The Nitpicky Consumer

It's OUR Responsibility to Create USA Jobs

2011-08-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

If I hear another person demand 'what is the government doing to create jobs?' I am going to be sick. Look in the mirror and ask YOURSELF what YOU are doing to help create and support jobs in your country.

There are 2 things that anyone can do:

Start your own company. This takes some thought and is somewhat of a commitment.
Buy American-made products. This is a lot less commitment and a lot less thought.

Number (2) sounds easy, but not many people are doing it. We've become this culture of buying cheap, crappy, throw-away stuff with the idea that 'we can buy another' when it breaks.

Creating USA jobs takes an attitude shift and sacrifice on multiple levels.

Big Wheel Hot Cycle, baby! Remember those?

For consumers, instead of just walking out to buy the cheap imported item, you save your money and do some research to buy the good, domestic item. This isn't always easy, and it does involve some sacrifice. Personally, I've been struggling with a big wheel bike for my 3-year old son. Do I buy the cheap China-made Diego/Dora knockoff for $50? Or do I buy a real Made in the USA original Big Wheel for $150? Boy, I WANT one of those original big wheels for my son. So, I'm going for it. We'll just tighten our belts in other ways to pay for it.

The owners of the big companies need an attitude shift, too. There needs to be a sacrifice of short-term profit for the long-term goal of getting the American economy moving again. This is the hard one. Between Wall Street's pressure to have high profits, and the allure of a $1million bonus check if you do a good job, only certain C-level folks are willing and able to make the long-term investment.

What can we do as consumers to 'encourage' companies to make this investment?

Hurrah for New Balance!

First, support the companies that are already keeping their manufacturing in the USA. They NEED our support. Take the example of New Balance shoes. New Balance is the last major athletic shoe brand to manufacture footwear in the United States. They are struggling with foreign competition and free trade agreements that give the advantage to manufacturers from the outside. If you want to help support jobs, support companies like these!

Second, contact the companies that aren't manufacturing in the USA and complain. Especially the ones that used to do it. E-mails or letters are best because they are written correspondence. Express your frustration that more of their products aren't still made here. Tell them that you'll be taking your business elsewhere if they don't come back to the US.

Imagine what would happen if even one quarter of us here in the USA did this; I bet a lot of companies would come back in a hurry. Why don't we try and find out?

The Digital Amusement Park Photo Download is finally here

2011-07-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

I just got back from my vacation, which included a trip to Hershey Park.

And I experienced an idea whose time has finally come: the ability to purchase the digital copy of the photos that those roller coaster cameras take. The parks have been taking these photos digitally for a while; I am THRILLED to see that I can now buy it. The pricing was great. I could have paid $15 for a print (that I would have bent almost immediately) or $14 for a digital download and a keychain with the image on it. It's not a good option for people who are not technically savyy, but makes a world of sense for those of us who used computers a lot. I've downloaded my copy, and I'll be sending it to Snapfish to make prints for my folks, soon. W00t!

Cool Shirt ... and Made in the USA, too? Whoa

2011-06-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

I was sifting through the clothes at COSTCO the other day and stumbled on some shirts I really liked. I do not need new shirts. Not one bit. I have plenty of shirts. As I turned to walk away, I noticed the sign, Made in USA.

Stacks of Made in USA awesomeness

Really? I bought one, took it home and tried it. I love it. It is so soft and so pretty. It is made by SledgeUSA in California. I went back and bought 3 more. I love them all.

I must confess that I am suspicious of all these clothing manufacturers popping up in Southern California. (BedHead is another one.) I can't help but wonder if some illegal immigrant labor is being used, or if the fabric is being imported. Regardless, I'd rather have it being made here, keeping more of the money here, than made in Mexico or over in China.

Hurrah for Costco, and Hurrah for SledgeUSA.

Want great style at low cost? Check out the pajamas!

2011-06-19T17:10:00.000-07:00

I hate shopping for clothes. Despise it. But about four times a year, after I get my hair cut at the big Tyson's Galleria mall (Tyson's Corner,Virginia), I give shopping a whirl to see if it is as awful as I remember it. (It generally is.)

Last week, I meandered through several 'designer' stores (with horrible clothes at exorbitant prices) and then ended up in Macy's. I wandered through Macy's, taking in the horror. Striped, cropped pants paired with a flowered shirt, belted with a bright sash, and accessorized with a sequined scarf. Gad. Everything was just horrible. And the items that weren't quite as horrible were overpriced and cheaply made in another country (usually China). I really needed a pair of black slacks, so I tried on a few, but they were awful. Too tight at the top, huge at the bottom. Do these things actually fit people?

Like my 'sundress'?

I had given up and was getting ready to leave, but decided to visit the ladies' room first. I had to walk through Pajamas/Lingerie (a.k.a., 'Intimates') and Maternity to get to there. And that's when I hit the jackpot. The clothes in these two sections were actually good looking and were generally half the price of the 'normal' clothes. I grabbed a few and tried them on. Not too bad a fit. Not bad at all. Pretty cheaply made, overseas, but definitely a better value than the rest of the store provided.

