An Evil Movie

I watched a truly evil movie last night. I rented Before Sunset with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. It was the sequel to a 1995 movie called Before Sunrise which I actually saw when it first came out 1995. Most people would probably not enjoy the movies. There is absolutely no action in either movie. The movies are a character study; you learn about two people, their beliefs, desires, etc. and that is it. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the movies despite the lack of action however this last movie was just evil. I am about to give away plot elements in both movies so if you plan on watching them in the future stop reading.

In the first movie, Hawke meets Delpy on a train to Vienna. They decide to spend the night walking around the city and talking. The next train leaves in the morning so they have until "Before Sunrise". They instantly hit it off and it is clear that their is a strong chemistry there. They both have obligations that must take them away but they agree to meet again 6 months later. They exchange no other personal information and decide to let fate take its course. If they both show up, so be it. If one person doesn't, than it was never meant to be. The first movie ends with them parting ways, the audience has no idea what ever happened.

The second movie is staged nine years later. Hawke has become a successful author by authoring a book about that fateful night. At his last stop in Paris, Delpy comes to the book store to find Hawke, she happened to see his picture on a poster in the bookstore and knew it was him. The audience finds out that Delpy never made it to the meeting spot; her grandmother died only days before and the funeral was on the day of the meeting. Hawke on the other hand made it and was heart broken that Delpy did not. They pick up where they left off. They walk around the streets of Paris just talking about what has transpired the past nine years. This time, they only have until "Before Sunset" when Hawke must catch a flight back home.

You find out that Hawke is now married with a son he deeply loves. However, his marriage is loveless. You can tell that he still pines for Delpy and regrets that she was the one who got away. At first Delpy acts strong. She pretends that night didn't mean too much to her. But as the movie progresses you learn that indeed that she too regrets not meeting up with Hawke. The movie continues to build up the tension until the final scene where Hawke is in Delpy's apartment. Having just sung a song to Hawke about that night, Delpy prepares a cup of tea and begins another story. In the middle of the story the movie just ends.

WTF? You wait nine years to find out what happened in the first movie and they go and do it again. You have no idea what actually happens in that apartment. Did they hook up? Did he remain faithful to his wife? I can't believe I fell for it again. If they ever come out with a movie called "Before Dusk" or something like that I'm not watching it ..... OK, maybe just to figure out what happened this time.

Chief Justice Roberts

Chief Justice Rehnquist died this past weekend leaving open one of the most powerful positions, if not the most powerful position, in the United States Government.

I had fully expected Bush to nominate Justice Scalia or Justice Thomas, two of the most outspoken conservatives on the bench. Their decisions fit in nicely with Bush's politics so I thought their nomination would be a shoe in. I was wrong.

Instead, Bush has nominated John Roberts to take Rehnquist's seat rather than Sandra Day O'Conner's. I view this as proof that Bush knows his power is waning. By all accounts, Roberts will be very difficult for the Senate to not confirm. Republicans love him and Democrats can't find any dirt or reason to not confirm him. Bush's approval rating is at an all-time low. For him to nominate Scalia or Thomas would start a political battle that Bush probably can't survive. He and Republicans have drawn sharp criticism for both the rising price of gas and their handling of the Katrina Disaster.

America is a funny place. Americans are so very short-sighted. They worry about the here and now. It's one of the reasons that Americans have such a low savings rate and such a high consumption rate. Most of middle-class america voted for Bush because they believe Republicans are better able to handle the economy and because of the War in Iraq. However, a majority of America is Pro-Choice. An even larger majority do not want to see Roe V. Wade overturned. A majority favors Affirmative Action. Yet Bush's impact will be long and far-reaching. Judge Roberts, if confirmed will serve and lead the court for 25 or 30 years. Whoever Bush nominates to fill the other seat will most likely serve the same amount of time.

One of the reasons I vote Democratic even though I have strong conservative views on the economy is because I have very strong views on personal liberty and freedom. Being able to nominate Supreme Court Justices is a very powerful thing, being able to nominate a Chief Justice is even more so. It was a power I did not want to give Bush. Now that this seat is going to be cemented with a conservative for the next quarter century and the balance of power is going to be firmly cemented in the conservative corner, it will just give me one less reason to vote Democratic in the 2008 elections.

Power of Compound Interest

A quick financial lesson.

Let's say you decide to invest in a Roth IRA, my favorite investment vehicle. You decide to start one today and invest the maximum $4,000 every year. You invest it wisely in an index fund that follows the total stock market which has historically returned 10% a year. In 40 years, your $4,000 a year, ($160,000 in principal payments) turns into $1,947,407.24, All of it tax free.

Now imagine if you were a good little saver and have saved the last 4 years. With a modest gain over the last few years you have $17,000 in your account. With the same investment strategy above you now have at the end of 40 years 2,716,814.59, All of it tax free. That is almost $800,000 difference for saving a little bit earlier. That $17,000 turned into $800,000!

Still not convinced? How about this? You do the above strategy from the ages of 25-35 and then stop. So for 10 years you invest $4,000 and then nothing after that. By the age of 65 you will have an account worth $1,223,633,58. Your $40K turned into $1.2 Million.

Or instead, you do nothing from the age of 25-35 and instead save from the age of 35-65 with the same strategy. Your final balance will be $723,773,70. Your $120K turned into $720K. Not bad until you consider that that's a half-million dollar difference from the previous example of $1.2 Million! And you put in 1/3 the amount in principal and saved 3x as long!

The lesson? Save early, save often. I can't stress this enough to my young friends. I know it is hard to save money now, but in the long run, it makes a BIG difference.

The Price of Gas

You know how I know the price of gas is getting out of hand? My boss just recently stopped driving his SUV to work and started driving his wife's sedan instead to save on gas. My boss makes six-figures.

When you have people who make lots of money start worrying about the price of gas, you know the rest of the country has got to be nervous. Most of the stations around here are hitting the $2.90 mark. No doubt about it, it will hit $3.00 by this weekend.

I'm not all that nervous. If it hits $3.00 or even $4.00 so be it. I'll just have to find a way to drive less. Crap, that San Diego drive every other week is going to kill me.

Death of the Union?

Most people know I'm not a big fan of unions. I think unions have their place in certain industries where there is a monopoly by the owners; the sports industry is one of the few examples I can really think of, education is another. But overall, I think unions just don't make a lot of economic sense.

Whenever you deal with a group, you are going to get a wide spectrum of talent. You are going to get high, average, and low performers. Unions ensure a set wage structure with little latitude for performance based differences. That means if you are capable of doing twice the work of someone else, you will still get paid exactly the same. This of course builds in an incentive to do as little as possible, why strain yourself if there is no incentive to? As a diligent and hard worker, I want the ability to negotiate my own wage.

Union membership has been on the decline. In 2004, 12.5% of Americans belonged to a union. An even smaller percentage, 7.9%, if you count those workers in the private sector. The latest strike by a large union is happening now. The mechanics of Northwest have refused to accept a 25% wage cut and have gone on strike. Northwest in turn has hired replacement workers to fill the void. They seem to be doing the job. This past weekend, Northwest flew 98% of its schedule. Many of the Northwest mechanics have expressed surprise that Northwest was able to fly as many flights as they have been able to.

This is the new age of labor economics where companies are playing hardball with their employees. Employees are quickly finding out just how replaceable they are. Look at some of the major strikes in the past few years. The NBA had its players, all millionaires, crawling back in 1999. More recently, the NHL absolutely crushed its union and got major concessions. If you don't care about the problems of millionaires there are the examples of the California Supermarket Strike or the Catepillar strike in 1995. In each case, the owners played hard and refused to back down and each time the "workers" caved in and gave back major concessions.

Almost all employees have an over inflated sense of how important they are to the company's bottom line. However, as several examples have shown (some personal to myself), companies are finding it easier and easier to replace their workers. Is this shift of power toward employers permanent? Given the fluidity of today's workforce, the erosion of loyalty (both by companies and their employees) and the decreasing expectation of lifetime employment, I think labor is in for a tough battle.

Price Caps

OK, just another reason why government is a bunch of idiots. In Hawaii, they are instituting a cap on the wholesale price of gasoline. This is a horrific idea. Living in California I am accutely aware of the pain that high gas prices can bring but having government place caps on the price of anything is just a bad idea.

Free Markets depend on supply and demand. If prices are not allowed to adjust than there is an imbalance somewhere. My incentive as a supplier is to supply gas at a price P I can make a profit at. When the price of my product reaches a certain level I have an incentive to produce Q amount. If the price goes up I have incentive to produce a little more. As a consumer my incentives are reversed. These two forces almost magically move the price to a point where all the consumers demands are met for a given price point.

