Simplify your life so you can spend time with your kids

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happyhiker
Being child free is correlated with higher education levels, incomes and IQs, so I don’t blame advertisers for not bothering. Smart people make more rational buying decisions. Also, people who have rejected the lifescript are, I would imagine, not going to become loyal to a brand for any reason other than the product’s merit. Smarter, wealthier people also tend to have healthier lifestyles, so processed food is going to be a hard sell.

I know that it’s a waste of time to advertise anything to me. I avoid process food, wear a pair of shoes for years, clean everything with vinegar or bleach and get whatever toothpaste is on sale. For major purchases I look at reviews, not advertising. I’m guessing that a lot of CF people are the same.

I somewhat pity the advertiser that tries to reach me. I am hiding behind an adblocker, have no TV, and don't go out.

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Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

there's also a commercial aimed at older folks that has the grandmoo, in a fairly extended shot. KISSING and nibbling on the baybee's feet!! I KNOW--they don't walk on dirty things cause they don't walk, but, still--yuk!! Another neurotic, pitiful older woman moaning cause she is getting divorced and needs $$, so she got a reverse mortgage cause THAT company REALLY cared about her. And then she's , of course, now free to play with the sprog and SQUEAKING "Yay--you did it!" in Baybee-talk voice. Triple yuk!

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happyhiker
Being child free is correlated with higher education levels, incomes and IQs, so I don’t blame advertisers for not bothering. Smart people make more rational buying decisions. Also, people who have rejected the lifescript are, I would imagine, not going to become loyal to a brand for any reason other than the product’s merit. Smarter, wealthier people also tend to have healthier lifestyles, so processed food is going to be a hard sell.

I know that it’s a waste of time to advertise anything to me. I avoid process food, wear a pair of shoes for years, clean everything with vinegar or bleach and get whatever toothpaste is on sale. For major purchases I look at reviews, not advertising. I’m guessing that a lot of CF people are the same.

I'm with you both on purchasing quality goods that are meant to last a long time, although these days it can be very hard to find electronic items which aren't made to be binned in a couple years. Cost aside, I don't see that as a sustainable environmental model. Plus I've reached the point where I dislike shopping. It's a chore, which involves looking through lots of specifications to see if something meets my needs, reading reviews to see if it actually does, the hassle of returns if it doesn't, etc. I'd rather scrub the floor than make a serious purchase, because it takes far less time and I'm bound to get exactly what I want out of completing that chore.

I don't get physical junk mail. I use an ad-blocker. I have a good spam filter. I don't watch TV. I don't read print magazines. I don't listen to the radio. The best chance an advertiser has of reaching me is billboards or bus shelter ads, but then only if I don't have a (audio) book. I'm glad I'm not exposed to many adverts, but then I can't imagine many would be tailored to my tastes. It's kind of hard to sell unneeded products to people who find consumerism objectionable.

I am fairly brand loyal when it comes to personal care products, but that's because I have so many allergies and I can't be bothered to read through the minuscule print looking for a replacement product that won't give me a rash. So that's merit-based loyalty; if they ever change the formula, they lose my loyalty. Like you, I also prefer to prepare my own household cleaners from readily available ingredients, because I know I'm not allergic to them, I know what I use is non-toxic when it is washed into the drains, and it is cheap.

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freya
It is a bit off topic but how do you get glass clean and streak free? Tried a vinegar/water combo and while I love the smell and how non-toxic it is it leaves the glass very streaked.

I saw someone post this tip recently, and what do you know, strange as it sounds, it works: combine 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch with half a cup of water. Apply it to the window by dabbing with a rag dipped in the liquid. Let it dry, but not sit too long, then rub it off with a clean rag.

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freya
It is a bit off topic but how do you get glass clean and streak free? Tried a vinegar/water combo and while I love the smell and how non-toxic it is it leaves the glass very streaked.

Throw some alcohol and cornstarch in there.

Also, I've seen a Credit Score company ad that the Dad goes, I think this is great becuz having a good credit score, the kids can see how important this is and I'm being a good role model, I never realized how important it was.

Now, while I'm actually glad them promoting something that should be taught to your kids, to me it is just another way to shoe horn in the kid and parent angle....like no one should get a product unless it somehow benefits da chylddyn!

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yurble

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freya
It is a bit off topic but how do you get glass clean and streak free? Tried a vinegar/water combo and while I love the smell and how non-toxic it is it leaves the glass very streaked.

I saw someone post this tip recently, and what do you know, strange as it sounds, it works: combine 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch with half a cup of water. Apply it to the window by dabbing with a rag dipped in the liquid. Let it dry, but not sit too long, then rub it off with a clean rag.

Thank you! I'm trying this.

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happyhiker

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freya
It is a bit off topic but how do you get glass clean and streak free? Tried a vinegar/water combo and while I love the smell and how non-toxic it is it leaves the glass very streaked.

Throw some alcohol and cornstarch in there.

Thanks, never would have thought of adding alcohol and cornstarch.

