Country Mart: A study in minutia!

I've never quite figured out those cute little cards that Country Mart gives out so you can 'save' money when you shop at one of the local Country Mart stores like the one located in Forsyth Mo. To me it's a strange and rather idiotic way of doing business. I mean does a customer really save any money at the checkout counter with these cards, or are they getting a phantom discount while those without cards are just getting jacked with higher prices. What this practice boils down to, as far as I'm concerned, is for tourists to seemingly pay higher prices than the locals who shop at these stores on a regular basis. It that some form of discrimination? I don't know. A practice made all the stranger when one realizes that Save A Lot, another grocery store located just across town, is owned by the same parent company - Pyramid Foods.

Now, Country Mart is running a promotion whereby a customer gets yet another a card that the checkout clerk punches each time you make a purchase. Each cycle through the checkout line now involves scanning your discount card and then punching little holes in another card where, if you're lucky, you might win five bucks (1 in 57). To me, a very time consuming process with little return and one that only prolongs the wait for other customers standing in line. (Like I said, too much minutia). One has to wonder should Country Mart ever dump all these gimmicks and focus  on selling food, how much lower would the prices be? Wait a minute! That's right, you could go over to Save A Lot and see for yourself.

River Run Recreational Park update for October 2012

Location: Forsyth Missouri

Official Web Site: Recreation.gov

Status: Closed until Tuesday, April 30, 2013

GPS Info. (Latitude, Longitude):
36.67444, -93.1125
36°40'28"N, 93°6'45"W

Information: (417) 546-3646 (during the regular season)

Even though this beautiful park is currently 'closed for the season', on some nice fall days it's a great place to come take a stroll or have a lunch while watching the Bull Shoals river slow flow on by.

As far as I can tell, all the damage from previous years floods have now been repaired and I have to admit, the place is looking great! There are still one or two sites, out of the 32 total, that have issues; broken tables, damaged lantern poles, etc. But, I'm confident these will be addressed prior to the start of the next season.

Water levels continue to remain low, but recent rains in October are helping this waterway system to recover back to more normal levels. My post on the long range prediction for the coming winter is calling for wetter than normal conditions in this part of the country. I sure hope that works out!

Disclaimer: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

Harvest Moon Festival on Oct 6th!

This coming October 6^th, 2012, the Forsyth Chamber of Commerce will be hosting yet another Harvest Moon Festival that is scheduled to be held at the Shadowrock Park. Those interested in registering for the annual car show ($300 in cash prizes and trophies), can do so by getting to the park anytime between 8AM and 1PM. At 11AM the Forsyth JROTC will present the American Flag and the Forsyth High School select choir will sing the National Anthem. There also should be live entertainment throughout the day. Not into music or cars? Well, there will also be food vendors along with dozens of 'crafters' who will be there to display their wares and fill your tummies. You can also get additional information by calling 417-546-2741.

Update: With temperatures that never got much above 45F and under overcast skies, the turnout to this event was on the light side. Still, I had a great time and enjoyed the sights along with a great tasting hotdog!

Disclaimer: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

The strange cost structure of electric power in Taney County Missouri!

Where I live in southwest Missouri (Taney County), there are two electric companies that serve the area; Empire Electric and the White River Valley Electric Coop.  I happen to use Empire Electric while others I know have White River. Both are relatively competitive although each has its own scheme of charging customers.

Empire Electric has a variable tier approach where by they charge differing rates based on the month of the year; winter rates include the months of November through June and summer rates include the four months July through October.

In the summer months, there is basically a single tier charge of 0.1070 cents per kilowatt hour with a $12.52 ‘access fee’. During the other eight months that comprise the ‘winter season’, the system changes to a two tier approach with the first 600 kWh charged at a rate of 0.0170 cents per kWh and then a change to a rate of 0.0871 for any use above the first 600. Oh, and there's also something called a ‘fuel charge’ which I think is an extra amount they kind of throw in whenever the mood hits them.

