Inside Idle Thoughts

Apex, NC 7-15-09

I just realized that I have lived in NC for 10 years. On Tuesday July 13, 1999, we rolled into Apex with our stuff. We soon discovered our new home still had wet hardwood. The builder forgot to tell us. We have been Marriott people since that day.

North Carolina is so fun. Street signs change as you drive as often as the direction does. Have you been on 55 West and noted your compass says south?

Where else can you be where getting lost is an integral part of the commuting experience?

I would like to get lost for 2.5 hours and end up somewhere in Carolina Beach. I like East.

The President took his whole family on a whirlwind; Russia, Italy, Ghana. Wow. I read that the President spent 30 minutes with the Pope, one-on-one. I actually know priests who live near the Vatican. If I want to talk to them I use SKYPE. Do you know how much Skype you can buy if you don't throw in the Secret Service?

I love writing restaurant critiques. I just need to stop doing it for free. I will always do it for food though.

I have not watched the Sotomayor hearings. She is in. What is there to watch?

How come the more the government spends, the more they want to tax. In this economy they have all they can get from us. I wish I could print money, spend it and call it stimulus.

The Administation announced that community colleges will be getting $12 BILLION over 10 years for job placement. I want that plan to succeed. I am in the career services business, but where in the heck is that money coming from?

I am on a diet. It is working. I have too much weight. I can eat anything green and drink anything brown. Brown coffee, what were you thinking?

This country should be on my diet. It has too much debt. And the stimulus is not working. The government eats anything green as well. But the thought makes me want the other brown liquid. People can you say Lager?

I love Ice Road Truckers. How about you?

Geely Holding Group Inc. is a name soon to be remembered. This Chinese automotive group will soon have Detroit office buildings. And there will be others moving to Michigan. HUMMER is undergoing Chinese ownership. I remember when radios and televisions were made in the USA. Zenith comes to mind. Now they are made in China. No doubt the car business is changing with brutal lightening speed. Which is why my company (VTR Consulting LLC) now does non-automotive retail sales training and career services. The car business is just not using vendors for process improvement like they have in the past. Hopefully things will be better in 2010. The business needs stability and strength, not instability and weakness.

We added a new 2009 Ford Edge SEL AWD to the family fleet. 25 mpg on the highway and striking looks; nothing like Detroit sheet metal. Oh yeah. We had a great experience at Pittsboro Ford. Call Rene, the sales manager, and tell him you want the Vogel discount.

The All-Star game last night was pretty exciting. The Tigers played a major role in the win. Granderson and Jackson did well.

How about Nicole Bobek? Involved in a drug ring, she could spend 10 years in jail. She was awesome in the 1998 Winter Olympics. You just have to scratch your head.

When Madoff gets out of Butner in 2159, I am there to see if he will buy me lunch.

He will be ready after 150 years of jail food.

On Tuesday, the first flight of Pet Airways took off in NY. Animals get dinner, playtime and bathroom breaks. Where is my bear suit?

Check me out at www.vtrconsulting.com