MY NEW GO TO THRIFT STORE

So, I had gotten a postcard in the mail and I actually read it because it was talking about one of the local Goodwill Thrift Stores I used to go to on the other side of town (when I lived over there years ago) was moving and becoming a thrift pound store. If you’ve never been to one don’t feel bad I hadn’t either, lol. I was up for a bit of adventure and hadn’t been out alone shy of grocery shopping, getting gas for the car, or hitting the craft store for some canvases in months….so away I went.

Now I have to say I didn’t end up going to the store on the postcard first because much to my delight I ran across a very large thrift store in the same parking lot; I mean seriously what are the odds of finding two just steps from one another?

I have to say that it was so neat and tidy when I went in that I knew that I was in for a treat! No seriously, I took photos, lol. Look, this place is huge! (Yes, I asked for permission to photograph before snapping the photos)

Teen Challenge Super Thrift, Orange Park, Florida
That cart in the front is mine 🙂
Tidy purses and 4 nice changing rooms including a Handicap Accessible one.
Tidy purses and 4 nice changing rooms including a Handicap Accessible one.

This store was called Teen Challenge Super Thrift and for a mere hair over $20 I walked out with 2 sweaters for next winter that are wool like Dave likes for layering at work, a fancy yarn sweater for me that is evening chill appropriate, a skirt that is just darling and a matching top to go with it (and let me tell my other busty and voluptuous friends there was a very good selection for those of us who never cared to lose the baby weight, tons of stuff for many sizes!) another shirt, and a cooler which we desperately needed because ours gave out last summer, and a grinder. Holy cow it was great, the prices were good, and the customer service was excellent.

Those of you who know me know that I am a stickler for good Customer Service having been in customer care in one capacity or another over the years, I’d go so far as to say if everyone took a few pages from the CS handbook the world would have fewer problems.  Anyway, I’ve got the scoop for you here.

😉

The Super Thrift I went to yesterday is at 868 Blanding in Orange Park (drumroll) AND I got the scoop on the discount days! [bowing] Yes, I am awesome and you may get me a cappuccino to say thank you 

  • Monday- 50% off clothes
  • Tuesday- Senior 55+ 25% off
  • Wednesday- Color Tag Sale 25-75% off
  • Thursday- Student (HS or College ID required) 25% off
  • Friday and Saturday- Furniture 25% off

So did I give up on my old go to? Yeah, I did because they changed management, weren’t tidy, and changed their sales to just a small section. Not that I won’t still go there if I’m hunting something in particular because I love thrifting being the thrifty person that I am, however I am more than ok with the drive to the new place based on prices, cleanliness, and the nice folks running it.

On an endnote, yes I did go to that pound store too and it was interesting rummaging through the bins and I even found some stuff, but comparatively I got better deals at the first store especially on the cooler and the kitchen grinder because it wasn’t by the lb.

DEMAND DEPOSITS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (AND OUR POCKETS)

Information on bottle bills (beverage container deposit laws) throughout the US and around the world.

So here’s the thing, I was born in Michigan where if you were ever strapped for cash all you had to do was take in all the bottles you’d been saving or that you’d snagged off the side of the road when you were a kid and bam! You’ve got like $20.

Not only did we have cash on hand but we were recycling before it was cool.  Even when my mother was on Food Stamps we found the money for the deposit for soda bottles, and mind you this was way back in the day when stuff was cheaper (10 cents could get you like 3 starbursts and 5 tootsie rolls at the corner store) and food stamps looked like monopoly money that came in these little books that you had to tear them out of. Hey, I was like 7 it was pretty, lol.
So forward many many years, and I’ve lived all over our fabulous country.  I started in Benton Harbor, Michigan where I was born and lived all over Southwest Michigan growing up. I have since stayed in Hawaii, California,  Arizona, Alaska, Texas, Colorado, Virginia, Mississippi, Illinois, and Florida. I list where I’ve been so that you can understand that I have seen and not seen bottle recycling from many many different places.  I live in Jacksonville now and we don’t have curbside recycling in my neighborhood like I’d gotten used to in the places that I lived in California, Virginia, and Illinois.

As of now recycling for us consists of saving things and then having to take the time to go all the way to a recycling center very far from our home (rather than just up the road to a grocery store like I’ve done in the past) and getting rid of it there, or recycling here at the house which I prefer to do because you’d be amazed at the things that you can make with 2 liter bottles, wine bottles, water bottles and such when you’re a gardener, lol.

What I don’t understand is why every state doesn’t have bottle/can recycling at the very least.  Even when we are at our poorest we can find 10 cents for a bottle deposit, I know because I’ve seen my mother do it, my mom’s friends do it, heck when I was first out on my own and living on a super tiny budget I was still able to scrape up those 10 pennies for a deposit on a 2 liter of soda, and by golly I took that bottle back and had a dime for the next one I purchased.

