Work Load Increase

On 2/14/2021 8:39 AM, ABLE1 wrote: > Hey Guys, >

I think people just started to realize that they HAVE TO live their lives and take care of their business no matter how much a bunch of politicians want to....

Not going to talk about politics. Not going to talk about politics. Not going to talk about politics. Not going to talk about politics.

I was afraid my core business customers were going to slow me down pretty badly. I had a day in November when I had finished every job on the board. The next day I got a large size custom job, and the day after that another one, and now my custom jobs board is nearly full while "stock" cuts are selling at a fair rate as well.

My ability to do my job has not been impaired. Most of my materials are delivered, and the few things I get locally I have delivery sources for or the local business stayed open. I don't need to go anywhere to run my shop. I just walk out the back door of the house and take about 40 steps or so to the back door of my shop and I am ready to work. I never even unlock the front door. I just have to take packages out for the mail carrier. The only thing that hurt me a little was the utter failure of the postal system for two and a half months. UPS and FedEx were not good alternatives either. Sure I could use them, but then I had to take time out of my work day to deliver packages to their depots. Basically pay more money for less service and paying time penalty as well.

Not going to talk about politics. Not going to talk about politics. Not going to talk about politics. Not going to talk about politics.

Ok... one little thing. I think the Post Office may have tried to play the system and blackmail congress into giving them the money infusion they have been begging to get for so long. They KNEW there was go shipping increase, and they knew there was going to be a seasonal surge, and the surge brought increased revenue in the package delivery area where they claim they are profitable.

Not going to talk about politics. Not going to talk about politics. Not going to talk about politics. Not going to talk about politics.

I also picked up a number of new customers who wanted molds because they were stuck at home with nothing to do, or who were starting up new side hustles to make money because they were stuck at home and not allowed to work.

Not going to talk about politics. Not going to talk about politics. Not going to talk about politics. Not going to talk about politics.

Excellent post Bob, And you NEVER brought up the topic of politics!! I am very proud of you for that!! Good JOB!!! :-)

Now get back to work before you slip on a banana peel and have to call your local government and ask of assistance. :-)

Les

I've been a little slow but some of it is due to the crappy weather. NY has been on the hairy edge of all the snotty weather lately and the Weather people can't tell if it's going to rain, freeing rain, sleet, snow or any combination of the above. So everyone doesn't know if they're going to be home or at work or businesses opened or closed. Menial service calls keep coming in but nothing big. Although I've got this one lady who's been after me to come and start putting in 1) a swimming pool audio system on one side of her home and a patio audio system on the other side of her home. I suppose I could go over and start the inside wiring but ---- weather still plays a factor because she lives where there's a lot of hills and back country roads so I don't want to take a chance of getting stranded.

As far as the comments on politics. I'm reminded of something Ronald Ragan once said. "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help. "

Can you say Tennessee Valley Authority? LOL

I just learned a new feature using Thunderbird as a news reader. It seems if I highlight an item and hit the followup button it just copies the highlighted portion into the new post. Cool.

That might be my new second favorite feature. The K button of course is the first.

Gee Whiz Bob, You should have called me. I could have told you about that feature in Thunderbird years ago. :-)

Glad you are getting a proper education!!

Les

... I only left Outlook Express grudgingly when forced to.

YES!! I suffered the same pain as well.

Hey Jim, sorry to hear about the slow times. I have a few jobs you could handle here is PA!! However, the travel time would kill us both.

Yes, the weather has been nuts. I convinced a customer that mounting the outside camera will have to wait till it gets warmer!!! That will happen next week with a high of 46F. :-)

As for politics. I have said for years.

"It doesn't matter who wins, the other side will complain for the next 4 years."

Some people get it and others get ........................ upset.

Les

On Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 8:13:53 AM UTC-5, ABLE1 wrote:

What gets to me the most is ------ This country started out due to something short of a miracle. That is: that at a certain time and a certain place a certain group of people came together and had the will, ability, intelligence, and temerity to put together a process that made us (ie mankind) take the most important step in the history of all previous civilizations. That is,--- the stand that it is the individuals right to be able to express their opinions and be responsible for their own well being in accordance with Bill of Rights: And that a governments only responsibilities to it's people and nation. is to protect it's citizens from foreign interference, create a balance between order and liberty and only provide the things that the people cannot provide for themselves. ;;; It is an utter shame that this country will fall by the wayside, as a failed experiment, in the long term history of this world. Socialism will ultimately win, as the present ill-conceived interpretation of the foundation of this government provides a path that allows/makes people become more and more dependent on handouts from the government. ;;; Humans have two sides. One side will do anything to survive on their own, to be self sufficient and in the process be free to do what they choose to do with the proceeds of their efforts. ;;; On the other side, there are those people that if they can obtain something for nothing will eventually expect to get those things with no thought or care of what effort it takes to provide them which ultimately makes them unable to develop the skills necessary to sustain their own existence. ;;; All that has to happen to sustain our existence is that each of us has to produce just a little bit more than we need. ;;; Even with it's cruelty and fearsome practices, if you include the Byzantium Empire, it took Rome almost 2000 years to see it's demise. Probably because it just out grew it's ability to produce just a little bit more that it needed. Strangely enough, ( history repeating itself) another factor was a mass influx of foreign refugees that drastically drained Rome's resources. But even In spite of all that, if it wasn't for a plague near the end, the dark ages may never have happened or lasted so long. I fear that we'll not see 3 or 400 years. (Does any of this seem familiar to anyone?) I don't know who said it but the saying that

-----The only thing we seem to learn from history is that we don't learn anything from history.------ is quite accurate. Fortunately I won't be here to see it happen. ;;; What a shame. What a damn shame. I think Ayn Rand was not a philosopher. She predicted the future.