Governments mess with incentives at great peril. Seriously, incentives move humans. If you put a price cap on a free market system the effects are quite obvious. The price is lower than what the producer can make a profit at. He has no incentives to produce more. However, since the price is artificially low there will be greater demand for the product. Therefore a shortage will ensure. People who want gas will not be able to get gas. Producers will not produce more gas at a loss so the supply curve can not shift outwards.

Imagine for a second if government, to stem the tide of housing cost, put a cap on the sale price of homes. Now all homes have a maximum price of $100K. Don't you think there would be a huge rush of people wanting to buy homes? Don't you think the people selling their homes would look at that and say, "No way in hell am I selling my $500K home for $100K!" Builders, not able to turn a profit on new homes, refuse to build more and instead concentrate on commercial real estate. Many people want homes but none are for sale. People are unable to relocate for work because they are not willing to sell their homes or can not find any homes to buy. The economy would grind to a halt because there would be an inefficient allocation of resources.

So tell me again, what is good about price caps?

Who do Asian Men Date?

My girlfriend (who is Asian) and I have taken up a new pastime. Every time we go out we try and notice inter-racial couples. We have noticed a very disturbing fact. There are very few inter-racial couples involving Asian men.

Inevitably when we see an Asian man as part of a couple he is with an Asian woman. We have seen plenty of other mixtures, White Male-Asian Female and Black Male-White Female being some of the more popular combinations. But seriously, of the hundreds of mixed couples we have spotted thus far, maybe only 1 or 2 have involved an Asian Male and something other than an Asian Female.

Now I have dated other races before but of the people I would call my girlfriend, all of them have been Asian (all different types of Asian). This is not some bias on my part (actually my girlfriend tells me I have a thing for white women) but just how the chips have fallen. My girlfriend has never dated an Asian guy until me. Actually, this is the case for most of my ex-girlfriends; I'm the only Asian guy they have dated.

My girlfriend and I have discussed this in length and believe it’s a societal thing. The stereotypes for an Asian male do not bode well for his success in the dating arena. But it begs the question, if Asian men are only dating Asian women, and Asian women are dating a lot of White men (and Black men for that matter) as our un-scientific sample suggest; whom are all these Asian men dating? Are Asian men resigned to a life of celibacy and being single?

Canceling Netflix

I canceled my Netflix subscription. I wasn't really unhappy with their service but I wasn't really pleased either. My main problem is their idea of "unlimited". Basically, Netflix service degrades the more movies you rent. I tried renting at different frequencies and found that "unlimited" ends at about 12 movies a month. After 12 they pretty much start throttling you by giving you much worse service. They "receive" your movies later, they ship out your movies later, and you get less desirable movies from your queue. I don't have a problem if they want to give better service to those who make them more money, but I do have a problem with them not being up front about it.

I pay the same money everyone else does I should get the same service. I am taking advantage of the system they created and advertise yet I'm punished for it? Doesn't make a lot of sense. If you want to provide different service than state that explicitly up front. Don't pretend your service is "unlimited" when it clearly is not.

I still think that 12 movies a month is a pretty good deal for around $20 and Netflix did have many other good qualities. I'm going to try out Blockbuster again for the next few months. I didn't like them last time but supposedly they have better service now. We shall see.

The Bubble Is About to Burst

No, not the housing bubble, the Denim bubble. Since everybody gets on me for paying so much for my jeans I figured I would post the link. See, I'm not the only one riding the high-end denim wave.

A Rare and Terrible Disease

I think I have a disease. Most people in America have a problem with spending too much money. They can't seem to save any money and go more into debt every month. They treat credit cards like its free money and buy expensive gadgets as if they were food. For some, it is a serious addiction.

I on the other hand suffer from an even rarer disease; I suffer from the exact opposite problem. I can't seem to force myself to spend any money on things I don't really need but would really enjoy. Case in point, I just received a rather large sum of money from my company since it is "closing" its doors. (I still have a job, don't worry) They paid me out all my vacation (which was at its max), my personal days, and my two weeks of severance. This turns out to be quite a bit of money. What am I going to do with this money? Put it in the bank and find a way to invest it.

I actually have started a program for myself. I have told myself that every month I have to spend a small but significant amount of money on something I would not normally buy myself. This can't be used for things like dining out, clothes, etc.; things I would buy myself anyway. Hopefully, slowly, I can find a way to beat this disease. I started last month and believe it or not I didn't spend the money. It's hard, believe me. This month I forced myself to buy the aforementioned DVD burner. I'll have to beat this thing with Baby steps.

Pork Everywhere

Bush signed into law the Highway Bill. Yet another reason to hate government. The small town of Ketchikan (population 15000) just got a grant from the federal government for $223 million for a bridge that goes nowhere. And that is just one of many cases where government is wasting YOUR money. That's right, you are paying for that bridge.

I hate the idea that to get anything done in this country, you have to grease the wheels and allow the representatives of our country to get pet projects for their districts. Whatever happened to just doing the right thing?

The problem with a large, national government is that everybody's money gets put into one big pot and then it is parceled out with some people having power disproportionate to the constituents they represent. To get a road built in highly populous California for millions of people, you have to give something to the guy who represents 5 people in the state of Alaska. It's just ridiculous.

Imagine a company where IT decisions are made by each department head and resources are allocated by who has more pull. It just so happens that the Sales department in this fictitious company has the most pull. It comes time to buy new computers. The Sales department, being the most persuasive, gets all the new computers assigned to them and their friends in Facilities; nobody in either department really needs it for anything more than surfing the web and playing Free Cell. The guys in the engineering department, who need powerful computers to run CAD software or CPU intensive development environments are now left to choose between the 266 and 333 MHZ Pentium II's that are left. Doesn't sound like a very good plan does it, but in many respects that is how the government is run.

I hate to keep harping on it but we need to reduce the size and scope of the government. When you give these children so much money to play with, they treat it as if it will last forever and they can spend it on whatever they want. Giving them more money doesn't work, it just makes them buy bigger toys.

Strange Definitinon of Soon

I ordered a DVD burner from Amazon.com on Sunday. Supposedly the item "usually ships within 24 hours". As of right now it has not shipped. It has been in the "Shipping soon" stage for the last two days. I don't know about the rest of you but 72 hours is not "soon" when it is compared to 24.

I have ordered from Amazon a few times and have been mostly satisfied. I have to say that my patience wears thin with every passing hour.

What's wrong with the Movie Industry?

When I was a kid, we would go to the movies almost every weekend; not so anymore. It has been reported that the Movie industry is in a record slump. Almost every week this year has done worse than the year before.

Is it any wonder? Going to the movies is not what it used to be. If I take me and my date to go to the movies that's $20 just to walk into the door. Normally my girlfriend and I don't get any food but most people probably do and can expect to drop $10 on popcorn, drinks, etc. That's $30 for you and your date to go to the movies. You know what you can do with $30? That's like 4 rounds of minature golf. That's a whole lot of video games and air hockey. That's like 7 movie rentals or 1.5 months of Netflix.

There are just too many alternatives to going to the movies these days. Combine that with the fact that a lot of people have really sweet entertainment setups in their homes and that DVD's hit the shelves faster than they ever have, and well you can see why I only go to the movies when I really want to see something. And I don't want to hear about how Piracy is taking over. You know how long it takes to download a full-length high quality movie? Maybe a few college kids who run their computers all the time and have access to the University's high bandwidth but the average consumer just has a lot of options. Options that usually don't include crying babies and ringing cell phones.

Moving once again

Due to the downsizing of my company we have found it necessary to shuffle people around and consolidate space. I am now in my new office, my 5th new space in 2.5 years. It is probably the worse space I have had thus far but I'll get use to it and adjust. I have always said I could work so long as they gave me a computer and a patch of space on the floor. I just never thought I would really have to prove it.

Dance Dance Chipmunk

Took this when I went to Disneyland and I thought it was cute. I have to say that the chipmunk wasn't half bad.

The Shoe Horn

It's amazing to me what a difference something so small can make. This weekend I finally found a shoe horn. You would be surprised how hard it is to find one of these things. I ended up finding one at a Nordstrom Rack of all places. I looked at Target, various shoe stores, etc. all with no luck.

Anyway, when I went to put on my shoes today, they went right on. No need to hurt my fingers as I tried to jam my foot into my shoe. I know it seems silly but really, it made my morning.

I Thought I Didn't Want Kids Before ....

I went to Disneyland two days ago with my girlfriend and her little 12 year old brother. If I wasn't so sure I didn't want kids before, I just became a little more certain.

I don't think her brother was as bad as my girlfriend thought he was but he was acting kind of bratty. The entire time he complained about how he didn't want to wait in line (we averaged about 25-30 minutes a line which is very good at Disneyland), how he was bored, how the rides were too short, etc. He was completely unappreciative of the fact that his sister took time out of her schedule, and spent money out of her pocket, to treat her brother to a day of fun. We did our best to show him a good time but for him, that just wasn't good enough for him.

