Always low prices

[GaryKelly]

Do I hear the distant rumbling of an oncoming Poll?

Or, setting aside my prescriptivist hat and donning a descriptivist one, do eye here the distant rumbling of an oncoming pole?

[hyldemoer]

Walmart doesn't disturb me half as much as the people who shop there.

What do they need all that stuff for
and why do they behave like they're hunting for it in the jungle?

[fearfaoin]

Aha. It's the different spelling between the two that gives it away, isn't it?

The problem is that America has embraced the schwa. I frequently
see "then" used when "than" is meant, but not the other way around,
because we generally use a similar "e" sound for both (I assume this
is regional, though).

i.e., I will often see "This is better then that," but have seldom seen
"I got up, than brushed my teeth." I'm sure it happens, though.

[Wanderer]

I don't mind shopping at my local Walmart.

The groceries are generally of good quality, though like any store they can occasionally get a bad run of something. I'm very picky about my food, and wouldn't buy groceries at walmart if they weren't of decent quality.

Interestingly, the Walmart near my house has plenty of "specialty" items like pre-packaged prosciutto and pancetta, Chinese black rice, sushi rice, kalijira rice, couscous, mangos, and other foods that even just a few years ago you would have a hard time finding in any grocery store. They have started carrying decent fresh-cut herbs as well, though the basil was a little wilted last time I looked.

Generally speaking, I buy staple foods from walmart. They're cheaper than the somewhat closer grocery store, and the quality is as good, and sometimes the range of selection is better.

If I need hard to find specialty items like creme fraische or demi glace, or want something of especially good quality (like if I'm making lamb, or seafood), I'll shop at Whole Foods, HEB Central Market, or other high-dollar organic food store. This seems like pretty normal behavior to me.

Walmart clothes and stuff are cheaper partly because they are of lesser quality. This is even true of the same brand of clothing..I've read that Levis uses cheaper materials for Walmart jeans than the same jeans sold at the Gap. If you can live with this, that's fine. I buy shoes twice a year at Walmart for $8.00 ($16/year) before I started doing that, I used to wear more expensive shoes from the local suit store at $72.00...they would last me about three years before needing repair or replacement ($24/year). I keep a pair of the nicer shoes on hand in case I need to dress up, because they do indeed look nicer, and I can wear the cheaper ones for general usage without worrying about wearing out good shoes. For what it's worth, my $12 Walmart shirts have generally held up better than the Roundtree & Yorke shirts I've bought from Dillards...which annoys me considerably as they cost between $50-70 a shirt.

My wife has a bit more of an activist mentality, and so chooses not to shop at Walmart because her sensibilities are offended by many of the same things mentioned here. She shops at Target, which is even a little further away. And this seems acceptable to me too...everyone exercising the right to spend their dollars where they want for whatever reason they want.

As for "then" and "than", I have only experienced them being used interchangeably by elementary school children and one guy I knew who was nearly illiterate. But that may be a regional thing.

[izzarina]

Cran, if you had used the phrase "In my experience" instead of "In popular usage", I'd be perfectly happy with this post.

I'm not certain I would. Those words have very different meanings.

They are also completely differing parts of speech. THAN is a subordinating conjunction and is used to make comparisons. I have also found that it can also be used as a preposition (Shakespeare did this: " A man no mightier than myself or me." or John Milton: "Beelzebub...than whom, Satan except, none higher sat."). THEN is more often than not used as an adverb that tells about time. It can also mean "therefore". There are a few instances where THEN can be used as a noun (example: Since then he's been more cautious), although that's not typically how we use it.

I do wonder, though, how long it will be before we just make it so that they are indeed interchangeable. Look at the phrase by-the-bye. That is the correct way to write it, but since no one ever seemed to know that the second bye was spelled with an "e", many people spelled it without the "e". Now either form is acceptable in American English, which I find to be irksome. Of course the Queen's variety tends to look less "favourably" upon innovations such as these

By the bye, I'm not a Shakespearean or Miltonian scholar...those were the examples given in Webster's 10th Collegiate dictionary

[Lorenzo]

This sounds yummy. If you have the recipe (measurements or their ball park figures) I'd appreciate a copy before you sign off the net.

I've been out half the morning playing kitten whisperer...taming wild kittens.

I learned this recipe from my wifes sister's mother-in-law.

1 qt. water
¼ cup raw almonds (boil for 5 min. to remove skins)
¼ cup raw cashews
dash of vanilla
1 tablespoon favorite sweetener (sucrose, honey, maple syrup, etc.)
salt to taste

place in high speed blender for about 5 minutes

Here's some comments about nut milks...different recipes and procedures.
http://www.paleofood.com/nmilks.htm

from - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=almond+milk+recipe

[Lambchop]

I do have a problem with Cran using the phase "In popular usage" because I do not think he has enough data to know what "popular usage" comprises.

