How does staying open 24 hrs help stores bottom line?

So there have been stories reported this week that Macy's is staying open around the clock and JC Penny is staying open until midnight. This isall in the hopes of getting every sale they can and help the bottom line in this worst shopping season since tracking started in 1969.

Is it just me or is there a major problem in their thinking? First, if the customers are not coming out during normal hours, what makes them think they will come out in the middle of the night? Yes, maybe they are lowering prices even more, but are they spending more on advertising to let folks know?

Second...for all the money it costs to pay for the building utilities (electricity, lights, heating) and salaries, are they actually selling enough to cover the extra costs and help the revenue bottom line?! I can't think of how this is possible. It seems like they are just making things worse for themselves.

I'm not an economist, so if anyone can explain the logic to me on this one, I'm open for an education on this one.

Happy Chrismahanakwanzikah Folks!

Survivor Finale Gripes

So I'm watching the Survivor Finale and it reminds me of some gripes I have every season:

1. The fact that the Internet news media reports the winner before the West Coast have finished watching the show! (I found out who won 20 minutes early)
2. The Walk of Memories they do before the last challenge. It's cheesy and a waste of 15 minutes and I really don't care to relive who the losers were.
3. When they burn their huts down before the leave for the last council before the jury. There's enough out of control brush fires in this world without creating one on purpose. Did you see how close the fire was to the trees, where animals are living?! And then they walk away and leave it burning! I'm sure there's a Production Asst. there to watch it, but how do you put out a fire like that safely in the middle of the jungle?!

On something specific to Sugar in this final episode...she let her remorse over her dad's death control her decisions and make her worst decision in this game. I'll say no more...you need to finish watching the finale, like me!

Finally the Time of Rain has returned

So we're finally getting some much needed rain here in the SF Bay Area & Northern California. I think we are working on our 3rd drought year if things don't start turning around. But as sure as rain here means snow in the mountains, it will only be a few days of rain before people start to complain about the rain. Whether it's the weather media, folks that need a daily intake of sun, or the peeps that built a house too high and too close to the edge of a cliff that's been burned by fire and is now a mudslide hazard (very niche I know); they will complain enough with the rain.

Sorry to put a damper (pun intended) on your complaining folks, but we need more rain than we can almost imagine to get out of this precipitation deficit we're in. Like it or not, California's lack of rain has begat the following Cycle of Rain (or lack thereof):

• Lack of Rain means drier vegetation longer in the year
• Very dry vegetation & weather helps to lead to brush fires
• Brush fires mean bare hills with nothing to hold the ground together
• When rain does come it causes mudslides
• Brush finally does regrow though with the rain
• When the drought returns, the cycle starts all over

So this may not be a real logical cycle (so does that mean it's an illogical cycle?), but this is how I perceive how rain and it's effects are viewed here in CA when it doesn't have to do with snow pack, runoff, or agriculture irrigation.

But the point I'm not making very well here is that we need the rain very badly folks. Until cheap industrialized desalinization plants become part of normal life materializes (will it ever?), we need every drop of rain we can get. Yes mudslides suck, but maybe you shouldn't have built your house or moved into a house at the bottom of a hill, on a hill, or close to the edge of a cliff. That's one of the risks you need to just suck up when you have a house there, like earthquakes is a risk of living on a fault my family has had to accept. (BTW, that was the un-PC part of this rant.)

Back to the main point, we need months of never-ending rain to get back into the black. To get there we will have to live through the negative aspects and suck it up. To the weather media: stop tryig to report on the bad all the time. We need the rain so just keep reporting that rain is good for us. To people that just need their daily sun fix: get a UV lamp and go grow yourself :-).

That has been your Sunday report by your friendly neighborhood crumudgeon who loves the rain and hope we have it for days to come. :-)

Have a great week!

New Batman series a major downer

So I've always been a huge fan of almost all TV shows about Marvel or DC heroes. Actually, right at this moment I can't think of any I flat out disliked...until now. Batman: The Brave & the Bold (Cartoon Network) is a weird mash-up of the 60s Batman live action show with Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Laboratory, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) style animation.

On paper the concept may sound nice, but the cartoon is too kitschy for its own good and doesn't have the edginess of the most recent Batman incarnations (Justice League, The Batman). Dietrick Bader as new voice of Batman is no Kevin Conroy, and the stories are like watching a Little Tikes version of Batman. I could only stomach the show for a few minutes before the mix of Superfriends Aquaman with the machismo twist forced me to switch it off.

There has been a dearth of comic based TV shows this season, so I had high hopes for the pseudo-flashback Batman interpretation. I guess my search will have to continue. Know of any cool shows or movies out there, please ping me.

Blog Launch Take 2

Happy Sunday!

I've been thinking this past week about starting a blog, for no other reason than have a place to vent as friends & family can sometimes get sick of my rants. So I came onto Blogger this morning to create my blog, only to remember that I had a failed blog start over 2 years ago (but coincidentally the 1st Sunday in December).

So consider this the relaunch of my blog. The description above will tell you all you need to know about what you will find here. But don't expect me to bring you anything newsworthy; unless my mind dump of peeves, complaints, quirks, and the infrequent compliment is considered news.

So now that I have stated my 'manifesto' so to speak, I'll give a quick rundown of the only thing really bugging me this past week: the Big 3 Bailout. I'm not thrilled that there has been no discussion of increasing development into hybrids and other more economical/'green' vehicles. In fact Bush & Pelosi are thinking of dipping into the 'Green Funds' already established for the auto companies as a way of paying for the bailout. I will say I'm glad they are being more cautious about the bailout and being strict on it's use; I only wish the government was this strict with the use of the $700+ billion in the bank bailout. And before you say, "Well you should contact your congress reps," I already have. :-P

Must be a good day today...can't think of anything else to bitch about today. So I guess I'll be off to have a fun day with mi familia.

If there are topics you think I should mention here, or if you want to give me some feedback on how to write a better blog, feel free to ping me.

Have a great week!
-NS