I am on record as having big reservations about smart meters. I’m going to tell you why.

I love the idea that by allowing people more access to data on their own energy footprints they can, if they so wish, target specific behaviours of their own that waste energy and/or water and so bumping up their bills unnecessarily. For example; if you can see from your bill that running your washing machine after 8pm saves £1 per wash as opposed to running it straight after you get in from work at 6pm, why wouldn’t you change that ? There is no cost to you and you save £50 per year if you do the laundry once a week. The energy that you use is no longer peak, so the expensive to run, marginal power plants don’t have to spark up so often. Those tend to be gas-fired in the UK, so that’s less emissions too. There are no losers expect the gas producers. Everything’s lovely in smart meter land !

But that’s not what is being proposed. You can do that with a really dumb smart meter that just allows charging banding by the hour, rather than what the UK has right now which is just a peak/off-peak/Economy 7 tariff distinction. Those dumb smart meters are known as AMR+ (Automated Metering Reading +). They allow the meter to work on a time resolution of the utility’s choosing (they generally choose hourly metering) and can be read remotely (various solutions here include power line communications, wifi, radio, telephone lines, its really not that important). The important thing is that the time resolution allows utilities to match charges to gross usage, meaning that they can plan their generation much more efficiently and reduce overall costs. In most places, you’d expect that saving to be passed on, so encouraging customers to shift usage to lower tariff periods, creating a virtuous circle until consumption self-optimises. Its up to the customer to react to the price signals in the way that best suits their lifestyle, if they do it at all, and some may not choose to.

The proposals that are being touted by most governments and industry in the industrialised nations go much further than this. They mostly use a system called AMI (Automated Metering Infrastructure) which allows utilities to ’speak’ in real time to each house and under some proposals to each appliance, so that best use of available power and water may be made. Of course you have to take the utility’s word that this is happening since you can’t verify it in real time without access to their mission critical data. Most proposals include a degree of remote control extending from the grid into the house and past the meter to the appliance. The most often cited, and least intrusive remote control would be the switching off of refridgerators, where it doesn’t really matter when they work so long as they do work. But washing machines have been proposed, tumble driers, electric heaters. I’ve even seen a proposal to downshift the current available to lighting circuits as a response to voltage drops in the distribution grid, not turn them off, just make them slightly dimmer, though I’ll admit that this may have been referring to street lighting, not domestic since I can’t now find the reference.

This is granular and pervasive control of technologies that directly impact our everyday behaviour. Most significantly to me though is the psychological effect of chronic loss of control of our home environment. Once the power switch doesn’t necessarily mean ‘on-off’ any more we lose a significant degree of certainty in precisely the place that we consider safe and certain – our home.

That’s a totally different relationship between utility and customer. It hands the control to the utility and makes the end-user (you can’t really call someone who has no choice a customer) a passive recipient of whatever the utility deigns to allow.
OK, that’s hyperbolae.
In practice most countries have regulators that would provide oversight and try to make sure that consumer rights are protected, the problem with that is that some countries have liberalised markets for utilties and private companies will always try to find a way to maximise profit. It is in their design and they are legally obliged to do so if they have shareholders who want dividends.

The argument is that by time-shifting appliance operation you get the same effect as with AMR+, only you do it automatically, and therefore you can rely on it to provide bigger savings in terms of infrastructure, generating and emissions costs. I’m not actually convinced that the last one is terribly relevant here, the power or water will still be used after all, the only benefit may be in the marginal efficiency of the peaking plant, but I don’t believe that the degree of difference between AMR+ and AMI in terms of emissions is going to be the biggest driver. Its all about cost.

So here’s the problem; because only a very few countries have installed AMR+ at a national scale the pressure is on to jump right up to AMI because it fits in really nicely with the whole smart grid concept of providing stable voltage by a dynamic relationship between generation and consumption as all the proposed new energy generating and saving technology is rolled-out. The meters all have the 20-25 year life so no-one wants to have to do this twice if they discover something that requires AMI.

I haven’t seen any compelling evidence that you actually require AMI to establish a smart grid and there are some really knotty issues around privacy and data use once you put in the more advanced AMI.
There has just been a great report published into these issues by the Canadian group Privacy by Design.

I think that its interesting that if you want really secure data you divide it up, store it and use it in different ‘locations’. I think the spooks call this compartmentalisation. In the financial industry its called Chinese Walls. If you want to work out what’s going on, what behaviours are happening, you bring data together. So bringing water usage data together with electricity and gas. How much insight does it need to put a water use increase together with an immersion heater being switched on and a fan heater being turned on in the bathroom to tell that someone is having a bath or shower ?
I also like the postman analogy in the report mentioned above. You don’t expect the postman to read your mail, so why should your utility know when you are having a shower ?
Or, as the report suggests, it makes so much economic sense to direct the charging of your electric car to your utility bills, but it means that they know where you are or have been.

I’d like to suggest another comparison. When researchers carry out a new piece of work they have to consider the ethics involved in both the collection and the use of the data that they find. In some cases, for instance those involving children or the mentally ill, special vetting or training may have to take place to ensure a full understanding of the researchers responsibilities. The sanction being dismissal, possible professional ruin and even jail. I’d like to know what the proposed safeguards and sanctions are for a full implementation of AMI ?
It turns out that we don’t all play by the rules when it comes to other peoples data, as we found out this week when T-Mobile came under investigation for one of its employees allegedly selling swaths of personal details for personal gain.

