Damn, I guess I didn't fry as many brain cells as I thought. I finished another greuling meeting this morning (saturday no less) with Engineers, Attorneys, one of my entire Board of Directors, and little ol' me and that went very well. Five months of work building to the creation of a very well deserved lawsuit for $4 Million plus with me basically designing, and executing most of the strategy and plans and after an hour and a half with the Board (neat aside this is the very first time I've laid eyes on two thirds of the Board of Directors!)and they pulled the trigger. All the ducks are in a row, all the "i"'s are dotted, the "t"'s crossed, and we are good to go. I'm looking for at least a $5,000 "Consulting Bonus" on this one. But that was good.
Went out to my office made some notes, checked my mail and all, and heaaded home to relax a bit.
In the mail was this big manila envelope from the Professional Accreditation Group and I wondered what was in that, so I popped it open expecting advertising, but no.....it was my exam results for the correspondance coursse I just completed the test for the 23rd of March! An 88%, I passed!!!! Wooo! Woooo!
So now I've completed enough credits to take the last exam I need to become nationally certified and increase my earning potential by about $10,000 immediately, AND once I pass that test I earn another professional Designation as well from the Accrediting group. Kind of like you Bachelors and Master's in one fell swoop. I have the necessary four years "experiance" required as well.
This leaves me two more courses before I can apply for "The case Study" a one month super grueling "Mission Impossible" sort of Doctorate in this field of Community Association Management. When you apply they give you a couple of choices of places to go, you pick where you want to go, they give you the name of an Association in that area who has agreed to "host " you, and you have 30 days to go in there analyze the entire Association, overhaul it from top to bottom (on paper) create the manuals, policies, rules, necessary document changes, etc. and have to turn in your "thesis" by the 30th day. It is then gone over by a Board of Professionals who are compertely familiar with the property, and you have to defend your "Report" and every comma or paragraph in it until they are satisfied. There is no "re-take" , no "corrections" etc. It's a pass/fail deal and all on your nichel, the travel, the 30 days expenses, everything! You pass you join the ranks of a mere 1600 human beings in this country, you fail,....back to the drawing board and try it all over agoan, if you can afford it!
I think I'll just relax on my laurels for a couple of years before I try that burrito! Having the equivalent of the "Masters" is enough right now, so I'll just concentrate on getting more "wisdom" and starting my own Company. (How else am I going to be able to take a whole month off to do this thing??
Right now it's time for a celebratory couple of pints if Vitamin "G" (Guinness for you non-vitamin lovers :)
-30-
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
My "Get up and go" done got up and went!
Got plenty of rest this weekend, got plenty of food, minimized "alcholic libations" (to a degree), went to church, so I should be ready to go back to work today,.....but I'm not.
Maybe I'm enjoying the peace and quiet at the new office too much, or then again maybe I just need more "down time". Who knows, certainly not me. I've got a big conference call this afternoon at 4 p.m. otherwisw I'd wrap it up earlier than usual today and chill out at the Pub. But got to take the phone call!
It all started when I sat down to do budget planning for myself. (It's a well thought out exercise I've been doing for years just before my employment anniversary date.) It's done with the "raise" in mind. Sort of my "personal philosophy of adequate compensation"
I started it years ago when I had my own companies, and it's pretty simple. If you've ever tried to get a job, or change jobs, or otherwise looked to improve your "lot" in life there are multiple factors at play. Everyone of them can be good, or bad for you in both the long and short runs. For example, you really want the job, you are all "gung-ho" about it as a career builder, etc.etc.,...but several months later while you are trying to figure out how to make your paycheck get you a point you can even think about buying meat again it strikes you,..."I'm slowly starving to death at this job!". Or maybe as you are sitting having your evening meal at about 9:30 pm it dawns on you you haven't seen the sun either rise or set in weeks! You're into the office, or whatever, before it comes up, you don't get done 'til after it's set, and you feel totally buried in work.
So why do you do it? Answer is usually a lame one like "Well, what else am I going to do?"
Get off your arse and smell the roses. You are no better than a chunk of meat hanging in the Butchers window. You are worth what the market will bear, or whatever you can be had for. That's the plain and the simple of it.
