#price of walmart stock

[abqbox]

A local Walmart is closing next week.

I'm not horribly surprised, it's in a bad part of town and the visible and obvious security presence leads me to believe they are likely losing money at this location.

The timing is a bit surprising, however, since they updated it with new registers and aisle signage just this past fall / early winter.

Anyway, I went by there today to take a look and see if I could find anything on sale (very disappointed on that front, I'm guessing the sales will come later).

I liked how there were less people than usual and found it interesting which areas have clearly already been closed down and which are pretty much normal business.

#walmart #closing #no more produce #the lego were still full price #easter candy seemed regularly stocked

[mayakern]

Why are the clothes you sell so expensive :( I totally understand you need to make a living and all but I don’t think I can drop $50 on one shirt

i totally understand!! and it’s a fair question. thanks to big retailers and, in recent years, fast fashion, most people have been intentionally distanced from the cost and labor that goes into making our clothing (and just about everything else we consume)

basically, when you are making something, the more you make of it, the less it costs to make a single unit of that thing. that may seem counter intuitive, but this is for a couple reasons: 1. the more you make of a single thing, the more streamlined the process becomes and the faster and more skilled workers become at a particular task 2. when you make a lot of something you can buy your materials in bulk, reducing the cost to manufacture a single item 3. when someone places a really really big order for something, they have a lot of bargaining power because if they like what they get, they are likely to return with another large order in the future, and if they put the factory under contract, that is steady, guaranteed work and reliable pay.

i typed this up for a different question recently but it applies here as well so i’ll just copy paste:

of course, if you sell a higher volume, you can not only negotiate a lower PPU (price per unit) based on volume of sales (a factory will make more money from your business if you buy 10,000 shirts for $10/piece than if you buy 1,000 shirts for $12/piece*) but you can also get away with a lower margin because you’re expecting to sell more units to customers. imagine selling 10,000 shirts for $25/ea instead of 1,000 for $35/ea. even with a profit margin of $15/ea instead of $23/ea, you would only need to sell about 1,534 shirts of your 10,000 to make the same net profit and you’d have almost another 8500 shirts you could keep selling.

*these are not real numbers just an example for easy math and to show how stupid manufacturing math is

it’s also much, much cheaper to buy pre-dyed or stock fabric than it is to custom print designs. most large retailers use fabric that has been bulk produced. each of our garments is custom printed because manufacturing bulk custom printed fabric usually STARTS at around 500 yards (way more than we could use for a single design) and a fabric printer starts around $15k and takes up a bunch of room and uses a lot of electricity.

i run a small business with my wife. we do our best to find ethical labor and to pay our employees well, which contribute significantly to our overhead costs. we’re never going to compete price-wise with fast fashion or walmart or even with target. we couldn’t even fathom functioning at 1/100th of their volume. it’s totally understandable that not everyone can afford this or will think it’s “worth” the cost and the things i make are not necessities. i won’t even be offended if people call me overpriced because i know that most people just don’t know what goes into this stuff.

anyway this was long but i hope you found it informative!

#manufacturing #ask #long post #faq #apparel

[politijohn]

Source

Source

Another corporate manufactured headline

Walmart threatens to close stores and raise prices because of increased retail theft. Let’s remember:

They just spent $20B (BILLION) on stock buybacks

Walmart’s owners - The Walton Family - make over $4M per hour

The company made $146B last year

#capitalism #corporatism #corporate greed #current events #eat the rich #tax the rich #news #working class

[beautifullache]

🦄The Sims 4🦄

🍉Grocery Store Bundle🍍

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Foodlion

Food Lion based in Salisbury, North Carolina since 1957. By leveraging its longstanding heritage of low prices and convenient locations, Food Lion is working to own the easiest full shop grocery experience in the southeast, anchored by a strong commitment to affordability, freshness and the communities it serves.We have more than 1,000 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic States.We employ more than 60,000 associates.

Customer Lead

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Center Store Lead

Sales Associate Cashier

Frozen Food Dairy Associate

Cake Decorator

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Harris Teeter

Harris Teeter Supermarkets, LLC., also known as Harris Teeter Neighborhood Food & Pharmacy, is an American supermarket chain based in Matthews, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte. As of February 2024, the chain operates 259 stores in seven South Atlantic states and Washington, D.C.

Cashier

Assistant Dairy/Frozen Manager

Deli Bakery Clerk

Meat Clerk

Grocery Manager

Produce Clerk

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Lowes Foods

Founded in 1954, Lowes Foods employs approximately 9,000 people and operates nearly 100 full-service supermarkets in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Locally owned and operated, Lowes Foods is truly a homegrown company committed to bringing community back to the table, by providing customers with the freshest and most innovative local products from local suppliers. The company maintains a strong focus on exceptional attention to our guests, with services like Lowes Foods-To-Go personal shopping and gas rewards discounts. To learn more, visit lowesfoods.com or follow Lowes Foods on Facebook or Twitter. Lowes Foods, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alex Lee, Inc.

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Cake Decorator

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Sam’s Club is home to more than 100,000 associates in more than 660 locations all working together to provide great service and value to our members. By providing innovative products, a shopping experience infused with digital solutions such as Scan & Go and Club Pickup and support to the communities we serve, we truly differentiate our company in the marketplace. The constant pursuit to surprising and delight our members drives our business every day.

Backroom Associate

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Personal Shopper

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Walmart

Walmart store managers are the best leaders in retail, and we’re investing in them – simplifying their pay structure and redesigning their bonus program, giving them the opportunity to earn an annual bonus up to 200% of their base salary.

