That's right. When nothing new is going on at home, what do you write about? The news. But don't worry, I'm not going to write about Bush vs Kerry, Iraq, or the latest words from the Pope about Sunday sports.
Job Leverage - The WSJ did an article yesterday about ten careers that now have an edge in this grim job market. One caught my eye:
FUNERAL DIRECTOR
Despite their best efforts, even the baby boomers will not live forever. As the huge generation ages and dies, the demand for funeral services will expand. At the same time, the business has had a hard time attracting new managers. A report by the National Funeral Directors Association says recruiting is a top priority.
Why the shortage? The funeral business was for many years a family affair. Independent shops were passed down through generations. Today, fewer young people are interested in taking over the businesses their parents built, according to several people in the industry. The result: The funeral director pipeline is thinning.
Salary: $24,000 to $84,000
Credentials: Funeral directors must be licensed. Most states require two years of formal education, a one-year apprenticeship and a qualifying exam. Some states require separate licenses for embalming.
Who knew? Cousin Karen picked a career in high demand!
Fuel Mileage - The WSJ also had a story about how the mileage posted on many new cars doesn't reflect reality. The gist of the story was that the estimates tended to be optimistic and that many cars underperform relative to the statistics. What caught my eye was this mention of the Toyota Prius, which I had written about earlier:
[M]any Prius owners are discovering that the poster car of the Sierra Club set isn't all it's cracked up to be, either. "My window sticker says 52 miles per gallon on the highway," says Russell Long, a spokesman for the environmental activist group Bluewater Network. "I get 40."
[...] J.D. Power also found that Prius owners also were dismayed, since many of them, like Bluewater's Mr. Long, didn't achieve the super high mileage they expected in return for shelling out a premium to get Toyota's advanced gas-electric drive technology.
Instead of 40 or 50 miles per gallon, "Prius owners reported 30 to 40 miles per gallon," Mr. Walters says.
The way J.D. Power scores these things, underperforming expectations on fuel economy is tantamount to a defect in the vehicle, and knocks down a model's quality scores. No manufacturer likes that. Indeed, Toyota is concerned enough about the Prius situation that a spokeswoman says the company is considering providing Prius buyers with additional information about how to get better fuel economy in their cars.
30 to 40 mpg!? Big deal! All that technology -- hybrid engine, regenerative braking, aerodynamic design -- and you get 40 mpg? My 1985 Escort got that. On one trip down to school I recorded a record 50mpg on the highway. My 1989 CRX Si got mid thirties when I drove it. I don't know if it still does. Suzy? Many VW TDI series owners claim to get more than that. Perhaps rather than pushing the limits at the high end we should focus on getting more of the 12 mpg vehicles up to a sane level of economy.
Classic games - Nintendo confirmed yesterday that they are going to release a bunch of their classic games for play on the Game Boy Advance. For starters: Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Excitebike, Ice Climber, Xevious, and Bomberman. Michelle is looking forward to Donkey Kong. She says she used to love that game.