(no subject)
I do so have to remember when I've told Firefox to "remember my password," so that when my sessions expire and I've forgotten my password I will remember that Firefox remembers my forgotten password. But if I've forgotten the password, is it not logical that I forget that Firefox remembers?
Clear? :)
It doesn't help that there's only a few sites that I've told FF to remember it for me.
Not a whole lot in terms of updates. Nikki's still at her job. I'm still at my job. Christmas coming. Miss anything? Not sure but if I have, then it's not too major.
Have not been to EI recently, and I'm learning that if there's not a first-run show with a thread I don't have a lot of motivation to log in and nose around. (And I really didn't go through any of the S.3 Doctor Who threads on that account - they already had like sixty to ninety messages before the U.S. broadcast came on.) EI isn't very hockey friendly, and although I've seen a couple of Hawks and St. Louis games on TV I'm not really following the NHL season much. BTW, this isn't intended to be a "rag on EI thread..." Just trying to figure out why I have periods of intense activity there, then a fade away to nothing for a few months. And also trying to think if there's anything I can do either in my attitude or in finding or starting up something at EI to re-ignite my own motivation.
I have been pretty well addicted to a particular online MMORPG. It passes the hours, anyway. Though now that one is starting to fade away, too.
Maybe what I'm really learning is that I'll have a passion for 3 to 6 months, then it fades away, then I'll be quiescent for one to three or so months until I find the next obsession. And that Nikki is most fun to have around all the time. :D And fishing is about the one other thing that I've held to pretty solidly the last couple of years, though this last year was less intense than the first.
Existentialism aside, I read today that Circuit City claims some pretty hefty Q3 declines in same-store sales. (While at the same time paying senior management some hefty retention bonuses, and firing and then rehiring front-line associates who were their major sellers yet have out-of-range salaries.) I gather that C.C. has also lost about 29% of their market cap just today. This despite Best Buy having a great Q3. I've since read rants like mine, but didn't when I first thought about this one earlier today:
Here's when it's time to drop your financials and actually investigate the consumer experience itself:
The last time I was at a Circuit City, it was many, many months ago. I was searching for a durable belt case for my Palm T|X. (Ironically, Palm itself doesn't make a really good case that is belt-worthy, IMHO. I thought I might find a small camera case or somesuch that could fit the bill.)
As I always do, I wandered various parts of the store as well. As I walked around the laptop section three times, I saw three associates at their P.O.S. terminal chatting away. Now, they may have been discussing great and weighty matters of relevance to the store's business. All I know is, despite having made eye contact with me twice, not one of them came over to ask me if I was looking for a laptop.
Then I wandered through the general peripherals section, looking for Palm accessories. I saw at least two other associates going from here to there and there to here. Neither of them stopped to ask if I was finding what I was looking for.
Finally, I wandered up and down the camera and camera bags section. This was located right next to the checkout counters. There were two clerks there. They may have had one customer pass through checkout. Again, no recognition that I might be someone who might be interested in purchasing something. I held up my Palm against several of the camera bags, and really found nothing that seemed to fit it well at all.
So I walked out of the store, without having had one person say one word to me.
And they wonder why their business is down when Best Buy's is up? On a non-busy day, you can't walk 100 feet in a Best Buy without an associate asking if they can help you find what you need. Moreover, Best Buy associates do not work on commission, where's C.C.'s do. Go figure. You will also be invited to purchase an extended warranty at Best Buy, but if you say "no," that will be the end of it.
Got a hot flash for you, Mr. Schoonover. You don't need to "stay focused on your long-term strategy" to keep alive. You do need to do more than be "very disappointed." You need to get secret shoppers hitting your stores, reporting on their experiences of individual people at individual locations, and then get a good outside business analysis of those reports. Realize that there are only three things that can possibly distinguish you from your competitors: 1) Price. 2) Convenience. 3) Service.
Wal-Mart has #1 pretty well locked up still, despite their troubles. You can push individual items, but don't expect anyone to believe C.C. can out-do consistently on price.
ANY good Internet retailer has #2 down pat. You cannot compete with one to three day delivery, ordered from a person's home and delivered to person's doorstep in high-tech devices. (And "24-minute in-store pickup" ain't the same by a long shot. If you got it in store, why isn't someone going to swing buy anyway?)
#3. Well, my experience has been that Best Buy has you down cold on that one. Maybe you can change my mind. (In all fairness, C.C. also has stated that they've made many internal changes and some of their turbulence was generated from trying to transform their business.) But you only get that chance from me if you're willing to invest in advertising how things really are different from the last time I visited there, and then deliver on it. You will only maybe get one more chance from me, ever.
If you strike on all three of these, you're out in today's market.
But where I was originally going with this... Financials are fine. I work in a Finance department, and the information we make out of data are essential and vital to many aspects of business. But an investor has to go beyond the financials and do what you can to look at the company itself. Just remember: Enron had GREAT (though indecipherable) financials right up until it's implosion.
