Recently in Issue of the Day Category

One of the products I deal with daily is made of glass, plastic, and metal. They usually weigh about 10 pounds and retail from $200 each to about $1500 each. The one I talk about today is worth a little over $500. Included in that retail price is maybe $2 worth of packaging. Also factored into that retail price is the outrageously high number of damage claims due to shipping and handling. They get tossed around. Back in the day, shippers used to mark a package “Fragile” or “Handle With Care”. Apparently, that isn’t enough any more. To the rescue comes a new kind of warning label. I received a package that sported one of these yesterday. Mine was green. As Adrian Monk might say, “Here’s the thing”: The product was in its own box. The shipping genius then fashioned another, MUCH larger box out of two boxes that he/she must have had lying around and placed the product inside of it with no other packing material whatsoever and slapped that green warning label on it. It was kind of like a shoe box with only one shoe in it. If you move or tilt the larger box, the smaller one inside was going to get jostled. The warning label did what it was supposed to do. It was RED when I saw it which meant it received rough handling. Luckily, the product inside was undamaged.

I deal with another product daily that is hazardous. You have to be certified to ship hazardous material but you don’t have to be certified to receive hazardous material. Someone else needs to figure out the logic to that because it still mystifies me. Anyway, these products retail from $600 to $800 and are labeled “Explosive: Ground Shipping Only” or something like that. They get tossed around, too. Not only do they get tossed around but I once received one of these where a shipping genius slapped an overnight air freight label over the “Explosive: Ground Shipping Only” label and put it on an air carrier. That one came to me sometime after the ValuJet crash because I remember thinking about it. The thought that something intended for me could cause an airliner to go down? It bothered me. Hopefully, that sort of thing can't happen any more but yesterday's incident doesn't give me much comfort.

NO ONE IS READING THE LABELS

Got any shipping nightmares? I probably have another couple of hundred but I'd like to hear yours.

Quote of the Day

We had a lot of luck on Venus
We always had a ball on Mars
Meeting all the groovey people
We've rocked the Milky Way so far
We danced around with Borey Alice
We're space truckin' round the the stars

Deep Purple, Space Truckin'

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "The OS-engineering world is pretty small. A surprising number of Windows employees have worked at Apple in the past. And vice versa. Are these guys stealing?"

We have a new wood pellet stove coming today if the rain lets up at CrabAppleLane. Not sure why rain has any effect on installation but I'm told it does. Our current wood pellet stove was a victim of the CrabAppleLane Lightning Strike of 2007. The new stove is very similar to our current one but it has 13 years worth of updates and innovations. The newer model has a thermostat so that it comes on automatically. We’ll probably only do that while we’re present until we have some confidence in how it works. It has a larger fuel capacity and it is supposedly easier to clean. Those are big pluses. The two biggest reasons we’re anxious to get this done, though, are 1) it heats our living room perfectly and 2) cost. Wood pellets are much cheaper to burn than propane, particularly when you have to turn the heater on full blast to just barely knock the chill out of the air in the living room. Anyway, this is the model we chose (I think. It's been a month since we chose it). The brass plating of the older model has been replaced by gold plating on the newer one. It shouldn’t pit and discolor as easily. After looking at our last propane bill and draining most of the discretionary income we have for the next few months, it will be a welcome event.

About today's QOTD: It refers to the basketball game that Baylor and Texas A & M played last night that went to five overtimes.

Quote of the Day

I'm tired.

Curtis Jerrells, Baylor University

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Are you good at inventing recipes? Are you looking for a place to take your date for Valentine's day? Do you want to enjoy a romantic dinner for two? Do you love using the Greek Gods creamy thick Greek yogurt in your cooking?"

I was on the phone with someone at work. I don't remember who. A colleague ran into the room and announced that the Challenger space shuttle had exploded and turned on the TV. As the TV came on, the person on the phone kept asking me what was happening and all I could say was "I don't know". Missions into space had become routine but this one was a little different because a teacher was going up. Most people were following the story. 21 years later, a teacher, Christa McAuliffe's backup for lack of a better word, is going up today. Congratulations and Best of Luck, Barbara Morgan.

And Congratulations to you, too, Barry.

29 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

So it was an immortal home run accompanied by varied noises. The instant Barry Bonds became the greatest home run collector of all time, some of the baseball world cheered, while some booed. And some just looked away, relieved it was over. But they will want it to be forgettable too much to forget it.

Mike Lopresti, Gannett News Service via USA Today

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Everybody at some point in their life has wanted to have a stuffed animal come to life and be their pal. Tell me I'm wrong and I will laugh and laugh and laugh."

