Moving is like watching a train wreck in slow motion

Our move has gone completely off the tracks.  OMG, what were we thinking?

Actually our new apartment will be quite nice....when we get it all put together.  It's noticeably larger than our old apartment, and as it's more of a "loft" style it's much more open.  Yesterday SIL Donnie came over and helped me get all the furniture moved.  He was absolutely indespensible!  Thanks Donnie.  Now it's just trip after trip after trip bringing over the little stuff.

I have become such a minimalist.  I don't care how much stuff I sell, give away, or throw away, I still have too much.  The one good think to come of this so far is we have discovered that AT&T uVerse is light years ahead of Time Warner Cable.  We should have changed years ago.

Back to it.  Have a good day everyone.

S

Not good. Here's why....

According to a recent study by two really smart egghead economists, the rich got even richer in the past year.  Their numbers show that the top 10% of Americans took home over 50% of all income in this country, the highest concentration of wealth since 1913.  Breaking it down further, the top 1% brought home 22.5% of all income, the highest since the years right before The Great Depression.  *red flag!*

The top 1% saw their wealth increase by 20% from two years earlier, while the top .001% saw theirs increase 32%.  The authors point out that much of that increase was the result of special tax advantages the rich enjoy.  In contrast, the other 99% saw theirs increase by just 1%.

I'm not making a moral judgement here.  You can make up your own mind on that.  But what I am saying is that when this much wealth is concentrated in the hands of so few, the few cannot come close to spending it fast enough to generate new production, necessitating new hiring.  

A million people with $1 each could buy a million $1 widgets, requiring the widget factory to ramp up to make those one million widgets.  One wealthy person with $1M would have no need for a million widgets.  A hundred, or even a thousand....maybe.  But not a million.  Production at the widget factory would languish, meaning no new hiring.

This principle x cars, houses, washing machines, iPads, ceiling fans, etc, is what drives our economy.

Do you see where this is going?  The struggling 99% will more than likely have to resort to taking on more debt in order to make ends meet, even on an austerity budget.  The debt bubble will grow and grow until it eventually does what all bubbles do.

To make a fortune due to superior intellect or plain old fashioned hard work is good.  To make a fortune simply because the tax code gave you a wink and a nod will ultimately backfire and take us all down.  Again. 

Think.

S

Well played, Pootie-Pooh

It should show up on YouTube any second now and is sure to go viral....Russia's Vladimir Putin tap dancing all over Barack Obama's face.  Admit it Barack.  Students for years to come will be doing their Doctoral Dissertations on the many ways you botched your handling of the Syrian mess, and in contrast how Putin aced his opportunity.

Surely Barack understands the American people are tired of 10+ years of war, throwing our youth and our money into efforts to civilize those Heathens of the East.  There was no way in hell we were going to look kindly on picking a fight with Syria.  

If he had really wanted to punish Syria for their use of chemical weapons he would have just cold-cocked them like Presidents Reagan and Clinton did when they found someone kicking them in the shins:  Executive Order....no telegraphing your intentions....no hand-holding with Congress....just BAM!  Some quick strikes, done.

Instead President Obama popped off and drew a line in the sand, then realized he couldn't cash the check his mouth had written.  "Aw, come on Congress.  Jump in with me.  Then when it all hits the fan I can say, 'Hey, they said it was OK.'"

By contrast Vladimir Putin has pulled a rabbit out of his hat, coming across as a peacemaker.  Imagine that!  Pootie-Pooh, a man of peace.  Ha!  Not only is he getting Syria to put their chemical weapons under international control (really?), but he's putting some of his elite Spetsnaz commandos in to "advise" / fight the Syrian rebels.  That civil war is FINIS.  No one is going to back the rebels now....they're a losing cause.  Assad wins.

Vladimir Putin has effectively baled out Barack Obama.  He doesn't have to press for a vote in Congress that he would have lost anyway.  And we don't have to throw another few hundred million dollars (BILLION dollars?) that we don't have into that sewer we call the Mid-East. 

A lame-duck President has just become even more lame.  Don't look for anything else of importance to come out of his administration for the remainder of his term in office.  He'll take credit for a gradually improving economy, but really he's just along for the ride.   That will be his last hurrah.  He's spent.

Game, set, match;  Pootie-Pooh. 

S

She was in her element

My experience yesterday reminded me of the play I saw years ago called Defending the Caveman.  Basically it was just an amplification of the "men are hunters, women are gatherers" theme.  K could have been the female co-star....except it was a one-man show.

