The Grumpy Old Fart Customer

I know what you are thinking, get over it, this is a family-oriented blog (ok, that might be stretching it a bit).  I picked up a package of hamburger buns that were over a week and a half old and discovered that they still had the feeling of being freshly baked.  Have you ever bought a fresh baked bread or pastry?  They rarely last more than a few days before they either mold or turn into a weapon that can drop a person when thrown at them (like “thrown rolls”).

So, I am wondering how is it that a bag of store-bought hamburger buns can last for nearly two weeks, appearing to still be fresh.  Well, it goes back to what I have written about before; those amazing chemical compounds.  Read the side of the bag of which the buns are in and it is–mystery solved.  When the dough is the minor ingredient you get a better idea of how they last so long.

Remember back-in-the-day when they put a popular, creme-filled snack cake on a railing and left it for several days, when they returned to pick it up, it still had not dried out?  The chemical preservatives used in our food could very easily have been a key component in the mummification process.  Try saying the name of some of these wonderous chemicals. For example; Azodicarbonamide or ADA for short.  I shit you unh-uh, there are 30 or more of these words on the side of the package.

This reads like a chemistry experiment gone wrong, some of these chems probably show up in rat poison, at least the preservatives.  You must ask yourself; if these chemicals preserve this bread-like product, what the hell are they doing to my insides?  I have said this before, and I will say it again; our foods should come with an MSDS sheet that includes all the potentially hazardous chemicals listed on them.

So, as you light up your charcoal with that petroleum distillate product, never fear because your innards have been coated with a highly refined preservative.  And don’t worry if you bought the buns a week too early, they will still feel and appear to be fresh for your guests.

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2019 All Rights Reserved

During my many years of working in business communications, I learned a lot about the psychology of visual merchandising.  The art of luring customers to your display then getting them to part with their cash to buy something they may need, want or just simply can’t resist.  Today, as a customer, I often find these displays mildly amusing but mostly irritating as they are often located right in the middle of aisle blocking your path.

Recently, I went on a fishing trip with my son to the Gulf of Mexico to try our luck at some of the local catch.  Of course, you must buy a fishing license and there are always things that you forgot to bring or suddenly decide are necessary for your trip.  So, this requires a stop at a sell-all discount store.  Well, we were in luck as this little town in the deep south had my favorite store (you know, “the everyday low prices store”).  As we entered the main entrance my eyes were quickly caught by a large display in the center aisle.

The display had three shelves, the two outside shelves that contained 30 packs of a popular light beer, the middle shelf had boxes of a famous brand of condoms—I kid you not!  I must admit the display had very attractive lines, the 30 packs of beer nicely accented the open boxes of condoms.  The colors nicely contrasted each other as well with the beer boxes being a fairly bland color white while the bad news prevention devices were in very wild colors.  The display was very symmetrical in its arrangement with dimensions being equal on all sides.

Here is the part of this that I am trying to figure out, what is the message in this visual merchandising effort?  Is it an effort to educate young folks that drinking beer always requires that you should have condoms on hand (funny play on words, right?)?  Maybe it goes back to the advertising slogan of “hey, the night is young”, or “it’s time”.  Maybe it is like buying a drill, you have to have the bits or what’s a hammer without nails?  Or maybe it is just–be careful when you get hammered.

This particular effort at visual merchandising leaves you wondering; are we telling guys that she will look good after drinking our beer or telling the gals he will look good after drinking our beer?   In either event, after several years of life experience, I believe there is a product symbiosis here.  However, this is a very strange cross-marketing effort that I am sure has pissed off several special interest groups demanding an explanation.

And what of the “everyday low prices” store who proudly boasts its religious foundation and principles?  Are we promoting casual sex?  Let’s face the facts here; two young partiers come into the store and buy two thirty packs of beer and after they consume the beverage, we are all going to get laid.  So, we are discarding some of the fundamental beliefs in scripture, “drink not strong drink thee” or “do not have sex without marriage” (not a biblical scholar so obviously paraphrasing here).

I have to admit that this display not only left me laughing out loud but also wondering what kind of marketing geniuses came up with this plan—the guys from “Hangover” or Stiffler from “American Pie”?  It is amazing, even on the road, I find funny customer shit!

