WHAT IS THE LINE FOR?
For the past nine months, since the gasoline prices in California and rest of the country moved to the “Outer Limits,” I have been car pooling. It has been great, not only saving on gasoline, but also making the long drive enjoyable.
On our daily return trips home, We noticed a house on Carmenita Road where people gathered outside in line daily. We couldn’t figure out why. Each day we tried to guess what it was? We finally solved the mystery. We determined that it was a neighborhood food bank. WOW!
The next day I decided to organize a food collection at our company to make donations to the food bank. We were already donating to the food bank at a church for several weeks, so we knew firsthand how they worked. As soon as the grocery store ads arrive in the mail, we started checking for great bargains, plus clipping coupons constantly for the donation. It was suggested I should first check to see if they would accept donations from us, when they were open, and what items were preferred.
The next day, I drove to the Food Bank and asked for the person in charge. I introduced myself and presented my offer of our company donations. Needless to say, they were delighted. The gentleman I spoke to told me how they get what they can from stores (produce and baked items), but they still do not have enough. He also explained that everything from private sources had to be packaged or in cans.
I am so proud of our employees at AFE and Coastal for making this a successful project. We have placed a big box in the front office where everyone brings in cans and non-perishable packaged food. Every Thursday, we drop it off. When we started, we filled up the back seat of a car. For the past two weeks, we had to use our pick-up to make the delivery. We contacted this large company across the street, and they are now collecting items also on a weekly basis also.
It is so heart warming to know that we can do something that might seem small to us, but is so big to someone else. In this day and age, living in this country that feeds the world, there is no reason why anyone here should go hungry. These are hard times for all of us. But I believe it will be only for a short while, and we will come out gloriously as we always do. We will not have the soup kitchens of the 1930’s Depression Era, but we still have hidden hunger with families and children. If you can help these faceless hungry people, you will experience a feeling that is grater than anything you have ever known.
So if you would like to investigate your local community and see if there is a food bank that would accept food, and you would like to have a weekly or monthly food collection for it at your location, this is the time that it is needed the most and would make the most impact. In this great country of ours, there is no reason why even one person should go hungry. And remember, HUNGER HURTS.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Blackstrap Molasses
Blackstrap Molasses
Last month while I was in Charlotte, NC, visiting Calico plant, on a Sunday drive I decided to try a Brazilian restaurant for lunch to see what their food tasted like.
On my drive down Independence Boulevard, I passed a Farmers Market Store that looked like it would be fun to browse through. They had several items that I did not recognize, nor did I want to know. One item that caught my eye was “Blackstrap Molasses”. I love honey and buy every new brand I can get and this looked something similar to honey. I called Ruth in California on my cell phone and asked her what this black stuff was. She knew basically what it was and that Molasses is used in baking.
I bought a bottle that was only $3.00+ tax and the girl at the register had no idea what it was used for. She was finishing her degree in Social Sience in the coming semester from UNC and been working there to pay for school. Therefore having a college degree does not make you an expert on molasses.
After I had lunch at the Brazilian Resturant (that was great and too much to eat), I was excited to find out more about this black gooey stuff in the bottle.
This is what I found out:
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOLASSES AND BLACKSTRAP MOLASSES?
Regular ole molasses is the first or second boiling of cane sugar syrup while blackstrap is the third boiling of the syrup. Iron levels appear to increase 5% in the 3rd boiling. The third boiling of the sugar syrup gives blackstrap molasses. The majority of sucrose from the original juice has been crystallized but black strap molasses is still mostly sugar by calories[1]; however, unlike refined sugars, it contains significant amounts of vitamins and minerals. Blackstrap molasses is a source of calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron. One tablespoon provides up to 20 percent of the daily value of each of those nutrients.[
Molasses Cures
Blackstrap molasses appears to be making headlines as one of the best home remedies around! Blackstrap molasses is claimed to be an ingredient for curing cancerous tumors, fibroid tumors, anxiety, constipation, edema, heart palpitations, anemia, arthritic pain, joint pain, and acne, just to name a few. It has also been reported that molasses turns gray hair back to its original color and is a wonderful skin softener!
Having read all that, I have made it an addition to my daily morning breakfast. I take a tablespoon straight up. It is sweet, and with all the vitamins in it, what can go wrong.
I suggest you read more about it but check with your doctor if you have any medial history to make sure it does not cause any unwanted effects.
