...but that is not nice!

It occurred to me this has been seriously neglected lately. The biggest reason is I live by what my mother always told me - if you have nothing nice to say do not say ...or type ... anything at all.

I could tell you all that I think doctors are basically useless... but that is not nice.

I could tell you I am tired of being unemployed and the econlmy stinks... but that is not nice.

I could tell you how crummy I have been feeling lately.. but that is not nice.

I could discuss the fact being in that limbo stage of my life not having any sort of direction... but that is my fault and not your fault.

I could tell you it is rough to watch TV these days because I will have to see HIS face eventually and I dread seeing HIS face ALL THE TIME!!! That is just not nice at all to dislike someone that much especially if he is "fearless" leader of the free world.

I could tell you that I think the economy is much worse than most people think because I see people getting training for skills that are simply not marketable in the least even when things are great. That seems negative as well.

The one positive note - we will prevail through this if it is the last thing we do. We have done it several times and if you don't know that go back and review history.

I will come back soon with a less convaluted post.

Muddled...

Well this blog has been very far from active because I thought I could possibly come across as too negative due to not having much to rave about these days. At the same side it is tough to be too positive these days as some people out there are just not in good situations based on the economy and a terrible job market.

Life for me is at a complete standstill. The future is far away and the future seems good but totally foggy as I really not sure what needs to be done to make sure the future does end up bright. Many people in my age bracket don't give much thought to having faith in God. I can tell you unequivocally I am thankful he has always been there and even done a good having bad things happen to me which ended up being great things when all was said and done.

It is not hard to believe many people in the Metro Detroit area would be stagnant in their lives when they don;t know if they will have jobs tomorrow. The impact of this economy is quite staggering when you figure out the number of people who are being impacted by this economy. The amount of time it will take to get to the other side maybe infinite. For others it may just be a blip on the map.

Regardless - I found this story quite remarkable. I have ZERO idea how this happens and I have no idea how you fix this from ever happenning again. All children - regardless of what you think of national health care - should receive complementary health care.

Some Summer Sunday night thoughts

Sheesh .. Two months...

A Summer Sunday night post...

Several things on my mind lately

- The whole health care debate has become ths most popular subject in most groups I interact. The worst part is regardless if I am watching on TV or listening to people no one really knows the heart of the issue. It is nothing but half truths whether the source is the guy behind the counter or the guy who has the title "President of United States".

- Discussions regarding the economy are filled with just as many half truths as well. The "worst economy since teh Great Depression" is something that should NEVER be uttered by any person. I will get to that in a later post.

- One of the things remarkable is not that the President Obama;s poll numbers are going down. That was to be suspected as its the case with most Presidents. The thing that is something to stand up and notice is the poll numbers of those who voted for him. That is where his popularity has taken a real dive.

- As I get older, I am going out much less to the "scene" which I thought was most appropriate. When I have been out there I saw mostly young people at the height of my bar going days. I am nto sure when it happenned though but now there is a club scene for people, ahem, older than me. One place where it is quite noticeable is a restaurant bar in a local outside mall. I have gone in twice. The first time I thought it was funny that everyone was about ten years older than me. I was so sure that had to be an anomaly. I went in again and sure enough the same age group. I have not been there again for some time but did walk by a few nights ago and the same is holding true. I wonder aloud if this is a new thing or have the group who could be grandparents had their version of Tiki Bobs for some time? Of course the place that intrigues me the most is in Royal Oak where people walk in and for sure do not lack confidence. I expect one time to walk in and everyone will be donning a crown of thorns. Saying that I will continue to go there because there are some remarkable moments of human nature that should not be missed.

- The people of the city of Detroit appear to be endorsing a completely new direction. A few months back, they voted in businessman Dave Bing who will bring his business knowledge to an office that needs much of it. The voters followed up this past week by voting in former reporter Charles Pugh, who has been in Detroit all his life. Pugh has made as close to a grass roots effort as a reporter can taking time and talking with the public and finding out what they want and what can be done going forward.It will be interesting to see what can be done between these two men going forward if the results carry over to November.

OK... that is what I have for right now...

Why the NHL is clueless...

This article is why the NHL is clueless. NOT allowing for people to get together and watch this as has always been the case in the past is a sad pathetic move from a network losing money on a daily basis and being ordered by their parent company, GE, to pull out all the stops. What is even worse though is the NHL allowing this to even take place.

