I want to live like Costco people • Hacker News Board

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#731

Post by encrypted_bird » Sat, May 09, 2026, 2:59 AM UTC

giwook wrote: post #82

legitster wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "What's great about this country is America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you can know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All th…

> where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest To say that "the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest" by using Coke as an example is a significant oversimplification and is cherry picking examples to prove a point. The richest consumers buy plenty of consumer goods that the poorest cannot even dream of buying or even renting. If there was a truffle-infused Cok…

> Or go on international trips more than once a year

Or, hell, go on trips period, let alone once a year. I went a couple states over last September to visit a friend and it damn near broke my wallet. I didn't even fly either. Just drove.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#732

Post by encrypted_bird » Sat, May 09, 2026, 3:03 AM UTC

elzbardico wrote: post #482

mc32 wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you’re saying China is in the drivers’s seat to make Marxist-Communism a reality?

I would say that OpenAI, Anthropic and Donald Trump are the vanguard of the proletarian revolution.

Is this sarcasm?

Please tell me this is sarcasm.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#733

Post by encrypted_bird » Sat, May 09, 2026, 3:05 AM UTC

dekhn wrote: post #457

antonvs wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Andy Warhol was an apologist for the toxic consumer culture in the US. It’s a big part of why he was so successful. Coke is a great example. There’s no product more useless and unnecessary than that flavored fizzy sugar water. Or should I say, high fructose corn syrup water. If you drink it, why? Probably because you were indoctrinated since childhood. Same goes for pretty much all fast food. There’s nothing good or…

Modern US coke doesn't taste much like the coke I drank growing up (late 70s, early 80s, before they switched over). I remember drinking "a perfect coke" on a hot day, it tasted almost "botanical". These days, the closest thing I can find is Mexican Coke (which they sell at Costco), it's a lot dryer (less sweet) tasting to me than US coke.

That's because Mexican Coke has sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#734

Post by FireBeyond » Sat, May 09, 2026, 4:40 AM UTC

gib444 wrote: post #577

FireBeyond wrote: post #537

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They do some nice discounts on Macs online though (can't say I'm a fan of their customer service either though based on my experience returning a Macbook) That is one area where I think they're starting to crack down, here, thanks to abuse. My ex- returned a glass-topped sit stand desk after 5 years, when she finished her degree, for a full refund. "Anything wrong with it?" "No." "Any reason you're returning it?" "…

I didn't abuse anything fwiw. I just returned it within a a few days, exercising my legal rights when purchasing an item over the internet. I wasn't that impressed with the device for the money having had the opportunity to demo it The UK has almost nowhere that would accept a return for a refund after 5 years after having rented it for free. You can barely exercise your legal rights when something breaks at year 5 o…

Oh, I apologize if you read that as me implying you were abusing their return policy.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#735

Post by tipperjones » Sat, May 09, 2026, 8:00 AM UTC

Lucent wrote: post #9

Costco's gimmick is relieving you of choice and price shopping. They find the best stuff and don't mark it up. If Consumer is your identity yet you fear executing its labors, let Costco step in and become your denomination of consumerism, complete with tithe, proscribed usury, and communion hot dog.

It feels like you really wanted to shoehorn the communion hot dog line in there.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#736

Post by naruhodo » Sat, May 09, 2026, 8:32 AM UTC

Spooky23 wrote: post #546

naruhodo wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That brand was in fact created for the American market, I recall. Australians also don't talk about "throwing another shrimp on the barbie". That's another Americanism. We call them prawns.

Oh boy. Next you’re gonna tell me the blooming onion isn’t an Australian cultural tradition! (lol)

I see you've played knifey-spoony before.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#737

Post by robocat » Sat, May 09, 2026, 9:37 AM UTC

threetonesun wrote: post #659

robocat wrote: post #623

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> race track I presume that F150 ain't getting round the corners very quickly. I reckon optimising for straight line speed is a strange goal.

Right, there's no form of racing that is a straight line, is there. Regardless, optimizing a pick up for 0-60 time is a strange goal, unless you have some express desire to launch 2x4s a great distance in a complicated way.

Faster than electric:

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/JATO_Rocket_Car

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#738

Post by stonogo » Sat, May 09, 2026, 3:34 PM UTC

malfist wrote: post #682

b0rtb0rt wrote: post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it’s pretty much useless for anything you would actually use a truck for

You know how I know you're not an F150 lightning owner? It's as capable, if not more so, than your standard F150 at truck duties in everything except towing. And it's a bit of a mixed bag there, it can tow way more than a standard f150, but it cuts the range to 1/3 so you have to charge pretty often. Still, 100 miles towing 10,000 pounds is nothing to sneeze at.

I owned one, and I'd say it's as capable in truck duties as a crew-cab short-bed F-150, which is to say, not very much. Can't fit a full sheet of drywall in the bed, etc. The short-bed crew-cab F-150 is by day a carpool vehicle with room for everyone's toolboxes and by night a family minivan that can hold everyone's sports bags. That was perfect for me, I knew what I was getting, but even the gasser short-beds are pretty useless as trucks.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#739

Post by b0rtb0rt » Sat, May 09, 2026, 4:04 PM UTC

malfist wrote: post #682

b0rtb0rt wrote: post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it’s pretty much useless for anything you would actually use a truck for

You know how I know you're not an F150 lightning owner? It's as capable, if not more so, than your standard F150 at truck duties in everything except towing. And it's a bit of a mixed bag there, it can tow way more than a standard f150, but it cuts the range to 1/3 so you have to charge pretty often. Still, 100 miles towing 10,000 pounds is nothing to sneeze at.

i can’t imagine any situation where 100 miles of towing would be useful

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#740

Post by wesleyd » Sun, May 10, 2026, 1:28 AM UTC

I don’t even think Costco is all that cheap!

Yes, many things are slightly - a few percent - cheaper than many other stores, per unit weight/volume, but it’s not a a big difference. Some things are more expensive though, like meat and fish. It seems “cheap” only if you do most of your other grocery shopping in premium grocery stores (eg Whole Foods). I do most of my grocery shopping in Market Basket, and it’s about the same as Costco for most things I buy. And everything comes in normal sized portions!

Costco’s real benefit is that everything they sell is pretty good stuff, and nothing is outrageously overpriced. Eg They sell Goya beans, for more per can than supermarket brand beans, but less than Goya beans in supermarkets. Many things are like this. You can assume that the things Costco sells are The Good Brands, but you can get most things cheaper if you’re not brand sensitive.

There are many things for which buying in bulk is a false economy: I will *ever again buy Costco-sized containers of eg yogurt covered raisins, or praline covered almonds! I suspect that every trip to Costco used to raise my average body weight for the next year by half a pound. Especially if I went to Costco hungry! Never go to Costco hungry!