Day: June 8, 2022

Five Things I Don’t Buy Anymore

Fandango19 Comments

For her 5 Things prompt this week, Dr. Tanya pointed out that “after the pandemic and during the current geopolitical situation, inflation is on an upward spiral.” So she’s asking us to list five things that we don’t buy anymore.

1. Gasoline — As I mentioned in Tanya’s 5 Things prompt last week, last August my wife and I bought an EV (electric vehicle). With the price of a gallon of gas approaching $7.00 where we live in Northern California, I no longer have to buy gasoline to fill up my car. Yay!

2. Suits and ties — Since I retired at the end of 2016, I no longer wear suits, so I no longer have to spend money on suits and ties. I still have a few in my closet just in case there’s ever an occasion where I’d have to wear a suit and tie, but I don’t even know if my suits would still fit me.

3. Aftershave lotion or cologne — I have a full (albeit neatly trimmed) beard, so I don’t have much use for aftershave lotion. Besides, being retired and rarely going out anymore due to the pandemic, what’s the point of putting on aftershave or cologne? Who am I trying to impress with my smell? My wife doesn’t wear perfume anymore, either.

4. Cable TV — I cut the cord about a year and a half ago when I dumped my cable provider, Xfinity/Comcast, in favor of steaming. I bought a Roku Streaming Stick and subscribed to a handful of streaming services plus local broadcast TV stations. And I essentially get everything that I had been watching on cable TV for less than half the cost.

5. Cat food and kitty litter — This past January we had to say goodbye to our sweet little cat. Hence, we no longer spend money on cat food or kitty litter. A few months later, however, we adopted a rescue dog. Now we more than make up for what we used to spend on cat food and kitty litter buying dog food, dog treats, frozen bones, and chew toys. What were we thinking?

One-Liner Wednesday — America’s Fragile Democracy

Fandango13 Comments

“Cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”

President George Washington, in his celebrated 1796 Farewell Address, cautioned that the American democracy was fragile. How prescient was he to have, 220 years earlier, envisioned Donald Trump and his enablers in the Republican Party?

Written for Linda G. Hill’s One-Liner Wednesday prompt.

Fandango’s Provocative Question #168

Fandango20 Comments
FPQ

Welcome once again to Fandango’s Provocative Question. Each week I will pose what I think is a provocative question for your consideration.

By provocative, I don’t mean a question that will cause annoyance or anger. Nor do I mean a question intended to arouse sexual desire or interest.

What I do mean is a question that is likely to get you to think, to be creative, and to provoke a response. Hopefully a positive response.

I blog anonymously, and so do a significant number of other bloggers. I’m not on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites, but I understand that a lot of people on those sites are posting anonymously, using pseudonyms or aliases.

In my case, I use a pseudonym on WordPress to protect my personal privacy and because I’ve had my identity stolen for fraudulent purposes twice already. But I don’t use my anonymity for malicious purposes or to be offensive.

So, along those lines, my provocative question this week is…

How do you feel about online anonymity? Do you believe that when people are hiding their real world identity, it encourages them to misbehave or to be offensive? Or does it allow people to reveal who they really are or possibly how they would choose to be and act all the time if they could?

If you choose to participate, write a post with your response to the question. Once you are done, tag your post with #FPQ and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments. But remember to check to confirm that your pingback or your link shows up in the comments.

FOWC with Fandango — List

Fandango26 Comments
FOWC

It’s June 8, 2022. Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “list.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.