I am Black. Racism has been a serious problem in many areas of the state. Really a mess as to how students and sometimes adults have been treated. And what happened with Rep. Kiah Morris was unconscionable. Look, I love Vermont but I would be very concerned about my kids if I were you. Vermont Professionals of Color is a useful organization. Also feel free to PM me.

Church rummage sales. Also Town meeting.

We saw a contractor who said that we could build and the house would be ready in February 2025. Price $350K for a 1200 sq ft on slab, no garage, not including the land cost.

Lots of people hung up on me or said no. A couple said to come and look but decided not to sell. Some were definitely scared. But it only takes one!! By the way, I get a lot of postcards about selling my current home, and I ignore them. But my elderly mother is interested in and reads them. Perhaps try both phone calls and postcards.

When I bought my first house, I called everyone in my target area. Not everyone with a house on the market. Just everyone in the online reverse phone listing. I kept careful notes. One lady said, “Make it worth my while!” So I showed up with a contractor, a lawyer, and a checkbook. Inspection was completed on the spot, agreement made and signed, and deposit check was cut.

When I moved in, neighbors were outside saying, “We didn’t even know this house was for sale!” My response “It wasn’t.”

I’m not saying anything about the eyesore issue. But there are rules for dwellings for sanitation. Water and toilet facilities, and heat in winter. I have an RV and am responsible for taking care of those issues. If people are camping outside without the necessary sanitation, they need to be given warning and then towed.

We do know five families with varying numbers of children who took the VERAP assistance and needed it.

Enjoy a spa in the Killington area?

I must have been unclear at some point. I do find MAGA repugnant.

In Vermont? That’s where we started this conversation. If there was a competitor in Vermont, manufacturing and selling wool products, who had the right politics, I would shop at their place first.

I would say no. I was thinking about personally sending out hit men or sexually assaulting folx or kidnapping, those are the kind of harms that many textile factory owners are doing in many places in the world.

I went to their twitter and I find the ideas repugnant, but I agree with you and would buy their products. This is because we actually have no idea about the horrible views held by the factory owner in Pakistan, the dyer in Bangladesh, or the manufacturer in Xinjiang. This dude is producing in Vermont, where labor standards and environmental standards apply. Fire trucks and hospital access are nearby. Unless this person is actively doing harm to people, buying from him is always going to be far better than buying from unknown foreign suppliers.

A great deal of what they sell is not made in the USA, never mind Vermont.

Many addresses and phone numbers will have changed, but here is a useful article. You’ll also want to go to the Shelburne Museum. 36 hours in Burlington. Similar articles are available for Montpelier, Stowe, and Manchester. Check Seven Days Vermont for event listings.

There’s a tremendous housing shortage in Vermont. To me, that’s what is driving the HCOL. If you can actually get a house for $100K, then of course you can live on $80K. I might have expensive tastes, but I would want $80K above the cost of housing.

I only have part of an answer. Stowe is a cute little town with a few art galleries, a bookstore, etc. But a whole day? If you also spend part of it at a spa, perhaps.

My Coach wallet is over 20 years old. Looks perfectly fine. I expect it is BIFL. The thing is, though, I went to their website and comparable leather wallets appear to be no longer available. Cheaper plastic ones have replaced them. I would look for a vintage one if I were in your position.

I have seen whole families pooping on the street in Old Delhi.

I had been planning to help you but, really, the vitriol is unnecessary and made me feel sad.

Do you still have it? Tailors can also replace broken zippers

Gussets can be inserted under the arm by your local tailor.

Some stores will have already done the research for what they sell. You can check in certain eco-boutiques and food-coops, for example.

Agreed. I love my Briggs and Riley 2-wheeled carryon. They have replaced it once. I’ve had the thing since the 1990s. It’s been on dirt roads and airport tarmac in three or four continents, depending on how you count continents.