I'm not the only one...

So I guess I'm not the only one that feels that way about paying to see our teams play. Check out this post from the Every Day Should Be Saturday blog.

A Good Business

Ok, let us review a case study in business. I know what you're saying...booooorrrring. But hear me out.

I own a business. My business provides a weekly service to it's clients and charges a substantial premium. Now there is not a lot of competition in the immediate area, but my clients do have a lot of other options. Now for a long time, my service was average at best, but at some point things took a turn for the worse and my business started sucking. Every week when I provide my service to the clients they wonder "What are they going to fuck up this time?" Now in most similar situations people will decide that enough is enough and stop paying for my services. The reality is my service is not necessarily needed and if it's that bad could be considered a waste of money. However, very very few of my clients turn. In fact, I am still making as much as before, despite my poor product. Additionally, so many of my clients have remained that I have actually been able to increase my prices!!!!

Now, let's think about this for a second...product sucks consistently, enough people continue to use my product that not only do I not change my quality, but I also raise prices. Most people with real business knowledge would look at this and think, "This is bull shit, this would never happen."

Naturally they would be right. For the most part, as your quality diminishes so do your sales. But the reality is there is one company out there that has managed to continually grow profits and maintain a consistent customer base despite a shitty product...in fact it is the shittiest product of its kind for almost 2 full years now. (Click on that link before continuing.)

Now, it is to the point that I really need to wonder. At I time when unemployment is at an all time high, and people are increasingly diligent about spending, why the fuck wouldn't people stay home and turn on the radio, instead of paying their hard earned money to such a piece of crap company?????? I need someone to teach me how to run a business like this! Make millions with the worst product in the industry!!! In fact, if the customers really want to see a change in the products and services this company provides them, GOD DAMN IT STOP PAYING THEM!!!!!! If no one payed them guess what...they would fix their service issues. Basic business and economic principles!!!!!! I know there are not a lot of other options and they have the market cornered, but I've always bought from their closest competition, a company out of Chicago.

If you want a real value for your money I suggest an all out boycott until they provide you with a quality service (they're free on the radio)...

September 1

So in a few hours, this planet will have been graced with my presence for 29 years! So I thought I would take a moment to address a few other prominent anniversaries for September 1st, so I looked up "This Date in History" stuff and was sorely disappointed. I was really only able to find a few historically significant events:

1 - In 1939 Nazi Germany attacks Poland, beginning the war in Europe.


Not really an event you want to be associated with, however historically significant this event may have been. World War II changed the future in more ways than we will ever really know.

2 - In 1974 the SR-71 Blackbird sets the record for flying from New York to London: 1 hour 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds.


Now this one is frickin' AWESOME!!! 1974 also marks the end of American muscle cars. The SD-455 was silenced and the raw power this engine produced would never be replicated. And yet, it was replaced in the air by this beast of a spy plane that any kid would have killed to fly. In the amount of time the average American spends commuting each day this plane can FLY TO EUROPE...wrap you head around that shit.

3 - In 1969 a revolution in Libya brings Col. Muammar al-fuckin'-Gaddafi to power.


The frickin' RockStar of North Africa has on many occasions told neighboring nations that he owned them (typically after a week long benders with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad). In fact this year is the 40th anniversary of this event!

I also wanted to give you a few historical and famous people I share my birthday with...

1818 – José María Castro Madriz, first President of Costa Rica and founder of the republic
The man invented Costa Rica for cryin' out loud, how cool was he?!

1923 – Rocco Francis Marchegiano (better know as Rocky Marciano), American boxer (d. 1969)
Only the toughest guy ever! 49-0, 43 by knock out. And get this...he died the night of August 31, 1969. On the eve of his 46th birthday and the Libyan revolution.




1939 – Lily Tomlin, American actress and comedian
Ugg.

1950 – Dr. Phil McGraw, American talk show host
DAMN IT!

1968 – Mohammed Atta, Egyptian terrorist
Fuck.

1976 – Marcos Ambrose, Australian racing driver
He's cool



1976 – Jada Fire, American porn actress
SWEET!

