Oh, the horror January 29, 2025
I have to start off this week with some sad news. It might only be Phil Brueckner and I, but for us, Cherry Blossoms are a religion. Hershey’s Canada grew out of the Walter M. Lowney Company founded in Boston in 1883. That company operated a series of chocolate stores in the area and published a few cookbooks. A Canadian branch of the company was in operation sometime in the 1890’s and in 1905 they built a factory in Montreal. Today the company is branded as Hershey Canada Inc and apparently, they have lost their frigging minds. Hershey’s have confirmed that they have discontinued the creation of Cherry Blossoms and since it was unannounced, most retailers have already run out of stock. Although they couldn’t provide a reason for the decision, they do have some advice for fans of the candy: buy them now if you can and enjoy what’s left. That is business shorthand for … Get Stuffed. Cadbury still makes Caramilk.
The offers were OK but there was a new wrinkle on their continuity spend. You spend $200 or more before taxes, present your Optimum Card or App at time of transaction and get 28K (14% guaranteed) in points. That's is 40% better than the usual 10% deal. Now the wrinkle. One time in five, the app will spit out 58K in points for that same spend. That's 29% back! One time in fifty, almost half your purchase is reimbursed. It's gimmicky, but I can see a lot of people pushing their purchase up to that mark in order to play along. Gambling With The Groceries I call it. The Zehr’s flyer was just medium although those whole chickens I like so much are on sale and I included a Ready to Eat BBQ version on sale for three bucks off. There is also a Spend $30 on fresh poultry for 3K back in points. Lets just say, if you have room to to stock up on fresh chicken, this would be your lucky week! A whole fresh chicken is usually about $13. Sale price, you are getting it for $7. Then you get 10% back in chicken continuity (that might make a good band name?), makes it $6.30, then you get 14% more off your overall purchase, that's another 98 cents. I mean they are giving it away? Buy five? Have a chicken carving party? I would still go light this week but if you are shopping for a larger household than ours and are anywhere in the $150 range, then you might as well push on through and grab a bunch of chickens and a bunch of points. Here is my list, to go with your list:
This was a great article in the National Observer. He thanks Trump for helping identify all the closeted traitors in Canada. Usually it takes intelligence work, phone taps, etc. … but Trump flushed them out in a week … for free
Short version? The Premier of Alberta. The Canadian Conservative Party. Those Protest Trucker folks. All are very excited about the political shift in the US and hoping for the same here. You know, more guns, less healthcare. Who knew?
Oh, and Poilievre had a big fund raiser at this huge mansion in the burbs last week. It was owned by this billionaire who owns four large FOR-PROFIT private healthcare facilities in the U.S. Also … Who Knew?
This is Maddie’s favourite time of the year. We go fishing and she gets to terrorize an absolutely gigantic yellow lab named after a rave drug. I will get you a visual for next week. In the meantime, the cuteness meter went off last week when I was up there. Here ya go …
