08:53 – It was 64.5F (18C) when I took Colin out around 0640 this morning, sunny and clear. It’s already up to 78.5F (26C) with another warm day forecast. Barbara is off to the gym and has a couple of meetings later today.
I read an interesting article yesterday that talked about the effect of politics on retail. It claimed that 25% of Americans make buying choices that are at least somewhat influenced by the politics of retailers and brands. That doesn’t surprise me because I do the same. I’m not radical about it, yet, but I do tend to place orders with Deplorable Walmart rather than Prog Amazon. I don’t see any point to financially supporting organizations whose stated goals translate to attempts to destroy the fabric of the US as we know it.
I don’t understand why any large organization would intentionally drive off customers by instituting policies or taking political stances that are diametrically opposed to the beliefs of many of their potential customers. Customers nowadays want one thing from retailers: low prices. Taking a political position that conflicts with politics of potential customers is foolish. Customers who agree with a retailer’s politics aren’t going to be willing to pay more because of that. Customers who disagree will either not buy from that retailer or will buy only if that retailer’s prices are lower than another retailer who hasn’t taken that political position. And that’s true on both sides of the divide.
I need to spend some time over the next week or so getting ready for the Technician-class and General-class amateur radio exams. I’m taking both the same day. I bought the official ARRL manuals for both classes. Now I just need to go through both and memorize them.