Ah, VanRamblings harkens for the carefree days when we were earning in excess of $100,000 a year, with nary a worry about the cost of things.
Halcyon days, those.
As a senior living on a fixed income (although we live in a housing co-op — even if they do think we’re a commie pinko who wishes them ill cuz we kinda think that having a social conscience goes hand-in-hand with living in a co-op, or whereas a neighbour said to us the other day, “We’re not social workers, y’know” — if nothing else, if the co-op’s finances are in order, one’s housing charge amounts to only 30% of one’s income. Whatever the politics, that’s an argument in favour of housing co-ops, all by itself.
Living in a co-op gives VanRamblings a break on our housing charge when all is said and done. As a retired person out of the economy, we’ve become pretty darn frugal. Can’t tell you how much we love putting every cent we spend into an Excel household expenses spread sheet we created, divided into categories, and under each category, sorted by expenditure item.
As is the case with most North Americans, we enjoy our first cup of coffee in the morning. But no Nespresso for us, though, no sirree, bob.
The last time we were in the market for a coffee maker (the carafe on our previous coffee maker, the one you see at the top of this post, got a crack in it after six years of daily use), we went looking for a new coffee maker at London Drugs — but prices ranged from $39.99 all the way up to a dear $219.99. Hey, we want a coffee maker, not a new car with fancy gadgets!
What to do, what to do? We loved our reliable old Black & Decker SmartBrew 5-Cup Coffee Maker — but who sells ’em anymore? We looked high and low, and finally we found what we’d been searching for at Canadian Tire, the only retail outlet in town that carries the Black & Decker SmartBrew, and for only $18.99, too, with can’t live without features like …
- A compact footprint, great for condos and apartments;
- A personal size 5-cup capacity, with an easy to clean one piece cover, and water level indicator for easy filling;
- A Duralife Glass Carafe, with sturdy handle & reinforced glass; and
- A removable filter basket for easy cleaning, and a retractable cord for easy storage;
Remember how we were mentioning the Nespresso awhile back?
VanRamblings may be a pauper, but we’re no piker. We like our coffee fancy like everybody else. Yep, we sure as the dickens like to see that foam, and make believe that we can afford one of dem dere fancy coffees when they’re not on sale at McDonald’s. “Ma, pick up some kindlin’, would ya?”
So, how to get foam in your coffee, and not have to rob a bank?
Yep, we recommend the Aerolatte milk frother, only $29.99 at Bed Bath and Beyond, reliable, hard-working, makes foam for your coffee like you wouldn’t believe, and although it takes batteries, you can always employ an inexpensive battery charger. If you’re gonna go to Bed Bath and Beyond, we recommend you sign up with them (which one of the staff will do for you), and use one of those 20% off coupons that they give away on the spot, and every couple of weeks. If you sign up with five e-mail accounts, you get five 20% of coupons. Parsimony, thy name is Raymond Tomlin.
Hallelujah!
Not to end today’s post on a downer note — which we would never do, cuz we’re just about the happiest and most joy-filled guy on the planet; a miraculous recovery from cancer will do that for you, y’know? — but it seems that we’re lactose intolerant (we’re sorta intolerant, too, of folks who lack the milk of human kindness in the way they choose to lead their lives). No milk for us. Oh, we could drink milk, eat yogurt, cheese, etc. but then we’d get an upset tummy; not worth it, we say. So, it’s no dairy for us, although we’ve found a great foaming alternative for our coffee (almond milk doesn’t do the trick, you really need So Nice Barista Blend).
So Nice Barista Blend is a 92% organic soy beverage, foams to beat the band, and seems to be exclusively available at Choices Market, only $2.49 for a 946ml carton. We love it in our morning coffee, an utter joy for us!
Monday to Friday, ever week, VanRamblings publishes content related to the upcoming 2018 Vancouver civic election, the link in VanRamblings’ header above, in the rectangular box, containing the words Vancouver Votes 2018. Tell your friends, let ’em know that some pretty skookum election coverage may be found on VanRamblings. Oh sure, we know — ”Election coverage, what’s that?” your friends will say. Yes, you get to roll your eyes when they say that — just don’t be too obvious about it, cuz we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Still, it’d be nice if more folks got involved in attempting to influence the conditions of their lives, and the lives all of the folks around them who share this planet.
Fridays on VanRamblings, we present arts coverage. Saturdays, it’s time for the VanRamblings “Raymond reveals it all” Stories of a Life feature, where you will learn more than you could ever want to learn about the fellow who publishes this blog. Sundays? It’s catch-as-catch-can, although we seem to be focusing on food & health-related items.
VanRamblings expects to see you back here every day. You wouldn’t want to hurt our feelings, would you? Didn’t think you would.
See ya back here tomorrow.
