Although I think $300 is a bit much,can I be the devils advocate here? Why is it that we all complain about our $10, $15, $20 or whatever co-pay we have? And our possibility of having to pay the first $250 or $500 if in the emergency room, or a hospital stay. And yet when our car's A/C isn't working, we run to the auto shop and think nothing of blowing $500+ to have it repaired. Even if we have to charge it. Our lawn mower breaks or snowblower breaks down, off to the repair shop it goes. Christmas rolls around and some spend money on gifts they don't even have. And let us not forget our vet bills and food for our animals. And yet when it comes to OUR OWN HEALTH, we feel someone else should be footing the bill. We summons the government or our employer for help to take care of OUR OWN HEALTH. We actually expect the government or employer to foot the bill for our doctors visits, prescriptions, hospital stays and even right to the end of our lives in a nursing home. Have we perhaps lost sight of what is really important in life?
Again...just being the devils advocate.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Wal-Mart move to save energy, water BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores said Wednesday it will sell only concentrated liquid laundry detergent, a move the world’s biggest retailer says will save millions of pounds of packaging each year. Wal-Mart said its stores account for 25 percent of liquid laundry detergent sales in the United States and that its effort will save 400 million gallons of water, 95 million pounds of plastic and 125 million pounds of cardboard. The company would also save fuel by transporting less mass. The concentrated liquid detergent will arrive on all shelves at U.S. Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores by May.
Bumble, yes I might pay for the vet bills for my dog and complain about my own health costs. The difference is I pay thousands for insurance for myself and my family, I should not have to pay exhorbitant out of pocket expenses in addition. I don't have insurance for my pet
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Main Entry: 1in·sur·ance Pronunciation: in-'shur-&n(t)s also 'in-" Function: noun 1 a : the business of insuring persons or property b : coverage by contract whereby one party undertakes to indemnify or guarantee another against loss by a specified contingency or peril c : the sum for which something is insured 2 : a means of guaranteeing protection or safety
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Main Entry: health insurance Function: noun : insurance against loss through illness of the insured; especially : insurance providing compensation for medical expenses
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
I had a very interesting conversation with a gentleman who is doing the remodel at Walmarts. He was not a walmart employee. He was a contractor from Syracuse. So when I told him how nice I thought walmart was looking, he said not to expect it to last for long. He said that areas in the store that have been completed are starting to look like a mess already. He said the floors are a mess and the walmart employees could care less. He said that all of the walmarts are like that.
So it will be interesting to see what this store will look like in the upcoming months.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
This is from the New York Times this past week. Very interesting.
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September 24, 2007, 9:17 am Walmart.com to Customers: Stop Calling By Katie Hafner
Tags: Customer Service, Wal Mart
When it comes to customer service, who needs a human touch? Not Wal-Mart’s online customers, apparently. As part of what Wal-Mart is calling its “Customer Contact Reduction” program, by next week, Walmart.com, the company’s online arm, will no longer give customers a toll-free phone number to call–or any phone number, for that matter–if they have a question. Instead, they will have to rely solely on the Wal-Mart Web site as their guide to the solution for whatever problem they might have, whether it is a question about a credit card charge or the status of an online order. We’ve made a significant investment in the enhancement of our online customer “self-help” tool at Walmart.com to better serve our online customers,” said Amy Colella, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman. Ms. Colella said the customer service phone number was being removed because “a significant number of calls are related to order tracking,” and the improvements to the Web site will make the tracking easier. It leaves customer service experts wonder about the wisdom of the move. “Nobody is benefiting from this,” said Brad Cleveland, president of the International Customer Management Institute, a consulting firm in Annapolis, Maryland. Mr. Cleveland said his firm has tracked customer expectations for two decades, “and one of the primary expectations is be accessible in whatever channel, whether it’s Web-based services, or the phone, or through e-mail.”
“Wal-Mart is trying to save money in a vacuum,” said Mr. Cleveland. “It costs money to handle customer contact. The question is, ‘what value is there in that longer term, in the ability to keep a strong focus on what your customers are saying?’”
Ms. Colella said the change will not affect the general Wal-Mart Stores customer service number, which is still 1-800-WALMART"
Yeah, and surely it will be impossible to get through on this 'regular number' when this change takes effect.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
One was this aisle of bath towels and the accessories. It was impressive. The towels and such were done like a rainbow. I think I want to say that it was like the top shelf to the bottom was, say, blues. Then the next "column" would be green. The next column of shelves would be yellow, etc. Sadly somehow I think they will eventually get too lazy to keep up that color scheme.
Then there is this other aisle, I saw this item there quite some time ago. It was a 5 drawer chest of drawers like. One of the drawers was slightly open. Good photo of the kind of product Walmart sells. I wonder if they are proud of it. One of the drawers was falling apart. I think the "bottom" of the drawer was nothing but cardboard. But everything was just falling apart.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Wal-Mart sees the light First published: Monday, October 1, 2007
Last year, state lawmakers defeated a measure designed to force Wal-Mart and other big employers to provide greater health care coverage to their employees, rather than have them enroll in taxpayer funded programs like Child Health Plus and Family Health Plus. New York wasn't alone in taking up this issue, or in failing to see it through. In Maryland, for example, state lawmakers rejected a measure that was specifically tailored to force Wal-Mart, and Wal-Mart alone, to cover more of its workers. But that wasn't the end of it. Despite prevailing in the state houses, Wal-Mart apparently got the message that the times are changing, and it must change with them. Just recently, the giant company unveiled a new health care package for its employees that offers a menu of choices for coverage, with some premiums as low as $8 a month. Every worker who signs up for coverage will also be eligible for grants of $100 to $500 to pay for medical expenses. The insurance plans will contain no large deductibles for hospital stays, and generic versions of prescription drugs will cost only $4 each.
