Where Everybody Knows You're Numb

My Turn wrote:

---

 

---

or me, i would love, love, love a nice fitted leather jacket...sigh....the one thing i will try to get is the 2GB Mp3 player with 1.5" LCD screen on sale for $29 on black friday....great deal!!!

That is a good deal! ive been looking at various websites for those infamous black friday deals and there arent a lot of them out there this year. at least in these parts. 

-- Edited by My Turn at 07:38, 2008-11-26

 

---

 

Psych Lit wrote:

---

anyone else have anything thats on their if only there was really a santa, id ask for...things?

---

First, great poem -- thanks for sharing. It will travel from here. :)

"Things." If there were really a Santa, I'd ask for a laptop computer with Windows Office 2007 on it, so that I could do my work while I was sitting in my vehicle outside those many doctor's offices, and luncheons, anxiously twiddling my thumbs waiting for Mom to finish so that I can dash back home, finish my work, and meet my deadline.

Oh, and a car charger for my Sansa MP3 player, since the ones you can buy off the rack for Ipods don't work for the Sansas you apparently have to order them directly from Sansa, and my battery is always going dead. I have two sets of music I play for the dog which I like too, which calm him when he's riding in the car, and when I lose those, he starts thinking it's a good time to scratch the windows and bound over two sets of seats to visit me upclose and personal. I've been looking at those pet - car divider things, but they're a little pricey, and I've not found one that would both hold him in his "way-back" home and not puncture the fabric on the roof of the car. Then too, there's the rear visibility thing... it gets complicated.

Oh, and an HDTV would be a groovy thing to have, come February... If there were a Santa, I'd probably bribe him with key lime pie and Southern comfort flavored coffee, and ask him if there was some way he could please make my Visa bill go away.

---

BoxDog wrote:

---

Well, I love that making of gifts too. Even just assembling small personal gifts into baskets has always been a bunch of fun. I usually like to stick at least one "anchor" or main gift in the middle. Usually a watch, issue of a magazine I ordered for the person, perfume, etc.

magazines are a great gift. its like a monthly christmas! I like the basket idea too, lots of lil things to open and get jazzed about. do you have loads of people to assemble these for?

i made a bunch of different breads and cookies for thanksgiving gifts. main problem here is that number one son and future daughter in law have arrived from germany and one daughter and guest have arrived from out west and theyve already all eaten theirs. the excuse? "our names were on them." worse than the dog im tellin ya.
ill be out most of the day tomorrow and if i am not careful they will eat everyone elses and anything else thats not nailed down:)



 By the way...As for making them from scratch? Has anyone knitted you that Roomba you've been talking about for as long as I can recall? ;)

Roomba Driver

oh i wanna see this. im still drawing a blank on reconnecting my laptop so i cant see videos without this flash thing this desktop keeps telling me i need but wont support. everyone has tried to fix  it and nobody can figger it out. i know its something i did to the settings. the net went down for a few min and i was impatient so i tried to fix it and played around with the settings and i havent been able to reconnect since.

as to the roomba no dang it. no knitted robomaids yet. i really love things that make cleaning easy but i really hate to lose life hours to cleaning.  those swiffer thingys?  fabulous. that sonic scrubber i was lusting after? better than advertised. shamwows? wow! wow! and thats no sham. ive toyed with the idea of getting a permanent housekeeper to come in, even once a week, but im afraid im not a housekeeper kind of person. id feel bad for her slaving away to make my life easier when i am perfectly capable of doing these things myself. capable yet not motivated. so i find myself looking for anything that makes this easier.

the roomba tho is still pricey and i dont want to ask anyone to buy it for me at that price and i dont want it enough to shell out the bucks for it myself.  i do however have that black and decker broom/vac thing that sweeps and sucks up dry cat food and dust bunnies all in one swish on my list. can it get better than that?  if anyone has an entreprenurial spirit that lets rethink how we do the cleaning field is a wide open field. the person who invented the swiffers? they must be retired and sunning in tahiti as we speak. what an idea.  i also noticed that household cleaners now come with smaller packaging. one first bottle to mix the smaller bottle of cleaning stuff. now thats also a great idea. all of this reminds me of a poem that i used to really love and as i am writing about this interior battle that always wages for me between the warmth and security and safety of those cleaning and nurturing rituals and, on the other hand, the freedom from these same, things a line about liking clean houses and wishing i had one keeps repeating itself in my head. (its always important to listen to what runs thru yer head)  heres the poem tho i am sure that most of you have read it a zillion times

Woman Enough

Because my grandmother's hours
were apple cakes baking,
& dust motes gathering,
& linens yellowing
& seams and hems
inevitably unraveling
I almost never keep house
though really I like houses
& wish I had a clean one.

