Quality Weenie

Vacation

We will be leaving on vacation tomorrow, yea!

I will be super busy tonight and tomorrow morning, I have to pack my stuff, Mr Weenie's stuff, the dogs stuff plus wash everything before packing and clean the house.

Will be back in a week.

Still Here, For Now

I am at work today, so that means I am safe for now.

From what I have been hearing is that my division is a little slow on the uptake and their get rid of list isn't quite done yet.

Looks like probably the 2nd week in July will be the get rid of contract people week and 1-2 weeks after that will be the get rid of salary employees week.

Happy Gotcha Day To My Little Piggy

3 years ago on this date we drove to Chelsea, Michigan to check out a sibling for Lance.

We met Maggie and Lance loved her at first site.

We brought her home the rest is history.

We love you very much my sweet little piggy.

That's Government Service For Ya

The abandoned house drama continues ...

So they pumped the water out of the basement yesterday and even chained the gate shut ...

But when they left, they forgot to close the window that they got into the house through.

The gates chained shut and the fence is one of the wroght iron ones that you can't climb, plus it's not really our reposnibility to be baby-sitting that house.

Call the ordanance officier and find our ours quit.

Talked to one and they said open windows are not a crime, they didn't want to deal with it so they passed me off to another ordanance officier.

She said she would try to get over and get the window closed.

Open windows may not be a crime, but an abandoned house with open windows invites crime.

I am getting pretty pissed about the amount of time I am spending in trying to upkeep a house that isn't even mine.

My Complaining Did Help

Mr Weenie just called, he said one of our neighbors just called his cell to say that the bank (Chase) that owns the run-down shack behind us hired a company to come pump the water out of the basement.

The 5 FEET of water in the basement.

They do not have authorization to touch the pool yet, but am hoping it's forth coming soon. I will give them until after vacation, then the calling will start again.

The water pumping people said the electricity will be turned on soon so the sump pump will work. Hopefully a careful inspection is done before they throw the switch as we don't need that house catching fire or blowing up next week while we are on vacation.

The water pumping people also told neighbor man that this is the worst house they have seen (damage wise). Great, not a distinction I wanted.

See, being a bitch does get things done.

Wonder If My Complaining Helped?

As you know I have been bitching about the abondoned house behind me and their disgusting uncovered green pool.

Now, these cities and townships, many of which have only sparingly dealt with such issues in the past, are forced to create new policies and spend more time and money fixing up thousands of properties left in limbo by foreclosure.

From draining or occasionally demolishing skanky pools to cutting down dangerous trees, crews are working overtime to keep neighborhoods looking good and property values stable.

The article states that my city is in the process of drafting an ordinance to help them deal with unkempt pools.

They also stated that they want quicker access to properties with abandoned pools to prevent public health hazards.

YEA!

I am calling our Ordinace Officer today and tell him I seen the article and wonder when they are going to tackle the pool behind us.

Just In Time

I see the war funding bill was passed and unemployment benefits have been given a 13 week extension within the bill.

Woo Hoo [/scarcasm]

Just in time for next weeks layoff.

Now I can sit on my ass for 39 weeks before finding a job. [/scarcasm]

Congressional leaders and the White House struck a deal Thursday to extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks, a compromise that will pump cash into the economy and particularly help Michiganders struggling to stay ahead in a state with the nation's highest jobless rate.

Of course people are complaining that the additional 13 weeks for the worst states (on top of the additional 13 weeks just passed) didn't pass.

Guess they havn't heard of a gift horse.

So if you exhaust your original unemployment benefits between November 06 and March 09 you are eligable for the extension.

I don't understand the back to Nov 06 though, as a benefit year is 12 months, once your 12 months is up you can reapply for benefits again. So those that exhausted their benefits in Nov 06 - June 06 are already able to apply for umemployment benefits again.

