HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: john@ice.stx.com (John DiMarzio)
Subject: Re: Price Club Info Sought
Reply-To: john@ice.stx.com
Organization: Hughes STX, Lanham, MD
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 13:27:48 GMT

In article <4090120@hpcc01.corp.hp.com>, mbuscho@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Michelle Buscho) writes:
}I've been going to Price Club for years in northern California.  My experiences:
}Pros:
}
}- low prices on a wide variety of items; tires I purchased there were selling
}  for 50% more at a "warehouse direct-to-you" tire store
}- tire installation service on site with a reasonable (1/2 hour-1 hour) wait,
}  so they can be installed while you do the rest of your shopping
}- now that they scan bar codes, check out speed is relatively good considering
}  the volume of purchases that go through there
}- you can join with a business license/credit union membership; a business
}  license lets you get in during some hours without the crowds - great for
}  the Christmas season
}- you can bring 3 friends along with you to shop (note payment restriction
}  below)
}- they deliver furniture
}
}Cons:
}
}- payment is cash or by check written on an account specifically linked to that
}  card; no credit cards accepted


In Maryland, Price club now accepts Discover for purchases over $75.  Perhaps
this feature will be coming soon to Northern California.


}- employees don't seem to know where anything is in the store
}- many of the items you see on one visit won't be there the next time you come
}- limited selection of brands (e.g., one brand of refrigerators)
}- you are confined to their delivery schedules for furniture, depending on
}  where you live
}- you have to buy a larger quantity of most items (dishwasher soap, food, etc.)
}  than perhaps you can consume in a reasonable amount of time or store easily


I have been a PC member for about 3 years and before that I belonged to Pace Membership Warehouse (don't know if you have these in Calif.)  I like Price Club better save one thing-- Pace had their own brand of some items that was significantly cheaper than name brands and of similar if not better quality.

John DiMarzio
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,misc.consumers.house
From: pauld@cs.washington.edu (Paul Barton-Davis)
Subject: Re: Washer,Dryer,Fridge & Stove All At Once!
Keywords: appliances, washer, dryer, fridge, stove, buy
Organization: Precipitating Pendulums Postal Party Poopers
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 18:52:06 GMT

In article <1993Jan7.134647.6196@crd.ge.com> lorraine@caliban.crd.ge.com (Peter Lorraine) writes:
>pauld@cs.washington.edu (Paul Barton-Davis) writes
>> In the interests of snobbishness, I'd recommend:

>My wife and I just bought our first house and I've only recently noticed
>appliances seriously.  I was not aware that there was a "luxury" market
>beyond the high-end goods one finds in most major department stores.
>Could someone explain why someone would want one of the Miele (or
>other super-premium) appliances?  What features could add this much
>value to an oven?  Is this a question of durability, capability, or
>status?

I wouldn't dream of buying a Miele cooking appliance. Their washing
machines, however, are wonderful. Lowest water and energy use of any
brand in the world; when I worked in Germany, we had a regular
domestic Miele installed in the lab that was used 24 hours a day by
400 people. It had been there for 3 years when I arrived, and had
never broken down.

As far as refridgerators and freezers go, Subzero are about the best
of the regular-construction set, being built significantly better than
most other brands. This means better insulation, no rear vent space,
more rigid metalwork, better hinges, etc. This doesn't always
translate into lowest energy use, although in our case (we have
undercounter units), the trade-off between longevity of the Subzero's
and the tackiness of all other available options made the former a
clear win.

Sun Frost are a different ballgame: upwards of $2000 for the smallest
unit. However, they use 10% of the electricity of a normal unit, and
will generally pay back in about 10 years subect to your grid
location. They are very, very well built. See a Real Goods catalogue
for more details.

As for ranges and ovens, I'm a big fan of decent commercial style
ranges;  our Viking gives us a stove that we will probably never have
to replace (built of 18/8 stainless throughout) and an oven that bakes
bread that can only be beaten by using an Italian stone/brick steam
injection system. There is some status involved as well, one would
have to admit, but durability and capability are central to our choices.
We bought a set of appliances that we believe may never need to be
replaced. I have heard arguments that this is in itself a bad
decision, and I don't completely disagree with them. You pays your
money, etc.

