Thanks to all!

Ron

When the punishment is postponed until later, everyone calms down, no one ever learns anything and the action needing punishing happens again and again until the time when the punishment is immediate! This is evident even with dogs. When a dog does something wrong, gets caught and is reprimanded right on the spot, the lesson is more likely to be learned and the action not repeated. When a dog does something and there is no immediate consequence, he learns its ok and develops a habit. Then when the dogs does get punished at a later time, the dogs is confused. “Why you punishing me now? No one punished me when I did it so I thought it was allowed!”

Everyone needs “immediate” feedback on things to really know if its right or wrong or good or bad. If you cook a meal for someone and they eat the whole thing and don’t say a word, you may make the meal for them over and over. When they tell you that they don’t like it, you stop. Why not give feedback immediately so there is no confusion. Its so simple!

This is where religion gets it wrong. God is supposed to punish those who sin… Later! Huh? If you wait until later, people will think they got away with it and that the issue will be long forgotten by the time “Daddy” gets home. Punish them now! Duh! Then they won’t do it anymore! Someone rapes someone, God should send down a team of angels with BIG anal probes to dish out the @$$ reaming of a lifetime. Problem solved! That rapist will never rape again. EVER! I promise that!

We have had enough and are now aggressively trapping them. We bought some traps at Tractor Supply and are baiting them with peanut butter. We have trapped some in the past but we always slowed down when the traps started to be set off with no capture. We now have better traps and a stronger resolve to rid our home of the pests.

Some people will say that the squirrels were there first. I say hogwash! My house is 30 years old and not a single one of these squirrels is even 1/15th that age! This is MY HOME! They are invading into our territory and we are fighting back!

After we rid the house of the pests, we are planning to have our fascia boards and soffits replaced with cement board (hardi-plank) so they can dig through again. We are also placing heavy wire mesh on the backside of our gable end vents. We are going to make it very hard for them to homestead there again. Maybe this will be enough of a deterrent to steer them to another house.

After I get over the hatred for them, I may build a squirrel house up in a tree so they can live there instead.

Funny how you can bring up a topic with people on a one to one basis and hear their beliefs from their heart. As soon as the discussion has political parties brought into it. The discussion gets much more defensive and steers right back inline with the party’s direction. Amazing!

Some people will have meeting after meeting for months trying to figure out the most efficient way to complete a project. What’s wrong with that is the planning itself is inefficient. If it takes longer and more money to figure out the best way to do something then it does to just do it a less efficient way, then you have not saved anything. 1 month to figure it out or 2 weeks of just doing it. When you weigh the cost savings during the month long debate, figure in the savings in man hours and salary by “just doing it” and moving on top the next project.

I was a long time Apple/Mac advocate. I purchased a brand new Mac every year for about 5 years. The Operating System, OSX, is robust and slick. It is a much more visual experience over the rehashed same old Windows. Productivity on a comparable Windows based system is “comparable” though. Especially now that Apple is basing their Mac computers on the same foundation “x86” as Windows based PCs. Apple does have more control over hardware but they have less software titles available. There are trade-offs but nothing insurmountable if you are willing to pay the money for a Mac. So basically, it comes down to what you like and what you want to buy.

The problem is that Apple Zealots get so “in your face” and often insulting towards you and your previous purchase. Usually with exaggerations. It often comes across like they are telling you how stupid you have been for not knowing how great your life could be if you would only buy an Apple computer. That insult drives people into defensive mode. They defend themselves, their previous purchases and their future purchases. It’s might seem like a validation of the insults if a person gives in and buys a Mac. “Oh, so you finally bought a Mac huh? See? I told you that you were wrong and stupid before!”

Not a good way to convince anyone. I know. I was once a Mac Zealot!

I believe that companies should first ask themselves “how big do we really need to grow?” Growth to what end? Is growth required mainly to appease stock holders? That is a never ending battle that cannot be won. Stock holders will always want more money and most don’t care how is obtained. They merely want portfolio growth. IMO that is not how to do business. That forks me off to another topic that I will address another time. We should not have a public stock market. Stocks should all be privately sold and our retirement should not be based on the growth of stock based 401k. Another rant, another time.

