Blog About Crafts

I know this isn’t really about crafting or working on the Internet but hey, it’s my blog so get over it. Yes, indeed, I am feeling a bit grouchy today. If you’ll indulge me, I’ll share the reason for my un-merry mood.

We went last minute Christmas shopping between the 20th and 23rd. Most of the stores already had everything related to Christmas at 50% off and we found some small odds and ends to give each other. We laughed about even looking at Christmas decorations when we already have so many but there’s always something prettier, cuter or newer to find.

But, being the thrift store fanatics that we are, we thought we would wait until after Christmas. Surely if it’s at 50% off before Christmas it will be 60 or 75% after Christmas. We always dig through the stragglers and even broken bits after the holidays looking for crafting materials or pieces to adorn existing decorations.

We set off in search of something we just couldn’t live without at what we expected to be fire sale prices. We planned to shop ‘till we dropped. Well, that was the plan anyway.

Yesterday, I played hookey. And of course I got an inquiry letter for a writing job and probably lost the opportunity due to being out of the office and not replying until so late in the day. Really hate when that happens…Anyway, among other things, we went to a craft co-op store about 90 minutes away from our home. We had been to this store before, knew the layout of the place and separated in hopes of finding Christmas gifts for each other.

Amongst the many lovely and clever things were a few real stinkers. C’mon, nobody likes to talk about it; but really, just admit it, some of the stuff people are making is really junky or just plain stupid-looking. If it looks like something a 5 year old high on sugar made, it’s probably not going to be something you should try to sell. Unless, perhaps you are actually selling that item to other half-crazed, bouncing off the walls children who could appreciate that special piece of handcrafted nothingness.

Anyway, amongst some really beautiful things were these clever little turkeys. They were cute little turkeys to put on the Thanksgiving dinner table. They were made with fabric leaves, walnuts and acorns. They were quite original and charming; until you picked them up.

I came to them first and picked one up to see how much they cost. When I realized the base remained on the table because the hot glue had failed, I gasped and quickly tried to re-balance the body of the bird on the glue gob. I kept waiting for someone to creep up behind me and sneer - you break it you bought it.

Oddly enough, my Mom picked up the same turkey, or perhaps another one that was also suffering from hot glue failure. We agreed that the little birds were quite cute and truly clever. But, does cute really matter when they are falling apart?

Ever had a bad experience with a company? I know I have. And I wanted to tell the whole world just how bad my experience was. In the past, I would tell my friends and family about the company and suggest they find another company to deal with. When I had my last apartment I had a list in my address book of companies that had cheated friends and co-workers and a list of companies that came highly recommended by those same friends and co-workers.

With blogs, anyone can instantly tell hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of strangers about their unhappy experience. That single blog entry has the potential to lead to lost revenue for the company being discussed and hurt that company where it matters most. If you think about it, isn’t that really the intent of telling others that a company should be avoided?

A clever marketing or business owner might find that blog entry, work with the blogger to resolve the issues and turn an unhappy customer into one of their happiest. That blog entry suddenly becomes a real-life example of how well the company deals with problems and how they fix them.

Or, the company being discussed could simply hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit looking for reimbursement for lost revenues and even ask for punitive damages. The blogger might feel they are simply relating a factual accounting of their experience and stating an opinion. Free speech and all that. Right? Maybe not.

I don’t know about you but it’s always exciting when someone new visits my blog and joins the conversation by leaving a comment on one of my posts. It is a tangible way of knowing someone out there actually thought enough of the post to add their own. Of course, not all blog comments are made to simply join in on the conversation.

Sure, we all do it; leave comments in hope of gaining links for our sites and to get that blog’s author and readers to visit our sites. When those comments are laced with X-rated filth or simply a laundry list of links, most blog owners simply delete them. Some comments are clearly a one-sized fits all bit of meaninglessness that usually adds no value to the conversation. For example, the genius who left a comment on a post about link building like “link building is always a good strategy.” Those inspired comments also get the boot.

But, I recently came across a much more savvy spammer - the one who leaves a fairly decent to great comment but drops a link to a site that is far from being family friendly and is probably illegal in some parts of the world. It was a clever ruse that I almost fell for. (Hmm, upon reflection, I guess I did actually fall for it. I just realized my mistake and took corrective action.)

Just when we thought that it was safe to go into the grocery store, we hear of another round of food recalls. This time it’s all about babies – the human kind and the furry kind.

After the deadly pet foods that were released on an unsuspecting public last year and were met with lackluster action by the federal government, we now sadly have round two. So far several WalMart house brands of pet food are involved and the list appears to be growing. Even more worrisome is that this time the same ingredients that are killing our pets have also been used in baby formula.

The inclusion of cheap fillers has unfortunately been with us for many years. The fact that some manufacturers are using spoiled ingredients and poisonous chemicals as these fillers should be unacceptable, yet it continues unabated.

I would suggest to pet owners that it is past time to make it clear that this blatant disregard for both human and animal life has to be stopped. Until the FDA and the food manufacturers take action, our household will be making out own food for our babies. Check out Free Baby Food Recipes and Free Pet Food Recipes to find great recipes to ensure that your babies eat healthy, untainted food that you make in your own kitchen.

If you don’t have the time to cook for your babies, please educate yourself and avoid those products that are being recalled as past experience has shown that retail stores are not always as vigilant as they need to be when it come to removing tainted products from their shelves. When it came to the last round of pet food recalls, we found several recalled products still on the shelves – though to be fair the list grew so fast and was quite long that it would seem likely that stores even with the most diligent employees were likely to miss a few.

Check out FDA Recall List for information or online news resources for the latest round of recalls.