Gonzo, let's just move that thesaurus over to the shelf, shall we? It looks as though we may need room for one more on the couch shortly . . . I think Martin may be joining us . . .

[Caj]

The local merchants actually can operate successfully in spite of Wal-Mart by offering products and services Wal-Mart doesn't. Special orders, repairs, high-quality items, advice, etc. It takes some figuring out, but it is not impossible.

Heh heh heh. Back in DeKalb, IL, after the big box stores opened out on the highway, main street evolved (or reduced?) to just businesses that don't compete with Wal-mart: a head shop, night clubs, and the Paperback Grotto, one of those stores with opaque windows and video booths in the back.

It's funny how Wal-Mart can sculpt the character of a downtown by deciding what they're not going to sell 5 miles away.

Anyway, I don't have to wrestle with the question of whether to buy at Wal-Mart: I've started doing all my errands on bicycle, for both exercise and scenic views, and all the big-box stores are way out on Rte 434, out of reach. The only in-town major franchise is CVS, and I shop there just in hopes that one day nobody will be at the register, so I can call into the PA system: "cvs checkout hyphen h, cvs checkout hyphen h."

Also, I echo Wanderer's observation about clothing. I've noticed that shirts from the Gap or Banana Republic are flimsy and often fray to uselessness. With clothing, it's hard to find a quality product anywhere.

Caj

[Cynth]

That is the way of capitalism.

I agree, and hence my problem in it's entirety

Okay, izzy, I can see where you are coming from now.

The local merchants actually can operate successfully in spite of Wal-Mart by offering products and services Wal-Mart doesn't. Special orders, repairs, high-quality items, advice, etc. It takes some figuring out, but it is not impossible.

Heh heh heh. Back in DeKalb, IL, after the big box stores opened out on the highway, main street evolved (or reduced?) to just businesses that don't compete with Wal-mart: a head shop, night clubs, and the Paperback Grotto, one of those stores with opaque windows and video booths in the back.

It's funny how Wal-Mart can sculpt the character of a downtown by deciding what they're not going to sell 5 miles away.

I don't know why, but our town sure doesn't have any stores like those!!! Maybe people don't think it would go over because people want to be anonymous when they go in those places. And they wouldn't be here!

I think different towns might be affected differently. We did lose a nice drugstore downtown, although I am really not sure why, but the other old businesses are still there and the others keep going in and out of business just like always, even before Wal-Mart. We've never had a bookstore stay in business, there just aren't enough people. And now amazon.com would make it impossible I think. The bookstores just never had anything I was interested in. But we have a good shoe store, a nice women's clothing store, a good paint and flooring store, a good hardware store, a great fabric and yarn shop---and they all sell things of higher quality than Wal-Mart and they offer advice or repairs or something special.

Also, I echo Wanderer's observation about clothing. I've noticed that shirts from the Gap or Banana Republic are flimsy and often fray to uselessness. With clothing, it's hard to find a quality product anywhere.

Caj

I don't like the styles of Wal-Mart's clothes and I figured they would be flimsy. But I have to say that one summer I was desperate for some baggy lightweight cotton drawstring pants and I got a couple of pairs there for $12 each. I have been wearing them almost constantly for several summers now. I really am quite surprised. It may just be that particular item, I realize. I haven't bought any other clothes there.

I can find good quality clothing if I want to pay for it. I bought my husband a ridiculously expensive flannel shirt once. It was a completely different thing than your ordinary flannel shirt in terms of the finishing and in how it came out of the dryer--not all puckered in the seams and things. It really was beautiful and very sturdy. But I can't bring myself to spend that much on clothes.

[lilymaid]

We have this little organic food co-op that's a bit cheaper. It's a good idea, really.

Honestly, I won't shop at Walmart if I can help it. My groceries come from a local market. (Or sometimes evil Whole Foods, I'm afraid, due to the variety of odd things I can find there and the fact that it's on my way home from work.) I try to buy organic when I can afford it, too. I just watch what I cook, mostly. If you keep it to less expensive ingredients (tofu, lentils, rice, whatever interesting things you find on sale), it helps a lot. I can make supper out of stuff from the natural foods market for about $8.00 for the two of us and still have some left over for breakfast.

I've also found our local natural foods market is actually pretty darn inexpensive when it comes to a lot of things- bulk spices, tea, tofu, and such. Cheaper than the regular market a lot of the time.