I've always thought this bullshit is almost a self filling phrophecy. For example, how bloody hard are you going to be ABLE to work when you don't make enough to pay all your bills? Or when you are basically rationing a bottle of peanut butter and a loaf of bread and hoping you make it to payday, or that someone says, "come on, I'll buy"? So what can be done? Exactly what I started practicing years ago.
I never, ever quibble about what an employer offers to pay me,...EVER! I nevere go around the office or whatever whining about making ends meet,...EVER. I tackle every task and project like Hercules on steroids, ....an d never approach the boss for a raise,...EVER! Why because I'm not stupid. I know I'm learning valuable insights as to the business, valuable experiance in handling clients, valuable connections and a reputation in or at whatever it is I am doing. Soooo, who do you hurt if you, my boss or employer, fail to take care of me properly? Why you silly, and your business, because I gave you the opportunity to have me, I gave you the opportunity to watch my work, my reliability, my "output", my ability to work with every range of person on this earth, and you gained HUGE insights as to who I am.
And the bottom line is simply this. If your almighty dollar in your pocket means that much to you, if that little voice in the evil part of your mind says "you got him he's not going anywhere and you can flip him crumbs and he'll be grateful" If this is how you think, you absolutely will lose with me, becasue I'll drop you like a hot rock at a time and choosing of my own, and usually when you least expect it!
When I hired people for my own companies that I owned they would always ask "How much do you pay?" and my answer was always "How much do you want?". While they mulled that over and were wondeering if I was a whacko, or it was a "trick question" and if they answered too high I would just brush them off, I'd proceed to tell them this.
"I'll pay you whatever you want me to pay you within reason, that's fair. So if you want $800 a week, that's what I'll pay you, because that's what you are telling me you are worth, and I'd be stupid not to hire some one that good over a petty thing like salary. BUT I also know what you should be sharing with me for the $800 I'm going to give you. Again the bottom line is sort of a variation on the golden rule, If you tell me you want "X", and I know what I expect you to deliver for that "X" then as long as we both live up to our end of the bargiain all is fair and equal. You can't be pissed at me for "under-paying", and I can't be pissed for you "under-performing". All we have is a simple equation of relative values for both of us to be happy!
Now in the event that you are indeed not deliverying enough to justify what you asked for, PLEASE fully understand that difference must dictate how long I can reasonably be expected to hold up my end of the bargain and deliver you the weekly check,right? If you are delivering $750, or $785 in business I can be alittle more patient than if you are only delivering $300, or $400, or even $500 in business. So all I ask is that you too think like I have to as a businessman and THEN tell me what you want to make. Remember YOU KNOW what you got, and I'm willing to put my money square on your promise to me that you will indeed deliver. But the wider the difference in our joint agreement for your pay versus your work the less time I can keep you here taking money away from my own family. Now is that so hard to understand?
Surprise, folks thought a little harder, and some just flat out knew they were not prepared to work that hard and simply thanked me for my time and left. That's how life should be, a fair days work for a fair days pay, AND a fair days pay for a fair days work.
Think about it. Where are you on the "fair scale",...anmd how about your company?
-30-
Maybe I'm enjoying the peace and quiet at the new office too much, or then again maybe I just need more "down time". Who knows, certainly not me. I've got a big conference call this afternoon at 4 p.m. otherwisw I'd wrap it up earlier than usual today and chill out at the Pub. But got to take the phone call!
It all started when I sat down to do budget planning for myself. (It's a well thought out exercise I've been doing for years just before my employment anniversary date.) It's done with the "raise" in mind. Sort of my "personal philosophy of adequate compensation"
I started it years ago when I had my own companies, and it's pretty simple. If you've ever tried to get a job, or change jobs, or otherwise looked to improve your "lot" in life there are multiple factors at play. Everyone of them can be good, or bad for you in both the long and short runs. For example, you really want the job, you are all "gung-ho" about it as a career builder, etc.etc.,...but several months later while you are trying to figure out how to make your paycheck get you a point you can even think about buying meat again it strikes you,..."I'm slowly starving to death at this job!". Or maybe as you are sitting having your evening meal at about 9:30 pm it dawns on you you haven't seen the sun either rise or set in weeks! You're into the office, or whatever, before it comes up, you don't get done 'til after it's set, and you feel totally buried in work.
