Why does the media think everybody is a fool...

When journalists go out and write stories, that’s what they are probably doing, making-up / cooking stories. The media reports have flavors and they keep changing, but the thing is that the in-flavor keeps repeating no matter what. This is especially true for people reporting on the stock market.

The flavor of this season is called “fiscal cliff” so no matter what happens it is about the fiscal cliff!

Yesterday the stock market was down 80 points –“Investors nervous about the impending fiscal cliff resolution”

This morning the stock market was up 40 points –“Investors hopeful of fiscal cliff deal push stocks higher”

And this afternoon the WSJ reporter who wrote this probably doesn't even know what fiscal cliff is but he had a churn out an article so for Christ sake “U.S. Stocks Tilt Higher After Fiscal-Cliff Doubts Spur Swings”

A few months ago it was all Greece! So all stock market turns were attributed to Greece Dilemma and Greece Hope.

Houston Evenings From My Phone

The best and worst airlines to travel long ....

One cannot come to terms with importance of a good airline economy seat unless you’ve travelled to the Far East sitting in the saddle for 14 to 17 hours. People interested in bargain hunting with the dollar value of the ticket as the sole criteria should try sitting in an IKEA steel chair staring at a wall before making the deal. For long journey one should at least consider the following:

Leg room

Food quality

Frequency of beverage service

Selection of entertainment

Time of travel, multiple airlines, layover etc.

Number of rest rooms

From all my travels this is my take on the following airlines:

Qatar Airways – This is probably one of the best. They have the youngest fleet in air; of course I am talking about the air crafts: D. Compared to most airlines their spacious leg room qualifies them as a Merc in the world of Hondas. Add to it the Mediterranean delicacies and the non-stop beverage service they make flying joy.

Emirates – This doesn’t come far behind Qatar and is comparable on the leg rooms and selection of in-flight entertainment.

Delta/KLM – These are the Honda Toyotas of the airline industry. The leg room cramps you up and there is a genuine urge for the ordeal to get over. The food quality isn’t that great and Delta probably has the oldest fleet in air (wink wink) with their seats all worn down and borderline smelly.

Air France – Here comes the worst of them. This is now a part of Delta but prior to that they were the bottom of them all. One can live with minor discomforts but the food really kills you. On your way to France you had to deal with ice cold fish, butter and cold Baguettes!! Limited entertainment and rude air hostesses, mainly guys are a further No No!!

Black Friday is a Rip Off!

Still dreaming about that hot deal you wish to clinch on Black Friday?

Putting off the purchases in the month of November to score some discount?

Trust me it is a total rip off. As was said in the matrix “There is no spoon” – There is no deal.

You won’t believe this until you experience and I speak from experience.

Last year I and my wife went shopping for a dining table. Upon much research we tumbled upon this beautiful round top antique design in Ashley Furniture store. It was priced at $400 and we liked it. This was a fortnight before Thanksgiving. We put off the purchase till Black Friday to get it at a discount as we had an Ad from Ashley saying a 20% discount on Black Friday, before 8.00 am. So we came back on D day early morning only to find the same set priced at $500. Haggling with the store manager and sales guys yielded no result and we ended up purchasing it for $500 – 20% = $400.

It’s a shame how stores getaway with such practices and the consumer protection agencies just dose off. So that was the story of my last bargain hunting for Black Fridays.

I wish I could report Ashley Furniture to some Govt Agency that would reprimand them.