This week, illustrating how a career can become a non-starter, Bret wrote about dead end jobs and what you can do to avoid them. Among other things, he says:

Not everyone aspires to be wealthy or to rise to the top of the corporate world.  But, to work so hard, get paid so little and have no opportunity for advancement is a definite fail.  I’m not talking about someone choosing a low-paying profession because it’s their passion and they enjoy it.  I’m talking about being stuck in a dead-end job because they never made the effort to pursue a career.

Well played. No one wants to think of themselves as being on the road to nowhere. The alternatives Bret proposes are good, but I’d like to point something out.

There’s no such thing as a dead-end job. Every company, from the 2-person ditch-digging service to Wal-Mart, either has leadership positions that will eventually need to be filled, or has the potential to expand if managed right. Working your way up from gas station clerk to shift manager to regional manager may not be glamorous, but it is realistic.

So why does it happen so rarely? The problem is, if you come into a job and label it “temporary” or “dead-end”, you’ve lost your own mental battle before you’ve ever put your dukes up. This is just a summer gig or some emergency cash until something better comes along; why bother doing anything above the minimum?

The truth is that it doesn’t take much effort to glide by. Just show up on time, accomplish in general what is asked of you, and tolerate your customers. Some people may even get promoted this way.

If most people making minimum wage see their jobs this way, is it very hard to do a little more? In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. If you always come in a bit early, always take a little bit of initiative, always ask where you can be useful outside of your barebones job description, it’s easy to set yourself apart from co-workers who are just going through the motions.

Does this mean working your way up in this manner is your ideal path? Maybe not, and Hope to Prosper’s post can give you some great ideas for alternatives, but in the end it’s only a dead end if you put the transmission in “Park”.

News sources report that a call to the number was uneventful and no one got hurt; of course if the reporter died, they wouldn’t be around to tell us, would they?

Nigeria is prone to such panics due to widespread distrust of the government and the general lack of education throughout the country.
In the past, text message rumors of bombings and even news of people being burned alive by acid rain have topped such exotic madness as Korea’s fear of fan death.

Some media outlets are speculating that this rumor was started by the Boko Haram sect, an extremist Muslim group that tries to resist Western influence. Among other highlights from the sect’s past are claims that a spherical Earth is contrary to Islamic teachings and that rain is not caused by evaporated water re-condensing.

They also reject Darwinism, which puts Boko Haram and Texas Governor Rick Perry in the same intellectual ballpark. Go figure.

Let me share some of these inventions and see if you agree with my guesses. Click on the images to go to the patent pages. Be sure to leave your own ideas in the comments.

1. Prisoner Restraint System

Actually an exercise aid. I guess escaping shackles is a workout.

excercise aid

exercise aid

2. Prosthetic Tooth

Apparently this is a “golf tool” of some sort. Let me know if you ever figure out its purpose.

golf tool

golf tool

3. Spark Plug? Shock Absorber?

Of course not! This is simply a candle. Imagine these adorning your dining room table for an intimate evening.

candle

candle

4. Plastic Mold

This is a “laced baseball helmet”. It sounds like the guy who designed it was smoking something laced, too.

baseball helmet

baseball helmet

5. Unicycle Training Wheel

Wrong again, this is a rope winch. The likeliest one of the bunch, but I still maintain it looks like a circus act.

rope winch

rope winch

So what do you think? Am I crazy? What did you see when you looked at these pictures?

In the winter of 1942, allied governments were rallying their populations to buy war bonds. Victory over the Axis was far from clear-cut, and the Western world was experiencing a fear we could compare to the days and weeks after September 11th.

It was in this context that the Canadian city of Winnipeg experienced a Nazi invasion. On the morning of February 19th, 1942, 3500 Canadian soldiers were defeated by an attacking German force to the sound of air raid sirens and enemy fighters screaming through the skies.

The attack started before 6AM with patrols into the city. By 9:30AM city officials were arrested. The police chief happened to be on a break and evaded capture. Flags were replaced with swastikas and a German tank was driven through downtown Winnipeg.

In a brilliant move, the Greater Winnipeg Victory Loan organization had decided to show Canadians what a Nazi invasion would mean when it came to everyday life. The “enemy forces” were local volunteers in German uniforms, and the airplanes were temporarily painted with Luftwaffe insignia.

