Motorola. Fail.
Long ago, Motorola was the largest employer in Arizona. My grandfather worked there. My Father worked and retired from there. My Mom worked there. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, a lot of my family worked there. I wanted to make computer chips so when I was 18, I applied to work at Motorola. I went to their employment offices and took their tests. They used to give math and other tests because they wanted highly technical people working there.
I grew up listening to my parents talk about their work at the dinner table and even though they were as far away from the CEO as anyone could be, yet they still knew that the company was poorly run. Engadget received a letter from the adviser to Geoffrey Frost, Motorola's Chief Marketing Officer to Greg Brown the CEO of Motorola describing how screwed up the company is.
It really angers me to see that you're really no different from the rest of the incompetent senior executives at Motorola -- but instead of merely being incompetent, you killing the company. Your lack of understanding of the consumer business doesn't give you a valid reason for selling the business; moreover, publicly disclosing your explorations of such a move, in an attempt to keep Carl Icahn off your back, shows how much you value the safety of your incompetence. You have no interest in fighting the good fight and attempting to mould Motorola into the market leader it can and should be; taking control of the handset division, as you have recently done, will accomplish very little -- it will simply give you an ability to say "we tried our best" when you finally cart the business off to the highest bidder.
Motorola was once a great company that made great products. I remember a Motorola radio in my grandfathers workshop. Everyone wanted a StarTac when they came out (I eventually had one when they got cheap, it's around here somewhere). 68k and PowerPC chips were very competitive with x86 chips from Intel.
Now they are splitting into yet more companies because they can't seem to figure out what it is they do. Thanks to this greedy, stupid management thousands of people in Arizona lost their jobs. Some of the former Motorola factories are still there as Freescale factories, but many of them were simply tore down.
I thankfully never went to work for Motorola. Instead I went to work for another company that makes computer chips. I look at the failure that is Motorola and compare it to what is happening at my employer. I hope my managers all the way up to the CEO learn from these failures too.
Strange? In What Way?
A 91-year-old Sun City man, who is on oxygen and confined to a wheelchair, surrendered Thursday morning after a nearly six-hour standoff in which he was armed with a handgun, authorities said.
"Well, this is a strange situation," Arpaio told reporters
My Elementary School May Shut Down
How bizarre, I would expect schools to be overcrowded not due to insufficient enrollment.
Jordan Elementary School, a Mesa Public School located in Chandler, will likely close next school year because of declining enrollment, with its 486 students assigned to Frost or Pomeroy elementaries.
I went to Jordan Elementary in the late seventies and early eighties.
Advertising On Something That Everyone Will See
Glenn Piller, an auto-racing enthusiast, has stamped the back of more than $40,000 worth of U.S. currency, from $1 to $100 bills, with simple red-ink promos for his new Web site, www.ArizonaAuto Racing.com.
I'm sure he's not the first one to think of this. Thankfully It's not legal but it's not clear to the feds if it's advertising or not.
Kim Bruce, spokeswoman with the U.S. Secret Service, which enforces laws against misuse of currency, said federal law forbids the use of money for advertising or any changes to currency that makes it "unfit to be reissued." At issue is whether his stamps constitute advertising, because no product is being sold.
Biosphere 2 Sold To Build Houses
Biosphere 2 cost $200 million to build and is being sold for $50 million to build houses on the land surrounding it. They may have the University of Arizona continue to use the 'sphere, but it's fate doesn't seem certain yet. Maybe they should build houses in Biosphere and seal it up again.
TUCSON - A landmark 3.1 acre glass terrarium known as Biosphere 2 and 1,650-acres surrounding the research site north of Tucson have been sold to a home developer, but the buyers said the building where scientists lived in a sealed environment will remain open to researchers and tours for now.
Don't Fall For The Free Puppy Scam
Puppy scams are popping up in Arizona online and print classified ads, where the seller appears to be local and offers free English bulldogs or Yorkshire terriers. But when contacted by email, the seller says he or she is in Africa on a religious mission and promises to ship the dog overnight for a few hundred dollars.
Uh, that's enough right there to raise the red flag on me. If I Couldn't pick up the animal in person, then forget it. Apparently some people are not quite so savvy. savvy?
Cab Ride
A couple from New York paid $3000 to ride a cab from NY to Sedona, AZ becasue they didnt want their cat to deal with the airlines.
A New York couple who wanted to spare their cats a trip in an airliner cargo hold during a cross-country move completed a 2,500-mile cab ride to northern Arizona on Monday.
The Matases, who are retiring in Arizona, met cabdriver Douglas Guldeniz when they hailed his taxi in Manhattan after a shopping trip three months ago and jokingly invited him to come along on their upcoming move.
Helipads Banned In Scottsdale
I guess this sucks if you have a helicopter and live in Scottsdale. The advantage of owning a helicopter is you can live pretty far away.
Only a handful of residents have commuted via helicopter since then, but planners said that they feared more helicopters would start hovering since street traffic is so congested. About three years ago, some homeowners began complaining about noise from heli-commuting neighbors.
