Steve & Georgia Carter

Our Notebook

Page 15 of 20

Cablea’s moment

March 16, 2013 /

For those who don’t know about it, Cabela’s advertises itself as the Worlds Largest Outfitter, and their store in Grand Junction (an anchor store at Mesa Mall, located at the site of an abandoned Mervyn’s department store)  is filled with hiking, camping, fishing and hunting equipment.  Including firearms and a huge selection of ammunition…much of which, oddly enough, comes from Russia.  When you enter the store, a large sign announces the greeter is there to check any firearms the customers may be carrying.

I went there yesterday to buy some gifts, and noticed that the man in front of me, who was about my age and looked perfectly normal, bought three boxes of.38 caliber bullets. He grumbled to the the cashier that he wished there wasn’t a limit of only 3 boxes. The total cost was over $200, although he had a Cabela’s loyalty card so I’m sure someone was tracking his purchases.  I wonder what he planned to do with his purchase.

The nice middle aged lady behind me in the line, who was there with her teenage daughter,  had stopped at Cabela’s folksy homemade fudge shop, and bought a box of fudge, and a box of shotgun shells.

Surreal.

Google & Facebook Ads

February 8, 2013 /

When ads first appeared on the internet, they were not really very well targeted. But Google has made its fortune by learning all about you by snooping on the websites you visit. Facebook is trying to emulate the same thing by determining who your friends are and what you like. These commercial behemoths have a pretty good idea of your age, sex, marital status, location, what kind of cars you drive, what your hobbies are, etc. Several years ago, I would get ads and emails for programs to restore my credit score (which hasn’t needed restoring, thank you very much), reduce my mortgage, and of course, ads for fake Viagra.

As the years passed, the credit scores and mortgage ads began to decrease in frequency, and the ads became more relevant and pleasant: new cars, cruises, vacations to exotic places, motorcycles and ham radio. Sweet.

However, in the past couple of months, I’ve begun to see a disturbing trend in the ads; Google realizes that I’m over 65, so the ads are now aimed at a new demographic. They’re depressing, because they are for things such as the “Help I’ve Fallen And I Can’t Get Up” security dongle, magic wands that make arthritis pain a thing of the past, or “scam Medicare to get your own mobility scooter.” Those didn’t bother me much, but now they’ve reached a new low: step in bathtubs for old people.

The time may come when we would welcome a mobility scooter or step in bathtub, but for now I wish they’d keep the ads for romantic cruises and vacation destinations.

RIP, Hollis

January 3, 2013 /

Our former neighbor, Hollis Cameron, died on New Years’ Day. Hollis worked for Mountain Bell, the phone company (a/k/a US West, Qwest, Century Link). Rifle was the last Mountain Bell exchange in Colorado to convert from operators to dial telephones, and they didn’t do it until the mid 1960’s. She was an operator, and worked the last shift in Rifle before they cut over to dial telephones, so it is quite likely that she was the last person to utter “Number please” in Colorado.

Our kids will remember that Dan and Hollis were the perfect neighbors – never nosy, but always watching. If there was anything out of the ordinary, they’d report it. And when I wanted to play an old LP record of music I brought back from Colombia, they were the only people on the block who still had a functioning turntable.

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2013 /

 

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From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!