July 2008 Archives

On Route 116, probably because of the new Tom's opened down there recently. Just an FYI for those running on empty and looking for the cheapest of the "getting cheaper" right now.

Interesting story today in the New York Times about how many companies are cutting worker hours rather than cutting workers with outright layoffs.

The reasons? Employers have to pay fewer health care costs for part-timers. And, computer skills of all things are a huge factor.

Stringing people along with a little bit of a job keeps them available to come back to work if/when times get better, and it works better for a company because then they don't have to train a brand new hire in advanced and/or company-specific computer skills.

You have to read kinda deep into the story to find that and other good "why" info.

The computer skills reason might sound like something for just the high-tech sector to consider at first, but I know even the cash register at the local diner would confuse me for awhile. (It's a computer, too, most likely).

A lot of people already complain about the lack of a "living" wage in America. Particularly in York County, it comes in the form of higher-paying manufacturing jobs leaving, with lower-paying retail jobs becoming an alternative.

Do you know anyone who has had hours slashed because of the economy? Is it better or worse for employees to get hour reductions as opposed to just getting let go?

Lately our staff discussions have revolved around gas prices and just how much prices would need to drop before we resumed driving like we used to.

To be blatantly honest, I don't know that I'll drive as completely unconcerned about the prices that I once did, but I would certainly plan more trips to the beach and more weekend getaways if gas was cheaper.

Take our quick poll and let us know just how cheap gas must be before you to resume your "normal" lifestyle.

Now that local gas prices have dropped a bit, I think its time we look at the positives of paying $3.99 for regular. People cut back. And not just on gas. They found value in cutting back on retail spending, vacations and impulse buying. And that's great. I don't believe the money we make should be used to stock up on DVDs or upgrade to the latest cell phone plan. The money, if possible, should be saved and put into the "it's always something fund." That fund helps pay for the car transmission that decides to go on strike and the home oil fill-up at 3 a.m. Just because regular gas has dropped to $3.69 doesn't mean we should relax the purse strings. Keep saving as if gas was still at $3.99. Don't worry, it will rise to that mark again soon enough.

Dunkin' Donuts is the most recent fast food place to jump on the health food train. As consumers become more health conscious and demand healthier choices, big fast food chains risk losing business if they don't adapt.

Next month Dunkin' Donuts will offer flatbread sandwiches made with egg whites and turkey sausage, egg and cheese options for the health-conscious.

The current multigrain bagel and reduced fat blueberry muffin will also be part of the new DDSmart menu.

You can read more about the changes here.

(Thank to AP for the photo.)

For what they need in emergencies, that's all they're using the credit car for, according to this story.

Which is actually a really bad sign for U.S. retailers, because who has shopped with cash (other than old-fashioned people like me) in the last decade?

Heck, I never had an actual credit card until I got married and started playing the whole "building credit" game, and when I told people I didn't have a credit card (like the people at car rental places who require one) they would look at me like I had roaches in my ears.

Anyhow, basically people seem to be stopping their credit card worship. And no credit card = no frivolous purchases = there goes the driver of the American economy.

Worried anyone?

The wheels of government move slow, but are turning nonetheless toward what I have seen called the biggest overhaul of consumer safety law and practices in a generation.

(See the Wall Street Journal subscription edition for more along that line.)

Here is a little more available version.

Do you think an overhauled consumer safety law will make us safer? Or is there something else, or a lot of things, we should be doing as well?

Every time something new comes along, we "make" time for it. But unfortunately, "making" time is an illusion, and some real smart physicist out there should write it into every text book along side that Law of Conservation of Mass we had to memorize in high school.

"Matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction." I remember that.

But where was the "Anything that gets put into your schedule or to-do list must have the equal and opposite result of kicking something out of said schedule or to-do list."

Stephen Hawking, I'm waiting.

My big pet peeve with the whole making time concept is that when you think you have "made" time for something, you have actually kicked something out of your schedule without knowing it. And often, it's something that will come back to haunt you later.

Just admit you can't "make" the time and cut something. It'll hurt a lot less later.

If you have a story to share about how you made time, and it turned out poorly, post a comment.

In the meantime, here is a lengthy-but-comprehensive look at how to prioritize your time. "Making" time might be an illusion, but this tells you how to fool people into thinking you know how to do it.

