Aunt Lori Alexander 23: Transformed to Evil

[saintmom]

9 hours ago, Gemini said:

Just chiming in to agree with @Curious, Your dogs are beautiful @saintmom!  So sorry to hear about Molly tho  

St Bernard's are my absolute favourite dogs! We are currently in the French Alps and this beauty is a mountain rescue dog.

He rides the funicular up to the top of the mountains every day and it's taking all my will power not to spend the day riding with him! (The other cutie is the Grandbean)

Ohhhhh I love him.  Neither of ours would EVER get off the sofa or bed to exhaust themselves with this rescue work you speak of

[Koala]

They are beautiful @saintmom.

I am so sorry about Molly.  

[LadyCrow1313]

St Bernard's are gorgeous dogs, yes. But, thanks to Stephen King, they are all named Cujo to me. (And yes, I know that not all St Bernie's are rabid psychos.)   

My brother had a Chow/Border Collie mix named Molly, & she was a very sweet dog. RIP to your Molly, @saintmom 

[crawfishgirl]

Lori has a new post on her blog about saving money.  Her hiatus didn't last long....

[Loveday]

@saintmom, welcome to FJ!  Another cat person here but I love your dogs! So sorry about Molly. 

4 minutes ago, crawfishgirl said:

Lori has a new post on her blog about saving money.  Her hiatus didn't last long....

And of  course, Lori didn't write it. What does she know about saving money?   A new 'Laine's Letter.' At least Lori credited her for it properly, for once.

[EowynW]

27 minutes ago, Loveday said:

@saintmom, welcome to FJ!  Another cat person here but I love your dogs! So sorry about Molly. 

And of  course, Lori didn't write it. What does she know about saving money?   A new 'Laine's Letter.' At least Lori credited her for it properly, for once.

Not even revolutionary info. Most of us serious about saving already do this. 

[usmcmom]

2 minutes ago, EowynW said:

Not even revolutionary info. Most of us serious about saving already do this. 

Exactly. As I was reading her list, I was thinking it might be neat to start one on FJ. I have a feeling we all have some great money saving tips.  

I also noticed that Lori could not add any of her own tips. She always just gives a vague admonition to " spend your husband's money wisely."  

[EowynW]

27 minutes ago, usmcmom said:

Exactly. As I was reading her list, I was thinking it might be neat to start one on FJ. I have a feeling we all have some great money saving tips.  

I also noticed that Lori could not add any of her own tips. She always just gives a vague admonition to " spend your husband's money wisely."  

She's above budgeting and saving because she's rich. It's us unwise undisciplined poor people who have to widen up, budget and save money. 

 

[AlwaysDiscerning]

As typical since Lori can't cite and clarify properly and her readers can't read properly someone on fb thinks its Lori that adopted a child. As if Lori would ever do that but she is getting praise for it. 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

I've never quite believed that Laine's letters were real and described an actual situation.  But assuming they are, I fully believe that the dire poverty Laine and family lived in is exactly the way Lori wants her fangirls to live.

Lori believes that extreme frugality and near abject poverty is the godly way to live -- for everyone except her. Because of course Lori, The Godly Older Woman Mentor (TM), deserves granite counter tops, expensive re-upholstered furniture, expensive sacred Norwex cloths, expensive organic food, eating out often, and 7-week vacations.  

Laine's latest letter says she makes 3 pots of tea from 1 teabag, dunking the bag twice for the first 2 pots and letting it sit for the 3rd.  I hope she meant cups, not pots, because she might as well save the tea bag and just drink the water. 

Dunking a teabag twice in a pot of hot water doesn't make tea, it makes brown-ish hot water. It does the same for a cup, so it's actually a waste of a tea bag. She would do better to let the 1 teabag steep forever, and then dilute the "super" tea with hot water to make several pots.

My English grandmother had a phrase for 2 dunks and done tea -- she called it "weak as gnat's pee".

 

[EowynW]

I can't see Lori working hard to save money. A lot the stuff she pays lip service too can be hard work. Gardening sounds easy but it's work. Preserving your own food sounds easy until your kitchen table is covered in produce that needs to be dealt with and it's just you in a tiny hot kitchen with no work space. Cooking from scratch sounds fine but it's also work. Especially if you don't have a dish washer for cleanup afterwards  

 

[usmcmom]

Lori could clarify her guest posts a little better with just a couple of extra words. The way she puts a part in quotes now makes it seem like she is merely highlighting what she considers an important part of the post; and that could include her own writing. 

What she should do is begin with "The following post is from (insert writer's name). These are a few of my favorite lines from what she writes."  And THEN she can include the excerpt. 

I think she likes to correct people and I think she likes to be mistaken for some of these other women. Let's face it, most of them write better than she does. But her method makes her look stupid and unprofessional. 

