Acchh.. there's nothin' wrong wi' it.

[catherine]

This is one of my dear frugal Scottish MIL's refrains every time she resisted replacing something or throwing something out:

The dryer that stopped blowing hot air and only blew cold
The car that had large rusted holes in the running boards. Drop your wallet on the floor? Oops.. too bad!
The chicken she cremated in our microwave because she didn't know microwaves cook faster than ovens--she insisted on eating it.. conjuring up visions of that turkey scene in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

I thought of her this morning when I finally stopped fidgeting with my printer and ink cartridge which kept eliciting an error code. DH said, oh, well, you've had this printer for a while, suggesting I replace it. I looked at him and said, "noooo.. I'm just getting a new cartridge. There's probably nothing wrong with the printer."

Is there anything that you've resisted throwing away way past its expiration date? What was the outcome?

ETA: I guess the title was auto-corrected, because I originally typed "Acchh... there's nothing wrang wi' it" which is a more accurate representation of MILs broad Glaswegian accent.

[iris lilies]

Not to topic, but there’s lots of topsy-turvy politics going on in Scotland. The Scottisj National Party head resigned yesterday due to no confidence votes. I’m still getting over my shock from the new Scottish hate speech law that went into effect a couple of weeks ago. the twittering masses are taking it up as trans/jk rowling battles but the more sinister explanation is it intends to control all speech that might be negative about Islam and practitioners.

what does your husband think about all of it?

We here really do take for granted our first amendment, and we should not.

[catherine]

what does your husband think about all of it?

We here really do take for granted our first amendment, and we should not.

I'm not sure he's aware of the extent of the issue in Scotland... I'll have to ask him.

When I was probably about 18, maybe 20--it was during the Vietnam War era anyway--I got stopped by the "Man in the Street" reporter of our local newspaper who asked, "Do you think people should be allowed to burn the American flag?" Of the five people interviewed, I was the only one that said something like, "Yes, because our freedom of speech is so valuable." I was clearly in the minority.

I feel that people are often "for" or "against" free speech depending upon their own worldviews. So people may protest the freedom to present viewpoints that challenge their worth and/or freedoms (as in the trans community), and other people may protest freedom to say "Death to America" on college campuses. Or what about when publicly funded arts organizations exhibit gory images of the Mother of God, which I recall happened in Brooklyn several year ago. It is hard to draw that line. And then when these messages are disseminated at the speed of sound these days, hateful messages, untruthful messages may indeed undermine democracy. It's a hard call.

[Rogar]

Ha. A few weeks ago my printer was not connecting to my computer and I actually needed to print out a couple of very timely legal documents. Half a day of piddling around and nothing doing, so I started browsing printers at Best Buy. Last ditch I reloaded the printer driver and it seemed to work. Sometimes the frustration of this sort of thing has a real negative value.

I just got one of the free updates that Ancestry sends me after doing my DNA analysis. Every time they tweak the regions of my families origins and it gets a little closer to what I know of my families histories. I seem to have a good deal of Scottish in my blood, but quite a bit more Welsh, plus some odds and ends from western Europe. My ancestors mined quite a bit of coal, as the stories go.

[catherine]

I just got one of the free updates that Ancestry sends me after doing my DNA analysis. Every time they tweak the regions of my families origins and it gets a little closer to what I know of my families histories. I seem to have a good deal of Scottish in my blood, but quite a bit more Welsh, plus some odds and ends from western Europe. My ancestors mined quite a bit of coal, as the stories go.

I wonder how the "frugal Scots" got that reputation... and yes, my in-laws definitely mined a lot of coal. My Ancestry DNA says I'm mostly Irish, but a good chunk of Scots. My maiden name (from my Irish ancestors) is actually the name of a Scottish town, and it seems a lot of Scots migrated to central/Northern Ireland at one point, so I'm sure I'm a blend. I'm pretty sure I'm more frugal than DH, but I think most people are frugal in some ways and not others.

[iris lilies]

I'm not sure he's aware of the extent of the issue in Scotland... I'll have to ask him.

When I was probably about 18, maybe 20--it was during the Vietnam War era anyway--I got stopped by the "Man in the Street" reporter of our local newspaper who asked, "Do you think people should be allowed to burn the American flag?" Of the five people interviewed, I was the only one that said something like, "Yes, because our freedom of speech is so valuable." I was clearly in the minority.

I feel that people are often "for" or "against" free speech depending upon their own worldviews. So people may protest the freedom to present viewpoints that challenge their worth and/or freedoms (as in the trans community), and other people may protest freedom to say "Death to America" on college campuses. Or what about when publicly funded arts organizations exhibit gory images of the Mother of God, which I recall happened in Brooklyn several year ago. It is hard to draw that line. And then when these messages are disseminated at the speed of sound these days, hateful messages, untruthful messages may indeed undermine democracy. It's a hard call.

oh definitely, people are swayed on the free speech issue depending on what is being said that they like or dislike. That’s why it’s important we support organizations that truly support free speech regardless of the speech.

That’s why I now give money to FIRE, a national organization that focuses on free speech restriction on college campuses. the restricted speech can be on either side of the political spectrum.

I remember last fall seeing news coverage of a Jewish protester out on a college campus out East. She complained about Palestinian sympathizers burning Israeli flags. “They can’t do that here!” She said. And I say oh yes they can. They can burn any flag they please as long as is it controlled burning and it doesn’t cause physical damage to environs.

I just wanted to shake her and say listen to yourself! think about where you are. You’re in the United States of America where your enemies can burn your own symbol of freedom. That is wonderful. It’s a wonderful example of freedom! You think you can go to Palestine and burn the Palestine flag? Ha ha ha. Ha ha. yeah not likely

[iris lilies]

on the topic: I don’t know. If things don’t work like they’re supposed to I lose patience, and things that irritate me go into the trash anymore. I’m talking about mechanical things, things with moving parts, digital things, etc. Or, tools that do not work correctly because they are not sharp or something else is wrong with them.

For household items without moving parts, I keep the thing around if I like it. I have an old somewhat worn comforter I got at Goodwillba long tme ago. I expect it will need repair about the same time that DH finishes the construction on my bedroom and then I can buy new bedding.

and do you know how much Goodwill is now charging for comforters? $17. Oh hell that’s a lot

[rosarugosa]

The only thing that comes to mind is my beloved blue and white Portuguese summer coverlet with the white scalloped edges that have stitching requiring a few hours of hand-stitched repairs every season.
Ray and Oggie on bed.jpg

[iris lilies]

Rosa that coverlet is beautiful.

wait…you have steps up to the bed for your cats? Hunh. we have a set of those steps we inherited when one of our friends moved, and I used them for my big bulldog who died several years ago. But we did keep them around, and I recently put them out for a cat who had some sort of injury last fall. He is still careful how he gets up and down on furniture, so he appreciates those steps.

I never thought I’d be putting out steps for a cat but here we are.

well

[rosarugosa]

DH made those steps in our carpentry class a few years ago. It's funny because we put the steps by the bed for Oggie, who had arthritis, but Raymond learned from him to use the steps and Louie learned from Raymond, so they remain in use although not strictly necessary anymore. The steps are on piano hinges and open up for storage.