Talk To Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2019 All Rights Reserved

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Remember when they used to tell you not to drink the water when you went to Mexico?  That was always the big warning if you were going to Tijuana for vacation (today you can’t drink the water in Flint, Michigan).  There have always been concerns about water quality in some countries, however, bottled water became the fix for those worries.  There were no longer any concerns because that water came out of Artesian wells.

In recent months we have discovered that much of our food products are tainted with poisons manufactured by our Corporatocracy leaders.  Hell, even one of my favorite life pleasures, beer, is tainted with toxic runoff.  But now, brace for it, some of the more popular bottle waters are laced with arsenic.  It has been reported by a consumer magazine that 11 different brands of water contain arsenic at toxic levels.

Arsenic, which has some industrial applications, however, is not a good substance when consumed by humans or animals.  Those 11 brands of water contain the maximum amount of arsenic allowed by the FDA.  In some tests, it was reported that those brands are less safe to drink than tap water.  Are you F—–g kidding me?  It would be better to drink the water from Flint, MI, than from the 11 companies?  This is just another example of how out of control these companies are in our unfettered capitalist world.

So, I guess testing standards have either been thrown out the window or are just ignored.  Maybe there is cash, flowing like water under the table, and customer safety being washed away with the stream.  When are we going get new standards that hold corporations’ feet to the fire and start putting executives in jail for selling shit that is killing customers?  They will always run for the cover of the claim that consumers want cheaper products.  If so, doesn’t that expose an even deeper, darker problem—like wages?

So, as you are heading out the door to go do your weekly shopping, make certain that you have your list of needed items and also, don’t forget your list of shit products that contain toxins.  Every store should be required by law to publish a list of potentially toxic foods and products.  And don’t drink the bottled water until you know what is in it!

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2019 All Rights Reserved

Just when I thought I had run out of things to write about, “net neutrality” strikes (or rather the repealing of).  The other day while working in my office, on my computer I suddenly noticed that the internet was getting very slow and, in some instances, stalling out completely.  This really hasn’t happened lately as my plan boasts the highest speed rating.  You know 4G, 5G or maybe it is the G-spot, hell I don’t know.  In any event, it is supposed to be lightning fast speed.

The slowdowns seem to be intermittent; they don’t happen all the time but when they do, they are quite aggravating.  After doing some research I discovered that the orange POTUS was successful in repealing the “net neutrality rules act of 2015”.  This now allows net providers, at their own discretion to slow some traffic down while accelerating the speed of their own content.  So, if I am viewing something that is not content built by my provider then they can slow it down.

This is bull shit, I paid for the top speed connection provided in my area, not for the selectively fast plan as decided by my provider.  So, I am now left with the prospect of only having a higher connection internet speed when I watch my providers content (most of which is pop culture horse shit).  So, slowly we are being herded into a corral and our food, services, and entertainment are being rationed at a premium expense.  Supposedly, these law changes and the decision to remove control of the internet by FCC handing it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will better protect us Americans.  Really?

So, moving forward we will have to select the provider that offers more of your favorite than does the competitor.  Wait a minute, how can we possibly know this?  The content producers change providers more than they do their own underwear (I know, disgusting thought).  So, when buying your service, you will have to peruse a laundry list of what is provided by net companies before you make your decision.  The reality of it is, it won’t take me that long to decide as we are down to just 2 providers in the market where I live, thus eliminating all those pesky additional choices.

As everything we get as customers keeps getting reduced in value, quality and quantity, I believe the day is coming when we hold a “customer march”.  It will be all-inclusive; black, white, red, yellow, people of all religions, race, and creed to proclaim our day as customers whose money is valuable and should be respected.  In the meantime, my personal solution to the net neutrality dilemma; I am going to start reading more books!

Talk to Ya Later!

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2019 All Rights Reserved

I am sure you all are familiar with the following expressions; “you can put lipstick on a pig but it is still a pig”, “you can’t polish a turd” and “you can put a suit on a goat, but it is still a goat”.  Why do I bring this up?  Well, recently our Commander in Chief, you know, the orange guy with all the ideas that will make us great again, said that the aircraft company with the bad airplane should just “re-brand it”.  Now, I have many years of public and biz comm experience and have worked on many rebranding efforts and have some ideas about it.

Rebranding is the effort to give a new name and identity to a product or service (usually one that has problems, failed or has just not met expectations) with the intent of creating a new image.  Over the years I have seen CEO’s and public officials sit at boardroom tables smashing their fist into the wooden top and demanding that you just rebrand a failing product or service because of the money that has already been sunk into them.  Because of the incredible cost of redesigning a failed project to make it more marketable, large corporations usually choose to do a makeover on the brand’s image instead.

