A look back at a great moment in product development

Today was my youngest son's second birthday. Happy birthday Alex!
Alex is the cutest 2-year-old anywhere. Even cuter than your kid. Trust me.
He was cute from the start, too. Just check out the pics on his birth announcement/press release here.

(This LLoyd's LLunch Counter blog post brought to you by the number Q4G2TND33U7F.)

A picture says 1000 words

Just how bad are things in the automobile industry? This picture I took on my Blackbery back in August (2009) gives a pretty good idea:

"CLEAROUT: New 2007 Dodge Dakota Ext Cab"

If, in August 2009, with the 2010 models coming out any day now, you are finally trying to clear out your 2007 models, maybe you have a bit of an inventory planning problem.

Imagine going on Dragon's Den, or Shark Tank and saying "I am looking for your investment in my company so I can manufacture enough inventory to sit around for at least three or four years." After telling you that you are a "crazy chicken" and making you look like an idiot for a while, the Dragons or Sharks would, one after another, say something like "this just isn't a good business model, so I'm out."

Of course having a bad business model in the auto industry is a pretty minor detail. If you can't sell your shitty, oversized, gas guzzling trucks, just about every major government in the world will simply give you the money that you couldn't figure out how to actually earn.

I don't have cars that nobody wants to buy, but I do have an inventory of blog posts that nobody wants to read. Maybe I could qualify for a bailout?

Of course you do

A picture taken on my Blackberry on August 8, 2009 in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

"We do implants. Ask Inside"

It's a good thing they included the company name (Richmond Hill Dentistry), or I would have no idea what knid of implants this sign is advertising. It's like a retaurant ad with a bunch of guys in Speedo shorts and the slogan saying "We have sausages."

In this economy, diets are changing

A picture taken on my Blackberry at the Real Canadian Superstore at Don Mills and Eglinton in Toronto:

"Cooking and your Community: Kid Cooking Classes"

I wonder when the Superstore marketing team identified "Fairy Tale Witches" as their target market?

Advertising is for the dogs

Here's a picture I took on my Blackberry of a billboard at the Eaton Centre in Toronto on August 2, 2009:



It is advertising a playday for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. A playday for dogs. Advertised on a billboard in a busy mall in downtown Toronto. Best billboard ad sales guy ever.

Unreasonable terms

Taken on my Blackberry at Sobey's grocery store in Sussex, New Brunswick:



Ready when you are Frozen Food.

I hope never to be Frozen Food, so I guess Sobey's will never be ready. It just seems unfair.

Bad Proofreading

Taken on my Blackberry on July 21, 2009 in Orangeville, Ontario:



My first thought was "there is one 'n' too many in her first name. But what a great pornstar name to be born with."

This whole court's out of order!

Taken on my Blackberry at the All Seasons Restaurant in Sussex, New Brunswick on July 24, 2009.
A bad day to have had a couple of beers with my meal.

Sounds like every room in my apartment right now

For some reason, I always found this sign, on a door on the BIRT (Brain Injury Rehab Team) unit at Bloorview Kids Rehab in Toronto, to be funny.



It's called the "Soiled Room." It houses bins for disposing of soiled diapers, linens, etc. But I always expected to open the door and just find a generally filthy room. If someone ever cleaned the room, they would have to replace the sign.

It probably isn't as funny as I thought it was when I took the picture. But I am still blogging it, because I never let unfunniness stand in the way of my blog.

Come and see the violence inherent in the system

So since today was my 37th birthday, I thought I should post something for you, my dear blog reader, as a bit of a Lloydmas present. In past years, I have written a Lloydmas carol for you to learn. But this year, I have decided to skip that time-honoured tradition (but if you want to see the previous carols, click here and here).
Now, my Lloydmas present to you:
Since this is my 37th, I thought it would be nice if I shared my favourite movie scene about a 37 year old: Dennis from Monty Python's Holy Grail:


It could only be a better scene if, instead of "we don't have a Lord," she said "we don't have a Lord, we have a Lloyd."

Happy Lloydmas everyone.

Llove,
Lloyd