The Curmudgeon has two gripes today against CVS stores. For one thing, they attack when I'm weakest - before my morning coffee.

Yes, just in the past week, the local papers have started to wrap those irritating half-width advertising pages around the front section of the paper. It was bad enough once a week around the Sunday funnies. But now it's almost daily.

So in order to read the morning news, I have to peel away the trash page, and then figure out where to put it. All this while I'm waiting for the first gulp of coffee to reach my cerebellum.

I don't remember much at that hour of the morning. But I do remember that the main offending advertiser is CVS. A whack of the Curmudgeon's cane to you, CVS.

And another one for playing fast and loose with personal privacy. When you sign up on line for their Extra Care Card, the form includes a checkbox reading "Based on the Privacy Agreement below, do you wish to receive valuable coupons and offers by mail?"

Check yes, and you get CVS junk mail.

Check no, and it tells you that you need to agree to their Privacy Agreement.

Another whack of the Curmudgeon's cane to you, CVS.