The other day, as I am wont to do, I was listening to the TV while I was doing other inane keep busy projects. A commercial came on the old tube that caught my interest. It was for a new breakfast cereal... Cheerios Cinnamon Burst.
Well being someone who enjoys his cereal as much as the next fellow. I thought I'd pick up a box on my next trip to the grocery store.
Now for a little background. I've been eating cereal for over sixty years. Nothing like a quick, tasty and nutritious breakfast when the standards of eggs, toast etc. becomes boring. My paternal grandfather taught my sister & me as children to enjoy a bowl of cereal as a bedtime snack. I really like cereal.
So, with some anticipation, I purchased the new taste sensation of Cheerios Cinnamon Burst.
Oh, the horror. Three bites into the first bowl & it was at best,terrible. Not only did I pour out the remaining bowl, I tossed the rest of the box into the trash. Lesson learned.
This cereal was so distasteful, I felt compelled to send an email to General Mills(the manufacturer). That email & the corporate response is entered below....

"Tried Cinnamon Burst Cheerios the other day. Don't quit your day job. That is unless it's developing new cereal. It is god awful. Three bites & the whole package went into the trash.(I recycled the box) Been eating General Mills cereal for over 60 years. Remember Jets & Twinkles? I do. I have purchased Honey Nut Cheerios since day one & they are the best. They (HNC)are probably embarrassed to have to have the Cheerios brand name associated with Cinnamon Burst. Yuk. I also enjoy Wheaties, Kix, Rice Chex, Honey Nut Chex, & Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The only non General Mills brand I buy is Tony Tiger (Frosted Flakes). Well, you can't win them all. For a geezer, I love my General Mills cereal. Try to do better next time. Thank you"

The response:
"Thank you for contacting General Mills regarding your disappointment with Cinnamon Burst Cheerios. We are sorry your experience did not meet the standards we expect from our products.
We maintain stringent standards in all phases of the packaging process, and are committed to creating products of the highest quality. Although our products are very popular, we realize that tastes among individuals vary greatly and it is impossible to please everyone.
The satisfaction of our customers is very important to us, and we hope you will continue to choose our products.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond to this problem. Your questions and comments are always welcome."
Sincerely,
Norma Stone
Consumer Services

Wading through the very polite & formal corporate speak, I have discovered that my taste buds are askew from their R & R department & apparently everyone else.

After checking out some reviews on the old internet, all of which range from near orgasmic enthusiasm to it's just ok, I find that once again I stand alone.

Now, in the scheme of things, being dissatisfied with a breakfast cereal don't amount to a hill of beans. However, a hill of beans would have been much more tasty then Cheerios Cinnamon Burst.

Hey Lucy I'm home & you got some splainin' to do.

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What the ?

On 1/30/2011, the local newspaper,(St. Paul Pioneer Press) published an editorial titled "For tight times, trim the size of state workforce."

The editorial extols the proposed legislation put forth by Republican State Rep. Keith Downey. The legislation calls for the elimination of 15% of the state workforce over four years. In the editorials own words, "The state of Minnesota employs about 34,000 people (not including those at our colleges), roughly the same number as 10 years ago."

Not exactly expanding the work force to handle the problems arising with the 10 year increase in population & the needs of the taxpayers. Mn population according to 2010 U S Census: 5.3 M.
34,000 employees to provided service to 5.3 M via DOT, DNR, Revenue, Veterans Affairs etc.

The editorial goes on to say "The legislation Downey proposes would give the governor various tools — from attrition and early retirements to wage freezes and layoffs — to trim the size and cost of the state workforce."


I have a partisan concern regarding this solution as my wife is a current state employee. Before you start to piss & moan about that, some facts.

The missus has not had an increase in wages (other then COL) for 7 years. She, amongst others were denied early retirement the last time it was offered as being to essential to the workforce. She will retire on her own volition within 2 years.
She currently oversees a division that brings tens of million of dollars into the state coffers annually.

Again the editorial. "It also would adjust wages in the public sector to match those of similar duties in the private sector, and give bonuses to state employees who find ways to save the state money."

The state has continually under paid their workers vs. the private sector for decades. They constantly lose the young & innovative to the private sector for that very reason.

As to the bonuses proposed for employees for cost saving ideas,
a little flashback story.

I last worked as a state employee 30+ years ago. I came up with an idea on my own to change part of a current system as I saw the waste & hated doing that aspect of my job. There had to be a better way. That idea was projected to save millions & save time processing income tax returns. I believe that change is still in effect today.
My bonus was a hearty thank you letter & a certificate of appreciation from the then Governor. I was so excited that I almost injured myself in my sprint to the waste basket to toss the useless documents.
Do you think anything will change.

