We have lamented since the horrible 2016 election “coverage” (spoilage) and the subsequent attempted Deep State/ Media Coup, that the main problem ahead for America was that we have too many news channels, and frankly, a dearth of good analysis. Which I get out of bed every morning at 5 AM to work on…
One highly ranked news site I clicked-on today, just as an example, had 52 “news story links” and of these, 14 where about American politics in one form or another. Trump vetting dump, and did that Muslim congresswoman marry her brother to skirt immigration laws, and such.
To repeat: 27% of the news was about Trump and Congressoids and we can’t do jack about it till the next election cycle..
Seriously?
To real, busy readers of UrbanSurvival, there’s a much keener interest in data; not ‘political filler’ stories. Items like Bernie Sanders wanting to just burn $1.6 trillion in student debt prove to us he’s unfit to hold office. Toss in PokaWarren with her “free college” schemes and we have to remind you: There is no ‘free lunch’ although you wouldn’t know it listening to the clown posse.
The news shortage shows up in other ways, too. When we read stories like “A NEW way of measuring earthquakes may unlock the “holy grail” of where and when they will strike.” we’re disappointed by the quality of facts. Mades it sound important. However, it’s a 700 year data study in a seismically active area..not something that’s useful when deciding whether to lunch in a skyscraper next week in L.A.
When we begin to critically look at what’s passed-off as news, we can “block it” into topics which can then be prioritized. Word that a “Weather bomb to unleash month’s worth of rain on UK before temperatures rocket to 33C” 91F? AYFKM? It doesn’t matter much, because it’s 4,700 miles from us, but absurd can never be far enough away. This is what season? Summer, you say. 104 coming in France, OMG…(yawn)..
What matters to us is local conditions. June has a mean temp this year of 76.8 F and there’s been 36.17 inches of rain this year. Last year we had 22.9 inches of rain. 13.27 inches or about 2-inches a month extra. Since last year’s mean temp was 81.8 for June, that means 5-degrees on average colder. Which is how data reinforces climate skepticism.
People have been brainwashed into believing that “climate change” is something new. But, ultra-smart person you are, you think back to your childhood: “Hmm…no ice sheets then, either.”
More evidence of the brain-washing (filler) shows up in the BBC’s “Climate protesters storm Garzweiler coalmine in Germany.” Yet, when these protesters go home, the wrong-headed *unbalanced* climateers expect their lights to work.
Oh, and if they really loved the Earth, they would have made the stupendous waste of energy in crypto mining illegal as a crime against the environment. More energy use on that than half the world’s countries and no one gets fed (except a tall tale that feeds into egoism and greed).
But before we delve into things like the CFNAI just out, and think about the real economic data to come along later this week, we had to mention that ex-Trump, ex-Climate, ex-Political Idiocy, the actual useful news content on most of the “news sites” we look at is under 50%.
You can’t change weather and you can’t change stupid. IF governments were serious about climate, they would shut down cryptos, they would ban corporate jets and ground scheduled flights with a PLF (passenger load factor) of less than 70% and so forth. Ban sale of passenger cars weighing more than 3,000 pounds. But, they’re not. Which screams insincere bullshit.
That’s because news of Trump and its crooked twin Trump-hating is an industry just as sure Climate is an industry. Why, combine the pitch emails in your inbox with the erectile dysfunction emails and perhaps the world condition is best assessed by the quality of our email. Ever look at what the marketers are saying to get your blood pressure up so they can get into your pants (where the wallet is, right…)?
How to Be a Smarter News Consumer
Need to know the weather today? Look outside. Carry an umbrella anyway. You can club a thug with it even on a clear days.
Need to know what the stock market is doing? Futures point to +50’ish at the open. If you’re a pattern daytrader, that ‘news’ is highly perishable: only a 1-minute chart matters. Slow-trading is less demanding and guessing at the rally continuing to the second week of August is as good a guess as any.
Gold? $1,407 at Kitco and $1,410 on the futures early on. Silver was $15.34 at Kitco. Environment-damaging silly money was at $10,873 each. Not to worry: This is how the markets looked in the May-August of 1929 period, too. And we may have much more to go…Dow 29,965 to throw a dart.
