tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441790464745759252024-03-05T00:05:49.200-08:00Irresponsible ShopperUpholding the characteristically American right to learn about injustices and do nothing about them.Riccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13296964481488697079noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744179046474575925.post-45696275499341252672008-07-03T18:38:00.000-07:002008-07-03T19:37:08.822-07:00Shopper Review - Epson Ink<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxa2LpGh9fcncNpQwhKPONuLjWr-4VzPKtgZ1-qPhaJijWjiG2U4Dylfpa3KTTxIJlx5QerI8UFY-0zBEHbAikEP3WVhK1QfRHbSErg18RwPsnqKC1GMT_kgwzm0300MLd4GHd5VicfMY/s1600-h/epson_logo_360dpi_100mm_rgb-w.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 297px; height: 112px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxa2LpGh9fcncNpQwhKPONuLjWr-4VzPKtgZ1-qPhaJijWjiG2U4Dylfpa3KTTxIJlx5QerI8UFY-0zBEHbAikEP3WVhK1QfRHbSErg18RwPsnqKC1GMT_kgwzm0300MLd4GHd5VicfMY/s320/epson_logo_360dpi_100mm_rgb-w.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218980152508531746" border="0" /></a>My printer is currently out of ink. It's been that way for about a week because I can't really justify getting <span style="font-style: italic;">all </span>new cartridges. One, maybe, sure. Two, I'd have to really think about it but I'd probably take the hit eventually. I have four: Black, Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta. They all ran out at the same time which is a bit like stopping at a gas station to refill your tank and then realizing that you need an oil change, new tires and that your car was stolen.<br /><br />It's an Epson printer, which means that those ink cartridges are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epson_ink_cartridge_controversy">lying</a>. It's not enough that I have to buy ink in thimble sized containers, apparently I have to refill them when they're only half empty too. All four cartridges will run me $56.01 if I buy online. Which is half the total value of the printer. I'm not really sure why plastic and ink costs so much when isn't that all pens are? If I ever paid $56 bucks for a pen I'd expect it to come after the meal with the check. I guess I don't object to Epson trying to make a quick buck or fifty it's more that they're so unoriginal about it. It'd be different if the printer just spontaneously combusted or got stigmata or something.Riccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13296964481488697079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744179046474575925.post-52831824997600944312008-07-01T23:52:00.000-07:002008-07-02T00:40:54.837-07:00Shopper Review - Puma RomaI'll tell you the least of what I expect from a company: Feigned Compassion. I guess I'd prefer at the very minimum that they refrain from outwardly teasing or insulting people, anyway.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUx5mQRFdszVzgQeII92IG3J5-x7EMvLPF0mhNc3tV1wJ9oqm2rk3r4s2VjY0PEl6-WCMMskQai9SIcfyPquzh5hIvWQPPFiVfJ_iZ9W3XPEoYxQcspGEW6FUDqGV8oEys5SAinuQ9cg/s1600-h/ROMA.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUx5mQRFdszVzgQeII92IG3J5-x7EMvLPF0mhNc3tV1wJ9oqm2rk3r4s2VjY0PEl6-WCMMskQai9SIcfyPquzh5hIvWQPPFiVfJ_iZ9W3XPEoYxQcspGEW6FUDqGV8oEys5SAinuQ9cg/s320/ROMA.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218310363507257842" border="0" /></a><br />Here's the situation: I find shoes to be one of the more difficult items to shop for because I don't want really flashy, I don't want really expensive, and I don't want to buy shoes for a sport I don't play. No tennis shoes, no basketball hightops, no sk8r kicks. Plain sneakers. 'Course these days you pay a premium for a pair of canvas Converse, so about four or so years ago I found out about Puma Romas. Plain, nice, about $60. They last me about two years a pair. I'm on my third pair at this point. I had really finally settled on some shoes I could use until I became a committed adult and had to start buying <a href="http://www.timberland.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=1770276&cp=1779791.1761081.1761135">Timberland boat shoes</a> (no disrespect, <a href="http://www.timberland.com/corp/index.jsp?page=csr_strategy">Timberland is on my Nice list</a>).<br /><br />Earlier this week I was reading a copy of The Economist, like I sometimes do when I think there may be some intellectual hotties around who can give me advice on measuring principle based on global economic factors. And they had an article about a group of people. Now, full disclosure: I thought that the name "Roma" was just a douchy way to say "Rome" and was supposed to reflect upper-crust European roots. Turns out (even if the shoe wasn't named after them) the shoe shares its name with a characteristically poor, group of present-day, nomadic people who live across Europe.<br /><br />So why's it automatically tasteless to name a <span style="font-style: italic;">shoe </span>"Roma?"<br />The Economist June 21st-27th<br />"A vast bonfire of copper cables fills the air with fumes as insulating material is burnt off. A ragged shoeless workforce of all ages sorts the inventory by hand."