PSoTD

I really don't understand why online stores offer sales for a short period of time - say like 4 hours. NFLShop.com sent out this email yesterday that they were going to have a sale for only 4 hours, from 7 PM to 11 PM, on Sunday, November 25th. They sent it about 5 PM on the same Sunday. What is the point? Is it to see how effective the email advertising is? That's the only thing that makes sense in providing a sale that has such a short lead time in advertising, and a short time of effectiveness.

You'll notice that I didn't mention it until the sale was over. That's because I think this practice is stupid. If it were a brick and mortar store, I might see a point to a very, very short sale - you might expect traffic to be high, so you need to staff accordingly, and by doing so, increase the costs, so the owner might want to keep it limited. But online? Don't get it.

Certain parts of the country are enjoying increased sales because of it.

BILLINGS - These days, Ken Cyr's cash register flashes more color than a painter's palette.

The strong Canadian dollar has brought flocks of Canadians and their pastel-hued currency south of the border and into Hi-Line retailers like Cyr's Big Sky Images art studio at the Havre Holiday Village Mall. The Canadians love shopping in Havre because their money has gained so much purchasing power in the United States.

For the first time since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, the Canadian dollar, commonly known as the "loonie," is worth roughly the same as a U.S. dollar. The loonie, nicknamed for the common loon pictured on the face of the Canadian dollar coin, exceeded the greenback's value for the first time in late September. It has been trading at or near par ever since then. The loonie's rise represents a stunning turnaround from just five years ago, when it was worth as little as 60 cents. * "We've noticed the Canadian trade increase last spring around the Victoria Day (May 24) holiday," Cyr said. He guesses that his business with Canadian shoppers has increased by as much as 60 percent since the loonie's rise and the greenback's fall in international currency markets.

"It's been a real boost," Cyr said. "I mean, talking to other merchants in the mall, they're tickled pink."

At the Havre Sears store, manager Kemi Velk said one Canadian shopper recently bought two riding lawnmowers, declaring that they were half the price of what he would have paid in Canada.

"We sell a lot of appliances to Canadians. The shoppers say if you pay $800 for a stove here, it's $1,600 in Canada," Velk said.

She didn't know whether the exchange rate was the only reason for the price differential or whether other factors, such as the Canadian Goods and Services Tax or provincial sales taxes, factored into the higher prices in Canada.

"But the Canadians are certainly wondering why things are so much cheaper here," Velk said.

Is anyone else bothered every time a corporation executive calls employees - particularly employees killed on the job - a part of their business "family"?

Three workers died after they were severely burned by high pressure steam when a water tube exploded on a boiler at Salem Harbor Power Station, authorities said today.

Dominion, the Richmond, Va.-based energy company that owns the power station, said the men were working on the ground floor near the boiler on Tuesday when the tube ruptured about 20 feet above and blew steam on them. The men suffered severe burns on their heads, hands, faces and necks.

Matthew Indeglia, 20, who has addresses in Lawrence and Townsend; Mark Mansfield, 41, of Peabody; and Phillip Robinson, 56, of Beverly, died after being taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, according to Salem police Detective John Doyle.

A hospital spokeswomen said the men died between Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.

The company said two of the men were operators and one was a mechanic.

"All of Dominion is greatly saddened at the deaths of these men," said Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion chairman, president and chief executive officer. "They were valuable members of our Salem Harbor family. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families."

I think it sucks as usage. Kids don't replace their fathers. Mothers don't replace their daughters. Siblings can't replace their brothers or sisters. But employees and co-workers are replaced all the time. There's no real "family" concept at work - maybe some very close friendships amongst some coworkers, but to call it family is to cheapen the concept of family. It should piss people off that corporate executives feel they have the right to do it.