"To be, or not to be? That...is the question."

Wha...?  I think what Bill Shakespeare meant was "To be retired, or not to be retired?  That is the question."  Lemme answer that:  Retirement is OK for a while, but occasionally it's nice to do something a little more challenging.

One of our previous customers, M/M "W", called on us to make another addition to the home we built for them just 2 years ago.  They're bringing in "mom", but I don't think they want her right on top of them, so they bought the lot next door and are building her her own quarters.

 

"Quarters"?  It's a good sized house all by itself.

It was about a month ago that we began construction, drilling 33 piers (steel reinforced concrete shafts that go down to bedrock) to support the foundation.

Then we put in all the PVC drain pipes and copper water lines, inspected it, and covered it with a moisture membrane.

After the foundation set-up was then inspected and approved by the design engineer we brought in the concrete pumper truck and things got interesting.

This is how the concrete comes out the other end of the hydraulic pump 60' away from the truck.

 

It's kinda cool to watch as it slowly oozes down into the deep beams, rather like molten lava flowing downhill. 

After the concrete had cured for a week and the cables had been tensioned (stretched), the carpenters began framing.  This is where we were as of yesterday.

 

It's funny how a home seems to grow larger in size as work progresses.  The slab frankly isn't very impressive, but when framing starts and you can get a sense of perspective, it blossoms.  From this angle it seems to stretch for a city block.  (That's the existing home we're tying in to.)

My job in all this?  I walk around with a clipboard and a set of blueprints under my arm.  Occasionally I unroll the plans (making sure I have them turned right-side-up....appearance is everything, you know) and look critically at something, then roll them back up.  

I also walk around, nod, smile, and say "Hola" a lot.  They call me "patron", which I think means "the one who brings the donuts".  

I think I have the work / retire ratio just about right.  When either starts getting a bit tedious I switch over to the other for a while.  Right now the work is good.  Maybe in a few weeks / months I'll retire again for a while.  One nice thing about working....you learn to appreciate weekends again. 

Speaking of weekends, have a great one all you fellow working stiffs.  :)

S  

 

Learning about business from Herb

I usually spend my drive time listening to news / talk radio, and yesterday I heard something that really got me to thinking.  The topic was raising the minimum wage and of course the arguments were the same as we've heard time and time again:

The conservative speaker pointed out that raising the minimum wage would help some, but would cost many jobs in the process, making it a net negative to the economy.  He went on to say that no company can pay employees more wages if they don't make the company any more money along the way.

Then the liberal speaker said workers (inflation adjusted) pay, especially at the lowest level, hasn't gone up in 20 years, while the top tier execs have seen their pay go up 200%+ in the same time.  For these people the American dream is just a mirage.  Working even two minimum wage jobs won't support a family.

Both good points, and the argument ended just as it began....square peg, round hole.  

Wanna know what I think?  I think somebody needs to sit down with Herb Kelleher and pick his brain.

This self effacing, hard drinking (Wild Turkey) smooth talking "naturalized" Texan was one of the co-founders, and later the long-time CEO, of Southwest Airlines.  He grew a handful of employees and 3 leased airplanes into the low-cost (?) juggernaut it is today, with over 550 aircraft and 45,000 employees. And they all love him.  (At least the people do, not sure about the planes.)

Herb wasn't noted for throwing around mega paychecks.  In fact, his employees were traditionally some of the lowest paid employees in the industry.  And he was one of the lowest paid major corporate CEO's, too, never receiving a salary of more than a few hundred thousand dollars a year.  (That "good for the goose, good for the gander" thing.)

When their company did well, and it almost always did, they all shared the profits and received stock options, too.  And with that, they all did just fine.  Herb might come across as just an "aw shucks" kinda guy, but I promise you he is ALL business, he is brilliant, and his people trust him.  The unions worked with him because he was fair.

He took care of his employees, never laying off even one, and if they played their cards right, more than a few retired multi-millionaires.  True!  To this day people fight for a job there, positions are that coveted.

Oh, and Herb retired in 2008 filthy rich, too.  (He had juuuuust a few more options than the rest of 'em, rightfully so.)  Herb proved that business doesn't have to be a zero-sum game....for someone to win, someone else does NOT have to lose.