The editorial goes on."Downey's proposal would save big money over time, though it would not create a windfall of immediate savings. Some of what he proposes has upfront costs."

If you are trying to help balance the budget, & the bill proposed will offer no immediate savings & will increase current costs, it seems that only one conclusion can be drawn from it.

Union busting.

Conspiracy fun facts:
The Pioneer Press is owned by Denver based Media News Group, nationally known as anti union. The National Labor Relations Board has numerously cited Media News Group for what can at best be described as questionable business practices with unions & their workers.

The state workers union traditionally donates to the Democratic party. It also endorses Democratic candidates. Does it seem at all partisan that this legislation is proposed by a Republican who represents one of the richest districts in the state, or that it is wholeheartedly endorsed by a newspaper owned by an anti union
corporation.

There are ways to help balance the current budget by reducing the number of big money management in the state(some is outsourced, i.e. consultants). Reduce the size of the legislature & temporarily, their wages. Eliminate the Per Diem cost to the legislators. They are only in session 120 days of the year. If you want to use cuts to the state workforce to reduce costs, isn't it only appropriate to ask the same of the legislators?

In keeping with the times, it looks as if the working middle class will continue to shrink in size, & those that temporarily survive will take it up the rectum once more form Corporate America & the government.

Dateline: Your World & Welcome To It

In regards to the Tucson shooting.
Can Chris Matthews, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly just zip it, close their respective pie holes, put a lid on it?
What the hell is wrong with you asswipes?
Whether rightie or leftie, this is not the time to try & score points on this horrendous event.
Look up the definition of decency & have someone explain it to you.
JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!!

JESUS H. CHRIST.
Will someone just nuke the planet now. We have officially lost all sense of humanity.

Hey, Arthur C. Clarke, I got your 2010 right here.

On a purely personal front, 2010 can kiss my big fat wrinkled white ass & good riddance.
The missus almost assumed room temperature (died) following routine surgery to have an ovarian cyst removed. OOPS. I've had elbow surgery to repair an entrapped ulna nerve. Total numbness & partial paralysis in left hand for 4+ months. You gotta love the hoops the insurance companies make you jump through before you can get the obvious taken care of. Recovering nicely now. Thank you Dr. Christina Ward. Forced into taking early retirement via Social Security to keep income coming in. Hence the term income. Nice economy & job market. Buried under 17.3" of snow two days ago with Arctic cold temperature following. Christ, winter is getting harder to abide as the years pile up. Truly a really eventful horseshit year on the medical side of things.

I've become more cynical (didn't think that was possible) & disgusted with mans continued inhumanity to man. Wake up assholes. We're all in this sinking ship of life together.

On the plus side... still have a roof over our heads. The dog is still alive (going on 13+ yrs.) The daughter & her husband are doing relatively well. Reconnected with some childhood (teenage) friends. Although some things are best not remembered. And I wish they wouldn't.
Putting everything into some sort of perspective, not the best of times, but still we survive.
With that in mind & apart from all that humans try to do to make the world uninhabitable, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas & peace. Come on God, hit me with your best shot. See you next year.

Webb's Best

A couple of posts previously I touted what I considered the best comedy show of OTR, Fibber McGee & Molly.
This trip down the OTR highway, I'd like to take everyone to the best detective show.
OK, maybe not the best plot wise or longest running, but certainly the most unusual.
"Pat Novak For Hire."
This little gem starred Jack Webb. The Pat Novak series with Webb lasted only nineteen episodes. It ran from February through June of 1949.
The basic premise concerned Novak who owned a legitimate boat charter service in San Francisco trying to economically survive. Due to continued lack of business, Novak would hire out doing odd jobs. Most of the odd jobs, were shady & involved tough guys & dangerous dames & always led to murder, which of course, Novak would get the blame. It co-starred Raymond Burr as Police Inspector Hellman, a belligerent cop who really hated Novak & only wanted to either lock him up or send him to the electric chair, regardless as to what the evidence revealed. Burr was about 8 years from starring as Perry Mason on TV.
It is best known among its fans for being fast paced with plenty of action. The finest thing about Pat Novak For Hire was the rapid fire one liners amongst the characters, & the hard boiled narrative . Here are some examples of that dialog.