My friend Carolina and I would always joke that the best kept secret was maternity underwear (comfy, stretchy, fabulous). It appears now that the whole intimate department may be jumping on that bandwagon. I actually ended up buying several pieces of clothing from what I tried on. I've already worn some of them out, and gotten compliments. I got a pair of $15 black sleek pajama bottoms that I wore for an evening out, with a silver shaw. I also a $19 pajama top that makes a great sundress.

I'm not sure what to make of a world where the only clothes that I like are in the PJ section. Maybe it means I shouldn't get up in the morning. Then again, maybe it just means that the best designers are currently making intimate apparel while they build up enough 'street cred' to move up. I'm sure hoping it is the latter.

Stores are loud enough without this

2011-06-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

blah, blah, blah

I was walking through the Giant grocery store the other day, and I realized that in addition to the background music coming over the main speakers, there was something else playing, too. I looked around and finally figured out it was a little screen advertising Nice 'n Easy hair products.

Gad.

In an age where everyone is supposedly asking "How can we save electricity?" the idea that we are putting energy into manufacturing and powering tiny advertising screens like this is frightening. And combined with the noise of the other shoppers and carts and kids and music, it was just annoying.

If marketing folks want to be able to put more information in front of shoppers, I think that the way of the future is the smart-phone-scannable Quick Response (QR) code. Everyone is switching to smart phones. (And even if you don't want to, you're going to need to because your old phone will wear out and you won't be able to get a new battery for it.) Using a QR scan, you can find out more info, get instructions for using the product, get special offers, etc. This is a much better technology to invest in, retail folks. Please don't start investing in your own little in-store TVs.

Why are you merchandising AFTER the register?

2011-06-05T06:43:00.000-07:00

Why do stores pile up a bunch of stuff with big sale signs on them right AFTER the cash registers? I have actually thought once or twice, 'Oh, I could use that,' but if I've just stood in line for 30 minutes, there is just no way I am going to get back in line to buy one more item.

I think that maybe the stores are just out of space and don't have anywhere to put these things? It just seems silly.

Check out my New, Green, USA Shoes!

2011-05-30T06:15:00.000-07:00

Last year, I first discovered Okabashi Shoes. Made in the USA, and capable of being recycled into new shoes, they are pretty nifty.


my new shoes

This year, I finally got two Okabashi pairs for myself, and I'm loving them. Each was under $20; a price point that no one can complain about. They are decently comfy -- certainly more so than the Jelly fad of the 1980s -- and come in great colors. I got a green pair of clogs that I use in the garden. (These are PERFECT for that.) And, I've got a pair of red 'strappy' shoes that I've worn to work a few times with great success.

Anyone else tried these and can comment on them? Has anyone actually returned them to be recycled?

I like to park far away

2011-05-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

Opposite of those people of questionable character who borrow grandma's handicap permit so that they can park in the reserved spot closest to the grocery store, I like to park very far away.

More space around my car, and fewer vehicles zooming around me, makes it easier to get in and out of the parking lot, get my son in and out of the car seat, and get packages in and out of the back. It also reduces the chances of my car being damaged by someone else, and gives me a little more exercise. All in all, it's great. Why doesn't everyone try to park as far away as possible?

But I often get frustrated by returning the cart. Many stores only have cart returns right up near the store. COSTCO and Whole Foods fall into this category. I end up needing to backtrack a pretty significant distance to return the cart. Clearly, a lot of folks don't even bother as a lot of abandoned carts are handing out near back near the far end of the lot. When it's just me, I don't mind. But if I've got my toddler with me, he has a low attention span for this activity, which makes it much harder to accomplish.

See that Cart return WAY far away?

Here's where I need to give Giant some credit; they put cart returns very far back. I can park very far away, and still have a cart return in easy distance.

Thanks, Giant!

Picking the Perfect Potty

2011-05-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

My 3-year-old son has just about moved past the 'potty' and upgraded to using the grown-up toilet all the time. Hurrah!

There are a variety of articles on the web about potty chairs and seats. You can read about the basic parts of the potty chairs as well as general info about what to look for in a potty. You can also read about folks who skipped the potty chair and went right for the seat, then immediately made sure it was a slow-close lid.

But based on my own recent experience, it is good to start with a little chair that is more their size, so here are the Nitpicky Consumer's rules to pick the perfect potty.

Rule 1: Never pay full price for a Potty
Seriously. A potty is a stylized plastic pot in which your child will (try to) deposit his pee and poo. This is not a family heirloom you are buying. The going range for new potty chairs seems to be $12-$100, (although I can't really fathom anyone paying $100 for such a thing), but you shouldn't pay anything more than $0-$10. Borrow a potty from a friend or co-worker, go to a yardsale, go to a consignment sale, check Craig's List. Do anything besides pay full price.

Rule 2: Have LOTS of Pottys
You can take all that money you saved by not buying new potty chairs and get MORE of them. Especially if your house has more than one floor, you're going to want more than one potty. (We had one on each level of our townhouse, and also in the family room area in front of the TV.) This way, when the little one needs to go, distance to the potty is never an obstacle

Rule 3: The more complex the Potty, the HARDER to CLEAN
Beware of grooves, designs, and cracks. Look at a Potty and say to yourself, "If toxic ooze got poured all over this entire Potty, how many crevices would be hard to clean?" If it seems overwhelming, move on and look for another Potty.