And I don't think many if any of those 45,000 employees give a damn if he's a liberal, a conservative, or a pink unicorn.  So why can't the rest of us figure it out?

S

The Southern Wave

That's "wave", as in "howyadoin'?

Southerners, and native Texans in particular, are friendly people.  We smile and say "Hi" to strangers we meet on the sidewalk, say "please" and "thank you" with Metamucil regularity, and wave at each other a lot.  It's just what we do.

K teases me for talking to the neighbors, but I just can't help myself.  (She's only a naturalized Texan, having been born in the Cereal State of California.)  Last weekend, for example, I got in our elevator with a guy who had just finished his morning run.

"Great day to be outdoors, huh?"

"Yeah, this feels great, much nicer than where I came in from yesterday."

"Oh, where was that?"

"Philly."

"Are you moving here or just visiting?"

"My wife has been working here for 2 years and commuting, but now I'm moving here, too."

"Welcome, then.  Hope you enjoy it here."

Then we both got off on the same floor and he entered the apartment where the uber-businesslike lady lives that I see on weekdays leaving for work.  She must make big bucks in order to commute back and forth to Philly!

See....friendly.

And all us dog walkers are on speaking terms, too.  I know them all....Noah and Angel and Oliver, etc.  Those are the dogs.  We acknowledge each other as "Noah's owner", "Angel's owner", and so forth.

Which brings me to "the wave".  Sometimes the simple, harmless wave can get a little creepy.

Every morning as I'm walking Luke the Wonderdog a lady driving dark blue Ford Explorer pulls out of the garage, drives by very slowly, gives me a little smile, followed by the Southern Wave.  And I smile and wave back.  

Trouble is, I have absolutely no idea who she is.  I've racked my brain (which didn't take long) and still have no clue where we've met.  Oh, I forgot to mention....she has out-of-state plates. And the side and rear windows are super dark tinted, like they have on those TV cop shows when they have cameras and video recorders inside.  *cue the scary music*

I'm really hoping she's just being Texas friendly, too, and isn't someone sent here by the NSA to start a dossier on me.  (I think they read my blog.)  Or maybe Vladimir Putin took offense to something I've written about him, or worse, Ted Cruz took offense to something I've written about him.  Or the American Bankers Associaiton, or....wow, this could be a long list!  :)

S

It's like losing a bet all over again watching the instant replay. DUH!

Every night the news is filled with the latest efforts of US SecState Kerry and other world diplomats as they try to start talks with Vladimir "Pootie Pooh" Putin on securing the return of Crimea back to Ukraine.

 

Look...a booger!

These people must be a very special variety of stupid!  Russia now "owns" Crimea, its troops are dug in, and it isn't going anywhere.  And we can't make it.  We need to quit beating our heads against the wall and face it.

Trouble is, this is the first....the second actually after Russia's little foray into Georgia back in '08....of many upcoming moves by Putin to reconstitute Russia's old empire. He telegraphed it back in 2012 upon his return to power as President.

At that time he told Russian industry / banking leaders (the oligarchs) "Owning assets outside Russia makes you too vulnerable to moves by foreign governments.  It's time to bring your wealth home."  Hello!  He wanted to make Russia "sanction proof".  This whole Crimean crisis, and the ones soon to come, are all premeditated.

Pootie Pooh is an unreconstructed KGBer.  All he knows how to do is step on people's throat to get them to do what he wants.  He once declared the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geo-political catastrophy of the 20th Century.  He wants Russia's empire back.  

All the former USSR republics are now on notice....close ranks with Russia and you'll be left alone.  Step out of line and there can always be excuses found to invade "for the good of the people."  *Ha!  He cracks me up some times!*

We really should make a game of this.  "Who will be he next two-bit Russian neighbor to feel Putin's wrath?"  There's money to be made here Vegas!

S

The freak of all freaks

I saw a really interesting / disturbing piece last night on 60 Minutes about how we are electronically spied on with every email we send / receive, every site we visit, every online purchase we make, etc.  

There are companies that specialize in this "data gathering", hoovering it all up and then creating profiles of over 200,000,000 of us (so far) which they sell to....who knows....so they can aim ever more targeted advertising at us.

