a comment from Buffet

“At 86 and 79, Charlie and I remain lucky beyond our dreams. We were born in America; had terrific parents who saw that we got good educations; have enjoyed wonderful families and great health; and came equipped with a “business” gene that allows us to prosper in a manner hugely disproportionate to that experienced by many people who contribute as much or more to our society’s well-being. Moreover, we have long had jobs that we love, in which we are helped in countless ways by talented and cheerful associates. Indeed, over the years, our work has become ever more fascinating; no wonder we tap-dance to work. If pushed, we would gladly pay substantial sums to have our jobs (but don’t tell the Comp Committee).”

Even auto repair businesses are getting hammered

an anecdotal story from a blog I read . . . . . "My 16 year old daughter recently decided to see how fast she can drive on ice in her brand new car and learned a life long lesson. I took the vehicle to a local automotive repair facility that is professionally run and a very large facility. I spoke with the owner at length and she told me business was down 33% over the last 12 months. She thought her business was recession proof but that is not the case with this latest recession. She has been in business for over a decade and has never had a down year. The trend is for people to take the insurance money and not repair their cars. She told me to look around and notice how many dinged up cars are on the road these days. She also noticed a major trend towards $1000 deductibles versus $500 in order to save premiums. She really hoped things would turn around because her margins were down to 9% and asked what I thought. I didn't have the heart to tell her what I thought. Good news is someone backed into my car last night so I'll be giving her more business."

Are the Greeks losing it?

"Greek opposition lawmakers said on Thursday that Germans should pay reparations for their World War Two occupation of Greece before criticizing the country over its yawning fiscal deficits.

"How does Germany have the cheek to denounce us over our finances when it has still not paid compensation for Greece's war victims?" Margaritis Tzimas, of the main opposition New Democracy party, told parliament."

This was during a debate in the Greek parliament on how to handle the Greek debt. And it was echoed by both the left and right political parties. Somehow they forgot about the German government paying 115 million deutschmarks in 1960, not a small sum back then. It seems that many Greek politicians are still in the denial stage of dealing with this crisis.

The important quote from Tiger . . .

“I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn’t have to go far to find them.”

Actions speak louder than words

“I cannot hear what you are saying because what you are doing is speaking so loudly.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Driving Safely???

The Highway Loss Data Institute data released in January is a study collected before-and- after crash rates in California, Connecticut, New York, and the District of Columbia, all of which ban the use of cell phones while driving. It also compared crash rates in nearby states without such bans. The data showed no significant changes after the bans were in effect, and no significant changes in states without the bans.
There are several possible explanations for these results, besides the obvious possibility that there is no connection between talking on a phone and driver attentiveness to driving. First, the bans may not be enforced very well, or at all. Second, there may be a ramp-up period before the word gets around that you can be penalized for using a phone while driving. But the study does raise concerns about the broader issue of driver distractions—and more of those are on the way.
Far more likely to cause accidents is texting while driving, given that most people need to look at their device while doing so. Nineteen states plus the District of Columbia and Guam now ban texting while driving—but those bans may show equally little effect if it turns out that enforcement is so difficult or spotty as to have practically no impact (as may well be he case for the cell phone use study).
Beyond texting is the growing proliferation of in-car devices to further distract drivers from keeping their cars in safe operation. Bill Snyder, in Computerworld (Jan. 25th) reported from the Consumer Electronics Show about “a new generation of devices that bring email, the Internet, and digital entertainment into our cars.” There were 380 exhibitors showing items such as mobile TV and high-speed Internet access for cars, some pitched to eager car manufacturers and others aimed at individuals, as after-market add-ons to their cars. In his article, “Dear Silicon Valley: Stay Out of My Car,” Snyder quotes University of Utah psychology professor David Strayer, as follows: “Listening to a short text message is probably okay. But trying to pay attention to a complex email is a bad idea; it overloads the driver.” Strayer’s research has found that only 2.5% of us are the kind of “super-taskers” who can carry out multiple complex tasks at the same time.

Gold

Today, IMF made a splash by announcing plans to sell the remaining 191 tons (about $7 billion' worth) of its gold.

Grubonics - Uppatacious

Uppatacious is a word Bill uses to describe someone who is way too found of himself and doesn't deserve to be that conceited. The person also does things to try to impress others for the sake of it and the behavior is obnoxious.

Is The FDIC Killing Short Sales?