Rule 4: Go for the multi-tasking Potty
Some potty chairs are nothing more than a potty chair. But some are a little bit more. Here's what I was looking for:

A potty with a seat lid makes it double as a stool
A potty chair with a built-in removable potty seat allows you to have both pieces in one, and you can instantly rearrange the setup to suit the current whim of your child
A potty chair with handles can be easily carried around, so it doubles as both your in-house and your portable version

NOTE: Even if everyone follows the same four rules, we're still going to each end up with different potty chairs that we are happy with.

Here is the one that we considered our 'Perfect Potty': the Graco Soft Seat Potty Trainer (Model 812K). It is clearly older: it seems to be out of stock or discontinued on most websites, and it is Made in the USA. When you can find it, it runs $19-$27 new. (So hopefully you can find it second-hand!)

It was a clean-line design. Not many crevices
I bought it for $7 at a consignment shop
It had a lid, so he could use it as a stool or to prop his feet when he was sitting on the 'big toilet'
It had a cushy removable potty seat that he used for a while to sit on the big toilet
It didn't have carrying handles, but the world isn't perfect.

Graco was our perfect potty; I'd love to hear about what other folks found to be their 'perfect' potty.

It doesn't fit. Sigh.

2011-05-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

Today, I received the Land's End dress that proved so problematic to order. It was both too short and way, WAY too BIG. In order to achieve the tailored look of the model in the photos of this dress, I estimate that I'd need an XX-Small. This is saying something considering that I usually wear size Medium in most clothing.

Sigh. Back into the box it goes.

You WANT me to buy something, right?

2011-05-10T06:15:00.000-07:00

I generally like Land's End. Conservative clothes with clean lines. I wish more of it - any of it, actually - was still Made in the USA, but I can't complain about the styling. The only thing they like to do more than send lots of paper catalogs is to send LOTS of marketing e-mails. But I think that they are going a little overboard with it.

My desired Dress and the very small expiration date

At 4am (yes, AM) on May 4, an email from Land's End titled "Soft and Summery: 24 new Dresses and Skirts + Free Shipping" came into my Inbox. I of course did not read it at 4am; it was more like 4pm when I finally saw it.

Ah, I shall have to take a peek at these new dresses, I thought to myself. One in particular caught my eye. It already had several glowing reviews (which in hindsight seems suspicious, if it is supposedly a new dress). So I decided to buy it. But wait. The X-Smalls, Smalls, and Mediums were already SOLD OUT? How it this possible? All the reviews were firm that the dress ran very large, so it was clear that my size was gone.

I quickly fired off an email to Lands End Customer Support, asking why on earth they were hoking a "new" dress that was nearly sold out and would they be getting any more? The next day, I got back a lovely form letter explaining the complexities of inventory management and confirming that no, they would not get any more. Grrrrrr.

So, I decided to visit my local Sears on the way home from work, to see if they had it. They did, but only size Large and X-Large. And the reviewers were right. THE DRESS WAS HUGE.

I went back home and checked online again. Regular was still sold out, but Petite had one color - Black - left in size Small. I decided to try it. It was a pretty dress. And besides, the email advertised free shipping. Free shipping makes everything better.

So, I logged in, plunked my small treasure into the cart and linked to checkout. I plugged in my free shipping code and ... big red text appears saying "THIS OFFER IS NO LONGER VALID". What? I went back to the original email. No expiration date on the subject line. No expiration on the main title. But way at the bottom, in very small type, was the note that the offer expired at 11:59pm on May 4. The free shipping had only been good for less than one day ... less than 20 hours. Couldn't Land's End have made this a little more obvious?

I almost abandoned my cart at this point. The only thing that saved the sale for Land's End is the distinct lack of simple black dresses at most retailers this year. So I clicked "Submit" and my dress is on its way. I sure hope the damn thing fits, because after all this it is going to make me even madder to need to return it.

People with Way Too Much Time

2011-05-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

I have ranted in the past about my distaste for Home Owners Associations (HOAs) and in particular the Architectural Review Committees (ARCs) that often come along with them. It infuriates me that someone has the gall to impose their own subjective beliefs on me under the guise of 'maintaining the community.' Today, I found a kindred spirit in Tampa, Florida, who is fighting back to protect his rights to do rational, non-harmful things on the property that he rightly owns.

W00t! Fight the good fight, man. I'm gearing up for a battle, myself. I want to (gasp) repaint my house, and where I live that means I need to ask for permission. Sigh. We'll just see how that goes.

The Royal Wedding: Should we care? Yes.

2011-05-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, I got up and watched the Royal Wedding of William and Catherine this past Friday. I also TIVO'd it on two channels -- CBS for the American coverage and PBS for the British coverage -- so I could watch it more in-depth later.

It was breathtaking. I almost cried when the camera panned down from the ceiling of the Abbey during the procession. Some of my friends were just as excited as I was, such as my friend Christine who baked English scones the day before and sent one over to me.

But many other friends just didn't 'get it'

"Why would you get up so early just to see a wedding?" one asked. Another, a bit disgusted at the coverage, wondered "With so many horrible things going on, why are people caring about this?" Still others were barely aware it was happening.

