True genius

I love to complain everyday about how not smart people are. It's fun..and sadly, all too true. But there is one person in this country who I consider to be the smartest person in the world. I do not know this person, I don't even know their name. I am not sure if it is a man or a woman (although I have to admit I hope and pray it is a woman.) This person is a marketing genius....and there is no limit to her power. This praise goes to the person who is in charge of raising money for breast cancer research. Is it Susan G Komen? Or is that the name of a woman who died of breast cancer and they developed this foundation in her name (probably)? I looked on komen.org but could not find any information about who is behind the scenes. That may be due to my limited working knowledge of the Internet and/or my short attention span. Anyway, I sort of tried. Nothing. However, there are a ton of ways you can give them money!

You cannot get through the day without being presented an opportunity to give money to breast cancer research. I know that this month is THE MONTH for this, but you have to admit that it really is every month. It is everywhere. Let's do a brief review: if you buy yogurt, you give. If you buy soap, you give. If you eat chocolate, you give. If you go to the store they ask if you want to "round up" for breast cancer research. if you buy anything pink, you give. You can run and walk for "the cure." You can get a massage for "the cure." If you buy hard lemonade, you give. Heck, even the funny pages in Sunday's paper were in pink, with the telltale little pink ribbons printed everywhere. The marketing genius I speak of has not ever had the thought, "that's probably enough." The list of corporate sponsors on their website is really, really long. Everyone from American Airlines to Zumba Fitness is on there. Holland America is on there...Ford Motors is on there....as well as Dansko (the best shoes ever) and Massage Envy...these are just a few that I noted. I mean this is a total all-out assault on the community. Their motto must be "leave no stone where there might be money unturned."

Now I am all in favor of eradicating breast cancer and all cancers for that matter. But I have to ask the obvious question here: if breast cancer research is bringing in so much money (and it has to be billions) what happens if they do find a cure? Won't that money stop?

Anyway, I would love to meet this person. She is a shining example of what you can do in this country!

The oil change scandal, part deux

Could there possibly be more to the story of my last blog entry? Well, sure. Many smart people have told me that the story doesn't make sense. (Well, two people...my mom and my friend, Hank) and I agree...it doesn't make sense. And you know what Judge Judy says..."if it doesn't make sense, it probably isn't true." Honestly, I have no problem accepting the fact that the government does all kinds of things that don't make sense...but still...there has to be more to the story. There must to be a law (whether that law makes sense or not) that the dealership was violating. I am over being mad about this. I mean really, I had a pretty good run with the free oil change deal. I am now simply curious about what the heck is going on. So I called Dick again and assured him that I was not trying to make trouble for him. I just want to know what the real story is. He told me, again, that the Attorney General told them that they are violating a marketing law and were fined and told to cease the activity immediately. He assured me (well, he told me) that it did not have anything to do with taxes. I asked him if they received any bailout money from the gov, and he said they did not. He really didn't have a good grasp on the whole thing...which could mean that his attorney handled everything, or that he is not too bright, or he is lying.

In life you have to let a lot of things go. Believe me, I know this. But sometimes you have to find out why you are getting the shaft. And I already know the reason that I am getting the shaft. Money of course. But this situation calls for details. I think I have a right to know who is sticking it to me. After all, it is personal.

Get used to it...there's more to come. Lot's more.

I am on-fire mad!! And this time I have a legitimate reason. Back in 2001 or so, my husband and I bought a truck from Miller Ford Nissan in Madras. As part of the deal for purchasing a truck there we were given free oil changes for the life of the truck. Or perhaps it was as long as we owned the truck. Either way, it was definitely a factor in purchasing the truck there as opposed to some other dealership. And for this many years, I have been taking the truck up to Madras to have them change the oil..and all it cost me is the price of the oil filter. A decent deal...for once. Yeah, well, guess what? They did away with that deal. Of course! I wonder what took them so long. Anyway, when I was notified that I was, again, getting the shaft, I asked "who do I need to speak to about this?" I was transferred to the general manager, Dick, who, to his credit, answered the call. I said, "what gives?" To which he replied with an explanation that surprised even me. He said the the Department of Justice told him that was he was doing was illegal....that "nothing is free" and that they had to cease and desist immediately and also pay a hefty fine. Dick went on to tell me that their attorney advised that they could fight it..you know...to stick up for their loyal customers...but that would cost them too much in legal fees (attorney fees) and that they better just do what the government says. What??? So.....there you go.

Now why in the world would the government be getting into the business of the car dealerships? Gee, I wonder. Do you think that all their "bailouts" might have something to do with this new policy?

For all you people out there who think that the government is the answer to all our problems..and that they give a rip about us..you are seriously stupid. I cannot say it any more plain than that.