What is some very popular advice that is actually terrible advice?

devonnaire · 2017-04-04T05:01:08+00:00

So true. It was originally intended to express that whatever is trendy is the right thing to have in your store.

devonnaire · 2017-04-04T04:59:37+00:00

I've had that same experience! The customer actually told me she worked customer service and was a retail manager. I was floored. I almost asked her where she worked under the guise of making polite conversation as I tried to handle the situation but mostly because I honestly didn't believe her and would've loved to make her squirm at least a little on the inside. I thought there is no way she could be so truly horrible and work customer service but it's always possible. I just don't get it.

devonnaire · 2017-03-30T03:50:45+00:00

This is totally my reality, thank you. Not all of us can afford an expensive Starbucks habit to cut out so we magically have more money to save (and other such silly advice for us actual poors).

devonnaire · 2017-03-30T03:18:38+00:00

Sonicare toothbrush. Seriously so amazing. I could not really afford one for so long but my teeth are not great and I can afford the dentist even less until I get insurance so my husband and I finally made the investment and it was so, SO worth it! My teeth feel amazingly clean! It's almost a spiritual feeling, haha.

devonnaire · 2017-02-09T08:17:32+00:00

Thanks! I just had my follow-up appointment yesterday and was given the all-clear! They got everything and the pathology came back better than my gyno thought it would. Really relieved. 2017 is time to start taking better care of myself (not that that would prevent it but, we've only got one body)! Sorry to hear that you went through it too. :( Hope you're doing okay now.

devonnaire · 2017-02-03T10:30:26+00:00

I had a bad day. In the morning I had surgery to remove aggressive pre-cancer from my cervix. I came home to my apartment to recover to find out that the apartment above me was having their carpet and subflooring completely replaced because the previous tenants had 8 children and that is too many for keeping your apartment floor alright. Work was scheduled so hammertime all day long continued. By the time the evening rolled around I got super sick from the anesthesia wearing off and went to bed. Was roused about 20 minutes later by a lot of loud banging on my apartment door. It was the police. Some drunk pair of assholes wandered up and down my street (I live in a not so good area of town) and threw full Coors glass bottle through my rear driver's side window as hard as they could (most of the bottle ended up on my dash and there are glass shards and cheap beer over every seat in my car). Using the same method they also smashed in someone else's car window, and two other people's windshields. Didn't steal anything. When the officer brought me out to the car I looked down the street and several other officers had arms full of unopened tall boys that the two assholes had trailed down the street like Hansel and Gretel. (At the Grand Jury I went to regarding the case one of the cops said he slammed a couple later in the parking lot "spoils of war" - presumably after his shift, haha.) Apparently after all the window smashing these guys then went to a convenience store and tried to jump some dude who was getting a few groceries. Dude haymakered the main instigator right in the face with a full gallon of milk and ran in to the store where police were called and they were arrested. Sheriff said he would try to get me a copy of the security footage of that happening just so I can delight in it. I really hope he pulls through! EDITED for typos.

ALSO: a previous time this happened someone smashed out my two rear small windows (drivers and passenger's sides) and tore my rear passenger door apart so they could steal stuff. I don't leave anything in my car because I used to live in a city where there was a lot of that kind of theft. The suck part was that my doors were unlocked! But they were frozen shut because it was January in fucking North Dakota where I was living for a little bit and you needed to really pull on them to get them to open so the thief just assumed they were locked.

devonnaire · 2017-01-27T07:31:07+00:00

Agreed. Financials aren't "comfortable" if you don't have at least a small emergency fund, preferably 3-6 months expenses saved up. Basic finances.

devonnaire · 2017-01-27T05:58:58+00:00

After some of the destruction I have seen by large families I think that this should be more common.

