What Material Things Are You Thankful for?

Skip love, health, liberty, for believers the grace of God, and the like: They are surely the most important, but they're also pretty obvious. Tell us what material things you most appreciate. They can be big things, such as the unimaginably vast amount of books, music, and video that all of us can have at a moment's notice. (True, 99+% of that is bad, or at least of no interest to us, but it's usually not hard to find the good stuff.) Or they can be tiny things, such as your favorite food. Whatever you'd like, post about it in the comments.

And try to keep the focus on what you're thankful for, not what you loathe or why you think the other commenters are wrong.

Comments

[Absaroka]

Vaccines. Potable water. Modern medicine in general. Eyeglasses. Enough food that famines in the US have become unknown.

[Dr. Ed 2]

With the exception of war zones, famines WORLD WIDE have largely become unknown.

And it's not the provision of the food itself as much as the vast advances in food science -- preparation, preservation and such. It's CHEAPER now to buy tomato products (e.g. spaghetti sauce) than to make your own, particularly if you aren't growing your own tomatoes.

My mother used to can everything including beef -- no one does that now. And the time that women used to spend preserving food was immense -- it was a full time job for much of the year and women taught it to their daughters. Dry apples, braid onions, have old milk (unpasturized) simmering on the back of the stove to become cottage cheese, can dandelion greens, which they also ate, salt pork and smoke hams, render lard, etc. All they really bought from the store during the Depression were staples like 50 lb bags of flour -- and I haven't seen a bag bigger than 5 lbs in 40 years.

[Brett Bellmore]

Famine in the modern world is generally just disguised genocide or really hard core political warfare. Modern agriculture is so absurdly productive you basically can't get a famine without the local government intending it on some level.

I have a farmer friend who is basically food self-sufficient, free range pigs, geese, chickens, huge garden. He still buys some basics like flour, sugar, salt, and spices. I barter with him, mead for meat, and right now I've got about 10 lbs of his pork belly that's just finished curing, I'll be smoking it today and returning it as bacon, to pay for a bunch of apple cider he supplied me a few weeks ago. (That's in my fermenter turning into hard cider.)

But it's a lifestyle choice for him, not a way of saving money; It would be economically more practical for him to do outside work and buy the food. My own garden is a hobby, too, doesn't save us a bit of money.

[Brett Bellmore]

"My mother used to can everything including beef -- no one does that now."

Not nobody, but it's just a lifestyle choice.

Actually, I like canning things, and my family prefers my canned apple sauce to the store bought. I'd actually like to shift towards canning my store bought meat instead of freezing it, because mason jars don't care about power outages. And some meat dishes actually taste better after sitting in a mason jar for a few months. (Philippine pork adobo, for instance.)

I do wonder; Of course, Trump is going to hit the brakes on the 'renewable' energy mandates that have been driving the grid in an unreliable direction, so maybe grid reliability isn't going to tank after all. But he's only got one term to do it in, and the people driving the move away from reliable power sources are pretty deeply entrenched? Will we really be rescued from blackouts, or just have them put off a few years?

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

The woke mind virus has made your brain mush! RFK 2028!!!!

[Androcles]

My library card. Also pit cooked pork barbecue.

[Dan Schiavetta]

My musical instruments, especially my double bass. It's always on its stand in the living room. Beautiful to look at.

Being in the Northeast in autumn.

The view from my attic window as I type this.

My new keyboard, wonderfully silent and easy under the fingers.

[SRG2]

That I can store a huge classical music collection in a box the size of a paperback;
The Oxford Companion to...series and Wikipedia
That social media has allowed me to reconnect with old friends
My Nike Maxflys and my customised starting blocks
Pizza and sushi - though never to be combined

[Doug Heffernan]

Technological progress. Its effects are by no means all positive, but on net it really benefits humanity quite a bit. If we use it properly and don't attempt to thwart it in order to protect legacy methods.

