This is a classic. What do you do if you own a business that is dying. Dying due to competition that is offering the same basic service for a much, much lower cost. Many of us use email to correspond with one another. We pay our bills online. We send our Christmas, Birthday cards, etc. Electronically. To stay in business we would make necessary cutbacks. That means like most business we close our less profitable outlets or manufacturing sites. We lay off people. We cut back on benefits. I don’t like any of these things, but that is what is really happening in the business world. The United States Postal Service is still a needed service, not just so much as it once was. I have not seen any of the aforementioned steps being taken. They are saying they will stop Saturday delivery. But they have not said anything about the employee’s pay being cut for the extra day off. We know that the pay scale for postal employees has always been higher than in the private sector. The Benefits better, the retirement better. Good for the employees. As long as the USPS can afford to pay all this, fine. But looking to the long term. If I own an automobile dealership, and I charge more than other dealers of like vehicles. Where would you go? Pay more at my dealership, or go across the street, and buy the lower priced vehicle. What do I do. The USPS says we’ll charge more and make up the difference. Now they don’t have to have as many customers, to maintain their profit. Meanwhile the guy across the street is selling more units at less cost per unit, but is making a larger bottom line profit, due to his increased volume. They even have unknown cost to customers. How many of you have mailed a birthday card only to find out you had insufficient postage. Why? Because the envelope is 1/16 of inch larger than allowed thus incurring a ‘SPECIAL HANDLING” charge. This means the card didn’t fit through the sorter, and someone had to actually pick it up to put in the bag. So is the answer keep raising prices. Or lower the prices and increase volume. That Is How I See It. Views: 104
Category: Economy
Bank Fees
It wasn’t enough the common people had to bail the banks out of their pending demise. Now they want the poorest people to pay them more money, by raising fees that will injure the poor and help the rich. What are you talking about? I just read an article that stated Chase bank wants to charge you for having a checking account unless you deposit $500.00 ( or meet certain other requirements). These other requirements were not mentioned. Now I know most of you who live in high cost of living states probably make enough to cover the $500.00. However most people do not, and being able to have $500.00 to put in a checking account is a luxury. In fact these people probably don’t leave their money in a checking account long enough to justify paying anything. Yes I know the bank doesn’t make money when it goes in and back out. But the bank does make money on SAVINGS accounts, loans, etc. Most people will get their auto or home loan from the bank they have a checking or savings account. If all of these people pull their checking accounts and go somewhere else without all of these fees, where does that leave Chase. I recall a time when people knew their local banker. I remember looking for a new truck. The local banker told me to get 20% off the sticker price write a check, let him know how much and it would be in my checking account. Imagine doing that with banks today. I also recall when that same bank was sold to a larger bank. I noticed I was paying more to them to maintain my savings account than I was earning interest. When I mentioned this to a lawyer friend of mine, he checked and found the same thing. Word spread, soon there was a big rush to move saving accounts to a smaller bank. Was it any wonder the checking accounts soon moved too. Along new loans etc. But alas, the big banks bought all the small banks, and the rest is history. They control the economy. The closest thing we have now to a small local bank is Credit Unions. If worse come to worse I guess we could just put all our money in PayPal, and pay our bills that way. What is the answer. The people will have to make that choice and stand behind their choice. (FOR A CHANGE). People I get tired of being pushed around by the Haves. That Is How I See It. Views: 83
College Football Hall of Fame
