I have been busy the past couple of weeks. With Chinese New Year all but shutting down my inbound shipments, I have had a lot of free time to do other things. So I woke up last week and decided to sell my laptop on eBay. After the 7 day period I got a bidder and got it sold. I went out that night and bought the new MacBook Air. I have to tell you that this computer is like a feather compared to the 17" MacBook Pro I had just sold.
I tried out the remote migration tool, it told me it would take 18+ hours to transfer the 45GB of info from my desktop to my laptop so I stopped that transfer. The bad thing about the process is that it ties up both computers as well not allowing you to do anything else in the process.
So I used my older hard drive based 20GB iPod. Three trips between computers and about an hours of time, and all the info was transferred via USB from the desktop to the laptop.
And then I got inspired. For you see I sold my MacBook Pro for $1400, but spent $2200 between the MacBook Air, Apple Care, and the 9.25% the state takes out of my pocket, so I dug up a Intel based Mac Mini I had sitting in the closet and listed that on eBay hoping for around $500.
The auction ended tonight at $637.50. Not bad for a computer I got for free. I am now only $165 short of what was spent on the new laptop.
I will say this, this computer is slick. I do see some limitations with it seeing as it does not have a drive installed, but is is fast and powerful, and for what I use the laptop for, I think just about perfect.
I got inspired about selling the 2 computers on eBay, I went and reopened my eBay store with Geta agreeing to do the listing and managing of the store to try to sell the electronic component items I have in inventory for the company.
All in all a great week.
My sister WB posted about the trains, and included the link. This Saturday promises to be a big event at the train set as we are expecting the largest showing yet of participants. To show you how excited I am, I bought 4 powered engines to run on the layout. It should be a great time for all.
I will have to post here about the pipe we had break in a house we built, but that will have to wait until the next post.
For now, take care...
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Dude, this is funny - Dead Terrorist
My friend Bill showed me this, and it is funny.
Enjoy.
I present to you the Dead Terrorist.
Enjoy.
I present to you the Dead Terrorist.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Happy New Year!!! 2008 - Part 2
I guess what amuses me the most is that I get on here and tell others that resolutions are things you don't need to wait until a new year to make, and I go a fall into a panic mode regarding one of our companies due to the actions of an employee previously mentioned here.
As it has occurred to me that I only have 1 reader besides myself out there, I thought it better to start a different train of thought for fear of losing you. If a contest was held today on this blog, the likelihood of you winning is 100% as when the only person to compete against is yourself, the only way you can lose would be to drop out of the race.
But isn't that how life is as well. Isn't it true at the end of the day, the person most likely to knock you out of the race is yourself? Feeling sorry for yourself, lamenting past bad decisions, constantly looking back instead of forward, all things done to knock ourselves out of the race.
My Dad and I are in the same line of work. Things have not been as good as he (they) would like for the past couple of years. For me last year was not as good as I would have liked it to be, but it was still decent. I have made a lot of stupid financial decisions in my life. But I wonder if the stupidest of them all is constantly looking back at those other dumb decisions versus looking forward to create better decisions for the future.
For 2008 I have prayed that God will bless our business in a HUGE way. I have prayed that we can make enough money this year to pay off the house, the cars and any debt we may have. That is a HUGE number. But who is that number HUGE to? For me, right now it is HUGE. But to the one who created the Heaven's and the Earth. The one who parted the Red Sea. The one who bore the sins of the world and shed His blood for me and then was raised from the dead. I don't think it is a huge number at all.
And so I have prayed the following, "...Lord, this is so much bigger than me, that if you answer this prayer ALL praise and glory is given to you as this is something I simply cannot do on my own..."
There is more to it than that, but you get the gist.
Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Seems like a pretty good deal in my opinion. Of course there is the whole seeking issue, but we can delve into that at another time.
Cheer up, I know it could be worse. If you look for the bad in everything you will find it. Funny thing is though, if you look for the good in everything, surprisingly, you WILL find it.
For now, take care...
As it has occurred to me that I only have 1 reader besides myself out there, I thought it better to start a different train of thought for fear of losing you. If a contest was held today on this blog, the likelihood of you winning is 100% as when the only person to compete against is yourself, the only way you can lose would be to drop out of the race.
