Random musings of a measured overachiever

OK, here is my Andy Rooney moment. What is it about all these banks, credit card and utility companies encouraging their customers to “save a stamp and help save a tree by switching to paperless”, they never say you will be helping them save a buck on printing and mailing expenses. I received what I consider the epitome of this spin: a large cable provider is terming their online billing as "Eco-Billing", come on give us a break. My family and I recycle and reuse as much or more as the next family, and I work at an institution that has a prevalent sustainability mission, which I think is great. However, why should customers be made to feel guilty about sending a few pieces of paper a month through the mail? Oh yeah I almost forgot, online billing is supposed to be so much safer than the U.S. Mail; I'm sure that there are many more potential eyes for what I send though the USPS vs. what I do online ... Oh yeah, what is it about urinals and toilets not being flushed at pu...

The other day my family and I were at Toys R Us and I happened to notice one model kit in the entire store. The model was a snap together Tie Fighter . I asked one of the associates where the rest of their model section was and he responded that the Tie Fighter was all that remained. Over the past three years or so I noticed that WalMart and Target were seriously reducing their inventory of plastic model kits, but I had no idea that they would disappear from their shelves altogether! I can't even find model glue or paint at WalMart! My son told me that models have been replaced by Legos (at least for children). I'm only an occasional modeler, and I know that models are still available at hobby stores, but this strikes me as a very sad pattern.