WE WON!

WE WON! 

We received word today from Scott Roberts of Creative Architects that our collaborative design/build effort, a major addition to a custom residence we built (and he also designed) several years ago won the ARC Award 2015 for Best Addition in Dallas.  *Or was it North America?  Yeah, let's go with North America*

I must admit it was a very challenging project, but Scott R delivered a superbly creative design and our subcontractors, who I honestly believe are true artisans, executed his plan to perfection.  And credit where credit is due, the homeowners, Mr & Ms W, had amazing vision, too.  

For our part....we had the good sense to employ great people, pay them fairly, and supply them with enough donuts, barbecue, and fried chicken (no, not all at the same time) to keep them highly motivated.  Great job everyone!  We're proud to be part of the TEAM!    :)  *big applause*

S

A two-part-er.....

Tonight the top-10-polling Republican presidential candidates will bloviate in a nationally televised debate.  And front and center will be The Big Wind himself, Donald Trump, aka "The Donald".  He's a lightning rod for sure, but I must give him due credit for two things:  

First, I like the way he speaks his mind.  It's obvious he says what he thinks, and not just what this morning's poll numbers say people want to hear.  Whether I agree with what he's saying or not is another matter, but at least I never have to wonder what he's thinking. 

Second, I like the way he is paying for his campaign out of his own pocket instead of having to prostitute himself before the usual cesspool of special interests.  

Of course, following this logic, that would mean only billionaires should run for president, which is of course a complete other problem.  But as my lovely wife pointed out, it's either the billionaire who funds his own campaign, or the common man who is corruptible.  Maybe we should look at public funding of campaigns, taking fund raising and all it's corrupting influence out of the equation?

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The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to rule soon on whether publicly traded corporations will have to reveal what their CEO's make (in TOTAL compensation, not just salaries) as well as the gap between what they make and what their employees make.  The two Republican commission members are against it, the two Democrats are for it, and the lone Independent is expected to be the tie-breaking "yes" vote.

Big business interests such as the US Chamber of Commerce are steadfastly against it saying it will cost businesses $700 million to calculate and report the yearly numbers (the SEC says it shouldn't cost more than $73 million), and that it is simply an excuse to embarrass highly paid CEO's.

That last excuse seems self incriminating to me.  If you haven't done anything to be embarrassed about, why should you fear being embarrassed?

I have no problem seeing CEO's make big bucks IF THEY DESERVE IT.  But too often they make their money via smoke and mirrors.  Think of the 2008 financial meltdown and today's Greek debt fiasco....those were just giant shell games!  They tweaked things to make it look like they were masterful business people when they were just blowing up a property bubble that eventually burst, or were making loans to credit-worthy sovereign countries.  Their shareholders were left ruined, while they lived happily ever after (with their millions of $$$$ in ill-gotten compensation) in the Hampton's.

Legitimate, skillful management that builds a solid, long term company SHOULD be handsomely rewarded (former CEO's like Southwest Airline's Herb Kelleher and Costco's James Sinegal come to mind), but not these "skim all you can and move on" shysters.  

Maybe this new rule will shed light on the "too good to be true" CEO's.  If their company is a laggard, but their pay is at the top of their segment chart, why shouldn't it be brought forcefully to the attention of their shareholders?  What possible excuse can you use to justify NON-transparency?

S

Death by hanging, or death by firing squad?

 Just my two cents, which actually has no cash value at all....

  
Of course the O'Bama administration is touting the new Iran / 5+1 (or whatever it's called) nuclear freeze deal, and now our living rooms are being blasted with TV commercials saying it will be the end of the world and we must stop it.  So who's right?

IMHO both are.  There is no way we are going to get (our definition of) a good deal with the Iranians.  They are led by religious zealots who don't care what the world or even their own people want.  Oh sure, they trotted out the guy with the neatly trimmed facial hair and a suit of western-style clothes to be their front man....

....but it's really this guy, their Grand Exalted PooBah, who holds the real power, and he has said the agreement will in no way alter his determination to destroy Israel or deter him from spreading his pro-Shia Muslim influence across the Mid East.  I don't trust him, or the rest of the Gubment of Iran, and look for them to cheat every chance they get. 

They'll get the world's sanctions off their backs, get the go-ahead to buy critical "stuff" from the West, then they'll be off to their old shenanigans again.  (Before the ink even dried they announced a deal with Pootie Poo Putin to buy 100 Ilyushin aerial-refueling tankers, enabling their shitty little air force to extend their range to cover virtually the entire Mid East.)

BUT....

Let's get real here....we can't stop them.  With regard to this particular crisis, we're essentially powerless.  Sure, sanction hurt them, or more specifically hurt their people, but the religious zealots who call the shots there haven't cared about their people in decades.  Why start now?  

A few years down the road this will surely look like it was a bad deal.  But at least on paper it bought us some time.  Time to figure out what to do.  Time to develop some miracle new technology that can zap their nukes, or scramble their computers with some new computer virus.  I dunno.  Anything is possible.