Cashier & Front End Services

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Auto Care Center

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[phoenixyfriend]

Ko-Fi prompt from @kayasurin:

Just rant about the stock market, whatever you want to say about it!

'just rant' is such a prompt for uhhhh my distaste.

LEGALLY NECESSARY DISCLAIMER: I am not a licensed financial advisor, and it is illegal for me to advise anyone on investment in securities like stocks. My commentary here is merely opinion, not financial advice, and I urge you to not make any decisions with regards to securities investments based on my opinions, or without consulting a licensed advisor.

So here are a few things:

1. Stocks are unreliable.

For the layperson, there is nothing that can be done about the direction a stock takes. Unless you are a majority shareholder, or one of several who can work in concert, you cannot affect the direction a company takes, which means you cannot affect the decisions that might cause a stock to increase or decrease in value. This is a rich man's game. The average investor is just along for the ride, god help them.

Between Random Walk Theory, the dart-throwing monkeys study, and the fact that mutual funds do not beat the market, there is just... it's a crapshoot. Anyone who tells you to invest to make a lot of money is drinking the Kool-Aid. You can invest to make a small return, to keep your money in a lot of places in case your bank gets digitally robbed or whatever your worries might be, diversification is good for safety nets, but for pity's sake, don't expect to become a millionaire, and be aware you can lose a lot, even listening to experts.

2. Stocks can be manipulated, and it's ridiculous and stupid and fucks over perfectly normal companies

Do you remember the GameStop reddit thing? I do. If you don't, please take a quick look at this record of the GameStop stock price.

See that spike in 2021? That was Reddit.

This post did a great job explaining it, but you told me to rant, and so I shall.

A large investment company had decided to make a lot of money for their clients by destroying GameStop. They did this by selling more shares than they actually owned (more than actually existed), force the market to absolutely tank the price, with plans to "buy back" the stock once it was dirt cheap, thereby making a profit for their company. This is a common form of stock manipulation called shortstelling, and investors had been doing it to GameStop for years, without the general public noticing.

Except Reddit did notice. And they decided to Fuck It Up, buying up stock at higher and higher prices, forcing the stock price to skyrocket, and the mutual/hedge funds still had to buy them back, but now it was at a massive loss, and it made headlines across the country because of how incredibly ridiculous it was.

The things to note here is that the market can be manipulated without any regard to the actual profits or health of the company, and that attempts to do so can backfire spectacularly.

3. Returns are minimal

There are two ways to earn money on stocks. The first is returns on capital investment; you buy the share at $10, sell it for $20, and you've thus received $10 profit. This is part of the incredibly unreliable bit I mentioned, because you cannot control the direction the stock takes, and generally can't predict it.

The other way is dividends, which like... profits made over the previous quarter (after paying employees, bank loans, rents, etc.) can be either reinvested to grow the company, or paid out to shareholders. But if you invest $150 in a single share of Walmart stock, your quarterly dividend is $2.25, which is $11/yr.

So unless you're investing hundreds of thousands of dollars, or get really lucky with what you choose to invest in, dividends aren't going to get you much of anything.

And when your stocks do give you healthy dividends, it's because there's money left for shareholders! Which, if you remember a few lines back, is left over after paying employees.

If an investor wants a return on their investment, and they can vote to change policy, and policy that pays employees dictates that they get a smaller dividend, do you think that the investors are going to vote to pay their employees fairly?

Yeah, didn't think so.

4. Rapid, Consumptive Growth

There was a really good post recently that described how and why the Chicago School of Economics, colloquially Reaganomics, has completely fucked over the entire US economy by encouraging the absolute worst state for the market to be in, which is seeking eternal parasitic growth. I urge you to read that one if you can, because the bloggers did a good job. Basically, screw Reagan and screw the Chicago school. The economy still would have been a capitalist hellscape without them, but they sure did hasten it!

(Prompt me on ko-fi!)

#economics #stock market #stocks #phoenix posts #ko fi prompts #ko fi #economics prompts

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

“My sense is that Meghan's market is more of the TJ Maxx demographic.” Interesting assessment of Meghan’s market. From a business perspective, brands who end up at TJMaxx, Marshalls, etc. (owned by the same company TJX) are typically bought in due to 1) supplier has made too much (overstock) and it isn’t selling 2) it’s getting close to the end of its expiration dates (close out) and it sold in at a much cheaper cheaper price to TJX. She’d still need a regular place to sell before she tries to offload (usually at a much lower margin / maybe even a loss) to TJX. I’m basing this on my experience with working in food industry and resorting to these retailers for the same reasons.

Exactly my point. The TJX brand is the end of the line for so much product and merch these days (especially fast fashion) that it's inevitable Meghan's products will end up there if this turns into the deal she wants to be. The key thing is that she needs product first. That she launched without a real product is very telling.

To me, what I think it says is that she's not getting the investors or partners that she wants so she launched ASAP to use the media's hype as part of her negotiation or recruitment strategy. (In addition to taking advantage of Kate's absence, of course.)

I made a suggestion in an earlier post that Meghan's competitors are the socialite/influencers that are launching their own brands or already have brands. A great many of those brands use print-on-demand dropship merch. They save on overstock storage and production fees by only keeping a limited selection in stock and marking up their own prices to cover "demand."

