I have serious admiration for the young man in this story:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/1115004.html

He must have some serious moxie and I hope he does beautifully in school, work, and life!

Would/have you gone to such lengths to prevent or eliminate debt? I haven't and although I'd like to say I'd be willing to go so far, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and I can admit that. I'm just sayin'....

On a more personal level, yesterday was one of my set NSDs. I almost made it but not quite. When I got to work I discovered that something was desperately wrong with the heat in the store. The section I work in was hot and I mean hot! It had to be at least 82 or 88 or 112 and even with a couple of the front doors open it stayed hot all day long. Yes, ALL DAY LONG, from 7:30 to 4:00 PM! It was so hot the customers didn't stay long at all and they complained and complained.

I'd taken chili to work because chili is good in cold weather and even though in the midst of that heat and sweat I didn't want chili I ate it when lunch time came. I couldn't bear the thought of more water (since I'd been drinking it a good portion of the day to keep from dehydrating) so I bought a glass of tea. Yes, on a NSD I bought a $2.15 glass of iced tea. And damn, was it good!

Oh well, I tried and will try again today, even though it isn't Tuesday or Thursday. I only work a 4.5 hour shift and I don't have anywhere else to go so I should make it today.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

We love to barter, the man person and I. We don't get opportunities to do it as often as we'd like but we enjoy it when we get the chance and when we get a chance like the most recent one, we really enjoy it!

There's a local family owned Chinese restaurant here that we patronize on a regular basis. Mom and Dad cook and their son, daughter, and nephew run the register and wait tables. We've been going to this place for at least two years and recently the daughter asked me who made my glasses, shown here:



That gave me the chance to tell her that the frame is just a regular stock frame but the man person customized the glasses with vintage plaques from the 40's.

Here's a closeup of one of the plaques, the ribbon looking thing with some dull rhinestones in it:



I love the frame and plaques and get questions and compliments on them often.

I'm considering reworking this plaque to put better rhinestones in it but I looooove these glasses! And there isn't another pair just like 'em on the planet. They're one of a kind, just like me.

Anyway, the young woman got very excited and showed up at our office a couple of days later, ready to get some glasses.

She doesn't need prescription glasses but she picked out vintage plaques for three frames, one for sunglasses and the remaining two for regular glasses. He got non-prescription lenses for them and she came today to pick up her frames. They haggled a little and she ordered another set to be made so when the smoke clears we'll have 27 Chinese meals we didn't pay cash for!

Now that's bartering in action, folks! Do you barter? If so, how often and for what? I'd love to know more about your experiences with bartering.

If you haven't tried it, you might want to. You can get some great stuff/services for little to no money and it's a wonderful way to help one another.