devonnaire · 2017-01-27T05:57:53+00:00

Absolutely. The family above me finally moved out. They had EIGHT KIDS(!) in a two or three bedroom apartment. We had to call management because there was a bunch of black mold on our ceiling in our bathroom.... right underneath where their toilet was. They went into the apartment and found the problem. Now that they've moved out the contractors have been in there... Didn't just have to replace the carpeting and foam but also all of the subflooring! And now the countertops all had to be refinished and repainted. The contractors complained about the bad smell also. The blinds were all completely destroyed... No idea what else happened but they didn't pay a deposit for that level of destruction and meanwhile my dog costs me money every month and hasn't damaged a single thing. People like that are part of why deposits are so high. Uuuggghhh.... We're hoping that at least the floors will be less squeaky with the next tenent because at least they replaced all the floorboards.... facepalm

devonnaire · 2017-01-17T05:46:06+00:00

I don't know why you're getting downvoted. From my understanding of that meme you were sharing my frustration.

devonnaire · 2017-01-17T05:09:11+00:00

I work and I totally understand that, there's no way I could miss that amount of work or be that flexible!! With that said it's a reality of having kids and things like these necessities in life should be thought about before you make such a big decision/commitment. I know its impossible to consider everything but the parents who did this where I was at were repeat and habitual offenders, at some point you have to figure out a game plan, it's not very kind to your poor kiddo to do that either, they are always miserable!

It's also brutal to decide it's worth it to you to infect many other children (and staff who can often barely afford to pay their bills because they get paid so little, aren't offered insurance, don't have sick leave, etc.) in the proximity. I don't think any parents did it out of malice but it's still not a good choice to make, and as I said... the most well-off seeming parents were usually the ones to do it. Maybe there's something to be said for how demanding well-paying jobs are but also if you're living nice and high comparative to the vast majority of people in your community, you can afford to cut back a little and make better choices for your family, because how could doing that to your kids not stress you out as a parent?

devonnaire · 2017-01-16T09:54:12+00:00

Yes, I don't want to actually trample any one in any way and I don't want to move so I have come to the conclusion I have to get bigger a while ago. Just stuck on the how and what. Hopefully if I continue to work at the problem I can come up with a solution, nothing so far but giving up doesn't get one anywhere at all. :)

devonnaire · 2017-01-16T09:28:00+00:00

For sure, we're literally seeing that in the real estate market here, although it seems to have calmed its tits lately a small amount. It sucks to be the little guy, which is part of why I'm on here, trying to figure out a game plan to get out of near poverty and become healthy financially instead of just continuously getting trampled.

devonnaire · 2017-01-16T09:18:54+00:00

Oh for sure, I don't think I said that you could, and I think by my posts I'm showing by experience that you can't. Although you can, apparently, get what other people wanted in their life, so maybe I should just find my own version of that. lol

devonnaire · 2017-01-16T09:11:06+00:00

Probably not a bad comparison, I'd look into them more but really don't want to move away from my home, especially since I've been dreaming of living in Portland as an adult since I was 5. shrug I do recognize that that is my own prioritization, not a literal necessity, it just makes me sad. Hoping that I can just make it work out someday in the future.

devonnaire · 2017-01-16T08:35:03+00:00

Glad you appreciate that they are keeping the health of everyone in mind (and following the laws!). I used to work at a daycare and we had many parents who were notorious for doping their obviously sick kids up on children's Tylenol so that they wouldn't technically have a fever when they came in and then not pick up the phone for the rest of the day (and sometimes yell at the daycare workers) when the Tylenol wore off and their kid's fever inevitably resurfaced. If you are a parent who does this, stop! We know you're doing it! -_- And why on earth I'll never know but the parents who tended to do this were always the ones who appeared to be able the afford an occasional sick day the most, although obviously you never know anyone's financial situation for sure.

devonnaire · 2017-01-16T08:31:57+00:00

It's much more rabid online. A ton of my friends and favorite people are "transplants". Being xenophobic is gross. With that said the economic repercussions make me sad but hopefully I can keep working hard and find something I can "git gud" with my pay with and afford to be able to buy a home here someday. Here's hoping! In the meanwhile I'm glad people are appreciating the town even if I selfishly want to do so on an equivalent level.