The weekly Wal-Mart ad runs through the 27th. You may get more out of clicking here than a whole week’s worth of news.
Last week, Woot had a flash sale on iPad’s (black, 16 gb with WiFi for $119. Of course we did.
Gas Prices are running on average $2.662 says Triple A.
See how useful this kinda thing is?
The point here: Politics, senseless open borders, and idiots in office won’t do much other than churn up your stomach acid. The local weather, how Ure investments are doing, and what’s on sale at WallyWorld and Woot (the better www) are a hell of a lot more useful than what?
If you’re looking for good reading, don’t waste so much time on news Either get into the economics behind it, or get some self-education that you can use to build local improvements in your own life. Forget the fairy tale land of screen candy.
Dirty secret: When I find a few spare minutes, know what I read? Thing like back copies of Popular Mechanics from the 1930’s to about 1965, or so.
Your brain is no different than my hydroponic tomatoes: To get any good out of ’em, daily tending is required. Those “great ideas” we sometimes have that improve our life don’t come from “news stories” – they come from reading widely and collecting different “recipes” for use at your pleasure. There’s nothing new, you just have to go find it.
Open your email and see if you can figure out the rest without further prompting.
CFNAI – Chicago Fed National Activity Report.
Led by improvements in production-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) rose to –0.05 in May from –0.48 in April. Three of the four broad categories of indicators that make up the index increased from April, but only one of the four categories made a positive contribution to the index in May. The index’s three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, moved up to –0.17 in May from –0.37 in April.
+55 on the Dow after the data when we checked.
Possibly Useful Items (PUI)
Aw, phooey, today’s PUI:
Putin Extends Ban on EU Food Imports Until End of 2020. Because of the cold wet spring, we may need all the food the world can muster next year.
Speaking of gremlins in the Kremlin: Russia Warns of Repeat of Cuban Missile Crisis – Reports.
Civilian border militia spokesman indicted for impersonating US officer: prosecutors. Government hates competition, does it?
Eldorado Resorts to Merge With Caesars in $17 Billion Casino Deal. Oh boy…Shreveport is just down the road.
Airline hopes that rabbit poo may provide sustainable fuel. The idea of rabbit poo diesel just makes us jumpy…
And which browser are you on? Google’s Chrome Web Browser “Has Become Spy Software” is going large.
And in the “Get high, go for walk” dept: Flying Wallendas traverse Times Square on a high wire.
I need to get out the ViseGrips or go back to bed. Woke up on the wrong planet…again.
Moron the ‘morrow…
I have used Firefox for nearly twenty years and am satisfied with it. I use DuckDuckGo on my Kindle Fire 8HD and very happy with it. On my Android phone, I use Firefox Focus. There is no need to use Chrome. I dumped and refuse to use streaming services that require Chrome use.
Firefox is good, especially if you use noscript and other carefully selected extensions. I prefer Pale Moon for most things – an early Firefox fork that’s much faster, but limited on some sites. Opera has the benefit of a built in VPN for itself. Vivaldi has massive customization and is useful on occasion. Most browsers are bloatware, trying to do everything for everyone. Another problem with most browsers, perhaps all, is that they are free, and that means they must monetize something, and that’s the user. Chrome is arguably the worst, though I’ve not even looked at the MS entries. Just my opinion, FWIW.
Always check your privacy settings on the browser and add-ons after updates. All browsers steal some data; some more than others. Operating systems, all cloud services, security software, ISP’s, DNS services, phone providers, and phone apps steal data as well, but are harder to clamp down on. I try to minimize phone apps, and use Firefox shortcut icons instead. At least I can purge data from Android Firefox with one keystroke. Security software which is EU privacy compliant is available. Email and text security usually end up being the most potentially privacy and hacking sensitive, unless you keep your personal kinks in digital format. The VPN’s shield you from advertisers, but not from sovereign states, who share data with politicos, revenuers and preferred contractors, who in turn use the data for whatever floats their boats. Think gift cards for data service payments, whenever possible. The advertisers sell information indiscriminately to all private and government customers local and international, damn the privacy laws, which don’t really exist in the US anyway.
