Vietnam, it's the new China...
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Posted:Jul 6, 2019 10:57 am
Last Updated:Jul 10, 2019 3:22 am 45018 Views
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A few years ago I stopped to see an old friend. He commented that I was driving a Korean car. My reply was "Korea is the new Japan"
If consumers can purchase less expensive products from another source, they will. Maybe with hesitations at first, but eventually... they will.
I remember cheap Japanese transistor radios. It wasn't the fault of the Japanese. It was the American companies designing/engineering inferior products and having them shipped here. They only made what they were instructed to make.
Same with all the low-end products made in China. They were brought here by American corporations and now the markets are flooded with products made in China.
I'm in the kitchen cabinet business and have to deal with competitors who provide products made in China. Recent tariffs on Chinese made products will soon affect what and how many of those Chinese manufacturers will survive.
We are already hearing stories of Chinese companies who are relocating manufacturing facilities into their neighboring country Vietnam. Everything goes... all the machines, finishing materials, hardware... all the way to the processing of lumber... grown in Vietnam!
What once was Chinese cabinets are now Vietnamese cabinets... without the tariffs.
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Robert Mueller coming to you LIVE...
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Posted:Jul 6, 2019 9:05 am
Last Updated:Jul 9, 2019 11:22 am 39673 Views
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Associated Press reports that Robert Mueller has agreed to testify publicly before the house Judiciary and intelligence committees on July 17. Both panels have issued subpoenas to him. There will be two hearings back-to-back (one for each committee) and they will also meet with him afterward in a closed session...
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The holiday gas price gouge...
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Posted:Jul 6, 2019 9:04 am
Last Updated:Jul 18, 2019 2:31 am 36019 Views
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Gas prices in Florida have been fluctuating 5 +/- cents as a normal. They went down toward the end of June and shot up 21 cents on the first of July.
That could be the most significant change I've seen in a while. If I recall correctly, it was after a hurricane where flooding knocked out some refineries along the Gulf coast and gas prices jumped.
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Up the River...
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Posted:Jul 6, 2019 8:47 am
Last Updated:Jul 6, 2019 8:48 am 31054 Views
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Last month, my brother went to Sicily on vacation. He's been to Italy a few times and this was his first trip to the island. He mailed out a bunch of post cards to relatives and expected it would take weeks for the mail to arrive. He was right.
Responses from cousins were all positive. Many were interested as he's continuing his genealogy quest finding 6 or 7 generations of family back to the 'old country'.
One of our cousins he's in touch with lived in New York City, retired a few years ago and recently moved to Ossining. I didn't know that name and my brother said it's where Sing Sing prison is.
Sing Sing said I... and he said "Don't you remember all those black & white mobster movies when someone was sent up the river? They went to Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining"
As we were talking, I called up a map on the computer and see Ossining is a village in Westchester County, New York. It's on the Hudson River about 30 miles north of NYC, just along the train tracks.
I get it... so when they said "They sent him up the river" they were referring to Sing Sing!
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Buying a weight loss program from a fat girl...
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Posted:Jun 9, 2019 4:47 am
Last Updated:Jun 10, 2019 3:08 pm 31869 Views
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A generation ago Oprah came out on her season premiere show pulling a red wagon filled with fat. It was to demonstrate her determination to lose 67 pounds. She claimed that under medical supervision her fasting for four months is what did it for her.
As you (probably) know, over the years, the weight came back on. I say Oprah is terminally fat and I link it to diet. Lifestyle and genetics also plays a part, but the amount and type of food you ingest is a major factor in weight gain.
Years ago she invested in Weight Watchers, joined the program, lost weight and made millions. I read stocks plunged and she lost millions. I'm guessing the weight came back up and women lost interest in Weight Watchers, especially with 'O' at the helm.
In Miami, a similar thing happened with an attractive TV personality who had gained weight over the years and was seen and heard selling 'Nutra' weight loss programs. They also had other radio personalities claiming great numbers of pounds shed from using this system.
One thing they had in common... the weight came back on.
Recently, there's a new voice advertising a quick weight loss program. She's heard weekday mornings as the support for the local radio station. The slip up is people who sell weight loss programs should actually stick to their diets and not admit to weekend eating binges involving a few thousand calories at a time. It looks bad on their resume...
That's my thought and I'm sticking to it!
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Tupperware never dies...
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Posted:Jun 4, 2019 3:13 am
Last Updated:Jun 16, 2019 6:02 pm 32964 Views
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I would think the entire word heard about Tupperware products.
If you haven't... Tupperware is the name of air-tight kitchen storage products created by Earl Tupper in 1948. They are made from a form of pliable plastic and sold through direct marketing, typically obtained from Tupperware Parties. My Aunt was a Tupperware dealer and my mother was her best customer!
We had Tupperware bowls in all shapes and sizes. The worst one was a tall pitcher that usually saw fruit juice.
After a while, with long term use the edges of Tupperware become dingy, frayed and fuzzy looking. I remember my aunt mixed some bleach in a pitcher they always used for lemonade. Cousin Joan came in from a hot summer day thinking it was a fresh batch of drink, chugged a cupful and was bent over puking it up!
Every weekend we travel to Miami to check the house (we moved from) bringing and things back to our new location. There are a few items of Tupperware that I haven't claimed. I'm figuring after 50 years they should be considered indigenous and be part of the house when I rent or decide to sell it.
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Bells and tips... something new on Asia Friend Finder
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Posted:May 31, 2019 3:44 am
Last Updated:Jun 5, 2019 4:03 pm 34370 Views
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I logged on this morning to see some website changes.
The bell in the top row of menu selection now has a bell.
Clicking it shows me things I already know about!
Thanks for the bell...
Coins for tops and sending gifts appears to be a new selection.
I guess that's a reinvention of BLING.
They have invented a new way to get money from members.
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Dragon at the Farmer's Market...
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Posted:May 18, 2019 7:09 am
Last Updated:Jun 16, 2019 5:58 pm 33747 Views
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We've been busy lately moving to a condo 45 miles from our home in Miami so the weekend trips to the Farmers Market have been few. Last week we had a chance to visit one of the larger family owned stores and picked up some items we haven't seen in a while.
I hesitated on the Dragon fruit because we had already selected melon, grapes, oranges and papaya so next time we will get some then!
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Ashes to ashes...
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Posted:Apr 30, 2019 4:30 am
Last Updated:May 4, 2019 7:05 am 34748 Views
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Ashes to ashes... to a lump of semi-burned remains. After reading what the cremation process involves, I'm disputing what we are/were taught to believe. It's not so easy.
I think bible experts have different thoughts about this, but a burned body leaves a lump. Teeth don't turn to dust. Most of the bones and remains have to be crushed by special machines.
If they had cremation chambers thousands of years ago, I'm sure they weren't fueled to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit like the ones we have today. Not close.
Two years ago, a coworker died unexpectedly. He was in his 40's. We are coming up on the anniversary of his passing and I'll be asking the other workers/friends to get together to celebrate his life. He was cremated and his ashes were sprinkled over the land he owned in the middle of the state were he often used as a weekend retreat.
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