What we have here could possibly be “BLACK GOLD” in a bottle.
If you have any additional information regarding this, please let me know so I can pass it along.
Last month while I was in Charlotte, NC, visiting Calico plant, on a Sunday drive I decided to try a Brazilian restaurant for lunch to see what their food tasted like.
On my drive down Independence Boulevard, I passed a Farmers Market Store that looked like it would be fun to browse through. They had several items that I did not recognize, nor did I want to know. One item that caught my eye was “Blackstrap Molasses”. I love honey and buy every new brand I can get and this looked something similar to honey. I called Ruth in California on my cell phone and asked her what this black stuff was. She knew basically what it was and that Molasses is used in baking.
I bought a bottle that was only $3.00+ tax and the girl at the register had no idea what it was used for. She was finishing her degree in Social Sience in the coming semester from UNC and been working there to pay for school. Therefore having a college degree does not make you an expert on molasses.
After I had lunch at the Brazilian Resturant (that was great and too much to eat), I was excited to find out more about this black gooey stuff in the bottle.
This is what I found out:
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOLASSES AND BLACKSTRAP MOLASSES?
Regular ole molasses is the first or second boiling of cane sugar syrup while blackstrap is the third boiling of the syrup. Iron levels appear to increase 5% in the 3rd boiling. The third boiling of the sugar syrup gives blackstrap molasses. The majority of sucrose from the original juice has been crystallized but black strap molasses is still mostly sugar by calories[1]; however, unlike refined sugars, it contains significant amounts of vitamins and minerals. Blackstrap molasses is a source of calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron. One tablespoon provides up to 20 percent of the daily value of each of those nutrients.[
Molasses Cures
Blackstrap molasses appears to be making headlines as one of the best home remedies around! Blackstrap molasses is claimed to be an ingredient for curing cancerous tumors, fibroid tumors, anxiety, constipation, edema, heart palpitations, anemia, arthritic pain, joint pain, and acne, just to name a few. It has also been reported that molasses turns gray hair back to its original color and is a wonderful skin softener!
Having read all that, I have made it an addition to my daily morning breakfast. I take a tablespoon straight up. It is sweet, and with all the vitamins in it, what can go wrong.
I suggest you read more about it but check with your doctor if you have any medial history to make sure it does not cause any unwanted effects.
What we have here could possibly be “BLACK GOLD” in a bottle.
If you have any additional information regarding this, please let me know so I can pass it along.
MY SPORT BAR AT HOME.
MY SPORT BAR AT HOME.
In an effort to “cut back”, we will be staying home more and also doing more of our entertaining there. I decided to create my own sport bar in an extra room. I would like to share it with you, and you might want to realize a similar savings.
Last week I was upstairs in our “teen room” watching my Monday night football. The 6:30 PM evening news was coming on and I had the dilemma of wanting to watch the football game and the NBC evening news.
I looked around the room and realized there was an old TV that was unplugged and sitting there collecting dust.
I accessed my computer, video, and audio accessories drawer and found the components that I thought might let me accomplish what I wanted, but wasn’t sure if it would work.
I found a 2-WAY SPLITTER and two TV Cables I had bought from the 99 Cents store awhile back, simply because I could not resist the low price.
I disconnected the cable that came from the wall that went to the cable box. I then connected it to the IN outlet on the 2-WAY SPLITTER, connected a cable from the 2-WAY SPLITTER that said OUT to the back of the cable box. The cable that goes from the cable box to the existing TV was connected and I left that alone. I turned on the TV on and I still had cable with the existing TV. Then I connected a cable to the 2 WAY-SPLITTER that said OUT and connected it to the extra TV that was sitting in the room. I plugged that TV in and I had pictures on both sets.
Now the existing TV had cable channels with all the programs, and the old spare TV had the basic channels that were coming in. I moved the TV on the desk top (that runs the entire length of the room) next to the existing TV and put one on football and the other on NBC evening news. I was watching football and learning all about the state of the nation. Talk about multi-tasking!
I thought how nice it would be if we had 3 TV’s instead of 2, since we’re never satisfied with what is at hand. I founf another TV in he garage that wasn’t and hauled it upstairs. I stopped at Wal-Mart, bought a 4-WAY SPLITTER, and that evening I put 3 TV’s, a VCR, and the DVD player together and created my HOME MADE SPORTS BAR.
