@oneandone: So much of this depends on knowing your kid's personality, I think... I flew unaccompanied internationally (L.A.-Asia) once or twice a year as a kid and always absolutely LOVED it, especially when there were layovers. :)
@youbastid: @Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Makes me wonder how this would skew along gender lines... it seems like physical less-than-perfection would tend to count against women more than it would against men? I don't mean someone with prosthetics can't be hot-I more mean, if you took an average-or-worse-looking guy with an obvious disability, and an average-or-worse-looking girl with same, which would be more discriminated against (both in terms of conscious _and_ unconscious discrimination)?
youbastid: Props for your posts... I completely agree, though pointing that kind of thing out-even when you qualify with "Look, I don't agree with this, I'm just saying this is why companies do X"-inevitably brings out the "You bastard, you must hate ugly/fat/disabled people!! I bet you kick puppies too!!" Wish more people would read a basic consumer-psych book or two before starting in with the name-calling.
@tackhouse1: Yes, it defaults automatically to month-to-month.
@Rachacha: This is already how many textbooks are sold, but it would be a problem for ordinary books, since most bookstores aren't big enough to stock more than one copy of every single book they sell. Guess they could do it with the big sellers though (bestsellers, mass-market things, etc.).
@Michael Belisle: @nakedscience: I gotta say I'm with Michael Belisle here. The issue isn't the range of _designs_ offered for larger bras-it's the actual engineering that goes into them. (The design of a bra really is more complicated than that of a T-shirt. See this article for instance.)
@TerribleDecade: Agreed that it's silly to tell them to get rid of a dog they already have. I thought, though, that (at least from some quarters) the complaint was because they had said they would adopt a rescue dog--again, to set a good example and all that--and then didn't.
@Nick Salyers: I think the outrage is more because most people use boxes once and then toss (or at best recycle) them. I've lived in on-campus apartment housing for the past four years, and I notice it whenever I'm in the storage rooms--my locker's one of only a very few with a stack of broken-down cardboard boxes. Grad students tend to be both 1) poor and 2) "green," yet every year I see people buying brand-new boxes from U-Haul etc. for their moves... just like they did the year before, right before using those boxes once, then tossing them. (The problem isn't lack of space, either--those storage lockers barely have any stuff in them.)
Sure, extra boxes are handy to have--for eBay sales, Christmas presents, moves, etc.--but still, I'd be annoyed if a company used an entire box to ship me a sticker. It's REDUCE first, then reuse, then recycle.
@Blinky987: I wonder about that too... Seems like it couldn't, though, bcs. there's nothing keeping you from printing out the postage on the 15th, then not actually mailing till much later. (I've done that with letters and the postage is still valid.)
@jurisenpai: I feel your pain... I wanted to proselytize to _all_ my girlfriends after making the switch, but every last one of them turned out to be too weirded out by them. Wtf! Guess I need to make some less-square friends...
There's a great LiveJournal forum devoted to menstrual cups, if you're ever looking for people to share the glee with. :)
@Kishi: @Kishi: @Tankueray:
Most women who use menstrual cups are pretty euphoric about them, and with good reason. Besides being cheaper and better for the environment, they're a lot more comfortable than the disposable stuff--plus, a lot of women find they stop having cramps after making the switch (or their cramps at least become less painful).
I made the switch about two years ago and I _still_ smirk every time I walk past a store aisle of disposable products I will _never have to buy again_!
@Rachacha: The place I used to see $1 coins all the time was stamp vending machines in post offices. Not sure if they're still stocked with them now, as it's years since I've bought stamps out of one of those.
@wickedpixel: It has a pretty interesting history... esp. the part where they stuck the first version in a basement, waited a few years, tasted it again and voila!
@evarga: Depends a lot on location, I think. Around here a CSA is pretty cheap, but there's no way I could afford to regularly shop at the farmers' markets.
@MonkeyMonk: Thank God for the few exceptions among finance bloggers... Ramit Sethi for instance.
@edwardso: Yeah... the article reminded me of this report on the same phenomenon in Japan:
@SadSam: I agree 100%.
Among other things, I think there's a mindset we can get into where we start to _equate_ austerity with saving ("I'm punishing myself by not having this $2 ice-cream cone--anyday now, I'll be rich!"). I've had periods when I got stuck thinking like that, and am VERY glad I eventually developed some sense of proportion.
@ElizabethD: "Of course, now I'm in the position of wanting to travel and probably never having any $$ for it!"
I don't know your exact situation of course, but just wanted to say: Don't give up! I think a lot of Americans don't realize how affordably they could travel if they thought outside the chain-hotel-and-vacation box. Consider hostels, for instance (often better-kept than budget hotels), and traveling in the off-season (many parts of Europe are more beautiful in winter than at any other time).
If you manage credit-card use well, you can often swing the flights for free or almost-free, too. I've only paid for about 2 of my last 7 flights. I don't have a huge income, but I cut back in other areas (for instance, I almost never eat at restaurants), because I'd MUCH rather do without those things than without travel.
@absentmindedjwc: Sounds like Tuyen is a he not a she?
@Eyebrows McGee: Yes! Plus you avoid the dining companions who always want to have "just a taste" of whatever you ordered.
@EYESONLY: Sorry, I meant inaccurate. Edit button, please?!
