On things not always just working… I suspect that some of this is due to corrupted preferences. I think this is a some what weak area in the Mac system. Once a preference file becomes corrupted it stays that way or becomes worse. The only easy way to reset the preferences is to do a clean install and reenter all your settings by hand. Don’t do an archive and install. Yes, if you are really into it you could try removing preference files one by one and restarting till you find the offending file. Once we even fixed a problem on my wife’s machine by editing the file by hand by removing a section of clearly bogus text.

I now have a problem on my machine where it doesn’t appear on other machines when I want to do file sharing. I suspect that the problem is in one of the preference files but I’m too lazy to fix it. Next year when I by a new machine I’ll start with a clean install and go from there.

It would be nice if there were simpler ways to do this. Perhaps there could be a utility that would let you temporarily reset preference files one by one by clicking check boxes. Perhaps Apple could build in some really solid error checking into the preference files to make them more robust.

Gene; can’t spend too much time on this because I am in lesson development for school tomorrow. (no, we just dont open the book and read) (comment not directed at you)

I agree management is responsible. Under my “plan” the production lines will still be there, the workers will be there. What will go is the management, and the labor contracts that are unsustainable by any stretch of the imagination.

I wish there was a job that guaranteed some degree of permanence. But in the history of the world, only in the last 50 or so years have people believed that such of thing could be true in the real world. I also owned a business. The hard reality is that 90% of all new businesses fail. Mine did not, but when we started, we did it on credit cards, no bail out for us, not even a bank loan to begin with. Could not get one.

If any business fails, the responsibility always has to be shared. Lousy management, yes. But if the GM employees thought they could go on making 2-3 times the wage of comparable worth jobs, then they needed to brush up on their math and their judgement as adults. If you can’t get a job in Michigan making cars, go somewhere else. Yes, you are capable of building something besides a GM car. A Caterpillar or a John Deere.

They will still have jobs, maybe not as many, and not as much per hour. The plants will still be there, they dont vaporize if they go Chapter 11. But it is better than total failure.

It will take time. Believe me, the time and effort involved in designing a new car model is light years beyond designing a new computer. Those who think it takes less than 3 years should give it a try.

Will check back tomorrow night after I plan Thursday’s lessons for my classes.

kenh wrote:

What would that “fast track” method be?

25-50 billion dollars would not be nearly enough to buy the time needed to turn the ship, if that is what you are suggesting. And the only way to characterize it is “buying the time” Buy it if you think its worth it, but I don’t.

We’re talking here about a prepackaged deal:

http://www.reason.org/outofcontrol/archives/2008/11/no_bailout_for_1.html

Listen, if you feel that the Big 3 ought to bite the big one, individually or collectively, that’s understandable. I am not a fan, as you know, but I also feel that management is responsible for their plight, not the employees, and they shouldn’t suffer because they took a job hoping it had some degree of permanence.

Peace,
Gene

What would that “fast track” method be?

25-50 billion dollars would not be nearly enough to buy the time needed to turn the ship, if that is what you are suggesting. And the only way to characterize it is “buying the time” Buy it if you think its worth it, but I don’t.

Maybe if a Big 3 company that chooses restructuring will use what some call a “fast track” method that’ll get them out of bankruptcy in months rather than years. That might restore their credibility with customers.

Peace,
Gene

Gene; some people will be reluctant to buy from the “old” GM, but I think more will be willing to buy from a restructured GM who builds the Chevy Impala. My daughter, a long time Nissan owner married a Chevy guy. I like the car. Not nearly as well as I like the new Nissan Altima, but I would look at it as a buy.

And that is partially because, if restructured, they have a chance at survival.

Watched a documentary about the Corvette factory last night. World class, they deserve to make it either as part of GM, or by being sold off independently. It’s profitable on its own. You can see the workers like building the car. No question the car is expensive, but it can tolerate the $2000 per car cost of retirement and medical benefits that are a part of the cost of building any GM car. I would like to see that number on the price sticker, actually. If the people then want to vote for it pay paying for it, fine.

If GM and others go on as they are, THEN I would be scared of buying an Impala, and having government as a partner, their odds of going down the tube are increased. I work for a school system now, I know the effects of being obligated to the government for every dime.

