Dixie Fix

Kmart's New "Customer Service" Policy: Buyer Beware!

Or, save that receipt!!

I recently bought some towels at our local Kmart. They were Cannon -- a longtime national brand -- and in the mid-price range. After being washed twice, one of the towels started falling apart at the seams. So, I took it back, knowing that it was obviously still new, and damaged. All I wanted was the same towel, an even exchange.

But not so easy, because I paid cash originally, and didn't save my receipt. Their new policy states that a receipt is necessary for all exchanges and refunds, unless you can track your purchase with your credit card and prove it.

But I just want to trade the damaged towel for the identical one you sell, I said. No go. No receipt, no return or exchange.

I tried calling the 800 customer service number to have this policy explained to me. I paid for a towel that fell apart in two weeks, all I want is the same towel. "Susie," the woman at the 800 number said I was out of luck. I asked to speak to a supervisor, but Susie said there WAS no supervisor. No receipt, no return or exchange. No supervisor. No, no, no!

Of course by this time it wasn't the *%&^@)%$ towel, it was becoming the principle of the thing.

So, lesson learned. If you buy anything at Kmart, save your receipt! Or, drive down the hill to Target, where they stand behind the merchandise they sell.

The Calanan Park Problem

Has there ever been anything discussed in our community for as long as the problems at Calanan Park? Seriously, this has been going on forever!

The problem seems to be that the park is the Gateway, so to speak, of Nevada City. If the first thing you see is a place for people to smoke pot and hang with their pitbulls, that might not be an inviting picture for a visiting tourist. I'm just sayin'.

But let me play Devil's Advocate for a second. What are some things you LOVE about Nevada County? What makes this a different and enriching place to live? I think it's the fact that we all tolerate each other. The Goths, the lifelong hippies, the rednecks, the farmers -- we acknowledge each other's existence, but agree to disagree.

To me, part of the charm of our community is our differences. If everyone in Nevada County was a Birkenstock - wearing liberal with a Free Tibet sticker on their car, it would be a boring place to be. If we all listened to NPR and KVMR who would we disagree with? I celebrate those with different opinions because I'm never going to learn anything by only talking to people who agree with me.

Having said that, I still understand the desire to "clean up" that tiny Nevada City park. But how, without trampling on people's right to gather?

Weather Getting You Down?

I spoke to a friend yesterday who said that the relentless rain and snow were getting to her. I know the feeling, because a couple weeks without sunshine and I feel out of sorts, too. It has a name: Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

However, I have had several respites from the weather, some good, some not so good.

First I went to Reno, where you never know if it is day/night/snowing/windy or what time it is! Those casinos/hotels have you in a vacuum for a reason. It was funny, after being in the casino at night I found it hard to get to sleep. I had input overload from the lights, whistles, clanging that was not conducive to a restful night. I wonder how many people get up and go back to the casino if they can't sleep? Since I am a $20 per weekend gambler, the money is never an issue and I have hours of play on the 5 cent poker machines.

Then I was in The Orange County, where it did rain, but the rain was like The Second Coming. All the TV stations had "Storm Watch" logos and the schools all get out early when it rains, too! (Isn't that funny?) More time with the grandkids!

I brought a nasty bug home with me (from the recycled air on the plane, I think) and have been in a cold, sneezing, nose blowing, achy, fevery fog since last Wednesday. I mean really sick, can't get out of bed sick, don't know if it's raining or snowing and don't care sick.

So when my friend Sylvia Plath (nicknamed for her sunny outlook!) asked if I was depressed from the weather, I could honestly say no. I was depressed, but it was from six days of feeling lower than whale sh*t.

I am a big fan of the four seasons here, something I never experienced as a Southern California gal. Down there it was kind of like the Steve Martin movie "LA Story," where he prerecords the weather because it's 70 every day.

I say bring the nasty weather on! We need rain and snow, for God's sake, and it'll be spring before you know it. I, for one, plan to get out in the weather as soon as I feel human again. In fact, I already have a snowshoeing date for next week!