-- paul
-- 
hybrid rather than pure; compromising rather than clean;    | Militant Agnostic
distorted rather than straightforward; ambiguous rather than| I Don't Know
articulated; both-and rather than either-or; the difficult  |   and You Don't
unity of inclusion rather than the easy unity of exclusion. |   Know Either
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:21861 rec.audio:18283
From: glenn@sloth.ncsl.nist.gov
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.audio
Subject: FOLLOWUP: X-10 Powermid Remote Extender
Date: 12 Jan 93 15:03:40 GMT
Reply-To: glenn@sloth.ncsl.nist.gov
Organization: N.I.S.T
Posting-Front-End: Shinbun -- the OpenLook newsreader



I was so impressed by the favorable responses that I bought an initial
pair (with the hopes of buying a few more transmitters if things
worked well).  We have a 4 level split foyer house of modest size. 
I put each unit in different corners at extreme levels and the units worked
very well.  The only problem seems to be the ability to send a continuous
signal.  I had to keep pushing the volume button on the remote (instead
of just holding it down) to change the volume.  I'm impressed enough
to buy more transmitters.  Does anyone know where I can get these 
for less than $29.99/unit?  Someone mentioned J&R, anyone have a telephone
number for them?  I'm also looking for a mail-order place for 
Pioneer Receivers, any suggestions?


Thanx again!

Rob G.
glenn@osi.ncsl.nist.gov


Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: guru@camelot.bradley.edu (Jerry Whelan)
Subject: Re: When is a dill pickle Kosher?
Organization: The Smelly Ditch
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 93 07:19:20 GMT

	I've been told that the `true' label for kosher products is
a little k in a circle similar to the copyright symbol.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
``written by a drunken insane pathological liar''        guru@stasi.bradley.edu
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: haluk@merlin.dev.cdx.mot.com (Haluk Gumrukcu)
Subject: Just a Question
Originator: haluk@turlough.dev.cdx.mot.com
Organization: Motorola Codex, Canton, MA
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 19:33:27 GMT


How fair/legal for non-smokers (along with smokers) to decide on cigarette
prices?

Just out of curiosity.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: ker@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (kenneth.roser)
Subject: Re: Bread makers: recommendations?
Organization: AT&T
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 02:11:17 GMT

In article <1993Jan8.174744.20568@zia.aoc.nrao.edu> gvanmoor@nrao.edu writes:
>Being in the market for a bread maker myself I'm following the discussions with
>interest. Two points have not been addressed yet, and therefore I'd like to ask
>for opinions:
>
>2) Once one has decided for a certain brand, how does one choose between
>the various models. For instance, is a separate 'yeast dispenser' better?
>Are some better suited for whole wheat bread than others, and what
>makes them so?

The approach I'm taking is to call Panasonic and Hitachi and others and get
their sales literature on the bread machines.  It's so hard to shop and compare
features when one store has one Panasonic model and another store
has another Panasonic model.  I plan on picking the model I want from the
literature and then go looking for a store that has it.
-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ken Roser - WA2VCI - ker@mtgzfs3.att.com - AT&T Bell Laboratories - 908-957-5822
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: schwartz@nynexst.com (Steven Schwartz)
Subject: Re: NES + 19 games STILL for sale... LATEST OFFER!
Originator: schwartz@baba
Reply-To: schwartz@nynexst.com
Organization: Expert Systems Lab., NYNEX Sci. and Tech., White Plains NY
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 93 19:26:48 GMT


In article <1993Jan4.150730.17793@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu>, daw@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Dave Webb) writes:
> FOR SALE!
> 	Nintendo Entertainment System
> 	...
> 
> PRICE:  * BEST REASONABLE OFFER * 
> 
> NOTE!!
> 	BEST CURRENT OFFER IS $170.00 plus shipping and handling

Down here in New York, we call this an "auction."
-- 
Steven H. Schwartz		Expert Systems Laboratory
schwartz@nynexst.com		NYNEX Science and Technology Center
PROFS: SCHWARTZ@UNIX		500 Westchester Avenue
914-644-2960			White Plains NY 10604
From: pearl@spectacle.sw.stratus.com (Dan Pearl)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: shattering Corelle dish - update
Date: 4 Jan 1993 18:22:57 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Software Engineering
NNTP-Posting-Host: spectacle.sw.stratus.com

In article <4JAN199312211514@eldyn.gsfc.nasa.gov> goldberg@eldyn.gsfc.nasa.gov (Patti Twigg) writes:
>In December I posted about a corelle dish that shattered in the
>microwave while heating pizza on it. I wrote to Corning, and
>wanted to share some of the information I got. Also, about
>4 days after the original breakage, I had a bowl break into 3
>pieces when I was making instant oatmeal in it one morning.
>The reply letter included a 'use and care' guide with it, as
>well as warranty information. Apparently, they only warranty
>free replacement for 1 year after purchase. 'Although Corelle
>dinnerware is resistant to chipping and breaking, it is a glass
>product. A drop or knock against a hard object may cause the
>dinnerware to break on impact or cause it to be more susceptible to
>breakage at a later time'. Also, the booklet had instructions for
>loading the dishwasher, basically saying not to let the dishes come
>into contact with each other.