Because my mother's minutes
were sucked into the roar
of the vacuum cleaner,
because she waltzed with the washer-dryer
& tore her hair waiting for repairmen
I send out my laundry,
& live in a dusty house,
though really I like clean houses
as well as anyone.

I am woman enough
to love the kneading of bread
as much as the feel
of typewriter keys
under my fingers
springy, springy.
& the smell of clean laundry
& simmering soup
are almost as dear to me
as the smell of paper and ink.

I wish there were not a choice;
I wish I could be two women.
I wish the days could be longer.
But they are short.
So I write while
the dust piles up.

I sit at my typewriter
remembering my grandmother
& all my mothers,
& the minutes they lost
loving houses better than themselves
& the man I love cleans up the kitchen
grumbling only a little
because he knows
that after all these centuries
it is easier for him
than for me.

© Erica Mann Jong

so, anyway, i havent really clarified for myself what i want for xmas. i have, however, begun the list for the young ones shopping convienience. its hanging on the fridge and ill add to it as i think of stuff. really tho i dont need anything and while there are a few things that i want theres nothing im really fired up and excited about.

i guess the one thing that would really make me happy would be for someone to plan something that they know i would love to do and wed go and i wouldnt have to arrange anything but only just show up. that neednt cost anything, its more about imagination than money. the gift of being allowed to let go of the wheel and let others drive, its a good thing. my number two pet peeve is people who say to me, "youre so good at organizing these (whatever) things, why dont you make the arrangements?

So, aside from the sweeper broom, a large patchouli candle from yankee candle is on my list.  one of the people my organization serves in the workday world gave me a small version of this recently for a thank you token and i opened it and placed it on my desk at work and i just love the scent. i find myself getting lost in it sometimes. being a "ril american" ya just know that bigger is better so i want a large one for my home office.

i guess i do want a stair climber/treadmill combo tho i dont want a new one. i want a craigslist, come and take this thing outta here, one. i have so many of these exercise thingys taking up space and i rarely use them so i suspect that after a few weeks id rarely use new equipment either so why buy a new one? better to get one from someone else who was motivated for a few weeks and then wanted to have their space back.

I do want either that rash jacket or the surf jacket. thats prolly the number one thing i do want of a material nature and ill prolly get one of the two of those for myself since all that ive mentioned it to think its folly so i know nobody is going to spring for it. swimming is important to me so this will happen. i did get my old navy bargain bathing suits that i was shopping for the other night in the mail today so i no longer need those. 9 bucks each for chlorine resistant bathing suits and 2 or3 day delivery? dang that is good stuff.

im also wanting something that doesnt really exist tho ive mentioned it to some of my handier friends to see if they can build me some.  what i want is something that is a cross between a short x country ski and a snow shoe and i dont think anyone makes these, but, in my head anyway, it seems like a fun idea.

other than that the usual thermal undies, warm socks, a wallet, a change purse. thats a real must. ive always got 30 dollars in spare change floating at the bottom of my bag.

not that ill get all or even any of the above. its all about the roomba replacement desire.

anyone else have anything thats on their if only there was really a santa, id ask for...things?

---

 

Psych Lit wrote:

---

yours are prolly all at that expensive age. one of the things id do over again as a parent would be to limit the xmas and birthday bonanzas.  when they are very young you can get 20 bright colorful objects to play with and have change from a 50. fast forward to when theyre 12 and they still want the 20 objects only now one is an xbox and 2, 3,4 are all 70 dollar video games or whatever the current expensive toy is.  i cant remember where id read this but remember someone giving advice to a parent of a very small child and it was to buy a very few thoughtful gifts and not go overboard because you never know what life has in store for your family and if the custom is a few things and an emphasis on the spiritual side it will always be manageable but if the custom is many things to bring wide eyed wonder, there will be years where it will break the budget or they will be disappointed, especially if they believe in santa! im a believer in making gifts and in encouraging mine to make most of theirs for each other tho i still buy them too much. at least when they start their own families hopefully they wont fall into the same trap that i did with them.