Phoenix Serial Shooters Caught
One was a custodian at Sky Harbor International Airport and a sports photojournalist ; the other, a friend with a criminal past who returned to the Valley several years ago after living in Minnesota. On Friday, police identified the two -- Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman -- as the suspects who have terrorized Phoenix area residents with a series of random shootings for more than a year, Phoenix%u2019s police chief said Friday.
Take My Trading Post, Please!
For months, the couple have been buying ads in newspapers and promoting an unusual property transaction via the Internet: Send $100 and an essay of less than 100 words about why you want a trading post, and the best essay claims the prize. The Konheisers have received extensive publicity in newspapers in the Four Corners area.
They were hoping for 20,000 entries. They have received 12. The current owner has cancer and wants to retire, at this point he's more interested in the retirement part than the "trying to make a buck" part.
I've probably passed the place a hundred times but don't recall anything interesting about it. A little Googling will show it has some interesting history. But I wonder how much money is to be made out there?
Most Dangerous/Safest Cities in the U.S.
The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa
Since I will be starting school next week I thought it would be a good idea to make a another trip back home before it starts. As my Girlfriend and I were planning the trip we got a "invitation" in the mail to The Weston in Scottsdale for about $250 for 3 nights. Their rooms usally go for around $300 a night. What was the catch? We had to listen to a 90 minute time share sales pitch.
The Westin isn't just a Hotel it's a double fancy hotel, full name is "The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa", located in the center of fancyville Scottsdale. Putting the "Resort and Spa" at the end of their name means that they can charge for everything and charge a lot. For example there was a refrigerator with booze and soda in it. They also had a little basket with snack foods (and no vending machines anywhere in the hotel). The Snickers bar in that basket was $4.00. They left a list of all these things so we could check off what we used and at the bottom the not only wanted us to included Arizona's 8.1% tax but a 21% gratuity. We choose not to use any of their stuff. The whole hotel was pretty much like this. The spa was overpriced, the restaurants were over priced. We ended up not spending much time a the hotel for this reason.
The hotel was huge, we were on the 7th floor. Our room wasn't very big was never the less very comfortable. The bathroom was very nice, the shower was separate from the bathtub and there was plenty of water pressure. The shower was clogged but they came and fixed it quickly after we called them. They also have what the call their "Heavenly Bead", it's the most comfortable hotel bed I've ever slept on and it's almost as good as our own bed. Apparently you can buy this bed online but I couldn't find the link.
If your in to golfing (which I'm not) they have a massive golf course. It's very green and pretty. They also had a bike trail if we do ever stay there again we may find a way to bring our bikes.
Now for the sales pitch. I have to say that they had very compelling offer. The time share is sold by the hotel, they call it "vacation ownership".
Here's how it works:
- You purchase a condo style room at a home site, in this case it's the Scottsdale Westin.
- You purchase so many days a year (in our case they were trying to sell us 7 days)
- Since it's with the Starwood resorts you can use the days you bought at any other Starwood resort or
- You can trade the time with a service that deals with this sort of thing and use your time at a non Starwood resort, the cost the quoted us was about $150 to do this or
- You can buy hotel time at any Starwood per night for $99 per night. That includes any of their properties including the W Hotels where presidents and other famous people stay. I can say it costs much more than $99 a night at these places though it wasn't clear which rooms we would get.
- You get a deed to your property and you pay a mortgage. That means you can write it off as a second home and once it's paid off your done.
- The cost for our "deal" was about $10,000, 10% interest and about $150 a month for 120 months.
The cost was certainly some we could afford but had I been in the market for such a thing (as I told the sales guys right at the start that we were not) although I would have talked them down on the interest rate and some of the other details. But lets face it, we went for the cheap hotel room when we were already going to spend that money somewhere on a hotel and for the chance to stay at a fancy hotel.
Third Annual Top-100 Sweatiest Cities List
- El Paso, TX (28)
- Greenville, SC (43)
- Phoenix, AZ (1)
- Corpus Christi, TX (--)
- New Orleans, LA (10)
- Houston, TX (2)
- Miami, FL (3)
- West Palm Beach, FL (6)
- Fort Myers, FL (5)
- Las Vegas, NV (12)
Thanks NewMexiKen.
Arizona Dust Storm Pictures
These photos were taken by my Cousin (forwarded by my Dad, thanks Dad!). This is one thing Arizona is famous for. The area between Phoenix and Tucson gets the type of dust storms that you saw in the Movie "Stargate". The area she was in was just south of Phoenix. I didn't ask her permission to post these so I hope she doesn't mind!
These are pictures from the Dust Storm on Friday the 13th. I had to pull off the highway because visibility was at zero. As you can see in the first two photos I was approaching the dust storm. It was about 6:00 in the evening or so and I was leaving the Ahwatukee/Chandler heading towards Casa Grande. Just thought I would share.
Legend City
I was less than 10 years old and don't remember much of it. My main memory is of bumper cars. I recently found the Legend City website with all kinds of photos and it brings the memories back. The Lost Dutchman mine and the Legend City Rail Road all come to mind now.
