oh lol i know how that goes. Mine took like 4 years for that reason... 😂 Dogspeed friend!!!

haha I just wanna say, after admiring your stuff from afar for 100 furry years, it is such a DELIGHT to be in your creative spaces!! And to have met you in the human realm!!! It is always so enlightening and enriching to chat with you about projects and ideas, you are so inspiring!!!

yeah haha I lived in a van for a summer and just wandered! Did WA -> NH -> OR after to get my cat when I decided to settle here! :3 I haven't seen a ton of the southern route tho, that should be really cool!! Esp now I think, the south is so different in climate, it's fun to see the change.

For sure!! I got my cricut this way, def also a good option!! Many good forms of thrift for this stuff, if you're already patient enough to be saving, I think it's worth the wait to peek around for a screamin deal.

OH!! FUN FUN FUN!! I have driven across the country a few times, if you want anyone to yap with about it!!! OR if u want someone to send pictures to so I can live vicariously..... 👀 have a great time and be safe!!

Offerup and FB marketplace have DEF been my best ones. Offer up is a lil jank these days but still worth it. Can ask for vids if you're worried, or a test, people are usually understanding with big $$ stuff, but I haven't really had issues there!! Sellers just want a lil cash and to make space.

fwiw it is how I justify my machines and upgrades, I know what I want and wait til someone is getting rid of it. I know I live in a good thrift area so ymmv, but you can so often get screamin deals on "hobby" equipment if you're patient!!

oh dude DEF set up some alerts on second hand sites like offerup/craigslist/FB marketplace and check em often, that is stuff people with money get bored of SO FAST and you can snap up some crazy deals.

I’m really just… old haha. Idk it makes me laugh and like it’s a LITTLE mean to talk down to people but also like??? Move!!

I appreciate that it DID force me to check out the other fabric stores in town, and a lot of them ARE really neat, but also it's like shutting down the supermarket and being told "well there's an artisan cheese shop 12 miles away" when I ask where I'm gonna get my groceries lol.

Joanns closing actually impacted my life so much haha, it's really hard to understate. It also closed at the same time that the OTHER craft store in the area closed, and the one I could walk to moved to the other side of the river. I used to go to all these places like...monthly at least??

My method lately has been walking up to them and talking to them like a child. "Hi, this isn't a good place to stop. You are blocking an aisle. Can you walk to the side to finish what you're doing? Please be considerate of other people in the future." and people get wildly embarrassed lmao.

I will say, I appreciated the conclusions. Mostly that the hosts felt, overall, that they didn't get much from ai tools and probably wouldn't bother with it much going forward, and that it was a fad that'd fizzle out fairly quickly, which would do a lot to alleviate the power issues it causes.