---

---

Well, I love that making of gifts too. Even just assembling small personal gifts into baskets has always been a bunch of fun. I usually like to stick at least one "anchor" or main gift in the middle. Usually a watch, issue of a magazine I ordered for the person, perfume, etc. By the way...As for making them from scratch? Has anyone knitted you that Roomba you've been talking about for as long as I can recall?  ;)

I hope president-elect Obama is taking copious notes; IMO, we need this from him now, as much as our nation did from FDR 75 years ago:

----------------------------------------
"President Hoover, Mr. Chief Justice, my friends: This is a day of national consecration, and I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our nation impels.

This is pre-eminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.

So first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear. . .is fear itself. . . nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days. In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels: taxes have risen, our ability to pay has fallen, government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income, the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade, the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side, farmers find no markets for their produce, the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.

More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.

Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply.

Primarily, this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failures and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True, they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit, they have proposed only the lending of more money.

Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored conditions. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers.

They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

The money changers have fled their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths.

The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money, it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.

The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow-men.

Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be values only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit, and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing.

Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.

Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This nation asks for action, and action now.

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously.

It can be accompanied in part by direct recruiting by the government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our national resources.

Hand in hand with this, we must frankly recognize the over-balance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land.

The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities.

It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss, through foreclosure, of our small homes and our farms.

It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced.

It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical and unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public character.

There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act, and act quickly.

Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order: there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.

These are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special session detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the several States.

Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo.

Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are, to point in time and necessity, secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy.

I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.

The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic.

It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in and parts of the United States. . . a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer.

It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that the recovery will endure.

In the field of world policy I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor. . .the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others. . .the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.

If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize, as we have never realized before, our interdependence on each other: that we cannot merely take, but we must give as well, that if we are to go forward we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of Bøê Coêine, becaus =Dêithout such discipline, no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective.

We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline because it makes possibly a leadership which aims at a larger good.

This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will hind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife.

With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people, dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems.

Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors.

Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form.

That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has produced. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.

It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.

I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require.

But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me.

I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis. . .broad executive power to wage a war against the emergency as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.

For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less.

We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity, with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values, with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike.

We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life.

We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action.

They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I will take it.

In this dedication of a nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us! May He guide me in the days to come!"

--------------
I started to put in bold font particular passages which seemed apt, but really, practically the whole speech is that.

i have to agree here. call them and voice your complaint and tell them you want a lower interest rate or you will be transferring your balance (if you have one) to another card. if you have a long standing history with this company and as you say, never missed or been late with a payment, i think you will succeed in having your previous interest rate restored. (or try for an even lower one...cant hurt!)  if they are not willing to change the rate and they may be not considering the state of the economy and the fact that most people are creatures of habit and wont deviate from their SOP, do not close out the card. transfer your balance to another card and just hold onto that one with a zero balance and about once a year charge something for like $10-20 and pay it off when the statement comes in, to keep your account active. closing the account, especially if it is a long standing account will cause your credit score to take a hit, based on longevity and credit to debt ratios.

let us know how it works out.  good luck!



edited cause obviously my latte has not kicked in yet and i cant spell

-- Edited by My Turn at 07:52, 2008-11-11

Psych Lit wrote:

---

the first thing i used was a lot of the oatmeal. i dont know why but i am a sucker for oatmeal purchases. it always sounds so wholesome and im always wanting to feed the stuff to a kid when they visit, but honestly? i think oatmeal tastes like paste so i buy it and dont eat it.

---

Oatmeal Dog Biscuits

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup water
1 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup molasses
6 Tbs. margarine
1/2 cup wheat germ
3 cups oatmeal (uncooked)

Directions: Combine whole wheat flour, water and evaporated milk in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Dough will be stiff but you will need to chill it in the refrigerator for a half hour. Roll rounded teaspoons of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Flatten dough and bake in preheated, 300°F oven for 60 minutes.