Thursday night Football was great. I had Football on one, news on another and an old TMC movie on the 3rd. I am sure you all have old TV’s sitting around collecting dust. A visit to the 99Cents store can turn your room into a exciting SPORT BAR at home just like ours at a very minimal cost.
This past Saturday, I had 3 College Football games on at the same time on the 3 TV’S and it was heaven on earth.
Take note, before creating this outstanding fun, check with your spouse or companion and make sure you are not going to get in trouble doing it. I do not want it to be HAZARDOUS to your relationship.
NEXT: A FOURTH TV and maybe a Mini Bar to finish it off!
2-Way 2 Splitter
3 Way Splitter
4 Way Splitter
In an effort to “cut back”, we will be staying home more and also doing more of our entertaining there. I decided to create my own sport bar in an extra room. I would like to share it with you, and you might want to realize a similar savings.
Last week I was upstairs in our “teen room” watching my Monday night football. The 6:30 PM evening news was coming on and I had the dilemma of wanting to watch the football game and the NBC evening news.
I looked around the room and realized there was an old TV that was unplugged and sitting there collecting dust.
I accessed my computer, video, and audio accessories drawer and found the components that I thought might let me accomplish what I wanted, but wasn’t sure if it would work.
I found a 2-WAY SPLITTER and two TV Cables I had bought from the 99 Cents store awhile back, simply because I could not resist the low price.
I disconnected the cable that came from the wall that went to the cable box. I then connected it to the IN outlet on the 2-WAY SPLITTER, connected a cable from the 2-WAY SPLITTER that said OUT to the back of the cable box. The cable that goes from the cable box to the existing TV was connected and I left that alone. I turned on the TV on and I still had cable with the existing TV. Then I connected a cable to the 2 WAY-SPLITTER that said OUT and connected it to the extra TV that was sitting in the room. I plugged that TV in and I had pictures on both sets.
Now the existing TV had cable channels with all the programs, and the old spare TV had the basic channels that were coming in. I moved the TV on the desk top (that runs the entire length of the room) next to the existing TV and put one on football and the other on NBC evening news. I was watching football and learning all about the state of the nation. Talk about multi-tasking!
I thought how nice it would be if we had 3 TV’s instead of 2, since we’re never satisfied with what is at hand. I founf another TV in he garage that wasn’t and hauled it upstairs. I stopped at Wal-Mart, bought a 4-WAY SPLITTER, and that evening I put 3 TV’s, a VCR, and the DVD player together and created my HOME MADE SPORTS BAR.
Thursday night Football was great. I had Football on one, news on another and an old TMC movie on the 3rd. I am sure you all have old TV’s sitting around collecting dust. A visit to the 99Cents store can turn your room into a exciting SPORT BAR at home just like ours at a very minimal cost.
This past Saturday, I had 3 College Football games on at the same time on the 3 TV’S and it was heaven on earth.
Take note, before creating this outstanding fun, check with your spouse or companion and make sure you are not going to get in trouble doing it. I do not want it to be HAZARDOUS to your relationship.
NEXT: A FOURTH TV and maybe a Mini Bar to finish it off!
2-Way 2 Splitter
3 Way Splitter
4 Way Splitter
IDENTITY THEFT IS NO JOKE!
IDENTITY THEFT IS NO JOKE!
We all think of identity theft as something that happens to someone else.
Well, let me bring it home to you. This is what happened to Calico in November, 2007.
I was in my California office when Jenny walked in with our Calico, NC - Bank of America statement. She asked me if I knew what particular amounts and checks were for that were listed on the statement that were not in our normal number series. There was a long list of them. Thanks to current technology, I logged into our Calico, NC Bank of America account web site and printed the checks.
These checks were colorful, perfectly printed, but they were not our checks. They had our account numbers, but some other company names/addresses on the top, and were made out to persons I had never heard of. They were signed, and some even had a finger print of the person who cashed it on the check, plus their driver’s license number and other related information that is required when you cash a check. I was stunned! They were all in the amounts of the $400 range and written on various days so as not to attract any attention. They were also cashed in various cities, which we later found out had to be handled by each separate police department rather than one combined crime.
I immediately drove to the bank and presented the bank office with the situation at hand. I was informed that the only way to stop other checks getting processed and the bank to refund the amount to our company was to close the account and start a new one.
This meant that all the checks in process would be returned to our payee plus all our automatic monthly bill payments would have to be rescheduled from the new account. This also included updating our (phone) payroll deduction plan with the government, which required new passwords, etc. You can’t imagine the time and effort we had to go through to do all of this.