So I found myself wondering, why did I care so much? Why was this so special? I've come up with three key reasons:

A chance to see living history

The BBC coverage was better than a history lesson. It provided a crash-course in British political, religious, cultural, and art history for the past thousand years in the 'pre-show' hour. Some of the facts about Westminster Abbey were fascinating. And I loved the way one historian described the progress of royal weddings from the pre-arranged 'mergers and acquisitions' hundreds of years ago to the vibrant public spectacles they have become in the last century.

Want to see how a formal carriage is driven? Watch a Royal wedding. Want to hear about how traditional lace is woven? Watch a Royal wedding. Want to hear how medieval tile floors were constructed? Watch a Royal wedding. Want to see history WWII airplanes in flight? Watch a Royal Wedding.

I showed segments of the broadcast to my 3-year old son. He jumped with glee to see the Abbey's bells, from inside the tower. (We've watched that 10-second clip over and over more than his favorite episode of Dinosaur Train, and that is saying a lot.) He loved the royal trumpeters, who heralded the Queen's entry into the Abbey. He was mesmerized by the boy choir. He proclaimed "Look at that big church!" when Westminster Abbey was shown in his entirety. And he cheered when the "big plane and the little planes" flew over the Palace. These images got him really excited; he understood that something big and important was happening and he loved it.

A reminder of the importance of family heritage

My mother's side of the family is very in touch with our history. We still run the Rosebud Perfume Company; we still have pieces of my great-grandfather's drugstore from the late 1800s. As my cousin, who is in her late 80s, said last year "We are so blessed to know our roots and our family history. Some people today seem so lost; they don't know who they are or where they came from."

The Royal Family is a reminder of how precious and wonderful such a history can be. The ability to trace back, to see signatures of great-great-great grandparents, to walk where they walked. They are the ultimate in family heritage preservation. It's not everyone who has the means to preserve a 110-year-old family carriage, but they do and they have. It's a treasure to be able to glimpse such heirlooms not in a museum, but actually cared for and in use by the same family, generations later.

Some good news, for a change

We're so used to the Media covering bad news, that we almost feel guilty when they cover something good. But quite frankly, news is by definition neither good nor bad. It's news. And it's good for us all to share in something positive.

David Starkey, a Royal Historian who did commentary for CBS, stated it very well:

"It [the wedding] really has caught the imagination. This is a bit of a grim time. We've had recession. We've got declining incomes. People want a bit of fun. Monarchy is brilliant at creating fun and entertainment. So many of the people I saw and listened to [on the street on the way here] were American, clearly coming back home in a funny kind of way and watching the royal family that -perhaps rather controversially - you got rid of."

I generally despise the media, but in this case, I found their coverage wonderful. Kudos to all the press teams who worked very hard to pull together commentary, history and coverage that would highlight all aspects of this fabulous event.

Besides the witty commentary by Royal Historian David Starkey, other highlights for me included BBC television's broadcast of the space station crew sending their best wishes
and designer David Emanuel's breathless commentary upon catching the first glimpse of Kate's dress as she emerged from her hotel. (He designed Princess Diana's dress.) It's infectious to experience someone who really knows their craft and can share that knowledge and excitement.

Thank you for sharing it with us.

Actually Reusing the Reusable Bags

2011-04-27T20:16:00.000-07:00

Very interesting article here about re-usable bags from the grocery store, and how the large stores are starting to invest money in helping the customer to remember to bring them into the store. I actually like this idea. If you forget your bags in the car, and it is raining or cold or you have the baby, you just are NOT going to go back.

Thoughts, anyone? Or is the 5-cent discount more valuable to folks?

Hinged Easter Eggs? Where's the fun in that?

2011-04-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

This week is all about Easter Eggs. Making Jell-o Eggs. Dying Hard-boiled eggs with Paas. And getting a fresh batch of plastic eggs to fill with all sorts of wonderful treasure.

hinges and toys? what about loose halves and candy?

Usually, I just walk into any store and buy them. But not this year. This year the new fad seems to be hinged eggs. What? Hinges? Yuck. They were everywhere. I went to Giant. Hinges. Family Dollar. Hinges. A different Giant. Hinges. Finally, I got what I wanted at a CVS drugstore. Plastic eggs with no hinges. Leaving me free to mix & match as I please.

Why all of the hinges? They are a totally inferior product.

Ah, the power of the split halves

Once the hinge snaps, what can you do with it but recycle it? If one half of a non-hinged egg breaks, you save it and pair it up with another one that had a broken half.
How can you create eggs with each half a different color when they are hinged? Why stifle creativity like that?
You need unhinged eggs in order to create a Sorting Eggs game for your preschooler
And in case you were wondering, apparently the hinged eggs are a different type of plastic, so they can't be repainted to improve their infrared opacity, either. Who knew?

But whether you're using hinged or split eggs, real or Jell-o eggs, have a very Happy Easter.

Campbell's Soup and Salt: Mmmm-Mmmmmm Good

2011-04-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

Just about two years ago, I carefully compared several brands of Chicken & Stars and then complained loudly that there was too much salt in them. Apparently, I am not the only one who is comparing salt content between products. And four New Jersey women have decided to do a lot more than complain about the salt; they are suing Campbell's over salt content and deceptive advertising.