My girlfriend was quite flustered at the end of the day but I was perfectly fine with all of this until he opened my backpack to look for something and did not close the zipper. I said to him in a very nice tone, "Hey, next time you go into my backpack can you close it?" He decided to respond to me, "You close it if you want it!" Um, excuse me, no. I had been nothing but nice to this kid up to this point. We would have gone home much earlier if it were not for me saying I would take him on the rides (My girlfriend was feeling quite ill toward the middle of the day). At that point I realized that kids are just a real pain in the ass.

If there was only a 45% chance I wanted kids before, I think that just dropped 5-10%

Harry Potter: A Review

OK, here it is. I will be not spoil the book for those who have not read it yet until later in my post and I will clearly mark that section. It took me only two days of reading to finish the book but I've waited to post to give those who are interested in reading it some time to finish.

I enjoyed this book. Probably one of the better ones in the series. I didn't particularly care for the fifth one and this one is much better than that. However, one of the things I liked about the other books was that I felt they stood on their own and this book does not. If you haven't read the other 5 books, I would not read this one by itself. You will be totally lost.

It is by far the darkest of the books in the series. I'm not so sure its appropriate for very little children. It does seem that Rowlings' writing style is evolving and maturing along with the characters in her book which may account for the more mature themes in this book.

If you like the Harry Potter series this is pretty much a must read. A lot of things have happened in this book that are essential to the plot and several loose ends are tied, but many more are created.



!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.
.
.
.
.


Wow, I can't believe they killed Dumbledore. I had heard rumors that a very important character was going to die and I guessed who it was from early in the book but was still shocked when it happened. Now here is the question, what's going on with Snape?

I still think Snape can be counted in the good column. Am I crazy? How can he be good when he killed the greatest wizard of them all, Dumbledore? I just have that much faith in Dumbledore. For him to be this wrong about someone is very out of character. Throughout all six books, Dumbledore refuses to believe anything bad about Snape and insist that Snape has done something that warrants Dumbledore's absolute faith. Additionally, do you really think Dumbledore would beg for his life like he seems to when he pleads, "Serveus ..." No way. Dumbledore would have stood tall and proud and taken his death like a man. Instead, I truly believe Dumbledore was begging Snape to do what he must, protect his cover and do as they agreed to before, to kill Dumbledore no matter what. There is the argument that Hagrid overheard Snape and Dumbledore having which is yet to be explained. It is my belief that this was Dumbledore telling Snape that if it comes down to it, Snape must finish the task that Malfoy did not in order to save Snape's own life (he made the unbreakable vow) and continue working as a double agent against Voldermort. Maybe I'm wrong. I guess I have to wait and see.

One thing that disappointed me was that I believe that Rowlings is playing games with the books. From the start, it seemed that there would be 7 books, one for each year Harry was at Hogwarts. But now with the ending being that Harry is leaving Hogwarts, I think Rowlings is attempting to lengthen the series, and thus the money she can make from it all. I hope I am wrong about this. As much as I like the series and would like to see more books, I also think there is something to be said about the original intent of the novel and for the story to reach a natural conclusion. Than again, its all from the minds of this woman so any ending she sees fit I guess the rest of us are going to have to take it.

Harry Potter Mania

Last Friday I went with my girlfriend to the movies. It just so happens that the movie theater is in the same parking lot as the Barnes and Nobles. Our movie ended at 11:45 or so and we walked out into a very full parking lot. Now, this parking lot can get quite full but at 11:45 at night it is unusual that it is so full that it is full of stalkers. In fact, the movie theater is normally the only thing open that late. But on this night the lot was completely full with people following us around waiting for our spot.

It didn't occur to me till the next morning what was going on. I went to Target that morning and bought my copy of Harry Potter: The Half Blood Prince. There was no line and so I walked up to the counter and paid for it without any hassle. But then it occurred to me what was going on. People were lining up waiting to buy the book at midnight. I just really don't get this behavior. I was able to buy the book, only 9 hours later, without having to make any sort of extra trip nor wait in line with other obsessed fans. What possess people to have to be the first on the block to get a book, watch a movie, etc. is beyond me. If I can do the exact same thing only slightly later, without the hassle of waiting in line, you better believe I'm going to do it.

Oh, and it was cheaper at Target than anywhere else.

I finished the book already and will probably give a review in my next post.

Albertson Trying to Rip Me Off

So I went to Albertsons today to get some snacks. I bought a Snapple and on my out the door I noticed that I was charged $3.00 for my Snapple. My ONE bottle of Snapple. I know there is such a thing as inflation but this was ridiculous. So I asked about it and it turns out that I was charged for a 6 pack. They refunded me the difference.

Now, I am one of those who doesn't check the receipt too carefully but now I'm a little worried. What if this happens to me all that time. Its completely possible. I could be losing a lot of money because I'm so lazy.

Even More Reasons to Hate Doctors

I had a doctor's "appointment' this morning. Why you ask do I put that in quotes. Well I had an appointment "scheduled" for 9:30. I arrived promptly for my appoinment and filled out the normal paperwork. I than proceded to wait one 1.5 hours for my appointment to start. I was not put into a room until 11:10. Can you believe that. I mean seriously. What is the point of even scheduling an appointment in that case?

Kobe's New Nike Ad

Kobe Bryant is in his first major National Advertising campaign since he was accused of rape in Colorado. Notice I put "accused" in bold because that was all that happened, he was accused. The state dropped all charges.

But wow. The Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault just gave a bad name for all Women's rights group. I'm a big supporter of women's rights. I think sexual assault is quite possibly the worse crime out there, even more so than murder. But I can not believe what this group is spouting. Their spokeswoman came out and said:

"We would ask corporations like Nike to act a little more responsibly. They really are creating a role model that millions of young kids across the world are going to see. They could have put up someone who is not only accomplished as an athlete but also is a person who has a reputation as a fine, upstanding citizen."

Are you kidding me? What is their beef with Kobe Bryant? Drop it already! Your Friggin state dropped the charges! And I don't want to hear anything about him being an adulterer. You know how many pro-athlete endorsers cheat on their wives. Try all of them. Shaq, Jordan all the big names have been shown to have cheated on their wives. I don't hear this woman group protesting anything about that.

If you don't like him as a person fine. If you think he is a bastard for cheating on his wife, great so do I. But for a national women's rights group to single out Kobe Bryant for something he was accused of and nothing more is just stupid on their part.

Closed Captioning said what?

I was watching TV on mute, the channel 5 news, and the closed captioning read:

"and the man was respectfully beaten to death"

I have no idea what was really said but I assume that somehow the closed captioning got this wrong. Can someone be respectfully beaten to death?

Welcome Back Hockey

I didn't even realize you were gone. Seriously, I'm a sports fan and I barely realized that they didn't play hockey last year. Did anybody not in Canada really care that we didn't have a hockey season?

Man the NHL players are stupid. They gave up a whole season for nothing. Here are the highlights of the expected terms:

Salary Rollback: Players will give back 24% of their contracts to the owners. 24%!

Salary Cap: There will be one, about $37 Million

Individual team-by-team player cap: No one player can earn more than 20% of any one teams payroll. This one is going to be interesting how it plays out.

Escrow: A still to be determined percent of players salaries will be placed in an escrow account. In the new deal, league-wide payroll can't exceed 54 percent of total league-wide revenue. If league-wide payroll is determined to be more than 54 percent of revenues, the escrow account will be passed back to the clubs. If league-wide payroll is determined to be less than 54 percent of revenues, the escrow account will go to the players.

So basically the Players lost on every front. Way to give up millions of dollars guys and still get screwed!

One of the things this shows me is that Athletes are NOT overpaid. The market takes care of it. The athletes thought they were worth more, and they were dead wrong. The owners took a stand and said, look we can't pay you this much and we won't. In the other sports, athletes want more money and the owners gave it to them because they were still able to make a profit. It wasn't the case in Hockey, and the NHL shutting down for a season just proved it.

When Did I Become Old

I'm home from work today because I pulled a muscle in my lower back and it hurts to sit up for too long. This is actually the second time in the last month or so that this has happened to me and its quite painful.

I thought back problems only happen to old people. When the heck did I get old? I'm not sure what is causing all these back problems. I had no idea what I did last time. This time my back started to hurt when I had to reach over my desk to open the window. Nothing crazy but I felt a twitch in my back.

Sign, I wonder when I will have to start using a walking stick.

Why is the U.S. Worried Now?

There has been some hub bub about Chinese based Cnooc's bid for Unocal. My question is why now?

