I just realized after reading a short semi-graphic book (short in size too), sent to me by my son Jesse, that America is not just a car culture, it's also an oil, gas and coal culture just to run our 254.4 million passenger vehicles. Our car culture began with Ford's assembly-line produced Model A's and T's at the turn of the century, as if the petroleum and steel industries weren't big enough already. Then came WW I and II, and the massive expansion of those industries to build (necessary), war equipment. All those production plants had to be used for something, and so the great leader of GM, Alfred P. Sloan made it his mission to "reorder society" -- "to alter the environment where automobiles are sold."
So the push for autos and roads became a national obsession. After WW II tens of thousands of 25x30 foot wooden boxes were built by Bill Levitt, here in Willingboro NJ for example, or Levittown PA just across the river -- mazes of roads and homes that directly created suburbia and -- sprawl. And all governments, federal, state and local, established Departments of Transportation with huge powers to fund and build those roads, along with turnpike authorities. But toll roads didn't cut the mustard so motor fuel taxes were established by these conglomerates, with taxing authority granted by legislatures across the country - to build more roads and more sprawl.
I can attest to that sprawl. As early as 1979 I drove from Costa Mesa California north 42 solid miles to Los Angeles and did not know what town I was in except for small signs. It was one continuous swath of residences, businesses and strip malls, and roads - freeways paid for by tax dollars, not free at all (and they shouldn't be). The NJ Turnpike is marked by exits every 10 miles or so with urban or suburban sprawl at each terminus. The NJ Garden State Parkway, from Central Jersey to the far north is one continuous city full of roads.
You get the picture because you are the picture. We're a country of roads that go somewhere, and vehicles to get us to that somewhere. I'm not proposing we level Willingboro or Levittown to build bike paths, 3 or 4 story condos, and parks. But...
I do strongly recommend you take a few minutes and order Why We Drive by Andy Singer from Amazon for only 6 bucks used. 8 new. It's an eye-opener. It builds the strongest case yet for a transition away from petroleum vehicles, and I will say we should immediately only produce hybrid vehicles (electric/gas), then finish technologies like hydrogen and fusion to eliminate these harmful pollutants forever. Yes, I believe the dire warnings, all ready to late, that we are destroying humanity and the planet, "The Climate Change Problem" if you will.
I for one vow right now not to buy another car unless it's a hybrid. I'm still researching benefits of all electric, what with their need for more power plants and added infrastructure, but, but, even that is better than producing CO2 and living in smog like I did when visiting L.A., with their daily "Smog Index" number.
Just to be purely selfish about all this, I don't want to end up visiting our grandaughter in Manhattan and wearing a breathing mask like they do every day in Bejing - unable to take her outside for just a walk or park visit.
How about you?
Best, Rod
Copyright Rodney Richards 2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
What Should the Raise in NJ Gas Taxes Pay For?
Not just roads, roads, roads - that's for sure. The Transportation Trust Fund, created by the NJ Legislature decades ago to be a funding and spending mechanism for building roads only, is at $950 million a year, grossly out of whack it would seem to me. What roads do we have or need that require expenditures of $950 million -- every year? The debt we'll be paying for generations is staggering, with bonds floated EVERY YEAR, that now each have a 21 year year debt service. Yet every modern planner, environmentalists, urban planners and others all recognize the need for planned communities with fewer roads and intermodal transportation like light rail, modern trolley systems, parks, greenways, bike lanes, buses, and paths and other community, non-car and truck spaces.
I remember the sleek modern electric trolley (no hanging wires), my mother and I rode from our 3-star hotel on the outskirts of the city to Dublin Ireland's hip new walking shops and city blocks full of sights. Minute by minute green bus tours with open tops full of passengers ambled by, dropping and picking up their passengers all around the city, even at its largest park (with free-roaming deer!), Museum of History, Museum of Art and other wonderful places we visited.
The downtown park was also redolent with flowers and other plantings, statues like the famous and fictitious Molly Malone , a fishmonger and her bronze cart, and more. And the "trolley" was a block from our hotel, an easy memorable, short walk. We waited less than ten minutes for the next one to appear, and its passengers were commuters and tourists, and city travelers as well.
We have the fantastic River LINE (light rail), here in NJ, following the curvy Delaware River on our west coast from Trenton to Camden, stopping at the Battleship NJ, the State Aquarium, and the ferry to south street in Philadelphia. Cost? Last time I rode its full length, it was $1.10 for the day, one way. Janet and I rode it one fine day to the middle of Burlington City, disembarked, toured the town, ate lunch, then strolled its park by the river. Now visit New York City, with its newly opened additional High Line walking portion covering old elevated railways, or the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, a gorgeous 1/3 mile stretch on the East River for strolling and seating and small parks -- we've enjoyed both with our son's sketch group.
What about the future when we can eliminate thousands of cars with monorails throughout our cities and between towns? Too expensive still, but that would be an ideal way to reclaim all the land and property taken up by empty parking lots on weekends.
So the Motor fuels Tax, TTF monies etc, should partially be reserved, at least a third, to actually promote all forms of PUBLIC MASS - transportation, eliminate the need of roads by building light rail lines as well, and lines for walking, biking, busing, and eventually monorail and other less damaging systems than roads.
Tomorrow's blog: Why DO we drive?
Best wishes, Rod
Send me your comments!
Copyright Rodney Richards 2014
I remember the sleek modern electric trolley (no hanging wires), my mother and I rode from our 3-star hotel on the outskirts of the city to Dublin Ireland's hip new walking shops and city blocks full of sights. Minute by minute green bus tours with open tops full of passengers ambled by, dropping and picking up their passengers all around the city, even at its largest park (with free-roaming deer!), Museum of History, Museum of Art and other wonderful places we visited.
The downtown park was also redolent with flowers and other plantings, statues like the famous and fictitious Molly Malone , a fishmonger and her bronze cart, and more. And the "trolley" was a block from our hotel, an easy memorable, short walk. We waited less than ten minutes for the next one to appear, and its passengers were commuters and tourists, and city travelers as well.
We have the fantastic River LINE (light rail), here in NJ, following the curvy Delaware River on our west coast from Trenton to Camden, stopping at the Battleship NJ, the State Aquarium, and the ferry to south street in Philadelphia. Cost? Last time I rode its full length, it was $1.10 for the day, one way. Janet and I rode it one fine day to the middle of Burlington City, disembarked, toured the town, ate lunch, then strolled its park by the river. Now visit New York City, with its newly opened additional High Line walking portion covering old elevated railways, or the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, a gorgeous 1/3 mile stretch on the East River for strolling and seating and small parks -- we've enjoyed both with our son's sketch group.
What about the future when we can eliminate thousands of cars with monorails throughout our cities and between towns? Too expensive still, but that would be an ideal way to reclaim all the land and property taken up by empty parking lots on weekends.
So the Motor fuels Tax, TTF monies etc, should partially be reserved, at least a third, to actually promote all forms of PUBLIC MASS - transportation, eliminate the need of roads by building light rail lines as well, and lines for walking, biking, busing, and eventually monorail and other less damaging systems than roads.
Tomorrow's blog: Why DO we drive?
Best wishes, Rod
Send me your comments!
Copyright Rodney Richards 2014
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Time for a Raise in NJ Gas Tax
Do you like New Jersey roads to drive on? Tired of potholes on local roads? Blame your municipality and County. State roads and bridges? Blame the State. Federal Interstates? Don't blame the Feds, those roads are always in good shape and well cared for I'd say, especially early snow removal in our winter months.
How are roads funded in Jersey? Hopefully, mostly by drivers who use them and buy gasoline or diesel for their vehicles, paying the State Motor Fuels Tax. Millions from State sales taxes also are used. So in that sense, non-drivers pay also.
Most state gas taxes are in the high teens and twenties with a few, like California, in the 30s ($.39/gal). But look at their roads - like the Santa Ana Freeway -- 6 lanes wide in each direction last time I drove it! [source: NJ Gas Prices.com, Total U.S. Fuel Taxes by State, 9-25-14]
"Q: How does New Jersey pay for transportation projects?
A: The state uses 14.5 cents
per gallon, and it's among the nation's lowest; a tax on firms that refine or
distribute petroleum projects; a portion of the sales tax and a relatively
small allocation from toll road authorities. For the current fiscal year, that
revenue comes to $1.2 billion. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is
paying for an additional $375 million in New Jersey projects." [source: Daily Reporter 9-25-14]
Each year, the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), also provides $150 million in grants thru
the Local Aid program to assist local governments through grants, to
improve the local transportation system and to encourage redevelopment of downtowns and improve quality of life. So the municipalities have to vie with each other for a piece of the action and no $$ is guaranteed. So your local property taxes pay for the bulk of local roads, paving and repairs. I'm not sure if the counties are in that mix, but they also collect taxes for road building and repairs.
So driver, you get what you pay for -- again, only fair. You own a home? You pay taxes on that property to receive services like police, fire and ambulance, garbage collection etc. I'm a firm believer in user fees, first hoisted upon me (professionally), in the 80s, a new concept then, by computer mainframe software companies I dealt with when working in the IT contracts department of the State of NJ. Use more? Pay more. Want a better or bigger version? More features? No problem, pay more. Only fair.
So if we want better roads in always good condition, safer bridges and tunnels and all of it, then we drivers, we users, need to pay for it. Not so much my 82 year-old mother who barely drives anymore.
And the cost of gas? Doesn't matter what it is, I'll pay it to use my car, tho I may consolidate trips and drive less, I'll pay it. That's why the price of a gallon is less now,; we've been using less, traveling less since the start of the 2008 recession.
So please don't complain to me about the high prices of gas -- I'm not sympathetic.
But give me good roads.That's only fair. And give me other amenities like parks, and light rail etc.
I'd like to hear your comments - if you're a driver too.
Best, Rod
Copyright 2014 Rodney Richards
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Bidding NJ Contracts: Part one
I was a contracting manager for the State of NJ from the early 80s until 2009, so I've been part of some changes in procurement policies over the years. Until 2005 or so, most state bids had Bidder's Conferences. Our procurement team and the Purchase Bureau (PB) assigned buyer would sit at the head table facing all the bidders in a good-sized conference room - representatives from big and small companies alike. Our practice was to go thru the bid document, the Request for Proposal (RFP), page by page and entertain questions from the bidders.
I was the State contract manager for many bids, probably more than two dozen during that time. All my contracts were big, worth millions to the successful contractor, so a lot was at stake.Up until 2005 or so, being a contract manager wasn't formalized. The agency designated someone, and the PB Buyer followed their lead, adding or changing as things went along. The buyer had ultimate say, so as a contract manager, I was careful to keep on good terms with the PB Buyers. Mike Shifman, the Information Technology buyer, and I became good buddies, often going to lunch together, or shopping downtown. This paid off in being able to maintain requirements to my liking and not having many deletions and changes, not that the buyer was out to get me or anything. It just helped, since in most cases, I wrote all the specifications to begin with. Don't get me wrong, none of the buyers were pushovers, Mike included, but sensible explanations were accepted more readily.
