Maria Zannini's Blog

I am making a list and checking it twice. Here are some more ideas for Christmas gifts on a budget.

Blanket hoodie (with footies) Don't ask me why, but Greg thinks it's a great idea. I just know I'd trip over it.  https://amzn.to/44sGbs9  Here's one even cheaper without the footies https://amzn.to/4rugT72

Car Organizer collapsible crate: For the person who likes a neat car. We actually have one of these. It keeps your stuff organized. No more tire inflators and battery chargers rolling around in the back. Very handy.  https://amzn.to/49Ki8Zg

Pocket Microscope for kids: I love this thing. I wish I had had one when I was a kid. I like that it'll get them out there and pique their curiosity. https://amzn.to/4imTjEV

Dearfoam Ladies Slippers: Because I was asked about slippers with a closed back. This is the pair I've got, and you can't go wrong with Dearfoam.  https://amzn.to/4pEc3Cs

Garden Seeds: I can vouch for these. I bought them a couple of years ago and planted them this year. They all came up beautifully. https://amzn.to/3XmCrEH 

Spa Gifts: I chose lavender, but if you prefer another scent, check out this page. https://amzn.to/4pflus7

 

Brooks Shoes: I know. I know. It's not very budget conscious, but these are great shoes for seniors, people with arthritis, or other foot related problems. I've tried a couple of different versions of Brooks shoes, and these are my favorite. I'm in pain all the time, but this shoe helps a lot. Buy them as a Christmas present to yourself.  https://amzn.to/44qfW5C

As for other ideas, don't feel intimidated by prices. Think small.  If you can't afford a big package of seeds, buy a couple little packages. It's the gesture that counts. 

More ideas on "Smalls"

Books

DVDs

A small set of coffees or teas

A key ring. Even better, add a couple of extra keys in the package.

Candy

Something homemade or home baked

Nuts

For the carnivore, Jerky.

For the writer, Journals .

A good trowel . Every gardener appreciates a good trowel.

For a good dog, a new toy . PS  All dogs are good.

For kids, think hands-on. A set of  Jacks 

  Etch a Sketch  

  Slinky  

  Play-Doh  

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This postmay contain affiliate links. I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra costto you. Click here for my disclosure policy

 

To my American friends, how was Thanksgiving? 

Ours was lovely, even more so because Nana, the Wonder Dog is actually improving. She has micro bursts of energy which a few weeks ago would've been beyond the realm of possible. I wouldn't say she's out of the woods, but she's definitely going to hang around a few more months. Fingers crossed. 

Welcome to my Home. If you have food, beware of dogs. The cat's not too trustworthy either.

It's that time of year again when we start hunting for that perfect gift that won't break the bank.

I'm looking specifically for gifts that are not only affordable, but appreciated. To that end, I came up with a list for my readers. 

I tried to stay under the $20 limit. I hope it gives you some ideas for gift giving.  Note: At the time of this posting, all of these items were under $20.

Click each link to see the picture and description. 

Multi tool: We have two of these. One for each car.  https://amzn.to/48sMChb 

Blue Tooth Beanie Hat with flashlight and headphones: If you're walking the dog at O'Dark Thirty, you'll appreciate this.  https://amzn.to/4pr7drU 

Cloud Socks: A good friend bought me these while I was recuperating from knee surgery. They are absolutely heaven!!  https://amzn.to/3KcXW7R 

Fleece Throw Blanket: Speaking as an older person, we keep throw blankets everywhere. Good for babies to oldies. It's a good gift without gender or size restrictions.  https://amzn.to/48uRceV

Survival Kit 14 in 1: We have one of these too, and actually used it on our last road trip. This currently has a coupon that makes it very affordable. Snap it up while the coupon is still active. https://amzn.to/43L5Ls8

Ladies House Slippers: Perfect for chilly days  https://amzn.to/47Y9ntt

Aluminum Cell Phone Stand: 2 pack. https://amzn.to/3JUA0pY 

Illy Coffee K-cups: I know it might seem like an odd gift, but if there's a coffee lover in your family, why not introduce him/her to other coffees? Greg LOVES this one. He used to drink Segafredo coffee at a restaurant we go to, then our waitress told him about Illy. He was hooked. Me? I wouldn't know one coffee from another.  https://amzn.to/4ikOwnB

Lined Leather Journal: for your writing friends. https://amzn.to/48wVmmA 

 

More ideas for you coming this Friday, 11-28-25

What's on your shopping list this Christmas? Are you limiting how much you spend? 

