(no subject)

[jianantonic]

Normally, I love Firefox, but I'm irritated with it right now.  It's not loading pages properly or fully in a lot of cases, so I can't update LJ from Firefox.  Lame.  I'm due for an update, but I'm hesitating, because the last three times I've updated Firefox, it's lost all my bookmarks (which, as a professional blogger, are many and crucial) and I've had to reload all my features like StumbleUpon and Adblock.  Anyone know wtf is going on and what I can do to fix these problems?  And then, rather than talking me through it, do you want to come to me and do it, because I'm helpless?  If so, that'd be awesome!

Speaking of helpless...
Okay, so I don't watch much TV anymore.  I only ever see it when I'm at the gym, and even then there's no volume, because I'm listening to music.  But I've noticed a growing trend in commercials.  They're getting more over the top and farfetched.  Probably my biggest pet peeve in commercials is when they're trying to market some product by making it look like it makes a tough job easy.  But the things they're meant to simplify were easy to begin with.  Yet the commercial shows some poor sap trying and failing miserably, and then making a really pathetic-looking angry face, like he could not be more frustrated with his regular shower nozzle, or whatever it is that's ruining his life that day.  

I don't think anyone in the history of the world has ever actually made that face when not filming a commercial.  But that face -- you know it well, I know you do -- is in every other commercial on the air.  No one is that pathetic!  Except, maybe, the advertising execs who conceptualized the spot, and then the clients who paid for that advertising, and then, well, maybe the people who are influenced by such dramatizations, but I think that those people are very few in number.

While I'm on the stump, I'd like to work up a WalletPop post for things that you really want to buy the name brand vs. the store brand, but so far the only thing that I feel really strongly about putting on that list is feminine products.  I could actually do a whole post about how inferior store brand feminine products are, but I'm still the new kid over there, so I think it's too soon for me to bust into such a topic.  But I'm curious -- what products do you think store brands totally fail?  (I'm also going to need to find better ways to word this idea, as obviously it makes for either a very convoluted or incomplete looking sentence.)  Cereals and painkillers and vitamins all seem fine when I buy store brands, but I'm thinking most hygeine products are losers.  (I bought a giant thing of Kroger brand shampoo last week because it was WAY cheaper than anything else, but it SUCKS.)  What else?

 

Whoo -- just looking at my planner, I see that tomorrow I'm going to the Valley to visit some of my favorite people, I'm playing with a new (and very excellent) bridge partner on Thursday, then Saturday I'm going to NC for a Bluegrass fest, and on Tuesday I'm going back to Oregon, at long last!  Rar, I'm psyched.  Here's to a good week!

Peace.

Comments

[pwylltwiceborn.livejournal.com]

Hershey's choc. syrup.

[jkpolk.livejournal.com]

heh I think I've had a similar rant about commercials. Oftentimes the product being sold is genuinely helpful in getting rid of an annoying or dirty procedure or whatever. But they go so over the top in showing the "old" method that I can't take them seriously. I wish they'd acknowledge customers are smart enough to see the benefit even if you just show us the reality. I can understand something is messy and frustrating without you making it look like the person is going to cry or kill themselves because it's SO HARD TO DO.

It actually makes me trust your product less because you don't trust it to stand on its own merits when showing reality to reality comparisons.

[flamingophoenix.livejournal.com]

You, my dear, have clearly never heard of Pentafork (http://www.notmydesk.com/essays/forkedup.html).

It will change your life.

[jkpolk.livejournal.com]

Hahaha love it!!!

[flamingophoenix.livejournal.com]

Not My Desk is the best ever. I also like "A Hyena Ate My Dingo Baby." Really, though, just read them all, especially if you've been a temp.

[capriciousbee.livejournal.com]

Store brand hot chocolate pouches never seem to be as good, even compared to Swiss Miss. Ditto for Mac and Cheese.

[capriciousbee.livejournal.com]

oooh, and store brand sunscreen! I bought some once because it was travel size and the stuff is disgustingly greasy.

[flamingophoenix.livejournal.com]

Non-comedogenic sunscreen is the way to go at all times. Mmmm.

[pwylltwiceborn.livejournal.com]

oh, God--if it's not Kraft (non-scratch) mac-n-cheese, keep it the hypothetical hell away from me.

[flamingophoenix.livejournal.com]

Velveeta is quite good, IMO. But that's not really EasyMac -- you have to actually boil water to make it and shit.

[skydiamonde.livejournal.com]

Since I don't think you use a Mac, you may want to think about switching to Google Chrome instead of Firefox. Download it and give it a try: http://www.google.com/chrome

Hm I never liked the store brand cereal but that's just b/c I'm used to the other stuff.

I find that store brand aluminum foil is ridiculously weak. It rips as I pull it out before I get to the length I want to cut it to. I bought some store brand tupperware too that I regret. In fact, I bought today's lunch in one, but the lid won't stay closed! It (barely) worked like the first time and since then, they won't stay closed anymore. But like ibuprofen, sandwich bags, notebooks, and napkins I get the store brand.

[jianantonic.livejournal.com]

Oooh, good ones. Thanks. I can't use chrome yet because the blogging tool I use for work isn't yet compatible. And I really like StumbleUpon -- just hate having to reload it every time I update!

[goob712.livejournal.com]

Yogurt. Some store brand yogurts are edible, but EW Fred Meyer yogurt is really nasty. So is their mayonnaise.

