Tag Small appliances

This I found out last week

Michael 8 Comments

Trees and apples

You remember last week I wrote about teens’ level of and interest in news literacy. Most consider content presented by celebrities, podcast host, and social media influencers as legitimate as legacy news sources. I wrote, “they [the surveyed teens) are three times as likely to trust TikTok over their local newspaper, and nearly half of those surveyed said journalists do more harm to democracy than good and that news articles are no more trustworthy than other online content creators.” One in five, 20%, are likely to believe whatever is out in front of them in the guise of “news.”

Today’s teens are offspring of those in the cusp between Millennials and Gen Z, the latter particularly social tech savvy. Enough so, it makes you wonder, how far from the tree did those apples fall.

The Pew Research Center may have taken the measure to that answer. A survey of more than 10,000 U.S. adults revealed one in five Americans (a familiar number?) regularly get their news from social media influencers, 77%of whom have no affiliation, or background, with a media organization.

Fly now or pay later

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian says the incoming Trump administration will be a “breath of fresh air” for airlines, a sentiment echoed by Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan. The airline industry in general is hoping the incoming administration will roll back rules requiring automatic refunds after canceled flights and requiring airlines to advertise the full price of fares, including mandatory fees and taxes. They were most vocal about relief from advertising the full price to fly, claiming that will confuse consumers by giving them too much information. Clearly they are confusing consumers with the nominees for the incoming administration. 

On a personal note

My small appliances are rebelling. The toaster doesn’t, the spice grinder doesn’t, and only 3 out of the 4 digits are complete in the number display on the microwave. The most frustrating is the toaster. It doesn’t except when it does, and then inconsistently, so inconsistently that I can put two pieces of bread in and get one warm piece of bread and one piece of charcoal back. The entire rest of the world will be lining up in front of all the Walmarts and Targets or sitting with fingers poised over “add to cart” in the hopes of scoring a huge deal on 78 inch OLED TVs, robot vacuums, and new computers come this Friday, and I’ll be looking for deals on a toaster. It just isn’t fair!

Blog Art 2

Time again for a shameless plug for the latest Uplift blog post. That’s the one where we encourage you to be thankful for the things that are working out so well. Hmm. Maybe I should be more thankful for my toaster after all.  Take a look at Give Thanks for All That Is Broken  

But before you go look, have you still not thought about joining the ROAMcare community and have the weekly Uplift blog delivered to your email as soon as it hits the website? In addition to an Uplift release every Wednesday, you will also receive weekly a Monday Moment of Motivation, and our email exclusive Friday Flashback repost of one of our most loved publications. All free and available now at  ROAMcare.org.

 

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Michael 2 Comments

Last week He of We’s toaster didn’t.  Oh it did once, turning an English Muffin into a piece of charcoal.  What turned an English Muffin into a briquette one day couldn’t even warm bread on the days after.  It was such a good toaster for so long.  As long as you remembered to set the desired doneness at three-quarters of the way to max and then cycle your bread product through twice, it would return a piece of toast crisp and golden.  And now it’s all gone.  Actually, it’s still there on the counter pretending to be a small appliance but it’s quite gone as far as being a useful kitchen tool is concerned.

If there was a time that a toaster should stop toasting, this is it.  All of the stores that would ply small kitchen equipment are starting their Back to School Sales.  Yes, it’s only partway through July but Back to School is the sale of the season.  We suppose if they don’t start now the big Christmas sales might get pushed all the way to October and they’ll not be able to get their Thanksgiving sales started much before September thus leaving Columbus Day challenging Labor Day for the August sales.

It’s odd that toasters would be on the Back to School sale list but they are.  And they are accompanied by single serve coffee makers, smoothie makers, and the Soda Stream.  If we look at the average college student we’re going to find someone whose drink preferences include multiple cups of coffee before getting out of bed in the morning, nothing that was once a fresh fruit or vegetable, or any bubbly beverage without alcohol – hence the requirement for multiple cups of coffee before getting out of bed in the morning.  These seem to be the sort of things that wistful parents would pack for their returning collegians.  So they get bought, schlepped to campus, and then brought back in the spring.

The same goes for all the office supplies purchased and packed.  Color-coded highlighters and notebooks (the paper kind, not the mini-laptop that’s been supplanted by the tablet – the electronic kind, not the stack of bound paper) are good ideas for those who use highlighters and notebooks.  There must be at least a few.   Pens, pencils, rulers, compasses, (compi?), and hand-held calculators seem to scream “Don’t buy me.  I’m from a different era.  Use your back to school money on a new X-Box instead.”  We’re not sure that the average college student even knows how to use a stapler remover.

Back to the appliances, little refrigerators and microwaves are always on the Back to School sale lists but most schools now provide those in their dorms probably to keep the total daily campus wattage somewhere below what the local power plant produces.  But little refrigerators and microwaves are still going to be on sale so Dad can finish his bar and Mom can update the kitchen while the kids are gone.

We don’t know why toasters still make the list.  But they do.  And we’re glad of it because now he can save 15% on his new one.  And he doesn’t even have to keep a C-average to guarantee it will stay with him next year.

Now that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you.