Froodee

Living. Blogging.

The Great Coat Sale

By

 

It’s that time of the year again, when the leaves are turning yellow, some red… and then falling down to the ground.  A little messy, but hey, that’s part of the magic of fall… which in turn brings us to the marvels of winter.  

And it’s that time of the year too when strip malls and department stores are beefing up it’s coat line.  It’s a really chilly where I am right now, mid-west of the United States.  Temperature here started to go down below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.  Even for the natives, it IS getting chilly, specially during the mornings.  Just today we noticed the first signs of frost in our backyard.

Now’s the best time to shop around for winter apparel.  The stores are having great discounts on coats (!) at 40% even at Burlington’s coat company.  We, in fact, just came from Macy’s and I tell you, their coat racks are full of great options for the gentlemen, the ladies… and the kids.  Check them out!

China Market Slowdown

By

 

Well, as expected, China’s market is headed towards a slowdown.  This is due to their dependence on their largest client, the USA.  With the USA economy turning slower than a turtle making a u-turn, China will just have to wait until it buys again from them.

A World Bank senior economist noted that China’s manufacturing industry remains heavily reliant on foreign orders that are now evaporating.  It must make a drastic move to save this industry if it is to whether this storm thru and thru.

 

“What is happening at the moment is becoming a little more challenging and it looks like at the moment, the real economy in the U.S. and in Europe is starting to be affected quite a bit by those financial market events,” Kuijs, WB senior economist said.

That would “have its impact on China as well,” he said.

 

One big danger is the coming holidays.  China manufactures a lot of what this holiday season uses, from gifts to decor, to apparel, to even food.

School fundraisers

By

 

My daughter is in 4th grade.  Barely a month and a half into the 2008-09 school year she comes home with a school fundraiser catalogue. Hmmmm.  Just last week, a niece came with the same catalogue of chocolates, literally eye-balling me until I churn out a $10 bill for a box of chocolates.  My daughter, ha (!) she doesn’t need to eye-ball me.  She knows I’d order from her too.

I kinda like school fundraisers but I would disagree it being done at least in the first semester of the school year.  Can’t we just push it later like say February or March?  Parents are preparing for winter,  our moolah needs to be in our pockets so that we can pay winter utilities.

Anyway, that said, I’d like to commend fundraisers that are well-run and well-aimed.  A solid purpose comes hand in hand with a well oiled plan to reach the goal.  I don’t mind sharing my blessings when I’m sure that they will be used… never abused.

Highway Oasis

By

 

I am currently in the USA doing a little traveling between Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota.  One thing that really caught my attention are the wide high ways on this part of the USA.  Clean, wide, superbly marked, clear visibility from miles away.  Perfect for my good trusty cruise controlled 2006 Lincoln Cadillac & it’s trusty GPS guiding system.  Never missed a turn, a stop, or that all important pitstop every so often.

Oh, one thing that was really new for me were the highway oasis.  It was so cool to get refreshed and fed while on the road.  No time for those exit amenities, ah, then the highway oasis is a dream for the frequent driver.  These mimic foot bridges, only imagine them about ten times as wide, and filled with food shops.  Varying from McDonald’s, Aunt Anne’s, Starbucks, KFC and Subway, there’s nothing else to look out for on the road, except feeding that growling stomach on one of these oasis.

Oh and did I mention that these are wifi hotspots too?  Cool eh?

DriveAssistT to save lives

By

 

Highway accidents involving a cellphone, a moving car and a distracted driver are becoming a serious matter in most areas here in the United States.  Even with in-board phones and/or bluetooth headsets, reported incidents are steadily rising.  Is there any solution at all that would keep the driver focusing on the road.  In other countries they have began applying costly fines as a deterrent, a firm warning about how serious the matter really is.

Aegis Mobility, a Canadian software company, announced Monday that it has developed software called DriveAssistT that will detect whether a cell phone is moving at car speeds. When that happens, the software will alert the cellular network, telling it to hold calls and text messages until the drive is over. –From CNN.com

This maybe one of the many possible solutions around.  I could imagine this software crunching speed and distance  in real time to get a good accurate situation report.  Is it really in motion or not?  I hope they can get this to commercial grade so that it can be an option.  Last year 41,059 people died in traffic accidents… any help will go a long long way.