So why do you do it? Answer is usually a lame one like "Well, what else am I going to do?"
Get off your arse and smell the roses. You are no better than a chunk of meat hanging in the Butchers window. You are worth what the market will bear, or whatever you can be had for. That's the plain and the simple of it.
I've always thought this bullshit is almost a self filling phrophecy. For example, how bloody hard are you going to be ABLE to work when you don't make enough to pay all your bills? Or when you are basically rationing a bottle of peanut butter and a loaf of bread and hoping you make it to payday, or that someone says, "come on, I'll buy"? So what can be done? Exactly what I started practicing years ago.
I never, ever quibble about what an employer offers to pay me,...EVER! I nevere go around the office or whatever whining about making ends meet,...EVER. I tackle every task and project like Hercules on steroids, ....an d never approach the boss for a raise,...EVER! Why because I'm not stupid. I know I'm learning valuable insights as to the business, valuable experiance in handling clients, valuable connections and a reputation in or at whatever it is I am doing. Soooo, who do you hurt if you, my boss or employer, fail to take care of me properly? Why you silly, and your business, because I gave you the opportunity to have me, I gave you the opportunity to watch my work, my reliability, my "output", my ability to work with every range of person on this earth, and you gained HUGE insights as to who I am.
And the bottom line is simply this. If your almighty dollar in your pocket means that much to you, if that little voice in the evil part of your mind says "you got him he's not going anywhere and you can flip him crumbs and he'll be grateful" If this is how you think, you absolutely will lose with me, becasue I'll drop you like a hot rock at a time and choosing of my own, and usually when you least expect it!
When I hired people for my own companies that I owned they would always ask "How much do you pay?" and my answer was always "How much do you want?". While they mulled that over and were wondeering if I was a whacko, or it was a "trick question" and if they answered too high I would just brush them off, I'd proceed to tell them this.
"I'll pay you whatever you want me to pay you within reason, that's fair. So if you want $800 a week, that's what I'll pay you, because that's what you are telling me you are worth, and I'd be stupid not to hire some one that good over a petty thing like salary. BUT I also know what you should be sharing with me for the $800 I'm going to give you. Again the bottom line is sort of a variation on the golden rule, If you tell me you want "X", and I know what I expect you to deliver for that "X" then as long as we both live up to our end of the bargiain all is fair and equal. You can't be pissed at me for "under-paying", and I can't be pissed for you "under-performing". All we have is a simple equation of relative values for both of us to be happy!
Now in the event that you are indeed not deliverying enough to justify what you asked for, PLEASE fully understand that difference must dictate how long I can reasonably be expected to hold up my end of the bargain and deliver you the weekly check,right? If you are delivering $750, or $785 in business I can be alittle more patient than if you are only delivering $300, or $400, or even $500 in business. So all I ask is that you too think like I have to as a businessman and THEN tell me what you want to make. Remember YOU KNOW what you got, and I'm willing to put my money square on your promise to me that you will indeed deliver. But the wider the difference in our joint agreement for your pay versus your work the less time I can keep you here taking money away from my own family. Now is that so hard to understand?
Surprise, folks thought a little harder, and some just flat out knew they were not prepared to work that hard and simply thanked me for my time and left. That's how life should be, a fair days work for a fair days pay, AND a fair days pay for a fair days work.
Think about it. Where are you on the "fair scale",...anmd how about your company?
-30-
Sunday, March 25, 2007
I think I killed the golden goose!!
That's what happens when you don't follow the directions that say "you should back up your template in case you make erros in the new one first"
So I did not, so I said "shit how hard can it be?"
Hopefullly I can summon up enough grey matter to figure this shit out again. (At my age we are into a "set it then forget it" mode. Life is getting too short to try and remember everything!
So I did not, so I said "shit how hard can it be?"
Hopefullly I can summon up enough grey matter to figure this shit out again. (At my age we are into a "set it then forget it" mode. Life is getting too short to try and remember everything!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Stupid people, in stupid times
Welcome to spring break in Florida! Yesterday we had two drownings, earlier this week some shit-faced kid fell off a three story roof (don't even ask why he was up there!)he did't get hurt because he was so freaking drunk! Proves the old adage "God takes care of drunks and sinners" (maybe I should think about that a little more and stop being a good guy. Naw...then my stupid conscience would just nag the shit out of me, I'd stress big time, get sick and have a heart attack, ....then what?)
