Hey! I'm still waiting for the cost of my groceries to go down, and my $5000 DOGE refund... I could care duck all about a golden phone!

Indeed. Around here, fuel prices are finally on the way down. Getting
close to where they were before COVID. That was supposedly what was
keeping food, and other merchandise, prices up. However, IIRC, fuel prices were the reason before the tariffs started so who knows? :(

Mike


* SLMR 2.1a * "Bother", said Pooh, as he pulled the cat off his face.
--- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Hey! I'm still waiting for the cost of my groceries to go down, and my $50

>> DOGE refund... I could care duck all about a golden phone!

Indeed. Around here, fuel prices are finally on the way down. Getting

>close to where they were before COVID. That was supposedly what was
>keeping food, and other merchandise, prices up. However, IIRC, fuel
>prices were the reason before the tariffs started so who knows? :(

When you think about it, you could double fuel costs and the cost
increase on your can of beans would go up by half a cent, if that.
But the stores all take advantage of the 'bad news' and use it to
inflate prices to ridiculous levels, often up by 50% or more, with
less chance of people complaining because they have heard the bad
news and blame it on someone else..

---
* SLMR Rob * Help wanted: Telepath. You know where to apply
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Indeed. Around here, fuel prices are finally on the way down. Getting

>close to where they were before COVID. That was supposedly what was
>keeping food, and other merchandise, prices up. However, IIRC, fuel
>prices were the reason before the tariffs started so who knows? :(

When you think about it, you could double fuel costs and the cost
increase on your can of beans would go up by half a cent, if that.
But the stores all take advantage of the 'bad news' and use it to
inflate prices to ridiculous levels, often up by 50% or more, with
less chance of people complaining because they have heard the bad
news and blame it on someone else..

It doesn't help when all the news channels have talking heads on telling
people that the increase in fuel prices will cause food, etc., to "go up by
X%" -- and "X%" always comes out to much higher than half-a-cent.

Mike


* SLMR 2.1a * Florida -- the Punshine State.
--- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Hello Rob!

When you think about it, you could double fuel costs and
the cost increase on your can of beans would go up by half
a cent, if that. But the stores all take advantage of the
'bad news' and use it to inflate prices to ridiculous
levels, often up by 50% or more, with less chance of
people complaining because they have heard the bad news
and blame it on someone else..

I am seeing ridiculous increases on books.

Pocketbooks/mass-market are up from 11.99 to 14.99

Many hardcovers typically between 29.99 to 35.99 are now over
40$

But it's not necessarily "the stores" doing it. In my case it's
the wholesaler raising *my* price based on their their MSRP.




--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: My Westcoast Point (1:153/757.21)

August Abolins wrote to Rob Mccart <=-

But it's not necessarily "the stores" doing it. In my case it's
the wholesaler raising *my* price based on their their MSRP.

Of course, they're passing the profits onto the authors to offset the
higher costs of living, right?


right?



--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/700)

Hello Kurt!

** On Monday 12.01.26 - 08:59, you wrote to me:

August Abolins wrote to Rob Mccart <=-

But it's not necessarily "the stores" doing it. In my case it's
the wholesaler raising *my* price based on their their MSRP.

Of course, they're passing the profits onto the authors to offset the
higher costs of living, right?

right?

Beyond the contracted "advance", I would think that authors
*DO* get an increase factored in. Afterall, their "royalty"
portion is probably based on the Sales $.

The book industry in Canada is fondly subsidized by the
government.

Cost-of-Living is not 20%-50% within one or even three years.
--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: My Westcoast Point (1:153/757.21)

When you think about it, you could double fuel costs and the cost

>> increase on your can of beans would go up by half a cent, if that.
>> But the stores all take advantage of the 'bad news' and use it to
>> inflate prices to ridiculous levels, often up by 50% or more, with
>> less chance of people complaining because they have heard the bad
>> news and blame it on someone else..

It doesn't help when all the news channels have talking heads on telling

>people that the increase in fuel prices will cause food, etc., to "go up by
>X%" -- and "X%" always comes out to much higher than half-a-cent.

Yes, and even those numbers are an average that covers high priced
stores meaning, people like me who have to shop sales at lower
priced store chains find that when they say prices have gome up
by 8%, I find the things I buy have gone up by 50% or 100% or are
no longer available in quantities that are not sold out within a
few hours (or minutes) of the week's sale starting..

