No "special" mineral oil needed for your cutting boards

Not too long ago I was in a certain home goods store, and saw that they were selling bamboo cutting boards for about $30 each. I was feeling a bit smug because I'd just bought a set of two at Costco that looked just like them, for half that price.

Then, right next to the cutting boards I spied a 12 oz. bottle of "food safe mineral oil," to be used to condition the boards, selling for $4.99*. I'm still using the 16 oz. bottle of mineral oil I purchased at the drugstore a few years ago for a couple of bucks. But is it "food safe," you ask? Seeing that the bottle says "Laxative" in bold letters across the front, I'm willing to bet it is. As long as you stay away from the scented stuff, or the kind with a bunch of added ingredients, drugstore mineral oil will do just fine.

*I've actually seen smaller bottles selling for more than $5 in more "posh" stores. Unnecessary!

Good news on the home-buying front

I would like to share that J and I have found a house in a quiet neighborhood in the Seattle city limits! We close on June 21st. Goodbye, tiny bungalow and monthly rent check. Hello, lovely new (to us) home and big whoppin' mortgage.

Is it really all that whoppin'? Well, it's more than our mortgage in Massachusetts. Is it too much? I don't think so, though because of all of the credit card debt we're currently carrying it will be fairly tight for a while. At least it's a 30-year fixed mortgage, and we're not paying PMI.

Regarding my last post and my current credit card debt, I'm rather glad that debt isn't currently considered a social faux pas, because I would be a persona non grata.

UPDATE: At least only one of these applies ("You have more than $5000 on your credit cards").

Views of debt, past and present

Not too long ago, being unable to pay one's debts was considered unseemly. Debt was "ungentlemanly," and those who were found to have gotten in over their heads as a result of making bad choices often took a tumble down the social ladder. For example, I recall something of the sort happening to a character in Edith Wharton's novel The House of Mirth (one of my favorite scary stories for grown-ups). It seems only recently that living beyond one's means has become not only accepted but even "fashionable," glorified in shows like Sex and the City.

I initially wondered if a return to the view of debt as being harmful to one's personal reputation (and not just one's credit report) would help America's debt problem. However, after some thought I decided that it would likely only lead to old-fashioned snobbery.

What do you think?