Let’s compare acquisition growth in a restaurant scenario. A restaurant, I’ll call is “Big Al’s”,  is not doing well. Losing customers to a small restaurant, “Little Joe’s”, down the road that is offering great food at a great price. The customers leave Little Joe’s very satisfied and come back for more as often as they can. Big Al is wishing is wishing that he had that kind of business. The problem is that people that tried Al’s didn’t have such a great experience. The food wasn’t very good and the price was too high. (After all Al has to make enough money to keep his investors happy. They have boats and houses to buy). Al cuts back a bit more to increase his profit margin. He hires inexperience wait staff and cooks. He buys the cheaper cuts of meat and buys mass produced vegetables. People decide to look for something better. They find Little Joe’s. Little Joe’s has no stock holders so he makes only enough profit for him and his family. The extra money goes into the best wait staff and the best food he can find. People see this and go back for more and more.

What could happen next is all too to typical. Big Al tells the stockholders that they need to buy Little Joes. They need to eliminate the competition and increase Big Al’s corporate bottom line by leveraging the profits made at Little Joe’s. They sell more stocks and buy Little Joe’s. Now the real mistake happens. Big Al tells the remaining staff at Little Joe’s (now a division of Big Al’s) that they need to change the business to match that of Big Al’s. Cut back on the food quality and service. Then they see how much Joe was paying his staff and they makes changes to get them inline with Big Al’s employees. The customers see this happening and begin searching for a new place like Little Joe’s “used’” to be like. Little Joe’s is no longer profitable and the stock holders are not happy. The circle is complete and Big Al starts all over again looking for another small restaurant to acquire in order to help appease his stockholder’s desire for more MONEY.

The way the scenario should be played out IMO is simple. So simple I am surprised it is so often over looked. Big Al’s should not give Little Joe’s a second thought. Big Al should find ways of keeping his customers happy. Get the best food, the best service and NO public investors to appease. They will come back time and time again and they will bring friends. THERE is your growth!

So many times, I get called for help and the person doesn’t even know how to articulate what it is they actually do on the PC. Too many times I hear “Well, I click this and then click that. Then I type in some numbers and click something else”. When you ask them what system they are using to do it, they have no clue. They usually just say “the icon on my desktop”. I restrain my self from asking if they really went to school!

I often get calls for people that simply say. “I can’t print”. As a person who fixes things, my 1st place to look is the printer. Sound logical right? I know better! More often then not, the issue has absolutely nothing to do with printing at all. Usually it is something like a locked out password that won’t allow them to log in to the PC or a network connection is down and they cant login to the intranet to access the application they print from. They don’t step back to the actual issue. They just shoot straight to the task they were trying to do and can’t. They convey that the task they need to be doing is to be printing a report. They can’t do that task so they say. “I can’t print”. They should be saying “I can’t bring up my report” or something to that effect. We often waste plenty of time, tracking a user down in the building and having them try to explain their problem. Had I known it was a problem bringing up the report because they report application isn’t working, I would have sent the ticket to the APP SUPPORT team and they would fix it.

I always use analogies to make my point. So here is mine for this. A person calls their mechanic and says. “I can’t drive my car to work”. You wouldn’t say that if you simply lost your keys and can’t find them. You wouldn’t say that if a tree fell on your car and you can’t the car out from under. You wouldn’t say that if your spouse is blocking you in the driveway. Heck, you wouldn’t even call your mechanic in these scenarios.

Know your process enough to explain it to someone. Then take a minute to correctly explain your real problem. This will save plenty of time for the people that support you and you will get much faster results!

So if someone tries to insult you and says “you think your sh!t don’t stink”. You can say…”well, not to me!”

The excitement of getting on your bike and feeling the open road again, especially after and extra long winter this year, can blind you to all the dangers that we deal with every time we ride. There are 3 aspects of this season that warrant extra care and consideration.

1. If you have not ridden since last fall, many of the safe riding techniques and mental checklists you ran through day after day and on each ride, have long since been replaced by “Cager” mentalities. Remind yourself, BEFORE you get on your bike, as many of the things you used to look out for when riding. Are you geared up? Are your tires, inflated correctly, do your brakes work well, have you practiced some low speed maneuvers in your driveway or parking lot? Do you remember to look around you in 20 directions as you ride? Do you remember that all Cagers are on the road specifically to run you down and cut you off?

2. Cagers are on the road specifically to run you down and cut you off! I can’t emphasis this enough! Let them be idiots! Let them talk on their phones and put makeup on. Let them change lanes without looking or signaling. Let them slam on the brakes for no reason. let them be Cagers! Just ride knowing they WILL do all of these things and much more. Give yourself space, stay alert, stay calm and stay focused. You will enjoy the ride so much more not being stressed or angry at Cagers. You know how they are. So accept it, let it go and enjoy a safe ride.