Do people not realize that the U.S. has mortgaged its future anyway to the Chinese? The U.S. has a GIGANTIC trade defict. The U.S. runs a deficit of $57 billion PER MONTH! The largest portion of that goes to China. It's not like the Chinese are just giving away the things they make. It's like your credit card. The U.S. can only feed its current excessive consumption by paying for it later and paying with interest, mostly in U.S. Treasurey bonds.

But now the U.S. is worried about China buying all these U.S. assets (like Maytag) and for what reason? The Chinese already own a very big portion of U.S. assets which is just getting larger by the day. It is only because these assets are tangible that there is complaining but in reality its the exact same thing.

It's like those people who think using your credit card is free. Let me tell you something, it isn't. You can ignore your monthly statement now, and pay the minimum, but sooner or later, they want their money and they will come collect.

Being Responsible

I hate being responsible sometimes. I am now in charge of making sure my Basketball league pays its bill to rent out the gym. It fell to me because I'm probably the most responsible person and so I will make sure that it all works out.

It's not something I want to do but I will end up doing it anyway because I won't let it just go by. I'm really upset at the situation though because the person before me did not pay the bill in time so I am scrambling to try and get enough money for last quarter and this quarter.

Yes, I still Blog

I know I haven't blogged all week. Things are just kind of hectic around these parts these days. Don't really have much to say. I was going to talk about the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor but I just don't feel up to a deep and heavy blog.

So I have nothing to say. I keep thinking about blog topics during the week but then I am not by a computer and forget what I want to blog about. Oh well. Next week I will be better.

Happy 4th of July everybody!

Unhappy with Cingular

So I've been on Cingular the last few months and have to say I'm not overly happy with them.

The first thing that annoyed me was the fact that they force you to input your passcode when you try to retrieve your messages from your own phone. I've had Sprint and T-Mobile before, and neither service forces you to enter your password.

But that is only when I found out that if you make a call at 8:59 pm., 1 minute before your night time minutes start, and it last for 120 minutes, you get charged 120 anytime minutes. Now maybe the other companies work this way too, but because I had the least amount of anytime minutes I have ever had, and because they started at 9:00 rather than 8:00 (as they did with my other services) I noticed it more.

But the kicker. What the hell is up with the taxes and fees? I'm on the $39.99 plan but it ends up being $50. Taxes and fees were nowhere near that with my other services. I was on the $39.99 plan with T-Mobile and my bill ended up about $45. WTF?

Batman - Sold Out?

I tried going to the movies on Wednesday to go see Batman Begins. I had dinner and then went to the theater to catch a 9:00 p.m. show. The damn thing was sold out. WTF? It was a friggin Wednesday night at 9:00 ... 9:00!

And it wasn't like it was some rinky-dink theater with no seating. It was a huge 18 screen goliath of a complex. Don't people have anything better to do than to go to the movies on a Wednesday night .... Oh wait, that was what I was trying to do.

10000 Hits

Hey, I reached 10,000 hits. Hooray! As near as I can tell it was someone who came from Kathryn's blog in the early evening yesterday and is in the Alaska Time Zone. They also use Firefox so I know I like them already :)

Seizing Private Property

I had another post ready but then the Supreme Court came out with a decision that allows local governments to sieze private property to be used for another private venture. All I can think is Wow.

I usually am against eminent domain, even for a clear public project like a road or a school. I tend to think that it takes extraordinary circumstances for our government to sieze the land of one of its private citizens. Government is meant to protect its people and sacrificing one's rights for the benefit of others is usually not my idea of protecting citizens.

How come in cases like this the "public good" includes everybody else but the citizens directly involved? If someone tried to come to my house to sieze it for the public good I would wonder why anybody else was anymore public than me. Yes, I understand the reasoning behind why governments want to sieze the land, to bring in tax revenue that many cities are sorely lacking. But really, how fair is this? Eveybody should be concerned when government does things like this, your house might be next and who will stand for you then?

Gratuitous Violence

I watched King Arthur the other night and have to say I wasn't impressed. Not only was the story pretty bad but I thought the violence in the movie was a little much and totally unnecessary.

I'm definitely not one who rants against the moral degredation of Hollywood. I think violence in movies is fine so long as it is done with a purpose. But this move just didn't need it. Not only wasn't it needed but it was just done badly. When they chopped people's heads off it just didn't look all that realistic.

Oh, and I decided that I'm not a fan of Clive Owen. After seeing him in Closer, and now this, he just seems like one of those really sketchy guys who tries to pick up underage girls at the bars. First he did it with my girl Natalie, and then he went after Keira. Then again, in closer his character was supposed to be sketchy so maybe he is a really good actor.

Does Robert Horry Belong In the Hall of Fame?

Robert Horry is Clutch. He was clutch when he played for the Houston Rockets, He was clutch when he played with the Lakers (The 3-pointer against Sacramento still puts shivers down my spine whenever I see it), and last night he wrote a new chapter in his legacy.

Last night, Robert Horry took the San Antonio Spurs and put him on his back. He made play after play every time it looked like Detroit was going to pull away. If he wins a ring this year, it will give him a total of 6 with 3 different teams. In each of those championship runs, Robert Horry hit huge shots when it mattered most.

So the question arises, does Robert Horry belong in the Hall of Fame. On the surface most would say no. His overall game isn't that spectacular and the Hall should be reserved for the best of the best. But isn't Robert Horry the best clutch shooter of this generation? MJ was the best, but he is now gone and over the last 5 or 6 years, with the championship on the line, there probably isn't anyone else you want taking the shot other than Robert Horry.

But does being the best at one aspect of the game make you a Hall of Famer? Maybe not. But what if you are the best Defensive Player? The best shooter? There are plenty of people in the hall that were somewhat one-dimensional (especially on the defensive end). Robert Horry is the best when it means the most and that is as important in the game of basketball as being a great rebounder. I'm not so sure if I think he belongs in the Hall, I lean toward no. Otherwise, you might have categories like "Best at making the basket when fouled" or "Best Half Court Shooter". But clutch shooting is a vital part of the game, and the case for Horry is a compelling argument.

I Have No Life

I just woke up today at 6:30 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. This is about 2 hours earlier than when I normally wake up. I couldn't go back to sleep so what did I do? I came into work. How sad is that? I thought of trying to get some stuff done at home but figured it was a better use of my time to just come into work.

I'm pathetic. Thank god I'm dating someone or else I might have had to shoot myself. Oh well. Hopefully I can get some work done and maybe even leave early. Yeah right. Everytime I come in early so I can leave early, something always comes up last minute to make me stay late.

Phil Jackson Part II

In case you haven't heard, and if you live in LA I find it hard to believe, Phil Jackson will be returning as head coach to the Los Angeles Lakers. Let the Soap Opera begin.

I have mixed feelings about Phil coming back. He said some pretty awful stuff about Kobe and the Lakers in his book, The Last Season. Basically he called Kobe uncoachable, called out Jerry Buss for his lifestyle, and chronicled a stormy relationship with GM Mitch Kupchak. Now he returns to lead the team he blasted in his book.

On the one hand you can't argue with 9 rings, the most for any one coach. Phil wants to win and he knows how to do it. The Lakers needed to do something, and boy did they do something.

On the other hand it's hard to go home again. Given all the things he said in his book I find it hard to believe the team will trust him, Kobe especially. However, after the press conference Phil showed that maybe he has learned from his mistakes. Several reporters asked him about Kobe Bryant and the conversation they had on the phone prior to the announcement. Phil steadfastly refused to get into the details out of respect for Kobe and his relationship. That's a good sign.

I'll take the optimistic approach and say that I believe with Phil, the Lakers can make the playoffs and maybe even win a series. No matter who the coach is they need players and so it matters a lot what the Lakers are able to do this off season in terms of acquiring players. It is my hope that Kobe and Phil will be able ot mend their relationship, act professional, and bring back the trophy where it belongs, in LA.

The Michael Jackson Verdict

I was going to avoid this topic but what the heck.

So Michael Jackson was acquited on all charges. I haven't followed the case much, I just don't care, so I don't have a strong opinion if I think he actually did it. My gut tells me that in this instance he didn't. There is no doubt that he behaved inappropriately but did he molest the boy? I tend to think no. The boy didn't seem all that believeable to me and the mother certainly didn't either. I have to agree with the Jury in this case, there is reasonable doubt.

Reasonable doubt is a huge standard to overcome and as OJ, Robert Blake and others have shown us, if you have enough money to hire a good defense team than reasonable doubt is almost an impossible hurdle to overcome. That is why I didn't really think a jury would convict Kobe Bryant.

What really bothers me is that nothing happens when a person is found not guilty or when charges are dropped. The goverment simply says, "Ooops. Sorry, our bad". People spends thousands, and in these cases millions, of dollars to defend themselves. Then, when there name is cleared, but their reputation is destroyed, they have spent all this money and lost their good name but have no recourse to recoup any of it. Seems unfair but not sure what else can be done.

