false economics

FALSE ECONOMICS
Since I've been back west an annual event that usually stirred my heart and brought a twinkle to my eye has been the Smith's grocery store case sale. Buy a case, get unimaginable savings. Don't just buy a can or two, buy the case and we save on labor displaying the thing so you get a deal. Passing the savings on to you. Well, this year yet another of my cherished dreams and illusions was shattered. I mean, come on guys. Throw me a friggin bone here. Now, I could be reading much too much into this, but this does seem to be just another symptom of our declining economy and the end of the oil age.
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This year the case sale was a cruel joke. Buy a case of tuna, spend ten cents more a can than if you had bought Wal-Mart generic. Buy a case of up O Noodle, save a whole three cents each. Out of about two dozen items only chili and peanut butter had any real savings. The rest of it was not worthy of mention. Now, I can't recall if Smith's is still owned by the LDS Church. I think they sold out to corporate types. If true, I can easily see how the idiocy of the typical CEO is shining through. Or it could just be that with the credit crunch devastating the economy ( and only slowed down by massive Federal intervention ) and oil prices still moving through the supply chain this is as good as it gets anymore. There may be no savings that can be passed on to the consumer. The only way to increase business used to be to expand or buy competitors. Without available cheap credit the only way to increase your profits, or make up for lost profits since you can't cut prices, is to cut your workforce, cut hours, decrease stock. All actions that will hurt your business even more. But there is no choice since previous loan payments must be met.
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And it may be that consumers can't put hundreds of extra dollars into food, even if the savings as a whole makes it worth it. They know prices will only go up. But fuel costs are still darn high. People are only spending ten or twenty bucks less a fill-up from a few months ago. And they have to save for the coming shock of winter heat. Perhaps Smith's knows they shouldn't try too hard on discounts because the business most likely won't be there. Remember, something doesn't smell right. The dollar up, gold down? It has to be manipulation. So I think the bad case sale is just an indicator of things to come. Business will fall, more layoffs to save money. Worse service as prices increase ( think Post Office Economy ). More pain at the ( dinner ) plate.
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Okay, that's it for that panic analysis. On to the nuts and bolts of Bison Publishing. Even before I announced that I was going to be moving and interrupting postings I had noticed a big drop in my profits. The disposable income of my readers went into the gas tank instead of to me. Normally, as I'm huffing and puffing along on my bike in one hundred degree heat or below freezing cold I tend to curse such selfishness. But I certainly can understand it. After I stopped posting everyday my earning nosedived into the toilet. Google Ad revenue down over 90%. My e-book sales down 50%. Amazon revenue down 75%. Reader numbers down 30%. So in truth I was in no hurry to start posting regular again. That's the main reason it took an extra month to start posting daily again. No more profit incentive. Well, despite that, I can't help myself. I have to write. It is now in my blood and I can't stop.
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I preferred to write for two or three days for one long article ( I am unable to write at home due to lack of electricity so it all gets done at my lunch break ). But I had too many problems with getting files to a USB memory stick ( I can't find a driver, or even discover which version of Win98 I have ). So I am back typing while on the Internet. So I need to write shorter articles. So it became a daily again. Well, at least Monday through Friday while at work. No weekend articles unless I get guest articles and I pre-post them. And I might even cheat once in awhile and post a guest article instead of my own. In truth I think I've pretty much said all there is to say. But I can't stop writing, and if I write enough that means occasionally I'll still have flashes of brilliance. So let's see how it all goes.
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Thanks for still tuning in to read. Thanks for the generosity you have shown. I complain about profits only because they got so high and have now fallen. I still know you are all very generous and have rewarded me as an author. Don't think I don't notice. Talk at you tomorrow.
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