After a good night of sports...

OK - A new commitment will be made... We will see how it goes...

- As if I did not know - Article

- I am not the biggest hockey fan in the world but clearly I am spoiled by a few things. The first is we have an awesome team in this town and I spend more time watching the D-Train last night. Secondly, everytime I watch them it just not seem I am dazzled by the effort. When watching sports, I never want to feel like I care more than those participating.

- I think the Wings will win the despite those efforts as they are the most experienced team remaining in this year's playoffs.

- While the Wings won last evening, I believe a more important development took place at Comerica. If Dontrelle Willis has indeed corrected his issues as a pitcher, he has the power to be one of the upper echelon athletes in this town. He has personality, ability and desire to make a difference. He offers more of an openess than your average professional athlete. More important to Mike Illitch and Tiger Management - he can bring the fans down to Comerica unlike anyone else on their team. Sure Verlander is a good guy but he does not have the "it" factor Dontrelle has for whatever reason. He has the ability to bring this town to their feet.

- I am very excited to see what Dave Bing will do in office. I have long proposed that government needs to change their direction and be run like businesses by those who have run a business. There are countless examples of this and I believe the federal government will soon be another example.

- Back to Detroit, I think Bing will be able to balance the needs of maintaining a budget with the needs of the people. He has no personal needs - not the casw with the last elected official.

- If you wonder aloud what the auto companies will look like in say ten years, you might want to view the steel comapnies who went thorugh a similar situation ten years ago. It will not be a cardon copy but some striking similarities. One thing for sure - it will be a subject of many business journal artciles of years beyond my life.

Unemployed thoughts #1

I pondered while cutting my grass this afternoon - Is there such a thing as having too big of a Virgin Mary Statue in your yard?

Do people work? I did some driving around today and it seems that traffic was terrible and it was either Escalades or BMW's in my way.

Swine Flu? Do you remember anything that kills many more people - like cancer getting this much attention from the news anchors or the government in such a speedy response? The best is they call it Swine - not pig, pork, bacon, or baby back. they did not even use the phrase "pig pen".

I am not much of a TV watcher and I can see it is getting worse. I attempted watching TV twice during the day and found it awful. The talk shows are terrible. Actually the best thing going is the soap operas. They are on daily but I think if you watch your fave twice a year you know exactly what is going on with the plot lines.

Trust me when I say there be more...

The latest auto news...

25% - that is the probability that Chrysler and GM are going to file bankruptcy. I watched/listened to most of Fritz's (Sweet name) speech. With Chrysler coming to an agreement with the CAW and UAW and Daimler optioning out of their share, it seems like everything will be on track for the Fiat deal to go through unless the bond holders really mess with the situation. GM and the unions will work on getting on the same page soon and strike an agreement.

The challenge for both auto companies will be the bond holders. Now I will not sit here and tell you I know how the bonds work and all. It is not the easiest thing to explain and that is coming from someone who has had some schooling with the subject. Fritz was asked by a reporter if GM was any closer to bankruptcy than they were one month ago. He answered the question the only way he could stating they are closer to bankruptcy. He could not afford to say anything else. If he said they were not than he plays into the bondholders hands. In addition, he cannot rationalize closing more plants and dealerships. This is a classic case of chicken and each team will wait for the other to blink with the the bondholders most likely to do so first.

Neither company can "afford" to go into bankruptcy. Despite the several claims by the government that they can push both auto companies through the process, it simply cannot happen. Much of this has to do with the the number of debtors each company has on their list. It would take for ever to figure out how to handle each of those entities that are owed money. It is one thing when small companies owe another small company money and bankruptcy takes care of it. It is quite another thing when you have one company which employs many people who owes another company that has several employees and numerous suppliers. The trickle effect of bankruptcy is too devastating and economically takes too long.

The other reason that bankruptcy is not an option with auto companies is there are few games in town domestically. If a bank goes out of business, it can get gobbled up by one of tons of other entities. The economic domino of all this taking place is limited since the assets and liabilities are absorbed by that financial entity. With an auto company, the company dissipates and there is everyone in that company as well as the suppliers and even non suppliers who benefited from the business of those employee's wages will en up feeling the effects of the company termination.

If anything it has been a very interesting to watch and will prove to be great for MBA students to take all in future classes.