Economic Blast
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 101.4 in June, up from a May reading of 94.6. The June level matches the level in March. The index took a tumble in April. The index is now 17.4 percent higher than it was a year ago, evidence that the economy is poised to enjoy stronger growth in coming months.
After a disappointing first quarter, the BEA's initial estimate for second-quarter GDP showed the economy expanded at a 4% annualized rate. Economists were expecting Q2 GDP to grow 3%. (Stay tuned for the next revision(s).
Quotable
"The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out"- King Solomon
Ramp/Dock Report: July 2015
"This Independence Day, more people will get in their cars, board airplanes, and take buses, trains and cruise ships to celebrate our nation's freedom with friends and family," AAA President Marshall Doney said in a statement.Doney attributed part of the predicted increase in July Fourth travel to gas prices that are nearly $1 per gallon lower than they were at this point in 2014, despite "seasonal increases" that have raised prices at the pump above record lows during the winter.
Four months after helping to resolve a long-running labor dispute that crippled traffic at West Coast ports, U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez was back in California to praise how quickly workers and management were able to clear enormous backlogs of cargo. But he also pointed to long-term challenges facing the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as they work to remain the dominant hub for transpacific trade.
"Location, location, location in this competitive global economy is not enough," Perez said at a news conference Monday in San Pedro with port officials and local political leaders. "You have to be efficient, you have to be timely, you have to be reliable, and you have to be state of the art."
Lessons from the Past
As life would have it, I met many interesting and famous people! One that I cannot pass up the opportunity to share was Jack LaLanne, the fitness and health guru from way back in the 50's and onward to his stardom via his television exercise shows (black and white even!) From 1965-1967 while still in high school, one of my jobs was working in an upscale restaurant as a busboy. The restaurant was located in the Long Beach Marina next to the Long Beach Yacht Club, (hence 'upscale'!).
Jack LaLanne frequented the Captain's Inn (name of the place) on a regular basis and was famous for several feats of strength, like swimming with handcuffs and pulling boats behind him! Though nearly a vegetarian, Jack would usually dine on the fish sold by our restaurant and would have our chefs prepare his dinner with fresh and mostly uncooked vegetables. I had served him often and on the last time I saw him a very strange accident happened that I will never forget!
In the finer restaurants, busboys cleared the dirty tables without use of carts or bus trays. Our hands and arms did a miracle of balance and precision loading! With my hands and arms full of dirty service ware and where speed was of the essence to get as many patrons in and out, I became pretty good at handling lots of service ware and always holding the steak knives and forks in my left hand with blades out. Here it comes! Jack was exiting his booth and the same time I was clearing the booth behind him and I turned in my speediest move and Jack and I met, with my left hand out front and a steak knife protruding and yep, I stabbed him in the back! Fortunately the wound was more like a scratch than a stabbing. The real loser was Jack's suit coat with a hole pierced into it! Mr. Heinrich, the owner of the restaurant, graciously replaced the coat and graciously kept me employed! Jack was also quite gracious as he kept the incident light hearted and comic calling me "Flash"!