Seen an uptick in camera requests with covid and riots this past 2 years hard to keep up plus other things i do

Hey guys, check it out!!! Nick is still here!! I thought he might have moved to other parts on the planet.

Hi Nick, Nice of you to join in. Have a good week!!

Les

I have to put up two new jobs boards. A longer one just for custom work (the old one is full), and a separate one for stock design cuts. I painted lines and titles on them yesterday. (I also placed a new milling machine yesterday.) Today they will get hung up in my office. I currently have a single jobs board with custom work on one side and stock cuts on the other. Its full and there are jobs not yet on the board. I have to admit I miss the old 4x8 jobs board I had in my office on Ave C. I also went with magnetic boards this time so I can just move the marker to the next job on the board instead of having to rewrite it periodically. I am at 14-16 weeks prepaid custom work right now.

Ok, this is your opportunity to laugh, shake your head, and be judgmental. Those dry erase jobs boards I painted yesterday had protective plastic film on them. All my lines and labeling peeled right off.

LOL Didn't realize you cross posted this tid-bit. So I guess I will share my contribution here as well.

=========================================================================

Not laughing at you Bob!! Laughing with you!!

In a past life I was a Maintenance Supervisor for a plastic company. I had a 4'x3' Magnetic Board on my office wall. Had all the major equipment listed down the left side with Months and Weeks across the top. Then with small magnetic chips in color for the various Maintenance events such as Annuals, Semi Annuals, Monthly, Weekly, Daily's across the board so it was known what was on schedule that needed to be done each week. A very useful tool for the department!!

I left the employment to start my business, the company got bought by another and eventually the place was shutdown and all equipment was moved to another part of the state. The building was put up for sale and was bought by a local custom machine shop about 20 years after I left the place.

One day I was driving by and noticed the SOLD sign on the front and the dock doors were open. New owner was moving in!! I thought it would be nice to just do a walk-thru of the old place that I worked in 20 years before for 14 years of my life.

Soooooo I walked in and no one was in sight. I walked further into the building and heard some machine running further in. I walked towards the sound. There was this guy running a floor scrubber in the old production area. I walked over and introduced myself and told him that I use to work there and would like to just have a look around. He asked what my business was I said I owned a security company. He said, well already have a quote on a security system, if you want to give me one as well we could talk. I said that this was not a sales call!! He said, no problem, just give me a quote. OK!!

I continued my "Self Guided" tour. Went to my old office. And there on the wall was my Magnetic Planned Maintenance Schedule Board still hanging on the wall with all the little colored Maintenance Tabs in place!!

Ended up getting a New Customer and that board is still on that wall!!

As for the building itself there are places that I left my mark, initials with dates in concrete and walls. Even to the point that in the old compressor room is a 1-1/2" Steel Angle frame on the wall to support a set of cooling fans that I built. Assembled with my very first stick welding job. The welds looks like hell, but, still together and functional now going on 46 years!!

BTW my stick welding had improved, especially after taking my first Vo-Tech welding course about 3 years later.

Memories!!! Memories!!!

So Bob, I hope your Magnetic Schedule Board serves you well into the future!!

Later,

Les

Memories Light the corners of my mind Misty watercolor memories Of the way we were

Scattered pictures Of the smiles we left behind Smiles we gave to one another For the way we were

Can it be that it was all so simple then? Or has time re-written every line? If we had the chance to do it all again Tell me, would we? Could we?

SIGH !

Sorry ----- just couldn't help it :- )))

Oh, How poetic of you!!!!

You know that that's the words to the Barbara Streisand's song ----- Right?

The only poem that I know is

There once was a girl from Nantucket Who sailed cross the sea in a bucket And when she got there They asked for a fare So she picked up her skirt and said %#$# it.

Yes Jim, I remember the song. The truth be told reading the lyrics here is the first time I ever knew what all the words were. Please understand that with my high frequency hearing loss the ability to understand what is be sung is very difficult. I have a nephew that is guitarist and a song writer. When he sends me his performance of a new song that he has written I always ask for the lyrics so I can better appreciate what he has produced. I am always impressed.

So Thank You for the lyrics to the Memories!!

On the other hand...... You are a poet and don't know it!!! LOL

I also enjoy watching old movies on my new TV with Closed Caption. I now get the punch line or rest of the story!!! The other extra bonus is when watching live TV and I see or hear something that doesn't seem right, I just tap the go back 30 seconds button and play it again to confirm.

Hope the weather is getting better for you there in NY. It is certainly getting better here!!!

Les

Yep

Praise be to "Closed Caption"

Main benefit is -- like you , I can follow a plot -- AND - I can sometimes even tell my wife what was said when she misses something in the conversation. But another advantage is --- I can watch TV late after my wife goes to bed with out having to listen to her yelling from the bedroom, "TURN DOWN THE TV" !!!!!

Although I very seldom watch the national new casts, when there IS (rarely) something of importance that I may want to watch, the closed captioning usually can't keep up with narrative.

Years ago, they used to have people actually typing the closed captions and they usually were able to keep up with the narrative but now that they use voice recognition it can't always keep up. And when the voice recognition can't keep up with the conversation they usually miss too much of the narrative to make any sense of the closed captions.