So Near, Yet so Far

Late Saturday morning, about a dozen of us left our daughter’s home in Potomac, Maryland, and drove the short distance to Swains Lock, one of the access points to the towpath of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. From that rendezvous we all set out for a bracing walk along this old passageway frequented year-round by bikers, joggers, hikers, campers and day walkers. The 185-mile long C&O canal snakes along the Potomac River where it eventually flows through Washington, D.C.

We enjoyed the conviviality of an invigorating walk on that bright sunny day, observing the light blue of the sky and the steely gray of the river which contrasted dramatically against the earthy fall-brown of the leafy ground cover.

Our one-hour stroll was a welcome break in extended Thanksgiving festivities with families and friends. Even though we’ve all been living in the same sandbox for a couple of days, everyone is playing fair and enjoying good companionship, food, wine and family activities.

During that quiet one-hour towpath trek where the river cliffs rise steeply to the left on one side of the canal, and the river quietly meanders below on the right towards the nation’s capital, there was no physical indication that we were only about 12 miles from the nerve center of national politics. It seems that we had all implicitly decided to take a break from the hustle of the recent elections.

In that natural environment, there were too many other equally important topics.

Forbes on Mark-to-Market

On Friday, November 21, Steve Forbes appeared on a TV show and was asked what could be done to fix some of the problems infecting the financial industry. He was especially emphatic on one point, stating that the mark-to-market rule instituted by FASB (the Financial Accounting Standards Board) be eliminated.

Mark-to-market, as its name implies, requires that all companies who hold financial instruments on their books adjust them on a quarterly basis to the price which those securities would fetch if sold in the open market. In the current environment, though, there is little if any liquidity for mortgage-backed securities; consequently, their pre-meltdown values have tanked. Even as these investments continue to be held on the balance sheet of a company, the FASB rule requires that they be written down to an if-sold value. This has resulted in huge paper losses and corresponding write-downs against reported quarterly earnings.

As Forbes pointed out, this can be devastating. For example, insurance companies purchase and hold financial assets in their investment portfolios for the long term, often until maturity when they are redeemed at full value. By adjusting the book value of these securities to an estimated if-sold market price on a quarterly basis, insurance companies can end up recording enormous book losses which have not, in fact, been incurred.

In a normal economic environment where quarterly bond market fluctuations are relatively minor, the mark-to-market rule may have made sense. But, in the maelstrom in which the U.S. and international economies seem to be navigating, Forbes stated that FASB should re-evaluate this accounting rule.

Yesterday’s events seem to have diminished that prospect: The Federal Reserve announced that it will buy $500 billion of mortgage-backed securities – the so-called ‘toxic assets’ held by banks and investment firms. No indication was given as to how prices would be set or publicly disclosed.

Thanks for checking in, and enjoy your Thanksgiving. Despite all of the turkeys in Washington, we still have immeasurable blessings for which to be thankful.

The BlackBerry Takes Bridgewater by Storm

On Friday morning at 10:30 am, the customer line outside the Verizon Wireless store at the Bridgewater Commons Mall stretched to about 40 feet long, two to three people wide. The store was already open, and a Verizon employee was metering people in towards the counter where service people were already engaged in selling service plans for the newly announced BlackBerry Storm.

This cell phone is the first touch-screen BlackBerry, and it is Verizon’s answer to AT&T’s iPhone designed by Microsoft exclusively for AT&T Wireless. Both operate on a 3G network. It’s too early to tell how much Verizon will be able to temper AT&T’s head start with the IPhone, but the introduction of the new BlackBerry just before the holiday shopping rush should have an impact.

AT&T and Verizon’s service plans with these new devices are not inexpensive; both offer pricing that is either the same or close. It depends which service plan you choose. For example, the Verizon Family SharePlan will give you 700 minutes for the first two lines combined in an all-inclusive voice, unlimited text messaging, unlimited Mobile to Mobile, e-mail, data and video umbrella etc., for $119.99/month.

