"EVERYTHING MUST GO!"

"TOTAL LIQUIDATION SALE!"

"UP TO 90% OFF"

These stores stayed in business for years while they were going out of business.   I guess that had lot to liquidate...

I guess you could say that BackingIn.com has been in a similar situation for the past few months as well.   It's sort of been "Going out of business" but never goes away...

So, if you would like to follow BackingIn.com on Twitter, my new name is @BackingInBlog.

I do have one excuse for my absent mindedness.  I recently went back on Weight Watchers (new PointsPlus is way confusing, and where is my Android E-Tools app dammit!), and I was a bit woozy from lack of carbs.  I need to get into shape so that I can look half as good as my beautiful wife-to-be on our special day (TBD).  :-)

I've been house hunting lately, and I came across a beautiful little house in a great neighborhood that fits my needs (and my wallet) perfectly.  I contacted a realtor and found out that the house was owned by the County and was being sold via a federal program called, "Neighborhood Stability Program" or "NSP".  I was informed that you had to qualify to purchase the home and one of the qualifications was to make under a certain salary.   As it turns out, to my surprise, I'm really rich!  At least the NSP program thinks so.  Just once, ONCE, I want to get a break from the government.  I guess the mayor of Orange County saw me driving around in my 2009 Rabbit with the 15 inch steel rims and guessed that a guy with a whip like that must be a player!  Maybe it was my Wal-Mart shirt or my Sketchers that really clued him in on my gansta bankroll.  I know, it was when he saw me at Olive Garden eating all the salad and bread sticks that gave him the impression that I lived so large, but the salad and bread sticks at the Garden are unlimited damn it.  UNLIMITED!

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Professional sports are a spectacle, as much theater as athleticism.  I love the soap opera dramatics that play out in the press...very entertaining.  I 'love' the Mets and 'hate' the Yankees (and Braves and Phillies and...), but these are 'sports' emotions not real emotions.  I've been known to chant "Yankees suck! Yankees suck!" during games, but if fact, the Yankees actually don't 'suck' they are really good.  It doesn't matter though.  When I'm involved in watching a Mets game I play the part.  If David Wright, my favorite Met, leaves the Mets for the Yankees when becomes a free agent I will 'hate' him.  If he makes his decision on a prime-time ESPN special, I will REALLY hate him.  But again, baseball (like all sports) is a business, and you can't really blame a person for doing what's best for themselves.  Likewise though, that player has to realize that what's best for them may not be what’s best for the fans, and they are going to let them know it!  That's part of the deal.  In the end, always remember: you can't really love or hate anything that can't love or hate you back.

This is why I am enjoying the LeBron James free agent drama so much.  LeBron probably could have made more money and have become a bigger star playing in New York, but he chose to join a team that has great chance of winning a championship very soon.  I admire that.  I might be the only one.  Sports writers are accusing him of taking the easy way out and being a coward!  It's true that if LeBron had stayed with his hometown Cavaliers and won a championship, he would go down in NBA history as a Michael Jordon type player.  Jordon spent years leading the Bulls from failure to glory, but that's not what James wants to do.  He has chosen to become one of three superstars on a team that might win a bunch of championships.  I don’t' see why that is bad.

With all that said, the way he left the Cavs, with the whole "Decision" ESPN special, was pathetic.  And I loved it!  Now, the best thing EVER is how the owner of the Cavaliers responded: with an emotional open letter posted on the front page of the Cavaliers web site!  I had no idea that the NBA allowed owners to post anything they want on team pages!  I would think that all the content is very closely scrutinized.  I bet his letter was typed by him personally on his computer then copy and pasted onto the site.  He used the Comic Sans font, a font not used by any respectable web designer.  Yikes!  This is no press release reviewed by the Team's or the League's PR people. What I like about the letter is that it is 'real', dripping with emotion.  You just don't see that much anymore on official websites.  I don't agree with a bunch of what the letter says, but I absolutely love that he has poured his heart out.

In the end, none of this matters. The Magic will win the Championship next year while the three Heat superstars will have a massive clash of egos.  They probably won't even make the playoffs. ***Jinx!!!***

Open Letter to Fans from Cavaliers Majority Owner Dan Gilbert

BTW, a woman just brought her toddler into the hot tub.  That can't be good, can it?  Kid seems happy, but still it must be a bit dangerous, no?

Ahhhh!  Michael McDonald...easy listening gold!