When Heroin Knocks at Your Family's Door

You know all those things that happen to somebody else? Well, as I get (ahem!) older, I'm finding a lot of them are happening in my life. It's no longer distant; as the years mount up I've had many astounding things happen in my circle of family and friends. Some are wonderful, but many are horrible. This is a story of one of the horrid ones.

The young man is my relative by marriage. The marriage dissolved in the 70s but he and his family are close to my children and grandkids. Let's call him Dallas.

Dallas has grown up in Huntington Beach. If you haven't been there in awhile it is decidedly more upscale. Small houses have been razed and in their place are McMansions, gated communities and security guards. Dallas lives in one of those homes, probably worth $2 million easily -- a band member from the group Korn is his neighbor.

He excelled in sports in high school and was never a problem academically, either. Dallas was a Good Kid.

He went to Long Beach State for a semester, but moved home with his mom and dad and little sister because he flunked out. Fairly common, couldn't handle the freedom and made some bad choices. Got a part time job selling ice cream and enrolled in community college.

He was never a chatty Cathy, but Dallas became more withdrawn and quiet. Everyone noticed at Christmas that he wasn't eating any food, nor was he socializing. Come to find out that's because he had become addicted to heroin and Oxycontin. His parents immediately put him in a 30 day rehab. He's there now.

How does it happen that an athlete from the suburbs of Orange County finds heroin and becomes addicted? How long has it gone on and what kind of help is he going to need? The whole family is stunned and baffled and in a state of shock. How did this happen? His parents have never used drugs and don't even drink.

Is it a sign of these dark times or just a fluke? Did he have too much growing up that he had to go looking for some thrills?

Put him in your prayers because I suspect he has a long, hard road ahead.

Has it Come to This? 'Weisure Time'

Weisure is the new word to describe work and leisure, when people blend them together in their hours off the clock.

Having just returned from work-and-money-obsessed Orange County, I saw Weisure up close and personal. The Blackberry at the dinner table; the story due soon that must be finished at home; the constant fear that if you have a job, you may not have one in the near future so you better be ready to work 24/7 because if you don't, guess whose name might pop up on the layoff list?

It's a dreadful trend because it precludes relaxing, letting go on the weekend. And it's the perfect scenario for the mean boss, who can just hint that he's thinking about the job all the time and you should, too.

Certainly this is not very evident in Nevada County, where "quality of life" seems to be a mantra and even the employable like to make enough money to NOT have to work for awhile, perhaps to travel, or have time to dream. When I first moved here I considered that half-hearted work ethic odd, but today I think Nevada Countians are on to something.

How much money is enough? And doesn't a lot of money just mean you can buy a lot of stuff? And when you get too much stuff, you have to rent a storage locker to hold your excess stuff and keep it safe. What's the point of stuff if it's sitting in self-storage? And you spend money after buying the stuff to keep it in storage, making the stuff cost twice as much!

Don't buy into Weisure Tme...it's a trap. Remember that old mantra from the 60s: Be Here Now.

Great News for Nevada County Animal Lovers

After 3 years of planning, meetings, budget sessions, reports, proposals and who knows what else, the plan by Sammies Friends (Cheryl Wicks and Curt Romander and all the supporters of their non-profit) to privatize the Nevada County Animal Shelter is on the Jan. 26 Board of Supervisors meeting agenda! Woo-hoo!

This is a huge step forward and hopefully will result in Sammies Friends running the shelter later this year. Cheryl and Curt work tirelessly already on behalf of animals in our county and I think few would argue that they are responsible for turning our shelter around and getting the euthanasia rate down to low single digits.

They have smarts and charisma, two qualities you need to run anything and motivate legions of volunteers. They are kind, honest, and steadfast and together I am sure they will always put the animals first.

This is nothing like the "privatize the library" debacle. Sammies Friends is non profit. And local. And has 10 years of a track record helping animals in our county!

