preserve, protect and defend the Constitution...

As we go into the booth to cast our precious votes (and I do mean precious; consider the number of Americans who paid with their lives and limbs to ensure the democracy we enjoy; to ensure our right to vote) we should take care to be informed and make our votes count truly for the values we hold dear.

At the very least we should be sure, beyond a reasonable doubt, we are not voting for exactly the opposite of our own values.

Of the recent elections many voters have gone with “the lesser of two evils” usually voting along party lines. Cognitive dissonance is a powerful motivator. If you voted for the town manager who three months later absconded with the widows and orphans fund, there must have been a good reason for the dastardly deed, or perhaps it was for personal reasons and is therefore none of our business.

Cognitive dissonance is extremely difficult to overcome even when consequences are obvious and painful. If you let cognitive dissonance get the better of you this time, the consequences will be more painful than the world has seen in nearly 70 years.

Full disclosure: As soon as I was of age, I registered as an Independent. Always interested and with a patriotic obligation to be informed and involved I registered as a Republican before I voted for Ronald Reagan in 1981. I was too young to vote for or against Jimmy Carter. I do remember gas lines though. I remember Carter’s “Misery Index.” I remember the hostage crisis. Iranian terrorists held 52 hostages at the American Embassy in Iran for 444 days during the Carter administration, releasing them on January 20, 1981; the day Ronald Reagan took the Presidential oath of office. I voted for Ronald Reagan, twice. I voted for George H.W. Bush, twice. I voted against Clinton, twice. I renounced my Republican Party affiliation on February 12, 1999. I now vote as “unenrolled.”

I voted for George W. Bush who, unlike Clinton, has not disgraced himself or the office he has held. Like Clinton, however, he has failed to keep his oath of office. Despite his failings I would vote against Gore and Kerry again and again, unless they were running against a Socialist or otherwise described enemy of the Constitution.

Each president recites the following oath, in accordance with Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

While Clinton ignored numerous attacks by a declared enemy of the United States and left the country vulnerable to the attack on September 11, 2001, there have been no such attacks since during the Bush administration, despite a complete failure to secure our borders.

George W. Bush has failed on a number of important issues including the borders and the economy. I will expound but before I do it is important that with cognitive dissonance very much in play we all understand that given a “do-over” I would in an election between George W. Bush and Al Gore or an election between George W. Bush and John Kerry vote again and again and again for George W. Bush. George W. Bush has not been a disappointment. He was never a strong candidate. He was simply the lesser of two evils, for both elections. He was never a good choice, but we haven’t been attacked as we were after Clinton’s disgraceful disregard for national security. He may not have been a great President, but he was a better choice than Gore or Kerry.

The choices are very different this time.

Before we continue, let us consider the difference between conservative and liberal arguments.

Everyone should have excellent heath-care! Yeah!

Radical Islamic Jihadists want to kill us! Boo!

Everyone should own a beautiful home! Yeah!

Socialism does not work and never has. Boo!

Candidates who talk about how the world should be are going to be more popular than candidates who talk about how the world is. Candidates who talk about the way the world should be are lying about what they will do for the world. They want the power and will tell you what they know is not true to get it.

OK, let us talk about the candidates:

I do not want John McCain to be President. He is a terrible candidate and has been a terrible Senator. He does not represent conservative or the Republican values of the party he leads. This might be a good time to remind you that I am no longer affiliated in any way with Republican Party. I renounced any and all affiliation on February 12, 1999. I do not know if McCain actually claims to be conservative or a Republican, but clearly, his record shows him to be neither.

McCain has to be the next President. Horrific as that prospect might be, if Barack Hussein Obama is sworn in as the next President, the Constitution is doomed.

Let us start with a look at the economy. Consider first capitalism: the foundation of our economy. If you are having trouble listing examples of socialism that worked, that is because there are none. Socialism does not work and it is completely contradictory to the Constitution of the United States or America. Socialism is the enemy of our democracy.

Why has the stock market lost trillions in value in a couple of months? Was it the failed policies of the “Bush McCain” economic policies? Yes. “Bush McCain” failed to stop the Democrats.

During the Carter administration, Congress enacted the Community Reinvestment Act. Mortgages are and have been based on simple math until the CRA.

