Tonight I posted a piece on the new $75 million yacht "Oculus" and one commenter (Sharon Parisi), wanted to see interior pictures. For that person, I now oblige. Everyplace is 12 foot ceilings and the luxury is unsurpassed! This is the owner's salon-not too shabby.
Imagine, if you will, that you are the owner of a business with a little over 300 employees. One day, you're doing a yearly review and here's what you find. A full 30 have been accused of spousal abuse. 9 have been arrested for fraud and 14 have been accused of writing bad cheques. 95 have directly or indirectly bankrupted a least 2 business. 4 have done time for assault, 55 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit. 12 have been arrested on drug related charges, and 4 have been arrested for shoplifting. 16 are currently defendants in lawsuits, and 62 have been arrested for drunk driving in the past year! QUITE A COMPANY ISN'T IT? This, boys and girls, is the make-up of the 301 members of the Canadian Parliament. These are the Members of Parliament who pass hundreds of new laws designe...
Today, in this recession, when millions are watching their pennies, some sailor with way too money will take delivery of a $75 million yacht-"OCULUS". This is the new concept yacht from Schopfer Yachts. It's classed as a "low-rider" and is capable of 25 knots. The rear fantail deck appears to be a large fish "eating" the guests in unmatched luxury. A strategically placed window gives the appearance of a big eye. Hence the name "OCULUS" Pretty Nice!
A bagpiper in Ireland was asked by a funeral director to play at the gravesite for a homeless man who had no family or friends. The funeral was to held at a cemetary in the remote countryside and this man would be the first laid to rest there. As he was not familiar with the area, he got lost and arrived about an hour late. When he got there he saw a backhoe and a crew who were eating lunch, but the hearse was nowhere in sight. He apologized for his tardiness and when he stepped to the side of the grave, he saw the vault was closed. He nevertheless played his pipes for the deceased. He played Going Home, The Lord Is My Shepherd and Flowers of the Forest. As he played, the workers were reduced to tears. He completed his task, and as he was leaving, he overheard one of the workers say to...
The other day I was in the market for a new cell phone. Mine was obsolete and wouldn't do have the things I need. I spoke to about a dozen "experts" on cell phones and everyone had a different idea. I mentioned in a previous post that my grand-daughter can multi-task while texting with her toes, so I took her along to of all places-Walmart! The sales person kept steering me towards a $600 Blackberry. Grand-daughter said "No". She steered me to a phone called an LG. Sales person by now is literally glaring at grand-daughter. Well, we bought the LG. It does everythingI need. Takes beautiful pictures, has a relatively large keyboard, voice commands-everything I need in a phone. And no service plan. We bought everything including a holster, car charger, cell phone holder for the car for $1...
We interupt your life to bring you breaking news that Michael Jackson is still dead. Film at 10, 11, noon, 1 PM, 2 PM, oh, what the hell, it will be an endless loop. What is it with Lawrence Harvey Zeiger, A.K.A. Larry King? For weeks now he has had an obsession with Michael Jackson stories. First it was the "headlines", beat to death. The endless loop of pictures of the ambulance backing out of Neverland, the fiery hair commercial for Pepsi, tape of the last rehearsals, day in-day out. Then the interviews with the "immediate family", then the "talking head panels" lobbing speculation against supposition back and forth like an insane game of who can be the most outrageous in the game of conjecture. While goading the panel on, his gravely voice intercedes with the "caution", "This is...
Remember the old T.V. show Hollywood Squares? This was back in the days when the answers were spontaneous-not scripted. The host was Peter Marshall and some of the "Squares" were Paul Lynde, Charlie Weaver, George Gobel, Don Knotts, Rose Marie and Vincent Price. Here are some classic questions and answers: Q. Paul, what is a good reason for pounding meat? A. Paul Lynde (After 15 seconds). Loneliness? Q. Do female frogs croak? A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their heads under water long enough. Q. If you're going to do a parachute jump, how high should you be? A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it. Q. True of False? A pea can last as long as 5,000 years. A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes. Q. According to Cosm...
