Do you have an address? Or are you moving around? A PO box is good for people who don’t stay in one place very long, but want to receive mail. Whether you can use that at the bank, the dmv, the IRS, or voting depends entirely upon which state you live in.
Temu isn’t a new idea. There have been many international shopping apps before. Temu is just currently popular.
Intellectual property law is quite different in China. Some might say it’s non-existent, but I think that’s an oversimplification and I don’t want to get bogged down in an argument over international economic law. Point is, China has a lot of manufacturing facilities, and make a lot of the products you know and love.
It’s no secret that once a product is made in China, the designs and details become available to other manufacturers in China (and in other countries, but Temu is a Chinese company). Temu works with manufacturers directly to sell product directly without the markup, marketing, warehousing, etc that come with normal e-commerce.
Benchmade needs to let you know they make knives, they need to create designs that are high quality and people like, and then they have to stand by their product. They also need to turn a profit. Temu just needs to profit, and they are probably willing to take less of a markup in exchange for volume. The low cost is their marketing.
Now when it comes to a knock-off, and this goes for anything, but we’ll use Benchmade knives as the example, the results depend on what sort of knock-off you’re getting.
The best case scenario is that it’s the same design, same materials, possibly even the same manifacturing plant that makes real Benchmade knives. Then you get a high quality knife at close to factory direct prices. Congratulations, you’ve scored a steal, and I do mean that you’ve purchased a product that has been stolen. The ethics of that are on you, I’m not here to judge.
The next best possible knock-off is the same design, same materials, and maybe the same manufacturer, but it’s a knife that didn’t pass qualtiy control standards. It would have become a Benchmade knife, but for some reason it was not made to spec. Maybe the printing was off and you get an otherwise impeccable Bonchmude knife. Or maybe the steel was improperly hardened and the blade will snap when you apply pressure. Provided you don’t hurt yourself or get eaten by the bear you were trying to stab, worst case is you’re out the price of the knife. Temu isn’t going to stand by their product, because it’s not actually theirs.
The third possible knock-off is a generic version of the knife design. Seeing the sales of quality knives, the manufacturer decides to copy the design to make something that looks like a quality knife, but make it as cheaply as possible. Plastic replaces metal parts wherever possible, glue replaces welds, and the metal used is referred to as “steel-adjacent.” This is going to be a piece of crap for sure, and won’t actually be worth the price you pay for it, even if it’s free.
Here’s the big problem with Temu, there’s no telling which is which from the product postings. You see the same generic photo from four different item listings, and the knife you buy today won’t be there tomorrow. Even if you order two of the same product from the same manufacturer, you could get two wildly different quality levels. And you’re far more likely to get the third kind than either of the first two.
Think of the Temu stuff as disposable. “I’ll probably throw this away evetually.” It’s worth it if you use the thing and don’t throw it away immediately. Now, I said I wasn’t going to judge, hut the last thing I’ll say is that we could all do with a little less waste. Let’s all of us think twice before shipping disposable products halfway across the world.
But other than that, if it’s “worth it” is really up to you.
The larger the state, the more internal resistance there will be. Not everyone in Texas or Florida will want to secede, and everybody can buy a gun. It’s one thing to gather some pride boys and meal team six larpers in the town square and march around for a bit, but it’s an entirely other thing to defend territory when you’re outnumbered, outgunned, and half the population is against you.
Oklahoma and Arkansas might be up for it, but there’s no way secessionists hold Miami or Austin.
They are called “casement” windows, specifically turn/tilt operation, and they do exist in the USA. They are typically more expensive than vinyl double hung, and home builders tend to shy away from anything “different” that might scare away home buyers. That’s why you don’t see them very often.
But if you want them, you can buy them and have them installed. You can even get them in patio door sizes, but the larger the door, the heavier it is when it tilts.
It’s really common for people unfamiliar with the door function to lift the handle and think it’s locked, and then a strong breeze blows the door inward. Between the noise and seeing the door falling inward, it can be pretty scary.
Source: I worked in construction in the US with European builders who loved these things and couldn’t figure out why Americans didn’t.
Also so that phones require more frequent replacement. Usually the battery goes first. It doesn’t hold a charge or undervolts and slows down the phone. They want you to buy a new phone every two years.
I worked as a transplant coordinator, and that job was soul crushing every day.
One of the worst moments was being on the intake phones. It a phone number every hospital in the area calls whenever anyone dies. They report the details of the death, and we determine if there’s any possibility for donation.
I knew my uncle had been sick, but nobody told me they put him in hospice care and had withdrawn treatment. I took hundreds of calls, maybe thousands, but I still remember the feel of the receiver in my hand when the voice on the line said his name.
There were many sad stories, many sad days, so much that you become numb to it. It was horrible, but it made my job easier because when the numbness sets in, you can think of the trauma and empathize.
Some of the costumes are rather intricate and impressive. And then sometimes they’re racist. People who defend the Mummers try to pretend the bigots have been removed and prohibited frim returning, but this year some bigots attacked the crowd while waving MAGA flag.
The musical acts are good, though. Lotta fun for the kids.