The new account was opened while the old account was closed, which should have been the end of this fiasco. Unfortunately, as of the date that I am writing this article, we are still struggling with the situations that involved insurance, tax, monthly auto-payments, etc. that were scheduled for e-payments. We have made numerous calls to vendors to explain the reason for checks or payments that were returned to them shown as “Account Closed” from the old account which had to be replaced. Calico has had to reimburse many companies for the bank fees they incurred because they had deposited checks from our old account.
Fortunately, Bank of America deposited the actual check amounts back in our new account that had totaled close to $6,000.00. We are still battling with the bank over one major purchase from Wal-Mart for a check for $900.00 (listed as electronic), that I assume was HD Flat Screen TV.
The Bank recouped its losses from the banks that had cashed the checks or from the insurance they had. Of course those people have to do their own collection.
I was not satisfied to see some hoodlum getting away with it. We sent the counterfeit checks to Art Bruns, our General Manager at Calico, NC. He contacted the police who had no interest in spending their time to chase this minor crime as they called it.
Art called one of the city’s police departments where one of the checks was cashed. He found a detective who was what you wanted to have as an example for all other policeman to be like. He said that he was working on a case that might involve the same people, and to have the checks faxed to him. A few days later he called Art and told him that the person who did all of this was in jail, and he operated all this fraud from his cell phone while there. What type of jails do we have that they have cell phones and can set up an office to continue their operation without interruption? Just think, if this man can do all of this from his cell phone in jail, he must be very smart. Why doesn’t he apply himself correctly and be successful in the real world?
On Wednesday January 16, 2008 I received a call from Art and was asked to check my e-mail for a link that the detective had sent him with the picture of the villain and his information. Attached is copy of the character that caused us so much trouble. According to the information on the web-site, he was already released again in December. I hope with all the information we have given to the police, they be able to put him away again, but this time for a long time, and without his cell phone.
My thanks to Jenny, Art, the Detective, and Bank of America.
We all think of identity theft as something that happens to someone else.
Well, let me bring it home to you. This is what happened to Calico in November, 2007.
I was in my California office when Jenny walked in with our Calico, NC - Bank of America statement. She asked me if I knew what particular amounts and checks were for that were listed on the statement that were not in our normal number series. There was a long list of them. Thanks to current technology, I logged into our Calico, NC Bank of America account web site and printed the checks.
These checks were colorful, perfectly printed, but they were not our checks. They had our account numbers, but some other company names/addresses on the top, and were made out to persons I had never heard of. They were signed, and some even had a finger print of the person who cashed it on the check, plus their driver’s license number and other related information that is required when you cash a check. I was stunned! They were all in the amounts of the $400 range and written on various days so as not to attract any attention. They were also cashed in various cities, which we later found out had to be handled by each separate police department rather than one combined crime.
I immediately drove to the bank and presented the bank office with the situation at hand. I was informed that the only way to stop other checks getting processed and the bank to refund the amount to our company was to close the account and start a new one.
This meant that all the checks in process would be returned to our payee plus all our automatic monthly bill payments would have to be rescheduled from the new account. This also included updating our (phone) payroll deduction plan with the government, which required new passwords, etc. You can’t imagine the time and effort we had to go through to do all of this.
The new account was opened while the old account was closed, which should have been the end of this fiasco. Unfortunately, as of the date that I am writing this article, we are still struggling with the situations that involved insurance, tax, monthly auto-payments, etc. that were scheduled for e-payments. We have made numerous calls to vendors to explain the reason for checks or payments that were returned to them shown as “Account Closed” from the old account which had to be replaced. Calico has had to reimburse many companies for the bank fees they incurred because they had deposited checks from our old account.
Fortunately, Bank of America deposited the actual check amounts back in our new account that had totaled close to $6,000.00. We are still battling with the bank over one major purchase from Wal-Mart for a check for $900.00 (listed as electronic), that I assume was HD Flat Screen TV.
The Bank recouped its losses from the banks that had cashed the checks or from the insurance they had. Of course those people have to do their own collection.
I was not satisfied to see some hoodlum getting away with it. We sent the counterfeit checks to Art Bruns, our General Manager at Calico, NC. He contacted the police who had no interest in spending their time to chase this minor crime as they called it.