After 2005 I and all other Contract Managers had to pass a PB online exam to maintain state contract manager status. I passed mine at over 80% correct. There was no text to study beforehand, no cheat sheets. you registered online and took the multiple choice test. This was a good thing, something I had personally been pushing for years - buyer education, especially at the agency level - where non existed. literally, none. Lowly clerks usually were promoted to buyer and learned the good and the bad, the right way and the wrong way, from their predecessor - if they were lucky. In all my 30 years of buying and contracting activities, PB hosted only one general training session on buying , and that was a mere recitation of DPA buying regulations (purchases up to $17,500 at the time), with Q&A thrown in.
The buyers at PB did not want to appear as roadblocks, since their job was to help me and other agency personnel acquire the products and services legally. Some buyers were easy, deferring on everything, others were very hard, but logical, like my friend Ed Cotterell. He asked tough questions, and together we hammered out compromise language that we inserted in my Request for Proposal - the bid document. But all buyers asked the tough questions testing the RFP premises, mostly looking to cut overly restrictive language. And I had no choice in the matter if there was a conflict - the buyer was king. This went well when the buyer was savvy, particularly about the specific product or service. For me, it meant RFP's for purchasing computer hardware (equipment) and software, and services, and also buying energy for all state agencies -- combined $00 million contracts annually just for electricity and natural gas. A lot of responsibility for a kid from Trenton with no college degree and no formal training in procurement. Well, not much considering my scope of responsibility. Magnify a general lack of training among the hundreds of agency clerks and buyers and you see why the procurement process was skewed.
During the early days, the bid process would take an average of three or four months tops from start to finish. When I left in 2009, one of our RFP's had sat at PB a year before being assigned to a Buyer - totally unacceptable, but also acceptable because I had no recourse. On that particular contract, after being assigned for months with no activity on the RFP, the buyer dropped out because he couldn't get to it and another PB buyer was assigned. Not a great way to do business. What drove these buyers was the existing contract expiration date. And they had the power to extend these contracts for their own lazy, or overwhelmed, reasons. They were tough when I asked for an extension, but could easily do it for themselves. I asked a buyer friend of mine to write down all the RFP steps and timings, and Bob Coyle gave me a detailed list which specified one year to completion. So if I got mine done under six months, I was overjoyed.
The upshot of these delays were that many of us agency buyers wqrote waivers - bypassing the bid process altogether. A waiver generally took a month more or less. Yes, there were only certain legal excuses i could use with a waiver of advertising, but they all worked. I never had a waiver rejected, and I probably walked thru close to ninety in my thirty years as a contract manager.
But back to the Bid Conference. as the writer of the RFP, I knew it backwards and forwards -- I was supposed to so I did. Bid conferences in those days were where the bidders asked all their questions -- some obvious, some oblique and some asinine. Our goal was to answer each one right there and then. If we didn't or couldn't, it meant we had to consult afterwards or do research, and a written addendum had to be issued causing more delay. No matter what, we didn't want delays - it was tough enough just getting the bid process started. It was critical to meet the Bid Due Date printed on the RFP.
So you got to be quick with answers given at the bid conference. The goal was to keep answers as brief as possible -- a simple no or yes was always best, never a maybe. And each question and answer was recorded -- the whole proceeding was recorded on cassette tapes. There was only on bid conference where i had to go back thru the tapes and listen carefully to what was said, so we'd have the right answer for the addendum. In all the many bids i worked on, I only ever saw one transcript of a bid conference that PB paid for. They were loathe to do it because it was expensive, and they had a tight budget like everyone else so transcripts were rarely done. So that meant taking care in answering the bidder's questions. This all was part of the public record after all.
The best part of having open bidder's conferences with Q&A, was that once the session was over, it was over. It was recorded, so we didn't have to issue any answers in writing - no addendum. That was the best part. As well as the fact, that if an answer wasn't understood, clarifications were asked and answered right then and there.
I'm proud to say that of all the bid awards I had challenged, i.e. the formal protest, none were due to poor answers at the bid conference. Protests are another worthy segment I'll write about.
Since 2006 or so, with eBidding, bid conferences are gone entirely. All questions are asked and answered online, in writing, which is just terrible. More on that in Part two.
Now it's 2014 and checking my eRFP emails for State DPM&C and PB notices I see that the critical Bid Conferences have made a comeback and are back in vogue, Ah, as the pendulum swings, they saved themselves as Poe wrote. Yes, they have intrinsic value, knowedge has value. And knowledge arises from questioning reality and the perceptions of reality, in this case, State ideas fior what they want, traditionally not perfect at making their wishes clear. That's why when the BAFO (Best and Final Offer) process was approvwed 10 years ago or so, it was a step in the right direction to negotiating better descriptions and tighter requirements. Which, will always save money!
Change is good, but perfecting what works is better!
Rodney Richards copyright 2014
Check out my bipolar journey with happy interludes in my memoir Episodes available no from Amazon.com, as well as my other longtime blog, ABlessedLifeinAmerica on Google's Blogger!
I was the State contract manager for many bids, probably more than two dozen during that time. All my contracts were big, worth millions to the successful contractor, so a lot was at stake.Up until 2005 or so, being a contract manager wasn't formalized. The agency designated someone, and the PB Buyer followed their lead, adding or changing as things went along. The buyer had ultimate say, so as a contract manager, I was careful to keep on good terms with the PB Buyers. Mike Shifman, the Information Technology buyer, and I became good buddies, often going to lunch together, or shopping downtown. This paid off in being able to maintain requirements to my liking and not having many deletions and changes, not that the buyer was out to get me or anything. It just helped, since in most cases, I wrote all the specifications to begin with. Don't get me wrong, none of the buyers were pushovers, Mike included, but sensible explanations were accepted more readily.
After 2005 I and all other Contract Managers had to pass a PB online exam to maintain state contract manager status. I passed mine at over 80% correct. There was no text to study beforehand, no cheat sheets. you registered online and took the multiple choice test. This was a good thing, something I had personally been pushing for years - buyer education, especially at the agency level - where non existed. literally, none. Lowly clerks usually were promoted to buyer and learned the good and the bad, the right way and the wrong way, from their predecessor - if they were lucky. In all my 30 years of buying and contracting activities, PB hosted only one general training session on buying , and that was a mere recitation of DPA buying regulations (purchases up to $17,500 at the time), with Q&A thrown in.
The buyers at PB did not want to appear as roadblocks, since their job was to help me and other agency personnel acquire the products and services legally. Some buyers were easy, deferring on everything, others were very hard, but logical, like my friend Ed Cotterell. He asked tough questions, and together we hammered out compromise language that we inserted in my Request for Proposal - the bid document. But all buyers asked the tough questions testing the RFP premises, mostly looking to cut overly restrictive language. And I had no choice in the matter if there was a conflict - the buyer was king. This went well when the buyer was savvy, particularly about the specific product or service. For me, it meant RFP's for purchasing computer hardware (equipment) and software, and services, and also buying energy for all state agencies -- combined $00 million contracts annually just for electricity and natural gas. A lot of responsibility for a kid from Trenton with no college degree and no formal training in procurement. Well, not much considering my scope of responsibility. Magnify a general lack of training among the hundreds of agency clerks and buyers and you see why the procurement process was skewed.
During the early days, the bid process would take an average of three or four months tops from start to finish. When I left in 2009, one of our RFP's had sat at PB a year before being assigned to a Buyer - totally unacceptable, but also acceptable because I had no recourse. On that particular contract, after being assigned for months with no activity on the RFP, the buyer dropped out because he couldn't get to it and another PB buyer was assigned. Not a great way to do business. What drove these buyers was the existing contract expiration date. And they had the power to extend these contracts for their own lazy, or overwhelmed, reasons. They were tough when I asked for an extension, but could easily do it for themselves. I asked a buyer friend of mine to write down all the RFP steps and timings, and Bob Coyle gave me a detailed list which specified one year to completion. So if I got mine done under six months, I was overjoyed.
The upshot of these delays were that many of us agency buyers wqrote waivers - bypassing the bid process altogether. A waiver generally took a month more or less. Yes, there were only certain legal excuses i could use with a waiver of advertising, but they all worked. I never had a waiver rejected, and I probably walked thru close to ninety in my thirty years as a contract manager.
But back to the Bid Conference. as the writer of the RFP, I knew it backwards and forwards -- I was supposed to so I did. Bid conferences in those days were where the bidders asked all their questions -- some obvious, some oblique and some asinine. Our goal was to answer each one right there and then. If we didn't or couldn't, it meant we had to consult afterwards or do research, and a written addendum had to be issued causing more delay. No matter what, we didn't want delays - it was tough enough just getting the bid process started. It was critical to meet the Bid Due Date printed on the RFP.
So you got to be quick with answers given at the bid conference. The goal was to keep answers as brief as possible -- a simple no or yes was always best, never a maybe. And each question and answer was recorded -- the whole proceeding was recorded on cassette tapes. There was only on bid conference where i had to go back thru the tapes and listen carefully to what was said, so we'd have the right answer for the addendum. In all the many bids i worked on, I only ever saw one transcript of a bid conference that PB paid for. They were loathe to do it because it was expensive, and they had a tight budget like everyone else so transcripts were rarely done. So that meant taking care in answering the bidder's questions. This all was part of the public record after all.
The best part of having open bidder's conferences with Q&A, was that once the session was over, it was over. It was recorded, so we didn't have to issue any answers in writing - no addendum. That was the best part. As well as the fact, that if an answer wasn't understood, clarifications were asked and answered right then and there.
I'm proud to say that of all the bid awards I had challenged, i.e. the formal protest, none were due to poor answers at the bid conference. Protests are another worthy segment I'll write about.
Since 2006 or so, with eBidding, bid conferences are gone entirely. All questions are asked and answered online, in writing, which is just terrible. More on that in Part two.
Now it's 2014 and checking my eRFP emails for State DPM&C and PB notices I see that the critical Bid Conferences have made a comeback and are back in vogue, Ah, as the pendulum swings, they saved themselves as Poe wrote. Yes, they have intrinsic value, knowedge has value. And knowledge arises from questioning reality and the perceptions of reality, in this case, State ideas fior what they want, traditionally not perfect at making their wishes clear. That's why when the BAFO (Best and Final Offer) process was approvwed 10 years ago or so, it was a step in the right direction to negotiating better descriptions and tighter requirements. Which, will always save money!
Change is good, but perfecting what works is better!
Rodney Richards copyright 2014
Check out my bipolar journey with happy interludes in my memoir Episodes available no from Amazon.com, as well as my other longtime blog, ABlessedLifeinAmerica on Google's Blogger!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Improving Food Supplies
This is not a blog about food waste, although I just heard on NPR this morning, that 50% of food is wasted annually (over $2 billion). One of the problems is lack of proper preservative capabilities, either the food itself or its storage. Another is overbuying and throwing out expired products (more common in the U.S.). This brings up some interesting considerations because world food production and population growth have created predictions of shortages.
One solution is much smaller grocery stores. These new stores would only carry high-turnover products like bread, milk, certain vegetables, fruits, meats etc. Just like the corner 7/11 or Wawa. So how would we get our food? We'd order it, either online or by phone, and it would be delivered within hours or a day tops. Companies like Schwans, Netgrocer and Walmart are just a few. Go online, enter your zipcode and you will know immediately whether they deliver by hand or by mail. Walmart has advantages because you can also find their coupons easily.
