Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Dead End in Detroit for White-Collar Workers
BusinessDead End in Detroit for White-Collar Workers
By BILL VLASIC and NICK BUNKLEY
Published: February 17, 2009
"The resolve of Detroit’s white-collar workers has given way to grim resignation as General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler have announced more and more job cuts."
This article is sobering... My dad was a white collar GM worker. He died back in 1989 when he was 52, so he'd have been retired by now, but still...I love cars and I love the auto industry and this is a crappy time...
GM will keep at least one loyal customer, though unfortunately she's not one who the company stands to make much money off of: my mom. She can buy GM cars at "employee cost" through the GM Family First employee purchase program (as can my brother and me), but really - in this market? GM dealers are hardly working off of big margins and it's not like there is a lack of supply that is boosting up prices. Rather, the lack of demand for GM products has ground the price of GM's offerings into the dirt. Sad, sad days.
And with Bob Lutz bowing out as head of GM's global product development at such a watershed moment... It's now only a matter of time until the company is compelled to declare bankruptcy, though hopefully something viable emerges from the ashes. Poorly managed for too many years with endless production runs of vehicles that did not appeal to a wide enough market segment? Yes. But still, this company is close to my heart - it was the company in which my father (God rest his soul) built his career. It deserves better than what we're seeing.
GM will keep at least one loyal customer, though unfortunately she's not one who the company stands to make much money off of: my mom. She can buy GM cars at "employee cost" through the GM Family First employee purchase program (as can my brother and me), but really - in this market? GM dealers are hardly working off of big margins and it's not like there is a lack of supply that is boosting up prices. Rather, the lack of demand for GM products has ground the price of GM's offerings into the dirt. Sad, sad days.And with Bob Lutz bowing out as head of GM's global product development at such a watershed moment... It's now only a matter of time until the company is compelled to declare bankruptcy, though hopefully something viable emerges from the ashes. Poorly managed for too many years with endless production runs of vehicles that did not appeal to a wide enough market segment? Yes. But still, this company is close to my heart - it was the company in which my father (God rest his soul) built his career. It deserves better than what we're seeing.
Slip of the thumbs
Slip of the thumbs: When sending a text message and the recipient of the message was not the intended recipient. Alternatively, when you try to reply to one person, and another message comes in just as you're about to reply, and you end up replying to the wrong person. This issue can have detrimental effects.
Girl to married guy: "Hey, what are you up to?"
(Guy is getting ready to reply, when he's distracted for two seconds, during which time, the following message hits his phone."
Wife to her husband: "I made it to Dallas."
(Now husband, thinking he's replying to his girlfriend says)
Husband to his wife (slip of the thumbs): "Nothing, my wife is out of town if you want to sleep over tonight."
Wife to husband: "WTF!?!?!"
Urban Dictionary
Girl to married guy: "Hey, what are you up to?"
(Guy is getting ready to reply, when he's distracted for two seconds, during which time, the following message hits his phone."
Wife to her husband: "I made it to Dallas."
(Now husband, thinking he's replying to his girlfriend says)
Husband to his wife (slip of the thumbs): "Nothing, my wife is out of town if you want to sleep over tonight."
Wife to husband: "WTF!?!?!"
Urban Dictionary
Monday, February 16, 2009
Is there a difference between envy and jealousy?
Although sometimes used synonymously, envy and jealousy have different meanings.
Envy is the desire for something that someone else has, or a feeling of ill will over another person's advantages in general:
My envy of your success has made me bitter.
Jealousy is a resentful suspicion that someone else has what rightfully belongs to the jealous person:
Out of jealousy, he followed his wife.
The favored treatment of the daughter created jealousy in the son.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Sensible Fiesta
"Jeremy responds to a reader complaint about us not doing proper car tests by landing a Ford Fiesta on a beach and being chased through a shopping centre..."
This clip is pretty amazing...well, at least the final portion is (the beach assault). If you're not in the UK you won't be able to view it w/o taking the measures I detail here. But trust me, it's worth it...especially for the moments when Clarkson squeals with delight to one of his commando passengers: "Hey look at that!! The smoke grenades fit perfectly in the cup holders!" before asking, "The glove box..how much ammo can you get in there? Just two mags?"
See it here.
This clip is pretty amazing...well, at least the final portion is (the beach assault). If you're not in the UK you won't be able to view it w/o taking the measures I detail here. But trust me, it's worth it...especially for the moments when Clarkson squeals with delight to one of his commando passengers: "Hey look at that!! The smoke grenades fit perfectly in the cup holders!" before asking, "The glove box..how much ammo can you get in there? Just two mags?"
See it here.
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