Unemployment does help some people, but I still say quite a few won't look for work until they have to. I think they should throw some community service work needed each week to keep unemployment going, I mean they have some extra time on their hands.

Michigan is just so screwed ...

Michigan reported a jobless rate for May of 8.5%, a big increase from the 6.9% in April -- already the nation's highest.

I already changed my resume to visible on Monster last week and haven't gotten one call or email. When it was visible before I would get at least a couple calls/emails per week from headhunters, agencies, etc.

Of course if I dropped my salary another $5000 it wouldn't take to long to get a job. It would be the same salary I was making 8 years ago. Talk about a crushing blow.

Employeers are taking advantage of the unemployment problems in Michigan and forcing salaries down by large amounts.

Motivational Posters

EPA Knows More Then Auto Makers

The EPA is trying to set tailpipe emissions, which can be translated into MPG. And the EPA has come out to say they obviously know more then auto makers and demand technology by 2020.

The Environmental Protection Agency says in a draft regulation that automakers could improve fuel efficiency standards to as high as a fleet-wide average of 38.3 miles per gallon by 2020.

And how much is that going to cost the EPA?

Zero

And how much is that going to cost the auto makers?

Meeting that standard could cost carmakers as much as $30 billion a year

Guess the EPA feels that the auto makers can just pull money out of their ass to meet unrealistic expectations. Of course the Japanese won't have a worry because their government gives them money.

."The proposal argues that automakers could meet a new tailpipe emissions limit of 232 grams of carbon dioxide per mile, which equates to 38.3 mpg by 2020. The EPA said about 40 percent of the new vehicle fleet in 2020 would be using diesel engines and full hybrid systems (including plug-in electric hybrid vehicles). The agency assumes that plug-ins are "a viable technology beginning in 2012." (emphasis mine)

The EPA thinks the auto makers could meet those requirements, and that the public would embrace diesel and hybrids with joy and they assume plug-ins will be ready for full production scale in 4 years.

The EPA also believes in Fairy's and Pixie Dust.

At least the EPA does admit that the public will be paying for the could of, would of, assuming technology.

The EPA estimates that the cost per vehicle would be $1,927 or more than $30 billion annually based on average yearly sales. It said the payback for consumers in terms of savings from better fuel economy would be from 3.4 to 7.4 years assuming $3.50-a-gallon gas

Of course it's going to take almost 8 years for anyone to see benefits of paying more for their cars, but the world will be saved.

But who is going to save us from the environuts?

Toyota Screws Employees

At least the Big 3 man-up when it slows work and lays employees off.

Not Toyota, it stops production due to slow sales and makes employees take vacation days.

Toyota plans to stop production of its Tundra pickup trucks and Sequoia SUVs for six days by the end of August at the plant about 20 miles north of Evansville, Ind.

Plant spokeswoman Kelly Dillon says the "nonproduction days" are an effort to avoid layoffs. Workers will be asked to take vacation days or a day off without pay when production is halted. (emphasis mine)

Non-production days is code for we don't want to pay our employees, so we will force them to use their vacation days instead.

The Shack Behind Me

I wrote back in April about the foreclosed house behind my house.

We have gotten the city to put that house on it's grass cutting list, it gets cut once a month at a charge of $500/cut.

We put some blech in the pool, didn't help. We are inidated with Mosquito's already this year.

The Cops finally got the house all locked up, we haven't noticed any human visitors to the house in about a month.

Mr Weenie boarded up a broken basement window so no furry criters become residents.

Chase finally called me back about the house, long long story short. They have no legal rights to the house until the redemption period (the time in which the home owner can buy back the house, which in Michigan is a freaking year) is done. So Chase will not (ie cannot) touch the house until April 2009.

And just a couple weeks ago, the *&$#% "former" owner showed up looking for stuff she left in the house.

Her divorce was final last summer.

She was sporting a HUGE rock on her left hand (found another sugardaddy).

