Remembering Elliana: Shopping for School Clothes

Thinking back, I don't recall ever shopping for school clothes, except for taking the girls to the store and picking them up. By the time my ex departed for the east coast, the girls were able to get what they needed with me only needing to provide money and transportation. 

Taking Elliana out to get school clothes, then, had to be my first effort at buying school clothes. 

It was also my last!

Remembering Elliana: Christmas Shopping at The Dollar Store

It would have been the Christmas of 2008 when I had the idea to take Elliana to The Dollar Store so she could buy presents for people who were going to be giving her presents. Rose went with us to get some stocking stuffers for her kids, but I think she had some idea about what was going to happen and wanted to see it.

We grabbed a cart and headed off toward the gifts for her grandparents, her uncles, and her mom and dad. Rose headed off on her own. 

We grabbed some of the goodies at the entrance, and then headed off for the candles. Before we got there, though, we ran into some stuff that would go along with the candles and other gifts. This continued on after the candles. We headed for the keychains, but we stopped along the way to get some other stuff for some other friends. 

My Apology to Walmart

"When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?" - John Maynard Keynes 

For decades, Walmart has stood as the symbol of capitalism gone awry. For some time, it earned the symbolic relationship by manipulating markets and cutting out competition for market share.

However, the facts have changed. It is time for me to not only change my mind, but to offer Walmart my sincere apology for not recognizing how far the company has come in producing a marketplace that competes with Amazon, and is greener and less greedy than what Bezos has set up, exploiting everyone from consumers to partners to employees.