I think smart meters, of the AMI type, can be implemented, but only when houses have smart controls that can exert pressure back on the utility and protect the household’s interests.
If the utility wants to switch off your fridge, it should have to negotiate a price for doing so with each house.
Switching appliances on and off is a major cause of electrical component wear. If the utility wants to degrade the performance of appliances that I have worked hard to afford I’d like some recompense.
Using your washing machine may actually be necessary. You’ve run out of nappies or spilt a drink down your best shirt just before an interview. You may not want to sell the utility the ability to time-shift that demand. You may actually want the utility to service your needs.
Or if you’ve done you washing but the utility doesn’t want to let you dry those fresh sheets before your new girlfriend arrives, you may be willing to sacrifice the meadow fresh scent for one more night or not. It all depends ….

AMI is a great bit of kit, but so is AMR+. Not quite as flashy, but very servicable and we know that it works. What isn’t up to standard is the home automation to enable AMI to be rolled out without loss of privacy or loss of personal control.

I will support every move towards what the Italians have already achieved – a roll-out of 27 million forward-compatible AMR+ meters that resulted in potential savings of $100 per household on bills and an estimated 3GW of power plant not being built. After that I think that it should be a personal choice over whether to hand your home over to the utility or not. If the meters are forward-compatible then you can download new software remotely when that choice is made without fannying around with full the privacy and control issues around full AMI.

Smart Meters and the smart grid are beginning to be talked about in the mainstream press as more and more electricity companies roll out smart meter projects. Smart Meter project are underway or imminent throughout the world in countries such as Victoria, Australia, (http://bit.ly/363G7a), Italy (http://bit.ly/1avyko) and Brazil (http://bit.ly/1YOLTn). Smart meters are typically defined as a new type of electricity meter. These types of smart meters provide two-way communication to both the consumer and the electricity utility of consumption by time of use so the days of the meter reader calling to a person’s house are fast coming to an end.. Smart Meters are replacing this old Automatic Reading (AMR) system and provide more detailed information. However, smart meters are often incorrectly assumed to refer solely to electricity measurement. The question then is what other kinds of energy usage can be measured by smart meters and what are the issues and challenges facing the deployment of smart meters not only for electricity utilties but also for organisations and domestic households? Over the next few weeks, we will examine these issues.

In essence, smart meters are designed to tell customers how much energy they are consuming on a real time basis. This data includes not only how much energy they’re consuming but also the monetary cost of this consumption and the impact the consumption is having on greenhouse gas emissions. A smart meter can’t pinpoint which appliances are consuming most energy or the cost of energy at different times of the day but a smart meter is a necessary component for facilitating Demand Response and other techniques and systems that can provide this information. Smart meters are deployed throughout a geographical area and relay consumption data back to the utility provider. This network of meters is what makes up a ’smart grid’. With a smart grid, utility companies have the capability to measure consumption on an per-area or per-premises basis.

Typically smart meters take periodic measurement of consumption during specific time periods and communicate this data to a utility or a smart meter management company, usually on a daily basis. These meters are also known as interval meters. Some meters may also provide an easy to read display to help consumers reduce consumption and monitor compliance with local laws and regulations. There are different types of smart meters for measuring different types of consumption. Currently, smart meters are provided for the measurement of water, gas and electricity consumption.

A water smart meter measures the consumption of water in a household or organisation. The data provided by this type of meter indicates the amount of water being used as well as its flow patterns and can be used to track, predict and change trends in water supply demand for organisations. For organisations and individuals in certain industries such as agriculture, water usage is a key metric and a managed water system can enable the early detection of leaks, the reduction of waste water and the early warning of fluctuating rates of water usage. While the measurement intervals of smart meters are usually either 10 or 14 minutes for electricity companies intervals of 30 to 60 minutes are more common for water utilities.

Water smart meters provide a rich pool of data to the utility company. Chief among this data are details of leaks at consumer premises.Many algorithms can be used to detect leaks but one simple rule of thumb is to ascertain where hourly usage ever drops to zero. If it doesn’t, it’s likely that there is a water leak. In many jurisdictions, consumers may be fined for not repairing a water leak so timely notification of such data would be likely to win customer goodwill. Leak or indeed theft of water from a mains can also be detected by comparing the day’s consumption for the users of the mains (e.g. residences on a street) with readings from the water mains serving the street. A water smart grid infrastructure can also detect a drop in pressure for a water main. This usually denotes a break. By pinpointing the location and extent of a water main break in a timely fashion, utilities can respond to problems in their network and service their customers in a more satisfactory fashion.

In certain parts of the world drought is a major issue. In such cases, it is essential to identify outdoor watering or non-essential water use during daylight hours. Up to now, it has been difficult to enforce restrictions on such behaviour but individual smart meters that would detect such over-consumption and violation of restrictions make compliance much easier to enforce.

While smart meter programs are expensive to implement, they do provide consumers with better service at a cheaper cost once they are installed. For example, it is possible to determine final meter readings and issue final bills for customers leaving an area. Water flow can be remotely disconnected or restricted where appropriate. This means that utilities no longer have to send service engineers to customers who have requested a disconnect or are being disconnected for non-payment. Meters can also be tested remotely to check that they are working. Similarly, theft of a meter can be remotely detected.