But isn't that how life is as well. Isn't it true at the end of the day, the person most likely to knock you out of the race is yourself? Feeling sorry for yourself, lamenting past bad decisions, constantly looking back instead of forward, all things done to knock ourselves out of the race.
My Dad and I are in the same line of work. Things have not been as good as he (they) would like for the past couple of years. For me last year was not as good as I would have liked it to be, but it was still decent. I have made a lot of stupid financial decisions in my life. But I wonder if the stupidest of them all is constantly looking back at those other dumb decisions versus looking forward to create better decisions for the future.
For 2008 I have prayed that God will bless our business in a HUGE way. I have prayed that we can make enough money this year to pay off the house, the cars and any debt we may have. That is a HUGE number. But who is that number HUGE to? For me, right now it is HUGE. But to the one who created the Heaven's and the Earth. The one who parted the Red Sea. The one who bore the sins of the world and shed His blood for me and then was raised from the dead. I don't think it is a huge number at all.
And so I have prayed the following, "...Lord, this is so much bigger than me, that if you answer this prayer ALL praise and glory is given to you as this is something I simply cannot do on my own..."
There is more to it than that, but you get the gist.
Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Seems like a pretty good deal in my opinion. Of course there is the whole seeking issue, but we can delve into that at another time.
Cheer up, I know it could be worse. If you look for the bad in everything you will find it. Funny thing is though, if you look for the good in everything, surprisingly, you WILL find it.
For now, take care...
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Line up to be taken advantage of...
Talk about a rocky start to 2008. Aside from the fact that I am taking a beating in the stock market right now, it is the beating closer to home that is really taking its toll on me.
In a Monday morning meeting held on yesterday (Tuesday) because I was out of town on Monday, my partner and I were accused of "taking advantage" of our lead employee. Allow me to set the stage for this drama...
Our "employee" moved here from California in 2006 originally to do our trim work as well as other odd jobs around our job site. At that time, we have 26 homes being built at the same time, so there was no shortage of work that needed to be done. The original agreement was a salary of $600 per week, and entailed roughly 40-50 hours per week. During the first 6 months of his tenure, he was allowed about 14 vacation days, all of them paid, so he could travel back to California to visit his fiance.
During that time, he asked for a pay increase as well which we gave him taking him to $650 per week.
In November when we had the split with one of our partners, this "employee" stepped up again and demonstrated he was capable of running the entire operation, and was again given more money, this time going to $700 per week As 2006 expired and 2007 began, more vacation time was necessary, and again he took off 5-6 days during the first quarter of 2007. They were all paid as well.
In August, again we were approached about more money, and an agreement was struck moving him to $750 per week, but this time with certain conditions that had to be met on his part.
And still he excelled.
In late October, early November things slowed down a bit, and he was told he could relax a little bit due to the slowdown. The thought process was that he could rejuvenate and start back fresh and anew for us in 2008. What was offered by us, a couple hours here and there, turned into whole days, and then several days at a time that he didn't work. But he sill got the full salary agreed to.
And then he took a second job.
And lied to us about what was being demanded of him at that job.
And told us that he needed to leave us early every day to go to the other job as he was needed there.
So his participation in his salaried position went from 35-40 hours per week, to barely 30 (if we were lucky).
Which actually caused us to lose work.
Because his lack of desire to work for us was seen by the people paying us to do work.
So we started losing work.
Which brings us to yesterday morning when my partner and I confronted him about his lack of motivation for our company. And we were told that he felt like we were taking advantage of him, and that he deserved more money.
So playing the devil's advocate, I asked, "What things have you done to warrant this pay raise?"
To which the response was simply, "I don't know, I just deserve it. I feel like you guys have taken advantage of me."
Let me get this straight, I am paying you for a 40 hour work week, I am barely getting 30 hours out of you. You have taken another job that pays you the conflicts with the time you are supposed to be working for me, and I am taking advantage of you???
How about our other employees who are true hourly people, who if we don't have work for them, they don't get paid for that time? How about the fact that we lost work because of you, which directly affects other people's livelihood? How about the fact that you are "double dipping" in working at the same time for 2 different people, and the person being asked to shoulder that burden is me?
