A late summer rant and a rave

1. Let's start with a new movie called, "Dumb Money".  After watching the trailer for Dumb Money and seeing a couple of ads, the experience raised a question....is it OK to criticize a film one has never seen?  Logic dictates that the answer is no.  Call me illogical.

What turned me off initially was the commercial touting how the film"...gives a riotous middle finger to the capitalist swine on Wall Street."  How Populist.  The film creators have obviously positioned Dumb Money as a paean to the little guy fighting against the evil asset managers, punctuated with an F-bomb per minute, until the digital counter culture decks the big money guys holding a large short position.  

In this case, people will make a lot of money by trashing Capitalism and its adherents.  Quite a paradox.

2. Let's end with a positive take on American Express's new method to redeem cardmember reward points.  In the old days, if you wanted to cover a portion of your card charges with points; you had to go through this ritual of scrolling through transactions and applying points individually by transaction, in order to obtain the credit against your total balance.  Not anymore!  

One click and the entire value of your points is credited against your next bill.  No more trolling and scrolling through your transactions and applying points by transaction to obtain the credit.  Stupendous.  

 (Image above by Macrovector on Freepik)

Parsing the out of office reply

We use it, but how should we use it and when?  I'm talking about that automatic email feature known as an "Out of Office" reply.  

Let's ignore the when consideration for now; but it's the "how" behind the usage of the out of office reply that piques my interest.  I received one recently that reads exactly like this with nothing added before or afterward:  

"I'm ooo."  

That's it.  I'm ooo.  First, imagine receiving a voicemail greeting like that -- spoken exactly the same way followed by a beep to record a message.  Now consider, that you need something from the email author of that "ooo".  After receiving this sorry example one could conclude that the sender: 

a) doesn't know when he/she will return, or doesn't want to share that information

b) doesn't wish to be bothered  

c) doesn't care enough to mention an alternative contact in his/her absence.

d) assumes everyone should know what is meant by "ooo".

freepik image

I understand the desire to have a clear delineation between work time and personal time, but should that desire trump common courtesy?

Here are two simple guidelines for composing an out of office reply:

1.  Give the recipient some idea of when you'll be back on the job, or at least the frequency with which you plan to review email in the coming days. 

2.  Give the recipient an alternative in your absence.  Mention either another email address and/or phone number of someone who can handle a request, or if you prefer to handle responses yourself; invite the sender to text urgent matters to your cell phone.

Within an hour of posting this little screed about out of office replies; I received an excellent example of an "ooo" done right:

"I am currently out of the office on vacation the week of 8/21 and will be back on Monday 8/28.   I will be checking email at least once a day and will try to get back to you timely for anything urgent.  Send a text for anything especially urgent.  Thanks."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Normandy visited and remembered

Last month I walked the beaches of Normandy and in so doing fulfilled a longing I first realized as a boy during the 1970s while reading about D-Day and Operation Overlord.  

That longing was stoked in 1998 after viewing the iconic film Saving Private Ryan with it's horrific, albeit accurate, depiction of the slaughter and ultimate triumph of American forces at Omaha Beach on June 6th, 1944.  

John Maddente photo

The structures occupied by German soldiers firing MG-42 machine guns @ 1200 rounds per minute from the top of a ridge, were not visible to me while walking the beach.  The view of those remaining machine gun nests, my Guide instructed, were part of another tour (disappointing).

I felt awe walking those beaches near the 100 foot cliffs the Rangers scaled at Pointe Du Hoc. I experienced raw emotions while walking the nearby American Cemetery and Memorial.  

If you've ever spoken with a veteran who's experienced combat and suggest that he is a hero, he will likely answer that the real heroes never returned.

       

John Maddente photo

  

ESG and other food fights

 

Freepik image

I was intrigued today by an article in the WSJ from Mike Edleson and Andy Puzder, about ESG investing. Is it moral or amoral?  Sensible?  Profitable?  Suffice it to say, one can make a reasonable case for or against ESG investing depending upon measurement criteria, objectives and definitions.  Personally, I believe it's much like the debate over whole life or term life policies. In my mind, life insurance and investments are two separate pursuits. Other people like to conflate them.

Another polarizing topic: foods and beverages.  Here's a tasty sample of seven culinary flashpoints suitable for debate.

Pizza & Hot Dogs

Possibly America's favorite food, I must have thin crust pizza with cracker crisp qualities and zesty toppings (toppings is a whole topic for another post).  To my friends in Chicago; please forgive me, but what you call "Deep Dish Pizza" is actually a deeply satisfying tomato casserole.  However, Chicago can lay claim to the finest hot dogs (and I agree, no ketchup on a dog allowed).  For store bought beef frankfurters; I'm partial to Nathan's or Hebrew National brand.

Bacon

Make mine crisp.  This iconic cut of meat from the hog's belly should not be served limp, chewy, or with visible fat globules.

Coke vs. Pepsi

Talk about polarizing debates!  Cola devotees might not patronize both giant beverage makers, but I do.  Diet Pepsi is not only wildly superior to Diet Coke, but I find Diet Coke almost undrinkable. Regarding Coke Zero vs Pepsi Zero -- I'll give Coke Zero the edge.

