Life As I See It

I take exception with those that have elaborate schemes for living a green life style. A certain group of people have been living a green life style for many years and amassing real wealth in the process. By real wealth I mean real estate, all of the needs for living, family, caring neighbors, living a clean, moral life and a strong sense of community. That group is the Amish.

The Amish have been living the green life style long before "Green" was discovered by the rest of us. An Amish farm is 100% green. You won't see a garbage truck stopping at an Amish farm. Everything has a purpose and is either recycled or reused after its "first" life. The Amish farmer wouldn't know what to do with chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Hundreds of years of learning to live in harmony with the land has taught the Amish how to live and proper without destroying the earth. That prosperity is always shared with the family and the community.

Harvests are usually a cause for Amish neighbors to socialize and get in the crops. The Amish would never consider letting crops rot in the field. The Amish barn-risings, that Hollywood likes to glamorize, happen often and, again, are a reason for the community to get together and socialize.

Many of the Amish have other businesses and some work on their business during the winter months. The Amish bring their religion into their work. An Amish business man considers it a sin to make and sell shoddy products and they believe that they will have to answer to God for the shoddy products. Amish furniture and buildings are prized for their sturdiness and beauty.

Don't live green-Live like the Amish!

My trusty old double-edge razor finally gave up the ghost. After several fruitless searches to find a replacement locally, I went on line to order a replacement for my old friend. I came across the site called bestgroomingtools. The web address is www.bestgroomingtools.com. I was pleasently surprised when I opened the web site. It had one of the most extensive stocks of grooming articles of every type that I have ever seen. I ordered the Parker "twist-to-open" razor, the pheasant motif shaving mug and the Merkur blades.

Anyone that has ever bought one of the grocery store razors will be amazed at the quality of the Parker razor. This is one quality product! It is heavy and well made. It comes with a carrying case for traveling. I have experience with the Merkur blades (Made in Germany) so I knew that I was buying the best. There is no comparison between the Merkur razor blades and the super market razor blades. I suspect that the super market blades are made to accommodate paint scapers and other non-shaving implements. The shaving mug was made in New Mexico (I'll bet that made the Chinese furious.)

Here's a bit about the company. I ordered the items on Sunday. I received an email almost immediately that my order would be shipped on the following day (Monday.) There was a link in the email that would allow me to track the package. I received the order in the mail on Wednesday from Batavia, NY. The items were well packed in environmentally friendly packaging and damage would have been almost impossible. All in all ,I couldn't expect a more pleasant shopping experience. The service was perfect, the items were the finest quality and the delivery was prompt. Stop by their web site and check out the items.

Have you seen the ads by Fidelity for the guaranteed income plan. The spokes person talks about how the plan guarantees an income for life no matter what. That "no matter what" are her words. Wow, just think, finally a guarantee in life. Wait a minute; what do those small words at the bottom of the screen say? Payments are dependent on the ability of the guarantying insurance company to make payments. What happened to that "no matter what?" Oh my, another "gotcha."

I was at Costco the other day and a checkout person gave me a good tip. I'm sure that you have been to Costco and found that the product that you came for is no longer stocked. Well, there's no way to make Costco start carrying the product again but you can stock up when that is about to happen. Check the price tag that floats above the pile of product. If there is a star on the tag, the item is being phased out. If the bar code ends in 97, the product is being phased out. Either of these is your signal to stock up if the product is among your favorites.

If you are an avid gardener like me you are probably sick and tired of the sites produced by your Google search that are mainly commercial sites with limited information but tons of stuff to sell. There is a way to insure that the information is the best available and, more importantly, reliable. In your Google search type in the following:

site:.edu home garden

Your search will take you to various College and University sites that have tons of information on any gardening subject that you want to know about. The only things for sale are College and University published items and you can be sure that the information is backed up by exhaustive research. My recent Google search brought up sites from University of Maryland, University of Connecticut, Cornell University and Ohio State University, just to name a few. This is a valuable way to get the information that you need for free and avoid the clutter that you get with a less directed search. You can also be sure that the information is accurate and that the information isn't just a sales pitch.

Shame on Iran's leaders! Shame on Iran's leaders! The world is watching! You profess to be followers of Islam. Do you really think that Allah looks with favor upon these actions? Neda will never be forgotten by this American.