I bought a cell phone from a physical store recently, and I fully expected to be upsold to.  Sure enough, I was offered more minutes, a case, insurance, etc.  That makes sense.  Salespeople work off commission, so the more they sell, the more they make.  And I simply walked in off the street.  I didn't pre-order or pre-pay or anything like that.  To them, I was a holder of money, looking to part with said money. 

I also rented a car recently, and like I do every time, I forgot how much they'd try to upsell me.  A bigger car, prepaid gas, GPS, satellite radio, etc.  But unlike the cell phone experience, I didn't just walk in off the street.  I had a reservation, and I chose exactly what I wanted with the exact options I wanted.  I was provided a price quote, and I provided a credit card number in return.  Not to mention the fact that I was traveling for business, and my employer sets the price I can spend on a vehicle, so no amount of upselling could possibly make me change my mind. #business

Scott Adams suggests the factor that most affects a nation's economy is its lawyers-to-engineers ratio. 

Some of you will argue that education in general is the biggest predictor of success. But I think you'd agree that if everyone started majoring in English, we'd all starve to death with impeccable grammar.

Related:  MBAs vs. engineers #business

From a Time article about former GM executive Bob Lutz (via Neatorama): 

To get the U.S. economy growing again, Lutz says, we need to fire the M.B.A.s and let engineers run the show.

As an engineer and a non-MBA, I don't know that I agree, but I would certainly benefit.  If engineers ran the world, there'd be a lot of anal-retentive, sweaty, short-sleeves-and-tie guys in the limelight.  That could be good or bad depending on your perspective. #business

My older co-worker stopped by my cubicle yesterday and asked me to follow him.  I pointed to the lunch I was devouring; he took the hint and said never mind.  A few minutes later he came back to my desk with a color printout of a Google map showing walking directions from a hotel to a convention center two blocks away.  It took up two pages.  He just wanted to show me how far we'd have to walk when we go to a convention in a few weeks.  Since I had booked my hotel room before him, I already knew that information, so I kindly accepted his printouts and he walked away satisfied.  This was about as useful as printing an email. #business

Transocean, the company that operated the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico until it exploded and killed 11 people and dumped 200 million gallons of oil into the ocean thus creating the worst man-made environmental disaster in American history, decided to go ahead and hand out bonuses to their executives for their "best year in safety performance."  I'd hate to see what their worst year in safety would look like. #business

Here's something they don't tell you when you're a kid:  Ya know how awesome Christmas break is?  A week (or more) off from school, playing with your new toys and eating cookies all day?  Yeah well that stops once you start working.  And it's not just that you no longer play with toys and can't afford to eat cookies because they'll put you over your calorie limit.  It's that, unless you have a really good reason to take an entire week off form work between Christmas and New Year's (e.g. progeny, illness, etc.), you'll probably spend at least a few days back at work during that time, making both holidays essentially just glorified three-day weekends.  And not that there's anything wrong with a long weekend.  It's just that it's a letdown.  You're thinking, "Wee!  Christmas is in a few days!"  And then a few days later you're thinking, "Un-wee!  Back to work!" #business

When I was in the market for a snowboarding helmet, I remember reading a funny/stupid product complaint.  It was from a mother saying that the helmet she bought her son got cracked after one day of use.  Another commenter replied to her saying that if a helmet cracked, that means it served its purpose, i.e. at least your son's head didn't get cracked instead.  To view a cracked helmet as a failed product is to misunderstand the purpose of a helmet.  In conclusion, people are stupid. #business

One December a few years ago at our office Christmas party, I was forced to participate in a gift exchange where the value of the gift was capped at $15.  People bought things like wine, chocolate, and novelty desk toys.  The gift I received, which happened to be from my boss (who has since retired), was a mirror.  An ugly, metallic, craptastic mirror.  The price was conveniently listed on the packaging so that I would know the giver spent exactly $15.  From the quality of the gift and the very specific price tag, it was easy to deduce that my boss simply went to a local store, walked down the nearest aisle, and picked out the first item that met the cost requirement.  This is why I no longer participate in office gift exchanges. #business

I like this quote by Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake:  "Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard."  I would take out the "probably."  I often interact with people who expend a lot of energy and time working on things, and their results are often underwhelming.  It seems that the people who work smartly often get things done quicker and with less effort. #business

I've noticed that the words General, United, and Standard are common in company names: 

General Dynamic
General Electric
General Foods
General Mills
General Motors

United Airlines
United Defense
United Fruit Company
United Healthcare
United Parcel Service
United Technologies
United Van Lines
United Water

Standard Bank
Standard Brands
Standard General
Standard Oil
Standard & Poor's

If I start a company, I'll probably call it Standard General United. #business