a letter to my accountant regarding Bank of America and a copy of check I needed

Hi Andre

Just wanted to further follow-up. Bank of America is as competent as I am doing taxes: 4 requests, 15 hours on the phone, 4 banks visits and 300 hundred dollars later... I may or may not have copies of all my deposited checks in 5 business days. I apologize for cutting our deadline close, however there really isn't much more on this end that I can do. Yes, I cried in the bank (and even that didn't help, pretty sure I paid a crying in the bank fee). I will of course update you to any new developments in my banking with the incompetent saga. Again, I apologize. Really, there isn't much more I can do now. I will let you know what is going on.

Cassidy

Important Notice - From the Federal Government

Due to recent budget cuts, and the rising costs of electricity, gas and oil, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,
The Government

Go make another Mastercard commercial next week Manning!!!!

WHY MEN ARE NEVER DEPRESSED:

Men Are Just Happier People--What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time.

Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks.. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.

Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck.

You can play with toys all your life. One wallet and one pair of shoes -- one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache. You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

Good Times Stop Rolling: Vegas Meets Recession from Time Magazine

With Las Vegas in the grips of its worst economy since the early 1980s, the storm that dumped four inches of snow on the desert metropolis in mid-December felt like piling on. The city's cocksure swagger is gone.

Gaming revenue in Clark County, which includes downtown Las Vegas and the Strip, is down 8.5% for the year, to $8.3 billion. But the revenue for October, the last month for which figures are available, is off an ominous 24.3% vs. the same month in 2007. Visitor volume is down 3% over last year, though the city's convention business is holding steady.

The Strip's restaurants have seen a proportional decrease along with overall visitor traffic. David McIntyre, vice president of food and beverage at MGM Grand — which counts among its stable of high-end eateries such restaurants as Shibuya, Nobhill and a pair from French maestro Joel Robuchon — notes that visitors have become more careful with their dollars. "They're still going out to eat; they're just not spending as much money," McIntyre says. "They might not have that second glass of wine." (See 10 things to do in Las Vegas.)

The recession is hitting Las Vegas on all fronts. Nevada legislators have struggled to close a deficit of more than $1 billion in the 2009 budget. Budget projections for 2010 and 2011 also look grim. Construction on Boyd Gaming's $4.8 billion Echelon resort was stopped last August just as three of its towers reached the 12th floor (the tallest would have risen to 55 stories). Construction won't resume until 2010, though the cranes will remain towering above the site (it's cheaper to leave them in place — and these days no one else in town needs them).

A mile or two down the Strip, MGM Mirage just sold off Treasure Island for $775 million to billionaire casino operator Phil Ruffin. The cash infusion should help the corporation finish construction on its $9.1 billion CityCenter, the largest private construction job in the U.S. Yet even in the best-case scenario, Vegas — and the rest of the country — won't begin to drive out of the ditch until the end of next year, as consumer spending improves, new hiring resumes and the city's battered construction industry gets back on its feet. The worst case? The recession deepens, and the ditch turns into a cliff.

From any vantage point, the situation is grim. Construction in the area dropped 92% in October, compared with the same month a year earlier. In November the county issued 80 new home permits, down from an average of almost 500 permits a month in 2007. Housing prices have deflated with a deafening groan. Keith Schwer, who runs the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, estimates that 50% of homeowners owe more than what their home is worth. Perhaps the only positive note is that housing prices have returned to more reasonable levels. "We're getting back into the affordability range," Schwer says. "The only problem is we don't have credit to buy them, and we're losing jobs."

Nevada's unemployment rate jumped from 0.4% to 8% in November, the highest rate since 1984, and Schwer says it could rise to 10% next year. The figure translates to more than 111,700 unemployed Nevadans, according to the state's Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. (The national rate is 6.7%.) Meanwhile, the city's largest food bank, Three Square, which supplies food to nonprofits throughout the city, budgeted $250,000 for purchasing food in 2008. The total food need for destitute families throughout the Las Vegas Valley is closer to $1.3 million.

Las Vegas, however, is nothing if not optimistic. Its history gives it good reason to be. Boosters point to the coming 2009 debuts of CityCenter, the Fountainebleau and the M Resort, which add up to $20 billion of construction, as proof that the Vegas brand is fundamentally strong. "There's a resilience to Las Vegas that's unlike anything else you see in the country," says Dick Rizzo, vice chairman of Perini Building Co., the largest construction firm in town.

And then, as if on cue, here comes Steve Wynn. Three days before Christmas, he opened the new addition to his swanky Wynn Las Vegas resort, a $2.3 billion, 2,034-room playground called Encore. The new property is easily the most decorative and jubilant in the city; it lets in an abundance of natural light while somehow managing to keep the view of a struggling city at bay.