Has anyone found an open-source browser which really complies with EU privacy regulations? I’m not 100% sure about Firefox on this issue.
Your secret digital ballots aren’t really secret anymore in the US, if they ever were, now that we bring up the sovereign state privacy issues. A split ticket puts you in the cross-hairs of all the partisan gangs.
The prime directive in interacting with the internet and the digital world in general is and has been since day one: don’t do anything in digital format that you don’t want to discuss with a grand jury. I see people public posting stuff all the time that makes me cringe. For the most part, I hope they are making it up, for their sake. I can justify throwing polite rocks at corrupt, malicious and inept stooges; making overt threats and justifying personal kinks and scofflaw activities online is nuts. If the cops want to know who you are, there is no place to run and hide online, no matter who claims their services are different.
It’s pretty obvious your version of the “News Shortage” is intentional. Don’t want to upset the people who pay your bills, right?
So, you’re doing your duty as a “Good German” and refusing to mention that children, who through no choice of their own, are being treated worse than prisoners of war. On par with torture camps. Not because it’s effective at keeping people from migrating to the country, but simply because it’s cruel. And punching down with a hint of cruelty has always been the bottom line of most Republicans’ agendas. (differentiating Conservatives, many of whom find this whole Administration revolting)
But you do you, boo. Social Media (including your little vlog here) won’t let the Good Germans fade back into the woodwork and avoid their well deserved scorn like they did the last time. And trust me. There are people out here keeping score.
“extreme cold temperatures, lights on 24 hours a day, no adequate access to medical care, basic sanitation, water, or adequate food.”
“Sevier told ABC News that the teenagers she observed were not able to wash their hands while in custody, which she called “tantamount to intentionally causing the spread of disease.” Teen mothers in custody described to her not being able to clean their children’s bottles: “To deny parents the ability to wash their infant’s bottles is unconscionable and could be considered intentional mental and emotional abuse,” Sevier wrote. In summary, she determined that “the conditions within which they are held could be compared to torture facilities.”
Few mothers should need bottles. Most are equipped by nature to feed their kids until at least two years old. Breast feeding also acts as a partial contraceptive.
I presume you’re talking about the US border crisis, though this applies to the European invasion too. If the Soros crowd hadn’t lied to foreigners about the USA being a land of milk and honey, the Border Patrol would not be overwhelmed. The alternative to trying to house these interlopers is to toss them back over the fence with no food or water. We’re not doing that. The parents are responsible for dragging their kids into these situations, regardless of their motives. Sad and harsh, but we can’t provide for everyone – especially those who are not productive in real time. Contraception and sterilization is a large part of the answer and we’re not even talking about those things.
they can go back anytime they want. your torture comments are spreading lies, Demo propaganda . Have you not learned that ABC NBC CBS CNN don’t really care about telling you the whole truth, but sandwich BS in the story and you swallow it
these people are willingly surrendering to the Border Patrol, to suck up as much as they can
put some cat food out and see how many strays you attract. Obummer set out a LOT of cat food
PS: BRAVE for a browser is what I am using currently
CR – it looks like you fell for the fake news one liners. You act as though ICE employees are Nazi’s, when in truth they are caring people who are being overwhelmed by the numbers.
Mate, I have a little disclosure. I have been visiting this site for almost 17-18 years. Every single day at that. I don’t remember ever being forced to do so. I have been doing it since I seem to enjoy Mr Ure’s take on things. Warts (typos) & all. And he does cover a wide variety of subjects. I am obviously not from the US, as are a few other friends who are regular readers too. And on behalf of them and many others here, I request you to take your vitriol elsewhere, where it’s likely to find an audience and acceptance. Thanks much.
Cry, cry some more please! Salty lib tears go well with my morning coffee. Bleeding heart pussy.
C.R.
