Window Shopper

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Have you any idea whatsoever what a hassle it has become to look for good baby toys? My sister’s granddaughter is needing good baby toys. She is just at that age where she is starting to really grasp things and needs a few good toys to hang onto. However, with the scare of the products from China, it’s very difficult to find those really good things anymore. I remember years ago, we did not have that problem. Toys were easy to come by. Some were not safe but if you used common sense you could manage to find those toys that helped the kids to learn and grow.

You know, I wasn’t even looking for unique baby gifts, though that would be great. I was simply trying to find some basic toys that would teach how to grasp. I remember a toy that was multi-sided, had shapes to put into it, teaching the child about shapes and how to master putting them into the proper place. You can hardly even find things like that anymore. I was at the store the other day looking for toys there. Looking at the back, each and every toy was made in China. EVERY ONE! I cannot believe that China has taken over our country like this. Unbelievable.

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The newest recall is for convertible cribs. I saw one of those recalls on the news. The other I found on the government website for recalls. The one in the news was from Delta Childrens products and the other was from Playkids USA. Apparently the side comes down unexpectedly and baby gets caught in the side of the crib and it can and did lead to death, twice.

This recall is yet another in the case of us against China. It is very important to take note here that most of the recalls that we see on the tube are from China. That government is doing all it can to spoil our lives, if not actually poison or kill us in some way. Does anyone here see that so many of the products on the market shelves are now MADE IN CHINA??!!!!! I know that I have become more observant about that in the last few months. Who knew? China has started to take over our goods and products in the United States. How did that happen?

Case in point: I was at Walmart today to buy some things for my sister’s granddaughter, a baby almost 5 months old. While there, I decided to check out baby toys since she is just learning to grasp things and enjoy herself with new toys. I guess I should not be surprised to find that virtually ALL of the toys available through our so-called SUPERCENTER Walmart have the label, MADE IN CHINA. I am talking about brands we know here like Fisher Price!!! There were precious few toys to start with. That is a slam against Walmart right there. We have newborns and babies all over the place here but there are few toys for them at Walmart. We live in a rural area. There are few places to purchase such things here. But there were NO toys from the U.S. or any other place, only from China.

Earlier this year, we bought some dog treats for our puppy. We found some chew treats that are pretty hard with some type of meat flavor inside them. She loved them. However, when I looked at the packaging, it said MADE IN CHINA!!! Again with China. Does everything we eat, sit on or wear have to come from CHINA?????? I am getting pretty disgusted with places like Walmart who used to only buy American but that was when Sam Walton was alive. Now, it’s coming from a country that does not seem to care that we are being poisoned and killed by them through these products that are so plentiful here.

After all the recalls, don’t you think it’s just about time we put a halt to the poison and danger that country puts us in all the time? Certainly if the consumers refuse to buy MADE IN CHINA labels, wouldn’t we be all the better for it? Consider this. China exports amazing amounts of products to us. You can pick up just about any goods these days and many of them will have that label. However, the Chinese do not see our goods as nearly as valuable so we only export a pittance to them. That would be because they love getting our money but will NOT allow our products to grace their homes. Isn’t that a bit hypocritical of them?

I believe it is time to take the plunge and stop Chinese products from coming in to our country until they 1) start cleaning up their act by sending us safe and healthy products and 2) allow our goods into their country in the same levels that we are taking in theirs. If they will not do this, I think we should put a stop to all imports from China. ALL. Our children are depending on us to protect them. How can we do that when most of what we give them to play with, sleep in and eat are made in China?

For more information concerning these recalls, you can go to the government page or a website called Parents.com.

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That statement for those diehard fans was a DUH, I know. But I’m a slow learner so it took a few days for me to get that fact in my head. While we love pro football, we are not always available or able to watch the games. In other words, we are NOT diehard fans but we do love to watch the game when time permits. I haven’t been as much of a college football fan but some games are well worth the effort too. Now, whether it’s a tailgate party or sitting at home in front of the television, big screen or small, you have to have the good football food to go with it, right? Time to get to the store and stock up.

