fits of consumer insanity, (mine and others)
Had a fine little shopping spree this weekend. Went to JoAnn's and bought more fabric I'll never get around to using, and the to the Dollar Tree, then IKEA.
The Dollar Tree is a scary slice of modern American life. We see the middle class hastening it's decline to economic extinction, one dollar and seven cents at a time.
Jay Leno frequently does a bit where he shows dollar store items on his show, but he's missed some pretty good ones that I perused this weekend. There are some things you really should pay more than a dollar for, or alternatively, you shouldn't pay a full dollar for, especially for 'off-market' brands.
Examples:
1. Pregnancy tests: I kid you not. There were pregnancy tests at the Dollar Tree. If there is one thing one should not leave to chancy quality and bargain basement prices, I'd think family planning would be it.
2. La Chef Brand Ravioli: No, it's not Chef Boyardee . No, ravioli is not French. Yes, there was a real Chef Boiardi and he wasn't French. No, those probably aren't real ravioli.
3. Brand name cake mix . . . with directions in Arabic. I think. Maybe it was Cyrillic.
4. Dozens of dvds, mostly for films I've never heard of. I think some of them were referred to as 'talkies'. For some reason a high number of them seem to star Jodie Foster. Not sure why. In any case, the hairdos are amusing.
5. Electric toothbrushes. For a dollar. Will this last?
6. And inexplicably, dozens of planter/flowerpots, none with drainage holes. Nor were there any at IKEA. Will have to remember to get them when I go back to JoAnns. Argh.
And now, some consumer insanity of my very own. Veni, vidi, visa, as they say, or in my case, veni, vidi, debit Mastercard. I came, I saw, I bought an orchid. What the hell was I thinking? I can't keep low light succulents alive, so I buy a notoriously picky plant? Oh yes, brilliant move there. IKEA was having a sale of them, they must have been fresh the week before because most of them had bloomed, but after an long period of hemming and hawing, I bought a white moth orchid, which supposedly is one of the easiest to grow. I selected one with three blooms and four unopened buds, so it still had lots of potential and intended to take it home and put it near the natural spectrum lamp.
Then I walked out of IKEA with it into the bitter cold and watched the bus home roll by before I could get to the busstop. Bastards. I would have been able to go faster if I didn't have a new hamper and two fabric store bags. (Ironically the hamper matches the orchids.) So I fretted for 40 minutes!!! waiting for the next bus (which used to come every 20 minutes) hoping my new orchid (on sale for $9.99 woo!) wouldn't freeze to death before I could get it home.
What the hell was I thinking? I have a Christmas cactus near death and have killed a chysanthemums, a basil plant and African violets in the past twelve months.
This was on Saturday. As of today, Wednesday, one flower has wilted, and another has bloomed. If it lives, I think I will name it Ikea, since like IKEA furniture, it looks alien and is unpronounceable. Here is a picture of a healthy, happy Phalaenopsis orchid raised by someone else (in this case, C, who has one that's nearly identical). Will update on further Ikea (not IKEA) developments.
The Dollar Tree is a scary slice of modern American life. We see the middle class hastening it's decline to economic extinction, one dollar and seven cents at a time.
Jay Leno frequently does a bit where he shows dollar store items on his show, but he's missed some pretty good ones that I perused this weekend. There are some things you really should pay more than a dollar for, or alternatively, you shouldn't pay a full dollar for, especially for 'off-market' brands.
Examples:
1. Pregnancy tests: I kid you not. There were pregnancy tests at the Dollar Tree. If there is one thing one should not leave to chancy quality and bargain basement prices, I'd think family planning would be it.
2. La Chef Brand Ravioli: No, it's not Chef Boyardee . No, ravioli is not French. Yes, there was a real Chef Boiardi and he wasn't French. No, those probably aren't real ravioli.
3. Brand name cake mix . . . with directions in Arabic. I think. Maybe it was Cyrillic.
4. Dozens of dvds, mostly for films I've never heard of. I think some of them were referred to as 'talkies'. For some reason a high number of them seem to star Jodie Foster. Not sure why. In any case, the hairdos are amusing.
5. Electric toothbrushes. For a dollar. Will this last?
6. And inexplicably, dozens of planter/flowerpots, none with drainage holes. Nor were there any at IKEA. Will have to remember to get them when I go back to JoAnns. Argh.
And now, some consumer insanity of my very own. Veni, vidi, visa, as they say, or in my case, veni, vidi, debit Mastercard. I came, I saw, I bought an orchid. What the hell was I thinking? I can't keep low light succulents alive, so I buy a notoriously picky plant? Oh yes, brilliant move there. IKEA was having a sale of them, they must have been fresh the week before because most of them had bloomed, but after an long period of hemming and hawing, I bought a white moth orchid, which supposedly is one of the easiest to grow. I selected one with three blooms and four unopened buds, so it still had lots of potential and intended to take it home and put it near the natural spectrum lamp.
Then I walked out of IKEA with it into the bitter cold and watched the bus home roll by before I could get to the busstop. Bastards. I would have been able to go faster if I didn't have a new hamper and two fabric store bags. (Ironically the hamper matches the orchids.) So I fretted for 40 minutes!!! waiting for the next bus (which used to come every 20 minutes) hoping my new orchid (on sale for $9.99 woo!) wouldn't freeze to death before I could get it home.
What the hell was I thinking? I have a Christmas cactus near death and have killed a chysanthemums, a basil plant and African violets in the past twelve months.
This was on Saturday. As of today, Wednesday, one flower has wilted, and another has bloomed. If it lives, I think I will name it Ikea, since like IKEA furniture, it looks alien and is unpronounceable. Here is a picture of a healthy, happy Phalaenopsis orchid raised by someone else (in this case, C, who has one that's nearly identical). Will update on further Ikea (not IKEA) developments.
