Random musings about life in Fort Worth, DFW, Texas, & beyond.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Yak Yak Yak
Women talk about three times as much as men. That's according to a recently published book. In, "The Female Mind" female psychiatrist, Dr Luan Brizendine says women devote more brain cells to talking than men.
According to the doctor, the average woman uses up 20,000 words in a day. The average man? Just 13,000 words. The doctor also says that women also speak more quickly, devote more brainpower to chit-chat - and actually get a buzz out of hearing their own voices. But then, you knew that.
The book goes on to explain that the simply talking triggers a flood of brain chemicals which give women a rush similar to that felt by heroin addicts when they get a high.
While motorists see red at traffic lights, the City of Arlington sees another color...green. The city, whose budget has been cramped by declining sales tax revenue in the last few years is set to close a deal with American Traffic Solutions. The deal will install 10 red-light cameras at a cost of $4,750.00 per month. Arlington's take? A staggering $3,800,000.00 a year. That means the cameras are expected to churn out citations worth $31,6666.67 a month giving the city a profit margin of over 65%.
I'm sure the city is motivated purely by concerns of traffic safety in doing the deal. A police department mouthpiece even told the S-T that the red-light cameras are to be installed at the, "10 most dangerous" intersections. For any residents of Arlington that believe that, I'll make you a deal on a boondoggle of a football stadium. Oh, wait, ya'll already bought that.
Already behind in your Christmas shopping? DFW Airport suggests you kill two birds with one stone and get that special someone a gift while waiting for your flight at the airport.
The airport is touting it's terminal-based stores as a great place to beat the crowds at the malls. DFW International Airport’s is home to almost 100 retailers and specialty shops including Fossil, Brooks Brothers, MallaSadi Men’s Boutique, Brookstone, & Landau.
Freshly stuffed with turkey and feeling chipper after a Cowboys win on Thanksgiving Day, Fort Worthians headed out to the malls today. Nation-wide, some retails executives were predicting one of the best "Black Fridays" in years. Many stores used giveaways and deeply discounted prices on the most popular items to lure shoppers out before dawn.My own visual inspection of the mall parking lot indicated a less than spectacular opening to this year's shopping season. Perhaps the beautiful weather kept more people outside?
The Friday after Thanksgiving is almost always the busiest shopping day of the year. Surprisingly, it generally is not the day with the highest total sales. That is usually either Christmas Eve, or the Saturday right before Christmas as procrastinators like me rush to find that last minute gift.
So to all my fellow procrastinators, relax, there's still plenty of time.
Those ubiquitous greeters you find at the entrance to your local Wal-Mart may be a dying breed if a Japanese company has its way. "Ubiko," a robot-on-wheels with a catlike face, is being rented out as a temp-worker by a Japanese job-referral company to stores, events and even weddings.
The company reports that the 44-inch tall robot, which can be hired for two hours for about $890.00, has already landed a job selling cell phones at a store next month. While that may sound steep, consider that Japan's declining birth rate as left the country with a labor shortage, not to mention the fact that the little robot is exempt from labor laws.
Associated Press reports that a hospital has already bought three of $255,000.00 robots to serve as receptionists.
According to the AP, a suburb of Big D may become the first city in Texas to adopt a city ordinance designed to keep out illegal immigrants. The news service reports that a Farmers Branch councilman has given city attorneys drafts of an ordinance that would make English the city's official language as well as fine companies and landlords who do business with illegal immigrants.
More than 50 municipalities nationwide have considered, passed or rejected laws banning landlords from leasing to illegal immigrants, penalizing businesses that employ undocumented workers and making English the local official language. But until now, that trend hasn't been matched in the Lone Star State. "This is the first town in Texas that had the guts to do what's right," Susie Hart, who grew up in Farmers Branch, said during a recent demonstration outside City Hall. "The education system is tanking;" health care has gone through the roof, everybody is bilingual."
Such sentiments and the proposed ordinance trouble many people in Texas, where many Latino families can trace their roots here to the era before statehood. "This is not just a Farmers Branch problem," Elizabeth Villafranca said of the proposal. Villafranca, whose family owns a Mexican restaurant in Farmers Branch, said she worries that such laws will spread to other cities if the City Council Council approves the proposal. The measure is expected to be submitted to the council on Monday, but there was no indication when it might be put to a vote...
Women talk about three times as much as men. That's according to a recently published book. In, "The Female Mind" female psychiatrist, Dr Luan Brizendine says women devote more brain cells to talking than men.
