Portland.CityJournal.us

Tonight the Pro 300 Lanes bowling alley on SE Powell Blvd. was packed. It's July the 3rd and hot outside but inside General Manager Donna Stewart had everyone of her employees on hand to serve up $2 hotdogs, pizza and drinks to a full house of happy bowlers. Stewart was throwing a July 4th party and used Craigslist to invite Portland families to come and bowl for free.

"Last year on the 3rd, we were empty. We had to do something" Steward explained. Her idea was a hit. Guests had to reserve via email. Those that came spent money on drinks and food and got to bowl free for three hours. Stewart's crew of waiters were busy all night. Bowlers also learned about free summer bowling for kids and summer leagues. One lucky bowler won an Obama/King bowling ball.

I think there's a lesson to be learned here. Stewart could have written off a July 4th. weekend night as just another slow night and sent her staff home early. Instead she took advantage of free advertising on Craigslist and brought in a couple of hundred new customers and kept all of her employees working. Her take on the drinks and food made this an above average night for the lanes instead of a write off. She figured out a way to increase business during hard times and it worked.

When money is tight and people are being conservative about how they spend it, businesses need to exude high value. It's no wonder why Walmart is doing well right now. Pro 300 Lanes showed good business savvy by opening their doors and showing folks how much fun they can have. They also made money and kept their staff working. Earning market share by working hard in slow times is smart. My prediction is good times ahead for Stewart and AMF bowling.

"My personal view is that there is not currently any reason to regulate (carbon dioxide)," he said. "There may be in the future. But global temperatures are roughly where they were in the mid-20th century. They're not going up, and if anything they're going down."

E-mails indicate EPA suppressed report skeptical of global warming... -- CNET.com

So Letterman says, “These are not jokes made about her 14-year-old daughter. I would never, never make jokes about raping or having sex of any description with a 14-year-old girl."

So if the girl is 18, then it's OK to make jokes about her being raped? This just shines a light on how mean and morally empty liberals are. I don't think the average person out there who votes for Democrats is mean. The liberal power elite are mean though. It's time for the average Democrat to take a hard look at the elite who represent them. Is this what you really want our country to be like?

For me, I'll be boycotting any company that advertises on the Letterman show. For now that's the M&M Mars, Best Western, and Embassy Suites. I used to be a customer of all three, no more.

Make your voice heard now and again in 2010.

I'm not a fan of giving people my money, especially when they have not managed their own money well. But it's going to happen.

QUESTION: How can we bailout the automakers without simply giving more money to the fat cats?

ANSWER: Give the bailout money to consumers instead.

My plan is to offer a $6,000 tax rebate to anyone who will buy a new car made in a US factory. There is one catch, they have to trade in a car at least seven years old and the old car must be recycled by the dealer, not resold. Put that old junker in the crusher.

I like this plan for several reasons. One is that the auto industry will still have to compete for business and competition is always good. This plan also takes cars off the market by replacing older, less efficient cars with new cars that will get better gas mileage. That makes it green. It also sends the bailout money to folks with old cars instead of auto executives who don't have a good track record of management. I have faith in the average American's ability to shop wisely with that $6000 incentive. Competition for that money will be good for the industry.

There's one more thing this plan does, it impacts showrooms all over the country by helping consumers buy cars that would otherwise sit around. How many cars? Every $10 billion in bailout bucks helps to sell 1.6 million cars all without red tape or any skimming off the top.

I love my Scion XB. It gets great gas mileage and has been trouble-free for 18,500 miles now. It has a little rattle in the dash but I've discovered through several Scion forums that there was a technical service bulletin issued for a repair. This is the main reason why I am trying to get service at the dealer again. I've had my oil changed a Jiffy Lube twice and they've been great. The car comes back vacuumed with the windows washed and it all takes just a few minutes. The last time I had Broadway Toyota change the oil, it took most of two hours and the car came back just as dirty as it came in. Were I in charge of the world, I would pay someone minimum wage to clean the cars waiting for service. One person working all day could make a lot of customers happy.

I bought a 2008 Scion XB from Broadway Toyota. The buying experience was fine. It took just under two hours to buy the car. [ Dealer rating is currently 1.5/5 on Dealerrater.com ]

One thing the salesperson said was, "You can bring it in anytime for service. You don't need an appointment."

That was in September. Three-thousand miles later I came in on a Saturday afternoon for the first of the two free oil changes that came with the car.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, the salesperson said I didn't need one."

"Well, that's true during the week but you need one on the weekend."

"OK, I'll come back later."

So I come back on a Monday.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, I was told by the salesperson and by your tech on Saturday that I didn't need one."

Crossing the Hawthorne Bridge at 7:15am, traffic in the right lane slows down while center-lane traffic continues through the intersection to the west side of Portland. I see a bike rider in the right lane braking hard coming up to the now stopped cars.

Is she going to do it? There's not room, I can't stop in time if she pulls into my lane. She does it.

After entering my lane, she looks over her left shoulder and sees me just inches away from plowing into her and she then signals. I'm on my brakes and horn as she continues to cross my lane and darts into the left turn lane. She crosses three lanes of traffic in less than 15 feet and comes to a stop behind cars waiting to turn.

I pull even on the right, roll down my window, "Hey, I don't want to run over you but you just pulled out right in front of me!"