HARD 2 EXPLAIN

So much for customer service and transparency in the operation. I think this amounts to, "We're taking along time to get the product out, so we're removing your ability to track progress and don't call us and ask either!". What do you think would happen if Federal Express or UPS turn off their package tracking and said "We'll call you if there is a problem!". Here is a snippet from the Carvin Blog:

"After careful consideration, Carvin has decided to remove the Guitar Traq feature from Carvin.com. Why? Due to the high volume of guitar and bass sales through Carvin’s Custom Shop, calls and e-mails asking why a particular instrument has not been started yet has affected the efficiency of our operation. Because of Carvin’s higher than normal volume of instrument sales, we are now quoting 10 weeks to build an instrument. It generally takes 4-6 weeks to complete an instrument, but due to the higher sales it is taking several weeks to start a particular instrument. This has concerned some customers who have placed custom orders and who have looked on-line to see that their guitar or bass has not moved in production. These factors led to the decision to discontinue Guitar Traq on-line."

I went to the Carvin.com BBS to discuss with other customers and to add insult to injury, the BBS admin posted the following notice:

"...and on a side note, the decision has been made, so there's no point in debating this. In order to ease this transition, the moderators have been instructed to delete any threads dealing with this decision."

For a product that can cost a $1000 or more paid in advance, you would think that I could call the salesman and ask him where my order is in production! Boy, my order better come on time and be spot on...

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Goldman's Illiquid Assets Increase - WSJ.com: "The increases are a sign that more firms are seeing illiquid assets pile up on their books amid the subprime mortgage meltdown. Level 3 assets are holdings that are so illiquid or trade so infrequently that they have no reliable price, so their valuations are based on management's best guess."

'Regional' Nuclear War Would Cause Worldwide Destruction | Wired Science from Wired.com: "Think you might escape the aftereffects of a limited nuclear war that happens on the other side of the globe from you? Think again."

Fed Minutes Reflect Worries About Downturn - WSJ.com: "Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, in testimony before Congress last week, said the economy could slip into recession in the first half. Minutes show that downbeat view was broadly held. Officials discussed evidence of one of their greatest concerns: an 'adverse feedback loop' in which restricted credit availability worsens the economic outlook and then tightens credit conditions further."

"The lifeline gives Bear access to cash for an initial period of 28 days. J.P. Morgan will borrow the money from the Fed and relend it to Bear. Exact terms weren't disclosed, but the amount is limited only by how much collateral Bear can provide, Fed officials said.

The Fed, not J.P. Morgan, is bearing the risk of the loan. It is the first time since the Great Depression that the Fed has lent in this fashion to any entity other than a bank."

"Year-to-year, new-home sales were 41% lower than the level in December 2006.

'There is no sign of a bottom in any of these data,' said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics. 'We think the downside for activity and prices remains considerable.'"

The last time I heard a similar phrase was from an investment banker talking to the Viant employee's just before going public during the first dot.com boom.

"The classic American midlife crisis has found a new outlet: garage-band rock ’n’ roll. Baby boomers across the country — mostly middle-aged dads who never quite outgrew an obsession with the music of their youth — are cranking up their amps and living their rock ’n’ roll fantasies."

This was a post from my original website, pre-blog era...

...I was in the west village this morning. I work at a financial services startup there. My entire office was standing on 7th avenue watching it. When you're in the village (lots of low buildings) The world trade center sticks out of the landscape like jack's beanstalk.

We couldn't take our eyes off of it. I wished, out loud, that I had a camera. My friend Mike said "There will be plenty of pictures of this!". Oh, I half joked, but I wouldn't be in them. Then we started discussing how the Empire State building was hit by a bomber during the war and is still standing today...

Then the first tower fell. OK now it's serious... I started walking uptown. I knew the tunnels and bridges would be closed but hoped the ferry would be running. So I'm walking.... and walking because most roads are closed and the subways were shutdown. Seems I wasn't the only one with this idea, the longer I walked the more people seem to join me along the way. Where was the Pied Piper? There was an eerie unusual calm. Some stores even setup tables out front and poured cups of water for people passing by. There are some people that are still staring past us, downtown, frozen, as if waiting for the next shoe to drop.

Then I hear someone scream... I turn around and there the second tower is crumbling straight down. Like when you're watching one of those controlled explosions you see on TV all the time it just slipped down into a cloud of smoke. The spooky thing was that as it slipped down a part of the super structure seemed to stand up... like the bones of a fish... almost like the flesh falling away from a skeleton.

Photo By RAY STUBBLEBINE/REUTERS - September 11, 2001