[F.D. Wolf]

My laptop and internet connection, without which I would not be able to partake of this latter-day Algonquin Round Table.

Happy Thanksgiving, all.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Ditto

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

Sure, commenters started muting me first chance they got. They still can’t explain who was protected by the 2A at its inception….Americans in DC and federal territories??

[Jerry B.]

Steel. Aluminum. Copper and brass. Precision machine tools. Paper books. Appliances. Gas heat. Air conditioning. Cars. Infrastructure.

[Frank Drackman]

I have one word for you. "Plastics"

[Krayt]

Which was a joke in The Graduate. He should have listened.

[Jerry B.]

Steel and wood = classic Browning Hi-Power. No plastic needed.

[Noscitur a sociis]

I finally got around to replacing my broken Cuisinart food processor a couple off months ago, when I saw a combination food processor/blender west from Ninja ar Costco for maybe $140. It has by far the fewest and simplest set of moving parts of anything similar I’ve ever had, making it easy to set up, easy to throw in the dishwasher after using, and easy to store, thus removing a lot of the barriers to actually using it. If it broke tomorrow I’d have already more than gotten my money’s worth out of it. If they still have one at your local Costco, pick one up. Better yet, get a couple and give them as gifts!

[hobie]

I must agree. I bought my Ninja food processor a few months ago and it is the greatest device ever. All the things that should have been obvious to engineers decades ago are present. Such a pleasure to use

[Brett Bellmore]

Really? Our 'mini' food processor is over a decade old, and at this point is really just batters the food to pieces, instead of cutting it. So it might be time for a replacement.

[hobie]

Be careful, Brett. The Ninja blades are as sharp as razors as well

[Kazinski]

My "cabin" in the Sierra Nevada. Its actually a 3 bedroom 2 bath 2300sqft house I built myself, but its in a forest, and its snowed in now, so I call it a cabin.

And since I built it myself I don't have a mortgage to pay off, at least not on that home.

Oh, and also my 1997 Toyota Tacoma I bought new, with a truck rack that I used to haul a lot of I needed to build the cabin. Its parked in the carport next to my wellhouse until the snow melts in the spring.

[Dr. Ed 2]

So it's snowed in -- can you not pack in enough supplies for the winter? Assuming you have a telecommute job (or you wouldn't have a remote cabin), you can telecommute with six feet of snow on the ground. Sweep off the satellite dish if you have one (it will mess it up), make sure any gasoline exhaust pipe is clear of snow (you'll smell Diesel) and spend the winter there.

I know someone who has a dozen of the 100 lb propane "bottles" delivered in the fall and changes the tanks himself. And that's assuming that you can find a dealer to deliver them and you may be better off with the Obama approach of the big massive tank.

The only problem is that propane boils at -44°F and really doesn't work below -30°F so if it gets that cold up there, you need to rely on something else...

[Kazinski]

Some people do spend the winter there, but I'm not that tough. Its also 2 miles off the nearest paved road, is off the grid, the nearest supermarket is an hour away if the road are passable.

But then what would I do with my house in Arizona? And if I were a California resident then I'd have to register my guns.

[JesusHadBlondeHairBlueEyes]

That sounds pretty sweet.

[Frank Drackman]

2008 Corvette Z06. The car I've always wanted and now I have it. I rule!

[hobie]

Frankie 'wounded warrior' Drackman, America's neediest veteran, based on an objective reading of your maturity, I figured you to be an IROC man...Corvette will suffice though

[Frank Drackman]

Pre-judge much? I have a 94' Z28 thank you very much, special ordered new, LT1, 6-speed, NO T-tops/power windows/power locks, AM/FM Cassette (CD was an option, but I didn't own and CD's, had lots of Cassettes) did splurge for Power Seat, AC, Engine Oil Cooler, IROC's were for posers

Frank

[hobie]

Cassette deck...impressive. Just put on your headband and start pumping Survivor or Def Leopard and you'll attract every teenage boy abused by their scout masters in the Atlanta metro

[Frank Drackman]

Give yourself a hand Hobie-stank, that attitude is why we'll have "45/47" and JD in the Oval Orifice for the next 12 years instead of Cums-a-lot and Sergeant Major light-in-the-loafers. It's "Leppard" for one thing, and Drummer Rick Allen has more musical ability in his amputated left arm than wet-dreamt-of in your philosophy. Enjoy your Vinyl Dave Brubeck, I'll blow some "Armageddon It" through my Jenson Coaxials any day.

