In the land that is New England, Dunkin' Donuts is the king of coffee. Say what you will snob-o's, but they do have good coffee. It seems to me that DnD is getting too far away from its original business model. The reason: they have too many choices.
Human beings don't respond well to having choices. They become confused. If you go to Starbucks, you expect to wait a bit for a cup of coffee. DnD used to be the anti-Starbucks. Three sizes (in English; small, medium, and large) and only basic options such as cream and sugar. These were the good ole' days. Now you will hear something that sounds like this:
"An iced Great One, with 2 squirts of blueberry, a little cream, and 3 Equals. Oh, and can you 'Turbo Charge' it?"
Huh? I just want a medium regular. Regular at DnD was once known as cream and sugar. Now when I say the word "regular" the employees look at me like I am insane. The have Coolattas, and Fruit Coolattas and all sorts of wacky drinks that take foreverrrrrrr to make.
I am very close to imposing a ban DnD.
Sometimes we take our daughter out for a walk. Well, me and my wife walk, Lucy just rides in the stroller. Occasionally, we stop at DnD to get Lucy 1 plain Munchkin. (A Munchkin being a donut hole.) It seems we can no longer purchase just 1 Munchkin. We have buy 4 or 5 (it varies by store.)
I do not want 5. I want one.
I bet some manager somewhere realized that the costs of the wax paper and the bag were more that the profit from selling one Munchkin. After getting some math on, they came up with the price point for squeezing the most profitability out the sale of Munchkins. Kudos. Well done.
Listen up Dunkin' Donuts- you are hereby on probation. One more incident and you will be banned.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
All thumbs
So I said I would start blogging more...well, I was gearing up to then the other night I sliced my thumb while trying to cut a lime. They really do not make band aids for thumbs. Which is odd because I would bet the type of cut I sustained is pretty common.
I am not sure which sucks more, the large flesh wound on my thumb or the MLB All Star Game Pre-Game show on FOX. I was looking forward to seeing this game, but I have been burned once more by FOX Sports. As I write this both teams are following Willie Mays around the field. It looks like something from Police Squad. I think I just saw Barry Bonds try to hold Willie's hand. "Say hey!!"
Now they have Willie in a pink convertible cruising around the infield. The car has tail fins! God help us all. All I have to say to SF Giants fans is get over yourselves:
How do you trade Willie Mays? I do not care if he was dead, you offer him a contract.
OK, it is now 8:51pm and not one pitch has been thrown. I may cut the rest of my thumb off and send it to Rupert Murdoch.
I am not sure which sucks more, the large flesh wound on my thumb or the MLB All Star Game Pre-Game show on FOX. I was looking forward to seeing this game, but I have been burned once more by FOX Sports. As I write this both teams are following Willie Mays around the field. It looks like something from Police Squad. I think I just saw Barry Bonds try to hold Willie's hand. "Say hey!!"
Now they have Willie in a pink convertible cruising around the infield. The car has tail fins! God help us all. All I have to say to SF Giants fans is get over yourselves:
"May 11, 1972: Willie Mays was traded by the San Francisco Giants to the New York Mets for Charlie Williams and $50,000."
How do you trade Willie Mays? I do not care if he was dead, you offer him a contract.
OK, it is now 8:51pm and not one pitch has been thrown. I may cut the rest of my thumb off and send it to Rupert Murdoch.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Hear ye, hear ye
I am back. Did I go anywhere? Nope. Just stopped blogging. I am really going to try to post more often. Scouts honor.
So check back soon for some real hard hitting blog action.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Even cowgirls get the blues
Driving the other day I was behind a car with a large sticker/sign on the back window that read:
"Cow Girl attitude is not for City Girls"
What does this mean? How "cowgirl" can you be driving in Cambridge?
"Cow Girl attitude is not for City Girls"
What does this mean? How "cowgirl" can you be driving in Cambridge?
Friday, October 20, 2006
Radio Flyer
More on moving preparations:
In addition to trekking over to City Hall, paying the fees (see previous post) and hanging up cardboard signs, I also have to distribute flyers on the cars parked on my street. This is to inform my idiot neighbors that there will be a large truck coming and that they should think about parking elsewhere on that day because they will be blocked in. Not only is our street very narrow, but it is also a dead end.