In the case of the disastrous aircraft, the manufacturer is faced with a problem that could kill the program, costing billions of dollars to the company, its shareholders and of course its executives.  Their intent is to make a bad aircraft design fly with the help of corrective software, a considerably cheaper fix than scrapping the current design and starting again.  So, instead of killing the project and designing a new aircraft, they are choosing to potentially kill more people.   As we all know, in this capitalist system that we have in the US, the only measurement that counts is dollars.

This whole event involving the poorly designed aircraft is absolute proof that corporatocracy now rules our country.  The manufacturer bullied the federal agency that approves airworthiness of any aircraft built or allowed to fly in US airspace.  Corners were cut without so much as a whimper from the feds.  Reports of potential flight problems written by engineers were suppressed by the manufacturer while the fed agency turned a blind eye. Corporations rule our world!

Meanwhile, our POTUS, who has made a career out of rebranding bad properties, casinos, business ventures, and even his own image, is suggesting that the same thing be done with an aircraft.  Since he has spent a lifetime avoiding responsibility for his own actions, he believes the same can be done here.  The big difference is that there are customer lives hanging in the balance this time.  The projected number of these aircraft to be sold are over 5,000.   Without a realistic fix to the problems with this aircraft, the statistical reality of more customers dying is great.

So, if you can fix the pig by putting lipstick on it, then simply put some lipstick on the front of this aircraft and say happy trails!

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer

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Many of you probably remember the show “Seinfeld” that aired in the 1980s, it was the “Show About Nothing”.  Every week the show had a random script that turned a boring, nothing life into something that was incredibly hilarious!  The character Cramer is still one of the funniest ever created (at least that’s my belief).  The show occasionally aired episodes with a character know as “The Soup Nazi”, whom the Seinfeld cast never failed to piss off, which gave birth to the famous yell, “no soup for you!” and the gang was denied the alleged best soup in New York.  It appears all the Seinfeld characters had to do was look at the Soup Nazi wrong and it was “no soup for you!”

I have found my own version of the “Soup Nazi” right here in my own town and this person could easily have been incorporated into a plot-line of Seinfeld.  I will call her “The Store Nazi” and believe me the name is befitting this situation and its character.  The person in question here is a store manager of a regional supermarket located in my home area.  I have had some influenced feelings about this manager as she has been rather snarky at times with employees and her idea of friendliness leaves one a little disenchanted with her sincerity.

Recently, after having completed our usual round of shopping for goodies, we were ready to pay for the collected supplies.  We headed for the cash registers and discovered that only one was open and two customers were waiting in line.  We took our place in line and did the customary wait for your turn.  As the person two places ahead of us was having their groceries scanned, the cashier dropped a bottle of sanitizing cleaner.  The bottle popped its top and covered the floor underneath the cashier with a soapy substance and releasing a vaporous cloud of pine scent.

To me, I felt as though this was a useful moment as the floor looked as if it had not been mopped in a while, thus giving ample opportunity to clean it.  Suddenly, the manager appeared and in a voice that probably resembles a warden in a penitentiary, she ordered all customers in to “immediately move over to this checkout line”.  She also stated that “we should not be standing in that line” as if we were stupid for standing next to a chemical spill.  First, it is not a 55-gallon drum spill and second if the vapors from this stuff are toxic how the hell are you allowed to sell it?

Meanwhile, the command from the Store Nazis had an air of superiority that let us know to comply or no groceries for you!  Then, just to make things worse, while our original cashier was busy cleaning up the cleaning solution mess, the manager could not find another cashier.  And to think; all we wanted to do was pay for our groceries!   After a lengthy delay that left us standing, listening to this manger berate those who had answered the call to clean the mess made by a cleaning solution (seems ironic), a cashier finally showed up.  But, as if our wait hadn’t been long enough, during our check-out process the computer crashed, the screen went black and we had to wait even longer.

Is it so hard to just use some kindness, maybe use some kind words to apologize for the inconvenience, maybe just something that makes you feel appreciated as a customer?  This manager was having a bad day I am sure, but I wonder if she has seen recent images of Syria, Iraq or maybe Yemen, those people are having a bad day (every day!).  For those of us living in the US, it is “Just Another Tricky Day”, I am just saying.  It seems like kindness in our society today has become rare and the stress of living life is spilling on all of us.  So, for those of you who think the Soup Nazi is gone, he is not, he is living all around us in the form frustrated managers and employees who are continuously treated like shit by their employer, who then pass it on to us—the customers.