It's a Saturday morning and sunny, warm and beautiful, in the mid 70's, so how does my day off start? "ring", "ring", "Hello it's me"(I know who I am, but do you?) Yeah it's me, (the maintainance guy at one of my more prestigious properties) So here's the conversation:
HIM: "ah,..I,..um found some stuff in the hot tub"
ME: " so you thought you'd call me on Saturday morning at 8 am to tell me?"
HIM: "Well...I think there were some improprieties going on here last night,...you know?"
ME: "Like what?"
HIM: "Well,...there was a pair of panties and a used condum in the hot tub."
ME: "Well,...I guess that's a pretty good clue. So why are you calling me?"
HIM: "I guess we'll have to start a security patrol next week."
ME: " Now that's another good thought."
HIM: "Yeah.So what do you want me to do about this "stuff"?"
ME: "So get it out of the hot tub, trash it, drain the hot tub, sanitize it, and refill it."
HIM: "Oh, ok I'll get started on it next."
ME: "No wait a minute, why don't we just leave it where it is, call the newspaper and get them to do a story on it. And don't forget to tell every guest and owner about it, not to mention thier kids."
HIM: (loooong silence) "really?"
ME: (sigh) No not really, just clean it all up and don't go blabbing it all over the place. I was only chidding.....You do understand that, right?"
HIM: "oh sure, I knew that. But do you want me to tell anyone else about it?"
ME: "NO!! Just clean it up and go about your business. Have a good day."
And thus begins my "day off".
Know anyone wanting to be a "Courtesy Patrol" agent for my property. Perverts not allowed.
Well, I'm going to have some coffee and watch the sun rise a little higher in the skys.
Be well.
-30-
It's a Saturday morning and sunny, warm and beautiful, in the mid 70's, so how does my day off start? "ring", "ring", "Hello it's me"(I know who I am, but do you?) Yeah it's me, (the maintainance guy at one of my more prestigious properties) So here's the conversation:
HIM: "ah,..I,..um found some stuff in the hot tub"
ME: " so you thought you'd call me on Saturday morning at 8 am to tell me?"
HIM: "Well...I think there were some improprieties going on here last night,...you know?"
ME: "Like what?"
HIM: "Well,...there was a pair of panties and a used condum in the hot tub."
ME: "Well,...I guess that's a pretty good clue. So why are you calling me?"
HIM: "I guess we'll have to start a security patrol next week."
ME: " Now that's another good thought."
HIM: "Yeah.So what do you want me to do about this "stuff"?"
ME: "So get it out of the hot tub, trash it, drain the hot tub, sanitize it, and refill it."
HIM: "Oh, ok I'll get started on it next."
ME: "No wait a minute, why don't we just leave it where it is, call the newspaper and get them to do a story on it. And don't forget to tell every guest and owner about it, not to mention thier kids."
HIM: (loooong silence) "really?"
ME: (sigh) No not really, just clean it all up and don't go blabbing it all over the place. I was only chidding.....You do understand that, right?"
HIM: "oh sure, I knew that. But do you want me to tell anyone else about it?"
ME: "NO!! Just clean it up and go about your business. Have a good day."
And thus begins my "day off".
Know anyone wanting to be a "Courtesy Patrol" agent for my property. Perverts not allowed.
Well, I'm going to have some coffee and watch the sun rise a little higher in the skys.
Be well.
-30-
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Paddy's Day and still alive!
Bit of a silly title, but there you have it. As a second generation Irish American, and proud of my families heritage, I guess I'm expected to kill large quantities of brain cells on March 17th! DUH! That's amateur night, I let the Scots, the French, the Polish, and the Russians all do that. I go home early, sit back have a few pints and get up feeling fine the next day! (Boring, but you know every cop within a thousand miles is looking to bag Paddy's Day revelers!)
So this morning I'm into severee "crunch mode" a/k/a "cram time". I've got to take this test on this course I've been taking this week and it's the last step in becoming the "professional" in my trade. The last step before putting my own Company together and starting back into the almost better than sex thrill of owning your own business. (No I'm not crazy, you have not lived until you've owned your own business now that is the biggest rush there is aside from the aformentioned sex thing!)
