If you are really down on your luck in Hong Kong, you can live in a “cage” for dirt cheap rent.  $150 USD for a bottom bunk, and $100 USD for a top bunk. Crazy. People are living like this?  Did you see that bathroom?

In New Jersey, the NJ Dept of Transportation has already started working on the widening of the NJ Turnpike.  The Turnpike itself has separate bus/truck and car lanes, but southbound at exit 8a, they all merge.  The merge causes huge traffic problems as everyone who can’t can’t drive slows down to a crawl.  Many times on the weekend, the backup will stretch all the way to exit 9 and northwards. It basically sucks. Many times on the way home on a Friday evening, the traffic is bad, and I’ll jump off at an earlier exit, but so has everyone else.  This results in me being mired in traffic on the local roads.

So, some time ago, the DOT and NJ finally approved a plan to widen the Turnpike all the way to exit 6.  This gets the southbound drivers a better shot as they make their way to 7a (Jackson and Great Adventure), 7, and exit 6 (the PA Turnpike.) Sounds like a win-win, eh?

Progress isn’t good for everybody.  On our exit, they are also moving the toll plaza.  As a result of the plan, and the need for space for this long-term construction plan, they’ve flattened and paved a large area of green pastures.  They’ve also bought out nearby homes to make room.  I can tell, because their decks/porches are ripped away, and the lawns are gone. 

This past Wednesday, I needed to get oil changes for both of our cars, as we were way past due. In the past, I’ve taken it to the local Exxon gas station and mechanic shop.  In 2006-2008, I used to get all my car work done there, which included oil changes and all that engine work and windshield replacement on the old Honda Accord.  I spent many times walking in and out of Exxon station, spending gobs of money there on the Honda.  The station manager was an Indian man named Nathan — an older Indian man in this sixties who has done various jobs in the past, but now working here.

After a lot of engine work done on the Honda in 2007 and 2008, but without any real improvement, I got annoyed and stopped going to the Exxon station.  Nathan would call me every so often, sounding a little lonely, wonderingf if I would be coming in for any work.  I guess he was hurting for some business, but I was still too annoyed. Too many mechanics in and out, and none could solve my problems.

Back to this week — I needed a fast oil change, and I figured it couldn’t hurt to try the Exxon, and throw them some business.  It’s close, and I didn’t want to be away from work too long in the afternoon. I saw Nathan, who was looking very haggard and slow. He got the mechanic to stay a little longer past quiting time to do my oil change.  Nathan then told me that the station would be closing in two days, on Oct 1st.  The NJ DOT had purchased the land on the station, as they needed the additional space next to their staging area.  Wow.

Nathan mentioned that he and the rest of the mechanics were out of jobs in two days, and had nothing lined up. Now I knew why this guy was depressed.  I felt bad, as Nathan (and the mechanics) couldn’t afford to be out of work.  Heck, none of us can these days.  Nothing lined either. Tough break. Progress is great, but you don’t always think about all the repercussions, and how not everyone may benefit. Much like the robots added to assembly lines, or the Internet affecting brick-and-mortar stores.

Our Exxon gas station will be no more

Our Atlanta Bread Company has closed

Whether it be a vacation day, or more likely a working from home day, a secret pleasure of mine is to get lunch at our local Atlanta Bread Company. It’s a pretty nice place.  Excellent sandwiches and soups, nice clean restaurant, and freshly baked bread and desserts.  Even better? The free wi-fi.  Many a person can be found eating lunch in front of their laptop.  My all-time favorite was to get the Chicken Waldorf sandwich, the most delicious chicken salad sandwich that I had ever indulged in.

It thus pained me immensely to find our local franchise location closed on Thursday while driving past.  They always did brisk business, I don’t quite understand what happened.  Needless to say, I am sad.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Blockbuster Video, whose shares are trading below $1, is seeking advice on how to file for bankruptcy.  Blockbuster counters it’s only trying to get help to restructure its debt.

I’m not surprised about Blockbuster, though I find it ironic how this chain drove out all the mom-and-pop video rental stores in my neighborhood and across the country.  Twenty years later, they are now the endangered species.  Such a cyclical world we live in.  Innovate and evolve or become irrelevant.  It does not help when you have idiotic, short-sighted upper management. Darwin’s theory of evolution, anyone?

Video Killed the Video Store | Epicenter from Wired.com.

Wow.  I’ve never purchased any item from a Virgin Megastore, but I’m still shocked.  All five remaining Virgin Megastores in the United States — including the location in Union Square, — will close by summer of 2009. I thought it would be a lot, but it turns out that the chain operated only 11 stores around the country at the most.

Virgin Megastores Sacrificed, Report Says | NBC New York.

Wow, go Canada. We could learn something from them.

Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it’s Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada’s banking system the healthiest in the world. America’s ranked 40th, Britain’s 44th.

Zakaria: The Canadian Solution | Newsweek Voices – Fareed Zakaria | Newsweek.com.