Let me know if you plan to try this, or if they forgot something.

If you were planning on throwing your child a birthday party and wanted one of their favorite TV characters to come visit, you might want to check out this article in the Baltimore Sun.

The people who design these costumes are under more and more pressure to avoid trademark lawsuits, so they have had to change the way they make their costumes.

Instead of having Dora the Explorer at a party, you may get Traveling Girl with Backpack.

I'm interested to hear your opinions on the issue after you read the article.

Something is different when I go home to my parents hometown, nestled in a small valley north of here. It used to be that the only red tinge of civilization visible in the nigh sky was a strip along the southern horizon -- Harrisburg.

The rest of the sky was dotted with scores of stars, and the blackness of the night was like a blanket encouraging a deep sleep. I don't sleep as well in the urban areas I have lived since.

But when I go home now, I still don't sleep as well as I did years ago. Something is off, couldn't put my finger on it til I read this link.

One of my blog buddies point out this really cool Web site. Punch in your address and it will rate your neighborhood on how car dependent it is.

My neighborhood in Manchester Township scored a pathetic 37 out of 100, which means I basically have to drive everywhere.

I plugged in the address of my friends' apartment building in the city, and they scored a whopping 88 out of 100. That means they can walk to almost anything they need.

My roommate from college e-mailed me in a panic a few days ago to tell me Facebook had changed...again.

But when I logged on, it looked the same to me.

This morning though, I noticed the switchover. More like the switchover smacked me in the face.

A little more on the Catholic Church's stance on the environment, in the form of modern-day vices.

And please also check out the monologue from the blogger on the ethics questions that often get overshadowed by the endless science discussions. I think this is a really good take on the issue.

I've gotten a ton of e-mails from readers wanting to know where they can take an assortment of items to be recycled.

Here's some of the recent ones. If you have suggestions leave them in the comments section.

It worked. I can't believe that it work. Earlier this year, through the York County Assessment Office, I applied for tax payer relief through the Homestead Exclusion program. Basically, the program offers a reduction in real estate taxes in the form of a lower property assessment. And, I was approved. My house is now assessed at $10,000 less than what I paid for it in 2005. This year, on my school taxes, I saved about $200. Not bad for someone who doesn't have any children and wonders why his school tax bill is so high. The assessment office usually mails out Homestead Exclusion forms to all local homeowners. Next year, fill out the form and save some cash.

Let's start off with the fact that gasoline is not inexpensive. I don't care if many local stations are posting regular gas prices at $3.89 a gallon. That price remains way, way too high. I urge drivers not to get lulled into a false sense of security by believing that gas prices will continue to drop. Keep conserving. Cut back on vacations and long car rides. Most likely you've overlooked the benefits of your backyard or local park. Should the price for a gallon of regular gas drop below $1.99, I will admit that the cost of gas is where it should be.

$3.89! $3.89! $3.89!

I figured for sure it would get over the $4 hurdle this time around, but gas prices are falling pretty quickly this week. I watched a pretty steady price of $3.95, down a few from that $3.99 high, dwindle to $3.92 and now to $3.89 this morning.

Thank goodness gasoline is cheap again. Finally, I can get back to my All-American to-do list! I thought we were all in trouble there for a sec.

1. Buy a house 75 miles from my job with no money down, on a plot of land that was producing food this time last year ...

2. Get that extra credit card so we can finally afford to go out to a nice dinner on Friday and Saturday nights ...

3. Cancel that order for a Prius. That thing looks like a shipping box after a disgruntled employee vented his or her aggression anyhow. I hear Hummers are pretty cheap nowadays ...

And lastly, 4. Do something even bigger and better than 1, 2 and 3 within six months of accomplishing to-do list items 1,2 and 3.

Viva Pax Americana!

Wachovia posted massive losses in the second quarter. We're talking in the ballpark of $8.9 billion.

The bank reported losing about $4.20 per share. This time last year it earned $1.22 per share.

Alex Rodriguez just signed with an agent in Hollywood to help him make even more money than he already does, according to this article in the New York Times.

The talent agency is supposed to help A-rod land some new endorsement deals so he can cushion his salary for when he says good-bye to baseball.

