Leonard Agius On Line & Then Some.....: Blog

Trying to get into the blogging habit.

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:29:00 -0600

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Trying to get into the blogging habit. This log has been quite inactive and quite boring. I'm going to try change that.

Been out of work since early September. My previous employer, Dusevoir Metal Products, was finally sold, and the new owner, despite due diligence period comments to the contrary, let five of us go. My company president, myself, our QS9000 coordinator, and two machinists. That was early September. Recent "contact us" page on the Dusevoir website has the new owner, his wife and his two sons having positions in the company. Real nice. Merry Christmas to him too.

Anyway, I'm losing the battle of the bulge, so I'm going to workout now and try get back into that habit. Plus I have a 7 PM job interview. Hope I remain sharp enough for it. Hell, I hope I stay awake!!

Another "Wonderful" Lions performance yesterday.....

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 06:35:09 -0500

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Well, in their 34-7 loss to the Chicago Bears yesterday, the Lions were in rare form. Not. Different Sunday, same crap performance from the Lions. Rod Marinelli - welcome to Detroit. Another wonderful product from the world of the Ford family.

Please, Bill Ford, Jr., and Bill Ford, Sr.: Sell the Lions to someone who can run a successful organization.

Well, Ford has yet another "Black Friday"

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 12:20:17 -0500

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I'd like to say "oh well", but the fact is it's
going to have a bad effect on most of us in the
Detroit area. And yes, those of you in other
areas reeling from the announced cut backs.

OK, well, enough sympathy from me. That's right,
sports fans. And my family can get as pissed at
what I'm going to say, but tough shit:

THIS HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING. No, it's not
the fault of the consumer. No, America
didn't "let Detroit down". Bullshit. Ford did
this crap to themselves. The indecision as to
replacing the Taurus. Running the Taurus on
essentially the same platform (chassis) it was
introduced on in 1985. Badge-engineering for new
Mercury vehicles (Hey, idiots running Ford - how
come , except for the 1986-1990 Sable, most every
Mercury is nothing more than a Ford with a
different grill and taillights? Do you think
Mercury buyers are that stupid?). I don't give a
crap how expensive it is to properly
differentiate Mercury. Do the bean-counters at
Ford really think dissatisfied Mercury customers
will just buy a Ford? We want something that
DOESN'T LOOK LIKE A FLEET CAR, MORONS!! Instead,
disgruntled Mercury buyers, already a bit more
upscale and more affluent than Ford buyers, are
more likely to end up at Toyota, Honda, or
Nissan, rather than buy a Ford. Idiot decision
makers at Ford.

Ford has done a nice job of alienating it's
customer base with warmed over products, like the
last redesign of the soon to be gone Taurus, or
the conservative "we're-too-scared-to-take-
chances" styling of Five Hundred and Montego. I
love the styling of my Montego, but you can't
argue with Chrysler's sales numbers. The Chrysler
300 and Dodge Charger out sell the Five Hundred
and Montego by about two to one. Ford has more
room, better visibility and a bigger trunk, not
to mention a better all-wheel-drive system, but
STYLING is what draws people into the showrooms.

And all you Ford employee and your families, that
act like the customers owe you something, listen
up: This business has ALWAYS been built on the
business model that relies on the majority of car
buyers today trading in their car in three or
four years. That's what makes this industry tick.
That's what puts food on your plates. Trouble
free, bullet proof quality insures a high resale
value and makes it financially possible for car
customers to only finance the low depreciation of
a high quality car, whether this done through a
lease or a conventional purchase. As tough as all
these cars are being built, in the pursuit of
bettering every previous years quality, the only
way to get customers into the showroom is
STYLING, STYLING, STYLING. That's how you get
people to react with their emotions instead of
their common sense, and separate them from their
money. That's how you get people to sell a
perfectly good ride in order to buy the latest
new car. Bland styling equals bored customers,
which equals NO SALE.

Will Ford every rise above the 14 to 15% market
share they are projecting to have when they
cancel the Taurus and the Freestar next year? To
be honest, I have my doubts. The consumer has a
lot of different choices. I hope I'm wrong, but
my gut tells me otherwise.