1976 – Polly Shannon, Canadian actress
The long lost cousin of Molly Shannon an American actress

1981 – Clinton Portis, American football player

Some other things I can claim "relation" to, Uzbekistani Independence Day, the first day of spring in Australia, and the Eastern Orthodox Church new year!

So basically, my birthday sucks...Happy Birthday to me (and Rocky Frickin' Marciano).

50 Reasons...

Not that I'm complaining, but the following is a list of 50 reasons I am actively looking for a new job. All numbers are based on data from CNNMoney.com for positions requiring 4 years or less experience (some require special training but none more than a Bachelors Degree) in my local area. All pay more than I make...

1) Associate Pastor - $67,499
2) Bricklayer - $49,285
3) Custodial Manager - $48,829
4) Volunteer Coordinator - $42,745
5) Warehouse Supervisor - $55,868
6) Campus Recreation Director - $67,026
7) Assistant Coach Minor Sport - $41,505
8) Estimating Manager - $65,686
9) E/L Accountant - $ 45,329
10) E/L Architect - $42,684
11) E/L Budget Analyst - $52,674
12) Business Banking Development Officer - $60,042($52,385 low)*
13) Call Center Quality Analyst - $41,839
14) E/L Compensation Analyst - $54,292
15) Consumer Credit Analyst - $43,578
16) E/L Copy Writer - $44,602
17) Correctional Officer - $42,952
18) Chicago Police Officer - $58,896 (after 18 mths)**
19) Documentation Clerk - $40,287
20) E/L Electrician - $45,594
21) Employee Relocation Rep - $48,192
22) Field Auditor - $54,393
23) Financial Associate, Corporate - $61,042
24) Health and Safety Administrator - $59,494
25) Interior Designer - $41,044
26) Logistics Clerk - $42,407
27) Metallurgical Engineer - $58,608
28) Meter Reader - $45,306
29) Procedures Analyst - $49,327
30) Pipeline Technician - $62,788
31) Press Operator - $46,255
32) Recruiter - $45,987
33) Retail Store Management Trainee - $41,962
34) Sales Analyst - $49,707
35) SBA Business Development Officer - $74,340
36) Travel Clerk - $43,637
37) Fire Fighter - $44,053
38) Automobile Estimator - $43,045
39) Administrative Services Supervisor - $59,059
40) Archivist - $45,799
41) Campus Recruiter - $61,339
42) Executive Assistant - $53,248
43) Meeting/Event Assistant - $47,021
44) Translator - $48,571
45) Actor - $53,257
46) Broadcast Technician - $45,224
47) Development Associate - Museum - $63,161
48) Retail Buyer - $47,804
49) Cashier Manager - Grocery - $46,295
50) Group Underwriter - $47,778

*My current position, even the low tops my pay
** Data found at Chicago Police recruitment website

This is why you don't help out strangers...

Ok, so I stick around work a little late to finish up some stuff. I live about a mile from the office and it was a nice day, so I decided to walk home. So I'm enjoying a casual stroll down Washington Street...as I approach Halsted I hear a little dog yipping, then a different dog bark and a woman yell!

I look across the street and see a little dog bolt into the road, in slow motion I see this cute little dog make it across one lane, and then BAM! I'll spare the details, but the dog was out, still alive, but out cold. So assessing the situation and seeing that the woman was alone I had to step in and help(I couldn't leave the thing in the street). So I carried the dying dog to the shoulder, and as it died in my arms I got directions to the nearest vet for the lady, then took off my undershirt, wrapped it up and put it in her trunk.

I get home and Dakota freaks out, she can smell this dog on me, not too hard for a beagle to do. Not hard at all I came to realize since my leg and shoe were covered in this dogs blood.

So this good deed turns into and $8 cleaning bill and a $70 pair of shoes. 78 frickin' dollars because I had to be a nice guy and help out this poor old women out with her mutt. All I was trying to do was help out a neighbor. And it cost me almost 80 bucks.

Oh well, I'll try to look on the brighter side of it all...at least it wasn't her child and I got a new pair of shoes. Now trust me, it won't stop me from helping people out, but damn it was expensive.