 

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Welcome to my Home. If you have food, beware of dogs. The cat's not too trustworthy either.

This has been a big hit with friends and neighbors. I'm always asked for this recipe when I bring it to a get-together.

If you're making this for a diabetic, I simply change the sugar for a sugar free substitute.If you need to make this gluten free, you can substitute all purpose flour with almond flour. Remember, you'll need to add a little more sour cream to increase the moisture when using almond flour, otherwise it'll be too crumbly.

I've made various versions of cranberry bread, but this has been the best one. The secret is the sour cream.

Cranberry Nut Bread

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoonsalt
⅓ cupunsalted butter, softened
¾ cupgranulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
Zest of 1 orange
1 ½cups cranberries, chopped
½ cup pecans, chopped

Glaze:

1 cup of powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp orange juice, to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Generously grease a 9×5 loaf pan with shortening.

Combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda,baking powder and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the butter, granulated sugar, eggs, and sour cream. Fold in orangezest.

Slowly add the dry ingredients intothe wet ingredients mixing until the batter is smooth.

Fold in chopped cranberries and pecans.

Pour batter into the greased loafpan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes or until atoothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the cranberry bread rest for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan and placing it on a wirerack.   

Glaze the bread.

Cool completely before slicing.

 

Baking tip: Always add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. 

Optional: Substitute walnuts or almonds for pecans. 

 

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Welcome to my Home. If you have food, beware of dogs. The cat's not too trustworthy either.

We finally finished the deck extension for the greenhouse. This will give me back my front deck and I can move my bigger plants and citrus trees to the back. Less direct sun.

In the meantime, I lamented to Greg that the bed I designated as my asparagus bed was not working out. He offered to build me a new, dedicated bed. I had ordered fresh asparagus roots and decided that a 10x10 foot bed should suffice.

Somehow, Greg bought 12 foot long boards instead of 10 foot, so now I have a 12 x 12 foot bed. I'm a little peeved because I didn't want it to take up so much room, plus I didn't buy enough asparagus for the extra 44 sq feet. 

Luckily strawberries are good companions for asparagus. Strawberry roots are shallow, and their plentiful leaves will, theoretically, make a great weed suppressant. I just happened to have a bunch of strawberry plants in pots. I think they'll be a lot happier in a big garden bed.

We situated the new bed next to the greenhouse. It required that we move the septic sprinkler further into the woods. It was a hassle, digging a trench and laying new pipe, but it was for the best. Now we don't have to worry about hitting it whenever we mow in that area. 

Sadly, we'll probably have to fence the asparagus bed. Deer LOVED to bed down in my old asparagus bed. This one is even comfier, plus now they can nibble on strawberry plants, so a-fencing we must go.

Still on my schedule is painting my back porch, a breezeway that extends nearly the length of the house, about 140 feet.

I asked for a quote from professional painters and their estimate was nearly $2000. That's too rich for my blood. I hate painting ceilings, but I think I can tough it out and save myself some serious cash. 

My biggest expense will be for paint that can withstand moisture since it's open to the elements except for the screens and a short wall.

The short wall is about 30 inches high and runs all the way across the breezeway. What I'd love is to put up is a colorful mosaic of tile on said wall. Something Mediterranean. Greg will never go for it though. Too much $$. Too bad. I think it would look outstanding and increase the value of the house.

I'm hoping I can get it started in a few weeks. 

The fall garden is coming along. I'll also be overwintering a few pepper plants so I can get an early start next year. Mostly, pimento and a couple of jalapeno for fresh eating.

I don't plan on growing too many peppers next year because we had a bumper crop this year. That harvest will easily last me two years. I freeze dried most of those peppers, so I'm in good stead.

Speaking of pimento, I made my own sweet paprika powder from this year's crop. I freeze dried it, then powdered it. I swear it tastes like it just came out of the garden. 

I'm also thrilled that I'm getting cucumbers in mid November. These are Persian cucumbers that don't need pollinators, just warmth. 

I do plan on growing more beans next year. I've never been happy with the green beans I've stored in the freezer, even with blanching them ahead of time. Next year, I plan to freeze dry them instead. I'm told they're much more edible freeze dried, but what will the texture be like? I guess I can buy some green beans next week, and test them out on the freeze dryer to see how they'll taste.