My official Campbell's Mug

This is a very interesting case. Campbell's is technically correct: their claims are accurate when put into context. i.e., When you add a few more words to the claim, to clarify what is being compared, it is correct. But what the NJ gals are saying is also correct: a reasonable consumer when faced with two Campbell's Tomato soups -- side by side -- are going to make the assumptive leap that the 25% is comparing Tomato Soup A (Regular Tomato Soup) to Tomato Soup B (25% Less Sodium Tomato Soup).

I am not a fan of lawsuits -- they are a giant money pit that usually don't accomplish anything more than give people more reason to go to law school and raise prices for everyone. I find myself wondering if the women contacted Campbell's first. Did they write letters? Call? Ask nicely for a change? Or did they jump right to litigation with claims of Consumer Fraud? It's very interesting to me that the four women are from New Jersey, and that is where Campbell's Headquarters is located. I'd like more background about this case, but after numerous web searches today I can not find anything more than about 20 different spins on the same basic headline. If anyone has more background, I'd love a comment or link.

In search of the Rare and Elusive Salmon Bean Soup

2011-04-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

My husband is allergic to shellfish. And so is his sister. And so was his grandmother. So you can imagine that not much shellfish is served in our house. The frustrating part is that all of them developed the allergy in their teen years, so they remember the awesome taste of lobster and crab and in particular a hearty bowl of clam chowder.

So, I am on a constant mission to find substitutes for clam chowder.

After a stop to the Chowder House in Portland, Maine, for example, I worked tirelessly to perfect my own version of a shellfish-free, cream-based fish chowder.

We had also fallen in love with a White Bean Salmon Chowder the Whole Foods Market made and sold back near the fish counter. However, we noticed a year or so ago that we never saw it anymore. Finally, I asked some folks at our store. No one really knew what I was talking about; no one seemed to remember the chowder. Then finally one guy thought he remembered them getting it pre-made from a company called 'Sea Bear'.

So, armed with this information, I sat down to type.

First, I wrote to Whole Foods, asking them about the chowder.

I received confirmation almost immediately via email from Nadeem that their Commissary used to make 'Salmon & White Bean Soup' but that it was no longer made. She noted that it was hard to share a recipe when you make batches so large, but that she'd see what she could do.
Within a day I then received an email from Jay at the Springfield Seafood Department. He noted that the recipe contained the following ingredients and hoped this would help me:
Northern bean cooked, traditional hummus (whoa, really? I would never have guessed this!), water, Canned tomato, salmon wild coho, onion, celery, Base fish, Food starch, garlic, salt, parsley, seafood seasoning, dill herb, & black pepper

At the same time, I located Sea Bear's website and also wrote to them:

Within a day, I heard from Charly who noted that she would be checking with her manager about my question.
About a day later, she wrote me back with another response:

I checked with my manager regarding your question. She says that it is possible they may have used one of our soup bases that we have from Gerard and Dominique, but most likely added their own ingredients to the soup.

We do offer Smoked Salmon Chowder and our Spicy White Bean soup. Both are very delicious. You are welcome to try them free of the shipping charge. You would need to call and place the order over the phone and speak with me or place your order online and call us with the order number so we may remove your shipping charges. All of our products are backed by our Fisherman’s Guarantee. If for any reason you are not thrilled with our products, we will either refund you or send you something else.
I decided to take them up on their offer, so I called and we walked over the ingredients together. As it turned out, the Spicy White Bean soup had a clam rather than a fish base, and there were big flags on their records saying to point this out to customers requesting fish rather than shellfish products. She noted that they were working to reformulate the recipe to drop the clam. So I decided to try the Salmon Chowder.
I now have 2 paks of the Chowder on my shelf, waiting for a cold, rainy day.

In a world of rotten customer service, I wanted to give a shout-out to both Whole Foods and Sea Bear. They both went above and beyond to help me on my quest, even though it was not at all certain that such help would result in any type of sale. I'm left with a nice warm feeling -- not unlike that feeling that a good, hot, chowder leaves behind -- after my interactions with both of them. Can't wait to do business with them, again.

Hey, Congresspeople! This isn't kindergarten

2011-04-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

It's like a big, festive carnival up there on the Hill. Whee!

I'm going to digress to politics for a week. (I'm in DC; I can't help it.) But it's not as much of a digression as you might think. When it comes to our elected officials, we're all the customers. We elect them, and we pay for their salaries and their utterly fabulous benefits. So, I expect and demand a little service in return.

And what I'm getting now is a cross between a soap opera and a circus, with as much nuance as a kindergarten recess. I just read the current status: Principal Obama has invited the kids to come have snacks and juice in his office so that they can all work it out. I only hope that all the snacks are locally grown so that I can have some kind of positive feeling about the whole thing, because otherwise it's just a giant mess.

Seriously, this is how Paul Kane and Jon Cohen of the Washington Post described it today:

As the deadline neared, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) exchanged insults, each side blaming the other for the stalemate.

Swell. Did they fire their Nerf guns at each other, too?

You've got a job to do folks. Stop the drama, and start behaving like the educated negotiators that you all claim to be.

Network for Good ... or Bad?

2011-03-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

ho-ho-ho, merry donations

Back in 2009, when I did my Christmas Charity donations, I paid directly to the charities on their own online websites. For my 2010 donation bonanza, I decided to try something different, in the form of
Network for Good.