Unusual idea for a blog. I love it. -Rob

I'm not one to begrudge someone from tying one on but I surely don't want to be on the same spacecraft with them. I'm simply amazed it was allowed. Those things aren't dangerous enough? Not that I wouldn't jump at the opportunity to go, if asked. Hopefully, it was under the previous NASA administration and not the current one.

Getting closer. Saints in full gear for two practices today. 41 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

You hope your guys stay healthy and out of trouble

Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints Head Coach

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue?"

Was just thinking today what a racket these industry certification programs are - you know, the kind of certification programs every industry has where people pay good money to either "belong" or put letters after their names and feed the organizations who oversee those certifications.

What I'm talking about here are those dopey certification programs that seem to exist solely for the purpose of extorting good money from people simply because a certain kind of certification becomes "trendy". It doesn't matter what kind of real world experience you might have, if you don't have that certification or those letters after you're name you're marked as somewhat less desirable as a candidate than someone else who does - even if that person doesn't have the same breadth and depth of experience you do.

In the IT Industry, it's really bad, but I'm sure you can think of other industries where the same holds true. Now, in the health-care business, I think there is a need for certification programs at some level, but even they, to a certain extent, are just as much of a racket. [For example, my wife is a laboratory professional with four memberships she pays to keep up each year - her MT (ASCP) and ASCP (American Society of Clinical Pathologists), ASCLS (American Society of Clinical Laboratory Sciences), and AGT (Association of Genetic Technologists) - and they are very important to her. But that's not sufficient enough, say, for her to work in laboratories in Florida or New York City, which require their own licenses that people have to study and take examinations for if they want to work in those locales. (I guess the human beings in both places are different...)]

But the IT industry is where, it seems to me, it's the worst. Here's my example: after arriving here in Arizona three years ago, I knew that, if I wanted to be more attractive to potential employers around here, I needed to be certified in something, so I got a couple of books to study for my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Now you can't just study and sit for the test to become PMP-certified. You have to be eligible for it - in this case, documenting thousands of hours on IT projects I had been involved in over the years. Then, after a couple of months studying and (I think) $500, I took the test and passed it, which enabled me to put a "PMP" after my name professionally, as well as being able to add a line item under the "Certifications" section on my resume. Good enough, right?

Wrong. You see, that certification only lasts for three years. And what does that certification stand for? It's like that little secret club you and your friends would have when you were young - you have membership card (wow!) and promise to 'uphold the standards and by-laws that the organization stands for' (cool!). I mean, what a freakin' racket! Then, if you want to stay certified, you have to join the "Project Management Institute" as a member and pay $130 annual dues for the privilege of staying a member. If that were all, that would be tolerable.

But it ain't. You see, you also have to submit for their approval various documentation that gets you "points" that enable you to remain eligible to reapply for that certification for another three years. (For example, you get points if your job title is "Project Manager", or for taking courses or reading books about project management.) Or - get this - you can also get points by attending PMI-sponsored seminars that take place from time to time across the country (and the world, BTW), but guess what? You have to pay to attend those seminars, and they're not cheap - typically between $600-$800 a day. And who profits from this? The Project Management Institute, of course.

So basically, what you have here is a self-sustaining organization that makes its own rules for membership and extorts people at every possible turn they can devise solely so that someone can have a line or two added to their resume. (Of course, they're not forcing you to be a member, and you can choose, I suppose, to opt out of it after you attained your initial certification and then 'forget' to remove it from your resume after three years, but that would be cheating. I'll bet people do it, though...)

I'm just wondering if any people out there feel the same way about these kinds of things, or if you have your own examples they can offer up. What say you - are they good or bad? Or does it even matter?

I filled up the truck the other day at the cheapest place I go. $2.96 per. Despite what I keep hearing that people still intend to pay the price and not change their driving habits, the prices have absolutely affected what we do. We both eat lunch in more often now because going out adds $2-$3 to the price. We're staying home for both days on many more weekends than we used to. In our case, restaurants are the biggest casualty. I doubt we're the only ones changing our habits and I wonder how many businesses besides restaurants are suffering for it. About $150-$250 per month of our discretionary income that used to go to them is now going to the oil companies. There's only so much of us to go around.

Quote of the Day

Meteorologists will team with the military to fire rockets into the sky in an extreme form of climate control if rain looms.

The Daily Telegraph

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I know, eeeeyew! and yuck! (We'll wait a few seconds while the liver-avoiders exit....)"