And when asked why she isn't moving back into her house, since she obviously can afford it now with the new sugardaddy, her response was it has to much damage to it.

Damage that her juvinile deliquents precious angles did.

And anyway, her new sugardaddy is building her a 4000 sq ft house in "insert rich city here". (her "former" house is only 2800 sqft).

With her it was always about materialistic things.

She also claims that her juvinile deliquent precious angle is now a straight A student (he was on the verge of failing out when they left). The same "straight A student" that comes weekly to sit in a car with his friends in their "former" driveway and smoke dope. He is probably sitting in a juvey center somewhere (we haven't seen them in about a month now, ever since someone (not us for once) called the police and they brought police dogs with them).

So we are stuck looking at a run down shack, with grass that gets cut once a month and a green mosquito producing pool that the bank won't touch until next spring.

Yea for us.

It's The Waiting That Kills Ya

In reference to the post below.

I hate waiting. For the next week and a half I will be waiting, waiting to see if Thursday will be my last day.

And it pisses me off that they don't have the balls to lay the contract people off face to face. They have their agencies call them and do the dirty work for them. I mean man up and do it yourself.

It's scary quite here at work. Most contract people around me have already started packed up their stuff, waiting to take it with them next Thursday so they won't have to worry about losing it.

Gone through my computer and have sent home stuff I want and will be erasing a lot of stuff next week.

Most contract people right now have the attitude why work much the next week in case they do get the boot. Why expend energy for a company that doesn't give a rats ass about them.

I really hate waiting.

I was hoping they would wait until after shutdown to get rid of people, because then I wouldn't feel guilty.

We leave on vacation next saturday.

Next saturday, it would be days after I get layed-off.

The guilt is already racking me. Do we still go even if I get layed off? Or do we cancel, even though we haven't been on vacation in 2 years and it is much needed.

Pisses me off that they won't wait until after shut-down. They I wouldn't feel guilty about going on vacation.

Dammit

I hate waiting.

It Has Begun

And will continue this Thursday, better pack up today to be on the safe side.

The effort started Thursday night, when more than 200 contract employees were called at home and told to hand in their badges the following day at their agency offices, a worker with knowledge of the plan told the Free Press. She did not want to be identified for fear of repercussions.

Another round of cuts for agency employees -- a group that includes engineers, designers and secretaries, among others -- is slated for Thursday, June 26, she said.

I don't understand how one could hand their badge into their agency unless Ford packed up the contract workers desks Thursday night and shipped them to the agencies that night for worker pick-up on Friday.

Looks like all agency cuts will be completed this Thursday and Ford employee cuts will happen after summer shut-down.

Ford goes on its regularly scheduled summer shutdown the following week, and when workers return the week of July 7, they can expect to begin learning who among them will lose their job involuntarily.

So maybe I can assume if I make it to Friday I will have my job until the end of August when it's suppose to end anyway.

Doubt that though.

Looks like my summer vacation will start in 2 days.

Fly's Are Evil

I was over at Pamibe's reading about a lizzard that Bree found.

I mentioned in the comments about my poopers being freaked out about a fly, I thought I blogged on it but I realized I posted about it in my doggie forum but not here.

So I give you, the evil fly

I am sitting here at the desk in the kitchen at the computer and the puppers are crawling all over me, acting scared to death.

They are looking very intently towards their bed next to the doorwall, shaking and looking visably horrified.

I look over their to try and find out what they are so scared of ..

And I see a fly sitting on their bed.

Yes, they are scared of the fly. It buzzed them a couple times.

Every time the fly moves they freak out and scramble to get closer to me.

So I had to be the evil mommy and buzzed in their ear and they nearly peed themselves trying to climb further up me.

They are just totally freaked out by this fly and are looking all over the kitchen to try and find it....

This was while I was on medical leave. I was hobbeling all over the kitchen and family room trying to kill this fly so the puppers would leave me alone.

They act this way every time a fly gets in the house.