I see Roop heading in that direction. If they can't find a distribution vendor (e.g., Kohls, Target, Macy's, etc.), they'll do dropshipping but at such low quantities they always sell out - which is the same tactic Meghan uses when she wants to be a fashion influencer (she wears something already heavily discounted and with so little stock that she can take credit for "selling out").

What is interesting, and why I think Roop has a good argument for exclusivity with TJX companies, is Rae Dunn. Most of her product is sold exclusively through TJX and she has a deal with a company called Magenta Inc., an online retailer that's thought to be behind Rae Dunn products in places like Amazon and Walmart.

So there's precedent for Meghan/Roop to sell exclusively with TJX, with perhaps a side deal for an online storefront like Magenta offers. But that's not the audience or market Meghan wants (even though she herself is the "wine mom" elder millennial motivational-quote-spouting stereotype that buys Rae Dunn and shops at TJX stores so it's a natural fit). She wants Roop in luxury marketplaces that prices out the very people who would actually buy Meghan's product.

She's stuck between a rock and a hard place. I think she realizes it now while watching the metrics on social media plateau from a total lack of engagement and total absence of content (hence throwing Mandana under the bus in Page Six). Which is surprising. Given the way she rolled out Sussex.com with the IG Vancouver kickoff - four or five days straight of new Sussex content and material - I expected the same thing with Roop; 1st day - social media launch, 2nd day - lunch papwalk, 3rd day - product launch, 4th day - "checking out my product" charity visit/papwalk, 5th day - Netflix cooking show promo, and so on.

I know, I know. Stop giving her ideas. I'm trying!

#ask #brf #sussexes #theories

[socialjusticeinamerica]

A notoriously non-union corporation. Everyone in the store is part-time minimum wage except for the manager and assistant managers. The management from store level up is overwhelmingly white and male. They have on demand scheduling which prevents employees from having other jobs or attending school. They are also a major retailer of firearms and ammunition. They claimed to have stopped selling assault rifles but shifted them to their Field & Stream subsidiaries. However they sell inexpensive “home defense” shotguns in their inner city stores at low prices. Shotguns that are not suitable for hunting or target shooting; short barrels, pistol grips, tactical stocks, etc.

Workers are indoctrinated with anti-union films and propaganda. Managers continually fire anyone before they can reach a higher pay grade, if they suspect pro-union sentiment, or if the employee is a marginalized person. Sometimes they will refuse to schedule a person for weeks at a time to force them to quit. Wage theft and abusive behavior is rampant. The management knows that most of their employees are inner city poor who are unlikely to complain to any state labor board.

They definitely pursue the Walmart model. In fact most big box and retail stores are increasingly following the lead of Walmart in destabilizing the labor base. Dick’s, like other major retailers, donates heavily to the GOP (RepubliKKKan Party).

A boycott of Walmart would bring major improvements to our workforce in a matter of months. Positive change that would trickle across to other retailers and industries.

[bingoboingobongo]

task force 141 + last minute christmas shopping

Characters: Simon "Ghost" Riley, John "Soap" MacTavish, Kyle "Gaz" Garrick, John Price, Alejandro Vargas, Rodolfo "Rudy" Parra

Warnings: none

A/N: my sister won't stop making fun of my old facebook posts help

simon "ghost" riley:

alright let's be fr under normal circumstances ghost would never have to do last-minute christmas shopping

he's simply too prepared for that

like he's coming up with lists in october, buying gifts in november, and has them wrapped early december

but for the sake of story let's just say that he has some last minute shopping to do for whatever reason

maybe all his gifts got blown up and he has amnesia so he can't remember anything

jk idk just pretend he's been busy or something

anyways

ghost always has a good idea of what he wants to get people for christmas

so the problem is rarely what to buy but where to buy it

usually he'll go to a plaza that has a bunch of shops so he can just visit each one and see if they have it

another nice thing about ghost is that his sheer size and signature death glare makes it so that he never has to fight with another person to get a gift

he's definitely traumatized more than a few shoppers who tried to grab the same thing as him

somehow though he manages to get everything on his list

even if it takes him all day to find it

john "soap" mactavish:

alright so let's be real pretty much all of soap's christmas shopping is done last minute

he's a procrastinator what can i say

however after years of last minute panic soap has mastered how to get all his shopping done last minute

a few days before christmas he'll wake up early and then head to the mall

and pretty much just methodically work his way through each store until he finds something good for everyone

after he always rewards himself with a soft pretzel and gelato

it's a weird combo he knows but it's what he always bought at the mall as a kid and it brings him back

now soap doesn't necessarily have the intimidation powers of soap but he makes up for it by being ready to throw hands over gifts

besides it's not really like he has a backup plan

so because of this soap's gifts usually end up being those useful knick knacks that you always need but never remember to get

like can openers

he got everyone can openers one year

im kidding (or am i?)

kyle "gaz" garrick:

alright so if gaz has to go last minute shopping it's usually only for small things

like extra stocking stuffers, wrapping paper, tape, etc.

