I was there today too! You were probably one of those people I glared at that wouldn't get out of MY way for ME to get up close and personal for MY needs :>) Money in my pocket, demanding to be spent, beautiful 'chids winking at me through the crowd as I peer through their elbows, tauting me and people not caring I couldn't get to the front row to snatch, grab and spend. Oh the thoughtless people, standing between me and my fix :>) I had three madie, one paph, one phrag and a formerly Brassavola, in bloom, follow me home. I got the Brassavola to taunt the one that lives here and insists it only wants to be a foliage plant. Please share your new purchases with us! Brooke

To aswer lynxe's question, for example, making a greeting card is, for me,a creative outlet and fun. It also saves $$, I think $3+ for cards is high and I won't pay it. It also means that I don't have to use gas and time to make the 16 mile round trip to a drugstore to purchase a card. WRT shopping at thrift stores, we happen to have two in the same town that's 8 miles away, and I usually go once a month on a Saturday morning. The closest mall is 40 miles away, but I'm not even sure what stores are there, I've only been there once or twice in the years we have lived here, I'm just not a recreational shopper and I hate paying full price, so if I do go to a retailer, it's TJ Maxx or Marshall's, they have a great selection and good prices. I do think there is a distinction between being frugal and cheap, for instance, I'm not one to skimp on a tip, never ever, and I buy the best, say, turkey breast at the deli counter or 95% lean ground beef because Iike the more expensive cuts of meat. But when it comes to cars, I drive a low end Civic and mr. sandyponder drives a 10 yera old Jeep. I will pay for vacations, dinners out, good quality furniture (retail or, my obvious preference, CL) and recreation, but bring all my potted annuals in every fall and overwinter them in the house, I just can't see paying $200 each year for flowers when I can invest in them once and reuse them. I think some folks here and IRL confuse frugal with cheap, IMO cheap is undertipping the server, or as a former neighbor of my parents did, buying LL Bean clothing at garage sales and returning to LL Bean and asking for a refund because the item was defective. They called that frugal, I call that theft (and *of course* they were fundies who were holier than thou, loudly). I call my quirks frugal, and by not using the dryer, we save about $50 a month. In the summer that's gas for the boat and in the winter for the snowmobile. I said I am a proud tightwad and I am, not ashamed at all, but the conspicious consumption glorified in the MSM makes me sick, so we don't have cable, but we do have Netflix, cuz I do enjoy watching HBO shows, just not paying for them. I would much rather be called cheap than extravagent, to me one is a compliment, the other a slur. sandyponder

I believe in situational safety. It is a risk benefit problem that becomes much more difficult if an accident effects more than just the perpetrator. I manufacture fireworks and shoot commercial displays (not how I make my living, but an interesting second career). When we train new people, you can tell them DONÂT DO THIS, but if they see you do it they will probably try it. This results in me being much safer (and slower) when I know that I am being observed. Is this hypocritical? Probably. When I am working by myself or with experienced people I usually think in terms of what is the worst thing that could happen and how likely is it to occur. I then try to mitigate the risk as much as possible while still getting the job done in a reasonable amount of time. alphonse's comment on angle grinders is a good example. Assume that the disk could shatter and keep your head positioned to limit your exposure. No, you canÂt always do that, but when you can you should. We stress to new pyros to NEVER place any body part over a loaded mortar. However, I have stuck my arm down a loaded 12" mortar to extract a shell that did not fire. I would never ask anyone else to do that, but in that particular situation I thought it was worth the, very small, risk of killing myself. Now that you have got me thinking about this I probably border on the unsafe side.

What a waste! But I guess he's gotta do it! I know when my kids moved from ND to Ia I think they only gave 30 days to get everything changed over? I could be wrong, but that had to be vehicle and drivers licenses!