Right there with you Laura. Married 51 years. Unfortunately I am almost as bad about having all my stuff as he is. I’m trying to cut back and get rid of my stuff. He isn’t and see no reason that he should.
Sometimes it’s just good to rant…therapeutic
Yup. I feel better. 🤔😌
Janet, I don’t want to encourage your husband but ask him if they still make those photo things that one sends mom or grandma that requires nothing on their end technology-wise. Brother and I can send photos to her via our phones or email…via WiFi I guess.
He always thought that he’d sell this stuff on line. A justification used by many collectors but they lose interest in that part. He doesn’t even take pictures on anything. I’m the one with 29,000 pics on my devices. 😱 I’m an artist. I take too many landscape photos but at least they aren’t cluttering the house up. It’s too late to get him involved in clean up. Just live with it in more ways than one.
Very true! They have huge aspirations and quickly learn that selling crap online is a pain, sounds like he didn’t even get that far.
Janet, I’m an artist too! Yep, those device photos are overwhelming but so are all my completed canvases. There’s only one really nice gallery here, the others are member run, the only one I would consider is full of flipping liberals! I think the drama would get to me real fast. Besides that, I owned my own store, that doesn’t make one a very good team player! 🤣
What is your work like? Oils, acrylic, watercolor?
OMG. Do you live where I live ? Yeah, liberals are all over here. A few galleries around but I don’t want to join and have to sit there for some hours a month while someone comes in and walks out. I have exhibited a few local places but our town is 65% Hispanic here in Illinois They don’t buy paintings. I didn’t start painting again until I retired. I dont really want to get involved in online selling either. I basically do it for my own enjoyment, selling here and there. They are stacking up. 😱.
I paint in oils in the winter but all the rest of the year I paint plein air. I took it up regularly during that first Covid year and I love doing it so much. Makes me feel alive and rooted in nature. I use slow-dry Golden Open acrylic paints. They work like oils but suit my more impressionist style. I put it all in a backpack and find a nice spot. I have to paint fast so I think my work is looser and more exciting. I was painting with a group at Door County at the tip on Lake Michigan one fall. The wind was so high I had to tie my tripod to a fence post and put a large rock in my wheeled trolly to hold it all down, but, boy, was it exciting. Showed in my painting. I try to get out in winter but it has to be over 30 degrees, no wind, sunny and snow for lovely shadows. I love painting snow. What do you do? Are you online anywhere? What medium? I’m going to start giving them away but the plein air ones are harder. I remember the day I did them, the atmosphere and they are more personal. We had to leave a location in Wyoming once after seeing fresh bear scat as I set up.
You’re so passionate about your painting, I love it!! I would love to see some of your work. You can reach me via email via my website Karenbandy.com
I have painted now for about 20 years. I painted a bit in college but was more interested in jewelry and made that my career. I paint in acrylic mostly but also do oil and coldwax. Ventilation is a problem as I’m sure you know.
Caveat, my website isn’t up to date, I really need to get my act together, lol! There are some fun still life paintings on instagram too. Actually, that’s a good place to look for me. KarenBandyStudio
I live in Oregon which explains a lot about being surrounded by libs.
Karen, Do you mean... a digital photo frame?
Yes, I think that's it! It's got to be super easy for her, maybe just on/off switches!
I don’t have family nearby. Most of mine are landscapes. A lot of memes I screenshot. I’m sure you know what kind. Lol. Not so much people. My only grandkid (who will be 20 next spring) runs away if I try to get a picture. My sisters also. Lol.
Yes, memes and alternative medical stuff and lots of nature shots too, birds, sunsets, our dogs and cats.
Plus all my paintings and many years in the custom, original jewelry biz.
Yes, my oldest sister has one that her daughter & grand-daughter send pics to. It just rotates through all the pics on it and they send new pics on their phones to it. There's all kinds, sizes and prices. Some use SD cards. Once they plugged it in and set their phones to it, that's all. She just looks at the pics as they cycle and doesn't have to do anything.
I found one that uses an app, the senders signs up for the app if I am understanding it correctly! 😅
Thanks, hoping we can load them remotely. I’ll check it out!
My mom has a Skylight frame. You do have to have wifi for it to work though. You can send pictures via email or if you put the app on your phone you can load them that way and, from the app see all of the pictures others have shared. She's 87 and has bad arthritis in her hands and so touchscreens or a mouse are all non-starters. She loves it as it helps her keep in touch with out of town and even in town family via pictures they send her.
Janet--your rant is priceless and should have its own substack.
Thank you, thank you!