If you make x dollars and have done so for some time…if you have paid what you owe in the past, for cars, etc., you should be able to pay a mortgage with basic math applied to the x dollars that you make in an equation that includes what you spend on food, etc. Not any more. The CRA pressured lenders to become “predatory.” Lenders such as Ameriquest Mortgage Company (Deval Patrick) gave mortgages to people who could not pay them back. Ameriquest then sold the mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were supported by the guarantees of the Federal Government. This means taxpayer dollars guaranteed the loans made to people who could not pay them back. This is socialism and socialism does not work.

The Clinton administration compounded the Carter legislation with provisions such as the inclusion of Welfare Payments as Income on Mortgage applications.

Seriously. Welfare is income on your Mortgage application. You do not have a job, but you can get a mortgage on a big house. Thank you Senator Chris Dodd.

Thank you Congressman Barney Frank. Thank you Chuck Schumer.

The economy is where it is due to the initiatives of Democrats and the failures of Republicans and G.W. Bush to stop them.

Obama says we are in trouble due to the failed policies of the last eight years and he is correct. President Bush failed to stop the Democrats.

Senator Chris Dodd was responsible for oversight of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. He was also the recipient of the most money in campaign contributions from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Barney Frank and others are on the list too, but who is right at the top of the list with Chris Dodd? You guessed it: Barack Hussein Obama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

Cognitive Dissonance. We will forgive you for being wrong.

Don’t be wrong any more.

Where did the Democratic Candidate come from?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RZVw3no2A4&feature=iv&annotation_id=event_597487

The math is simple and it is math. Math is irrefutable. It is like physics. It doesn’t matter if you believe it. It just is.

Lend money to people who cannot pay it back and they will not pay it back.

Loaning money to people who cannot pay it back will buy their votes though.

If you want prosperity in a capitalist society, you lend money to people who can pay it back. If you want votes more than you want prosperity, forget math and sell socialism.

Let’s talk about Acorn. Do you know about Acorn?

Obama has lied repeatedly about working with and for Acorn but he has and did.

Acorn is dedicated to voter fraud. Obama worked for Acorn as a Community Organizer and as a leader. Obama gave 800 thousand dollars to Acorn. Thousands of Disney characters, dead pets, and illegal aliens have been registered as voters due to the efforts of taxpayer funded Acorn.

Do you know who Bill Ayres is?

He bombed the Pentagon, the United States Capitol Building and as of 2001 wanted to bomb more. Obama says he was 8 when Bill Ayers committed despicable acts. (How old was he when Charles Manson was killing people and is Charles Manson on his transition team?) Obama was 40 when Ayers said, after the September 11 attacks, that he wished he had done more damage. Let’s talk for a moment about despicable acts.

Picture a dance at the Officer’s Club. The young officers training at Fort Dix have a dance planned. Young Army officers and their girlfriends out for an evening in the 1960s. Maybe a young Colin Powel and his future bride would be at such at event. Bill Ayers, Obama’s friend, has this dance on his schedule too. Nail bombs. Dead servicemen and civilians at the hands of a domestic enemy.

Look up the Weatherman Underground. Radicals. They are domestic enemies of the Constitution. They bombed the U.S. Capitol building and the Pentagon. They killed Americans including a Boston cop.

Bill Ayers is like Timothy McVeigh but McVeigh was executed. When Gerald Ford offered amnesty for draft dodgers, the Weatherman Underground got in line. Several including Mark Rudd and Bernadine Dohrn still had to serve time for their crimes. Mark Rudd was later pardoned by Bill Clinton on his last day in office. Dohrn is Bill Ayers wife.

Barack Hussein Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States in the living room of Bill Ayres and Bernadine Dohrn.

Do you know who the Reverend Jeremiah Wright is?

Look up “Black Liberation Theology.”

Obama signed a document affirming his commitment to Black Liberation Theology. Obama contributed tens of thousands of dollars of his own money to the Reverend Wright’s congregation.

"Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community ... Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love."

Reverend Wright married Barack and Michelle Obama and baptized their children. Obama and his family were contributors to and members of Reverend Wright’s anti-Semitic, anti-American and demonstrably racist congregation for more then twenty years.