Additional Use and Care Hints for Corelle(TM)

* Any attempt to clean Corelle(TM) with any cleaner more abrasive
  than soap suds will release encapsulated cyanide gas.  

* The patterns imprinted on your Corelle(TM) Livingware(R) are meant
  for fleeting decorative use only.  Extended staring at the patterns
  may cause permanent retinal damage.

* Stacking Corelle(TM) is not recommended, as the pieces may fuse
  or "cold-weld" to each other.

* Use of powerful corrosives such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid,
  lemon juice, or chili will cause Corelle(TM) to vaporize.

* Like any fine glassware product, exposure to thermal extremes may cause
  Corelle(TM) to violently explode into thousands of razor-sharp pieces.
  Therefore, do not expose Corelle(TM) pieces to the sun, or use with
  hot foods if the ambient temperature is below 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

* Do not allow animals to eat off of Corelle(TM).  There is nothing
  wrong with that except it looks revolting.  Use a pet dish, you slob.

* After extended storage, brownish-grey spots may form on the surface 
  of Corelle(TM).  This is perfectly normal for fine glassware, and
  indicates demonic posession.  Eating off of posessed dinnerware is
  not recommended.
-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Pearl  **  Stratus Computer, Inc.  **  pearl@spectacle.sw.stratus.com

Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: henry@ADS.COM (Henry Mensch)
Subject: Re: Dedicated ATM card?
Organization: Advanced Decision Systems; a div of Booz, Allen & Hamilton
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 19:25:17 GMT

billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) wrote: 
->I don't know why they would want that. Since it is an 800 number, they
->have your complete phone number, as soon as you call.

that's a value-added service (number delivery at the time of call
costs extra).  number delivery at billing time is free.

besides, you don't necessarily want to use the number of the phone
being used for the inquiry (i might want to inquire about ATM
availability before i leave for east oilspill, new jersey).


--
# henry mensch / booz, allen & hamilton, inc.  / <henry@ads.com>
# "fight the real enemy."  -- sinead o'connor, and many others.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: kenny@osf.org (Kenneth Crudup)
Subject: Re: Emergency light and heat
Organization: Open Software Foundation
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 21:41:40 GMT

In article <C0r5Ix.vI@news.cso.uiuc.edu>
acheng@ncsa.uiuc.edu (Albert Cheng) writes:

>Horror story 2:
>After snow storm, power failed.  An old man turned on his gas
>stove to warm the house.  It consumed all oxygen in the house
>and he died of suffocation upstairs in bed.

Please go and verify this- I don't buy it. "Consumed all the oxygen in the
house"? Did he live in a perfectly sealed home? He must have, as a gas stove
running all night WILL NOT "use all the oxygen". We used to live in a housing
project where the heat was never warm enough, and my mother used to run the
gas stove all night to keep the place warm. I mean, it takes like 5 hours to
cook a turkey.

I bet the guy lost the flame and died from the natural gas.

	-Kenny

-- 
Kenny Crudup, Contractor, OSF DCE QA
OSF, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142	+1 617 621 7306
kenny@osf.osf.org			OSF has nothing to do with this post.
	  Religion: The longest-running gag ever played on Mankind.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,misc.consumers.house
From: perley@cabot.balltown.cma.COM (Don Perley)
Subject: Re: Rechargable Battery Source Needed (and a Query)
Organization: New York State Institute for Sebastian Cabot Studies
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 15:06:13 GMT

In article <1993Jan5.080932.191@ipact.com> lakia@ipact.com writes:
>In article <1993Jan4.150614.6635@kodak.kodak.com>, marulli@kodak.kodak.com (Dave x71244/RDCS/2-205-KO) writes:

>> What about mixing NiCads and standard? Rumor has it that I will weaken
>> both types of batteries very rapidly. True?


>Mixing batteries in series will not cause any adverse
>effects.  However, because of how they wear out may
>cause you to mistakenly replace wrong batteries.

