Bouncing Hedgehog

Archive for the ‘Thoughts’ Category

Having lived in the US for quite a few years now I am still somewhat bemused at the constant usage of the phrase “All New.” All new? As opposed to what? Partly new? Mostly new? Just a little bit new? New is a perfectly good word in its own right and has a very clear meaning and/or connotation. So when and why did someone think that it need “all” in front of it to get the point across?

I saw a commercial on TV recently,  T-Mobile if I remember correctly, that asked the question “What do you want from your wireless company?” The answer apparently was “cheaper bills than Verizon” or some such. Well, I guess cheaper where wireless plans are concerned is not a bad answer – although “cheap” and “wireless company” in the same sentence is a contradiction in terms.

So I thought long and hard about the question for oh…. at least 1 second and came up with a much better answer:

COVERAGE.

Around two years ago gas prices in the US took a big hike – well over $4 a gallon for me. They literally doubled and as a result my grocery bill also doubled. I bitched at the time but put up with it purely and simply because I understood that delivery prices to the supermarkets would also have doubled. Most supermarket suppliers here have no choice but to ship by road no matter where they are shipping from. The rail infrastructure sucks so road is it.

However, gas prices now are significantly less than that high that was reached. As a result the prices I pay at the grocery store should also have dropped accordingly. After all, as they said at the time, it was the price of gas causing the problem, not them. But they haven’t. Not at all. I am still paying the same price in a lot of cases and MORE in many others.

Grocery prices in the US are much higher than elsewhere in the world anyway. Many years ago that wasn’t the case. Back in 1973 when I first lived in the US grocery prices were significantly cheaper than the UK – where I hail from. When I came over here in 2003 that position was reversed. The UK was way cheaper. What happened America?

Anyway, back to the present. Gas prices have gone down – my grocery bill has headed in the other direction. Not even for a few weeks was the drop in gas reflected in supermarket prices. So just who is responsible for me feeling ripped off? Trucking companies not dropping their “unavoidable” rise in delivery costs? Or the supermarkets who liked the higher prices which once gas prices dropped meant higher profits?

Like many people back in December we got hit by a snowstorm which (at least in Clendenin, West Virginia) practically sent us back to the stone age. Just before midnight on Friday December 18 the cable went out. No biggie – the TV schedule sucked anyway. Within the hour the power and the phone followed suit. And that’s where the real fun began.

Fortunately for us we have a log fire and a reasonable supply of logs which meant that we weren’t totally without heat. It wasn’t great – we could get the den up to about 62F – but it was certainly better than the rest of the house which very quickly dropped to 40F. We always have food and water on hand for emergencies and thanks to a camping gas stove we could at least cook after a fashion.

We also have a small radio (also for emergencies) and so we tuned in to try and find out what was happening. There’s half a dozen local stations so we didn’t think that would be too hard. Boy, were we ever wrong. What we needed to know were details of the power outages (and what steps were being taken to repair the downed lines) and whether our area had even been reported as out and of course what Verizon were up to as regards downed phone lines. With the phone out we couldn’t report the power out. Cellphone coverage where we live (a whole 25 miles from the state capital) is non-existent. Read the rest of this entry »

A headline caught my eye today about the FDA. Apparently they are targeting companies that market energy drinks that combine alcohol and caffeine and have given companies that market them 30 days to prove they are safe.

Per the FDA’s press release:

“Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a substance added intentionally to food (such as caffeine in alcoholic beverages) is deemed “unsafe” and is unlawful unless its particular use has been approved by FDA regulation, the substance is subject to a prior sanction, or the substance is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS).”

Now personally I wouldn’t buy any of these energy drinks. I don’t need them and I doubt you do either.

The FDA obviously has our best interests at heart. Doesn’t it make you feel safer to know they’re being so vigilant on our behalf?

It’s just a thought but don’t you think they’d be better off (and we’d be safer) targeting stuff that lists such side effects as lymphoma and death and getting the companies that market them to prove that they are safe instead?

I’m just curious to know if anybody out there has actually had any success in dealing with spam from companies like Keen (www.keen.com)? The reason I ask is that my other half is a Keen member and started receiving unsolicited e-mails from a Keen member well over a year ago now.

That Keen member is called Astrodaija.

The e-mail unsubscribe button doesn’t seem to work – she’s unsubscribed 11 times now.

Reporting the member to Keen doesn’t work – that’s been done 3 times. They still let Astrodaija’s unwanted mail spam her.

As for the much vaunted CAN-SPAM legislation I wonder if that’s worth the paper it’s written on as reporting Astrodaija there 3 times hasn’t had any effect either.

Keen’s service provider doesn’t seem interested. Despite their “we don’t tolerate spam” spoutings they haven’t even had the courtesy to reply.

So… just what do we have to do to get this damn spammer off our backs?

It still saddens me that a country as modern as the USA practices state sanctioned killings as a solution to crime – in other words the death penalty. It doesn’t work as a deterrent – the US has more people incarcerated as a percentage of its population than any other country in the world. By no stretch of the imagination can this practice be called civilized so why continue it? For a supposedly God fearing country to go so directly against the “thou shalt not kill” commandment is the height of hypocrisy. In fact the US is the only modern western country that still practices killing people. China, and Japan still like doing it too. But who else? For “ordinary” crimes you have:

1.Afghanistan
2.Antigua/Barbuda
3.Bahamas
4.Bahrain
5.Bangladesh
6.Barbados
7.Belarus
8.Belize
9.Botswana
10.Burundi Read the rest of this entry »

It takes quite a lot to actually piss me off but the current debate on universal health care and the large percentage of scaremongers claiming it doesn’t work in the UK (one of their “facts” for maintaining huge profits for the insurance companies and the health care system) has finally managed to get me there.

The number of so-called experts (almost everyone I meet apparently) who feel qualified to pass judgment is quite staggering. Which is really quite strange as not many Americans as a percentage of the population have ever actually been there and of those who have I wonder just how many of them had to use our medical services. Funnily enough 65% of Americans can’t even find the UK on world map. Actually if you think that’s bad 20% of Americans can’t even find America on a world map.

As I said the number of lies spouted as fact has finally pissed me off. American health care sucks in comparison. And yes I do have knowledge of the system here. And in the UK of course, and also Canada, Iceland and New Zealand. Read the rest of this entry »

It never ceases to amaze me how many web sites I visit make use of pop-up or pop-under windows. It used to be just the really skanky sites that used these all the time, but I have noticed a trend recently in some far more mainstream web sites that have started utilizing them.

I have about twelve web sites at the last count and not one of them has ever used this technique. Nor will they ever. Pop-ups (or unders) are annoying and iniquitous. No visitor likes them. And for all you web masters out there that think pop-ups are the greatest thing since sliced bread try conducting a survey and see what results you get. I did years ago and the results showed that an overwhelming 98% “hated” them. And the other 2% “didn’t care.” Nobody voted in favor of them. Read the rest of this entry »

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned the absurdity of the cops in West Virginia announcing in the media that they were going to be doing drunk driver stops in a certain area at a certain time. Very specific stuff really and you’d have to be pissed as a rat to forget and drive through that area. This announcement was made both in the papers and on the TV.

Well… here we go again.

I was in Clendenin today and as I was entering a tobacco store two cops were leaving. Not too much out of the ordinary there except that… Read the rest of this entry »