In Our World
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CompUSA Can't Even Go Out of Business Correctly
With the announcement that TigerDirect parent Systemax is acquiring the CompUSA brand, trademarks, e-commerce business and as many as 16 stores from my least-favorite retailer. The sixteen stores are located in the Florida and Texas in the United States and in Puerto Rico, apparently a hotbed of CompUSA…
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Easy Christmas Returns and the Death of the Department Store
I was having a conversation with my wife after we managed to get out of bed, some hours after the new year began, and we were trying to decide what to do with the day, it being a holiday and all. She offered to take the kids out…
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Have Gift Cards Gone Too Far?
Since it's my birthday, I thought I'd talk about something that really bugs me about gift cards. As I'm filling up at the gas station, I look up and see a sign that reads "Give the gift they wont want to regift". Yes, that's right – a gift…
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Firefighters Sell You Tickets You Won't Use
It's no secret that I'm not a fan of overpriced fundraisers. Just look at the Girl Scouts. I mean I'll eat some cookies and all, but the way they sell those overpriced boxes of heaven is just ridiculous. Why don't they just ask for the money? I don't…
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When Hospital Juggernauts Collide
I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but I just never could seem to find the time. Both Carolinas Healthcare and Presbyterian Healthcare have applied to the state of North Carolina for a Certificate of Need. What is that, you ask? I'm glad you did….
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Where Have All the Streakers Gone?
Back in the day – let's call it 1974 – streaking was all the rage. Ray Stevens hit it big with his song about streaking. It's like everyone could just enjoy life a little bit more. No one was taking themselves very seriously. Well, maybe Richard Nixon was,…
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How Clean Are Your Recyclables?
According to the recycling guidelines published by the City of Charlotte, if you choose to recycle, if you recycle glass, you should rinse it out. If you recycle plastic spiral cans, you should rinse or wipe out remaining food. Strangely, there is no mention of cleaning plastic. I'm…
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Scott S. Fraser Gives Me More Stock Picks
A few months back, I profiled the Elite Stock-Market Advisory of Scott S. Fraser, and how I thought it was a remarkably bad investment. As of today, there is a single stock that has actually moved higher from that group, but I have now been chosen as the…
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Intuit Shows That Customer Service Does Matter
Just about two weeks ago, I mentioned that customer service was really on the decline. Within perhaps 48 hours of that writing, I received a note from a rep who worked for Intuit, and he wanted to know if there was anything that he could to to help…
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Is Daylight Saving Time Worth the Hassle?
If you live in the U.S., then chances are good that yesterday you had an extra hour of sleep. Of course, the chances are equally as good that you may have missed it, thinking that perhaps you were supposed to be up at the normal time, since you…