I have a few ideas for things to serve at such functions, whether it’s a few family members around the tv or a bigger tailgate party. You definitely want to have something that’s going to warm the stomach and the heart for that game! I suggest chili recipes and dips to go with it. Yes, yes. All lame suggestions since you are there at the tailgate party and I am not. Nope. I just know what I would like to have at such things. Chips, dips, popcorn, pretzels, sandwiches, hot stuff for the cooler days and nights like various chili bowls, various barbecue things like wings and pork tenderloin, brownies, cookies. See? I do know. No, I did not mention every possibility since that would take an entire blog with nothing on it but that!!! But you get the idea. Two places I know have good chili recipes are Tinfoil Chef and Popcorn Cook blogs. They both have put up chili recipes that will get you though a good football party, one is HOT and the other is not. Yep, it rhymes. More later on that football tailgater or big screen moment. Oh one tiny thing here. I am shamelessly promoting both blogs. One belongs to my husband and one to me. *grin*

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Having just seen the breaking news that the price of oil is down UNDER $70 a barrel now, are the oil companies going to continue to give us the break we have needed from this greed that they continue to put on us? Honestly, I believe that they should have done this long before now. When the housing market went downhill, it would have been fantastic if some of the big oil companies had the compassion to drop their prices so that Americans could keep their homes. I have no doubt whatsoever that big oil contributed to many of the homes lost during the crunch on mortgages. Don’t get me wrong here. People should not have fallen for that snake oil salesman’s dream loan. But if big oil had one grain of compassion, they could have helped the economy and the American homeowners who were standing on the precipice with their mortgages.

Hopefully, big oil will get a clue since we have stayed away from the pumps, found other ways to cope. It sure does not hurt to let them know that we can deal with this and live without as much gas. I truly hope it hurt them in the right place, the wallet. They had no problems whatsoever hurting us there. In these perilous financial times, it is a breath of fresh air to see the prices of things coming down again. I did not think we would see that unless we had a full blown depression. And that still may occur.

Having said all that, I also saw today that retailers have plans to give big breaks on prices this holiday season. That is a fantastic thought too. We have been hit and hit hard in many places at once. It will be a relief to see lower prices especially during the Christmas buying season which has definitely started. All in all, it might just be a better time now. Well, except for the stock market which has fallen as of this writing. Who knows. It may bounce back at closing. The good news is all about the gas prices and goods prices. That will help us all.

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Back in May, our extended family was gifted with the arrival of a beautiful young lady who came into the world and our family with gusto. She has not changed at all in that regard. She has changed just a whole lot because she is growing so fast that no one can keep up with her. My sister and brother in law are having such fun just trying to stay up with one who grows out of her clothes and diapers practically as fast as you can get ahold of new ones. Truthfully, it’s just a good thing they have a bed that more or less grows with her. However, they found that they needed more baby bedding, something they learned pretty fast. I guess you know why. They couldn’t keep up with the messes at first. Hey, it takes a bit of practice to learn baby’s schedule!! Everything is working out just fine now.

She is so pretty and such fun to be around. This young lady has a smile on her face most of the time. We get to see her every week when we visit. Most of the time, we show up within a little while of her nap time. But that doesn’t matter. She still has a smile and a laugh for us. She jabbers a lot. I just know she has important things to say! I guess the only problem I see is that you can almost see her growing out of her clothes!! What a kid!

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Due to the incredible financial crisis going on, the credit card companies have decided to make it harder for you, the card holder. Perhaps you have no idea this is going on. Know this. The credit card companies are covering their backsides at your expense. They are tightening their terms without your knowledge. Beware! Do your research. Check out your company. Make sure of what the current terms and conditions are on your card before you try to use it again!

These are things to be aware of up front (not that THEY are being upfront):

They have begun to lower credit limits. The problem here is that they may inform you but if you didn’t read the fine print, you have no clue. You find this out at the checkout or the cashier when the item does not go through. Worse, if there is even a tiny glitch in your credit anywhere, they can lower the limits for that. How much of a cut? A LOT. Some companies are dropping the limit to just above your current balance. Then, when you pay on the balance, the limit goes down with the balance. Even worse than that is the fact that they can charge fees for exceeding your limit. But by dropping your limit, it can appear that you are using much more of your available credit. Doing that drops your credit score. Remember, the credit card companies MUST inform you of these changes. However, it might come in the form of a brochure with the changes in small print. So, watch out for that.

Hope you enjoyed those zero percentage offers. It is unlikely that you will see many of those anymore. Those offers used to be all over the place, giving no fee, no percentage on the cards for a year. Now, it is more likely that if you get one at all, it will be for six months or less. Plus IF you qualify, they will likely charge a transfer fee and it could be pretty high. Only a very few are still offering such deals.

Speaking of limited offers, remember all those card offers coming in the mail? Some were actual pre-approved credit offers, some were simply pre-approved to apply for a credit card. Those will not be coming in the mail much anymore. Most companies have cut off or cut way down on such offers. You will have a much harder time getting that credit approval too. Oh, and if you are doing the searching, they didn’t approach you, your credit score goes down.