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yurble

Quote
happyhiker
Being child free is correlated with higher education levels, incomes and IQs, so I don’t blame advertisers for not bothering. Smart people make more rational buying decisions. Also, people who have rejected the lifescript are, I would imagine, not going to become loyal to a brand for any reason other than the product’s merit. Smarter, wealthier people also tend to have healthier lifestyles, so processed food is going to be a hard sell.

I know that it’s a waste of time to advertise anything to me. I avoid process food, wear a pair of shoes for years, clean everything with vinegar or bleach and get whatever toothpaste is on sale. For major purchases I look at reviews, not advertising. I’m guessing that a lot of CF people are the same.

I'm with you both on purchasing quality goods that are meant to last a long time, although these days it can be very hard to find electronic items which aren't made to be binned in a couple years. Cost aside, I don't see that as a sustainable environmental model. Plus I've reached the point where I dislike shopping. It's a chore, which involves looking through lots of specifications to see if something meets my needs, reading reviews to see if it actually does, the hassle of returns if it doesn't, etc. I'd rather scrub the floor than make a serious purchase, because it takes far less time and I'm bound to get exactly what I want out of completing that chore.

I don't get physical junk mail. I use an ad-blocker. I have a good spam filter. I don't watch TV. I don't read print magazines. I don't listen to the radio. The best chance an advertiser has of reaching me is billboards or bus shelter ads, but then only if I don't have a (audio) book. I'm glad I'm not exposed to many adverts, but then I can't imagine many would be tailored to my tastes. It's kind of hard to sell unneeded products to people who find consumerism objectionable.

I am fairly brand loyal when it comes to personal care products, but that's because I have so many allergies and I can't be bothered to read through the minuscule print looking for a replacement product that won't give me a rash. So that's merit-based loyalty; if they ever change the formula, they lose my loyalty. Like you, I also prefer to prepare my own household cleaners from readily available ingredients, because I know I'm not allergic to them, I know what I use is non-toxic when it is washed into the drains, and it is cheap.

My electronics can last a pretty long time. Generally, I keep a computer for ten years before a new one needs buying. I keep my electronics running so well because I don't use Windows and prefer Linux, an operating system that doesn't pander to planned obsolescence. People are running PC's made in the 90's on Linux today. My last PC started to smoke it was so worn out by the time I binned it. When I say bin, I mean I send it to the recycler's and or sell whatever working parts on eBay.

I work my electronics HARD. Generally, a PC will run 24/7/365 and have replacement parts put in as needed as they wear out. While I sleep, the turned on PC is running BOINC Manager, a program that runs programs such as Seti Online and doesn't just sit sucking electric energy. The monitor and other peripherals are switched off.

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Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

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craftyzits
My electronics can last a pretty long time. Generally, I keep a computer for ten years before a new one needs buying. I keep my electronics running so well because I don't use Windows and prefer Linux, an operating system that doesn't pander to planned obsolescence. People are running PC's made in the 90's on Linux today. My last PC started to smoke it was so worn out by the time I binned it. When I say bin, I mean I send it to the recycler's and or sell whatever working parts on eBay.

I work my electronics HARD. Generally, a PC will run 24/7/365 and have replacement parts put in as needed as they wear out. While I sleep, the turned on PC is running BOINC Manager, a program that runs programs such as Seti Online and doesn't just sit sucking electric energy. The monitor and other peripherals are switched off.

It isn't just computers, although they are one of the worst for planned obsolescence, second only to phones. Phones have built-in batteries these days and are basically useless after three years. I use Linux as well, but laptop hardware still is only good for about 5 years and there are only a few things you can replace, like the HD and battery. If a desktop made sense in my situation I'd switch, because I remember keeping one going for about 10 years by just replacing components.

The problem is more widespread. I had a really nice food processor, and the container got cracked so it no longer even fit in the base (to say nothing of food safety). I wanted to replace it, but the manufacturer wasn't selling the part anymore. No third-party seller had the right fit, either. I had something similar happen with the gasket in a blender. Stupid things like that. I'd only had it about 10 years. I think there ought to be a law to reduce waste which requires companies to either make components available at a reasonable price in perpetuity, or to release the specifications as open schematic data which would allow third-parties to 3D print replacements. Individuals could either download and print replacements themselves, or buy from a firm specializing in producing replacement parts on demand.

Anyhow I have seen this with so many items. An electric heater that is one year old blows some kind of a fuse and starts smoking, and another shocks the user. A tea kettle stops working entirely. A toaster gets a short and blows a fuse every time it is used. All these things after just a couple of years, often less. I would happily pay a little more for the products to ensure that they last a little longer, but even doubling the price doesn't get you a better product. Maybe those products that cost 10x as much are quality, but I haven't tried them because at first glance it seems like their main selling points are visual design. A toaster for 15 bucks and a toaster that costs 30 will both conk out with no recourse, and the 150 toaster seems like a ridiculous waste of money.

There is some financial planning commercial and this planner is talking to a classroom full of kids. These kids start raising their hands and asking him complicated financial questions. WTF? Kids don't give a shit about such things, and they aren't wise enough to ask those sorts of questions. I can't remember the name of the financial place, but I found it extremely annoying.