About the drought of real news I think George is right. I remember real paper newspapers. Opinion was on the editorial page as were the letters. That day has gone. I remember when there were only three networks whose news services were staffed by outstanding journalists(who were journalists before they were broadcasters). My favorite local news anchor had been a pioneer in this market. Recently he retired because the news was morphing into entertainment. I must say that the locals do leave me rofl.
Now as for your ad hominem attack on George, it was really uncalled for. I take my hat off to George for letting it pass. BTW this type of rhetorical device was a favorite of the German Social Democratic party. Are your true colors showing?
Your comments show true lack of knowledge of the history of this nation. Current conditions are tragic but not new by any means. Consider the conditions on board 17th to 19th century sailing ships. Not few immigrants died on the voyage from Europe. In my family history there is a record of two children who were orphaned on the voyage. The common denominator between then and now is that the immigrants chose of their own volition to endure privations to get here. Ellis island had a cemetery.
Also, while conditions for children seem tragic I don’t think they compare with those that generated the orphan trains (use Google, read, be.informed.)
When my ancestors arrived they didn’t break any laws, they didn’t get food stamps, the didn’t get free housing they didn’t get free health care. My ancestors built towns and cities. They didn’t turn cities into third world cess pits.
I could go on but it’s bad for my blood pressure. 30
How much energy is consumed by banking and credit card transactions, including the building and operation of facilities, transport of employees, mail and currency, counting money, processing checks, regulatory compliance, etc.? How much energy is used to militarily and economically enforce currency hegemony? How many lives and diverted resources?
And how much energy would be consumed by the crypto “Networks” if they were on, but idle?
And while paying off all student loans rewards the wrong people and punishes the wrong people, $1.6 trillion is ballpark what the F-35 Turkey will end up costing. Arguably a worse investment. Not to mention Afghanistan.
Since universities are a primary funding source for cultural Marxists and other misguided people, perhaps we should look at alternative training methods? I propose open source software for operating online universities with no administration buildings, run as cooperatives by the faculty, who can vote out administrators. Students can “vote with their mouse clicks and credit cards. And attend multiple different universities at the same time.
Hundreds of thousands of people with masters and doctorates could find employment from anywhere with high speed internet. Market forces would push tuition etc costs back down. Figure classes of 20. 15 weeks, 15 hours a week of instruction (until old lectures are re- run) and you get 225 hours/20 students, or roughly 12 hours per student. If we pay $100 per hour of instruction, that’s $1200 per semester per student, or $9600 for four years of full time instruction. And that assumes nobody replays great lecture series.
And since MIT already puts all lectures online for free, why not use them as course materials for the open source online universities? Why not pay royalties to great lecturers, and hire teaching assistants to do the grunt work? Accreditation could be done within existing systems, or a new system could be created, using open source analysis.
And the ubiquitous a**hole profs and TAs we had to pay to screw with us in school? Drop’em anytime and select a different one. Imagine real market forces in higher ed. I can hear the screams now. The rating system would look like Amazon’s complete with user comments. In the end, a robust testing system would weed out the slackers.
If college becomes free, I am going to law school & become a personal injury lawyer to illegal immigrents.
“and did that Muslim congresswoman marry her brother to skirt immigration laws, and such.”
and here I thought the way I heard it was marrying her brother was because his child hood nickname was old three legs…
or that he supposedly loved to swat flies with his tongue when he was a little boy….
If Sears can cancel employees’ life insurance, why have a problem with student loan being cancelled (for the TRULY needy, not the Hollywood wannabes)…
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-sears-ends-life-insurance-benefits-20190326-story.html
Or why not cancel the incredibly huge wage increases of the top staffs at the colleges (where your student debt money goes)…..
https://www.usnews.com/news/college-of-tomorrow/articles/2014/09/22/why-college-costs-so-much-overspending-on-faculty-amenities
Despite the way the Trib worded it, Sears didn’t cancel its employees’ life insurance. It stopped paying the life insurance premiums. Its group life insurance is convertible by current and retired employees, to individual whole-life policies. That sucks, but Sears is a also a private corporation in bankruptcy, defaulting on a $16mln payment on retiree benefits.
