Consumer Life

On a brisk but sunny evening, we boarded the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority’s water taxi at the Wolverine Park marina for session eight of the Erie Ambassador program. The water taxi operates daily from late May to early October ($9 round trip/$7 one-way/$7 children) and crosses the bay to Presque Isle Water Works from both Dobbins Landing and Liberty…

The seventh session of the Erie Ambassador program found us in a conference room the Erie Intermodal Transportation Center to learn about planned development for the bayfront and downtown areas. We heard from Brian Weber, of the Weber, Murphy, Fox architectural firm, Nick Scott, Jr. from Scott Enterprises, and John Buchna of the Erie Downtown Partnership. We learned about Scott…

After being teased with a few days of almost-springlike weather, the snow found us again on the evening of the last Erie Ambassador Program session. When we climbed the steps to the Richard S. Wasielewski Water Treatment Plant, a few flakes of snow were falling from the twilight sky, and by the time we exited, a blanket of…

Approximately 30% of my laundry gets hung on clotheslines for various reasons. I want my socks and underwears to last longer, and I have a lot of clothes that I don’t want to shrink, because I am, as I like to tell my kids, “the tallest woman in the world.” Now that we are in…

As I started my morning surfing today, I kept seeing  the headline, “Boomers finally can afford the car of their (teenage) dreams on my Google News homepage. After the third time or so, I decided to check the story out. The article mentions the Dodge Challenger and Charger, Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang, and Pontiac GTO as…

Today, I stopped in at Tops Friendly Market, because it was close to the UPS store, where I had just shipped a package. I don’t usually shop there, but thought I could pick up a few things before heading home. So, I tossed some broccoli, peppers, romaine, mushrooms, and bananas into my cart and headed for…

So, when we were in Arizona visiting our daughter, I asked Husband Jim to turn the water off in the laundry room. Yesterday, when I went to do some laundry, I turned the knobs back the other way and threw a load in. The washer started up, and then several minutes later stopped, giving me…

Yesterday, I went to the DMV to get my new license. It recently moved from the east side of Erie to the old Staples location near Sam’s Club on Peach. The new center is spacious and has two waiting areas, one for photo licenses renewals, and I assume the other is for people who need…

I took my Honda Civic hybrid in for service today, and my loaner is a GMC Yukon with 582 miles on it. Good thing I learned to drive that Gannon University 13-passenger van a few years ago. Anyhow, I had fun driving to work today, listening to XM Radio on the Bose speaker system and intimidating the…

“Made in China” used to connote cheaply made tin toys. You might be surprised at the number of “quality” goods that are made in other countries, especially China. A casual walk around my house revealed that the manufacture of most of the products occurred in China—even designer clothing from Ralph Lauren and pricey quality handbags…