I'll try and describe it for you. First there is no "boss" but you, so the rules, the policy, the system, the entire enchilada is yours. Don't like the hours, just change them!, Don't like the dress code,...change it! Want to make more money than ever before,...go get it! Want a wee wet bar in your office,....feel free! Imagine if it really was "all about you"!
Now don't go running out to open an office just yet,...then there is the other side of it. What do you mean there were no checks in the mail today? (Oops, guess I gotta go out and do something to earn it!) And the nerve of the newly hired Administrative Assisstant asking where her first paycheck was! Guess she didn't know that if the mailbox has no checks we have no payroll,...silly twit, she just needs to have faith. They'll be beating the door down any day now. Maybe in the meantime I'll "squeeze in" a round of golf, my schedule seems pretty open this week.
Now dear reader I presume you're getting the picture. I credit you all with great intelligence on this scenario.
Truth is you work harder than you've ever worked, you work longer than you've ever worked before ("Honey, can you swing by the office and drop me a clean shirt,....and I promise I'll be home before midnight, I promise, I just have a few finishing touches to put on this proposal and have it in the mail dated today.")
Regular meals means you know what time MacDonald's and Burger King both open and close, and peanut butter and crackers are one of the four food groups. (The other three are coffee, bagels, and hot dogs!) But the riush is incredible. The human body and it's bucket full of brain cells is an absolutely marvelous machine. It can flex in almost circles, it can function more continuous hours than in a day on a quick "nap", hunger? What's that, only another six or eight pages then I'll think about eating. Your own business is the world's best diet, I guarantee you will be losing weight big time if you are paying attention to business and making sure that mailbox fills up with checks from your clients and customers so you can feel the rush of signing your first paycheck to an employee. And what about the thrill of just "casually" passing out YOUR busness card with the word "President" orr "Owner" under your name. God life is good.
You will sleep the sleep of the dead, you will not remeber laying your head on the pillow because you closed your eyes first, and that was what seems like only three minutes ago and the alarm is just about to go off in another three more minutes!
Granted owning your own business is wonderful, for some. It can be hell for others, but the bottom line boils it down to only a couple of questions. Here is your test:
1. Where would you draw the line at giving up your time, your social life, and your belief in yourself to succeed?
2. Do you REALLY believe in whatever the business you want to start, and do you have a single doubt that it may not make it?
3. Do you really mind leaving for the two day vacation on Wednesday and being back at the desk on friday?
4. Can you commit to "give up" everything you have to follow a dream,...your dream, whatever it is?
Me I love it, sure some fail, some succeed, some make money and spin it off to you and others suck it in like a giant vacuum cleaner. But at the end of the "journey of life" I can honestly say, "been there, done that, got the tee shirt" There will never be a nagging doubt in the back of my mind that surfaces sometimes and says, "Gee I wonder where I'd be if I had followed that dream or idea I had "back then" !"
Like Mr. Spock used to say, "Live long and prosper"
-30-
So this morning I'm into severee "crunch mode" a/k/a "cram time". I've got to take this test on this course I've been taking this week and it's the last step in becoming the "professional" in my trade. The last step before putting my own Company together and starting back into the almost better than sex thrill of owning your own business. (No I'm not crazy, you have not lived until you've owned your own business now that is the biggest rush there is aside from the aformentioned sex thing!)
I'll try and describe it for you. First there is no "boss" but you, so the rules, the policy, the system, the entire enchilada is yours. Don't like the hours, just change them!, Don't like the dress code,...change it! Want to make more money than ever before,...go get it! Want a wee wet bar in your office,....feel free! Imagine if it really was "all about you"!
Now don't go running out to open an office just yet,...then there is the other side of it. What do you mean there were no checks in the mail today? (Oops, guess I gotta go out and do something to earn it!) And the nerve of the newly hired Administrative Assisstant asking where her first paycheck was! Guess she didn't know that if the mailbox has no checks we have no payroll,...silly twit, she just needs to have faith. They'll be beating the door down any day now. Maybe in the meantime I'll "squeeze in" a round of golf, my schedule seems pretty open this week.
Now dear reader I presume you're getting the picture. I credit you all with great intelligence on this scenario.