Network for Good is a 'one-stop-shop' donation website, connected to over a million charities. The idea is simple: instead of going to a bunch of sites and filling out a bunch of forms, go to one site and do it all there. It works like a store for donations. Pick your charity, set the donation amount, and add it to your cart. Just like Amazon. Sort of.

I decided that this was worth a try.

On December 22, 2010, I browsed to the Network for Good website. A Giant Banner informed me that THERE IS STILL TIME TO DONATE FOR THE 2010 TAX YEAR, so I had no fear that I was too late to use the service. I created a profile, logged on, and used Network for Good to donate to 10 Organizations. I also added an 11th "donation" to Network for Good so that 100% of my money would be passed to the charities (as opposed to some of it being used to handle processing fees).

I got my receipt on screen and via e-mail. All was good.

Then, in late January 2011, I started to receive confirmations of my donations from my various charities with statements like "Thank you for your donation made on January 20, 2011 via Network for Good" Excuse me? I made these donations back in December 2010. What was going on?

I immediately wrote to Network for Good:

I tried you for the first time back on December 22, 2010 (see receipt below),
but now I am not so happy about it.I am starting to receive confirmation emails from my various charities and I am not liking what I am seeing.

1) Why is there such a lag between my donation and its delivery to at least some of the various charities? I haven't received letters from some of them, so I am wondering if some haven't even received it yet???? I'm feeling the need to start contacting some of them to find and, and I'm not happy about this. Your tax page clearly says that I could donate up to Dec 31 for that tax year, but now I have conflicting documentation. This puts me in an awkward tax situation. I have your receipt and I have theirs, and they do not match.

2) Why was money taken away from my donations???
I paid the extra money to Network for Good so that 100% of my donations would go to my charities. But that is not what happened. Network for Good STILL took money. e.g., I donated $25 to Rails-to-Trails, BUT my receipt from them says that I only donated $24.79. What happened? So now, not only do the dates not match, the numbers don't match either.

Could you please explain these discrepancies, as soon as possible?

I got a response pretty quickly:

Thank you for your inquiry.

1.) Let me explain how it works. For tax purposes, it goes by the date that you MADE the donation, not the date that the nonprofit received it. When you made your donation, you received a receipt via email with the date of the donation, amount, etc & that is what you use for tax purposes. What the nonprofit sends you is just an acknowledgement-you do not use that for your taxes. We pay the nonprofits on the 15th of the following month for all donations made in the entire previous month. The only reasons a nonprofit would not have received the check from us is if they moved and did not change their address with us or it got lost in the mail. I can tell you that out of all the donations you made on December 22, only one is not showing as having cashed the check Either they didn't receive it or they are holding on to it. It is up to them as to when they send out their thank you acknowledgements to the donors.

2.) Rails-to-Trails gave you the incorrect amount as they received 100% of your donation so their email should have said $25, not $24.79. They may not realize that the donors cover the fee for them as we changed that policy back in the summer of 2010. Once again, do not go by their email, go by the receipt that we sent you.

What am I supposed to think, now? I'm still not happy with this math ...

I've got 10 organizations that I've donated to.
Of these, I've only heard from 5 of them so far. Did the others really get the money, like Network for Good says? Or did they not? I guess I need to manually followup with all of them? GAD.
Of these 5, they report receiving the money on various dates between Jan 14 and Feb 17. This does not jive AT ALL with Network for Good's assertion that all money was transferred the 15th of the next month ... i.e., on Jan 15, 2011. How could one group receive the money BEFORE the official transfer date, while another received it over a month later? [This 15th of the month revelation is in fact on the NfG site, but it is only available 3 levels down in the online FAQs, which are available from the Network for Good Help link, which is in small print in the footer. I don't think I'm alone in assuming that my donation was going to be transferred in a few days.]
What about the one that says they received less than I sent to them? She is saying to not believe Rails-to-Trails, that they really got $25. But they are saying that they only got $24.79. Who do I believe? I've written to R-to-T twice, but haven't heard back. I don't know if they are researching it, or if their responses are disappearing into my massive SPAM folder. Eventually, I'll figure this out, but this is a massive pain.
And, what about the one that NfG says didn't cash the money? This was Animal Welfare League of Alexandria. I followed up with them, asking why they hadn't cashed the check, and they were baffled by my question. They assured me that they had cashed the check within two days of getting it and it was in their bank account. So who do I believe? Do they really have the money ... or not?

So, bottomline, I have no decisive conclusions. Only doubt. Enough doubt that this coming December 2011, I'll be going back to my site by site approach from 2009. As Ripley so memorably said in Aliens, "It's the Only Way to be Sure."

Has anyone else donated through Network for Good? I'd be interested in hearing your experience.

Time to trade in the Robot ... if only I could figure out how

2011-03-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

When I'm not pondering consumerism, I work in the WWW (Wonderful World of Web) Industry. When you're in the Internet Biz, you subscribe to hundreds of lists. It's just what you do.

One I subscribe to is a list sponsored by Anne Holland, called Which Test Won? It's all about comparing web sites or HTML emails to figure out which is the more compelling message in creating 'conversions' of customers.