This new system would have many advantages. Cutting down on waste is the largest. Instead of stocking shelves of products that MIGHT get sold, definitive orders would be known. With Just In Time provisioning, manufacturing and production at all steps in the process would be decreased and much more efficient. Big box stores could cut their high overhead with smaller physical footprints, and could even open more, but smaller high-volume stores. Store employees lost in this old system would still be needed to take orders, pack, organize and deliver delivered and mail-ordered products. This could work for ALL products, not just food, although it's critical to our survival to produce and store foods and liquids more efficiently.
Companies doing this would be good investments, because the handwriting's on the wall. The trends can be seen. We can't continue our current grocery store model which is extremely inefficient and has very low margins to begin with. Other good investments would be the USPS, Fed Ex, UPS etc., as well as recycling facilities and products for packaging, and paper mills producing cardboard. Trucking and distribution facilities would also be improved and increase. All these things result in more jobs.
Storage products like refrigerators and freezers would also need to be increased and manufactured cheaply, another good investment. Particularly half-sized refrigerators and freezers. Companies like Omaha Steaks are leading the way in this trend away from grocery stores. So are local Farmer's Markets, which are also increasing, along with locally grown food facilities, gardens and farms.
Look at Amazon today. Take ordering a book for example. It may be in the warehouse ready to go, or it could be Print On Demand (POD). Either way the book is on your doorstep within three days. Not bad. And POD books are easy to print and ship. No waste from unsold inventory. No storage costs in overflowing warehouses. And cutting down the Cost of Goods Sold is a priority for every business. In the future, producing food and liquids to order will be done similarly, to a large degree.
According to http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/world-top-ten-personal-computers-users-map.html, there are over 223 million PCs in the U.S. The total population is only 310 million. So Internet use is booming and will only grow, especially since many schools teach keyboarding in their curriculums, and PC prices are stable. And with software programs that test for viruses and malware on websites and in emails automatically, use will continue to burgeon. Most everybody trusts PayPal, for example.
Are you comfortable ordering online? Is it much of a stretch to order your groceries online? I don't think so.
Rodney Richards copyright 2014
Check out my bipolar journey with happy interludes in my memoir Episodes available no from Amazon.com, as well as my other longtime blog, ABlessedLifeinAmerica on Google's Blogger!
One solution is much smaller grocery stores. These new stores would only carry high-turnover products like bread, milk, certain vegetables, fruits, meats etc. Just like the corner 7/11 or Wawa. So how would we get our food? We'd order it, either online or by phone, and it would be delivered within hours or a day tops. Companies like Schwans, Netgrocer and Walmart are just a few. Go online, enter your zipcode and you will know immediately whether they deliver by hand or by mail. Walmart has advantages because you can also find their coupons easily.
This new system would have many advantages. Cutting down on waste is the largest. Instead of stocking shelves of products that MIGHT get sold, definitive orders would be known. With Just In Time provisioning, manufacturing and production at all steps in the process would be decreased and much more efficient. Big box stores could cut their high overhead with smaller physical footprints, and could even open more, but smaller high-volume stores. Store employees lost in this old system would still be needed to take orders, pack, organize and deliver delivered and mail-ordered products. This could work for ALL products, not just food, although it's critical to our survival to produce and store foods and liquids more efficiently.
Companies doing this would be good investments, because the handwriting's on the wall. The trends can be seen. We can't continue our current grocery store model which is extremely inefficient and has very low margins to begin with. Other good investments would be the USPS, Fed Ex, UPS etc., as well as recycling facilities and products for packaging, and paper mills producing cardboard. Trucking and distribution facilities would also be improved and increase. All these things result in more jobs.
Storage products like refrigerators and freezers would also need to be increased and manufactured cheaply, another good investment. Particularly half-sized refrigerators and freezers. Companies like Omaha Steaks are leading the way in this trend away from grocery stores. So are local Farmer's Markets, which are also increasing, along with locally grown food facilities, gardens and farms.
Look at Amazon today. Take ordering a book for example. It may be in the warehouse ready to go, or it could be Print On Demand (POD). Either way the book is on your doorstep within three days. Not bad. And POD books are easy to print and ship. No waste from unsold inventory. No storage costs in overflowing warehouses. And cutting down the Cost of Goods Sold is a priority for every business. In the future, producing food and liquids to order will be done similarly, to a large degree.
According to http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/world-top-ten-personal-computers-users-map.html, there are over 223 million PCs in the U.S. The total population is only 310 million. So Internet use is booming and will only grow, especially since many schools teach keyboarding in their curriculums, and PC prices are stable. And with software programs that test for viruses and malware on websites and in emails automatically, use will continue to burgeon. Most everybody trusts PayPal, for example.
Are you comfortable ordering online? Is it much of a stretch to order your groceries online? I don't think so.
Rodney Richards copyright 2014
Check out my bipolar journey with happy interludes in my memoir Episodes available no from Amazon.com, as well as my other longtime blog, ABlessedLifeinAmerica on Google's Blogger!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Shadow Metric System
Americans are spoiled. Yes, we still weigh things in gallons instead of liters, use pounds instead of kilograms, and feet instead of meters.Even after more than ten years of having a dual labeling system -- which is a completely unnecessary expense and drag on innovation and productivity. eHow says "The meter has been adopted by virtually every major nation except the
United States. The metric system is also used by scientists worldwide."
Oh, we could attribute this to the lobbyists who are pushing its continued use, or to the legislators who refuse to change it. But it comes down to polls and comfort. Polls, because most Americans don't want to change, they're too familiar with it, and legislators who have given up trying to change it.
We even teach the metric system in schools, along with "our" system of weights and measures. This is emblematic and demonstrates clearly a central fact of human nature. We don't like change. However, that's too bad. There comes a time when it becomes critical for survival. Okay, so use of the metric system doesn't seem like such a big thing.
Tell automobile manufacturing companies that in the U.S. Almost 8 million cars and trucks produced annually, yet only a small fraction are "American" i.e. 75% or more of the vehicle is made from American parts. Many American cars use nuts and bolts, for example, measured in inches. (I think) There was a time when this was true for all American vehicles. Those days are long gone. All foreign cars use metric sizes.
Oh, we could attribute this to the lobbyists who are pushing its continued use, or to the legislators who refuse to change it. But it comes down to polls and comfort. Polls, because most Americans don't want to change, they're too familiar with it, and legislators who have given up trying to change it.
We even teach the metric system in schools, along with "our" system of weights and measures. This is emblematic and demonstrates clearly a central fact of human nature. We don't like change. However, that's too bad. There comes a time when it becomes critical for survival. Okay, so use of the metric system doesn't seem like such a big thing.
Tell automobile manufacturing companies that in the U.S. Almost 8 million cars and trucks produced annually, yet only a small fraction are "American" i.e. 75% or more of the vehicle is made from American parts. Many American cars use nuts and bolts, for example, measured in inches. (I think) There was a time when this was true for all American vehicles. Those days are long gone. All foreign cars use metric sizes.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Hidden Energy Taxes
Okay, so the blog on "Remember costly EDECA?" was boring -- but true, about 1999's deregulation of utilities here in New Jersey. 3% of our monthly utility bill goes to the State to pay all those extra costs.
Another charge on your monthly utility bill, that isn't shown, is 7% State Sales Tax. Now, I don't mind paying sales tax on energy -- I pay it on everything else, so I don't mind. This tax brings in $380 million annually (Source: March 2012 OLS and Budget Estimate). That's a lot of dough.
The only problem is that this tax does not show up on your utility bill -- at all. I don't like that. I feel that if you're going to tax me, at least show me how much it costs me each month.
Bottom line: 10% of my monthly utility bill is in hidden taxes.
I think that's unfair. The utility companies imply that it will cost too much to break out the taxes on my bill. That's hogwash. With computers and software, it can be done. Okay, I agree, with over a million customers (PSE&G), it would be tedious. Fine, do it and charge me the cost of doing it -- once. After that, its the cost of doing business.
Further, having been in charge of buying the State's own electricity and gas for use by State agencies, for ten years, I know that the State, even though it's a non-profit governmental entity, pays itself the sales tax on energy as well. That's stupid! The State is collecting sales tax, from itself, to pay itself. Hundreds of state agencies could really use that 7% savings, let me tell you. They should also be exempt from the other 3% in taxes for things like the Societal Benefits Charge, also on every urility bill.
When I buy a ream of paper at Staples, I get a receipt that shows the 7% in sales tax. That's only fair and reasonable. Why not on my utility bill?
What are these politicians and government bureaucrats trying to hide? Don't we want more transparency, not less?
So I urge you to write your NJ legislators, the NJ BPU, the utility companies and the newspapers, to simply show us what we pay on our utility bill. It's only fair.
Rodney Richards copyright 2014
Check out my bipolar journey with happy interludes in my memoir Episodes available no from Amazon.com, as well as my other longtime blog, ABlessedLifeinAmerica on Google's Blogger!
Another charge on your monthly utility bill, that isn't shown, is 7% State Sales Tax. Now, I don't mind paying sales tax on energy -- I pay it on everything else, so I don't mind. This tax brings in $380 million annually (Source: March 2012 OLS and Budget Estimate). That's a lot of dough.
The only problem is that this tax does not show up on your utility bill -- at all. I don't like that. I feel that if you're going to tax me, at least show me how much it costs me each month.
Bottom line: 10% of my monthly utility bill is in hidden taxes.
I think that's unfair. The utility companies imply that it will cost too much to break out the taxes on my bill. That's hogwash. With computers and software, it can be done. Okay, I agree, with over a million customers (PSE&G), it would be tedious. Fine, do it and charge me the cost of doing it -- once. After that, its the cost of doing business.
Further, having been in charge of buying the State's own electricity and gas for use by State agencies, for ten years, I know that the State, even though it's a non-profit governmental entity, pays itself the sales tax on energy as well. That's stupid! The State is collecting sales tax, from itself, to pay itself. Hundreds of state agencies could really use that 7% savings, let me tell you. They should also be exempt from the other 3% in taxes for things like the Societal Benefits Charge, also on every urility bill.
When I buy a ream of paper at Staples, I get a receipt that shows the 7% in sales tax. That's only fair and reasonable. Why not on my utility bill?
What are these politicians and government bureaucrats trying to hide? Don't we want more transparency, not less?
So I urge you to write your NJ legislators, the NJ BPU, the utility companies and the newspapers, to simply show us what we pay on our utility bill. It's only fair.
Rodney Richards copyright 2014
Check out my bipolar journey with happy interludes in my memoir Episodes available no from Amazon.com, as well as my other longtime blog, ABlessedLifeinAmerica on Google's Blogger!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Internet Musts?
There's a lot of debate, and attempts in Congress, to pass some Internet rules/laws.
Here's mine:
1. Uniform Internet Sales Tax. Level the playing field. All Internet sales should be taxed, with one uniform tax, say 3-5%. The Feds collect the tax, and it helps pay for their administrators to track them, as well as a little for their General Fund. Based on location of the buyer, that state gets back the balance of tax not used by the Feds, and it goes to the state's General Fund. This would not be difficult with computers today. There would NOT be individual State sales taxes.
2. All opened windows, especially for any utility programs, downloads, uploads etc., would have the four boxes in the top right corner - minimize, half-screen, full screen and close ("X").