"Black hatred is the black man's strong aversion to white society. No black man living in white America can escape it... While it is true that blacks do hate whites, black hatred is not racism. "

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=4443788

We might set aside most of the evidence at hand and focus on the most important issue for any President of the United States.

Let us set aside that McCain is a terrible candidate.

Let us set aside that Palin is a weak candidate though better qualified than Obama.

Let us set aside that Democrats are responsible for the economic crisis we are facing today. Even if you want to argue that it was not Democrats, let’s set it aside.

Obama says, “…being my brother’s keeper and being my sister’s keeper is what makes America work!” Obama’s half-brother in Kenya lives in a hut on twelve dollars a month. His Aunt lives in a Boston public housing project. She is in the United States illegally and has been ordered deported after her request for asylum was rejected by a Federal Judge. Living in public housing means taxpayers are paying her rent while she lives in the Boston illegally. Let us set that aside.

Let us set aside the association with Acorn and massive voter fraud. Just set it aside.

The Constitution requires that in order to hold the office of President of the United States one must be “a natural born Citizen” and have attained the age of thirty–five years. Obama has failed to produce a Birth Certificate. It is a Constitutional requirement, but let us set even that aside.

Let us set aside the racism, anti-semitism and the domestic terrorism. Put them all aside.

Here is the oath for the office of the President of the United States of America:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Here are is Obama on public radio in 2001:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iivL4c_3pck

“Fundamentally flawed.”

That is how Obama describes the U.S. Constitution.

The United States of America has never been led by a King or a Queen or a Czar or a Dictator. America has, since the Declaration of Independence, been based on the Constitution.

Socialism is the enemy of the U.S. Constitution.

Redistribution of the wealth is socialism.

“When you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

-Barack Hussein Obama.

“Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution…” That is the entire responsibility of the Congressional office of the President of the United States of America.

Obama is a domestic enemy of the Constitution and that disqualifies him for the office.

An on-line version of the Constitution and related documents can be found here:

http://www.consource.org/index.asp?bid=582&fid=600&documentid=13523

A vote for Obama is a vote against the Constitution, which is the very foundation of these United States.

What mortgage crisis?

Youtube

They are not just wrong, they are obnoxious and wrong.

What caused the mortgage crisis?

This is why we cannot vote the wrong way.

Youtube

click above and use pause if you need to slow it down.

Stop & Shop sells gas. Some customers get to use it. Some just pay.

If you buy groceries at the Stop & Shop in Hudson, MA ., you are also buying Stop & Shop gasoline, or more accurately; gasoline credits. Unlike an actual gasoline purchase, the credits expire. If you want to use the credits, you will have to drive to Grafton Street in Worcester some 20 miles away.
Redeeming gasoline credits will cost you a gallon of gasoline even if you are tooling around in a Prius. Before continuing with the mathematics, let's consider physics for a moment, shall we?

The Toyota Prius boasts a curb weight of 2432 lbs.

The Toyota Land Cruiser lists curb weight at 5699 lbs. and has an additional specification, towing option you know, GVWR 7275 lbs. Presumably, this means the Land Cruiser is rated to pull an additional ton or so.

For the sake of simplicity (and face facts; if you drive a Prius, physics was not your major) let us limit our discussion to curb weight. The Prius gets just under 50 mpg. The Land Cruiser get under 20 mpg. Two Prius on a scale would weigh less than one Land Cruiser. (This is a clue of physics to come...)

What happens if we take an object with a weight less than 2.5 pounds and crash it together with an object that weighs between 5.5 and 7.5 pounds? Too complicated? OK. Lets say a typical three-year-old collides with a typical-ten-year old. After the collision...which one is crying?

And which one is hungry?

Some things are just true.

One of those true things is that Stop & Shop is ripping you off. If a portion of what we pay for groceries is going to expiring gas credits we have to buy at a Stop & Shop 2 gallons of gas away...Stop & Shop is doing their best to knowingly make you pay more for less.

Is Hannafords? They are right across the street...

Car dealers lie...some more than others.