Yesterday K went to a department store for some clothes shopping.  What an eye opener!  I don't know how women do it.  How do they even know where to start to look for anything?

A man goes into a department store, he finds everything is all together on the second floor in the northeast corner.  He wants a suit, it's on the second floor, in the northeast corner.  He wants underwear, a belt, a shirt....it's on the second floor, in the northeast corner.  

A man goes in to buy a pair of pants, he goes straight to the second floor, northeast corner, buys his pants, and leaves.  Ten minutes, tops.

A woman goes into a department store, she finds the petite-casuals on the first floor, northwest corner.  Plus-size business attire, second floor, southwest corner.  Summerwear, scattered all over the first floor. Petite-business wear is on the first floor, south side of the building.  Eveningwear?  Try the second floor, behind the double doors, southwest corner.  Close out specials....first floor by the exit doors.  On and on....

*whew*

And once she buys what she went in for, SHE KEEPS SHOPPING FOR THE SAME THING SHE JUST BOUGHT!  Why?  She just bought it.  Go home.

Oooooooh no!   The game has just begun.  Now it's to the other end of the mall to start the same treasure hunt all over again, different store.  And of course she finds something she likes better than what she bought at the first store, which necessitates a return trip to the first store for the obligatory merchandise return.  Apparently a shopping trip isn't a success unless she returns something.  

So if the second store ALWAYS has something better than anything the first store has to offer, why not just make THAT the store you go to first? 

I know I could speed up the process by at least 60%, but when I try to offer my constructive criticism K calmly turns towards me, smiles, and says, "Look at you.  Now look at me.  Go wait in the car."

Yes dear.  :)

S

Saturday was a rare "double your fun" kind of day

Yesterday was both the first Saturday Cars and Coffee AND the 10th Annual Italian Car Club of North Texas car show.  Cars in the morning, football in the evening.  Doesn't get any better!

It was another miserably hot summer Texas day, but at least there were some clouds around that gave us a little respite.  I met my friend Neil around 7:30 and we promptly began comparing notes on how we would spend our lottery winnings.

We both agreed dropping a few coins on this custom Porsche would be a fun investment.

This BMW Z3 M Coupe is just odd enough to be interesting.  And I like the color, too.

The Audi TT seems to have lost some of it uniqueness, but I'd still like to have one.  This TT RS was slick!

I've never been a big fan of the Chevrolet "fiberglass coffin", but if the Lottery Commission said it was mandatory that all winners must buy one, I'd go for an older model like this.

My very first car was a 1965 Mustang.  Unfortunately it didn't look anything even remotely this good.

Next we went to "Something-or-Other Farms", a pleasant park-like setting in Grapevine,  just north of DFW airport. 

First car inside the gate....BAM....I'm met by a gorgeous classic Ferrari Daytona.

One of my two favorite Cars of the Day (it was truly a toss-up) was this 1967 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2, owned by McKinney, TX car dealer Pat Lobb.

It was pristine inside and out.  And the aroma of that fine cream-colored leather is still with me today.  So nice!

One of the Italian Car Club gate monitors must have been geographically challenged....he let in two British Triumphs.  :)

Interesting story of the day:  The owner of this beautiful 1985 (?) Alfa Romeo GTV6 bought it new from the Alfa dealer in San Francisco, trading in an old Toyota Celica on it (he got $3K for it).  The window sticker on the Alfa said $17,503, a pretty hefty chunk of change back in '85.  I'd say he was smart to hold on to it all these years.

This Alfa Romeo Guilia GTV was Neil's favorite of the day.  I must admit it was pretty special. :)

One of the most unusual cars there, a model that I'd never seen "in the flesh" before, was this '60 vintage Lamborghini Espada.  It was "different".  OK, who are we kidding....the proportions were just odd.  (Sorry Mr. Espada owner.)

One of the local Maserati dealers was there showing off the new, redesigned Quattroporte.  List price was $167K, and it was noticeably bigger than the old Quattroporte.  Too big IMO.

Here is my other personal "Co-Car of the Day"....a 1930's vintage Alfa Romeo 1600.  It was owned by a retired Coast Guard Commander who spends his summers in Seattle and his winters here, coming back early for just this event.  Thanks, Commander!

*OK...deep breath*   Today I'm prepared to "come out of the closet" and admit it:  I'm not really a car "petrolhead".  Instead, I'm an automotive "esthete" (noun:  esthete 1. a person who has or affects to have a special appreciation of beauty).  

