Wednesday, December 03, 2008 (0)
Stores Closing
If you tend to give gift cards around the holidays; you need to be careful that the cards will be honored after the holidays. Stores that are planning to close after Christmas are still selling the cards through the holidays even though the cards will be worthless January 1. There is no law preventing them from doing this. On the contrary, it is referred to as 'Bankruptcy Planning). Below is a partial list of stores that you need to be cautious about.
Circuit City (filed Chapter 11)
Ann Taylor - 117 stores nationwide closing
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine's to close 150 stores nationwide
Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January
Cache will close all stores
Talbots closing down specialty stores
J. Jill closing all stores (owned by Talbots)
Pacific Sunwear (also owned by Talbots)
GAP closing 85 stores
Footlocker closing 140 stores More to close after January
Wickes Furniture closing down
Levitz closing down remaining stores
Bombay closing remaining stores
Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January
Whitehall closing all stores
Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.
Home Depot closing 15 stores
Macys to close 9 stores after January
Linens and Things closing all stores
Movie Galley closing all stores
Pep Boys closing 33 stores
Sprint/Nextel closing 133 stores
JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
Wilson Leather closing down all stores
Sharper Image closing down all stores
K B Toys closing 356 stores
Dillard's to close some stores
Tweeter closed all stores
.::. 
.::. 
Twits
Monday, December 01, 2008 (1)
I'm with stupid
8 Clubs You Probably Couldn't Join
It seems that mensa is for simpletons, the most well known high-iq society on earth is actually at the bottom of the pile when it comes to intelligence based clubs, a world presumably filled with a huge amount of back-slapping and cryptic in-jokes, and is probably scoffed at by members of other clubs whose mere existence is baffling to normal humans.
name: Mensa
iq required for entry: 132
percentage of the population who would fail: 98%
number of members: approx. 100,000
At first glance the numbers look impressive. An iq of 132 is more than respectable and to be in the top 2% is good going.
Until you look at these
8. Ultranet
iq required: 164
percentile: 99.997%
members: <100
7. Prometheus Society
iq required: 164
percentile: 99.997%
members: 65
6. Helliq Society
iq required: 164
percentile: 99.997%
members: 39
5. Mega Society
iq required: 176
percentile: 99.9999%
members: 26
4. Pi Society
iq required: 176
percentile: 99.9999%
members: 8
3. Pars Society
iq required: 180
percentile: 99.99997%
members: 37
2. Olympiq Society
iq required: 180
percentile: 99.99997%
members: 12
1. Giga Society
iq required: 196
percentile: 99.9999999%
members: 7
To put that into some kind of perspective, the Giga Society is so difficult to gain entry to that approximately 6 out of every 6 billion people on earth are eligible.
What They Said:
LBF says WHoa on 12/2/2008
i iz ah membuah of all of deeze dere klubs.
.::. .::. Wednesday, November 12, 2008 (0)
50 Things about the President Elect
By Jon Swaine
Last Updated: 3:40PM GMT 11 Nov 2008
He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics
He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball
His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili
His favourite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini
He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father
He is left-handed the sixth post-war president to be left-handed
He has read every Harry Potter book
He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali
He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream
His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars
He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia
He can speak Spanish
While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead
His favourite drink is black forest berry iced tea
He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president he didn't
He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia
He can bench press an impressive 200lbs
He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name
His favourite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his half-sister's fiancι, but left when a stripper arrived
His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy
He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with much coming from sales of his books
His favourite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging to a soldier in Iraq for good luck
He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee.
His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees
He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on their first date
He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker
He doesn't drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol
He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician
As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine
His daughters' ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7)
He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside
He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal
His house in Chicago has four fire places
Daughter Malia's godmother is Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita
He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry
He uses an Apple Mac laptop
He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300
He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits
He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes
He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21 (£13)
His favourite fictional television programmes are Mash and The Wire
He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service handlers
He was nicknamed "Bar" by his late grandmother
He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds
His favourite artist is Pablo Picasso
His speciality as a cook is chilli
He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were "street urchins"
He keeps on his desk a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life
His late father was a senior economist for the Kenyan government
.::. .::. Tuesday, November 11, 2008 (0)
Veterans Day
Thanks to all the Veterans, and ooh-rah to the Marines on their Birthday.
.::. .::. Friday, November 07, 2008 (0)
Digital TV
Forget it, old people. No more TV for you starting in 2009.
.::. .::. Wednesday, November 05, 2008 (0)
The Morning After
An historic day here in the US of A.
For those living under a rock..
Obama: 349
McCain: 163
Senate is 56 to 40.
The House is 251 to 173.
The news is indeed historic, some people are over the moon happy, others not so much. Thinking about some of the alternatives...
I'm willing to keep an open mind, although an all Democratic government concerns me, we shall see.
