response 37 of 81:

Nov 26 05:16 UTC 2000

I've heard that one should treat end cap placed products with suspicion,
because they're often where you get taken into buying something at higher
than the going rate.  Same for those floor displays that partially block
aisles.

response 39 of 81:

Nov 27 02:28 UTC 2000

re. 37
Not necessarily true. We moved things all over on th end caps in the
department store I worked in.  No particular reason.  And the items in the
aisles are there to attract the shopers attention, much like the items in the
checkout lanes in your grocery store.

response 41 of 81:

Nov 27 05:33 UTC 2000

I haven't seen endcaps having different prices than the regular location
at Meijers.  On the other hand, I have seen better bargains with other
brands or alternatives in the regular section - just because it's "on
sale" and on the endcap doesn't mean it's the best bargain.

With some items (batteries, light bulbs) it's fascinating to see just
how many different "regular" places these items have, and often there's
a different brand selection at each.  Of the two, batteries are the more
straight-forward; there's a big selection near the camera department,
then various small "end-cap" displays elsewhere, such as near the
checkout lanes, toys, etc.  Generally going to the camera goods section
is sufficient.  Lightbulbs, on the other hand, have several large
displays in the groceries, household goods, hardware, & perhaps
elsewhere - each with its own brands and prices.  I think groceries has
phillips, hardware has GE, and household goods used to have yugoslavia
bulbs.  Yugoslavia bulbs for some reason were cheapest.  Perhaps that's
because they were furthest from the groceries.

response 43 of 81:

Nov 27 14:09 UTC 2000

Meijer is *very* good at complimentary product stocking.  Batteries by
electronics, lightbulbs in various locations, and other examples I've noticed
but can't remember.

response 45 of 81:

Nov 27 16:47 UTC 2000

I have not noticed any difference between prices on endcaps and prices on
the regular shelf, at Meijer's or elsewhere.

I didn't mean to imply that McDonald's food is high quality.  I meant that
McDonald's treats its customers with more respect than many other fast
food chains do.

That may be because McDonald's is better managed than most other fast food
chains, at least around here.  Check the health department inspection
reports (as I did in Ingham County over some period of time while I lived
there): McDonald's consistently gets 98 or better.  Of course, they aren't
attempting much, so there aren't as many different food preparation
activities to lose points on.  Nonetheless, the consistency of almost
perfect scores reflects consistency of very attentive management.

McDonald's also serves far better coffee than (say) Burger King, and it
provides half-and-half instead of non-dairy creamer.

response 47 of 81:

Nov 27 18:21 UTC 2000

The potential for "near perfect" scores varies significantly between
counties. At least in the 80's and early 90's, and probably through the
present, Washtenaw County has restaurants that never break 90, which are
cleaner than most "near perfect" restaurants in other counties. We are
actually lucky to have such demanding health inspectors, although it isn't
always a source of joy to those in the restaurant business.

One thing that will cost an instant five points, and requires mandatory
reinspection, is "presence of insects." It is rarely checked, particularly
when the inspector doesn't want to reinspect or the County doesn't want to
pay for reinspection. But I can guarantee you that, with full access to any
restaurant's kitchen, I will find evidence of "presence of insects."

response 49 of 81:

Nov 28 18:18 UTC 2000

re #23: Whole milk is 3.5% fat.  I don't think this is because all cows 
produce milk with 3.5% fat; I think the milk is processed without much 
fat, then the fat is added to bring it up to 3.5%, or 2% for "reduced 
fat", or 1% for "low fat", or none is added back in for "non-fat".  It's 
not possible to buy it any more in America, but when I was a kid I had 
fresh, whole, non-processed milk a few times.  It was a different liquid 
than the milk sold in cartons in stores.

McDonald's varies widely in quality, but not as widely as Burger King.  
The McDonald's in Saline has become unacceptable in quality in the last 
year.  The one near the Meijer's on Carpenter Rd. has been miserably 
slow for years, and so has the one on Plymouth Rd.  I work at Domino 
Farms; if I want McDonald's for lunch, I drive to Washtenaw Ave in 
Pittsfield Township because it's quicker.

At it's best, Burger King is much better than anything produced by 
McDonalds.  A hot off the grill Whopper, which hasn't been 
mummified under a heat lamp, is great.  However, it's very unlikely 
you'll get anything at it's best from Burger King.  

response 51 of 81:

Nov 28 19:07 UTC 2000

Good point, that; always special-order from Burger King.  You have to 
think a little about the ingredients, though.  Burger King will open up 
an existing burger and remove the pickle or onion or tomato.  You have 
to ask them to omit the ketchup or mustard or barbecue sauce; they can't 
remove those once they've been made.  Adding anything is not a 
productive way to get a better burger; they can add ingredients to a 
burger that's already been assembled.

There are times when you can get better food.  As soon as the restaurant 
opens, the breakfast sandwiches are fine.  They switch to lunch food at 
10:00 or 10:30, and don't pre-make much then.  Peak times are a good 
time for fresher food if you eat standard sandwiches, since they turn 
over a lot then.  Just after peak times are the *worst* time to get food 
from Burger King; they probably pre-made more than they needed for the 
peak, and so you get leftovers.

The later in the day you get a shake, tea or coffee, the longer since 
the machines have been washed.

If it takes less than 3 minutes to get your fish sandwich or chicken 
nuggets, they have been stored under a heat lamp and are not fresh.

response 53 of 81:

Nov 28 20:25 UTC 2000

Re 51.  Right, that's the point of "no mustard". :-)

Note that (last I looked) McDonald's serves shakes made from actual dairy
products, and Burger King does not.

response 55 of 81:

Nov 28 21:08 UTC 2000

McDonald's used to have wonderful eggnog shakes at Christmastime, but 
replaced them with a low fat substitute that tastes like kerosene soaked 
cardboard.  I'm not a big fan of McDonald's milk shakes.

response 57 of 81:

Nov 29 01:27 UTC 2000

I appreciate Wendy's quality.  I love whopper sales and such at Burger King,
too.  A whopper, when well made, approaches the best burgers made in any sit
down restaurant, I think.

However, I don't attend any of these restaurants regularly.  None serve
mountain dew, and the junkiness of mcdonalds tends to make me feel rather
lousy for the next couple of hours at work, so I eat Taco Bell chicken
products. They are actually quite good.

response 59 of 81:

Dec 2 02:05 UTC 2000

  We'd insist that they put a Starbucks and a KFC inside the Forbidden City
  before we'd come to visit..  It seems to have worked so far..

  <shudder..>

response 61 of 81:

Dec 2 03:45 UTC 2000

  Hah!  try living this close to Starbucks' Ground Zero.
  
  Just by itself, the strip mall in Factoria where I often stop for lunch
  (a collection of small shops and restaurants centered around a grocery
  store, about the size of the Westgate Kroger complex before Kroger moved
  out..) has two full-sized Starbucks.  

  I'm waiting to hear that some computer science or math grad student
  at the University of Washington has been granted a Ph.D. for a new
  graph-traversal algorithm efficient enough to calculate routes through
  Seattle that don't pass either a Starbucks or a Tully's.  I mean,
  talk about your computationally intractable theory problems..