3. All sales and purchases:
a. Before buying anything, buyer can read the seller's Terms of Service (Ts & Cs), Privacy Policy, and if applicable, Warranties -- including the manufacturers. These must be printable before or at check-out, and always must be dated, and available on the vendor's site at any time. The date on the sales ticket identifies the Ts & Cs that apply, in all cases, at a minimum.
b. All sales must have stated return policies, before checkout, and must be printable if not in the Ts & Cs. Return policies can't be less than fourteen days. No restocking fee if defects, and postage reimbursed if defective. Other returns, for any reason, can only have a maximum 15% restocking fee.
c. The "I Accept" must have a Comments section for buyer to protest any Term & Condition. If the company receives too many, this should be changed. All Comments also sent to Consumer Protection Board automatically. I'm sure it must have a separate Internet division.
d. Feds should monitor online companies and sales, States should monitor physical/local merchants and stores.
e. Companies can offer subscriptions, third party notices, other products etc. at check-out, but boxes must be unchecked, and only if the buyer consents by checking the box, does the item go into effect. If purchasing an add-on etc., the sames rules above apply.
4. Installs and setups:
a. Can be done in the background, by the user's choice, and can only use max 15% of computer resources. ALL downloads must show size of download in megabytes, BEFORE the user clicks "Download." The user must have the choice of proceeding or not before starting. As a download runs, it should show time and megabytes needed to complete. Any download can be stopped and the files deleted automatically before completion.
b. Folder and filename can be chosen by the user, otherwise the default is the "Downloads" folder.
5. Checkout and payment.
a. No automatic renewals. The vendor can send an expiration notice up to thirty days before, and the user can choose to "See later" (i.e. next day), cancel the product at end of term, or renew. All rules above apply to renewals, especially if Ts & Cs changed. There must be a vendor statement to the effect that the original purchase Ts & Cs apply, or have been changed.
b. All sales must have a stated return, full or partial return policy. If the user has signed up for a term purchase, say one year, then no refunds for early cancellation unless the product or service is defective.
c. Seller must provide written invoice or receipt, with a unique transaction number to buyer, and it must be printable and saveable. No receipt, no sale. This includes free trials.
d. Buyer always given option to leave credit card info on file or not, or change payment type.
e. All Internet sales must be by debit, credit or PayPal type payment. Since its payment in advance, the buyer always has the right to some kind of refund if not satisfied.
6. Seller's Terms and Conditions
a. Must show seller's headquarters full address and contact information including a valid email and phone number. Others like Complaints, or Suggestions can also be listed.
b. Must show Return Policy.
c. Cannot indemnify against manufacturer defects, or gross negligence. All data, downloads, DVDs, CDs etc. must be guaranteed virus-free.
That's enough for today. What would some of yours be? Join the site to leave a comment, its free.
Rodney Richards copyright 2014
Check out my bipolar journey with happy interludes in my memoir Episodes available no from Amazon.com, as well as my other longtime blog, ABlessedLifeinAmerica on Google's Blogger!
Here's mine:
1. Uniform Internet Sales Tax. Level the playing field. All Internet sales should be taxed, with one uniform tax, say 3-5%. The Feds collect the tax, and it helps pay for their administrators to track them, as well as a little for their General Fund. Based on location of the buyer, that state gets back the balance of tax not used by the Feds, and it goes to the state's General Fund. This would not be difficult with computers today. There would NOT be individual State sales taxes.
2. All opened windows, especially for any utility programs, downloads, uploads etc., would have the four boxes in the top right corner - minimize, half-screen, full screen and close ("X").
3. All sales and purchases:
a. Before buying anything, buyer can read the seller's Terms of Service (Ts & Cs), Privacy Policy, and if applicable, Warranties -- including the manufacturers. These must be printable before or at check-out, and always must be dated, and available on the vendor's site at any time. The date on the sales ticket identifies the Ts & Cs that apply, in all cases, at a minimum.
b. All sales must have stated return policies, before checkout, and must be printable if not in the Ts & Cs. Return policies can't be less than fourteen days. No restocking fee if defects, and postage reimbursed if defective. Other returns, for any reason, can only have a maximum 15% restocking fee.
c. The "I Accept" must have a Comments section for buyer to protest any Term & Condition. If the company receives too many, this should be changed. All Comments also sent to Consumer Protection Board automatically. I'm sure it must have a separate Internet division.
d. Feds should monitor online companies and sales, States should monitor physical/local merchants and stores.
e. Companies can offer subscriptions, third party notices, other products etc. at check-out, but boxes must be unchecked, and only if the buyer consents by checking the box, does the item go into effect. If purchasing an add-on etc., the sames rules above apply.
4. Installs and setups:
a. Can be done in the background, by the user's choice, and can only use max 15% of computer resources. ALL downloads must show size of download in megabytes, BEFORE the user clicks "Download." The user must have the choice of proceeding or not before starting. As a download runs, it should show time and megabytes needed to complete. Any download can be stopped and the files deleted automatically before completion.
b. Folder and filename can be chosen by the user, otherwise the default is the "Downloads" folder.
5. Checkout and payment.
a. No automatic renewals. The vendor can send an expiration notice up to thirty days before, and the user can choose to "See later" (i.e. next day), cancel the product at end of term, or renew. All rules above apply to renewals, especially if Ts & Cs changed. There must be a vendor statement to the effect that the original purchase Ts & Cs apply, or have been changed.
b. All sales must have a stated return, full or partial return policy. If the user has signed up for a term purchase, say one year, then no refunds for early cancellation unless the product or service is defective.
c. Seller must provide written invoice or receipt, with a unique transaction number to buyer, and it must be printable and saveable. No receipt, no sale. This includes free trials.
d. Buyer always given option to leave credit card info on file or not, or change payment type.
e. All Internet sales must be by debit, credit or PayPal type payment. Since its payment in advance, the buyer always has the right to some kind of refund if not satisfied.
6. Seller's Terms and Conditions
a. Must show seller's headquarters full address and contact information including a valid email and phone number. Others like Complaints, or Suggestions can also be listed.
b. Must show Return Policy.
c. Cannot indemnify against manufacturer defects, or gross negligence. All data, downloads, DVDs, CDs etc. must be guaranteed virus-free.
That's enough for today. What would some of yours be? Join the site to leave a comment, its free.
Rodney Richards copyright 2014
Check out my bipolar journey with happy interludes in my memoir Episodes available no from Amazon.com, as well as my other longtime blog, ABlessedLifeinAmerica on Google's Blogger!
Monday, December 24, 2012
Contracts: Two Types of Savings
How do you save money? In my thirty years as a State of NJ procurement officer (buyer), I only learned two: cash-out and cost avoidance.
When you go to Kohl's and buy a pair of jeans on sale, they may be discounted 20% or more off the ticketed price. Janet and Kate both live for Kohl's discount coupons, and have probably "saved" hundreds of dollars in their time. But a discount is not cash, its actually cost avoidance. You would have paid $30, but with a coupon you only pay $20. The vast majority of shoppers would tell others they saved $10. But not so.
This is not cash savings, its cost avoidance. You would have paid $30, but actually only paid $20. You "avoided" paying $10. This principle is the same with all sales, and is usually true for most discounts. So, on your Kohl's receipt, where it says "You saved $10," well, you didn't. Oh, it may still be a bargain, and probably is, but that's not the point. We all like bargains and savings. It's a major motivator for spending. Almost all coupons are cost avoidance.
But some discounts and coupons actually provide cash-out savings. When we had a $1,000,000 contract, and because of poor budgets or cash availability we had to cut costs, which was our standard modus operandi, we only had limited ways to save money. One way was to cut the inventory covered by the computer maintenance coverage contract. So from 10,000 pieces covered, we'd cut 1,000 pieces, usually the oldest equipment. or, if software, we'd cut the number of licenses. This lowered the actual bill. That's cash-out savings. Real cash. Our cash.
Another way to achieve cash out savings was to cry the blues to the vendor -- to make them part of the problem/solution. So when our budget was cut, we called the vendor in and brainstormed ways to cut their bill. It usually worked, especially in hard economic times, or during budget woes, and most vendors gave us extra discounts, cash-out savings, rather than lose the contract entirely.
We never threatened our existing vendors by saying we would bid out their services. We didn't have to. They all recognized that could be a real possibility at any time. When we actually did consolidate all our maintenance contracts and bid them out in the 1990s, some vendors cried -- and many lost their contract. We saved money in the long run, but it was always tough severing ties with a vendor who had been doing a decent job, for a new, unproven vendor. But we took the risk, bid out five huge contracts, and saved millions on four. The fifth bid had to be cancelled because the bid was higher than the existing contract. That sometimes happens when you deal with a sole-source vendor.
This was all cash-out savings. We had been paying more, out of our own pocket, now we were paying less.
Another way to cut costs was to twist the vendor's arm for discounts. In this case, when a discount lowered our actual cost, it was cash-out savings. Again, it saved money from our pockets. Sometimes we'd give the vendors targets, other times we asked for creative ways, like refinancing, to lower costs. You can only do so much of that before you're down to bone.
That's where governments at all levels and many businesses find themselves today. Cutting staff equals saving salary expenses. Cutting vendor services cuts out-of-pocket costs. It's the same everywhere, even down to personal levels by cutting out desserts or coffee daily, or forgoing a new TV. Cash out savings means cutting your spending, and its the hardest thing to do.
Avoiding costs, on the other hand, is easy. Just like the example of the jeans at Kohl's. On new purchases, whether for $1,000 or a $1,000,000, we always compared prices for the same products and services. Using the Internet has made that a thousand times easier. We however, usually had to use the bidding process for big contracts, and that's always harrowing. When you're sitting there reviewing seven bids, in manuals three inches thick, it's a daunting task comparing apples to apples. That's why NJ State contracts are so rigidly written. We couldn't evaluate "extras," no matter how nice to add. That's why bids often get thrown out, some for major deviations from the specifications, and some for minor ones. Ah, but that was part of the job, sometimes the most exciting.
Another example is borrowing. Right now interest rates are low. It's the best time to borrow. Again, its only cost avoidance, but on a 30-year mortgage that's tons of real money.
I've led public bid conferences with a roomful of potential bidders, and I've recommended sole-source contracts where only one vendor was capable of doing the job. That's rarer and rarer these days, what with open standards and architectures in computing and in services. There was a time, in the early 70s, when the State only owned IBM computers. Then Honeywell won a bid after they protested, and ever since we've had to support two completely different systems, with programming staffs, operators, administrators, the whole nine yards. Standardization is easier and cheaper. Getting there is very difficult, especially in government when a lot of purchasing (not all), is open to public scrutiny.
So tell me, do you have any other ways to save money besides cash-out savings and cost avoidance? I'd be interested in hearing them. Join the site to leave a comment, its free.
When you go to Kohl's and buy a pair of jeans on sale, they may be discounted 20% or more off the ticketed price. Janet and Kate both live for Kohl's discount coupons, and have probably "saved" hundreds of dollars in their time. But a discount is not cash, its actually cost avoidance. You would have paid $30, but with a coupon you only pay $20. The vast majority of shoppers would tell others they saved $10. But not so.
This is not cash savings, its cost avoidance. You would have paid $30, but actually only paid $20. You "avoided" paying $10. This principle is the same with all sales, and is usually true for most discounts. So, on your Kohl's receipt, where it says "You saved $10," well, you didn't. Oh, it may still be a bargain, and probably is, but that's not the point. We all like bargains and savings. It's a major motivator for spending. Almost all coupons are cost avoidance.
