February 2010

What happened to newspaper journalism?

February 28, 2010

Modern life, that’s what. The Times didn’t arrive at the usual hour this morning (nor, I notice, did the Arizona Repulsive, delivered to the neighbors). It finally did show up, around 9:00 a.m.: it was reclining in a puddle of rainwater when I went to drive out of the garage. A paper that gets to [...]

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El Niño: The long rains

February 28, 2010

Whenever the surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean shift in just the right way, we get an El Niño event, a periodic rainy season that goes on and on and on. All winter long, we’ve had rain at least once a week. It’s raining again this morning. Poured half the night. The desert is greening [...]

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w00t! Money happens!

February 27, 2010

American Express has emitted this year’s rebate: $334 back in my pocket! Took it direct to the credit union after having cashed the voucher at Costco. Despite the new regime of penury, I decided to try to continue putting $200 a month into a savings account for indulgences and emergencies. This will jack the $400 [...]

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Consumer-Proof Packaging? Make the retailer open it!

February 26, 2010

So while I was visiting Costco to collect the AMEX rebate and get some gas, I also picked up some RoC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Fancy Flashing Lights and Mirrors Face Cream. I’d wanted to get some AlphaHydrox, which (as one might suspect) contains a stiff dose of alpha hydroxyls and did indeed make my [...]

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Costco Gas Pumps: Not all created equal

February 26, 2010

Good grief! As all of us who live in cities large enough to support two or more Costco stores know, individual outlets of that worthy retailer tailor the merchandise to their surrounding demographics. Although basic supplies stay the same from store to store, the blandishments do not: the fancier the neighborhood, the more variety in [...]

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All that no-penny-pinching bravura aside…

February 25, 2010

Despite imagining that this morning brought some sort of Insight to the effect that I need to quit hanging on to pennies and try to invest something in building my little business enterprises…Jayzus! This evening at Compline I was reminded that tomorrow we’re supposed to be doing a potluck surprise party for one of the [...]

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