Good Ol' fashioned Business

I work part-time in retail and deal with customers on a regular basis when I am at the shop. The place has been in continuous operation since 1920. There has been very little changes in how things are handled in those 96 years of existence.

If a customer has a complaint, you rectify it to everyone's satisfaction. That builds repeat business, and repeat business allows it to last for 96 years. It is rocket science...(you know, fill a tube full of fuel and light it and watch it go, it is simple really).

About a month ago I ordered a very inexpensive item on the eBayz. It gave me a delivery window. That time slot came and went and no item. Contacted the seller like I should, no response. Followed policy and filed a claim with eBayz, got response from seller along with an excuse, but he assured me that my item was on the way.

Almost two weeks later and still no item. In the meantime I am getting the annoying reminders to rate the transaction.

How do you think I am going to rate it?

Now the seller is mad because he has a negative rating on his inter-web business. I hope he understands how to avoid this in the future...btw, I have not even filed for my satisfaction guaranteed through eBayz. If I do, I wonder how is that going to work out for him?

Epipen is a Prime Example

Mylan ,the maker of the Epipen is one of the many reasons I believe that allopathic medicine is a shame business like the majority of the rest of the medical field. Besides the price gouging that is being perpetrated on the citizenry of this here United States of America, they also have a very short shelf-life.

So after paying out almost a paycheck to have a remedy on standby in case of an emergency (reaction) to an allergen, these things will supposedly go bad on you after 24 months (2 years for those that do not have toddlers anymore). There have been some limited studies conducted that state the pens are still good after they have expired, but lose its effectiveness by a coefficient of P <.05 or a 0.63 loss of epinephrine bioavailibility in the injector.

You would think that anything that is synthesized, would be altered for a longer shelf life, but where is the profit in that? Especially when you mom is in charge of the school health program on the federal level and dad is a senator. Twinkies have a longer shelf life and they might actually contain natural ingredients (...I said might). Just throw some mercury and/or formaldehyde in it like all vaccines and it should extend the life for awhile (pick up your "no GMOs" bumpersticker on the way out the door and get the kids an organic lollipop at Whole Foods afterwards).

Now the medical industry convinces everyone we need one on the ready, because your kid had one bronchial attack mostly like caused by anxiety and fear of being stung...whatever happened to breathing into a paper bag? Many of us survived our childhood with that technique.

Still glad I have just as big a reaction to epinephrine as I do to Apoidea...

Good Ol' Fashion Hardware Store

What ever happened to the old time hardware store, where you could walk in and get a single piece of hardware. You know; nuts, bolts, washers, screws, nails, and any other sort of fastener. You go to the big boxes and you can buy them in multi-packs, either by count or weight, but if you need just one, no frickin' way...

I have a pair of hand grass clippers that lost one nut, instead of throwing them out, I decided that I am frugal enough to just go ahead and repair it myself. After several stops and not finding the 1/4" by 20 nut (that is the size it turned out to be, once I was allowed to open a package and trying it- they don't let you do that at the big boxes) I needed, I finally went to the auto parts store (still a chain, but nice enough to let me open a few packets) and found the part. I still had to buy the entire bubble container of them, but there was only three in the box...<insert needle across the record or skidding sound>...

Now it has me wondering why packets of three? Why not in pairs, or half or full dozens? Counts of 10? But 3, seriously?

What if I needed four? I would now have to buy two packs of three and get two left over. Are they expecting me to lose one right away, so they actually pack them in sets of two and throw in the extra at no charge? This reminds me of the hot dog in packs of 10 and hot dog rolls come in packs of 8, you have to but 4 packs of hot dogs and 5 packs of rolls to get it to balance out evenly.

The bottom line is, they are not expecting many people to actually fix and repair anything in this throw away society...so they go with the inconvenient packaging and counts to discourage my frugalness.

An Open Letter to Mr. Kaepernick

Dear Mr. Kaepernick (and others in the NFL)

How dare you exercise your first amendment rights in a peaceful manner. If you want to continue your protest of the unfair, unjust, and uncivilized treatment of minorities in this country, you need to take it to the streets (just not my street, it is quiet and idyllic, and needs to remain that way). We need to see looting, riots, and confrontations with authority. This passivity of not standing or kneeling during the playing of a symbolic song is unpatriotic. Millions of true patriots have placed flags outside their houses, put stickers on their cars (I support the troops), and expressed outrage at their government (thanks Obama), so you have no right to protest what they have built with the jingoism they have expressed (god bless America).