Shoes, and socks, if you want to wear them more than once.

Bacon. Cheese sometimes. Ice cream, especially if you want the low-fat or yogurt type. Certain cereals, like Cinnamon Toast Crunch (ew), Alex says the store brand is crap.

But normally I'm a HUGE fan of store brand. I'm about to make a store brand turkey sandwich with store brand bread. Maybe even have a store brand sourdough english muffin first.

Oh! that reminds me of more. Store brand jelly, marmalade, peanut butter are GRROSS.

[flamingophoenix.livejournal.com]

Oh, but store-brand Cheerios tend to be just fine.

What SB peanut butter do you use? I use Giant's all-natural PB (didn't want all that extra shit in there--this stuff is just peanuts and salt) and it's fine. It takes some adjustment (it's really liquidy) and my friends who make sandwiches with it always leave a terrible mess in the kitchen, but it's fine for taste.

[goob712.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I buy store brand honey nut o's and store brand raisin bran, and they're awesome.

I should have clarified again: some stores have AWESOME store brand stuff. I miss Giant. They had quality stuff, including pretty good yogurt and some decent preserves. I live in Seattle now and do most shopping at Fred Meyer because it's cheap. I haven't found ANY supermarkets out here with the quantity and quality of Store Brand that Giant has. Giant rocks.

[kixeldorado.livejournal.com]

Which version of Firefox are you using? When I upgraded to 3.0 from 2.0, I saw a world of difference. Actually, my work computer just updated itself to 3.0 too without me even asking, so you might be in for it soon if you haven't already.
Sometimes I get the page timeout thing too, but I attribute it to me having crappy internet here because it never happens to the same sites at work. Or maybe it's just our router.


I would hesitate buying a store brand pregnancy test or american cheese slices. They both just seem scary.

I agree that the choc syrup and peanut butter are better name brand. I bought the "sams choice" PB once because I was broke and it was not very good at all. It did the job, but I didn't really enjoy it. Also, plastic wrap. The cheaper/store ones don't stick.

Store brand cereal, pasta, and lotion seem to be okay. Soap is iffy. Hand soap is usually okay, bodywash/shampoo is hit or miss.

[passive-passion.livejournal.com]

Store brand Q-tips (cotton swabs, I guess)--the off brand little sticks usually sag when I try to use them to clean my ears.

Oh, and guess I'm kind of a cereal snob--mostly because I pretty much only eat Total mixed with some kind of Honey Bunches of Oats--but you'd think a plain cereal like Total could be easily replicated, and you'd be wrong. Store-brand Honey Bunches is also very much not the same. I'm slogging my way through a box of Kroger-brand Honey Oat Clusters 'n Flakes or whatever and will be thrilled when I can return to the real thing.

[flamingophoenix.livejournal.com]

Oooh, store brand (CVS brand) Cetaphil-equivalent hand lotion is just fine.

Also, store-brand drugs. Buying non-generics is pretty dumb, if a generic is available, because they're the same active ingredients. Unless you think the generic is cutting your inactive ingredients with borax or something.

[flamingophoenix.livejournal.com]

Paper towels. The store brand ones are LAME. (Well, some of them are. Some are okay. I think. Hmm, maybe you should test it yourself...)

Does Suave count as store-brand shampoo? Or that V08 stuff from CVS? That's what Patrick and I used before we switched to bunny-free shampoo, and they were fine.

It's very difficult to find store-brand jam that doesn't contain HFCS. I usually buy big jars of Polaner.

I've never even tried store-brand pads/tampons, and I'd be scared to. (Especially now.) It's just such an important thing--you find one brand, and you stick with it. I've been using Always for over a decade now (jesus) because that's just how it goes.

Store brand romance novels are pretty fuckin' awesome, though.

[jianantonic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, store brand pads are about as effective and comfortable as a single napkin wrapped in chicken wire. I'm pretty sure the only people that buy them are clueless husbands, because every woman knows better.

[flamingophoenix.livejournal.com]

On a completely unrelated (very tangential, at least) note, I showed Patrick what hardware cloth was the other day! (Ah, the trials and tribulations of people who had no DI growing up.)

[jianantonic.livejournal.com]

Hehehehe -- I thought of DI when I wrote that comment, too.

[goob712.livejournal.com]

hahaha store brand romance novels.

I've used some really good store brand paper towels and some crap ones. I've discovered that Fred Meyer's toilet paper is almost as good as Northern.

I didn't even know that store brands made tampons. I'd be scared too.

How about store brand "fashion dolls" or the Dollar Store Barbie? That's some crap. But you can sometimes get some decent outfits off the dolls.

[flamingophoenix.livejournal.com]

I'm only guessing at the existence of SB tampons. Presumably they exist.

[jianantonic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they do. I can't actually figure out what makes them worse than Tampax, but they are. I mean, they *look* the same. But some minute detail in the engineering makes them totally pinch a girl's tenderest parts and get stuck halfway into position.

[flamingophoenix.livejournal.com]

Oh. About losing your bookmarks? Use Delicious. Seriously. It's the best thing ever. You'll never go back.

[kixeldorado.livejournal.com]

Add another to the "don't get store brand" list - chocolate chips.

I bought the food lion milk chocolate chips the other day instead of the nestle toll house.

They're all waxy and bleahhhh. they improve slightly when melted, but not by much...