so thankfully there's usually not much riding on it so it's less stressful

gaz actually really enjoys shopping because he can pop in his earbuds, turn up his music, and just unwind for a bit as he walks through the aisles

off topic but he's definitely the guy to just wander around a target listening to music

he'll usually just make the trips as he needs to

but they're usually just to walmart or target so he can stock up on candy and supplies

he also likes getting some of those fancy ghirardelli chocolates to snack on while he wraps gifts

his parents raised him to be polite so if he does end up reaching for the same thing as another person he always lets them grab it

but if it's the last item in stock he definitely gets secretly annoyed at them for it

john price:

alright so in a weird way i feel like price is sorta like the grinch

not in a "i hate christmas" sorta way but an "i don't want to go into town" kinda way

he likes to spend his christmases in his cabin/on base and he doesn't like dealing with the rush of customers doing last minute shopping

but of course there comes times where he has no choice but to run to the store to get another gift or restock on wrapping paper

and during then price is on a mission to get in and out of there as fast as possible

mainly because one year he got stuck in line behind a total karen

and his ten minute trip turned into an hour long ordeal

so now to reduce the chances of that happening he tries to speedrun his shopping trips

that being said he is a gentleman at heart so if someone grabs the same item as him he'll let them have it

even though he'll secretly be annoyed at them because then he has to stay even longer to find another gift

alejandro vargas:

alright so honestly i feel like alejandro is like ghost in that he tries not to get stuck doing last minute christmas shopping

he just doesn't like all the crowds and the lines

i mean he's not the most patient man in the world so it makes sense

he usually tries to keep his last minute gift buying to a minimum but if he does need to buy stuff he'll usually go to one store and get everyone things from there

think like home depot/a hardware store or maybe like a bath and body works

(they have a surprising amount of men's stuff okay)

that being said he usually knows what he wants to get each person from those stores

so if he comes to a point where him and someone else are reaching for the same thing he can sometimes get confrontational

it just depends tho

bc on one hand the gentleman in him is saying to let them have it but on the other hand he wants to get his friends a good gift

usually though he'll end up giving it up if it's like a woman or child

but with men he'll usually try to fight for it if it's really getting heated

rodolfo "rudy" parra:

alright so poor rudy would be so stressed by last minute shopping

i think he probably got a lot of his stuff done early but he wanted some extra things because he was worried his gifts weren't good enough

i feel like rudy's the kinda guy who goes really last minute and so a lot of things are going out of stock quickly

and so he is super duper stressed

mans is biting his nails and everything

definitely is racing throughout the stores to try and find everything he needs

and he simply will not be in a situation where someone grabs the same thing as him because if he sees someone in the same aisle as him he is sprinting and grabbing that thing asap

he really doesn't want to have to fight with someone else over it

especially before he knows he'd end up giving it to them

what can i say it's how he was raised

#bingoboingobongo.com #bingoboingobongo's christmas extravaganza #ghost cod #ghost x reader #ghost fluff #soap cod #soap x reader #soap fluff #gaz cod #gaz x reader #gaz fluff #john price cod #john price x reader #john price fluff #alejandro vargas fluff #alejandro vargas x reader #alejandro vargas cod #rodolfo parra cod #rodolfo parra fluff #rodolfo parra x reader #call of duty #cod #modern warfare 2 #mw2

[sevendeadlyheadcanons]

I’ve seen this on tiktok with different fandoms so here is NNT if they worked in retail

(these will be british because i live in britain and so do they and saying big tescos is objectively funnier than walmart or whatever)

Meliodas: Still runs his pub, but it’s probably a Wetherspoons that he’s bought the franchising rights of. He plays the football on the TV and writes who’s playing on a chalkboard in front of the pub to draw more people in. Probably supports Millwall but lies to people about it because he doesn’t want to get beat up in his own pub

Diane: Claire’s. Never let this woman touch the piercing gun. Whenever she checks you out on the till she’s like “Ooh these earrings are stunning they’ll suit you so good” she always buys the blind bags and collects them all

Ban: Corner shop. Probably sells vapes to minors and gets them to call him bossman, but not intentionally he’s just drunk on the job (he drinks the 3 year old WKD that nobody has bought because it’s shit)

King: Marks and Spencer’s. He believes that M&S food is better than any other food. “Yeah sure Aldi might be cheaper, but are you gonna get Percy Pigs there?” “These oranges are of better quality and 10x better than the ones you can get at asda” bro will defend the prices at M&S with his life and constantly denies the tory allegations.

Gowther: Lush. Bro sells the fuck out of them bath bombs. He always smells like the shop. Does demos just for the fun of it, because he likes to see the ✨sparkle✨ the biggest snow fairy fiend, he stock piles snow fairy when it first comes into stock so nobody else can buy it for the first like week.

Merlin: Superdrug. She knows the shop like the back of her hand. Where’s the paracetamol? “Second isle” Where’s the pads? “At the end of isle 4” Where’s the makeup kept? “The back isle” She probably lets people shoplift to spice her day up.

Escanor: WHSmiths at daytime, Puregym at nighttime. Bro has bills to pay so he’s constantly on the grind. At smiths he constantly has to defend the prices and remind people that he personally is not the reason why the pencil cases are a tenner. At the gym he has no idea why people are working out at midnight but he’ll go and do it next to them just to flex.

Elizabeth: Probably still a waitress at the pub. Has to deal with rowdy footy fans all day with a smile on her face and she takes it like a champ. Doesn’t make the app orders late on purpose but they’ll still end up taking 2 hours to come somehow. She probably dropped the tray and had to remake it and then had to kick someone out. She needs her legally required 4 weeks paid holiday please 💔

Elaine: Primark. It’s the only job she could get and it makes her blood boil everyday. She hates the customers, she hates the cheaply made clothing. She is constantly applying to other jobs but she cannot get anywhere yet.