According to The New York Times, critics are hailing the plan as a possible template for private employers nationwide. Ron Pollack, president of the health care advocacy group Families USA, told the Times, "On face value, this looks like a very significant change and improvement."
It will take time to ascertain if what appears to be a turn for the better actually is. But two things are clear already. One is that Wal-Mart's initiative is sure to be noticed by other large discount retailers, who will now find it more difficult to attract and retain good workers if they do not match Wal-Mart's health benefits plan.
The other is that public criticism often leads to reforms, even without new legislation to enact them. In New York, many state officials had publicly criticized Wal-Mart for encouraging its low-paid workers to apply for state-sponsored health coverage, rather than provide company paid benefits. The criticism got the attention of former Gov. George Pataki, whose administration imposed guidelines to help prevent companies from exploiting state programs. And that helped build momentum -- though not enough -- for a state law.
As the nation's largest private employer, Wal-Mart could well have afforded to continue to fight state laws that would force them to insure workers or else pay a per-worker fee into a state insurance fund. But the company obviously saw that some of kind of change was inevitable. For example, all presidential candidates have outlined plans to cover the uninsured. And some states, including New York, are battling with the Bush administration to raise the number of children eligible to enroll in the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Now Wal-Mart has shown that the private sector can offer solutions to the uninsured crisis as well, and perhaps even as a model for the nation.
One was this aisle of bath towels and the accessories. It was impressive. The towels and such were done like a rainbow. I think I want to say that it was like the top shelf to the bottom was, say, blues. Then the next "column" would be green. The next column of shelves would be yellow, etc. Sadly somehow I think they will eventually get too lazy to keep up that color scheme.
Then there is this other aisle, I saw this item there quite some time ago. It was a 5 drawer chest of drawers like. One of the drawers was slightly open. Good photo of the kind of product Walmart sells. I wonder if they are proud of it. One of the drawers was falling apart. I think the "bottom" of the drawer was nothing but cardboard. But everything was just falling apart.
I took notice of the towel section as well and yes it was impressive. The funny part is that I saw that same dresser. I didn't take a picture of it, since I thought they just hadn't gotten around to hopefully throwing it out. I guess not.
Hey Joann and fellow posters. I was talking with someone earlier today who took video of that shabby cheap furniture and I got him to post in on photobucket. Hope it works.
But first, I happened to notice that my first post about that broken furniture on display was on Sept 1, and I still saw it this weekend (Sept 29 & 30) on display.
The only think with this video (if it shows up ok) is that it is sideways, turn your head 90 degrees to the left. Actually Joann, one of your pictures was in this aisle but you can only see the head board/foot board for a bed, you were a little ahead of that dresser. I also saw maybe it was an entertainment center like piece, it was black in color, it too was falling apart.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
And I drove down Patton Drive and saw the ugly, cheap stockade fence down. I can't wait to see what they will put up in place of it.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Wal-Mart Workers Win $62 Million Wednesday October 3, 2007 By Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press Writer
Judge Awards Wal-Mart Workers Another $62 Million for Lost Break Time
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Wal-Mart workers in Pennsylvania who previously won a $78.5 million class-action award for working off the clock will share an additional $62.3 million in damages, a judge ruled Wednesday.
About 125,000 people will receive $500 each in damages under a state law invoked when a company, without cause, withholds pay for more than 30 days.
A Philadelphia jury last year awarded the workers the exact amount they had sought, rejecting Wal-Mart's claim that some people chose to work through breaks or that a few minutes of extra work here and there was insignificant.
"Just as highly paid executives' promised equity interests or put options or percentage of sale proceeds are protected fringe benefits and wage supplements, so too the monetary equivalents of 'paid break' time cashiers and other employees were prohibited from taking are protected fringe benefits and wage supplements," Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Mark Bernstein wrote.
Similar suits charging that Wal-Mart violated state wage laws are in play across the country.
A California trial ended with a $172 million verdict that Wal-Mart is appealing while the Bentonville, Ark.-based company settled a Colorado suit for $50 million.
A trial opened last week in Minnesota while suits are pending in New Jersey and several other states.
The Pennsylvania class-action suit involves 187,000 current and former employees who worked at Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs from March 1998 through May 2006. The initial $78.5 million award represented the wages lost by those workers.
A smaller number -- about 125,000 -- qualified for the damage award Wednesday. The others were excluded by legal time limits and are seeking interest on the back wages.
"The law in its majesty applies equally to highly paid executives and minimum wage clerks," Bernstein wrote.
Plaintiffs' lawyer Michael Donovan credited Bernstein for recognizing in Wednesday's ruling "that ordinary workers are entitled to the same protection under the law as executives."
His clients have not yet received any money and likely won't for some time if the company appeals. The payments for lost wages are expected to range from about $50 to a few thousand dollars, depending on employment history.
A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said the company discourages employees from working off the clock and disciplines managers who permit it.
"Many employees testified that they skipped rest breaks by choice. While we discourage that practice, employers should not be penalized when employees do that on their own," said the spokeswoman, Sharon Weber.
Wal-Mart shares rose 56 cents to $45.43 Wednesday in midday trading.
A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said the company discourages employees from working off the clock and disciplines managers who permit it.
WHAT?...they discipline managers? Their managers don't even know what state they are in. Just ask good old Chip at the Altamont Ave Walmart. I wonder how many breaks and lunches are being missed at that store with the remodel going on?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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