Are You Kidding Me?

Every day there is new evidence that I am an idiot:
A little before ten o'clock I finally started gathering the things I needed for the big race (SLC half marathon) the next morning. I looked down at the spot on the floor where I keep my running shoes. They weren't there. I checked my gym back. They weren't there either. Those are the ONLY two places I keep my shoes. For good measure, I checked my closet. They weren't there. I checked the car. They weren't there. I checked everywhere else in my room. They weren't there. The only possible thing I could think of was that I had inadvertently left them at the gym. I called. No one answered. Then I realized that the open-24-hours gym that I go to actually closes on weekend nights. I was too late; they had already closed.

In a panic and with terror, I called my good running friend for ideas or advice of what to do. We had planned to carpool down there together, but with my situation as it was, I thought that maybe I should go separately so I could stop by the gym in the morning and pick them up. We both concluded that there would not be enough time to get to the start of the race. Fortuitously, or rather through divine intervention, I had purchased some new shoes just the week before. I had planned to break them in for the next marathon in a month. But, I wanted to test them out on the treadmill before I ran outside to make sure that they would work for me. Well, I sure tested them, but now I've got to keep them.

They say that if you get the right shoe for your feet, you don't really need to break them in. I don't think these are the right shoes. I wore out my abductor digiti minimi muscles in both feet and have a huge blister on the arch of my right foot. It could be that I had just laced them a bit too tightly. If it weren't for the ibuprofen that I took right before I don't think I would have been able to finish. Or, I would have finished, but barefooted.

Considering the circumstance, however, I had one of the best races ever. I beat my goal time by three minutes and I took off more than five minutes from last year's time and more than 13 minutes from my time last month. I was very happy with the result. I just wonder if I would have done better with my regular shoes. Although, there is the possibility, too, that I could have done worse. Yikes.

Lessons learned:
Always have an already-broken-in pair of shoes.
Gather things sooner than the night before.
Never forget ibuprofen.
Be worthy of blessings.

Economic Strategies: Cheapskates.

I should have recognized the downward economic trend years ago. Quite some time ago my mom pointed out to me the deceptive change in product offerings. Dryers, a favorite ice cream in my family, reduced their carton size from a half gallon to 1.75 quarts...without reducing the price. To an unsuspecting customer, the change would not have been noticed. The cartons look nearly the same, just slightly smaller. That's how they increase their profits without alarming their customers of the real but clandestine increase in price. We've boycotted Dryers ice cream ever since. I have eaten it, but I haven't purchased it since I discovered their seedy scheme.

I found a new favorite brand of ice cream. I don't need the well-known brands of ice cream; there are plenty of good ones out there. Instead I turned to Kroger, found at Smith's grocery stores. It's good ice cream and there are lots of varieties and reduced fat and lower sugar options. I was really excited about a month ago when they advertised a good sale on the ice cream. I though I had better stock up. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there was very limited space available in my freezer. When I got to the store, I realized that Kroger, too, has jumped on the band wagon of price veiling. They were in the process of replacing their older packing with newer SMALLER packaging. Following the lead of other brands, they have gone from a half gallon, to 1.75 quarts, and now to 1.5 quarts! What asininity!

Now, if that weren't enough, the cost cutting trend has penetrated other markets as well. It's not just food anymore. Tampons, too! Tampons are now smaller than the previous version. Don't think that I've gone out and brought the wrong size or something. It's the same brand, same packaging, supposedly the same product, now just smaller. If I am going to purchase something that I have tried and liked and become accustomed to, I better be told that the product I depend on is no longer the same. They shouldn't just change the product to avoid having to raise the price. That's misleading. At least with the ice cream containers the size is marked on the container. Tampons are sold by count, not by weight or size. How am I supposed to have known?

When I was in college I thought I would venture on to the MBA program. Fortunately, it is recommend that you work for a couple of years between your undergrad and the master's program. Good thing for that recommendation. I've realized over the years that I want nothing to do with business. I have found that it is a numbers game. How can we make the most profit? Companies don't care about other people as long as they're making the money, and not just some money, the most money they can. With the economy the way it's going, I can't imagine what they will come up with next.