We all know that selling cars is a competitive field and we know that car dealers are not known for their scruples. Here is an example of a dealer actually advertising their lack of scruples:

Here is the envelope. Looks like a) a check from a state agency, b) a marketing campaign from a car dealer, c) a tax bill.

click on image for larger view

Here is what was in the envelope:
A check from Westboro Mitsubushi for more than a thousand dollars!
It even has an "Official" stamp!

Westboro Mitsubishi is hoping to get exactly
what segment of the car buying public with this campaign?

The envelope is at least misleading; arguably blatantly deceptive.

The "check" is not a check, officially.

Who, that can read and understand basic English, would open this mail,
read the non-check and want to buy a car from this dealer?

Birthday Party Blues

The problem with your charity.

Spam. In a word: spam.

The soft spot in your heart for endangered species, or victims of rare ailments, or the generally downtrodden. etc. etc, most often ends up with you directing me to a website with your particular charity presenting a heart-wrenching case on an expensive platform where you offer the opportunity to instead of buying your seven-year-old a nice birthday present, we might buy a share in the gift of, I am not making this up, a goat for an underprivileged family in a third world country.

We would certainly respect your wishes to spend money on your chosen charity rather than celebrating the birthday of your child, but a trip to Learning Express or some such retailer for a nice toy or game, perhaps a jigsaw puzzle of a goat, will end with a nice toy or game for your birthday girl. A donation to your favorite charity, on the other hand, will result in a mailbox (voice, email and snail mail) full of pleas for more of our money, most of which would go to executives running the “charity” as opposed to actual goats.

While you might want use to give money to provide goats to third world families and to the executives that manage these programs, we, too, have a cause: We want the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution protected. In fact, we will match every dollar you send to the NRA with money for third world goats.

The NRA, by the way, will spend every cent of your donation and then some more trying to extract more money from you. They will call, mail, and email relentlessly. They might do something during off-hours to protect our constitutional second amendment rights, but they will certainly try to sell us insurance and some coffee cups and t-shirts. What about the folks with the goats?

You have been fairly warned about contributing to the NRA. Protecting our second amendment rights is an important cause. Support it through the NRA and enter a world of spam. What about the goats? Do they have t-shirts for sale or perhaps carbon credits?

Carbon credits! Why didn’t I think of that sooner?!

Our youngster is celebrating a birthday! Please don’t get them a game or a puzzle. Don’t get them something they might have a little fun with before they grow up. Instead, please invest in Carbon Credits in their name. While you are at it, add your name, address, phone number, email address etc., to the list of moonbats investing in snake oil and carbon credits.

By the way, if you do not know where to buy carbon credits; we sell them, third aisle on the right, next to the toys for kids.

The farmer's global view of ethanol

click on image for larger view

Special $199 or is it? Are they stupid or do they think we are?

A One Day Sale at MACY’S!

And what are the deals?

Well, let’s look at their ad in the local newspaper, shall we?

A Jacket for $59.99. Nice, the weather is getting cooler.

Sneakers for $29.99. Not bad

Blender for $19.99. Perfect for the dorm.

Wait. What’s this? The small print says the blender is $29 after special. But the big bold print says SPECIAL 19.99. What’s going on here? Does the ad mean that the Special 19.99 is taken off the regular price? If Special 19.99 means 19.99 is deducted from the regular price, wouldn't the result be $30.00? Is MACY'S confused or trying to confuse us? Now if a Bella Cucina blender turns out not to be made in Italy, but actually made in China, that would be really confusing.

What’s going on is false advertising. That’s what. Or maybe not. They might just be incompetent.

Regular $600 minus Special $199 is $401 which is not even close to $288.

If you go to MACY'S looking for the Special $199 ring from the ad, how much is the ring?

What do you think?

Is MACY'S incompetent or intentionally using deceptive advertising?

This is clearly one or the other.

This particular MACY'S ad was run in Massachusetts. Should the Massachusetts Attorney General be doing something to protect citizens from either incompetent or intentionally deceptive advertising? Maybe she's too busy with illegal aliens.


Ask Martha Coakley:

Consumer Hotline Hours

Effective July 1, the Attorney General’s Public Inquiry & Assistance Center hotline will observe restricted hours of operation. The hotline (617-727-8400) will be open Monday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You may file consumer complaints via email any day at any time by completing our Consumer Complaint form.

