deal architect

There must be 50,000 ways to leave your job

Ever heard of losing your job (as CEO no less) for magazine subscriptions? “He subscribed to the magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Shape, Fortune and regional publications, to keep up with industry trends and lifestyle issues concerning Ideal Image's likely customers”

How about for having “caused disharmony in the workplace by using block capitals, bold typeface and red text in her emails.”

Paul Simon makes a lot of sense…

“You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free”

Is Walmart losing its edge?

I tend to do branded goods shopping for the family - quite often at Walmart. Other family members go to local grocery stores for fresher produce.  I could not tell you what the price of lettuce is, but I do keep an eye on Charmin and Gillette and Duracell pricing.

Last month, I wrote I was shocked Walmart was so much more expensive than amazon when it came to Mach3 cartridges. Since then I have become even more vigilant.

Here are some recent observations

• Garmin Nuvi 205 - Walmart $ 126, Best Buy $ 106
• Pedigree 22 oz dog food various flavors - last year 87 c a can. This weekend $ 1.12 a can. Price increase of 29%.
• Travel size shaving cream. Gillette and Edge last year 99c (overpriced already for a 2.5 oz can). Last few weeks no Gillette in stock, so Edge raises prices to 1.49 a can. Price Increase of 50%.

Aberrations? I hope so. Walmart is the price leader and other retailers follow its benchmarks- if it allows products to go up 29 and 50% over the last few months,  $ 4 gas will look real cheap in contrast. 

"There is no safety in hiding"

Elevator opens - I walk in. The man at the back winces ever so slightly. I say hello, turn my back to him thinking his reaction was totally natural with all the violent deaths in his family. This man must die a few deaths a day. What keeps him going in full public view?

The man was Senator Ted Kennedy. People call him a coward for Chappaquiddick. I think he was brave - almost foolishly so for getting involved in so many areas he could have easily avoided. 

Like mine. His office helped me on a personal matter when the congressmen from the State of Texas I then lived in showed little interest in.

And countless healthcare, immigration, race and other issues he could have played spineless politician on.

When he conceded in the 1980 Presidential race, I was wowed by Tennyson and everything in his Dream On speech. 3 decades later I am much more conservative in my leaning - but we need more like him. Wear your positions on your sleeves and let's argue it out. No safety in hiding.

Weekend Stuff: Caffeine and Ernesto

I am a one coffee cup a day guy. Preferably a cappuccino in the morning. Years of Starbucks have in recent months have given way to a drive-through the local McCafe. A one-cup-a-day drinker’s opinion does not count for a lot of beans, but I do like their beans.  And their hospitality.

Drive through hospitality? Yup, particularly Ernesto Izqueirdo’s. He hoards for me their periodic coupons. And smiles a lot. This morning he had a tie on -  recently promoted. Made my morning to see him appreciated.

Rest of family is still sold on Starbucks. They have not been introduced – yet - to Ernesto’s charms.

Weekend Stuff: "Young Me"

The last few weeks have taken the family to a few college campuses - my daughter is a senior -  and I have accompanied them on a couple of the visits.

Then I see a tweet around Steely Dan's "Reelin' in the Years" from Naomi Bloom

"Wish to hell I could travel back, meet young me just one more time."

I would like to meet "young me" again - I am pretty sure I would be a campus tour student guide. Yes, the kind who has mastered walking backwards and remembering all kinds of arcane details about the history and topography of the campus.

NY Times says the campus tour and the guide are evolving. Me, I see myself continue to walk backwards. That way I could write a blog which would describe the parents accompanying their teenagers on the campus tours.  Most of them, I can see, also want to be "young me" again and enjoy all  freebies campuses offer these days -free tutoring, free note taker if you are injured, free WSJ,  free wi-fi, free movies, free study abroad. Hide for 4 years while the outside world heals itself of all its economic and environmental and other issues. Rather than be the ones writing the checks for those "freebies"

And while on the topic of Steely Dan, fans may enjoy the making of Peg, circa 1977. My roommate on campus, Walter Herbst introduced me to them. I hope he is well wherever he is.

Blueprint Blue - some good memories for this "young me"

Weekend stuff – Donate your unused plastic for school paper and pencil

Take your unused retail stored value card (apparently $ 40 billion of them lying in wallets and drawers unused, though only a portion will have $ 10 or more unused – a requirement for this offer) and trade them at this site for a donation to donorschoose.org, The funds are used for public school projects for field trips, science learning kits and other needs.

The other airline tax

I was wondering why we did not hear of a bailout of airlines in the last few months - I mean like clockwork autos, banks and airlines go through crisis in tandem every few years.

Well, because local governments have been subsidizing the airlines as this NY Times article  points out

"To save money, the airlines either eliminated service or significantly cut back on routes. But some airlines have been willing to resume service if cities agreed to shoulder most — or all — of the financial risk."

Would be understandable if this was the first cycle - but between direct bailouts, bankruptcy protection for most of the majors and now this, we have created an on-going entitlement culture...

Weekend Stuff: Baseball/Cricket foodfight

Thomas Otter of Gartner writes in the Hobby series on New Florence about cricket. Reading all the countries he talked about where cricket is a major sport, I did a quick check. Almost 30% of this blog's readership is in those Commonwealth countries.

Formidable competition to baseball fans.

No wonder, Thomas feels confident enough to get a couple of digs in about baseball. Time for Paul Greenberg, Chris Selland and other baseball fans to step up and respond with a column of our own.

We may not like the Red Sox or the Cubs, but surely, we can do better than the Kolkata  Knight Riders? :)

Update: In early innings and tweets, baseball is being clobbered

Chris Selland: steroids, no salary cap and the DH? too hard for me to defend. Plus I'm on vacation...

Simon Griffiths: No competition, largest democracy in world is cricket mad, as are other ex-colonies except US and Canada

Dennis Howlett: Baseball is "nancy boys' rounders"

Anshu Sharma: Cricket can bring nations together - it's one thing that Indians and Pakistanis have shared even in the worst of times..

But Thomas, ever the gentleman plays it down the middle in comment below..

Burning question: If you found $ 1,000 on the street

a)  Get from buy.com an “Apple iPhone 3Gs 32GB Never-Locked LEGALLY Unlocked”

b) Buy a clunker for cash and get a bailout by trading it for 4.5X under CARS

b) Convert into 10,000 Roosevelts and live at Taco Bell

Readers?

“Lend me some suga', I am your neighbor….”

OutKast

Stacey over at GigaOm asks if she did the right thing by refusing to share her MiFi with a stranger at an airport.

My answer – She does not need to feel guilty for saying no.

My favorite “guilt” story goes back to a non-stop flight from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia to New York in the mid-80s. I had booked weeks in advance a bulkhead seat (in economy) with extra leg space for that 14 hour non-stop. As we all settled into our seats the guy  behind me tapped my shoulder and said he had just had surgery – could I swap with him? He was in middle seat, no less. I politely said no, and felt like a heel for the next hour.

As we got to cruising altitude, I felt better. Why? Because the SOB got up and walked around with no obvious discomfort. I would have kicked his seat every time he nodded off if I had swapped and then discovered I had been had :)

Readers, do you have a similar “guilt-trip” story?