PECOS ENTERPRISE

Daily Newspaper and Tourism Guide

for Trans Pecos, Big Bend, Far West Texas

Tourism|__|News|__|Sports|__|Scores|__|Lifestyles|
Golden Years|__|Living off the Land|__|Subscribe Enterprise|
Advertising|__|Alpine Avalanche|__|Monahans News|__|E-Forum|__|Lotto
Links|__|Photos|__|Archives|__|Classified|__|ENTERPRISE HOME PAGE

Opinion

Wednesday, June 18, 1997

ALL THINGS
CONSIDERED


By
Cara Alligood

Newer not necessarily
means things are better


Skip to next item
How many of you out there are noticing an increase in mail being sent to
the wrong residence over the past couple months or so?

It isn't all the fault of the mail carriers, because sometimes I get
mail that is delivered to my house as it is addressed, but it is being
sent to someone with another name, possibly a former occupant of our
house. Of course, I get mail for the family across the street, too.

The strangest thing though, is that I get mail for all the other
Alligoods, and none of them have ever lived at our house. The mail is
all addressed to other people, but at our address. Most of it is just
junk mail, but some things are correspondence from organizations which
my in-laws do business with.

It appears that someone has gone into a database somewhere, decided that
everyone in town with our last name lives at my house, and reassigned
them to our address.

I still get mail at my in-laws' house every once in a while, mostly from
catalog companies that I haven't ordered anything from in over a year.

The problem of getting each others' mail was somewhat understandable
when we lived just one block from my husband's parents. We had the same
last name and house number as they did, just one block over. However,
the problem actually got worse after we moved to our current address,
which has no similarity to their address at all.

Now I hear that the postal "service" is printing a new series of stamps
with a letter instead of a denomination on them in anticipation of
another rate hike. It seems that as prices have steadily risen over the
years, accuracy has made a proportional decline. I don't remember having
these kinds of things happen to me or my parents back when stamps only
cost 15 cents, less than half of their current price.

By the way, my hobby as a youth was pen-palling, and I had 65 pen-pals
at one time. We often used nicknames on our mail, and it still was
delivered in a timely fashion, and to the correct recipient.

What has happened over the last decade or two? It almost seems that
technological advances that were supposed to make everything faster and
more accurate correspond inversely with a general lessening in the areas
those advances were supposed to improve.

Now everything that goes haywire is blamed on a computer glitch and it
takes twice as long to correct. It isn't just evidenced by mail going to
the wrong house. The problem also shows up often at the checkout counter
when items without price tags that humans can read scan wrong. Cars now
malfunction when their internal computers don't work right. (I miss
being able to fix the old Chevy Nova I used to have - back when I didn't
even need any metric tools!)

It looks to me like newer isn't necessarily better, because things don't
seem to work any better than they used to, they just cost a whole lot
more.

Editor's Note: Cara Alligood is an Enterprise writer and advertising administrator.

CRITIC'S CORNER

Mouth-watering recipes found in two books


Return to top
There are two new books that will help cooks make low-fat breakfasts as
well as great muffins. Both books are a compilation of recipes from
bed-and-breakfast inns across the country and inns in many states are
featured in the books.

As we all know, the popularity of bed-and-breakfast inns has really
grown in the last few years and part of that is the meals, particularly
the mouthwatering breakfasts.

Recipes requested by those travelers have been collected in a series of
cookbooks which includes these two latest, Innkeepers' Best Low-Fat
Breakfasts and Innkeepers' Best Muffins ($9.95 each, Down to Earth
Publications, St. Paul, MN.).

The paperbacks were compiled and written by veteran-inngoer Laura Zahn
and each showcases 60 recipes that B&B innkeepers across the country
consider their most outstanding. The books also include a write-up on
each inn, so readers can get a "taste" of the B&B and whet their
appetite for B&B travel.
From coast-to-coast, B&Bs range from elegant inns to simple homes.

These are recipes that innkeepers like. They might be quick and easy or
use ingredients often on hand, but they get `ooohs and aaahs' every
time. Zahn's first B&B cookbooks were the regional Wake Up & Smell the
Coffee series.
Innkeepers' Best Muffins includes muffin creations such as Apple Crunch,
Banana Pistachio, Chocolate Cheesecake, Cranberry Orange, Ginger Pear,
Grandmother's Strawberry, Orange Marmalade, Pumpkin Apple Streusel,
Peanut Butter Bran, Raisin Bran, Spicy Peach and White Chocolate.
Doesn't that make your mouth water?

Innkeepers' Best Low-Fat Breakfasts includes beverage, fruit, entree,
muffin & scone, and bran & coffeecake recipes that range from lower-fat
to fat-free. Selections include Creme Caramel Overnight French Toast,
Raspberry Fizz, Granny Smith Oatmeal Waffles, Lemon-Lovers Muffins,
Pineapple Bread and Blueberry Gingerbread with Lemon Curd.

The new books are available at bookstores or easily can be ordered by
them. You can order direct with a Visa or Mastercard by phoning
800-585-6211 or fax 612-488-7862 or mail a check to Down to Earth
Publications, 1032 W. Montana, St. Paul, MN 55117 (include $12.95 per
book for mail delivery, $13.95 per book for UPS delivery).
- MAC McKINNON

Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail: news@bitstreet.com
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP Materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.

Copyright 1997 by Pecos Enterprise
We support Newspapers in Education

Return to Top

Return to Home Page