A new casino opening always pumps some energy into Las Vegas. But Vegas shares with the rest of the country the feeling that things will get worse before they get better. Whether Encore signals a new beginning for Las Vegas, the way Wynn's Mirage did in 1989, is not a bet to take lightly. "We're still in a fairly early phase in the downturn," says Schwer. "I don't see Steve Wynn sticking his finger in the dike and holding it back."

A letter from the president of GM and Gregory Knox's response!

Abridged letter from Troy Clarke, President of General Motors - followed
by a response from our son, Gregory Knox:

Dear Employee,

Next week, Congress and the current Administration will determine whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation's history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress we began prior to the global financial crisis.............As an employee, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most effective and passionate voices.

I know GM can count on you to have your voice heard.

Thank you for your urgent action and20ongoing support.

Troy Clarke
President
General Motors North America
------------------------------

----- --------------
Response:

From Gregory Knox,
President
Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin, Ohio 45005
In response to your request to call legislators and ask for a bailout for
the United States automakers please consider the following, and please also
pass this onto Troy Clark, the president of General Motors North America
for me. You are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has bred
like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and
whose plague is now sweeping the nation, awaiting our new "messiah" to wave his magical wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time
allowing our once great nation to keep "living the dream".

The dream is over!

The dream that we can ignore the consumer for years while management
myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that
our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid, arrogant,
ignorant and laziest entitlement minded "laborers" without paying the
price for these atrocities.and that still the masses will line up to buy our products

Don't tell me I'm wrong. Don't accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I
have called on Ford,GM ,Chrysler,TRW,Delphi,Kelsey Hayes, American Axle
and countless other automotive OEM's and Tier ones for 3 decades now
throughout the Midwest=2
0and what I've seen over the years in these union shops can
only be described as disgusting.

Mr. Clark, the president of General Motors, states:
There is widespread sentiment in this country, our government and
especially in the media that the current crisis is completely the result
of bad management. It is not.

You're right - it's not JUST management.how about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag ass.so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple time. for a job they easily could have done within their normal 40 hour week

How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare tactics.for putting out too many parts on a shift. and for being too productive (mustn't expose the lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?) Do you really not know about this stuff?!?

How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke's sad plea:

over the last few years .we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps
with our competitors.

What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years? Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them?

The K car vs. the Accord?
The Pinto vs. the Civic?
Do I need to go on?

We are living through the ine
vitable outcome of the actions of the United
States auto industry for decades. Time to pay for your sins, Detroit.

I attended an economic summit last week where a brilliant economist, Alan
Beaulieu surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the
banks a penny of "bailout money". Yes, he said, this would cause short term
problems, but despite what people like George Bush and Troy Clark would have
us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day. and something else
would happen. where there had been greedy and sloppy banks new efficient ones
would pop up. that is how a free market system works.it does work.if we
would let20it work.

But for some reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is
right and that capitalism doesn't work - that we need the government to step in
and "save us".save us, hell - we're nationalizing. and unfortunately too many
of this once fine nation’s citizens don't even have a clue that this is
what's really happening.but they sure can tell you the stats on their
favorite sports teams.yeah - THAT'Simportant.

Does it occur to ANYONE that the "competition" has been producing
vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades now in this country?...

How can that be?
Let's see.

Fuel efficient.
Listening to customers.
Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul.
Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr W Edwards20Deming four
decades ago
Ever increased productivity through quality, lean and six sigma plans.
Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like "the enemy".
Efficient front and back offices.
Non union environment.

Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn't be telling anyone anything they really don't already know in their hearts.

I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into - my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did at their age. I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) - I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work them through. Radical concept, huh?

Am I there for them in the wings? Of course - but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults. I don't want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government. Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins.

Bad news people - it's coming whether we like it or not. The newly elected Messiah really doesn't have a magic wand big enough to "make it all go away" I laughed as I heard Obama "reeling it back in" almost immediately after t he vote count was tallied.
we might not do it in a year.or in four." where was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for the office? Stop trying to put off the inevitable .

That house in Florida really isn't worth $750,000.

People who jump across a border really don't deserve free health care
benefits.

That job driving that forklift for the big 3 really isn't worth $85,000 a year.


We really shouldn't allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products
acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has
the most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe.

That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really shouldn't be living in that $485,000 home.

Let the market correct itself people - it will. Yes it will be painful, but it's gonna be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it is a nation=2 0 that appreciates what is has. And doesn't live beyond its means. and gets back to basics. and redevelops the work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world. and probably turns back to God.

Sorry - don't cut my head off, I'm just the messenger sharing with you the"bad news"

Gregory J Knox
President
Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin, Ohio 45005

Merry Christmas From the Stock Market

Remember it isn't the Grinch who stole Christmas it is the economy!