Potatoes are also high on my list though I'm already growing a fall harvest. I'm experimenting with a winter harvest too. I want to plant some potatoes in pots and grow them under grow lights. I'll let you know next year if it worked.

Greg loves the potatoes I grow so much that we run out every time, so I'm making a concerted effort to grow them year round. This way I won't have to store them.

The only thing left is garlic. Currently, I'm storing them in a crisper drawer in the fridge. I won't plant them until late November/early December when the temps come down. I bought hard neck garlic which is typically grown in northern climates. Although they don't keep as well soft neck garlic, only hard neck garlic give me garlic scapes, which I love.

My niece tried a garlic scape pesto and now I'm anxious to try it too. Next year, I hope. 

My long range plan was not to have any more big projects once Greg turned 70. We kind of missed that mark, but hopefully this year will be the last of big building/remodeling projects. (I know I'll probably eat those words. LOL!)

As we get older I don't want us to hurt ourselves doing projects. That's one reason I want to get the exterior painting done before I turn 70. I like to paint, but even I know I'm not as agile as I used to be. I try to be very careful climbing ladders.

Ultimately, I don't want to do anything more strenuous than mowing, raking the acreage, or weeding our gardens as we navigate our 70s. We'll still have to cut down trees from time to time, but even now, we use the tractor to make sure a tree falls where we want it to fall. 

There is a lot of brush cutting we have to do this year. It's starting to encroach on our out buildings so we need to thin that out. It's amazing how fast nature takes over if you let it. 

Nana is still with us. She's now on Librela every 3 weeks. I'm hoping it will keep her around until after the holidays, but we take it day by day. If it keeps her comfortable, it's worth the cost. She's our kid. 

Our vet has been wonderful. She comes to the house to give her the shot. It's much less stressful for her.

It's a blessing when you have someone so empathetic to your pets. 

In the meantime, I'm getting ready for he holidays. There's a lot to do. I think we're invited for Thanksgiving elsewhere, but I still have to buy a turkey for Greg. He wants to be sure he gets his turkey leg. 

I'm also getting ready for Black Friday. All year long I put down things on my Amazon Wish List, and wait for them to go down in price. I almost always get the best prices during Black Friday weekend.

Another thing I do is to put any earlier purchases to arrive on "Amazon Days" which gives me 6% back. We've made some high dollar purchases this year, so it's really added up. I've been accumulating these points all year just to spend them on Black Friday. It really is my favorite time of year, not just for the holidays, but for the savings. Christmas is already expensive. Saving my points until the end of the year does a lot to relieve the extra crunch of bills.

Are you ready for the holidays? What's on your To-Do List?

 

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Welcome to my Home. If you have food, beware of dogs. The cat's not too trustworthy either.

Sad to say, no State Fair of Texas this year for us. I had counted on it all year, but then I started hearing that prices had gone up across the board.

A smoked turkey leg, a staple for every State Fair and Ren-fest went up to $25! Are they crazy? Parking had also gone up. I'm not sure about the admittance fee. Being seniors we usually get a nice discount, but it's not worth it if we can't afford to eat there. 

I was really looking forward to it. We love watching the agility dog shows and strolling the home economics pavilion, the new car pavilion, and all the animals, exotic and local. 

According to the news, there was a profound drop in attendence this year, the worst in a decade. The fair organizers blamed the hot weather, but that's poppycock. The weather has been beautiful, the best in years. I think they were just looking to put blame on anything but themselves.

At home, we're busy trying to finish up all our outside projects before Winter. The deer have gotten bolder. They nearly decimated my young mulberry trees. We had to put up emergency cattle panels around my trees--at least for a couple of years until they get big enough to tolerate being nibbled. 

We need to start putting out some corn for the deer, or more precisely, does and their fawns. A doe uses up so much of her energy feeding her fawns. We like to help when we can. We know the trails they like to use so we usually drop a bowlful of corn along the way.

Last year, it got to the point, one doe would wait for me in a clearing until I left my offering. She didn't even wait for me to walk away. Within seconds, her fawns would come out of hiding and follow her.

We're slowly clearing out some of the wilderness, just enough to make trails. Our next door neighbor cut down dozens of trees. It looks beautifully park like, but we prefer to leave some of our acreage wild. It gives the wildlife a place to hide and give birth in relative safety. 

We have a little bit of everything: foxes, deer, coyote, bobcats, hawks, crows, raccoons, possums, and every song bird that calls North Texas home. Fortunately, the wild pigs prefer to camp out in big pastures for which I'm grateful. They're mean and dangerous. I wouldn't want to meet one by accident.