Monday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Where do we apply for that job?

It is lunchtime on Friday afternoon at the Super Stop & Shop in Hudson, Massachusetts. A warm humid day in the first days of September and the children are back at school. Friday afternoon means payday for many and although direct deposit is a popular service banks offer, there are some who prefer a check on payday. Actually, they would prefer cash, but as long as they can cash the check right away…a check will do.

Lunchtime on Friday and an older car with Brazilian flags on the bumpers and hanging from the rearview mirror parks in the fire lane directly in front of the entrance to the Super Stop & Shop. Two young Hispanic men, dressed for a game of hip-hop basketball with thinly trimmed beards and checks in hand enter the Stop & Shop a few feet from where they parked, illegally, in the fire lane. The handicapped parking is twenty or thirty feet away from the front of the store and for where they parked, directly in front of the store entrance. If you have ever been at a grocery store (or similar venue) when someone had a medical emergency or there was a fire alarm or some reason for the Police and Fire and Ambulance/EMT services to show up, then you have seen where the emergency vehicles were stationed. That is where the two young men, dressed for hip-hop basketball with checks in hand were parked.

Inside the Super Stop & Shop in Hudson, Massachusetts at lunchtime on Friday afternoon, these two young men joined a group of similarly dressed men, many sporting Brazilian flags emblazoned on their sleeveless t-shirts or more convincingly with a tattoo.

They were lined up to cash their checks at the Stop & Shop branch of, get this, Citizen’s Bank. That’s right: Citizen’s. Next stop: wire the money back to Brazil, where they are citizens. Legal citizens.

When people want to immigrate to the United States and want to assimilate, want to adhere to the laws of the United States and contribute as well as benefit from a United States way of life, that is indeed the American way. When people want to come into the United States illegally with no intention of assimilation, intending to export U.S. dollars earned illegally and tax-free; overloading emergency room services for “free” medical care at taxpayer expense; overloading our public school systems with the children of parents who do not and have no intention of ever speaking English; that is not immigration. That is an invasion of criminals. Who is parked in the fire lane when you need EMT services at the grocery store? That’s who.

No English...No Sale

At a Whole Foods market, I ordered a quart of food at the prepared foods counter. The server didn't speeka the English and I got a pint with some gibberish. Yes. Yes. Tank you berry much too!

An illegal alien was working at the Market Basket in Raynham, MA until he was arrested for molesting a four- year-old boy in the restroom. The Raynham Police let him go without inquiring as to his immigration status and he "shocking" missed his court date. He fled back to Guatemala, but as long as leaders like Coupe Deval Patrick are in office, he will be back, somewhere. The Market Basket molester probably cannot afford to live in "sanctuary cities" in complete defiance of Federal law like Cambridge, but there are combat zones like Hartford, CT where defiance of Federal law has taken hold and chaos is winning. Coupe Deval is working hard to eliminate police details while he pisses on the on-the-books laws regarding illegal immigration.

Law enforcement-bad. Uncontrolled immigration-good. Drapes-check. Cadillac-check.

Coupe is taking a stand against the cops in his state. About time. Of course he is also taking a stand to make sure federal and state laws regarding illegal immigration are flaunted. The lives and wishes of the constituents are

irrelevant

to the affirmative action Coupe Deval. The voters of the Kennedy state want Communism. Add disease and child molesters and Senators who would leave a girl to drown while they sober up.

As long as Whole Foods and Market Basket and the rest of those who would hire potential tuberculosis carriers who do not speak English to provide incompetent service and an occasional molesting for their customers, we can and should expect the quality of life in the USA to decline and democrats enthusiastically lead the effort. Republicans aren't doing anything to stop them either. The Republican nominee isn't even a Republican.


Allegedly-please add allegedly to every verb above. Add scumbag as appropriate. And while Coupe Deval is a complete *** it is not his fault that he is an *** but it is YOUR fault that the is in elected office. Interfering with the enforcement of federal law is a serious offense. Why hasn't he been prosecuted?

The thumb on the butcher's scale

Check your recipes: How many of them call for a pound and a quarter of ground beef?