I realized this when I kept seeing guys gathered around the open hoods of cars talking about camshafts and compression ratios and dry sumps and such, while I kept thinking, "I wish they'd close the hoods and boot lids so I can get some pictures of the fine lines on these beautiful cars."  ;)

Finally, my favorite window sticker of the day:

Hope you're enjoying your weekend.  Stay cool.  :)

S

Someone....STOP THE MADNESS!

Where will this all end?  Technology is running rampant.  I guess that isn't exactly a "stop the presses"*  news story, but things get more and more outlandish by the day.  Have you heard about this one....Galaxy Gear?

Earlier this week Samsung introduced their smart watch, in reality a computer with a 1.63" touchscreen, a camera, runs 70 different apps, and who knows what else.  Sony has one, too, and it's rumored Apple will have one out shortly also.  Shades of Dick Tracy!*

This thing wouldn't work for me.  First of all, clumsy as I am, I'd trip over the extension cord.  Second, can you imagine how tiny the keyboard is?  With my fat fingers the keyboard on an iPhone is barely manageable.  A 1.63" screen....no way!

I hadn't noticed, frankly, but according to the article I read many / most kids today don't even own a watch.  You walk up to a kid on a college campus and tap on your wrist, the universal symbol for "what time is it?", and the kid will just give you a blank stare.  Now you'll be able to tap on your wrist, and they can Google "what time is it?" for you.  I suppose that's progress.  :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some watch trivia for you:  One of the Queens Elizabeth from centuries ago was once seen wearing a watch on her wrist.   Fashion conscious women mimicked her, but not men.  Men preferred to carry pocket watches on chains.

One of the early European aviation pioneers, Alberto Santos Dumont, changed all that.  Back in the early 20th Century successful aviation flights were measured in seconds or minutes.  It was difficult for an early aviator, with all hands and feet working rudders and throttles and sticks, to fly his machine and still be able to reach into a pocket and pull out a watch. 

Being the most daring, dashing man in all of Paris at the time, welcomed in all the most fashionable places, Alberto's friend Louis Cartier specially designed for him a watch that could be worn on the wrist with a leather strap, making it easier for him to record the duration of his flights and still keep his "hands on the wheel".  Before long everyone wanted one, and the wrist watch became the norm for all well-dressed men.  Until now, apparently.

If you enjoy aviation history, I suggest you read Wings of Madness: Alberto Santos Dumont and the Invention of Flight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guess what day it is?  Guess...what...day...it...is?  Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike....guess what day it is?  IT'S FRIDAY!  :)

S

* Does anyone even remember what "stop the presses" means, or who Dick Tracy was?

The art of logos

In my humble opinion, the biggest con man (men) alive today are the ones who design corporate logos.  They'll tell you they're trying to define the essence of a company by just one word or one symbol.  OK, fair enough, but why does it take a whole team of $500-an-hour graphic designers months to come up with a winning design?  Are they the ultimate control freaks or just high-class pickpockets?

A story in this morning's news told of how new Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer (who makes considerably more than $500 an hour) spent an entire weekend with her "logo design team" putting the finishing touches on a new symbol that had taken months (and probably cost millions) to get to that point. 

Some logos make sense, having a story behind them:

Ford's logo says....well....FORD, as in "Henry Ford".  The epitome of simple.

Audi's four interlocking rings represent the German companies Horch, Auto Union, DKW, and Wanderer that joined together to form Audi in 1932.

BMW used to make airplane engines, and the blue and white circle in the middle of their logo represents a spinning propeller.

I'm guessing their logo "design teams" knocked those out in an afternoon, probably drawn on a cocktail napkin after a few beers down at the corner tavern.  But nowadays we tend to over-think everything.  We have to hear from (pay) graphic designers, consultants, psychologists, focus groups, etc, before we can come up with a winning design.

The stock brokerage firm Merrill Lynch's logo is a bull, as in "Bull Market".  Get it?  I wonder how many million dollars it cost to design that stylized bull?

But back to Yahoo.  Here was their old logo:

Here is their new logo:

They wanted something that would look "sophisticated, yet whimsical".

Here are the doodles that it took to get there:

I have visions of the mail room boy pushing his cart down the hall when he stumbled across the logo team hard at work.  "Why don't you just straighten out the letters, and make that last O a bit bigger and tilt the exclamation point?  That would be sorta whimsical."

DOH!

But what do I know.  I designed ours on the back of a cocktail napkin after a couple of beers down at the corner tavern.

To me it says "Sophisticated, yet too cheap to hire a design team".  ;)

S