What Are The Greatest Changes In Shopping In Your Lifetime

What are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime? So asked my 9 year old grandson.

As I thought of the question the local Green Grocer came to mind. Because that is what the greatest change in shopping in my lifetime is.

That was the first place to start with the question of what are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime.

Our local green grocer was the most important change in shopping in my lifetime. Beside him was our butcher, a hairdresser and a chemist.

Looking back, we were well catered for as we had quite a few in our suburb. And yes, the greatest changes in shopping in my lifetime were with the small family owned businesses.

Entertainment While Shopping Has Changed
Buying butter was an entertainment in itself.
My sister and I often had to go to a favourite family grocer close by. We were always polite as we asked for a pound or two of butter and other small items.

Out came a big block of wet butter wrapped in grease-proof paper. Brought from the back of the shop, placed on a huge counter top and included two grooved pates.

That was a big change in our shopping in my lifetime… you don’t come across butter bashing nowadays.

Our old friendly Mr. Mahon with the moustache, would cut a square of butter. Lift it to another piece of greaseproof paper with his pates. On it went to the weighing scales, a bit sliced off or added here and there.

Our old grocer would then bash it with gusto, turning it over and over. Upside down and sideways it went, so that it had grooves from the pates, splashes going everywhere, including our faces.

My sister and I thought this was great fun and it always cracked us up. We loved it, as we loved Mahon’s, on the corner, our very favourite grocery shop.

Grocery Shopping
Further afield, we often had to go to another of my mother’s favourite, not so local, green grocer’s. Mr. McKessie, ( spelt phonetically) would take our list, gather the groceries and put them all in a big cardboard box.

And because we were good customers he always delivered them to our house free of charge. But he wasn’t nearly as much fun as old Mr. Mahon. Even so, he was a nice man.

All Things Fresh
So there were very many common services such as home deliveries like:

• Farm eggs

• Fresh vegetables

• Cow’s milk

• Freshly baked bread

• Coal for our open fires

Delivery Services
A man used to come to our house a couple of times a week with farm fresh eggs.

Another used to come every day with fresh vegetables, although my father loved growing his own.

Our milk, topped with beautiful cream, was delivered to our doorstep every single morning.

Unbelievably, come think of it now, our bread came to us in a huge van driven by our “bread-man” named Jerry who became a family friend.

My parents always invited Jerry and his wife to their parties, and there were many during the summer months. Kids and adults all thoroughly enjoyed these times. Alcohol was never included, my parents were teetotallers. Lemonade was a treat, with home made sandwiches and cakes.

The coal-man was another who delivered bags of coal for our open fires. I can still see his sooty face under his tweed cap but I can’t remember his name. We knew them all by name but most of them escape me now.

Mr. Higgins, a service man from the Hoover Company always came to our house to replace our old vacuum cleaner with an updated model.

Our insurance company even sent a man to collect the weekly premium.

People then only paid for their shopping with cash. This in itself has been a huge change in shopping in my lifetime.

In some department stores there was a system whereby the money from the cash registers was transported in a small cylinder on a moving wire track to the central office.

Some Of The Bigger Changes
Some of the bigger changes in shopping were the opening of supermarkets.

• Supermarkets replaced many individual smaller grocery shops. Cash and bank cheques have given way to credit and key cards.

• Internet shopping… the latest trend, but in many minds, doing more harm, to book shops.

• Not many written shopping lists, because mobile phones have taken over.

On a more optimistic note, I hear that book shops are popular again after a decline.

Personal Service Has Most Definitely Changed
So, no one really has to leave home, to purchase almost anything, technology makes it so easy to do online.
And we have a much bigger range of products now, to choose from, and credit cards have given us the greatest ease of payment.

We have longer shopping hours, and weekend shopping. But we have lost the personal service that we oldies had taken for granted and also appreciated.

Because of their frenetic lifestyles, I have heard people say they find shopping very stressful, that is grocery shopping. I’m sure it is when you have to dash home and cook dinner after a days work. I often think there has to be a better, less stressful way.

My mother had the best of both worlds, in the services she had at her disposal. With a full time job looking after 9 people, 7 children plus her and my dad, she was very lucky. Lucky too that she did not have 2 jobs.