Like electricity and gas meters, water smart meters ensure that bills are based on actual readings rather than on estimates. This minimises disagreements and conflict with the consumer and the water utility, reduces calls querying and/or complaining about bills to the utility and improves customer satisfaction. Water smart meters can also help control electricity costs for the utility itself. Many utilities pump water to a high point during off peak hours when electricity prices are lower. To avoid turning on these pumps during periods of high electricity prices the utility can develop water rates that track electricity rates. This reduces peak water consumption.

Figure 1: Smart Meters are a key component of Water Conservation Programs

In the case of water, the most important benefit of smart meters are the role they can play in conservation. Water conservation programs are being undertaken in many parts of the world and smart meters are enabling these programs. The real-time data provided by water smart meters allow residents and businesses to identify where most water is being used and where behaviour modification or the installation of a water efficient fixture may be appropriate. Water conservation programs have been undertaken on a trial basis by the New South Wales government in April this year and in Dubai International Academic City. The cornerstone of any water conservation program is understanding where, when, how and why water is used. Such data can only be measured using a smart meter. Leaks should be identified when they occur and water consumption should be actively managed. This management requires the data that smart meters provide.

One issue that should also be considered is the granularity of measurement. Often, one water smart meter records the water consumption for a premises even if this premises is a large site. To obtain a better quality of data, individual it may be necessary to also install meters at high use areas like cooling towers, iririgation systems, food preparation areas or at a rainwater supply tank. This finer level of measurement will lead to a more effective water management system where will not only enable overuse at a business premises be detected on a timely basis but also the exact location of the problem.

The management of water smart meters is a key issue as the data generated is used for fault and operations management as well as billing purposes. As we will discuss in the next few weeks, the lack of standardisation is hindering the capture of this data. Vertoda can not only capture data from smart water meters but also transform that data into meaningful information for reporting leakages and providing details of revenue generated as well as acting as a bridge between the water network and the software and Information Systems of the utility.

The rumor that US Air (NYSE:LCC) and American (NYSE:AMR) may merge is not so far-fetched today, or that Southwest (NYSE:LUV) might take over JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU).

British Air and Iberia, the flag carriers of the two nations whose fleets met at The Battle of Trafalgar, will merge, creating one of the world’s largest airlines. BA shareholders will control 55% of the new company which will have a market value of $7 billion and total sales of nearly $20 billion. It is noteworthy that just earlier this week, BA said it would fire  4,900 people because of a $485 million loss in the six months that ended on September 30.

Airlines have begun to despair that the industry faces another harsh year in 2010. There is little evidence that business or personal fliers are likely to return to the air. Oil prices hover near $80 and the smallest hurricane, a political incident in a crude-exporting nation, or news of increased demand from China could push that figure toward $90 overnight.

Unemployment in most of the wealthiest countries, which account for a disproportionate amount of global air travel,  is still high. Most consumers have become remarkably tight with money. Businesses have found alternatives to traveling like video conferencing which may be why Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) and Logitech (NASDAQ:LOGI) are so keen to get deeply into that business.

US carriers are plagued by the same problems that Iberia and BA are. American and Delta (NYSE:DAL) are each trying to make investments in Japan Air to bolster their potential traffic is Asia. Most domestic carriers have been able to strengthen their balance sheets, but that has only bought them time. It is still nearly impossible to consistently make money in the US air travel market under current economic conditions.

Delta bought Northwest late last year as the industry dropped into one of its most difficult periods since the 9/11 attacks kept people away from air travel for months. American and United (NASDAQ:UAUA) are viewed at the two US carriers most likely to face continuing financial problems. There has been talk about America merging with US Air for several weeks. American’s shares have dropped 25% during the last month.

Two things could  force a business combination among two US carriers quickly. The first would be a sharp and persistent increase in the price of oil. The second would be any significant signal that the very modest economic recovery has begun to reverse itself.

Two US carriers will announced a merger before the end of the first quarter of next year.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Updated throughout the day.

11:45 AM EST: Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) may seek to sell its Home & Networking division for about $4.5 billion according to WSJ. -Jon Ogg

American Air (NYSE:AMR) may team with private equity firm TPG to make an investment in Japan Air.  (Bloomberg)

AIG (NYSE:AIG) CEO Robert E. Benmosche may resign. (WSJ)

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) plans to release a new programming language called Go that can help computer coders improve efficiency  (CNET)

China may benchmark the yuan against currencies other than the dollar. (CNBC)

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) may hold a critical edge against the EU in the antitrust battle.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) is in talks to sell its security systems unit to United Technologies (NYSE:UTX) for over $1.5 billion. (FT)

Douglas A. McIntyre

American Airlines (NYSE:AMR) is competing with Delta (NYSE:DAL) to form a close partnership with financially troubled Japan Air. Both US carriers would like ready access to JAL’s tremendous network of flights around Asia, where air travel is expected to rise rapidly over the next few years.

American got some help in its quest to be JAL’s preferred partner. US private equity firm TPG may be ready to put up several hundred million dollars that could shore up JAL’s faltering financial state.

American’s plan is to buy a piece of JAL in exchange for much-need cash. JAL lost as much as $1 billion in the first half of 2009 and there has been a great deal of conversation about liquidating the carrier. The Japanese government is faced with the difficult decision of whether to fund the airline, which could cost it billions of dollars or accept an outside investor.

The Japanese government is facing a huge deficit. Foreign capital is better than no capital at all, if JAL is going to stay a going concern

Douglas A. McIntyre

Reuters:   Two Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were acquited.

