I was chatting recently with a friend recently who has a more direct connection to this topic, as he is an executive with Gate Petroleum (a regional service station chain). I asked whether they preferred the price of gasoline to be higher or lower. He gave me several reasons why they prefer it to be lower:

1. They make the same few cents per gallon whether the price is at $2 or at $4.
2. When prices are peaking, people drive less, so they buy less gasoline.
3. When prices are dropping, more drivers will splurge on mid-grade or premium, where the profit margin is higher.
4. When they spend less at the pump, customers are more likely to spend more in the convenience store.
5. Their credit card fees are based on dollar revenue, so it costs them a lot more when the price per gallon is higher.

So, all in all, it made me feel guilty for any anger I may have felt at the retailers when it cost me 60 bucks to fill up. It clearly isn’t their fault, or, apparently, to their benefit to charge that much. Of course, Exxon/Mobil and the other big oil companies are still reporting record profits, aren’t they?

At least the gas companies aren’t seeking a government bailout the way the automakers are. Where does it say we have to reward bad corporate decisions and mismanagement? Toyota and Honda generate profits, even on vehicles built here in the states, but Detroit keeps insisting on churning out Hummers and Escalades and monster trucks, then wonder why the dealers are sinking under credit woes. Add in the selfishness and non-productivity of the unions, old technology in the factories, and management that cares only about their own golden parachutes, and it sounds like a recipe for disaster, doesn’t it? Unless Uncle Sam is willing to fork over a few billion.

I’m betting that “W” is with the rest of us now, in happily counting down the days until his term ends. Time for someone else to tackle all of this.

Well, I understand there was an election. Just kidding - As mentioned in my last blog, I was one of those early voters. Unlike some, I did not have to endure a 3-hour wait to vote. Got in and out without any trouble. And we were home to watch the results roll in on Election Day. I will not allow this blog to become political, but I do want to make a couple of observations.

First, no matter which way you voted, you had to be touched by the scene in Chicago after Obama was declared the winner. It’s impossible for me, and I suspect for most of my readers, to understand what this means to African-Americans, but their tears of joy, and the excitement of other supporters, young and old, black and white, gives one hope for the future of this country, doesn’t it?

Second, and also no matter which way you voted, I think you had to be impressed by McCain’s concession speech. It was respectful and positive, and it made me think that he would have been much happier without all the negative campaigning that took place in the closing weeks, even if he “approved this message.”

Third, the reaction around the world is overwhelmingly positive. That may be more a reflection of the past eight years than any belief in what the next four/eight will bring, but if we can immediately start to repair the image of the US around the globe, that’s a good thing.

OK, enough on that. We were in Brazil for the entire World Series. Talk about a misnomer - “World Series.” I suspect that Japan and Cuba and Taiwan and Venezuela and some other countries might like a shot at that. But nonetheless, the Phillies and Rays battled for that title, even if TV ratings were historically bad. I did happen to see part of one game on ESPN International. It was interesting that ESPN had broadcast rights in South America, while it was on Fox in the US. It was also interesting that the audio was in Portuguese, but apparently some things just don’t translate well. So we heard things like, “Blah, blah, blah, blah, full count, blah, blah, blah, ” and “Blah, blah, blah, blah, strike three, blah, blah, blah.” Pardon me for blah-ing the Portuguese. It still made more sense than Tim McCarver does any more.

Let me conclude with an observation about traveling. While the service and amenities have steadily declined on US-based airlines, that is not true of foreign carriers. We flew on TAM, the Brazilian airline, from Miami to Manaus, a few days later from Manaus to Salvador, and finally from Salvador back to Miami. Every flight had food service, friendly flight attendants, and beverages, including beer, wine, and whiskey on the international flights. All of that was at no extra charge. And they didn’t hit us up for $15 per checked bag, or $25 for a second checked bag, or any of that stuff that American and Delta and USAirways and Continental and the rest all now find necessary (interesting that they implemented those fees when fuel costs were so high, but they’re not eliminating them now that fuel costs are about half as much as before).

There was one other notable difference, something I’ve seen every time I’ve flown on TAM to, from, or within Brazil. When it’s time to board the plane, they announce that the flight is now available for boarding. And everyone calmly walks on, finds their seats, and stows their carry-ons. They don’t do the board-by-rows thing, or assign everyone to boarding groups or zones, or (my most detested system) make the passengers line up in numerical order a la Southwest. Nope - they assume that, as adults, we can find our way on in a reasonable fashion. And you know what? It works. All the flights left the gate on time, and it was a lot less stressful.