Yeah, I had the oatmeal fever for a while. Well, for buying it. I still couldn't get it to go down, so to speak. Anyway, dogs can. And they're healthy cookies, no preservatives, no melamine, they freeze well. And they still make the kitchen smell good. Actually, mine likes her cookies dipped in a little peanut butter. Things like shredded carrots and diced raisins go good in the cookies too.

as a concession to the recession...say that 5 times fast!...that we are having ive been trying to see how long i can go without doing "real" grocery shopping by using up what is in the cabinets and freezer instead.

i cant tell you how many times i have looked in the fridge or the cabinets over the years and said theres nothing there to eat when what i really mean is there is nothing there that i feel like making to eat precipitating a run to the store and a hundred dollar spend.there is a huge difference between nothing and nothing i feel like, and so my goal this month is to get the fridge, cabinets and freezer to complete emptiness and to be creative in doing so. any and all creative ways to use canned foods are welcome!

the first thing i used was a lot of the oatmeal. i dont know why but i am a sucker for oatmeal purchases. it always sounds so wholesome and im always wanting to feed the stuff to a kid when they visit, but honestly? i think oatmeal tastes like paste so i buy it and dont eat it. ive got your steel cut, your irish, your womens health along with boxes of the instant stuff so, over the weekend, i made 8 dozen cookies with some of them. peanut butter oatmeal, oatmeal raisin, oatmeal chocolate chip. i put most of them in throw away fake tupperware and ive passed a few out to friends and have a few more to pass out later this week and still the cookie jar is way full. ive still got several boxes of oatmeal left and maybe this weekend ill turn them into oatmeal apple muffins or something since the apples have a priority to use before they rot.

last night i used some ground beef from the freezer along with frozen veggies and jarred au jus from god knows where or when and combined them with some betty crocker instant potatoes that one of my kids left over the summer to create a shepards pie. it was unexpectedly ok despite the potato flakes.  i also used some cans of pumpkin that were in the cabinet to make pumpkin pie tho the mixture made enough for two so i brought one into work to share which made for a more pleasant morning work atmosphere. theres nothing like feeding the coworkers to make them less curmudgeonly.   i was able to bring some of the leftover shepards pie for lunch and theres enough for at least one more dinner later this week.

tonight im going to use up a chicken from the freezer with some of the veggies from the garden. (i had to harvest the rest of the pumpkin, squash and lettuce in da dark yesterday evening since today the forecast calls for this noreaster to change over to snow with a predicted 4 in accumulation, something to look forward to on my imminent commute. there is always something both satisfying and sad about the last garden day) i put the chicken and veggies in the oven before i left for work and set the timer so it should be ready when i get home and hopefullly i wont die of ecoli later:) and *bonus* there will be leftovers for chicken chimichangas and chicken salad lettuce roll ups for lunch later this week.

ive heard that there are now ovens that refridgerate up until youre ready to cook and that you can control these things from the internet. what a strange new world eh? ive put that on my desire list.

im beginning to make a dent in it and thats good. i suppose ive become blind to buying canned and frozen stuff and then just chucking them out when they go past date. im hoping this will allow me to actually use them before that happens, to be more mindful, less wasteful and to look at these things with an eye on how they combine to create something i might not have made if we werent having this recession!  in the event i have anything left over (what the heck is pepper pot soup? and how did it get in my cabinet?) ill food bank them.

Psych Lit wrote:

---

yours are prolly all at that expensive age. one of the things id do over again as a parent would be to limit the xmas and birthday bonanzas.  when they are very young you can get 20 bright colorful objects to play with and have change from a 50. fast forward to when theyre 12 and they still want the 20 objects only now one is an xbox and 2, 3,4 are all 70 dollar video games or whatever the current expensive toy is.  i cant remember where id read this but remember someone giving advice to a parent of a very small child and it was to buy a very few thoughtful gifts and not go overboard because you never know what life has in store for your family and if the custom is a few things and an emphasis on the spiritual side it will always be manageable but if the custom is many things to bring wide eyed wonder, there will be years where it will break the budget or they will be disappointed, especially if they believe in santa!