My 2009 calendar had "Board of Supervisors meeting -- Shelter" crossed out about a half dozen times and I'm beside myself with excitement that this could finally happen..next week! But the action of the Supervisors would begin "negotiations" so it probably is still months away. But still, for the first time, I feel like it could be happening!

You meet people in your life who have various impacts on you. I have always considered it a blessing to know Cheryl & Curt and I admire them tremendously. This is going to be a really, really good thing for Nevada County !!

How Changing Business Models Change Our Everyday Life

There's probably no argument that the business model of a newspaper is outdated. Look around at the 20-somethings, 30-somethings and others who get their news on their mobile phones. They're not interested in reading today's news tomorrow; they're much more immediate than that.

Newspapers get most of their money from advertising. But advertisers are thinking of other, creative ways to get their message across -- leaving newspapers scrambling for dollars that used to just roll in by the truckful. Top of the food chain in ad rep land was the National Account. Those reps had their own fax machine and Macy's and Ford and all the big boys just faxed the ads from New York and the rep did the paperwork. No pounding the pavement for them.

But listen to what Kentucky Fried Chicken is doing to promote its new line of hot wings. Instead of taking out newspaper ads, they're going to City Councils across the country offering up their advertising budgets to paint the city's fire hydrants with their message. Fire, hot wings. get it? The city's hydrants get a fresh coat of paint (albiet with a "message") and the city -- drowning in debt and layoffs -- gets a chunk of money that was totally unexpected.

Think Qualcom Stadium, just taken to a smaller level. Totally doable, and probably fresh enough to create a buzz, which is really what advertising is all about. So that money, once in the newspaper's pocket, now belongs to a municipality, which actually might use it for something that benefits its residents instead of lining the pockets of print executives.

Newspapers large and small are scrambling and it is evident in Southern California that big changes are on the horizon. Take the venerable Los Angeles Times. Its "Idea du Jour" is to save money by allowing the Wall Street Journal to be printed on its presses in the late evening for a pretty penny. Great idea, right? Except that's when the Los Angeles Times usually prints its own paper, in time for delivery people to get it to us early in the morning.

The only solution was to print The Times earlier in the evening. Beginning sometime next month, all deadlines will change and The Times will "go to bed" at 6 p.m. A fourth-grader can see that is really stupid, since stories are reported in the day and edited in the night. Not to mention sports scores for night games. In a 24/7 news cycle, that sounds like information suicide.

The Bean Counters and executives know this, but it's not just about making/saving money. Now it's about Keeping the Doors Open. Are we doing something dumb? Yes, they answer. But we are keeping the paper open a few more months by doing it. Not only does the WSJ give the LAT money, the LAT can now layoff all those night editors, page designers and proofreaders because only the pressmen will work at night.

And what if a significant world event occurs at night? Well, they've come up with the LATE Wrap, a one page wrap-around that will carry the breaking news -- if it is deemed "significant enough."

So, if a paper like the LAT is that desperate, what will happen to the rest of the papers? And if newspapers go away, how will TV news survive? About 75% of television news is gleaned from morning papers...no time for "reporting," you know.

I just know the world is changing -- faster than I can keep up with!

Pants on the Ground, Pants on the Ground!

I was in Southern Cal when that American Idol audition went viral...from Neil Young parodies to Brett Farve in the Locker Room. It is infectious; go to YouTube if you haven't seen it. Even on TV, the news in SoCal is filled with celebrity gossip and things like "Pants on the Ground." Harvey Levin has his TMZ as a television show in addition to the Web site. Let's just say I feel up-to-date on all my celebrity gossip.

Saw "The Lovely Bones" and "Precious." Both seemed like award winners. TLB is almost as good as the book, and much better than the critics painted it. "Precious" was hard to watch at times, but fascinating and an example of what just a bit of encouragement can do to someone who has received virtually none. Monique deserves every accolade she receives for her role at Precious's mother...Wow! And Mariah Carrey is a shocker in straight, fine brown hair and no makeup. Believable as a tired but well-meaning social worker with zero pizzazz.