If you really want to make a dent in helping the environment this is a small and easy thing to do that has a huge impact because let’s face it you won’t see bottles strewn about the beach, the side of the road, or dropped carelessly around if they’re worth 10¢ each.

I invite you to take a gander at the Bottle Bill Resource Guide to see Countries and States that have Beverage Container Deposits and who is against this common sense way of getting some of the world’s trash put where it belongs instead of floating round our oceans.

FYI in 2014 in Michigan about 367.3 MILLION  was paid in deposits and 345.9 M was refunded, that means 94.2% of all beverage containers purchased were recycled.  So please explain to me why we don’t have this everywhere? People need incentive to do the right thing so give them one.

Countries with Deposit Laws

Australia
Austria
Barbados
Belgium
Canada
Croatia
Denmark
Estonia
Fiji
Finland
Germany
Guam
Iceland
Israel
Kiribati
Micronesia
Netherlands
Norway
Palau
Sweden
Switzerland
Turks and Caicos
USA (California, Connecticut, Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Vermont)

FINALLY! NO MORE ROBOTIC SOUNDING AUDIO VIDEO ON THE PC

Dave: We’ve been having issues for a little while now with our audio/video sounding robotic and or choppy when watching videos, playing games, just about anything on the computer.

Christy: To be honest it was making me nuts and I knew it had something to do with Windows 10 and most likely old drivers or something.

Dave: How many times have you tried updating the drivers now?

Christy: I updated the drivers for the Lenovo audio like 3 times, I seriously updated everything I could that might be related, I went so far as to try the the buffering trick for Chrome but that just made it have no sound.

Dave: And reloading the page only made it sound half as robotic,  it was pretty annoying.

Christy: Today though, I have triumphed!

Dave: [facepalm] You’ve been playing video games again haven’t you?

Christy: [grin] Admit it, we’re old and will take what we can get when it comes to giving a foe (in this case the audio system on the computer) a good smackdown, lol.

Dave: [sigh] Yeah, it’s kinda why I play World of Tanks.  So my gaming is going to sound better now?

Christy: Yeppers! And if any of you out there are also experiencing this issue try changing your speaker settings.

Dave: Seriously? It was just a stupid setting?

Christy: Nine frickin clicks and it was fixed. No idea how the setting got jacked up but it isn’t something I ever mess with so I’m going to blame whatever updated [shrug]

  1. Click on show hidden icons in the shortcut bar(win 10)
  2. Right click on speaker icon
  3. Click on Playback Devices
  4. Click on Speakers
  5. Click on Properties
  6. Click on Advanced tab
  7. From the dropdown menu choose 24 bit, 44100 Hz (Studio Quality)
  8. Click Apply
  9. Click OK

Dave: Brava!

SERIOUSLY?

My day thus far consists of loudness on a Sunday morning

  • loud wakeup
  • listening to loud bickering before my first cuppa has done it’s job
  • loud dog barking at the wind
  • loud neighbors blasting their dang music that reverberates through the window shaking the house with the bass
  • another loud dog barking at the wind
  • little bit getting woken up because of loud noise (she’s like a baby bear in her morning grumpies, lol)

and a lot of ‘shushing’ to folks (now including baby bear and her grumblings) who should have the decency to not be loud in the morning most of whom know (I don’t think the neighbors dog knows or cares) that my darlin Dave is currently on night shift and if he’d gotten woken would have come up out of that room like a papa bear seeking retribution.

Really does anyone have any self preservation around here?  I don’t do well in the morning before my coffee has kicked in so most people either leave me be or generously make me a cup [snort] Dave will make me coffee on the super rare (I was hoping this morning) chance that I get to wake up without being woken up by something and I come blearily stumbling out of my den….err…room.

I’ve got to say though, I don’t look nearly as frightening as he does when he comes rolling out of our room with hair sticking up everywhere like a demented redhead Einstein, eyes squinting blearily, muscles rippling as he stretches and gives a grunt of warning to all the land (it’s hilarious to be honest)  before he seeks the coffee pot and his morning dose of caffeinated salvation.

Seriously? If you don’t want to be growled at by any of us then have some respect and be quiet.

The "why did you wake me up" face after the coffee has kicked in :-)
My “why did you wake me up?  my morning is upside down  now” look AFTER the coffee has kicked in 🙂
Although this photo is a couple years old it is the perfect example of the grumpy bear morning genes that were passed onto our youngest, lol.
Although this photo is a couple years old it is the perfect example of the grumpy bear morning genes that were passed onto our youngest, lol.
afterteaawake
After baby bear is awake all the way, she’s her normal sweet self! And NO that is NOT coffee in her cup, lol. 

