26th
January
2014
The story points to what is purely a business decision. After all, why should a company pay more for something when it can pay less? Part of that 101 course, if you will. In Nebraska, the firm that wants to push a pipeline south from Alberta to the refineries in the deep south has upped their offer to landowners. By 700%. And that’s the figure that we should retain. The amount of money to be made in this gamble is enormous. Enough to push the bean counters out of their parsimony. And this is probably a reasonable figure, which means that the return on investment is much higher than most of us realize.
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posted in economy, environment |
22nd
January
2014
“Shopper, seeking a balanced load”. That’s me, and my son from time to time. A short walk over to the local supermarket, to purchase a few essentials (milk, for the main). Bring two recyclable sacks, because that’s the sane thing to do. And the clerk insists on packing everything into one.
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posted in economy |
13th
January
2014
A trifecta: had a ride home from work, arriving before dark, with the temperature above freezing. Too good to let pass. Now the lights are out of the tree in front of the house, and the 10 cm layer of ice has been removed from the stoop. Go ahead, freeze some more. At least we won’t have to swim (or slide) out to the street.
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posted in economy |
3rd
January
2014
My unusual treat for the holiday season: after getting up at 07h00 to feed the dog (he puts a cold nose between my shoulder blades to remind me of the hour), I returned to bed until after noon. Complete change in routine, that won’t be repeated for many months.
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posted in economy |
28th
November
2013
I grew up believing that a “black Friday” was far from a positive thing. History. Go ahead, put the term into Wiki, and back come a flood of tragic memories. War, pestilence, asteroids striking the earth and destroying the dinosaurs (I’m not sure about that last one). But we’ve changed millenia, and now, Black Friday is symbolic of hope.
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posted in economy, humour |
25th
November
2013
I tried to be patient. Really. I mean, last evening, when I placed that book order, I thought that things would be there in a matter of days. Yes, I carefully chose items to ensure free shipping, but the whole point was that it would be fast. And then, this afternoon, when I logged into the site to check on progress, and saw that the anticipated delivery date was “next year”…
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posted in economy |
19th
November
2013
Ever wish you could participate in a “get rich quick” scheme? Missed out on the Klondike? Never bought a piece of Apple? Have you been following that whole Bitcoin thing? Imagine… worth $0 only four years ago (I had that much to spend); up to $150 six week ago (if we skipped meals for a week, I could have purchased a pair); trading at $773 earlier this evening in Montreal. Better investment opportunity than Cabbage Patch dolls in their time.
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posted in economy, humour |
15th
November
2013
They stay in! Success. For those who wonder what set that off, it’s easy. I just purchased a set of ear buds (to listen to my MP3 player). After refusing to accept that the last pair would remain in place in direct proportion to my index of immobility, it was time for change. Here’s the catch. Stores package ear buds as eye catchers; you can’t try them before laying down the “cash or Chargex”. Not much of an incentive for companies to improve things.
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posted in economy |
13th
October
2013
Pardon me, I’m a little distracted. So many good books to read that I’ve bridged my efforts across two electronic platforms, some paper bound product and a strong need to narrate something of my own. My effort to sort out musical style changes in a Chaconne don’t count for much, in passing.
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posted in economy |
11th
October
2013
Today, I played “Maybe yes… maybe no” with the phone company. A school, with intermittence instead of reliable service; my duty was to call it in, and then cancel the call when things returned to working status. Two times were enough. I don’t want to be accused of “crying wolf”. In passing, this same company required twenty-one days to respond to a similar call about a month back, so I doubt they were worried.
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posted in economy |