Getting Started With Investing

IntroductionTraditionally investing has been seen as the preserve of the wealthy and has a reputation for being a minefield to the uninitiated. As western standards of living continue to increase, more and more people are beginning to realize the benefits investing even small sums can bring. This article seeks to explore some basic principles to help you get started with investing.1. What’s the basic premise of investing?The Collins English Dictionary defines the word invest in the following way; “To lay out, for profit or advantage.” To layout refers to the fact that something of value is needed in the first place in order to generate more wealth. In essence investing is a means of taking a pre defined sum of money and using it in such a way as to increase its original value, therefore generating a profit.2. Why Invest?This is one of the most fundamental questions that any person looking to invest needs to ask. The general answer is pretty obvious, to generate a profit, but the reason behind the investment are far more important and will directly influence how and where you chose to invest. In addition the answer will also determine the level of risk you are willing to expose yourself to and which will be explored in more detail later.Reasons as to why people invest are varied and may include some of the following; to build up a nest egg for retirement, to provide a financial safety net, to pay for future education or university fees for children, for fun because of the buzz investing can create.3. How Should I invest?This is also a deeply personal question and will depend upon the amount of money an individual has at their disposal. It is important to stress that investment takes many different forms all of which facilitate differing levels of investment. A single mum might decide to invest $20 or a business entrepreneur $1 million but both will seek a return on their capital outlay and how they go about achieving their investment goals may differ substantially.4. What level of risk should I expose myself to?Such a decision is very important as ultimately it will dictate the profitability of your final investment. In many respects this question will also be determined by the answer to the previous question, why invest? If an investment is being made to safeguard a financial future the level of risk taken may be lower than an individual investing for fun.Generally investments are made in three distinct categories low, medium and high. Low risk investments include Government bonds and savings accounts. Medium Risk investments could include certain types of shares or property. High Risk investments will almost certainly include shares in rapidly expanding companies exploring new markets. The dot.com crash in the late nineties, in which thousands of newly established technology companies went bust, is an example of a high risk investment going very wrong.What types of investment are there?This is not an easy question to answer because in theory anything that earns a profit from an initial outlay can be classed as an investment.There are however some common forms of investment that deserve further explanation.a) Government BondsThese are deemed low risk investments as money is invested in Government related projects and assets. It is unheard of in the western world for a Government to go bankrupt.b) SharesThis is a means of holding a stake in a company trading on the stock exchange and investors benefit from its profitability. Whilst share dealing can be low risk particularly if you are investing in established companies in the FTSE 100, most share investments are deemed medium or high risk. This is because such investments have the potential to return excellent profits but there is also a raised risk of losing your total investment.c) AntiquesAntiques are often a great source of investment given that they hold their value at the very least and have the added benefit of being easy to sell if you need a quick cash injection. In addition if you wish to leave a sum of money to family after your death they won’t be hit with inheritance taxes often associated with large amounts of physical cash. Perhaps one of the major drawbacks to investing in Antiques is the requirement of a level of technical expertise, or access to those skills, to ensure that suitable items are invested in.d) PropertyProperty can also be a very lucrative source of investment as property prices continue to increase across the developed world. Generally property prices increase in value in the long term.e) SavingsWhilst banks often make the distinction between savings and investments, in essence savings are a form of investment as the money you save with the bank is invested in low risk shares on your behalf, which ultimately enables financial institutions to make interest payments to you.How to investNow that you have more information to help you get started with investment the next step is to speak to an independent financial advisor. These consultations are almost always free and you can get specific advice tailored to your individual needs concerning investing. In the UK there is an excellent site for finding Independent Financial Advisors called unbiased, see the link at the end of this articleSummaryThis article has attempted to provide advice to enable individuals to get started with investment. Discussion has taken place about the basic premise of investing and the profitability of such a decision, along with examining different reasons for investing. Attention has also been given to how much might be invested and at what level of risk this might be undertaken at. Finally we have explored the vast array of investment options available and what the next step is for a budding investor.