Thank you. 🤣. Substack is a great stress reliever, although sometimes it creates more stress. Our travails as we tried to install a new dishwasher this entire week could amuse or trigger similar memories in others. Ours involved leaking valves and pipes. Laying flat on the floor grasping a fitting in an impossible location, bruised hands, 4 visits to ACE hardware. every rag and sponge we have and a security whistle. Our first successful load last night, sans sponges. 1997 hookups don’t correspond to 2025 fittings. Kiddies, don’t try to do this yourselves to save 50 bucks. Then on YouTube we found this particular model is the most dastardly one to install of all the dishwashers around. Perhaps we should feel better that we succeeded under inhumane conditions. (No yelling from either side) 🤷🏼♀️. My man is a genius at this normally. So calling a plumber —-never ever. The original owner of this house WAS A PLUMBER. Couldn’t tell from what we’ve had fixed over the years. Have a Happy Christmas, Michael.
So a bit of appliance installation yoga involved. Dishwasher clearances are so tight underneath, I usually discover some sharp metal and give blood that the Red Cross wants.
I'm sure Donald Trump had no idea the delightful thread his pencil comment would create. Perfect for an uplifting mood for the holidays.
Yes a Merry Christmas to you and yours. I was just listening to this as I was writing, from 25 years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WJ5dkyqaqY&t=5s
Your husband needs an intervention. Lovingly of course. Good luck🙏
I gave up. Now, our daughter may be able to have more sway over him. Her mother in law revealed to me she’s a little bit afraid of my daughter. Yeah. I can see that.
🙂
In big cities the Salvation Army might send a big truck to clear out an entire house full of donations from an estate. Provide tax write-off paperwork, too!
Have you seen all the storage facilities everywhere? We moved to a new area, outside the city limits with lots of fields and open land. I thought surely they would not have any of those monstrosities out here for a while. I was wrong, there are 3 new ones. A friend of our runs one of them and he said there are people with 3 or 4 units full of stuff. And they never come look at it, just pay every month. Madness.
Storage units seem foolish to me. If you can't fit it in your house, don't pay to store it somewhere else!
Totally agree! Sell it and get the money!
Bah, I'm happy with just donating it so someone else can enjoy my old stuff. It's trashing it that *hurts*.
We ARE addicted to "stuff"! We do need to get a life! Stop buying, read more Substack articles! (this is a message the youth need... if not they will grow old and overburdened with "stuff" like those of us in the older generations)
Yep! Completely addicted to BUYING the bobbles, trinkets, and shiny things!
I have never been “normal.” I am not even going to put a label on it. I don’t/can’t multitask, I despise shopping, I loathe clutter, I started saving and investing at the ripe old age of 23, and bought my first piece of real estate at 25/26. While my friends were whooping it up, I was quietly accumulating enough cash to buy my first REAL tangible asset.
Everything else is a decoration which depreciates faster than a wildfire in SoCal.
So, yes, our society has been completely brainwashed and addicted to buying garbage-literally!
Same here, bought my first house at 25. Not a huge consumer as I like saving. I do buy too many art supplies though. 😂
My guess is the art supplies bring you joy! There in lies the difference. Buying shite because you’re addicted to buying shite is pure unadulterated insanity.
I buy “too much” stuff for my garden which brings me joy and is the cheapest and best therapy ever! My rationale is, gardening keeps my brain functioning sans chaos and overwhelm,so that Redmond soil test kit for $40 is worth ever penny spent. Brain is calm and our garden soil is going to rock in time for a blockbuster spring 2026!
I'm an Artist so they are tools! That's my story and I'm sticking with it. 😂 I'm sure gardening is the same. I actually enjoy it too, kind of an art form and gets you outside in the sun.
Art supplies are good for the soul.
My best friend passed about 6 years ago and I talked to her husband about donating her art supplies to the local high school and jr high, so we spent the day with the two teachers going through her stuff. It was all gone by the end of the day. She was a retired art teacher and had a lot of different mediums.
He gave me her oil and coldwax, which was her newly discovered love. That was so special to me.
This is pretty cool… before she passed she started giving away her paintings to her friends. I guess that’s the beauty of knowing you’re going.
Remember W said after 9/11 “ Go shopping”.
Our house was built in 1830. A family who lived here in the 1950s finally built a closet in our bedroom, and a second storage space in a room on the first floor. And there is no garage or attic. Our decisions to buy more stuff is necessarily constrained.
Same. Our home is very small and we have a Tough Shed. That’s it. Can’t buy shite if there is no where to put it! Problem solved.