Reuters:   Zucker, NBCU’s current CEO, will head the company when Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) buys a majority of the company from GE (NYSE:GE).

Reuters:  Dodd’s super-bank regulator fights a uphil battle in Congress.

Reuters:   Fed officials see an uneven recovery.

Reuters:   Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is working to increase share in China as market leader Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) faces troubles.

Reuters:   UPS (NYSE:UPS) is seeing good holiday demand.

Reuters:   The Swiss will regulate banker’s pay to curb risk.

Reuters:   Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) will fight hard to keep the MySQL software that comes with Sun (NASDAQ:JAVA) even though EC regulators object

Reuters:   Consumer confidence continues to move up.

Reuters:   GM’s chairman asked for a change in pay caps.

Reuters:   Ambac (NYSE:ABK) shares fell on a possible bankruptcy.

WSJ:   AIG’s (NYSE:AIG) CEO Robert Benmosche may leave because of heavy government regulation.

WSJ:   The Justice Department claims that hackers from Russia accessed hundreds of ATMs.

WSJ:   GM’s chairman is starting to clash with its CEO.

WSJ:   The USDA raised its price forecast for corn.

WSJ:   China’s economic recovery is firming up.

WSJ:   Fedex (NYSE:FDX) predicted an 8% rise in traffic on its busiest days.

WSJ:   Muscle cars are selling well.

WSJ:   Private equity firm TPG could invest in Japan Air to back JAL’s closer relationship to American (NYSE:AMR).

WSJ:   The UK was given a warning on its credit rating.

WSJ:   Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will go after the Nintendo DS handheld game device.

WSJ:   The EU stance of the Oracle deal for Sun may open a rift with US antitrust authorities.

WSJ:   Lenders are working fast to restructure commercial loans under new provisions that give more favorable regulatory treatment.

WSJ:   The head of BlackRock (NYSE:BX) says there in no bubble in the market and that the economy is stable.

WSJ:   The head of Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) defended his company’s pay practices.

WSJ:   Companies will sell as much as $20 billion in bonds this week.

WSJ:   The cost of insuring Japanese government debt is rising.

WSJ:   China car company Geely plans to sell Volvos in Europe if it buys the company.

WSJ:   Thomson Reuters faces an antitrust probe of codes in its data.

WSJ:   The Administration is speeding up $7 billion in grants for faster broadband.

NYT:   The Fed chief is working political ties as his agency comes under fire.

NYT:   Dodd’s plan would expand regulation of risky lending.

NYT:   Video is becoming a bigger part of website home pages to draw advertisers.

NYT:   The chairman of GM says the company can repay the government.

NYT:  Retail sales and industrial output rose in China.

NYT:   Logitech bought a video conferencing company.

NYT:   Government mortgage aid is reaching more people.

FT:   Dodd will seek power to strip the Fed of authority.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Updated throughout the day.

Update 2.52 PM EST:  The antitrust disagreement  between Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and AMD (NYSE:AMD) may be resolved by a private settlement  (MarketWatch)

Updated 12.23 PM EST:  Motorola (NYSE:MOT) may have sold 100,000 Droid the first weekend the handset was on the market  (Bloomberg)

Updated 11.33 AM EST: Huge hedge fund SAC says it has found no improper trades. Media sources has linked the firm to the Galleon insider trading investigation. (Bloomberg)

Updated 8.48 AM EST:  Hedge fund assets could hit $2 trillion worldwide by the end of 2010 (DealBook)

American Air (NYSE:AMR) and US Air (NYSE:LCC) may merge  (TheStreet)

The International Energy Agency may be downplaying the need for greater oil supplies to prevent a market panic.  (CNBC)

AT&T (NYSE:T) is publishing data to undermine Verizon’s (NYSE:VZ) claims about the better quality of its cellular network.

Time Warner’s (NYSE:TWX) AOL unit will lay-off 1,000 people next month. (AllThingsD)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is not likely to close its media properties.  (Ad Age)

A number of public pensions face bankruptcy. (Forbes)

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) may use its China business as a template for expansion in India.  (The Deal)

Even after a $1 billion cash infusion 4G WiMax company Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) may need more money from Sprint (NYSE:S) and other partners.  (BreakingViews)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Updated throughout the day.

Updated at 11.49 AM EST:  Reynolds Americam (NYSE:RAI) may buy Niconovum, a Swedish maker of nicotine gum and mouth sprays (Boomberg)

Updated at 10.12 AM EST: Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) may pay back its TARP funds. (BreakingViews)

Updated at 9.48 AM EST: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (NYSE:NWS) may sue the BBC for breach of copyright for “stealing” material from his newspapers. (FT)

It will take a bid of 800 pence to get Cadbury to agree to a Kraft (NYSE:KFT) takeover. The current hostile bid is for 713 pence.  (various)

GE (NYSE:GE) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) have agreed to value NBCU at $30 billion  (WSJ)

The EU may approved Oracle’s (NASDAQ:ORCL) buy-out of Sun (NASDAQ:JAVA) if it gives up some of its control of the MySQL database software  (BusinesssWeek)

The rally in GE’s (NYSE:GE) stock may not last very long.  (TheStreet)

China may raise fuel prices this week.  (CNBC)

Delta (NYSE:DAL) and American Air (NYSE:AMR) are increasing their pressure on the Japanese government to forge joint ventures with Japan Airlines.  (The Deal)

New collaborative software tools from Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) will put it into direct competition with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)  (CNET)

Sprint (NYSE:S), Intel (NYSE:INTC), and Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) may put another $1.5 billion into 4G provider Clearwire  (NASDAQ:CLWR)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Sound the bugle now – play it just for me

As the seasons change – remember how I used to be

Now I can’t go on – I can’t even start

I’ve got nothing left – just an empty heart

I’m a soldier – wounded so I must give up the fight

There’s nothing more for me – lead me away…

Or leave me lying here

Sound the bugle now – tell them I don’t care

There’s not a road I know – that leads to anywhere

Without a light I fear that I will – stumble in the dark

Lay right down – decide not to go on

Then from on high – somewhere in the distance

There’s a voice that calls:

Remember who you are!