THE MURPHY CAR SAGA- IT’S RUNNING

Christy: So yeah, the car is running, I didn’t want to finish the saga of the latest car fiasco until I was sure it was going to ferry us around because I didn’t want to invite Murphy back into the mix by saying everything was fine.

Dave: [snort] He’s there anyway, it’s running rich for some reason.

Christy: Yeah, didn’t this whole mess start with it getting too much gas?

Dave: Of course.

Christy: Also, what do you think that new weird sound I heard when taking Dee to work yesterday morning and turned the wheel hard is?

Dave: Probably about $300.

Christy: Well Dang.

Dave: Yeah, because we have never had a vehicle that didn’t have some kind of issue.

Christy: Maybe we should get a priest to bless it? LOL

Dave: Naw, that might wash the dirt from the worksite off it and I’m pretty sure it’s the dirt that’s holding the car together.

Christy: Good point.

THE MURPHY CAR SAGA- ALMOST THERE, ALMOST

So, Dave was at it again today, after wondering why the timing belt was wiggly after having been secure yesterday he realized in an ‘ah ha’ moment that he’d managed to put something on backwards [spock eyebrow]

After a bit of getting everything on today he had me attempt to start the car. It would not start, imagine!

One phone call later that let us know that the 1st spark plug piston needed to be in it’s highest position and the timing wheel thing had a marking on it that also had to be in a precise position, a bit of cussing, and viola, the car started and was taken on a test drive around our little neighborhood.

It’s not so triumphant return to the driveway was to it overheating of all things. However Dave did manage to find a bolt that had come up missing yesterday which was well received.

He’ll be back at it tomorrow, now that he’s done the bit to make sure there weren’t bubbles in the coolant which he suspected to be the issue.

We just keep telling ourselves “It’s paid for and less expensive to fix than purchase another” LOL

THE MURPHY CAR SAGA…A NEW HOPE

In case you missed it Part One is here and Part Two is here

Christy: Really, I had to finally tell Dave last night after the water pump started leaking immediately after he put it on that he needed to just come in the house and look at it in the morning before he went all crossed eyed. He didn’t say no in part because we were having chicken pasta and also because he was just fed up at that point.

You know, everyone keeps telling us we just need to get a new car.  Like everyone thinks our car is ugly and just has too many issues but honestly a new (to us) engine, a fuel pump, a couple belts, and a new water pump is still cheaper than buying a new car.

Dave: That and we just can’t do a monthly payment at the moment.

Christy: There is that point.

Dave: And I can fill the tank for roughly $13 a week and drive all over Jax to get to wherever our job site is on that tank of gas for usually the whole week.

Christy: Which is saying something since the actual area of Jax is over 800 square miles and to really put it into perspective for people it actually takes about 45 minutes to get to the beach from where we live and that’s using the highways.

Dave: Yeah I’m halfway to the beach on the current job.

Christy: Sheesh, good thing you’re on nights and not stuck in rush hour traffic after work.

Dave: Yep.

Christy: So what’s the issue with the car today?

Dave: Well, the sealant I decided to use takes like 24 hours to set up rather than the usual 30 minutes. So I cleaned off the crud from yesterday, replied and now I can’t do anything until tomorrow.

Christy: You weren’t wearing your reading glasses last night, even after I offered to put them on you :-/

Dave: I didn’t think I needed to to be honest,  I’ve used the stuff before just not that brand so I read what I could which of course were the warnings in the large font size like “do not ingest” which is pretty stupid when you think about it because who in their right mind would ingest something like that.

Christy: [snort] I’m still trying to figure out the do not eat label on some of my makeup, I mean seriously if someone is eating stuff that is obviously not food they aren’t going to care what the label says.

Dave: I always wondered about that, I mean some of the labels they put on stuff is just bizarre and shows that someone was once a moron.

Christy: You’re preaching to the choir, I took the label off the mattress!

Dave: I took the label off my electric razor charger.

Christy: and the pillows

I took the label off the deodorant…to be fair I was bored and there were no books in the bathroom and I couldn’t read the itty bitty writing anyway; it’s like 6 point font, crazy stuff man, crazy.

Dave: I think they make the font on stuff so tiny because they’ve got to put all the warnings…of course if you were actually able to read the ingredients in some of the stuff we use you wouldn’t use it at all which explains how they can get away with using a font so small (that it’s like trying to see a glass splinter in the bottom of your foot) because they can at least say that they listed everything.

Christy: Exactly, doesn’t matter if the average person can’t read it.

Dave: Anyway

To Be Continued……….

THE CAR SAGA PART DUEX

Christy: So, if you caught yesterday’s post you already know the car is on the fritz again the very day we got it back from the shop and the mechanic wanted to charge us and we were just plain out of money so Dave was going to put a new water pump gasket…

Dave: So I take the water pump off and lo’ and behold it is cracked.