In the five years I have lived in Boston, I have rarely seen many people pay even the smallest attention to these flyers. Inevitably, the moving truck arrives and they begin loading it up. About half way through, rude-inconsiderate-neighbor-person (RINP) will appear and will tell you in no certain terms that, “I have to get out!” This means that the poor moving guys will have to close up their truck and try to maneuver it so that RINP can get by. This operation can take upwards to thirty minutes. And seeing that I am paying them by the hour, it will end up costing me money. Did I mention I hurt my ankle?
In addition to trekking over to City Hall, paying the fees (see previous post) and hanging up cardboard signs, I also have to distribute flyers on the cars parked on my street. This is to inform my idiot neighbors that there will be a large truck coming and that they should think about parking elsewhere on that day because they will be blocked in. Not only is our street very narrow, but it is also a dead end.
In the five years I have lived in Boston, I have rarely seen many people pay even the smallest attention to these flyers. Inevitably, the moving truck arrives and they begin loading it up. About half way through, rude-inconsiderate-neighbor-person (RINP) will appear and will tell you in no certain terms that, “I have to get out!” This means that the poor moving guys will have to close up their truck and try to maneuver it so that RINP can get by. This operation can take upwards to thirty minutes. And seeing that I am paying them by the hour, it will end up costing me money. Did I mention I hurt my ankle?
You can’t fight City Hall.
As we hit the one-week mark until “Operation: move all of our crap,” I was tasked with going to Boston City Hall to obtain a moving permit. No, they do not charge you to move in and out of Boston…wait a minute, yes they do! This permit is for the moving company we hired to block a portion of our street in order to park their truck.
Arriving at 9am this morning and heading up to room 721 I was greeted by, you guessed it, no one. There were several people in the office that appeared to work there, but after many years working for the city, they have learned the fine art of never making eye contact with anyone from the outside world. Finally, at 9:20 a guy shows up (we will call him "Sunshine") with his city-issued Dunkin Donuts coffee and his pissy attitude and grunts, “Who’s first?”
Here is the deal. You go see Sunshine. You must show him that your moving company is bonded with the city. Then you need to give him a check for $8 for two signs. No cash. No credit cards. A check. For $8.
Sunshine does something with his computer and sends you to another office down the hall to get the permit. Mind you, I do not have the signs yet; I have to come back for them. I go to the other office and they want $20 for the permit. They take cash, cards, checks, Best Buy Bucks, whatever. I get some paperwork from these people and then go back to the original starting point. I take a seat.
Sunshine sees me and says (no lie) “You’re back already?”
When I was kid my brother and me used to read MAD magazine. They had this feature that was called “Stupid Answers to Stupid Questions.” My mind raced.
I chickened out. “Ya,” I said, “you told me to come back and get the signs.” Is it just me or do city and state workers always make you feel as though you are 10 years old?
In true bureaucratic fashion, the printer that made the signs was not working, so Sunshine wrote them out by hand. I grabbed them and beat it out of there. On the way out I also twisted my ankle pretty badly. Good times.
Arriving at 9am this morning and heading up to room 721 I was greeted by, you guessed it, no one. There were several people in the office that appeared to work there, but after many years working for the city, they have learned the fine art of never making eye contact with anyone from the outside world. Finally, at 9:20 a guy shows up (we will call him "Sunshine") with his city-issued Dunkin Donuts coffee and his pissy attitude and grunts, “Who’s first?”
Here is the deal. You go see Sunshine. You must show him that your moving company is bonded with the city. Then you need to give him a check for $8 for two signs. No cash. No credit cards. A check. For $8.
Sunshine does something with his computer and sends you to another office down the hall to get the permit. Mind you, I do not have the signs yet; I have to come back for them. I go to the other office and they want $20 for the permit. They take cash, cards, checks, Best Buy Bucks, whatever. I get some paperwork from these people and then go back to the original starting point. I take a seat.
Sunshine sees me and says (no lie) “You’re back already?”
When I was kid my brother and me used to read MAD magazine. They had this feature that was called “Stupid Answers to Stupid Questions.” My mind raced.
I chickened out. “Ya,” I said, “you told me to come back and get the signs.” Is it just me or do city and state workers always make you feel as though you are 10 years old?
