Category: Business

The polarizing neighborhood of Tahoe Park, where I live, has finally reached the brass ring of gentrification. We can finally stand proud and call ourselves a real neighborhood. No, we don’t have a celebrity in our midst (not yet, ahem ahem), and no, we don’t have a high profile al Quaida sleeper cell investigation. You know your neighborhood is truly on the map when you get your first Starbuck’s.

The nearly completed minimall on the corner of 65th street and Broadway (dubbed “The 65th Street Corner“), at the extreme north eastern end of TP, is going to be anchored by none other than the city’s 698th Starbuck’s franchise (roughly). Notably, at exactly one half mile from the ‘Bucks at F65 (map link) I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it might be the closest franchise to an existing one.

Here in TP, we like our iced mochas with a shot of irrelevance.

Bear with me as I get back into the swing of things here at the Rag by posting a few short bits to “prime the pump” as it were.

I’d like to say nay to the shopping carts at IKEA. While they might be great for maneuvering the the narrow aisles of the store (Note: Apparently the carts that look like normal shopping cars are not allowed on the second floor) have you ever tried covering a large distance with them? Like from your car to the front door? It is next to impossible without spinning out. If Volvos turned like this, East Sac would look like a demolition derby. However, they do spin in tight circles which is extremely fun for the kids.

Second item: Does anyone know a brick-and-mortar source for cheap, plain collar stays for point collar dress shirts? I’m hoping something like a Walgreens?

Has anyone else received these freaky hand written letters with “newspaper” clippings inside from your friend J, or P, or insert letter here, alerting you to some great new offer for used cars or home loans? The envelopes are seriously addressed by hand with a stamp. The post-it-note is also hand written. Gives me the creeps. The writing is ransom note-esque, too. I guess this form of advertising works because based on an informal poll many folks have been receiving these for years.

On the other hand, I wonder how much money folks are being paid to sit at home and address these evelopes all day? This is the sort of business that advertises at stop lights.

Work at home! Professional salaries, call now.

At any rate, it’s a slim shady marketing tactic and I certainly won’t be buying a used car for $29 this weekend.

Go ahead Raley’s,
sue me for ripping off your ripoff

I’d like to go ahead and call out Raley’s for ripping off the theme song to “Curb Your Enthusiasm” for their new meat department commercials. You can hear the Raley’s theme, complete with the tuba vamp intro (is that the right term, “vamp”?) at their fake website FollowTheFlavor.com.

Is this supposed to make me say to myself, “Self, you should really buy meat at Raley’s because it is so freakin hilarious there”? Or “Self, you should buy meat at Raley’s because then it’s like you’re in the know, you get HBO, you’re hip.” All it really makes me think is, “Self, don’t go to Raley’s for meat because if you do, you might say the wrong thing to the butcher and then later the butcher will like be next in line at the doctor’s and then you’ll be concerned he’s going to tell the doctor that you were eating meat which he knows you were told not to do because of your health, and then this concern is going to ruin your wife’s dinner party by causing you to make a scene with another guest who is a butcher but who is not the Raley’s butcher. And then Richard Lewis will call and we all know how that goes.”