[AlwaysExcited]

Omg, Saint Bernards! Absolutely amazing dogs. Mother's friend has one -it's her 4th? saint. He is friendly and smart and lovable and just a little bit of a bastard who will use all your weaknesses against you to get extra food and cuddles, lol. 
My own beloved dog grew up in shelter. They told us she was likely lab/golden retriever mix, and at age of 10 months she looked like one. But, seeing how she turned out when she got older, she is probably Newfoundland mix. I think it's funny, because I always told everyone I want newfie or saint one day and went to shelter for a "small, short haired apartment dog, preferably male".

[Joyce]

My grandmother, granduncle, and grandaunt live on a $200 combined pension per month. This is how they live to save money.

Transport
Do not own or lease a vehicle.
Always use public transportation.
Walk if it is near or within the town.
Do not go out unless necessary.

Communication
Do not use television or internet.
Use a land line, not a cell phone.
Do not call. People can call you.

Food
Raise chickens and collect eggs.
Raise trees and harvest fruits.
Plant and harvest vegetables.
Store rice and corn, sell excess.
Prepare enough food for a day.

Electricity
Use fans and lights only. 
Cook daily with firewood.
Do not use a refrigerator.
Eat supper before sunset.
Sleep early or before dark.

[louisa05]

3 hours ago, crawfishgirl said:

Lori has a new post on her blog about saving money.  Her hiatus didn't last long....

Wasn't it supposed to be a couple of weeks? What has it been? Four days? 

She lasted longer than with the skirts only thing anyway. Her will power is improving. Sort of. 

[AlwaysDiscerning]

This comment was deleted. Caught it about 2 hours ago and its gone now. I am getting good at guessing what will disappear. How dare this guy mention its costly to live in CA. 

[Loveday]

57 minutes ago, louisa05 said:

Wasn't it supposed to be a couple of weeks? What has it been? Four days? 

She lasted longer than with the skirts only thing anyway. Her will power is improving. Sort of. 

It was supposed to be a week, which she posted on June 30th, and then TWO DAYS later posted one of her notebook doodles. And now, three days after that, another post. The addiction is strong with this one. 

[quiversR4hunting]

16 hours ago, louisa05 said:

<snipped> They would always go to great lengths to explain that non-Christians (which included all Catholics and mainline Protestants as well as those of non-Christian religions or no religious affiliation) <snipped>

As a Catholic, this can drive me INSANE and other times I laugh it off over their ignorance.

One time I was taken aback was at a Girl Scout meeting (I am the troop leader) one of the girls was adopted by a preacher and his wife (her and her brothers). She said during a meeting something about Catholics not being Christian. I looked at her and said yes, they are , believe in 1 God, Jesus risen from the dead, etc and the Catholic church was the first western Christian religion. She argued, thankfully a ex-Catholic dad (who is now a church hopping evangelic ish type Christian) was in the room and he explained it to her in evangelical terms. Her dad preached/preaches (not sure they moved away) at a small Baptist type church. (not IFB but they don't believe in musical instruments during church services) After all this happened, I think I got a slight look into why the parents biological, adult children were not around much even though they lived less than 5 miles away.

Back to talking about money saving ideas. I know one! Don't buy an iphone. I know a 2nd one - don't by $70 skirts. 3rd idea - don't go on vacation for 7 weeks. Gee the list just makes its self!

@ChickenettiLuvr love your Door County sighting recaps!

[Joyce]

Did Lori and Ken go to a beach or wedding recently?

On July 5, she published two posts on modesty.

On July 4, she posted a link about gay weddings.

These were in the Facebook chat room.

More money saving ideas:

Don't spend your health insurance money to remodel your kitchen.

Don't waste your husband's retirement savings to make posts viral.

Don't use your hard earned money on clutter.

[louisa05]

24 minutes ago, quiversR4hunting said:

As a Catholic, this can drive me INSANE and other times I laugh it off over their ignorance.

I worked in an evangelical Christian school for six years. Nine years after I left there, I converted to Catholicism. The people I still kept in touch with from the Christian school had quite a lot to say about that and it got pretty ugly, to be honest. A couple grudgingly accepted it. One who did told me that I was probably "already saved" so it would not affect me that way. Another rationalized that I was only doing it because I had to to marry my Catholic husband. When I explained that I did not have to and that I had considered doing it much earlier but had not because of the time commitment (RCIA is a big time commitment!), she cut me off for awhile, too. 

Quote

Back to talking about money saving ideas. I know one! Don't buy an iphone. I know a 2nd one - don't by $70 skirts. 3rd idea - don't go on vacation for 7 weeks. Gee the list just makes its self!

I bought an iPhone last fall. The sub app that gets me jobs would not download on my shitty Samsung phone and I was using it on my iPod. But that meant that I could only grab jobs when I had wi-fi. So I gave up and bought an iPhone. The cheapest one--an SE. $399. I booked 3.5 sub days in the first hour it was connected and I was not at home and would not have booked them without it. At $130 a day--boom, phone paid for and a little more. And I ended up working about 2.5 times the days I have in previous school years. 

