Online Ratings... Maybe Not So Much Trust

About a week ago, I went to Yelp to check out a local doctor to find out what others thought of him and his practice. I was amazed to find a 4 out of 5 star rating and all these wonderful things people had to say about the doctor and his office. How could this be, I wondered, since I had just been a patient there and had a very unpleasant experience.

Aha, there is something Yelp calls a "filter" which takes a bit of finagling to get through and viola...up comes the very negative comments that virtually mirror the visit I had with this same doctor. Had I checked this site before choosing a doctor, and not been able to find this fairly well hidden "filter" I would have thought this was a great doc.

Caveat: Don't trust Yelp to give you the straight story on reviews when they hide the really pertinent information at their discretion. If they are going to allow reviews, then print them all!

Secondly, some sites actually do list the good, the bad and the ugly about the docs and others reviewed. The point is to be sure you get the big picture and never rely on just one or two review sites to give you the information you need. Check every one you can, especially professional sites. Check the local medical board if possible. Check hospital ratings too. With your health, you can never be too careful.

Finally, when it comes to the Better Business Bureau, as they say in New York "fuggettaboutit." They rate every business who pays them a fee and the businesses start off with an "A." That doesn't give you the warm fuzzies when a brand new business with no history has the same "A" as the business who has been around a few years. You do have to look at more than the letter rating but again, every A is not an A.

Time for Reflection

Americans need to take time to reflect on the past three and one half years under the current administration, and ask themselves are you really better off than you were four or five or six years ago?

Sadly, for most of us, the answer is no. That is, for the working class person who supports the rest of the leeches of society who refuse to work to maintain their lifestyle, preferring that the rest of us pay their way ad nauseum. Those and the Democrats who somehow inanely continue to believe that Obama and his crew are doing great things for America as he leads us down the path of Socialism. Hmm, it's easy to see why those sucking at the hind tit of the freebie pig are willing to give this mostly crew another go at the reins of the country, but thinking people? WTF?

The Obama administration twists and wiggles the figures to make you believe, in this election year, that all of a sudden they are doing a great job. Spending what will amount to a billion dollars in campaign funds to spread their own gospel, telling you that all of a sudden everything is coming together. That the bankers and stock brokers on Wall Street have all become angels, and that they didn't screw America after all. That the government actually extracted from them the FAIR amount owed to the people following the huge bailouts. That those responsible ALL went to prison for extended terms. That bailouts were somehow good for Americans pocketbooks, while the little guy got poorer or lost everything as a result of the debacle and the fat cats on Wall Street grabbed huge bonuses, golden parachute retirement plans and personal fortunes. Even mid-level executives made out like bandits while poor old Joe America watched their retirement fade away. And Washington sat on their collective asses and did nothing but point fingers.

Will Eric Holder ever be honest about Fast and Furious and all the lost firearms that went into Mexico and the drug cartels? How does he and the rest of the idiots who turned their collective heads, and shut their brains down, tell the family of the dead Border Patrol agent that this was a "mistake"? That they were inept and even though they were informed there were major problems, those brass upstream just kept the program running. The same government who would dare bring our military to court for such injustice, sidesteps it themselves and hides under the cloak of secrecy and executive privilege.

Maybe between vacations and campaign junkets, Mr. Obama should find some time to actually do something good for the country? It's not likely. In my opinion, he lies to present whatever suits him at that moment. And you can't trust a liar especially as your leader. Is he a pathological liar? You make the call. Ever since he disavowed knowledge of ACORN, yet was affiliated with them from as early as 1992, was a lawyer for them in 1995 and even spent over $800,000 in campaign funds with an ACORN affiliate in 2008. And he says ...ACORN who? 

It's time for change, and if you don't make it in November, you deserve what you get. Four more years of lies, deceit and socialist programs jammed down your throats.

Pat & Oscar's Restaurants - Followup

I wrote about this restaurant chain in December 2010 and indicated the food and service was falling by the wayside. I also indicated I feared that the company would follow their service down the tubes.

The inevitable has happened and the corporate Pat and Oscar's has gone bankrupt, closing their company owned restaurants without notice as I have gathered. Some franchise operations remain operating and I understand will attempt to make a go of it without the corporate albatross hanging on.

