TGIF's Quick Hits

* SJ Mercury News says half of the California tech workers have left the field. I don't have the link, but it's there. I think a lot of make-believe companies (sselling pet food online, etc) are gone, some jobs got outsourced, and some companies left California.

* Are you annoyed with this flu vaccine crisis? Seems like every year, there's some crisis and not enough vaccine around. I wonder, being cynical, if the manufacturers are gaming the system and running up prices?

* Coffee... Dark roast or Light roast?

* Turns out that the coalition of the bribed and coerced included the UN, France, Russia, and China. The oil for food program was a farce. Will Bush rip Kerry on this tonight? Or just make faces?

* I still think a Saturday Night Live skit with Bush and Kerry going to Trump's boardroom would be good.

* I like the Light roast coffees more, in general.

* I'm thinking, Bush is going to get spanked tonight at the debate. If I were Bush, I'd throw in a line like "There's a saying that if you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. My opponent is doing a lot of tough talking on this campaign and during the debates. He's talking the talk. But if you look at his 30 year record, he hasn't walked the walked." Then insert his votes to hike taxes, against tax cuts, and his lack of accomplishment in the Senate. Maybe throw in the line Cheney used, about changing positions once Howard Dean was leading in the primaries. Add in, "Talk, talk, talk."

* The economy has been growing, steady. Not overheating. If it were hotter, interest rates would be flying up. Yet, they're still down. Home ownership is at record levels. This is pretty good.

* Notice how drug stocks have reversed to the downside with Bush losing the lead in the polls and now in a dead heat? If Kerry pulls ahead, will drug stocks continue to go down? (Merck's news was bad, but other companies initially rallied on this.)

* I love football season.

* Life at the Fun Factory? Well, I'm about 2 months in here, and I still miss my friends from the Salt Mine. But making new ones here.

* Thanks for the emails!