In true bureaucratic fashion, the printer that made the signs was not working, so Sunshine wrote them out by hand. I grabbed them and beat it out of there. On the way out I also twisted my ankle pretty badly. Good times.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Dinner update
Things have not been too bad during the early going.
*Baked Tilapia with corn and black beans and rice
I bought a big bag of Tilapia fillets at Costco a while ago and it has served us well. You can basically do anything (within the law, of course) with Tilapia. Perfect for grilling as well.
*Bacon and eggs
A no-brainer, but very good.
*Baked Tilapia with corn and black beans and rice
I bought a big bag of Tilapia fillets at Costco a while ago and it has served us well. You can basically do anything (within the law, of course) with Tilapia. Perfect for grilling as well.
*Bacon and eggs
A no-brainer, but very good.
Create a custom screen saver using Flickr
Using Flickr (www.flickr.com), search for pictures of whatever you are interested in.
For mine, I wanted cool pics of Tokyo at night. Make sure you search only for pictures that have a Creative Commons license(creativecommons.org). This allows you the right to use the images for non-commercial uses, and to download the high-res images from Flickr. As you find images you like download them into a local folder. Using your OS's preferences, set up your screen saver to run a slide show using that folder. You can also use this to set your desktop image as well.
This may seem time consuming, but if you are looking to see some really cool photos and need to kill an hour at work, this is perfect project.
For mine, I wanted cool pics of Tokyo at night. Make sure you search only for pictures that have a Creative Commons license(creativecommons.org). This allows you the right to use the images for non-commercial uses, and to download the high-res images from Flickr. As you find images you like download them into a local folder. Using your OS's preferences, set up your screen saver to run a slide show using that folder. You can also use this to set your desktop image as well.
This may seem time consuming, but if you are looking to see some really cool photos and need to kill an hour at work, this is perfect project.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Are you dead?
Have you ever been scanning radio stations in the car and hear the same artist being played on several stations at the same time? Do you immediately think that they have died?
Hot-diggity-dog
Steamed hot dogs with some chips and semi-frozen salsa.
This meal started as a BBQ, as I still have some gas left in my grill bottle. I was going to cook what appeared to be a burger as well, but it was very suspect. By the time I made the descision to nix the mystery meat it was too dark to grill.
We are now out of ketchup.
This meal started as a BBQ, as I still have some gas left in my grill bottle. I was going to cook what appeared to be a burger as well, but it was very suspect. By the time I made the descision to nix the mystery meat it was too dark to grill.
We are now out of ketchup.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
24
That is how many days there are until we move. For the next series of postings, I will be describing what we have been eating for dinner. Why, you ask, will I be describing what we are eating for dinner?
We have decided not to go grocery shopping until after we move. It is our goal to use up as much stuff as we can before 29 OCT.
There is no way we have enough food to provide 24 meals, but we will give it a shot. This is not a test of will power as so much it is pure laziness, so there will be the occasional pizza thrown in. It also does not cover items such as milk. So, please join me in this culinary journey where in two weeks I may be using coconut syrup that someone gave us as a side dish.
DAY 1 (5 OCT)
Being the first day, it was not a bad meal overall. Baked chicken with some Stove Top stuffing that may or may not have been opened in the 90's. We "marinated" the chicken with Parmesan peppercorn salad dressing. Why? My wife wanted to get rid of it.
Yum.
We have decided not to go grocery shopping until after we move. It is our goal to use up as much stuff as we can before 29 OCT.
There is no way we have enough food to provide 24 meals, but we will give it a shot. This is not a test of will power as so much it is pure laziness, so there will be the occasional pizza thrown in. It also does not cover items such as milk. So, please join me in this culinary journey where in two weeks I may be using coconut syrup that someone gave us as a side dish.
DAY 1 (5 OCT)
Being the first day, it was not a bad meal overall. Baked chicken with some Stove Top stuffing that may or may not have been opened in the 90's. We "marinated" the chicken with Parmesan peppercorn salad dressing. Why? My wife wanted to get rid of it.
Yum.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Half Baked
There are five bakeries within walking distance of my front door. These are my neighborhood’s equivalent of crack houses.
I have never been much of a chip-man. And you can keep your greasy food like chicken wings and pizza. I want the combination of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. I pretty much like anything made with these ingredients. The place closest to my house has the best croissants I have ever had. I have never been to Paris, but these are pretty damn good. Looking into that glass case is like looking into heaven. And hell.
