Megan’s New Car
It’s Saturday afternoon as I type this, about 3:30. We got Megan a new car today, a 1998 Dodge Stratus. It’s got about 70,000 miles on it and it seems to run well enough, all things considered. It’s a nice looking little car and we only paid about $3,500.00 for it. I know, I know, we really didn’t pay anything for it, but I’m happy that we didn’t hit my in-laws too hard in the pocket with the price. Speaking of which, I was speaking with Olga last night and insisting that I wanted to pay them back for them doing this for us. She refused politely but I persisted. She refused again, more firmly but still politely. I pressed my case further that Megan is my responsibility and that they shouldn’t have to pay for this, and that I would have the money in a few more months, etc. She finally looked at me and said “James, we’re not doing this for you, we’re doing it for Megan.” Nobody can put you in your place like a mother in law.
Now I’ve got to deal with getting rid of the old Cavalier carcass, still sitting in my parking lot. That’s a problem for Monday, though.
Friday, January 02, 2004
Mom to the Rescue
Not much to write about today. Not that there's not much going on, just nothing that's motivating me to write. My in-laws are coming into town to give us money to buy Megan a new car. We didn't ask for it but Erica, while talking to her mom on the phone yesteday, broke down and cried to her about Megan's wreck. Olga told her that she didn't have any money to give us as they had a bad year financially, too. I don't think Erica asked for money either, but was just venting. Anyway, a few hours later they called and told us that they were coming over to give us the money today. I have no idea where they're getting the money, either, and that worries me.
I have been pinching the hell out of my paychecks for the past year so that we'll get a good refund this year. Basically, I'm withholding from my paychecks like a bachelor instead of someone with a wife and 2 kids. I know, it's stupid to use the Federal Government as your piggy bank but it's the only way I can save money. Anyway, I promised them that we'd repay them the moment we got our money from Uncle Sam. They told me that I didn't really have to pay them back but, though I'm incredibly grateful to have their help, I absolutely hate needing to be rescued like this. If I don't repay this, I won't be able to live with myself.
The way I see it is this: we all have our blessings and we all have our crosses to bear. God tests all of us differently, I think. My bane has always been money. Rarely have been the times in my life when I thought I had enough. I do not have an extravagant lifestyle by any means but anyone will tell you that having kids means that you have to hemorrhage money from time to time. And it's going to get worse before it gets better with Megan, an honor student, headed for college in the fall of 2005. I do NOT want to ask my in-laws or my parents to pay for that, either. Jesus Christ, a man should be able to take care of his own family, for crying out loud! But I don't want her to have to wait tables while she goes to a community college and still lives at home, either. It's not that I want her out of the house, I just don't want to have to make her do college on the cheap, like I did.
But while that is my cross, my blessings are wonderful. I have a good marraige and 2 wonderful kids (even if one of them is admittedly a poor driver). I'm in good health overall (my blood pressure and cholesterol are largely normal despite my size) and so is everyone else in my family. Neither Erica nor I really like to drink, both of us preferring to unwind at the local Starbucks to any bar. My kids are happy, healthy, well adjusted and both do well in school. I love my wife every bit as much today as the day we got married. I have never fucked around on her and have never wanted to. And though Lord knows we've had our battles, I know that she loves me and is every bit as committed to me as I am to her.
I think one of the main keys to being happy in life is to not lose perspective. But keeping perspective, especially when things go awry, can be difficult. My challenge is to never lose sight of the fact that my life, while not perfect, is still good.
Not much to write about today. Not that there's not much going on, just nothing that's motivating me to write. My in-laws are coming into town to give us money to buy Megan a new car. We didn't ask for it but Erica, while talking to her mom on the phone yesteday, broke down and cried to her about Megan's wreck. Olga told her that she didn't have any money to give us as they had a bad year financially, too. I don't think Erica asked for money either, but was just venting. Anyway, a few hours later they called and told us that they were coming over to give us the money today. I have no idea where they're getting the money, either, and that worries me.