A natural barrier against our worst instincts!
My "new" home was built in 1900. "Storage" is very different. This home is actually bigger than my previous home, yet even after donating and trashing a TON of stuff, I still don't "fit" in my new old home! But hey, this place has charm!
We downsized 2 1/2 years ago. The amount of crap we got rid of was scary. We had been in the same house for 15 years. It accumulates. Sure there were a few things that we kind of regretted getting rid of after the fact (and quickly repurchased) but in general, we haven't missed ANY of it. We just had too. much. stuff.
https://share.google/w6lZn2lf2k4tKGEhh
Hence the rise in storage units.
Plus, you should see my car. It's a mobile storage unit.
As someone who has 47 pairs of panties I simply cannot support Trumps pencil austerity measures. First they came for the pencils, but I said nothing because I didn’t care about pencils. But then they came for the panties. It’s a slippery slope.
Then they came for the SHOES. 👠
Shut up about shoes. That’s simply a red line for violent confrontation. I NEED 15 pairs of sandals, 23 pairs of shoes and 10 pairs of boots.
Yes, I NEED all my boots! There are snakes out there.
Exactly! I live on a 50 acre ranch in Northeastern Arizona. Can you say rattlesnakes!
I live rural in the panhandle of Texas. Lots of rattlesnakes! But I wear boots most of the time because they are my fave shoes.
At least
Oh, no! Not the shoes!!!
Doesn't have quite the same sing song quality...
They came for the dogs, they came for the cats, they came for shoes in Springfield.
Remember when a "shoe" was the cartoon way of showing destitution back in the Chick Jones Bugs Bunny days...eating shoes?
A girl needs 47 pairs of panties in case she has to travel. It’s important to always pack way too many pairs of panties to travel. (Why do we do this?)
Lol. I a crude joke about this, from a guy comic; "Why do we all pack underwear when we travel like we might s**t our pants every day?"
I always say "Pack extra underwear because you never know when you'll be laughing so hard you pee yourself."
Exactly! It’s so funny, but we all do it.
Do you put the days of the week on them (obscure reference to When Harry Met Sally)
No, but I sort them by color, print and remaining leg elastic! Gotta know which ones are work panties or stay-at-home panties. 🤣🤣
OMG I have home panties, workout panties, and dress panties. 🤣😏🤓
You’d be proud of me, recently I cleaned out the drawer and threw away few dozen pairs including those fancy thong panties, I forget the brand but they were ‘big’ in the early 2000’s.
Oh honey, I threw away all my thong panties years ago! I figured a little strip of butt floss was not gonna do much good for my 60-year-old butt.
Yea, I stopped wearing them years ago, but they were so pretty! 😆 I remembered the name Hankie Pankies. I think they were still pretty and in good shape cuz I rarely wore them… butt floss was not comfortable!
Not thickness?
No, they are all the exact same panty. Made by Jockey. Makes morning selection much easier.
I’m pretty sure you’re my long lost sister! You had me at “remaining elastic”!
When the elastic in your panties no longer prevents them from curling up your butt crack it’s time to relegate them to the only wear at home category.
I do love my jockeys. Won’t buy any other kind.
It occurs to me I know a lot more about my friends here than about my day-friends.
the first question that needs to be addressed here, just as a baseline, are all those panties YOURS?
Yes, they’re all mine. My husband prefers 32° Cool boxer briefs. 😁
Uh oh! Is my closet in jeopardy? So many items are "overstocked".
😂
This panty feed is wild. I had no idea.
We girls take our panties very seriously. And don’t get us started on bras!
This whole pencil business sounds very sketchy.
Borderline between “Good one!” and groan…
Next he’ll want to erase cursive.
😆
My wife and I moved several states away two years ago. The "stuff" was almost infuriating. We had accumulated over 30 yrs of living in that house approximately 5 dumpsters and endless free yard sales of "stuff" and yes a million pencils from the fall teachers list of required items, that ended up not being required. As a society we are too consumer orientated and do not fully appreciate that it is not the items. It is the quality. We used to be able to have quality appliances and electronics now everything is planned obsolescence and we throw the stuff away with no worries.
With that move we have found that minimalist is the best way forward. Besides when we go, we cannot bring anything with us but our souls and memories.
Exactly
But, but....what about the colored ones?
Now choices are gonna get really hard!
Do I go with the blue, green, and orange? (NO, NOT the orange, cuz damn, we ALL know why!!)
Yellow, brown, and purple??
TOOOO many damn decisions now!
And what about the clicky ones?