Christy: Thankfully we were paypaled some cash this morning to tide us over since the entire paycheck was pretty much spent on the mechanic Friday.

Dave: Yep.

Christy: So Dave told me we needed a new water pump.

Dave: Yep. Of course this was after I’d already gone up to get new coolant, some oil, and the seal we needed.

Christy: Yep.

Dave: So we looked up what we needed at the AutoZone website and found where they had the next three parts that we need if I’m ever going to get this car running again.

Christy: So my friend Rachel came to the rescue and drove me up to the store to get the water pump, a serpentine belt, and a timing belt because yeah, the car obviously needed those too.

Dave: If you ever get a chance, beg for some brownies from Rach, they’re very very good.

Christy: Yep

Dave: So, all the new bits are in and I pour in the coolant and of course there is suddenly a leak.  I knew it was going back together too easy.  It should have been a sign.

Christy: Yep

Dave: I really have nothing else to day about today’s catastrophe that can be printed in the blog [nodding sagely]

Christy: Hopefully coming at the issue in the morning when you’re fresh will help.

Dave: Yeah, it needs to be fixed because I work tomorrow night.

Christy: ooooohhhhh

Dave: To be continued….

MURPHY RIDES AGAIN…

Murphy  that elusive jerk has once again invaded our life.  It hasn’t been one of those days it’s been one of those week and a half’s [rolling eyes] It started with the drama of getting the information from the local school on what day kiddo needed to be there for local in person state assessment testing and they didn’t tell me until the day before when I once again called them even though I’d called weeks before to find out and they said they’d call me. Of course kiddo was nervous that day about it too because we’d been on pins and needles trying to find out when she was supposed to be there [sigh]

Testing finally completed  this week and thankfully Dave was on nights this week so I could get kiddo to the 2 math test days but of course Wednesday the car decided that it was going to up and just not go when Dave was on the way home from work at like 4 am and he had to wait til our mechanic opened to get a tow to the shop.

Today we got the car back, now mind you this was a free car and we’re thankful for our little 91 Geo because even if it’s old and could really use a new paint job, and a new passenger window, and new struts, and maybe even a run through the carwash it is really good on gas, unless it’s not running, lol.

So after spending nearly the entire paycheck minus enough to get some more gas since they completely drained what we had to replace the fuel pump, a chicken, and a few veg we get the car back.  I went out to the fruit/veg stand and Dee called for a pickup from work so I went to go get her.  The car didn’t want to accelerate but I eventually got going, then some idiot pulls out in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes and that is when the car died the first time.  Thankfully it’s a lightweight car so I just pushed it to the side of the road and attempted to restart it.  After 5 minutes I finally had to call the mechanic and with him on the phone I think the car was scared so it started, lol.  He told me to grab my kid since I was right there and then take it back to the shop.

So I grabbed Dee but I couldn’t go past 3rd gear or it started to slow down and then it died again.  Well we got it restarted again and were puttering down the road and turned onto the main road when it decided to die again.  Thankfully we were near the house but now it was like frickin smoking [grr] I sent Dee home and called Dave.  Coincidently where it stopped was right next to a used car place and the man there had me pop the trunk and took a peek inside and of course there was coolant everywhere, which I would like to point out was not in any way an issue when we’d left it at Budget Auto Repair! Ack!

🙂

So, now Murphy and I are hanging waiting for Dave and the lettuce and grapes are wilting in the sun.  Dave shows up and puts coolant in and sends me to walk home, and bless the veg man’s heart he saw us there and saw me walking and gave me a ride home 

So while Murphy was in fact hanging out with us today good samaritans came through and for that I am thankful.

Dave got the car started and back up to the shop but the owner wasn’t there and the mechanic on duty wanted to charge us to look at it even through the owner had sent us there just for that.  Dave said screw that y’all already took my whole paycheck and proceeded to hobble the car home.  So tomorrow it looks like he’s going to be poking around under the hood…I told him he should become a mechanic they seem to make much more money, lol.  Hopefully Murphy won’t be too insulted that I didn’t invite him in for dinner, I think we’ve had enough of his antics for quite awhile thank you very much.

BELLATRIX STRIKES AGAIN…

So kiddo comes out to the kitchen with the standard “I’m hungry” while I was making bratwurst for dinner and so I told her that we needed something to go with it, as she’s peering in the fridge she suggests Pepperoni, lol.

I was like, “Look kid, we need something besides meat I know you’re on that kick lately with your growth spurt how about a baked potato?” To which she replied,

“I am also into dairy
…..Dairy Queen!”

[facepalm]

Our kid is a comedian in training.