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2019 All Rights Reserved

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For those of you who remain outraged by our pitiful healthcare system, this story isn’t going to change your mind about it.  A couple of days ago my life-partner and dearest friend had run out of her blood pressure medicine.  She had been unusually busy the whole week and simply had mismanaged her pills, it can happen to anyone.  After she had discovered her mistake, she quickly contacted her physician for a refill.  Her physician called in the script and everything was cool, right?  Wrong!

My friend generally uses one of the largest drug store chains (hint; there is a color in its name), as there are stores convenient to our home.  Her prescription record is on file with this chain of stores and refills are generally easy-peasy.  However, when she went to pick up the prescription, she was told by a pharmacy tech that the script had already been accounted for or claimed.  Puzzled, my friend asked, how this could be possible?  It was explained that another store must have put a claim on the prescription which means that they are the only ones who can release it.

After a lengthy discussion and efforts to reach the doctor’s office (which failed because it was after 5PM), my friend was told that there was nothing else that the pharmacy could do for her.  Now, keep in mind that the drug we are referring to here is Metoprolol, a blood pressure medicine which must be taken every day to maintain good pressure.  My friend requested a small order of the pills (10 or less), which is usually available under circumstances such as these for regular price (not the insurance price).  If you have a script on file with a pharmacist, especially in the case of a “life critical drug”, they should able to sell a couple of tablets to you at regular price.

This sweet woman is also a licensed and registered nurse who is up to date on the laws and happenings in the medical world.  After asking to see a manager, a very young man (probably a recent pharmacy school graduate) came to counter only to confirm the same response given by the pharmacy tech.  The evening manager told her, “we cannot offer you any pills without the script, there is nothing more we can do, if there is a problem please go to an urgent care center”.  So, having exhausted every effort, my partner returned home.

We managed to get through the night and the following morning were able to reach the nurse at the doctor’s office who confirmed that the script had been sent to the drug store that we went to, she also advised us that the store should have offered a few pills at cash price (an option never offered to us).  Next, we reached out to the corporate drug store again via cell phone and this time they said they had the script in their system.  Well, at this point, ole Grumpy is pretty pissed off and decided to tag along with his friend to the drug store.  After the transaction was completed, I requested an audience with the pharmacy manager.

The manager, who was only slightly older than the young person who spoke with my friend the night before came to the counter and we explained the situation.  After listening to us, this manager copped somewhat of a snippy attitude and even though she agreed that the store was wrong in its position of denying us the pills and that the tech and evening manager should know better, her apology was somewhat less than warm.  With hackles beginning to rise, I pointed out that we are not talking about a cartoon chewable vitamin here, but rather a necessary medication and that some additional training may be needed here.  In a snarky tone, the manager assured me that this situation will be addressed.

I was not satisfied with this response and in fact, was rather pissed off.  It seems again, that these corporate stores do little to prepare their associates properly for the duties that they perform.  This would not be quite so alarming if this person were working in the make-up department or even vitamins and the store had run of your favorite gummy vitamin.  But instead, these employees work in a very serious department—medications.  They should surely be aware of the procedures and practices in a situation like this one where the health of the customer could be at risk.

Not to mention the fact that it was their computer system that f—up the whole situation to begin with.  I am sure that this is not the first time that this has happened.  With millions of customers who need medications every day, I am sure that the stores encounter this issue occasionally.  Maybe legislation needs to be made clearer regarding this issue, after all, we are not talking about an addictive opioid here and I can’t imagine anyone selling a blood pressure med on the street.

One of the points made in this debacle was that a prescription cannot be refilled prior to the date it is anticipated to run out (not sure what that had to do with this, it was post-date), is that a problem even if it is only a couple of days early?  What do people do who are going to travel abroad?  You would have to get additional meds to cover the period that you are away.  I guess maybe the physician can help with that.

A large part of this problem can be attributed to the insurance companies who must approve every new script even though some patients need a medication like these in order to keep living.  We constantly hear just how great this freaking, free-market medical system is and how screwed up it would be if the government ran it.  Seriously, it seems to me that the problems just keep getting worse and worse.  For example, a recent report shows that the cost of insulin has risen so much that many patients can no longer afford it.

