M.A.W.B. Squad

Out and About

I left the undisclosed location yesterday.  Sometimes my diplomatic duties make it a neccessary.  Things sure are screwed up out there.  I would think you guys would be begging for the coming MAWB revolution.

It's not surprising that water sellers would be in on the racket.  Have you noticed you can buy the 24 oz. bulk in the grocery store - which are too big for your standard cup holder OR you can buy the 16 something ouncers - which are, of course, too small for your cupholder.  What you can't buy bulk in the grocery store is the 21 oz version that fits in your cupholder.  No. No. No.  You can only buy those in singles for $1.30 each.  We're now developing a super-secret Goldilocks weapon to deal with that situation.

Oh and the BP station with the car wash in Forest Lake?  Nice how you crank up the speed on that baby on good washing days.  In and out in five seconds flat.  It almost made me seasick.  I checked the manual with the van and they don't say a thing about washing and waxing simultaneously.  Is that new technology?

I'm making a list.  We're setting up some nice cages.  Of course you might get stuck next to the flingers. You know what I'm saying, right? Fair warning.

New Threads

I'm not exactly a clothes horse. Lately though, my wardrobe has been showing its limits.  I have a ton of wool suits which I used to wear when I was teaching college and have not worn since about 1999. Then I have sweats and t-shirts for working around the house and garden. Between those two extremes, I have very little. Most of the time I go around in sweats. It doesn't help that my size which was always steady at an 8 on top and a 10 on the bottom is now more like a 10 on top, 12 or even 14 on the bottom.  Yes I need to lose about 15 or 20 pounds but I am tired of walking around like a sausage in a casing.

Going clothes shopping even at an outlet mall is depressing. When a simple blouse costs $50, you're going to wearing that blouse a lot. So, how to get a little more variety in casual pret-a-porter without a lot of cha-ching? 

Answer: e-bay.

My spouse is a big e-bay maven from way back in 1996 or 1997.  First he bought and sold fountain pens, then (mostly bought) coffee/cappuccino paraphernalia, then bird toys and now cigar paraphernalia. He also got irrigation supplies for the garden and some clothing and shoes for himself.  I never really participated in his activities and when I saw something I wanted, I generally asked him to bid on it.

In my quest for wardrobe expansion, however,I have plunged into the world of on line auctions. Buying clothes on line has opened up a whole new world to me. Brands that once seemed out of my price range now look friendly and inviting.  I regularly troll e-bay for coldwater creek, j.jill, eileen fisher and ann taylor. Talbots is also making a comeback in my wardrobe. 

I've always been a fan of good designers, not that bizarre runway crap but some of the more practical and classic designers like Chanel, Carolina Herrera and the currently hot designer Michael Kors.  I have taken to perusing their stuff on eBay.  Most of the Chanel and Herrera is out of my price range but some of the Michael Kors lines are actually reasonable.   

In the past, I've stuck to a rather conservative palette of colors: black, white/cream, green, blue, red.  In my e-bay shopping I've added two colors that seem to be popular this season: purple/plum and brown.  I've always liked those colors but not having anything to go with them in the past I've always turned them down.  Now I have an Ann Taylor brown pair of pants and a purple stretch velvet coldwater creek suit that I can mix it up with.

I've also acquired one of those cute little Scandinavian sweaters with the metal clasps. I've wanted one since I moved to Minnesota 11 years ago  but they always seemed hyper expensive. Not on eBay. Not even with shipping. Granted, it was not hand knit  from Scandinavia. It was Talbot's.

Off the shoulder or portrait necklines seem to be in this year.  I picked up two nice sweaters, one in black and one in white from Ann Taylor. 

Wrap blouses and sweaters are also very much in and I have yet to get one of those. They are so hot I've been outbid on a few of them. They are perfect for someone like me whose bust and waist measurements are getting closer together because it proves that I have a waist.  I am lying in wait for one that is due to fall under the gavel tomorrow. 

Prowling around I have stumbled upon some interesting new fashion ideas. One eBay seller, floracute1204 has a really great shop with some unusual stuff. This seller is located in Taiwan and seems to concentrate on "Asian inspired" "Victorian" and "hippie" stuff. The Asian inspired line has some kimono like blouses made of lovely fabrics. The problem with shopping a seller like this is that not having a brand  means you are counting on the description of the seller and the resolution of your screen. Nevertheless, I am tempted to take a chance on one of those kimono blouses.

Of course there is some possibility that one of the reasons these things are all cheap is that someone stole them from a store.  Most are "gently used." NWOT means New, without tags. Some sellers I've bought from have name descriptions like "beingamom" or "shop4tot"which makes me think that this is a cottage industry of stay at home moms who work part-time as eBay sellers. If you have flex time you can spend it visiting stores and haunting the clearance rack. If you live near outlet malls you can visit them repeatedly to clean up the bargains before other people get them. 

There are also a few sellers who claim to have lost weight, including some women who said they had gastric bypass surgery which meant that they actually had to buy clothes in different sizes as their girth shrank.  "MY LOSS IS YOUR GAIN!" says one. 

Well, gotta run. Gotta check on that wrap blouse and that cashmere twinset.

The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have

A mother of a Down Syndrome daughter writes in the Washington Post:

Margaret's old pediatrician tells me that years ago he used to have a steady stream of patients with Down syndrome. Not anymore. Where did they go, I wonder. On the west side of L.A., they aren't being born anymore, he says.

Some estimates are as high as 80-90% of Down Syndrome pregnancies are terminated.

To them, Margaret falls into the category of avoidable human suffering. At best, a tragic mistake. At worst, a living embodiment of the pro-life movement. Less than human. A drain on society. That someone I love is regarded this way is unspeakably painful to me.

This view is probably particularly pronounced here in blue-state California, but I keep finding it everywhere, from academia on down. At a dinner party not long ago, I was seated next to the director of an Ivy League ethics program. In answer to another guest's question, he said he believes that prospective parents have a moral obligation to undergo prenatal testing and to terminate their pregnancy to avoid bringing forth a child with a disability, because it was immoral to subject a child to the kind of suffering he or she would have to endure.

What does it say about our society that we not only deem it acceptable but "moral" to deny life to those with disabilities?  How do we explain it to our children? 

"Well, honey, your brother/sister had problems the doctors couldn't fix."

And when they ask, "But, Mom, what if I get problems the doctor can't fix?"