About four to five miles from us, several farms have sold out to subdivisions. I suspect that's why they're also widening the roads. It's a shame. I know people have to live somewhere, but I hate having them encroach on what was once rural.

I'm pretty sure no one in our immediate area will sell out to subdivisions, but it's bound to happen someday.

And further out in space... Have you heard about 3I-ATLAS? It's an interstellar object that's entered our solar system. Most astronomers think it's a comet, but it's displayed some anomalous behavior for a comet, particularly its composition, exhibiting a unique chemical makeup unusual for a comet. 

Avi Loeb, a prominent Harvard astrophysicist, claims it could be artificial. Right now it's behind the sun. It won't come into view until December 19. Because scientists are tracking it, we'll know one way or another if it fired "braking thrusters" to slow down while it was hidden, as Professor Loeb asserts it might be doing.

Aliens for Christmas? Oh, I hope not. 

But if I'm reading these reports correctly, it sounds like 3I-ATLAS's trajectory will make an orbit somewhere between Mars and Jupiter. --The aliens probably heard Earth was a bad neighborhood. 

*****

My friends and family up north have just gotten their first freeze, so that's it for most gardens. Although winter isn't my favorite season, I like it. Things slow down, and we get the chance to cocoon and eat good soups.

We started our annual Halloween movie marathon. We started with Hocus Pocus 1 and 2. For a sequel, Hocus Pocus 2 was pretty good. Also on the list is Practical Magic and Coco. We might add a couple more if there's time, but between projects and doctor appointments, our days are pretty full right up to the end of the year.

What are your plans for the upcoming holidays? Are you hosting any get togethers? Do you have any recipes for your favorite soups?

Greg loves my white bean with bok choy, and potato and leek soups. My favorite is French onion soup. How about you? Do you make soup?

 

 

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Welcome to my Home. If you have food, beware of dogs. The cat's not too trustworthy either.

Fall has always been my time for refilling the pantry with gusto. I might buy this or that throughout the year, but it's the fall, or more accurately, the pre-holidays, that merit getting the bulk of my goods for the year.

Just before Thanksgiving and Christmas, you can count on dairy, butter, baking, turkeys and hams to go on sale at some point.

Alas, they're not the sales of years gone by, but it's better than nothing. 

Another thing to keep an eagle eye for are clearance items, especially at the beginning of the new year. Grocery and big box stores are anxious to unload any damaged or older stock so they can restock with fresh stuff.

At my local store, pet food was the most widely clearanced item of all. My particular store nearest me revamped two aisles to get rid of older stock. We got everything from canned goods to cleaners, and they marked them to go, unlike the piddly discounts they'd given the rest of the year. Name brand pumpkin puree was going for 25 cents as opposed to the regular price of $2.19.

I buy pumpkin by the case, not just for my baking, but for when the dogs have tummy troubles. It's a handy staple.

Here are a few rules to remember before you shop.

Inventory your pantry. I clean out my pantry twice a year so I have a good idea what's in storage and what needs to be used up. I know my supply of flour will run out by spring, so if flour goes on special, I stock up now, and make sure I use up my old stock first for holiday baking.

Plan seasonally. In-season fruits and vegetables are critical staples. We love apples, but I only buy them this time of year. If I can grow it, I find a way to preserve it for use throughout the year. (Sad to say, my trees are too young to bear apples.) 

Meal Plan. This year, for the first time ever, I finally printed and stored in vinyl sleeves, all my favorite recipes. These are tried and true recipes that I make regularly. They all fit neatly in a binder. I also listed every Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Side Dish, Appetizer, and Dessert that I have ever made. It's 7 pages of ideas. 

I know it sounds crazy, but it's really made it easy for me to decide what I'm going to fix for dinner. I go through my list and if it's something I haven't made in a while, I put it into rotation for the week. 

To be honest, many of these pages were scattered loosely in a cabinet. It's been only recently that I decided to create a binder.  It's been a game changer. Even if you're not a recipe collector like me, all it takes is one afternoon to think up all the meals you make throughout the year. I made a starter list and kept adding to it for days afterward as new ideas came to mind.

Buy only what your family will eat. That sounds like a no-brainer, but I've made the mistake of asking Greg if he'll eat something new I've found. He always says yes, but it almost always ends up languishing in the pantry. I don't ask anymore. I know what he'll eat.