The National Football Foundation has decided to move the College Football Hall of Fame from South Bend Indiana to Atlanta Georgia. South Bend Indiana. Home of Notre Dame. Can any school match the football tradition held by Notre Dame. Their heritage dates back to 1887. The actual name of the town where they are located is named NOTRE DAME. Bet most of you didn’t know that. A little history and facts about Notre Dame football. Did you know that Notre Dame has a winning percentage of .723. An all time record of 899 wins, 301 losses, and 42 ties. Their postseason record is 14-15. With 11 National Titles, 7 Heisman winners, 96 All Americans. Notre Dame may actually have 13 National Titles, as the 1938 and 1953 are in question, Notre Dame only claims the 11 that are not in doubt. Their record includes 7 undefeated seasons, and 4 single loss seasons. As for the 122 year history (No team in 1890 and 1891), Notre Dame has 103 winning seasons, and only 13 losing seasons. With 48 players and coaches in the Hall of Fame. The BCS even has a “NOTRE DAME” rule. Speaking of Bowl games Notre Dame is in another one this year looking to make them 15-15 in bowl games. Who can ever forget the Knute Rockne speech “…win one for the gipper….” Why would you want to move the College Hall of Fame from such a tradition laden area. Surprise “MONEY” that’s all it could be. I don’t know as a fact. But I figure Atlanta made it monetarily well worth the move. Oh well why fight it MONEY really does talk and those without it walk. That Is How I See It. Views: 134
Gas Prices
Try as we might, the consumer can never figure when to buy gasoline. I play this game every week. Do I fill up Monday or wait for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or is Sunday going to give me the best price. Whatever day I pick I the price will go down the next day. But I have an SUV, a Pickup truck. a sports car, and a motorcycle. (Don’t misunderstand my truck is 23 years old, My SUV is 16, my sports car was a gift for me to fix, and occupy my time, and the motorcycle was given to me by a friend who at age 77 decided it was time to quit riding). So I buy gas on one day then go back the next with the other 3 vehicles. (I at least can save a little money on 3 out of 4 vehicles). The gas companies have conspired to raise the price of gas to $3.00 a gallon ever since they reached $2.00. They drove to get the price to $2.00 ever since they attained $1.00. They always have an excuse. We didn’t produce enough gas. Crude oil prices are up. (which I feel they control to an extent). We had an oil spill. The demand for gas is too high. The gas demand is too low. And my favorite. It’s a Holiday. Whatever other reason they can think of. It is always “NOT MY FAULT” with them. A year or two ago our government was saying “we must curb our driving habits to cut down on gas consumption. Then when they realized the loss of tax revenue from our driving less,; using less gas. They wanted to raise our gas tax if we didn’t pick up our usage. We are in a catch 22. Not all us are able to go out and buy the electric cars that government is pushing. (They really don’t look that safe to me.) For city driving they may be okay, For those of us who live in a rural area and have to drive 50 plus miles to reach a city big enough to support charging stations. Retirees? Sometime they purchase one last car as they retire, knowing they can’t afford new car payments, taxes, plate fees, and insurance on a new car. Gasoline companies your days are numbered keep raising prices and you force people to switch to electric cars, bicycles, motorcycles, mopeds. We once had steam cars and they could get us from point A to point B quite effectively. Horses worked pretty good for a long time. I could see a time when mini cities will spring up with all the things people will need can be shopped, bought and delivered to my house. The bygone (in some areas) trolley car can be revived to take people to anywhere they want within the mini city. That Is How I See It. Views: 133
Don’t Tax My Coca~Cola
It has been brought to my attention Our Government, in looking for more money to give to companies that invest badly. So it is looking at a possible 20-40 percent tax on my Coke. LAY OFF MY COKE. They say if we pay a 40 percent tax we won’t drink as much, (hurting the soft drink industry). The tax is to help us lose weight. It is said we could lose 1 pound a year if we pay a 40 percent tax. WOW!! A whole pound, imagine that. Of course with less sales the Soft Drink companies may have to lay off people and increase our roll of unemployed, less tax paid by the Soda companies. Sounds like a win- win situation to me. NOT. The only weight I’d lose would be from my pocket. As a small boy I was really frail. The doctor told me my problem was that my stomach did not produce enough acids to properly break down my food. To offset this I was told to drink Coca~Cola with my meals this would help break down the food for me. Would I be entitled to claim a medical exemption on this tax and my Cokes. I just really don’t see the benefit of taxing my Coke. Why not tax Candy, Cookies, bags of Sugar, etc. Chocolate and fast food probably put more weight on u than my Coke. Tax them. That Is How I See It. LAY OFF MY COKE. Views: 97
