Customer Service Winners and Losers

Ground Flaxseed

Hostage Mills promptly addressed my complaint over their milled flaxseed product by shipping me two free boxes of milled flaxseed, two free boxes of their oat bran hot cereal and several coupons.

I ant to say either Verizon or AT &T for customer service because they are so big that they don't care.

Lobbying Group Launches ‘Defense Fund’ To Fight Raises For Guest Workers

This addresses an age old dilemma and is at the heart of what we are fighting about. What is fair in terms of wages? How do we reconcile keeping low prices for consumers and keeping wages very depressed with a certain standard of living? We have seen first hand how potentiall­y devastatin­g it is to the middle class when the median wage remains stagnant for 30 to 40 years and the cost of living increases especially for education and health care are staggering­ly high. In the restaurant business and at home, I have done my fair sharing of cleaning and picking through crabs, it is painful on the hands and it is extremely tedious. The work itself merits a higher wage but as we see in the article the businesses are crying poverty if it happens hence the dilemma. Keeping wages depressed to keep prices competitiv­e and affordable for the maximum amount of people is going to be increasing­ly difficult in this ever more socially connected world. We need a new paradigm and fast.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Passing The American Jobs Act: The Path From Here

What makes me disgusted is the callous way the GOP is treating the joblessnes­s in this country. They stand there touting the same policies about absolutely no tax increases for the wealthy or the corporatio­ns, nor any loophole closings, and spending cuts that only impact the people already on the ropes and barely hanging on, these policies have been shown not to work, they only make the economy worse and make us the middle class and the lower income population poorer. How much lower do they want to grind us down, I mean at some point these companies won’t have any consumers left and the rest of the world who jumped on the austerity wagon is doing so well either. The GOP long term plan will eventually blow up in their faces but at what cost to us?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Cake vs. Pie

Apple Tarte Tatin

I am going to say pie, there are quite a few that tickle my fancy. There is a lovely chocolate and pear tart covered with a lovely custard. I also enjoy a delicious nectarine and almond creme tart. During the fall weather I never say no to an apple galette or if I'm feeling slightly decadent an apple and golden custard tart. These are all made at home by myself, I love baking them, I love serving them to family and friends and I love eating them.

When you need quiet time, where do you go?

Tags

Gardening, postaday2011

My favorite place for quiet is and always will be my garden, spring, summer and fall, all these seasons provide me with a quiet haven. In moments of stress or anxiety, I can always find something to do that is physical and mindless, perfect antidote to whatever ails the mind and/or spirit.
Come winter time, I mourn my garden. My quiet place is in slumber mode. The bathroom becomes my refuge, long baths or showers, we have a jacuzzi combination bath and shower with pulsating jets. When you have knots in your shoulders and neck, there is no better remedy than putting your back under a hot pulsing jet to unravel those pesky knots of stress and tension. I do count the days until spring because here in western Massachusetts our winters often seem never-ending.