The Boston Globe looking to hire a proofreader

I was bored at work earlier this week and read a news article about the market for used sport utility vehicles. Because of the recent high gas prices, selling one of these high gas consumer vehicles is harder than ever. According to CNW Marketing Research, it took 66 days to sell a used SUV in April and the average sale took place at a 20 percent discount from the Kelley Blue Book value. This parallels what I have been seeing at the lot of the used car dealership near where I live.

 

The reporter goes on to write about the challenges facing current SUV owners.

 

“Frustrated and unable to afford prices at the pump, Nizami last month turned over the Toyota to a dealer who only sells vehicles from private owners. Nizami is still paying the $450 loan but now is bumming rides to work with a cousin and worrying about making enough from the sale to cover the car loan.”

 

In other words Nizami borrowed $450 to finance the purchase and is worried he won’t be able to resell it at a price high enough to cover the amount still outstanding on the loan. The mainstream media would have you believe that the economy is pretty bad but it’s not that bad that an SUV owner has to worry about a $450 loan.

 

The Boston Globe should hire a new business reporter. I’d take the job but unfortunately I already have one.

Out and about in Chapel Hill

I was driving back to the office during my lunch hour today when I saw the above in front of my windshield. Motricity is the local start up I had blogged about earlier - it recently purchased a company in Seattle only to later announce that it would be laying off most of its employees and require the remaining ones to move to Seattle. The laid off employees’ last day in the office was this past Friday.

Judging from the make of the vehicle and the audacity of using one’s company name as the license plate, the driver of the above vehicle is probably one of the upper level executives who will relocate to Seattle. I wonder if he will be able to get the same license plate in Washington State.

Round the world we go

I am back at Chapel Hill after two short days in Singapore,. I returned via United Airlines by way of Narita (Tokyo) and Dulles (Washington DC). One of the more remarkable things about this trip is the route that I took – I went to Singapore by crossing the Atlantic and returned via the Pacific – making this literally a trip around the world.

Pictured above is an eating place (I believe these are called "hawker stands") at the corner of Circular Road and South Bridge Road where I had a dish of wonton noodle and a dish of fishball for S$3 on Friday. When I visit foreign countries, I often see things that I wish I can bring back. But I am also frequently reminded of how great of a country we have in the United States of America. The one thing I will remember most about Singapore is a random conversation I had with someone on Thursday morning. I was walking in the area around my hotel in Clark Quay when an Indian man asked me for directions. He pulled out an Indian passport with a business card bookmarked within and asked if I knew where a particular address was. I told him I myself had just landed hours ago. He asked if I was from Japan and when I told him I was from the United States he said “you’re a very lucky man.”

Singaporean morning

Singapore Local Time Friday 6:42 am

 

Good morning from the Republic of Singapore. I landed on this island-nation yesterday at around 6am after spending 18 hours on a Singapore Airline A340 that flew over the Atlantic Ocean, France, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and entered India south of Mumbai before landing at Singapore Changi Airport.

 

Below is some footage I took of the MRT (subway) ride from the airport to the hotel. This was during morning rush hour and some of the buildings along the route are the HDB (public housing) buildings that more than 85% of Singaporeans live in.

 

  

 

I read a newspaper article saying that Singapore has the 9th highest rent (as measured by three bedroom apartments) of any city in the world. The article states that a three bedroom apartment the area near Orchard Road where a lot of expatriates live costs around $4460 USD. The survey ranks Hong Kong as having the most expensive rent in the world and New York as third.

Strapping in for the bumpy ride ahead

I apologize for not having blogged but a couple of things have transpired since my last posting that have taken up much of my time and mental energy. I do not wish to share them with you at this time, except that I have accepted the job offer with the insurance company and will start on Monday.

Meanwhile, I am flying out to Singapore for a last minute trip this week. The 18 hour flight with Singapore Airlines is the longest daily scheduled flight in the world and easily surpasses the one I took in November to go to Hong Kong.

Hopefully I will be able to upload some pictures once I get there.

Exclusive: U.S. unemployment rate set to decline

The first item on the radio news yesterday morning was about the latest rise in unemployment statistics. I, however, have inside information that unemployment is about to go down – yesterday I received a job offer for the Senior Business Analyst position with a local insurance company. I have until Thursday to decide but I am leaning toward taking it.

 

I will blog more on this later but if the old economist joke is correct – that a recession is when your neighbor loses his job and a depression is when you lose yours – then the logic follows that since I am no longer unemployed, we must be headed for a recovery.

Buckyhoo joins the cast of 24

April 1 – Hollywood, CA – Fox Broadcasting announced that Chapel Hill celebrity and blogosphere sensation Buckyhoo will join the cast of 24 during Season 7, playing a spy from the People’s Republic of China.

“Over the years, I have enjoyed corresponding with Buckyhoo and reading his blog postings. Since he has a good grasp of how the show works, I decided to capitalize on his current unemployment and bring him on board for cheap,” said show producer Joel Surnow who first met Buckyhoo at the 2004 Republican National Convention.

It is unclear whether Buckyhoo’s character will work with or against Jack Bauer. “At some point I may get to strangle Janeane Garofalo’s character and if her character is anything as annoying as her persona is on Air America radio, that can be the highlight of the entire season,” said Buckyhoo.

This is the latest in a series of stints that have raised Buckyhoo’s public profile over the years, including hosting a short lived show on CNN’s mobile network and running for the Republican presidential nomination. But not everyone has positive things to say about this latest development. One of his former business school professors, Mary Smith, the Franklin Koury Moorehead Professor of ethical strategic entrepreneurial management communications at the Kenan-Flagler Business School commented, “the ultimate test as to how good of an actor he is will be whether his character manages to stay awake for more than two hours.”