I don't really think his salary needs much cushioning, but I'm just a lowly reporter. What do I know?

Interesting story about people rallying around their Starbucks locations in today's Wall Street Journal.

I'm not too surprised to hear about it. After all, if you mess with someone's morning cup of coffee, you've hit a huge nerve. And when you hit a nerve that early in the morning, there are a lot of waking hours left in the day to stew and get even more angry.

Has anyone heard about such an outcry for the company's North Hanover store, which was on the company's list of 600 stores to close?

I noticed over the weekend that gas prices dropped a penny or two.

I guess it's probably because oil prices dropped again, but it seems a little ridiculous that gas prices jump five to 10 cents when oil goes up, but only fall by a few pennies when oil prices go down.

Am I the only one who thinks that's nuts?

Who knew owning a pet can creep into the thousands of dollars.

I was reading a recent story here on msn about what my pet can cost me. Our family has three small dogs and a cat and we are dishing out some serious cash to take care of them.

My niece makes some nice pottery. In one corner of a basement room of our home is a large earthy pot she made. It's too big to place on a table, but it's perfect for a corner. When I come home from work, or when my husband comes home from work, and anytime we have extra change, we empty it into the pot. That "extra" change paid for a recent Saturday trip to Dutch Wonderland.

Another work week has come and gone and here's your round up of the latest and greatest business stories of the week.

If you haven't check out our week-long DUI special, you'll want to catch up on the coverage here.

Harley-Davidson and Johnson Controls released their earnings reports.

McDonald's gets a facelift.

Americans less fishy.

Environmentalists sue the EPA???

And for fun, here's the ad campaign I'm currently obsessed with:

To all of our readers, we owe you a big fat apology.

You have been commenting diligently on our posts, and we love you for it, but it turns out our spam filter was eating your comments, so it looked like you had all gotten bored with us and given up the fun dialogue we have going here.

We're so sorry!

We've been going through some software changes and are still in the process of working out all the bugs. The hyperactive spam filter was one of them. For the most part, I think we've got a way of coping with this, but should you post a comment and see that it isn't appearing on the site a few hours later, feel free to shoot me an e-mail (jmilcetich@ydr.com) and let me know.

Thanks for bearing with us as we adapt to the new program.

In terms of gasoline prices, I've found that how much you pay has a lot to do where you pump. Last week, my wife and I drove to Roanoke, Va. for a week-long vacation. On the day that we headed back to York County, I had to fill my tank. The gas station near Interstate-81 sold regular gas for $4.15 a gallon. Two miles headed in the opposite direction of I-81, gas was selling for $3.82 a gallon. It seems that gas suppliers are taking advantage of those who need fuel immediately. Have you noticed any discrepancies in price in relation to the location of particular gas station?

If you're asking why Anheuser-Busch is selling to Belgians, the answer might be because of a fishing trip that went wrong, according to a theory reported by The Wall Street Journal.

I kid you not. Busch III apparently decided it was more important to take a phone call from the States while fishing with a big-wigs from the company that brews Corona Extra in Mexico than to continue reeling in a fish he had hooked.

He then decided to fly back to the States early, cutting short the fishing trip, the report says.

Relations between the two companies, despite a deal linking them financially, reportedly remained chilly for years.

If the Corona Extra brewer would have been willing to sell its controlling stake in the company to Anheuser-Busch, it could have helped stave off InBev's takeover of the King of Beers, or so the theory goes.

See the theory here, complete with a nice fish picture.

According to an e-mail I just received from Consumer Reports, the Centers for Disease Control have issued a health warning that children who play on artificial turf could be at heightened risk for harmful lead exposure.

The warning applied mostly to older fields because as the turf breaks down, lead is released as dust particles that can be inhaled or ingested.

I don't know too many people who would object to the idea of a four day work week.

Are any of your companies considering offering it as an option? I'd love to hear about it if they were. Leave a comment and let me know!

That phrase, whether said or thought, has probably gone through a lot of people's heads over the last few months.

"I could stop driving to see family so often ... but I can't do that."

"I could give up going out on a Saturday night with friends ... but I can't do that."

"I could stop eating a meal every day ... but I can't do that."

What have you come up with to save money, but then decided you couldn't live without?