A few weeks ago, an A/B test popped up comparing two versions of the iRobot website. As an industry professional, I was supposed to be gaining knowledge about the user perception of a popup modal window (is it good data to be read, or close it as fast as possible because it is a junky ad) but what I took away from this one was, "WOW! You can trade in an old Roomba for a discount on a new one? HOT!" (Hopefully, trading up to a new iRobot won't have the same dire consequences as trading up a robot in I, Robot, did. Heh.)

The problem with my Roomba is that my son loves it. He has loved it since he could crawl, and as a toddler he still loves it. And as any parent knows, it is never good for any electronic product to be loved by a child. That typically means being loved TO DEATH. If only my son hadn't ripped off the top sensor, at least it would be able to limp back to its station to charge itself, but the poor thing can't even do that. In short, my Roomba has seen much better days.

So, I went to the iRobot site, looking for info on this grand deal. Nothing. So I linked to the consumer site.Nothing. I linked to parts, service, deals, promotions. Nothing. I could NOT find any mention of this program, and I even knew I was looking for it!

So, I figured I'd contact them. I linked to email customer care. But the form required I put in my serial number of my current one. (i.e., You can't contact their customer care if you are a potential customer; you must already be a customer.) Too much effort. So I linked to the 'Call us' section: the only hours they are open are the prime hours I am at work. Sigh.

So, if this grand deal still exists, I doubt that many folks are going to take advantage of it. Hopefully, they'll realize this and start to promote it all the time with the same modal popup as they used in their test. Otherwise, I don't see this program succeeding.

I don't suppose anyone out there has successfully done this and has a tale to tell?

A Tale of Three Sippy Cups

2011-03-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! My theme today is cups. Not cups that hold Beer, but cups that hold juice and milk.

A few years ago, I lamented about not being able to buy just the part I want for certain products. Now, I am further lamenting that even when it is possible, buying just the part I want is often difficult and expensive.

My Goal: Revive 3 Sippy/Straw Cups that have had just one part wear out on each of them. I don't want to toss them and get new ones. I just want to replace the broken parts.

The slightly worn Frog Cup

Nuby Flip-It Insulated Cup

My son chewed through the straw on this in a few weeks. Tracking down this product was actually a bit difficult, as I bought it under the brand 'Cottontails.' But eventually the Internet led me to 'Nuby' and photos proved it was the same cup.

That tip then led me to Nuby's incomprehensible site. I just had no idea at all where to go after reading this wackiness, so I went to Amazon and found the Nuby Replacement Straw Kit for cups. The photo shows 3 lids, but it actually only includes one. The reviews are deservedly scathing: twice the price of a whole new cup just for a replacement straw, plus shipping??? It's one thing to reuse and replace, but it's another to get totally screwed while doing it. After hunting around on Amazon a little more, I found another replacement straw kit that is a better deal, but still very close to the cost of a whole new cup. I thought about writing Nuby to complain, but the incomprehensible website (see above) had no way to Contact them that I could find. That's a little scary if I had actually had a serious issue with the cup.

The Dino Cup

Playtex Insulated Twist 'n Click Straw Cup

My darling son chewed through the straw of this one in 2 days. So, I'm barely motivated to get a new one only to see it munched through again. You need to read essays of text to figure out which type of replacement straw you need, but they do have some pretty good photos and lots of big red warnings that warn you of common mistakes. Same basic pricing issue as the Nuby cup: I can get a 2-pack of new cups for the same cost as 3 replacement straws plus shipping. I'm not sure that is worth it.
Playtex actually had a 'contact us' section on their website, so I wrote them about my frustrations in trying to replace the straw at a reasonable price.

It's frustrating that the straw wears out so quickly on this cup (My son chewed through it after two uses) but it is difficult and expensive to buy replacement parts. (You can buy the new cups in stores, but need to pay shipping for the replacement parts.) Have you considered packaging extra straws in with the cup and charging $1-$2 more? I don't think I'll bother with a new straw, but I am wondering if the cup is recyclable or if I have to trash it. It has no recycling symbol on it, but isn't polypropylene recyclable?

They wrote back within 48 hours.

Thank you for contacting us regarding the Playtex® Insulator® Straw Cups. To answer your question, these cups have a recycle code of 5. Please contact your local recycling facility to verify they recycle this type of plastic. In appreciation for your feedback we are sending you two coupons that we encourage you to use towards any Playtex Infant Feeding products.

Well, maybe I'll try getting those replacement straws, after all! (Then, if he chews through the first in two days. I'll pack up the cup and give it as a gift to someone else.)

Take & Toss

So Simple. So colorful.

These cups have been our all-around favorite cups, with the sippy cup lids rather than the straw lids. (Note: They are our favorites after you make the holes larger with an ice pick. This is an important detail as so many reviews of these have parents saying "We can't get a drop of liquid out through these lids!")

But our son chomps on these lids, too, and eventually they need to be replaced. The CUPS last forever; all we need are LIDS. But the only place to get lids is online and they cost of the lids is just about the same as the lid + cup, plus I need to pay shipping. Why is it so much more expensive to just get the lids? I pay it as a contribution to the environment (why buy more cups I don't need), but it is frustrating. I wrote to them about this ...