White River, on the other hand has a much more simplistic approach. They charge $25 for the first 20 kWh (think of this as an access fee) used and then apply a rate of 0.089552 cents for every kWh above that. A person using 1000 watts of power in the month of September would have to cough up $112.76 if they use White River whereas and Empire customer would pay $119.52, (that is assuming Empire doesn’t decide to throw in an addition ‘fuel charge’).  So, while Empire comes off as looking gimmicky, White River is not only is easier to understand, but their rates are also cheaper in the long run!

My question then is, ‘why do they even mess with such complex fee structures’? Why not come up with a single rate that would be the same for every month? Perhaps the answer lies in the way Congress passes bills like ‘ObamaCare’ or in the way the IRS access taxes. Apparently, the more complex the approach, the easier it is to befuddle the people who are paying the tab.

Update: Another increase of approx 13% has been granted and will take effect in 2014!

Residential & Commercial Window Cleaning Service

Yes, this guy does do windows! His name is Dennis and he’s pretty darn good at getting your grimy windows back to pristine clarity in no time at all!

For one time or periodic window care, give Dennis a call at 417-546-0124. Also, for residential customers, Dennis also offers professional screen cleanings. He uses professional grade equipment for professional results and would be happy to offer competitive estimates at no charge. Make sure you tell him that DanO sent ya!

Empire Electric and their intermittent outages!

Click to enlarge

 For more than a couple of months now, I've been experiencing an annoying and potentially harmful series of power events courtesy of the Empire Electric Company out of Joplin Missouri. And, as it turns out I'm not alone. At least two other dwellings on my street have experienced the same problem which is a second or so of lost power that generally occurs in the early mornings. This has been going on for at least a couple of months and maybe longer. The problem had been to actually chronicle something that has been so intermittent and widely spaced.

Enter TED, the Total Energy Detective. A device that monitors the electricity usage in a home 24/7. The graph above is of an actual event that lasted perhaps a second, yet was long enough to force me to reset all my clocks and reboot my desktop computer. An annoying task and a potentially harmful electrical event as electronic equipment, like computers, can be damaged by such abrupt power fluctuations. TED will help track this problem and I intend to use Empire's outage report form to help keep them up to date.

If anyone who reads this has experienced a similar problem with Empire's service, please leave a comment.

Update: Shortly after I posted this, I noticed an Empire Electric crew that were working with a transformer just down the street. Interestingly, the problems seem to have ceased since that time.

Update 2: Problem resurfaced on November 15th at 8:12 AM - and was reported to an Empire Electric representative at 800-206-2300. Here is the graph of that event. You can just make out the drop off to zero power right above the 'ea' in Real-Time.

Update 3: After numerous assurances that this matter would be looked into and 'people contacted', I experienced another outage on the morning of December 7, 2012. This outage followed the same pattern as all the others and apparently is beyond the power or maybe the expertise of Empire's people to handle. It seems sad for me to say that even as this company is looking for yet another rate increase to take effect this coming summer, their ability to maintain even basic infra-structure seems to be in question. One has to wonder just how much money it will take?

River Run Campsites now being repaired!

Sites that were without power for 2012 are now being restored!

Water damage to junction boxes rendered them useless.

 After a number of months of delay, additional funds from the Federal Flood Recovery effort became available to allow repairs to electrical junction boxes that were knocked out after extensive flooding inundated the River Run Park area over a period of four years. Included in the ongoing repairs will be new awnings over some of the RV sites along with new electrical junction boxes for as many as sixteen sites that had been without power since last season.

Owner Don Freeland working on site!

I had a chance to talk briefly with the owner of the company that was doing electrical portion of the repair. His name was Don Freeland and his company 'Freeland Electric' operates out of Mountain Home Arkansas. Mr. Freeland informed me that the work was moving along quickly as he and his working staff were putting in long ten hour days in order to restore the campsites to full operational status as soon as possible.

Well, it looks like River Run Park will be back up 100% before the end of the season and just in time for the fall RV crowd to come down and take advantage of the great fishing found in this part of the Bull Shoals waterway near Forsyth Missouri!

Update: As of early September, it now looks as though electrical power has been restored to all the campsites (call them to make sure). There are also a few awning that are being replaced at this time. Other than that, the Park looks good to go!