Frank

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

A $10k EV from China will outperform your car and a new Lambo. So hilarious!

[Brett Bellmore]

I prefer the older Corvettes; The ones you could tell at a glance from Transams, you know what I mean? Though I'll grant that the newer ones are mechanically superior, the older ones looked better.

[Alaskan Curmudgeon]

My grandkids. They are a joy.

And pumpkin chiffon pie with a pile of homemade whipped cream!

[santamonica811]

Do you have a go-to recipe that you'd recommend? (For the pie, not for the grandkids.)

[Alaskan Curmudgeon]

1/4 cup cold water
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1Cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1+1/4 Cups mashed cooked pumpkin( we use canned)
1/2 ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 Cup milk
1 generic 9 inch pie crust
Blind bake the pie crust
Soften gelatin in the water
Beat egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, pumpkin, salt, spices and milk.Heat in sauce pan stirring constantly until it thickens. Add gelatin to the mix and stir until mixed. Cool the mix ( we live in Alaska, so it cools quickly on the porch this time of year) when it begins to thicken, whip egg whites until almost stiff and beat in remaining sugar. Fold into the mix and pour into pie shell and refrigerate until set.

I believe my mom got this out of a 1950s era Betty Crocker cookbook.

[Brett Bellmore]

Sounds good. My wife made a sweet potato pie from some of the sweet potatoes we harvested from the garden, but they're an Asian variety, a bit on the fibrous side, which affected the texture, if not the flavor.

The little ones, steamed, make great snacks while reading, though!

[Alpheus W Drinkwater]

Sliced and dehydrated make fantastic dog treats. And orange dog poop is very easy to find.

[шинка]

I am thankful for guns.

Some shit just needs to die expeditiously.

Guns are the solution.

[hobie]

I suppose if you're that murderous, you should shoot yourself...at least that would be intellectually honest

[шинка]

Murderous?

I think you are projecting.

In hunting there is a thing known as a humane kill. It is a quick and deliberate death for the animal that is being hunted.

Did you get your turkey from the supermarket, or did you go out into the field and hunt it?

You say murderous. I say humane.

Stop projecting.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[hobie]

You didn't specify the people you would like to murder. But I will presume it is people who want to do harm. If so, you're the one you need to kill

[JesusHadBlondeHairBlueEyes]

This is all he said:
>Some shit just needs to die expeditiously.

You deranged lunatic.

Happy Thanksgiving, douchebag.

[шинка]

^---- Jesus has a clue (and superior reading comprehension).

People seem to forget that Thanksgiving across America is a hunting holiday. We harvest turkey, deer, and bear for the celebration. It is the tradition of Thanksgiving since Day 1.

But to some, context is lost....

[шинка]

You only think that because you think the only purpose for guns is harm. You mentally went to "guns are for killing people".

It's sad that that's your first thought when it comes to firearms. Part of the problem?

[The Margrave of Azilia]

"And try to keep the focus on what you're thankful for, not what you loathe or why you think the other commenters are wrong."

But what if being able to call other commenters wrong is the very thing I'm thankful for?

Ha ha, just kidding, I like physical books and the physical notebook where I physically write stuff.

[santamonica811]

I love my TiVo. God help me; I just love it. I gather that cable companies now have competing devices. But I dance with the one who brung me, and I'll stay with TiVo till the unit dies.