“Hello, my name is Rob and I am hooked on baked goods.
I can see the head-baker-guy coming over to me, cleaning a glass with a towel . . .
“OK buddy, you have enough. Why don’t you go home?”
“Come on, one more scone, half a scone. A cookie, for the road.”
“Sorry, but you have to go, I can not serve you any more.”
I would then be reduced to eating a muffin from Dunkin Donuts, the bakery world’s skid row.
While Congress rallies against internet gambling, and states place astronomical taxes on tobacco, bakeries are left unregulated. Free to fill us up with buttery goodness without having to answer anyone.
While this may be a bit sarcastic there has been a lot of talk in the last few years about how fat we Americans are getting. The movie “Super Size Me” showed what can happen to the human body when it is given nothing but garbage to live on. There was even talk of taxing junk food. All I know is that I am moving in a month and I am pretty sure there are no bakeries that close by. Hopefully, I can kick this monkey off my back.
I have never been much of a chip-man. And you can keep your greasy food like chicken wings and pizza. I want the combination of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. I pretty much like anything made with these ingredients. The place closest to my house has the best croissants I have ever had. I have never been to Paris, but these are pretty damn good. Looking into that glass case is like looking into heaven. And hell.
“Hello, my name is Rob and I am hooked on baked goods.
I can see the head-baker-guy coming over to me, cleaning a glass with a towel . . .
“OK buddy, you have enough. Why don’t you go home?”
“Come on, one more scone, half a scone. A cookie, for the road.”
“Sorry, but you have to go, I can not serve you any more.”
I would then be reduced to eating a muffin from Dunkin Donuts, the bakery world’s skid row.
While Congress rallies against internet gambling, and states place astronomical taxes on tobacco, bakeries are left unregulated. Free to fill us up with buttery goodness without having to answer anyone.
While this may be a bit sarcastic there has been a lot of talk in the last few years about how fat we Americans are getting. The movie “Super Size Me” showed what can happen to the human body when it is given nothing but garbage to live on. There was even talk of taxing junk food. All I know is that I am moving in a month and I am pretty sure there are no bakeries that close by. Hopefully, I can kick this monkey off my back.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Sunday, September 10, 2006
I want my MNF
Football season is once again upon us and there are a few things to keep in mind this year. I am writing this after seeing the Patriots squeak by the Bills this afternoon. If the Pats do not get some receivers, it is going to be a long season.
Most of the changes this year deal with the TV schedules for Sunday and Monday nights. Monday Night Football (da da da daaa) is now on ESPN and the Sunday night game is on NBC. I am already confused. To make matters worse, some games this year will be on the NFL Network. I am not really sure if I get this channel. Does anyone get this channel? Did they just make this up? This is going to be as bad as when NBC changed from channel 4 to channel 7. This happened about 10 years ago and I still cannot figure it out.
I do like ESPN, but I don’t get it on the TV in my bedroom. A typical MNF game is approximately 18 hours long so, I doubt I will be watching many games past the half. Tomorrow, ESPN will actually have a MNF double-header. My friend sums this up best by saying,
“…If you live on the East Coast and can stay up past 1:30am for the end of Raiders-Chargers, you deserve either to receive a prize or to be locked up.”
The thinking behind all of this is to spread the NFL gospel and to allow some flexibility with the MNF games later in the season. That is fine, I just want to know when things are on. Is that too much to ask?
On a different note:
None of you deadbeats are clicking the ads that appear above these posts. No clicky, no money. These ads are legit, I think. I cannot click on them myself, I promised Google and if I make them mad they will make me disappear. They can easily delete any trace of me.
Most of the changes this year deal with the TV schedules for Sunday and Monday nights. Monday Night Football (da da da daaa) is now on ESPN and the Sunday night game is on NBC. I am already confused. To make matters worse, some games this year will be on the NFL Network. I am not really sure if I get this channel. Does anyone get this channel? Did they just make this up? This is going to be as bad as when NBC changed from channel 4 to channel 7. This happened about 10 years ago and I still cannot figure it out.