_________________________________
I have no problem with free school for students, as long as the funding source (government, meaning us, and parents) can convince teachers and support staffs to work without pay, and publishers to furnish materials for free.
“I have no problem with free school for students, as long as the funding source (government, meaning us, and parents) can convince teachers and support staffs to work without pay, and publishers to furnish materials for free.”
Ray.. Obviously you missed economics 101 who pays the debt..
https://www.air.org/news/press-release/taxpayer-subsidies-most-colleges-and-universities-average-between-8000-more
https://www.cbpp.org/more-than-half-of-state-tax-revenues-fund-education-and-health-care-3
We do…already..or at least fifteen percent of every tax dollar I pay in.. hey why don’t we do it the way you suggested.. just let the parents of the kids attending
grade school through ..college pay full fare.. I would save roughly fifty cents of every dollar…. but then that means that the teachers would either have to take a cut in pay or the schools cut back their building funds..
Instead of paying for some student from outside the USA to receive a free education and pay no taxes.. I would rather see us promote education to our youth.. the children of the taxpayers supporting the schools..
http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/countries-with-free-college/
You would at least think that we would at least be able to keep up with the education of the smallest of countries.
so far four kids have taken my advice from around here and headed out to other countries from here for their education.. three grand in loans is a whole lot easier than a couple hundred grand in school loans..
there are a few countries left off of that above article.. and those countries are offering tuition free schooling to promising US students that apply for them.. we as a country should at least try to keep our best and brightest here at home.
if a piece of paper on the wall is what is needed.. then go for the pretty paper..
https://images.diplomaclassics.com/products_padded/288280_50361_1200_630.png
as far as the insurance.. most of the companies are pushing for the employees to pay full costs.. it saves them about five dollars an hour or so just on benefit packages.. a little in a little out..
of course all of this is just my opinion..
Reread that which you quoted from me, or did you miss Reading 097?
Please don’t assume an antagonistic tone until you’ve read every word I post. I’m grounded to short trips for another week, and it’s making me a tad grumpy…
Doug..
I totally love all the top 100 colleges..almost all of them have online courses. MIT when whole hog. Their whole catalogue is open to anyone wanting to learn something..
Military have for decades been able to take online courses.. in other countries they to offer classes.. one great college in india..
I have said often dont just open your libraries open the schools.in many countries education is expected.. wage does not go to the paper on the wall but to the work the person does. promote education and push it.. maybe we wouldn’t be at the back of the pack anymore if we did.
The bad thing with it is the classes are free.. but if you want the degree to go with it..then you pay.
Like an African sent here to get a free education on the blue collar workers dime.. one day he was just standing by the desk.. I pulled him aside and asked..what are you doing.. his response was in Africa things are different..the more you do the more you make in America it seems the less you do the more you make..so I am going to give myself a raise.. I told him..see that paper hanging on the wall..you need one of them..hes now a physical therapist..
As usual the headline seems to miss the point of a story. It’s not rabbit poo, it’s an (unnamed) enzyme in rabbit poo. It’s being considered to catalyze stack emissions – probably CO2 into ethanol – a worthy goal if waste heat can be used to drive it. Again, not enough detail to understand whether or not it’s worth bothering with.
It would make sense to use such a process to create ethanol rather than use corn and other foods to make tolerable motor fuel. Of course, there are other ways to raise octane, but the ethanol thing seems to be the most affordable and least toxic to people, if not engines. Using it in jet fuel is interesting, though the calories/liter and probably calories/kg are far less than Jet A or similar. It would probably best be used for shorter hops.
I’d have thought that algae derived fuel driven by those same stack emissions would be more efficient, though I have no numbers to it up. It would also produce a longer chain, more volumetrically efficient product. Perhaps a series of products each using optimized tech for the win?
Moral of this story: There’s plenty of real news if someone would bother to get the details of innovation and actually write it up with the details, sources and a separate critical analysis.
Meanwhile, why has news of the Falcon Heavy been sidelined for BS noise about our president and the field of upstarts with yet more empty promises? Oops, I forgot. It’s a business model.
