Who took it the worst because of the massive problems in the Michigan auto-industry? How about the Michigan I-75 going south from Detroit to Toledo. It was bump-bump-bump-bump-bump for the entire hour. I've always considered Michigan highways to be some of the worst I've driven. Now they are officially ahead of the Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

I love the Monkeys, but this video makes Milli Vanili and Ashlee Simpson look awesome.

Marketing isn't really that difficult. I've been marketing my websites for years with simple well-known techniques; good customer service, tell people, biz cards, etc. It's worked very well for me. Guess how many times I've head people say that they don't have my marketing or SEO skills? Too many! And I can't convince them that I'm not doing much they don't already know.

Today, was a reminder of just how much people don't try. I got pamplete in the mail for a local Brampton restaurant called The Chicken Place. I assumed it was new and wanted to check-it-out. I looked for an address or map on the pamplete. I couldn't find one. I was surprised. I decided to check their website (http://www.chickenplace.ca/). No address or map. The website was just a copy of their pamphlete. No address. How many people are gonna call for directions? Nobody. The pamphlete will be thrown in the garbage 5 seconds after the customer realizes there's no map or directions. I did a Google maps search and bingo, there it was, along my 7km run path. And then I remembered the restaurant. It's been there for years and I've never once entered.

It doesn't take a genius to know that your restaurant's pamphlete should include a map and address. Not just a map. Not just an address. Both! If you own a restaurant and are creating a pamphlete, then simply look at ten other restaurant pamphletes and copy their ideas. Get the basic covered. That's marketing. It's easy! It's not hard. Well, unless you don't try.

The current Swine Flu scare is proof enough to me that media and government have no perspective. We are putting massive amounts of effort (medical, media, government) behind a type of influenza that has killed less than 200 people worldwide. Put that in the scale of the hundreds of thousands of influenza deaths and on occasion MILLIONS that occur annually. The death-rate of Swine Flu is no better or worse than regular old Flu that we've all had from time-to-time. The authorities scare us with big words like mutation. I know we have to track viruses and virus mutations, as the worse case scenario is possible, however likely implausible. We don't need to scare everybody with possibilities. I think the media should be required to mention that 200 deaths from H1N1 is nothing compared to the millions of influenza viruses that occur rather regularly on our planet. Let's get some perspective on this. Focus on the medicine and less focus on scaring the shit out of everybody for what is likely nothing.

If the U.S. hog industry wants to blame someone for reduced pork sales, then blame CNN and MSNBC.

via TechLifeWeb.

This morning, I woke up with a mostly red-eye.

The blackeye is gaining color.

My son wanted to play catch today. We got the gloves out and threw the baseball around. He was doing rather well, until he decided to throw the ball at me when my back was turned. My luck. I turned at the last second and took it square in the eye. I hope it doesn't get much worse.

"I will be out of the office until 2038, at which time I will return to collect my pension. :)"

I'm waiting to turn left at an intersection. The light is red. We get the advanced green. The first car isn't really paying attention and so nobody goes thru the intersection for the first few sections of the green. Someone honks. The car takes off like a shot, but barely makes it thru the intersection before it turns yellow. Only 2 cars made it into the intersection before the yellow. Another 2 cards made it into the intersection before the red. Three more cards go thru a blatant red light, likely in frustrations.

Waiting now for the next advanced green..........

There it is. The first car isn't paying attention. The honk goes off, 2 cars thru the green, 2 cars thru the yellow and 3 more cars go thru a blatant red.

Two little boys, ages 8 and 10, were excessively mischievous. They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew all about it. If any mischief occurred in their town, the two boys were probably involved. The boys' mother heard that a preacher in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys.

The preacher agreed, but he asked to see them individually. So the mother sent the 8 year old first in the morning, with the older boy to see the preacher in the afternoon.

The preacher, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, 'Do you know where God is, son?'

The boy's mouth dropped open, but he made no response, sitting there wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open.

So the preacher repeated the question in an even sterner tone, 'Where is God?'

Again, the boy made no attempt to answer. The preacher raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy's face and bellowed, 'Where is God?'

The boy screamed and bolted from the room, ran directly home and dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him. When his older brother found him in the closet, he asked, 'What happened?'

The younger brother, gasping for breath, replied, 'We are in BIG trouble this time,'

'GOD is missing, and they think we did it.'

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.  The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully.  He got down on one knee, inspected the elephants foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it.  As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his knife,  after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments.  Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.  Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son.  As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and  walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing.  The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down.  The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man. Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if this was the same elephant.  Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing, and made his way into the enclosure.  He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn't the same fucking elephant. This is for everyone who sends me those heart-warming bullshit stories.

My prime example was a friend who use to build and sell his own computers from his basement. He couldn't make money at his asking price, but he refused to increase prices because he didn't think he'd sell any computers at a higher price. After working his ass off and losing money for years, he closed shop. He had no chance of succeeding because he thought any other path was also doomed.

I often bring this to the attention of business owners and although they admit this strategy is doomed, they swear it's the only thing to do in their situation. Their situation is somehow special. They inevitably fail too!

It's quite apparent to me now, that our economies and big companies around the world are being run by complete idiots. The major initiative of Chrysler and GM of late, is to announce the closing of dealerships. Let's make it clear. There is no cost saving to Chrysler or GM when they close a dealership. Those are mostly independently run businesses (franchises) that pay their own employees, rents, etc. Closing those dealerships only reduces retail space, which translates directly to lower sales. Now, in many cases, Chrysler and GM actually pay for some assets on behalf of those dealerships and there can be some cost savings by being able to close those payments (often mortgage like) while in bankruptcy. Why not simply transfer those liabilities to the dealerships and let them survive? Possibly with reduced profits, but at least they keep the retail space open and employees employed. By closing dealerships, Chrysler and GM is only guaranteeing further reduced sales.

I have to wonder if some brilliant politicians are pushing Chrysler and GM to close dealerships. I think our current economy is proof that governments needs to realize they don't know how to run a business. Several months ago, Chrysler and GM could have went bankrupt. Instead, our governments gave them money to keep them out of bankruptcy. That only prolonged the inevitable. Chrysler is already in bankruptcy and GM is hot on their heals. Now, instead of Chrysler emerging from bankruptcy with zero debt, they will be sadled with repaying the government loans. We simply made the problem worse.

Just to prove how stupid our Canadian government is, some companies have been overpaying their tax deposits because Revenue Canada pays interest on those overpayments and their interest rate is much high than anything you can get on the free market.

Read more...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090513.wauditor13art2232/BNStory/politics/home

Gotta love YouTubers.

Awesome!

via BoingBoing.

Incompetence is somewhat malicious. You know someone will be upset if you screw it up again and you fail to do what is necessary to get it right. Maybe you were too busy with something else (getting home early on Friday) or just too lazy to take the time.

The nice thing about recessions is that incompetent people are sometimes the first to get fired. Unless, of course, the incomp smokes or plays hockey with the VP.

This is awesome, especially consider it is independently produced by fans. I've only watched the previews. Can't wait to watch the entire thing.