PROUD DAD

Oldest son is on the patch. Now five days without a cigarette. I've offered substantial financial rewards for 30 days cigarette free. Money I will be happy to give.

Is the FBI Unable or Unwilling???

I keep getting junk mail from entities claiming to be the FBI, it's director or both. I always thought impersonating a Fed was a crime. Is the FBI unable or unwilling to track down these spammers?

You Have Mail

Youngest son has his basic training at the same post, where, 46 years ago, I went through both basic and advanced. The Basic Training Company had assigned an obnoxious PFC Mail Clerk who enjoyed messing with trainees. He stopped messing with my platoon after being bitched slapped the length of the barracks by a few of us. Strangely, no repercussions. The day after we received our orders to our next units, he announced all of us must send our new address to everyone so he didn't need to forward any mail. I noticed an advertisement that guaranteed to put your name on 1,000 mailing lists for only a dollar. With a little effort I got around 15 or more trainees to respond. Three years later I was still getting mail forwarded from that unit.
A daughter-in-law thinks I have an evil mind. Wonder why?

I'm a What?

While I didn't attend any tea parties, I am a fellow traveler. Reading some of the opinions of the liberals I am identified as a racist homosexual redneck!
Well, they got the redneck part right.

This is the Army Mr. Jones

Youngest son reported for duty yesterday. All along the recruiting process he was told where he was headed for basic. Yesterday, there was a change and he was sent somewhere else. He is still in transit after two plane rides and a night in a hotel. Some things just don't seem to change.

Mystery Shopper Rant

Recently, a good businessman, who once worked for me, called and asked my opinion of "mystery shoppers". Bad managers love to add gadgets to their mix to disguise their incompetence and general gutless approach to running a business. Along with unfocused meetings, solutions in search of problems, elaborate instructions, rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, and unneeded and unread reports, is the employment of "mystery shoppers". How some Bozo recruited from Craigslist can provide a meaningful evaluation of a business escapes me. Their report empowers the manager with a tool to "ratwhip" an employee where the employee has no recourse. I've spent most of my working life among the 20% who produce 80% of the sales. I refused to participate in these so called evaluations; being both willing and able to take my last three pay stubs to any dealership and go to work that day.

The great dealers and managers I've worked for over the years didn't need any mystery shoppers. Without fail, every day, they called each of their stores to see how the telephone was answered even if they had to use a satellite phone from Australia. They randomly picked recent customers to call and discuss that customer's buying experience. They knew what was going on in their business.

Corrections were made immediately. Their employees knew the standards would be enforced. No need for outside intervention.

Some good advice given when I decided to retire was to taper off. A man, who I greatly respect, pointed out I had been running at "redline" for thirty years and it was dangerous to just quit. Good fortune lead me to the perfect part time job. Three days a week, eight hour shifts, five to six of those hours are very intense and the job ends in June. My supervisor is someone I both like and respect so I grit my teeth and listen while he reads the "mystery shopper" reports as required by management. Management? I wouldn't trust these clowns to procure a pet license.

Over the years, as a supervisor and manager, I "shopped" my organization. I would call myself to see how I was treated. (OK, I had someone do the talking).

To me, this was important. Never would I entrust this to anyone, let alone some total outsider. Knowing how your organization is perceived by the people who keep you in business is, I believe, the most critical part being a manager.

You're Getting Repoed___Or Maybe Not

This suddenly showed up in my drafts folder.Written some time ago. May be a repeat. Oh well.

Making payments on your ride? You don't own it; the "bank" owns it and is letting you buy it one month at a time. Stop making payments and the OWNER will make every effort to gain possession of their property. Your moral compass may differ from mine; to me, use of an other's property without compensation is theft.

The "bank" doesn't want your ride back. Talk to them. If nothing can be worked out bring them their property. This is in your long term best interest.

Being semi retired I don't look for this work. My only client finances cars with full recourse. You don't make the payments then he does so the "bank" avoids losses. He gets financing for people who can't qualify for conventional financing. Most people make their payments. When people fall behind he and his staff try to work with them and get them back on track. If not, he asks for the return on the vehicle. When they don't return the vehicle I get involved.

Recently I contacted an individual in NE Colorado at his home and politely asked for the car. He made threats backed up by a firearm. A few days later my assistant and I were in a nearby town to pick up a voluntary return when we spotted this individual pulling into Wally World. While he was shopping we were driving the car to the local police station to make our required report and give the police a copy of our paperwork.

Mr. Blivet comes out of Wally World with his groceries, wife and kids, thirty miles from home, to no car. He then needs to find a way to the impound yard to retrieve his work items. The impound yard collects the cost for my picking up the car before he can get his stuff. There is also the pending matter of threats he made against me in the presence of two police officers at one location and in front of an off duty deputy at another location. This man needs a glass belly button, so he can see where he is going.
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Folks, please, don't let your problems get to the point of repossession. Your debt will get much bigger, your wallet will take an immediate hit, and you will be facing problems for many months to come. Mr. Repoman will get the collateral; you can take that to the bank.

Obama

Some family members and friends (yes, I do have a few friends) are hurt by my Obama stance. I do respect their position and understand he inspires them and gives them hope for the future. I hope they are right for the sake of this country and the future of my children and grandchildren.
We are a country that has lasted, in part, by having a rule of law; that checks and balances exist. Our system protects minorities from tyranny from majorities (race, religion, political beliefs, sex) and our property from those in power or influence. The system isn't perfect. As an example, what happened with my mother's house and the city hall/developers cabal.
With Bush we had eight years of neo-cons deciding which laws to obey, "signing statements" that circumvented laws passed by Congress, and a lack of interest in enforcing regulations that were in place to prevent our current economic collapse both from the half baked programs of the Clinton era and the unchecked greed of the Bush boosters who grabbed hold of them and ran.
My principal reason for not voting for Obama was his ignoring a Federal judge who ordered him to produce a birth certificate. I loath the kind of person who thinks they are better than the rest of us. Dress it up with any number of legal spins be damned, he should have complied. Once elected, he filled his staff and cabinet with the most odious usual suspects from the Clinton era.
What do I fear? He will turn the country into a large version of Chicago politics. Will his programs work? Can we borrow our way to properity? I can see spending money on infrastructure (roads, bridges, electrical systems) produces many benefits. Giving money to LaRaza and Hamas? Seems stupid to me. Of course, your milage may differ.

Fighting Words

World's Cutest Grand kids! My grand kids are cuter than yours.

Mountain Wave

Standing altocumulus lenticular clouds.

Reactionary

Given what this day is and my blog title are you surprised?
Reactionary is a word I didn't believe would ever describe me. Last week I rejoined both the American Legion and the NRA after a 30 year lapse in reaction to the Obama administrations actions. First, the idea of veterans forced to use private insurance for service connected disabilities. How pissed am I at these arrogant assholes who have never once put their personal ass on the line for anything? Enough to start writing checks. Second, "common sense" gun laws. I don't see the words "common sense" in the constitution. And who's "common sense"? Sarah Brady? What I can do is support those fighting for things I believe in.
This last election I didn't give dime one to the Democrat Party for the first time in years. I did contribute to the campains of candidates I felt shared many of my values. I voted for a Republican for President for the first time since Gerald Ford.
My youngest is going on active duty this month. I've always supported the troops and now have a selfish interest in doing so. I'm very proud of him and damned scared at the same time.
This posting is more of a rant than anything else but, hey, it is my blog!