3. Watch out for the seasonal riders or weekend warriors. These are riders that don’t get the chance to ride often or are simply “Dealership Dashers”. They are consumed by the 1st spring ride of the season and will NOT be focusing on a safe ride. More likely they will be focused on the new chrome gadgets they bolted on their bike over the winter, showing off the new branded jacket they bought or just wearing their new Village People Costume and not their normal business suit. They will be out in full force. Through the Fall and Winter there are a handful of riders on the road keeping their skills up to par. The rest forgot and will need time to remember how dangerous it is on the road and how to be a good rider. Stay clear of other riders on the road. Don’t group up with people you don’t know. Later in the summer, riders are more likely to be back in the saddle and safer to group ride with. Not only can a out of practice rider be directly unsafe to you, they can also be unsafe to Cagers and could cause accidents. I see sooooo many riders hanging in a Cager’s blind spot or tailgating! Remember Cagers cant stop as fast and they often cant even see you!

So relax, think things through BEFORE you get on your bike, relax, find your space and pace on the road and ride your ride. Stay out of “the mix” until you are back in the swing of things. Most of all Enjoy your motorcycle. You are one of the lucky ones!

This morning I got on my bike and rode to work. It was 31 degrees outside. I knew that I have ridden in much lower temps and figured this was no big deal. WRONG! My hands froze and I was miserable! Dern! I am getting old. I totally can NOT handle the cold anymore. 40-45 is ok. 75-85 is PERFECT but 32 just sucks now! Either I need heated riding gear or I am going to be like the masses of motorbike riders and simply wait for the “riding season”.

Sucks to be normal!

I want to ride my Gold Wing for as long as I can. When I can’t any more and there are no more parts left to repair it, THEN I have gotten my money’s worth out of it. I would rather collect the memories I created riding it 5600 miles to Nova Scotia through 2 hurricanes, than to look at it appreciate in my garage!

It’s just getting started so there is only some basic content up. When I find a WYSIWYG editor that I like, I will “spruce” it up some. Until then, head on over and bookmark it so you will know when we are playing next!

http://www.dbshovel.com/

A few months later, I could no longer fight the urge that had been growing in me since my meeting with the old man, to play guitar. I sold my motorcycle and bought an old beat up guitar and a Pignose amp. Looking back now, I don’t ever remember learning how to play. I kind of just knew. I only had to get my fingers to convey what I already understood and felt inside of me.

I have been carrying on what that man gave to me those 32 years ago, the best I can to honor him and the life of adventures he lived. I will do so until it is time for me to pass it along to someone else willing to accept.

That man’s name was "D.B. Shovel".

C’Mon out and drink some beer and listen to some good music! No Cover charge!

Take this knowledge to the dog world yet again. I have discussed this topic a bit before. Pit bulls specifically. Are all pit-bulls aggressive? Of course not! Are the majority of Pit-Bulls bred in America aggressive? That could be a more accurate statement. MOST people that breed this dog are attracted to a specific look and a specific temperament. The people that buy these dogs and perpetuate the type WANT a tough dog. This supply and demand is what perpetuates the aggressive dog trait in Pit-Bulls. There are aggressive small dogs as well but being that they are too small to inflict too much damage to people other than babies, breeders simply find it cute and just call it “tenacity”. There was a time when German Sheppards and Rottweilers were bred for aggressive traits. Does that mean they are ALL born with those traits. Of course not. Being that breeders that have successful businesses in breeding a specific breed, are the ones selling most of the dogs, they are the breeders that basically dictate the traits that become prevalent. Some breeders are credible and do their best to breed well tempered dogs. However, being that those dogs are not as desirable in society, they are the minority and their dogs are not as big a part of the breed’s perceived character.  Same as black haired Norwegians. Yes some people are attracted to black hair in Norway and they do procreate, perpetuating the type or look. However, they are few and far between in that region. So the popular blonde type or look prevails.

