Rant of the day

If you really wanna know what the economy is doing-ask someone in sales, or restaurants, or any service industry. It is not going well. Businesses are cutting back and at the same time demanding that the profit margin go up. I know of a 14 million dollar restaurant that is working with 8 managers right now. Not because they are short staffed but because of cuts they have made. A 14 million dollar a year restaurant should have no less than 14 managers at a time and a couple of trainee managers to fall back on. I work in car sales. Now I know what you all are thinking, but we actually are one of the few that wanna help people get a car. We do not bully people or make them feel pressured. We encourage people to shop around because we have the best car for the price and people remember great customer service. I won't buy from a jackass and I wouldn't expect anyone else to either. It has been soooooo slow and to make matters worse, the soccer moms and the older generation who think that they need to get close to or near what they paid for their 10 year old gas guzzling SUV or Lincoln town car and expect to find a car that gets 40 miles to the gallon with all of the bells and whistles for under 10 grand are coming out in droves. IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!! We buy our cars from the manufacturer and we pay for them through the bank. Yes, we have a note to pay on them every month-just the interest, but that adds up when you have 100's of cars on the lot. We also mark up the cars about $400 dollars. There- I said it. $400 dollars. All of the people who are out of touch seem to think cars are marked up 3-4 thousand dollars by the dealer. That is true in some cases-Maybe Mercedes, BMW and Land Rovers, but not on little 4 bangers or small SUV's that are marked at 25k. My point is if you are out car shopping and you have not done your Internet research you deserve to get upset and frustrated, but only with yourself. The market has changed so much in the last 5 years. When you are doing you research, please bear in mind that when advertised the dealer will put in the lowest priced base vehicle and add all of the rebates and bonus money in i.e. small print, and no one ever, I repeat ever qualifies for every rebate or bonus. Also when doing your research the price on the manufacturers website never includes taxes, shipping fee, destination charge, title or doc fees, all of which the dealer has no control over. That alone adds up to thousands, and I haven't even mentioned financing charges. So be cool, do your research and expect to be in the dealership for a minimum of 2 hours ( you are not buying a pair of pants-you are buying a very expensive and technical machine) . Average time at my dealership, from picking out and driving a car to leaving the lot is around 3-4 hours. We have to do paperwork, pick a car, gas the car, detail the car, more paperwork, get the tags , appraise your trade, get the financing, more paperwork, finalize the delivery, go through the checklist for the delivery, set the radio stations, check for your insurance, yet more paperwork and then you are free to drive your car off the lot where it depreciates as soon as the tires hit the asphalt. I hope I have enlightened you all. I know I feel a little better. Now come buy a car from me so I can keep the Internet access, will ya.SF

it hurts

I was really hoping for a Memphis win. Not just because I was born and raised there but because if any city needed it more it is Memphis. I had a party and invited people from my neighborhood to watch and only one guy showed up. I am not devastated but why can't something positive happen in Memphis? As of this moment you will hear that Memphis was the underdog, got schooled and was never really a contender, placing my beloved city in the class of losers that people talk about as once in a lifetime. I know we(Memphis) have some good freshmen coming in, but I was there in "85 and I feel that we need some championship face time. If I were in M-town tomorrow I would be at the airport to great the Tigers and show them how much I appreciate them for their effort. I love me some Tiger ball-we just did not execute for 40 minutes. Sad Sad Sad...Now let's get it on with some AAA Cardinals baseball and the NFL draft. Ohhhh to be on Beale st. tonight and commiserate with my peeps, and the bums and the lowlifes. I kinda miss the dirt.Thank you coach CAL and Good Luck Joey. We will miss you!!!---SF

oooohhhh the PANCHO'S

My mother and stepdad were here this weekend and they brought my beloved Pancho's cheese dip. It is so good and at the same time sooooo bad for you. We ate burgers at an old ice cream shop in a small town north of Cincinnati and cruised the little shops. We ate at the local hibachi table and had a grand time with pictures and laughter and full bellies. We watched basket ball, movies and---believe it or not--- NASCAR. Great race BTW. We played with her dog, the infamous ROCKET. Rocket is a border collie and is a hoot. He herded the girls at one point and I thought he would never slow down. IT WAS A GREAT WEEKEND!!! The U of M Tigers are in the final four with the dreaded UCLA & I got to see my momma. A great weekend indeed. I just need to figure a way to interveiniously partake of the gooey goodnes that is Pancho's cheese dip. Next time I will request some taco sauce to go with it.Thanks for the weekend mom. I love you!