Unbelievable true story about what the FDIC is doing with foreclosures and why it's costing us a fortune and enabling others to make fortunes. Click here

Super Bowls betting results

Each year, my friend Phil Norton and I bet as many of the Las Vegas betting options as we can on the Super Bowl football game. They number as many as 80 different bets from coin toss to most average passing yards by team to first play of game to most penalty yards, etc. We've been doing this for 20 years. This year there were 62 bets, 10 were draws and I won 27 and Phil won 25. This year we bet 50 cents on each wager so I won $1.00 . . . can't wait for the check to arrive. Oh yeah, I won't cash the check, that's the way we do it every year.

Grubonics

Yesterday I invented the word "Grubonics" to describe the style of speech that my friend and craftsman, Bill Gruber uses. We've been working together the last week on a couple of home improvement projects and just to listen to him is fun and educational and "rich". Anyone who's had Bill in their company for an hour or more knows what I'm talking about. I'll post a few Gruberisms soon.

Whoa is the Democrat who cannot accept health reform is lost

If there is a lesson in the health insurance reform bill's collapse, and the ensuing anguish from disheartened Democrats, it is that those who put their faith in politics will most likely find that what they get in return is, in fact, more politics. So for those ailing Democrats whose belief in this bill has shaken their faith in the power of politics to produce political change, well, grief is a terrible thing, but as any therapist will say, it's never too late to get help.

Morning Sunrise photo by Craig B. Kincaid

Yesterday morning I woke up and saw the sunrise, grabbed my camera and took this picture from my dock.

Ever want to learn how to tie a truckers hitch knot?

This is a great site for learning about all kinds of knots . . . . click here

Clickstream

Find out about this really interesting data set click here

Chef's Holidays 2010 at the Ahwanhee Hotel

Each year in Yosemite at the Ahwanhee they put on a top chef's demonstration of fine cooking, tour of the kitchen and culminating with a banquet in the Great Dining Hall. We stayed at the Lodge at Yosemite where we had snow and rain showers most of the time but great visuals except Half Dome was conspicuously absent. My friend Rob Davidson said that they had taken down for repairs. click here for a look at the Chef's Holidays.

The Most Famous Person

One day, a kindergarten teacher said to the class of 5-year-olds, "I'll give $2 to the child who can tell me who the most famous man who ever lived was."

An Irish boy put his hand up and said, "It was St. Patrick."

The teacher said, "Sorry Sean, that's not correct."

Then a Scottish boy put his hand up and said, "It was St. Andrew."

The teacher replied, "I'm sorry, Hamish, that's not right either."

Finally, a Jewish boy raised his hand and said, "It was Jesus Christ."

The teacher said, "That's absolutely right, Marvin, come up here and I'll give you the $2."

As the teacher was giving Marvin his money, she said, "You know, Marvin, since you're Jewish, I was very surprised that you said Jesus Christ."

Marvin replied, "Yeah. In my heart I knew it was Moses, but business is business!"

Kurzweil part two

Kurzweil has now written what may be his opus, "The Singularity is Near." If you are at all interested in what the future might hold, and are not afraid to get out of your box, you should get this book and read it. What is the singularity? Kurzweil suggests it is a future period in which technological progress becomes so rapid that it radically transforms humankind. The difference between human and our machines becomes less and less as we adapt to an increasingly technological civilization. Increasingly, out nanotech starts to inhabit our bodies. "To picture the singularity, imagine computers trillions of times smarter than Newton, Einstein and Edison inventing new technologies while continually enhancing their own abilities. Kurzweil argues that the Singularity will occur around 2045."

Ray Kurzweil

Ray Kurzweil is perhaps the primary spokesman of our generation documenting the change in the pace of technology. Some of that change he has personally been responsible for. He is the inventor of speech recognition, scanners, music synthesizers and many other technical marvels. He is a certifiable genius in multiple fields. You can learn more about him by going to his web site click here

What's the true story on Chinese individual income?

here is an excerpt from the Seeking Alpha blog challenging Jim Chanos assertion that China is in a bubble about to burst . . .

"If anything, incomes are grossly under reported in China. A simple look at how accounting works will show why. Whereas in the U.S. individuals must report their income to the Internal Revenue Service every year, in China all individual tax is reported and paid for by companies, except for that of high earners. Many Chinese companies limit the tax they pay by reporting low salaries and then paying their employees higher amounts while accounting for the difference as business expenses like phone bills. The employees are happy because they make every bit as much as they were promised, and the companies are pleased to lower their tax exposure.

Also, many companies pay for housing and cars for their employees, a holdover from the old system of state-run businesses. Most Western economists don't count those expenses as income, but they should. Deceptive accounting of income is so widespread that the government has announced plans to tax some business expenses in state-run enterprises--the kinds of expenses that let executives pay taxes on earnings of $300 a month while living in multimillion-dollar homes and driving Mercedes." to read the whole thing click here