Humbug

We're finally back in Duluth. Thank Jeebus. We are home a day early. As soon as I get my thoughts together, and my drink on, I'll get a post together.

I hate that

I can't find my wallet. The last thing I did with it was get gas for my truck. I called the gas station and it hasn't been turned in. There are no charges on my credit card.

Odds are, it's around the house somewhere, but we just tore up the house and my truck and we haven't found it.

Edited to UPDATE: SUCCESS!!! On a whim, I decided to check the garbage can in the driveway and there it was. I think that, when I got home on Friday, I was carrying a small bag of trash along with the stuff I was bringing in the house (wallet, cellphone, gym clothes). I stopped to drop off the trash and must have dropped the wallet at the same time.

PHEW!

For Your Holiday Shopping

My favorite line? "Giving a ninja something black is like giving Angelina Jolie crazy. We've already got it!"

Where's the Problem, Big 3?

According to the most recent data from the National Automobile Dealers Association, (shown above) Ford, GM and Chryseler sold WAY more cars than the "foreign imports", which are supposedly squeezing them out of business. I put that in quotes because many of the "foreign made" cars are actually manufactured in the US.

In fact, the big 3 sold 54.89% of the cars in the US, compared to just 22.66% that was sold by the Big 3 foreign makers; Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.

Yet nobody else needs a bailout.

Could it be that the UAW has made it impossible for a business to make money, even when that business holds over twice the market share of it nearest competitor?
As of December 1st, there were 1000 to 3000 United Auto Worker employees currently on the Job Bank program, down from 15000 just three years ago. That's the union's program where workers are paid their full, bloated union salary for sitting around and doing nothing. They can't be fired. They do crossword puzzles and get paid $77/hr.

The Big 3 need to be put into bankruptcy so the union contracts can be renegotiated.

Puppies save three-year-old boy lost in freezing Virginia woods

A toddler lost in the Virginia woods was back home safe Sunday thanks to two puppies who kept him warm through a harrowing night of freezing temperatures.
Officials said the lost little boy and the two family puppies wandered up to a mile in the dark, even across a highway, but it wasn't until Saturday afternoon that members of the search team found him sitting by a tree, the two puppies nestled against him.

"When I first saw him, he was like, 'Momma, I got cold. I slept in the woods last night. The puppies kept me warm.' He told me that ... the dogs slept up against him. And I'm sure the body heat kept him warm," said his mother, Sarah Ingram.

Billie Jo Roach, another member of the search party that found the boy, said the puppies refused to leave his side.

As the child was placed in an ambulance to be taken to a local hospital for examination, "The puppies were watching where he went.

"Where he went, they went," Roach said.

Meanwhile, the furry heroes, their tails wagging, were rewarded with food.

Times are Tough

We had our company Christmas party on Friday. Long time readers will recall that this is usually a big bash. Well, not this year. It was located at the development clubhouse of the owner's son. While a very nice clubhouse, it is still a development clubhouse. The crowd was smaller; the food was not as good. No full bar, just beer and wine. I found it interesting that the owners and their families had suites at the place where we usually have the party. They weren't shy about talking about how they had a party bus that was taking them back there.
This being the end of the year, we are doing our annual switching-of-the-medical-coverage. Filling out the forms reminded me of how long I've been at this company and how long it's been since I got a raise. I understand it was a rough year, but I am ridiculously underpaid. Fortunately, Mrs Schwartz was cornered by the owner's wife, who asked her how things are going. Mrs S explained to her that I love my job, but we're having a hard time making ends meet. Let's see how effective the power behind the throne can be.
Currently, Mrs Schwartz' cold has returned. She is moaning in misery on the couch.

The official Beginning of Xmas season

Overall, it was a pretty slow Thanksgiving weekend.

We had found an irish pub that was offering Thanksgiving dinner for $4.95/person, so we were planning on going there. By 1:30 Thursday afternoon, Mrs Schwartz was starving. We went to the bar, only to discover that they didn't open until 4pm. So we went to Kroger, got some meatloaf and sides, and ate at home. Later that evening, we were still too full to justify going out to eat.

My gout flared up a week ago, and simply refuses to go away. I've barely had a drink of anything other than cherry juice. I've been popping NSAIDs like tik-tacs. It just won't go away.

At least my head cold has finally gone away. Mrs Schwartz hasn't quite kicked hers yet.

I doubt we'll decorate for Xmas, since we won't be in town for the big day.

Janet ate my shaving brush, so I am currently sporting a "Don Johnson" beard.

I helped a friend attempt to run some network wiring yesterday, only to end in futility. We drilled through about 8 inches of floor joist, after buying the extra long drill bit, only to run into something else blocking our path about a foot further down the wall. I recomended going wireless.