Rant 251 7/9/12 Subject: Pills and Potions

Rant number 251

Since the first caveman got clonked on the head by an angry mammoth, we've looked for ways to make our pain go away. In those days, people used 'magic' berries, roots and barks to stop the pain.

hundreds of years following this, medicine was the province of shamans, witches and wizards, healers men & the like - all people who came up with ways of relieving pain and 'curing' illness.

Over the years, this evolved -as did our understanding. We removed the magic and replaced it with science.

Now, one thing has been in common since money existed and since people needed healing. Prophet.

Why do anything for free, when you can sell it?

Which is where modern medicine often falls.

If you want to get well these days, you don't need to go and find a healer. You can go to any shop or pharmacist and buy a pill or powder or cream to improve your symptoms.

Which is really great in some ways.

The thing is though, that where money is involved, competition follows, which is the only reason I can think for all these new expensive variants.

Asprin is made from the bark of the willow tree. You can intact, relieve your symptoms by chewing upon this (although I'd probably just buy some aspirin) and works as a basic pain reliever. Then there is paracetamol, ibuprofen and various opiates such as codeine.

These need to be sold in a specific quantity and using specific concentrations, so there isn't much of a way to compete with someone else with these as standard.

But that doesn't stop brands trying. Paracetamol can cost you 45p for 16 tablets in the supermarket, or about £3.50 for a name brand. As for the difference? The tablets are printed with the brands logo.

Then there are 'liquid capsules' for 'faster action' and all that rubbish. It just strikes me as a good way to buy an expensive version for no reason!

Always read the label and find out what wool they are trying to pull over your eyes.

Rant over.

Rant 78 - 18/3/12 Subject: Printing costs

Rant number 78


Todays rant is one that has - just this minute popped into my head. Its a simple one, and something that has annoyed me since I had to begin buying things myself.

The costs of bloody printing!

Speaking from an admittedly not terribly informed perspective. I have a reason to believe that ink is not actually expensive stuff. I mean, if you go down to any pound shop - you can probably buy a pack of 20 (maybe more) biro's, which will cover a vast area (and will produce many doodles. I really like doodling, mainly penguins - but sometimes other stuff...)

Why then, does it cost so much to produce ink cartridges - or even get them refilled?

The cheapest start at around £8 (remember, for that you could buy yourself 160 biros (what a lot of doodles of penguins that could provide me with!)) and they carry on into frightening money.

Yes, I am sure there are reasons for it to be expensive, but surely there are also some truly preposterous profits that must be being made for these prices to exist.

There are some printers in fact that cost less than even one of the ink cartridges to run them. How bloody warped is that? It just doesn't make sense.

The whole thing really is a bloody rip-off.

Then there is the fact that you don't even get a full ink cartridge with a printer any more. It seems really rather bloody cheeky to me - particularly when they know that you will have to sell your first born child, just to afford to get a new cartridge.

I have in my house 2 printers (from mine & the wives university days) which we require infrequent usage of. The thing is, another scam of the printer companies is that they are not made to be used infrequently. As such, every time I want to use the bloody printer, I have to clean the heads on the cartridge, wasting yet more precious ink.

The whole thing is a scam! Surely in the modern world there is another option?

Rant over.