The Housing Bubble

I was recently at an event where everyone was talking about real estate. It reminded me of Joseph Kennedy, father of John, and how he decided to pull out of the market before the crash of 1929.

The story goes that Joseph Kennedy pulled out of the stock market right before the big crash of 1929 (thus saving the family fortune) when he was given advice by a shoe shine boy about some hot stocks, US Steel and RCA. Joseph Kennedy correctly reasoned that if the every-day joe was in the stock market and felt confident to give advice that a bubble must exist and that was no place that he wanted to be. The stock market crashed two days later.

Everyone at this event was convinced the housing market could do no wrong. They were talking left and right about how how they really couldn't afford it but with some creative financing they could make it work. Of course I pointed out to them the inherent risk in such financing but everyone was convinced that the at worse housing prices would remain flat and not drop and that interest rates would stay low.

Many know that even though I could afford a house I have thus far stayed out of the market for fear of a price correction that I strongly believe is coming soon. I believe that the stock market bubble we experienced in 2000 was replaced by the housing bubble as people poured their capital into their homes. The strong economy, bolstered by home refinancing, can not be sustained when the savings rate in the U.S. hovers around 0.1%. There is no free lunch. Sooner or later all debts must be repaid and the United States continues to rely on foreign financing to sustain its consumer lifestlyle.

Yeah I know, all the experts have been predicting doom and gloom for several years and nothing has happened except housing prices continue to rise. Remember, it was 4 years after Greenspan declared a bubble in the stock market before it burst, it didn't mean there wasn't a bubble when he first declared it. People lost trillions of dollars and many a retirement was put on hold. For sure, Housing is a different beast, not nearly as liquid as a stock. Then again, that causes its own problems. I wish all my friends who are new home-owners luck, I just don't have the stomach for a ride like this.

Cool Way to Find an Apartment

How cool is Google? Using Google tools someone developed a website that combines the power of Google Maps and Craigslist to get you this housing map. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Nightmares

Last night I had multiple nightmares. What was odd was that I would wake up, go back to sleep, and then have a completely unrelated nightmare. I don't often have nightmares, almost never, so something must have been going on to cause me to have this string of nightmares. I'm not particularly stressed or worried about anything and physically I feel pretty healthy so whatever the cause may be I'm certainly not aware of it.

No Wonder People Hate Doctors

I don't go to the doctor's much. I need to go into the office to get some blood work done, nothing serious. So I called last week to make an appointment but of course the doctor can't see me until Mid July. Fine. But I want to get this blood work done sooner than later (work that does not require a doctor to interpret) so I asked if I could please come in just to get lab work done. The nurse said she would have to ask the doctor and get back to me.

Of course I hear nothing that day and nothing the next day so at the end of the second day I call the doctor's office to see what's up. She tells me to hold on and that she will get me an answer. She then informs me that they will send a lab slip in the mail. Great.

One week later no slip. So I just called and the person I spoke with informs me that it isn't standard practice to do lab work before seeing the doctor and asked me who I spoke with. Does it matter who I spoke with? Someone told me that jit was being sent. I didn't just make it up. What infuriates me more than anything is that it was obviously never mailed. Why tell me you are going to send me something then never send it. If they would have just told me a week ago then maybe I would have gone somewhere else to get the work done. Unbelieveable.

The First Laker Great

George Mikan died. For those who don't know who he was, he played for the Minneapolis Lakers and was the first big man to really dominate the post in the NBA. He will be sorely missed.

In other news, the Big Let Me Steal the Spotlight, otherwise known as Shaquille O'Neal, offered to pay for George Mikan's funeral. Before I get to that let me say how sad I think it is that George Mikan's family basically has no money. George Mikan is one of the all time NBA greats but played long before the multi-million dollar contracts and endorsement deals. He resorted to selling much of his memorabilia to get more money. Believing what I believe, I of course don't feel anybody is obligated to help him or his family but at the same time I would hope that those who earn the million dollar paychecks now understand how players like George magna made their lifestyle possible.

OK, back to the Big Never Was the Most Dominant Player. I think it is very nice that he has offered to pay for George Mikan's funeral. However, why did he have to make it so public and announce it on National TV? I believe the quality of a man's character is what he does in private but Shaq doesn't seem to ever get that. He makes big spectacles of his charitable acts like announcing this on TV and by donating toys to kids by rolling up in a truck with his face painted on the side and with the camera's rolling. Further, why did he have to have the magna family call the Heat office? Why couldn't he just call them himself, I assure you he can get their number, and offer to pay for it discreetly? Not that he is a role-model but I didn't see Dennis Rodman announce on National TV that he would pay for James Byrd's funeral. Sure it was discovered that he did, but Dennis Rodman himself didn't come out and say it.

I am not really trying to demean Shaq's charitable contributions. I'm glad that he is giving to charity for whatever reason that he is. If he wants to get publicity for doing charitable acts, all the more power to him, just don't make him out to be a completely selfless man.

More from the Evil Empire

On another Blog, a Microsoft employee confirmed that IE 7 will only be released for Windows XP and not for Windows 2000. What type of crap is this? Windows 2000 is supposed to be supported through 2010. Not updating a key component of that release even though it is supported is just ridiculous.

Being a software engineer I know how hard it can be to back port something (coincidentally it's exactly what I've been doing the last few weeks for one of our products) but with something as important as a web browser for an OS that is still in widespread use, you would hope that Microsoft would be somewhat concerned. IE 6 has huge security problems and being tightly wound into windows causes problems for the entire OS.

Oh well. Just be like me and use Firefox.

Post Date: When do you have to call?

So when do you have to call after a date to say that you aren't interested. For example, if you have only been on one date, is it the right thing to call to tell the person that you aren't really interested or should you just not call and let it fade into oblivion.

I tend to call no matter what just to let the person know so that they are never thinking, "Hmmm, I wonder what ever happened to him?" But I can definitely see the advantage of just letting it go, as there is no messy or awkward conversation. I'm good at awkward conversations and have no problem freely speaking my mind but just curious what others think.

As for me, I think, even though I always call, that for most people the threshold is the 3rd date. If you have been on 3 dates and are no longer interested, it is common courtesy to call the person to tell them you are no longer interested.

5th Reunion Recap

I went to my 5th reunion this past weekend. At Princeton, reunions is a very big deal. About 70% of the class comes back for each of the major reunions so it ends up being a pretty big deal. I wasn't going to go back initially but overall I'm glad I did.

I had a good time but I don't know if I will be going back to any of the next major reunions. I know I will go back to the 25th, only because its the largest of the reunions, but other than that I doubt I will go to the 10th, 15th, or 20th. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time, but it wasn't the best time I ever had and its kind of a pain in the butt to go all the way from California.

I guess my big problem with the whole thing was that there is a lot of fake politeness that goes on. The typical conversation is always.

"Hey, how are you? Where are you at? What do you do?"

I had that conversation literally 50 times this weekend. Again, it was good to see people I haven't seen in a while but it isn't something I really want to go out of my way to do again. I also think the weekend was a few hours too long. I got to Princeton Friday afternoon. I got to catch up with people Friday night which was great. Saturday afternoon is the P-Rade which is a great opportunity to catch up with even more people. But by the end of it, around 5:00 p.m., you have kind of caught up with everyone you want to catch up with. Later in the evening is more drinking and partying but I'm not that much of a big party person any more. I'm not trying to relive my college days and nor do I enjoy traveling with a hangover. So for me, Saturday night was kind of a waste except for the fact that I had a real good conversation with someone who was real important to me. Except for that, I was tired of having my 5 minute conversations with a bunch of people I won't talk to again for another 20 years.

But again, great event. Princeton really does a great job of pulling it all together. Really does a great job of instilling a sense of community and family. No wonder it has like a 70% alumni giving rate.

Poor Bambi

Bambi gets it bad. Bambi might be just the most feminine name there is but do people realize that Bambi was a male deer? Not only was he a male deer but he was prince, and eventually king of the forest.

How did Bambi become such a feminine name? I know Bambi was a pretty cute deer but jeez, to be synonymous with girls is just a little much. Poor guy. Was Bambi even a name before the Disney movie came out?

I Thought This Degree Was Supposed to Work For Me?

I have now been on two dates where the date told me they were kind of concerned about me when they heard I went to Princeton. Their concern? They were worried that I was going to be arrogant.

OK, look. I don't mind if you think I'm arrogant after you get to know me, I will admit that I can definitely come off that way. But how come these women have an automatic negative stereotype of Princeton men? I would have thought my degree would have worked for me, that it would signal that I'm smart, driven, etc. But so far, my dates with Non-Princeton women have resulted in my dates telling me that they were worried about me, that I would be cocky and obsessed with my job.