Truth is you work harder than you've ever worked, you work longer than you've ever worked before ("Honey, can you swing by the office and drop me a clean shirt,....and I promise I'll be home before midnight, I promise, I just have a few finishing touches to put on this proposal and have it in the mail dated today.")
Regular meals means you know what time MacDonald's and Burger King both open and close, and peanut butter and crackers are one of the four food groups. (The other three are coffee, bagels, and hot dogs!) But the riush is incredible. The human body and it's bucket full of brain cells is an absolutely marvelous machine. It can flex in almost circles, it can function more continuous hours than in a day on a quick "nap", hunger? What's that, only another six or eight pages then I'll think about eating. Your own business is the world's best diet, I guarantee you will be losing weight big time if you are paying attention to business and making sure that mailbox fills up with checks from your clients and customers so you can feel the rush of signing your first paycheck to an employee. And what about the thrill of just "casually" passing out YOUR busness card with the word "President" orr "Owner" under your name. God life is good.
You will sleep the sleep of the dead, you will not remeber laying your head on the pillow because you closed your eyes first, and that was what seems like only three minutes ago and the alarm is just about to go off in another three more minutes!
Granted owning your own business is wonderful, for some. It can be hell for others, but the bottom line boils it down to only a couple of questions. Here is your test:
1. Where would you draw the line at giving up your time, your social life, and your belief in yourself to succeed?
2. Do you REALLY believe in whatever the business you want to start, and do you have a single doubt that it may not make it?
3. Do you really mind leaving for the two day vacation on Wednesday and being back at the desk on friday?
4. Can you commit to "give up" everything you have to follow a dream,...your dream, whatever it is?
Me I love it, sure some fail, some succeed, some make money and spin it off to you and others suck it in like a giant vacuum cleaner. But at the end of the "journey of life" I can honestly say, "been there, done that, got the tee shirt" There will never be a nagging doubt in the back of my mind that surfaces sometimes and says, "Gee I wonder where I'd be if I had followed that dream or idea I had "back then" !"
Like Mr. Spock used to say, "Live long and prosper"
-30-
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Time flies when you are up to your ass in alligators!
Sorry folks, I didn't realize it's been a couple of weeks since I wrote anything. Bad me! Consider me chastized.
It's been a very, very busy time. The "powers that be" decided to rearrange all the deck chairs on the Titanic a few weeks ago, and until friday at 4:30pm when they made the final changes and sent everyone an e-mail about "who's on first" it's been a circus.
I came out of it pretty good actually. I wound up being able to "dump" a couple of accounts that were just plain train wrecks looking for a place to happen. One of them is perhaps the closest thing I've come to in seriously contemplating a hit man as a solution to maintaining a sense of decorum and order. They are just plain DUMB, and unfortunately too damn DUMB to realize they are DUMB!!! But they are gone, and may all thier toilets get stopped up and may they drown in it!
The second one I dumped is another story. They don't know they are broke and want me to tell them it's not so! DUH! No the place didn't get re-landscaped becasue you don't have the money to pay the landscaper, and no the hot tub is not running because it is a piece of crap that is so far on the road to the happy hunting ground of old hot tubs that even God could not walk across it's water. And by the way did I tell you that your hurricane insurance is going up another 50% this year, and you had a bitch of a time paying last years bill!
The thrid one I lost was a sweetheart, I'm really going to miss them. They would tell me thier concerns, leave me alone, and back me when it came to resolving things. Hell I got them a settlement on some really serious issues and about $80,000 worth of repairs without even threatening to go to court or hire any "big gun" attorneys! (See you can draw more flys with honey than vinegar!) And they appreciated it and told me so, which does wonders for my ego as well.
But on the "flip side"I picked up a few good ones. One is virtually brand new, has over $200,000 "extra" in the bank they didn't know they had, and is a "hot property" (meaning everyone wants a place in there, so regardless of the "soft" real estate market it's still revolving door time in sales at this place. Another one I got was an older property, but as long as it is a clean and well lighted place they are happy as clams.
The last one I got is not even developing yet I think, but I'll have to check that out this week.
It's like the guy juggling the spinning plates like I've told you, but now I have to off load three plates and be sure the new managers are up to speed on them at the same time I have to take on three and keep them spinning. No wonder I'm slleping like the dead for 8 hours a night and working like crazy the other 15!
