Bill’s posterous

Well, I just “voluntarily” signed the paperwork for my 10% pay reduction which will be reviewed the first week in July…then corporate will make a decision to give me some of it back or take more away…I am already very weary of the economic situation in our country…I feel betrayed by our former President and the “corporate cats” at the top of the financial structure of this country with whom he was a bedfellow…they have literally stolen from us money that should have been returned to circulation through loans and salaries that keep an economy strong and productive…I have literally dozens of projects on hold due to lack of financing by the lenders…I don’t have a lot of confidence in the President’s “bail out” to change things enough but time will tell…I do like Obama and I think he is as sincere as a politician can be or is allowed to be…at least he is for ending the war in Iraq as honorably as possible so we don’t continue to sink more money into that mess…I don’t however like the steps we seem to be taking toward socialism or Europeanism…the Republican party uses “capitalism” as tool to enrich the rich and the Democrats lean toward socialism to achieve their goals…I liked George Bush but as my eyes were gradually opened I started to see that he was enriching himself and his cronies at the middle class American’s expense…part of his war on terror was legitimate but he at some point fairly early on took it all in a different direction…when we awoke form the bad dream we realize we were being duped but it was too late…he signed the death certificate for a bunch of American men and boys who died in a war on his watch to pave the way to his own designs…I hope he can’t sleep at night but it will probably never phase him in this life…

 

We are going on a little holiday with my brother Ric and his wife Bev at the end of April and into the first week of May…we are going to South Padre Island, Texas to go fishing and enjoying each other’s company…that area is very nice for swimming and fishing…the record speckled trout ever caught was caught in that very bay where we will be fishing…I am sure it will bring back a lot of memories for us and we will have a blast…it gives us something to anticipate in this present economic landscape we see here every day…

 

Julie and Bev located a condo to rent for our big weekend at Padre Island…it will cost us about 300.00 each for the weekend…it is literally right on the beach…right out the door and right into the water…the girls will bask in the sun while we fish…should be fun!!

 

Almost time to go home now…I had a pretty productive day today…did a couple of proposals for new work and a couple of final reports to wrap up jobs we have been doing…some new in and some old out…I can’t wait to get home and go for a long walk…sure do enjoy my walks here in the desert air…

 

Well, the desert air was a little cool and windy to exercise outside after all…did some treadmill and called it good…

 

Things seem to have settled down somewhat around here after the pay cut…we do have some rather tense days around here as slow as things are right now…well, the bailout money has been approved so maybe we will see some action soon…

 

Posted by email 

Comments [1]

Monday blahs

Well, our branch director/a principal of the company, went to a big meeting of corporate executives and found out the latest skinny on the “state of the company”…he in turn had a heads together meeting with the principals here in this branch to share the good tidings he had been given in Phoenix…the company is starting to wince at the state of the economy in our area…we have thus been mandated to take a 10% cut in pay or  a day off without pay every two weeks (each pay period)…we can use our PTO till we use it all up for our days off…this is just the beginning so we will see how things go from here on out…hopefully the economy will pick up and no one else will lose their jobs or suffer more pay cuts…I think we (me and Julie) will be okay for a few more months as long as WT sticks with this plan…

 

It is time for the first of the month billing (for last month’s work)…it seems to create a small amount of tension around the office for a couple of days…especially for Joan the bookkeeper…she is very old and kranky…and billing just makes it worse…basically she just needs to retire but she says that she can’t afford it…she could just walk away from her old run down house and not really lose anything since she is already very upside down in it and she wouldn’t have to work at all…just retire…some things often look so simple to those observing than to those who are involved…in a few more years folk will be saying this sort of thing about us too…it is hard to get old and people don’t want you around any more…even our kids will start to find more interesting things to do than be around us…we are trying to grow old “graciously”…but we will see…

Posted by email 

Comments [2]

Ethics and Morals

It is cool and raining here this morning…reminds me of my Oregon years!!  But it is Friday and this is good!

 

We are here much ado about ethics in our profession these days…to me good ethics in our behavior is really a moral issue…if one is lying, stealing, cheating, etc it is all about low morals in the individuals who are involved…after all it is really all about one’s character…this is not necessarily a religious issue as some think…it is about simply being a good person…honest, hardworking, loyal, clean living…sort of like folk used to be in bygone times…as for those of us in this line of work…don’t write a report for something that you personally did not see…be diligent and astute when inspecting on a project…don’t just sit in your truck and write a report on something that you should have climbed up a ladder or somehow physically went up on the deck and looked at looked at the items in question…don’t lie…don’t cheat…etc…know the building codes and know what you are inspecting…we have a public trust to do a thorough and ethical inspection…public safety is the issue…people will be working and visiting within the structures we are trusted to inspect to see that they are built according to the job specifications and the building codes…we are the eyes and the ears of the engineers who design the structures, the governing municipality, the owners of the structures, and the general public…we have assumed an enormous trust!!

