Attached Link: http://www.fotoonz.com

 Heh I know the feeling!

So do I. Oh, well...
Gordon

She needs to go to her local ACORN office and find out how to make more money by changing her profession. :laugh:

Based on some of your past toons Gordon, you could apply to be her supervisor! :thumbupboth:

But in this economy, I am sure there are lots of people envious over the fact she got a pay check no matter how small.  :sad:

That's true. The only check I get these days says 'Unemployment' on it. But, we hope for the best.
Gordon

Why 'sticker shock?'
DPH

That's what they call it when you see the price sticker on certain items, particularly cars.
Gordon

Any idea of when this phrase was coined, because I don't recall ever having heard it before I immigrated to Israel in 1973.
DPH

Yes, it was later than that. Possibly in the eighties. Advertisers started using it to describe their competitors' products. "Suffering from sticker shock? Well, check out OUR product!" That sort of thing.
Gordon

Verrrrry Innnterrrresting!
RIP Henry Gibson. He was a classic!

George Schlatter's brother was a teacher and football coach where I went to school. Gordon at times your toons remind me of the classic good old days of comedy and Laugh In.

Thank you! I watched every episode of that show when I was a kid. Too bad they don't have anything like that on TV anymore. Or variety shows, even... Saturday Night Live is still on, at least.
Gordon

It is believed that the term originated in the 1970s, when automobiles became substantially more expensive due to increased government regulation. In the United States, many car dealers price their cars with very large stickers which can readily be seen by passerby, with the intent of drawing people into the lot. As prices rose, these stickers might have indeed seemed shocking, especially since inflation was rising at the same time as well.

as a foot note, prior to that they did not have to put the details on the car window like they do now. Now it is a law, that they have to have that huge sticker with all the details about the car and each items price and mpg, etc. The stickers are the same format no matter the brand.

Yes, could be late-seventies when inflation was going nuts, and more government mandated equipment was being added to cars every year. New government regulations will be adding considerably to the cost of cars in the near future. Improving gas mileage means using higher cost materials and technologies. Economies of scale will help to offset some of that, though. If you put variable valve timing and direct injection on EVERY engine, the cost becomes a bit more reasonable. But aluminum insn't going to get any cheaper. And cars will be using more of it. Taking weight out of a car body structure for better mileage is tricky if you don't want to sacrifice passenger safety.
Gordon

A suggestion that was made by an airplane manufacture not so long ago that composite materials like what they use in aircraft maybe the key to keeping the weight down and still have a vehicle that is safe.  Some auto companies in the US have been looking into this along with other options like using heavy plastics tubes with honeycomb like cavities filled with a heavy liquid.

The problem with composites up until now has been cost. They're light and strong, but expensive when compared with steel. Aircraft in the past were extensively made of aluminum, making composites more cost competitive for that application. I worked on an R&D job for Jeep designing a high-end off-road vehicle that made major use of composites, structural plastic (RIM), aluminum and magnesium in 1999. The Chrysler VP whose idea it was in the first place quit and went to a competitor. The project died on the vine, so to speak. That was shortly after Daimler bought Chrysler, so that may have had something to do with it, too. It was a good job while it lasted...
Gordon

with the use of nano tech, composites are now cheaper to manufacture. However (there is always a however) the science behind composites manufacturing using nano tech is still along ways from being perfect, maybe we will see something cheap or affordable with these nano composites maybe 5 to 10 years.

That will be nice!  

I know that DuPont is working with another company on making paint (commercial)  using nano composites in the paint that when something scratches it is "self healing". I thought that it was so cool when I read about it, then I saw a TV show where it is explained how it will work and thought this is better that the self inflating tires

This is a subject I could almost go on and on about.