I do like ESPN, but I don’t get it on the TV in my bedroom. A typical MNF game is approximately 18 hours long so, I doubt I will be watching many games past the half. Tomorrow, ESPN will actually have a MNF double-header. My friend sums this up best by saying,
“…If you live on the East Coast and can stay up past 1:30am for the end of Raiders-Chargers, you deserve either to receive a prize or to be locked up.”
The thinking behind all of this is to spread the NFL gospel and to allow some flexibility with the MNF games later in the season. That is fine, I just want to know when things are on. Is that too much to ask?
On a different note:
None of you deadbeats are clicking the ads that appear above these posts. No clicky, no money. These ads are legit, I think. I cannot click on them myself, I promised Google and if I make them mad they will make me disappear. They can easily delete any trace of me.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Good luck and good luck.
Tuesday marked the first night in which Katie Couric hosted the CBS Evening News. It also marked the first time in which a woman was the lead anchor for a network newscast. According to the Associated Press, the ratings were very good:
"The ratings for her initial broadcast Tuesday were 86 percent above what CBS averaged on the same day last year, according to a preliminary measurement of the nation's 55 biggest markets by Nielsen Media Research"
Of course, this was for show #1. Time will tell how well Ms. Couric will do in the coming months. The reviews were mixed on her debut. I missed the whole thing because I was out doing my fantasy football draft (more on that later.)
I think that ABC, CBS, and NBC are back in the Stone Age with their nightly, thirty-minute newscasts, and many times they are simply used as teasers for shows like "48 Hours" that can devote two hours to a single story. These guys can not be blind to the fact that 24-hour news channels and the internet have hurt ratings for the old-boy network of the nightly news. There are simply so many news outlets now that it is very hard to draw in new viewers. I believe that within ten years, the 6:30 news will go the way of the dinosaur.
The true test for Katie Couric will be during her first "major" story as anchor. Dan Rather was always my go-to guy for breaking news such as the events of 9/11. Will the country put Couric's last 15 years of morning cooking tips and "perkiness" behind and trust her to inform them? Time will tell, but she'd better hurry up, TV and the web are becoming more and more integrated, and she may soon find herself up against hundreds of other nightly newscasts instead of just two. **Cheap shot warning** Well, if ratings get too bad, she could always let the camera up her butt again.... **I told you it was a cheap shot!**
"The ratings for her initial broadcast Tuesday were 86 percent above what CBS averaged on the same day last year, according to a preliminary measurement of the nation's 55 biggest markets by Nielsen Media Research"
Of course, this was for show #1. Time will tell how well Ms. Couric will do in the coming months. The reviews were mixed on her debut. I missed the whole thing because I was out doing my fantasy football draft (more on that later.)
I think that ABC, CBS, and NBC are back in the Stone Age with their nightly, thirty-minute newscasts, and many times they are simply used as teasers for shows like "48 Hours" that can devote two hours to a single story. These guys can not be blind to the fact that 24-hour news channels and the internet have hurt ratings for the old-boy network of the nightly news. There are simply so many news outlets now that it is very hard to draw in new viewers. I believe that within ten years, the 6:30 news will go the way of the dinosaur.
The true test for Katie Couric will be during her first "major" story as anchor. Dan Rather was always my go-to guy for breaking news such as the events of 9/11. Will the country put Couric's last 15 years of morning cooking tips and "perkiness" behind and trust her to inform them? Time will tell, but she'd better hurry up, TV and the web are becoming more and more integrated, and she may soon find herself up against hundreds of other nightly newscasts instead of just two. **Cheap shot warning** Well, if ratings get too bad, she could always let the camera up her butt again.... **I told you it was a cheap shot!**
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Steve Irwin, we hardly knew ye
So the interweb is abuzz with the news that Australian "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin died after being stung by a Sting Ray over the weekend. I am sorry for his family, but this is not all that shocking to me.
I have watched a handful of his cable TV shows over the years and he was very passionate about animals and nature. But he also screwed around with it. Can't you enjoy animals and work to protect the environment without having to play with deadly snakes and wrestle with grizzle bears? That was his schtick. That is how he made a living. That is what killed him.
I also see online that there is video footage of him actually being stung and dying. Do yourself a favor, do not watch this and discourage anyone you know from watching this. Watching a man die is not entertainment and the sites hosting this should be ashamed of themselves.
Steve Irwin was a colorful character that may have taken things a bit too far to get people to hear his message of protecting animals and the enviroment.