In the upcoming Democratic Presidential Debates, it will be interesting to see how many billions of dollars they will propose handing out to citizens & non citizens, & how many of our freedoms will be discarded.
The debates should be monitored by P.T. Barnum. A circus event where there is a sucker born every minute & 20 to take your money.
“did that Muslim congresswoman marry her brother to skirt immigration laws”
C’mon George, everyone wants to know if she wrapped her junk around more than his immigration docs. As you well-know, salaciousness sells — BIG! Always has, always will, and if her handlers are any good, she’ll be able to play the “victim card” with respect to her having played fast & loose with campaign finance laws, which is the real issue…
Warren didn’t have any problem, taking and spending the 100k+ bestowed upon her yearly as a hack professor. Now she wants her 600,000 former Doctoral colleagues to work for free? OKAY!
Socialism is for the people, not the Socialists.
We talk (too much) about “income inequality” in the U.S., mostly because “class warfare” is one of the campaign stalwarts of the Democratic Party (get people scared or PO’d about something and they cease any semblance of rational thought.) No one here even looks at the “income inequality” in socialist or communist countries, where it is much greater than in the States. Ya think there are no billionaires in France or Germany, or Venezuela or Cuba? Look it up. Not only are they there, but they are far wealthier, by class comparison, than the citizenry of those countries, and own a far bigger piece of their nation’s turf than American billionaires…
BTW George, this is the “deadest” “news Monday” I’ve seen in years. I wonder what’s REALLY going on…?
Hmm maybe you should look at your own country rather than other countries,for you remind me of George Wills when he said Americans should be happy to pay more taxes, for after all countries in Europe pay more then we do.The only socialism that I see is socialism for the 1% for the rest is nothing but smoke and mirrors, perpetuated by the same class for their own benefit,after all they do own the government lock,stock and barrel but most people due to the endless propaganda (did so&so marry her brother) can’t see the trees for the forest, and that’s not going to change just because the ones in high places are.!!!
You’re actually “getting it.” You just don’t realize it yet. Socialism is a two-class caste system which features a very few “haves,” and a huge majority of the population who are “have nots.”
The reason I quoted Andrew Wilkow and said it is for the people, not the socialist, is because the governing principles of socialism are only applied to the “have-nots.” The “haves,” under a socialist system, get to live however they wish.
Forgiving student is far, far, far more stimulative for the economy than giving the Upper 1% the money, as the R’s just did. (Plus 1/3 of them were foreigners.)
Rather, when they had full power, the R’s hijacked The Base for the Rich. That is, tax cuts and exploding the ntl debt, in lieu of substantive conservative oriented immigration reform and infrastructure jobs.
https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/let-me-tell-you-about-very-rich-they-are-different-you-and-me
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-hes-draining-the-swamp-as-he-fills-cabinet-with-ex-lobbyists/
Best, Mike.
Did anyone notice that at the top of the Yahoo Finance App, the price of Crude Oil is missing?
“There is no ‘free lunch”
Amen George.. the thought that someone is getting something for nothing is just a fantasy story that people love to imagine.. everything has its price…
I remember being jealous of one guy.. he seemed to have it all.. then I was leaving a job he came in to apply for mine.. I scoped out his application come to find out.. he made a dollar less an hour than I did at his old job.. it was just my perception that he had more..
I wish there was a filter that could be applied for all news concerning any celebutard, including those involved in politics.
Meanwhile, both of the local news rags where I “live” (Richmond KY and Birmingham Al) have themselves behind paywalls where there meager, slanted content could be conveniently ignored (The county “free” advertiser weeklies have ably picked up some of the more important content and are filling the gap nicely.)
Then, on the last “upgrade”, my Android device started providing local new content for free, without my permission. I am literally flooded with content at all hours, requiring the silencing of the phone at night. Most of this is police blotter
filler.
What has distressed me most about this is not the usual mayhem and drug busts but that there are minimum 2-3 DAILY stories about really terrible physical assaults on children, even infants. I mention this because it is depressing enough to me to make me stop checking the news altogether.
