Caveat emptor. The two words should be printed on money. If you have a personal shopping bag, take the time to print (in indelible ink) on the side of the sack. Be prepared, oh shopper, because we live in a world of deceit.
posted in economy | Comments Off on Towards an educated class of consumers | 274 words
One of the first things wise parents (are supposed to) learn in navigating that swamp called discipline is not to threaten with something you can’t follow through about. Things like “no more TV for the rest of your life” or “you’ll never get another toy” just don’t scare kids the way they do in the comic books. Kids know better.
posted in economy, politics | Comments Off on Poor method for behavior modification | 276 words
Why is it that our current government tends to raise the “I don’t trust their motives” hairs on the back of my neck? Oh, right; because I don’t trust their motives. The CBC points out that there is an intention to renegotiate the treaty that set rules for water use from the Great Lakes. Big lakes, shared resource. The treaty has been in place for about a century. What suddenly stung some high-level bureaucrat into action?
posted in economy, politics | Comments Off on Water flows downhill from here | 262 words
The question is simple. Should I play “cheap and dangerous” or “expensive and cautious”? I’m talking about computers, of course. Far too many of them in my day-to-day to not know the risks and costs of keeping our favourite machines in functional disorder. Just this week, three laptops have ended up on my desk because of various failed components. Some of them under warranty, others not. You do the math.
posted in computing, economy | Comments Off on Estimating the cost of risk | 304 words
The sign was succinct and spoke volumes. Definitively Closed. No ambiguity there. Sometime in the last few days, our only local garage and service station rolled down the gates over their bays, turned off the pump motors and left without saying goodbye.
posted in economy, technology | Comments Off on The sign said more than “Closed” | 278 words
So the local TV station wants to be saved. Is that in the religious sort of saved, or the swimmer in dangerous water sort of saved, or the instant balm of money from me sort of saved? I thought so.
posted in economy, media | Comments Off on Do you feel their pain, yet? | 321 words
What’s that got to do with the price of fish? One of those expressions that I remember from when I lived a bit closer to the shore, and Friday required a meal that had been caught with a hook (or a net). Nowadays, I don’t have any good reason to follow the auctions in Boston, and the local radio stations haven’t carried that sort of information in decades. Only when I come across some of the flash-frozen fillets that are available in the local foodstore does the question come up in conversation.
posted in economy, food | Comments Off on Might as well stay home | 263 words
Today is the last day for the average Canadian to confess and ask for penance. Tax returns, of course. Now, since I am both virtuous and methodical, my four returns were submitted ever and long ago (who knew that a day could be so long?), removing the spouse and me from that double whammy of a late return penalty. My children faced a different situation.
posted in economy | Comments Off on Offers we cannot refuse | 342 words
Thank goodness that Rex the Demystifier is around. On so many issues, I can turn on the radio during the otherwise sleepy time period leading up to Sunday supper and get information on questions I didn’t know I should be asking. Not every week, but often enough that my radio stays tuned to the local channel in case I feel curious.
posted in economy | Comments Off on Mine is golden, yours is not | 305 words
As one of the few that has never purchased an automobile (ever), I remain bemused by the variety of marketing campaigns and strategies used to lure the helpless consumer. There’s been a subtle variation added to the palette recently, and I’m wondering if this one is going to be “the best one ever”. In short, the average buyer is at risk of losing her job in this foundering economy. The response of the industry is to offer to “cover your debt” for a certain amount of time. Just like the Big Three has asked the government to do for them. Talk about spreading the new riches around.
posted in economy | Comments Off on We can deal if someone else pays the way | 357 words
