Five Random

 1) Happy Feast of St. Joseph! 

We have four Josephs in our family: Dan's Dad, Joseph Daniel; our oldest child, Paul Joseph: our next to last child, Gabriel Joseph; and our youngest grandson, Quintus Joseph. Needless to say, Jesus's earthly Dad is a great favorite here!  Blessed feast day, everyone!

2. Storage Bins. (happy sigh) I found online a source of inexpensive, sturdy, matching, bins -- with a label pocket -- that fit perfectly into the tops of our closets, four across. We are taking spring cleaning to new heights this Lent, let me tell you! The ones we found are here -- but, goodness, there are bazillions to choose from!

3. Speaking of ordering online. The bins we ordered are from Amazon... (Grimacing -- getting ready to duck) Almost anything can be a hot-button topic these days, but in relation to many current topics, in our opinion, the boycotting of Amazon  is a warm button. Or a hot button only when you're talking about particular aspects of this Megalodon in the Big box/Big tech dinosaur kingdom. We have not canceled our Prime channel (though we zapped Netflix and Disney), and we do shop through Amazon occasionally. We absolutely understand folks who have written off  this company in every way, but this is one we chose not to take the hard stand on. Our thought process: As for the video service... We very rarely -- even when it's not Lent -- utilize their channel, but when we do, it's to find an oldie but goodie. In a related analogy: we have an issue with some of the book sold by almost every publisher in business today -- and even the online (and not online) used bookstores sell unsavory items -- but we don't buy the unsavory titles. (And, needless to say, if a company sells a larger percentage of filth than average, we stay away from them!) It's the same with Amazon for us; they have a percentage of garbage - which we don't watch.  And there are no children living with us that we have to worry about any more -- so that is part of the ability to make that decision. (Granted, if we still had teenagers at home, we would consider discontinuing this service, just to keep them well out of harm's way!) So the video aspect of Amazon is a non-issue for us, personally, on a practical level. And I guess I just don't personally feel like our tiny contribution is make or  break enough to tip us toward boycotting. Yet. (The time may come!)

As for using the online cart at Amazon.... We've come to understand that the Amazon shopping outlet supports hundreds (maybe even thousands!) of vendors that depend upon the visibility their companies receive through the Amazon search engines. Very often we find an item on Prime and switch over to the company's website and order therefrom, but it's not always possible; a lot of businesses only sell through Amazon, and small businesses have suffered enough lately; we take every chance we can to patronize them.

But here's the pancake (as Anna would say): Amazon as an entity exhibits zero or less morality and wields way too much power; it has become tantamount to a monopoly and gets a cut of all transactions, but, honestly, for the ease of product comparison, selection, and shipping, I don't begrudge them that small profit for services rendered. Does some portion of this cut, though, ultimately go into 'charitable' giving or video productions that would make my blood run cold? Possibly. (Sigh... Probably...) But, I have found that this is true for almost every big box company and general business I've researched. You can find some kind of issue with almost every single one! Even ones you wouldn't expect! Here's just a partial list of recommended boycotts from various conservative groups: 

Etsy, Realtor.com, Ebay, Paypal,  Jeep, General Motors, Chrysler, Fiat, Dodge, Expedia, Airbnb, Marriot,  and pretty much all the rental car companies. Oddly enough Lipton Tea is a troublemaker, and Proctor and Gamble's been a known evil forever! Sadly Nestle, Nutella, Frito Lay, and Land O'Lakes make the no-go list, as does Kroger foods, Corona beer, Coca Cola, and Pepsi Cola. Starbucks we all knew was the devil (figuratively) long ago... But did you know about Sonic? Then there's Red Lobster and Papa John's and IHOP. Getting into phones: Verizon, and T-Mobile are on the boycott list, and time Warner. Disney (of course), Hulu, Netflix, Comcast, Viacom, and DreamWorks round out a small portion of entertainment ghouls. Some of the financial giants to avoid: JP Morgan Chase Banks and Bank of America, Capital One and Charles Schwab, First National of Omaha, and Deutschbank. You'll find problems with Discover Card, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.  Walmart doesn't get a clean bill of patriotic or moral health; neither does Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Costco, Kohl's, K-Mart, Sears, Best Buy, Target, Ikea, JC Penny, Barnes and Noble, Overstock.com, Office Depot, Home Depot, Lowes, Crate and Barrel, or Dollar General..... And the list goes on and on and on and on... 

You get the idea... If we were to jump on everyone's boycott bandwagon, we'd be growing our own cotton, spinning and weaving it, then sewing our own clothes. Etcetera. And there just are not that very many small businesses from which to glean all our needs. It behooves all of us to be careful, conscientious consumers -- and refuse to give money to the companies we know use it for evil means. But there is a limit. And we each have our own. It's not a hill we die on or even argue over. I don't think any of us has the perfect solution. We just muddle through. (What a world!) But one thing we know is foolproof: going out of our way to patronize businesses that have a conservative bent -- that if they aren't overtly Christian, they are at least sympathetic to Christian ideals and care about keeping our business. Here's a list of some of those.

4. Hush Puppies. Just thinking about them. And not only because Guard Dog Dawsey is being such an annoying soul of vigilance now that the weather has cleared up and the joggers are out, but because it's a Friday in Lent -- and what better delicacy to go with seafood? 

If you've never had these, you have to try them!

North Carolina Hush Puppies

Ingredients:

1 Teaspoon Sugar

1/4 Cup Water

1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Tablespoon Flour

1 Egg beaten

1/4 Teaspoon Salt coarse

1 Cup Cornmeal

1/2 Cup Buttermilk *note

Directions:

1. Mix all dry ingredients together.

2. Then add egg, buttermilk, and water.

3. Drop by spoonful into hot deep fat. Fry to a golden brown. (If a deep pot is used, the hush puppy will float to the top when done).

5.  And last but not least, Dan and I are the proud owners of a 39' fifth wheel camper --- that gets delivered on Tuesday! But, before that happens, Dominic and Monica and their two wee girls are moving in tomorrow! And laying flooring upstairs next week. And then family starts rolling in on Wednesday for everyone to attend Anna's entrance ceremonies on the Feast of the Annunciation on Thursday...! So, I will be thin on here next week. (Not like there's anyone to notice! Snort!) But I'll be back next weekend with photos! Crazy busy week coming up, but so much to be thankful for!