Years ago I sent a letter to a cereal company (don't remember which one now) suggesting that they could expand their business by packaging nuclear waste materials because it was impossible to get their packages open. Never heard back from them, but lately I haven't read much about problems with nuclear waste either.

(I keep an X-acto knife in the kitchen, when it is necessary to surgically open a container.)

Deborah, I actually stopped buying a particular type of cereal because I got so annoyed at the hard-to-open packaging. It was a matter of principle. (I'll admit that I really do miss my morning allotment of Choco-Plasma Coated Crunchy Gummy Weasels With Extra Preservatives.)

I am surprised that the cereal companies have not gone to some sort of zip-lock-slider-top form of seal. If done right, the bags could easily be re-used for other things. I frequently wash and re-use the larger zip-lock bags anyway; I'd do the same with their cereal bags.

I bet the deli meat companies that have started using the reusable Glad plastic containers have seen an increase in business.

I suspect the profit margin on cereal is too thin to support even the slightest cost increase, and the competition too fierce to support a price hike. Plus, aren't the seams on most of those cereal bags glued? Having a zip-lock top might give the appearance of more durability and protection than is actually warranted.

Yes, I think the seams are sorta hot-sealed-glued. You are right about price margins---I didn't think of that (I was thinking about my fingernails :)

Well, I certainly wouldn't argue with your priorities!

A more permanent version with both you and Arianna is over here.

Me I like Chocolate Coated Sugar Bombs. :-)

Too bad Blogrunner's aggregator software apparently can't properly render "é."

Wanna guess how much traffic that NYT link generated for the Gazette? Don't bother. It was about -- are you sitting down? -- ten clicks.

NYT. Eric, you are my Hero! You right up there with Hannah Montana. Now I have something to strive for. \jk\

John, you need to set your sights a little higher, amigo. ;-)

I was in Mesa Arizona last July and the temp was above 110, as high as 118 for two days. My entire day was spent looking forward to the sun going down so I could get in the pool.

I could literally feel my body sucking in the water, rehydrating itself.

When it's 90% humidity here in Louisiana, I try to remember that. But then nothing here can compare to the joy of slipping into the pool in the darkness...

update, your questionable content filter wouldn't let me abbreviate Arizona, following with the word "last." Strange. The "Z" followed by "la" was apparently a no-no. I have no idea why. What have I missed in the questionable department?

Donna, "zla" is an ancient Serbian epithet. I'm surprised your spam filter doesn't catch it! ;-)

Actually, all I can figure is that the character string found itself on my filter's blacklist as a part of a spammer's domain. There are several oddities like that, where the logic isn't obvious. Sorry for any problems it caused.

Re: humidity. I gotta tell you, I'll take 3% over 90% any day!

Re: "zla" is an ancient Serbian epithet. I'm surprised your spam filter doesn't catch it! ;-)

Years ago when we were using TypePad instead of WordPress, my blog suddenly would not let me post a piece about the (stupid) cat. David worked on it for an hour, and then in desperation, reworded the sentence and it worked! Don't speak ill of cats when using TypePad.

Yesterday, when I dropped the trash bag and it spilled on my kitchen floor, I said "Oh zla!"

This new knowledge will come in handy. Thanks!

Yeah, no problem. I'm thinking about franchising a new business: "Epithets R Us"