Getting tired of hearing how many ways your credit score will go down? Better get used to it. And then there are those inactive accounts. Banks are closing them. That emergency card that you have that you have not used in a while? You might just want to check and see if it’s still active because if it is not, the bank is canceling those so that their cost goes down. They do not like maintaining them. And guess what. It hurts your credit score.

And last for the time being but not least, if you mess up even a tiny bit, there are no second chances. Big fees and late charges are in your future if you happen to be late even one time. That’s it. Banks are not hesitating for a second to hang that fat fee on your card. Once upon a time, you could call the bank and ask for the fee to be removed, apology accepted. No more. They are no longer a forgiving bunch.

Times have become exceptionally hard and the banks and lenders are showing it. The truth is that the greed of Wall Street and the lenders, many of whom are now either out of business or getting bailed out, are the culprits. We get to pay for all that both with the bailout, which is after all taxpayer money, and through the tightened credit and the restrictions that accompany it. The stock market has rebounded some more as of this writing but what is in our future? Certainly, we cannot afford to trust the credit companies.

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In the last three months, I have been starting up some new blogs. A couple of them have really turned out to be more fun than I actually expected. Well to explain, I do expect them to be fun because if they aren’t, why bother? But these two are a lot more fun than I have been having with the current ones. And that’s saying something. One of them is a toy information blog that is a blast. I really love to do that one. It gives me a lot more ideas for gifts for the kids and teens in our extended family that way. Then, I also have a food or cooking blog. Now, that one is a lot of fun because I like to try out the recipes before I blog about them.

One drawback to starting up new blogs is that you have to be able to write the posts fairly often. In the case of the toy blog, that requires some research. Not bad. I like research. But the other one….that one is going to be a problem eventually since I am trying out some of the recipes. At some point, I may contemplate getting some weight loss pills or some other thing to get rid of weight I can see me putting on every time we try out that new recipe. Ah well. It will work out, I just know it. And I do love to taste test the newest creations.

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Sometimes, older is better. I was pretty blessed in my teen years in that I didn’t have some of the things that others had. But I did feel the way most do. Parents are better left at home. Though we didn’t call them this, I didn’t have a lot of zits or other such problems either. My life wasn’t bad. The only thing that was a real problem was that my parents didn’t think I was mature and I did think so. When I got out on my own, I still thought so.

Over the years, I have grown up….some thought it took longer than necessary, but there ya go. And now in my more knowledgeable years, I see that some things never really change. Teens and young adults still see themselves as grown up when they are not. Have you been to a high school lately? You can still see the kids need to recognize that they are not grown ups and that they still need acne treatments until they get older. In my high school days, it was a horror. The doctors had little clue how to deal. Kids had to go to school with the problems. Anyone remember the big zit on Marsha Brady’s nose? That was in the 70s. And now, I guess it wouldn’t be the big deal it was then. What do you know.

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I was starting to notice that we have a different kind of advertising going up in the stores, television and all over the place. I’m talking about what they call digital signage and it seems to be sweeping around the area where we live. It means that we have clearly defined advertising where before it was just a poster or a sign. I suspect that we will be seeing more of those. The big one that I noticed is at the stores, they have ads concerning their latest sales items, promoting different holidays and so on. While it may seem like just a commercial, I have watched a couple of them. Not bad. I got a couple of ideas for gifts that way.

In New York Times Square, when they show the street, there’s a huge blinking sign and one that shows the network’s news show right there. Sort of like in the movies, you see the great big television shot of someone talking to the masses in the street. It’s like that. The ones in the store were informational. Guess that’s what the others would be too.

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In these wild economic times, it seems sort of silly to talk about a sample of something but I think we all need to quit with the fear and get back to our regular lives. With that in mind, I received a free sample of a Kashi cookie in the mail a couple of days ago. It took me only about 2 hours to decide I just had to try this wonderful looking cookie. For starters, it had a lot of chocolate chips in it. That’s going to get my attention immediately! As I recall, I did have a choice in the matter though. On their website, they are expecting you to “steal a cookie” from their cookie jar. The challenge is to get the combination on the jar in the correct order. That was fun and different.

So, if you are looking for a good cookie, yes I did say it was GOOD!, then head on over to Kashi and try one of their delicious cookies from the cookie jar. You will have to steal it but what the heck! You used to do that when you were a kid, right? Nothing has changed. Nothing at all. Just get that cookie!!!

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