I have been pinching the hell out of my paychecks for the past year so that we'll get a good refund this year. Basically, I'm withholding from my paychecks like a bachelor instead of someone with a wife and 2 kids. I know, it's stupid to use the Federal Government as your piggy bank but it's the only way I can save money. Anyway, I promised them that we'd repay them the moment we got our money from Uncle Sam. They told me that I didn't really have to pay them back but, though I'm incredibly grateful to have their help, I absolutely hate needing to be rescued like this. If I don't repay this, I won't be able to live with myself.
The way I see it is this: we all have our blessings and we all have our crosses to bear. God tests all of us differently, I think. My bane has always been money. Rarely have been the times in my life when I thought I had enough. I do not have an extravagant lifestyle by any means but anyone will tell you that having kids means that you have to hemorrhage money from time to time. And it's going to get worse before it gets better with Megan, an honor student, headed for college in the fall of 2005. I do NOT want to ask my in-laws or my parents to pay for that, either. Jesus Christ, a man should be able to take care of his own family, for crying out loud! But I don't want her to have to wait tables while she goes to a community college and still lives at home, either. It's not that I want her out of the house, I just don't want to have to make her do college on the cheap, like I did.
But while that is my cross, my blessings are wonderful. I have a good marraige and 2 wonderful kids (even if one of them is admittedly a poor driver). I'm in good health overall (my blood pressure and cholesterol are largely normal despite my size) and so is everyone else in my family. Neither Erica nor I really like to drink, both of us preferring to unwind at the local Starbucks to any bar. My kids are happy, healthy, well adjusted and both do well in school. I love my wife every bit as much today as the day we got married. I have never fucked around on her and have never wanted to. And though Lord knows we've had our battles, I know that she loves me and is every bit as committed to me as I am to her.
I think one of the main keys to being happy in life is to not lose perspective. But keeping perspective, especially when things go awry, can be difficult. My challenge is to never lose sight of the fact that my life, while not perfect, is still good.
Thursday, January 01, 2004
Exeunt Cavalier
We got a call from Megan this morning at about 9:30. On her way home from a friend's house, she ran her car into a guardrail near the intersection of 1604 and 35. I ran out there to pick her up and saw that her car, pretty beaten up to begin with, was smashed all along the left side. Apparently she was on the on-ramp curving to her right and the car lost traction, went off the road to the left and hit the guardrail. Megan wasn't hurt, thank God, but for the car, which was more dead than alive to begin with, this was the coup de grace.
Shit.
I knew that the damned thing was a piece of crap but I was hoping that it would at least get her through the rest of high school. Needless to say, this is not how I wanted to bring in the new year.
Oh, and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen turned out to be every bit as bad I had heard it was.
We got a call from Megan this morning at about 9:30. On her way home from a friend's house, she ran her car into a guardrail near the intersection of 1604 and 35. I ran out there to pick her up and saw that her car, pretty beaten up to begin with, was smashed all along the left side. Apparently she was on the on-ramp curving to her right and the car lost traction, went off the road to the left and hit the guardrail. Megan wasn't hurt, thank God, but for the car, which was more dead than alive to begin with, this was the coup de grace.
Shit.
I knew that the damned thing was a piece of crap but I was hoping that it would at least get her through the rest of high school. Needless to say, this is not how I wanted to bring in the new year.
Oh, and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen turned out to be every bit as bad I had heard it was.
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Out with the Old . . .
Well, this will probably be my last post of 2003. Erica’s in the kitchen making hors d’ouvres for tomorrow, Megan is at work and Courtney is upstairs with 4 friends who are spending the night. Since sitting at the computer at all hours of the evening (something I am regularly accused of anyway) isn’t really conducive to marital bliss I doubt I’ll be blogging any more after this, at least until tomorrow anyway.
Since mi esposita and I really aren’t party animals we’ll be bringing in the new year like we always do, i.e., on the couch with a bottle of carbonated grape juice. It sounds boring but this is how we like it and have always done it in the 9 ½ years we’ve been married. I picked up 2 movies to watch until the ball drops: Seabiscuit and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I hear the former is really good and I expect the latter to be extraordinarily stupid. We’ll see. A friend of mine invited us over to his house tonight to bring in the new year with just him and his wife . . . and 20 of their closest friends, relatives, colleagues, neighbors and whomever else chances to show up. I graciously declined. So we’re homebodies, sue us.
