Just My Opinion

Now I, like many folks, have never understood how the powers in control price gasoline, heating oil, and such.  Seems like it is based mostly on whatever the market will bear, and woe to the consumer.  And we the consumers have learned to accept floating prices, pumping our own gas, paying with cash only, and even washing our own windshields.  And we can have 2 fuel stations (remember when they were known as Service Stations?) on opposite street corners with a price difference of .30 per gallon, and both will do a booming business.  Who cares about price?

I saw another good example of this on a recent trip from Central NY to the Tug Hill.  I did some running around up there, so needed to get a refill to make it back to Baldwinsville.  Not surprisingly, the mart in Barnes Corners was at $2.74.  They feed on snowmobilers, ATVers, and campers, and have a bit of a monopoly there.  I passed them up.  At Adams Center, next to Rt 81, they also were at $2.75-they cater to the unwary traveler who forgot to fill up at Watertown or the 1000 Islands.  I decided to move on down the road.

At Adams, just 4 miles further South, I found the highest price yet, $2.79.  No way I pay-still have a gallon or so left.  Finally, at Sandy Creek, I relented and pulled off and found a station-only $2.69 here.  I bought the least amount I thought would get me home.  Note that it is .10 per gallon less 20 miles down the road.  Delivery costs?

So much for that, but to my surprise, when I exited the expressway at Cicero, another 25 miles or so down the interstate, all the stations had gas for $2.49!  That is a .30 difference from Adams, or aabout 12%.  Make any sense at all?  Delivery costs?  Greed?  Supply and demand?  Who cares?  Of course there a number of retailers in Cicero, and competition of course, but I would like to know.  Wouldn’t you?

Tags: fuel, gas, gas prices, lowville, ripoff, sales, selling, Tug Hill, unhappy buyers

I’m not really sure if these guys are local, regional, or world-wide, but a new retail chain just arrived in our area, calling themselves Ollie’s Outlet.  They allegedly sell factory overruns, closeouts, discontinued items, etc at bargain prices.

Now I am not one to turn down a bargain, so, being in their area last Saturday, we stopped in at Ollie’s, along with a few thousand other folks.  Buy it quickly, people, as I predict Ollie will not be staying long.  They did stock a large variety of large and small items, displayed in no particular order.  Good prices on their beef jerky!

However, we found a small room fan at a good price, and needing one, gave it a try.  The box (all the boxes) was pretty beat up, but the fan appeared ok when we assembled it.  OK until we turned it on, when the blade detached from the shaft with a lot of loud noises.  No injuries though. Back to Ollie’s.

The Army was very cordial and helpful about the return; you almost got the feeling they were expecting us.  So long as we were there, we opted to look around a bit.  I then discovered a Remington cordless electric shaver at a bargain price-box on this one looked like new.  I owned a Remington rechargable years ago, and liked it, so I decided to try this one.  When we got home and opened the package to charge the charger, I discovered that the shaver was full of unidentified whiskers!  Hmmm.  To me, that indicates that (1) The shaver is not new, and the previous owner was unhappy with it.  (2) Perhaps the shaver does not shave.  (3) Perhaps the charger does not charge.  Back to Ollie’s again.  This will be the last trip.

Now I am not opposed to buying used items.  I have frequented garage sales and thrift shops for years.  But if your product is used, sell it as used! In all fairness, we also purchased a 4-slice toaster which appears new.  The only strange feature is that the 18-inch power cord comes out of the bottom front, but hey. Sorry, Ollie, I will not be back, and I doubt that you will be around for long.  That’s Just My Opinion.

Tags: bargains, damaged goods, foolish, junk, Ollie's retail

Here is a quick tip for those folks who, like me, use a PC but are not really technologically proficient.  A couple of weeks ago, I lost my CD drive – just disappeared from my computer like it was never there.  I could insert a CD, close and open the little door, but nothing happened.  No software, no drivers, no CD-ROM.  No music, no CD photos, no new software installation.  Hmmmmm.  I did not look forward to dealing with the usual array of Dell and Microsoft Third-World Tech Persons, but what to do?  Tried loading new drivers – would not work.  Computer said everything was ok.

Fortunately, my tech-proficient daughter was coming to visit, so I saved it for her.  She did some online research, and quickly isolated the culprit.  Seems that a while back I received an email with video attachment from a “friend”, and when I tried to play it, something called ITunes, from Apple no less, offered to download their software, which would enhance my computer’s music, video, movie, DVD experience.  I went for it.  Right!

But apparently, Apple’s programmers decided that if you had ITunes to download their movies, music, etc, (for a price, by the way), your computer had no need for those old, obsolete CD’s.  Delete.  Delete.  Delete.  Possibly there was an option box for me to uncheck during the download, but I missed it.  So, I was faced with a choice of ITunes or my CD drive.  Bye, Apple. I won’t be downloading any $.99 music, and I can play my own.  And that’s Just My Opinion.

Tags: Apple, CD, computers, Dell, downloads, foolish, ITunes, movies, music, virusi

Many of you are familiar with Croghan Bologna, which is a summer-sausage type delicacy I can best describe as similar to the world famous Lebanon bologna but a bit coarser and tastier.  It has been made for many years in the small Adirondack foothills town of Croghan, NY, which you might call a suburb of Lowville.  I grew up on Croghan Bologna, and it hasn’t changed much in the past 60 years, though the makers have changed and evolved.  It used to be our favorite deer-hunting lunches when I was a boy and hunting with my Dad and brothers: a chunk of “Crog” and one of Mom’s buttered biscuits and maybe a candy bar for dessert.

We still enjoy Crog when we can, but now there is something even better.  Our hunting group was lucky enough to harvest a few deer last fall, and we trimmed out a hundred pounds or so of the stew meat and such and had it made into bologna.  Now I have had venison summer sausage, breakfast sausage, and such, but was never really crazy about any of them.  Ed’s Meat Market, in Indian River, which is a suburb of Croghan, came up with their own bologna recipe, which in my opinion is even better than the original.  Maybe it is the venison (considered health food by some); maybe because it was ground finer with less filler; maybe the secret ingredients – whatever, it is more like the Croghan Bologna I remember as a boy, and a real treat.  Next year, if I harvest a deer, I think I will grind everything but the loins and antlers!

And that’s Just My Opinion.

Tags: Add new tag, crog, croghan, croghan bologna, deer hunting, lowville, lunch, sausage, snack, treat, Tug Hill, venison, wildlife photos