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10294. Magoseph - 7/13/2004 10:41:05 PM A good idea, Mac, but I can't do that now because I just noticed that our neighbor kitty-corner from us just hoisted a French flag in my honor. He didn't do that last year. 10295. Macnas - 7/13/2004 10:51:05 PM I think, that it is only in America that you will find ordinary householders who have the means to actually hoist a flag. 10296. Magoseph - 7/13/2004 11:21:42 PM They probably sell these hoisting things in Walmart or Home Depot, cheap. 10297. Magoseph - 7/13/2004 11:34:33 PM When I first came to this country, I was astonished to see people out of a job interviewed on TV--here they were, living in comfortable homes, well-dressed, plush furniture, cars and trailer vacation homes, complaining how poor they were and unfair the system was. 10298. Macnas - 7/13/2004 11:39:16 PM I'd say the standard of living has been higher in the US than anywhere else since the early 1900's, the depression years being an exception. 10299. Magoseph - 7/13/2004 11:41:45 PM Maybe that long-sustained prosperity has spoiled them so that they feel they do not have any need to save. 10300. Macnas - 7/14/2004 12:19:02 AM re 10299
I don't know that to be true Mago, many yanks I've known save very hard so they can retire early, or do the sailing thing, the horrendous cost of college or whatever.
There is a difference in what most old yuropeens consider comfortable and what yanks might consider a bit impoverished.
10301. Magoseph - 7/14/2004 12:29:57 AM They keep telling us,(the powers that be, that is) that our rating saving rate is abysmally low compared to European countries and Japan. 10302. Macnas - 7/14/2004 12:39:24 AM Consumer confidence figures might suffer if people started saving!
But then, saving has always been part of my life at least. We do not borrow if we can help it at all, and while this means doing without for a while, it has always, literally, paid off in the end. 10303. Magoseph - 7/14/2004 12:59:52 AM Well, I grew up believing in saving also. I never earned a check that I din't save part of it. I learned early that it was safe not to tell anyone how much I saved over the years, not even to my loved ones...just in case, you know. 10304. Macnas - 7/14/2004 1:05:30 AM I know what you mean, but I find that hard to do when my Missus lives by the credo "Whats yours is mine and whats mine is my own"
Now then, time to throw a few shapes, see you tomorrow. 10305. Magoseph - 7/14/2004 1:55:00 AM 
If Jex had thought of me, he would have put this image right here where it belongs!
10306. Ms. No - 7/14/2004 3:52:39 AM And a happy Bastille Day to you, Magoseph! 10307. Ms. No - 7/14/2004 3:54:49 AM I agree with you about the American penchant for living on credit and beyond one's means. It's truly a way of life here and quite frightening. I'm always amazed by what people consider necessary expenditures and how many people make so much more money than I do but can't keep their heads above water financially. I wonder how it ever got started?
10308. Magoseph - 7/14/2004 4:09:46 AM Thank you, Ms. No. I remember being quite shocked by the lady of the house in which I lived when I first came. When she cooked and say, used an onion or a head of lettuce, she would take what she needed and throw the rest out. Her rationale for doing so was that it was too much bother to wrap those items and store them away for further use. The whole household left the lights on in every room they left. I would turn them off all the time and this behavior would make them smile. 10309. judithathome - 7/14/2004 4:45:25 AM Sorry to be so late with this but:
Happy Bastille Day, Magoseph!! 10310. Magoseph - 7/14/2004 4:57:24 AM Thanks, Juds. 10311. Ms. No - 7/14/2004 5:19:52 AM Mago,
My grandmother has always been a "save everything" kind of person. My mother says it's because she lived through the Depression, but my grandmother's lot wasn't actually so bad during that time. She lived on a farm and they were really much better off than a lot of people. Besides, her grandmother was making extra money by brewing beer in the basement at the time.
Whatever the reason, if there is more than a single bite of food left on a plate it goes in tupperware in the fridge. She's been using the same vacuum cleaner for over 30 years. My mother tried to get her to replace it to which my grandmother replied: "Why? It still sucks just fine."
Assuming Quakers and Methodists inhabit the same afterlife I'm sure her grandmothers are still arguing over which of them was the more frugal.
10312. wabbit - 7/14/2004 6:17:34 AM I have a Kirby vacuum older than I am by a good decade and it still works. It should probably be in a museum.
Happy 14th, mags (and AC, wherever you are)! 10313. Magoseph - 7/14/2004 6:30:54 AM My two sons take turns in frightening the bejesus out of me each time they mention their latest purchases and how much they cost. The way I understand how much everything costs nowadays, I should be in a museum along with my clothes (three different sizes) that occupy all the closets in this house except one.
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