---
* SLMR Rob * ... tOO +-+uC|+ $Ex ArrEc-$ YOUr EyE$ig|+t....
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

I am seeing ridiculous increases on books.

Pocketbooks/mass-market are up from 11.99 to 14.99

Many hardcovers typically between 29.99 to 35.99 are now over

>40$

But it's not necessarily "the stores" doing it. In my case it's

>the wholesaler raising *my* price based on their their MSRP.

Would most of those be coming in from the USA ?
Current Trade issues with them may be influencing that too..

Quite a day today. Like usual my shopping day was the worst weather
in several days. It didn't look too bad but the slushy stuff on
the roads was weirdly slippery even where not very deep..

I got through that okay, and then at 7pm tonight my power
went out for 5 1/2 hours, about 75 minutes longer than their
repair estimate. Good thing it was still fairly warm (2c 36f)
today so that it 'only' dropped to about 11c (52f) in here so
I was able to wait it out with a few extra layers of clothing,
later reading a book by flashlight under the covers in bed,
the bedroom holding heat in better than the rest of the house..

..
---
* SLMR Rob * She said, "The computer goes or I do!"... She's gone now.
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Rob Mccart wrote to AUGUST ABOLINS <=-

I got through that okay, and then at 7pm tonight my power
went out for 5 1/2 hours, about 75 minutes longer than their
repair estimate. Good thing it was still fairly warm (2c 36f)
today so that it 'only' dropped to about 11c (52f) in here so
I was able to wait it out with a few extra layers of clothing,
later reading a book by flashlight under the covers in bed,
the bedroom holding heat in better than the rest of the house..

It seemed to me that refrigerators used to be good, unpowered, for
around 12-14 hours if you didn't open it during a power outage. My new
fridge manual says 4 hours for the fridge, 12-14 hours for the freezer.

We live in an area prone to falling trees, and have had our share of
outages. I've resorted to running an inverter off of my car, running an extension cord from the carport to my kitchen, and running the fridge
every couple of hours. The nice thing is that our new hot water heater
is tankless, and I can run it off the same inverter - the electonics
need power, but the heating is all gas.



--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/700)

It doesn't help when all the news channels have talking heads on telling

>people that the increase in fuel prices will cause food, etc., to "go up by
>X%" -- and "X%" always comes out to much higher than half-a-cent.

Yes, and even those numbers are an average that covers high priced
stores meaning, people like me who have to shop sales at lower
priced store chains find that when they say prices have gome up
by 8%, I find the things I buy have gone up by 50% or 100% or are
no longer available in quantities that are not sold out within a
few hours (or minutes) of the week's sale starting..

Yeah, there are some things that I buy that nearly doubled in price 3+
years ago that have yet to start back down. I do a lot of shopping at
Kroger, which is where that happened. At Wal-mart, the increase was
less... maybe 20-40%... but the price there has also yet to go back down.

Mike

* SLMR 2.1a * Never trust a skinny cook.
--- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Hello Rob Mccart!

** On Wednesday 14.01.26 - 08:05, Rob Mccart wrote to AUGUST ABOLINS:

Would most of those be coming in from the USA ? Current
Trade issues with them may be influencing that too..

Most are coming from my Canadian distributors. Yet, many books
are marked: printed in USA or China.

Quite a day today. Like usual my shopping day was the
worst weather in several days. It didn't look too bad but
the slushy stuff on the roads was weirdly slippery even
where not very deep..

It seemed to be a big meltdown today. But that left the
backroads as a big bumpy mess. I happened to be following
behind a snowplow on my road this morning - the ride was
relatively smooth. But coming home tonight, I really had to
slow down to under 30km-20km/hr to minimize the bumpy racket
the wheels were having.

I got through that okay, and then at 7pm tonight my power
went out for 5 1/2 hours, ...

... I was able to wait it out with a few extra layers of
clothing, later reading a book by flashlight under the
covers in bed, the bedroom holding heat in better than the
rest of the house..

Yep.. when the hydro goes out here, all "productivity" stops.
I don't think I have a working flashlight anymore - I got fed
up with trying to keep the batteries fresh. I'll just use the
phone "flashlight" if I need to illuminate a path in the house.

But I do have one floorlamp feeding off a UPS (that I can
silence when the alert kicks in) ..and with just an LED bulb,
it runs for about 4hrs. The UPS just has a basic 12v 9A batt.
Maybe consider something like that so that you don't have
manipulate a flashlight.