#nanatsu no taizai #the seven deadly sins #meliodas nnt #gowther nnt #elizabeth nnt #king nnt #ban nnt #diane nnt #escanor nnt #merlin nnt #elaine nnt #i’ve taken sleeping pills and am fighting unconsciousness as i’m writing this

[unl1f3-x-c0ll3cts]

For those who still haven’t gotten the Booriginals Creeproductions:

Heres where you can still find the for their original prices!!…for now atleast

Amazon still has Abbey and Spectra for $25

Entertainment Earth is still selling Abbey, Ghoulia and Spectra!! but their cleo abd deuce is out of stock!

Also walmart has these 3 online to ship!!

BEWARE OF THESE SCALPER PRICES ‼️

#monster high #doll collector #monster high aesthetic #monster high fan #monster high fandom #monster high dolls #monster high fang club #doll community #monster high gen 3 dolls #cleo monster high #monster high deuce #monster high ghoulia #monster high abbey #monster high g1 #monster high spectra #spectra vondergeist #ghoulia yelps #cleo de nile #deuce gorgon #abbey bominable #monster high boo riginals creeproduction #creeproduction #mh #mh cleo #mh deuce #mh ghoulia #mh abbey #mh spectra #mh g1 #mh gen 1

[fulgurbugs]

Birthday Haul pt 1!

fist up, we have core refresh frankie!

ngl, when the stock photos of this doll were released, i was like a lot of others, very lukewarm. however, as i started to sit with the design, and then see photos of them unboxed, i came to actually really love it. i decided that this frankie would probably be a “wait until sale price” doll, but then i saw that they were in my walmart (which notoriously gets dolls pretty late, so i went to the store expecting to grab only one older release) i decided what the hell, its my birthday, im getting them.

honestly, this frankie just doesn’t look as good in box, with the bound hair and pretty static pose. so now they’re unboxed! their hair is saran, (though mine looks… quite choppy from the back, lol

not big on those bulky hairclips, so i took them off. now we can see the face card. i have to say, im so glad they resisted the pink lip this time. frankie is just… not really suited for it, i think, even if they have pink in a lot of their color schemes. the dark blue is much better and more striking with this outfit.

the outfit without the jacket. the only pop of neon yellow-green is actually only on the jacket and accessories, otherwise, this frankie is very trans colored. slay!

quick look at the shoes (as is monster high doll tradition)

these aren’t the most exciting shoes we’ve seen from monster high, but they’re cute with a little bit of frankie bolts-and-stitches flair. cute! this outfit is busy enough already, so the relatively simple shoes don’t bother me at all

accessory wise, this frankie comes with: watzie (new mold), a mad science book, an uhhhh…. science beaker. caprisun, lightning bolt calculator, lunchbox, and backpack

(the little lunchbox opens, hehe)

jacket back on, along with some accessories. god, i have so many fucking monster high sunglasses. i swear they put them on every doll lol. my one complaint about the jacket is that because of the stiff fabric of the green stitch pattern, it doesn’t lay flat and you’ll be able to see the inside of the jacket, no hidden construction on this thing. i don’t have an older version of watzie, but i think i prefer the old mold though. (not that the watzie mold matters all that much to me though, lol…. all the pets go to the pet shelf to be banished anyways.)

.5 shot

and that’s core refresh frankie! in the future i might try and give their pink streak black raccoon stripes…. but im not exactly sure how to do that. maybe a project for when i get back home lol.

#dux doll tag #monster high #long post #dux doll review

[centrally-unplanned]

I wanted to respond to this post from a bit ago, because I thought it was a good challenge. Certainly Japan is a wildly different country from the US, so the way it can be used sometimes as a "YIMBY model" can often be naïve. It is not YIMBY in many ways, for sure. Cowen sets out a list of ways Japan either isn't YIMBY or would have other reasons for its lower rents; as he puts it:

Yet the more I think about it, the more I tend to believe a very different proposition: Japan is in key ways a very NIMBY country, and its brand of NIMBYism has keeps real estate prices down. A corollary is this: YIMBYism gets much less credit for low Tokyo real estate prices, and furthermore the low real estate prices are a sign of something having gone wrong on the productivity side, in large part due to regulation.

So lets see how it holds up:

1. Japan has had very tough immigration restrictions.  This has eased considerably, but a) the stock matters not just the flow, and b) current Japanese migrants often are from countries such as Thailand and the Philippines, which fills in for some mid-level jobs, but does not massively boost rents.

Meh - True, though its more cultural then legal imo. But we aren't talking about Japan, we are talking about Tokyo. Tokyo has has large amounts of internal migration from the rest of Japan; meanwhile its not like NYC's net population has increased dramatically in the past 20 years from immigration. Unless immigrations have magic rent soil I'm not seeing this.

2. It is extremely difficult to learn written Japanese.  Among its other effects, this discourages high-value immigrants from settling into very high productivity service jobs in Tokyo or in Japan more generally.

Meh - definitely true! Japan needs language reform lol. But like above, immigration isn't magic rent soil, its about net people.

3. Various regulatory and legal decisions have prevented Tokyo from developing into the financial capital of Asia (haven’t you wondered  about this?).  I won’t go into all the detail here, this is the modern world so just ask ChatGPT.  I’m sure you all know that major financial centers usually lead to exorbitant rents, due to the opportunity cost of the land.

Boo - so I literally asked ChatGPT, since I was curious, and I got absolutely nothing - just vague platitudes and literally some of the other reasons from this list, like "It lacks immigration". I don't doubt some of this is true, but I don't think its a load bearing reason it isn't a financial center. Or at least don't be lazy and tell us what they are.