---

i totally agree with you on this....i have never done the bazillion gifts at christmas....usually they each get 5-6 things...one larger thing and the rest less expensive stuff...yes, definitely as they get older, the things they want get more expensive.....that is why i already told them....so they know they can each pick something for around 100 -150...(but they have even been discussing among themselves the possiblity of those 3 combining their $100 each item for one $300 item....) and they will get one or two other smaller things.  i already got each of the 3 younger ones the iPod shuffle and waiting to see what they want for the bigger thing.....oldest one is easy. he already told me he wants a new motorcyle helmut for himself for christmas and a new one for his gf and to count that as his birthday gift (his birthday is 4 days after christmas)....so both of those would be about $350 total...but my neighbor, who knows everybody in pinellas co. pretty much, hooked me up with his buddy and i got a discount of $178 off the $350! cant beat that!  my kids are tough, cause they rarely ask for anything.....my 11 y/o wants a new cell phone....so he asked if he earns 1/2 of the $129 for the one he wants, can i pay the rest and get it for his birthday.....he already earned $73 dollars since the beggining of sept re-selling gum at school....started off with $4 of his own money and kept using part of his profits to buy more gum to resell....kid makes a killing! 

lol...the santa thing...i sorta went along with it when they were younger, but never made santa a big deal....even the younger one, when he was 5 or 6, asked me if i was santa and i told him yes...wont lie....hate lies...even when some of my friends think it is ok cause its "just santa".....nope...my kids know, if i tell em something, no matter what, it is the truth....cant expect them to be truthful to me, if i am not truthful myself to them....

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

---

Well, I guess the shocker for me, was that the week BEFORE the quote had been $200. And too, all of a sudden, it's $ my Mom really needs. Even so, I realized at the time that this is probably happening all over the country right now, and things like this, as well, and it does make the dismal economic situation all that much more unsettling. I sure wouldn't want to be making any major purchases on credit right now, although I may hit some of the Christmas sales and try to find a good price on a couple of TVs ... along with all the rest of America, also looking at that February digital switchover, which means retailers probably won't be exactly giving them away on "black Friday" but maybe ...

(sometimes I think too much ... it's a maddening trait for others to be around, I'm told. Heh.)


-- Edited by Nightowlhoot3 at 11:02, 2008-10-26

---

very very true....the drop is surprising....but then again..look at the hit the stock market can take in one day....and even something simple as gas...well two weeks ago i was paying $3.25-$3.30....yesterday i paid $2.55.....unfortunately, not much else has gone down..especially grocery prices, from what i can see.....

i hear ya on the christmas thing....four kids for me....so gonna be a slim one this year... i have already told them that and asked them to think about what they really want, cause it will only be like 2-3 things depending on how much what they want costs.....i am really hoping for some really good deals on black friday too.....


a woman who thinks too much is maddening????  hell no! can be a very good trait to have....there are way too many ditzes (sp??) and reactionaries out there....

-- Edited by My Turn at 11:20, 2008-10-26

MyCat8it wrote:

---

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

---

So we called early last week, and for the same car they were now willing to pay $100. Friday, the day we actually made the transferal, they handed Mom $30, and that was it. 

Seems these things are based upon the price of junk metal (in case there's nothing worth keeping from the car) and along with all things economic in this country right now, the price of scrap metal, along with the value of her retirement bundle, is plummeting. It's all connected and it's coming at us from all sides now, even from seemingly unrelated directions.  

---

That just stinks.  If they quoted $100, it should be $100, regardless of what day of the week it was.  Over the decades, I've talked to a few of those "We pay Ca$h for junk cars" and it's always the same.  I'm surprised they didn't end up charging your mother for towing the car away.  Maybe that's how they got from $100 to $30.

---

yeah, it does stink....unfortunately, scrap metal prices are tied into the commodity prices for these items, which means they can and do fluctuate on a daily basis.  the $100 price quoted early last week, it not like obtaining an estimate that is generally good for 30 days or so....but more like the stock market or mortgage interest rates or even gas prices...subject to change daily, hourly or by the minute. 

the most recent prices i could find were dated october 19.....

Whole Prepared Car Bodies 51.00 - 85.00 ton USD
Flattened Car Bodies 61.20 - 102.00 ton USD....

so lets say the price has dropped further and a car weighs, on average 1 1/2 tons...using the lowest price above (that is over a week old), then the guy will only make around $150 to sell it as scrap...minus him having to pick up the car and what he paid your mom.....so if the price is even lower, say, $30/ton..then your mom got 1/3 of what the guy can sell it for....it does suck....all around....





-- Edited by My Turn at 11:11, 2008-10-26