Why I Hate Technology

I just spent the last few days trying to get a demo for work to work. We had a similar demo last year but for some reason when I tried to port it over to a newer platform it wasn't working.

I did everything to debug it. I tried installing older versions of the program, combing through it and every related programs' configuration file, and actually looking at the code. None of this was successful.

Than, by chance, I found a small post on a message board that told me exactly what was wrong It ends up being that in the version of Linux I was using, Fedora Core 3, a new feature was added that basically stops programs from being able to execute certain commands. By simply changing ONE WORD in a configuration file from "enforcing" to "disabled" fixed the whole thing.

3 days - One Word. I was overjoyed that I found my problem but still so angry that it was all caused by a single solitary word. Got to love technology.

You Can't Understand the Power of the Dark Side!

In case you live under a rock and don't know it Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith opens tonight. On my way to lunch I passed by a movie theater and saw a small but significant line already forming for people wishing to catch the midnight show.

I really just don't understand this mentality at all. Do you really have to be the first? Is it so bad to wait a few hours and catch it first thing in the morning? Better yet, be like me and wait a week or two before catching it just to avoid standing in any sort of line at all.

I guess there is something to be said about watching a movie with a bunch of other crazed fans like yourself, and I do mean CRAZED. Where else are you going to get people dressing up in costume to go to the movies? Maybe Lord of the Rings but Tolkien fans are freaks too.

Found: Hot Asian Male

Thanks to Lisa and Amanda, several people have found their way to my blog by searching for "Hot Asian Men" on Google. Thanks guys.

Just Another Reason to Pay Your IT Department Well

Morgan Stanley is in big trouble. In a lawsuit filed by Ron Perelman, Morgan Stanley is accused of defrauding Mr. Perelman. Morgan Stanley was ordered by the court to produce a slew of e-mails. An executive at Morgan Stanley signed an affidavit stating that all documents had been turned over. But then backup tapes continued to pop up, many contained critical e-mails. As more and more tapes were found, 1600 in all, the judge ruled that Morgan Stanley was deliberately acting in bad faith and in an unprecedented legal move, ordered the jury to just assume that Morgan Stanley had indeed helped to defraud Mr Perelman.

Mr Perelman had earlier offered to settle for $20 million. Morgan Stanley rejected the offer. He then sued for $2.7 Billion dollars. That is a VERY big difference and Morgan Stanley looks almost certain to lose, albeit probably not for $2.7 Billion.

Morgan Stanley blames the problem on technical glitches and their inability to perform full searches and provide complete and accurate data. IT is one of those things that you don't really think of until something goes wrong, and then it REALLY goes wrong; sometimes to the tune of $2.7 Billion.

Who is Responsible?

A Judge ruled yesterday that United Airlines will be allowed to default on its Pension obligations. Why should you care? Because you are about to pay for it instead.

When companies like this default on their pensions, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation assumes responsibility for the plan. This government backed agency is funded by your tax dollars. I no doubt have sympathy for the thousands of workers who will now see a reduction (as opposed to an outright removal) of benefits when responsibility is transferred to the Guaranty Corporation. But should the government really step in here?

Think about it. It now gives an incentive for other large companies to default on their obligations. United now has a large advantage in the airline industry because it is no longer saddled with this debt. Imagine, if GM (remember my post a few post ago) does the same thing. Believe me its possible. We could see a wave of companies declare bankruptcy, default on their obligations, and be allowed to continue on running a business. That's absurd.

But now the burden is placed on the Taxpayers, YOU are now forced to pay for these benefits even if you have never flown on United or if you never flown on an airplane at all. How fair is that?

I'm not sure what the answer is. I wouldn't want to see 1000's of workers on the street but at the same time I refuse to say that everyone else is responsible either. I certainly don't think United should be allowed to continue to operate without having to pay for these obligations at some point.

How Stupid Do You Have to Be?

Imagine you sign a contract that is worth several million dollars. For this money, all you have to do is do something you love to do anyway. The only restriction is that you don't do anything crazy off the job and get yourself physically injured so that you are unable to perform your job. Even if you get hurt on the job, you will still receive the money due you and insurance will cover most anything else. Explicitly in this contract it states you can't do overly dangerous things like hang glide, sky dive, or ride a motorcycle, at least without the explicit permission of the other party. Now would you go and ride the bike?

I know I wouldn't. At the very least, I might attempt to get the permission of the other party but even if they said no, I'm certainly not risking several million dollars for the thrill and excitement of riding a bike. Well that is exactly what Kevin Winslow of the Cleveland Browns did when he got on a motorcycle and crashed, possibly ending his career and putting his contract in jeopardy.

Some are giving him a lot of sympathy. They point out that he is young and stupid and that he didn't know any better. While I certainly don't wish anyone to be injured, especially seriously, at what point does "He is young and stupid?" stop working? Kevin Winslow is almost 22 years old, he is playing a man's game. When does he have to take a man's responsibility?

Some argue that the Browns should do the nice thing and let him keep his money. After all, aren't they rich and can't they afford it? I really hate this argument. I really don't care how much money anyone has. The Cleveland Browns made a huge investment in Kevin Winslow. He was a first round draft pick, 6th overall. First round draft picks are vital to the success of an NFL franchise and Kevin Winslow betrayed the faith the Browns put him in by getting on that motorcycle. He made the decision, he made the error, and now he should live with the consequences.

Of course there is a double standard here. He has lots of talent and so the Browns will probably forgive him if his injuries turn out to not be that serious. Reminds me of how in High School when I was on the basketball team the best players could get away with murder. They could show up late, be lazy during practice, and just get away with it while the rest of us had to tow the line or else. Even being on the short end of the stick, I understood it then and I will understand it now if that is how the Browns decide to handle it. Completely unfair, but life is hardly if ever fair.

Jude Law IS in every movie

Chris Rock joked during the Oscars that Jude Law is in every movie. He might be right. Here is a list of movies I have seen in the last two month with Jude Law.

Alfie
Closer
Sky Captain
I Heart Huckabees
Cold Mountain
Road to Perdition
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

I have seen other things he has been in but this is just the list from the last two months. This guy must be working overtime.

Death of the American Automobile Industry

Slowly but surely the American auto-industry will die a slow and painful death.

My family never buys American cars. Other than some false sense of patriotism we never understood why someone would want to buy one. Koreans do it cheaper, the Japanese do it with higher quality, and the Europeans do it with more flair and performance. I've driven plenty of American cars because it is what you normally get when you rent a car and I have never really enjoyed my experience.

But all signs point to problems with the American auto industry. A recent WSJ article pointed out a sharp decline of truck and SUV sales in Texas. Yes, Texas. GM and Ford both make the majority of their profits from SUVs and Trucks and god knows if Texans, who are notoriously stubborn about their trucks, are giving up their gas-guzzlers you know that segment is going to take a turn for the worse.

Add on top of that the huge problem facing American manufacturers in terms of benefits. Both GM and Ford have huge outstanding pension and benefit costs that puts them at a significant disadvantage in the marketplace. Part of every dollar earned must be diverted not to making products better but to pay for work done in the past. It's like buying on credit, at some point its going to come bite you in the ass.

And just another blow to the industry. S&P just downgraded both GM and Ford bonds to Junk status. Yes JUNK status. Not only does this point out that most of the industry believes GM and Ford will default on their obligations but it makes it extremely difficult for them to raise money through the debt markets because they will have to pay a higher premium.

People cry out that America needs its auto industry. I say that is hogwash. I am bullish on the American economy and I know that America is resilient. Once America was the king of the Textile industry until cheap Asian labor took that market away. I didn't see the American economy collapse when that happened and I'm sure it won't happen this time either. America will find a way to bounce back.

The Flip

I was talking to a girl the other night who said something to me that somewhat insulted me. I was only a little upset but we talked about it for a few minutes.

At the end of the discussion she said, "I'm kind of hurt that you thought I meant that in an offensive way".

I quickly responded, "Don't be a women and try to flip this on me. You said something bad and now you want ME to feel bad about it?"

She immediately broke into laughter and chuckled, "You caught me!"

Women are hilarious with what they try and get away with.

The Great Filibuster

I love my alma mater. Going on at Princeton right now is the Frist Filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is a princeton alum and is contemplating "going nuclear" in the Senate. In protest, the Princeton community has set up a piece of theater and is performing a non-stop filibuster in front of the very building which Bill Frist's family donated money to create.

I'm glad that the protest has been allowed to continue. It is important that all ideas, even those you don't agree with, get heard. That being said, I will say that eliminating the Filibuster in the Senate is a bad idea. It is vital in our country that minority opinions are heard. It is important that the majority does not impose its beliefs of the minority. The same of course can be said of the minority opinion, they should not be allowed to overrule the majority. Where is the line?

