Category: Consuming

Marriage Made In Heaven

Obviously, the best thing for a struggling North American auto manufacturer with a poor quality reputation is a partnership with a struggling Italian auto manufacturer with a poor quality reputation.

What a great idea!

Fiat’s not putting any cash into the deal, so it doesn’t stand to lose much, but I just can’t see the logic in it. Sure, they have a lot in common, but is it anything good? Reading about it is like being invited to a wedding where you know the only things the bride and groom have in common are bad personal hygiene, drinking problems, and a fear of dying alone.

Virtual Inventories Piling Up?

I hear that unsold goods are piling up in inventories. Does that also apply to virtual goods? How’s the Norrath Platinum Piece holding up against the dollar? How about World of Warcraft armor? Is that piling up in someone’s virtual warehouse? Can you run out of virtual space for your virtual inventory of fictional goods that you’d hoped to sell for real money?

Incredibly Elaborate Viral Ad: Pomegranate Phone

Paging Rob Walker: I think I’ve found one of the most obscure, elaborate viral ads ever.

It’s the slickly-produced website advertising something called the Pomegranate Phone, an impossibly sophisticated, impossibly small, do-it-all mobile device. Each of the various features of the device come with a dramatic video illustration of how they’re used – phone GPS, web browser, automatic voice translator, coffeemaker, shaver, harmonica…

Of course it’s not real. The site is actually an ad for tourism in Nova Scotia, which is said to include everything you might want in a vacation destination, just like the fictional phone.

How much is that condo in the window?

Down the street from me is a rather beautiful set of condominia, one of which has just popped up on the market: 7 Park Ave #1. Asking price: $1.1 million.

It’s a very nicely done and very spacious unit, but it also seems like a lot of money for the neighborhood, and in particular a lot of money for something with aluminum siding and no yard. Plus, the Zestimate is only $620k. Even given that the Zestimate can be wildly inaccurate, I became curious: What was the previous sales price?

Zillow usually has the sales history, but didn’t in this case, so I looked it up on Mass Land Records. It turns out it was sold in 2002 by Lalo Development LLC to Gorka Brabo for $1.00. Yes, one dollar. Sounds like that’s a token transfer from a business to the person who owns the business. (Based on this page from city-data.com I’m guessing the Brabo family owns Lalo Development).

There’s nothing wrong with buying something for a dollar, especially if it’s just a title transfer from a company you own to your personal property. But it sure makes it harder to figure out what the original cost was, and that makes it hard for me to guess whether $1.1M is in line with the money put into the place.

Another weird detail: Brabo is also listed as the sales agent for the unit. Does that mean he’ll take a realtor’s commission as well? That would be pretty brilliant.

Anyway, Zillow guesses the property is worth just over half the asking price. Anyone care to hazard guesses about the eventual sale price, the amount of time it will spend on the market, and what you’d be willing to pay for a Davis Square loft-style condo?

Underestimating the Desperation of the American Consumer

Well, here’s a good sign for the economy: One man was trampled to death and a pregnant woman had a miscarriage as a result of a 5AM stampede at a Wal*Mart in Long Island. You can’t have a good Black Friday without a trampling death. If that’s not a sign of consumer confidence, I don’t know what is.

Yes, that’s a little callous. But don’t you know better than to stand right behind the door getting busted at a doorbuster sale, even (perhaps especially) in a recession? What’s the saying about underestimating the American consumer?

I guess I’m just trying to find the dark cloud in every silver lining. I guess I’m just annoyed by the ongoing community outrage about saving a dying and likely hazardous tree in Davis Square while there are rather more pressing issues to worry about. Things like the fuel assistance board in MA seeing so much demand this winter that people who are broke can’t even get an appointment to talk about heat assistance until February. Things like community pantries being bare. Things like Mumbai in flames.

But hey, discounted flat-screen TVs! 40% off at Banana!

Recipe For Bachelor Evening

Thaw three beef marrow bones. Roast at 400 degrees with salt, pepper, any herbs on hand, until gooey and sizzling (45 minutes or so). Place over salad greens, top with parsley, lemon, toast, and more salt and pepper.

Eat with hands. There’s not much marrow, but you can gnaw on the bones to get bits of fat and meat off of them. Picking the gristle from your teeth counts as flossing, and the tallow all over everything surrounding you counts as either moisturizer or furniture polish.

Yes, the lady of the house is out for the evening.

I’m Surprised the Dollar is Regarded as Safe

Currencies Fall as Fears Spread and Stocks Slip, says the Times. “Cash flowed into the dollar and the Japanese yen, the two most sought-after safe havens in a storm-tossed world, as it fled from emerging markets.” Really? The dollar? The US dollar? Isn’t that where this whole mess started? Wouldn’t the panicky money go to the Euro and the Swiss Franc?