The comparable AT&T Wireless Family Talk plan seems to be pricier. According to my reading of the AT&T Wireless web site, 700 minutes with a two-line offering will cost you $129.99/month. But that does not include text messaging which is another $30 for unlimited messages, or 20¢ per message if no plan is selected.

AT&T provides Rollover minutes on voice; Verizon does not. Examine all plans carefully before you choose.

Sating your Hunger at the Mall

If you go shopping this weekend at Bridgewater’s regional mall, you will find several counter front eateries ready, willing, and able to satisfy your appetite. The Food Court on the third floor has been completely revamped, and at least two concessionaires will be delighted to see you lining up for their offerings.

Sbarro has returned to its traditional spot at the end on the right, desirous to fill you up with its wide variety of tasty pizzas. Saladworks, a new competitor, is eager to fill the needs of you health-conscious folks.

So far, these are the only ones I saw open for business, but there are more on the way. Charley’s Grilled Subs, Baja-B-Que, and Wendy’s have signs announcing their imminent arrival. Sarku Japan will have two spots. One is a sushi bar positioned at the head of the completely overhauled escalators leading to the upper level.

Don’t forget Gloria Jean’s Coffees which is only a stroll away near Macy’s third-floor entrance. The concessionaire who manages this place weathered the long shutdown of the Food Court, serving everyone with a cup of joe and his pleasant smile. The coffee there is very good, and you can even buy a pastry or bagel, take both back to the Food Court, sit down and enjoy them at the new tables. Why not give this guy some of your business? He deserves it.


Note: The foregoing comments are based on my observations only, without input from Mall management. They do not include a full account of the other businesses who will be taking up space in the Food Court.

Verizon’s Dreaded ‘Service Teams’

It happened quite suddenly and unexpectedly: One moment last week, I was enjoying an upgrade to my Verizon high speed Internet service; the next moment, kaput: nothing but digital silence. About an hour before the line disappeared, I received a call from a Verizon service person in Silver Springs, Maryland, advising me that my line was about to be cut.

She went on to explain that while implementing the upgrade, a technician had “accidentally pushed the wrong button in the central office” and that my line was about to crash. There was nothing she could do about it right then and there, she explained, because Verizon’s erroneous disconnect order had to go through before a second order to restore service could be processed. Not to worry, the Verizon lady assured me, the Internet service would be up and running again before the close of business on Friday.

The day before that conversation, another Verizon person in Westfield advised me that my upgraded service would be available the following day: Two separate assurances of service on two separate days, and I still have an “accidentally disconnected” Verizon Internet line.

But that’s not all! About a week before those episodes, I found myself in an endless loop of international 800 telephone service calls to Verizon because the Internet line was acting funky. It was erratically dropping its connection: The modem’s LED Internet light was toggling from a pulsating green to solid red or no light at all. Not good! That means constant line interruptions.

The latter is what prompted my initial calls to Verizon and what led to a decision to upgrade to higher speeds. Ugh! The take-away behind all this is: May the gods have mercy on you if you ever have to deal with Verizon service people.

ASSESSMENT: Verizon is plagued by an inability to coordinate its disparate service units. The people who control service in the central offices where the rubber meets the road have no effective tie-in with the service people who man the 800 lines. The latter are located worldwide: On this single service issue, I spoke with at least two persons in the Philippines, as well as others located there or elsewhere. The total number of calls which I made (I have profuse notes) is beyond the threshold of what is required to fix a still unresolved, mundane technical issue.

EXAMPLE: Sensing customer frustration, one service person at the end of an 800 line tried to reassure me: She “promised” that my Internet service would be up and running “within 12 hours.” That’s when I heard the rooster crow in the background, with the sinking feeling that I was being betrayed for the third time by a company whose representatives like to end calls by telling us how much Verizon values our business.

Saturday afternoon, the wisest Verizon person was the one who admitted, “I can’t tell you when your Internet service will be restored.” Around 1:30 pm, Monday, when I left my home office for the Bridgewater Library to post this entry, the Internet line was still buried somewhere in a technical graveyard.