If you lose yourself – your courage soon will follow

So be strong tonight – remember who you are

Yeah you’re a soldier now – fighting in abattle

To be free once more …

Yeah, that’s worth fighting for

By Douglas A. McIntyre

British Airways lost $485 million for the six months that ended in September. The airline’s CEO Willie Walsh told the BBC that this has been the “most difficult year in the history of British Airways”. BA is planning to cut 3,000 more workers in an attempt to return to profitability, but the firm’s outlook for an improvement in passenger traffic is bleak.

The BA news should not be seen in isolation. After a brief period in which analysts and traders hoped for a full-scale turnaround in the global airlines industry, those sentiments have faded.

Read more…

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At Tom Rumi’s suggestion, we sought out a supposed Greek dive bar in Ibrahimiyya that he had been in once with Tom Taweel back in TAFL days; all that said Rumi could remember was that it was somewhere in between Sharia Abukir and the tramline. It didn’t take us long, but we found it.

It’s a villa. Set back from the street with Greek signs at the gates and a large striped flagpole, the front steps are painted in what an old guidebook described as “bumblebee columns” with the silhouette of a big, black, double-headed eagle above the door. Walking up to the house, you begin to doubt yourself and wonder if you’re about to walk into someone’s home, but as soon as the door is opened, you’re reassured. Tables with stained tablecloths, an eccentric assortment of cheap salt-and-pepper shakers, and a few heavyset old men contemplating their 10 LE Stellas and cigarettes. Greek posters on the bright blue walls and a gilt-edged, giant mirror. Lots of cats, which is pretty unfortunate for me, because I hate cats (allergic). That doesn’t stop the french fries and calamari from being the best in town — and better yet, the closest to Sporting by a long shot. John and I have been stopping in every now and then ever since the discovery. No Greeks as of yet, but the population is local and quiet.

Leads me to next point: on Halloween night, John and I headed down to what shall henceforth be called “al-Younani” (the Greek) with a few others, including a gentlemen named Amr. Amr is a lawyer, balding, a skinny man of an indeterminate age, but I think he’s a lot older than the people he hangs out with. He peeks out from behind thick glasses and tells rambling stories of relatively fluid narrative, though sometimes he gets his gerunds and tenses mixed up (“Do you like the cook?” instead of “Do you like the cooking?”),  switches out his letters for others (“pop the crotch,” instead of “pop the clutch”), or mistakes prepositions (“The first time I was invited in a girl”). Initially, I was quite annoyed by him: he has a habit of appearing at places at the very mention of his name — an eerie quality which would make the devil envious. Two years back, he would just follow the Manchester crowd around: appearing at the Sayed Darwish Theater some nights and just tagging along. It appears he’s taken up drinking, and quite frequently appears at the Spitfire just to make sure that he’s not missing out on anything. I think I’ve either just gotten used to him or he’s gotten considerably more tolerable, because I think I’m beginning to like his nutty stories about German marathon champions that fall in love with him and demand his affections in the middle of the Carrefour Cilantro.

Got sick, though: must have been the cats or the change of weather, but I ended up going home relatively early and spent the rest of yesterday sleeping and sniffling up a storm, sipping mint tea, and trying to make the recovery before today, when my first classes of the month start at 3 PM and end at 10 — a real marathon run compared to what I’ve been doing beforehand. So far, so good: I’m still sniffly, but I expect that’s just the weather: it was gloriously rainy and windy yesterday on the way to Anfushi (dinner) and it warranted wearing my raincoat. Sick, yes, but happy as a clam for the return of “Durrell weather” and a rain-swept Corniche.

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The Ferrari 250 GTO is a sports car that Ferrari made for racing in the early 1960s.

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If you are often in major airports, it is frankly hard to see how the airline carriers still have pressure compared to six to twelve months ago.  The airports and planes are full to the point that when making reservations there are either only middle seats available or you have to get your seat when you get to the airport.  But this is also because airlines have cut down their capacity.  And with lower capacity comes lower servicing needs.  And less servicing creates more opportunities for airlines to fire workers.  That is what we are seeing from AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) and from US Airways (NYSE: LCC).

AMR telegraphed today that over the next year it plans to close or downsize some of its aircraft maintenance facilities.  The tally comes to close to 700 jobs, or 5% of its maintenance staff.

US Airways (NYSE: LCC) issued a release today saying that it was “realigning its operations to focus on the airline’s core network strengths.”  It is cutting flights at certain locations and suspending certain destinations.  In short, this is the heave-ho for workers too.  The company is slashing about 1,000 jobs across its system during the first half of 2010.  The breakdown (about) is 600 airport passenger and ramp service positions, 200 pilots, and 150 flight attendants.