Wallace & Ladmo performed at Legend City. A icon for kids growing up in the valley during their 36 year run, making them the longest running daily show in history. They aired on Channel 5, the first TV station in Phoenix. I watched them every morning before going to school and saw every singe Tom & Jerry cartoon they ran. Ladmo (Ladimir Kwiatkowski) died in 1995 thus ending the show. I might have even been on that show once, but can't recall.
There's been rumors for a long time that another theme park was going to open near Phoenix but nothing built yet.
Modern Ruins
Just west of Albuquerque is the Rio Puerco Bridge. This bridge is an remnant of the orignal Route 66 and the New Mexico highway department has chosen to keep it in tact for history along with a little bit of the original route 66. What facinates me most about this bridge is it appears to be a 1 lane bridge. With people zipping by on nearby I-40 it's hard to imagine a time when people had to slow down for this. You can read more here. The sign on the bridge reads the following" "This parker through truss located on the historic route 66 was built in 1933. It was fabricated by the Kansas City Structural Steel Company and erected by F.D. Shufflebarger of Albuquerque. It's 250 good lenght is on eo fhte longest in New Mexico. Repairs and remodeling were completed in 1957. This structure was replaced in 1999 and is being preserved by the New Mexico State Hightway and Transportation Department."
On down the road in Arizona you will find the Meteor Crater, "50,000 years ago, a huge iron-nickel meteorite, hurtling at about 40,000 miles per hour, struck the rocky plain of Northern Arizona with an explosive force greater than 20 million tons of TNT. The meteorite estimated to have been about 150 feet across and weighing several hundred thousand tons, in less than a few seconds, left a crater 700 feet deep and over 4000 feet across". You will find a modern vistors center at the crater site itself. What is most interesting is the original visitors outpost located along the old route 66. It amazes me how quickly and easily a building can be come run down so quickly.
I can only imagine what a place Two Guns was back in it's day. The run down buildings once held wild animals one of them still partially stands to say "Mountian Lions". There's a standing bridge crossing the Diablo Canyon which was part of the original route 66 road. The whole place is for sale you as of this writing you can drive up on the property. I assume that is so prospective buyers can take a look at the place. Looks like there was once an attempt at a modern gas station but apparently didn't get enough business.
Twin Arrows is another abandon outpost along the old Route 66. Looks a little more modern and from the gas price still partly up on the sign it appears to be opened sometime during the last decade at least. I guess people don't need to stop as often as they use to for gas thought this station looks a lot more interesting than the run of the mill "modern" stations do. There's more to Twin Arrows then what you can see from the interstate as the old Route 66 loops back and around this gas station to the Padre Canyon Bridge. There's nothing to stop you from driving along these areas of old Route 66.
You can read more about these sites and others along Route 66 here
Arizona June 2003
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Movie Style Freeway Shooting
Drive to Arizona
This week we made a trip to Arizona. Since I'm from there, still have family there and have rental property there I make these trips quite often. Usually I make a straight trip there from Albuquerque to Flagstaff then down to Phoenix. I can make it in less than 8 hours this way. This time however my girlfriend and I decided to take our time and check out the sites along the way. We got a late start that day. I was waiting for a package delivery from UPS and they didnt get here unitl about 2:30pm.
There isn't a whole lot to see between Albuquerque and the Arizona/New Mexico border. There are several places we could have stopped but will have to save them for next time. First stop was the Petrified Forest National Park In Arizona. The wind was really bad that day and the smoke from the Tucson fire was blowing into the area. I could barely hold the camera still. The park service charges $10 per car, which seemed a bit expensive. The painted desert is beautiful. The main part with the petrified trees was kind of sad. Before the area was a national park people came and took parts of the peterfied wood, so there wasnt a whole lot to see there.I can imagine what it looked like before most of the larger pieces were removed. The park is now protected, so noting can be removed from it.
We got there about 6pm. The park closes at 7pm. So we started heading out at 6:45 when we were about half way through it only to see people still heading into the park. It was after 7 and were wondering why no one else is leaving. After were a few miles down the road I realize that New Mexico time is 1 hour ahead of Arizona time. So the park time was 6, not 7.
Once we got to Flagstaff it was night time and we were tired. We stayed at a Holiday Inn right near the freeeway. If your ever in Flag try no to stay there. There are train tracks about 2000 feet away. The train came buy at least 3 times that night and just had to toot his horn every time.
Once we left Flagstaff we headed to Sedona via State Route 89A. I was hoping to check out Slide Rock in Oak Creek Canyon. We just wanted to go down and take a look, but the park service wants $10 per car regardless of wether your getting in the water or not. We chose to no go this time. None the less the drive through the canyon was nice.
Once we arrived at Sedona we pretty much just checked out the main drag. A tourist trap with lots of shops. Nothing that interesting to see there. They do have tours that take you around which I'm sure are much more interesting. I'll be posting more on my trip back to New Mexico.