Which I think is relevant, to be clear - but I think might be a bit more endogenous than the article is letting on. The inability to financialize rents in Tokyo might in fact be a reason its less of a financial center!

4. So, so much of Japanese regulatory policy and culture is geared toward maintaining small retail businesses, super small in scale, and low in productivity.  They do not place much upward pressure on rents.  By the way, this is one reason why tourists find Tokyo so wonderful, but those enterprises lower productivity considerably relative to say Walmarts.  It is no accident that so many Japanese examples populate “Markets in Everything,” that they have cat and furry cafes, and so on.

Probably True - I think he is exaggerating, and like "culture" is doing a lot of work here, but its definitely true that Japan has large small business orgs that work hand-in-hand with government to shape the urban ecology for them. The big companies are doing their own thing of course, but I am open this idea for sure. Japan's business-political complex is very vast.

But of course it might all just be downstream of the rents; if rent is low, you can build whatever.

Overall, I think meh? But I think a better argument could be made - we do need more detailed understandings of how Japan's real estate market functions in relation to its urban planning. I see one or the other in a box a lot, but the interaction I think should be dug into more.

#yimby discourse

[seabeck]

Trout fishing for beginners on a budget!

Do you ever look at salmon fillets in the supermarket and water at the mouth but find the price far too high? Well this guide is for you! I tried to keep this guide fairly short and to the point so if you need more info, feel free to ask.

Reasons to fish for trout:

Trout taste quite similar to salmon, a fish that's typically unaffordable expensive even here in the PNW (I find trout to be better because they're much more mild and don't overcook as easily, ymmv)

They can be caught without a boat and you don't need an expensive set up.

Fishing licenses fund conservation!

It's fun and allows you to see where your dinner is coming from, from start to finish.

Before you start: Get your fishing license. You can purchase these at Walmart in the sporting good section, stores like Cabellas, online, and many other places. Some states have separate saltwater and freshwater licenses (you want freshwater), others may require a separate stamp to keep trout in some areas. Once you have your license, find a place you can fish. Check if it’s been stocked, when, what size the fish were, and how many. Bigger fish and more recent is always better. Regulations can very a lot from body of water to body of water and state to state. Some lakes may be catch and release only, no barbed hooks, etc and it is on you to know. There are also disabled only lakes (with wheelchair friendly docks). Your fish and wildlife department will have the info online. Some states, like WA, even have interactive map apps and you can always email or call them as well. 

Gear on a budget: Rods and reels are expensive new, even low end ones. Check out garage sales, thrift shops, outlet malls, Craigslist, etc. You can often find a good rod and reel combo for cheap. Check to make sure all the parts are in order, things that spin will spin and things that don’t, don’t. Minor wear and tear can often be repaired with a dab of superglue. When buying second hand spools of line, make sure time and the sun hasn’t made it brittle, give it a test tug to see if it breaks. You’re less likely to find artificial bait and hooks used but luckily those are fairly cheap even new, and sometimes you get lucky.

Rod: 5-7′, rated for no more than 10lbs is perfect. It should be flexible to allow it to cast far and not snap when you get a fish on. Ideally your rod should split into two pieces for ease of storage.

Reel: We’re going to be talking about spinning reels and spinning reels only. You want a lighter weight one where the line comes off smoothly. Make sure everything spins as it should and doesn’t make noise (some older styled ones have an intentional clicking sound that will drive you up a wall very quickly, apparently that used to be cool). The side the arm is on can be changed easily.

Line: 8-10lb test, anything more is overkill and may scare the fish. Braided for the mainline, fluorocarbon or monofilament for the leader line. Mono can be used for the mainline too but braided is tougher/stronger. Good line is worth it, here’s what I use for my mainline.  You want your reel full of line so it doesn’t catch on the reel and so you don’t hit the end while casting. I recommend a cheaper mono line to tie onto your reel for the first many feet to help fill it up, then tie on your good leader line to the mono line using a double uni knot.

A leader line is useful when you get a snag or a fish takes off with your gear, instead of losing all your line, you just lose your leader.

Hooks: Size 6-8 octopus, circle, or bait hooks. Barbed if legal and if you plan on eating what you catch, barbless if you plan on releasing or regulations require it.

Swivel: Medium/small sized, get snapping ones

Weight: Get egg sinkers in a variety of sizes (they often come in mixed size kits). Note: Most fishing weights are lead, do not consume them or allow pets/children to play with them. Steel weights are an option but they have less size/shape variety and will be bigger than their same weighted lead counterparts. Some places do not allow for the use of lead weights.

Bead: Used to prevent wear on the line/knot from the lead. I personally only use one on my leader line, not below my lead, and that’s my weird angler superstition. They’re very cheap, buy a smaller sized one if you plan on using them.

Net: Seems really self explanatory but I recommend a catch and release friendly net (not knotted, typically a softer material). It's better to have that kind than the kind that may damage their scales in case you need to or decide to release.

Slip/sliding sinker rig:

Ideal for floating bait, the leader line length will depend on the depth the fish will be at (which varies with weather and body of water, 2′ is a good starting point). The lead will sit on the bottom while the bait floats and suspends itself in the water column. The sliding egg sinker weight means the fish won’t feel resistance when it tugs on the bait, fish don’t like resistance. Watch for your line moving away, then set the hook with a quick upwards motion with the rod. Sometimes you won't even need to set the hook because the fish will already be running with it.

