Blinded by the number of choices available

[Cynth]

Well, then, why can't I find a pair that fits, dang it?

[jsluder]

Well, then, why can't I find a pair that fits, dang it?

Because women can't estimate measurements any better than men...

[Cynth]

I wish that was my problem.

[djm]

The list of mens' jeans is deceiving. Its actually women who wear most of these many mens' cuts.

djm

[Brewster]

Hey Weekenders--another ice cream observation related to your post. Notice that many manufacturers don't make a half gallon size anymore? They're something like 1.75 quarts. However, I don't think the price dropped when the size dropped--just a back door price increase.

Ben & Jerry's, on the other hand, makes some "pints" that are around 20 ounces. Go figure.

[GaryKelly]

I was hunting for a birthday card for a colleague today. There were thousands to choose from. One caught my eye... one of those humourous ones. On the front it said "95% of Women think their bums are too big or look fat no matter what they wear." Teehee, I thought, pondering whether or not my (female) colleague might appreciate such a jape... until I opened the card, wherein it said "But 90% said they still loved them anyway and wouldn't think of divorcing 'em!"

It took ages to find something suitable. And nowhere was there a plain and simple "Happy Birthday" card. I did think about buying some crayons and making one meself, but I think I'm about 40 years past the point where I could get away with it.

[jsluder]

And nowhere was there a plain and simple "Happy Birthday" card.

Yep. We've started buying cards (made by local photographers) which have nice, local scenery photos on the front and are blank inside. We just write an appropriate word or three inside and call it good.

[izzarina]

Anybody else wishing the world was a simpler place?

ME!! ::waving hand wildly:: I can't stand this whole culture of consumerism (if that's what it would be called). There's just too much. I want a simpler life, and at this point I am attempting to find it. I want to find a place that isn't pure chaos to raise my family and where I can actually set down roots without all the hustle and bustle that I have where I am. I have come to the conclusion that here in the U.S. that is virtually impossible (note I said virtually....I'm sure there is some place where I can find this here, but I haven't stumbled across it yet). So I am in the process of looking elsewhere.

[izzarina]

[tell me about it...if I want decent new tires for my Mini, I have to order them either from the UK or from MiniMania.com....either way, pricey as hell...

Not to get off topic ( :roll: ), but I thought of you today, Tyler. Whilst I was out buying groceries in the mecca of Capitalism (aka: WalMart), I saw 3 Mini Coopers....two red ones and a yellow one with racing stripes. It was very cool

You all can get back on topic now, you have my permission

[The Weekenders]

Hey Weekenders--another ice cream observation related to your post. Notice that many manufacturers don't make a half gallon size anymore? They're something like 1.75 quarts. However, I don't think the price dropped when the size dropped--just a back door price increase.

Ben & Jerry's, on the other hand, makes some "pints" that are around 20 ounces. Go figure.

Yeah, I did notice that. It has also happened with some canned foods, which causes some recipes to be slightly different than planned.

The smaller ice cream containers that I have seen are kind of trapezoidal to make you think they are just as big.

Baa-aaaa-aaaa-aaaaa go the sheeple.

[Scott McCallister]

[tell me about it...if I want decent new tires for my Mini, I have to order them either from the UK or from MiniMania.com....either way, pricey as hell...

Not to get off topic ( :roll: ), but I thought of you today, Tyler. Whilst I was out buying groceries in the mecca of Capitalism (aka: WalMart), I saw 3 Mini Coopers....two red ones and a yellow one with racing stripes. It was very cool

You all can get back on topic now, you have my permission

Wal-mart sells Mini Coopers now?

[The Weekenders]

[tell me about it...if I want decent new tires for my Mini, I have to order them either from the UK or from MiniMania.com....either way, pricey as hell...

Not to get off topic ( :roll: ), but I thought of you today, Tyler. Whilst I was out buying groceries in the mecca of Capitalism (aka: WalMart), I saw 3 Mini Coopers....two red ones and a yellow one with racing stripes. It was very cool

You all can get back on topic now, you have my permission

Wal-mart sells Mini Coopers now?

Naw, but you can get 3 shrink-wrapped at Costco!

[Nanohedron]

It strikes me that unbridled diversity within product lines is a sort of bread-and-circuses phenomenon. For example, I can choose from among not only pre-flavored cream cheeses, now, but also swirled, like those red-and-white hard candy dinner mints. My life is certainly enriched in a meaningful way because of it. :roll:

[Doug_Tipple]

I agree, that the Mini Coopers are cute. However, whenever I start thinking about owning a small car again, I am reminded of why I now drive a mid-size buick (with a 4-cyl engine that gets 35 mpg). For forty years I drove over a half million miles without so much as a minor collision. Then my luck changed. A 16 year old boy made a sudden left hand turn in an intersection and hit me head-on. Both vehicles were destroyed, and we both were taken to the hospital. I got lucky with only a few broken ribs. The kid was OK, too. I didn't completely learn my lesson the first time, and I bought another small car, a Ford Escort. It wasn't long before the Ford Escort was wiped out by an 18 year old girl who had just graduated from high school. Her younger sister, who was also a passenger in the car, in a legal hearing confided to my lawyer that she was scared by how fast her sister was driving on the hilly and curvy road where the speed limit was 50 mph. Right then and there I decided that if I intended to get back on the highway, I no longer felt safe in a small car.

Freedom of choice is somewhat of a paradox. All of us like to be free to choose between options, because, after all, we do have preferences. Yet with the proliferation of choices, the anxiety of indecision creeps into the equation. When I was a kid, there was no choice in telephone service, because there was only one provider, Ma Bell. Now, I have to admit, I no longer understand what my options are. There is always the suspicion that I am not getting the best rates, which is, no doubt, true. However, I, for one, opt for maximum choices. I know exactly the kind of toothpaste that I want, yet it takes me some time to find it in the maze of choices of products on the shelf. They had better not change the package or rearrange the shelf, or I would be lost.

[Redwolf]

Nothing compares to the first meal we ate when we moved back to Santa Cruz.

Picture this...a pair of vegetarians who had lived in North Carolina for the past 10 years. When we ate at a restaurant, we were used to asking for THE (one) vegetarian item on the menu...if we were lucky and they actually HAD a vegetarian entree (more often than not it was "bring me a salad and a baked potato, please").

So we walk into the Saturn Cafe on Pacific Avenue and are handed a menu...a complete, three-page menu...of NOTHING BUT VEGETARIAN ITEMS. We nearly couldn't order...after all that time, we had no idea how to choose from among 20 or 30 acceptable options! Seriously...we sat there for 20 minutes flipping through the menu in bewilderment, trying to figure out what to do!

Redwolf