I have watched a handful of his cable TV shows over the years and he was very passionate about animals and nature. But he also screwed around with it. Can't you enjoy animals and work to protect the environment without having to play with deadly snakes and wrestle with grizzle bears? That was his schtick. That is how he made a living. That is what killed him.
I also see online that there is video footage of him actually being stung and dying. Do yourself a favor, do not watch this and discourage anyone you know from watching this. Watching a man die is not entertainment and the sites hosting this should be ashamed of themselves.
Steve Irwin was a colorful character that may have taken things a bit too far to get people to hear his message of protecting animals and the enviroment.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
NetFlix, the second shooter?
One of the more intelligent people I know recently tried to persuade me that NetFlix flags its so-called “heavy users” and adjusts their shipment times to slow down the number of movies they can rent each month. The plan in question offers “Unlimited rentals - up to 8 movies out at a time for a flat monthly fee of $47.99.” The answer to this debate lies somewhere in the words “unlimited” and “up to.” Shouldn’t unlimited mean "having no limit?” How can you say unlimited and then set a limit? Semantics? Conspiracy?
As a full-fledged conspiracy theorist I still have a hard time believing that NetFlix somehow generates billions of dollars in revenue by “sticking it to” the handful of users who actually have the time to watch 100 movies a month. I am terrible at math, but out there in internet-land someone must have figured out the maximum number of movies one can rent in a 30-day period. This calls for complicated factoring and algorithms to account for pick-up and drop-off times with the Post Office, Sundays, holidays, and shipment times to and from the nearest NetFlix distribution center.
Then the number of hours required to actually watch all of these movies must be calculated. If you have 8 movies, around 2 hours per movie, that is 16 hours that you must devote to watching TV. That does even not factor in the bonus features that are included on most DVDs. Now, let’s get some math on:
There are 720 hours in 30 days, if you have 8 movies a day for 30 days that comes out to….carry the 3…480 hours (20 days) of TV.
That equates to about 67% of the month (actually .666666%, spooky)
If someone has 20 days free a month to do nothing but watch movies, then NetFlix should cut them off. They would be doing them a favor. Maybe go out for a walk, get some fresh air. Go to a movie.
Netflix has become a target because they are tremendously successful, widely used, and somewhat secretive about their company’s practices. (Full disclosure) I use NetFlix and find it very convenient. I can understand how people could think that NetFlix would manipulate shipping times to maximize profits. But the effort and man-power it would take to figure out which orders to hold back out of the millions of envelopes flying around would no doubt negate any savings in postage the company might see.
Later today I will be swinging by MIT to see if I can get someone to help me figure out if my gym membership is losing me money. I am pretty sure it is.
NOTE- Now that I am an blog-whore, I wonder if the ad above this post will now be for Netflix. If it is, click on it and Netflix will pay Google and Google will pay me, and you can get back at NetFlix for holding back the 4th disc for season 3 of "The West Wing" that you have been waiting on.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Shameless
I just signed up for some program that will pay me for posting ads on this blog. If I clean and store all of my cans and bottles to get the deposits back, why not try and make a buck online as well?
Friday, August 25, 2006
Uhell
The reason I am selling things is that I am getting ready to move. Moving sucks, there is no possible way to sugar coat it. Such is life. My company is also moving to a new office within the next couple of weeks and I had to over to UHaul with a coworker to get some boxes. I decided that no matter what, this time, I will hire professional movers.
UHaul is the worst run company that I have ever seen. I have been to many different locations and it is the same deal every time. They always crew up the reservation. You almost are surprised when they actually hand you a set of keys.
"Do you mean these actually are for a truck that is physically present? In this country?"
Most of the action goes down on Saturday mornings. Most people moving have a very limited window that they can actually move items from one location to another. You would think that Uhaul would know this, considering they have been in the moving business for quite some time. So Saturday morning, at 6:55am there is a line of people eager to get going.
Then the disgruntled employees show up, see the line and take their sweet time opening up and getting ready. They usually look the door behind them so you have like five dads and their college freshman kids peering in the window like a toy store at Christmas. Once they decide to open the door it is a scene reminiscent of the 1979 Who concert in Cincinnati.