Lately I've noticed that a lot of gas stations where customers want to pay with cash require that you pay before pumping.

I can't say for sure that this is a direct result of the high gas prices, but it seems like it would certainly put a stop to those tempted to drive off without paying.

As gas prices continue to rise, the risk of people not paying also increases. So the correlation seems to make sense.

I'm just wondering what anyone else thinks on the subject. Have you noticed more stations requiring you to pre-pay?

Gas is $5 in some places

- Brent M. Burkey (July 15, 2008 9:33 AM)

I've been watching gas prices elsewhere in the country and heard about gas nearing $5 in California from my brother-in-law. But this picture was unnerving.

Anyone want to guess when we'll see something like that? Or even when we'll see the local gas stations stop holding the line at $3.99 9/10, or a little lower in some places? It's got to be hurting them, as oil prices have gone up a good bit since $3.99 gas hit.

It's kind of a "no-duh" idea: Depending on where you drill for oil, it's going to be more or less expensive to get out of the ground. Obviously, drilling on land in Texas is less costly than drilling on an ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico covered by several hundred feet of water.

But exactly how much of a difference is there, and what does that mean for our gas prices today?

The August issue of Consumer Reports has all kinds of good information about how to save. In the article on establishing a budget there were three links for Web sites that help you track or saving and spending.

Here's what CR says about the three:

It's Friday so there's always time for a ridiculous YouTube video, like this one of a bunch of professional soccer players attempting to sing James Blunt's You're Beautiful and playing with a puppy in the locker room. Too funny.

(Thanks to Behindthebadge.com for this!)

And now, your business news before you head out for the weekend.

Apple released its newest toy today.

Comcast could be in hot water with the FCC.

Who knows the fate of the planned Steve & Barry's.

Harley begins layoffs.

Arm and Hammer is A'OK to Jackson Township.

The newest toy in the Apple family, the Apple iPhone 3G goes on sale today.

The Consuming Interests blog at the Baltimore Sun pulled together a bunch of different reviews on the new phone. You can check them out here.

I don't plan to buy the new phone, mainly because I don't want to get hit with a contract cancellation fee and I really like my current cell phone provider. I have service just about everywhere.

But what about anyone else? Do you guys plan to buy the new phone?

We here at Mind Your Own Business are always on the look out for smart money saving tips.

Here's a tip from correspondent Greg Gross:

"Usually when people go golfing they buy a bucket of warm-ups for the driving range to loosen up. That cost between $3 to $5 depending on the course. This summer, I've been warming up in the backyard, hitting little chip shots to get limber and to get my stance down before driving to the course. If someone that golfs once a week and warmed up in the backyard, they'd save between $12 to $20 which equals to an extra 9 holes at Briarwood and a beer in the clubhouse."

If you have any great saving money tips, feel free to share them in the comments section.

You can also check out our Saving Money section for more great tips and tricks on how to save a buck or two.

I don't mean that I'm literally getting fatter over here, but I thought some of the information in this TreeHugger series is really interesting.

First the blog includes this map showing the obesity percentages in each state.

You may have heard by now that Steve & Barry's has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (If you haven't you can check the story here.) It leaves me wondering what will happen to the one that was supposed to open in the West Manchester Mall.

I don't know if you've ever shopped at Steve & Barry's but back when I was in high school, I used to love it. The stores sell a lot of university gear (think T-shirts, hoodies and sweatpants stamped with your favorite college's insignias.)

As a senior in high school, it was so much easier on my budget to spend $7 on a T-shirt to a potential future university than the $20 I would have had to spend in the university book store.

The answer: An extra 20 hours per week for two months. A standard 60-hour workweek for eight weeks, according to authorities in Japan.

The overworked nation's labor bureau made the ruling on the subject in the case of a Toyota engineer who was working on developing the hybrid version of the Toyota Camry. He died of a heart attack at age 45.

See the story here.

The permanent layoffs are beginning at Harley-Davidson in Springettsbury Township. They are coming in stages throughout the summer and, according to the union, will happen according to worker seniority.

Here is what we have so far.

What are you hearing in the community?

With oil prices falling, Iran decided to launch its missiles ... in a military test.

But that was all it took to start the price of oil rising again. It made people worry about the security of oil flowing from the Middle East.

