I have been a devoted Orange Cappuccino/Cafe/Whatever consumer since I was in college, and I’m now in my 70’s. I was very disappointed when they dropped the sugar free version (that was long ago), but learned to live with the real thing, more sparingly. When Facebook first got going, I set up a page (which also seems to have vanished) for fans of Orange Cappuccino. And I bought a couple of the “fire sale” boxes of OC off Amazon when they became scarce in the stores. But amazingly, the WinCo near us still had it available for months after we’d heard it was discontinued. And then the axe finally fell. I’ve learned to live with Vanilla Caramel Latte but it’s nowhere near as good. And long ago I tried various home recipes without much success, but I’ll try your mom’s.

Side note: as a crafter, I think I have examples of every variant of the container in my craft/sewing room, filled with beads, safety pins, etc. Some of the metal ones are getting a bit rusty.

@Denise – Wait, I take it back, it was when they filed the egregious union-busting lawsuit alleging that the National Labor Relations Board never had any authority to authorize unions. So I had to dump Whole Foods as well, and that was a much bigger adjustment.

It’s probably too late, but with your bookbinding skills you might be able to glue or sew some fabric (thin, knitted faux suede is a good candidate) over the pads for your noise-cancelling headphones. I’ve had to break my strike a couple of times for group dance performances when everybody buys the same dress from Amazon, but otherwise I’ve stayed clean!

It really is a sobering experience.

@emmaclaire – One other thing I liked about CDs is that we’d put them in CD towers or on shelves for display so when a friend came over they could inspect your collection and get a sense of your personality. sort of like bookshelves. A friend of mine was robbed more than a decade ago and she says the thing she misses the most is her old CD collection 🙁

I love what you said about leasing music instead of owning it! You put your finger on what I haven’t been able to articulate regarding owning an actual copy of the album. I still have all my old vinyl and my cassettes as well, which *may* be carrying it too far, but we also have a turntable that converts to digital, so I feel like I’ve got all my bases covered. And my car is old enough to still have a CD player, which is fabulous for audio books rented from the library.

Good luck continuting to find ways to increase your mindfulness and inspiring us to do likewise!

@Rebecca L – Evidently, a lot of Gen Z’ers don’t own a CD player, not even in their cars. I guess it’s gone the way of the VCR. I hear someone got the new Taylor Swift album and had trouble leaking it because they didn’t know how to rip MP3s from a CD. I have know idea if that’s true or not, but it’s pretty funny to think of!

And I still won’t believe something exists unless it’s on Google!

I’ve been thinking of leaving Amazon, myself, since my husband (who used it more than I) died. I tell myself “once I’ve used up his holiday bonus gift card” but it really is so easy to shop there.

I do have stores I will not patronize (including Walmart), but just saw what somebody got there; it was less than half the price of elsewhere. I feel like I’m limiting myself, and struggle to stand on principle.

One thing I’ve like about the big A is the sheer variety of products (although that’s gotten out of hand, with people throwing onevery tag that MIGHT apply [same as Etsy]). Maybe I can cruise their site for ideas, then follow up the brand name.

BTW, I found a product my husband had bought which apparently doesn’t exist! Google search did not come up with it!