I would be interested to know if the readers here, who are spread out pretty well all over the CONUS, and the world, see the same thing. I guesstimate this is also due to the inhibition lowering and violence inducing properties of SSRI drugs and drugs in general.
“Don’t nitpick small things when the big picture is being smashed.” Truer words were never written, IMHO, alas, there are too few people with ‘plain common sense.’ ;-(
I have found that if it rises to the level of requiring my attention, then it will be plastered all across the internet and rapidly becomes “un-missable”. If one thinks back to the days pre-internet, our news was 12-24 hours old and considered ‘newsworthy’ – even older if you relied on print media.
I tried shopping the internet last week – wanted a laser sight and best internet price I found was about $100 for what I wanted. Walked into Dicks while the bride was getting something at the local mall – got what I needed in a store special for $43. Needed a part for my fridge (fan) so as not to buy another one for $1800; online the cheapest was $120 plus shipping. Local appliance parts house sold me the same part for $55 when I walked through their door.
Internet shopping has become a huge joke, with pricing being jacked up due to the convenience factor of shipping to your door. Ammo is about the only thing worth getting – stopped buying power tools and such because the invasion of cheap knockoffs and white labeling makes these tools a total crapshoot. I am already sitting on 2 sander/grinders that failed on delivery – and yes, that would be the original AND its’ replacement…
Better to support your local people, where things matter more. Like when I went into the local bait shop before going fishing, hoping they had a can or ReelMagic – which they did, and actually GAVE it to me for buying a new reel from them.
Go to Lowes and Home Depot and load your own lumber – I will go to my local lumber yard where they load me for free and their prices are as good or better and lumber quality definitely superior; and my money supports local people.
The internet is fine, as are most things, when it is taken in moderation.
Perhaps news should be taken the same way, since most of what passes for news these days simply isn’t…
Shopping around is always best, but you can burn a lot of gas looking for oddball little parts around town. I agree that the online vendors are marking up products to cover the “free” shipping. This is especially true of bulky or heavy items. I wanted a particular size trash can. I looked online and the prices were crazy. The local Home Depot had it for less than half the nearest online price. The local hardware store didn’t stock it.
For small lightweight repair parts less than $10, you will be hard pressed to beat Amazon Prime overnight shipping if you can find the item. Order the parts individually with Prime; Amazon will throw them in the same shipping box if they all show up together. Just watch out for parts coming on the slow USPS boat from China. If the parts show USPS delivery two months out, cancel.
OM2, for the past 20 years I have always shopped the Internet to identify the part needed, but made the majority of my purchases locally. My priorities are:
Availability
exactness
quality
American
Sometimes Amazon is the best choice; usually it is not, and it’s flooded with Chinese crap I can buy cheaper from DX or DH Gate, or Rakutan, when that is the route I must go.
Sometimes, online is the only way. When I was a kid, there was a hardware store in Brazil, Indiana, comprised of 19 mil-surplus buildings (I think they got up to 23 or 24 before the owner passed.) People traveled hundreds of miles to go to that store, because they literally had everything. Nowadays, it’s getting hard to find an Ace or True-Value, and when you do, half their retail space is cluttered with frou-frou and fluff — unless you live in the boonies. Small town stores, especially in rural areas, seem to carry a lot more stuff to build with than suburban stores, and a lot less crap.
My last online purchase: Box of #3x½” brass, self-tapping screws, for restoration of the clearance lights on a vintage trailer I bought a few weeks ago (‘cuz new lights won’t fit and replacements are unobtanium.) I need six, bought 100, cost $5, +$5.80 shipping, and I guarantee no hardware store in the Free World carries them as a shelf-item.
My tools are mostly DeWalt and Milwaukee, made in USA (and obviously not new), and Makita (for cordless tools), with a smattering of Powermatic, Delta, and Bosch. I don’t care HOW GOOD a warranty is. When I need something done, I need it done NOW, and right, not next week when the replacement tool comes in. That dirty 20yo, $20 Bosch at the local pawn shop is a better buy than the new one, at any price because it’s rebuildable…