But some discounts and coupons actually provide cash-out savings. When we had a $1,000,000 contract, and because of poor budgets or cash availability we had to cut costs, which was our standard modus operandi, we only had limited ways to save money. One way was to cut the inventory covered by the computer maintenance coverage contract. So from 10,000 pieces covered, we'd cut 1,000 pieces, usually the oldest equipment. or, if software, we'd cut the number of licenses. This lowered the actual bill. That's cash-out savings. Real cash. Our cash.
Another way to achieve cash out savings was to cry the blues to the vendor -- to make them part of the problem/solution. So when our budget was cut, we called the vendor in and brainstormed ways to cut their bill. It usually worked, especially in hard economic times, or during budget woes, and most vendors gave us extra discounts, cash-out savings, rather than lose the contract entirely.
We never threatened our existing vendors by saying we would bid out their services. We didn't have to. They all recognized that could be a real possibility at any time. When we actually did consolidate all our maintenance contracts and bid them out in the 1990s, some vendors cried -- and many lost their contract. We saved money in the long run, but it was always tough severing ties with a vendor who had been doing a decent job, for a new, unproven vendor. But we took the risk, bid out five huge contracts, and saved millions on four. The fifth bid had to be cancelled because the bid was higher than the existing contract. That sometimes happens when you deal with a sole-source vendor.
This was all cash-out savings. We had been paying more, out of our own pocket, now we were paying less.
Another way to cut costs was to twist the vendor's arm for discounts. In this case, when a discount lowered our actual cost, it was cash-out savings. Again, it saved money from our pockets. Sometimes we'd give the vendors targets, other times we asked for creative ways, like refinancing, to lower costs. You can only do so much of that before you're down to bone.
That's where governments at all levels and many businesses find themselves today. Cutting staff equals saving salary expenses. Cutting vendor services cuts out-of-pocket costs. It's the same everywhere, even down to personal levels by cutting out desserts or coffee daily, or forgoing a new TV. Cash out savings means cutting your spending, and its the hardest thing to do.
Avoiding costs, on the other hand, is easy. Just like the example of the jeans at Kohl's. On new purchases, whether for $1,000 or a $1,000,000, we always compared prices for the same products and services. Using the Internet has made that a thousand times easier. We however, usually had to use the bidding process for big contracts, and that's always harrowing. When you're sitting there reviewing seven bids, in manuals three inches thick, it's a daunting task comparing apples to apples. That's why NJ State contracts are so rigidly written. We couldn't evaluate "extras," no matter how nice to add. That's why bids often get thrown out, some for major deviations from the specifications, and some for minor ones. Ah, but that was part of the job, sometimes the most exciting.
Another example is borrowing. Right now interest rates are low. It's the best time to borrow. Again, its only cost avoidance, but on a 30-year mortgage that's tons of real money.
I've led public bid conferences with a roomful of potential bidders, and I've recommended sole-source contracts where only one vendor was capable of doing the job. That's rarer and rarer these days, what with open standards and architectures in computing and in services. There was a time, in the early 70s, when the State only owned IBM computers. Then Honeywell won a bid after they protested, and ever since we've had to support two completely different systems, with programming staffs, operators, administrators, the whole nine yards. Standardization is easier and cheaper. Getting there is very difficult, especially in government when a lot of purchasing (not all), is open to public scrutiny.
So tell me, do you have any other ways to save money besides cash-out savings and cost avoidance? I'd be interested in hearing them. Join the site to leave a comment, its free.
Contracts: Negotiating
I admit, even after almost thirty years of dealing with vendors and their agreements, I am not the best negotiator. But the State did try to make me one.
In the 90s they sent me to San Francisco for a weeklong Conference sponsored by Joe Auer and ICN. (International Computer Negotiations). It really helped my perspective, insights and negotiating techniques. I got a 200 page manual out of it also. You can find them online at www.dobetterdeals.com At the time, after some searching, I thought they were the best company out there, and even though they have more competition now, I still highly recommend them. Their archives of computer negotiating tactics is top-notch.
The conference and manual were very helpful to me in day-to-day business dealings. I won a free ICN shirt there, when I answered the questuion "What does COTSS mean." (Computer Off-The-Shelf Software) It refers to the two software paths, "make or buy."
You've heard about "make," as epitomized by those multi-year programming efforts writing huge amounts of code for companies, whether accounts payable, payroll, integrated business and marketing apps, ERP, or Customer Relationship systems. You only read about the ones that fail and cost millions of dollars. But Computerworld, the premier IT (Information Technology) magazine, often highlights the successful ones, and successful CIOs (Chief Information Officers).
When I started work for the State in 1970 as a stock clerk for the Bureau of Data Processing, we were using Assembler language to write computer programs, then we went to COBOL. In the 80s we went to structured COBOL. I even took classes in COBOL at Hamilton Adult School. During my long career with the state, I held a programmer title for two years, even though I wasn't one.I also held a DP (Data Processing) Analyst title for some time, which is a person who interprets user requirements in a programming context. I didn't do that either. But I finally found my Civil Service niche as a MISS III, Management Information Systems Specialist, i.e. a catch-all for most everything. At least, until I was bumped back down to my old title, DP I/O Control Specialist II, in 1992, when NJ was in the dumps financially and the State had layoffs.
"Buy" is what most people are familiar with now when it comes to software. There was a time for many years when the computers cost big bucks, and the software was a pittance. Now its almost the other way around. At OTIS (Office of Telecommunications and Information Systems), where I worked for six years, they had as many as 800 COBOL programmers writing computer programs for the hundreds of state agencies. Now they're called applications, or just plain "apps." Everyone is searching for the "killer app" that will make millions for its creators. Angy Birds is a good commercial example.
For most of my thirty years in state procurement, we bought COTSS. We bought tens of thousands of software licenses for state employees. At one time not long ago, the State had over 30,000 PC users. You get the picture. Then we had the big mainframe computers to run the apps like CICS or NJCFS for all the users.
Customer Information Control System was IBM's flagship method of providing transactional processing on computers, mostly terminals before they were replaced by PCs. NJCFS is the State's accounting system used by over 300 state agencies. Software for all these systems, large and small was expensive. One of my contracts cost $399,000 a year, just for maintenance of 10,000 licenses. Maintenance is technical support, updates and the like. I handled one large contract, a waiver, of over 70 vendors and their products for 80 agencies, that cost over $30 million annually. Sometimes single contracts would range from over $1 miilllion to $3 million to purchase.
So learning how to negotiate better was a must. Luckily I had Anne, Chet, Linda and Tony on my staff who were all excellent negotiators, and helped correct my faux pas. Especially Anne, She was the good cop to my bad cop. Carl developed and took care of our website (yes we had our own website), and all our back office databases using MS-Access. Tony G. before him had started the basic processes.
Heady stuff working with vendors. You have to be confident, and you have to know what you're talking about. We tried to learn as much about products and pricing as we could, but it was difficult, what with all the customer non-disclosure agreements. Our goal was to know as much as the vendor, but they always had us beat. Thankfully now with the Internet, its easier to find information and deal with them as equals. Computer hardware, software and services salesman are like lobbyists -- they know the inside track. But they only had one agenda, and it was transparent, to take your money. And, holding that card, we could negotiate with some strength.
We had a couple of vendors who were exceptional, helping us to find, or make, discounts. But those were rare. We usually only heard from those reps when they wanted to upsell us.
To close, you should have recognized by now, that like any field, there's a lot of acronyms and abbreviations in IT. That's what made it fun, hearing all the new schemes from vendors, like ADABAS, or SAS, or SAP, or RDBMS etc. Lots of fun!
Join the site to leave a comment, its free.
In the 90s they sent me to San Francisco for a weeklong Conference sponsored by Joe Auer and ICN. (International Computer Negotiations). It really helped my perspective, insights and negotiating techniques. I got a 200 page manual out of it also. You can find them online at www.dobetterdeals.com At the time, after some searching, I thought they were the best company out there, and even though they have more competition now, I still highly recommend them. Their archives of computer negotiating tactics is top-notch.
The conference and manual were very helpful to me in day-to-day business dealings. I won a free ICN shirt there, when I answered the questuion "What does COTSS mean." (Computer Off-The-Shelf Software) It refers to the two software paths, "make or buy."
You've heard about "make," as epitomized by those multi-year programming efforts writing huge amounts of code for companies, whether accounts payable, payroll, integrated business and marketing apps, ERP, or Customer Relationship systems. You only read about the ones that fail and cost millions of dollars. But Computerworld, the premier IT (Information Technology) magazine, often highlights the successful ones, and successful CIOs (Chief Information Officers).
When I started work for the State in 1970 as a stock clerk for the Bureau of Data Processing, we were using Assembler language to write computer programs, then we went to COBOL. In the 80s we went to structured COBOL. I even took classes in COBOL at Hamilton Adult School. During my long career with the state, I held a programmer title for two years, even though I wasn't one.I also held a DP (Data Processing) Analyst title for some time, which is a person who interprets user requirements in a programming context. I didn't do that either. But I finally found my Civil Service niche as a MISS III, Management Information Systems Specialist, i.e. a catch-all for most everything. At least, until I was bumped back down to my old title, DP I/O Control Specialist II, in 1992, when NJ was in the dumps financially and the State had layoffs.
"Buy" is what most people are familiar with now when it comes to software. There was a time for many years when the computers cost big bucks, and the software was a pittance. Now its almost the other way around. At OTIS (Office of Telecommunications and Information Systems), where I worked for six years, they had as many as 800 COBOL programmers writing computer programs for the hundreds of state agencies. Now they're called applications, or just plain "apps." Everyone is searching for the "killer app" that will make millions for its creators. Angy Birds is a good commercial example.
For most of my thirty years in state procurement, we bought COTSS. We bought tens of thousands of software licenses for state employees. At one time not long ago, the State had over 30,000 PC users. You get the picture. Then we had the big mainframe computers to run the apps like CICS or NJCFS for all the users.
Customer Information Control System was IBM's flagship method of providing transactional processing on computers, mostly terminals before they were replaced by PCs. NJCFS is the State's accounting system used by over 300 state agencies. Software for all these systems, large and small was expensive. One of my contracts cost $399,000 a year, just for maintenance of 10,000 licenses. Maintenance is technical support, updates and the like. I handled one large contract, a waiver, of over 70 vendors and their products for 80 agencies, that cost over $30 million annually. Sometimes single contracts would range from over $1 miilllion to $3 million to purchase.
So learning how to negotiate better was a must. Luckily I had Anne, Chet, Linda and Tony on my staff who were all excellent negotiators, and helped correct my faux pas. Especially Anne, She was the good cop to my bad cop. Carl developed and took care of our website (yes we had our own website), and all our back office databases using MS-Access. Tony G. before him had started the basic processes.
Heady stuff working with vendors. You have to be confident, and you have to know what you're talking about. We tried to learn as much about products and pricing as we could, but it was difficult, what with all the customer non-disclosure agreements. Our goal was to know as much as the vendor, but they always had us beat. Thankfully now with the Internet, its easier to find information and deal with them as equals. Computer hardware, software and services salesman are like lobbyists -- they know the inside track. But they only had one agenda, and it was transparent, to take your money. And, holding that card, we could negotiate with some strength.
