We Were So Poor…

1. People saw us kicking a can down the street and asked what we were doing…we said “Moving”.
2. We were so poor, I couldn’t pay attention.
3. We made a hole in the kitchen wall, behind the cooker, and we used to dip our bread in next door’s gravy!
4. I left my door unlocked so a burglar might come in and lose some of his change.
5. We were so poor we didn’t have a pisser to pot in.
6. The homeless guy on the corner offered us a handout.
7. The dog got nervous every year at Thanksgiving.
8. We couldn’t afford Ramen noodles.
9. We had to borrow a few beans, to make the gas for a fire.
10. We were so poor our momma used to serve cereal with a fork.
11. We were so poor, the only things we saw on the kitchen table were elbows.
12. We were so poor the bank came and repossessed the calendar they gave us at the county fair.
13. We would go to the KFC and lick other peoples fingers.
14. The electric company came to the house and blew out the candles.
15. We were just Po. Couldn’t afford the “or”.
16. We were so poor we had to borrow dirt from the neighbors.
17. Maw & Paw had to face opposite directions and hook their elbows together, just to make ends meet.
18. We were so poor we had to reach up to touch bottom.
19. We were so poor, we had to go to the public library to see our family portrait in the dictionary next to the word “Poor”.
20. When we needed a new pair of shoes Ma would make us run outside when it was raining. When we got our feet good and muddy she made us come inside and put our feet up until the mud dried.
21. We were so poor, if they were selling steamboats on the Mississippi River for 10 cents apiece, all we could do was run up and down the river bank hollering “ain’t that cheap”.

After reading these descriptions about being poor, I feel like I own the Chrysler Building.  My God, these guys are really….really poor.  Good Day.

Source:  Bits & Pieces

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Chrysler Receives a Helping Hand from Uncle Sam

Another Detroit carmaker saved itself from falling into the hands of the wolves, after receiving $4 billion from the Federal Government.  Chrysler and the U.S. Treasury Department said last Friday that the government had supplied the automaker with a $4 billion loan that was necessary to keep it operating.

Chrysler Chief Executive Bob Nardelli said in a statement the loan would “allow the company to continue an orderly restructuring, while pursuing our vision to build the fuel-efficient, high-quality cars and trucks people want to buy.”

Nardelli described the funding as an “initial loan.” The automaker had asked Congress to borrow $7 billion.  Chrysler, which is 81 percent owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP, was nearing the minimum level of cash—2.5 billion—it needed to operate and has been fending off parts suppliers and other vendors demanding cash payments on delivery.

The loan’s completion followed a similar transfer of $4 billion from Treasury to General Motors Corp. on Wednesday, the first tranche of a $9.4 billion loan.

The Detroit automakers are trying to weather the biggest auto sales slump in more than 26 years.

I think this is only a band-aid on a greater problem.  Detroit lost vision of global competition.  Buying multi-million-dollar private jets to fly around the world to show off how rich they are and paying workers without working—Job Bank Programs—is a perfect prescription for failure.  Unless they sit down seriously and start again with a brand new business model, they will go the way of the Dodo.  Toyota and Nissan are waiting in the wings to take their place.  Good Day.

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Photograph: A Patch of Tropical Flowers

Tropical flowers around a water fountain at the entrance of a hotel at Amador Causeway, Panama.

On a recent visit to the Amador Causeway at the entrance of the Pacific Side of the Panama Canal, I saw this thick patch of tropical flowers that caught my attention.  The flowers completely surrounded three beautiful Spanish-styled water fountains and several palm trees.

Nature can bring so many nice feelings that it’s impossible not to stop and admire the beauty that it offers free of charge.  It was about 6:30 a.m. and the weather was cool and breezy.  Good Day.

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