shopping

man riding a horse in the grass valley

Putting the “Car” Before the Horse

My recent blog post about – not quite embracing, but – giving AI a loose bro hug attracted some interesting comments and dredged up some feelings about the way the world is headed. AI is a tool, not a competitor – so far. But I wondered: Did horse riders refuse to ride in the new invention, the car, because they were so comfortable on the back of their trusty steed? Did they think the automobile was a fad they could crush by refusing to purchase one?

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black meme with writing that reads: How to support small businesses after Black Friday? Small Business Saturday.

What the Dickens is Up With Small Business Saturday

We sometimes buy things from Amazon. I shop at a couple of online grocers who carry specialty items I can’t get from anyone near me. We are not perfect beings and I despise helping a billionaire like Jeff Bezos get richer. But Amazon didn’t become the monolith it is without doing a few things right.

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Erin and I posing below a street mural that reads RADIO on Queen St. W.

Showing Off – ImPort Stanley

My ride-or-die Erin had some professional engagements in the GTA last week. After joining her for her appearance on CTV’s The Social (which I watched from the green room), I brought her back for a few low-key days in Port Stanley. She’d never been here, and I was so excited to show her our home turf.

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Sarah Smith standing outside, wearing denim, and smiling

Music, Fresh Fish & Parking News – ImPort Stanley

Music is in the air. We are almost ready for summer. My husband and our neighbour Bill recently built our backyard fences. Our pergola is partway up, soon to be completed. It won’t be long before we’re spending warm evenings outside enjoying the ambience. Is it just me or are winters getting longer?

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Home and Home

Heading to BC last week was a risk, some said. It’s too soon to fly, too difficult to maintain social distance. Too peopley. I get that perspective. We’ve been staying away from each other for so long, it’s difficult to know when it’s okay to resume some normalcy. Last week was “okay” for me, regardless of what anyone else thought.

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sign for Lowe's store

Parting (with my money) Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Shopping! Am I right? Between ethics and prices and convenience and everything else that goes into it, it’s a complicated experience. Remember when the Sears catalogue would arrive? You’d dog-ear the pages showing what you wanted and that was it. No comparison shopping. No worries about free shipping. Done and done. Santa, please bring me the inflatable Barbie chair.

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Carted Away

I’ve made a few observations about this part of the province. People are nice here. Everyone says hello, or gives a wave. A man let me in front of him in the Service Ontario office and even though I told him I had a pile of stuff to do there, he waved me off and took a seat. Maybe they can afford to be nice because they don’t seem to be in as much of a hurry. Cities hurry you up, whether you know it or not.

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