OK, end rant. Time to move into beddy-bye mode.
Clear? :)
It doesn't help that there's only a few sites that I've told FF to remember it for me.
Not a whole lot in terms of updates. Nikki's still at her job. I'm still at my job. Christmas coming. Miss anything? Not sure but if I have, then it's not too major.
Have not been to EI recently, and I'm learning that if there's not a first-run show with a thread I don't have a lot of motivation to log in and nose around. (And I really didn't go through any of the S.3 Doctor Who threads on that account - they already had like sixty to ninety messages before the U.S. broadcast came on.) EI isn't very hockey friendly, and although I've seen a couple of Hawks and St. Louis games on TV I'm not really following the NHL season much. BTW, this isn't intended to be a "rag on EI thread..." Just trying to figure out why I have periods of intense activity there, then a fade away to nothing for a few months. And also trying to think if there's anything I can do either in my attitude or in finding or starting up something at EI to re-ignite my own motivation.
I have been pretty well addicted to a particular online MMORPG. It passes the hours, anyway. Though now that one is starting to fade away, too.
Maybe what I'm really learning is that I'll have a passion for 3 to 6 months, then it fades away, then I'll be quiescent for one to three or so months until I find the next obsession. And that Nikki is most fun to have around all the time. :D And fishing is about the one other thing that I've held to pretty solidly the last couple of years, though this last year was less intense than the first.
Existentialism aside, I read today that Circuit City claims some pretty hefty Q3 declines in same-store sales. (While at the same time paying senior management some hefty retention bonuses, and firing and then rehiring front-line associates who were their major sellers yet have out-of-range salaries.) I gather that C.C. has also lost about 29% of their market cap just today. This despite Best Buy having a great Q3. I've since read rants like mine, but didn't when I first thought about this one earlier today:
Here's when it's time to drop your financials and actually investigate the consumer experience itself:
The last time I was at a Circuit City, it was many, many months ago. I was searching for a durable belt case for my Palm T|X. (Ironically, Palm itself doesn't make a really good case that is belt-worthy, IMHO. I thought I might find a small camera case or somesuch that could fit the bill.)
As I always do, I wandered various parts of the store as well. As I walked around the laptop section three times, I saw three associates at their P.O.S. terminal chatting away. Now, they may have been discussing great and weighty matters of relevance to the store's business. All I know is, despite having made eye contact with me twice, not one of them came over to ask me if I was looking for a laptop.
Then I wandered through the general peripherals section, looking for Palm accessories. I saw at least two other associates going from here to there and there to here. Neither of them stopped to ask if I was finding what I was looking for.
Finally, I wandered up and down the camera and camera bags section. This was located right next to the checkout counters. There were two clerks there. They may have had one customer pass through checkout. Again, no recognition that I might be someone who might be interested in purchasing something. I held up my Palm against several of the camera bags, and really found nothing that seemed to fit it well at all.
So I walked out of the store, without having had one person say one word to me.
And they wonder why their business is down when Best Buy's is up? On a non-busy day, you can't walk 100 feet in a Best Buy without an associate asking if they can help you find what you need. Moreover, Best Buy associates do not work on commission, where's C.C.'s do. Go figure. You will also be invited to purchase an extended warranty at Best Buy, but if you say "no," that will be the end of it.
Got a hot flash for you, Mr. Schoonover. You don't need to "stay focused on your long-term strategy" to keep alive. You do need to do more than be "very disappointed." You need to get secret shoppers hitting your stores, reporting on their experiences of individual people at individual locations, and then get a good outside business analysis of those reports. Realize that there are only three things that can possibly distinguish you from your competitors: 1) Price. 2) Convenience. 3) Service.
Wal-Mart has #1 pretty well locked up still, despite their troubles. You can push individual items, but don't expect anyone to believe C.C. can out-do consistently on price.
ANY good Internet retailer has #2 down pat. You cannot compete with one to three day delivery, ordered from a person's home and delivered to person's doorstep in high-tech devices. (And "24-minute in-store pickup" ain't the same by a long shot. If you got it in store, why isn't someone going to swing buy anyway?)
#3. Well, my experience has been that Best Buy has you down cold on that one. Maybe you can change my mind. (In all fairness, C.C. also has stated that they've made many internal changes and some of their turbulence was generated from trying to transform their business.) But you only get that chance from me if you're willing to invest in advertising how things really are different from the last time I visited there, and then deliver on it. You will only maybe get one more chance from me, ever.
If you strike on all three of these, you're out in today's market.
But where I was originally going with this... Financials are fine. I work in a Finance department, and the information we make out of data are essential and vital to many aspects of business. But an investor has to go beyond the financials and do what you can to look at the company itself. Just remember: Enron had GREAT (though indecipherable) financials right up until it's implosion.
OK, end rant. Time to move into beddy-bye mode.