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March 31, 2009

Maybe Ford Will End Up Where GM Is.

I
just called our local Ford dealer to inquire about the 2010 Fusion, a hybrid that is getting fantastic press and that is supposed to be available starting right around now.

("Right around now" would be a very advisable thing, given that there's a $3400 tax credit for the purchase of hybrids that expires today, March 31, and is replaced by a credit of just half that amount, which itself expires after the next quarter.)

The answer from my area Ford dealer: Good luck finding one. He said he'll have a single vehicle, "a white one," in maybe around a month. And he said that no North Carolina dealers have any in stock right now.

And we wonder why the US auto industry is struggling?

Posted by Eric at 9:23 AM

March 18, 2009

%$#%$#

I
am not sure that there is a front page of the historical Onion that makes me laugh harder than this one.

Every time I see it. No matter how many times.

Posted by Eric at 6:15 PM

March 16, 2009

Some Stories Will Bring A Blogger Out Of Retirement.

M
y daughter just told me that the school cafeteria at her high school here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, recently served fried chicken and watermelon "in honor of Black History Month."

I am not making this up.

UPDATE, March 25: I just had a nice phone conversation with Mark Rusin, the Child Nutrition Director for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. He explained to me that the meal that was served in February was a "Southern Cooking" meal (including fried chicken, but no watermelon because it's too expensive this time of year) that the cafeteria occasionally offers as a promotional meal. The idea, he says, was not to link that meal to Black History Month -- and in fact, the meal is occasionally offered at other times of the year. He surmises that when the cafeteria contacted those who do the school announcements to inform them of the promotional meal, somehow someone outside the cafeteria staffed must have linked the meal to Black History Month, which was not what the cafeteria intended.

(I do know that the meal was presented to the students on the morning announcements as linked to Black History Month; not only is this what my daughter told me, but two recent items in the school newspaper registered student complaints about the linkage. The school newspaper is not available online, it seems.)

Posted by Eric at 6:58 PM