Buy in bulk. Along the same lines, by now you know what items you use up most. Focus your bulk buying on them. Speaking of bulk buying, always buy your non perishables in bulk. This includes, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, paper towels, garbage bags, toilet paper, etc. You get the idea.

 

Do you do extra grocery shopping before the holidays? What do you like to stock up on? Are you hosting any big dinners for the holidays?

*****

In other news: Nana gave us quite a scare a couple of weeks ago. It took her a while to recover, but she finally feels better. We now have to give her Librela every 3 weeks. Once it stops working at the three week mark, we'll make the final painful decision.  We're nearing the end. Just a little further to go. For now, she's happy.

 

 

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This postmay contain affiliate links. I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra costto you. Click here for my disclosure policy

Welcome to my Home. If you have food, beware of dogs. The cat's not too trustworthy either.

Today marks our 50th wedding anniversary. 

50 years. That's longer than many of the people we know have been alive. We have other friends who have been married even longer than us, but we're in a very tiny group. It's a privilege to have shared a life with someone for so long.

I can't say the early years were easy, but I think it's because of hardships that makes a marriage solid. 

The only thing I know for certain is that for any marriage to work, BOTH partners have to be willing to row in the same direction.

Greg and I met by accident. My best friend in high school had a huge crush on him and forced me (literally forced) me to go with her to watch him play chess. 

Chess! That girl had no pity on me. After a few minutes, she sighed in resignation and told me we could leave. While some of the other guys in the room made conversation with us, he did not. Obviously he wasn't interested. I went to my after school job and didn't give it another thought.

Fate is a funny thing though. It kept throwing Greg and me together in the unlikeliest places. He was two grades ahead of me so we had no reason to cross paths, but for some reason we kept running into each other in this huge city. He swore he didn't do it on purpose, and certainly neither did I. We just kept bumping into each other. 

It started with small talk and witty repartee, but it was only after we got on the subject of science that he really piqued my interest. We would talk for hours about space travel and rocketry.  

And then he took me to see 2001: A Space Odyssey. We lost track of time, discussing and debating the story's technical aspects.

We became inseparable, much to the chagrin of his girl "friends" who secretly had crushes of their own. My own friend took it on the chin. She could see the chemistry grow between me and Greg. While she liked him for his looks and charm, I liked him (additionally) for his smarts. It was the first time a guy ever talked to me without talking down to me. We were equals--a big deal back in those days.

Greg left for college the following year to study space science at the Florida Institute of Technology. Without him around, I finished school and all my free time was spent working and saving money. We wrote each other weekly, but I honestly didn't think we'd ever get back together, and I was preparing myself for when he was ready to break up.

Instead, he came home. He had planned on continuing his education in Chicago, but the Florida school worked on the trimester system, and the universities in Chicago worked on semesters. His grades wouldn't transfer! It was ridiculous, but there was no fighting it. The school registrar told him, he'd have to start over.

He was justifiably angry and stormed out of the office. As he made his way home, he knew he had to do something. His father wasn't about to let him take the year off and he'd already missed the deadline to go back to university in Florida, so he bought a newspaper and started searching the want ads. He figured he'd get a job in the interim so he could make a plan on what to do next. 

In all our wildest dreams, we never knew the next thing would be Texas!

He hadn't been at his job long when they told him they were relocating the chemical plant to Texas, and invited him to go. They even paid to fly him (and me) to Southeast Texas to see if we'd like it. 

We weren't married yet. The topic hadn't even come up. I was content with the way things were because I was about to sign a lease on my very first apartment. The news that I might lose him again, this time for good, was a make or break moment. 

I struggled with my options, but in the end, I figured we were young and had nothing, so what did we have to lose? If Texas turned out to be a dud, we could just go back and start over.

A few weeks later, he proposed to me in the parking lot of McDonalds. The rest was 50 more years of history.

Happy anniversary to my better half! Thank you for the adventure.

We did all right.

 

My question to you: How long have you been married? Did your married life turn out the way you expected?

 

 

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Welcome to my Home. If you have food, beware of dogs. The cat's not too trustworthy either.

I rarely garden in the fall. Spring/Summer gardening is usually so intensive, me and the soil need a breather. This year I am, and I'm learning something I never realized before. 

Even though our weather is still in the 90s, the days are getting shorter. Once daylight is 10 hours or less, they become Persephone Days, named after the Greek myth about Persephone. The term was coined by Eliot Coleman, renown gardener and writer.