(Ok, so 8 and 15 don't equal 24, but my deep meditation and divine contemplation period with a pint or two at Buster's is mandatory for sanity!! Or as da' kid frum Brooklyn would sez, "So jews gots some kinda problem wit dat shit, or dues I gutta re-edjewcates you wid a pipe?)
I planned on spending about five or so hours on my business laptop today, but the damn charger is at work and the battery ("bat tree", as my Canadian friends would say" is at the "critically low" stage and all it does is tell me that and shut off!!)
Ok today's open letter of rant and absolute disgust goes to Bill Gates;
Dear Bill,
You can take your "new" "Vista" operating system and shove it! The commercials with Apple and PC and the dude in the dark glasses and suit dont even begin to tell the story! (But I will!)It has to be by far the worst operating system I've seen in thirty years oof playing with 'puters. It's slow, it's about as "intuitive" as a brick, it's not even close to being "fun" or "good". The little hourglass was annoying, but it went back and forth. This new little circle that keeps going round and round is annoying as hell. Maybe they should have made that the logo and a tag line of "Go round and round becasue we don't care!" And the "soft pastels" may sooth a savage beast, but a pissed off user can not be soothed, only totally frustrated.
I just blasted it completely off my personal laptop and went to a real tech and told him just put my XP pro back on and make sure not a single bit, byte, or other piece of shit from "Vista" is left on it.
My opinion and the "story behind the story" I think is perfectly clear, ready for this?
Microsoft made a really great op system in Windows NT, which they marketed toward business so it had to be good, but that was back in the early to mid 90's. It tried to cobble some crap together and called it "Windows '95" and tried to get business to consider it. But it had more bugs in it that a sailor on a two week liberty in a whore house. But the gullible consumer market and the geeks jumped on it. Then they tried again with Windows '98, another disaster. So maybe only one weeks liberty in the whorehouse. Then some idiot got the bright idea to put out Windows 2000, and rename "NT", Windows 2000 Pro. Then they realized they broke away from the numbers game and a lot of people might think that's the last system they ever needed, so guess what "XP" comes along, in two glorius flavors, Home edition or "XP Pro" (which I still believe was "NT" with a new suit!) Then the rumors started that the all new top secret "ultra super dooper colossal" operating system would replace both of them and the whole world would have a thousand years of piece. From where I'm sitting it's worse than putting a new suit on Windows '95 and marketing it as "new and improved".
Feel free to disagree, I really don;t care, becasue I'm going back to XP for the next foreseeable millenium. (Oh by the way the new "Office suite" be real careful if you just "save" a spreadsheet and send it to someone on the "old office suite" they won;t be able to open it. (Gee sounds suspiciously like a plot from the evil empire in Redmond Washington to force everyone to get the new office, since the old version has been so flawless for the past ten years!)
Well Mr. Gates, I hope you are enjoying your untold ga-billions of bucks and the richest man in the world lapel pin, but you'll have to do it without my money from here on out.
Bottom line I think you tried to get rid of the "windows crap, dump the "NT" kernal and base, and develop a "one size fits everyone" and seek the position of "security safe forever",.....ain't happening Bo-bo!
-30-
It's been a very, very busy time. The "powers that be" decided to rearrange all the deck chairs on the Titanic a few weeks ago, and until friday at 4:30pm when they made the final changes and sent everyone an e-mail about "who's on first" it's been a circus.
I came out of it pretty good actually. I wound up being able to "dump" a couple of accounts that were just plain train wrecks looking for a place to happen. One of them is perhaps the closest thing I've come to in seriously contemplating a hit man as a solution to maintaining a sense of decorum and order. They are just plain DUMB, and unfortunately too damn DUMB to realize they are DUMB!!! But they are gone, and may all thier toilets get stopped up and may they drown in it!
The second one I dumped is another story. They don't know they are broke and want me to tell them it's not so! DUH! No the place didn't get re-landscaped becasue you don't have the money to pay the landscaper, and no the hot tub is not running because it is a piece of crap that is so far on the road to the happy hunting ground of old hot tubs that even God could not walk across it's water. And by the way did I tell you that your hurricane insurance is going up another 50% this year, and you had a bitch of a time paying last years bill!