Here's the deal. I'm in the process of getting a new cell phone, so I visited a few local distributors and they all had different plans and when they add on all the stuff you "just gotta' have" the price is virtually the same. So what phone to buy? Reading Liz's post on the same subject, opinions were varied. One guy loved this one-the other person hated it. I have a grand-daughter that can carry on a conversation, eat and text message with her toes, so I asked her. She said, forget about this model-the keys are too small, don't do this one-it crashes(?), look at this one because it has more this, that and the other. Did that clear it up? NO! Technically, I'm deficient. I'm a dinosaur. I make a call, I receive a call. Haven't a clue as to texting or receiving emails, but I'm told to lea...
WAKY news is a weekly feature from "THE BLOGGING GUY" A 54 year old Michigan man takes his Monopoly game seriously. Apparently he wanted to buy Park Place and Boardwalk from another player. When she refused, he slapped her across the side of the head and broke her glasses. She called 911 and now he now faces a 93 day misdemeanor. Jeez...Do you think this guy might benefit from a couple of anger-management classes? Maybe after some time in the "big house", he'll learn to play nice. This is a true story from "THE BLOGGING GUY"
I made a few sales in the past couple of weeks and decided to celebrate. So I went to the "Keg", a fairly well known steak house. I knew what to expect before I even got there, but hell, there's a recession on- how busy can it be? IT WAS PACKED! I was told it would be 30 minutes before I could get into the lounge, never mind the dining room. So, I did what any normal person would do and spent 30 minutes smoozing with the other "wait-ees" and passing out business cards. (Hey, it's what I do). In the lounge, I ordered wine, (a glass), $9.00. That's more than the entire bottle cost, but that's what they charge for the glass. Of course, they ask if you want it "super-sized" for only $2.00 more. That makes it 11.00 a glass. (The whole bottle costs $7.50). These people understand mark-up, and...
In these recessionary times, more and more people are opting for non-traditional vehicles to park their money. Some of these are real estate, coins, bullion and rare stamps. One I hadn't considered before-POSTCARDS. Collecting postcards is a realtively unknown hobby in North America; in Great Britain however, it ranks third behind collecting rare coins and stamps. The owner of Fenian Antiques says if you know what you're doing, it's not a bad idea. It's fairly easy to get your feet wet. A recent search on Ebay shows most postcards are under $20, but WW1 postcards can easily fetch between $500-$700. Most topics for postcards are in demand, particularly ones sent from Titanic. At a recent auction, a set of 4 HTL Uncle Sam Santa Clause cards brought in $20,000. Before you venture in...
Wall Street is under a lot of scrutiny right now, and it's about bloody time! In the darkest days of the financial melt-down, Wall Street continued to dole out million dollar bonuses. Last year, over 5,000 Wall Street denizens were paid over a million each. New York Attorney-General Andrew Cuomo calls the mentality, a "heads I win-tails you lose" culture. When banks were doing well, the employees were paid well, when the banks were doing poorly, the employees were paid very well and when the banks were doing very poorly, the employees were still being paid well. Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and seven other banks paid out over $32 billion in bonuses in 2008, despite receiving over $175 billion in taxpayer money. Kinda' makes you feel all warm and fuzzy doesn't it?
With the advent of the sub-pime melt-down, the United States real estate market has been devastated in most areas and is awash in forclosures, short sales and REO's. According to N.A.R., almost 25% of all international buyers last year were Canadians. That's up from 11% in 2007. Persoanlly, I have referred MANY buyers to colleagues in Hawaii, Phoenix, Bullhead City, Las Vegas and Palm Springs. Hawaii has no screaming hot deals. (The median price there is $350K), but Arizona and Nevada do have some fantastic buys. I tend to steer people away from Florida. There is a maximum locals can be taxed-not so for non-residents. In Canada, we refer to it as the "gringo" tax. It's unequitable and it doesn't encourage outside buying very easily. I also advise Canadian buyers to get financing from t...