Fixed bobber rig:

This set up can be used with or without a leader line but as always I recommend a swivel + leader line (this would be below the bobber). This set up is ideal for sinking baits or when you need to keep all of your gear and line off the bottom of the lake because of weeds, snags, etc. Most bobbers allow you to easily change the length of line below it, useful if you started out with too much or too little line. Since bobbers float, they will move with the current or the wind, this may be a pain or may be a blessing.  When the bobber goes down, fish on!

Bait options:

Earthworms/nightcrawlers. This is your cheapest option, you can dig them from your own yard for free. Earthworms sink so they’re best with a bobber set up unless you buy worm blower. I do not use live bait as I find it rather cruel (and most earthworms are not native to my area, no need to help them spread further) but ultimately it’s up to you. Crickets, superworms, mealworms. waxworms, etc are also options, some of which you can breed at home easily. 

Fake worms: some float (1, 2), some don’t (1, 2). Don’t get those giant rubber worms meant for bass.

Dough: Ideal for slip sinker set up. Scented Playdo textured dough. Roll enough out to cover your hook and make it float, but not so much that it’s a waste. While this stuff works well, it doesn’t like to stay on the hook. Treble hooks will hold dough on better but they aren’t always allowed and are not suitable for catch and release (if that’s your goal). Also comes in nuggets (costs more per oz). I recommend pink, orange, or yellow. 

Artificial eggs: Ideal for slip sinker set up . My preferred bait, I use 3 on a hook and often can reuse the same eggs for several trout. You don’t even need to buy these, they can often be scavenged from places where anglers gather. My mom did this (or used ones I bought) for months with great success. Power eggs and similar ones typically float but there are sinking ones, always check the label. I personally use red, white, or gold ones that are half clear but I’ve also caught them on solid yellow and pink. A family or group of friends could buy multiple colors and split them. 

Trout Magnet(tm): Never personally had much luck with these, they can be recasted over and over as a lure or used under a bobber, they do sink. Also useful for panfish.

Lures: I’m not really going to go over lures much since that’s a whole other can of worms, but they are very reusable and can often be found for free in bushes at lakes. They require a different set up and more work to use than bait still fishing. Some do function under a bobber hence the mention.

Now to the actual fishing!

Set up your rig, whichever one you're planning on using, and adjust your leader line accordingly.

Hold the rod with your dominant hand, you want about a foot of mainline hanging off the tip of your rod

Align your line roller (labeled diagram of a reel here) to be pointing your rod.

Use the index (or if you're weird like me your middle) finger to hold the line against the rod

Use your non dominant hand to flip the bail up. Line can now freely fall from the reel so it's important to keep your finger on the line.

Bring the rod over your head, I personally have mine like this before casting. Use a forward throwing motion and release your line. The last step will take lots of practice and I personally recommend practicing at home with just a swivel + weight on. Always be aware of your surroundings, you don't want to hook someone or lose your gear in a tree.

When you feel a bite, set the hook with a quick upwards motion while holding the rod. Sometimes the fish will hook themselves just fine.

Once you have a fish on, reel in! Large fish may need a looser drag and to be played a bit (let them run with the line, then reel in, repeat until fish is tired) but most stocked trout come quietly.

Once you've reeled your fish in, use a net to catch it (if needed) and decide if you're going to release it or keep it for dinner. Fish you're planning on releasing need to be handled gently and with wet hands to protect their fishy coating. Don't take them out of water for too long. Remove the hook quickly with fishing pliers.

If you're going to keep it, it needs to be killed quickly and humanely. Please don't be that person with a bunch of half dead fish on a stringer, or letting your fish aspirate, it's cruel. How you kill your fish is up to you and will depend on the size. For smaller ones I do cervical dislocation, head bonking and cutting the head/spine also work. If I'm killing a fish I always wait until after to remove it's hook so it suffers less.

Cleaning your fish: Ok you have a dead fish, now what? Find the fish butt, it'll be before the tail fins. Insert your fillet knife in and carefully slice up the belly. Ideally you don't want to slice too far in lest you rupture the intestines. Remove the guts. I personally toss all the guts back into the water, as to return the nutrients but there are fish organs you can eat. Use a fingernail to scrape the kidney off of the spine and rinse. From there you can fillet or cook the fish whole. Here's the video that helped me learn to fillet. Keep fish on ice until you're home. They can be frozen, cooked immediately, or refrigerated for a few days.

I hope this guide helped you and as always, if you have questions feel free to ask!

#fishing #fish #trout #I personally recommend salmon meuniere but it also makes great fish tacos

[window-view-orion]

I miss Zombaes Forever so much.

My first was She’s Shady last July after having seen those coffin-shaped boxes in the doll aisle for a while. Cringily, my first thought the first time I saw them was “pah, Monster High ripoff”.

Not everything spooky-themed is a MH ripoff, 9-months-ago me.

Anyway! Funnily enough, I’m almost positive that box had been opened in store and put back. Her sticker sheet was missing and she was out of her little paper body bag already. She still had her character card though, and she was so cute!

Then a few days later I went back. The first series was running out of stock at the only two Targets I went to back then, so I picked up three of the second series instead. ✨ Wild Vibes ✨

I opened them in my car because I was pumped. It’s so funny I got the three beach themed ones all at once! She’s Got Bite was the first I opened, and still feels special. Her cracked goggles, little swim trunks, and one-eyed shark are great examples of the absolute best of Zombaes.

I picked up the rest of Wild Vibes over time, with liberal use of the codes. I never got the rare ‘Spacing Out’ though, which I’m still bummed about. I would go into Target very frequently to check, and anytime there was a So Chill (the one who had the same code as her), the box would be roughly open and rifled through. People really have no shame, though it definitely is frustrating that I ended up with multiple So Chill’s myself from all that searching 😅.

