Monday, September 29, 2003
Another one of the many, many things that really bugs me is stuff that isn't marked in a store. Actually in Michigan, except for certain things like screws and gumballs, every item in a store has to have a price tag on it. What bugs me is two things related to this. First is no price anywhere to be found. I can live without a price tag if there's a price on the shelf or box. What really bugs me is when you can't find prices anywhere. No tag, no sticker, no nothing. And when you ask a pin-headed clerk about it they usually tell to use the scanner in the aisle. Or they take the item, wander off to the bathroom and come back fifteen minutes later and tell you it's $5. One of these days, I'm going to clear off a whole shelf and kick it over to a wall scanner and check prices on everything.
The next annoying thing is mismarked prices. This weekend I bought pants, belt, candy and foot powder at Target. The pants were on sale and that price rang up OK. The belt was tagged $9.99 and rang up $11.99. I pointed that out and they changed it. The candy did OK and then the powder rang up at $4.47 or somesuch odd price. (Why on earth not $4.50 or $10.00 anyway?). I was sure the price was wrong but instead of holding the whole line behind me (which I know would piss me off to no end) I take the stuff out to my car, and bring the tag back in to check the price on the shelf. Sure enough, it was $3.99. OK, so now I gotta stand in the service line for fifteen minutes.
I'm leaning against the wall off to one side watching the "Serving Now" number. It's like 70 and I'm 75. There's this whole crowd around and the numbers click off and finally it says 73. Everyone is watching whatever and the clerk behind the counter says, "next?" Nobody else does anything so I walk up and say I've got 75 -- she says, "that's OK, we're not paying attention to the numbers anyway." -- sigh...
Now, it's not the lousy 48 cents that I had a problem with it was the principle of the thing. If I hadn't been an ornery penny-pitching tightwad, I would never had noticed the prices were wrong. This time it would have been $2.48. Multiply that by the godzillion customers who shop there monthly and the adds up to serious free profit for the stores.
Actually Target isn't too bad compared to K-Mart. Prices are unmarked regularly and nobody, from the clerks to the managers give a damn. And that stupid recorded message in K-Mart: "For your convenience customer service phones are available in each area." It's not for my convince, it for K-Mart's convenience. If it was for my convenience, they'd hire a body that would actually know what the hell was going on.
And one last comment about this. As much as I bitch and moan about the clerks in a store, most of the time it isn't their fault. They're getting paid minimum wage with probably no benefits, have lousy hours and worse training and get shifted around so much, they're lucky if they know where the check-out lanes are located this week. It's the damn management and cut pennies here and everywhere and do more with less, when everyone know you can only do less with less.
2fers: http://www.kmart.com and www.target.com
The next annoying thing is mismarked prices. This weekend I bought pants, belt, candy and foot powder at Target. The pants were on sale and that price rang up OK. The belt was tagged $9.99 and rang up $11.99. I pointed that out and they changed it. The candy did OK and then the powder rang up at $4.47 or somesuch odd price. (Why on earth not $4.50 or $10.00 anyway?). I was sure the price was wrong but instead of holding the whole line behind me (which I know would piss me off to no end) I take the stuff out to my car, and bring the tag back in to check the price on the shelf. Sure enough, it was $3.99. OK, so now I gotta stand in the service line for fifteen minutes.
I'm leaning against the wall off to one side watching the "Serving Now" number. It's like 70 and I'm 75. There's this whole crowd around and the numbers click off and finally it says 73. Everyone is watching whatever and the clerk behind the counter says, "next?" Nobody else does anything so I walk up and say I've got 75 -- she says, "that's OK, we're not paying attention to the numbers anyway." -- sigh...
Now, it's not the lousy 48 cents that I had a problem with it was the principle of the thing. If I hadn't been an ornery penny-pitching tightwad, I would never had noticed the prices were wrong. This time it would have been $2.48. Multiply that by the godzillion customers who shop there monthly and the adds up to serious free profit for the stores.
Actually Target isn't too bad compared to K-Mart. Prices are unmarked regularly and nobody, from the clerks to the managers give a damn. And that stupid recorded message in K-Mart: "For your convenience customer service phones are available in each area." It's not for my convince, it for K-Mart's convenience. If it was for my convenience, they'd hire a body that would actually know what the hell was going on.
And one last comment about this. As much as I bitch and moan about the clerks in a store, most of the time it isn't their fault. They're getting paid minimum wage with probably no benefits, have lousy hours and worse training and get shifted around so much, they're lucky if they know where the check-out lanes are located this week. It's the damn management and cut pennies here and everywhere and do more with less, when everyone know you can only do less with less.
2fers: http://www.kmart.com and www.target.com
Thursday, September 18, 2003
| $$$ |
From USAToday
Cheney defended the request.
"What's the cost if we don't act? What's the cost if we do nothing? What's the cost if we don't succeed with respect to our current operation in Iraq?" he asked. "I think that's far higher than getting the job done right here."