Blame It On The Economy
Aren’t you tired of professional sports blaming their slumping attendance on the ECONOMY? I am. NASCAR claims their attendance is down because of the ECONOMY. Is it the Economy or is it just the fact they are losing their appeal. From what I have seen even the the TV viewership is down. That is not an ECONOMY issue. Just think what a Race Party you can have for the cost of the tickets. But, under the leadership of Helton and the heir of the France family, I personally believe it is the false, the ill-fated trust of the France heir, in Helton which has led to the downturn in FANBASE. First they wanted to separate themselves from the “redneck” heritage of the sport. Then they decided that people came only to watch their big name, well financed, drivers. So they gave them “SUPER STATUS”. Automatic starting positions, regardless of qualifying time. What this amounts to is they do not have to set up for qualifying, They just get more practice on their racing set up. Then came the “CHASE”. Big deal. All that accomplished was a HYPE point. No longer would the best performer throughout the season be champion. Now only, what is it, 12 drivers, get to compete. This after a reset of points. An example a driver could be in the top 10 of every race. But because he hasn’t won a race it is possible he may not make the “CHASE”, he probably will but if the Race winners were evenly spread among twelve racers, He would start so far behind the the others that he would not have a chance of winning. He may have won the Championship under the old system. We will never know. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Now they have the NASCAR’s car. Nothing related to the showroom car. Unless NASCAR decides to open up their own dealership and sell these cars. Wake up FORD, CHEVY, and TOYOTA. How much can a decal cost. Let us consumers have some of that money you invest in NON brand cars. You can probably make more money that way. I ask you is a decal with your name on it worth the millions you pay for it? NASCAR is seeing a steady drop in fanbase. Even on TV which is free. Most is not related to the Economy. But to the lack of entertainment value. As for the other sports. You have your STARS. You pay so much for. Do you really think they bring in that many people to see your TEAM. How many tickets do you have to sell to meet their Exorbitant pay. I remember a time One YANKEE player made more than the entire payroll of the Montreal Expos. What do they bring to the game that is so special. If you want to see real baseball watch your local Little League or High School team. You spend Millions promoting these players to make them seem to be supermen. Get real players and bring your cost down, so people can afford to attend games. I guess that is why the NBA, NFL, etc do not like the small venue teams. Usually in these areas you don’t have the Millionaires who can afford to attend the games. You will always have the die hard fans. That will somehow come up with the money to attend at least one game. Let’s see. A family of four, 2 Adults, 2 children. At an average of $60 dollars a ticket, that is $240. Plus an average of $20 to park. We are now up to $260 to see millionaires play a simple game. Usually attending a game means souvenirs for the children. A cheap souvenir usually costs $10, that takes us to $280 for the game. Lets not forget snacks. Usually $5 for popcorn, that is a lot of markup. Drinks for the kids which usually cost $4 ea. Beer for Mom and Dad. Minimum of $5 ea. So we now have spent $38 for snacks. Raising our cost to $318. Many times in order to take in a game we eat out. Even at Burger King that is at least a $20 bill. Now we are at $338 to watch players who make more for one game than we will in 1 to 3 months. Blame the drop on the Economy? Some teams have acted on this and dropped their ticket prices and snack price. They are gaining Fanbase. This will result in more licensed paraphernalia sale, and as the economy picks up this income will grow. Wake up Owners and Players. I am a Union Man. I understand players want to get as much as they can. Owners you want a larger profit. I understand this. But what you don’t understand is you can price yourelves totally out of business. Isn’t it better to make $20 on one ticket and have 38000 people attend, or $4o and only have 18000 people attend. The 38000 will spend more on lower cost accesories than the 18000. Both be reasonable. Fanbase is the key to profits That Is How I See It. Views: 95