"Around here a set of morals won't cause any more stir than Mother's Day in an orphanage."
"She was at least 50, because you can't get that ugly without years of practice."
"I better have a drink first. There's an ugly taste in my mouth. I think it's saliva."
"She sauntered in, moving slowly from side to side like 118 pounds of warm smoke."
"You can't afford to have them start laughing at you. People will get the idea it's your face."
"She was kind of pretty, except you could see somebody had used her badly, like a dictionary in a stupid family."
"Somebody had gone duck hunting in the middle of his back."
"I began to think about the .32 caliber pistol. It's a woman's weapon--well, that doesn't prove anything, so's a bread knife if she's in a bad mood."
"You're always in trouble, Patsy. You're a child of adversity, a son of scorn. The fates spit in your eye, and you try to retaliate, but the wind's always blowing in the wrong direction."
"You'd like to fight for some strange fantastic cause, wouldn't you, Patsy? But you can't find anybody your size. Men are too small, and the gods are too big."
"Did your friend get his face at a fire sale too."
"The street was as deserted as a warm bottle of beer."
"I looked up the only honest guy I know, an ex-doctor and a boozer by the name of Jocko Madigan, a good guy, but to him a hangover is the price of being sober."
"When she opened the door, I found out what the right kind of breakfast food'll do. She was wearing a slack suit without much slack."
"My head must have looked like a jackpot--everyone in town was hitting it."
"She had nice hair, and the dress helped too. It was dark blue and had a v-neck, but the designer believed in big letters."
"She was a real pretty nurse, if you like pure mammal."
"She looked real good sitting there in a white crepe dress. It was one of those tight fitting babies that made a bathing suit look like a toga."
"She was in her 30s and pushing 40 hard enough to bruise it."
"I rent boats and do anything else that goes with a weak will and a strong stomach."

Of course Jack Webb went on to bigger things as director & star of Dragnet, both on radio & TV. He also was the creative force behind such TV shows like "Emergency" & "Adam 12". An interesting post script. When Webb died in 1982, he was interred in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, and was given a funeral with full police honors. On Webb's death Chief Daryl Gates announced that badge number 714 which was used by his Joe Friday character in Dragnet would be retired. Mayor Tom Bradley of Los Angeles ordered all flags lowered to half-staff in Webb's honor for a day.

What a whacky night

The spouse & I had just drifted off to sleep when a loud pounding on our door, coupled with the dog barking woke us up.
Going downstairs to see what idiot was banging on our door at that time of night, I damn near crapped pants when there appeared at the door a beefy policeman telling us that there was a "SWAT situation" & we would have to evacuate our home.
Well it turns out that one of our townhouse neighbors had caused a ruckus & the cops were called to his home. (Details are sketchy as I don't know what exactly prompted the call to the cops, or who initiated the call. More info awaits when more neighbors return.) After evacuating, the missus , dog & I settled into the family car down the block to wait out the event. We later did find out the the loony when confronted by the police had threatened to blow himself up. That alone was the reason for the evacuation.
From the safety our the car we watched some text book operations. Townhouse surrounded by minimum 20 cops/SWAT team.(just in the front) Street cordoned off, armored vehicles, sniper rifles. Like living a Bruce Willis movie. The whole operation from evacuation to the all clear (they busted the moron) took about 4 1/2 - 5 hours. They even had a police chaplain present.
After the nut job threatened to blow himself up, the police cut the natural gas supply to minimize any potential damage to neighboring townhomes (ours included).
Xcel Energy had to come out to relight the water heaters & the furnaces after the all clear was given. A great time was had by all except the dumbass loony.
Now a bit of background of crazy boy.
We, and not just the wife & I, but the entire six unit townhome in which we live, plus the surrounding townhome residents,(that's in excess of nine families) have tried for over 10 years to bring about some sort of involvement by the local authorities over the actions of the guy.

Drug dealer (medium to big depending on time of year) Dealing drugs out in the open parking lot around small kids. So many customers, it looked at times like a McDonalds drivethru. Cops could do nothing unless they eye witnessed. We had video tapes of deal going down etc. Not good enough.

One of his roommates accidently shot him in the stomach.

Mutiple police calls for disturbing the peace,fist fights etc.

Outstanding warrants.

Harboring a fugitive. That was a hoot to see 15+ squad cars from Maplewood Mn, St. Paul Mn & the Mn State Highway Patrol & Ramsey County Sheriff converge in the parking lot. All police advancing with guns drawn toward this bozos townhome.

His crackhead buddies tried to break into his next door neighbor's unit while she was home with her kid. Cops called. Crackheads split before cops arrived.

There are more, but you get the idea.
Reprehensible does not quite do justice to describe this guy.


We have tried to have his townhome unit declared uninhabitable by the city as he has trashed the inside. (broken furniture thrown outside & inside, wallpaper ripped off the wall, hanging in shreds, garbage & trash piled in living room. etc.)
Can't wait for the Hazmat team to show up today since the cops were inside his house after his arrest& saw the living conditions.

So all is well. Bad boy taken away. I'm sure there is some heavy duty psycho evaluation coming up. Not to mention,long term jail time if found competent.
And how was your day?
Book Em Danno!