I realize that living a better healthier life can help eliminate many of these problems, but some people are just predisposed to medical issues and must rely on innovation in medicine to help them live a better life.  However, in the constant need for greed, we realize that life is not as important as money.  And corporations continue to treat customers like dirt, guess that is just the way of it!

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2019 All Rights Reserved

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So, we now know where the battle for a $15 minimum wage is going to go.  In response to recent legislative actions and victories regarding the minimum wage in America, one of the country’s largest retailers, (you know, the store with the smiling faces) has introduced a whole new batch of technology aimed at replacing workers.  The minimum wage has been a hot topic over the last couple of years as an increasing number of people have had to settle for low paying jobs.

We have seen scores of people doing the happy dance about the $15 minimum wage vote as they believe they have won a significant battle regarding wages.  But the truth is, they really aren’t winning anything, in some states, it will be 2025 or later before the wage reaches $15.  I don’t know about you, but that is a long wait in my book.  By phasing the new $15 per hour income in slowly, corporations are given enough time to compensate for the increased cost of doing business.  And they are compensating!

It was just announced that the smiley face stores will incorporate several people replacing robots in 300 stores by this summer.  The company will implement the robots to do such menial tasks as scan shelves for out of stock items, mopping the floors, inventory tracking, and truck unloading duties.  These robots, part of a human replacing technology binge, will help the company overcome the cost of raising the minimum wage to $15 over the next few years.

According to company officials, the number of stores utilizing robots and other technological replacements could increase to about 1,200 stores before the end of the year.  The stores are also implementing conveyor belts with scanners that can unload trucks, separate and shelve different products, thus replacing more humans.  The smiley face company espoused the alleged benefits of such a move as helping to reduce the responsibilities of employees thus freeing them up for other chores (I am paraphrasing here LOL!).

So, in other words the same old bullshit song and dance of corporations trying to justify screwing people out of better pay and jobs.  There is no trying to blow smoke up our arses here, we know what these pricks are doing as conservatives try to lay the blame of all of this on the forced change in minimum wage.  Let me ask these ass-wipes a question—if you lose your high paying jobs and the only thing left are positions that pay $8 per hour, will you be happy?  I really don’t believe you would like it if the shoe were on the other foot.

In addition to this usual corporate tall tale, the situation gets worse for me the customer, as I will be constantly having to dodge these little inventory taking robots.  Imagine a quiet Sunday morning trip to the smiley face store where you encounter all these little robots running around like R-2 D-2s in rush hour New York.  I can feel the pain now as my foot gets run over by these little techno-bastards or nearly tripping over one them while attempting to get my milk.  Not to mention the fact that these little freaks are creepy.

I just know that customer service will be greatly enhanced by these oversized robot vacuum cleaners, oh, did I forget to mention that these little darlings will also be mopping the floors?  So, these bots will be on hand to answer my store questions, right?  Sure, they will, but there is just one sticking point, I will have to be able to learn to speak in Cobol, Java or C++.  Imagine following one of these techno-wanders as it leads you to the aisle that has your favorite laxative.

As we can once again see, the battle between these skinflint corporate dicks and the poor working class not only results in lower wages and loss of jobs but also in less service for us who spend the few bucks they are willing to pay.  I do agree that mandatory minimum wage is not the long-term answer here but rather we need the overhaul of our system to include better jobs and worker co-ops.  Until we decide to reintegrate all citizens into a decent functioning economy and way of life, we will continue down this path of a failing robo-society!

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2019 All Rights Reserved

I have written a couple of blogs recently regarding pesticides and other poisons that are killing us in our food.  Well, I am sorry to say that I can add another product line to the list of offenders—beer.  I cannot tell you just how heartbreaking this news is, however, it is not surprising.  Beer is composed of barley, hops, wheat, water and sometimes a few other ingredients.  All the components of this magic elixir of life are either grown or drawn from the ground and are exposed to all the poisons used in corporate farming.

It was announced recently that chemical compounds were found to exist in several different beers on the market.  A couple of which I drink on very warm summer days.  In recent days we have already learned that some pesticides, fertilizers and growth-promoting chemicals are showing up in various food products that we consume.  In certain food categories, the number of chemicals contained in the product can be rather significant.