This is why I get sick of the one size fits all budget recommendations that float around the web. The list she has up to day has a lot of useless advice for my circumstances. Use public transportation is on almost every list I've ever seen--for most people in the Midwest, that is an option that barely exists or does not exist at all. 

But lazy Lori still didn't need an iPhone. 

[Imrlgoddess]

55 minutes ago, quiversR4hunting said:

As a Catholic, this can drive me INSANE and other times I laugh it off over their ignorance.

One time I was taken aback was at a Girl Scout meeting (I am the troop leader) one of the girls was adopted by a preacher and his wife (her and her brothers). She said during a meeting something about Catholics not being Christian.

I feel your pain!  I got into this same argument with a fellow at MOS school years ago.  He was totally convinced that Catholics are not Christian.  I can't remember what his logic was, but we ended up having to drop it because it was getting ugly.  I want to say it had something to do with Catholics revering Paul as the first Pope and therefore putting he/them above Christ?  I don't know, I may be remembering wrong but it was definitely an issue.

 

ETA:  Money saving:  I'm currently in love with the Ibotta app as well as my Albertson's app which gives me all the current coupons and Chevron fuel discounts.  I use Plenti also, it covers deals at multiple stores as well as Exxon/Mobile.  We drive trucks, so affordable fuel is a must!

[EowynW]

58 minutes ago, Imrlgoddess said:

I feel your pain!  I got into this same argument with a fellow at MOS school years ago.  He was totally convinced that Catholics are not Christian.  I can't remember what his logic was, but we ended up having to drop it because it was getting ugly.  I want to say it had something to do with Catholics revering Paul as the first Pope and therefore putting he/them above Christ?  I don't know, I may be remembering wrong but it was definitely an issue.

 

ETA:  Money saving:  I'm currently in love with the Ibotta app as well as my Albertson's app which gives me all the current coupons and Chevron fuel discounts.  I use Plenti also, it covers deals at multiple stores as well as Exxon/Mobile.  We drive trucks, so affordable fuel is a must!

I love the Flipp app too. Walmart ad matches. In Texas we have brookshires and they run great meat sales. Love their app. Love Aldis. 16 cent eggs. 

I shop every two weeks.  I just spent $116 on food for the two of us for two weeks and that included meat sales that will make up meals for the last two weeks of the month. No trader joe  or Whole Foods for me but I manage to keep us fed and me fed gluten/sugar free in a healthy decently affordable way. 

[Loveday]

Lori's sticking to safe subjects for her 'first day back.' Now she's talking about the importance of reading the Bible. As a believer in Jesus, I can't argue with that. I can, however, argue with her interpretation of said Bible. 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

Gas Buddy will tell you the cheapest gas prices in your area, no matter where you are.

Adding:

I think the thing that annoys/ concerns/ floors me the most about people like Laine and most of Lori's fangirls who practice the extreme frugality/ grinding near poverty lifestyle is that they are more than happy to condemn their children to the same life long struggle.

Most of them are home schoolers of the SOTDT ilk who Do Not believe in college or trade school for their children.  I've read a number of them who have already curtailed schooling and put their 13-14 year old sons to work part-time (or more) in the hubby's business. -- usually something very physical and dangerous like roofing, logging, heavy machinery, etc,  Girls of course are busy being sister mommies, helping keep house, and being trained to be quiverfull bots.

Given the spotty, haphazard education they receive, I bet it very rare for a child to break away, attend college/trade school and get a good paying job. So you have the next gen, with even less education and opportunities than the parents, repeating the cycle. By the time you get to the 3rd gen (grandchildren) the odds of breaking out of poverty are practically nil.

 And of course, things get more expensive over time, so it will be harder and harder to survive in the 1 paycheck/ 10 kids/ all debt is ebil mindset.

What kind of parent wants to ensure their children live in poverty of the rest of their lives? What kind of parent works hard to make that happen?

I seem to remember that Laine and hub raised 7 (10?) children on $30K/yr -- which is the most he ever earned.  This was back in the 1980s. Even then she wrote about multiple holes in the wood flooring covered by old carpet; the whole house barely heated by a wood stove, and the extreme steps she took to live, pay off the house and put money aside   $30K didn't go very far them and it doesn't go nearly as far now. 

Edited to add:  I went to school with children whose parents were sharecroppers.  The overriding goal of those parents was that the children would get up, get out and do better.  They sent the children to public school and encouraged studying to get scholarships -- especially the parents who had little or no schooling themselves. These people were of the penecostal/ fundie/ strict Baptist branches of Christianity.  Believers all of them, but fierce in their determination that their children get ahead.  And by golly they did.

[EowynW]

@Red Hair, Black Dress amen. This will be our goal for our kids if we have them. Our fundie parents are slightly put out by our desire to limit family size, but it gets harder to raise a family every year. We've gotten so much flak for using our brains andtrying to live within our means, even in the area of family planning.