Always Read the Label

My wife, Carol Ann, took off Thursday to meet two girl friends whom she hasn't seen in 30 years or so and I was left to fend for myself. Before leaving, Carol Ann instructed Jamie, our 8-year old grandson who lives next door, that she would buy him a Lego set if he would "baby sit" me while she was gone. He did a good job of keeping an eye on me the entire weekend but he kept wanting to know when he would get the Lego set. I reminded him that his deal was with "Gamma" and he would have to wait until she got home on Monday. Needless to say, that didn't sit very well with him and, knowing that we have had a Lego set or two stashed away before, he was ready to search the house. I promised him there was no Lego set in the house and that I would take him to Walmart Sunday and buy him a Lego set. He reluctantly agreed to wait and stopped insisting on a search of the house.

Saturday night we camped out (in the motorhome in the back yard), ate pizza, and watched two animated movies before turning in. I warned Jamie not to wake me before the sun came up. I don't really know what time the sun comes up as it is always up ahead of me. He waited until 7:30 AM, which is early for someone accustomed to sleeping until 9:00 or 9:30 every morning. As soon as I was awake he wanted to know when we were going to Walmart. After coffee I said. I don't do anything before I have my coffee and I really needed it Sunday morning. I couldn't seem to stop yawning. Finally, around 9:00 AM we got in my truck and drove to Walmart. Jamie couldn't find the set he was looking for but "settled" on another. It was only about forty dollars or so. When we got home, I told him I was going to take a little nap while he put the Legos together. I slept very hard from about 10:00 until noon. Jamie had completed the construction of the Lego set and was watching cartoons on TV. I offered him a PB&J for lunch, after which I went out and puttered around the motor home in preparation for our trip to California this week.

This morning I had an especially hard time getting up. I even double-checked my meds to make sure I hadn't been taking my sleeping pill with my morning medicine! I managed to drag myself out of bed, determined to break through the wall of weariness. I dressed, fed the dog and cats and got out my cereal bowl and coffee cup. I have been very blessed because each morning Carol Ann wakes me up with a big cup of coffee, which I drink in bed. We have a Keurig coffee maker, which I know how to use, and we keep a supply of coffee pods in a kitchen drawer near the Keurig. This morning the drawer was empty. No problem. We keep several boxes in reserve. I went to the pantry and got a coffee pod from the same box I had been making my coffee from over the last 3 days. I accidentally dropped the box, spilling the pods out on the floor. I bent down and began picking them up when all of a sudden I saw something on the label that I had not noticed before. It was just a word. A very simple, but extremely important word, which seemed to jump out at me. It was that dreaded word, "DECAF." Oh, crap! No wonder I have felt like the living dead for the past 3 days! I've been drinking decaf!! I wasted no time in moving that stuff to the back of the shelf. I grabbed some real coffee and quickly brewed a 10 ounce mug of the precious liquid and guzzled it like a junkie needing a fix. As soon as I finished it I made another 10 ounces. I'm feeling much better now!

Walmart is Subsidized by U.S. Taxpayers

Until tonight I had not paid very much attention at all of the protests against Walmart by its employees. I now understand why those employees are so unhappy with their employer. Here are the facts. Check them if you like.

·      Walmart is the nation’s largest private employer with 1.4 million employees.

·      At over $446 Billion per year, Walmart is the third highest revenue-grossing corporation in the WORLD.

·      Walmart’s net profits are $17.2 Billion per year.

·      The Walton family owns 48 percent of the Walmart stock and at a net worth of over $102 Billion is one of the richest families in the WORLD.

·      Walmart CEO Mike Duke’s compensation package in 2011 was $18.1 Million (equivalent to $8,701.92 PER HOUR).

·      Walmart’s U.S employees make an average of $8.81 per hour, one-tenth of one percent or one-thousandth that of the CEO.

·      Walmart employees receive $2.66 Billion a year in subsidized Medicaid, food stamps, housing, and other taxpayer-funded social welfare programs.

·      Walmart’s failure to provide its employees with a livable wage or decent healthcare coverage is costing taxpayers an average of $1.02 Billion per year in healthcare costs.

·      A single 300-worker Walmart “Supercenter” accounts for between $900,000 and $1.7 Million per year in taxpayer-funded benefits to its employees.

·      As many as 80 percent of workers in Walmart stores use food stamps.

·      The National Labor Relations Board Office of the General Counsel filed a complaint against Walmart on January 15, 2014 for retaliating against striking workers with illegal firings, disciplinary action, or threats of both which violated employee labor rights.

It will be extremely difficult, but I believe that I must join the boycott of Walmart until they change their ways.

The Power of Influence (or Money)

In 2011, Alice Walton, the Wal-Mart heiress from Bentonville, AR was driving home from her 62nd birthday party in Fort Worth when she received a drunken driving citation (DUI) from a Texas State Trooper after being pulled over for driving 71 mph in a 55 mph zone in Parker County Texas.  She was booked and released on $1,000 bond. According to John Forest, the Parker County prosecutor, his office has two years from the date of the DUI citation to pursue (I assume that means prosecute) the case against Walton.  The Trooper who cited Walton was placed subsequently placed on a two-year suspension with pay for alleged misconduct.   His suspension will not be over by the October 7 deadline and thus will not be available to testify in the case.  Walton’s Fort Worth attorney, Dee Kelly, says the matter has been resolved without a formal charge being filed.

In 1998 Walton received a DUI in the Springdale District Court in Arkansas.  She was convicted of driving under the influence and hitting a gas meter.  Reportedly, she told the responding police officer, “I’m Alice Walton, bitch!”  She paid several hundred dollars in fines but received no jail time.

Walton was involved in a 1989 automobile accident in Arkansas that resulted in the death of a 50-year old woman.  No charges were filed.

Alice Walton was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the world’s most influential people of 2012.