Jan 29 2009
Archive for January, 2009
Jan 21 2009
The Free Cosmetics Give-Away: Report From the Front Line
Macy’s and Dillard’s are the only two local retailer’s “participating” in the Free Cosmetics Give-a-way after being ordered to do so by a court which found them guilty of price collusion between 1994 and 2003. Both stores are located in two regional malls at opposite ends of town.
Freebie-lovers at both chains joined a line, viewed [...]
Jan 16 2009
Satellite and International Space Station Tracker
I am blessed with clear skies and no light pollution and about once a week can see the International Space Station (ISS) fly overhead. It appears shortly after sunset as a bright star on the western horizon and moves overhead and eastward until it loses the reflected sunlight about 3/4 of the way through its [...]
Jan 16 2009
Freaking Mattress!
The town dump is 35 miles away so when it came time to dispose of an old king mattress I put up a sign at the end of the street. Within 10 minutes there were competing knocks on the door & the Freaking Mattress was picked up & gone within the hour. Last year I [...]
Jan 15 2009
A Hole of a Place to Work
At the height of the Great Depression when jobs were scarce, and quitting one was ill-advised, Reg Smith quietly took out his frustrations at work by writing this on the underside of his desk:
140 King East
Toronto
Reg Smith
3 November /34
a hole of a place to work
The scrawl is on the underside of a printer’s drawer (see [...]
Jan 12 2009
US Unemployment Rate by Party in Power
The Presidential election is over but the blame game for current and past economic woes continues. The charts below show historic monthly unemployment rates for the last 60 years and are color coded by Party in Power. The 4 charts highlight unemployment rates by Presidency, majority in the Senate and House, and the Perfect Storm [...]
Jan 10 2009
Best Buy Credit Applications
Photographed at the Customer Service desk of my local Best Buy:
Jan 10 2009
Death of a Movie Critic
Last night the Critic’s Choice Awards surprisingly gave awards to movies that I have actually heard of and watched. That doesn’t excuse their past choices so I would like to present my favourite scene, Death of a Movie Critic, from the not critically acclaimed Lady in The Water:
Jan 10 2009
Worst Job in the World: Russian Radiation Checker
A Russian ground crew member checks the level of radiation near the Soyuz capsule after its landing.
Jan 10 2009
Retailer’s lament - It was a Blue Christmas without You
I found haphazard reporting on retailer’s Christmas sales on the Net but no comprehensive list comparing results - so I scrounged the Internets, compiled a list, and made the chart at left. Not surprisingly high-end double-name retailers reported the largest same-store sales declines. Lower end stores held their own.