Rented "Jennifer's Body" (ugh) and "500 Days of Summer" which isn't about the season, but 500 days of one relationship and was actually quite entertaining.

Had the Flight from Hell going home last night. After the mini tornado touched down in Long Beach as we were driving to the Long Beach Airport, I got checked in 90 minutes before my flight and the power at the Airport went off. And guess what? The backup generator failed. All the JetBlue personnel were hiding somewhere and we sat in the dark wondering if we'd ever see Northern California again. I tried to explain the delay to a woman who spoke only Greek by pointing to my watch and making hysterical hand gestures and finally led her, confused and frightened, on to the plane hours later. (The only passengers more miserable were stuck OUTSIDE in a security line for hours, not allowed to move into the building because...nothing works without electricity.) When the generator kicked in about 7 p.m. they got into the building and ran -- en masse -- to the airport bar where everyone was buying each other drinks and swapping horror stories. Made it to Nevada City after 11 p.m.

The snow is falling outside my window (it's about 12:30 p.m.) and sticking to the driveway so I'm hunkering down to ride out this end of the storm. More tomorrow, when I probably still won't be caught up on my sleep but will be a little more coherent. Don't go out if you don't have to!

It's Movie Watching Weather!

If you -- like me -- try to see all the nominated films for best picture, it will be harder this year. I think there will be 10 movies instead of 5, so an early start is imperative. I've seen some, and here are some quick comments on them.

Avatar: You owe it to yourself to see this on the big screen, in 3D. I am not a science fiction fan and long movies usually bore me, but this is so exceptionally beautiful I didn't notice. You will have to pay $9 for a matinee in Nevada County because of the cost of the glasses, but hey, that's half of the "big city" price! Go. See. It.

Up in the Air: Some are saying this is the movie of the year. I wouldn't go that far, but I loved it anyway! George Clooney is perfect as the black-hearted "fire for hire" corporate jerk. Lots of messages here. And, it's not a downer.

Invictus: This understated film starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman is like being on the sidelines of history, seeing Mandela's life-affirming decisions as he leads his country. I felt this could be the movie of the year but don't think the academy will agree.

Inglorius Basterds: You can rent this one now. For someone who doesn't like war movies this held my interest and the acting is amazing.

Precious: I'm waiting for this one, and have a bet with a couple friends that it will finally come here, to the regular theaters. Some of my friends say it is "too black" for Nevada County and that, if anything, it will be at Magic or Nevada Theatre. If so, I'll bite the bullet and drive to see it, because I think it is an important film and will probably play a major part in the Academy Awards. It may not be pretty to look at, but as a society we need to look. We can't heal any wounds unless we know how and why they were inflicted.

That's it for movies...I'm reading "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and loving it. Thanks, Stacy Hart, for passing it on.

I'm taking Monday off, so check back Tuesday afternoon. Bill Holman will have to read something else tomorrow morning while he's sipping his tea.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes in Nevada County

The last year (and I suspect this year as well) has brought amazing changes to Nevada County. While lots of businesses closed their doors, some brave souls started new ventures. Change is in the air.

Whether it's the Board of Supervisors consolidating or privatizing -- or coming up with new ventures like the business and convention bureau, the staid halls of government are flexing and bending. The city of Grass Valley is looking at consolidation of some services; Nevada City is getting a "local food marketplace"; and the friendly folks at the management company that oversees the Pineless, Creekless Center have evicted yet another tenant: this one Fashion Bug, a good source of serviceable inexpensive women's clothes.

Bel Capelli Spa will be opening soon on Broad Street and Culture Shock Yogurt in GV seems to have a following -- even in these cool months.

It's going to be more expensive to launch a boat or visit Scotts Flat Lake, and the annual pass has gone up as well.

There is no earthquake, but the county is changing and shifting as surely as if there had been one. Doctors and dentists come and go, but neighbors stay the same because no one can sell their house.

Are the changes good? Necessary? Or are some robbing the county of some of its funky rural charm? Have any changes impacted you?