Gluten

Follow your own Doctor's or Nutritionist's advice.  Gluten doesn't affect me.  

Peanuts

When did this onslaught of Peanut allergies begin?  Why did it begin?  I love these little legumes and Virginia Peanuts are the best I've found.  Please do not serve me the un-salted type and consider serving them cold.  That chill factor is something I learned from a close friend with a serious weakness for chocolate covered Peanuts.

Charcoal and Smokers vs. Gas Grilling

For purposes of taste comparison -- there is no comparison.  Charcoal is best.  I sometimes hear the argument about the speed of Gas Grilling, to which I normally respond, "What's your hurry?"  The same principle applies to smokers vs. gas grills -- smoking is well worth the wait.

Orange Juice

There are few things in this life I find as gratifying as a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice.  Unfortunately, every substitute for the fresh variety I find distasteful.  Take McDonald's, I've long believed that their orange juice is the worst-tasting item on the whole menu.

###

Holiday thoughts in 2022 (good feelings)

 Greetings 

I'm grateful for many things this holiday season and I'm posting a few of the less obvious ones below:

• Arby's limited time hamburger offering.  Yes, the Deluxe Wagyu Steakhouse Burger is very good and I've written to an Arby's executive urging his organization to make it a permanent menu item. Thus far, no reply.

• John Authers' Bloomberg column.  Mr. Authers wrote for the Financial Times for years before moving to Bloomberg.  He's funny, prolific (not sure how he pumps out his rich articles almost daily) and especially well-rounded -- Finance & Economics (obviously), Sports if a bit heavy at times on soccer (sorry 'football'), Music, Film and History.

• A glorious week off to do things of the sort I'm doing today -- reading, writing, cooking, listening to music CDs (yes, I still use that medium without apologies -- right now I'm enjoying k.d. lang's "recollection") and later I'll be streaming RUSH videos at ridiculous hours of the evening.

• It's with personal satisfaction I include Carvana's service for their streamlined process to buy and sell a used vehicle, without ever setting foot in a dealership.  

Last but not least, I'm reminded that "Jesus is the reason for the season".

Adding it up: too much commercial time

Like a pebble in your shoe that won't go away; I've long been annoyed by the amount of ad time viewers suffer through while watching broadcast TV and Cable TV.  Internet streamers and social media viewers are not immune either.  More on that score in a moment.

The increased viewer burden is not your imagination.  See Toni Fitzgerald's Forbes article, "Yes, You Are Seeing More Commercials Than Ever Before".  The theme was echoed by Gerry Smith of Bloomberg in his 2019 piece; "TV networks vowed to cut back on commercials. Instead, they stuffed in more".    

The unabashed Capitalist in me hastens to add that the ad industry is an essential component of a robust consumer-based economy.  This post is about advertisers and media platforms practicing reasonableness and a more viewer-considerate methodology.  

We all land on web pages that hijack the viewer with an unwanted solicitation blasting on the screen before one can even view anything relevant.  We're often ambush-surveyed too, with that vapid net promoter score question (but that's another post).  

Now consider streaming TV by way of one example from my personal entertainment viewing habits.... watching YouTube.  I love the free access to music videos and movie shorts on YouTube and in exchange, I willingly watch and listen to ads that appear in-between songs and film clips.  It's a fair tradeoff.    

However, here's the worst example of viewer ad intrusion that I can think of.  

A shot of my recent YouTube music video selections below....

Imagine that instead of me watching one of my prized music videos, you're watching a football game with seconds left on the clock.  Your home team is down by 2 points but has the ball on fourth down 40 yards from the opposing team's goal line.  Next, your field goal kicker watches the snap go to the holder and then instantaneously --- your TV screen converts to an ad for motor oil.  

That's essentially what YouTube often allows to happen to viewers watching a music video.  The artists are performing beautifully and at some point, DURING THE SONG -- they cut to a mini commercial.  Fortunately, it doesn't happen often; but it needn't happen at all.  

I was taught to offer a solution or try to help matters after you grouse about something; so, here's my post-grouse attempt...

 YouTube could easily increase ad time between songs instead of inserting mini ads during the song (or film clip).  The platform could realize the same amount of ad time, without the obnoxious interruptions to the viewer.   

Food with purpose

Many times I've driven past the military vehicle and large sign in front of Mission BBQ with curiosity, but never enough to actually go in and check it out.  Today I did so; and I'll be back.  

My dining companion explained that the franchise began out of efforts from two military veterans who'd served together in the Middle East.  He went on to explain that at noon -- which was moments away -- we'd likely see the place stop normal activities to observe the national anthem.  It happened at noon sharp and it was great.

My whole experience began by walking into a pleasantly rustic environment with loads of military and patriotic memorabilia all punctuated by a wonderful smoky aroma from the BBQ.  This is an organization that gives back and is quite serious about its mission.  However, the whole thing would collapse if the food fell short of the brand and purpose but it doesn't--some of the best BBQ I've had and each table is equipped with six -- yes count them -- six different BBQ sauces.  What more could I want?

Mission BBQ public website