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When the Great Recession hit, the banks were 'too big to fail' and had to be bailed out by the Feds.  While most hated the idea, Americans swallowed this bitter bill as an unfortunate reality.  But, when GM and Chrysler needed to be bailed out, Americans' attitude was 'let 'em fail!'  I was astounded by the sentiment.  I am not an economist, but I believe that America needs to produce to survive.  The auto industry is one of the last big producers, so how could we let it fail while we propped up banks that just push around paper all day?  I know it is much more complicated than that, but on an emotional level, that is how I felt.

Between the time of the bailouts and today, I have purchased one car for myself, and I just helped my mom and dad lease another.  This brings my lifetime total of car buying/leasing (for myself or helping a friend or family member during negotiations) to seven.  Now I understand why people hate the automobile industry.  Americans LOVE their cars, but HATE the process of buying them.  In 2010, the process of buying a car is akin to purchasing textiles in a turn-of-the-century Persian street market.  If you are planning on buying a car, you better do your homework  or you will get 'taken' by the dealer.  Buy the Consumer Reports New Car Buyers Kit to get the actual price the dealer paid for the car (not the same as the invoice price).  Also, the Kit will help you with the cost of accessories and advice on how to buy, lease, and haggle with the dealer.  Buying a used car?  Use Consumer Reports as well, but don't forget to check out the Carfax, a service of Carfax.com that lists all the repair records of the car in question...just to make sure you're not getting ripped off.

Just writing the above paragraph made my blood boil.  No other product that I have purchased was this much work.  If I want to buy a big-screen TV, I will read the reviews on various blogs, find the one I want, and then I will search the web and stores for the best price.  Done.  When you buy a car, doing your homework will help, but no matter how many times I have purchase a car, I always get flustered at some point during the process.  When it is all said and done, you're so mentally exhausted and drained that the thrill of having a new car to drive home is muted by the vile, filthy process you just hand to go through.

If you are in the market for a new or used car, I cannot recommend highly enough buying the Consumer Reports New/Used Car Buyers Kit.  It could save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.  Second, try to avoid HAVING to buy a car.  Don't get to the point where your current ride is about to die, and you're hoping it won't conk out in the dealer's lot (that happened this past weekend to my mom's car -- long story short, got a great lease deal on a new Accord and they still took the old car in trade).  Also, be prepared to WALK AWAY!  If you are confused for some reason, any reason, just tell the dealer to print everything out so you can bring it home and read it over.  Be firm!  Don't let them push you around. Make your deal over the web via the dealer's site.  Make sure to get the 'out the door price'.  Use that quote and shop around to other dealers on the web.

There are hundreds of tips like the above on buying a new car, and that's one of the reasons why people hate the industry and why the car market continues to suffer -- the fact that there has to be so may tips and tricks to buying a car!  It is the 21st century, and it is time to start selling cars in such a way that doesn't make customers feel like taking a shower after leaving the dealership.

According to my source, a high-level employee of Micr0soft, the next version of Windows (Windows 8) will have an app store in which ALL Windows software will be distributed!  Modeled after the hugely successful Apple app store for iPhone and iPad, the Windows app store will be a 'one stop shop' for all software applications that a user wishes to install on their Windows system.

Apparently, the idea for a Windows app store (not to be confused with the app store available for Windows Phone) had been kicked around for a couple of years in Redmond, but it was the successful launch of Apple's iPad that convinced Microsoft that customers are willing to give up some freedom in exchange for the perception of increased security and quality.  My source says that the Microsoft sees the iPad as a full computer, not a 'large format' iPod or iPhone.  They are convinced that Apple will, over the next few years, make the iPad more and more powerful, phase out their notebook computers, and eventually all of Apple's products will be tied to app stores.  Not wanting to fall behind Apple any further, Microsoft will introduce the Windows app store for Windows 8 first.

Below is my source's list of benefits and restrictions for software deployment on Windows 8:

• All software for Windows 8 will be distributed via the Windows App store including both consumer and enterprise applications.
• Software developers will need to submit their applications to Micorosft for approval.  Microsoft will use the approval process to weed out malware (spyware, viruses, etc), poorly written software that impedes the performance of Windows 8, pornography, hate speach, vulgarity, and anything else that Micosoft thinks customers will find offensive.
• In addition to applicaitons developed by large vendors, such as Adobe and Apple, all custom developed software will need to be aproved by Microsoft via the app store.
• Microsoft will continue to allow Adobe Flash on Windows 8, but other software has not yet been approved (and may never be ): Firefox, Chrome, iTunes, Safari -- just to name a few.

The shift to a closed system controlled by Microsoft is a bombshell, no doubt, but the biggest news is that 'Windows 8' is just the code name for the next version of Windows.  The real name will be Windows Ocho!  It seems that MS execs want to capitalize on the popularity of NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, in an attempt to appeal to the 'kids'.  Not THAT is a little hard to believe, wouldn't you say?