--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: My Westcoast Point (1:153/757.21)

I got through that okay, and then at 7pm tonight my power
went out for 5 1/2 hours

It seemed to me that refrigerators used to be good, unpowered, for

>around 12-14 hours if you didn't open it during a power outage. My new
>fridge manual says 4 hours for the fridge, 12-14 hours for the freezer.

If it drops to 50f in the house the fridge will last longer.. B)

I assume you mean the freezer in the fridge?. If it's a simpler
fridge the cold in the freezer would be bleeding down into the
fridge below and I'd think the fridge should be okay a lot longer
than the freezer compartment.

I had the power go off for 27 hours last early winter and I was able
to keep it up to about 60f during the day and it would drop to
the high 40's at night, and I didn't have any problem with most of
the stuff in the fridge.

The biggest problem when it gets cold in the house even if you have
power is the fridge won't run often enough to keep the freezer
working right. Stuff in the fridge is fine but, i.e. the ice cream
in the freezer melts..

In cool but above freezing weather (50f?) I've had a Chest freezer
last for 3 days.. As you said, just don't open them..

We live in an area prone to falling trees, and have had our share of

>outages. I've resorted to running an inverter off of my car, running an
>extension cord from the carport to my kitchen, and running the fridge
>every couple of hours. The nice thing is that our new hot water heater
>is tankless, and I can run it off the same inverter - the electonics
>need power, but the heating is all gas.

In winter I can't get my car within 150 feet of the house, but I
would wonder how much power you could get out of it. My car actually
has a 110 volt outlet in it, but I doubt it could run anything of
higher draw than electronic devices (Yes.. maximum 150 watts).
I have a 300 watt inverter with my tools but, looking at my fridge,
it would just *barely* run on that but it draws 400 watts starting
up and it may not handle that..

---
* SLMR Rob * Chicken Little only has to be right once
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

priced store chains find that when they say prices have gome up

>> by 8%, I find the things I buy have gone up by 50% or 100% or are
>> no longer available in quantities that are not sold out within a
>> few hours (or minutes) of the week's sale starting..

Yeah, there are some things that I buy that nearly doubled in price 3+

>years ago that have yet to start back down. I do a lot of shopping at
>Kroger, which is where that happened. At Wal-mart, the increase was
>less... maybe 20-40%... but the price there has also yet to go back down.

Some things don't make sense too.. Apparently due to tariffs and such
we have lost a lot of our pork exports and yet the price of pork is
higher than ever in the stores. Shouldn't having more than you can sell
lower the price?

---
* SLMR Rob * Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped. - G Marx
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Quite a day today. Like usual my shopping day was the
worst weather in several days. It didn't look too bad but
the slushy stuff on the roads was weirdly slippery even
where not very deep..

It seemed to be a big meltdown today. But that left the

>backroads as a big bumpy mess. I happened to be following
>behind a snowplow on my road this morning - the ride was
>relatively smooth. But coming home tonight, I really had to
>slow down to under 30km-20km/hr to minimize the bumpy racket
>the wheels were having.

My roads didn't have deep stuff on them but it was slippery,
more-so than glare ice would be. Even when there was only
1.5 to 2 inches of it it felt like the car was pushing through
it more than it would in 3 times as much snow, but I later
thought about it and it might have just felt odd because the
traction utility was trying to control slippage. I did see the
light flash at one point showing traction control was on..

Yep.. when the hydro goes out here, all "productivity" stops.

>I don't think I have a working flashlight anymore - I got fed
>up with trying to keep the batteries fresh. I'll just use the
>phone "flashlight" if I need to illuminate a path in the house.

But I do have one floorlamp feeding off a UPS (that I can

>silence when the alert kicks in) ..and with just an LED bulb,
>it runs for about 4hrs. The UPS just has a basic 12v 9A batt.
>Maybe consider something like that so that you don't have
>manipulate a flashlight.

I have a small flexible USB lamp I can use on my computer if
there's no power. It's only a single LED so it would probably
run forever off the Laptop battery..

But those little LED flashlights that take 3 AAA batteries,
they throw a lot of light and seem to last forever. I spent
over 4 hours using one of those for reading when the power
went out and it hadn't dimmed at all. Using the flashlight
occasionally I find a set of batteries often lasts me for
3 or 4 years. I think the batteries usually die of old age
rather than from use..