So I guess we should take the deal, but NEVER let ourselves think this will be the peaceful end of those pesky old Iranians.  Like your slug of a brother-in-law, they'll be back.  Count on it.  *sigh*

Fortunately (?) for us, the Egyptians, Turks, and Saudis, and of course the always vigilant Israelis are making noises like they might step to the plate and do something.  'Course, if they succeed, what will be the unintended consequences from those odd bedfellows?

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On a totally unrelated (believe it or not) topic, this evening I'm going to the gun club to shoot this:

You know what they say about men and their toys.  :)

Now where did I put my tin foil hat?

S

Free college education? Hmmm....lemme think on that.

I can remember my dad telling the story on more than one occasion of how there were only 11 grades of public school when he was a kid back in the 1930's.  I don't know if that was universal nation-wide or just in his small-town school district.  Regardless, according to him it was a bit later that a 12th grade was added to the free public education system.

I'm guessing dad missed being in his senior class photo as he was probably in the principal's office.  (This is actually a generic photo.  Doesn't matter....he would still have been in the principal's office :)

What brought this to mind was a Facebook post I saw today quoting Democratic / Independent / Socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders advocating a free college education for all.  

I'm sure this brought squeals of glee from one end of the political spectrum and cries of anguish from the other extreme.  That's always how we see things, either liberal or conservative, Democratic or Republican.  If one side proposes something, the other opposes it, just to deny their opponent the satisfaction.  

I don't look at things through those glasses.  I think "practical".  Example:

Knowledge is today exploding exponentially.  Kids today have so much more to learn than I did when I was in school.  Using dad's example, a 12th grade was probably added to the public education system because kids needed to absorb more information than they had in the past.  (I won't go in to the "dumbing down" of the system over the intervening years.  Grrr!)

Not long ago I was invited to visit the Lockheed Martin facility in Foat Wuth where we got a tour and heard a presentation by their PR folks.  They told of how their greatest challenge today was finding / hiring enough qualified American engineers.  (I say "American" because most of their work requires a very high security clearance, making many / most foreign-born engineers, technically qualified though they might be, automatically ineligible.)  They said our stagnant (my word) educational system was hindering them.

There was a time when obtaining a high school education was considered adequate for a bright future.  Then it became necessary to get a college education in order to climb the socio-economic ladder.  Today some sort of advanced degree is becoming almost mandatory in order to rise above the lower / middle management level.  Yet here we are 80 years after dad graduated, still with the same 12 grades of free public education.  Helloooo?

"But...but...how would we ever pay for it?"  Consider this (decade-old) census bureau chart:

Imagine how much more income tax revenue we could squeeze out of a Bachelor's / Master's / Doctorate Degree holder than we are getting from a high school graduate, much less a public school dropout?  I'd look there for the additional funding!

I don't think every kid should necessarily get a free ride to Stanford or Princeton or Texas Tech....well OK, maybe Texas Tech....or that post-high school education even has to mean "college".  There is a great need for trade skills such as welders, mechanics, medical techs, etc that require more education, but not an actual college degree.

I think this is an idea that might need to be looked into further.  It seems to me that it would be in our NATIONAL SECURITY INTEREST to have the best educated population and the brightest, most dynamic workforce in the world.  Right now lack of $$$ is no doubt holding back a lot smart kids.  Yes, some can work 2 or 3 jobs and perhaps get there, but along the way I wonder how many others would simply, exhaustedly, give up the dream?

I say let the #$%^& Democrats and Republicans fight over who's bright idea it was.  But lets do take the idea and see if we can find a way to make it work.  Seems to me we'll all be better off if we somehow can.

And you say....?

S

Move over Michelangelo

We recently completed construction on a major new Mother-In-Law wing addition to a home that we built several years ago.  It turned out so nice my friend and the project architect, Scott Roberts of Creative Architects, took these photos and is entering it in a Home Builders Association award contest in the category of Best Addition To A Several Year Old Home Designed By An Architect With The Initials Of SR And Built by Two Brothers With The Initials Of SP & TP.  

I thought you'd like a sneak preview....

This was the original home.

This southern end is the new Mother-In-Law addition.  Lucky Mom!

Two views of Mom's new den. 

The new library.

The new library ceiling....it took me FOREVER to paint that, lying on my back for days at a time!  *wink* 

Mom has her own modest pullman-style kitchen and laundry area.  (The dryer is behind the double cabinet doors to the right of the washer.)

She also has her own media room upstairs.  (The theater seats hadn't arrived before the photo session.) 

And of course Mom also has her own second story balcony with a view of the neighborhood water feature across the street.  I LOVE that big ass fan!  (Seriously, the manufacturer is The Big Ass Fan Company.)

And finally, here is the completed project exterior.  Not too shabby, huh?  :)

Nice job Scott Roberts!

S

Pimp My Ride

I've never been a big car customizer.  I usually buy my cars with my options just checked on the order form.  But in the spirit of the TV show Pimp My Ride, I decided to let my hair down *snicker* and do something different to my new car.  But what?

The first thing that came to mind was some 26" chrome wheels and low profile tires, but I'm not prepared to pay big bucks to replace the dental work likely to be shaken loose by the rough ride.