When ya click the end and more lead pops out!!
They, too, come in an assortment of colors, albeit only one lead color, but still...
I just can't anymore!
National Security,
or
a cup holder whereupon one cannot possibly push in another pencil, no matter how pretty the color is?
Will it never end!?!?
*sobs into 1 of the 58 coffee cups I own.
I don’t know what I would do without my coffee mug full of Ticonderoga pencils and my wall mounted sharpener.
😂😂🤣
Love that response!
Love the wall mounted pencil sharpener!
Mrs. "the Knife"
Best pencil ever!
The ONLY truly good pencil.
My husband is on an austerity program for coffee mugs, apparently we own too many 🤣
😂
Actually he wasn’t saying anything at all meant to encourage people to think about owning less frivolous things. It wasn’t about that at all. That wasn’t the context. He was making the point that we will ALWAYS need steel, even if we don’t always need other silly things, steel is the one thing that we must have. He just used pencils as an example of silly things. His pointing to China was to show how some countries limit these silly things while in the past OUR country was limiting true importance like steel.
Exactly, Juju. When folks are deranged, reason goes out the window on buzzard wings. (No offense to buzzards. They have a noble clean up job.).
Juju thanks for trying to help the libs understand Trump speak.
They are usually judging soundbites and hearsay. I actually sat and listened to his whole rally and it’s a lot different when you actually hear the before, during, and after.
Sorry. I don’t have time for this. I have to go drink my bleach and take my daily dose of horse paste.
I see what you did there! LOL
😂
There are three phases of life; Wanting stuff, buying stuff, and getting rid of stuff....
What’s more hysterical is taking what DJT says off script as literal. It’s getting tiring that people can’t understand what he referencing. We are a country of materialistic dweebs. We have definitely too much stuff, cringe worthy really. If you can’t handle or understand what he means, then I have no hope for us as a species. Just watch any documentary on all the stuff we throw out that ends up in a landfill or the ocean that poor people pick through. It’s sad really. I can’t walk into a TJ Maxx or Marshall’s anymore during any holiday season without feeling like I want to vomit. Can’t walk through the aisles as it’s piled high with stuff. And idiots waiting in line to get bear cups at Starbucks….don't get me started!
No matter what Trump says or does, opposition media and influencers will spin it into a daily dose of “Trump is Nazi”. It keeps TDS sufferers from discovering that Trump is really a common sense guy.
Yup, he's clearly the antichrist.
ANYTHING they can possibly use to sow dissent, they do.
It's all soooo tiresome.
He could have said something about the Democrats having dicks like pencils, or heads filled with lead, but he didn't. I did, and I am not ashamed.
And then there’s ‘pencil neck’
Yes, yes, I think I can get by with just this one Substack subscription (but it would be really nice if you subscribed and read my articles too). 😇
We only need a couple pencils. Heck, I don't even need any pencils, I have a keyboard!
"the federal government comprises roughly 430–460 distinct agencies, bureaus, and independent commissions." - Heck, they don't even known how many agencies they have. They don't need so many. Let's have just two or three agencies. Okay?
I’ll check you out, John.
😇 Beware! I have a thing for trying to get people to think about different viewpoints! (and sometimes I ramble on about random topics... but at least I try to keep my articles short and easy to read)
Heck, I’ve had to change many solid viewpoints, some very quickly, since around 2020. I’ve always been a bit of an outsider on many things though. 🤔
2020 was like hitting a brick wall. Before that we could pretend that corruption was normal, tolerable and the "powers that be" only meddled a little.
Oops: "Wake up! Tyranny and censorship are in full swing."
Tranny or tyranny? I guess both work.
🤣 Well, yes, both do work. It's tyranny that intrudes into my life though and causes me concern.
Trump should remind everyone many tariffs are RECIPROCAL tariffs.
For example, there was a time when the Philippines had import duties (tariffs) on many imported items like toilets. But if you were an OFW, those duties were waived. A colleague in Jeddah shipped plumbing fixtures from Saudi Arabia to Philippines because the taxes were waived and the quality was better.
In the late 90s, the State Dept began charging reciprocal visa fees. Saudi Arabia increased its fees for visas so the US began charging Saudis the equivalent fee.
Seems fair.
Great content as always, but I have to go sharpen my ✏️ pencils!
But, doctor, if you SHARPEN them, they won't be PRISTINE! And "collectible," "still in the original packaging!" #helpI'mhoardingagain
I got my pack of 48 already sharpened. :) And yes, I DO need that many. We, as a family, play Reindeer Games at Christmas. ;P