U.S. Rich Lower Risks on Mansion, Sweet Mansion
Interesting article in today's Wall Street Journal about how the rich have started cut back on real-estate investments. It seems to be another small indicator that this real-estate bubble will soon burst. Someone even compared it to the internet bust back in the day.

A lot of people are going to lose a lot of money.

And you know if the rich have stopped doing it, something is going on. They are rich for a reason - they know stuff.

Bulk Email
Here's one from "Marsha":

Nasty anal fruit salad Trio s-exual escapade bar

Anal fruit salad? What the hell?

Skiles signs on after all
Thank goodness, he's staying.

Funny how the media bounces back and forth - now they are praising him.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/cs-050607bullsskiles,1,62424.story?coll=chi-sportsnew-hed

Draft
The Cubs signed a high school pitcher with their first pick, a guy named Mark Pawelek, whom they've already signed. Which is surprising since he is a Boras client. Check out these numbers:

10-0 63 IP, 0ER(!) 132Ks (!!)

In his first three years at Springville, Pawelek was 26-2 with a state-record 341 strikeouts. He ended his prep career with 476 Ks, the Utah state all-time record.

That's amazing, he says he sees himself as a control pitcher, which is good, even though he can bring it up to 94-96mph.

Here is the scouting report:

School: Springville High School
Position: LHP B/T: L/L
H: 6'3" W: 190
Born: 1986-08-18 Class: HS
Scouting report:
LHP w/ ideal pitcher's frame. Tall and long w/ lean muscle. Explosive low-90s FB that sinks and runs. Comes out of a quick, loose whip-like delivery. Curveball is out pitch, w/ 1-7 break that comes near the plate.

Only time will tell. The draft isn't over and there are a few guys I hope get drafted, friends of mine. Or hopefully they'll get signed afterwards as free agents.

My Pay and It's all crumbling down
So through some paperwork mishap I've come into some very interesting information. When I went to interview at this temp agency I asked them how they made money by placing people in jobs. They gave me an answer I can't remember, which probably means it wasn't a very direct, straightforward answer. They probably gave me the ol' run around.

But today I found out that, for every hour I work, they are getting paid 22.75 dollars. I, on the other hand, am getting paid 13.00 dollars an hour. So they're almost making ten bucks for every hour I work. For what? For doing the grunt work of finding a low-level employee?

Maybe I should start my own temp agency.

Crumbling down

Today I was on the phone for like 10 minutes. This and the tie issue made me start to kind get the crawlies all over. I was asking myself how much more I can take. It's not as bad as they make it out to be on TV and in general conversation (working where I work, "corporate america"), but today is just one of those days.

I hope this doesn't make me a yes-man


add phone - interaction DC

Dress Code
So I decided not to wear a tie to work today and was told that there was a dress code and to wear one tomorrow. I kind of guessed that was the dress code, I had done it every day except for Fridays (I correctly assumed casual Fridays were the norm), but I never really knew. No one ever told me, specifically. So now I'm walking around thinking everyone is looking at me like I'm a rebel greaser or something.

But I'm not.

The whole communications aspect of all this seems important enough to warrant some words, but I don't feel like it. Suffice to say that here in corporate america people just like to let you assume things instead of telling you how and why things work.

I want to focus on the tie. Why the hell do we wear ties anyway? They're uncomfortable as hell and it's really hot today (not in here, where it's freezing).

Here is why:

The history of neckties dates back a mere hundred years or so, for they came into existence as the direct result of a war. In 1660, in celebration of its hard-fought victory over the Ottoman Empire , a crack regiment from Croatia (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), visited Paris. There, the soldiers were presented as glorious heroes to Louis XIV, a monarch well known for his eye toward personal adornment. It so happened that the officers of this regiment were wearing brightly colored handkerchiefs fashioned of silk around their necks. These neck cloths, which probably descended from the Roman fascalia worn by orators to warm the vocal chords, struck the fancy of the king, and he soon made them an insignia of royalty as he created a regiment of Royal Cravattes. The word "cravat," incidentally, is derived from the word "Croat."

And:


The tie was initially born as a piece of material worn by Roman legionnaires around the neck for reasons of hygiene or climate and was called a "focale." Centuries later the French wore this "handkerchief", borrowing in their time from that which was worn by Croatian mercenaries during the Twenty Years War. In 1661 Louis XIV instituted the position of "tie maker" for the king, a gentleman who was assigned to help the king arrange and knot the necktie. Nine years after 1661 the Duchess of Lavalliere, favorite of the king, was the first woman to wear a tie. In the 19th century her name would be given to the most graceful of masculine ties. In 1925 the American tie maker Jesse Langdorsf patented a long tie, less crumpled and more stable, sewn from three pieces of fabric and cut to a taper. The modern tie was born.

I wish I was a warrior, I'd even wear a tie on Fridays.

Skiles gone???
I am shocked. Reinsdorf is an asshole.

Although this brings up an interesting question about money. My own opinion, having followed the season and so gotten to know Skiles through this year-long trek via the newspapers and TV interviews, is that he isn't about the money. He's about feeling wanted, feeling respected with the manner in which the negotiations take place.

God, now what?

Religion Poll
Interesting results.

What the NFL needs
A really eloquent player that will step up into the spotlight and debate the issue surrounding the whole T. O. debacle. There is another side to the story and the argument is a LOT better than anything these players are saying so far. Stupid shit like "It's for my family," or "I'm the best in the league," or "The owners are greedy" just doesn't cut it if you want to be in the fans' good graces.

We don't want to hear that shit.

Now, if I knew anything about the NFL and actually followed it, I could play devil's advocate and create a little press release right here. A simulation type of thing. But I'm not real familiar with the way things work, so I can't.

Maybe something about the way players are treated once they stop producing, how they are viewed as pawns in a chess match and not as people.

Something, and it has to be well spoken, eloquent, that will allow the fans to see the other side. Because it is there, and it's a lot more sophisticated than "I love me some me."

Sports Blog?
Lately I've been noticing most of my posts are sports-related, which kind of worries me. Where are the philosophical reminisces of everyday life?

I guess that tells you where my mind is at...at ease.