Art called one of the city’s police departments where one of the checks was cashed. He found a detective who was what you wanted to have as an example for all other policeman to be like. He said that he was working on a case that might involve the same people, and to have the checks faxed to him. A few days later he called Art and told him that the person who did all of this was in jail, and he operated all this fraud from his cell phone while there. What type of jails do we have that they have cell phones and can set up an office to continue their operation without interruption? Just think, if this man can do all of this from his cell phone in jail, he must be very smart. Why doesn’t he apply himself correctly and be successful in the real world?
On Wednesday January 16, 2008 I received a call from Art and was asked to check my e-mail for a link that the detective had sent him with the picture of the villain and his information. Attached is copy of the character that caused us so much trouble. According to the information on the web-site, he was already released again in December. I hope with all the information we have given to the police, they be able to put him away again, but this time for a long time, and without his cell phone.
My thanks to Jenny, Art, the Detective, and Bank of America.
CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TELEPHONE.
CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TELEPHONE.
Retail industry is in a dump. What they need is customer and we are hard to come by these days. Sales, price cuts, 2 for 1 and whatever else that we are seeing these days at the malls and the creative methods of enticing us to buy.
This is all fine but I have a big issue when I am so hard to come by and they are doing all these things to get me to come in and buy, yet when I get there they act as if I am not there.
First case: Last week I took a pant in for alteration to a store in Charlotte, NC, and I have been there before and they had explained how there business is down. I walked in and the lady in charge of doing the measuring is on her cell phone talking some language that was not familiar to me. I waited awhile, she was talking and I could tell it is not business related from the tone of the conversation. She points me to the dressing room to change into the pants I wanted alteration on. I came out of the room and she is still on the her cell phone talking. I step on the platform and she is talking on the phone and holding the phone in place with her shoulder and marking my pans for alteration that I am pointing to, since she is on the phone and my explanation is not possible. With great amount of difficulty she marks my pants and we never exchanged a word. I came out of the dressing room after changing back into my arrived pants and she is still on the phone. She hands me a card to fill my information on , which I do. I asked her when the pants would be ready and she is too busy talking on that cell phone of hers. I asked her if she has 4 safety pins I can have since I was running my 5k the next day and had picked up my bib number for the run, I wanted to put it on my t-shirt before I get to the run. She could not understand what I was saying since she did not speak English. Still I wanted to know when I can pick up my pants and I asked again. No reply. At this time I got really hot and picked up my pants and walked out of the store and she looked at me wondering what had gone wrong. Still on the phone. I think they should start having people in stores that can speak english to serve us. I came from a different country and learned the language, it is not that hard. How can you deal with customers if you do not speak the language.
Second case: why is it that serving a customer on the phone is more important than a customer standing in front of you ready to buy. How many times has this happened to you. You are at a store working with a associates as they are calling them now and the phone rings and suddenly that phone is the life line of that store and the person on the other line is king and you are only a walk about customer ready to buy. They drop everything to answer that phone as if the blood flow would stop and they are on life support. Now a day they are on life support and they are all crying for business, yet when we are there and ready to hand over our cash, ring, ring the light goes off and that phone is the most important thing. This happened to me last week and I walked out the store and will not visit that name brand store again.
Lets get bask to basic and take care of our captured customers. If you have someone in your office, salesman or customer and your cell or desk phone rings, let it go to the voice mail. Your most important person at that moment is sitting in front of you.
Get your phone out of your ear and give your ear to the person in front of you. Our customers are the most important part of our business and they deserve to be treated like king, and king they are.
Retail industry is in a dump. What they need is customer and we are hard to come by these days. Sales, price cuts, 2 for 1 and whatever else that we are seeing these days at the malls and the creative methods of enticing us to buy.
This is all fine but I have a big issue when I am so hard to come by and they are doing all these things to get me to come in and buy, yet when I get there they act as if I am not there.