But that is a limited area of lighting. In power outages I
often still end up resorting to candles to light a room..

---
* SLMR Rob * WOMAN.ZIP - Great Program. No Docs, but fun to unZIP
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Some things don't make sense too.. Apparently due to tariffs and such
we have lost a lot of our pork exports and yet the price of pork is
higher than ever in the stores. Shouldn't having more than you can sell
lower the price?

Yes it should, so long as the pork producers are producing the same amount.
If they stopped breading hogs upon hearing the tariff news, maybe not.

Mike


* SLMR 2.1a * NO CARRIER. Oh well, I didn't want to land anyways.
--- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Rob Mccart wrote to KURT WEISKE <=-

In winter I can't get my car within 150 feet of the house, but I
would wonder how much power you could get out of it. My car actually
has a 110 volt outlet in it, but I doubt it could run anything of
higher draw than electronic devices (Yes.. maximum 150 watts).
I have a 300 watt inverter with my tools but, looking at my fridge,
it would just *barely* run on that but it draws 400 watts starting
up and it may not handle that..

I bought an 1100 watt inverter - it plugs directly into the battery
instead of the lighter socket. My carport is right outside the kitchen,
and the tankless water heater is on the outside wall of the carport.

I asked my kids to plug something into the lighter socket in the car,
they had no idea what I was talking about...



--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: http://realitycheckbbs.org | tomorrow's retro tech (1:218/700)

I just basically take everything that comes from this administration

> with a grain of salt. Keeping my fingers crossed that we can get
> enough bodies of either moderates or democrats that it will break
> the majority and there will some sort of balance..

There's talk about the coming mid-term elections there could possibly
geve the Democrats a majority in the Senate. That might help some.

It just seems odd that Trump gets away with doing anything he wants
and no other political body reins him in. He almost declares wars
on States and is talking about invading Greenland, possibly followed
by Canada, and they just let him go with it..

Now he's gone beyond using Tariffs to generate business (whether
that actually works or not) and is weaponizing them against any
country that disagrees with his plans for world domination..

---
* SLMR Rob * Women like silent men... They think they're listening
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Some things don't make sense too.. Apparently due to tariffs and such

>> we have lost a lot of our pork exports and yet the price of pork is
>> higher than ever in the stores. Shouldn't having more than you can sell
>> lower the price?

Yes it should, so long as the pork producers are producing the same amount.

> If they stopped breading hogs upon hearing the tariff news, maybe not.

Could be, but I think what's really going on here is, we lost a
lot of cattle stock due to lack of pasture from recent droughts so
beef is harder to get and has gone up significantly in price.
That lets pork suppliers charge more without worrying about people
just buying beef instead..

---
* SLMR Rob * What's this about hellfire and dalmatians?
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

I have a 300 watt inverter with my tools but, looking at my fridge,
it would just *barely* run on that but it draws 400 watts starting
up and it may not handle that..

I bought an 1100 watt inverter - it plugs directly into the battery

>instead of the lighter socket. My carport is right outside the kitchen,
>and the tankless water heater is on the outside wall of the carport.

Right.. that would work better. My 300 is direct to battery terminals
as well but not high enough output. Do you leave the car running while
using that or will it go for a while without killing the battery?

I asked my kids to plug something into the lighter socket in the car,

>they had no idea what I was talking about...

Ha.. yes, I can see that.. It's all changing.. I mentioned I have
a 110 volt outlet right in the car and I have USB ports front and
back seats for charging and things like I can plug a flash drive
into it with music on it and it will play through the stereo
system's 9 (I believe) speakers. Things are changing..
(And my car is a 2017!)

---
* SLMR Rob * It's a shame that stupidity isn't painful
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Yes it should, so long as the pork producers are producing the same amount.

> If they stopped breading hogs upon hearing the tariff news, maybe not.

Could be, but I think what's really going on here is, we lost a
lot of cattle stock due to lack of pasture from recent droughts so
beef is harder to get and has gone up significantly in price.
That lets pork suppliers charge more without worrying about people
just buying beef instead..

That would also potentially put a higher demand on pork, too.

Mike


* SLMR 2.1a * I graduated MAGNA CUM DENTE (by the skin of my teeth).
--- SBBSecho 3.28-Linux
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)