On the writing front, I realized that I set up the entire fourth chapter incorrectly. It’s a shopping / planning / conflict sharpening chapter, and I know that part is right. It’s the setting and how the heroine chooses to shop that are wrong.

BTW — This is something that came up on one of the online forums I lurk. One member questioned my integrity, alluding that I’d blindly defend professional associates I have relationships with (such as literary agents, etc.).

I have no patience for incompetence. If I find someone’s performance less than satisfactory, I won’t defend them just because. So if you see me say something nice about some industry professional, it means I really think that person’s nice.

Finally — since the Big Three begging for $25 billion from the government is a big discussion topic among many (it’s huge in Japan too), I’ll leave you with something to consider.

The total compensation pool (that includes salaries plus bonuses) for Honda’s twenty-seven top executives, including its CEO, is $13 million dollars. That’s $13 million for ALL of them, not $13 million per person.

Toyota just announced that it had reduced its directors’ salaries. The company stated that it is important for Toyota executives to set good examples for its workers and that the executives must sacrifice first.

On the other hand, Rick Wagoner (GM CEO) gave himself a pay raise in March 2008. He is currently receiving $2.2 million dollars a year in salary alone. Furthermore, all Big Three executives flew in their private jets to beg for $25 billion from the Senate. ABC news reported that the round trip for Wagoner alone probably cost GM $20,000.

Garrrr, yer a true pirate down to yer bones.
Yer an originial sea dog, an’ ye certainly have earned yer sea legs.
No one be goin’ to accuse ye o’ bein’ a landlubber.
Ye got yer eye on the prize, an’ yer willin’ to go pillagin’ fer some booty.

Would You Make a Good Pirate?

This column is dedicated to the top managers of American business whose policies and practices helped ensure Barack Obama’s victory. The mandate for change that sounded across this country is not limited to our new President and Congress. That bell also tolls for you. Obama’s triumph was ignited in part by your failure to understand and respect your own consumers, customers, employees, and end users. The despair that fueled America’s yearning for change and hope grew to maturity in your garden.

Millions of Americans heard President-elect Obama painfully recall his sense of frustration, powerlessness, and outrage when his mother’s health insurer refused to cover her cancer treatments. Worse still, every one of them knew exactly how he felt. That long-simmering indignation is by now the defining experience of every consumer of health care, mortgages, insurance, travel, and financial services—the list goes on.

Obama was elected not only because many Americans feel betrayed and abandoned by their government but because those feelings finally converged with their sense of betrayal at the hands of Corporate America. Their experiences as consumers and as citizens joined to create a wave of revolt against the status quo—as occurred in the American Revolution. Be wary of those who counsel business as usual. This post-election period is a turning point for the business community. It demands an attitude of sober reappraisal and a disposition toward fundamental reinvention. If you don’t do it, someone else will.

I found the article very interesting, although I’m not sure which came first. Is it the consumer need for cheap stuff or the corporate need (driven largely by investors) for profit? I think they feed off each other. In order to provide consumers with cheap stuff (which are now more disposable than ever before) made companies cut cost ruthlessly in order to make as much profit as possible. And as companies cut cost by laying off people and reducing wages, people’s need for cheap stuff became stronger.

Speaking for myself, I don’t expect companies to provide any help in case their products break before the warranty expires. So I buy from either:

1. companies well-known for manufacturing reliable products, or
2. companies with the cheapest products

The former is usually reserved for big ticket items like laptops, cars, TV, etc. The latter is reserved for little things like ballpoint pens, kitchen timers and notebooks or things that I can live without.

BTW — I do expect and demand that big Japanese retailers do better than their American counterpart. For example, I buy a lot of electronics from a big regional chain store. Its service staff always provide great assistance when products they sold break down and facilitate the warranty process between their customers and manufacturers. Not to mention, its sales people know everything about the products they sell and are happy to spend however much time necessary to help you make the best purchase possible, even if you leave the store without buying anything. I don’t have to waste my time surfing the net for information because somebody there will give me the answer I need to make a decision within a second. The store is not the cheapest in the city, but it earned my loyalty, and I absolutely adore shopping there.

Finally, something to make you laugh — The Matrix Runs on Windows:

Today’s progress = meh. I’m thinking about writing a synopsis for the story actually. I think I have the basic outline and the story arc all figured out.

How’s everyone doing?

Not too bad for the day.

BTW — I’m like totally traumatized. I thought Shiro and Kuro were just wrestling around. But no. They’re actually in heat. Kuro’s been humping Shiro nonstop, and they are doing it in front of me (shameless!). Trust me, it’s pretty bad since they’re so small and young, and it feels like they’re way way too young to be parents. I’m going to have like a million hamster babies!

Ack!!!!!!!!!!!!!