As far as traits go, people in NY City are more aggressive than people in say Hawaii. So saying that humans are aggressive based solely on your NY City experiences wouldn’t be very accurate. One would be naive to not see the difference. People in NY City find aggressive behavior to be accepted and probably attractive to an extent. Maybe even looked at as strong and take charge. Whereas that temperament in Hawaii would be looked on as NOT attractive. So Hawaiians perpetuate what the culture sees as acceptable and desirable. Same with people in NY City. The same goes for dog breeding. the “Pit-Bull” in North Dakota, might very well be a kind and gentle version of a dog once bred to kill relentlessly. Here in TN, the dog is still bred often for the aggressive traits that give the breed its name.

So when people that defend Pit-Bulls and say they are gentle and kind, may very well have a gentle and kind example of the breed. That’s wonderful! Love your dog! That does not mean that ALL Pit-Bulls are gentle and kind. the MAJORITY are bred to NOT be gentle and kind but rather to be aggressive and to not back down from any threat human or K9. It take many generations of responsible breeding to remove what many generations of irresponsible breeding took to instill.

OK enough of this topic!

Democrats are raising “children” in this country that are learning no self sufficient skills. There are so many programs and ways of dishing out money to people that people are forgetting how to take care of themselves. Look at hurricane Katrina. Look at how many people just stayed and waited for someone to come help. When help didn’t come, they did not handle things on their own, they simply bitched and cried to the media that “no one helped us”.

Republicans are no better. They want to simply let everyone fend for themselves. I believe when everyone fends for themselves, a huge divide between the extreme well to do and the extreme poor happens. When you give nothing to children, no love, no tools, no guidance, some grow to be bullies and some grow to be bullied. Some grow to have and some grow to have not. There is much less middle ground or middle class in that scenario.

I don’t know why it has to be one or the other. Still, to this day, I do not understand the need for the only 2 political parties to be such polar extremes. We need the middle ground in the political arena just as we all know the most stable and well grounded children are those that are given the tools and the love they NEED but are not spoiled with everything they WANT and too much pampering. Give your children love, support and help them self achieve and they will grow to be strong people. Give the people of our country guidance and the laws they NEED and they will grow to prosper and be self sufficient. Give children too much of material things and no love and they will grow to be abusive and self centered. Give a country no laws no guidance and you will have a society of financially rich bullies and poverty!

I went to the Better Business Bureau and they said they cannot do a thing as I already had the vehicle repaired! They won’t even remove the A+ rating that the mechanic shop had. I said I chose them for their A+ rating and it turns out they don’t deserve it. BBB won’t do a thing.

I wonder if the BBB charges companies to list them with an A+ rating? A little more corruption going on? Probably so. Now I am filing with the Consumer Affairs dept in Nashville to see if they can do anything.

Well here we are 10 years later. Dual core 3GHZ CPUs and 4GIGS of RAM. Spreadsheets still open about the same speed and people still enter the data at about the same rate. Computers simply require more power to run themselves and all the bloated interfaces we like to ooh and ah over! Although the experience has more bells and whistles, companies are not anymore productive on a user, data entry level.

One of the biggest differences I see is the overhead needed for Spyware, Virus and Malware protection. Take all those out of the equation and I really believe a person doing simple data entry, manipulation and retrieval with a Win98 PC running Office 97 could be just as productive as a user with a new system. With very few exceptions.

The wars in the middle east have been going on AT LEAST since 1990 when we have Desert Storm through to 2010. 20 Years and NOTHING has changed. We have more terrorists than we did before. The world is no closer to stability in the middle east and oil has been at historic heights. These middle east wars have been going on and in the news since I was a boy.

So for Trillions of dollars and thousands of lives lost or ruined over the course of 20 years or more, the world is not a better place!

On the contrary. Microsoft has done more for the world of technology than anyone cares to believe. “Windows”, whether they be on a PC or a Mac was in use or development as far back as 1975 by Xerox. Apple was “influenced” heavily by Zerox’s PARC interface when developing their “LISA” platform. Apple also saw the “mouse” while at a visit to Xerox. Microsoft had Windows 1.0 in 1981. 3 years prior to Apple Macintosh. Microsoft gave the world the OFFICE suite and “Windows” and made it all work on anyone’s PC. This allowed the world to compute on most any budget.

I guess my point is that no single technology company is king! They all work together whether willingly or deceptively to create new products that we HAVE to have. Buy what you want to afford and what suits your fancy but stop the BETTER than talk! PLEASE!

This year we are all heading to Key West! Going to ride to the bottom of the USA! Southern most point. We are excited this year because some of the family members that had not been able to join in over the past few years are planning to join in!