Good Morning, Iraq!

The dimensions of the box are only 12”x12”x6”. It is white, and sprinkled with blue and red lettering. You can pick one up for free at any U.S. Post Office, stuff it with as much as it will hold (no weight limit) and mail it to any American military person in Iraq for $10.95.

Friday afternoon, we sent one such cherished parcel crammed with non-perishable food goodies to the son-in-law of one of our friends. Let’s call him Jack to maintain his privacy. He is a New Jerseyan whose unit was reactivated for duty in Iraq. It seems so incongruous for me to be writing this in a safe corner of my home while thinking of Jack, a person I’ve never met, who is half-way across the world in a country whose leaders largely despise Americans and who want them to leave – but just not now!

It doesn’t much matter, though, what I think of all the unfit Iraqi leaders and of their cobbled-together, fractious and ineffective government. Nor does it change anything for me to rail about whether or not American troops should come home now or stay longer. My opinion of the conduct of the war has had no impact on the actions of the Bush Administration; nor will it on the new administration led by Obama.

All that Priscille and I can do is to take this one small step which will have a direct one-on-one effect on another kindred American spirit. The men and women who were sent to Iraq do not deserve to be embroiled in the ongoing Washington Beltway political struggle that resulted in the most misdirected military expedition in U.S. history.

If you are so disposed, you might also consider a few intentional prayers for our brave souls in Iraq. Thanks for checking in.


Note: For information about what you can do to help, please see www.americasupportsyou.mil

Spiffy Food Court

It looks like progress on the food court at the Bridgewater Commons Mall is accelerating at a clip that will have some of the concessions open in time for the post-Thanksgiving day onslaught. I stopped at the management office this morning to speak with the marketing manager about opening dates, but she was out in the main mall area checking things out, so I couldn’t confirm this.

As I walked and paused on the third floor, by the southern end of the mall, the open breadth of the food court area became easily visible. The renovation partitions have been down for some time; tables, chairs and new refuse receptacles are waiting to be placed in the right spots. Several walk-up eateries are already getting ready for business. At one end of a row, on the left side, there is a ‘Grilled Subs.’ Next to it is a salad bar, followed by a ‘Baja-B-Que' concession.

‘Sarku Japan’ is returning, and it is sited in a new location opposite from its former corner spot. In a break with the 100% flavor of the food court, you will also find a ‘Skechers’ to lure you into shoe purchases after you have filled up your belly. Other non-food outlets may open in the food court, looking to accomplish the same purpose.

I must admit that I’ve begun to catch the Christmas Spirit a bit early this year, but it’s with the hope and expectation that, prompted by the economic downturn, people will also remember that the origin of the December festival is the commemoration of the birth of someone whose entry into humanity has had a transformative impact on civilization.

Time’s A’Wastin’

Sorry to interrupt, but the honeymoon is over. Like many married couples who never had the privilege of nestling in for a brief period of nuptial bliss before assuming the demanding obligations of life, so it is for President-Elect Barack Obama.

America can’t wait until after the inauguration on January 20, 2009, for a confirmation or re-direction of the economic engines of the country. With the October 3rd enactment into law of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) by President Bush and the 110th Congress, the groundwork has already been laid for our new chief executive. But it’s a ship that needs a new rudder, and that is President Obama. (I truncated the word “elect” from his title, because time will not permit two months of transitional idling.)

Markets don’t wait for people to move. They have a thrust of their own and, in the absence of consensus on a clearly-stated working plan by Obama – negotiated with Congress and the current administration – financial markets will define the future by what they see and hear today.

President Obama now has the force and prestige of his campaign momentum to reinforce him. He needs to negotiate the introduction of a modified plan, or to endorse the current one with President Bush and Congressional leaders Reid and Pelosi within the next two weeks. It’s time for some late-night cramming and candle-burning.