If you remember the myth, Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter (the goddess of agriculture). Hades, smitten with Persephone stole her away to Hades. Persephone's distraught mother searched the world for her, causing crops to whither and die. Zeus steps in and tells Hades he has to release Persephone, only Hades tricks everyone by feeding Persephone six pomegranate seeds that forces her to return to Hades every six months. That's how the seasons were created. 

For the life of me, I never realized how important sun length was. I never gardened enough during the fall and I never planted anything that required a lot of daylight hours, so I never made the connection.

And it's deceiving when you hear you're getting 10 hours of daylight because that's total daylight from dawn until dusk, not the direct sunlight a plant needs. 10 hours may only equate to a couple of hours of direct light depending on the month, and what latitude you call home.

My accidental seed starting of tomatoes brought that lesson home to me. Although the plants shot up and produced fruit quickly. All my tomatoes were a fraction of the size of the fruits I grew in the summer. 

This is also the reason Alaska grows some of the biggest vegetables due to their 20 hours of sunlight in the summer months. Location. Location. Location. Of course, Alaska is also plunged into darkness during the winter months. 

All this information came about when I heard another gardener mention in passing that we'll soon be in the Persephone period and it piqued my curiosity. You never know what you'll learn when you research.

Did you grow anything this year that did particularly well, or badly? I planted my two persimmons in the ground but they're looking terrible. I'm attributing it to transplant shock, but I'm watching them closely. My pear trees that are also in the same soil are fine, so we shall see.

In other news:

I've been unwell for several months. It started with a dry cough. I ignored it, thinking it was allergies. 10 weeks in, enough was enough, and I went to the doctor. She thought it was asthma because she heard a rattle in one lung, and gave me an inhaler. One puff and that inhaler sent me into a panic attack because I thought (at first) I was having a heart attack.

I gave up the inhaler and soon after my symptoms became far worse. I couldn't eat, I was tired all the time, and I was sick to my stomach. 

I asked my best buddy to ask her sisters, who are both medical professionals, to help me figure this out. They kept asking me questions until I reached the conclusion that it had to be GERD. 

I went back to my doctor, now that I had new, and worse symptoms, and she said it was severe GERD. We don't yet know how serious it is. If medication and diet doesn't change it, it might require surgery. 

I've been on the medication for five days. I feel marginally better, but far from my normal self. I am very, very careful to eat tiny meals, and only water. No caffeine, no citrus, no spicy foods. Strangely enough, the only foods I feel comfortable eating are bread, rice, and broccoli. Go figure.

According to my research, GERD is not uncommon for older adults. As we age, the esophageal sphincter can weaken over time--and there's no way to exercise that into shape!!

I hate being at the mercy of doctors, but I'm glad they're there when there's nothing I can do for myself. 

I'm on a medication called Voquezna. Has anybody else tried that? Did it work for you? 

 

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Welcome to my Home. If you have food, beware of dogs. The cat's not too trustworthy either.

Recently, my better half got a legitimate looking text, telling him UPS was holding a package for him and he needed to contact them at the link provided.

I asked to see the text and at first glance it looked legit, but there were definite signs he was being phished.

We didn't order anything recently that required UPS.

The text didn't provide a tracking number. A company that runs by tracking is always going to give you a tracking number.

The link had the standard UPS.com url, only with a lot more letters after it.

I told Greg to delete it.  

I am infamous for not trusting the internet. 

Evey so often, Greg reads me some Facebook post that pushes his buttons. I keep telling him it's deliberate. Someone or some AI is deliberating baiting people to interact. My hunch is it's AI, accumulating data on what spurs people to comment. 

AI survives on accumulation and collation. If you feed it anywhere online, it remembers and reallocates as needed. Methinks, it is ultimately for nefarious purposes.

If it's on social media and not an original post from one of my friends, I can almost assure you it's a fabricated post. Sadly, even friends can be led astray too. That's why I said it has to be a post originating from them, not something parroted from someone else.

The same goes for full articles. If you read an article and it doesn't answer the most basic of journalistic questions, ie, Who, What, Where, When, Why (and sometimes How), it's either extremely poorly written, or it's written by AI.

When I read a story and it provides me with only vague details, I get suspicious. 

A common thread goes like this: A woman, a child, or an elderly man (someone vulnerable) was accosted, and bystanders, instead of helping, robbed this person. Yet it won't tell me when this happened, what city, or the response from law enforcement. --because honestly, why wouldn't you call the cops?