Then I thought about one of those 26-speaker, 4000 watt audio systems, but remembered I'm not all that impressed with today's music.

What I decided on was something a bit less flamboyant, but something likely to keep my car looking showroom new for years.  Something like this...

What do you think?  Like it? 

What I splurged on was the application of a top-quality paint protection film on the front end, fenders, and hood to save my car from the thousands of little rocks and dirt clods that fall off all those #$%& construction trucks every day here in Dallas.

The owner, Brian Martin ^, could be the poster child for anal retentiveness.  *And I thought I was bad!*  I watched as he washed the car that I had just washed, then used a clay bar to get it cleaner still.  Then he touched up a couple of almost microscopic chips I couldn't begin to see.  Finally he slowly, meticulously, applied his miracle film.

My friend Neil did this to his new car years ago and it still looks perfect.  I see it all the time on the fancy autos at Cars and Coffee...the Audi's, Mercedes', BMW's, Lexus's, Ferrari's, Lambo's, etc.  While my car is juuuuust a bit more modest, I still think it's worth it.

In my research (yes, I even researched this) I learned that most film applicators use pre-cut pieces that are much easier to just slap on, but don't fit well at all.  The average slug might not see it, but I knew I would.  Brian uses full sheets of film, then cuts them to wrap under the hood and fender edges, making it virtually invisible.  

 It took him all day, and then I left my car with him overnight to make sure everything "cured" just right. When I picked it up the next day I could not see it.  Kudos, Brian!

So okay, maybe it's Pimp Lite.  Ya' think it needs anything more?  Curb feelers maybe?  Gangster white walls?  Oooo....I know....

Hey, this is Texas.  :)

Full disclosure:  I received absolutely nothing for this review, dammit!  But I do like to see small entrepreneurs who do a truly superior job get the credit they deserve.  If you live in the Dallas/Foat Wuth area and value your car as much as I value mine, I sincerely recommend you go see Brian. His website is www.invisibra.net

S

Where is OUR Teddy Roosevelt?

I'm a big fan of our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt.  He was a visionary, was tough, and looked after the interests of the American people.  And he had a cool mustache.

TR was also a trust buster.  In his day corporate monopolies were not uncommon.  Congress passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in 1890, but it was just a dust collector until TR came to office and used it to break up industries that didn't have the interests of the public at heart, all while NOT declaring war on the wealthy.

He broke up JP Morgan's Northern Securities which had a stranglehold on much of the northern states railroads, and most famously, he broke up John D Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company.  They were set up solely to enrich the principals, with little regard to any public responsibility.

Where am I going with this?  Today's news:

(Health insurance giant) Aetna to buy (health insurance giant) Humana in $35 BILLION deal.

And just last month (health insurance giant) Blue Cross / Anthem announced they wanted to buy (health insurance giant) Cigna, offering them $47 BILLION.  Cigna said that wasn't enough, and negotiations are still quietly moving forward.

I have many doctor friends, clients I've built homes for.  They all tell me, every single one of them, that it is the health insurance companies who are the BIG winners in the Affordable Care Act, aka ObamaCare.

Profit is a good word.  I'm all for profits, but at what cost?  Are profits truly a zero-sum game?  Does one group have to be a big loser in order for the other to be a big winner?

For years both the Democrats and Republicans, with a slight edge to the Republicans, have preached "FREE MARKET!....DE-REGULATE!....MORE COMPETITION!"  Did you feel their hot air being blown up your skirt?  They certainly talked-the-talk, but they turned their back on us when it came time to walk-the-walk.

Over the past few years Delta and Northwest Airlines have merged (now known as just Delta), Southwest and AirTran have merged (now known as just Southwest), and America West absorbed US Airways, and then merged again with American Airlines (now known as just American).  They control 80% of the US airline marketplace.  Over the past year or so the price of jet fuel, one of their biggest costs, has come DOWN by approx 40%, yet fares are UP by 13%.  The Feds are now looking into this, questioning whether these giants are somehow in collusion.  Betcha nothing, or next to it, will come of this investigation.  It's the Washington way.

Do you think if there were 8 mega-airlines instead of just this handful this would be the case?  I'm not even going to mention the BILLIONS OF DOLLARS they're making off checked baggage fees, stale sandwich sales, and pay toilets. (OK, maybe I'll mention it just a little  :)

Now the health insurers want to merge, too, citing "economies of scale", and how it would be "in the public interest".  MY ASS!  Once they get what they want, get ready for a wild ride, folks.  Recent history tells us this will turn out to be another nail in our....the people's....coffin.

What happened to de-regulation?  Yes!  The well managed will survive and thrive, while the laggards will fail, as they should.

What happened to competition?  Yes!  The most innovative, the most customer oriented, the smartest will thrive, while the others will languish, as they should.

It is anti-monopoly laws that keep things on the up-and-up.  IMO they are NOT being enforced vigorously enough, if at all.  We're getting steamrolled!

What happened to the "free market"?  Wake up people!  WE ARE THE MARKET!

One last bit of wisdom from Teddy Roosevelt:

 

I want my Teddy!  *sniff*

 

S