Well, less stressful flights, lots of good Brazilian beer and food, and a relaxing ten days in Manaus and Salvador combined to make it pretty hard coming back to work a week ago. So you can add that to my excuse for the lapse in blogging. I’ll try not to let it happen again.

Oh, did you happen to hear that APPX 5.0 is out in beta?

I voted on Monday. You may have heard that there were big crowds at polling places around Florida as early voting began. I went in the early afternoon, and it was busy, but there was no wait. I like the concept of voting before Election Day, but a couple of things about it make me wonder.

First, it allows dead people to vote, something that may not have happened since 1960 in Chicago. It’s likely that some percentage of those who vote early will not live until Election Day, but their votes will count anyway. Of course, the same would be true of people casting absentee ballots. I wonder which candidate is leading in the deceased category.

Second, we are expecting both presidential candidates to spend a lot of time, money, and energy in Florida during the next two weeks, as this is again likely to be a pivotal state. But if a large percentage of the electorate has already voted by, say, next Monday, the candidates might decide that the important votes have been cast, and direct their attention elsewhere. Well, it’s a possibility anyway …

Early tomorrow morning, I’m on a flight to Brazil. The first part of our trip is in Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon. There’s a Rotary Youth Exchange conference there, and during our time in that region, we will have a night at a resort built in the Amazon River treetops. Check out www.ariautowers.com - it looks like an amazing place. The second half of our trip will be with friends in the coastal city of Salvador. Eu acho que esta viagem vai ser muito divertida!

So, while we’re away, we’re going to miss the entire World Series. Quite a story line this year, with the Tampa Bay Rays doing the best imitation I’ve ever seen of the 1969 New York Mets. I’d like to see them win it all, and they just might do it. I’ll have to follow the progress of the Series on line, because I doubt that Brazilian TV will be carrying it.

Since I won’t be blogging during the next ten days, might I suggest some other reading? Our exchange students send in journals on a regular basis, Florida teens telling about their adventures overseas, and foreign kids talking about life in Florida. Some of the journals are really outstanding, and new ones arrive almost every day. Check it out at www.ryeflorida.org.

That’s it for today. Wish us “boa viagem!”

So, how does one go about taking advantage of such a spectacular day? As kids, we’d be likely to spend the day outside, at least that portion that school didn’t occupy, and we’d play baseball or football or a made-up kids’ game, or maybe just hang out and listen to the radio (mostly AM in those days). As adults, it’s our privilege to remain shut inside an office all day, with windows that let the sunshine in but do not open, allowing daydreams but denying fresh air.

Not wanting to be defeated in that way, we biked to work today. As mentioned in earlier blogs, it’s about 5 miles from home to work, with sidewalks all the way. It’s a bit of exercise, it makes us feel good about getting a piece of this beautiful weather, and, of course, it saves gas. But I have to admit that the nice feelings about that last factor have been somewhat diminished with gas down more than a dollar since earlier this year. That shouldn’t matter, but it’s hard not to always have gas prices on the mind.

It would be a great day to shut down the office for the afternoon and take a company golf outing. Somehow, I don’t think that proposal would be approved. Or we could all go out on the water (”Picture yourself on a boat on a river …”). Small problem - no one here has a boat. What about just driving around with the windows down? Um, I arrived by bike, remember?

So, I guess we’ll just find some way to get some fresh air at lunch time, and try to savor the two-wheeled ride home this afternoon. And also take great joy in knowing that it is cloudy and in the 40’s in Syracuse today, and only getting worse there in the weeks to come.

I wonder if we could evade questions the way politicians do when dealing with technical support calls. I suppose it would go something like this:

APPX Customer: We get this system error whenever we run this report. Is there a solution?
Tech Support: Well, first I’d like to remind you that my record is very clear on this issue. Through all my years of public service, I have always strongly supported solutions. I think it’s very important, especially in today’s challenging times, that we work together to find solutions. We cannot do this alone, but if we join together, under the kind of leadership that I can provide, and that I have provided for many years, using the kind of leadership that experience brings, and, of course, I have that experience, then we can defeat this common enemy.
APPX Customer: So, is there a patch, or a work-around?
Tech Support: My competition would like you to think that there are easy answers to these questions, but that just is not the case. These problems have been building for years, and despite its well-meaning efforts, the current administration has not been able to address them in a way that you and I and the average citizen would appreciate. But we cannot give up on that effort. We cannot pull out now, because that would be admitting defeat. We must stay focused and finish the job. And we’re almost there now.
APPX Customer: Um, does that mean that the next release will address this?
Tech Support: Others might be willing to make empty promises to you, but I stand here on my record, and when I say that we are going to work hard to solve not only this problem, but every problem that might arise, you can trust me to keep saying exactly that. I’m going to bring a fair, equitable solution to our community, but I cannot do it alone. I need your help. So, let me leave you with this: “Ask not what Tech Support can do for you; ask what you can do for Tech Support.” Thanks for calling. <click>