Suggested the White House does not support outfitting all commercial airliners with protection against being shot down by surface-to-air missiles because it would be too expensive.
Makes you wonder how they justify $87 billion for Iraq - see the following story.
From New York Times
The $5.6 trillion surplus once predicted for the 10 years ending in 2011 is now a $2.3 trillion cumulative deficit under the best-case prediction issued by the Congressional Budget Office two weeks ago.
The current fiscal year, which ends this month, was supposed to have ended with a surplus of $353 billion, the Congressional Budget Office predicted two years ago; today, the office says the year will end in a $401 billion deficit. Next year's deficit was projected to be $480 billion, but the new Iraq spending will bring that to $540 billion or higher ” close to the 5 percent of the gross domestic product that many experts warn is a serious danger zone for the economy.
The pressure is likely to get worse, particularly if the occupation of Iraq continues to consume $4 billion a month.
I'm not even going to think about $2.3 trillion -- how can you even imagine something that big? Let's look at $4 billion a month though. That's $4,000,000,000 which is more than most calculators can enter. That's about $133 million each DAY, or in other words, $1,543 a SECOND which means that during a 30 second commercial you have spent enough to buy a gas guzzling Hummer and during the second 30 second commercial, you have spent enough to even buy gas for it!
2fers: http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/(your share is about $24,000) and http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/ on my birthday month the US owed $14,060,171,915.01 in interest! You gotta wonder about that penny, don't you?
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
I do a lot of new reading online. I'm one of those Internet news junkies. During an average week and almost daily I review foreign news from Italy, Russia, India, England, Scotland, Canada, Israel, Japan, North Korea and China among others. Here in the USofA it's Detroit, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Lansing and South Bend for a few. The next couple of entries are going to be about things that worry me quite a bit. BTW, just to unruffle the fur before the fact, I'm not calling anyone a Nazi -- I'm referring to a police state.
This article was in above from CHINAdaily. The same article had been cut from the Washington Post and Yahoo news (make of that what you will).
The part that really worries me is "There will be no retreat." Any good soldier knows that retreat is part of fighting a war - any war. One of the reasons Germany had so many problems with Russia in WW2 was that Hitler had a "no retreat" order in place. The Germans had to stand in place and get pounded. Even the suicidal Japanese of WW2 knew the value of a retreat.
2fers: http://www.kcna.co.jp/ and http://www.mlive.com/sanews/
Bush vows no retreat over Iraq, US soldier killed
( 2003-08-27 10:16) (Agencies)
President Bush vowed on Tuesday he would never retreat over Iraq because it was part of the war on terror, as another U.S. soldier was killed and signs emerged of financial pain.
An unidentified woman (L) wipes away tears Aug 26, 2003, at Camp Lejeune, N.C., as she stands in front of a helmet sitting on a rifle after a memorial service for the 26 Marines from the 2nd Marine Division that have been killed during the fighting in Iraq. [AP]
"Retreat in the face of terror would only invite further and bolder attacks. There will be no retreat," Bush said in a speech amid growing criticism in the United States over his Iraq policy as he presses his case for re-election next year.
Bush told the American Legion war veterans group in St Louis, Missouri that Iraq had become a battleground against militant networks since U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein on April 9.
(googled and all US sources removed, only foreign sources)
This article was in above from CHINAdaily. The same article had been cut from the Washington Post and Yahoo news (make of that what you will).
The part that really worries me is "There will be no retreat." Any good soldier knows that retreat is part of fighting a war - any war. One of the reasons Germany had so many problems with Russia in WW2 was that Hitler had a "no retreat" order in place. The Germans had to stand in place and get pounded. Even the suicidal Japanese of WW2 knew the value of a retreat.
2fers: http://www.kcna.co.jp/ and http://www.mlive.com/sanews/
Thursday, September 04, 2003
Here's something I saw online today:
Now am I the only one who sees something so very wrong here? Take half a sec to think about what ails the world right now. We're losing about 1 GI a day in that dried out piece of crap called Iraq, we just had 1/4 of the USA without power and don't know why, gasoline is fast approaching $2 a gallon and more, unemployment is getting somewhere near 8% (that doesn't count folks who just plain gave up looking either), the SmokingGun web site can't keep up with all the idiots who are committing crimes, my bank account is getting about 1% interest (at least I have a bank account which is better than a lot), there is a porno publisher, porno queen, half-pint ex-security guard, muscle-bound semi-actor, and about 130 more nutcases running for governor of the world's sixth largest economy -- California -- which really kind of deserves it, a real serious nut case with his finger on the nuclear button in North Korea, India and Pakistan with nuclear edged knives at each others throats. Israel and Pakistan just chomping at the bit to kill a few more hundred of each other off, SARS, Taiwan and China slinging threats and probably missiles across the Taiwan straits, grounded, falling apart space shuttles, and practically abandoned billion dollar space stations.