The thrid one I lost was a sweetheart, I'm really going to miss them. They would tell me thier concerns, leave me alone, and back me when it came to resolving things. Hell I got them a settlement on some really serious issues and about $80,000 worth of repairs without even threatening to go to court or hire any "big gun" attorneys! (See you can draw more flys with honey than vinegar!) And they appreciated it and told me so, which does wonders for my ego as well.
But on the "flip side"I picked up a few good ones. One is virtually brand new, has over $200,000 "extra" in the bank they didn't know they had, and is a "hot property" (meaning everyone wants a place in there, so regardless of the "soft" real estate market it's still revolving door time in sales at this place. Another one I got was an older property, but as long as it is a clean and well lighted place they are happy as clams.
The last one I got is not even developing yet I think, but I'll have to check that out this week.
It's like the guy juggling the spinning plates like I've told you, but now I have to off load three plates and be sure the new managers are up to speed on them at the same time I have to take on three and keep them spinning. No wonder I'm slleping like the dead for 8 hours a night and working like crazy the other 15!
(Ok, so 8 and 15 don't equal 24, but my deep meditation and divine contemplation period with a pint or two at Buster's is mandatory for sanity!! Or as da' kid frum Brooklyn would sez, "So jews gots some kinda problem wit dat shit, or dues I gutta re-edjewcates you wid a pipe?)
I planned on spending about five or so hours on my business laptop today, but the damn charger is at work and the battery ("bat tree", as my Canadian friends would say" is at the "critically low" stage and all it does is tell me that and shut off!!)
Ok today's open letter of rant and absolute disgust goes to Bill Gates;
Dear Bill,
You can take your "new" "Vista" operating system and shove it! The commercials with Apple and PC and the dude in the dark glasses and suit dont even begin to tell the story! (But I will!)It has to be by far the worst operating system I've seen in thirty years oof playing with 'puters. It's slow, it's about as "intuitive" as a brick, it's not even close to being "fun" or "good". The little hourglass was annoying, but it went back and forth. This new little circle that keeps going round and round is annoying as hell. Maybe they should have made that the logo and a tag line of "Go round and round becasue we don't care!" And the "soft pastels" may sooth a savage beast, but a pissed off user can not be soothed, only totally frustrated.
I just blasted it completely off my personal laptop and went to a real tech and told him just put my XP pro back on and make sure not a single bit, byte, or other piece of shit from "Vista" is left on it.
My opinion and the "story behind the story" I think is perfectly clear, ready for this?
Microsoft made a really great op system in Windows NT, which they marketed toward business so it had to be good, but that was back in the early to mid 90's. It tried to cobble some crap together and called it "Windows '95" and tried to get business to consider it. But it had more bugs in it that a sailor on a two week liberty in a whore house. But the gullible consumer market and the geeks jumped on it. Then they tried again with Windows '98, another disaster. So maybe only one weeks liberty in the whorehouse. Then some idiot got the bright idea to put out Windows 2000, and rename "NT", Windows 2000 Pro. Then they realized they broke away from the numbers game and a lot of people might think that's the last system they ever needed, so guess what "XP" comes along, in two glorius flavors, Home edition or "XP Pro" (which I still believe was "NT" with a new suit!) Then the rumors started that the all new top secret "ultra super dooper colossal" operating system would replace both of them and the whole world would have a thousand years of piece. From where I'm sitting it's worse than putting a new suit on Windows '95 and marketing it as "new and improved".
Feel free to disagree, I really don;t care, becasue I'm going back to XP for the next foreseeable millenium. (Oh by the way the new "Office suite" be real careful if you just "save" a spreadsheet and send it to someone on the "old office suite" they won;t be able to open it. (Gee sounds suspiciously like a plot from the evil empire in Redmond Washington to force everyone to get the new office, since the old version has been so flawless for the past ten years!)
Well Mr. Gates, I hope you are enjoying your untold ga-billions of bucks and the richest man in the world lapel pin, but you'll have to do it without my money from here on out.
Bottom line I think you tried to get rid of the "windows crap, dump the "NT" kernal and base, and develop a "one size fits everyone" and seek the position of "security safe forever",.....ain't happening Bo-bo!
-30-
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