For some reason, this is really bothering me, and it has occurred to me that it might be the root cause of the general malaise hanging over the American Consumer.

You might be wondering what is causing such a feeling, and imagining great and powerful economic forces at work here, but you would be slightly mistaken.

It is a force to be reckoned with, and it’s probably even hiding in one of your kitchen or desk drawers as we speak.

That irresistible force? None other than “Transparent Tape” – also known by one of the many brand names, “Scotch” tape.

I know, you can’t possibly see what the big deal is, but here’s where two massive ideals collide head-on. Grumpiness, and bottom-line thinking. Grumpiness, because it has finally bugged me to where I’m going to say something, and bottom-line thinking because manufacturers sometimes forget that real people have to use their product. I’m picking on “Scotch” tape because I happened to be impacted by that product today.

I was very innocently using the dispenser of tape when it bit me. Not the plastic case itself – since the manufacturers have figured out how to make a one-piece dispenser, there are no seams in the case – but the teeth that are used to tear the tape. For some reason, the tape seems to be getting sturdier – not as easily torn as in years past (or, am I getting old and weak?) – and the teeth on the dispenser are coming into play more often for me. I noticed, as I grated the teeth of the dispenser across the meat of my index finger this morning, that the width of the tape is just slightly more than the width of the teeth. Now, in the normal use of the dispenser, when you are in a hurry and you aren’t paying attention, you might not notice this as you pull the tape off at a slight angle and start the tearing off to one side. But I wasn’t that careless this morning – no, no – I managed to try to start tearing right at the edge of the case, at the same width as the tape. (i checked. the part of the tape dispenser where the teeth are is exactly as wide as the tape. the teeth are trimmed out by the plastic shell on each side, so you have a thickness of the plastic shell, the teeth, and then another thickness of the plastic shell, and this is all the same width as the tape itself.) This resulted in the tape remaining in one piece, and the aforementioned teeth chewing on the aforementioned finger.

Where are you going with this, Cary?

Good question, and I will tell you.

In the effort to pare the costs, even in such a small amount as the extra two teeth on the dispenser would cost (ok, and the extra plastic to make up the difference in width someplace else in the case), the manufacturer has increased the odds of the consumer hurting themselves by quite a bit. And, being a grumpy old fart, I figured that I would just go ahead and blog about it, because it really bothered me.

Overall, the company’s bottom line is looking good – they pared the cost of goods, raised the price a bit anyway, and are now making more money than before. Meanwhile, grumpy old farts and other users of the tape dispenser have to increase their costs by the addition of bandages, antiseptics, and chocolate. (chocolate is a pain reliever, you know. especially dark chocolate)

By the manufacturer’s callous disregard of the end-user, the overall attitude of the manufacturing sector towards the consumer is showing. Consumers are noticing, and it’s only a matter of time before a massive backlash occurs.

It probably won’t be pretty.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

For some reason, MEG has decided to start getting up earlier. That might tweak the show schedule. Maybe I’ll start keeping her up a little later…

This morning, we had a great time. Breakfast, and playing, and chasing the dogs. MEG wanted to go outside and play in the back yard. No problem, right?

Well … remember the dogs mentioned earlier?

Yeah. They had all weekend to hide their own “Easter Eggs” and one of them likes to kind of kick the gravel over her gifts, hiding them pretty well.

So, I’m out there trying to get the yard apples picked up before MEG can get to them. You see, she likes to “help” daddy by picking them up too. Of course, she doesn’t have a scoop or anything… so daddy has to move pretty darn quick, I don’t mind telling you. Didn’t move quite quick enough on one of the hidden ones – however, I did catch her hand before she moved it very far away from the site – enough to get it cleaned off with a wipe, and then washed real good.

Don’t tell TMBWitW, okay? She gets a little worried about things like that…

Now, MEG is down for the nap, I’ve been through the BTR training, and I’m chatting with a friend in Yahoo while posting this and listening to K-LOVE on the internet. I think I’ll go watch the DVR of New Amsterdam from last night. Good series. If you don’t get it on your service, try checking out Hulu, a new site that has a bunch of shows archived with limited commercials.