Happy new year!
Well, this will probably be my last post of 2003. Erica’s in the kitchen making hors d’ouvres for tomorrow, Megan is at work and Courtney is upstairs with 4 friends who are spending the night. Since sitting at the computer at all hours of the evening (something I am regularly accused of anyway) isn’t really conducive to marital bliss I doubt I’ll be blogging any more after this, at least until tomorrow anyway.
Since mi esposita and I really aren’t party animals we’ll be bringing in the new year like we always do, i.e., on the couch with a bottle of carbonated grape juice. It sounds boring but this is how we like it and have always done it in the 9 ½ years we’ve been married. I picked up 2 movies to watch until the ball drops: Seabiscuit and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I hear the former is really good and I expect the latter to be extraordinarily stupid. We’ll see. A friend of mine invited us over to his house tonight to bring in the new year with just him and his wife . . . and 20 of their closest friends, relatives, colleagues, neighbors and whomever else chances to show up. I graciously declined. So we’re homebodies, sue us.
Happy new year!
Oops!
Well, I got a call from my dad wondering where the hell we all were (we closed at 12:00 today). Apparently the whole company was originally supposed to close at noon today but the fearless leader pulled one of his famous 180's the other day and changed his mind . . . without bothering to tell anyone over here. And yes dad, you're absolutely right, this is all my fault for not reading your mind. Mea culpa.
Asshole.
Well, I got a call from my dad wondering where the hell we all were (we closed at 12:00 today). Apparently the whole company was originally supposed to close at noon today but the fearless leader pulled one of his famous 180's the other day and changed his mind . . . without bothering to tell anyone over here. And yes dad, you're absolutely right, this is all my fault for not reading your mind. Mea culpa.
Asshole.
Year End Thoughts, Part II
I just got a call from my mom telling me to keep my cell phone handy over the holiday. My brother Mark and his wife Natalie are expecting their first baby any day now. The doctors have told Natalie that she won’t last another week. They’re having a girl but have been keeping the name they've chosen to themselves until she’s born.
I told Mark that as soon as I get the call, I'll point my truck toward Dallas and head that way. I wouldn't miss this for the world!
I just got a call from my mom telling me to keep my cell phone handy over the holiday. My brother Mark and his wife Natalie are expecting their first baby any day now. The doctors have told Natalie that she won’t last another week. They’re having a girl but have been keeping the name they've chosen to themselves until she’s born.
I told Mark that as soon as I get the call, I'll point my truck toward Dallas and head that way. I wouldn't miss this for the world!
Year End Thoughts, Part I
Wow, the last day of 2003 is finally here! As I recall, last year at this very moment I was sitting here in my office wondering how I was going to get through this year. 2002 was a bad year for business and the tea leaves didn’t offer much hope for 2003, either. The stock market was still in the doldrums and, though the Taliban was overcome quickly enough in Afghanistan, the news was full of hysteria about the coming invasion of Iraq. Corporate accounting scandals were still on the front page and companies were still shedding jobs. I remember wondering when we were going to reach the bottom of this thing too. Needless to say, getting people to pry open their wallets to fix their foundations was proving rather difficult then.
And as if that weren’t enough to occupy me, a competitor had come into town and, instead of hiring and training their own people, decided to get rich quick by hiring all their people from us. They hired away my operations manager, my field superintendent, one of my best foremen and a bunch of laborers, enough to man a whole crew. Not only that, but they also took my most senior salesman. Well, they didn't so much take him as he left . . . and organized the defection of the others. The salesman leaving didn't hurt me; in fact, I welcomed it personally. He used to be the manager until I got here and, he told everyone who would listen how he wanted to be "just a salesman" (i.e., run leads, make sales, make money, not have to deal with the bullshit that a manager has to deal with) again. He apparently still wanted to make a manager’s paycheck though and when he found out that he wouldn’t be, resented the hell out of me for it. Needless to say, we never really saw eye to eye, so him leaving was best for all concerned.