We had a couple of vendors who were exceptional, helping us to find, or make, discounts. But those were rare. We usually only heard from those reps when they wanted to upsell us.
To close, you should have recognized by now, that like any field, there's a lot of acronyms and abbreviations in IT. That's what made it fun, hearing all the new schemes from vendors, like ADABAS, or SAS, or SAP, or RDBMS etc. Lots of fun!
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Sunday, December 23, 2012
Contracts: Warranties, Liability and Indemnification
Do you remember the example of a sales agreement I used in my last blog? When you bought Call of Duty 4 at Gamestop? When you walked out of the store with it, it had an express warranty. That is, you assumed it would work properly when you put it into your Xbox. If in fact it didn't, in most stores, you could take it back where you purchased it for a store credit or refund, or refund with a 15% restocking fee (it's all in the Store Policies and Ts & Cs, remember?).
This warranty is tied to the warranty of Merchantability - again, a valid seller, a valid product, consideration etc. -- a valid contract. You expect the CD to work. The merchant, by selling it, has implied it will work.
Well good luck with that. Reputable companies will honor these warranties. Most however, sell their products "As is." No warranties of any kind, or, in their Ts & Cs, they openly deny any warranty of any kind. So, check the product or service warranty before you buy. In this case, even if Gamestop has no warranty, you may still be protected by Activision, the product manufacturer. Manufacturer warranties are a good deal, and are more common then seller warranties. You may have to pay to ship the bad CD back to Activision, and they may or may not, depending on their return policy, reimburse you. Again, its all in the Ts & Cs. I'm sure you're familiar with RMAs and the like -- this would be no different.
This brings us to product liability, and liability in general. Product liability means you have rights if the product itself is defective or causes you injury. If you put the CD into your Xbox, and the Xbox blows up and fails immediately after, you may have a case for product liability. Good luck with that too. Most vendor Ts & Cs are written so narrowly you'd probably have a hard time getting money from them for a new Xbox. Again, check their terms.
And here's where I pause to explain what you already know. The reason for Ts & Cs, Terms of Service, or agreements at all, is 1) they are always initiated by the vendor, 2) they always protect the vendor from any liability against anything, or extremely limit their exposure to damages, the money you can collect from them for any reason. And, if you're able to collect anything at all, the most it will be is what you paid for the product or service. That's fair, right?
General liability means that for any reason, and most agreements list them, there's no way you get to hold the vendor (or manufacturer) liable for anything. Again, even if they are found liable, in other words, you hired a lawyer to prove your case, the most you'll be likely to get from the vendor is some kind of refund, whether partial or full. Of your own money. Unless you sue of course, like the lady holding a cup of hot McDonald's coffee between her legs while driving. It spilled and scalded her. She got millions of dollars, and now there's warning labels on all coffee cups. That's fair too, right?
This brings up Indemnification. You may see this in some really paranoid companies, but usually all service contracts, like when an electrician comes to your house to install new circuits, or, my favorite, a repairman of any type, whether for your computer, your car, anything. Even if you haven't signed a contract specific to this, believe me, they're covered. In every contract I recommended or signed while with the State (hundreds), this clause was there. It usually said "You agree to indemnify and hold harmless company ABC from __________, and ____________ (i.e. everything)." Now all vendors expect you to agree to this. Some are so strict, that unless you do agree to their blanket indemnity, they won't do business with you. We had a few like that, and usually we were stuck because we really needed their specific product or service.
However, most reasonable vendors, with price and other terms, we were able to negotiate with. The only reason being that we were spending millions of dollars with them, and they wanted all that money. You can forget it if the deal is worth less than that. Try negotiating with Microsoft. I did, and it wasn't pleasant. The best we could do, to modify this blanket indemnity, was to add that we would NOT indemnify them for "gross negligence." It had to be "gross." "Negligence" by itself wasn't enough. Now, to my way of thinking, if you're repairman is negligent, and causes my IBM 287 printer to catch on fire, that's negligent enough to get a new printer out of it. But no, the burden is on us, the customers, to prove that the repairman was "grossly negligent." So, bottom line, guess what, you can't win.
Our only saving grace is that we as the State had a whole floor of lawyers, Deputy Attorney Generals, that we could sic on such a vendor, and the State was self-insured, so that cost was lower also. You, my friend, have neither. See why we need the Department of Justice, UCC, and the Consumer Protection Bureau? I'm a fan of all three.
What I'm trying to say, is Caveat Emptor, Buyer Beware. As they used to say on NYPD Blue "Watch it out there."
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This warranty is tied to the warranty of Merchantability - again, a valid seller, a valid product, consideration etc. -- a valid contract. You expect the CD to work. The merchant, by selling it, has implied it will work.
Well good luck with that. Reputable companies will honor these warranties. Most however, sell their products "As is." No warranties of any kind, or, in their Ts & Cs, they openly deny any warranty of any kind. So, check the product or service warranty before you buy. In this case, even if Gamestop has no warranty, you may still be protected by Activision, the product manufacturer. Manufacturer warranties are a good deal, and are more common then seller warranties. You may have to pay to ship the bad CD back to Activision, and they may or may not, depending on their return policy, reimburse you. Again, its all in the Ts & Cs. I'm sure you're familiar with RMAs and the like -- this would be no different.
This brings us to product liability, and liability in general. Product liability means you have rights if the product itself is defective or causes you injury. If you put the CD into your Xbox, and the Xbox blows up and fails immediately after, you may have a case for product liability. Good luck with that too. Most vendor Ts & Cs are written so narrowly you'd probably have a hard time getting money from them for a new Xbox. Again, check their terms.
And here's where I pause to explain what you already know. The reason for Ts & Cs, Terms of Service, or agreements at all, is 1) they are always initiated by the vendor, 2) they always protect the vendor from any liability against anything, or extremely limit their exposure to damages, the money you can collect from them for any reason. And, if you're able to collect anything at all, the most it will be is what you paid for the product or service. That's fair, right?
General liability means that for any reason, and most agreements list them, there's no way you get to hold the vendor (or manufacturer) liable for anything. Again, even if they are found liable, in other words, you hired a lawyer to prove your case, the most you'll be likely to get from the vendor is some kind of refund, whether partial or full. Of your own money. Unless you sue of course, like the lady holding a cup of hot McDonald's coffee between her legs while driving. It spilled and scalded her. She got millions of dollars, and now there's warning labels on all coffee cups. That's fair too, right?
This brings up Indemnification. You may see this in some really paranoid companies, but usually all service contracts, like when an electrician comes to your house to install new circuits, or, my favorite, a repairman of any type, whether for your computer, your car, anything. Even if you haven't signed a contract specific to this, believe me, they're covered. In every contract I recommended or signed while with the State (hundreds), this clause was there. It usually said "You agree to indemnify and hold harmless company ABC from __________, and ____________ (i.e. everything)." Now all vendors expect you to agree to this. Some are so strict, that unless you do agree to their blanket indemnity, they won't do business with you. We had a few like that, and usually we were stuck because we really needed their specific product or service.
However, most reasonable vendors, with price and other terms, we were able to negotiate with. The only reason being that we were spending millions of dollars with them, and they wanted all that money. You can forget it if the deal is worth less than that. Try negotiating with Microsoft. I did, and it wasn't pleasant. The best we could do, to modify this blanket indemnity, was to add that we would NOT indemnify them for "gross negligence." It had to be "gross." "Negligence" by itself wasn't enough. Now, to my way of thinking, if you're repairman is negligent, and causes my IBM 287 printer to catch on fire, that's negligent enough to get a new printer out of it. But no, the burden is on us, the customers, to prove that the repairman was "grossly negligent." So, bottom line, guess what, you can't win.
Our only saving grace is that we as the State had a whole floor of lawyers, Deputy Attorney Generals, that we could sic on such a vendor, and the State was self-insured, so that cost was lower also. You, my friend, have neither. See why we need the Department of Justice, UCC, and the Consumer Protection Bureau? I'm a fan of all three.
What I'm trying to say, is Caveat Emptor, Buyer Beware. As they used to say on NYPD Blue "Watch it out there."
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Elements of a Contract
A contract is an agreement between two entities, either people to people, people to companies, companies to companies, between the government and you etc. Every contract, according to textbooks, has six elements: Offer, Acceptance, Mutual Assent, Capacity, Consideration, and Legality. You can probably tell from the title what each one means, and you'd be right.
But just for arguments sake, let's look at each one. First, Offer and Acceptance. There has to be an offer to buy, or an offer to sell. When you pick up Call of Duty 4 at Gamestop, marked $60, take it to the counter and buy it with your credit card, you get a written receipt. That's Offer and Acceptance -- a contract. An offer to sell was made, and you accepted it at face value and bought it.
Since the clerk only asked you to pay the price marked on the game, and you accepted that, it was Mutual Assent. Capacity relates to the ability of the two parties to enter a contract. The store is established to sell games. It's a known entity. You are just Joe Blow, but you have a credit card. In other words, you both have the ability (capacity) to make the transaction.
Consideration simply means the thing of value needed for the transaction. Call of Duty 4 had a $60 value. You had $60 on VISA to pay for it. The $60 is the consideration paid for the thing of value (to you). Legality simply means the transaction is regarded by the government or lawmakers (local, state or Federal) as having value, AND being between two parties that have reasonable intelligence and free will. In other words, the clerk didn't hold a gun on you and force you to buy it. In other words, based on all the elements described, it was legal.
The legal basis for all business transactions between buyers and sellers in the U.S. is the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). You can Google it. It's pages and pages long, and contains all the details I'm leaving out, such as delivery of the goods to you, and the means used. It can be interesting reading. In our example above, you took delivery when the clerk handed you a bag with your game in it. You assume when you get home and open up the game, that there'll be a CD in it that will work on your Xbox 360. If not, that's also covered by the UCC. And the store policies. Did you make a note of them?
The governments and all business transactions in the U.S. are based on the Rule of Law. That's why we're lucky we live here. It's order out of what could be chaos or anarchy. If you don't like it, go to other countries and see how they handle it. You'll find that sometimes you have to add a bribe to get what you're legally entitled to. We're lucky we don't (unless it's illegal).
In the transaction above, there is no negotiation. The price is marked and that's what you pay if you want it. Most transactions are governed this way. When you click "I Accept" on the Internet, or put something in "Your cart" on Amazon, then pay for it, you did so with no ability to negotiate. In other words, the transaction was essentially one sided -- in favor of the seller. This is no different than when you open a bank account, buy a CD, sign a mortgage, or buy a Christmas card.
Most of us make simple non-negotiable buy/sell transactions daily. In many other countries, everything except government fees can be negotiated to a degree. When you sell your crystal candlestick holders at your yardsale, its covered by the UCC. The difference here is that your buyer may have said "Will you take $3 instead of $5?" And you may have said, "What about $4" and both made the deal. This transaction, although very different from the Call of Duty 4 purchase, contains all six elements, including terms equally agreed to by both parties (the candlesticks and the $4).