Life is good.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Since I won’t be blogging tomorrow (TMBWitW works from home on Wednesdays, and uses the computer, remember? really, I’ve got to get some schedules printed up or something…) I figured I better put this up tonight:This is the famous BlogTalk Radio duo of Mrs. and Mr. Pistachio.

And this, of course, is the Political Pistachio himself with yours truly.

Dinner was delicious, as usual, and our server, Andrea, was wonderful, as usual. We are so glad to have found My Mother’s.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

I almost forgot to mention – Doug Gibbs of Political Pistachio fame is in town with his beautiful wife for an Angels spring training game. After the game, they are going to have dinner with us at our favorite restaurant, My Mother’s.

If you know the area, and are there around fiveish, stop in and say hello, or have a slice of pie – we’ll be the noisy table in the corner.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

I got this little blurb from my wonderful GG in Fort Worth. There are some good tips in here, but there are also some misleading ones, too. My comments will be in italics. Full disclosure: I used to drive a fuel truck for a truckstop in northern Arizona. No, it wasn’t Little America in Flagstaff. It was called the Bellemont Truck Center, outside of Bellemont AZ, across the freeway from the Navajo Army Depot on I-40, west of Flagstaff.

ON PUMPING GAS

I don’t know what you guys are paying for gasoline…. but here in California we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money’s worth for every gallon. obviously, this was written a while ago. everyone knows that California pays more than $10.00 a gallon, because McCain is going to be president

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose, CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons. this kind of threw me for a loop – I never knew that all these different types of fuel were delivered through the same pipeline

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening….your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. point of order – and a physics lesson. the underground storage tanks are like thermos bottles. the ground around them insulates the contents, so the temperature of what was delivered will mingle slightly with the existing temperature, and hold steady; unless the surface temperature of the ground is highly different from the product (more than 35 degrees) the ground temperature will not overtly affect the fuel temperature due to the tanks being below the frost line to prevent heaving.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps. unless you are in Canada or Hawaii, this is true. in Canada the fuel temp is below 60, so the fuel company wants to get paid for what they pump. Hawaii has common sense laws in this area. the rest of the US is out of luck, since the average fuel temp is above 60 and will then pump less than what you are paying for

When you’re filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you’re getting less worth for your money. the debate here is whether the vapors are really being produced at a rate that it would make a difference on how fast the gas is pumped; over a year’s time is it worth YOUR time to double the amount of time spent pumping gas?

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount. “half full or half empty” – that sounds like a philosopher’s conundrum. again, it’s a matter of what your time is worth – do you want to spend twice as much time pumping gas as normal, considering that vapors in your tank are going to stay there unless you do fill up? and, having installed the underground tanks, i can assure you they have no floating roof – only the above ground, tank-farm storage facilities use the floating roofs, and then to keep the vapors to a minimum so as to avoid flash fires.

Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up–most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money. between the filters in the tanks, on the pumps, and in your fuel line, what little bit of dirt that might be stirred up when a load is delivered is not worth worrying about. heck, what’s to say the truck didn’t leave just before you pulled up, and the fuel is still swirling around from being delivered?

Now, if you are REALLY concerned about not buying so much fuel, let’s look at ways that have been proved to increase your fuel economy:

1. Keep your vehicle tuned and maintained.
2. Check and correct your cold tire pressure weekly.
3. Drive like there is an egg under your right foot.
4. Anticipate the stops and let off the gas earlier.
5. Most cities have the traffic lights timed. Get on the rhythm and reduce the number of times you need to accelerate or brake.
6. Carpooling reduces the amount of fuel YOU buy. Share a ride with one person – cut your fuel purchases in half. Share with three people, cut your fuel purchases by 75%.
7. Use public transportation when practical.
8. Walk or ride a bike for short trips where practical.

And, from a world view point, research where the gas comes from at your favorite station. If you are buying from a station that gets most of it’s crude from Middle Eastern sources, think about the impact that is having on us as a country.

Write to your representatives, and badger them – er, I mean, ASK them about revisiting the drilling and refining of our own oil, as opposed to using foreign sources so much. There is no completely energy-independent country in the world, but reducing our dependence on foreign sources only strengthens our sovereignty.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!