These new rounds of layoffs are on the heels of many airlines recently announcing fare hikes and after US passengers base have endured a nickel-and-dime effort by the industry.  What is odd is that tomorrow we get a look at the unemployment in weekly jobless claims and our first look at Q3’s Gross Domestic Product.  We have been in a recession since the end of 2007 by most counts yet the GDP did not officially reflect that.  Estimates are for a 3.0% gain in GDP, the first positive GDP report in the cycle.

You have to wonder if the airlines are sticking it to their workers and customers right on the cusp of at least a partial recovery.  With almost 10 of every workers officially out of work, this all feels like insult on top of injury.   Unemployment is a lagging indicator that often does not improve until well after a real recovery has been seen.  It just does not likely feel like a lagging indicator if you are a worker that gets canned at the end of a cycle when there are no job prospects in the field in which you work.

JON C. OGG

I wanted to apologize for being such a bad blogger of late but the reason is a good one. Ohhhhh, sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful….erm, message board?

You may have heard me mention, oh once or eleventy-billion times, that my message board home is a place called AMR, All Moments Remembered. It was a message board started by a sweet friend and online store owner named Stacey. At the time AMR began, I had been a fixture at the Creating Keepsakes Message Board (CKMB) for about a year or so. {Remember when I had all the CKMB girls’ blogs in my blog roll…until there were over 100 of them and I had to stop).

But, honestly, for all the fun friends and conversations I had there, it was such a HUGE place, that it never truly felt like home to me. I’m one of those gals that, if you and I are friends, I got ya back for life, sista. Don’t mess with my friends and we won’t have a problem. You know, like we did in the Old Country (I’m Italian, capice?). But I’ve only got so much love to go around, ya know? Ten-thousand “friends” on the CKMB is a lot to handle, even for someone like me, LOL!

Well, then God sent me Stacey. She joined CKMB with her little bubbly personality, enthusiasm for life, and love for scrapbooking. Like me, her dream was to open a scrapbook store. The difference between us was that I talked about it. She was actually gonna do it. We became fast friends, chatting on and off the CKMB board. She started a blog to promote her new online store which she called All Moments Remembered, and I loved reading each day what the developments were with her store, the excitement in her voice, and the positive outlook she had on everything.

Then came the day when Stacey got booted from CKMB. {This story is well-known folklore, so I’m not speaking out of school, k?}. The TOU at CKMB clearly said you could not have a business name as your message board name, nor anything in your message content or signature line that promoted another business. Because obviously, Creating Keepsakes is a business who wants to continue as such, and they want you to buy THEIR products, not some cute lady’s from Oregon who just started the best online scrap store in the world. Apparently, Stacey was *cough* unclear on those rules, or her glasses fogged up that day, or SOMETHING…because she changed her MB name from whatever it was (“scraphappy” or something like that) to “AllMomentsRemembered.”

Scandal. Just pure scandal.

So, CKMB powers-that-be sent her a nasty-gram and when she didn’t cease and desist, they booted her. In true Stacey spirit, what did she do? Oh, she just started her OWN message board, of course. And THAT, my friends, is how the All Moments Remembered Message Board was started. I signed up on the first day the AMR-MB was up, which was December 27, 2007. I was proud to be member #29. As of closing today, there were 826 members but I believe at times there were over 1,000 or more). Also, as of today, I was the #3 poster @ AMR, right behind those Chatty Cathy’s named JENNIFER/Jingle and ABBY/scrapbookfrenzy.

So, for almost 2 years now, I’ve been chatting pretty much daily with the AMR Girlz. I would never have thought you could be “true friends” with people you’ve never even met face-to-face, who live all over the country, most of whom you’ve never even spoken to. If you stop to think about it, it’s our computers, our technology, that is actually making the connection, so it’s kind of bizarre. The only way I know most of them is from words they’ve typed that I’m reading, kwim?

But I have to say, I love those gals and they are my TRUE, dear friends. AMR was a smaller board and it didn’t move that the speed of light, like CKMB, 2peas, or the Cricut board. Sometimes I get frustrated when I want to chat and no one is around. “I need some chat, people!” Sheesh. But I would trade “busy but impersonal” for “quieter but more meaningful” any day of the week.

Stacey really set the tone for that board to be encouraging, friendly, supportive, and fun. We joked, we laughed, we shared our work, and our scrap shopping finds. There was a Chit Chat board for discussing TV shows, family stuff, you name it. There was a Spiritual forum where we could ask for prayers, and where a special lady named MISTY/snowlady posted daily quotes from Scripture. And we can’t forget the Recipe forum, where you could share or request yummy recipes from your AMR friends.

Another cool thing Stacey did was to give us “Stacey names.” Under your message board name and above your avatar photo, sometime when you weren’t looking and maybe didn’t even notice for a while, Stacey would add a special name chosen just for you, based on her getting to know you over time and finding out what phrase really represented you, be it funny, sweet, or serious. For instance, MARILYN/Melonscraps was christened “Stickles Queen” for her amazing love of and collection of Stickles; ANGIE/craftyscrapr became “Miss Pretty Toes” because she loves the beach and her flip flops with painted toenails; and I was given the Stacey name “Director of Advertising.” Which was funny because some people may have thought it was an actual title I held with the AMR store, and that I was a paid employee, but nope, lol. I just loved AMR so much, I talked about it and steered people towards her store any time I could. Stacey was living my dream and I did whatever I could to support her.