But losing everyone else? That was quite a kick in the balls to have to take. Administratively, I had to practically rebuild the office and hire and train a new sales staff. They're all in place now and by and large I'm happy with what I have, but at times it was a rough road getting to where we are now. 2003 was a hard year, but ultimately I think it was a positive one. I've got a good core of salesmen now (me and Bill) and one - I'll call him John - who's knowledgeable but an underachiever. "John" started out well with me but he's been on a downhill trajectory since the summer. I've already taken him off the draw and put him on "full commission" meaning that if he doesn't make a sale in any particular week, he doesn't get a paycheck. Oh, that and he's taking this whole week off for a vacation that he swears I approved and that he notified my new operations manager about. If there’s anyone in the world who needs a week without pay less than this guy I don’t know about it and I suspect that he’s spending this "vacation" trying to find other employment. His situation will be need to be addressed early in the new year if it doesn’t resolve itself before then.
Other than that, I really don't have any other looming problems that I have to address. As I've written about before, all economic indicators are positive, leading me to think that we should be in for a good year. 2003 wasn’t kind to foundation repair contractors. This industry has had to deal with what I call a “perfect storm” over the past few years that have made being in it quite hard. I’ll write about the storm later. In a year that saw more than a few of my competitors go tits-up (including hahaha!!! the company who stole all my people last year) we stayed alive. We hustled like hell for business, cut our prices aggressively when we had to, and did all we could to cut costs. Life’s not much fun when you do that but, like I said the other day, sometime you do what you have to do. My dad has an analogy that he’s fond of; when your only choice is between eating shit sandwiches and starving to death, you learn to like shit sandwiches. Simple as that. Yeah, that’s my dad for you, always telling the truth wrapped in barbed wire.
So, in a year when it felt like there was hardly any money to go around, we bit the bullet and increased our advertising (my dad, me and my brother shot a TV commercial at his house and have been running it on cable TV since last summer). I cut a commercial and ran it on the local talk-radio station this summer and spent a huge amount of time marketing and pitching the company to realtors, inspectors, investors and the like this past year. So, despite losing a plum account like my ex-salesman's client insurance company (which we would have lost anyway as insurors in Texas are no longer covering water-related perils like foundation failure) we’re only a few points behind last year in sales. I would have liked to have beaten last year’s numbers but feel confident that we did all we could this year and have done the best we could with what we had. We ate a lot of shit sandwiches this year but I think we’re well poised to prosper in the new year.
Here's to a prosperous and happy 2004!
Wow, the last day of 2003 is finally here! As I recall, last year at this very moment I was sitting here in my office wondering how I was going to get through this year. 2002 was a bad year for business and the tea leaves didn’t offer much hope for 2003, either. The stock market was still in the doldrums and, though the Taliban was overcome quickly enough in Afghanistan, the news was full of hysteria about the coming invasion of Iraq. Corporate accounting scandals were still on the front page and companies were still shedding jobs. I remember wondering when we were going to reach the bottom of this thing too. Needless to say, getting people to pry open their wallets to fix their foundations was proving rather difficult then.
And as if that weren’t enough to occupy me, a competitor had come into town and, instead of hiring and training their own people, decided to get rich quick by hiring all their people from us. They hired away my operations manager, my field superintendent, one of my best foremen and a bunch of laborers, enough to man a whole crew. Not only that, but they also took my most senior salesman. Well, they didn't so much take him as he left . . . and organized the defection of the others. The salesman leaving didn't hurt me; in fact, I welcomed it personally. He used to be the manager until I got here and, he told everyone who would listen how he wanted to be "just a salesman" (i.e., run leads, make sales, make money, not have to deal with the bullshit that a manager has to deal with) again. He apparently still wanted to make a manager’s paycheck though and when he found out that he wouldn’t be, resented the hell out of me for it. Needless to say, we never really saw eye to eye, so him leaving was best for all concerned.