All that and so much more going on and what are our elected leaders doing? Worrying about
2fers: http://www.house.gov/ and http://www.ncaafootball.net/
Congress hears arguments about how best to determine college football champion
By JESSE J. HOLLAND
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Congress wants to know whether college football's method of choosing a national champion unfairly gives the biggest schools the best shot at the lucrative bowl postseason.
Some schools shut out from the automatic bids in the Bowl Championship Series claim the system amounts to an illegal monopoly.
The House Judiciary Committee planned to hear Thursday from executives such as Myles Brand, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, on how the system is working and whether it should be changed. ...
Now am I the only one who sees something so very wrong here? Take half a sec to think about what ails the world right now. We're losing about 1 GI a day in that dried out piece of crap called Iraq, we just had 1/4 of the USA without power and don't know why, gasoline is fast approaching $2 a gallon and more, unemployment is getting somewhere near 8% (that doesn't count folks who just plain gave up looking either), the SmokingGun web site can't keep up with all the idiots who are committing crimes, my bank account is getting about 1% interest (at least I have a bank account which is better than a lot), there is a porno publisher, porno queen, half-pint ex-security guard, muscle-bound semi-actor, and about 130 more nutcases running for governor of the world's sixth largest economy -- California -- which really kind of deserves it, a real serious nut case with his finger on the nuclear button in North Korea, India and Pakistan with nuclear edged knives at each others throats. Israel and Pakistan just chomping at the bit to kill a few more hundred of each other off, SARS, Taiwan and China slinging threats and probably missiles across the Taiwan straits, grounded, falling apart space shuttles, and practically abandoned billion dollar space stations.
All that and so much more going on and what are our elected leaders doing? Worrying about
the fairness in choosing a college football champion!!
What the hell??!!??2fers: http://www.house.gov/ and http://www.ncaafootball.net/
Wednesday, September 03, 2003
Wow - it's been awhile since the last entry. We've just gone through that strange ritual called a summer holiday. In this case it was Labor day -- the so-called last summer holiday. I'm always amazed that people go through so much work for something that's called a vacation. There's a highway that goes along the edge of town here and heads north and south. I-75. For whatever reason a holiday in this part of the state requires you to "go up north." This means that on Fridays the highway is jam-packed going north and on Sunday, it's jammed packed going south. And I mean packed. It's a 3 lane highway and all three lanes are practically bumper to bumper. Of course, 90% of the vehicles are SUVs and pickups with about half of them hauling a boat, mobile home, camper, trailer full of ATVs or some such noise inducing method of relaxation. Usually, there will be a traffic accident -- or two or three -- and the drivers all get to partake of viewing the nice scenery at a very slow pace -- usually about 0 mph.
I'm lucky. I travel just the opposite direction on my long weekends. It's really quite strange in a way. On the way down to Toronto, I can zip along the southbound lane and watch ALL that traffic swarming north. When I return, it's just the opposite. I'm cruising north on a mostly empty highway while the southbound traffic is usually stopped three lanes wide bumper to bumper for at least part of my trip.
Is that really the way you want to end a vacation? You spend the weekend forgetting about work relaxing next to the blue waters covered in PWVs (personal water vehicle - a noxious noisy small plastic hulled craft with a smelly and sonorous sounding engine in it designed expressly to annoy and annihilate any small chance of peaceful waters), bass boats with 3000 horsepower motors on them. And once that is done you get to hurry back home sandwiched inbetween SUVs and RVs with an average speed of 5 mph. And of course nowadays, you also get to watch the road rage folks turn the highway into target practice. It seems like every month or so you can count on some macho nitwit in a vehicle getting pissed at another macho nitwit in his vehicle and killing or severely injuring some innocent soul minding their own business going down the road.
2fers: http://www.autoclubgroup.com/michigan/ and http://www.ihpva.org/
I'm lucky. I travel just the opposite direction on my long weekends. It's really quite strange in a way. On the way down to Toronto, I can zip along the southbound lane and watch ALL that traffic swarming north. When I return, it's just the opposite. I'm cruising north on a mostly empty highway while the southbound traffic is usually stopped three lanes wide bumper to bumper for at least part of my trip.
Is that really the way you want to end a vacation? You spend the weekend forgetting about work relaxing next to the blue waters covered in PWVs (personal water vehicle - a noxious noisy small plastic hulled craft with a smelly and sonorous sounding engine in it designed expressly to annoy and annihilate any small chance of peaceful waters), bass boats with 3000 horsepower motors on them. And once that is done you get to hurry back home sandwiched inbetween SUVs and RVs with an average speed of 5 mph. And of course nowadays, you also get to watch the road rage folks turn the highway into target practice. It seems like every month or so you can count on some macho nitwit in a vehicle getting pissed at another macho nitwit in his vehicle and killing or severely injuring some innocent soul minding their own business going down the road.
2fers: http://www.autoclubgroup.com/michigan/ and http://www.ihpva.org/
