First thing: Our 12YO grandson Leelan is spending some time with us, and he has an SMS “group chat” going between his parents and himself and Pete & I. And it is so gratifying to me to see their interactions…I can’t say enough what a great family they’ve become! It just makes my heart so happy!
Second, it’s no secret that I’ve spent the last year+ ridding myself of Big Tech/Big Box and its influence and data-gathering of my personal information, to say nothing of the political power they have combined to wield. Going from giving people a place to exchange information and communicate thoughts, to a single-minded behemoth entity that pressures people into doing their bidding in the social, political, and moral arenas shows who they serve – it isn’t us, and it isn’t the Lord.
Since we (Christians) are called to serve the Lord in ALL that we do, I haven’t been able to make these changes fast enough! But in so doing I have found such blessings! We live among the Amish, and first choice in buying goods and services is to use their businesses. From groceries to bicycle repair we have gotten quality unlike what we had before as well as saving money! And we are also helping our local economy, which – for the most part – supports the same values that we do!
When we do have to shop elsewhere, the next choice is to support family-owned businesses in the larger towns and small cities, and the same holds true online. One of the best that I’ve found is Carewell which we use for chux (for the dogs when we’re not home/during the night) and personal hygiene supplies; since we don’t have a working shower in the motorhome we take our sink baths with no-rinse cleanser and use bathing wipes, depending on the situation. We also have purchased miscellaneous other items on occasion…but no matter what we buy it is a pleasure doing business with this friendly, helpful, caring family-owned business!
There are times when using smaller businesses isn’t as practical, such as when buying supplements. Between the two of us, with our various health issues, we use a multitude of supplements, some of them more uncommon and harder to find. So it makes sense to me to use a single source for them which helps me keep track of what and when we are buying. I’ve chosen Vitacost because they have everything we use, their prices and stock are great, shipping is quick, and customer support is fantastic! Plus, they have a wonderful selection of food supplies at great prices – especially organic for Pete – that I can order at the same time. AND their sales – wow!
These are only 2 of the online companies I use but they both deserve a mention for their excellence! (I am not affiliated with either one, nor do I receive anything in exchange for writing about them. I just want to share great businesses when I find them!)
There are other ways I’m cutting Big Tech/Big Box out of our lives and budget but today I mostly wanted to talk about shopping. Maybe in a future Thursday Thoughts I can address other things I’m doing.
This is longer than I’d planned so I will stop here even though I could have gone on typing for the rest of the afternoon! But I have laundry to do and defrosted sous vide chicken to roast (looking forward to that!) and a few other things to get done around here while Pete & Leelan are out magnet fishing…thanks for reading, don’t forget that I post daily notes, quite updates, and other things I want to tell you in my chat box – and you can reply to them too! – so a quick check there is a good idea too! I will see you tomorrow for the Friday Funnies, if not before!
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