That's why the UCC exists, to bring balance and fairness to transactions. However, all that's out the window when you click "I Accept" for an Internet purchase. You have agreed to 100% of the seller's terms, with absolutely no input from you. Take 'em or leave 'em. Either buy it under their terms or go somewhere else. How do you like that? Have you ever signed an agreement where some of the terms weren't in your favor? Or, as is usually the case, only gave you very limited rights? If you look carefully at product sales agreements, you'll see that the only right you may have is 1) return the product for a refund -- or not, 2) go to arbitration (always in the vendor's favor -- and potentially costly), or 3) take the seller to court -- always expensive. Is there a better way?
More on this in the future. Join the site to leave a comment, its free.
But just for arguments sake, let's look at each one. First, Offer and Acceptance. There has to be an offer to buy, or an offer to sell. When you pick up Call of Duty 4 at Gamestop, marked $60, take it to the counter and buy it with your credit card, you get a written receipt. That's Offer and Acceptance -- a contract. An offer to sell was made, and you accepted it at face value and bought it.
Since the clerk only asked you to pay the price marked on the game, and you accepted that, it was Mutual Assent. Capacity relates to the ability of the two parties to enter a contract. The store is established to sell games. It's a known entity. You are just Joe Blow, but you have a credit card. In other words, you both have the ability (capacity) to make the transaction.
Consideration simply means the thing of value needed for the transaction. Call of Duty 4 had a $60 value. You had $60 on VISA to pay for it. The $60 is the consideration paid for the thing of value (to you). Legality simply means the transaction is regarded by the government or lawmakers (local, state or Federal) as having value, AND being between two parties that have reasonable intelligence and free will. In other words, the clerk didn't hold a gun on you and force you to buy it. In other words, based on all the elements described, it was legal.
The legal basis for all business transactions between buyers and sellers in the U.S. is the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). You can Google it. It's pages and pages long, and contains all the details I'm leaving out, such as delivery of the goods to you, and the means used. It can be interesting reading. In our example above, you took delivery when the clerk handed you a bag with your game in it. You assume when you get home and open up the game, that there'll be a CD in it that will work on your Xbox 360. If not, that's also covered by the UCC. And the store policies. Did you make a note of them?
The governments and all business transactions in the U.S. are based on the Rule of Law. That's why we're lucky we live here. It's order out of what could be chaos or anarchy. If you don't like it, go to other countries and see how they handle it. You'll find that sometimes you have to add a bribe to get what you're legally entitled to. We're lucky we don't (unless it's illegal).
In the transaction above, there is no negotiation. The price is marked and that's what you pay if you want it. Most transactions are governed this way. When you click "I Accept" on the Internet, or put something in "Your cart" on Amazon, then pay for it, you did so with no ability to negotiate. In other words, the transaction was essentially one sided -- in favor of the seller. This is no different than when you open a bank account, buy a CD, sign a mortgage, or buy a Christmas card.
Most of us make simple non-negotiable buy/sell transactions daily. In many other countries, everything except government fees can be negotiated to a degree. When you sell your crystal candlestick holders at your yardsale, its covered by the UCC. The difference here is that your buyer may have said "Will you take $3 instead of $5?" And you may have said, "What about $4" and both made the deal. This transaction, although very different from the Call of Duty 4 purchase, contains all six elements, including terms equally agreed to by both parties (the candlesticks and the $4).
That's why the UCC exists, to bring balance and fairness to transactions. However, all that's out the window when you click "I Accept" for an Internet purchase. You have agreed to 100% of the seller's terms, with absolutely no input from you. Take 'em or leave 'em. Either buy it under their terms or go somewhere else. How do you like that? Have you ever signed an agreement where some of the terms weren't in your favor? Or, as is usually the case, only gave you very limited rights? If you look carefully at product sales agreements, you'll see that the only right you may have is 1) return the product for a refund -- or not, 2) go to arbitration (always in the vendor's favor -- and potentially costly), or 3) take the seller to court -- always expensive. Is there a better way?
More on this in the future. Join the site to leave a comment, its free.
Free Stuff not Always Free, Duh...
Boy, it's a tricky marketplace out there, isn't it? If you're like me, someone who uses Google a lot to do research on products, companies, doctors etc., you know there's a lot of "Free Trials" going on. You also know by now, it's only been recently that some of those products/services actually are free.
I've already written about my online experience with eCig, an online product for quitting smoking. It billed itself as a $4.95 "trial," and, like a dummy, I fell for it. Also, my biggest mistake when I signed up, was not reading their Terms of Service. I've also written about how important that is, as well.
Needless to say, when I got my first shipment of eCig filters, I also discovered my credit card was charged $69.95! It was a total surprise. And that for only a month's supply! It took me a month to put two and two together, and after some digging, I found their number and called them to cancel.
Their rep was pleasant but firm, "You have to cancel within 14 days of receiving the shipment." This was day 20. No refund. Even I know contract law. Once you agreed by clicking "I Accept," you are bound by their Terms and Conditions. Not yours. Not what's fair. Not what makes sense. Just theirs. That's the risk you take everytime you buy something online, or anywhere for that matter.
However, these companies, like Carbonite (Cloud backup), are now much smarter about it. No $$$ necessary for your "Trial!" None. No credit card info etc. Actually try it free for 14 days. Cool right? Well, yes, if you read their Terms of Service, like the product and the cost, and trust them. You see, they only show you their Ts & Cs at time of signup, not at time of payment, so its easy to forget. I don't. When I buy stuff I like, trial or not, I print out a copy of their Ts &Cs, you should too. It seems only us geeks do that. Well, you've been warned.
Also, you have to put up with their daily notice "Your trial will expire in 5 days! Don't be stupid! pay now!"
Also, if they won't let me see or print their Ts & Cs, I just don't sign up, or buy from them at all. You may notice some online companies are like that. That's why we need internet usage laws -- and a universal sales tax.
It's no different than going to Staples or Bed, Bath & Beyond. Look for the signs that say "Store Policy. " Like Best Buy or Burlington Coat Factory (BCF). BCF is a good-sized company, and I did a phone interview with them for a Buyer's position, but didn't get it. They seemed nice enough. But, most things at those stores have to be returned within 14 days. If not, you may only get a store credit, if that. That's worth butkus when you don't need anything else there. But it could make a reasonable Gift Certificate. It's not as good as getting the cash back, however. The deal with eCig was that their fine print said I only had 14 days to cancel a shipment. BUT, I couldn't cancel it AT ALL once I received it. Ha! They had me.
I was able to cancel the contract though, but only after I had to pay them over $75 and insisted over the phone. But it was worth it to learn a valuable lesson. Now, BEFORE, I click "I Accept" or give credit card info, I read their Terms of Service, their small blue link hidden on the page. I've saved myself $$$ doing that, and agita from bad deals.
Speaking of cancelling, never cancel a service or subscription without first calling the company and telling them you want to cancel. I've written about that as well, when we cancelled Opimum/Xfinity/Comcast? (I get the names confused), and signed up with FIOS for two years at $99.99/month. $99/month! For TV phone and Internet. It should be more like $40 or $50. I'm tempted to get Magic Jack just because it works and is cheap, just to spite all those cable companies who rake us over the coals. Europe's services are much cheaper, and their Internet is much faster.
After Optimum got our cancellation notice from Verizon, a man was at our door two weeks later. Offered us a $50 discount to stay with them, and other services for free! If I had known that would happen, we might not have actually cancelled! But it was too late, FIOS was installed (took half-a-day), and we weren't going through all that again. The Optimum rep came back months later, and actually offered to pay the FIOS early termination penalty if we switched back! Bottom line, everyone in business knows it is easier and cheaper to retain current customers than it is to find new ones.
So, just a reminder, click the little blue link, and scroll through the company's Terms of Service, what I call Ts & Cs -- Terms and Conditions. You'll be glad you did.
Future blogs: Agreements and contracts, and what terms mean, like Liability and Indemnification.
Join the site to leave a comment, its free.
I've already written about my online experience with eCig, an online product for quitting smoking. It billed itself as a $4.95 "trial," and, like a dummy, I fell for it. Also, my biggest mistake when I signed up, was not reading their Terms of Service. I've also written about how important that is, as well.
Needless to say, when I got my first shipment of eCig filters, I also discovered my credit card was charged $69.95! It was a total surprise. And that for only a month's supply! It took me a month to put two and two together, and after some digging, I found their number and called them to cancel.
Their rep was pleasant but firm, "You have to cancel within 14 days of receiving the shipment." This was day 20. No refund. Even I know contract law. Once you agreed by clicking "I Accept," you are bound by their Terms and Conditions. Not yours. Not what's fair. Not what makes sense. Just theirs. That's the risk you take everytime you buy something online, or anywhere for that matter.
However, these companies, like Carbonite (Cloud backup), are now much smarter about it. No $$$ necessary for your "Trial!" None. No credit card info etc. Actually try it free for 14 days. Cool right? Well, yes, if you read their Terms of Service, like the product and the cost, and trust them. You see, they only show you their Ts & Cs at time of signup, not at time of payment, so its easy to forget. I don't. When I buy stuff I like, trial or not, I print out a copy of their Ts &Cs, you should too. It seems only us geeks do that. Well, you've been warned.
Also, you have to put up with their daily notice "Your trial will expire in 5 days! Don't be stupid! pay now!"
Also, if they won't let me see or print their Ts & Cs, I just don't sign up, or buy from them at all. You may notice some online companies are like that. That's why we need internet usage laws -- and a universal sales tax.
It's no different than going to Staples or Bed, Bath & Beyond. Look for the signs that say "Store Policy. " Like Best Buy or Burlington Coat Factory (BCF). BCF is a good-sized company, and I did a phone interview with them for a Buyer's position, but didn't get it. They seemed nice enough. But, most things at those stores have to be returned within 14 days. If not, you may only get a store credit, if that. That's worth butkus when you don't need anything else there. But it could make a reasonable Gift Certificate. It's not as good as getting the cash back, however. The deal with eCig was that their fine print said I only had 14 days to cancel a shipment. BUT, I couldn't cancel it AT ALL once I received it. Ha! They had me.
I was able to cancel the contract though, but only after I had to pay them over $75 and insisted over the phone. But it was worth it to learn a valuable lesson. Now, BEFORE, I click "I Accept" or give credit card info, I read their Terms of Service, their small blue link hidden on the page. I've saved myself $$$ doing that, and agita from bad deals.
Speaking of cancelling, never cancel a service or subscription without first calling the company and telling them you want to cancel. I've written about that as well, when we cancelled Opimum/Xfinity/Comcast? (I get the names confused), and signed up with FIOS for two years at $99.99/month. $99/month! For TV phone and Internet. It should be more like $40 or $50. I'm tempted to get Magic Jack just because it works and is cheap, just to spite all those cable companies who rake us over the coals. Europe's services are much cheaper, and their Internet is much faster.
After Optimum got our cancellation notice from Verizon, a man was at our door two weeks later. Offered us a $50 discount to stay with them, and other services for free! If I had known that would happen, we might not have actually cancelled! But it was too late, FIOS was installed (took half-a-day), and we weren't going through all that again. The Optimum rep came back months later, and actually offered to pay the FIOS early termination penalty if we switched back! Bottom line, everyone in business knows it is easier and cheaper to retain current customers than it is to find new ones.
So, just a reminder, click the little blue link, and scroll through the company's Terms of Service, what I call Ts & Cs -- Terms and Conditions. You'll be glad you did.
Future blogs: Agreements and contracts, and what terms mean, like Liability and Indemnification.
