Nice Service

There was some press a while back about manufacturers’ rebates and how many consumers are too lazy or too busy to claim them.
So, I was pleased to see that BJ’s, the membership warehouse retail store, has put together an online service, simple to use, for submitting rebates.
Refreshing, isn’t it, for a retailer – especially one running on slim margins – to have invested resources into building a nice convenience for its customers.

IKEA and Me

I’ve tried – so hard – to buy anything for myself from the local IKEA that costs more than $2.
I’ve purchased furniture and a sundry or two that sit in my grandsons’ room, but haven’t found anything suitable for Inner Keep, and think I’ve figured out why.

Continue reading IKEA and Me

It Was Inevitable

From an article in today’s NY Times:
“India still produces plenty of engineers, nearly 400,000 a year at last count. But their competence has become the issue.
“A study commissioned by a trade group, the National Association of Software and Service Companies, or Nasscom, found only one in four engineering graduates to be employable. The rest were deficient in the required technical skills, fluency in English or ability to work in a team or deliver basic oral presentations.”
The article also states that as a result of this skill shortage, salaries for engineers in India have been increasing at 10-15% per year.

Workers’ Rights for Child Care Workers – Indeed

Those busybodies at MoveOn (only kidding, they are good folks) have asked their Massachusetts readers to send comments on a couple of ballot questions that we can look forward to this November 7.
Here is their description of Question 3, named in typically obfuscatory fashion the “Better Child Care Initiative”:

Continue reading Workers’ Rights for Child Care Workers – Indeed

Nobel Prize Tally

So, four of the six Nobel prizes for 2006 – economics, medicine, physics and chemistry – were awarded to Americans.
The other two, the literature and peace prizes, went to a Turkish writer and a Bangladeshi economist, respectively.
It’s heartening to see that in spite of our reputation for intellectual mediocrity, the US is still recognized by a respected international organization for academic and professional excellence.