If you want to be a real patriot, you need to take note of the actions of real Americans like the Bundys. They have taken government subsidies, used government land for their own personal ends, taken up arms against a tyrannical government, and taken over government property in their protest. That is how true loyalists operate.

Mr. Kaepernick, your non-aggressive sissy approach is just not the American way of doing things. Man up and physically get into someone's face, the least you could do is make hate speeches against certain sects of people in an attempt to make this country great again.

So stop making us feel uncomfortable when we try and relax and take in some football, no one deserves to feel unsafe or threatened in any way, no matter what team we are on or root for....

Sarcastically yours,
Herbert Bush

Incompetency, I Hate it.

<RANT ALERT>

I hate incompetency, especially when it affects me directly or involves people around me. I guess it bothers everyone, but I guess I over look other things and let this be that one peeve that I have no tolerance for.

What makes incompetence even worse is if you make an attempt but only get half of it done, why bother? Might as well have done nothing as it does not get what is necessary accomplished.

I may not get done what is needed immediately, but if and when I do it, it will be done to the best of my ability and completely.

Ok, rant over...

Freedom and Liberty

• freedom (noun)- the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hinderance or resistance.
• liberty (noun)- the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views.

Do we really have it in this country (US)? Do we have freedoms and liberties? I say no, we are controlled for everything.

I bring this up for a number of reasons. Mostly to point the hypocrisy that many cry about their freedoms, while oppressing others' liberties. In other words, "as long as I got my liberties, I don't care about yours."

I could write a long laundry list of examples of the insincerity of the people in the US about their freedoms and lack of empathy towards others and their freedoms. I am going to go with following as the lone example;

Colin Kaepernick (I had to look up the spelling), a quarterback for San Francisco 49ers, is expressing himself (using his liberties) to not rise for the playing of the National Anthem because of the inequalities that still exist in this country. Kaepernick is taking a lot of criticism for his actions and will most likely be punished (fined) by the NFL for continuing to follow through with his actions.

I personally think he is being disrespectful, as I will stand for other countries' anthems out of respect. I found what Usain Bolt did during a live interview at the Olympics very noble and he gained much admiration from me for his act in suspending that interview for an anthem being played during a podium presentation (it just happened to be the US).

IMHO, Kaepernick needs to find another mechanism in which to express his displeasure with the state of our country. I support Mr. Kaepernick and believe he is correct, in that there still exists a huge divide in the treatment and equity of certain minority groups in this country. He has a right to express himself anyway he feels to promote his cause. What bothers me even more than his mode of rebellion, are the outspoken critics against him and trying to quash his stand against injustice, proving his point even further.

So, no, we do not have freedoms and liberties in this country, society will not allow it to happen. Society will stomp out anything that expresses opposition to the 'norm', no deviations allowed, it makes everyone uncomfortable.

A Hidden Agenda

I am not a big believer in conspiracies or the theories that coincide with them, but every once and a while something pops into my head and makes me question what is really going on.

As I scroll through social media, I am bombarded with posts and memes about the astronomical prices associated with certain pharmaceuticals here in the US, latest is the EpiPen for allergic reactions.

This has set off a maelstrom of comparisons for a lot of other drugs and their costs here in the US in contrast to various other countries.

Many allopathic remedies here are two to seven times the cost in other countries, this has led me to thinking that there is a secret hidden agenda amongst the powers that control the corrupt free market in this country. That secret hidden agenda is to fight immigrants coming to this country for cheap medical care...

Now hear me out, please... There are many that believe all the "illegals" in this country come for "free" handouts including medical, so are the powers that be in the "free market" driving costs of medicines up to make the US unlivable for those that seek a better lifestyle, including the citizens already here (we are just collateral damage)? If medical is cheaper elsewhere, won't those seeking that flock to those elsewhere places? There have been crazier schemes put into action...

I am allergic to Vespidae stings, but I also have reaction issues to epinephrine, so I avoid the use of self field injections and have found that a simple homeopathic remedy works just as well and as quickly with no side reactions, that and a good nap and I am usually fine in a couple of hours...