I worked for both Nissan and BMW, although it has been 20 years. I helped develop the initial parts packages for Nissan’s warehouse that supplies the plant in Smyrna, Tn.

The suppliers would rather work with a company that has a future than one that does not. They liked working with us, a lot less sturm and drang. (drama!)

It’s just a question of which GM it will be, the old one, or the new one. And with the labor contracts that Nissan and BMW have, they do not have to keep trying to push the retirement expenses further and further off into the future.

Both of those plants can go union anytime they want by voting it in. They choose not to because, on the balance, the workers believe they are better off and, at least for the moment, get to choose whether or not to be by a secret ballot. That could change, and I pray for us if the secret ballot goes away. But that is another issue.

The auto execs flying on the jets was bad PR in the extreme, although you can easily make the efficiency argument for them doing it. They just should have shared a plane. They were just too dumb to do it, and that is also a problem in itself. I have worked a lot with auto racers and other sports figures, and their planes save them money compared to the alternative. But that argument is lost, even though it is often economically correct, just not politically correct. Unless you are a Hollywood type, then it becomes …..well, you know where I am going with that.

You seem to forget something about the impact of a Chapter 11 on an auto company. It’s not the equivalent of an airline bankruptcy. People are going to be extremely reluctant to buy cars from a firm that they feel may be going out of out of business (even if that’s not the plan), and you can see where sales may therefore dip substantially. That will only hamper reorganization unless there were guarantees that would reassure the public, and that would be difficult to accomplish.

Also bear in mind that many of the parts suppliers who provide material for the Big 3 also deal with the foreign car companies with U.S.-based plants, and this could put a huge monkey wrench into their operations as well that could impact car companies that aren’t involved in this mess.

Peace,
Gene

Gene said:

“You need to understand that 1 in 10 jobs in the U.S. are directly related to the auto industry. If you can’t understand what losing a significant amount of those jobs means then I can’t help you.”

Gene, you make the “assumption” that a “significant amount of those jobs will be lost” if the auto industry files bankruptcy. Not true. See my previous post for more details regarding this matter. At most 10-15% may be lost, totaling 1 tenth of 1 percent according to your 1 in 10 ratio. We would need to have a much more severe recession for more jobs to be lost. Remember, these companies are not going out of business, they are simply going to be restructured.

Oh, and one more thing Gene. That 1 in 10 ratio is fallacious at best. The auto industry (which makes such claims) counts car wash attendants, auto mechanics, gas station cashiers and Tire Barn night watchmen in that data. It is “highly” skewed. The actual number of people with “direct relation” to the manufacturing of automobiles is closer to 3 million. With 300 million people in the US, a more accurate ratio would be about 100 to 1.

Try not to buy into the media hype Gene. It will skew your thought process.

>SUCCEEDING IN THE AUTO BUSINESS<

Just so you understand, the automobile companies will “NOT” go out of business if they don’t receive help from the US Government. That’s not how it works.

When a company like GM declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the creditors become the owners of the company. They take over all assets and liabilities, and restructure the company. Selling off poor performing assets and firing the old management so that the creditors can place their own officers in there. The company then begins anew, all-be-it a much leaner and meaner organization. The creditors are not stupid. They realize the viability of a “properly run” company and are eager to make it work so that they may recoup their loses and potentially make a profit in the long run.

The CEO’s of the Big-3 are concerned for their jobs…… nothing more. They know how it works and are shaking in their Lear Jets. The companies themselves aren’t going anywhere, only the management and deadweight employees and assets will get the boot. While the company itself survives and moves on.

I wish more people understood this, so I wouldn’t keep reading the FUD I see in the news everyday. Which in turn influences the general public into believing their beloved car company is going to evaporate. Those people then call their local Federal Representative and beg them to save the auto industry. Which is exactly what the CEO’s of these companies want. Their very jobs depend on it. The idea that the company itself will fold is simply false, and will NEVER EVER happen.

I am the CFO of a large Advertising firm, so I understand these things a little better than most.

Happy Holidays to you and your family.

I understand the impact of the U.S. auto industry on this country. That’s what makes it sad that the Big 3’s executives have taken so long to figure out what’s going on and do something about it.

Peace,
Gene