{"id":1326,"date":"2013-07-15T10:43:17","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T14:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ttgnet.com\/journal\/?p=1326"},"modified":"2013-07-15T16:30:42","modified_gmt":"2013-07-15T20:30:42","slug":"monday-15-july-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ttgnet.com\/journal\/2013\/07\/15\/monday-15-july-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday, 15 July 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

10:43 –<\/span> Well, that’s interesting. I just shipped a BK01 biology kit and a CK01A chemistry kit to England, in one box. The man who ordered them added two shipping surcharge items to his cart, for a total of $128, on the understanding that shipping two kits doesn’t cost twice as much as shipping one kit and that I’d refund the difference.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

So, as I was filling out the address and customs information on the USPS web site, I noticed that shipping via Express Mail International (1 to 3 business days delivery) cost only a few bucks more than Priority Mail International (6 to 10 business days delivery). Also, with Priority Mail International, the package is covered for only $100 if it’s lost or damaged, with no option for buying additional insurance. With Express Mail International, it’s covered for $100 standard and buying replacement value ($366) insurance cost only a couple bucks. But the real difference was what happens if the package is undeliverable. With Priority Mail International, I had two options: return-to-sender, in which case I’d get the package back but would have to pay return postage; or treat as abandoned, in which case the post office discards the package, and I have to pay an unspecified fee anyway. With Express Mail International, I have the same two choices, but if I elect return-to-sender, they ship the package back to me without charging for return postage. For just a few bucks more, Express Mail International is a far better deal, both for me and for the buyer.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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16:30 –<\/span> The latest video to go viral on YouTube is a brief “news” clip from a Providence TV station. Intrepid reporter Julie Tremmel demonstrates<\/a> with great enthusiasm what unnamed supposed “experts” recommend if one encounters a bear.
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Much though I hate to dispute the authoritative advice of a bubble-headed bleach-blonde, particularly one who believes that a 300-pound (136 kilo) bear is “massive”, I do think that screaming, waving one’s arms and throwing one’s shoes at a bear is not the best way to ensure friendly inter-special relations. I suppose it’s possible that the bear could assume it’s faced with a crazy person and flee in terror. But I think it’s just as likely that the bear would assume that it’s about to be attacked by a crazy person and charge. Better to remain calm, speak to the bear in a firm, low-pitched voice, and wait for it to amble away. Bears, particularly black bears, are essentially super-dogs. They’re smart, they’re familiar with humans, and they know that we’re dangerous to mess with. Those who thought humans look like tasty, easy prey were eliminated from the gene pool long ago.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I did consider emailing Ms. Tremmel with a couple of additional suggestions, in case she ever encounters a bear herself. First, always take your dog along when you head into bear country. Ideally, you want a little yapper. It’ll find a bear for you, bark like crazy, and then run right back to you for protection, with a pissed-off bear following close behind. Second, if you ever encounter bear cubs, you should always pick them up and pet them. There’s no better way to make friends with a mother bear.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

10:43 – Well, that’s interesting. I just shipped a BK01 biology kit and a CK01A chemistry kit to England, in one box. The man who ordered them added two shipping surcharge items to his cart, for a total of $128, on the understanding that shipping two kits doesn’t cost twice as much as shipping one kit and that I’d refund the difference.\n<\/p>\n

So, as I was filling out the address and customs information on the USPS web site,<\/p>\n

 » Read more about: Monday, 15 July 2013  »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-2","category-science-kits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ttgnet.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ttgnet.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ttgnet.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ttgnet.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ttgnet.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ttgnet.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1326\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ttgnet.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ttgnet.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ttgnet.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}