 

 

I saw a statement online today that made some sense…it said that the additional bailout money that President Obama wants to get is really just another loan and credit is what has gotten us in this mess to start with…the writer suggested that rather than make matters worse by another loan to just let the economy bottom out on it’s own and it will… then take some corrective action…I don’t know enough about economics to make a call on this one…the current state of affairs is an unsettling one to say the least…and we all know in our heart of hearts that the age old character flaw called “greed” is at the bottom of all this…some of America’s most powerful and some of it’s wealthiest are eaten up with “greed”…so much so that they turned their back on wrongdoing because they stood to make more money by doing so…if they had corrected or sought to correct the problems that they saw they personally would have stood to lose money…”GREED” prevailed…integrity did not matter any longer…if we were near the wealth and power it would tempt us as well…that is why these folk who are near the top or near money need to have character under girding their actions…the mess we are currently in is the direct result of leaders who sought personal wealth above doing the right thing for the people of this nation who have entrusted them with leadership…

 

Well enough rambling for today…

 

 

Posted by email 

Comments [0]

Hope and Faith live together!!

We actually encountered light rain on our way to work this morning!  It will take a huge amount of rain to resolved the desert draught that has been going on for several years now…the level of Lake Mead has dropped considerably from it’s original levels when it was made…this is an entirely different challenge for us than the economy is at the moment…God has made us extremely resilient and it amazes me how many difficulties, hardships, and challenges we are able to live through and actually make work for good for us and in us somehow.  This nation and this people of America are a prime example.  I am excited about the hope our new President has injected into this nation.  Hope for every color, race, and creed.  The Bible states that hope and faith reside together and I believe this is an undeniable truth.  Hope sees and faith acts!!  Hope is the inspiration and faith is the sweat!!  Abraham hoped against hope but nevertheless obeyed God thru his activities or action.  His faith then became the outstanding characteristic of Abraham’s life.  Hope will dissipate without accompanying faith.  The hope that is felt today throughout this nation and the world must be acted upon or it will go away with time.  I am not complaining but I am praying for this President and this nation today.

 

This has been a very good day…got some work done today which is a good thing. 

 

Time to head home…going to the gym today and walk afterwards…tomorrow…

Posted by email 

Comments [1]

 

I guess the owner of Western Tech is coming over from Phoenix possibly today…he is bringing some other folk with him (main players too) for a walk thru of the new facilities…other than a routine visit I don’t expect any surprises from his trip…I am attending a luncheon for general contractors today for marketing purposes…digging for new leads and more work…

 

The “MapMyWalk.com website is working out well…even better than I anticipated…now I need to learn how to upload my data to it from my Garmin device…they tell us that it can be done and have made available free software to accomplish it so all I have to do is have the nerve and the time to put it to the test…

 

Go home time…tomorrow…

Posted by email 

Comments [0]

The day before the "waterman" comes!

The “waterman” comes tomorrow which is always on the Wednesday before payday…we depend on him to bring us fresh bottled water at that time…usually 4 full five gallon bottles in exchange for 4 empty five gallon bottles…we never see him but we always find the new water bottles in their place near our front door when we get home from work…we don’t normally think of him until payday week…especially the day before the Wednesday before payday…I think I will try to remember to leave him a tip tomorrow when I put out the empties…

 

I can hardly wait to get to the gym this afternoon…however, I am still sore from a couple of days ago…soreness always accompanies a return to a certain type of exercise such as walking, running, or resistance training…I will work through in a few days…I know I need to be doing resistance training by lifting weights etc…need to strengthen my core muscles…tone up all over…

 

I wanted something sweet really bad…then I remembered the Tiger Milk bars I purchased a couple of days ago…they were in the car and I found them…I feel much better now!

 

Today is inauguration day…we now have a new president!!  I am excited about Barak Obama…if anyone can turn things around for this nation and possibly the world he can…America is made up of amazing resilient  people who make things happen…don’t under estimate this country!!

This is still the very best place in the world to live!!  I have hope today because Americans were bold enough to elect a black man to be president who has vision and compassion for all peoples and the whole world!!  We will listen to his speech tonight when we get home…

 

Almost time to go home for today…maybe it will start picking up around here soon…it is downright boring with the trickle of work we have right now…spent the most of the day running down info for 3 Creech AFB projects so I submit bids to the contractors who are bidding on them…we subscribe to the Construction Notebook so it has a lot of info in it that I can use to find what, when, who, and where for projects…these jobs do not bid to the owners (in this case the military) but to the contractors…if they get the job then they appoint a 3rd party agency (like ourselves) to perform all the 3rd party inspections and testing…I have to privilege of talking to new people over the phone about these projects…it is always different for every project…

 

Time to go for now…pick this up tomorrow…

 

 

 

 

Posted by email 

Comments [0]

A Good Ole Monday Morning!!

It was a pretty uneventful weekend.

