Screwball

Good riddance. Not sure if Charlie is still there, but he can be gone too. I guess it depends on how you look at it. Buffet built an investing empire, but at the same time old uncle Warren was all about sucking money from whatever way he could. I wish I could find the article from circa 2010 or so on how Buffett got in on the largest wealth transfer in history after the swine banksters blew up the world in 2008/2009. Something like Buffett's bailouts. He's in the big club.

Since corporate ineptness was a topic. I must share this story. Circa 2007, multi-national. The brain trust decided a new way to motivate everyone (since the posters on the wall didn't seem to work) was to give us salary people two paths to prosperity. Management or technical. Chose a path and the yellow brick road is soon to follow. Every year they would chose two of the management path people to attend a "elite" corporate obedience training class - a suckfest if you will. There would be around 20 people with 3 or 4 teachers in an exclusive location, like a retreat, for 16 hours a day over the course of a week. When you graduate, the final sacrifice is walking on hot coals. True story. It gets better. One of the guys we sent, when hailing the greatness of this experience at the next staff meeting told them he just signed up his kid, and paid for it himself. These space cadets are why we have fuel pumps in gas tanks.

People falling down drunk on red BS will believe it. People falling down drunk on blue BS won't believe it. The rest think it doesn't matter, and they are probably right.

On the automotive front. The issues I have been dealing with is like a blast from the past. Back around 2014 I was at a corporate obedience training class at the mothership. Part of the torture to keep our job. The problem I have with my vehicle is a design problem. They don't know how to fix it. Well, they do... Back to school. We spent a day and a half collecting and analyzing data and proved the problem was a design problem. And they were exactly right. Any questions? Yes, matter of fact, I do. From engineering, I agree with you 100 percent. It's going to cost a few million dollars to fix it, maybe more. Problem is, you ain't gonna get it - not in the budget - or the next 8k. Now what are you going to do? Crickets. Send them to customer service where it all goes to die.

Crude oil is under $60 bucks a barrel. Time to fill up the SPR. Moving on, customer service. Maybe this doesn't count as customer service but to the entire ineptitude of corporate America. Converted to fiber optic from the old coax last Saturday. Took my old cable modem back to their store on Tuesday. They open at 10:03. I stood in line. How can I help you? Terminate service. I also want proof of returning the modem. Only took a minute or so. Later that day I get a text telling me to return my modem to the nearest office. I also get an email. Then another email the next day which was a survey on how my service was, to the email account that should no longer work. And of course another, would you like to pay your bill? I think I was a couple of days late turning it in to the billing cycle, so I'm probably gonna get charged for another month.

Nothing like a White Castle just as the sun is starting to come up after a night traveling an hour to a night at the horse races, then a strip club, and about 5 bars in between. Hookers in front of the White Castle. Early 70s. Toledo, Ohio.

Customer service. Nice phrase. Too bad in most cases it doesn't exist. I'm old and spent 35+ years in Office Space - and here we are - I'm not surprised. In the last two months I've dealt with bank problems, car problems, and internet problems. Nazi's all. Piss poor design problems that become unfixable in the auto realm, then the digital world swindlers, then you have the financial wizards of the world who rape us in every way possible. I've just spent 1400 bucks on a problem with my auto, and it's not fixed. According to two different dealers and a service bulletin, my condition is deemed normal per engineering at this time. Exact words given and I have a copy. My engine is overheating, according to the gauge. It never gets into the red or sets off an engine light. But it still gets hot, then goes back down. Not good. They had it for 3 days, send scanner data to the mothership. When they gave it back they told me - this is normal - just don't let it get into the red. WHAT? I then went the OEM route and the comedy was immediate and off the charts dicked up. It's called - you are ****ed. What a world.

Cramer's Mad Money was 2005, but after looking again, I found another creature. Cramer had a show with Larry Kudlow from 2002-2005. Cramer was also frequent guest commentator on CNBC in the late 1990s. So yea, the dickwad has been around longer. Kudlow is another. I used to mute the TV when he came on. He isn't even a good BSer. Truly awful. He was the green shoots guy after the crash of 2008 that made you want to puke.

Jim Cramer.... I had to look it up to see how long he has been in front of a camera and billed as an expert. His Mad Money show started on CNBC in 2005 (Bubblevision). If you were a CNBC junkie, his show came on around 5 or 6 after the markets closed. He had a keypad type thing about the size of a small organ. Maybe a dozen buttons. He would rant and rave slobber then smack the button that said "buy, buy, buy." They even had a link so you could push the buttons from home and play along. I tried to find a link but couldn't find one. Funny ****. So this huckster has been in front of a financial camera for 20 years? And he still is! You can't make this **** up.

In no particular order; Blues Brothers Up in Smoke American Pie Just about anything from Abbot and Costello.

Found this interesting while looking at data from the Port of LA. Goes back quite a ways and I notice the trend upward around the mid-ninety's.

This is a known problem for this model as shown by the date on top. Highlighted in yellow is; Condition - temperature gauge fluctuates at idle or driving. Cause - condition deemed normal by engineering at this time. Normal my ass. They don't know how to fix it and it's been to two different dealerships.

A little search will tell us the Thrilla in Manila in 1975 was an HBO first television network to broadcast a continuous signal via satellite. I remember that fight.

I think so. I remember going to a bowling alley (had to look it up) in 1990 to watch George Foreman and Gerry Cooney. They some somehow got the feed. They were packed.