When I was at the dollar store, I needed some paper towels. They were selling paper towels cheap there, but unfortunately on the package was an image of a disgusting loaf with food smeared all over its face. I looked at my husband and put it back. It totally turned me off buying that product.

That's bounty basics paper towel. I didnt buy them for yrs becuz of that disgusting kid. I recently bought one, and they actually are pretty good, the paper towel almost feels like it has a plastic web in it(but it doesn't) It actually last pretty long and doesn't rip like paper. I still won't likely buy again tho. It is again....like paper towels are used for so many reasons, why just cater to the brat demo?

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cfuter
That's bounty basics paper towel. I didnt buy them for yrs becuz of that disgusting kid. I recently bought one, and they actually are pretty good, the paper towel almost feels like it has a plastic web in it(but it doesn't) It actually last pretty long and doesn't rip like paper. I still won't likely buy again tho. It is again....like paper towels are used for so many reasons, why just cater to the brat demo?

Brats are lowest common denominator in our society.

I buy Sparkles brand paper towels. There's no image of brats on the plastic. You can choose how much paper towel you want to use.

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Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

Appreciating all the info. on paper towels, will avoid bounty basics with bratty photos. I had a roll of non brat bounty for a year or longer which I've recently used. As much as I'd love to stick with cloth rags they end up wet and needing to dry somewhere and over the course of several days dirty rags can end up drying all over the place. I don't mind it so much for the 1-2 times a week I clean and then launder the rags. But counters often need a surface clean because I make little messes every time I cook, so I've resigned myself to paper towels for the daily clean ups. And since I air dry most items my drying rack usually has items on it so no room for dirty cloth rags to dry there either.

I stopped buying Daisy sour cream when they started putting pictures of customers' brats on the foil seal inside. After a while they stopped doing it, so I buy it again. Maybe some people complained.

Pictures of brats don't bother me enough to actively avoid a product. I just know that the advertising guys lack imagination and are scraping that bottom denominator but hard. It is the SOUND of brats that fry my eggs. That can literally make me sick.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

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craftyzits
It is the SOUND of brats that fry my eggs. That can literally make me sick.

Absolutely yes, especially when they pronounce words incorrectly with that moronic "toddler lisp" that most parents seem to find adorable.

especially that St Judes ad with the defective boy with the "adorwable lisp" who offers you some cheesy poly fleece "bwanket" for your $$$. And I guess that teen weird-talker with the white afro who is so loved on the Fios ads....? Yak!! Little Mr Know-it-all who tells the friend's Mom to upgrade her snacks so he will be happier eating all their food! Did I read something about him being "spayshul"?

the blanket hawker is Shiners, not St Jude. LOL I used to listen to a comedian that made fun of that ad every single week.

It’s Shriners’ Hospital, not St. Jude’s with the lisping spokeskid. But commercials for both make me wonder where are the special hospitals with adults with severe injuries and illnesses that can get treated regardless of their inability to pay?

The kid from the FiOS ads is Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things who has cleidocranial dysplasia, which affects bone and teeth growth, hence why he has a speech impediment. His front teeth haven’t grown in. That commercial is just endemic of a breed where they think it’s cute to have ill-mannered preteens/teenagers. Like the bathroom cleaner commercial where a teen girl is dying her hair purple and refuses to heed her mother. Or all these kids old enough to know better making messes and the parents just clean up after them instead of the kids showing some personal responsibility.

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"Why children take so long to grow? They eat and drink like pig and give nothing back. Must find way to accelerate process..."
- Dr. Yi Suchong, Bioshock

"Society does not need more children; but it does need more loved children. Quite literally, we cannot afford unloved children - but we pay heavily for them every day. There should not be the slightest communal concern when a woman elects to destroy the life of her thousandth-of-an-ounce embryo. But all society should rise up in alarm when it hears that a baby that is not wanted is about to be born."
- Garrett Hardin

"I feel like there's a message involved here somehow, but then I couldn't stop laughing at all the plotholes, like the part when North Korea has food."
- Youtube commentor referring to a North Korean cartoon.

"Reality is a bitch when it slowly crawls out of your vagina and shits in your lap."
- Reddit comment

"Bitch wants a baby, so we're gonna fuck now. #bareback"
- Cambion

Oh whatever. Abortion doctors are crimestoppers."
- Miss Hannigan

Yeah, that hair dye commercial is absolutely incredible. Like the adults that thought of it must be total parental Eunuchs.

I got so sick of seeing YouTube ads for pregnancy, kyds and being a parent, that I changed my sex on Google plus.

So far it's worked, I still see the one for the fertility app occasionally (which is in and of itself particularly annoying) but not on every single video like before.

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lurker-derp
I got so sick of seeing YouTube ads for pregnancy, kyds and being a parent, that I changed my sex on Google plus.

So far it's worked, I still see the one for the fertility app occasionally (which is in and of itself particularly annoying) but not on every single video like before.

I use Firefox and AdBlockPlus to kill any and all of these annoying ads.

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Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!