First case: Last week I took a pant in for alteration to a store in Charlotte, NC, and I have been there before and they had explained how there business is down. I walked in and the lady in charge of doing the measuring is on her cell phone talking some language that was not familiar to me. I waited awhile, she was talking and I could tell it is not business related from the tone of the conversation. She points me to the dressing room to change into the pants I wanted alteration on. I came out of the room and she is still on the her cell phone talking. I step on the platform and she is talking on the phone and holding the phone in place with her shoulder and marking my pans for alteration that I am pointing to, since she is on the phone and my explanation is not possible. With great amount of difficulty she marks my pants and we never exchanged a word. I came out of the dressing room after changing back into my arrived pants and she is still on the phone. She hands me a card to fill my information on , which I do. I asked her when the pants would be ready and she is too busy talking on that cell phone of hers. I asked her if she has 4 safety pins I can have since I was running my 5k the next day and had picked up my bib number for the run, I wanted to put it on my t-shirt before I get to the run. She could not understand what I was saying since she did not speak English. Still I wanted to know when I can pick up my pants and I asked again. No reply. At this time I got really hot and picked up my pants and walked out of the store and she looked at me wondering what had gone wrong. Still on the phone. I think they should start having people in stores that can speak english to serve us. I came from a different country and learned the language, it is not that hard. How can you deal with customers if you do not speak the language.
Second case: why is it that serving a customer on the phone is more important than a customer standing in front of you ready to buy. How many times has this happened to you. You are at a store working with a associates as they are calling them now and the phone rings and suddenly that phone is the life line of that store and the person on the other line is king and you are only a walk about customer ready to buy. They drop everything to answer that phone as if the blood flow would stop and they are on life support. Now a day they are on life support and they are all crying for business, yet when we are there and ready to hand over our cash, ring, ring the light goes off and that phone is the most important thing. This happened to me last week and I walked out the store and will not visit that name brand store again.
Lets get bask to basic and take care of our captured customers. If you have someone in your office, salesman or customer and your cell or desk phone rings, let it go to the voice mail. Your most important person at that moment is sitting in front of you.
Get your phone out of your ear and give your ear to the person in front of you. Our customers are the most important part of our business and they deserve to be treated like king, and king they are.
LAND OF PLENTY
LAND OF PLENTY.
On a March Sunday, I had no plans so I was asked if I wanted to go along
shopping for the Food Bank. I am not a shopper for food, but I love to shop for clothes. I decided to tag along and see how this project that is working so well for the Food Bank is done. I was the driver and they had the book of notes that included grocery lists for the “specials” at each particular store and coupons in hand.
In total we visited six different stores and had the entire car filled with food both in the trunk and the back seat. The way hopping was done, coupons used, and the savings realized with voucher discounts for future shopping was amazing. At one store, our shopping cart was full, amount saved was $61.46, while the total payment for everything was only $8.03. I was wondering how these stores could do this. In this case, it is certainly for a good cause. I am sure all of you are already using this power of cutting and saving in your shopping. If not, I suggest you start! Yes, it does take a little time and planning, but it works.
What amazed me also was the variety of food and plentiful food brands we have at our disposal. In the stores we visited, I saw more variety of brands and possibilities of selection beyond belief of anyone that might visit our country. How can we have so many brands for same type of food? We had to look at 4 shelves of salad dressing that were each 16-20 feet long to find the brand we had the coupon for and was also on sale. We have so many choices that it is mind boggling.
I noticed one more thing that is the result of this recession, America has become more humble. I saw more people shopping for value and looking at the prices on the shelves and comparing, in addition to looking in the store flyers for items on sale. We even saw men using coupons. I call this the positive side of a recession. We had become a nation of buying without knowing or caring what the price was and were gorging ourselves with useless food items. What always got to me were the bottles of the wine I used to see being purchased because it made people act special, even though I’m sure they did not know what it was they were drinking. They acted as though they were the crust that was above all of us by dropping wine names.
I think this recession will bring our lives down to the basics, and make us realize how wasteful we have all been. We used our purchasing power by voting for the wrong products that were next to useless. Why do we need 25 different brand names on containers of peanut butters, when they are all produced by the same company?
I shop at both the 99-Cents Store and Wal-Mart regularly, and they are quickly becoming my favorite stores. You get value for what you buy and it makes me feel good to be in these stores that are at my level and standard of living. I have also found that certain items are less expensive at Wal-Mart when compared to 99 Cents Stores…. how about that!
Now we come to the subject of entertainment, which can be very expensive. Sometimes we have to go “outside the box” to find new and exciting things to do. I went to my first Roller Derby game in Charlotte last month. It cost me $10.00 for one of the best seats, plus they had a full show for half-time entertainment. The “Charlotte Roller Girls” played the Georgia Atlanta team and beat them. Contrary to normal opinion of skaters, these are every-day moms who put on make-up to look mean and tough. After the game they meet with the fans for pictures and attend the after-game party at a local restaurant to promote the game. They had their kids and husbands cheering for them. It was easy to see that the realty of the situation was that they were having fun and giving us value for the money. I had a great time for very little money. The game was sold out so the over-flow crowd was sitting on the floor and still enjoying it. Try it, it is value for your dollar.