I love low-cost Asian and European airlines. A $20 (USD) flight from Bangkok to Borneo??? A $19 flight from Berlin to Dublin, or to Riga??? Yes, it takes a bit of advance planning. Yes, I have to pay more if I want a bag stored away. But...come on! I remember when those flights were minimum of $200 or 300. And getting to Borneo or Indonesia were $500 side-trips. It's made exploring the world widely available to people solidly in the middle class.

I love the cultural opportunities the Internet gives us. (As Eugene said; focusing on the downsides is a subject for a different thread. On a different day of the year.) When current events get us down, in just a few minutes I can watch an episode of Fawlty Towers. Or anything in Blackadder. And laugh & smile. Or just watch an episode of Planet Earth, and marvel in the beauty of our planet.

(Would our Constitution be considered a material thing? If so, I also love the 22nd Amendment.) 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Conspirators...and all of us commentators/posters. Be safe, and I hope you all spend today with either family or friends.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Radio.

As a boy it was CB Radios with a range of 10 miles which was a lifesaver because you could put an airplane up and have the pilot repeat and relay messages.

VHF (marine band) radios arrived in the 80s and those are line of sight which means you can reach the mainland 30 miles away. And the 90s brought 4 watt cellphones (as opposed to the 1/3 watt ones people have in their pockets) and that literally meant you had a telephone aboard the boat.

I listen to some of the stories the elders have told about fishing in the 1940s and 1950s without any of this stuff and cringe. Forget the upside down flag -- hanging a pair of rainpants from your flagpole meant you were in trouble because otherwise you'd be wearing them.

Radio eliminated the need to call someone to tell them you'd arrived, knowing that if you didn't call, they'd presume you were in trouble and send help, But it also broke down the sense of community where people were watching out for each other.

And in my daily life -- I can't imagine not having a cell phone.

[Krayt]

How can you go out in a car without a cell phone, anyway? What happens if you break down. What are ya gonna do, hoof it to someone's house and sheepishly knock on the door and ask to use their phone? Inside their house???

[Dr. Ed 2]

In rural Maine in the '80s, I actually DID that on a few occasions.

My 1970s Boy Scout Manual said "anywhere you see telephone wires going into a house, they have a phone and ask to use it."

And one rainy night, some stranger knocked at the door of my college apartment and I let him use my phone -- something about his car, a big puddle, and needing to be picked up.

It's how it was. In the early '90s I saw a MBTA bus with "need help, call police" flashing on it's destination, so I went into a liquor store and they let me use their phone.

[Ruqt]

Wigmore Hall London hosts classical music - concerts and recitals- daily offering some thru livestream audio and video of exceptional quality and maintaining an online listening library for members. I became a member for the price of a concert ticket and not only enjoy the concerts but remain appreciative of the visual and audio clarity using an LG smart tv connected to a high quality audio system. I am thankful I live in a world permitting connection of performers from around the world, a London Concert Hall, Amercian made receiver and DCA, British loudspeakers, Asian TV in the comfort of my home.

[Malika the Maiz]

My local library. Local, state and national parks.

[hobie]

I'm thankful for Facebook Marketplace. Regressing my Victorian mansion in the hood back to its former state has been so easy with Marketplace. White people will just throw away any antique in the service of redecorating...and Hobie is there to scoop it up. I love restoring these beautiful things

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

I used that for a week before I contacted a scammer. Suckerberg got his and doesn’t care about you.

[Chappamatic]

I’m thankful for my musical instruments and sound gear, and the extraordinarily patient and loving wife that supports me in my music.

I’m thankful for a young lady singer from Wigan in Britain named Lucy Thomas, who I think may be the greatest female vocalist I’ve ever heard. Whenever things aren’t going well, I listen to her song “Brand New Day” and am immediately lifted up, and more often than not moved to tears.

Thankful for a good dog and crazy cat that keeps our home life funny and fun.

Thankful for YouTube and YouTube Music, that continually introduces me to new artists.

