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  1. #21

    Default Dr...

    Quote Originally Posted by dessertrat View Post
    IMO is right. Griping over ten bucks? So if it was $29.99, you'd say that was fine?
    It's not that most hikers can't afford to stay at a place for motel prices. It's that they'll very often just make the decision that it's not worth it.

    Think of seeing a large pizza priced at 25 bucks. It's apparently a really good pizza. However, choosing one for 11 dollars that's almost as good means you can fill your stomach with pizza on two different occasions. Many people with money limitations (and that's most people) will be drawn towards the 11 buck ones. Same deal.

    Another way of looking at it: Wal-Mart makes more money than Tiffany's. There's more money towards the middle of markets than at the narrow extremes is why, hence WM's success.

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by minnesotasmith View Post
    Another way of looking at it: Wal-Mart makes more money than Tiffany's. There's more money towards the middle of markets than at the narrow extremes is why, hence WM's success.

    I'm not impressed.
    WM's monopoly almost forces you to shop there.
    The goods are most likely a product of Red Communist Chinese sweat shop labor.
    Products they sell for SLIGHTLY reduced cost to the consumer still represent huge profit margins.
    They aint doing you any favor.

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sly View Post
    Yeah, so if hikers don't want all that or aren't willing to pay the price they shouldn't stop. Sounds simple enough to me. Why MS can't get it through his thick skull is beyond me.
    When you have worked around oil rigs as long as MS has it tends to fume up your brain and slows you down a bit..........

  4. #24

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    I'd rather pay $30.00 at the FS than a $30.00 fleabag Motel!
    E-Z---"from sea to shining sea''

  5. #25
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    re: WalMart:

    Quote Originally Posted by Nearly Normal View Post
    They aint doing you any favor.
    Sadly, most folks don't realize, they're screwing themselves shopping at Wal-Mart.

  6. #26

    Default True enough, terrapin...

    Quote Originally Posted by _terrapin_ View Post
    re: WalMart:



    Sadly, most folks don't realize, they're screwing themselves shopping at Wal-Mart.
    Not only are they "voting" for their jobs to be exported, they're financing the next Soviet Union/Nazi Germany. I wish we had a ban on Chinese imports, til such time as they cease to be expansionist. I predict they'll absorb half or more of Siberia, Taiwan, and attempt to regain all of Indochina, the latter of which they once held. The last will be partly with an eye towards eventually conquering Indonesia and Australia for liebensraum as well as resources (oil, metals, coal, etc.)

  7. #27
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    Oy, MS agrees with me. Danger! Will Robinson! I'm not going to "defend" PRC, but I'll just say that the most egregious empire-like behavior these days is coming from the USA. OTOH, it will all work out. Things are evening out. There will be three superpowers, the US, China, and Europe. The USA is being taken down a notch or two. Now all we need to do is survive all those poisoned Chinese imports (pet food, toys, prescription drugs, etc.)

  8. #28

    Default I wouldn't figure on the U.S. or Europe being long-term factors...

    Quote Originally Posted by _terrapin_ View Post
    Oy, MS agrees with me. Danger! Will Robinson! I'm not going to "defend" PRC, but I'll just say that the most egregious empire-like behavior these days is coming from the USA. OTOH, it will all work out. Things are evening out. There will be three superpowers, the US, China, and Europe. The USA is being taken down a notch or two. Now all we need to do is survive all those poisoned Chinese imports (pet food, toys, prescription drugs, etc.)
    Both are financially cratering, with currencies and national treasuries dying as we speak, to say nothing of their demographics. Not only are Europeans not having children for squat, they are rapidly being colonized by Moslems. (Everyone knows how Mexico is well along with annexing much of the U.S., right?) Then, there's the oil access issue; the end of that = the end of our economies as we know it, not to mention our non-leg-infantry militaries...

  9. #29

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    I thought this was the hostels forum, not the hostiles forum.

  10. #30
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    I agree with you Tin Man. MS, once again you demostrate your butchering capabilities again with your so called knowledge of what the average hiker likes and dislikes. I got news for you, if I have the money I will stay in a nice B & B.

    So who are you to know so much?

  11. #31
    As in "dessert" not "desert"
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tin Man View Post
    I thought this was the hostels forum, not the hostiles forum.
    Thanks for the laugh, Tin Man.

  12. #32
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    Talking For want of a nail a horse was lost

    For want of a horse a rider was lost

    And however it goes.

    You guys are sooooo ---- well, you know, guys.

    There's no rule that I can locate that states how much a hostel or a motel or a hotel can charge based on where it's located.

    What I can find is that the farther North a person travels, property costs more and property taxes are higher. So what criteria do you use to make the decision whether to stay at a hostel or B&B or Motel or Hotel? If you think about it, $30 is extremely reasonable. Especially for what is available. When I look at prices in the NorthEast, $30 is not a lot of money. And I'll bet SoBos are Happy to see a Hostel that charges "only" $30.

