Time to be fair... :)

Recently I had a chance to pick on a store sign near where I work. It seems that anytime the display showed the time & temperature, the temperature always seemed to be screwed up somehow.

Since that original post, I somehow suspect that someone at Walgreen's caught wind of what I had said in this blog. A few days after the post, I noticed that the sign no longer showed the time & temperature. The feature has yet to return...

To be fair, I'm not going to pick on the sign this time. Rather, it's time to show that they are using the sign in a positive way.

In a time when some are starting to discuss the effectiveness of the Amber Alert system, it is a good system used in the recovery of missing children. The sign (below) at Eastlawn Plaza might be the only one in Midland that displays the information. To all, please tell me if another location in Midland displays alerts. Also, I don't know how many Walgreen's stores actually participate in the program.

This particular Amber Alert was the second one I have seen posted. I have used the information in these alerts to share with my fellow drivers at my store. Unfortnately, I don't think most of my fellow drivers give a rat's hind end about this whole thing.

To Midland Walgreen's - I think you took the easy way out of solving the temperature issue with the sign out front (by removing the information), but you're doing the right thing by displaying this information when you need to.

An end to a costly habit...

No, it's not smoking or drinking or gambling, or anything like that.

I decided yesterday it's time to stop buying my newspapers to read. It's not because I think the papers have some kind of "liberal" agenda or that any of the columnists are socialists or communists. Rather, the decision was based entirely on economics.

Every newspaper I read has a presense on line. Everyone I do business with has their ads online. I am the kind of person the newspapers are learning to hate. They are going through their toughest business climate in years with a number of papers in Michigan planning on cutting back on the number of days they publish. Everything online will be kept current though.

Let's break my newspaper purchases down...

Monday to Friday

1. USA Today - $1.00
2. Saginaw News - $.75
3. Bay City Times - $.75
4. Midland Daily News - $.50

This comes to $3.00 a day or $15.00 for these 5 days.

Saturday only

1. Saginaw News - $.75
2. Bay City Times - $.75
3. Midland Daily News - $.50

I spent $2.00 on Saturday papers, and from Monday to Saturday this figure rises to $17.00

Sundays only

1. Saginaw News - $2.00
2. Bay City Times - $2.00
3. Midland Daily News - $1.50

On Sunday papers, this figure rises to $5.50 for that day's news. Add this to the previous figure and you look at $22.50 per week.

You hear me correctly - $22.50 per week. Do the math and you're looking at something like $97.50 per month and $1170 per year (based on 52 weeks).

That's mind boggling. This can be used in many ways. $97.50 can go toward various bills I pay. I'm planning on getting a car soon, so that can be a half a payment a month on what I expect to spend. Maybe I can invest someway or another. The possibilities are almost endless, and that's the point.

Buying and reading all those papers in a year --> $1170

Reading all those papers, and even others online --> priceless

A new burger...

This is one that Adam Richman (Man vs. Food - Travel Channel) can love.

The West Michigan Whitecaps minor leage baseball team is introducing a new burger to be sold at its home games this year. Named after the team's stadium (5/3 Field), they introduce the 5/3 Burger that weighs over 4 pounds and has almost 5000 calories. Yes, you heard me correctly.

Here's a description from the Minor League Baseball Website:

"is five-thirds of a pound of grilled hamburger topped with lettuce, tomatoes, nacho cheese, chili, salsa and crunched corn chips. Holding it all together is an eight-inch sesame seed bun."

Oh, did I say that you can buy this for only $20.00!

Read More --> Here!!!

Just for fun!

I don't know how many of you readers are going to care about this entry but I thought it was cool. This was my odometer reading the other night (only 2 numbers are involved). Enjoy...

Another car face...

Just when I thought I could put the car face issue to rest. I found this behind a car dealership in Saginaw the other night. It's the new 2009 Pontiac G3 (essentially a Chevy Aveo). What do you think?

Don't we wish...

If only this were true (that diesel price). Actually that price was only $2.199. Find this at the Mobil station on M-47 in Freeland.

Views...

There aren't too many places where one can really get a good view of Midland. One can go to the top of one of the Dow Buildings at the main plant or at the Corporate Center. The problem here is that access to Dow is so fortified anymore that unless you're an employee you can't get in. Forget about bringing a camera.

You can try "The H" (formerly the Ashman Court Hotel) or the future Holiday Inn under construction behind the mall but those view won't be enough.

To get a really good view, one needs to visit a place where one can see from 6 floors and up. Introducing the Green Hill old people's apartments. The tallest building in Midland one can legally go to, it is 8 floors up. The view in the photo below is one taken from the 6th floor looking toward Midland High School. Enjoy the view...

Wave bye, bye trees...

I come to the conclusion recently that these trees need to come down...

Find these trees at the corner of Lindy and East Ashman streets in Midland.

Reason: visibility was almost next to nothing. As I sat at this corner waiting to turn, this is what I could see. I had to pull further into the intersection so I could see the cars that were well on there way to meet with me.

Deceptive advertising :-)

I was recently putting the truck away at work when I found a box of peppers with this label...

Now I know very well that when I open this box I'm going to see a box of green peppers because this is what we sell. I can see someone opening a box like this and automatically assume they're going to find a box of red peppers regardless of whether they sell them or not.

So, what did I find when I opened the box?

The cost of "free"

The word "Free" is used quite often in our vocabulary anymore. In this era of recession, many of us are more price conscious than we ever used to. In some instances, "free" may be the best deal out there. Then again maybe "free" carries some cost with it too. Here are 3 recent examples of "free" that happened around me.

1. I talked recently in this blog about my visit to Denny's on the free Grand Slam day. I didn't mention it at the time, but there are costs involved with this too. There's the cost of gas travelling from Midland to Saginaw on a snowy day, the time waiting outside in the cold during lunch hour with TV cameras hovering mere feet away from you, and (probably my least favorite) realizing that Saginaw County restaurants (unlike Midland County's) are not smoke free. Definitely some costs there, not all of which are in dollars & (s)cents.
2. A family member (not me) received a free car recently from a friend. That family member (and the person giving it to them) knew of some faults with the car, so (after a lengthy delay) the car was able to be driven to the family's repair shop and repair the car. After hundreds of dollars just to get it on the road, more work was discovered and added hundreds of dollars more in repair work. Obviously, the family member will not be keeping this car. In this case, "free" came at a very high price.
3. Our local newspaper has a coupon for a free something (from a local business) on the second page of each day's edition. Usually, this is for something like a candy bar or a fountain drink. Several pizzas have even given free breadsticks as part of this deal. Usually the item being given away has a retail value of less than $2.00, so it doesn't give the store a huge loss unless there's significantly more demand than normal. Here again, are the costs of travel (especially if you're going out of the way to get this free item), and the cost of the newspaper ($.50 daily / $1.50 Sunday).

There you have it, three examples of free and their mixed results. As always, do your own research for the best deal you can get. Maybe it's free. Maybe it's half off. Or maybe it's paying full retail price. Point is - you never know until you know.

Makes you wanna go, WHAT?!?!?!?!?

Ordinarily, I try to avoid politics in this blog but even this caught my attention.

For some years now, the city of Detroit has been caught in a battle with Wayne County over control of the city's Cobo Hall (where such events as the Detroit Car Show are held). Yesterday, it took a rather nasty tone as city councilwoman Barbara Rose-Collins launched a tirade at yesterday's meeting. Read about her tirade here in the Detroit News. Be sure pay attention to the comments about God and about racism (fortunately not in the same sentence).

It's just a building folks!

Big City politics at its best (or worst)?