Which reminds me of a story….Remember that crazy scrapbook product frenzy, the THREADING WATERS punch by Fiskars? The first time I saw that thing, I knew it was going to be a hugely popular tool so I tipped Stacey off about it, and she had faith that I knew what I was talking about. So she right away ordered a whole bunch of them from Fiskars. And when they flew off the shelves at Michaels, Target, and all the online scrapbook stores, no one had them in stock anymore….except Stacey. For a while there, AMR was one of the only places you could buy that darn punch, and not on backorder, but actually get it right then. Stacey never forgot I had told her about it. She never tried to take credit for it or anything. She told everyone else, “Erika is the one who told me to get those!” And she sent me the most generous gift box of supplies from her store, just as a way to say thank you. Actually, that’s another thing Stacey was known for was being very generous in giving away her products as RAKS, crop prizes, and you always got extra items with your order, things she had handpicked for you, knowing what each of us liked. I don’t know how she did it, honestly.

Well, fast forward to the economic collapse last year, and long story short, the AMR online store eventually was closed. However, in the meantime, Stacey had realized her other dream of opening an actual brick-and-mortar store in her hometown. Over time, Stacey has had to move on from the AMR MB and the inmates have taken over the asylum, LOL! Stacey could no longer support the MB so several months ago, she offered to let members take it over, and DENISE/denisewalks stepped up to the plate. Denise has been running AMR since then, with a little bit of admin support from me, and lots of help from lots of other members. We’ve managed to keep AMR MB going and as fun and wonderful as it ever was.

But the time had come for a fresh start, where Denise and the loyal board members could be more in control of the mechanics of the board. Also, with Stacey no longer associated with the board, a new name for our gathering place was in order. A new domain name was procured by Denise (at her personal expense, but we’re going to find a creative way to make the board pay for itself and/or many generous members have offered to chip in so Denise doesn’t have to absorb the cost herself).

So today, October 27, 2009….Scrap Sisters Studio was born.

We had a Scrap Chat Hour tonight to kind of kick off the new site, and help get the word out to everyone that we’ve officially moved. I can’t think of a more perfect name for our board, because the ladies there are truly like family. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not perfect. Like any family in the world, we occasionally have scuffles and squabbles, hurt feelings and unspoken hurts, frustrations and unfairness. I mean, we’re women after all, LOL! But it always works itself out and the family bond is as tight as ever. New members are welcomed from Day One like they’ve been there the entire time.

It felt weird writing all those things above about the way AMR “was,” in the past tense. Because those things still apply to the way Scrap Sisters Studio “is” and “will always be.” It’s a warm, fun, friendly home away from home and even if they try to kick me out, I’m never leaving. Seriously. Don’t even try ‘cuz I grew up in The Hood and can kick serious ass.

Capice?

This post is just my way of memorializing AMR, Stacey’s store, everything that brought this group of sweet scrapbookers together and still bind them. I wanted to honor Stacey because it was her personality and efforts that set us up to be the way we are now. And for that, we owe her a debt of gratitude. {Stacey, if you’re out there, MWUH! Love ya, girl}.

And this post was a way to celebrate, and document on my own blog, this day being the start of something new and fun for me and my scrappy girlfriends.

We always welcome new members. HERE is where you would sign up. (ETA: When you register, you will NOT get an e-mail confirmation. Sorry, this new board doesn’t have that feature. We’re approving new members as quickly as we can, so please give it a little wait, then try to log in until it works . We’ve got some fun plans for the Scrap Sisters Studio website as a whole, so this is going to be a great new adventure! Thank you for letting me talk about my buds…I {heart} them like sisters.

You were the only one of my children who was “planned”. I wanted to have two children- well, your dad and I had always talked about three or four but I knew I didn’t want to only have one. I felt and feel only children are spoiled and have way too much attention. I was very convinced your sister was going to be a girl but never had a solid idea of your gender. To be truthful, I was a little scared of having two girls because I knew that sisters have a different relationship to each other and to their mother. I could try to kid myself that the reason yours and my relationship went awry was because of this dynamic, but that would be to lie about all the really wrong things that did happen during your growing up and I am determined not to lie to myself or you anymore (whether intentionally or unintentionally)

You didn’t come with all the drama that accompanied my previous pregnancy and it was nice to feel more relaxed about it. (Well, as relaxed as I ever am which to be honest, is difficult for me sometimes. Too much of my life was feeling guilty about… well, you name it. I felt guilty for nearly everything!) At any rate, I was excited about having a new baby. Excited about you.

I went into labor on Tuesday and on Wednesday I went to the hospital convinced you were going to be born soon only to have the doctor send me home. By the time I got back to the hospital on Thursday, I was determined I was not going to be sent home again. In fact, when the doctor said I was not in full blown labor yet, I said “I’m not going home. This baby is going to be born today.” He shrugged (probably accustomed to cranky women in labor) and said “You can walk around for a bit but it could be several days before you dilate enough to be admitted into the hospital to deliver.”

Dumb doctor.

Your dad and I walked up and down the halls for perhaps an hour, maybe two. Perhaps you knew I was tired and you were ready too to be born. Or perhaps the shear determination I felt that I wasn’t going to go through another day of labor brought events to a head. Whatever the case may be, I didn’t walk too terribly long before I was  ready to have the doctor check again.