Thank You Canada!

"China isn't putting up the money, and Mexico isn't putting up the money," said Tony Clement, Canada's Minister of Industry. "But if we're putting up the money, just as the Americans are, then we have the right to protect our production capacity."

This says it all. Our administration is pushing GM into bankrupcy (not a problem, I get that, that's what happens when you take the feds money) and GM wants to ship factories over seas?? YOU ARE OWNED BY THE TAXPAYER!!!!! Give them jobs. I don't even care if they are crap jobs with no heathcare, a job is a job! Obama, take a cue from the Canadians and tell GM no american jobs, no taxpayer dollars. I don't want to be in the hook for a company that manufactures their product overseas. If GM wants to ship their labor to China and Mexico then they should lose all access to bailout funds and be allowed to collapse under their own weight!

Twitter

Hey everyone, I'm on Twitter now! You can follow me at www.twitter.com/JMScib. It's mostly professional or political, but check it out!

The First Amendment...

Please, use this amendment wisely. I am a strong supporter of the Bill of Rights. I believe they are all important and still relevant today, but please use them wisely...especially the first amendment.

Lets take a look at it:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Part 1: "...no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof:" They can't tell you what to believe or how to practice it. As long as your religion and the practice thereof does not harm, impede or contradict the rights of others. So you can't kill someone cause your religion says to. Part 1...easy.

Part 2: "...or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;" This gives you the write to speak out against the government, tell them what you think, tell your neighbor or produce an article calling the president/senator/governor a goof with out getting arrested or killed and stuff. It does not give you the right to be a fuckin' prick or be disrespectful (that is your right as a human) so don't cite "your 1st amendment rights" when you tell your buddy to ... and there is an eight year old and her mom sitting next to you on the train. That just reduces the value of the actually meaning of the amendment.

Part 3: "...or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Ok, this one is kind of a hot button right now. The whole "Tea Party" today got me thinking and spurred this entire post. YES, you have the right to peaceably assemble, protest, fight for what you believe in. And intelligence is not a pre-requisite. But think about what you put on that sharpie sign you made. I saw someone at the "Tea Party" in Chicago today it read: "Don't Spread My Wealth, Spread My Work Ethic." Here is my issue with this, IF YOU HAVE THIS AMAZING WORK ETHIC THAT WILL SAVE THE ECONOMY WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU AT A PROTEST ON A WEDNESDAY AT 10AM??? Should you be working? Really, come on now.

Anyway, that's all I had to say. One last bit of food for thought...

"I disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it." Voltaire 1694-1778 (or maybe said by someone later about Voltaire's attitude)

Follow Up to "Save the World" Post

I found this article at www.huffingtonpost.com

The population growth statistics hit the nail on the head.

Thank you

I'm also troubled by – not what Senator McCain says – but what members of the Party say, and it is permitted to be said: such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is he is not a Muslim. He's a Christian; has always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, "What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?" The answer's "No, that's not America." Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be President? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own Party drop the suggestion he's Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery. And she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards – Purple Heart, Bronze Star; showed that he died in Iraq; gave his date of birth, date of death. He was twenty years old. And then at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross. It didn't have a Star of David. It had a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Karim Rashad Sultan Kahn. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey, he was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11 and he waited until he could go serve his country and he gave his life.

-- Gen. Colin Powell, former Secretary of State for the Bush Administration, "Meet the Press" 10-19-2008

on a lighter note...

The 10 Things I Love About Baseball.
(in order from least to greatest)

10) Small ball.

9) Closers.

8) It is never over until the final out is called.

7) Walk-off home runs.

6) Game winning bunts.

5) Old men in the bleachers making dollar bets on every pitch.

4) Runners getting thrown out from the warning track.

3) Entering the 7th inning with a perfect game.

2) All you need is a stick and a ball.

1) The smell of the park.

Save the world!!!!!

Ok, so I just finished this book, "saving the world at work: What Companies and Individuals Can Do to Go Beyond Making a Profit to Making a Difference" by Tim Sanders. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that gets off on buzz words about saving the environment.

