Something is very fucked up

Kuvée Smart Wine Bottle

I understand that some people like to drink wine, and I know that some people can detect minute differences in taste and smell. And some people may not drink an entire bottle at one go, and they may want to save the rest of the bottle for later. And I can see that some people would be silly enough to spend $200 on an electronical gizmo to play with their wine. But who in their right mind would invest $6 million in producing this gizmo? Rich people must be getting really bored, but I suppose that has always been a problem for the rich.
    My perception of the small gadget business must be really skewed. Suppose they make a profit of $60 on each one of these that they sell ($60 markup for the retailer, $60 in production costs, $20 for distribution would leave $60 profit). They are going to have to sell one hundred thousand (100,000) of these things, which means one out of every 3,000 people in the US will need to buy one. Or one out of 16 people in Manhattan, which seems to be the target market. Manhattan seems to have evolved to a higher plane of existence. Nothing there seems to have any relation to the rest of the country.
    Or maybe there is some kind of tax dodge at work, so you don't actually have to make, or sell, or deliver this gizmo. All you need to do is put up some promotional ads that make it look like you are serious, and then you just slip away into the night and into your next scam.

Via Detroit Steve

Quote of the Day

I am working on Colorado State income taxes this morning and this check box pops up on the screen:

I don't know what it means. I am not sure I want to know what it means.

Doesn't matter in any case. Shortly thereafter I threw in the towel and took the whole thing down to my accountant at BKR, except they aren't called BKR anymore. Okay, their new name is Fordham-Goodfellow.

It wasn't this check box that threw me, it was me not noticing form QXZ4209 buried in last years return. I glanced at last years form, which was done by my accountant, and said: shoot, there ain't nothin' to this, I kin do this myself. So I downloaded a copy of H & R Block's TaxCut software and proceeded to wade into the swamp. Made a first pass and printed out what I had so far, and then sat down and compared what I had with last years return. Huh. No form ZQB5302 in my package. Oh. Look at those numbers. Somebody had to sit down with a calculator and wade through a 20 page report and add up all those numbers. Gaaaaah!

This is like the time I replaced the heater core in an old Ford we used to have. I glanced at the shop manual and saw that removing the heater core was a four step process. Well, shoot, that should be easy enough. So come Saturday I sat down to do this job and I look at the intructions and step one is "Remove the dashboard". Arrrggghh! Same exact kind of situation. That time I was younger, had more energy and was determined. And broke.

This time I bailed and gave it to Donna and she accepted it, thankfully.

October 2016 replaced missing image.

Pendejos

California Bob writes again:

From an article about how people who get laid off, and continue their former habits. I was struck by a couple anecdotes about how some laid off people cling to their old behavioral schedules. I guess I assumed nobody actually liked the working lifestyle. But apparently some people actually ENJOY this contrived hurly-burly existence, that is, getting up early, putting on uncomfortable clothes, going out and arguing with people, spending hours poring over nonsense spreadsheets....

"Michelle Patterson was laid off as an executive director of marketing...She continued to eat out regularly and made daily Starbucks runs. "It made me feel like I was still at work," she says. She spent as much as $250 a week on networking meals and drinks with contacts. Some days, she scheduled up to four coffee meetings a day."

Good for you, Michelle. Personally, I pay a premium NOT to have to "feel like I'm at work."

"After losing his job, Mr. Joegriner's mornings now start with a coffee run to the nearby 7-Eleven six days a week. Next, he typically spends a couple of hours doing home repairs. By late morning, he launches into job-hunt mode. While trolling job Web sites, Mr. Joegriner toggles to a multicolored, multitabulated Excel spreadsheet that calculates the household budget, as well as the "burn rate" through the family's dwindling savings."

The world is run by people who are motivated by uncomfortable, impractical sports sedans, spending insane amounts of money on "attractive" food, and being able to sit in an $800 chair.

Per the article these same people have extremely poor money judgement, which to me means poor judgement in general. A bunch of semi socio-pathic fraudsters, climbing their way to the top by driving Mercedes Benzes, wasting money on trendy food, and acting bitchy and pushing people around?"

Most of the article is about poor budgeting, but here it is.

Rant of the Hour

The first time I saw this poem, I thought it was stupid. (It was probably in the movie G.I. Jane. That's were I get my literary edukatin'.) I saw a bunch of birds sitting on a wire on the way home this afternoon, and it popped into my head, so I decided I would tell you just how I felt about it. I still think it's stupid.

Self-pity

I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.

DH Lawrence

I mean, how does he know whether a wild thing is feeling sorry for itself or not? He can read their little animal minds? I don't think so. He is equating their lack of verbal communication with lack of feeling. Ignorant fool. Complete lack of imagination. I can imagine every one of those miserable critters feeling sorry for themselves, matter of fact, I think that's probably all they ever do. Wish I was warmer, wish I had more to eat, wish Mary liked me better, yada, yada, yada.

Paper Route

I know this Chuck Norris thing is getting kind of old, but this one just hit my funny bone. From Dutty the nutball.

Update January 2017 replaced missing image, removed dead link.

Entrepreneur

Iowa Andy found a solution to his storage problems.

We don't need no steenking royalty.

Seems like ever since I was a kid the Presidency has become more and more like Royalty and less and less like an elected official. President cannot go anywhere without an entourage the size of an army. Streets get shut down, traffic gets rerouted, snipers on rooftops, security drones everywhere. I know some people thrive on this kind of nonsense, but it annoys me. So what if the President gets assassinated? We have a Vice President, and if he gets knocked off, we have someone to step in and take his place. All this pomp and protocol is beginning to smell like royalty. I mean he ain't no king or nothin'.

Idiot Sightings

• We had to have the garage door repaired. The Sears repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener. I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one Sears made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower. He shook his head and said, 'Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower.' I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4. He said, 'NO, it's not.' Four is larger than two..'
  
  We haven't used Sears repair since.


• My daughter and I went through the McDonald's take-out window and I gave the clerk a $5 bill. Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her a quarter. She said, 'you gave me too much money.' I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar bill back.' She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request. I did so, and he handed me back the quarter, and said we are sorry but they could not do that kind of thing' The clerk then proceeded to give me back $1 and 75 cents in change.
  
  Do not confuse the clerks at McD's.


• I live in a semi rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road. The reason: 'Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.'
  
  From Kingman , KS ..


• My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce..' He said he was sorry, but they only had iceburg lettuce.
  
  From Kansas City


• I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked , 'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?' To which I replied, 'If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?' He smiled knowingly and nodded, 'That's why we ask.'
  
  Happened in Birmingham , Ala.


• The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it's safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker of mine. She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, 'What on earth are blind people doing driving?!'
  
  She was a probation officer in Wichita , KS


• At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworker. She was leaving the company due to 'downsizing.' Our manager commented cheerfully, 'This is fun We should do this more often.' Not another word was spoken. We all just looked at each other with that deer-in-the-headlights stare.
  
  This was a lunch at Texas Instruments.


• I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the sake of her life, couldn't understand why her system would not turn on.
  
  A deputy with the Dallas County Sheriffs office, no less.


• When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it.. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the drivers side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. 'Hey,' I announced to the technician, 'it's open!' His reply, 'I know. I already got that side.'
  
  This was at the Ford dealership in Canton, Mississippi

STAY ALERT!

They walk and drive among us... And the scary part is that they VOTE and they REPRODUCE


Via la femme.

Nothing But Sticky

From Fair Maiden of the Mindful Blossom