2012

Buzzards, Sno Balls and ‘American Pie’

January 12th, 2012

No comment

The New Year has gotten off to an inauspicious start, though I remain optimistic. The Hostess company, maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Sno Balls, is about to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in the past 10 years. (To steal a line, I guess that makes it Chapter 22.) Hostess products have been staples of vending machines in newspaper breakrooms in which I’ve toiled over the last 30 years. They appear to remain popular, with 36 million packages of Twinkies consumed in 2010. The fancy-pant equity investors who own — and owe — for Hostess are trying to shed debt to hold on, all the while...

Read more...

Crape Myrtle Mutilation Continues Unchecked

January 5th, 2012

No comment

A harbinger of the New Year unhappily but inevitably arrived when I was back in East Texas over the holiday break. I headed with my wife to jointly risk our mental health by shopping at the Big Box Store during the Dead Week after Christmas, when sales abound. We were not shopping for bargains but simply trying to find a holiday six-pack of bottled Coca-Colas to give someone. No luck. When Christmas ends, for the big-boxers it is out with the old before the eggnog has been digested.  Gone are the decorations, cards and artificial trees. In place by New Year’s: Valentine’s Day cards and candy....

Read more...