Skinny Jeans?

In this New York Times article, A New Size for Denim: Extra Tight, the (male) writer reviews what appears to be the new, hot trend in fashion: Skinny Jeans. As I read him describe these "tight fitting" and "high waisted" new styles, I could not keep visions of the 1987 Jordache Ass-Back Series III infamy out of my head. But these skinny, stretchy jeans are not only for women. Oh no, my friend, these Keith-Richards-meets-Iggy-Pop styles are for men.

Men who would wear spandex bicycle pants out on the town, if only they had pockets.

But I'm afraid that you could read the date off of a dime if you did put anything in these pockets

But with prices reaching the $500+ range, the pocket where your wallet goes won't have anything to hold anyway.

As a relatively skinny person, and therefore not really having an ass to speak of, there is a chance these jeans could finally give me a chance to show off what I've got. But more likely, they would just be an embar-ass-ing reminder that I'm not a ridiculously good looking male model. (Pose.)

The article goes on to say that this currently New York / Paris trend will sweep the whole country by the fall of 2006, and that it will last around two years.

This, I am not looking forward to. As I have just recently found some of the apparently now out of style boot-cut jeans that I like and that fit me OK, I don't think that I will be making the jump to the "skinny jeans" any time soon. Unless, of course, I'm wearing a cowboy hat and there's a Skoal ring in the back pocket. ;)

Plus, none of the dudes in the picture have belts on.

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Find Happiness

W O W. I'm not sure if I can handle that this is an acutal online dating site. Although, there is the online swing dance partner match site, so I guess anything is possible.

Now, honestly, I have had the exact thought of "stop dating liberals" cross my mind several times. And honestly, I've never dated a non-liberal. Of course, you don't see a ring on my finger or even a steady date on my agenda, so maybe their right.

But I must say, as long as the liberal that I am dating has a good sense of humor, doesn't mind debate, and it's one of the kook-fringe-Arianna-Huffington-pinko-commi types, I do like dating liberals. I should probably take a conservative for a test spin sometime though, just to be fair.

Who hates the other more - liberals or conservatives?

Townhall.com :: Columns :: Who hates the other more - liberals or conservatives? by Dennis Prager - Apr 4, 2006

I think that it is pretty clear without even reading this article which party "hates" the other with more vigor and passion. In his column, Mr. Prager illustrates exactly what I have known to be true for a long time: the "hate" that conservatives feel against Bill Clinton and liberal ideals pales in comparison to the *real hate* that liberals feel toward all things conservative.

Copper Pricing

The following is an email I received this morning from one of the general contractors that my company does a lot of work with. By a lot, I mean over $10MM a year in mechanical / HVAC work alone.

If any of you (or Katie, since you’re my only faithful reader) have been watching the business reports on the news channels or the radio, then you have probably already heard about the action in the metal markets. There is a serious supply crunch going on around the world for everything from copper, steel, aluminum, and gold to concrete. This has many causes, China’s insane consumption being only one, but the effect is an increase in global prices.

So, even though this is a little boring, I encourage you to read on, and maybe do some more research. It’s a good example of how global markets actually do affect (some of) our every day lives.

(Note my really cool cinfidentiallity statement at the bottom of my email. I think I am breaking that by posting this, but I took out all the propriatary stuff.)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Tony Cingoranelli
Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 8:25 AM
To: Matt Thompson
Subject: Copper Increases

Matt, I am looking for some info on the recent copper increases. Do you have any letters from your suppliers or any other info that you could scan and send to me? Anthony CingoranelliPreconstruction ServicesAdolfson & Peterson Construction

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Matt Thompson
Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 10:18 AM
To: Tony Cingoranelli
Subject: RE: Copper Increases

Tony,

There has been a lot of movement and volatility in the copper market lately which has lead to substantial price increases for the end-use materials like pipe, fittings, and even wire. I have attached two of the letters we received from vendors regarding price increases [not posted]. We have seen the most recent increases between 10% and 15% this week alone.

You probably saw that copper commodities markets have hit all time highs this week. (Copper was up 4.38% on the day, as of 10 a.m.) Check out the chart below and www.kitcometals.com for info on the base metals.

[Okay, so the picture will not upload... so I linked to http://www.kitcometals.com/charts/copper_historical_large.html#30days for the latest 30 days chart on copper prices. This may make be look stupid, because the chart will change daily, and I hope they don't mind be stealing a tiny bit of their bandwidth.]

This volatility has caused several vendors to severely limit the time that they will hold their quotes - some down to 24 hours. There is also very little copper "in-stock" around the world. I have heard that there is only a 3-day supply available at any one time. For us in construction, this means that we need to be planning further ahead than usual when buying out large amounts of copper pipe, fittings, or valves.

I hope this helps out.

Matt Thompson
Project Engineer
U.S. Engineering Co.

This transmission is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed and contains confidential information. You are hereby notified that any review or use of this information by persons other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you receive this in error, please contact the sender and delete the information from your computer. Thank you.