There are so many possibilities that you can find for shopping and entertainment that can make your dollar go a long way. It does not have to be $200.00 for a ticket to a major league game or the NBA or NFL. Did you know that the Lakers charge $2,600.00 per game to each person who sits on a folding chair on the floor? And did you know that unless you know someone, you can’t even get one? The “big news” on the radio yesterday was that the Lakers were not going to raise ticket prices next year, including these seats! I think it’s time to come back to reality, and learn to appreciate the basics. Then we will know what is really important in this world.
On a March Sunday, I had no plans so I was asked if I wanted to go along
shopping for the Food Bank. I am not a shopper for food, but I love to shop for clothes. I decided to tag along and see how this project that is working so well for the Food Bank is done. I was the driver and they had the book of notes that included grocery lists for the “specials” at each particular store and coupons in hand.
In total we visited six different stores and had the entire car filled with food both in the trunk and the back seat. The way hopping was done, coupons used, and the savings realized with voucher discounts for future shopping was amazing. At one store, our shopping cart was full, amount saved was $61.46, while the total payment for everything was only $8.03. I was wondering how these stores could do this. In this case, it is certainly for a good cause. I am sure all of you are already using this power of cutting and saving in your shopping. If not, I suggest you start! Yes, it does take a little time and planning, but it works.
What amazed me also was the variety of food and plentiful food brands we have at our disposal. In the stores we visited, I saw more variety of brands and possibilities of selection beyond belief of anyone that might visit our country. How can we have so many brands for same type of food? We had to look at 4 shelves of salad dressing that were each 16-20 feet long to find the brand we had the coupon for and was also on sale. We have so many choices that it is mind boggling.
I noticed one more thing that is the result of this recession, America has become more humble. I saw more people shopping for value and looking at the prices on the shelves and comparing, in addition to looking in the store flyers for items on sale. We even saw men using coupons. I call this the positive side of a recession. We had become a nation of buying without knowing or caring what the price was and were gorging ourselves with useless food items. What always got to me were the bottles of the wine I used to see being purchased because it made people act special, even though I’m sure they did not know what it was they were drinking. They acted as though they were the crust that was above all of us by dropping wine names.
I think this recession will bring our lives down to the basics, and make us realize how wasteful we have all been. We used our purchasing power by voting for the wrong products that were next to useless. Why do we need 25 different brand names on containers of peanut butters, when they are all produced by the same company?
I shop at both the 99-Cents Store and Wal-Mart regularly, and they are quickly becoming my favorite stores. You get value for what you buy and it makes me feel good to be in these stores that are at my level and standard of living. I have also found that certain items are less expensive at Wal-Mart when compared to 99 Cents Stores…. how about that!
Now we come to the subject of entertainment, which can be very expensive. Sometimes we have to go “outside the box” to find new and exciting things to do. I went to my first Roller Derby game in Charlotte last month. It cost me $10.00 for one of the best seats, plus they had a full show for half-time entertainment. The “Charlotte Roller Girls” played the Georgia Atlanta team and beat them. Contrary to normal opinion of skaters, these are every-day moms who put on make-up to look mean and tough. After the game they meet with the fans for pictures and attend the after-game party at a local restaurant to promote the game. They had their kids and husbands cheering for them. It was easy to see that the realty of the situation was that they were having fun and giving us value for the money. I had a great time for very little money. The game was sold out so the over-flow crowd was sitting on the floor and still enjoying it. Try it, it is value for your dollar.
There are so many possibilities that you can find for shopping and entertainment that can make your dollar go a long way. It does not have to be $200.00 for a ticket to a major league game or the NBA or NFL. Did you know that the Lakers charge $2,600.00 per game to each person who sits on a folding chair on the floor? And did you know that unless you know someone, you can’t even get one? The “big news” on the radio yesterday was that the Lakers were not going to raise ticket prices next year, including these seats! I think it’s time to come back to reality, and learn to appreciate the basics. Then we will know what is really important in this world.
I’M LOVING IT
BUT DOES MCDONALD’S LOVE ME?
Slogans are meant to be remembered. They are meant to mean something to the individual/group to whom they are directed. McDonald’s has us all saying, “I’m loving it!”