Perhaps it is time we shake hands and go separate ways.
See if you can find another employer who allows you as much liberty as we do, and pays as well as we do.
The winds of change are a blowin' and how it plays out is being written by the employee. For you see there was a time when this employee was not expendable, a dream position to be in as an employee. But in his own arrogance he has made himself fully expendable, no, he has done even worse than that, he has made it absolutely necessary to get rid of him as he no longer contributes in a positive way to the company.
I am sad about this, but while my partner and I will likely take the blame, the truth is the employee is the one who created his own problem.
How many of you out there would line up and take on the role he has abandoned???
For now, take care...
In a Monday morning meeting held on yesterday (Tuesday) because I was out of town on Monday, my partner and I were accused of "taking advantage" of our lead employee. Allow me to set the stage for this drama...
Our "employee" moved here from California in 2006 originally to do our trim work as well as other odd jobs around our job site. At that time, we have 26 homes being built at the same time, so there was no shortage of work that needed to be done. The original agreement was a salary of $600 per week, and entailed roughly 40-50 hours per week. During the first 6 months of his tenure, he was allowed about 14 vacation days, all of them paid, so he could travel back to California to visit his fiance.
During that time, he asked for a pay increase as well which we gave him taking him to $650 per week.
In November when we had the split with one of our partners, this "employee" stepped up again and demonstrated he was capable of running the entire operation, and was again given more money, this time going to $700 per week As 2006 expired and 2007 began, more vacation time was necessary, and again he took off 5-6 days during the first quarter of 2007. They were all paid as well.
In August, again we were approached about more money, and an agreement was struck moving him to $750 per week, but this time with certain conditions that had to be met on his part.
And still he excelled.
In late October, early November things slowed down a bit, and he was told he could relax a little bit due to the slowdown. The thought process was that he could rejuvenate and start back fresh and anew for us in 2008. What was offered by us, a couple hours here and there, turned into whole days, and then several days at a time that he didn't work. But he sill got the full salary agreed to.
And then he took a second job.
And lied to us about what was being demanded of him at that job.
And told us that he needed to leave us early every day to go to the other job as he was needed there.
So his participation in his salaried position went from 35-40 hours per week, to barely 30 (if we were lucky).
Which actually caused us to lose work.
Because his lack of desire to work for us was seen by the people paying us to do work.
So we started losing work.
Which brings us to yesterday morning when my partner and I confronted him about his lack of motivation for our company. And we were told that he felt like we were taking advantage of him, and that he deserved more money.
So playing the devil's advocate, I asked, "What things have you done to warrant this pay raise?"
To which the response was simply, "I don't know, I just deserve it. I feel like you guys have taken advantage of me."
Let me get this straight, I am paying you for a 40 hour work week, I am barely getting 30 hours out of you. You have taken another job that pays you the conflicts with the time you are supposed to be working for me, and I am taking advantage of you???
How about our other employees who are true hourly people, who if we don't have work for them, they don't get paid for that time? How about the fact that we lost work because of you, which directly affects other people's livelihood? How about the fact that you are "double dipping" in working at the same time for 2 different people, and the person being asked to shoulder that burden is me?
Perhaps it is time we shake hands and go separate ways.
See if you can find another employer who allows you as much liberty as we do, and pays as well as we do.
The winds of change are a blowin' and how it plays out is being written by the employee. For you see there was a time when this employee was not expendable, a dream position to be in as an employee. But in his own arrogance he has made himself fully expendable, no, he has done even worse than that, he has made it absolutely necessary to get rid of him as he no longer contributes in a positive way to the company.
I am sad about this, but while my partner and I will likely take the blame, the truth is the employee is the one who created his own problem.
How many of you out there would line up and take on the role he has abandoned???
For now, take care...
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Off and Running
Welcome to 2008. Funny how people think that since all a new year technically is a date change from one day to another, that "things are going to change or get better."
The reality is the change, if any is to occur can happen at any point during any year. There is no magical law that says because we went from one numeric description of time to another that things automatically get better. The truth is I believe it to be quite the opposite.