They are on their way

My mother and stepfather are on their way to our house in the southwest ohio suburb that I dislike. I cannot wait. I do not see my Mom enough. I gave her a very hard time during the divorce and I don't feel guilty-but I feel a sense of seperation-which I would like to let go of. I love my mother and I think she is great, and emotional, which she passed down to her son, and firey which she passed down to her daughter. She wouldv'e made a very good grade school teacher-she's passionate. She taught me how to treat a woman and she gave me my first punk rock hair cut. I hope she stays more than 2 days to see what her son has done with her grand daughters. I know she will be pleased. I also hope she brings some PANCHO"S cheese dip and a stack of Memphis flyers.I certainly do miss my home. If the vacation thing to south walton does not work out, we will be in Memphis for a week. If only Maywood was still there-I could convince the younguns that we were in destin.Oh--Go tigers Go.Memphis going to the elite eight-unless they blow a 20 point lead in the last minute-which is possible.hugs and kisses. SF ( MY KEY BOARD IS TANKED)

Steve, Steve and Christine

So I just got off the phone with India again. Previously I had talked to "Christine". Today I got to talk to "Steve". He helped me until he could not help anymore. He then sent me to Steve#2. Now Steve #2 sounded like someone I might have known. I talked to him for about 45 minutes about my connectivity problem. Well, actually I talked to him for 15 minutes about my problem and then I talked to him for 30 minutes just shooting the breeze. It was very refreshing. He went to Arkansas State, was in the army, bought a new car today to save on his diesel bill ( and his wife doesn't know yet) and he goes to Memphis for MIM(Memphis in May). Steve#2 just rocks. My problem is a line problem and my signal goes weak and strong. He said he will send someone out to fix it soon. So when I get this fixed and all is well I plan on driving around St. Louis looking for a kinda redneck guy driving a ford focus, looking like he would rather be in his Ford f-250 4x4 with a lift kit and huge tires. I'll flag him down and buy him a tall boy. (he told me he likes those).
TTFN
SF

'Allo'Allo

WOW. The computer is acting quite funky. I just got off the phone with a lovely lady named CHRISTINE from India. It was 6:48 am there. She was super nice and I will fill out the survey they sent me as soon as I can get on my e-mail. As of yet it takes 83 minutes to load a freakin page. Anyway---Easter was good. It has been snowing here and I have new pictures to down load. I just do not wanna test the waters and let the genie out of the bottle just yet. Other news The MSU tigers-oops U of M TIGERS are in the sweet sixteen. GO TIGERS GO!!! I love it when someone on espn radio says MEMPHIS STATE. I will be back soon for a real post and news about my run for Memphis mayor. Right about now I have to find a ballpeen hammer to knock some sense into my hardrive.
XOXO
SF

I miss someone

Just a short update. Our dog of 14 1/2 years is gone. She had been having problems and was still sound of mind but could not move or go outside to do her business. As a matter of fact she had not done her #1 business in over 32 hours. She was suffering. It was the humane thing to do but We still feel like hammered poop. As soon as I can come to grips with this, I will post more and give you a run down of the best dog I have ever known.
The wife is in tears, the kids are a little shocked and I am, as always, avoiding the inevitable breakdown. I filled my night with grocery shopping and cleaning. I will sort through the pics and might possibly let K do a guest post. K might not be the hardest hit but she lets her emotions out. I tend to keep them in and then explode in a symphony of regret, despair, sorrow and pain. Right now I wanna listen to some R.L. Burnside ( it was her favorite) and read some blogs that will make me less sad. I will try to post pictures with the next post. She's chasing rabbits.
SF