Those missiles didn't kill anyone, but they managed to inflict a little bit of pain on the millions or even billions of oil-addicted people in developed or developing nations across the world, including 300 million Americans.

Talk about a smart weapon!

The price for a barrel of oil is slipping back a bit, so hopefully gas prices will follow.

The big question is, if gas prices start to fall, will it be back to driving as usual for you or will the trying to drive less continue?

I've reported and written about the escalating food prices many times before but had never really noticed them hit home until I was in Washington D.C. over the weekend for the 4th.

My two roommates and I had decided to grab a late dinner at one of our favorite College Park establishments, Noodles & Company. (We don't have one in York and I really wish we did.)

My one roommate orders the same exact thing every time we are there (and in college we ate there a lot) so she knows her dish has cost $7.42 every time we've eaten there.

I went to see the new Disney/Pixar flick Wall-E this weekend with some friends of mine from college, and I'll be honest, I really didn't know what to expect.

I'd seen the trailer and still couldn't figure out what exactly the movie was supposed to be about, but my friends were all going so I tagged along.

Best. Decision. Ever.

(Wall-E trailer)

Nothing like a holiday weekend to make us itch to get out of the office and because of that you're week in biz is coming a little early this week.

Enjoy.

Starbucks is closing a bunch of store, but no one's sure about the local ones.

People love their fireworks on the Fourth.

Spectra addresses issues about pipeline.

Case closed. Children get trapped in toy chests.

I plan to check out this movie the minute it comes out. (Not at all biz related.)

A barrel of oil has hit $145 and several gas stations in the area have started selling gasoline for $3.99 a gallon, again. In the last two weeks, many stations dropped there prices to around $3.95 per gallon. So, what's it going to be? Are local stations going to hold the line until the July 4 weekend is over to boost prices or am I going to see $4.05 per gallon on way to the lake tomorrow morning?

Saw this story in the Baltimore Sun this morning about how Wal-Mart is buying locally grown produce to sell in its stores.

Stores plan to sell $400 million of the local fruits and veggies.

It's a big step when a huge corporate entity like Wal-Mart starts moving in the direction of buying locally.

I think it's great. What do you all think?

I get a lot of e-mails from think-tanks, associations, unions and professors talking about the economy and I figured I'd start sharing a few here on the blog. It's a lot of two cents-adding on the big economic news of the day, usually.

This one is part of a release from the Laborers' International Union of North America reacting to news about more construction job cuts.

" ... The American Society of Civil Engineers gives the basic infrastructure of the United States a near-failing grade due to years of neglect and estimates that $1.6 trillion is needed over the next five years to build America.

Every month that goes by without a real commitment to build America costs thousands of jobs and wastes valuable time as both our infrastructure, our economy and our employment situation continue to worsen. ... "

Sounds a lot like FDR's New Deal to me ... although I don't know if things are quite that bad yet. Then again, it does seem silly that we have potholes, leaky pipes and other crumbling infrastructure all over the country, and so many out-of-work construction workers. What do you think?

Kathy Wallick of North York, winner of Rutter's Farm Stores "Fuel Up Free" gas giveaway. Wallick said estimates that the she drives 15 to 20 miles a day to get to work and to take her sons to sport's practice.
"I'm a server, so this helps," she said.
With her winnings, in which she gets free gas for three years, Wallick said she she'll save $9,000 over the next three years. The should help with climbing food costs.

Kathy Wallick of North York has won Rutter's "Fuel up Free!" gas give away. The contest awards free gas for three years. Wallick is expected to save $130 a month in gas. Three more Rutter's customers will win free gas when Rutter's names its three remaining grand prize winners July 14, Aug. 4 and Sept. 15.

In a few hours Rutter's will announce the first winner in its summer gas giveaway.

The lucky winner gets free gas for three years. (I'm officially jealous and the winner hasn't even been announced yet.)

Make sure to check back often this morning to see live updates from the event. Correspondent Greg Gross will be at the scene and e-mailing in updates to be posted here.

My guess is the winner is going to have a whole lot of people vying to be his or her new best friend.

I saved more than $1,000 this year.
How, you ask? It's pretty simple: Starting last July, I pretty much have packed my lunch every day for work.
The savings adds up.