I really like a good automatic and recently ran across a decent deal on a new Ultratech OTF.  The knife showed up so dull it would not cut paper, and I was really taken aback.  I returned it to the maker,nand after a few weeks and some shopping screwups by the maker, I finally got it back. 
They did a great job in fixing the issue, and now it?s a joy to carry.

         

 Hard to believe that the last time anyone posted in this section was over a year ago, was a time that there'd be a half dozen or more posts every day, now we're lucky to have a half dozen post in total on the whole of this forum, I've been here pretty much since the beginning and it saddens me to see it all fade away the way it has, but what is it they say about time changes all tides, well I for one and probably Boomer will keep on posting here until the lights go out forever.
 
 I guess just about everyone has been affected by the high cost of food and other essentials of life these days, I know we have up here in the great northeast, it seems every time I visit my local super market I'm hit with a new bout of sticker shock, this past week it was in the bakery section, my wife is partial to pumpkin pie so every other week I buy her a pumpkin pie, they normally run about $4.49 each for an 8" pie.
 Well this was the off week so I picked up a pie on my way into the store (the bakery section is the first thing you see when entering the store proper) and I almost went into A-Fib, the price for a plain 8" pumpkin pie is now $8.99, more than double, I put it back on the shelf so fast you couldn't see the movement with the naked eye.
 I completed my shopping and when I got home I was still pretty upset over the cost increase of a little pie so I decided to bake my own, I came out better than the store bought pie we were used to, so I thought I'd pass on the recipe.
 
* I used canned Pumpkin pie filling (a 15 oz can for an 8" pie or a 30 oz can for a 10" pie).
* one can of Eagle brand sweet & condensed milk.
* one large egg (two for a 10" pie.
* one tsp. of vanilla extract
* one tsp. cinnamon powder.
* 1/2 tsp. ginger powder
* 1/2 tsp. salt.
* 1/4 tsp. nutmeg.
* one unbaked pie crust. (I used a premade Pillsbury Pe crust they come two to a package)

** Directions;
* Mix all of the ingredients together until well blended. (the batter will be very loose)
* Pour the batter into an ungreased raw pie crust and bake at 450*F for 15 minutes, then turn down the temp to 350* and continue baking for another 30~40 minutes until the middle is firm. (if it jiggles a bit when done it's ok, it will continue to cook after it comes out of the oven, let it cool completely before serving, store it in the fridge when cooled, it will last all of a week in the fridge. (unless you eat it all before that) 

Total cost= about $5.00 bucks.

Well, I'm cutting back on eggs. Likewise probably start keeping chickens again.

Not sure if there is a recession these days  but pretty sure the knock on effects of Covid are neing felt in some ways

In my rural area there are no longer iindependent groceries. All are or were owned by a few large corporations. Now they are all owned by a single nation corporation. The diversity of products , already, pretty homogenized, is even less than previously and amounts of available products are less.

A recent article looking at eggs pointed out the industry wide profits are way up.  A dozen rggs go for  around $6 at the smal grocery nearby and a bit more in the supply towns around me. True an H1N1 outbreak required some culling of flocks but the cost increases came along before that happened and accelerated afterwards.

Gas prices of course remain high along with record breaking profits industry wide. Same with TP which has a limited market. Or building supplies. Or ...

The Covid lockdown cut into profits so a recouping has been underway and  it has continued to gather momentum

Consolidation  among and accross industries along with dismantling of safeguards and protections has allowed a return to the same ethics  of our previous Gilded Age  with exactly the same effects. Covid just poured fuel  on an already existing fire.

At some point Citizens may begin to realize that consolidation of markets only has one outcome. Or maybe we won't regardless of how much evidence there is.  All the Free Market stuff that started as a philosophical exercise to illustrate a point was never intended as a guide to commerce. It has been so consistently misrepresented for so long many remain confused by the concept.

In the meantime have an omelette. If you can afford one. Maybe for a special occasions anyway .