Yes there can be adverse effects!  If you start with fully charged
nicads and fresh alkalines, the nicads will die before the alkalines.
Then the alkalines will start to reverse charge the nicads, which is
bad for them.

This is also a bit of a problem if you use all nicads and their
capacities aren't well matched.  Some devices designed for nicads will
cut themselves off when the voltage drops (the first cell dies) even
though they could continue running at the lower voltage.

-don perley



-- 
perley@balltown.cma.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,soc.culture.japan,sci.electronics,soc.culture.african.american,misc.education,misc.entrepreneurs
From: cole@unix.SRI.COM (Susan Cole)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,sci.med
Subject: heated gloves?
Date: 13 Jan 93 00:51:19 GMT
Followup-To: misc.consumers
Organization: SRI International, Menlo Park, California

I've directed followups to misc.consumers, but sent the original post to
sci.med as well since I think some people there will be interested.

I have a condition (Raynaud's disease) that causes some of my fingers to lose
all circulation and turn white up to the second joint as a result of exposure
to even moderate cold.  Wearing gloves helps some, but is far from an
adequate solution, probably since my fingers aren't generating any heat and
so there isn't much to trap in the gloves.

At any rate, a year or so ago I saw a baby bottle warmer that worked on a
chemical reaction and was "rechargeable" (by microwaving).  After recharging,
the heat stayed potential until released by mashing the warmer a certain
way.  Since then I've had my eye out for something similar in a glove, but no
luck so far.  Well, in the Sharper Image catalog they have "bun warmers" (ie
stadium seats), that are rechargeable and stay warm up to four hours, but the
shape isn't quite right :-).

So does anyone know where to get rechargeable chemically-heated gloves?
Before you reply, note that I don't want the kind, advertised by Eddie Bauer
and L.L. Bean, that stay warm for 12 hours but use a throw-away chemical packet
insert.  I can't afford several bucks a day to keep my hands comfortable!
But if anyone has a source for REACHARGEABLE warming gloves, please, please
let me know.

Thanks!

Newsgroups: misc.consumers,soc.culture.japan,sci.electronics,soc.culture.african.american,misc.education,misc.entrepreneurs
From: thomasd@tps.COM (Thomas W. Day)
Subject: Re: DOES AMERICA SAY YES TO JAPAN? - Off track!!
Organization: TPS
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 18:40:29 GMT

In article <1993Jan8.230830.7952@island.COM> fester@island.COM (Mike Fester) writes:
>Personal aside to Mr Day: I respond to this series from soc.culture.japan. I
>have seen seen my rebuttals show up on all the groups in the above Newsgroups
>line, as well as in other groups. If you will edit out the groups you are not
>reading (other than scj), we can continue this without annoying the people in
>other groups, who may not have as much an interest in it as you or I.

Thanks, I am new to NET services and didn't notice that the listing on the 
replys I was following were growing.  I've since figured it out and I cut 
everything but the one I can read out of the header.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: josh@Happy-Man.com (Joshua_Putnam)
Subject: Re: Canadian proof (not) that taxation lowers cigarette consumption
Reply-To: Joshua_Putnam@happy-man.com
Organization: Happy Man Corp., Vashon Island, WA 98070-7399
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 17:42:58 GMT

In <C0pK5E.8BB@plato.ds.boeing.com> simnet@plato.ds.boeing.com (Mark R Poulson) writes:

>In article <27763@sybase.sybase.com>, joe@sybase.com (Joseph Weinstein) writes:
>> Dean Edell on KGO revealed some data about canadian tobacco consumption, where
>> taxation raised the cost of cigarettes to about $3 a pack. The data show that
>> prior to the tax increase, per capita consumption was equal to the U.S. In the
>> few years since the taxation the consumption rate has dropped by 30%.

>How did they determine that consumption decreased -- by counting the number
>of cigarette packs sold? If so, they they aren't counting the hordes of
>Canadians that cross the border here into Washington every weekend who buy
>as much of our cheap gas and cheap smokes as they can without paying a duty fee.

Despite Canadian consumption, U.S. tobacco production is in a 
long-term decline.  In 1982 dollars, tobacco manufacturing dropped 
from $9,561 million in 1980 to $3,080 million in 1989.  Per
capita consumption dropped from 7.9 lb/yr to 5.7 lb/yr over the
same period.

U.S. smoking rates have declined rapidly, too.  In 1979, 43% of
18-25 year olds, and 37% of those over 25, smoked.  By 1991, this
dropped to 32% and 29%, respectively.