I didn't make any New Year resolutions this time around. For the last several years I will tell you that I have. Two years ago I made a resolution which involved a 3-year commitment to a leadership training program which starts its third year this upcoming Monday. The resolution in and of itself had nothing to do with the ultimate outcome of that commitment, rather my desire to see it through made the resolution valid. And if you yourself seeing a resolution through is sufficient to bring about a change, why not make resolutions each and every day to insure that you have a fuller, more fulfilling life.
I have an employee working for us in the construction company who is miserable right now. For months he has struggled with borderline depression regarding most everything happening in his life. In typical Monday morning quarterback position, it is easy to question what this person has to be so depressed about. He makes decent money, has a nice house and all the "toys" that go along with it. He has friends and activities that he is involved in, but he is miserable.
And sadly that miserable is translating into a less than stellar performance on the work front. Which is getting noticed by the people who pay us.
So I met with him yesterday and tried to pick his brain. Now I know that answer to the question I asked, but I had to ask it anyways. Boils down to this. He is simply not happy right now. The part I don't know, and he can't (or won't) answer is this: If the unhappiness coming from work and being carried over into his home and personal life, or is the unhappiness starting at home with his personal life and translating itself into his work life.
I have my suspicions, I think he is unhappy at home (In all fairness, I would be if I was in his shoes!!!) but that is neither here nor there. The point is trying to get him out of his "funk."
So I asked him, what makes you happy. A question asked numerous times, but yet to be answered.
I implore you to make each day new and special. Life is much to short to "...wait for next year when I can make a new resolution." Make the resolution each and every day to at least enjoy life. Be happy, look for the good in things, not the bad. Be positive even when others aren't. Smile at strangers. Hold the door for an older person. Try the Publix approach and offer to help someone to the car with their packages. Buy coffee for a stranger at Starbucks.
Do something, do anything. Just don't sit there being unhappy. Life will pass you by, and in that process the only person you have truly affected is yourself.
For now, take care...
The reality is the change, if any is to occur can happen at any point during any year. There is no magical law that says because we went from one numeric description of time to another that things automatically get better. The truth is I believe it to be quite the opposite.
I didn't make any New Year resolutions this time around. For the last several years I will tell you that I have. Two years ago I made a resolution which involved a 3-year commitment to a leadership training program which starts its third year this upcoming Monday. The resolution in and of itself had nothing to do with the ultimate outcome of that commitment, rather my desire to see it through made the resolution valid. And if you yourself seeing a resolution through is sufficient to bring about a change, why not make resolutions each and every day to insure that you have a fuller, more fulfilling life.
I have an employee working for us in the construction company who is miserable right now. For months he has struggled with borderline depression regarding most everything happening in his life. In typical Monday morning quarterback position, it is easy to question what this person has to be so depressed about. He makes decent money, has a nice house and all the "toys" that go along with it. He has friends and activities that he is involved in, but he is miserable.
And sadly that miserable is translating into a less than stellar performance on the work front. Which is getting noticed by the people who pay us.
So I met with him yesterday and tried to pick his brain. Now I know that answer to the question I asked, but I had to ask it anyways. Boils down to this. He is simply not happy right now. The part I don't know, and he can't (or won't) answer is this: If the unhappiness coming from work and being carried over into his home and personal life, or is the unhappiness starting at home with his personal life and translating itself into his work life.
I have my suspicions, I think he is unhappy at home (In all fairness, I would be if I was in his shoes!!!) but that is neither here nor there. The point is trying to get him out of his "funk."
So I asked him, what makes you happy. A question asked numerous times, but yet to be answered.
I implore you to make each day new and special. Life is much to short to "...wait for next year when I can make a new resolution." Make the resolution each and every day to at least enjoy life. Be happy, look for the good in things, not the bad. Be positive even when others aren't. Smile at strangers. Hold the door for an older person. Try the Publix approach and offer to help someone to the car with their packages. Buy coffee for a stranger at Starbucks.
Do something, do anything. Just don't sit there being unhappy. Life will pass you by, and in that process the only person you have truly affected is yourself.
For now, take care...
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Something to ponder...
I really don't know what made me think of this, but I wanted to share with you a quick thought.
Why is it that if a 13 year old boy is molested by a man, everyone insists on tougher laws for sexual predators and demand that the perp be brought to justice, and yet when that same 13 year old boy is molested by a good looking female teacher, the boy is idolized???