Just last week a fly kept buzzing their litterbox so they wouldn't pee.

Friday Doggie Blogging

Look closely and you can see Maggie's little tongue sticking out.

Lance loves this toy, it's the first one we ever bought for him.

Maggie is looking up at her daddy

Lance has been going grey since he was 1 year old. Just recently he has started getting this grey patch on top of his head, looks like an arrow.

I was looking under the coffee table at Maggie and she started barking at me.

My boy

And Mr Weenie would absolutely kill me if he knew I posted this picture but it's my new favorite. Maggie is reaching up to give him a kiss.

Ted Bauer, Kiss My Detroit Sports Team Loving Ass

Boycott ESPN Magazine.

Ted Bauer, a sports "writer" at ESPN magazine for some reason known only to himself just publically not only ripped on every sports team in Detroit but also it's citizens.

The "highlights"

• The Tigers are "essentially treading water."

• The Pistons "might hire a long-term assistant as their head man when Avery Johnson is available (hey, so's Isiah!). The East may be weak, but 11 months out, we can't see the Pistons making seven straight Conference Finals."

• Bauer writes only a four-word sentence about the pro football team. "Then there's the Lions."

• On Michigan: "Rich Rodriguez is a decent hire, but it won't pan out for a bit. He loses Pryor, an O-Lineman transfers to Ohio State (AH!!!!) and he's got more allegations swirling around him than Lindsay Lohan does suitors of both genders."

• On Michigan State: "Even if you root for Michigan State, well, can you really name any stars on Michigan State? ... Basically, if you're a Big 10 fan rooting for anyone except OSU, you're doomed."

• The writer even takes a shot at the Shock. "They're pretty good (6-1 right now) and we love Laimbeer , but c'mon, can you really bet against Candace, Lisa and Hollywood for this season?"

And if that wasn't cruel enough he then goes after the city and it's citizens

City rankings? St. Louis replaced you guys as the most dangerous city in America in a few surveys but your mayor's involved in a sex scandal.

You knock the city you knock the entire state also.

If you care to send complaints the editor: editor. espnmag@gmail.com

Toyota Crys Now That Media Pays Attention

Top dog in the automotive industry always has a bullseye on it's back. Toyota thought they would escape the attention but they were wrong.

Bwahahahahaha

Some 431 customers from around the country have reported unintended or sudden acceleration in their Toyota Tacoma pickups, resulting in 51 crashes and 12 injuries, but the automaker said there are no flaws in the trucks and that many reports were "inspired by publicity."

Toyota is blaming the media for their defective truck. And if you don't believe there is a defect lets compare other similar trucks and the number of acceleration problems they are having.

It could also address why no pickup model other than the Tacoma has garnered more than a few complaints of unexpected acceleration to the NHTSA during the same period.

Toyota has 431 complaints. All others, a few complaints.

"Toyota believes that it is likely that many of the consumer complaints about the general issue of unwanted acceleration ... as well as many of the complaints about this subject that have been received by Toyota, were inspired by publicity," Toyota said in a letter to the NHTSA released Thursday.

"But even taking them at face value, it is clear that the majority of the complaints are related to minor drivability issues and are not indicative of a safety-related defect."

Toyota is taking their usual stance on defects, deny, deny, deny and blame the consumer.

Toyota wanted to play with the big boys, but Toyota needs to learn there is no crying in the automotive industry.

Ford To Cut 15% Of Salary Workforce

Since it's in the newspapers I can talk about this now.

We received the memo first thing yesterday morning, it was not a pleasant day.

Ford Motor Co. salaried employees got the confirmation they dreaded Thursday, as the company formally announced that it will cut salaried-related costs in North America by 15 percent by Aug. 1.

But really, most of the bad news isn't directed towards actually Ford employees.

"Our plan is to reduce salary-related costs (by 15 percent)," he said, explaining that the goal could be met by eliminating contract workers and open positions, as well as through layoffs.