The city was renamed Himmlerstadt and major roads were given appropriate monikers like Hitlerstrasse. The local paper was published as Das Winnipeger Lügenblatt, or The Winnipeg Sheet of Lies. A regular column was replaced with an “approved” version, which instructed readers, “Explained it should be that whenever the word (Joke) appears thus in this column from now on, the reader is expected to laugh,” and included the following joke:

Q: “Who was that lady last night I saw you out with?”
A: “That lady was my wife!”
(Joke) Ha Ha Ha!

The  paper also carried the following declaration from Erich von Neurenberg, the notional leader of the regional Nazi party:

1. This territory is now a part of the Greater Reich and under the jurisdiction of Col. Erich Von Neuremburg, Gauleiter of the Fuehrer.
2. No civilians will be permitted on the streets between 9:30 pm and daybreak.
3. All public places are out of bounds to civilians, and not more than 8 persons can gather at one time in any place.
4. Every householder must provide billeting for 5 soldiers.
5. All organizations of a military, semi-military or fraternal nature are hereby disbanded and banned. Girl Guide, Boy Scout and similar youth organizations will remain in existence but under direction of the Gauleiter and Storm troops.
6. All owners of motor cars, trucks and buses must register same at Occupation Headquarters where they will be taken over by the Army of Occupation.
7. Each farmer must immediately report all stocks of grain and livestock and no farm produce may be sold except through the office of the Kommandant of supplies in Winnipeg. He may not keep any for his own consumption but must buy it back through the Central Authority in Winnipeg.
8. All national emblems excluding the Swastika must be immediately destroyed.
9. Each inhabitant will be furnished with a ration card, and food and clothing may only be purchased on presentation of this card.
10. The following offences will result in death without trial

1. Attempting to organize resistance against the Army of Occupation
2. Entering or leaving the province without permission.
3. Failure to report all goods possessed when ordered to do so.
4. Possession of firearms.

A rival paper saw one of its vendors attacked by the actors and his papers destroyed. Churches were forbidden from holding services. A school principal was replaced with a Nazi educator and special curricula were prepared for area high schools. A local library witnessed a book burning consisting of pre-selected worn-out or damaged books, and the destruction of vital bridges was simulated.

This video has some good footage of the event:

Of course, all good things must come to an end. At 5:30 that evening, all the prisoners were released during a ceremony and a parade was held downtown. The point had been made.

So how did this creative marketing fare? The total cost of the “invasion” was $3000. By comparison, Winnipeg raised $3.2 million in that one day, an impressive return on investment. Later in the war, several other cities, including Vancouver, considered or staged similar events. Fear, it seems, is an excellent motivator.

Would it be feasible to repeat something like this in the present day? Will we soon see cities taken over by Islamic fundamentalists with religious police roaming the streets, all in the name of helping our country? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Residents of nearby mobile home parks told me that county sheriff’s deputies have warned them they might have to evacuate. Some could be seen in the distance dousing fences and rooflines with water in the hopes of forestalling the flames while a private plane circled overhead observing the scene. This is the approximate location of the fire.

Here are some photos I took from areas surrounding the fire.

A pillar of smoke visible from GA Highway 196 Westbound (Hinesville, GA)

A pillar of smoke visible from GA Highway 196 Westbound (Hinesville, GA)

Smoke from a wildfire billows up behind mobile homes in Hinesville

The wildfire's smoke obscures the sun (Hinesville, GA)

The wildfire's smoke obscures the sun (Hinesville, GA)

Liberty County Sheriff's Deputies redirect traffic in view of the wildfire (Hinesville, GA)

An empty field burns as a result of a June lightning strike (Hinesville, GA)

Billowing smoke from the Hinesville fire (Hinesville, GA)

Smoke envelops a neighborhood in west Hinesville (Hinesville, GA)

As a result, all across the country, clustered around military posts, there are businesses who thrive on concealing the true cost of a purchase from their customers. I encountered one such business and its tactics while pricing a new television set for our house.

I was referred to the site by a link from The Army Times, a reputable military newspaper. The item on the paper’s site promised $100 off your order, with seemingly no fine print. Intrigued, I started browsing Freedom Furniture & Electronics, which seemed to have a store near every major military post.