Finished detailing my Montego yesterday.

Sun, 25 Jun 2006 06:31:04 -0500

Check out the photos in the album.

Been a while since I blogged

Sat, 20 May 2006 09:16:16 -0500

Gotta get back into the swing of blogging. What's new and exciting? Let's see....the powers-that- be in my little place of employment forced a substantial pay cut on me in order to keep my job. Seem that they don't think I bring in enough business. Doing my best. The last two weeks have been a major inside office pain. Someone broke in two weeks ago and robbed us. Stole half the computers. Guess who got the job of not only ordering the replacements from Dell, but setting them up and reworking the network? That would be me. So while I spend the better part of two weeks on this, and Monday I have to replace what I'm thinking is a dead power supply in another computer, tell me this >>> how the hell am I supposed to be making sales calls when I'm INSIDE working on computers?

Same old, same old

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 07:37:59 -0500

Another Monday. Damn, I hate paperwork. Planning the next "Project from hell" although this one won't be until next year. Redoing the inside of the garage - how exciting. My gas mileage on my Montego has been great. averaging low 20's with a combination of 80/20 city/highway - not bad for a 4000 pound car. This car is the nicest I've ever owned, and I really want to take extra good care of it. So far, so good. My weight went up, as did my aches and pains, as I let my fitness program slide during the house painting project. Starting all over from scratch, damn it. That's my boring entry for today. But stand by for rants as I take on the auto industry, my fucked up career, and other juicy topics.

The %$#@*&$%@% Painting Project is done

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 17:57:10 -0500

Suffice it to say that next time I'm fucking hiring someone. It's done it looks great, but next fucking time I AM HIRING SOMEONE.

The painting project continues, and some of the idiocy of the homeowners association is going to drive me crazy......

Mon, 08 Aug 2005 07:05:12 -0500

Not only am I NOT even close to done with my house painting project, now I have additional headaches because of my homeowners association. Didn't I mention - I was STUPID ENOUGH to join the board of directors, and one of the soon to be departing members came over my house a week ago Sunday, to drop off the remainder of the subdivision directories (she delivered about 20%). Well, first of all, I'M BUSY PAINTING MY HOUSE, you twit!! Maggie tries, in vain, to get rid of her, but finally, I swallow my dinner and take the g*d damn directories off her hands just to get rid of her. It was "Can't you see the ladders, builders paper and drop cloths ALL OVER THE PLACE? ARE YOU BLIND?" So they sit in my foyer closet, until I get a chance to deliver my share. Well, one ex-board member, who received one, is pissing and moaning about the ad he placed in the directory, and it becomes "why haven't the rest been delivered?" So, in short, it has started a bit of an uproar among three of us on the board, and I am threatening to quit. Be advised, world-out-there, I do not suffer fools gladly, and I have no tolerance for "attitude", including speaking (or emailing me) in a condescending manner, or with any air of superiority. Do it, and I will shut you down, and you can kiss my participation, not to mention my big, fat, white butt, good bye. To put a close onthis dissertation, let's just say I'm more than a little pissed. Sooner new blood joins the board, the better, adn any more of this crap, and I'm gone, and they can not only replace my ass, they can also get someone else to take care of the freaking website.

Not to mention I'd rather be detailing

Thu, 04 Aug 2005 13:48:13 -0500

I'd rather be detailing my car. And working out, which I'm going to this afternoon. The battle of the buldge continues.

And the PROJECT FROM HELL continues

Thu, 04 Aug 2005 13:44:21 -0500

Painting project has turned out to be far more involved than I anticipated. ANd some of my "help", while helpful in some areas, weren't in others. Maggie pitched in on the painting - I have no idea what nitwit told her she wasn't any good at it - she gets the hang of it quite quickly and she isn't any worse at it than I am. I think she spent too damn much of her life as an appartment dweller, and can't (or won't) get the whole homeowner thing down. Then again if I was making more dough, I'd contract the G*d damn thing out and she wouldn't have to. My rant for the day.