Contract workers are taking it up the ass as usual. Contract workers will get the boot without even a "nice working with ya" while the Ford employees will get severance pay and job-placement assistance.

And people wonder why I hate working as a contract employee.

WE ARE HOCKEYTOWN

WOO HOO

STANLEY IS COMING BACK FOR AN EXTENDED VISIT!!

Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup Wins:
1936
1937
1943
1950
1952
1954
1955
1997
1998
2002
2008

Pittsburg Stanley Cup Wins
1991
1992

And Pittsburg wanted to win the Hockeytown Title

Not in your biggest dreams.

NAFTA Lowers Mexican Wages

The huge arguement that NAFTA would bring Mexican wages upto American wages seems to have taken a wrong turn.

As more automakers turn to Mexico, a big argument for the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 -- that Mexico's low wage rates would slowly rise to close the gap with U.S. wages -- seems to have been thrown in reverse.

Mexican auto unions are taking a cue from U.S. labor leaders by offering two-tier hiring systems and salary cuts that bring already low wages down to near-Chinese levels.

WOO HOO NAFTA IS GREAT!

NOT

Union leaders at the plant told the Associated Press they had agreed to cut wages for new hires to about half of the current wage of $4.50 per hour.

"We need to be more competitive," said Ford union leader Juan Jose Sosa Arreola. "That's the truth. That's a reality."

With these labor costs Mexico is competitive with China, where an average worker at a foreign-owned factory or joint venture can make $2 to $6 per hour.

And people here in the U.S. bitch that a person cannot live on minimum wages, in Mexico and China they are making no where near U.S. minimum wages. Mexico is taking cues from the U.S. companies though saying they must lower wages to compete with China.

Mark my words, within 5 years manufacturing jobs in the U.S. will be making minimum wages and all for "competing with the competition".

The U.S. is being drawn down to the communist country levels, they are not being drawn upto our levels as supporters of "Fair-trade" treaties claim.

JD Power Initial Quality Survey

The JD Power Initial Quality Survey is out and the domestics rocked the japanese to their core.

Ford has shown consistent improvement for the past five years, despite its restructuring," said David Letson, senior vice president of auto product quality at J.D. Power. "No other full-line manufacturer has done that." That includes Japan's quality stalwarts, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda, Letson said, noting that Ford's quality gains have consistently outpaced the industry. (emphasis mine)

But remember, Toyota says the quality numbers really don't matter now that the domestics have caught up to them.

The top 10

Porsche was once again the highest-ranked brand, with 87 problems per 100 vehicles, followed by Infiniti at 98 and Lexus with 99.

Mercedes-Benz tied Toyota for fourth place with 104. They were followed by Mercury in sixth place with 109.

The other brands in the top 10 were Honda with 110, Ford and Jaguar with 112, and Audi, Cadillac and Chevrolet with 113 problems per 100 vehicles.

Cerberus Off Loading Chrysler

Rumors abound, it was reported that Cerberus has sold a boatload of it's stock in Chrysler.

Cerberus vehementally denies this.

Cerberus Capital Management LP denied reports Monday that it had sold equity stakes in Chrysler LLC or GMAC -- but didn't deny it had sought new money from its investors.

The Financial Times had reported that Cerberus sold more than half of its equity stake in the two companies for more than $1 billion to 90 outside investors.

"Cerberus has not reduced or made any changes to its equity stakes in GMAC or Chrysler since the closing of either transaction," said a Cerberus statement released Monday. "Cerberus continues to have voting control over both investments. It is common knowledge, and has been widely reported, that Cerberus made these investments side-by-side with its co-investors at the time of closing. Our commitment to these companies has not changed."

If there is one thing that people who have worked in the automotive business long enough it that when a company vehementally denies something it usually is true.

The truth may take a few months to come out, but I betting that this is true and by the end of summer we will find out.