I know what I think about this, but that may be a topic for another day.

Who Would Your Parents Be?

I feel like I need a completely frivolous post so I will pose a question someone asked me.

If you could choose any two famous people to be your parents, who would you choose and why?

I chose Warren Buffett and Serena Williams. OK, odd combination I know but let me explain. Buffet, not because he is rich but because he is successful, intelligent, and very humble. He has a folksy humor and wisdom that I find particularly charming.

I would choose Serena Williams because I love sports and want an athletic gene. I didn't want to pick a male athlete because

A) most of them cheat on their spouses and would make lousy fathers
B) I wanted to pick Warren Buffett
C) I'm pretty sure Serena could beat up most male Athletes.
D) racial harmony and I have always liked how mixes look. :)

So what would you do?

Sucks to Be Asian Male

I was thinking about it and I realized that there is no really no advantage to being Asian male. I'm not saying it is hard to be Asian Male, I'm just saying you have not built in advantage in society. In different parts of society each racial-sex combination has its advantages. I'll admit I'm sure my viewpoint might be a little skewed so if you can think of something I'm missing please feel free to add. I'm going to list a few examples.

I AM NOT SAYING IT IS BETTER OR WORSE TO BE ANY COMBINATION. I AM NOT SAYING I BUY INTO THESE STEREOTYPES. I want to be clear about this. I don't buy into most stereotypes but I recognize that they exist. While certain combinations have advantages in some areas they are more than offset by disadvantages in others. I'm just saying that in no category does it pay to be Asian Male.

Getting into school - This one has advantages for anyone who is not Asian-male or White-Male. Every other combination can find some school where preference is given to that particular combination. White-Male may be neutral in most regards but there is a definite disadvantage to be Asian-Male at most undergraduate schools and almost all Medical and Business Schools.

Getting a Job - Again, advantages for most females. In most male dominated industries, and those that tend to pay better, females have an advantage at companies looking for diversity. Even though companies are not supposed to discriminate the only way they can't is to do it. It's a strange paradox.

In Hollywood - Definitely does not pay to be Asian-Male. If you are Asian-Male you never get the girl. You are only portrayed as someone who either A) Knows Kung-Fu B) is part of the Asian Mafia (and you of course still know Kung Fu)

Dating - This one is the kicker and really what got me thinking about this. Females have the clear advantage in this as race doesn't really factor into this too much. There are few negative stereotypes for women here although I think maybe black-female might have some negative stereotypes associated.

The Asian-Male stereotype is awful. We are usually seen as non-aggressive, feminine, and my favorite having smaller than average, ahem, equipment. These are not things that endear the Asian-Male to most females. I actually had a recent experience where a girl told me she was kind of worried about dating me (she hadn't dated anyone Asian before) because of the horror stories that some of her girlfriends told her. They told her over and over again that the stereotype of Asian-Males was true, that they were horrible kissers, and that they just didn't "measure up" to other guys.

One person try to say, but you have the advantage that people assume you are smart. How is that an advantage when it has no practical application? It won't help you get into school, get a job, and we have already seen it won't get you the girl.

Any thoughts?

Are You a Better Fan If You are Poor?

I keep hearing how "true" fans are the ones who buy the seats in the nosebleed sections of games. I just don't get this perspective.

I have spent most of my life in the nosebleeds. The one regular season Laker game I went to I could barely make out the court and it was impossible to tell who was who except for Shaq because his butt was so big who else could it be?

But over the years I have started to earn more money and now if I went to the Laker game I could probably afford a ticket in the lower bowl. As I have earned money have I become less of a fan? Absolutely not. But I follow a lot of fan forums and all I hear is how management is sticking it to the "real" fans because they keep raising prices.

I'm a real fan. I cheer on the Lakers this year despite the fact that they suck. I've stuck with the Dodgers despite the fact that everyone gave up on them even before the season started. Now that I have money I'm a worse fan? That makes no sense.

I just don't understand how the amount of money I have in my pocket translates to my love for a team on the field but it just seems to be common knowledge that the "true" fans are those who have the least money and that ownership should cater to these "real" fans by keeping prices low.

NBA age limit

This idea of an NBA age limit is ridiculous. Jermaine O'Neal said that the policy would be racist. I don't think the NBA or David Stern is TRYING to be racist but nevertheless I see the point that the policy itself would be racist since it would ONLY affect young black men. Only one non-black, non-European (but they don't count because Europe has professional leagues for young players) has ever been drafted out of high school, Robert Smith. That being said, I don't think it is racist but it doesn't stop it from being stupid.

Let me be clear about how I feel. I would prefer that most players go play some college ball, develop skills, and then go to the NBA. I think the game would be more fluid and you would see a higher skill level. But this isn't about what I want.

Why on earth should there be an age limit? Here are some common arguments.

Young Players need college to develop skills

Yeah because Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal, Lebron James, etc. really aren't very good players. I just named five of the top 10 players in the game. I don't think not going to college hurt them.

These Players need a fall back plan if they don't make it

Players drafted in the first round of the NBA draft are guaranteed a three year contract worth at least $2.3 Million dollars. Do you know of another profession that you can make that much money that young? If it doesn't work out after three years they can pretty much pay their own way through college.

Players need the guidance and discipline that college provides.

Have you seen the life of some college athletes. Remember the Hooker scandal at Colorado? You don't think favors are done for athletes to help them pass classes or money is paid to them under the table? Yeah teach them that others will do their work for them and that it is OK to break the rules. That's really teaching them values and is exactly what they need to learn to live in the NBA (I originally wrote that sarcastically but come to think of it maybe it is)

They aren't ready to play professional sports.

I don't see that stopping tennis or golf players.

But those are individual sports, basketball is different, it is a team sport.

Doesn't really stop Baseball from taking High School players does it?

Oh, but they have a minor league system

Gee, Soccer doesn't and they have Freddy Adu. And look, European players go pro as young as 14. I don't see society collapsing in Europe because of this. Give me a break.

But education is important.

Maybe for you it is but something my High School English teacher said to me that stuck with me. I openly questioned why everyone didn't just go to college. She said simply, "It's right for you but college isn't for everybody". Simple words yes but I had never really thought about it. Lots of people don't go to college and live just fine. Further if you are really going to worry about kids getting an education why don't you worry about the millions of kids who are unable to go rather than 5 or so a year who have an alternative, very lucrative, way to make a living.

It's better for the Game.

The argument goes that since these players aren't developing skills that the NBA isn't as watchable and thus hurts the whole league. OK, this one may have some credence but come on. When did we become a communist society? When did the "welfare" of the group take precedence over the RIGHTS of the individual. Just because I as a fan love seeing the skill of 4 year college player Tim Duncan doesn't give me the right to tell Kobe Bryant that he isn't ready and that he can't go earn a million dollars.

Besides, the NBA just announced the highest attendance figures ever. Yeah, clearly the fans don't like what they see on the floor.

Where is My Tall Gene?

What's with all these really tall Chinese guys? Sun Ming Ming is a potential pick in this year's NBA draft. He is 7'8". What's up with that? Where all all these tall Chinese guys, like Yao Ming, coming from and how come I didn't get some of this tall DNA?

Scroll down the link and look at the size of this guys hands. Go pick up a basketball for comparison. Its frightening; it's like he is holding a tennis ball or something.

New Cell Phone

I got a new cell phone last week. I switched carriers and it was surprisingly not that bad.

I think T-mobile must be made up of a bunch of idiots. First off I wasn't particularly happy with some of their coverage. Its no big deal to me since I don't use my cell phone that much but for others I'm sure it is.

Second, I've been a very good customer for them. Over the past two years I was on their $40 plan and getting 1000 minutes anytime. I have, on average, used about 150 minutes a month Anytime and maybe another 150 whenever minutes. They were making a killing off of me. I went to them first to see if they would give me a new phone but all the T-mobile phones sucked. I then asked if they would either give me a phone credit or get me a particular phone that they had but were not offering to people who did upgrades, only to new subscribers. They said no. I told them I would cancel if their answer was no, and since it was I switched.

I mean really. Every cell phone company has their problems but I was trying to bend over backwards to stay a customer and they simply ignored it. I could understand if someone like Netflix didn't want me back, as I probably cost them money (not lately though, I think I've gotten off their "Heavy User" list) but I'm sure T-Mobile was making money off of me hand over fist. Oh well.

The whole number portability thing is fantastic. It took about 2.5 hours after the request was made for my new carrier to get my number and for me to have service. Not too bad. Here is my new phone, the Nokia 6230. It has WAY too many features. It has a built in MP3 player, a radio, Bluetooth, it can take videos, and a slot for a MMC card. The one annoying thing is that I can't set an individual ringtone for each caller that comes in. That always helped me know who was calling without having to actually look at my phone. The other thing I don't like is that when the key-pad lock is on and you press a button the phone does not light up. This is useful when it is dark and all I really want to do is know the time. But other than that, the phone isn't too bad.