Don't get me wrong, from a simplistic view it is easy to think that that 13 year old boy is a hero, but for crying out loud, would you want that to be your son??? And if a 13 year old boy is a hero for shaggin' an older teacher or mentor, why isn't the same respect put on a 13 year old girl who falls victim to an older man???
Our society is so ingrained on all things sexual that very quickly a scary double standard starts to apply. A predator is a predator. Someone who preys on young children should be punished. It should not matter the sex of either the predator or the victim, rather the crime itself.
Would guys across the country be envious of a 13 year old boy who is abused by a man??? Why then do they salute the child when it is a woman doing the abusing???
I think this is a serious flaw in our thought process as a country that would allow such an obvious double standard to apply. Makes me think of the book/movie by John Grisham, A TIme to Kill. In that book, a little black girl is raped by white men, and all the people can see is the color of skin. In the closing arguments, the lawyer asks the jury to close their eyes and paints for them a visual picture of the crime. His very last comment is, "...now imagine the girl is white."
Same thought here, when a 13 year old boy is molested by an older woman, change the context and imagine the predator was a man instead of a woman, and watch how quickly your feelings change.
Is that 13 year old kid still your hero???
Makes you think, doesn't it?
For now, take care...
Why is it that if a 13 year old boy is molested by a man, everyone insists on tougher laws for sexual predators and demand that the perp be brought to justice, and yet when that same 13 year old boy is molested by a good looking female teacher, the boy is idolized???
Don't get me wrong, from a simplistic view it is easy to think that that 13 year old boy is a hero, but for crying out loud, would you want that to be your son??? And if a 13 year old boy is a hero for shaggin' an older teacher or mentor, why isn't the same respect put on a 13 year old girl who falls victim to an older man???
Our society is so ingrained on all things sexual that very quickly a scary double standard starts to apply. A predator is a predator. Someone who preys on young children should be punished. It should not matter the sex of either the predator or the victim, rather the crime itself.
Would guys across the country be envious of a 13 year old boy who is abused by a man??? Why then do they salute the child when it is a woman doing the abusing???
I think this is a serious flaw in our thought process as a country that would allow such an obvious double standard to apply. Makes me think of the book/movie by John Grisham, A TIme to Kill. In that book, a little black girl is raped by white men, and all the people can see is the color of skin. In the closing arguments, the lawyer asks the jury to close their eyes and paints for them a visual picture of the crime. His very last comment is, "...now imagine the girl is white."
Same thought here, when a 13 year old boy is molested by an older woman, change the context and imagine the predator was a man instead of a woman, and watch how quickly your feelings change.
Is that 13 year old kid still your hero???
Makes you think, doesn't it?
For now, take care...
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Six Wonderful Years...and counting
Today celebrates our sixth wedding anniversary of what most likely was the best decision I ever made in my life. How or why my wife puts up with me I will probably never understand, that is not the point. The point is that she does put up with me, and for me that makes her all the more spectacular.
We are heading out to ShoGun tonight for dinner. It is along the lines of a Benihana, if you are not familiar with that, too bad. Afterwards who knows, now that we have our little boy, we can't be as flexible as we once were but I know we will still have fun.
What a year 2007 has been. Interesting that in 2004 as we sat at Morton's Steakhouse for our anniversary we set some pretty ambitious New Years Goals, of which I am proud to say we kept. I think it is time again to jointly set goals to works towards for the New Year.
Well, that is it for now. I will probably not post again until next year, so for you few who do stop by once in a while to read, Thank-you.
Happy New Year!
Be safe, be happy, and take care...
We are heading out to ShoGun tonight for dinner. It is along the lines of a Benihana, if you are not familiar with that, too bad. Afterwards who knows, now that we have our little boy, we can't be as flexible as we once were but I know we will still have fun.
What a year 2007 has been. Interesting that in 2004 as we sat at Morton's Steakhouse for our anniversary we set some pretty ambitious New Years Goals, of which I am proud to say we kept. I think it is time again to jointly set goals to works towards for the New Year.
Well, that is it for now. I will probably not post again until next year, so for you few who do stop by once in a while to read, Thank-you.
Happy New Year!
Be safe, be happy, and take care...
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