There have been proposals floated for many years now that the USA should get rid of the one cent coin. It’s value in transactions is so inconsequential that many business keep a penny jar at the register, just to avoid having to ask customers for a couple of cents, or provide them back in change. Do we even bend down to pick up pennies any more? Even penny candy must cost, what, a dime or more? The US Mint would tell you that it costs more than a penny to make a penny, so that can’t be very efficient. In the 1800’s, this country had two cent coins and three cent coins, both of which were discontinued before the end of that century. There was also a half cent coin, which lasted from 1793 to 1857. All of those have been discontinued, so why not do the same with the current one cent coin? I suspect it’s because doing so might feel like surrendering to inflation. So I have another idea …

Let’s get rid of the dime. And while we’re at it, let’s ditch the $10 bill as well. Would it really be that much of an inconvenience to carry two nickels instead of a dime, or two $5 notes instead of a $10? Of course not. And wouldn’t it save some money too?

Often, we in the USA refuse to adopt ideas from abroad, even if they make more sense (the metric system, for example). So, let’s look at what the coinage of the euro is. Um, OK, never mind. The euro has coins in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents, and 1 and 2 euros. But the 1 and 2 cent coins are not commonly used, and, in fact, in Finland, Belgium, and the Netherlands, all cash transactions are rounded by law to the nearest 5 cents. It’s probably too logical to ever be adopted here.

We all know about the fluctuations of various currencies, and, for example, that Europeans can enjoy great deals in the US now because the dollar is so weak. So what would happen if we were to create a worldwide currency? No more foreign exchange markets, no more conversions when traveling - effectively, take what Europe did and spread it around the globe. It could work, you know. About ten years ago, after suffering through horrendous inflation, the country of Ecuador tied its currency to the US dollar, and shortly thereafter discontinued its currency completely. The official currency of Ecuador is now the US dollar. If it can work there, and if Italy can go to a euro from their drastically devalued lira, why wouldn’t it work worldwide?

Do we have any time left to talk about time? Don’t worry - I’m not going to propose eliminating time zones, or replacing our 24-hour, 60-minute, 60-second system with something more metric (but why not?). I just got to wondering about the absurdity of our AM/PM system. How so? Well, let’s say you wanted to divide a day into two halves, called AM and PM. OK, that works. Now, we want to number each of the 12 hours in each half. So, we’ll number them 1 through 12, right? And the clock progression should then be 1 AM, 2 AM, 3 AM, through 12 AM, followed by 1 PM, 2 PM, etc. But wait a minute! Which minute? How about the one after 11:59 AM? Logically, it should be 12:00 AM, followed by 12:01 AM, and so on. Uh, oh … we have a problem. Hour 12 is mislabeled! Shouldn’t 12:45 AM be one hour after 11:45 AM? We need to either flip-flop the AM and PM on the 12th hour, or change it to zero hour.

Well, military time and international time do that, using a 24-hour clock. Half past midnight is 00:30 (or 0030, depending on the format). And mid-day times go from 11:30 to 12:30 to 13:30. Seems like it would be easier to learn that way, don’t you think?

I wonder how this particular time system became so universal (well, only on our planet, not the entire universe). I wonder how other civilizations measured the time during the day, or if they even did so. Perhaps ignoring time is a solution. Somehow, though, I don’t think we could ignore money.

Time and money. Both can be saved, both can be spent, both can be invested, both can be wasted. Which would you say you did with your time reading this blog today?

It was parked in a driveway that I passed on the way to work, and looked like it might not have been used for some time. But I didn’t see it there on the ride home, so maybe it’s still generating excitement among children as it slowly tours the neighborhoods. I suspect that most of us can remember things about our neighborhood ice cream truck, and I’m going to share some of my memories with you.

The ice cream trucks of my youth did not play Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer repeatedly. Instead, the driver had some bells mounted near his seat, and he would ring them manually, knowing that they would work like the Pied Piper’s flute in attracting youngsters to him. And the original ice cream trucks (this goes back 50 years now) required the driver to stop and get out of the truck, walk around the back or side, open a heavily-latched freezer door, and reach in to find the goodies. Later, the trucks became more like vans, and the drivers stayed inside with chest freezers. That seemed less magical.