When I finally found a good Walmart in my area and started shopping there too a couple months later, I found they somehow still had a few boxes of series 1, so I ended up getting a Miss Everlasting and a Rock in Peace.

(I had to rubberband Shady’s parasol to her hand because she kept dropping it, as you can kind of see here)

It’s such a shame that this line seems to have been quietly canceled. I have the pet shop set and the bride-and-groom set now as well, and I hope to eventually get the other sets too as they lower in price. But there is such potential for more in these guys! They’re all so bursting with creativity and incredibly clever and cute designs. The art is so good, the collectible cards and little stands and coffin box, the little paper body bags you unwrap them from! They’re my spooky little zombie Polly Pockets, and Spinmaster can pry them from my cold undead hands.

And honestly, with Wild Vibes especially, the price was pretty good too. $9, and then $7, for all of that?? The big sets aren’t even expensive! Though maybe that was the problem in the end, along with people cannibalizing the displays as I saw all the time.

I did email Spinmaster’s media relations about a month ago to ask for any info they could give out, even though it’s a long shot, and I’ve not received a reply. In the unlikely event that ever changes I’ll update this post I suppose, but at this point I’m sadly considering these girls as dead in the water. It’s a tragic cancellation, but I’m really glad I got into the hobby just in time to experience them. And I absolutely love all of the ones we got. 💕

#my collection #my collecting history #doll collecting #Zombaes forever #my beloved #I feel a little bad bothering the media relations team but it was the most relevant email I could find #and it was a deliberately extremely professional email #I may have called myself a ‘small blog about doll collecting’ #because it’s not untrue #I just didn’t say the blog was tumblr #maybe I’ll cringe about it in a year

[eternal-nyx]

I started HRT!

Whew been a minute since I updated hunh? Well, it's been busy! I got approved to start testosterone HRT on September 25th, 2023.

I was surprised. I live in a bible belt, conservative, state and town. The trans health care here is.....the best word I have is mental whiplash. I started with a PCP at Medical Group A. He said he wasn't qualified for tran's or gender care and that no one in practice A was. He then said that there are rotating residents who DO the gender care and he put me on a wait list with them. I finally got to the appointment after a couple months and it was so easy. They used my chosen name and pronouns. They were respectful. Almost too respectful They tap danced around terminology to try to avoid offending me. It was......strange? Surreal? Twilight Zone? The Matrix? Either way. It felt very formal and professional and I do very much like the resident. It was just a very surreal experience.

But she was satisfied with our appointment and sent out the prescription the same day. She even tried to work with me when I voiced a desire to avoid injections if possible, but that I would take them if no other option existed. She tried hard to make the gel work, but in the end we went with the injections.

Then the next stage of trouble began. My normal pharmacy was out of the medication. It's a controlled substance in my state. So I called walmart pharmacy, but they were out of stock too. So was CVS, but at least they offered to order it if I filed it with them. I called a few other local pharmacies and FINALLY found one with the medication in stock. But everyone was closing so I had to wait until the next day to do the transfer.

I wake up the next morning and call to make the transfer, but because its a controlled substance, and I hadn't filled it before, they couldn't transfer it. My doctor would have to send it to the new pharmacy. So I made those phone calls and got that all set up. The next day it's FINALLY ready for pick up but my insurance won't cover it at this pharmacy. They run it on a discount card and get the price down to approx. $40 USD.

As a low income family we panicked briefly about how to afford the medication. We ended up having to charge it to our credit card. But we got it!

And on 9/27/2023 at noon I did my first self injection of Testosterone!

Day 1: No noticeable changes.

Day 2 9/28/2023 @8pm When I find alone time and find myself aroused, I have a daily habit to get into me and my fiance's shared toy box and do my thing. Well I did my normal thing today, and I noticed I could FEEL things with my fingers. So I did a LIL inspection and it was bigger. Not by a lot but I KNOW my anatomy, and my AFAB parts are heavily hooded and usually don't extend past the hood even when aroused. Today was different, and that is ALL I will say to anyone about my genitals. Then when all was done it was less plump, but still slightly larger than I am used to. I HAD MY FIRST ERECTION! And not only that, but I have growth!!!!!! On day fucking 2!!!! I'm gonna cry.

Also….It's itchy. And I seem to be unable to stop being aroused. Whoops.

--------------

I hope to do weekly check in's on my social media like tiktok and all of my blogs. The journey continues. Stay queer my friends.

Nyx [They/He/She]

#queer community #neurodivergent #queer #queer pride #transitioning #trans #transition #transgender #ftm hrt #hrt #testosterone

[autumnhobbit]

I know I’m preaching to the choir here and showing how privileged/late to the bandwagon I am with this, but I honestly don’t know how the hell people are making it around here. It used to be I went grocery shopping between Save a Lot, IGA, Walmart for stuff they didn’t have, Aldi occasionally when I was in town. I used to spend generally $60 a pop getting us stocked back up for a couple weeks. That was generally the same across the board, I would get a handful of generally better priced stuff from Kroger and spend maybe $13-30 there a time. I just went to Kroger and bought 10 items. 10. It came out to $45. I skipped Sam’s Club entirely because it was packed and I didn’t wanna spend $80. Went to Aldi, and admittedly I got more, but I still skipped some things on my list, bought absolutely no meat, and it was $90.