Wednesday PM

Just a few lines before heading out. Running again with 2 tonight at 6.

The local water company called to have me make an appointment for them to come by and exchanged my meter, and possibly put in a remote reading device. This is a combination of new technology meets programmed retro-fitting of fixed equipment. They say that the useful life is around 15 years. No charge for any of this, but any bets that there will come a day when the customer will have to absorb this cost? The water company is a private business. My guess is that the strategic plan will have the customer paying for this stuff on the next go-around.

In that light, the water company has been seriously soliciting a water line insurance policy from me this year. Those solicitations come in very official-looking envelopes with "Urgent" types of messages in bright pseudo-handwriting on the face of the envelope. The pitch is that since the pipe coming from the street is the homeowner's responsibility, you should insure the possibility that that pipe will need to be replaced. And they have a point. If that pipe fails, it can cost several thousand dollars to replace/repair. I've seen it happen. But it galls me to no end that they want another five bucks a month to provide for that possibility. The water company will absolutely win on that game, assuming that enough homeowners bite. It's like the casino. The House wins.

The same Law of Large Numbers applies to extended warranties at Best Buy and other appliance stores. The House always wins. Unless you drop your PDA in the waste basket at SB's!

I think that the policies on cell phones may be worth the price. I've seen enough phones lost, watered, dropped, or otherwise rendered useless to convince me to buy the insurance. My pal Roy loses those things two at a time.

Go Cardinals! I'm amazed at the uproar on the Kenny Rogers "Smudgegate" by the sports media, and by some former players. It ain't cheatin' if ya ain't caught. And LaRussa gave him a pass. So move on to something else. Please!

Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.