Join the site to leave a comment, its free.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
I Hate Glitches - Except Sara Silverman
Okay, so Sarah Silverman isn't a glitch in real life, although I could draw some parallels if asked. However, the character she played in the animated movie Wreck-it Ralph, was a glitch - a video game glitch. And Sarah was hilarious - just like real life. In the old days of the 60s, a glitch would equate to being a "tilt" on a pinball machine. As a pinball fanatic, whenever I tilted, I wasn't quite sure if I caused it, or the machine did - frustrating. And all glitches are very frustrating.
Take software for example. Specifically, take Microsoft Word. First, I've loved it and used it since the early Windows systems, notably Windows 95. its improved a lot since and added some great conveniences. It also takes 40 GB on my machine, but hey, there's a lot to it! (A lot I can't figure out -- because its all "intuitive" -- another word for obfuscatory AND frustrating.)
I'm trying to be a writer, so I write every morning for a few hours. Besides the GUI interface itself, the ability to move and use the cursor effectively for almost anything, my favorite Word feature is Cut and Paste. That has to be one of the greatest computer related inventions of all time. Especially since it isn't hampered by size or content (pictures for example). Someday I'll do a whole post just on Cut and Paste, but for now, it shouldn't be taken for granted, yet it should be expected in every application, and is especially useful on Internet sites.
Getting back to glitches: one, I have a sneaky feeling that Word doesn't always Save documents properly. Any number of times I have made changes to a document, saved them, and when I open what I think is the same document the next day? The changes aren't there. I've looked at my hundreds of documents and eliminated duplicate or very similar document names as the culprit, so it must be Word itself. That's not good. Its also very scary, because as a writer I get inspired to make changes, save it and forget it. I've become to trusting of Word. Ah, but now I'm not anymore. Have you ever had that Save problem?
Two: settings can be another glitch -- losing them I mean. Again, it must be a problem with the Save feature. Why my page formats would change between saving and opening the same document later, I don't know.
It could be the Autosave Feature that's responsible, saving the older version and not the new. Whatever it is its happened to me many times.
I've been using a computer at home (Commodore 64) and work (earliest IBM PC) for decades now. I love computers and all the spinoffs. (phones are a different story) Computers have come a long way in most ways, and not very far in others (take the step backward Microsoft took in Windows 7 with its extremely poor Control Panel). Currently any computer attempt at artificial intelligence is stupid. Like the Autofill Feature in Excel sometimes, or automatic paragraph indenting or numbering in Word. Failures and extremely frustrating. Even more so because I can't figure out how to turn them off!
The most frustrating thing of course, is that there's no User Manual, only incredibly limited and stupid Help. But those aren't glitches, that gets into design, and that's a different blogpost.
Join the site to leave a comment, its free.
Take software for example. Specifically, take Microsoft Word. First, I've loved it and used it since the early Windows systems, notably Windows 95. its improved a lot since and added some great conveniences. It also takes 40 GB on my machine, but hey, there's a lot to it! (A lot I can't figure out -- because its all "intuitive" -- another word for obfuscatory AND frustrating.)
I'm trying to be a writer, so I write every morning for a few hours. Besides the GUI interface itself, the ability to move and use the cursor effectively for almost anything, my favorite Word feature is Cut and Paste. That has to be one of the greatest computer related inventions of all time. Especially since it isn't hampered by size or content (pictures for example). Someday I'll do a whole post just on Cut and Paste, but for now, it shouldn't be taken for granted, yet it should be expected in every application, and is especially useful on Internet sites.
Getting back to glitches: one, I have a sneaky feeling that Word doesn't always Save documents properly. Any number of times I have made changes to a document, saved them, and when I open what I think is the same document the next day? The changes aren't there. I've looked at my hundreds of documents and eliminated duplicate or very similar document names as the culprit, so it must be Word itself. That's not good. Its also very scary, because as a writer I get inspired to make changes, save it and forget it. I've become to trusting of Word. Ah, but now I'm not anymore. Have you ever had that Save problem?
Two: settings can be another glitch -- losing them I mean. Again, it must be a problem with the Save feature. Why my page formats would change between saving and opening the same document later, I don't know.
It could be the Autosave Feature that's responsible, saving the older version and not the new. Whatever it is its happened to me many times.
I've been using a computer at home (Commodore 64) and work (earliest IBM PC) for decades now. I love computers and all the spinoffs. (phones are a different story) Computers have come a long way in most ways, and not very far in others (take the step backward Microsoft took in Windows 7 with its extremely poor Control Panel). Currently any computer attempt at artificial intelligence is stupid. Like the Autofill Feature in Excel sometimes, or automatic paragraph indenting or numbering in Word. Failures and extremely frustrating. Even more so because I can't figure out how to turn them off!
The most frustrating thing of course, is that there's no User Manual, only incredibly limited and stupid Help. But those aren't glitches, that gets into design, and that's a different blogpost.
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Friday, September 14, 2012
Voter ID Constitutional
I've been voting since I was 21, when I registered with the Mercer County NJ Board of Elections. I only registered because my wife Janet encouraged me to do so, and because it was painless. If I remember correctly, back in 1971 I had to actually go to their office in Trenton, show them my Driver's License, and sign a form. Painless.
I registered as an independent with the firm belief that I should vote for the best candidate regardless of party. I was not familiar with party platforms or the rough and tumble of political maneuverings. It was the days before there were public debates sponsored by the League of Women Voters or others, except for presidential ones which couldn't be missed with all the hype. Now, in 2012, during the Obama-Romney election cycle, not a moment goes by without a new comment, news bulletin or attack ad. So much in fact, that its very difficult to get through all the chatter, or find independent sources of information.
That's why I'm so grateful to the Internet and for email. I get my daily political news summaries from Politifact and others. I realize Politifact isn't neutral according to many critics, or that all political statements are empirical enough to even be fact-checked. But notwithstanding its detractors and faults, I get a kick out of reading their pronouncements. Especially when they present data to explain their judgement.
But I digress. My real point is that registering to vote has long been required. Once registered, my signature was added to the County Elections Book, and whenever I vote, I must sign the book and, theoretically, my signature is compared to whats on file. Notwithstanding the fact that the original signature is now over 40 years old. Believe me, after a long career in State government and signing thousands of letters and documents, my signature today is in no way similar to what it was. Nor is it uniform. There's got to be a better way.
Some form of ID at the polls seems inevitable, and in the long run, some form of national or international ID, also seems inevitable. So why all the fuss?
Its because of the timing. Six months or less before a presidential election is not the time to institute new voter controls. Its prima facie and patently unfair to require such documentation now. After the election in November? Be my guest.
I registered as an independent with the firm belief that I should vote for the best candidate regardless of party. I was not familiar with party platforms or the rough and tumble of political maneuverings. It was the days before there were public debates sponsored by the League of Women Voters or others, except for presidential ones which couldn't be missed with all the hype. Now, in 2012, during the Obama-Romney election cycle, not a moment goes by without a new comment, news bulletin or attack ad. So much in fact, that its very difficult to get through all the chatter, or find independent sources of information.
That's why I'm so grateful to the Internet and for email. I get my daily political news summaries from Politifact and others. I realize Politifact isn't neutral according to many critics, or that all political statements are empirical enough to even be fact-checked. But notwithstanding its detractors and faults, I get a kick out of reading their pronouncements. Especially when they present data to explain their judgement.
But I digress. My real point is that registering to vote has long been required. Once registered, my signature was added to the County Elections Book, and whenever I vote, I must sign the book and, theoretically, my signature is compared to whats on file. Notwithstanding the fact that the original signature is now over 40 years old. Believe me, after a long career in State government and signing thousands of letters and documents, my signature today is in no way similar to what it was. Nor is it uniform. There's got to be a better way.
Some form of ID at the polls seems inevitable, and in the long run, some form of national or international ID, also seems inevitable. So why all the fuss?
Its because of the timing. Six months or less before a presidential election is not the time to institute new voter controls. Its prima facie and patently unfair to require such documentation now. After the election in November? Be my guest.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
The fed budget Problems: Part Two
“Spending vs. GDP. [Here are some] CBO projections: by 2022,
[Federal] spending will be 23% of GDP; by 2050 = 55%; by 2070 = 90%. Totally
unsustainable. Revenues have only increased 20% historically.”
“Debt vs. GDP. Now the ratio is 67%. [By that is meant for
every dollar the Federal Government spends, $.67 cents is borrowed.] By 2050 it
will be 100%. The recently recommended debt goal is 40-60%. So if we don’t
reduce debt, we will be bankrupt, no question about it. Social Security and Medicare will turn into
“pay-as-you-go” programs [because we can’t afford to borrow to pay for them]. Bottom Line: more pain now, and more pain
later.”
“Two recent Task Forces produced recommendations. Let’s see how many we agree with: 1. They both recognize the problem as
real, and opine that Washington must act now; 2. It’s cruel to make promises that can’t be kept, [like Social
Security]; 3. We must still protect
the disadvantaged; 4. We must reform
and simplify the Tax Code, [which has over 5,000 provisions]; 5. We must have Social Security reform;
6. We must reduce healthcare costs –
it’s our biggest spending problem; 7.
We must reduce annual spending deficits to only 3% of GDP, [now they are 5%]; 8. We must adopt a progressive tax
system; 9. We must institute a
National Sales Tax (Internet etc.); 10.
We must cut Corporation Taxes from 35% to 27%; 11. We must eliminate tax deductions and credits, saving $1.1
trillion; and we must eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT); and 12.We must institute higher gas taxes to fund transportation infrastructure
(on top of state sales taxes). Bottom line: [In all of this,]the Feds don’t
care about the states problems [at all.]”
“Congress has also convened separate Debt Reduction Task
Forces: 1. Healthcare, 2. Social Security – with no income limits on
contributions, and reductions in benefits to millionaires, 3. Debt reduction –
Freeze spending (in place now, including Defense), and enforce spending caps; become
a pay-as-you-go system. Problem: Bush II abolished the spending caps. And 4. A Biennial
Budget (every two years instead of one) – 26 states have it now, but the problem
is revenue estimating that far ahead.”
In closing, Rich stated: ‘“A lot of these things better
start happening now.” We must cut our national debt to 60% of GDP by 2024, and
below 40% by 2037. Raising taxes alone
will not solve our problems – we need cuts too. Bottom line: we need much
better controls on spending.” I agree
wholeheartedly, especially about the need for more and better controls.
Rich also showed many documents from www.cbo.gov to make his points.
That’s a lot to think about, and even more to do. But we
can’t just stop everything and pay off the debt. Think of the thousands of decisions, big and
small, that have to be made to solve this problem! Aren’t you glad you’re not a legislator or
the President? So, tell me, what tax deductions can you personally live
without? Your mortgage deduction? Or, would you also like to pay a higher gas
tax? How about higher Social Security
taxes? Guess what? We’re in store for these and much, much more in the days
ahead. I can only say that I pray to God every day that I continue to receive
my monthly state pension and social security checks. Think about the millions
of people who have neither, or very little. Or those still looking for a job.
How will we get them out of this mess?
Somehow, our representatives in Congress, must put aside
their differences and work towards consensus. Wouldn’t it be novel if they
voted their individual conscience and not by party lines? What about having more voices in government?
How about establishing “The Independent Party” who can vote to end these
deadlocks? All in favor?
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