Hal's Rant-O-Matic©...Open here
Why do they even bother? Instructions on the recently purchased box of Potato flakes, (that's instant mashed potatoes in a box to all of you who have way to much time on your hands and actually liquify real cooked potatoes by first boiling them and then beating them to a pulp,) said to place your thumb on tab and push to open. So I did this thing that they asked. What I am wondering is, what is the end result supposed to be? Being generous, I would hazard a guess that one out of ten boxes might actually open as designed. The other nine boxes end up hopelessly crushed, ripped open in frustration when they fail to perform as advertised. Of course it doesn't help much when you have a partial box already open, have all the other ingredients prepared as instructed, and brought to a boil, measure out the potato flakes only to find that you have to dip into the new box in order to reach the measured amount of flakes as reccommended. So while you are struggling to open the box that is refusing to cooperate, even given your best attempt at fulfilling the intended existence for which the flakes were manufactured, the flakes you have already poured into the pan are trying their best to assume their original form of one big huge solid potato because you haven't had a chance to stir them yet.
This, by the way, is in no way limited to the instant mashed potato boxes. How many times have you opened a cereal box, or cracker box, or just about any box that is supposed to be resealable, only to find that some poor, lost soul in the manufacturers employ for the product you have purchased, seems to find some sort of warped satisfaction in applying an excessive amount of glue to the easy open, resealable package. He obviously has stock in one of the large manufacturers of high blood pressure medicine, creating an unprecedented demand for the pills in areas where his handy work is shipped. Our society is littered with examples of this nature, things that just don't make sense. We can put a human being on the moon, but can't make a potato flake box that opens with any degree of consistency.
I'm not through yet. Fact is, I have barely warmed up. I kind of look at myself as the Andy Rooney of Team Fortress. Tell me how much sense this makes to you. When you go to buy a car, the deal you end up with is usually based directly on how well off you are. Let me explain, don't mind if I do. If you can easily afford the car, have a lot of money down, and can make large payments, you can get very low interest rates. You don't need low interest rates, you can afford any damn interest rate they want to assign, but seeing as you can afford a huge interest rate, they give you one so low that you could mistake it for your sons grade average who just happens to be flunking out of NC State college of certified drywall hangers. (Anyone can hang drywall I thought.) Let's say, something like 2.0 percent interest. Now, take for instance the poor guy who happend to have a little bad luck the past few years in financial management of his mutual funds. (It seems his business partner felt the money in the company was mutually his, and proceeded to take it all.) This guy doesn't have a large down payment, and can't really afford a new car in the first place, (his son is going to med school, there will be no more drywall hangers in this family if he has anything to say about it,) and they slap him with an interest rate that is only 75 percent less than what Louie the Loan Shark charges! This poor man is actually financing the rich guys car if you ask me. They can't make the extra money on finance charges on the rich guy because he will probably make double payments and such, so they get it where they can.
The same goes for Credit Card companies. If you are having a bit of trouble, and are making some late payments on you credit cards, they raise your interest rate! What kind of sense does that make??? Here you are, struggling to make your payments, trying to keep your credit rating in fair shape, but make a few payments late and they raise your rate? So now you'll have an even harder time paying your debt off. So you call then up and tell them you are having trouble and ask them to cut you a little slack. They say, well, we really can't do that, but we will raise your rates so you will have even more trouble. I don't know about you, but I think that's a bit unfair in the scheme of things.
There are some good things about our wonderful little society though. Like the US Postal Service. You can actually write a letter, put it in an envelope, buy a stamp, and send it half way around the world for thirty three cents. (I don't buy the stamps in this family, so I'm not sure that's what they cost now.) That's a bargain if you ask me. Sure, it takes them a few days, and sometimes, their employees get a little disgruntled. But rarely do you have to deal with them in person, so most of the time, it is remarkably safe. Just make sure you don't lodge any complaints in person....
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
|
Not ready for prime time. Some like them, some don't. So if you want to take a look at the latest ranting of the on staff raving lunatic, you will have to come here.
News
RSS Feeds