Thankful for varied community of blogs and blog commenters. Happy Thanksgiving.

[Dr. Ed 2]

I'm thankful for my parents, decent & caring people whom I didn't really understand until after they died.

What I wouldn't give for just 5 minutes of being able to talk to them...

[hobie]

Yes. My parents were kind but they had no interest in me. I basically had to raise myself. I've no idea if I would want to speak to them. But, without a doubt, I'd love to hug my mother one more time more than anything

[SRG2]

FWIW I count myself fortunate that I can - and do - talk to my 94yo mother every day (or rather, listen, as she does all the talking), and that my father and I had plenty of common interests, from engineering to etymology, to keep us close.

[Flight-ER-Doc]

The things that have allowed society to achieve what we have: Hygiene and sanitation (clean water, sewers, landfills), cheap energy, and humanities desire for something more - which I rank as an absolute material thing, while individual desires are feelings.

Next year (or the year after) on Mars!

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

I haven’t looked into yet, but did clean water cause polio?? Maybe RFK isn’t a total nut!?!

[Dr. Ed 2]

Polio is spread two ways -- fecal/oral and droplets.

Fecal/oral is usually contaminated drinking water, and according to the WHO, the more common route. Contaminated drinking water also causes other illnesses including cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, and typhoid.

RFK may be right about big pharma but that doesn't mean he is right about everything.

[Flight-ER-Doc]

No, sewer systems which keep the water clean prevent polio. And I'm unaware of RFK claiming that clean water causes it, got a link? All I can recall him bitching about is fluoridation in municipal water, which may reduce dental carries, not cause polio

[Currentsitguy]

My electronic book reader. I'm a compulsive reader. The fact that I can carry around thousands of books in something that I can fit in my pocket is a dream people much over a decade back couldn't even comprehend. Eink display is an amazing technology. If you've only ever read on a phone, tablet, or computer screen you've no idea what you're missing. It's like looking at actual paper.

[SRG2]

Good call. I had been waiting all my life for e-readers!

[bernard11]

Having undergone major heart surgery earlier this year I am extremely grateful for the skill of my surgeon and his team, the training he received, the medical knowledge that has been developed over the years, and the medical technology available.

[Commenter_XY]

Hope you have recovered fully. That must've been tough.

[bernard11]

As I told a friend who asked how the surgery was,

"I I don't know. I slept right through it."

More seriously, it was no fun, but seemed to go through with no problems. The hospital stay was not a pleasant experience - are ICU's designed to maximize discomfort? - but my recovery and cardiac rehab went smoothly.

For the Bostonians here let me say that Mt. Auburn Hospital did a fine job in all respects.

Thanks for your good wishes.

[jorgyusa]

I agree with many, such as medical achievements and the recent cancer surgery I had using a robot.
I thought I would mention a couple of different things special to me. Old radios. I am currently restoring a 1940 Crosley. Amazing how long they can last with a little TLC.
Firearms old and new. My most recent restoration is a WW2 era M1 Garand. Shoots all bulls eyes at 100yds. Yea!

[Paladin_44]

Hmmm...
The opprtunity to post/comment here occasionally without fear of physical retribution. Indeed, the opportunity to post fearlessly ANYWHERE.

[pts]

A colonoscopy, and a skilled surgeon to handle what it showed. Not fun, but highly recommended given the alternative.

[Alpheus W Drinkwater]

In that case you should add propofol to things to be thankful for.

[darkknight9]

Diet Mountain Dew.

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

You fell into the trap! We now know who the white supremacist is! Shut the tread down.

[David Brayton]

Soft toilet paper.

[Flight-ER-Doc]

Been to Russia, have you?

When I was stationed (USAF) in Germany, the local toilet paper had literal splinters in it.....

[Stephen Lathrop]

Every bumble bee I see in my tomato patch. I just ate with my Thanksgiving dinner the last of the legacy a bumble bee left me this year.