Pictured above is a representative package of ground sirloin priced at $4.79 per pound. At Royal Ahold's (no kidding) Stop & Shop in Hudson, MA., there are no packages of ground beef, sirloin ir otherwise, that weight in at one pound. If you want a pound of $4.79/lb ground sirloin it is going to cost you $5.99.

There are a couple of guys in white coats, slightly stained with the marks of butchering, but they are hardly butchers. There is a sign, prominently displayed. If you see the guys packaging meat, then you see the sign: Now hiring $8/hour.

At $8/hour, these guys cannot afford much of the hamburger they package can they?

Stop & Shop aren't the only Royal Aholds that are forcing customers to buy more than they want.

Go to family owned Kennedy's Market in neighboring Marlborough and order a pound of ground beef. See if you get a pound. Order a pound of anything and see if you get a pound.

Shouldn't the markets we buy our food from be working on ways to serve customers better than the competition? Why are they working instead, to force their customers into buying more product than they want?

Aholds.

Who is racist?

Barack signed on and donated money to, sounds like the Onion but it is not, this doctrine:

"Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community ... Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love."

Selling Water continued

If you read the letter we sent to Poland Springs posted below, you may be wondering how Poland Springs responded. Anyone with sales experience will tell you that it is far easier to keep an existing customer than to develop a new customer. It is also a matter of sales fact, that happy customers will sometimes tell people about their satisfaction with a vendor's service or product. Sometimes a happy customer will even provide a reference. The unhappy customer, on-the-other-hand, will tell everyone about their bad experience. Everyone.

No doubt this is a human trait with Neanderthal roots. It is not at all important that you know I have found the most comfortable spot in the cave for sleeping. It is, however, critical that you do not drink the nasty water I found and more important still, that you tell me if you come across any nasty water.

Good news; you don't need. Bad news; you need.

Just like TV.

Back to Poland Springs...

We enjoyed good service and good water from Poland Springs for years. Did we write about it? No. Blog about it? No. Pay for it? Yes.

Why are you reading about our experience with Nestle Waters Poland Springs now? Bad service.

If I wrote about their good service, you wouldn't read it. Bad service, especially bad food service, you will read about. Understandably, yes?

The folks at Nestle Waters Poland Springs either don't care about dissatisfied customers or they have calculated the cost associated with having satisfied customers vs. the cost of keeping stupid customers who are willing to be treated like stupid customers.

There was a message from Nestle Waters Poland Springs in voicemail this afternoon. It was a computer generated automated "service call" confirmation.

Nestle Waters Poland Springs doesn't even try to keep unhappy customers and that can only mean one thing: They must have plenty of stupid customers.

Rebate Loans

I'd like to borrow $100 from you. If you don't have it in cash, I take credit cards so you can borrow it to lend to me. I'll pay you back, not with interest, but eventually. I'll give you a form to fill out and some barcodes on a box and maybe a coupon. You fill out the form, make copies of everything and mail it all to me by a certain date. Let's say three or four weeks from when you make the loan. Long enough away that you don't feel compelled to do your paperwork right away. No rush.

If you forget about mailing me the paperwork, or mail it too late, I'll keep the money. If you do fill out the form -properly- and send it in in time, I might loose it. That's why you need copies. If I get the form and the barcodes on cardboard on time, I'll send you a check, eventually. Seriously, what is the point of borrowing a hundred dollars unless I get to keep it for a while.

When I do get around to sending you a check, look for an envelope that looks as much like junk mail as possible. If you throw the mail out because it looks like the last thing a check would come in, I get to keep the money.

What am I going to do with the hundred that you are paying credit card interest on? Why make interest on it of course.

Selling Water

Dear Poland Spring,

We can well imagine the meeting; it must have been like a Dilbert cartoon:

-------------------

“How do we increase our revenues? Ideas?”

“I know! I know! I went to a seminar. Let’s store as much of our inventory as possible at our customers facilities.”

“That won’t work. Buyers want just-in-time inventory.”

“Corporate Buyers want just-in-time inventory. Consumers don’t have time for all that. Just load ‘em up with our inventory. Just how much does it cost us per square foot to store this water? They store our inventory. We save a fortune! They won’t notice!”