Good Nutrition Starts at a Cellular Level

If the cells lose even the smallest amount of ability to produce energy for the body, the result is a decline in our general health and the emergence of sometime multiple degenerative conditions.Healthy cells produce our “vitality” – the body’s healthy energy level and natural resistance to stress.The big question becomes, how do we make sure our cells are working at full throttle on the energy front? Fortunately, maintaining healthy cells is fairly simple as scientific research shows that good nutrition is the key.Cells and energyWhat we eat can affect our cells and their efficiency in producing energy. The mitochondria or the “power plants” of the cell each contains a unique pattern of DNA, and their job is to facilitate cellular respiration, a process through which they transform oxygen and nutrients into energy and water.The finger-like folds in the mitochondrial inner membrane contain the respiratory “chains” where this process takes place.Unfortunately, oxygen, which is needed for this process to occur, is toxic to biological molecules and cells. That means that all processes involving oxygen, including cellular respiration, creates free radicals as a by-product.It’s just a consequence of normal metabolism, but these free radicals tend to oxidize biological molecules, just like iron oxidizes when it rusts. Over time, this oxidation can damage the cells, and halt cellular respiration, leading to the death of the cell.The body’s defense against this toxicity is to use antioxidant molecules against the free radicals.The body however, does not always get it right, and sometimes it is not able to produce enough antioxidants for the job. The result is that free radicals move around freely, ravaging the body’s proteins, fats, and DNA/RNA. The body will remove and repair some damaged macromolecules, but often the sheer overwhelming number of free radicals brings the repair system to its knees.Oxidative stressIn 1956, Professor Denham Harman came up with a theory that postulates that as we age and the oxidative damage the body has sustained over the years takes its toll, the level of oxidative stress rises.This means that oxidative damage increases over the course of a lifetime and accelerates in old age. At that point, we tend to see the occurrence of degenerative diseases, and obvious signs of ageing.Oxidative stress and chronic degenerative diseasesToday, scientists and doctors widely agree that oxidative stress figures prominently in eye problems such as cataracts and macular degeneration, atherosclerosis and heart disease, cell mutation and cancer, all kinds of inflammatory conditions, as well as brain and nervous system conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.Neutralizing free radicals and disease preventionSo how do we reduce or prevent free radical damage to the cells?If oxidative stress increases when antioxidant defenses are compromised and free radical levels rise, surely we can decrease oxidative stress by improving the body’s antioxidant defenses and reducing the number of free radicals floating around the blood and tissues.Optimal cellular nutritionThe experts agree: Optimal cellular nutrition is the best way to boost the body’s natural defenses.This involves providing ALL nutrients to the cell at optimal levels, and allowing the cell to decide what it does and does not need.This way, we can ensure that there aren’t any nutritional deficiencies – because nutrient levels will automatically be corrected within a few months of regaining optimal cell nutrition.This seems easy enough, but one question still unanswered is: Which nutrients are needed for optimal cellular nutrition?Basically, it means giving your body all the antioxidants in addition to the supporting B vitamins and antioxidant minerals.It has been noted by some researchers that the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of each nutrient may in fact not be enough for our cells to prevent many health conditions. The RDAs are old, determined during the WW years, and apply to minimum nutrient intake to ward off deficiency diseases common back then. As a result, they don’t take into account conditions such as chronic degenerative diseases, which occur more frequently today.Optimal levels to prevent degenerative diseaseToday, the optimal levels of nutrients known to provide health benefits are much greater than the recommended daily allowances: eg: some studies show that the optimal level of vitamin C is approximately 1200 to 2000 mg daily, the RDA is only 60 mg.Because the enormous amount of fresh vegetables and fruit we would have to eat to obtain these new levels of nutrition is unmanageable for humans, the best, and most logical way to get optimum levels of vitamins,minerals and other nutrients is to take a good quality supplement.Think of cellular nutrition as a very wise way of using the supplement and your food as “preventative medicine” to stop the disease process before it even begins.It is a Myth that If I have a healthy diet, I do not need to take any supplementation.In fact, it is proven that if a large group of people were to follow the exact same dietary lifestyle & exercise program, a percentage would still suffer from high or low blood pressure, high or low blood sugar, or high or low stomach acid, while others could develop arthritis, cardiovascular disease, cancer, mental illness, or other medical conditions.Most nutrition-related health issues in Western society are not caused by nutritional deficiencies, but rather nutritional imbalances, which will negatively affect cellular nutrition and are responsible for many common medical problems in older people, while metabolic disorders can cause nutritional deficiencies following the malabsorption of certain nutrients.When we analyze people living to a ripe old age in reasonable health without the need of supplementation, we find that they had a lot of odds in their favor: good genes and a lack of factors that tend to upset the biochemical balance necessary to maintain good health. Anything upsetting the cellular nutrition balance will do one of three things: shorten someone’s life, worsen its quality, or require compensation through extra nutritional support or drug intervention.The difference between people who take nutritional supplements (that match cellular nutrition requirements), and those who do not can always be detected in the way the body handles a crisis/trauma. If you look at younger people in a crisis situation, they simply tend to handle various medical situations better, or recover faster than older ones. This would suggest that by ingesting the correct nutritional supplementation we could in fact be lowering our biological age