My neighborhood was graced initialy by three different purveyors of frozen treats. There was the Good Humor Man, Bungalow Bar, and Frosty Bar. The first was the name brand, the IBM of suburban ice cream vendors if you will. But we knew we could do better. The Bungalow Bar truck was so named because it had an A-frame style shingle roof on the top. I don’t remember buying much from that one, and I suspected that he spent most of his time just driving around, never selling much. That was because, in our area, Frosty Bar was king.

From the day in late spring when those bells would first be heard, we looked forward to the regular visit of the Frosty Bar truck. The driver was Dominic, and he knew all the kids, and vice versa. Dominic had the expected assortment of ice cream treats - popsicles, fudgsicles, cones, and cups - and he also had Italian ices, which we knew had to be authentic, because, after all, Dominic was Italian. He also had one element of customer service that no one else had: Dominic extended credit to his customers.

Imagine how cool it was for a 10-year-old, visiting with some friends a few blocks from home, to be able to run out in the street, yell “STOP” to the Frosty Bar truck, and have him put your favorite treat on your tab! I don’t know if this is what made Dominic our favorite, but it sure made him part of our community. And I’m sure that very few kids ever defaulted on that line of credit.

In later years, other vendors took that route. I think Bungalow Bar disappeared. The unfortunately-named Mister Softee made the rounds for a few years, offering vanilla, chocolate, or swirl, or course. But it was never the same as having someone who knew you, talked to you like a friend, and made it possible to get a Push-Up Pop or other treat even when you were away from home with no money in your pocket.

We occasionally still do see ice cream trucks in our neighborhood here in Jacksonville. With the price of gas, the availability of all sorts of treats in the grocery store, and the variety of ice cream retailers in the area, it might not be a very profitable business any more. But I suspect that Dominic, with his way of getting to know his customers and treating them right, would still be very successful.

When I was a child, my father was in retail. He would certainly agree with the oft-quoted phrase, “The customer is always right.” (The origins of that phrase are rather interesting - click here.) I will admit that, as the first-born child in a New York baby boomer family, I had occasional trouble with that rule, because, hey, I’m always right. But that’s off topic for today.

About 20 years later, I met a man who would inspire me in many ways. When I first got to know him, he owned a small sandwich shop. He later expanded into a chain of those shops, branched off into other retail ventures, bought out a moving and storage company, worked for the government, and ran for Congress among other things. One of the incidents I always remember happened in his sandwich shop. It was closing time, and he had finished wrapping and storing all the meats, cheeses, breads, etc. The door opened, and a young man came in, asking to buy a sandwich. It would have been easy for my friend to tell him that the shop was closed for the night, as everything had been put away. But he happily made that sandwich, adding probably $2.00 to the day’s take. Not much, right? What he said to me was, “I’m never making so much money that I can turn away a customer.”

Last week, we decided to try a new Thai restaurant that opened near our office. They had printed coupons in a local mailer, offering the standard buy-one-get-one-free deal. A nice way to try to build a new business, and a successful way to get us in the door. We were a bit tired, and decided to order our meals to go, so we could relax and eat at home. The cashier then informed us that the coupon was valid only for dining in. There was nothing at all on the coupon with that restriction on it, so I asked if she was sure about that. She replied that she was. I asked if she really was going to turn away a paying customer at a new restaurant, and she confirmed that intention. We left.

How foolish is it, to offer a deal like that to get someone to try your restaurant, and then turn them away? I suspect they won’t be in business long, if that is their policy.

On Saturday afternoon, I went to visit my local barber. This is a real, old-time barber shop, not a salon or a “hair cuttery” or anything like that. It opened probably 15 or 20 years ago, or more, and was a true local institution. The owner retired and sold the shop last year, though, and the new owner doesn’t seem to have the same dedication. Previously, I had been there when a friend brought her elderly father in for a haircut, having made an appointment with the new owner (there are other barbers working there too, but people can be choosy). The owner had gone out to run errands, and when reached by phone, said he’d be back in 15 minutes. The friend and her father waited, and 15 minutes became 30 and then 45. Finally, they left, as the shop owner never returned. I got my hair cut that day, but recognized that things were not the same as they used to be.

Back to last Saturday (sorry about all the digressions - hope you’ve been able to hang on for the ride). The shop has posted hours of 8-2. I arrived at about 1:45. The door was locked. There were people inside, a few in the chairs, a couple waiting their turns. I was told that they were closing, and that the shop owner had left early anyway.