Again, I finished that previous story in wishing them luck. But it takes more than that to bring the customers back, To those franchisees out there, you have a wonderful product, so best of luck and maybe with your abilities to preserve your own customer base and without the pressure of a corporate presence, you can be successful. I sure hope you can.

Warning - Warning - Holiday Delivery and "Free Shipping"

Did you know that many of the companies out there, including the big ones that you do business with are turning to alternative shipping solutions to save money on shipping? Yes, and that might turn out to be a very bad thing for you, the consumer, especially at this time of year as holiday shopping hits its frenzied peak.

You probably are aware that United Parcel Service or UPS takes about 7 days to get a package from coast to coast. Of course, with what they call "delivery exceptions" it can take longer. But for small packages, retailers are now using a service called UPS Mail Innovations or UPS MI in which the original package is shipped through UPS and moved about the country, then at some point is handed over to the US Postal Service for the final legs of delivery. The catch? Ten days or more between NY and CA on one delivery. 13 days on a shipment from Chicago weighing about 6 ounces where the seller, Dyson Vacuums charged $6.95 and could have Priority Mailed it for less than $5.00 and still made two dollars on packaging in the envelope. Imagine 13 days without a vacuum if you didn't have a spare. And they never said it would be going by UPS Mail Inovations, just UPS!

Problem here is that the shipper electronically manifests the shipping company who may not pick up for a day and it doesn't get shipped for a day. Then even as it moves from terminal to terminal, it changes hands several times more. Then the shipping company manifests the post office before giving them the package and finally hands it over. Then the package is on its way again with several stops in the interim before being delivered.

Think FedEx is any better? Think again! We loved FedEx Ground for heavier shipments as they were always faster than UPS with 5 day coast to coast times and for home delivery, they delivered on Saturday. But wait, FedEx came up with FedEx Smart Post where it now takes 10 days in some cases to get an article from outside of Phoenix, Arizona to San Diego, less than 400 miles away. Same type of deal as with the UPS mail , it moves through the FedEx Ground system and then gets handed off to the Postal Service down the line. But one wrong move and then nobody has any idea what happened to your package. Mine disappeared in Phoenix for days and neither the shipper nor FedEx could tell me anything about where it was except it was still there somewhere. Big freaking help!

There are others too, but those are the big two. My daughter became frustrated with one called Streamlite Delivery where they promise 5 business day delivery, but not to her door!

Amazon.com has taken to similar shipping on its free shipping deals with economy shipping. Yet, for some reason, Amazon does it right. Whether the shipper is afraid to lose Amazon as a client, thus moves their mail post-haste or whatever, the items actually have been delivered quickly. But, then again, maybe that's just an anomaly as this is the beginning of the holiday season, and the items are starting to move at the start. We'll see as the season progresses.

The caveat here is to ask before you choose the free or reduced shipping, or any other shipping this holiday season. Even at QVC.com and on the air purchases, you have a choice. If you click "best way" they will ship UPS or US mail at their prerogative, but you usually have the choice on smaller items to click down to have them use US Mail at the same price and it will arrive faster with less chance of damage.

The problem is so many shippers won't tell you who they actually use. They say your order will ship UPS but it will ship UPS Mail Innovations for one hellishly long ride.  Or, their ads will say they use FedEx so you think you're getting FedEx. Well, you are, sort of. But it's a bastardization of the mail and FedEx Ground that may leave you scrambling for a last minute replacement present when the one you bought doesn't show up. Try telling your wife/fiancee/significant other it was UPS or FedEx fault on Christmas! 

Finally kudos are in order to the Busted Knuckle Garage because after a package went awry from them, I called Warren, the owner, and he now posts on his web site that they do ship FedEx Smart Post for Free Ground Shipping on orders over $99, and it may delay your receipt of shipments. If you would like another way to ship, please inquire when ordering. A real stand up company who does right by their clients through informing them of choices. That's all the consumer asks...let us know what to expect and when to expect it. Busted Knuckle Garage...a 5 Star Company. I don't usually do plugs for anyone but these are really stand up folks:  http://www.bustedknucklegarage.com/

Warning...Children at Play

In Washington, I mean. Grown adults, or maybe people sized as adults with minds that are so filled with lack of logic except political partisanship, that they just can't seem to get anything right. Or anything done!