Don't get me wrong, his stories were all great, it really does remind you of some of the very simple ways we can all make a difference with out going out of our way. But his writing style tends to be a little dry.

And I found it very disturbing that in a book, printed on paper with oil based ink, he discussing paper reduction and never once mentioned any efforts the book's publisher has made to reduce their carbon footprint or increase their use of recycled paper. Now I won't mention their name here until I have done a little research (to date I have seen no positive or negative information regarding said publishers environmental record), maybe they are taking the proper steps and I just haven't heard. But I got the book at a meet and greet with the author and I'll tell you what, he gave out probably 100 copies, all printed on paper with oil based inks...now would it have not made more ecological sense to have given out digital copies of the book? Or gone with an environmentally friendly publisher? The one positive thing I can say is that the book was printed in the US.

Now on to the meat...I have the solution to our consistently increasing carbon emissions, land fill growth, pillaging of our natural resources and general destruction of our planet. You won't like it, in fact I have not heard one environmentalist discuss it. Ask yourself this one question and you might just figure out the answer too...

What is the single most contributor to the destruction of our environment?

Nope not carbon emissions.

Not unregulated usage of non-renewable resources.

Sure isn't non-recyclable waste.

Give up yet? It's people. Us. We are the main cause of all of the environmental challenges facing us today. It is our own arrogance that has brought us to this point. And how exactly do I propose correcting this? Very simply put, population control.

Before you get all pissy let me explain. Take a look at the Census Bureau's Population Clock. At the time I wrote this sentence the estimated world population was 6,767,773,587. Now if this planet were designed to support that many people, would there be excessive famine or drought or carbon emissions deteriorating our ozone layer? Would we be running out of the very things that keep us alive? Survival techniques teach us to huddle in a group when stranded, the shard body heat of multiple people will help delay hypothermia and warm the air temp around us. Could it be that having 6.77 billion people has assisted in increasing the atmospheric temperature? Now I am not a scientist, and have no data to back this, but if we want to reduce our carbon footprint as a species maybe we should slow our growth?

When the grey wolf population had subsided in Michigan and the whitetail deer had lost their primary natural predator the Department of Natural Resources had to think fast to control the population of deer. The idea was the natural habitat could not support unbridled population growth. Are we too damn arrogant to see that maybe our natural habitat is trying to tell us something? When deer population gets too big diseases transfer more rapidly, tuberculosis kills many deer, hoof and mouth, starvation etc...sound familiar, wide spread disease (Cholera and AIDS epidemics), sever droughts (American southwest), flooding, temperature increases, do I really need to continue?

Now I am not suggesting killing off millions of people. But I am suggesting that we begin implementing a control mechanism for future population growth. Based on the current average birth rate for the globe of 20.3 births per 1000 people annually (which is down), over the course of one month there are 11,447,508 people born into this world. Regulate the population by limiting the number of kids a family can have. Instead of giving families tax deductions for each child, give them a tax deduction for the first and tax penalties for any after. Make them pay into the system like we are proposing to tax corporate carbon emissions. So a "family" like the Duggars would get one tax deduction and then pay some sort of luxury tax on the other 17 children they have. What gives them the right to have 17 kids when there are children around the corner from their home that need a safe, supportive family. Have one of your own to satisfy the "desire" or "instinct" to be a parent and then if you really really really want another we can give tax credits for adoption. But irresponsible parents that have children they can't afford, instead of buying a $7 box of condoms should not be rewarded for having kids. Their kids should be given to someone that can't have kids and they should be sterilized. The average cost in the US of a child's first year is $10,000. I'm not exactly sure, but I believe tying the tubes costs the same...and it's a one time out lay. So stop having unprotected sex for one year, and every dollar you would spend on a child should go in to a pot and when you have money for the surgery, GET IT! Or maybe in extreme cases the Department of Population could just pay for it.

This is a sure fire way to reduce the human impact on climate change, decrease unemployment and help create safe homes for children in bad situations (look at the Jolie adoptions, those kids won the lottery). And we need the world to stand behind this, it won't work if it's just us.

By the way the population of the world increased by 4,547 people since I put the link to the population clock in.

Good night.