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PT CRUISER - Bargain
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5/28/2005
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With all the eye catching car commercials and mind-boggling mechanical slang, buying a new ride can be bewildering, especially for one like PT Cruiser.
It has been under my close attention for quite a long time. As a matter of fact, I fell for it the first time I laid my eyes on this weirdo.
I couldn't love it more after today's test drive. But the sales person is really a big turnoff. He offered me a price of 23,xxx, despite the fact that he kept saying "Everything is agreeable." (I've always thought it should be "Everything is arguable."). What makes me sick is that he took out his copy of invoice, told me that the he got the car at a price of 21,xxx and that price was the best he could do. At one time, he even started to mock at me, saying "Do you think it is made in China, that you can build things cheap and dump here?" That made me felt very uncomfortable.
Just at the moment when I was turning my back on him and started walking toward the door, he acted as if something dawned on him. "You know what? Maybe there is something I can do. Please hold on for a second." He said this to me, left me in the room alone. After a few minutes, he came back, gasping (I don't know how his jog goes.). He asked me if I could give him a price I am willing to pay instantly if he could make it at the same day. I was almost obscured by his 21,xxx invoice, but a sudden urge made me to keep the final price at 20,000. Isn't it always charging high and barging low? I said "If you can offer 20,000, I will write a check no matter what."
He had another jog for about 5 minutes and came back. "You know, I got a bloody nose for this. " He wrote down "20,xxx" on a scratch paper. I was thrilled and then infuriated. Obviously, his invoice is some sales trick, a subject I don't want to speculate further here. It's already in the ballpark. I just want to give it a last kick. "20,000, please reconsider". I threw my last thrust, hoping he could lower the price another hundred or two.
Much to my surprise, he looked very angry and suddenly tore the scratch paper apart. I stood up immediately. "You could only buy KIA!" He yelled at me. I stormed away after his comment. I really don't understand what trigger his anger. He was very feisty. The deal was smashed by him. I even haven't started yet! What a pity!
See how it goes in the coming days...
What I see today is one of the possible denouements I might have ten years from now on.
A seasoned and senior engineer came to us for an opening. She had 15 years of industry experience and two master degrees under her name. Despite all this, she has to put up with the condescending interviews conducted by those ten years of her junior. Unfortunately, one of my colleagues (He is a nice guy though) is sort of prankish and has no regards of seniority. He threw a bunch of mind-boggling questions at her, making her scratch and scramble. She did not get the job in the end. I do feel sorry for her, but that is just the way of life, which is not made of chocolate shakes.
Good luck for her next interview.
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Trip to Shanghai
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5/22/2005
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This site has been quite for a while. The fact is that I had a trip back to Shanghai, China, my hometown, the place where I grew up and received most of my educations.
Highlights:
*) Family and Friends
These are the people who always love you no matter what, who enlightened you and who nourished you. It is nice to be with them, knowing that you still have many ones that care for you in this world.
*) Food
Shanghai cuisine is what I've been missing for many years.
*) the Sight
The express way, the bridge, the skyscrapers, the subways, the bars, the crowd flowing through almost every corner of the street, everything a metropolis stands for.
Lowlights:
*) Traffic / Air Quality
I don't know if it is the diesel engine or the fuel. It gets worse with the traffic jam.
*) R & D lags behind
It is still a long way to go. I hope I could contribute my mite when the day comes.
*) Media Censoring
Much to my surprise, this site is blocked from my ISP in Shanghai. So is the news.google.com. That led to the hiatus on this site. However, it is not trendy anymore to wall ourselves off from the rest of the world. It is not wise either to blindfold ourselves.
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*)
Grand Opening
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Why HAHAHAHA
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Stay Foolish
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Rabbit Hole
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Blotter
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Notebook
*) Blotter
*) Notebook
*) Rabbit Hole
*) I Love Rei
*) TEXT2PNG
*) China Blog List
*) Bertrand
*) Bruin
*) Bulldog
*) Hua
*) Mas
*) Nimrod
*) Philewar
*) Rodent
*) Samuel
*) Tom
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