Facebook is full of these bull crap stories. I dismiss these stories without a second thought. Why waste my time? 

I don't know about you, but I think this kind of manipulation is getting worse. And the most annoying thing of all is that so many people take it as dogma and run with it without ever bothering to question its validity.

If I know you well enough to know your kids' or your pets' names, I know I can trust you. Everyone else gets the side eye of suspicion.

What do you think? Is social media manipulation getting worse? Have you ever been duped by misinformation? 

 

 

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Welcome to my Home. If you have food, beware of dogs. The cat's not too trustworthy either.

 

Want to pare down your spending even more? Here are some good ideas. 

Walk: Everyone has their limit on how much they can comfortably walk, but if you can spend an hour at Costco, or walk the dog, you can go without transportation for short trips. Use one mile as a limit marker.

When we were very little, our school was exactly a mile away. I remember my mother in her heels walking us to and from school. 

In Texas it's almost impossible to walk because everything is so far away from each other. The exceptions are big cities where they still maintain a neighborhood (walking) vibe. 

Streaming: There are many free streaming services such as Tubi, Crackle, YouTube, and Pluto TV. 

Another thing to try is to get a streaming subscription--but only temporarily.

We're big scifi fans and love watching Star Trek, Strange New Worlds. I wait until Paramount runs a special (usually around Christmas). I join for 3-4 months, then cancel. This way we can binge our favorite shows for the year and can move on to somewhere else that runs the shows we like.

Heating or Cooling: We learned during those roaming blackouts of Winter 2022, that the easiest way to heat or cool the house is to limit yourself to one room. Make a tent out of blankets and keep yourself, or the kids snug and cozy. 

The same applies to staying cool--stick to one room. If no AC is available, run a fan with two ice bottles in front of it. It will instantly cool the air even further.

Buy clothes at a thrift store or garage sale. This is especially good advice if you have kids that are growing all the time. Why spend full price for clothes that will only last them a few months? As for me, I've found thrifted clothes tend to be better quality. Anything of lesser quality never makes it to the thrift pile. 

Learn to negotiate: I'm a quiet person. I don't go out of my way to interject into conversations--unlike my better half Greg. So when I start talking, negotiations turn into a steely game of Blink. 

Always start with a firm number on what you're willing to pay for something.

Allow for a back and forth. People don't like to be railroaded into a price. If you give them wiggle room, all parties will feel like they made out. 

Before you go to the grocery store...clean your fridge. Not only do you get a clean fridge, but a reminder of what got hidden behind the salad dressing bottle. It's like taking a mini inventory. 

Take a seasonal job before Christmas. This way you can splurge, and still afford it. 

Take advantage of FREE. Go to the zoo or museum on Free Day. Borrow books, music, dvds, and sometimes even art from libraries. Some libraries also offer free seeds. 

Sign up for emails from your favorite restaurants and get free desserts or appetizers on your birthday. Coffee shops usually give you a free birthday dessert or coffee.

By accident, I found out sending a tech to my home (for internet) had a $65 fee, but when I told them I had just had knee surgery, the agent transferred me to their disability department and got the charge waived to free. It never hurts to ask. 

Give homemade gifts. I'm not much of a baker, but I've perfected my pumpkin and cranberry breads to the point that people would rather have that than any store bought gift. People love them! I'll post my pumpkin bread recipe next month. 

Run your errands in batches. Since we live so far from town, we try to put all our errands on one specific day of the week so we're not wasting gas or time. 

Bonus: After every day, drop your change or small bills into a jar. It's an easy way to create an emergency fund without realizing it. If nothing else, it might make for some mad money when you really have a craving for pizza.

Bonus+: I buy in bulk. Rice, flour, other grains, and some spices. If I find it on clearance, even better. I freeze dry a lot of food, especially herbs and veggies I grow myself, but you can also plain freeze these things. I always freeze my flour and grains for at least 3 weeks before putting them in airtight containers.

Because of where we live, it's a pain in the keester to run out of stuff. A well stocked pantry eliminates the dreaded dash to the store. 

 

**I'm an Amazon affiliate. If you happen to be shopping Amazon, be a pal and start from this link. Thanks! I appreciate it.

This postmay contain affiliate links. I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra costto you. Click here for my disclosure policy

 

Welcome to my Home. If you have food, beware of dogs. The cat's not too trustworthy either.