McDonald’s is an international institute which is loved by all. It is a representation of fun and freedom throughout the world. We all love to enjoy the taste of food we have known from childhood.
BUT!! AMERICA IS GETTING FAT. McDonald’s could help by being a friend to it’s customers by giving us an awareness of our OVER-eating, which is why the population is getting heavier by the year. We usually have no idea what we are eating. I realize that the bottom of the McDonald’s boxes have the food nutrition/fats listed, but does anyone look under the box? I don’t think so.
It is time to print the numbers where we can see them and make us conscious of our food intake calories. McDonald’s could be in the forefront of this movement.
One simple way is to update each McDonald’s cash register by having each entry print the calories for each food item as you order it, and giving us a running total. This concept would be similar to when we go to the grocery store where as each item is entered, a running total appears on the cash register along with the individual prices. In the case of fast food ordering, as the items are entered by the cashier, the calories for that item with the corresponding price would brought up so you could see how many total calories you will actually be consuming. These figures would also appear on your written receipt in case you are a calorie counter. Maybe if we had this information at the time of ordering (before we pay the bill), we might think about “deleting” the fries, or changing our order to a “regular size” rather than a “super-size”. (See sample receipt attached).
In this way, the receipt would document McDonald’s concern regarding it’s customers health and well being so they can stay healthy and longer to “Love it” longer.
LET THEM SHOW THEIR LOVE.
I think other fast foods would follow, which would indicate that they all LOVE us too.
TERMINAL 1 CON B OHARA
CHICAGO, IL 60604
THANK YOU
MCDONALDS TEL#(773)686-1130
02 KS#04 FEB. 03, 09(TUE) 17:47
STORE# 17277 S#2
Order #402 TO GO
CALORIES PRICE
AC 540 $ 3.75
1 QRT POUNDER 410 $2.49
1 DBL CHEESE BRGR 440 $1.00
1 SMALL FRIES 209 $1.25
I LARGE FRIES 500 $2.19
SUB TOTAL $10.68
TAKE OUT TAX $1.25
TOTAL 2,099 CAL $11.95
CASH TENDERED $20.00
CHANGE $8.05
BUT DOES MCDONALD’S LOVE ME?
Slogans are meant to be remembered. They are meant to mean something to the individual/group to whom they are directed. McDonald’s has us all saying, “I’m loving it!”
McDonald’s is an international institute which is loved by all. It is a representation of fun and freedom throughout the world. We all love to enjoy the taste of food we have known from childhood.
BUT!! AMERICA IS GETTING FAT. McDonald’s could help by being a friend to it’s customers by giving us an awareness of our OVER-eating, which is why the population is getting heavier by the year. We usually have no idea what we are eating. I realize that the bottom of the McDonald’s boxes have the food nutrition/fats listed, but does anyone look under the box? I don’t think so.
It is time to print the numbers where we can see them and make us conscious of our food intake calories. McDonald’s could be in the forefront of this movement.
One simple way is to update each McDonald’s cash register by having each entry print the calories for each food item as you order it, and giving us a running total. This concept would be similar to when we go to the grocery store where as each item is entered, a running total appears on the cash register along with the individual prices. In the case of fast food ordering, as the items are entered by the cashier, the calories for that item with the corresponding price would brought up so you could see how many total calories you will actually be consuming. These figures would also appear on your written receipt in case you are a calorie counter. Maybe if we had this information at the time of ordering (before we pay the bill), we might think about “deleting” the fries, or changing our order to a “regular size” rather than a “super-size”. (See sample receipt attached).
In this way, the receipt would document McDonald’s concern regarding it’s customers health and well being so they can stay healthy and longer to “Love it” longer.
LET THEM SHOW THEIR LOVE.
I think other fast foods would follow, which would indicate that they all LOVE us too.
TERMINAL 1 CON B OHARA
CHICAGO, IL 60604
THANK YOU
MCDONALDS TEL#(773)686-1130
02 KS#04 FEB. 03, 09(TUE) 17:47
STORE# 17277 S#2
Order #402 TO GO
CALORIES PRICE
AC 540 $ 3.75
1 QRT POUNDER 410 $2.49
1 DBL CHEESE BRGR 440 $1.00
1 SMALL FRIES 209 $1.25
I LARGE FRIES 500 $2.19
SUB TOTAL $10.68
TAKE OUT TAX $1.25
TOTAL 2,099 CAL $11.95
CASH TENDERED $20.00
CHANGE $8.05
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