The bastards bankers are at it again. It would seem that some people have learned nothing, and corporate greed is still rampant, and life goes on as always. Is it any bloody wonder that these greedy bastards need to be regulated? Goldman Sachs, who only months ago were standing cap-in-hand looking for billions in bail-out money, is now posed to pay out the largest bonuses in the history of the company. One trader, Andrew Hall, with Citigroup, is "entitled" to $100,000,000 in bonus money. (That was not a typo; it says 100 million!) And Citigroup has yet to pay back the federal bail-out money! Ah, life is good in the fast lane!
Gary McKinnon, a computer nerd from England, successfully managed to hack into the computers of NASA, the Pentagon as well as the Army, Navy and Air Force and the Department of Defense. He was convinced that the United States was hiding evidence of extra-terrestrial life and UFO's and it bacame an obsession with him. He was finally tracked down in 2002 after several years of hacking into some of the most secure sites on the planet. He has been fighting extradition to the United States where he faces 70 years in prison and a 2 million dollar fine. He lost that bid, and is soon to be extradited to the States to stand trial. Nerds everywhere have united in protest, and he has quite a following. His lawyer has sent a letter, (signed by over 40 Bitish M.P.'s), to President Obama asking him...
The Tour De France is a gruelling, 23 day bike race covering 3,500 KM. The rider with lowest aggregate time each day gets to wear the yellow jersey until someone else takes it. (I wouldn't want to be wearing that grubby jersey on the 23rd day-it must get pretty ripe). Lance Armstrong has won it a record SEVEN CONSECUTIVE times! This is a rare photo of the 1940 running of the Tour De France. The 4th guy back is wearing the yellow jersey, but this is a B & W photo, so it's hard to tell. I was going to participate in the "Tour" this year, but unfortunately, I sold my bike in a garage sale.
O.K., I admit it-I'm cheap. And, I like coupons. I can't stand it if I know the guy in line in front of me is getting a special deal or a discount that I'm not getting. Apparently, a lot of other people feel the same way. Coupons are now back in fashion, and in these recessionary times, people are looking for price breaks. Some economists say spending 20 minutes a week clipping coupons can save an average household over a thousand dollars a year! Personally, if I'm going out for lunch, I go on-line and download the latest restaurant deal. These aren't advertised; you have to know where to get these from the computer. Most of these are 2 for 1 specials or special pricing on a particular item. Most people don't know about this, so you're getting the heads-up here now. You know those c...
ARE YOU NUTS, OR WHAT? Some of you may recognize the images below as images from the famous "Rorschach" ink-blot test. Supporters of the test have tried to keep the actual tests secret, but last week the test was "outed" and made public. If you do recognize the symbols below, you've probably already have had therapy and are either in real estate or a lawyer. Either way, you're a few chips short of a "Full Meal Deal", and obviously, don't have all your dogs on a leash. Inkblot #1 Inkblot #2 Inkblot #3 Inkblot #4 Inkblot #5 Inkblot #6 Inkblot #7 Inkblot #8 Inkblot #9 Inkblot #10 The interpretations of the inkblots have been made public now, much to the chagrin of psych...
Artisans Equestrians Environmentalist 10.3 Acres Of Sequestered Bliss Nestled In The Hills Of Mission, British Columbia $649,000.00 Rustic Entrance and Gentle Meandering Laneway Water. Gathering The Basic Elements Of Life. A Place to Rest Your Body Mind And Soul Take Your Fill Of The Scent of Lilacs Among The Forest Fragrances 2,700 Square Foot House Private showings by appoinment. Bob Dunn 604-807-8251 Terry Chenier 604-826-8467
I love dogs, especially big breeds. In the past, I've had 2 Great Danes and a Mastiff. My lifestyle today doesn't allow for dogs-too much maintenance. (Besides, I don't like walking behind a dog with a plastic bag). So, I have cats. A brother and sister team actually. I had to take both or neither. And, they've grown on me. Each has it's own distinct personality. The female fetches like a dog and will do that all night, the male couldn't care less. The male is a lap cat, the female couldn't care less. And they can be pretty demanding and they listen and respond only when they want to and that really pisses me off. And I started to think about that a bit-then a lot. And I started thinking about people that piss me off. What's the link? I came to the realization that the traits that pe...