.::. .::. Thursday, October 30, 2008 (0)
New Policies
Notice to All Employees
As of November 5, 2008, if Obama is officially elected into office, our company will instill a few new policies which are in keeping with his new, inspiring issues of change and fairness:
1. All salespeople will be pooling their sales and bonuses into a common pool that will be divided equally between all of you. This will serve to give those of you who are underachieving a fair shake.
2. All low level workers will be pooling their wages, including overtime, into a common pool, dividing it equally amongst yourselves. This will help those who are too busy for overtime to reap the rewards from those who have more spare time and can work extra hours.
3. All top management will now be referred to as the government. We will not participate in this pooling experience because the law doesn't apply to us.
4. The government will give eloquent speeches to all employees every week, encouraging it's workers to continue to work hard for the good of all.
5. The employees will be thrilled with these new policies because it's good to spread the wealth. Those of you who have underachieved will finally get an opportunity; those of you who have worked hard and had success will feel more patriotic.
6. The last few people who were hired should clean out their desks. Don't feel bad, though, because President Obama will give you free healthcare, free handouts, free oil for heating your home, free foodstamps, and he'll let you stay in your home for as long as you want even if you can't pay your mortgage. If you appeal directly to our democratic congress, you might even get a free flatscreen TV and a coupon for free haircuts (shouldn't all Americans be entitled to nice looking hair?) !!!
.::. .::. Tuesday, October 28, 2008 (0)
Music for your Mood
Neat idea
.::. .::. Friday, October 03, 2008 (1)
Just In case
HOW TO LAND A 747.
MAIN CHECKLIST
Get on the radio, and tell whoever's listening that you are landing a 747.
Engage a single channel of the autopilot light one of the buttons labeled "CMD." Point the heading indicator in the direction indicated to keep the plane straight and level.
Find the checklists in the side pocket of the pilot's and copilot's seat. If the plane is a 747-400, engage the Automatic Landing System (ALS). If it is not a 747-400, see below under "Landing Without ALS."
If you can't find the checklists, use these:
Before Descent
EO's system check completed.
Pressurization set.
All a/c packs on. Set the airfield altitude so the plane is depressurized on landing.
Humidifier off.
HSIs: Radio. Switch horizontal situation indicators to radio navigation mode.
Auto brakes: set.
Approach Checklist
P.A. cabin call: "Cabin crew 15 minutes to landing."
Cabin signs and exit lights: on.
Ignition: on. This sets the engine igniters for landing.
Fuel system: set for landing.
Fuel heat: check/off
QNH: Set. So the altimeters read the airfield altitude on touchdown.
Landing Checklist
Gear check: handle down, handle in, light green.
Speedbrake: armed.
Hydraulics: checked.
Landing flap: set at 25 degrees.
SCCM's report: received. The cabins are secure for landing.
Find the Jeppeson charts. Locate the radio frequency.
Find the flight management system's buttons on the glareshield marked LNAV and VNAV.
Put the Jeppeson map on a 100 mile scale using the EFIS control panel on the front panel. You'll get a yellow FMC message on the middle screen when it's time to land.
On the control display unit between the pilots' seats, twist the knob until the little numbers go down to 100 ft. above field elevation in the Jeppeson notebook.
Get the aircraft set to land: press the LOC and G/S buttons on the glareshield. All three CMD lights will go on, and the system will automatically tune to the right ILS frequency.
1Turn on the autobrakes when the plane starts descending.
LANDING WITHOUT ALS
Retard the throttle: four levers for four engines.
Keep the nose up and descend to 20,000 feet. At 20,000 feet, bring the throttles back up.
You have to drop below 250 knots when you descend to 9,000 feet. Keep the nose up and throttle down.
When the tower brings you down to 5,000 feet. You need those flaps out so you can fly slow.
Drop airspeed by setting flaps to 5, then 15, when you're down to 4,000 feet.
As you start descending to the runway, you want flaps 20, then 30. Keep them there.
When you reach 50 feet or so, the radar altimeter will start talking.
When it says, "30," bring the throttle back to idle.
At 10 feet, raise the nose to slow down.
Lower the nose, reverse throttles, and apply the brakes.
What They Said:
LBF says Hmmm on 10/6/2008
Why do I have to turn off the humidifier? Too moist in the cabin?
.::. .::. Thursday, September 18, 2008 (0)
10 Year Old Cake
The 10th anniversary of psacake.com was 9/16. I hope you all got some cake.
The earliest 'blog' (before it was even called that) post that I can find on the WayBack machine is from September 27, 1999, which is Here (Scroll down). My current archives go back to January of 2001, but there are some that are incomplete postings. I have the complete history somewhere..
I was much better updating then, much less better these days. Unfortunately, most of the "good" stuff happens at work, and I learned a LONG time ago to not talk about work. So..
.::. .::. [ Back to top ]