A few minutes in, I realized something unusual. None of the merchandise had a price displayed. All that was available was a “per-payday” price. After some digging, I discovered that the assumed method of payment was a loan payable every payday (the first and the 15th of every month), amortized over 2 years at 19.9% APR.

Since I’m deployed at the moment, I decided to try the site’s live chat feature in lieu of calling them. What follows is the conversation I had with a representative of the company:

[Sales Rep] Thank you for choosing Freedom Furniture & Electronics. My name is (Sales Rep), how are you today?

[Alex] Hi (Sales Rep), I’m Alex, doing great, how are you?

[Sales Rep] Hi Alex

[Sales Rep] how may I help you

[Alex] This is kind of a silly question but I can’t find the price for anything on the site. Where should I be looking?

[Sales Rep] just give me the item number I can give you the pricing

[Sales Rep]

[Alex] Well, that could take a while, I’m browsing and trying to compare items

[Sales Rep] ok did you already fill out an application

[Alex] I need to apply to shop at Freedom Furniture & Electronics?

[Sales Rep] no just asking

[Alex] Sorry, I think I’m confused, what kind of application should I have filled out?

[Sales Rep] for credit

[Alex] Oh, no, I’m not interested in credit, I’m just trying to find a TV.

[Alex] Sorry, I don’t know how I gave you that impression

[Sales Rep] ok well when you look at the TV you like you can do this…

[Sales Rep] take the per payday price X 2 x24 (months)

[Sales Rep] all of the pricing is based on 2 payments a month times 24 months

[Sales Rep] is there anything else I can help you with

[Alex] So I get charged the interest even if I pay up front?

[Sales Rep] no, but that will give you a round about price, if you don’t want to give me the item numbers. I can give you the exact price if you have the item number. If you pay cash you also get a 10% discount

[Alex] OK, I don’t think I understand; say an item costs $20 per payday, right?

[Sales Rep] take that and times it by 2 for 40.00

[Sales Rep] then take the 40 and times it by 24 months for the price

[Alex] If I multiply that by 48, that’s $960, but that includes two years’ interest at 19.9% APR, right?

[Sales Rep] 960.00

[Alex] So all I have to do is subtract 40% of that for the final cash price, minus the 10% cash discount?

[Sales Rep] it may, I am not 100% sure, unless you look at one and we can get the exact price.

[Alex] OK, give me just a second then

[Alex] I’m looking at the Sony 40″ Bravia, Item Number KDL40EX500

[Sales Rep] what is the payday price

[Alex] $36.46

[Sales Rep] the price is 1299.99

[Alex] And with the cash discount it ends up being about $1179?

[Sales Rep] minus the cash discount it is 1170.00

[Alex] OK, good stuff, I’m just surprised you guys don’t have the price up anywhere

[Sales Rep] we do it by payday for military

[Sales Rep] we can give you any price you want if you call or come into chat

[Alex] OK, thanks for your time.

[Sales Rep] sure

[Alex] Have a great day!

The only conclusion I can draw is that they don’t want you to know the price you’re paying at all. Who would, when they can charge you almost 20% interest for two years? While not illegal (as far as I know), this seems to be borderline unethical. Note that with the method she describes for getting a “round-about price” the TV in question comes to $1750.08, almost $600 more than the up-front cash price, meaning the estimate has a margin of error of about 50%.

I should also note that this same TV directly from Sony only costs $764.99. I suppose Veterans’ Day is over.

Here’s a screenshot:

The file is available in Excel or OpenOffice.org format, so enjoy and let me know if you have any problems using it:

• Excel file
• OpenOffice.org file

Check back in a week or two for further updates, and thanks for stopping by.

As a joke, he typed the word “talaq”, which means divorce in Arabic, 3 times. Unfortunately, the Muslim clergy caught wind of his joke and ruled that the divorce will stand, regardless of the fact that the wife didn’t respond. The Dar ul-Uloom Deoband, an influential Sunni Muslim seminary in India, issued this fatwa, or religious ruling:

Photo courtesy of Photos8.com

When you pronounce talaq three times, it means talaq has taken place, and it does not matter whether the woman has reciprocated or not. Your wife has become ‘haraam’ for you whether you are aware of the commandment of Islam or not.

…I jokingly typed talak talak talak to my wife on skype chat asuming that she was going to give me divorce the next day of which i was very sure but it not happen and she extended the date…