Quote of the day

...there is much to be said in favour of modern journalism. By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community. By carefully chronicling the current events of contemporary life, it shows us of what very little importance such events really are. By invariably discussing the unnecessary it makes us understand what things are requisite for culture, and what are not.

--Oscar Wilde

The worst driveway contractor experience ... ever

This is a review of All-New Paving and Concrete, (732) 288-1700 based in Tom's River.

This company is dreadful. I say this knowing that negative reviews can really impact a small business, and I’m not out looking to maliciously hurt a local owner. I take negative reviews very seriously. However, *avoid* All New Paving. Why? Well, how do you judge the quality of any contractor?

1. give an honest, accurate quote
2. show up on time to do the work
3. complete the project with quality results
4. clean up afterward

Fail, Fail, Fail, and Fail.

We initially contracted for repaving the driveway while another contractor did some paving work around it; then, they pitched us to also do the paving work and eventually we gave them the second job. He was very responsive when trying to *get* the job – then… silence. Yes, I know, shame on me for giving a deposit of more than a minimal amount. We had to hound him for WEEKS to get him to show up and do the job. That’s not hyperbole; it was weeks of excuses mixed with long periods of not returning calls. Then, when he finally shows up: “oh, it looks like you need an extra layer of asphalt – that’s an extra $1,100.” At this point of course the driveway is torn up, so we’re in a bind.

BTW an extra 1100 blows the budget off the project (almost an extra 20%), so now we need to negotiate him “working with us” to absorb the extra unforeseen cost. He agrees to let us pay the difference from the original “estimate” in another installment 10 days later, but demands a post-dated check! Because the budget is blown, we change the paving project to a replacement of the retaining walls on either side of the driveway (get rid of the railroad ties and replace with stone). He then tried to get more cash on the spot for more materials – umm, no.

Then when the job is “finished” there are large gaps between the new wall and the rest of the property… more than enough for someone to snap an ankle. There’s a big hole in the new retaining wall where it ties to the existing step. There’s landscaping that was removed and not put back. And my favorite – there’s a giant pile of the railroad ties sitting on my lawn. Right on the lawn in front of my house. ON THE F’NG LAWN. For another week!

The only reason this stuff got fixed is because we canceled that post-dated check for the balance. Good thing too, since he tried to cash it early. Do we really have to hold the money hostage to get the job completed? Apparently, yes. But you shouldn’t have to.
Well, you say: maybe this reviewer is just a bitter curmudgeon, who is so anal-retentive and OCD that he blows tiniest smudges out of proportion – maybe the above litany of errors is all in my head? I retort: Judge for yourself… pics are below.

note the giant gap between the wall and the step...

Here's a closer look. Does that look "done" to you?

Is that big enough for a toddler to hurt themselves? Yep.

On my GD lawn. What do you think the grass underneath that pile looks like?

It's like living in a novel. An Ayn Rand novel...

Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others. --Rand Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal

From InvestmentNews' "Taking it to The Street" article on 4/30:

The AFL-CIO, the 11-million-member labor federation, is urging Congress to impose a transaction tax on securities trading to help cover the $900 billion cost for a government jobs program they want lawmakers to create.

Why even bother creating the jobs? Why don't they just demand that the government redistribute the money directly to them? I mean, not via check, because they'd have to go to a BANK to get it cashed, but maybe through an envelope of cash?

Secret identity revealed!

C'mon - the resemblance is uncanny!

Who was that guy from Georgia, who grew peanuts and flew in Air Force One?

From "Inflation's coming V-Shaped Recovery" in Forbes:

Last week's release of the Producer Price Index should have sent shivers down the spines of those who worry about silly things like profit margins. Prices for finished goods were up 0.7% month-over-month and 6% year-over-year. Intermediate goods prices were up 7.7% year-over-year. Prices for crude goods have soared 3.2% since March and 33.4% on an annual basis. If that's not a V-shaped recovery in inflation, what would you call it?

The Consumer Price Index is up 2.4% over the past 12 months. No, that level alone does not equal intractable inflation, but it's still a big jump from last summer's 2% CPI drop. Thanks to the Fed's record-sized balance sheet ($2.32 trillion), which has grown by $20 billion since since last week alone, inflation data has become disturbing. April's import prices were up 0.7% from March and 11.4% from a year ago.

What's it called when you have high unemployment and high inflation? Oh yeah - staglfation! Malaise! Jimmy F'ng Carter fucks with our economy from beyond the grave through this administration! **update: James Carter apparently not dead.

Perfect summary from Mike Pento's article:

The losers in all this are members of the general public, who are suffering the double whammy of high unemployment and the erosion of their purchasing power.

My local school budget

Data from http://www.middletownk12.org/finance/files/User%20Friendly%20Budget%202010-11.pdf

Pupils	2009	2010	Net	Net %
Pupils on Roll Regular Full-Time	8540	8814	274	3.2%
Pupils on Roll Regular Shared-Time	86	84	-2	-2.3%
Pupils on Roll Reg Accr. Adult High Sch	16	22	6	37.5%
Pupils on Roll - Special Full-Time	1461	1381	-80	-5.5%
Pupils on Roll - Special Shared-Time	101	108	7	6.9%
Private School Placements	58	53	-5	-8.6%
Total	10262	10462	200	1.9%		As pupils increase…
Selected Items	09-10	10-11	Net	Net %
Total Operating Budget	146,208,972	140,366,709	-5,842,263	-4.0%		1. ...we spend less overall
Local Tax Levy	119,793,275	123,878,213	4,084,938	3.4%		2. but we're taxed more
Regular Instruction	51,142,450	48,884,706	-2,257,744	-4.4%		3a. even though we're spending less on teaching
School Sponsored Athletics	1,418,274	1,152,279	-265,995	-18.8%		3b. And less on sports
Personal Services - Employee Benefits	22,499,239	23,808,496	1,309,257	5.8%		4. but we are spending a million more on benefits
Total Comparative Per Pupil Cost	12,638	12,106	-532	-4.2%		5. so we spend less per kid overall
Classroom-Salaries and Benefits	7,240	7,505	265	3.7%		6. but more per kid on teachers
Employee Benefits as a % of Salaries	23.4	26.7	3	14.1%		7. and those benefit costs are rising

And apparently those benefit costs are rising even after the layoffs of 124 district staff, including 72.5 teaching positions! [http://www.app.com/article/20100420/NEWS/4210326/1283/LOCAL07/Middletown-voters-oust-school-board-incumbents-reject-budget]

You're nasty. You know who you are.

If there's a hell, there's a special room in it for people who go to the bathroom and don't wash their hands. But, many are unaware that there is a slightly smaller, adjacent hellroom for people who go to the bathroom and wash their hands without using soap! Especially when it's RIGHT THERE.