An hour later, I had found a new place to get my hair cut. They did a decent job, and the price was just about the same. I dont’ know if they’ll miss my business at the old barber shop - after all, I probably don’t spend $200 there in a year. But that experience, and the one at the Thai restaurant a night or two earlier, brought back the memories of my friend and his sandwich shop.

There are plenty of places to eat, and plenty of places to get one’s hair cut. Customer loyalty is hard to gain, but not so hard to lose. I’ll bet it often makes the difference between a successful business and an unsuccessful one.

No, that’s not a misspelling. In fact, the last word of the second sentence is directly related to the first sentence. When you’re a crossword puzzle fan, like Gary and I are, you learn many rarely-used words that puzzle constructors rely on to complete their grids. But when we came across mene last week, neither one of us had heard of it before. And, between us, I’m sure we’ve done thousands of puzzles. So, of course, we had to find out what this new word, um, means.

I should mention that the clue was “word on a wall”. And the search for what mene means uncovered the origins of the phrase, “the writing on the wall.” If you’re familiar with the word, then there won’t be much more for you to learn from this blog. If not, join me in discovering something new.

The origin of the phrase is Biblical. Here’s what Wikipedia tells us: “The writing on the wall (or sometimes ‘handwriting on the wall’) is an expression which suggests a portent of doom or misfortune. It originates in the Biblical book of Daniel—where supernatural writing fortells the demise of the Babylonian Empire, but it has come to have a wide usage in language and literature.”

“Mene” is one of four words written on the wall supernaturally. Let me refer you to the Wikipedia page so that you can read the entire story. I think it’s worth a few minutes. And then you’ll have learned something new today.

If you watch the hurricane forecasts, it’s easy to come to the conclusion that these so-called experts have no idea what a given storm is going to do. Sometimes, they blow up into big, swirling, category 3, 4, or 5 events. Other times, they hit some land, or perhaps some other weather impact, and become disorganized and weak. Baseball players are considered great hitters if they get on base 3 out of 10 times; I’m not sure if the “tropical storm experts” on The Weather Channel, or at AccuWeather, or on Weather Underground, or at the National Hurricane Center at NOAA, even come close to that .300 batting average. Certainly, their seasonal predictions have been off the mark for several years.

So, today, we are watching Hanna. Her projected path, 24 hours ago, had the center heading right for Jacksonville, with a Friday morning ETA as a category 2. Today, the projections now show her staying offshore by 100 miles or so. And not reaching our latitude until Friday afternoon. It still should mean some rain and wind, of course, but we’ve had a lot of that already this year.

Hanna’s siblings, Ike and Josephine, are wandering across the Atlantic too. Care to guess which direction they’ll go? You can check your prediction against the various forecasters, if you like, but you know they’ll be changing theirs at least once or twice a day.

Of course, there is potential danger in these storms, but there is also some entertainment. I especially like the TV reporters standing out in the storms, losing their hats, claiming how treacherous the conditions are. There was a classic scene a couple of years ago, as a local weather reporter stood in the middle of a street near the beach, breathlessly telling everyone how dangerous the situation was, and that it was a good thing that the streets were deserted, etc. Meanwhile, behind this intrepid reporter, viewers could see a couple of kids on skateboards, holding up bed sheets as makeshift sails, and having a great time.

In our old stomping grounds in New York State, hurricanes were very rare. We had some on Long Island where I grew up, but the upstate region was generally too far inland to suffer much impact from those storms. Oh, there were a couple, but they were once-in-a-decade events, if that. In Syracuse, our weather disasters were of the much colder variety. Proudly boasting the title of snowiest major city in the country, Syracusans generally would just push the snow out of the way and go about our business. But there were some exceptions … the winter of 1992-93, when 16 FEET of snow fell for the season, starting with 8 inches on Halloween, and not ending until a light dusting on snow on Mothers’ Day … the mid-March blizzard a few years before that, during which 42″ fell on our city in 24 hours … and the ice storms that were probably the worst of all. For those that haven’t experienced it, driving in freezing rain is what I’d consider the most dangerous, as the road can become a skating rink very quickly, and patches of “black ice” can throw cars into completely uncontrollable skids.

So, would I rather deal with hurricanes or blizzards? Well, it seems like there’s more time to prepare for the former, even if some of that preparation is for false alarms. But snowstorms tend to cause mostly inconvenience, while hurricanes often mean damage and perhaps death. Don’t misunderstand - winter weather up north can knock out power for extended periods of time, and some people do perish in the cold. But the impact is usually not as severe, either from the storms, or from the influx of TV talking heads that want to broadcast live from the scene.

All in all, though, I’d rather be in Florida. Even if our guests are named Hanna, Ike, Josephine …