Quote of the Day

"It's [Christmas] a poor excuse to pick a man's pocket every 25th of December." - Ebenezer Scrooge

Quote of the Day

In my office there is a significant problem with noisy people.  I really, truly hate them all.  Of particular note today are a group of women who sit down the hall and are prone to start cackling like witches extremely loudly.  They could bring in a cauldron and start casting spells on people and I wouldn't care if they would just STFU.  It truly is worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. 

Anyway, after an outbreak of maniacal laughter today, one co-worker who shall remain anonymous said without missing a beat, "oh good, the rhesus monkeys we ordered have arrived."  It made me laugh and is good enough to be awarded with the coveted quote of the day.

Quote of the day

"In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to the level of incompetence."
- Laurence J Peter from the book The Peter Principal:  Why Things Always Go Wrong.

For some reason this really seems apropos today.

Quote of the Day

"Notwithstanding the tragic loss of life in the Gulf of Mexico, we achieved an exemplary statistical safety record we recorded the best year in safety performance in our company’s history.”  -  from a Transocean regulatory filing regarding paying safety bonuses to its executives.

Wow.  Really, I don't know what to say other than wow.  That takes a lot of nerve. Transocean, if you remember, is the owner of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that was being operated by BP that exploded last year, killing 11 workers and spilling millions of gallons of oil.  Truly exemplary safety right there. 

I don't know where to find the actual regulatory filing, and at a reported 74 pages I'm not sure I want to read it anyway, but you can find more information about it here and here.  If there's any justice in the world, this will destroy their business and render those receiving bonuses unhirable in the future. 

This ranks right up there with Abercrombie & Fitch selling padded push up bikinis for 7 year olds in terms of questionable corporate ethics.  Really unbelievable....

Quotes of the Day

The Motley Fool was kind enough to provide several great quotes today, supposedly in regards to economics, but the best ones were more about human nature in general.  Here are my favorites:

"A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always rely on the support of Paul." - George Bernard Shaw

"A lie can run around the world six times while the truth is still trying to put on its pants." - Mark Twain

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is." - Yogi Berra

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

"Ability without honor is useless." - Cicero

"Have a great Memorial Day Weekend" - Craw Fu

Quote of the Day

From The Onion's stock watch:

Comcast
$1.29 $18.78 (up 7.4%)
Traders reacted positively to news that the cable company was cutting its losses and discontinuing its failed 11-year experiment with customer service.

It's funny because it's true.  I've heard that Sprint has abysmal customer service, but I've never personally dealt with a company worse than Comcast. 

Quote of the Day

"It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."

Good advice from Warren Buffett, along with some more accompanying advice from the Motley Fool

Quote of the Day

"Liking the Simpsons is like someone who likes dogs.  You have to be distrustful of someone who hates dogs, it's like 'I hate dogs', how the @#% can you hate a dog?"

Joe Mantegna

Quote of the Day

"I'm no hero, I just like to hit people in the head."  -  Nelson Muntz

God bless you Nelson Muntz. 

Quote of the Day

"If you don't like your job, you don't strike. You just go in every day and do it really half assed."

- Homer Simpson

Quote of the Day!

From the same man who brought you, "Paddling the school canoe - you better believe that's a paddling" comes, "Woah, slow down there. Sidewalks are for regular walkin', not fancy walkin'." - Jasper (The Simpsons)

God bless the Simpsons for their ability to distract me from the drudgery of day to day life.

Quote of the Day

Thanks to Pat for bringing this fantastic Holmgren quote to my attention. I don't know why, but it's hilarious to me.

Seattle's strange journey at wide receiver caused the team to bring back wayward former first-round pick Koren Robinson -- who, fittingly, strained a quad a day after signing his contract -- and trade a 2009 fifth-round pick to Denver for Keary Colbert. Speaking of Colbert, after watching him for a few days, coach Mike Holmgren told me: "The guy looks fantastic.'' Fantastic? "It's all relative,'' he said. "Right now, he looks like Jerry Rice.''

Quote of the Day

Feng Shui is Chinese for put all your husband's stuff in the garage. - Craig Shoemaker

Name That Quote

"That was so terrible I think you gave me cancer."

Quote of the Day

The most intense joy lies not in the having, but in the desire. The light that never fades, the mist that is eternal, is only yours when what you most desire is just out of reach. - C.S. Lewis in the movie Shadowlands

I don't know if this is something that C.S. Lewis actually said, or if it's just a line in the movie, but I've always thought it was really interesting. The first time I heard that, I scoffed at it, but the older I get and the more I think about it, the more I think that maybe there is some truth in that. Attaining what you desire typically only brings momentary joy, and in an attempt to continue to feel that joy, addictions are formed. Statistically, the people with the highest rates of depression are those that can have virtually whatever they desire. On the other end of the spectrum, the happiest people tend to be the most impoverished.

I'm not sure this necessarily means that acquiring what we desire in itself leads to depression, but rather, what we desire is not necessarily what will bring us joy. Perhaps it is that when we get what we desire, we realize that it does not bring us happiness, leaving us in despair. Conversely, the inability to attain what we desire may allow us to focus on other aspects of life that will ultimately lead to joy. So in this scenario, it is not desiring something unattainable that brings us joy, but rather giving up our desires.

I don't really know what to believe, as it varies from day to day. Regardless, I've always found this to be an intriguing quote. One that leads to a great deal of thought and introspection.

Name That Quote!

You guessed it, it's time for another exciting edition of name that quote. The last round brought so much disinterest that the only logical conclusion is that I haven't done it enough for it to catch on yet. The winner of this round will receive, well, nothing since like most everything in my life, this isn't well planned out. But without further ado, here we go!

"I used to trust the media to tell me the truth, tell us the truth. But now I see the payoffs everywhere I look. Who do you trust when everyone's a crook?"

Name That Quote!

It's time for a new contest. Fabulous prizes will be awarded to the first person who can identify this quote: "Say you pull a thorn out of the Pope's butt, and he grants you one wish. What'll it be?"

Also, as an added bonus since this is the debut of this exciting contest, the best wish will in fact be granted!