What's the huge problem is settling the debt fiasco? And why do these imbeciles seem to believe the way to do it is to screw the old, the infirm, the senior citizens, the veterans, the middle class and forget about all the special interests and the rich? The Republicans are becoming as bad as the Democrats in their self-serving lack of logic. The filthy rich have told them "Tax Us!" That's right, a group of the wealthiest people said they don't pay their fair share and should pay more. What? Many of those Republicans signed a No Tax Increase Pledge? But that's only for their rich assed friends and special interests? It sure seems that way when we hear that to "fulfill the pledge" they can cut Social Security or veterans benefits to offset not reducing a tax loophole or giveaway for oil companies or ethanol production, or some other pork barrel item, thus not increasing taxes. For example, to avoid eliminating 7 billion dollars in ethanol subsidies, you simply cut slightly more than 7 billion dollars in benefits to the working class Americans, and you avoided a tax increase, although you just screwed tens of millions of people. Take away the homeowners income tax mortgage interest deduction,  property tax deduction and their tax bill will rise markedly. Those on the cusp of losing their homes due to affordability will fall over the edge. But do these buffoons care? Nope. Because they didn't have to raise taxes on big oil or corporate jets, or simply do away with the deduction of interest on planes or yachts for multi-millionaires and billionaires, nor the mega-mansions in Malibu, Laguna, Miami or the Hampton's! They'll simply put the screws to middle class America once again, and sit back and watch as more people lose their homes, because nobody thought about the long term consequences of what this would do.

That has become the hallmark of our politicians. They don't think long term. Here and now and not about later on. Like a child buying candy with their last money and eating it all at once. When it's gone and nothing is left, then they get concerned because they made a bad choice and they want more candy. So they cry and whine, kick and shout, and ask for more money or candy. See the parallels here?  Sounds like politicians, doesn't it? Maybe oversimplified because I don't know any kids needing several trillion dollars for candy...yet! Maybe after this administration gets done with us....

We'll all have to bite the bullet in this mess. But those who can least afford it shouldn't be asked to bite a howitzer shell while the mega rich are asked to chomp on a .22. Once again, politics shows, that the most vulnerable are the ones most likely to be chopped up in this mess as it runs the course in Washington.

The backlash won't be pretty. No matter how this is sliced and diced, nobody will like the outcome. Those pushing cuts with no tax increases will incur the ire of those they hurt; those pushing tax increases will incur the wrath of those who have to foot the bill, who might not be those who should be footing the bill at all.

One final thought...you just have to look at them like a group of  school children running amok before the bell. Even after they take their seats, nothing gets done. Because the head of the class is no smarter than any of the students, and no one is leading the group to a successful conclusion. The only thing they excel at is...recess!

A Curt Reply

I received a comment from a reader whom, in my opinion, is simply infantile and wanted to do nothing but mount a personal attack. Thus, it wasn't published. This blog, while my opinion about companies and organizations and our government, is simply that, a blog. My opinions and nothing more. Except for those public officials who fail to keep promises and who rape, plillage and plunder for their own good, and those who attempt to set themselves up as ideals to the world in general, I don't set out to attack them, or their sometimes corrupted morals, although it sometimes ends up that way because of their own behavior. I don't set out to attack individuals, so when someone decides to attempt to dissect the blog and tell me who they think I am, in a hateful way, I exercise my right to hit the delete button and send their junk to the trash heap. However, I would like to address a few points of that person's writings anyway:

1. You stated your one grandmother hates kids. By the tone of your vile writing, your grandmother probably hates kids because she has you for a grandchild. If you were mine, I know I could learn that pretty easily. Your drivel and venom would make you easy to dislike very quickly.
2. You make unqualified statements as to my dislike for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. I don't know how you discern that. The only rant I made was about some idiot who decided to take a beauty pageant entrant to task because she answered honestly. She was entitled to say whatever she wanted to and nobody has the right to spew venom about what she said. That's EXACTLY what the problem has been for the LGBT community. If they want to be accepted for who they are, they have to accept everyone else for who they are. Idiots like you who toss every minute thing up to make it sound homophoboic are the problem, not the cure.
3. You talk about "beautiful California"? Liberal politicians and others like you are the reason we're nearly bankrupt because everyone wants something for nothing. There's no free ride and the money's running out. But of course, you're not contributing anything, are you?
4. You're right on one count. I don't like the way legislators deal with gun control. Why? Because they have no idea what they're doing. They are pushed and manipulated by people who think guns are evil, rather than understand that it's the idiot behind the gun that needs attention. Guns don't just up and shoot someone. Cars don't just run off and drive over a kid on a bike. The idiot behind the wheel or trigger is to blame. People who wish to own firearms need to be trained, tested, a thorough background check initiated and have a reasonable waiting period. There are people who should never own a gun. There are people who should never drive a car. You might be either, or neither. And if you commit a felony with a gun, or a car, your right to own and operate either should be removed and your ass should go to jail. Period. No fancy attorney to get you out or back on the road. In my opinion, a person who drives impaired is as dangerous as an idiot with a loaded gun. And cars are much easier to obtain.
4a. Oh, one more thing on Gun Control. As one who has been through war and in law enforcement, gun control in the hands of a trained user means a well placed first shot, so you don't have to waste a second shot. I'm sure that will cause your tidy whites to crinkle.
5. You think I should be deported? That made me really laugh. Where? To Ireland. About half my family came from there so I'll be waiting for your personal cashier's check to move the family.
6. You said you wouldn't bleed for this country. People like you are the reason we're in such sad shape. A real candy ass who sits and waits for someone else to defend the land while he sits at home and devours the benefits of their blood and sweat. While they keep aggression and terrorism from your door, you make such a statement. You are a sad piece of trash, a boil on the buttocks of humanity.
6. Finally, I'm glad you got it all off your chest. I served two tours in Vietnam so people like you could continue to have the freedom to run your mouth and say whatever you like. Service men and women have and will continue to do so for the same reason, so continue to enjoy life in America while you contribute absolutely nothing to it.

Memorial Day 2011

Memorial Day has traditionally been celebrated as the beginning of Summer. No, not the actual date summer begins, but the official day when the seasonal holidays start and the barbecues begin, beaches open, playgrounds are filled with children, parks, lakes and pools ring with the laughter and mirth of kids and adults alike. The sweet smoky smell of hot dogs, hamburgers and even marshmallows over a fire waft through the air, an odor that beckons each and every one of us to childhood memories no matter our age.

But wait, somehow, in all of the fun and frivolity, many seem to have forgotten the solemnity and sacred meaning of Memorial Day. What it should mean to every American. Memorial Day is a day set aside each year to remember the fallen warriors of our country; those who made the ultimate sacrifice to give each of us freedom, and the ability to reach out for the American Dream. No, they didn't give you the American Dream, you have to work for that yourself. But they gave their lives to assure you had the freedom to reach out for it, free from oppression, tyranny and grave injustice as is the case in so many other countries.

It doesn't matter whether you call it a war, police action, or what name you pin on combat. Or any other action that places our military men and women in harms way to defend freedom. Men and women gave all so that we might live free. They didn't do it for fame or glory, or a medal to pin on their uniform. Medals usually came too late to shine in a parade; many were laid on rows of caskets at ceremonies in such places as Arlington and Fort Rosecrans. The Soldier, Sailor, Marine, Coast Guardsman, Air Forceman or Merchant Marine never saw the glint of the Silver Star or Purple Heart or other medal in the sun as it laid upon his casket. But the family knew the bravery that he or she displayed many days or weeks or months before this day came to pass.

Most of our fallen warriors did come home, to be interred in their beloved country near family and loved ones. But many didn't and are buried on foreign shores in huge cemeteries, marked by simple crosses and markers, the only remnants of fierce battles, where Americans shed their blood to give freedom to others in a foreign land. They didn't know the people, but knew freedom was as important to them as it is to us. Freedom, the one thing that is perhaps as much important as life itself.

In my humble opinion, the three most important things are life, love and freedom. Without them life is just a bleak and somewhat hopeless experience. With perseverance and luck, many find love, but it takes a very special person willing to lay it all on the line to fight for your freedom. When you realize the warrior doesn't know you, or the individuals they are fighting for in most cases, it makes it even more impressive that they are willing to sacrifice all for others, to give them a chance at a better life.

On this Memorial Day, I will remember my brothers who have fallen in Vietnam, as well as all those who have fallen before, and after, in every war and conflict. I will remember those who have been ravaged by the remnants of war, and who have died as a result of service-connected injuries and illnesses, those who never appear in casualty rolls, but who are casualties just the same.

And some special prayers to several brothers who are very close in my heart today and always will be. Rest well my brothers; we'll all be crossing the bar to join you some day.

And, just in case anyone ever forgets:

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!