 

Sarah leaves for Louisiana today as soon as her mother arrives at the airport…we will surely miss her and her bulldog “Lily”…Sarah is the easiest person who is not family to have at our house…she is a strong self reliant person so she is not demanding or needy and she is a positive person so no whining or complaining from her…

 

I got a membership in the Gold’s Gym which is only a mile or so from my house…went over there yesterday for a workout…I think I am going to really like it there…

 

But first I went for a long walk (approx. 4.5 miles in 1 hr. 30 min.) and then went directly over to the gym where Julie dropped me off to workout there for another 30 minutes…well to make a long story shorter…I over did it as I have been known to do on occasion…it made me sick so I had to pass on Sarah's invitation to go out to Red Lobster for dinner…so her and Julie went out without me and I stayed home with the dogs and watched the Steelers game on the tube…I feel much better this morning…more like my old self…

 

We slept in both days until at least 7 a.m….ran all our errands and the such…we are a wee bit tired of having company though we can’t complain at all about the folk who have been visiting us…our routines get messed with when we have company but I would rather deal with it than not have company…my daughter Tiffany and her little one Adrik will be here at the end of the month and my brother Ric and his wife Bev will be here in March too…after that I don’t know…

 

It is so slow here that is scares me some…Western Tech can’t keep us around if they don’t have any work…I stand to lose my house if I lose my job…well, at least I won’t be alone…a lot of other folk are in or will be in the same boat along with me…during my lifetime I have witnessed recessions before but none any worse or uncertain as this one we are currently in…the one in the early 80’s cost me dearly…we lost our house in Angleton, TX, my welding business including all my equipment, and a Ford luxury car that was only a couple of years old…I am too old to start over again so I don’t want to…but I can and will if I have to…folk say that hard times make you a better person…after seeing a lot of hard times in my lifetime I am not so sure that this is always true…someone can live thru so much difficulty that it ruins their emotions and they can’t feel excitement or any other emotion for life any more…we need to feel life for what it is good or bad and have enough courage to make it…that is one of the dangers of getting old…so many old folk can’t feel any more…they have grown numb to life…I don’t want to end up old and numb and dead even while I am still living (at least medically alive)…all we have is right now this moment without any guarantees for tomorrow…take a deep breath and open your eyes and grasp life for what it is right now today!!

 

Time to go home again…later…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by email 

Comments [0]

Friday!!!

I so glad that it is Friday at last!  It just seems like a very long week with very long days because it is so  slow…maybe work will be picking up this year…at least I still have a job and one that I do like!!

 

I need to check out my little dog…check her temperature first…she doesn’t seen to have much appetite lately…maybe take in to the vet and have some blood work done…and/or try some new food and see if maybe she is just tired of the old stuff…

 

My swimming pool needs a thorough cleaning so that is on my agenda for this weekend…pools are great but they are also a bunch of work…my neighbor has some trees that are now large enough to cause me headaches concerning keeping my pool clean…so it takes even more work to keep the pool up…it is still worth it!!  We can start swimming again in May which is really not that far away now…

 

I miss my kids not living closer to us…really we are ones who moved away from them and left them in Oregon…I just cannot stand the thought of cold wet weather…the climate here is ideal for me so goes the story at this point in time…they do come down here to visit a lot so that is good…Tiffany will be coming down at the last of this month for 4 days or so…it will be good to see her and Adrik…

 

It is good to hear that Stacy and Justin were able to get a gym membership…they love to exercise as much or more than I do so exercise is a must for them…Stacy is a primo walking buddy for me!!

 

Almost time to go home…another weekend…a little different since we will have company all weekend…but it will be good!!  Talk to you on Monday!!

Posted by email 

Comments [0]

Thursday, Janurary 15, 2009

It has been a pretty uneventful day…not much news worthy to report…

 

Sounds like everyone has gotten of the U. S. Airways plane that crashed into the Hudson River this morning…they are saying that a bird or birds caused engine failure before the crash and that the wind took the plane into the river…I am glad that no one was killed.

 

Looks like I will be changing to Gold’s Gym which is around the corner from my house…they called me back and offered me a sweet deal which is exactly what I was waiting for…Julie can drop me off on the home from work and when I am finished I can walk home…

 

It is only 2 p.m…what a long afternoon…

 

At last it is almost time to go home…tomorrow is Friday!! 

Posted by email 

Comments [1]

Tuesday, January, 13,2009

My eye is still swelled almost shut…maybe I will go to the eye doctor today and see what he has to say…my eye is a little sore but does not hurt or itch…

 

Sarah Grant is coming over to stay with us until she leaves for Baton Rouge, LA…she is moving there for work…actually the town she is moving to is Port Allen which is a suburb of Baton Rouge which is on the east side of the river…it is a small town of approx. 2500…Sarah has already purchased a house on the internet and has her job all lined up…her mother is going with her to help with baby Jack who is only a month or so old…the moving truck is loading up today and Sarah and her mother are driving out on Monday…I don’t know if we will ever see Sarah face to face again in this life since Louisiana is really out of our orbit and we are not likely to visit her down there…she is a strong, capable woman so I know she will be ok…

 

I am going to the doctor about the swelling in my eye…hopefully I will be back this afternoon…  

Posted by email 

Comments [0]