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Christmas Party

by traindriver on Mon Nov 17 19:25:58 PST 2008

Christmas Party Jack wakes up with a huge hangover after attending his company's Christmas Party. He didn't even remember how he got home from the party... As bad as he was feeling, he wondered if he did something wrong. Jack had to force himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he saw is a couple of aspirins next to a glass of water on the side table. And, next to them, a single red rose! Jack sits up and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. He looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotlessly clean. So is the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins, cringes when he sees a huge black eye staring back at him in the bathroom mirror. Then he notices a note hanging on the corner of the mirror written in red with little hearts on it and a kiss mark from his wife in lipstick: 'Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to get groceries to make you your favorite dinner tonight. I love you, darling! Love, Jillian. ' He stumbles to the kitchen and sure enough, there is hot breakfast, steaming hot coffee and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating. Jack asks,' Son... what happened last night?' 'Well, you came home after 3 A.M., drunk and out of your mind. You fell over the coffee table and broke it, and then you puked in the hallway, and got that black eye when you ran into the door.' Confused, he asked his son, 'So, why is everything in such perfect order and so clean? I have a rose, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me??' His son replies, 'Oh THAT!... Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you screamed, 'Leave me alone (*woman*), I'm married!!'' Broken Coffee Table $239.99 Hot Breakfast $4.20 Two Aspirins $.38 Saying the right thing, at the right time......PRICELESS * (edited to remove profanity ;) )

Re: Maybe not just Hummer [tired_old_dave]

by tired_old_dave on Sun Nov 16 08:05:09 PST 2008

The three don't want to merge into one. No money for the automakers. Some still don't understand the manipulation they are reacting to. war of the roses, the red army the white army, reds going ballistic against the blues. And a son of a military man who brags about not voting has tried to get people to read (history if nothing else) and use the instrument in the cranium and not just mimic fear mongerers. The artcle linked ends nicely. Maybe the Chinese will be building our cars in the plants they bought this holiday season. http://www.star-telegram.com/ed_wallace/story/1040507.html

Re: Irritating [gagrice]

by dallasdude1 on Sat Nov 15 09:30:22 PST 2008

Are Americans paid more? The numbers tell the story. In the United States the unemployment rate is holding at about 6.5 percent, despite a booming economic recovery, while in Canada and Western Europe, it averages around 11 percent, with Spain topping the list at 23 percent. These figures do not take into account the large numbers of workers who are soon to be laid off, as the European Union begins to go through some of the cost-cutting that American industries have already endured. Japan is at a comfortable unemployment level of 2.9 percent. But that does not include many workers who are kept in make-work jobs as part of Japan's lifetime employment policies. The problem looks somewhat different from a wage perspective. According to the Labor Department, total compensation -- wages, health benefits, vacations -- for the typical American manufacturing worker has declined slightly or remained flat since the mid-1970's, while in Europe and Japan it has increased by 40 percent. Minimum wage levels tend to be higher in Europe, with cost-of-living increases and four-week annual vacations virtually guaranteed. Average manufacturing compensation in Germany is $26 an hour. In America, it is $16. What the Labor Department calls low-wage noncollege-educated workers and workers from disadvantaged backgrounds have suffered even more in the United States. In the 1980's, their wages fell 15 to 20 percent when adjusted for inflation, while in Europe and Japan these wages rose about 15 to 20 percent. But on the flip side, between 1973 and 1991, the United States economy created more than 35 million jobs. In the same period, the European Community generated only eight million new jobs, even though it has about one-third more people. In large part, this is because of Europe's relatively comfortable social safety nets, which have left many workers preferring to stay on welfare rather than take the sort of low-paying jobs accepted by many workers in the United States. In most of the European Union, an unemployed worker can receive close to $1,000 a month indefinitely. In addition, Europe's highly regulated job markets, where it is very difficult to dismiss workers, have left employers wary of creating jobs. The Potential Lessons. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E7D8133DF937A25750C0A96295826- 0&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Re: Invest the difference... [nvbanker]

by andre1969 on Sun Nov 09 11:12:45 PST 2008

Well hopefully they're thinking long-term, and that fuel prices will ultimately go back up. Plus, while it's hard to put a dollar figure on it, there is the satisfaction of knowing you're conserving fuel, plus the convenience of not having to stop off and refuel as often. I'm sort of going through the same thing with the heat pump I had installed back in September. I made the decision back over the summer, when home heating oil hit $5.60+ per gallon. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if it was down under $3.00 per gallon. By the time you factor in all the ductwork, and the electrical upgrades my old house required, that sucker set me back $12,650. It's going to take a long time to recoup that initial cost. I averaged about 450 gallons of oil per year, although last winter was a bit mild. Plus I did some insulating and sealing, which helped a bit. My initial estimate was that my electric bill might go up around $500-600 total for the year because of the heat pump. It'll raise my bills in the winter, but in the summer, it'll probably lower them because the heat pump should be more efficient than the three window units I had been using. Also, the service contract for the furnace was running about $200 per year, and was going to go up to $300. So initially, I was figuring the thing might save me about $2200-2500 per year. More if oil prices rose. Or breakeven in 5-6 years, max. It might take longer now. But at least I'll have the comfort of central air throughout the whole house. Plus, now I have heat upstairs. The old oil furnace only had ducts downstairs, so heat rising up the stairwell was all that warmed up the upstairs, plus occasional space heater use. And I'll never again have to worry about turning off the window a/c in the kitchen if I want to use the microwave, for fear of tripping the circuit breaker. :P And while fuel prices are suddenly low again (we would've bitched about these prices back in the summer of 2004), I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they go up. I just hope people don't get too short-sighted and start dumping their hybrids for guzzlers again!

Re: Scion [boaz47]

by kdhspyder on Fri Nov 07 17:17:32 PST 2008

I don't deny that potentially the bloom is off the rose in terms of a the Scions being a dynamic minibrand within Toyota but nevertheless it is still solid. Also as I pointed out in a prior post the currency situation along with a depressed NA market means that there is no incentive whatsoever to pump money into the US lineup. The Scions are low-margin vehicles for everyone, manufacturer, dealer and seller. Given this low margin and the fact that all Scions are made in Japan it makes no sense to intentionally take a 10-20% currency penalty. Again note that except for the very low priced Yaris and the Prius ALL the higher volume Toyo/Lexus vehicles made in Japan are down significantly. I read this as intentional on the part of the product planners there in redirecting the flow of products away from the US to other countries with stronger currencies. 2009 may be much more of the same with the current exchange rates.

Re: Scion [kdhspyder]

by boaz47 on Fri Nov 07 15:21:03 PST 2008

Still dropping from156k to 120k is by no means saying things are just fine. It is also a confirmation of fewer sales in 08 over 07 as Nioopn said. No one called the death knell but still sales are off just like Nippon and I said. Scion is no longer hot according to Toyota themselves. So when you see water in the bilge it might be time to turn on the pumps before it fills the cabin. Looking at things through rose colored glasses and saying their sales are just fine is dis agreeing with Toyota themselves. Toyota posted the unit sales drop and Autoweek simply re posted them. Now looking at the chart I can imagine how happy the stock holders must have been with the results. I don't think a condescending, "Its ok don't worry" would have cut it in a board room meeting. It more than likely wouldn't make anyone smile if you said, at least we aren't Chrysler. This is a new experience for toyota and their stock holders.