I live a block from trader joes, so I do most of my shopping there. Sometimes go to Safeway or QFC (aka Kroger) if I want brand names like Coke or specific products or whatever.

Sue that sucks! I thought Canada and the U.K. were tighter on being able to work in ragh other's country!

Right now I'm doing a combination of Stop'n'Shop and Freshdirect. Once I get my basement chest freezer I can start doing serious Costco shopping again.

I shop at Big Y most of the time, which I hate, but it is the only supermarket in town. When I have more time and energy, I go to Shaw's in the city because the prices are much better. I go to Trader Joe's about once a month to stock up on things I prefer to get there. And when there are no spoons left and I need all the things (like this week) I place a Peapod order. I also go to the local butcher for various things.

I am kind of tempted by this skirt. And I don't even wear skirts ....

I thought Canada and the U.K. were tighter on being able to work in each other's country!

Well that's the crazy thing, I was eligible to apply because I am a citizen of a Commonwealth country. You would think being eligible to apply would mean they would follow through with hiring, and sponsoring for a visa, but no. For the visa I need, they need to show there's not an UK citizen able to do the job, so I suspect there was probably a suitable runner-up.

Ironically, NAFTA means that if I got a library job, I could get a US work visa easily.

Suzi, thanks for maintaining that respectful Q&A space. Though I feel more confused than ever now!

I asked your cousin M. for his thoughts on Trump's use of Mexican and overseas factories for branded menswear, barware and furniture lines as well as the campaign trucker caps; if encouraging domestic industries and creating jobs for US workers is so important, it seems like an odd choice. Probably a sensible one in terms of the financial bottom line and profit margin, but it still seems dodgy to insist that we all need to be doing what he isn't even bothering to do himself (especially when all of Clinton's official campaign swag is US made.)

And his answer just makes me scratch my head: "It is, but as a business man, it makes sense to outsource, vs. building a factory that doesn't exist, or being taxed at over 30%. Big business is struggling in the US, and until he can take the wheel, it makes sense to outsource."

I'm not going to pursue it because he's really been super-nice and respectful (unsurprising in a person related to Suzi), but shit. If that was my candidate (especially if her opponent had made a *point* of doing the very thing she was insisting we all need to do but not doing herself), I'd be mightily P.O.'d, not shrugging and "oh, well"-ing it off.

Makes me feel like I've been trying to work out a math puzzle with someone and either one of us has just completely missed a step that's obvious to the other one, or we're actually working on two totally different puzzles and don't realize it.

Cereal: Sue, that both sucks and makes no sense at all. Boo!

M isn't my cousin, just a friend. S, who just started commenting, is married to a cousin.

Makes me feel like I've been trying to work out a math puzzle with someone and either one of us has just completely missed a step that's obvious to the other one, or we're actually working on two totally different puzzles and don't realize it.

Completely. Yes, from a purely business standpoint, outsourcing helps the bottom line. But from a business ethics and morals standpoint it is more complicated. Many, many businesses who outsourced got burned by public opinion and have since brought those jobs back. (Current area of study in my grad program).

There are many things Trump does because they aren't inherently illegal - working the tax system to pay zero taxes (assumed), outsourcing, bankruptcy, blind trusts - but says that once he is president he will make many of those illegal or create incentives for the opposite actions or something "huge, great, terrific".

Dana, that skirt is calling your name. It wants to come home to you.

Toddson, I need someone to have THAT skirt.

Timelies all!

Went to dance practice last night(it was my turn). Not that I was going to watch the debate if I was home, but I was out.

We do the vast majority of our grocery shopping at a Safeway that's a couple of miles away. It usually has a good selection of the things we need. Occasionally I'll stop at a Giant that's near my work, but only for non-perishables, as I go to pick up the little guy from daycare afterwards.