We have a cable channel here in the US which used to be known as The Nashville Network (TNN). It has recently been taken over by aliens and is known now as "Spike." It's being touted as the first network for men.
Lord, spare me from Homeowner's Associations! It seems that they are all powerful and that you are guilty until proven innocent.
Did you know that your Homeowners Association can fine you for each stork that a relative plants on your lawn to celebrate the birth of your child. Or that you can be fined for planting TOO MANY rosebushes?
You can be fined for hanging out your laundry, or hanging a cute little swing by your doorway. You can also be fined if you paint your house the wrong color! AND you can be fined for a fence that is the wrong height, or for having foster children, or for disturbing the new fallen snow!
I was in the car earlier this week and heard that Pfizer and Glaxo, two of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the US announced that they would discontinue supplying Canadian pharmacies that resell their product to the US. For more on the subject, visit the Boston Globe article from August 7, 2003.
The entire subject of the cost of drugs in the US riles me. We pay at least TWICE as much for the exact same drug as the Canadians, and other countries pay much less than the Canadians. It's the exact same medicine, not a generic, but Americans are expected to pay through the nose "to support the cost of research."
HORSE HOCKEY!!!
Those companies can sell their products for the same price to every country, and they might make a billion or two less in profits, and still be able to fund the research. They are going to find very rapidly, that the baby boomers in the US will NOT be able to pay their outrageous demands and their free ride will be over.
It can't happen soon enough!
We've all experienced it, an ad that riles us so much that we turn the radio off, or click the mute button on the TV. We've all suffered through the expansion of pop up ads and banners and all forms of telephone harrassment...er marketing.
I wouldn't be surprised to learn that ads like that contribute to road rage and violence in the home.
There's one particular ad that we find so offensive that we RUSH to mute it. It's an ad for Menard's. It's a chain similar to Lowe's or Home Depot. Overly eager singers proclaim "Save More Money At Menard's." I can bear the singers and the jingle, it's the spokesman who drives me wild.
He's an old fashioned saleman with a huge smile and "Hail fellow well met" demeanor who hawk's the week's sales. I expect him to reach out of the TV and grasp my arm and pull me into the store, all the while telling me what wonderful things I'll find within. I can deal with all that, but his tone of voice simply makes me want to take a header off a cliff to get away from him.
We thought at one point that our prayers had been heard when a young woman replaced him for a while, but we suspect she must be his daughter. Same voice. (sigh)
I want advertising people to take notice: If you persist in making your ads this offensive, you will drive customers away. I will NEVER shop at Menards.
I'll save my complaints about pop ups, telemarketers, coupons in magazines, and fragrance ads that stink up an entire magazine for another rant.
If you shop at Menard's, would you please tell them to change the ads??
I wrote about the Chicago Tollway Authority and their push to collect all the unpaid tolls for the past two years, on June 9, 2003. That post has been a magnet for people who want to tell their stories.
The CTA was refusing to allow people to make payment plans. They have been demanding payment for two years of tolls and fines within 16 days. It was announced that those with fines over $500 could arrange to make payments, but it must not have gone into place in time for the last woman who commented.
Go read the comments and see how things are shaping up.