Should Obama fail to roll up his sleeves now, and should the economy sink further into recession, no longer will there be any basis for Bush-bashing. It’s your dime, Mr. President. Spend it wisely. I know you didn’t ask for this, but neither did we.

Walking the Talk

As I bring to mind some of the expressions that TV talking heads employed as buzz phrases in the months prior to the 2008 national, gubernatorial, and local elections, there is a pair that stands out as meaningless. I think that not even the highly-paid commentators who seeded their sentences with them knew what they were talking about. The first phrase they used is, “talking the talk;” the second is “walking the walk.”

If you think carefully about what that signifies, the answer is nothing. Really! Nothing! Both phrases are a watering down by the TV media of business expressions appropriated by journalists who either did not check real-world usage, or who became tongue-tied in attempting to employ the correct terminology, and just gave up.

The genesis of the two terms is the business world, and they are often used in tandem. For example, managers and executives who are in love with the sound of their voices, but who don’t get things done, often earn a reputation for “talking the walk.” Lots of sound; no action.

On the other hand, an accomplished manager or executive who knows how to “walk the talk,” is one who has not only well articulated what has to be done, but who has laid out a clear path, a plan for execution and – just as important – rolls up his or her sleeves and gets the job done along with the team.

The next time that you hear or see a vapid empty suit (or dress) on TV being critical of someone by misusing these business expressions, you can take that as a sure sign that it is the commentator who does not know how to “walk the talk.”

Bridgewater’s Open Space Money & Other Ballot Questions

Tuesday, when you go to the polls, you will see three public questions seeking your evaluation on the ballot. The first has to do with amending the New Jersey Constitution so that Trenton officials will be required to get your approval by referendum before they can arbitrarily issue unfunded bonds to spend your money. This action is necessary to cancel out State court rulings which have allowed legislators to bypass voters and to issue bonds with impunity. Question #1 deserves a “Yes” vote.

The second ballot question is fraught with ambiguity: It asks your permission to alter the New Jersey Constitution so that “the method of selection and appointment of certain municipal court judges would be set by statute” rather than, as is now the practice, by the Governor’s nomination with ratification by the Senate.

If this ballot question is approved, it means that the N.J. Legislature can pass any law that it wants as to how this class of judges is appointed, including the present process. Knowing how untrustworthy some of our elected officials can be with their propensity for patronage and their skill at circumventing regulations, maybe it’s best to leave well enough alone. You decide.

The third and last question is worthy of your “Yes” vote. It’s strictly a local Bridgewater issue. It asks that you permit that up to 25% of Open Space Trust Fund money be used to purchase and/or to improve land for recreational purposes in Bridgewater. If you vote “Yes,” the Township Council will pass an ordinance to that effect. Makes sense to me.

Note: You can see a pdf. File of a sample ballot of the November 4, 2008 election at http://www.co.somerset.nj.us/clerk/pdf/2008novsamples.pdf

Bridgewater and its “800-Pound Gorilla”

Thursday’s October 30th edition of the Courier News featured a lead story by Michael Deak entitled, “Mapping a Growth Blueprint.” The article reports on an 11.5-square mile Somerset County Regional Center defined in 1996, and composed of parts of Bridgewater, Somerville and Raritan Borough.

The ideal objective is for these three communities to co-ordinate efforts in an attempt to control growth and to contain suburban sprawl. For Bridgewater, the horses are largely out of the barn as to the latter. Nonetheless, rigorous, tri-partite efforts to direct growth along the 11.5 mile regional center corridor are necessary, and any further sprawl in Bridgewater should be truncated.

Ben Spinelli, an official from New Jersey’s Office of Smart Growth addressed the summit. I wish that he had explained how COAH’s state-imposed burden on Bridgewater Township for more housing units will adversely contribute to the “suburban sprawl” which he so roundly decried.

Bridgewater had already exceeded its quota for COAH housing units before the state came roaring back in, imposing even more. The most significant comment in Deak’s reporting was that made by Bridgewater’s Mayor Patricia Flannery, when she said, “The 800-pound gorilla in the room is affordable housing.”