Hi Harry (and also a continuation to Ed Goertzen), Thanks for your message. At 10:19 06/11/00 -0800, you wrote: >Keith, > >Hope you are somewhat unaffected by the floods. > >I have an awful thought. Perhaps the drought standpipes may still be on the >corners. As usual, you've put your finger on an unusual (but relevant) aspect of this. Despite the floods in the UK -- the worst for 400 years, we're told -- the odds are that we'll have severe droughts also in the years to come. Only two years ago several of the loveliest rivers round here were drained dry by the water companies pumping up from the river aquifers. Needless to say, all the associated wildlife suffered also. What we really need over here is a large deep canal running down from Scotland (where they have oodles of rain even in dry years) to supply the south when it's dry, and to be able to absorb excessive rainfall in one part of the country or another and dumping it into the sea at low tide when it's wet. I'm dead against this being another nationalised project, however. It would cost ten times more than it would otherwise and it would breed yet another bureaucracy to run it. But if politicians are to regain any respect in the future it's this sort of forward thinking and promoting study that they should be doing. >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Bowling Alone >Keith, >When I was a kid in London, my mother would send me to the bread shop to >get a loaf of "yesterday's bread". She said it was more digestible - I >think it was just cheap. >Now in this competitive heart of the world - Southern California - we get >our bread from a day-old store. A loaf that can be as much as $2.60 in the >supermarkets, I get for as little as 50 cents (less 10% senior discount). >I get produce at a nearby Armenian store where the fruit and vegetables are >from 50% to 80% less than the supermarkets - and it's good. >A small chain of stores called Trader Joe's supplies a variety of foods - >common and speciality - for prices below the supermarkets. >A study found that the cheapest and best foods in the US came from small >chains. They don't have the overhead of the big stores, yet have buying >power from their multiple locations. Also, they have closer connections to >local producers and can take advantage of bargains - whereas the supers >must go through channels. This is good to know. I think that the rise of the supermarkets in the UK has been so recent that these subsidiary chains have not had time to develop. Perhaps they will in the UK, too. >I hate to press our friends on this list, but where competition and the >free market prevails, the consumer (which is all of us) benefits. >The way to save the English village stores could come from combining their >buying and searching for markets they can serve. Seven-Eleven stores over >here have prices much higher than supermarkets. Yet, they are convenient >and they stay open all night. >Thus, they have found their niche and they serve it well and profitably. >Well, I'm on the way to Cosco which sells bulk things to the public. The >same can of cat food that costs 42 cents in the supermarket goes for 25 >cents at Cosco. >After Cosco - I'll be at the computer show, where everything sells for 50% >or less than the regular stores. > >We've had three English families over this summer - belonging to a nephew >and two nieces. > >As happens, they load up with kid's clothes, CD's, and suchlike. >Unfortunately, electronics are out because of the voltage differences. As >is always the case, the free market gives us the best for the least. >The price of milk is federally fixed here (for our own good). Coscoe found >the fixed price in the San Joaquin Valley was cheaper. They sent trucks >over the mountain to the Valley, loaded up with milk, brought it back to >Los Angeles - where they passed the savings to their customers. >At least, they did until the government goons stopped them. >The money the milk producers give to Congress is well spent. >Harry I totally agree. Sorry, Ed -- I've lost your message addressed to me. I've been on holiday and all was chaos in my mailbox when I returned. Or, rather, I deleted so much spam that I've lost yours as well. ___________________________________________________________________ Keith Hudson, General Editor, Calus, www.calus.org 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________