Because the U.S. anti-smoking business has been going for a long
time, 1980s numbers hide a large overall drop during the
1960s and 1970s.  1970 tobacco consumption was 9.7 lb/yr per
capita, 70% more than in 1989.
-- 
 Joshua_Putnam@happy-man.com    Happy Man Corp.  206/463-9399 x102
 4410 SW Pt. Robinson Rd., Vashon Island, WA  98070-7399  fax x108
 We publish SOLID VALUE for the intelligent investor.  NextMail OK
Info free; sample $20: Send POSTAL addr: Solid-Value@happy-man.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.audio
From: hirai@cc.swarthmore.edu (Eiji Hirai)
Subject: Re: FOLLOWUP: X-10 Powermid Remote Extender
Organization: Information Services, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, USA
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 23:41:23 GMT

garyp@rmtc.paramax.com (Gary Palangian [RMTC/ISP]) writes:
:I would order Pioneer from Computability at 1-800-558-0003.

I've had excellent experience with Tewksbury Audio/Video.  They're a mom+pop
store who sell Laserdiscs and video equipment (including Pioneer receivers)
at very reasonable prices.

Unlike some stupid store saledroids, they really know their stuff too (or at
least the pop person).

The numbers for TAV are: 908-832-9064 voice
                         908-832-6363 fax

I don't work for them but am a very satisfied customer.

--
hirai@cc.swarthmore.edu (Eiji Hirai)    :     :    :   :  : :: ::: :::: :::::
Unix Geek for Swarthmore College        :     :    :   :  : :: ::: :::: :::::
Information Services, Swarthmore, PA, US.       Copyright 1993 by Eiji Hirai.
I don't speak for Swarthmore College.                    All Rights Reserved.
From: briang@bari.Eng.Sun.COM (Brian Gordon)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Wood vs. Presto-type logs
Date: 8 Jan 1993 00:48:52 GMT
Organization: Sun
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: bari

In article <1if8upINNnav@sixgun.East.Sun.COM> egreen@east.sun.com writes:
>In article 29046@ide.com, forman@ide.com (Bonnie Forman) writes:
>>
>>  This is my first year using a fireplace, and I have some
>>  questions about what to burn.
>>
>>  *  I tried using those presto-logs.  
>>	[...]
>>     - Can you really only burn one at a time?
>
>no.
>	[...]

Back when the "paraffin and sawdust" logs were a novelty, I visited a friend's
house where there was a large charred spot in a very irregular pattern on the
carpet in front of his hearth, with some sharred wood showing through in
spots.  When I asked about it, he explained that it was the result of using a
2/3 burned up "presto log" to light the next one (he just piled the second on
top of the first).  Before it got hot enough to ignite, the second one melted,
and a river of paraffin flowed down over the first log and _did_ ignite.  By
the time he notices the problem, he had a burning pool of wax on his carper, a
good 18" in front of the fireplace.  That stuff is HELL to put out!

Maybe technology has improved, but _I_ sure as hell wouldn't risk it.

--
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
| Brian G. Gordon	briang@Sun.COM    		briang@netcom.COM     |
| B.GORDON2 on GENie	70243,3012 on CompuServe	BGordon on AOL	      |
:-:- Hi! I am a .signature virus. Copy me into your .signature to join in! -:-:
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:21775 rec.autos:31394 rec.autos.tech:17642
From: bt768@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Orville L. Ballard)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.autos,rec.autos.tech
Subject: Re: Advice on 4 door hatchback models
Date: 9 Jan 1993 16:43:13 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


I want to ditto the previous response. I shopped and test drove
various small cars for about two months. I requested advice from
fellow netters just as you have done and got some good responses.
I am a large person (6'2" -250lbs) and have never driven anything
but full size GM products. The only small car that I felt truly
comfortable in was the Dodge Shadow (same as the Sundance). I 
finally bought mine about a month ago. I am very happy with it so far
I drive 1000 to 1500 miles a week in my new job and never feel
beat down when I get home. I could have gotten something more 
economical but everything I drove that was higher rated mpg felt
sluggish. I am getting about 28-29 mpg highway compared to the 14
I had been getting in my Suburban. It is very peppy and responsive in 
freeway conditions. On one deserted road I ran it up to 110 mph
just to see how it did. It did great and still had plenty of power left 
over (I do not normally exceed the speed limit at all). I slowed it back
down because it started feeling a little light at that speed.
After installing a quality sound system and cruise control and 
taxes etc. I had to write a check for slightly over $10k.