Then there are the extras. You need some boxes, they cost extra. Packing tape, extra. A steering wheel for the truck, extra. I am not blaming them for trying to make a buck, but there are fees on top of fees. By the time you get your truck and your supplies you have no money left for electricity at your new place.
Although I have personally never rented a truck from Uhaul, I have been there several times while helping my friends move. It has to be one of the most depressing places on the planet. It's like a refugee camp. A bunch of homeless people dragging their possessions around from place to place. Soon thousands of students will begin the trek to Boston and they will all need vans and trucks. Uhaul will make piles of cash while their customers get grey hair and ulcers.
UHaul is the worst run company that I have ever seen. I have been to many different locations and it is the same deal every time. They always crew up the reservation. You almost are surprised when they actually hand you a set of keys.
"Do you mean these actually are for a truck that is physically present? In this country?"
Most of the action goes down on Saturday mornings. Most people moving have a very limited window that they can actually move items from one location to another. You would think that Uhaul would know this, considering they have been in the moving business for quite some time. So Saturday morning, at 6:55am there is a line of people eager to get going.
Then the disgruntled employees show up, see the line and take their sweet time opening up and getting ready. They usually look the door behind them so you have like five dads and their college freshman kids peering in the window like a toy store at Christmas. Once they decide to open the door it is a scene reminiscent of the 1979 Who concert in Cincinnati.
Then there are the extras. You need some boxes, they cost extra. Packing tape, extra. A steering wheel for the truck, extra. I am not blaming them for trying to make a buck, but there are fees on top of fees. By the time you get your truck and your supplies you have no money left for electricity at your new place.
Although I have personally never rented a truck from Uhaul, I have been there several times while helping my friends move. It has to be one of the most depressing places on the planet. It's like a refugee camp. A bunch of homeless people dragging their possessions around from place to place. Soon thousands of students will begin the trek to Boston and they will all need vans and trucks. Uhaul will make piles of cash while their customers get grey hair and ulcers.
Auction Hero
Why does selling things on craigslist always seem so shady? When you sell items on ebay, you take the anonymity of it for granted. You send email back and forth, ebay plays moderator, telling you when and where to ship the item. Everyone polices themselves with feedback. Granted, the fees ebay charges can be a little much and the number of items for sale is astronomical, but overall it is a great system.
But you want to save a couple of bucks and you use craigslist. Craigslist works in theory because it is local. If you have larger items that would be impossible to mail, you can still find a buyer. The problem is that when you sell on craigslist, you usually have to actually meet people. This is where it gets weird.
These meetings usually take place in public places such as parks or near subway stations. I once sold an old printer to a guy and had to meet him in the parking lot of the Hilltop Steakhouse in Braintree. As I waited there in my car, I could not help but feel that I was doing something illegal. Now granted, this particular deal went down at 10am on a Sunday morning, but it still seemed wrong. The other thought that went through my head was if this was worth the effort for $50?
I think that from here on in I will stick with ebay, or just ship everything. So what if it hurts my bottom line? I am selling crap from my basement, not trying to start a company.
There is just something inherently wrong with a business transaction that requires either party to describe their appearance so as to find one another in a crowd.
"I will be wearing a blue coat... carrying a red backpack... and I have a wooden leg... "
*Oh yeah, and the guy who bought my printer paid me $50 in one dollar bills
But you want to save a couple of bucks and you use craigslist. Craigslist works in theory because it is local. If you have larger items that would be impossible to mail, you can still find a buyer. The problem is that when you sell on craigslist, you usually have to actually meet people. This is where it gets weird.
These meetings usually take place in public places such as parks or near subway stations. I once sold an old printer to a guy and had to meet him in the parking lot of the Hilltop Steakhouse in Braintree. As I waited there in my car, I could not help but feel that I was doing something illegal. Now granted, this particular deal went down at 10am on a Sunday morning, but it still seemed wrong. The other thought that went through my head was if this was worth the effort for $50?
I think that from here on in I will stick with ebay, or just ship everything. So what if it hurts my bottom line? I am selling crap from my basement, not trying to start a company.
There is just something inherently wrong with a business transaction that requires either party to describe their appearance so as to find one another in a crowd.
"I will be wearing a blue coat... carrying a red backpack... and I have a wooden leg... "
*Oh yeah, and the guy who bought my printer paid me $50 in one dollar bills
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