Rant
« Previous EntriesGo Figure! Oil Drops 11.2% This Week and Gas is Down 1.5%
Friday, July 18th, 2008I know that oil prices and gas prices don’t always move in tandem but it sure seems like gas prices follow oil up and are reluctant to follow them back down again. Take this week for instance: Oil prices were down 11.2%. Yet, this morning I noticed that my local Kroger dropped the [...]
OT: What Does “Antibiotic-Free” Mean to You?
Monday, June 2nd, 2008UPDATE: I just noticed that I used the term “antibiotic-free” in the post title. I just figured out that nowhere on the packaging does Tyson claim that the chicken is “antibiotic-free.” Rather, they claim it is “…raised without antiobiotics.” Yes, they are technically the same but as you well know, wording [...]
Pizza Hut Now Charging Extra for Extra Cheese
Monday, June 2nd, 2008I just ordered pizza for my family. I always use a coupon that gives me two large pizzas with up to 3 toppings for $19.99. In the past, as one of the three toppings, I have chosen extra cheese. Tonight I noticed a note was added to the extra cheese section that [...]
I Don’t Like Automatic Gratuities
Monday, May 12th, 2008The definition of gratuity according to Merriam-Webster:
“something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service”
The other night my daughter had her first dance recital (my daughter calls it a “dance cital”). After the recital my wife and I took her family to Olive Garden to celebrate the evening. It was after 9:00 [...]
Good Help Really is Hard to Find
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008BankerGirl wrote an interesting post the other day with some advice for fledgling financial professionals. I particularly liked point #2: No job is beneath you, which reminded me of a recent experience I had at Sears.
On Sunday I visited my local Sears to buy a garden hose. As we were walking into the [...]
The Mortgage Bailout Plan Stinks!
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007This was in yesterday’s WSJ (emphasis mine):
The subprime sales pitch sometimes was fueled with faxes and emails from lenders to brokers touting easier qualification for borrowers and attractive payouts for mortgage brokers who brought in business. One of the biggest weapons: a compensation structure that rewarded brokers for persuading borrowers to take a loan with [...]
It’s Getting Tougher to Make Money From Blogging
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007Most readers of this blog probably don’t care about this topic.
Most of you probably know that I do make money from blogging. You can see the Adsense column on the left and two banner ads (there’s a third banner ad but I don’t get paid for it). Then, if you scroll all the [...]
Genie Charges Customers to Ship Faulty Parts
Thursday, October 25th, 2007This just cracks me up.
I recently purchased new garage doors and two Genie garage door openers from Home Depot. I spent $185 per opener, which I thought was expensive. These openers came with remote keypads for easy access from outside. It’s a cool feature and one of the reasons I bought these [...]
Why Does Time Warner Charge For DVR Service?
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007I just upgraded my cable service to HD cable. To do so, I had to take in my old digital box to the local office and pick up a new HD box. While there the lady asked me if I wanted an HDVR box or just an HD box. Once I found [...]
JLP’s Tip of the Day
Friday, July 27th, 2007This one’s for all you newspaper delivery people out there.
On days when it is either raining or looks like it is going to rain, either double bag the paper or throw it in the grass rather than the driveway. Most driveways are slopped so that they carry the water to the street. When [...]