The Louisiana Legislature is on the verge of banning cockfighting. It was inevitable after New Mexico banned it a few months ago making Louisiana the only state left where it was legal. The opponents no longer had to split their resources and the state is more than a little tired of the negative spotlight from the local and national media and even considerably less well-known sources. :) It will probably move underground for a time but it is surely on its last legs here. Good riddance. For those who disagree, here's How to Flee a Cockfighting Bust. That one made my morning (Be sure to look below the Google ads).

114 days until football season ...

Quote of the Day

If you came with your own cock, leave your prize possession behind it's not worth it.

How to Flee a Cockfighting Bust

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "When I think of Paris Hilton in jail, this is the image that comes to mind."

Regarding the QOTD, there is nothing at all reasonable about criminal charges over a school essay. NOTHING. One essay? Shouldn't there at least be a pattern? This kid is a straight A student that has never been in any trouble before. What is a "violent essay" anyway? How many acts of violence does a person have to write about in an essay to qualify it as violent? Are criminal charges being brought because the essay was written by a student? What if it had been someone else? A novelist, a journalist, or perhaps just "a man in his 50s"? We've had shooting rampages at schools, malls, fast food restaurants, post offices, and workplaces. Should everyone who might frequent one of those places be profiled? I'm a little disappointed in the Marines, too. All a recruit has to do now is be accused of something to be disqualified from service? Shouldn't they at least wait until the police matter is resolved before they say something like "“basically, he is no longer an applicant to become a Marine”? Whatever happened to "I may not like what you have to say but ... or innocent until proven guilty"? I understand the fear for our safety but I'm not comfortable with this. Our fears are getting the best of us. Is this really how we want to live?

Classy NASCAR fans throw things at Jeff Gordon because he passed Dale Earnhardt on the total victory list. To this day, I do not know what he ever did to them to make them dislike him that much. The man can race.

Quote of the Day

In light of recent events (at Virginia Tech), that is part of the context of what happened that makes the reaction all the more reasonable

Tom Carroll, First Assistant State’s Attorney in McHenry County

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Recently we were asked by the Lords Science and Technology Committee whether failures of online security caused real problems, or were exaggerated. While there is no doubt that many people talk up the threats, here is a real case in which online fraud has done much worse harm than simply emptying bank accounts."

The word for today is "arrivism". It was in our online local newspaper today:

Ferina is a relative newcomer in a town where any tenure under two decades leaves one vulnerable to charges of 'arrivism' when conflict arises.

We haven't formerly been charged with arrivism here at CrabAppleLane but that charge has been right on the tip of people's tongues while dealing with us on occasion. Madisonville is in St Tammany Parish as is CrabAppleLane. A substantial portion of the population of St Tammany, maybe even a majority since Katrina, is made up of people who once lived in New Orleans or its suburbs. There is a mostly unspoken tension between them and the longtime residents. Every transplant has felt it at one time or another. "Arrivism" conveys one side of it pretty well.

Quote of the Day

I know the name is mine, mine to use how I see fit.

Emil Dogsworth

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "I am including this picture of a blooming cherry tree to remind me that it is spring."

I have trouble getting worked up either way about this.

On the one hand, it seems harsh for an airline to remove three passengers from a plane because of their 3-year-old daughter’s temper tantrum but on the other hand, they followed the rules. The rules state “that children age 2 and above must have their own seat and be wearing a seat belt upon takeoff”. These are FAA rules, not airline rules ... and I find nothing unfair or unreasonable about them. It’s not an economic issue. It’s a safety issue. In the event of a sudden stop, anything not strapped or bolted down, including a little girl in her mother’s arms, becomes a projectile. The airline reimbursed them for their tickets and also made a very generous offer to reimburse them for their inconvenience in the form of three roundtrip tickets anywhere the airline flies.

This isn’t a slam dunk, though, and I’m not unequivocally in the airline’s corner because I wonder if the airline would have been as generous if the parents had voluntarily removed themselves and their child. Imagine asking the airline for a refund at the last moment because your child can’t/won’t settle down. When I do that, my imagination has an airline agent telling me, “That’s your problem. NO REFUNDS”. The refund is only half of the rewar ... er, reimbursement, though. What about the reimbursement for inconvenience? A cynic would probably say there are parents that might-maybe-possibly-would manipulate their children for free goodies ... but I’m not a cynic.

Quote of the Day

We weren't given an opportunity to hold her, console her or anything.

Julie Kulesza

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "Now, they’re calling for the U.S. Congress to pass a passengers’ bill of rights."