The Grass is Greener

As I look out on my wide variety of weeds yellowing in the hot July sun I wonder about those who spend seemingly endless resources and time cultivating the picture-perfect lawn. What prompts this particular form of neurosis? It's just grass. Why would you waste water, money, and energy on grass? OK, nobody wants an eyesore, and presentably short and reasonably green (much of the time) makes aesthetic sense, but this obsession with grass is crazy. While a perfect lawn on a lovely house may just be compulsive or status-oriented behavior, what about those little houses with the Better Homes and Garden yards? It's like those $3000 sound systems in the $300 cars you see around. For me, I mow the lawn because that's my sexist and antiquated conception of what a man, at least this man, should do. But while I see a myriad of landscaping companies around the neighborhood- always working loudly around dawn, I might add- as long as there are no petitions from the neighbors and no pets or kids lost in the grass, the lawn remains a low priority.

Power Tools

I finally understand the attraction of rechargeable tools. I've often bought them thinking that they would be better for the environment, be more convenient to carry around, and maybe save some money too in some instances. But I have always been disappointed in the lack of power they provide compared to their gas engine or electrical counterparts. But now I get it. The power tool runs out of energy right about the time that I do. In other words, what used to be a frustrating inconvenience in the middle of a job now becomes a convenient excuse to continue the job later. Sometimes much later.

Downsizing

Unfortunately, we know too much about company "downsizing." (and don't you just hate that "rightsizing" term- I'll bet the people losing their jobs don't feel very rightsized) But have you noticed the torrent of packages that have been downsized?

When my wife returned from the supermarket recently she commented on the smaller peanut butter jar, which got me to thinking that more people are starting to notice the boiling of the frog (see post of 5/59/08). When tuna fish cans went from 6 1/4 to 6 1/8 to 6 ounces a while back, few noticed. Now it's spaghetti sauce, hand soap, pet food, and on and on. As commodity prices increase, producers and distributors must make choices. They can absorb their cost increases or pass them on. As you might expect, there is a little of the former, and a lot of the latter. However, the trick is to not so strongly shock consumers with higher prices that the product will no longer be bought. To do so, many producers are downsizing packages at an increasing, if not alarming, rate. It's alarming because while some will see the increase in the price of peanut butter, not many will notice the decrease in the size of the jar, which of course is in effect a hidden price increase.

In psychology there is something known as the "Just-Noticeable-Difference" (JND) threshold, which means that something has to be different enough from the standard to be perceived. That difference is typically over about 10% or so. The savvy producers are downsizing containers or redesigning them so they look about the same but hold less, as with breakfast cereals (narrower boxes). Others, such as ice cream producers, are making more dramatic cuts to package sizes (from 64 to 56 to 48 ounces). While this is not a new phenomenon (e.g., cars, candy bars, wine bottles) and the individual changes may not be noticeable, there is a cumulative effect for we boiled frogs. People are seeing that they're getting less for more every time they go to the grocery store. And lots of other places too. A while back I thought Iraq would be the big election issue, but now I think I was wrong. It looks like another "It's the economy, stupid," election.

Stock tip

Buy Hewlett Packard at the end of each semester. That's when printers break. Lots of them. At least that's what I often hear. And, remarkably, simultaneously email servers selectively crash, phones fail to connect, and computer labs and friends with printers become mysteriously inaccessible. Technology, particularly printers, is the new dog that eats homework. HPQ

Your grade

I frankly don't care about it, and most of us don't, but that seems to be all you want to talk about. A pity, really. I understand that it is the only tangible reward you can see for your work at this time, but no one other than you will know or care about your GPA (with rare exceptions). In fact, you probably don't want to work for someone that scours your transcript. Grading is easily the worst part of my job. I'd guess that getting the grade en route to getting your ticket punched is paramount for 9 out of 10 of you. Ah, but that other one, that's the one for whom I am here.