The doctor, on the other hand, was not convinced that I knew what I was talking about. He half-heartedly checked me again, all set to tell me to just go home and rest. His eyes widened a bit and he said, “Well, you’re dilated to a four. You are going to have this baby!!” (It actually seems like he said “seven” but that seems like a labor induced exaggeration so I am modifying to reflect what is more likely the truth).

From there, things happened pretty quickly. I wanted to have an epidural (they are lovely drugs!) which I didn’t get until I was pretty far along. In fact it seems like it was around 11 before the anesthesiologist got his butt in gear to get to me. By the time the pain killer kicked in, I was ready to push. Your nanny was in the delivery room and of course you have the heard the story of her dumb pronouncement “You have your boy!” I don’t really remember why she was there, frankly. I think she just wanted to be and neither your dad nor I had the courage to tell her that she needed to do what other grandparents (including your nanna) did- wait in the waiting room.

And that all happened 19 years ago! My how time flies!!!

Most of what I long for you to hear, you would not, do not listen to. I have many things that I would like you to know– how to have a HAPPY life,

not just surviving…

not just getting by…

not just having a nice car or a big house…

Life is about far more than that.

Your birthday is your day to reflect on who you are- on what the past year brought you or took away, on what you gained and what you lost. (It really takes more than one day for most of us- we could probably all use more like a month) It is good to reflect, because when we reflect we can weight the things that are truly good and those things that we need to set aside.  At nineteen, you are so fortunate that you have so much time ahead of you to create a good life for yourself.

And you truly can create a good life for yourself if can extract yourself from the muck you’ve inherited. Religion is not going to have any answers for you and it is not going to give you any direction. That’s the erroneous shit that you inherited from me.

You have inside you the potentially fatal problem of loving people who have no right to your love and loyalty- this is probably also something you inherited from me.  Part of growing up is choosing to have people in your life people who support you but DON’T always give you what you want just because you want it. Part of growing up is learning to take care of yourself and not loving indiscriminately. You aren’t going to save them and they are going to leave you eventually anyway. And, importantly, it does not make you a better person to love people who abuse you.

Selfishness is not going to take you anywhere– in fact it will ruin any potential for you to have a loving and lasting relationship with anyone who truly loves you. That’s the erroneous (and dangerous) lesson you learned from your father. You have to learn to make decisions that are best for you in the long run. You are not a baby anymore who has an empty stomach that needs to be filled right now! And one day, when you do find someone, you will have to learn how to think about what is best for him. Your needs can’t be the only ones that are considered.

Take the time on your birthday to reflect. It’s been a difficult couple of months and it will continue to be difficult if you don’t find a way to make better choices for yourself in the long run. But if want to have a good life– and really, it’s ridiculous to tell yourself you don’t want to have a good life– you take responsibility for your life. Don’t wait around for someone to give it to you or to save you. It’s all there in front of you–

I love you and want the best for you! Happy Birthday!

Corporate Social Responsible News: Harrah’s Travelife Gold Awards; Gates Foundation Grants for Ag Development; AMR Research’s Supply Chain Conference

Reuters:   Corporate directors are on the hot seat over management pay.

Reuters:   The US healthcare system wastes up to $800 billion a year.

Reuters:   Capmark Financial filed for bankrupcy.

Reuters:   The land dealer advisor resigned from Calpers.

Reuters:   Legg Mason (NYSE:LM) will elect Nelson Peltz to its board.

Reuters:   HealthSouth will fund the expenses of dissident nominees to its board.

Reuters:   Deloitte said global revenue at its member firms was down 4.9%.

Reuters:   Barron’s says investors should swap Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) shares for Google (NASDAQ:GOOG).

Reuters:   Oil fell below $80 on economic recovery concerns.

WSJ:   Gold and stocks are recovering at the same time, which does not usually happen.

WSJ:   Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) will offer movies on the Sony (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation.

WSJ:   Ford (NYSE:F) is gaining market share and may have become profitable in Q3.

WSJ:   US household debt is shrinking which may help the recovery.

WSJ:   Two Chinese fund companies will begin to buy securities off-shore.

WSJ:   Asian chip makers are experiencing a turnaround.

WSJ:   The fall of the Chinese yuan is worrying other nations in Asia.

WSJ:   Global shipping may be a reliable standard for measuring the recovery.

WSJ:   Treasury sales will increase this week but it seems that the demand is present.

WSJ:   With oil prices rising, Dubai is considering raising $6.5 billion in debt.

WSJ:   Kraft (NYSE:KFT) needs Cadbury to help its bottom line.

NYT:   The Obama Administration is trying to figure out what to do with financial firms that are too big to fail.

NYT:    “Twitter is “smart enough, or lucky enough” to let its users create new features for it, says an M.I.T. professor.”

NYT:   Hollywood is struggling to replace the DVD.

NYT:   Advertiser are dropping newspaper sites for more targeted media.

NYT:   Big cellphone makers are shifting to Google (NYSE:GOOG) Android.

NYT:   Michael Eisner’s Vuguru will launch with Canadian backing.

NYT:   The EU warned of antitrust concerns about a tie-up of American (NYSE:AMR), British Airways, and Iberia.

FT:  Beijing will allow overseas investment after a 17 month pause.

FT:   House Democrats would like to wind down the largest financial firms.

Bloomberg;  Pay of the top executives at Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) averaged $18 million last year.

Douglas A. McIntyre