We like your sippy cups very much. For something supposedly designed to be tossed away, they are nearly indestructible. The lids, however, are more destructible. It is great that you sell replacement lids, but you only do it on your main site. Have you ever considered making these replacement parts more widely available? Have you ever considered packaging the cups with an extra lid and then just charging an extra dollar? Either of these would be helpful.

They wrote me back almost immediately, saying that they'd definitely pass along my ideas to their product department. Whether that actually happens or not, it was nice to get a response.

But one thing I'll say about Take & Toss... once the lids wear out you can definitely toss them in the recycling bin. There are just simple plastic, #5 recycling. (At least where we live, we can recycle these). That's nice. The other cups are too complex and I'm not sure they are really recyclable. I just made an order for more lids and more bowls. These things are great.

***

Are other folks having the same experience? That just one or two parts of these cups wear out and then you're stuck?

The All-Powerful Grippy Pad

2011-03-10T07:45:00.000-08:00

My father bought a little rubber 'grippy pad' to put under his cutting board. I thought this was pretty clever. A wet washcloth will work for stopping board slippage, but then you're left with a wet washcloth to hang somewhere and/or someone else in the kitchen can't do other things that require the washcloth ... like washing dishes.

So I went to hunt one down for myself. I couldn't find a single pad like he bought, but I did find a roll of grippy material made by Con-Tact. I paused, wondering "What am I going to DO with all this stuff?" but what I should have asked myself was "What am I NOT going to do with this stuff?!?"

This stuff is the BEST. I don't know how I ever lived without it. It fills in so many gaps.

It holds the toddler's potty in place,
so it doesn't slip when he sits on it.

It holds my cell phone in place

on my car's dashboard.

It stops my bookends
from slipping.

It stops my flatware trays

from sliding back into the drawer.

It stops my toddler's plate from sliding. It lets me grip tight jar lids better to pry them off.

It's absolutely awesome,
and I still have half a roll left.

Anyone else have any good ideas for it?

Hunting for a Tea Leaf in a hay stack

2011-03-03T18:47:00.000-08:00

I adore Celestial Seasonings Madagascar Vanilla Red Tea, and I just ran out of it.

I went to my local Giant grocery store, where I had bought it before. Not there. I tried Whole Foods Market. No luck. Sigh.

So I tried their website. Celestial Seasonings has one of the most amazing product pages ever.

Not only is the design attractive, with a big photo of the product, it has a search that tells me exactly where to find the product AND links to use to tell Celestial if the product isn't there. Wow! Great Website design!

And if you aren't near any of those stores, you can buy online from Celestial Seasonings (or from our friends at Amazon, of course.)

Plastic Toys Made in the USA? Get outta here!

2011-02-23T19:51:00.000-08:00

Just when you thought that every plastic toy manufacturer had shipped operations overseas, I've actually found TWO of them that continue to manufacture toys here in the USA.

My in-laws stumbled upon American Plastic Toys, Inc. in Walled Lake, MI. They bought the giant dump truck for my son for a gift. Tragically, it was broken right out of the box.

They called the company, and the company immediately shipped another truck to them. This second one has proven to be very sturdy and a huge hit. It holds a lot of stuff in the back, and unlike the two other dump truck toys we have, the back dump bed is a true box that holds whatever gets tossed into there without spilling. So he can pile of ton of blocks or train-tracks or whatever into it and zoom around with it.

And then, thanks to Todd at MadeinUSAforever.com, I found Green Toys. Their products are Made in USA AND Made of 100% recycled plastic. It makes me almost giddy to see something as awesome as this. I must confess that we have not bought any of their trucks, simply because we have so many big trucks already. But I am wanting to buy some for someone else, to support this great company. I'm thinking I'll buy the recycle truck to give it as a gift or donate it to Toys-for-Tots.

Anyone else know of any other great plastic toys still made in the USA?

Best Mac & Cheese EVER

2011-02-16T22:00:00.000-08:00

From the time I was little, I never liked Mac & Cheese. It seemed like a great concept -- I love cheese and I love noodles -- but it always tasted gritty to me. Yuck.

I decided to give Mac & Cheese another go now that I've got a toddler. So, I went to the store and randomly grabbed a few brands. I started to try each one. Yuck, yuck, yuck ... WAIT. One of them tasted good. GREAT, in fact. I pondered the box and suddenly realized the difference. The one that I liked was WHITE CHEDDAR, not standard yellow. I experimented with several brands that do white cheddar and found them to be universally great.

With this new found knowledge, I spent some time studying every type of macaroni product on the shelves. I was intrigued by a white cheddar & broccoli one that I saw, but I wasn't intrigued by the extra cost or the extra salt content. Then it occurred to me ... I bet I can make this myself.

Thus was born my toddlers absolute favorite lunch food, that I munch right along side of him. All you need on hand is your favorite brand of white cheddar mac & cheese (I like Annie's Homegrown Shells & White Cheddar, 6-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 24)) and some broccoli (we get a giant bag of frozen broccoli from COSTCO, so that we can just reach in and grab some).

Boil the Water
Toss in the Broccoli, first
Then toss in the Pasta once the water is back to a boil
Boil for however many minutes the pasta calls for
Then mix in the cheese sauce, taking care to break up the broccoli as you mix

All Done! Instant, delicious lunch!