We have also been told that the seeds and plants have been engineered to withstand the pesticides and fertilizers, loosely translated—the poisons won’t kill the plant, but they will still kill us.  But never fear, the experts on the payroll of the monopoly/oligarch corporations reassure us that we would have to consume large quantities of affected product every day to be vulnerable to the poisons.  I wonder if the same rule applies if you have large quantities of the product over your lifetime?

Anyway, back to my beer and what really pisses me off here, we are basically exposed every day to toxins through the products we consume or just have contact with.  Seems as though nothing is sacred, not even the beer that you look forward to at the end of a hot day, you just sit down, relax and enjoy those tainted hops and barley.  Instead of a “brewed date” that some beers have on their label, maybe brewers could show you how much time you have left to live if you drink their beer all your life.

For piss sakes (sorry about that pun), everything around us now is tainted by the very chemicals that were so supposed to make life better.  Every night, around the dinner table instead of good family conversation, we are doing betting pools on how long before the poison gets old uncle Joe.  Now when I pop the top on a cold brew the little wisp of air bubbles that comes streaming out takes the form of a skull and crossbones.

So, let’s pop that top and drink a toast to life (while we still can) and just enjoy the special moments that a cold beer with friends can bring.  Never mind that threat of nuclear war, drink enough of these golden hopped beverages and you won’t live long enough to worry about it.  “Here’s to good friends!”

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2019 All Rights Reserved

Ok, I know what you’re thinking, this is another bad food product blog right?  Actually, the fruit is merely symbolic of the cell phone that I currently use.  It should leave little doubt as to the brand of cell phone we are talking about here.  You know, the phone that has a newer version released every couple of months, at least that’s what it seems like.  I have recently discovered how they have been successful in selling so many new releases of the phone.

Recently, on one of the business news channels, it was revealed that the fruity cell phone company has developed a way to render your cell phone obsolete years ahead of its time.  I kid you not!  The company uses updates to expedite your phones obsolescence, thus creating the need to upgrade to the latest and greatest version.  Now, to many of you out there this probably doesn’t come as a shock, as each and every day we discover how corporations screw us in virtually every category of product they sell.

So, here’s how it works, every time you download an update on to your cell phone you are also loading a program that slowly retards the functions of the device.  Now, you might recall that I recently wrote a blog about losing my contact list on my phone while uploading the latest update.  I finally found a solution to that issue but then I find out that they are secretly aging my current phone with these alleged, system improving updates.

Let’s see if we can make a comparative analysis out of this.  You go to see your doctor and tell him/her you have flu-like symptoms.  Your doctor confirms your suspicions and prescribes some medicine to help you get over the hump.  After taking the medicine you feel better, but little do you know that prescription is quietly giving you herpes.  You return to the doctor and once again are given a script, this one cures herpes, but in the background, it is now infecting you with hepatitis.  You get the picture here.

Ok, maybe those examples are a little extreme.  Let’s try these instead, you take your car into the dealership for an oil change.  Every time you have this done the technician is putting something in your oil that wears out the engine faster.  Or, maybe he is changing computer settings to require service on your car more frequently.  Hey, wait a minute here, this one might actually be happening!

Now, none of these accusations against fruity cell phone company have been officially proven, however, there are whistleblowers who have leaked the information.  I have no doubt, that like many other instances of corporate deception and stealing that this one will get swept under the carpet like most allegations.  These corporations have billions and billions of dollars, not to mention legal teams who are on retainer.  It has become so easy for large corporations to say they are sorry, pay a fine (which amounts to a slap on the wrist) and move on to the next swindle.

Where I am concerned, I am just about ready to go back to a flip phone which costs about $20 and basically is disposable (preferably recyclable).  I have yet to use any of the endless thousands of apps that can be loaded onto these devices and in my opinion, they may also play a role in what causes premature cell phone death.  What the hell do I need with apps that connect me to social media or plays video games?  And here is my personal favorite, the tv app, so I can watch my favorite television show while driving—what a concept!  Plus, you are watching a tiny screen that will probably make you go fucking blind!  I have a fifty-inch tv at home which makes viewing shows a great pleasure, with little strain on the eyes—I’m just saying.

Anyway, back to the update issue.  I believe that once again we are finding out just how willing the oligarchy in this country is to screw-over customers while continuing their greedy trek to profits.   We used to have a lot of consumer (customer) protection laws, however, they seemed to have vanished along with honest politicians.  I live for the day when sanity returns to this country and we customers are treated with respect again.

Talk to Ya Later!

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2019 All Rights Reserved