can't screw the employee

I can't say I'm sorry to see Wal-Mart leave Germany. According to an article in the on-line version of Forbes Magazine, Wal-Mart sold all 85 stores to a competitor of Aldi on Friday, 8 years after gaining entry into the German market. The article said that the problem was that "The company's strategic formula is based on a very powerful logistics machine, but also on huge intention to cut workforce and employment costs." In Germany, Wal-Mart couldn't screw the employees with below-poverty-level wages and lack of benefits. I heard that another problem was that Wal-Mart tried to continue its habit of forcing its suppliers to outsource to cheaper countries. But Germans demand the local products that they know and love, not the Chinese version. I think there is a lesson for America in there somewhere.

Open-air concert in Nuremberg

We had a great time on Sunday at the concert in Nuremberg. We went with a group of 6 and arrived early in order to have a picnic beforehand. We ended up sitting on a little hillside, and had a veiw of most of the 60 thousand people there to hear the Nürnberger Philharmoniker (the orchestra that made the soundtrack to Beauty and the Beast). There was also a tenor there to sing "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's opera "Turandot". When he started singing, most of those 60 thousand people started lighting sparklers, similar to lighting a lighter during a ballad, but the effect was stronger since a sparkler is so much brighter than a lighter. It was fun.