That’s an absolutely crushing schedule.

When I think of “middle aged family man”, I think of a salaried employee or tradesman working a 40 hour work week, and supporting kids with the help of a spouse who’s either a homemaker or earns additional income. Which mostly describes me.

You’re comparing apples to oranges when it comes to lifestyles. I work occasional overtime and it always knocks my dick in the dirt for a week or so. All things considered, just surviving what you’re describing is an achievement.

You’re doing an amazing job and I hope you can find a situation that gives you more time off soon. You deserve it.

You can still get onions at my Costco, you just have to ask at the counter. Never seen the polish though, and now I feel nostalgic for something I’ve never had…

We have the $120 annual membership.

What we save on dog food in the first four months of the year pays for that membership. And the store brand dog food is manufactured for Costco by Diamond, so it’s better quality than anything available at Walmart for less.

Household goods, TP, laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, etc, etc are a significant savings if you have space to store them.

Some of the deals on groceries, meat, frozen goods and so forth are significant if you have a deep freeze or extra fridge in the garage to keep everything in.

It’s more than a grocery store though. Appliances, furnishings, electronics, gas, tires, and more can be had at decent prices. For instance, I can get a name brand car battery from Costco at the same cost as Auto Zone’s no name special.

As others have said, the annual cash back reward is at least $120.

But…

You have to set a budget, have extra space, and be disciplined about shopping there. Stay out of the central impulse zone in the store unless there’s something you need there, and comparison shop on major purchases. It’s great for people stuck in the suburbs. For everyone else, YMMV.

As far as the hot dog goes… It’s just a meme, man. Relax.

This is what it boils down to. The first person/org that can win their trust and assure them that basic needs will be met and they won’t be forgotten after the dust settles will have a massive following overnight.

It could just be the circles I travel in.

However, I remain doubtful of her having any real impact on national affairs and skeptical of her motivations.

Granted.

But she’s got a huge hole to dig herself out of. Let her start with this and move on to apologizing to the people she baselessly attacked for personal gain, publicly supporting legislation that helps people, supporting the people who’ve been hurt by the policies she helped enact, and voting against her party when it’ll help her constituents and not just her lobbyists. It’s political suicide, but it’s the right thing to do.

I’m not convinced she’s breaking ranks even. Her career is based around the idea that any attention is good attention. She’s been out of the spotlight for a while, and really has nothing to offer the nation orher than a willingness to say whatever egregious bullshit gets the cameras back on her. I don’t have a lot of hope that she’ll be a bellweather for any trend.

That’ll fix it for sure. I’m positive they take her opinion seriously…