I could not agree with you more. Do you mind if I blog this? (http://cyberhippi.blogspot.com) I'd provide a link back to your post and my own thoughts, not just copy it wholesale. Anyone who thinks a vacuum cleaner frees us from housework has obviously never carried one up a set of stairs! LOL! Have a great day. Jen M, Maryland

I totally agree with you. Being an"older person" I have a perspective to share. As a young kid growing up in Africa, the family returned to London in the -50's. Post-war mentality was still very much apparent. People saved items for use later, etc. Modern life has forgotten this principle - now it is consume and zoom! Once married in the 70's, my new husband and I went to live in Sweden, where a very different perspective was prevalent. High standard of living and usually, two incomes. But care was taken to maintain certain core values - high among them being a clean environment and, guess what, hand-work or crafts. Next we move to the UK where, except for a few craft-nicks, consuming is the name of the game. Now we live in the US, and society is facing a depression much like the war-years. People ARE becoming more thrifty, but there are no role-models. A rule-of-thumb I use frequently in conversations like this is "Do you wash out, dry and recycle your zip-lock bags?" Usually, the answer is NO. Quiet time in the sunshine or in the woods is important, but if push comes to shove, can you make sausage? can you cook a ham from scratch? can you turn a shirt-collar or a sheet? can you unpick and reknit a woollen garment? can you make soap? These skills are gradually slipping from our skill-set...

tried to tell the story of Alex's first grant. See it was flagged as spam. Guess my computer is sick. Sorry alex...Cheryl

Yes, the old adage "money makes the world go round" has spun our society out of control and created such a vortex of need and greed that it will take the whole world a counter turn in unison to stop it. Brought up in this generation of acceleration we were given the electric power to extract more from time, get more bang for our buck, and rapidly accumulate knowledge. Among the things I have today and value most are: a clothesline …..and the knowledge that we have to slow down, equalize our need for power, share our resources, clean up our act, and brace ourselves together. Angela