    When I go to a motel on the way to my parents or my kids, I don't use the game room, and I don't use the swimming pool, and I don't use the sauna, and I don't use the free WiFi, but I still pay $59 (or whatever) a night because that's what is charged for the room. And if I had to travel to Maine, the motels on the way would cost twice more than $59.

    The old "$1" a mile has been spouted for at least twenty-five years and is out of date. YES, you CAN hike on a budget, maybe spending "only" a dollar a mile. But if you add in all the gear and all the food preparation and mail costs, I don't think you could brag of a dollar a mile. Even those saying $1000 Thru Hike have forgotten to add in ALL the costs. Including the power bill to pay for hooking up your computer so that you could follow this thread on Whiteblaze. Add in the cost of the ISP, too. A dollar and a half a mile Thru Hike is more reasonable and a two to two and a half dollar a mile is very likely what it costs today, on average.

    So, your assignment, students of hiking, is to start at the beginning and add in ALL your gear costs, including the heavy stuff you've given away or sold (minus what you got for it), all the ISP, phone, power, dehydrator, etc, etc, costs to which you add your current gear costs (including what's in that box of gear you "might need" at some time), and start with that number in your data base. To that number, you can add what you spent on your Thru Hike and come up with a more accurate figure of what a Thru Hike REALLY costs.

    Okay? Begin . . . .
    Coosa
    My blog, dedicated to my Dad: Chasing the Trail
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  13. #33

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nearly Normal View Post
    I'm not impressed.
    WM's monopoly almost forces you to shop there.
    The goods are most likely a product of Red Communist Chinese sweat shop labor.
    Products they sell for SLIGHTLY reduced cost to the consumer still represent huge profit margins.
    They aint doing you any favor.
    WalMart is, in fact, a monopsony. One seller/Competing Producers.

    WalMart, by any economic measurement, does the consumer a favor. It requires the producer to meet its price. This enables WalMart to sell at a price that beats its competitors and which its consumers can afford.

    In a world of free men and women, no corporation, especially a retailer, can impose its will on the people. It does so with the people's explicit consent. What's that mean? If you don't like it, don't shop there. Walmart doesn't drive Mom and Pops out of business, consumers do. WalMart created a superior business model to its competitors and is reaping the rewards. Any general blame directed at WalMart for its operations must first be leveled at those who shop there.

    I love it! Sometimes I go just to watch the people. It's the modern day town square. All walks of life.

    If Walt Whitman were alive, he would have written about WalMart.
    Yahtzee

  14. #34
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    I shop very little at WalMart. I live such a spartan lifestyle that I could legitimately be called a socialist. I don;t need their crap but they have some nice individual items that are useful when hiking.

    This thread is funny. What makes me laugh is people who use the highly politically conservative and antiquated term "Red Communist Chinese" and then take the liberal stance to badmouth an American business institution. In the same paragraph. Methinks someone be confused.

  15. #35
    PCT, Sheltowee, Pinhoti, LT , BMT, AT, SHT, CDT, TRT 10-K's Avatar
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    1. Looking forward to checking out the hostel this weekend, it's located 10 miles or so from where we're starting and that sounds like break time to me.

    2. Wal-Mart - totally agree with Yatzee. Last I checked, no one was forced to shop there. If you've got a problem with Wal-Mart, take it up with the people who patronize the place. I haven't been in a Wal-Mart in months myself.

  16. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by minnesotasmith View Post
    Looks like Maryland still had legal chattel slavery past the end of the Civil War, until the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ended it nationwide:
    We will expect and applaud your boycott.

  17. #37
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    Wow, this thread is from way back in time.

    I have been to The Free State and can say it is one of the top hostels along the AT. Clean, quiet and well thought out.

    Bonepac was a valuable resource to me as our family planned and opened our hostel in Manchester Center, VT.

  18. #38
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    Stayed there last week and had a great experience. Had the place all to myself and got a ride to the convenience store/Subway for some foods and other items. A very clean place and very gracious hosts.

  19. #39

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    I reveled in my stay there on a rainy night during my Duncannon-to-Harpers Ferry section hike. Comfortable beds, internet, laundry, great hosts. Was able to order pizza which arrived in half the time promised.

    A hiker self-service kitchen or at least a stove in addition to the microwave & fridge would be nice but can't expect everything.

  20. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by aaroniguana View Post
    Maryland has been known as the "Free State" since the American Civil War because even though it is south of the Mason-Dixon line it abolished slavery prior to the start of the Civil War. Nice story.

    The truth is that NOTHING here is free. Except stealth camping. And stargazing if you can get far enough from the I-95 corridor to actually see anything.
    Amen So True living here they even tax the bears
    Would you be offended if I told you to
    TAKE A HIKE!
    CowHead


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    I once was lost, then I hike the trail

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