Being Too Smart

Just another thing that I'm quickly finding out about women and what they say vs. what they really mean.

Most women say they want an intelligent man. However, women do not want "intelligent" men. They want, more accurately, a man who is as intelligent as they are, no more and no less. There is a BIG difference. Either that or they want a man who is smart who doesn't talk about intelligent stuff, which of course is almost a contradiction. On the last few dates I've been on I've literally been told I'm too smart. Seems odd to me.

I know for me, when I say I want a beautiful, kind, intelligent women I mean exactly that. The more beatiful, the more kind, and the more intelligent the better. I don't think I have an upper limit on any of these characteristics. I don't think it's possible for a women to be too beautiful or too smart, but then again I haven't met a female Einstein so maybe I could be wrong on this.

I guess someone can be too extreme but I don't think that I'm that smart, come on, I'm no brain surgeon. I highly doubt this would be the case for me. I mean if an extremely beautiful women like Halle Barry or someone extremely smart like Marilyn vos Savant I doubt I would run the other way. In fact, I think it would be very attractive. But maybe that is just me.

Problems with the tax code

Today is the only day that millions of Americans actually are happy that either money was taken away from them or angry that it was given to them.

Of course I'm talking about taxes. Most of my readers realize that getting a tax return amounts to the government just taking money throughout the year form you, money that is rightfully yours, and giving it back, interest free, several months later. The opposite is true if you have to pay taxes, you got money interest free from the government for the year. I'm not going to say anything more about this.

I honestly believe something must be done to simplify the tax code. I don't know if I support Bush's plan, but something must me done. United States citizens pay over $135 Billion complying with the tax code. That is money not used for other more productive activities.

This subject really interest me. I'm reading a book called Perfectly Legal which talks about how the super rich can get away with paying no taxes, and most of it is perfectly legal. I don't agree with everything with the book, the book has its obvious biases, but it brings up some interesting point.

This is a very complex issue, one that doesn't have many solutions. My own take is this. You can't fix the current tax structure because

1. It is progressive - This actually causes a lot more problems then people think. The arguments against a flat tax is that it adversely affects the poor and families. There is some truth in this but there it isn't the whole story. Do people realize that deductions in a progressive tax code benefit the rich more? So the deduction you get for your mortgage interest is worth even more to someone who is rich.

2. There are too many exemptions - this overly complicates the code and creates huge loopholes. Doing away with this will cause its own problems. Families who have enjoyed credits for having children and deductions for medical care and mortgage payments would see these vanish and would probably cry bloody murder. However, the rich are even better at exploiting these exemptions. People just don't look outside there own situation. Ever dollar that someone else is able to avoid is another dollar someone else has to pay. Not only that that person spent some money paying someone to avoid that tax and the government probably paid someone to see if the deduction is actually valid.

3. They tax income. Do people realize how easy it is for the rich to hide income? Do people realize that the rich get a lot of their income from capital gains which is taxed at a much lower level? I find it laughable that many people praise the Google founders for only taking $1 in salary. People think they are doing a charitable thing. Do people realize this was probably done to avoid paying taxes? Money that the rest of the tax paying public will have to make up?

Taxing income, in my mind, is just a bad idea. Of course there is the argument that taxing anything else will adversely affect the poor. I swear to people that these are rich people feeding this to others that this is a bad idea. The argument goes that poor people spend a greater percentage of their income and thus will have a larger burden. However, taxation is a complex situation. Knowing who actually shares the burden can never be known because it depends how the burden is shifted. I won't get into a deep economic discussion here but believe me, you can not tell who is paying the tax even if there is seemingly no tax on an item. If you really must keep appearances up you can simply do what all the states do, don't tax necessities like food, clothing (in some states), etc. Items that poor people spend a majority of their money on. (I think not taxing necessities would be a bad idea for reasons I won't get into)

4. Government is too big. We need to just restrict government spending. Its getting out of hand. We tax because we expect government to provide a million different services, all of which cost money. Of course we as individuals don't see the big picture and figure our little program, whether it be lowering capital gains or saving the rain forest, isn't going to make a dent in the trillion dollar federal budget. Yeah, and buying that Starbuck's Espresso everyday isn't going to make a big difference either.

What is my solution? I'm not sure yet. I'm still thinking about it. I just know I don't like what we have. In summary, the more complex the tax code the more expensive it is to comply with, the more inefficient it is at collecting taxes, and the easier it is for the rich to avoid taxes.

OK, I've babbled long enough. The point is, I hate tax day. I hate giving my money to the government so that it can be wasted on some program I don't care about, will never use, or to pay for some $1000 hammer or something.

Gym Etiquette: Other equipment

For the love of god, do not put your stuff on a piece of equipment you are not using. Use a locker, put it on the floor next to you, but please do not take up a piece of equipment to put your cell phone, book, and whatever garbage you shouldn't have anyway on a piece of equipment someone might want to use.

I don't care how empty the gym is or how incoveinent it might be to put it somewhere else.

Licensing of Parents

If ever there was a reason to support Birth Control and the requirement that all parents be licensed, it is that Britney Spears is Pregnant.

Tiger Woods is the Man

Tiger Woods won his fourth Masters and ninth Major overall yesterday.

I love watching Tiger Woods. I know some people don't like watching him BECAUSE he is so good and they complain about one person (or team) dominating so much. But I love dominance in sports. I love watching greatness. I don't care for parity, I want to watch someone who is just head and shoulders above the rest. Did you see that chip on 16? It was ridiculous.

At some point I'm going to have to go to a golf tournament that Tiger Woods is in. When I was younger I always wanted to go to a Bulls game because I knew that Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player that ever lived and it isn't often you can see something like that in person. Unfortunately I never really had the resources as a kid to be able to go to any games but now I don't think I can pass up watching perhaps the soon-to-be greatest golfer play live.

Sick Children

So at work people will often take time off to take care of their sick child. As we don't really have a sick day policy this basically means that they can take the day off at no cost to them. I find this to be completely unfair. Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for them and it sucks to have to take care of a sick child but it is simply unfair to the rest of us non-children-having employees.

Can I please have time off because I'm single? Can't I just take time off work because I'm hung over and tired from going out to the clubs and drinking all night? Look, we all have things that take our attention away from work. I have a video game right now I would rather be taking care of than to be sitting in the office.

Its just strange how when hiring you are not allowed to take anything, marital status and having children being one of them, into consideration other than work related information. However, as soon as the person is hired, considerations are made for those who do.

Yes I know, I could "fake" sick and take some time off but it just wouldn't be as understood if I were to send an e-mail saying "I have to take care of my sick child". I know for a fact that a lot of people don't necessarily believe it when someone takes a sick day off (especially on a Monday or Friday) but don't really think twice about it when it comes to sick children.

How did you find me?

People keep finding me through Google Images searching for this picture.




If you are one of these people, can you please leave me a small note to tell me what you searched for? Just curious.

Shaq is NOT the Most Dominant Ever.

I'm getting really tired of people, namely Shaq himself, declaring Shaq to be the Most Dominant Ever. I said it when he was a Laker and I was rooting for him and I'll say it now that he is part of the Heat and I can't stand him, he is not, never was, and never will be, the most dominant player to play the game. How can I say that.

How many times has he done any of the following?

1. Lead the league in rebounds.
2. Lead the league in block shots.
3. Been named Defensive Player of the Year?

That's right, a grand total of 0 times.

OK how about leading the league in Scoring? 2
MVP's? 1

He has been in the league a total of 13 years. And has dominated the league how? Two scoring titles and 1 MVP.

OK he has 3 championship rings and 3 finals MVP. Yeah?

Jordan has 6 rings, 6 finals MVPs, 5 MVPs, 10 scoring titles, 1 defensive player of the year (which is ridiculous for a guard to win)

Russell - 11 rings, 5 MVPs, 5 time rebounding champ And probably would have had a dozen defensive player of the year awards and lead the leage in block shots if they had it back then

Wilt Chamberlain - 7 scoring titles (once with a sick 50.4 scoring average), Lead league in rebounding 11 times and averaged an NBA record 22.9 RPG,

So please stop saying he is the most dominant ever. He is VERY good. Top 10 player no doubt. But Most Dominant Ever? Please. A big man needs to rebound and defend the paint, not just score.

Quick Trip to San Diego

I just got back from a quick trip to San Diego to give a presentation to a company down there. It was actually located right next to Sergio's new office but I wasn't going to be there long and so didn't try and see him.

The travelling was a nightmare. The meeting lasted 1.5 hours and I speant a total of 7 hours in the car. Oh well, gotta get one of these units we build sold.

Everyone have a good weekend.