“That’s right! These are people who buy water! Let’s start delivering anything they have ever ordered whether they order it or not! They won’t know the difference! Tell them it is improved service! ”

We complained when you started delivering extra. You said it wouldn’t happen again. We complained again when it happened again. You said it wouldn’t happen again. It happened again.

Then, frosting on the cake, you sent us a letter: “This change is being made specifically to improve our operational efficiency.” Too funny. We are going to store more of our inventory at your place…”to improve our operational efficiency.”

Our next scheduled delivery is for July 23^rd. Your cooler will be in the driveway. Please take it away. We will not be buying Poland Spring, storing Poland Spring or drinking Poland Spring anytime soon.

P.T. Barnum may have been correct, but we hope you fail and are replaced by a company striving to serve customers rather than make their customers garages and basements into free warehousing. Your greed has cost you (at least) this customer. The product is water you know.

Very Sincerely former customers,

What the farmer knows about ethanol.

Liars

Fox 25 News in Boston just ran a teaser for the next newscast. "Can Hillary pull off a win in Pennsylvania? Coming up next..."

Anyone who is paying attention knows that Hillary will win in PA. The question is, "by how much?"

Why does Fox25 want to make the expected into a surprise?

Wouldn't that be contrary to the most basic rules of journalistic ethics?

Sorry- was that an oxymoron...?

It's Comcastical!

When you drill a hole in the wall to put a cable through, for example, you might find that some sawdust, etc., needs to be cleaned up after drilling. If you are the Comcastical Installer you know that the customer can deal this mess when they are cleaning up the mulch from around the bushes that you tracked through the house.

Do you think that sealing that hole-in-the-house might use sealing along with cleaning up? Is our heating /cooling bill going up going down or even after your visit?

An extended, detailed version of this three-stooges cable installation is available upon request.

The picture above says it all though, doesn't it? Professionals do not leave it like that.

Bottled water is more expensive than gasoline...really

Poland Spring has been incentivising route delivery drivers to deliver more than the customer ordered for some time now. We have been complaining. We do not want a six month inventory of bottled water taking up space in the basement or garage, but despite our complaints, the deliveries kept coming with more than we had on our order.

Take a look at your bill for delivered bottled water. How much is a gallon of water? How much is a gallon of 89 octane? How much do you pay for a deposit on the plastic container? That is your money they are making interest on while you maintain inventory of their product in the basement.

Recently, a letter from Poland Spring informed customers that "in order to increase efficiency" they would be reducing the number of deliveries and increasing the amount of product delivered.

In order to be "more efficient" most businesses, and let us consider our households to be businesses when it comes to dealing with vendors , most businesses want to maintain just-in-time inventories. Vendors, of course, want to have customers maintain as much inventory as possible.

In the case of Poland Spring: They want to increase the customers inventory of exorbitantly priced product and charge rent for the dispenser and maintain a cash deposit for the inventoried containers.

People might be foolish enough to buy water, but greed will be the ruin of this cash cow.

It's Comcasticated

They call. They mail. They email. They spend a fortune on advertising on TV, radio and print. They are relentless. And when they finally get you to buy, they just don't know how to treat customers.

The young lady on the phone had to check with a supervisor "Hold please..." call me back, "5 minutes..." and call me again next week to make sure they could switch over my three lines. When we finally got it done, I had to hold some more so the computer could ask me again if I was not being waterboarded when I agreed to switch from the last whiz-bang digital service to the latest whiz-bang digital service.

The technician shows up and says, "Three lines? I can't do three lines." At the door, I told him that I was told he could. The young lady on the phone even checked with her supervisor and called me back. The technician went off to make a call and I went to the kitchen to finish a task while he sorted out the three line issue. He comes into the house while I am in the kitchen. That's right; he let's himself in. He hasn't been in the house yet and hasn't been invited into the house yet. We spoke at the door. He let himself in. Risky and rude.

He tells me at some considerable length about how he keeps all the latest gear in his truck and if the three line (actually four) modem was available, he would have one. "It's beta in Vermont, so you would be beta here, but not really beta." He leaves promising to get back to me when he has the right modem.

A few days later the young lady calls me back wondering why the installation was canceled.

It's Comcasticated!