Likewise with every other indicator of continued ecological health. For instance, autumn visits to the New England coast by blackpoll warblers—tiny birds that breed mostly in Northern Canada or Alaska, and winter in the Amazon. Along the way they fly to the New England shoreline, pause a month or so to fatten up, and then . . . vanish. In the autumn, they are never seen south of New England, until they show up in the Amazon.

That is because blackpoll warblers—which weigh about as much as two quarter-dollar coins—conclude their autumn migration with one three-day, non-stop flight over the Atlantic.

[Dr. Ed 2]

I wasn't aware that bumblebees pollinate.

[Brett Bellmore]

Like champs! I can barely approach our mailbox due to all the bumble bees busy with the rosemary growing around it.

I think they're the primary pollinator right around here.

[teiwnc]

When young people complain to me about how social media is the bane of existence I say…wait you mean you hate that you have all the world’s books, tv, maps, magazines, artwork, and music at your fingertips IN your phone that you can carry around easily with you at all times? Yeah I can take some online bullying for that…Im ready for my phone to be implanted already.

[Commenter_XY]

Material things I am grateful for:
A modest home, in a tony town. Seasonable weather.
A garden with flowers every month of the year.
A nice vehicle, to drive the country with spouse.
Wegmans
My golf clubs
Internet access to my financial accounts, wherever I am.
metformin...not for diabetes, for ancillary medical benefits (i.e. sirtuins effect)

[Doug Huffman]

My Island cottage and its community. My 10 year old and dumb DIESEL BMW SUV interstate cruiser. My 10 year old Inspired Cycle Engineering Sprint model tricycle. My fiber optic net connection, finally! My scribd.com subscription. My successful retirement investments.

[Brett Bellmore]

Loss leader turkey, of which I have about 90 lbs in the chest freezer.

The furnace that's keeping my house warm, despite the frost outside.

The flowers that FINALLY showed up on my wife's precious calamansi tree, after nursing it along for five long years, and getting torn up on the thorns every time I have to move it. Looks like we'll get an abundant harvest going forward. That really made her happy!

[Retlaw Okreps]

Reliable and inexpensive electrical power. Wind power is not reliable. Solar power is not reliable. Nuclear power is reliable.

[apedad]

The Off button on the Internet.

See ya Monday!

[Jmaie]

Home insulation and bathroom fans. Refrigerated containers (being able to buy mangoes in January).

Ski lifts.

[FilioScotia]

Living in a nice neighborhood with nice neighbors and our daughter and her family living right behind us. PLUS, being debt free because my wife and I paid off ALL our debt before we retired. We are truly blessed.

[Gorbag]

That I can run an emulated PDP-10 with front panel and the ITS OS from MIT on a RPi, rather than having to take over half my basement, install additional AC, and bankrupting myself with the power and maintenance bills.

[Intelligent Mr Toad]

1. Pertussis vaccine.
2. Recordings of live performances of Wagner's operas, at Bayreuth, from the 1950s and 60s, and of Mozart's music (including operas), from Salzburg.
3. The domestic staff in the building I currently live in, who protect us from marauders, burglars, and package-thieves.

[SRG2]

Re #2: I still prefer Solti, but Bohm's Ring is spectacular.

[Intelligent Mr Toad]

4. Christopher Lee's portrayal of Iago!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF-SVytxmnw

5. Gustav Neidlinger's portrayal of the same character

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMjTRjAxk-4

[SRG2]

My favourite here is Tito Gobbi - doesn't quite have the bass, but my god does he sell it. Chewing the scenery even though there's no scenery!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SWYKIN41WQ

[It's only a paper moon, Nominalists]

◄ Isaiah 3:12 ►
Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. My people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.

I am grateful that Ms Fool is gone and her young stupid idiot advisers. Really, don't want to exaggerate, but I would rather die than listen to a cackling stupid fool for 4 years. No, not Hillary !! Kamala