Gone are the days of bemoaning the fact that my favorite local jeweler no longer has my Movado watch battery because they have gone exclusively Rolex. Never again will I need to sacrifice a morning in the waiting room of the Mercedes dealership sipping freshly ground flavored coffee and eating two hour old pastries while I impatiently wait for my 30,000 mile scheduled maintenance covered by the warranty. Sigh!

This is all sarcasm of course because I will take weeding my garden and cooing at our elusive bobcat from my front porch rocker any day over my consumer driven previous life. But I still have to purchase items and, rising inflation aside, there are big cracks in the consumer foundation appearing everywhere. Buckle up folks; it's time to put the nose to the grindstone. Continue reading Shopping, Shortages and Shenanigans – The New Normal →