Freakonomics

"These are the latest numbers."
The words are spoken a few times each year by our financial director.
(He's the only one in the picture so that's easy.) And we take notice.
So we're making a profit . "Well, you have to take in count that....."
So we're losing money. "Well, not necessarily but .." In the end we lit a cigar, drink a few pints and live happily ever after.
Well boys and girls if you really are into economics read this book->
Freakonomics. And you'll know why we're laughing.

Been a busy day

Driving home with no idea what to put on my blog. I really wanted to skip today, but at home my cat Lulu gave me the evil eye. So I had to take her picture. She scorned me for contemplating to use red-eye reduction. I'm a cat, think again loser. My son stayed in sick, so no great conversations their either. The only consolation was a rose in my garden. But I'm afraid that's the last one this year. I think I' m getting a beer.

Fossil fuel

How to earn 349 million euro in three months. Well the answer is burn fossil fuel!
The owner of this fossil fuel burner, NUON - 2 million customers in the Netherlands, doubled it's earnings in the 2nd quarter of this year. How? Did they offer better service. Did they made their customers happy? No. They doubled their earnings because the fuel prices rose.

No one wants to pay extra. The sales reps of NUON tried to cash in on the price scare. So they called their customers and said: "the fuel prices are rising, we have an offer to lock your account to the current rates." Well boys, where are you now? The oil and gas prices have dropped since the oil-scare of July/Augustus. So call me now and make me a better offer. Well I bet you this time they won't call.

[This train of thought started because I drove by them this afternoon. I took the pic driving on the Amsterdam ring. Is that illegal? Phoning is. Oke I over dramatized the sky a bit]

Take out the trash

Great this underground garbage disposal system. If you keep your eyes open you'll spot them on almost every corner in Amsterdam. Frankly they are not that hard to spot because of all the chunks of garbage that are to big to put in and lay beside them. So all the communication managers in Amsterdam are torturing themselves how to get the garbage message across. "If it's to big to put it in, call the big garbage pick-up service." Well as you see that's to much work. It's faster to put it next to it. Problem is the guys from the trucks who have to lift the underground container in order to empty it have to remove the big pieces first. And this happens in Amsterdam about 10.000 times each week.