About 7 years ago, I bought a coffee table from Wayfair that was “solid wood.” It was expensive enough to be solid wood and even looked like solid wood. That is… until baby Merida chewed the bottom shelf and exposed pressed wood under the veneer. Do your own search online and you’ll find that “solid wood” means it’s solid glued sawdust from wood at least 90% of the time.
No false advertising here!
Today I’m just going to give my honest reviews of a few products/services you might want to try, because if you’re like me, you have certain items that you buy and no generic will do. Of course, many others have their favorites on those same products that are different from my hard line choices. For example, the Pesky Neighbors swear by Dean’s Cottage Cheese (my least favorite brand), while I’m team Prairie Farms.
When my friend, Julie, told me Hellman’s mayo wasn’t nearly as good as Duke’s, I had to see for myself if she was right. Off to Sam’s Club to pick up a jar of Julie’s mayo…
Here are a few of my favorites — do you align with my choices?
- Stick with Hellman’s. Hellman’s is sweeter and milder. Duke’s has a pronounced tart tang.
- Red Gold ketchup. While most of you will say Heinz is the way to go, it’s sweeter with less tomato taste.
- Eckrich bologna & smoked sausage. Oscar Mayer doesn’t hold a candle to Eckrich compared to these 2 products.
- Just Bare Chicken. Both the bites and strips are lightly breaded… perfect on salads or stand alone.
- StarKist Tuna in water. Get back Chicken of the Sea and other brands… no generic will do for me.
- Athletic shoes… Hoka, Brooks, and On (in that order). No Walmart tennis shoes for this girl.
- Technology devices — Apple. While I use many other brands of technology (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Android, etc.), if I could only have one, it would be Apple.
- Streaming service — currently, YouTube TV. Again, I have other streaming services including Prime Video, Discovery, Netflix and more, but if I could only have one, it would be YouTube TV.
- Fast food burgers and fries — Culver’s. I like McDonalds, Steak n’ Shake and others, but Culver’s is my current favorite.
- Local news — The Crothersville Times.
- AI image generator — ChatGPT is currently in the lead.
And finally, the best view of the sky — Crothersville, IN.
Now you know: The Crothersville Times is the largest newspaper in Jackson County, Indiana. Each year in October newspapers are required to submit and publish their statement of ownership and circulation with the US Post Office. This year, 2025, the Seymour Tribune reported their circulation at 1,730. For the same time period the Crothersville Times reported circulation of 1,880.