Their profiles can tell if you have cancer, diabetes, migraines, you name it, by knowing what you've purchased online or mentioned in a Tweet or email.  Your political affiliation, your sexual preference, your hobbies, your pet peeves, your financial status, your investments....it is totally, 100% invasive.  They probably know more about you than your spouse does.

So here's what I was thinking we should all do:  Leave a smokescreen of disinformation for them to incorporate into your dossier.  Make them think you're a cross-dressing bisexual environmentalist Republican who has slept with both Madonna and Rush Limbaugh.  

Someone who has bought a place in Colorado just for the legal weed, and frequently watches Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network.
  

Someone who loves collecting butterflies, swinging, and attending monster truck rallies, who has sent proposal letters to Honey Boo Boo AND her mom (The Big Boo Boo?), and who has only 3 toes on each foot.  Someone who wears tap shoes, whose favorite color is black, and prefers to wear it with thigh-highs.  

Let these "data gatherers" put together a profile of THAT mythical person and then sit back and see what kind of targeted advertising comes our way.  Should be interesting, huh?  ;)

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I love commercials with a dry sense of humor.  This one tickles me:

It's Monday.  Again.  Go get 'em....rah.  :)

S

Listen up Bacon Heads....

Until now I've never been what you would call a "morning person".  Yes, I get up around 6am and get on with my day, but I don't really get it in gear until maybe 9 or so.  That may soon change.

That's because now there's....there's....*deep breath*....a new alarm clock app for your iPhone from Oscar Mayer that wakes you to the sound of sizzling BACON!  And with a small add-on accessory you can even get the SMELL of sizzling bacon, too.  How cool is that?!?

Is this even legal?  It's like showing dope to a dopehead or a bottle of booze to a boozer.   Or a lobbyist to a politician.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Have you ever heard of a Golden BB?  It's a "lucky shot", the idea that it's technically possible for one shot from a BB gun to shoot down an airplane if it hits in juuuuust the right place.

This concept popped in to my mind this morning when I took Luke The Wonderdog out for his early dootie call.  Something about this electric transformer caught his eye, or more probably his nose, and he went over to check it out.

For a split second I thought, "OH NO...the golden BB!  He's gonna raise a leg and douse it!  In just the right spot he'll short it out, it will blow up, then things will snowball downhill until the entire city is blacked out.  I wonder how much THAT is going to cost me?"

If the mutt is ever that lucky, I'm gonna take him straight to the store what sells lotto tickets and buy a bunch, and have Luke pick the numbers.  Cha-Ching!

No such luck.  He peed, nothing blew up, and I'm still waiting for my ship to come in.  *sigh*

Have a great weekend everyone.  :)

S

Food truck humor

I love to eat off food trucks.  I guess that makes me a foodie truckie foodie.  Unfortunately I have to look long and hard to find one in Dallas. 

While most of the rest of the country has been able to enjoy them for years, upscale hoighty toighty Dallas said they had "health and safety concerns".  (Wake up Dallas....these aren't your daddy's Roach Coaches.)  I'm thinking they only had tax $$$$ concerns.  Just now are we getting a fair selection of food trucks, if you know where to look.

San Antonio, on the other hand, has embraced them.  They have a thriving food truck scene.  And now they have a controversial food truck in their midst:

 

This rolling restaurateur's nom de guerre is CockAsian.

CockAsian specializes in Asian fusion cuisine, and its #1 dish is Asian fusion chicken.  Get it?  Chicken = Cock, Asian = ...er...Asian.  CockAsian.  To some it has a rather unsavory sexual innuendo, and they are, pardon the pun, all "bent out of shape".  (sorry)

I say the joke is on them.  This ^ is Candi Yoder, and she owns CockAsian.  And as you can see, she's very "Caucasian".  Touche, Candi!  :)

I say people these days are waaaaay too uptight.  They no longer have a sense of humor. In some instances, however, I must admit the subject matter is so obnoxious it trumps humor.  One instance that comes to my mind is the controversy over the name "Washington Redskins".

Fortunately good sense has won the day and the football team has agreed to change their name.  Because of all its sick, sordid history, the disrespect, and the hate and venom that name spews, the team has announced that from this day forward they will be known simply as "The Redskins".  :)

G'day friends.

S