I did not get up early to stand outside a local big box store. I will not get up early tomorrow for the same reason; I don’t need a really thin laptop for what is still a lot of money. See. That wasn’t so hard. My power of resistance to sales pressure is increasing.
posted in economy, humour | Comments Off on If I had a hammer, or a key, or some other device | 275 words
Somebody famous (who I am unable to name) made the claim that one should invest in land, “because they aren’t making any more of it”. And, efforts by certain rich monarchs in the area around the Persian Gulf, it’s true. Not too important, when you calculate that we all still have that square metre of land required as a place to stand (shoulder to shoulder).
posted in economy, environment | Comments Off on Lots of neighbours | 258 words
Just watched an interesting guitarist on TV. Bryce Young, by name. Too new to have a web presence; I checked the usual spots, like YouTube and MySpace. Found a review of a show from Yellowknife. What sets him apart from the usual fretful individuals is his tap technique, similar to Chris Broderick. Keep an eye out for this lad.
posted in economy | Comments Off on Climb the stairs to save a little | 274 words
Entertainment, political style. While the House sits through a national holiday, in order to allow a debate on proposed legislation to end the lockout at the post office. Let’s examine the collected oddities.
posted in economy, music | Comments Off on Life with a cracked menu screen and scratched spectacles | 267 words
Two strikes. Both in Canada, both dealing with fields that used to be nationalized. Similar levels of difficulty, from the point of view of employee effort. Similar salary packages. And, very different responses from the federal government. In the case of the postal workers, the minister responsible wants to be informed if there is any change. In the case of the airline workers, back-to-work legislation is imminent, after only twenty-four hours.
posted in economy | Comments Off on Two strikes, one miss | 261 words
During that decade of diapers, how would our life have changed (no pun intended), if this product had been available?
posted in economy, media | Comments Off on A target audience in the formative stage | 269 words
Why can’t I haggle? What happened in Canada to make us so different from other parts of the world, where market value is decided by the merchant and the client? Is there something sacred about a stuck-on price tag?
posted in economy | Comments Off on Time for a round of haggling | 269 words
My first time. I remember it as if it was yesterday. A friend had a catalogue from China.
Sorry about the confusion. My first time buying a lens for my camera. I couldn’t afford the rigour of retail, and this was a simple little booklet filled with product names and prices that were much cheaper than the domestic lists. The only catch: you sent your postal money order off to an address in Kowloon and then you waited for the slow boat. Literally. Time for fulfillment was in the range of six weeks or more, before the card from Customs and Excise arrived. No door-to-door when the government had its weigh/way.
posted in economy | Comments Off on Evolution in trade | 286 words
Too many models. Of light bulbs, I mean. Sometime during the night, one of the two bulbs in my stove hutch burned out. Minor detail in cooking, extremely important during my speed read of the newspaper each morning. I hear the delivery, I grab the paper and I try to go cover to cover in minutes. Not possible in the dark.
posted in economy | Comments Off on Surfeit of variety | 264 words
For years, the family looked at me oddly before piling into the car for a day trip. T-Day, and the T stood not for travel but rather taxes. More particularly, tax return production, wherein I covered the kitchen table with piles of paper, renewed my calculator keyboard skills and then tried to keep my blood pressure below the point where an aneurism occurred.
posted in economy, politics | Comments Off on Tax returns as spectator sport | 264 words