<br /><br />"[Roma] are reluctant to send their young children [to school], as they don't have the money to buy them shoes."<br /><br />The article mentions how the Roma live in small crowded, mud-floored rooms, and how very few of them have any official documentation of their birth or any record of them even being alive. But even these things are only mentioned <span style="font-style: italic;">once</span>. No shoes? Twice. Good job, Puma. I hope you're using the $180 I've given you so far to slingshot babies into a pile of hungry kittens.Riccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13296964481488697079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744179046474575925.post-56038289748866456542008-06-25T02:08:00.000-07:002008-07-02T06:12:51.680-07:00Shopper Review - Buffalo Wild Wings<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI-KKNgJcCITKwKcqdr3k24XLtVkgymcMyGMFhmQw8mhDoD3AQ7ZW28Tb7v8Lk9MEtwTXn6AjVkWuUXgtvVF5EPMB1ufW_6ASkeaX7X6LEmgP-311AE20AtgJhAEg0GEkwHUtAx8GIdqc/s1600-h/bwwcolor+copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 269px; height: 189px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI-KKNgJcCITKwKcqdr3k24XLtVkgymcMyGMFhmQw8mhDoD3AQ7ZW28Tb7v8Lk9MEtwTXn6AjVkWuUXgtvVF5EPMB1ufW_6ASkeaX7X6LEmgP-311AE20AtgJhAEg0GEkwHUtAx8GIdqc/s320/bwwcolor+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215748967618072850" border="0" /></a><br />Tuesday night is wing night at Buffalo Wild Wings, my friends. It has been an on-again-off-again ritual for me for several years now and I must say, my ledger has thanked me for it... or would, if I kept a ledger or even knew what one was (RIP Heath). Here's the rub, however, I used to spend 25¢ a wing. These days I pay 40¢. Up until now I'd taken every step a normal American would when faced with yet another company that wants to screw them. I closed my eyes, gritted my teeth, clutched the dingy walls of the bathroom stall I was ushered into and bent over and took it. A testament, most likely, to our fortitude as a people.<br />Anyway, mostly I had been convinced that I was suffering this financial burden unjustly and that my 15¢ was just lining the pockets of the corporate big shots. A quick look at BWW's investor relations page really turned things around for me. Here is a company with a broader perspective, intensely interested in <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=146403&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1161213&highlight=">fighting hunger</a>, starting right here at home. Of course, hunger in Africa is so played, and really daunting too. Some think-on-their feet executives decided they'd target hunger in the US, starting with "Night Hunger." While the press release didn't detail a plan to give any food away to the "poor hungry", those with money can choose from a broad new array of products starting after 9pm and occasionally win prizes.Riccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13296964481488697079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-744179046474575925.post-59070584693737358462008-06-24T09:09:00.000-07:002008-07-02T10:09:49.707-07:00Shopper Review - Cadbury Schweppes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhj9zV_GbsaV7aAMMidmkfwbnX-zjcIjFKApOzAl8GablEWTFbdekp108-pR0qSn2aWoqlo3esxY7rgQ3Id7vWEWbfWj2meRKj3D6omHIrFkLkSjzIDYxqHPjbiDS-1TvQjxGcA2how6A/s1600-h/DP_12oz_Dry_RGB.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 101px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhj9zV_GbsaV7aAMMidmkfwbnX-zjcIjFKApOzAl8GablEWTFbdekp108-pR0qSn2aWoqlo3esxY7rgQ3Id7vWEWbfWj2meRKj3D6omHIrFkLkSjzIDYxqHPjbiDS-1TvQjxGcA2how6A/s320/DP_12oz_Dry_RGB.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215483167472601874" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">You know when you were growing up how you idolized Santa, then when you got older you found out he was a puppy hating racist? It's a bit like how I felt when I did some probing into Cadbury Schweppes (parent company of Dr. Pepper, 7UP, etc.). Apparently, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://container-recycling.org/assets/pdfs/reports/2006-scorecard.pdf">a 2006 report</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> which grades soda companies on their efforts to support recycling programs gave the company a solid F. Not even a gentleman's F like I used to make throughout high school either. On a 4.0 scale, Scweppes got a .1. Showed up for the first couple days of class then about a week later punched the teacher in the tit and walked out. Anyway, the whole thing leaves a really sour taste in my mouth, which history has proven can only be removed by drinking a cold, refreshing Dr. Pepper. I guess I couldn't get too upset with the guys though, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://admiralzing.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/appetite-for-dr-pepper/">they're trying to do some good and make it up to us.</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> Plus, racist or not, I'll still take the presents.</span>Riccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13296964481488697079noreply@blogger.com0