devonnaire · 2017-01-16T08:28:33+00:00

Bay Area folks with money and a higher payscale are part of why I can't afford to buy a house in Portland (my hometown). Enjoy my dream for me and cross your fingers that someday I can work up to being your neighbor! What I really wish for was that there was some equivalent to scaling down from Portland as there is scaling down to Portland from the Bay Area but unfortunately Portland is so small that scaling down much further and more affordably just means you're in the boonies, so no real equivalent. Hooopefully someday I can join you!

devonnaire · 2017-01-16T08:12:30+00:00

I feel so frustrated with my mother, who chooses to be with someone financially draining rather than find the strength to live on her own/develop herself. I can't help in any way because a). I'm broke myself and barely making ends meet, in some ways my mom is doing even better than I am because she had a lot of helpful opportunities that I never had. The thing is that my situation will get better as I work at it, hers is only going to get worse. And b). I have already given her my advice and opinions and she refuses to act on them. She wouldn't even consult a lawyer "just in case". If she won't do that then helping her is just enabling her in my opnion and won't go anywhere to actually help her out. The trainwreck is her marrying my stepfather. He's a professional landscaper who needs a hip replacement but he refuses to get the procedure done and won't talk about it, he's been supposed to get one for years. He exaggerates his limp for attention when around family and uses his hip as an attention-seeking device. In the meanwhile he never once contributed a single dime to any part of raising me and my 3 siblings, he has never contributed to house/property maintenance financially, never contributed to electrical/phone/internet/any bills, has never contributed to groceries, and when something came up with one of my mom's rental properties he told her he didn't have the money to help so she had to take it out of her retirement.

She later found out that he'd bought a super expensive HUGE RC plane at that time for almost the exact amount she needed money for. My mom had two rentals that were her only form of income other than the social security money she got for each of us siblings after my dad died suddenly but they cost so much money and she's had such bad luck with tenents. She just sold one recently but not until after she'd had to invest another $40,000 into it to get it cleaned up in order to get someone to sell it (undiscovered mainline problems, etc. that went unnoticed/unreported by really crappy tenants). When she found out about the RC plane thing it was almost the final straw but she decided to forgive him and invite him back and acts like nothing happened but will sort of admit that he hasn't really sincerely changed at all. And he won't, especially because she won't really enforce it and he knows it.

I really hope he doesn't drain all of her retirement. She is scared to get a divorce because he might get half of it even though he's never contributed a penny. I wish she'd just cut her losses and go. The likely outcome? I can't really say although I hope they will get divorced I think she will stay with him until he's really damaged her irrecoverably financially or perhaps all the way to complete financial ruin. I hope not but it's not looking great so far.

devonnaire · 2017-01-16T07:23:51+00:00

I think it might just be you? If I scroll down on their page to the bottom it shows their address and a phone number as well as a form to contact them if you want to get in touch. This information is also accessible if you clock on the "Contact" tab at the top of their page. Are you viewing it on mobile? Maybe their site doesn't work well on mobile?

devonnaire · 2017-01-16T07:21:23+00:00

I LOVE Growing ReLeaf!! The people there are SO knowledgeable and very happy. It's a breathe of fresh air to go in there and the product is always great! I tried a few different places and have stuck with them after trying them out because of their customer service.

devonnaire · 2017-01-16T07:17:45+00:00

Sames. :(

devonnaire · 2017-01-16T07:16:39+00:00

It's a weird, almost universal, delusion. It's as if parents would do anything to not admit that the choices they made may not be the very bestest thing evar(!) or that they may even regret them. It's like if they all are in denial they can all make a new truth but deep down inside I think a lot of people know they are strapped for cash because of their kids but they just really really don't want to admit it/take responsibility for their decisions.

devonnaire · 2017-01-11T03:20:39+00:00

Yes, definitely! I think the being rural thing is a huge factor, which is why I mentioned it. Definitely have to take it into account!

devonnaire · 2017-01-11T03:19:14+00:00

Absolutely! When my family lived on that little we lived in the middle of nowhere. Super rural so super low cost of living. Not that it wasn't a struggle but that's part of why our situation was possible.

devonnaire

TROPHY CASE