But losing everyone else? That was quite a kick in the balls to have to take. Administratively, I had to practically rebuild the office and hire and train a new sales staff. They're all in place now and by and large I'm happy with what I have, but at times it was a rough road getting to where we are now. 2003 was a hard year, but ultimately I think it was a positive one. I've got a good core of salesmen now (me and Bill) and one - I'll call him John - who's knowledgeable but an underachiever. "John" started out well with me but he's been on a downhill trajectory since the summer. I've already taken him off the draw and put him on "full commission" meaning that if he doesn't make a sale in any particular week, he doesn't get a paycheck. Oh, that and he's taking this whole week off for a vacation that he swears I approved and that he notified my new operations manager about. If there’s anyone in the world who needs a week without pay less than this guy I don’t know about it and I suspect that he’s spending this "vacation" trying to find other employment. His situation will be need to be addressed early in the new year if it doesn’t resolve itself before then.
Other than that, I really don't have any other looming problems that I have to address. As I've written about before, all economic indicators are positive, leading me to think that we should be in for a good year. 2003 wasn’t kind to foundation repair contractors. This industry has had to deal with what I call a “perfect storm” over the past few years that have made being in it quite hard. I’ll write about the storm later. In a year that saw more than a few of my competitors go tits-up (including hahaha!!! the company who stole all my people last year) we stayed alive. We hustled like hell for business, cut our prices aggressively when we had to, and did all we could to cut costs. Life’s not much fun when you do that but, like I said the other day, sometime you do what you have to do. My dad has an analogy that he’s fond of; when your only choice is between eating shit sandwiches and starving to death, you learn to like shit sandwiches. Simple as that. Yeah, that’s my dad for you, always telling the truth wrapped in barbed wire.
So, in a year when it felt like there was hardly any money to go around, we bit the bullet and increased our advertising (my dad, me and my brother shot a TV commercial at his house and have been running it on cable TV since last summer). I cut a commercial and ran it on the local talk-radio station this summer and spent a huge amount of time marketing and pitching the company to realtors, inspectors, investors and the like this past year. So, despite losing a plum account like my ex-salesman's client insurance company (which we would have lost anyway as insurors in Texas are no longer covering water-related perils like foundation failure) we’re only a few points behind last year in sales. I would have liked to have beaten last year’s numbers but feel confident that we did all we could this year and have done the best we could with what we had. We ate a lot of shit sandwiches this year but I think we’re well poised to prosper in the new year.
Here's to a prosperous and happy 2004!
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Goodbye, Durango
Well, my truck's fixed so I had to turn in my rental, a very nice Dodge Durango. It was one of the old ones, not the brand new one that looks like a cargo van on steroids. It drove like a dream too, a hell of a lot better than the old Grand Cherokee we used to have and, I must admit, it spoiled me rather badly in the 11 days I had it. Now, back to reality. Back to my dusty old GMC. Sigh.
One day I'll be able to buy a new truck and hopefully it'll be this coming year. I've liked the new Ford F-150's but what's really caught my eye lately has been the new Nissan Titan. I don't care if it's Japanese or not, that is one bad lookin' truck!
Now I just need to sell about two million worth of foundation repair in '04 to pay for it.
Well, my truck's fixed so I had to turn in my rental, a very nice Dodge Durango. It was one of the old ones, not the brand new one that looks like a cargo van on steroids. It drove like a dream too, a hell of a lot better than the old Grand Cherokee we used to have and, I must admit, it spoiled me rather badly in the 11 days I had it. Now, back to reality. Back to my dusty old GMC. Sigh.
One day I'll be able to buy a new truck and hopefully it'll be this coming year. I've liked the new Ford F-150's but what's really caught my eye lately has been the new Nissan Titan. I don't care if it's Japanese or not, that is one bad lookin' truck!
Now I just need to sell about two million worth of foundation repair in '04 to pay for it.
Creepshow
Thought I should mention that while at Wal-Mart this past Sunday, I picked up 2 DVD's out of the bargain bin (2 for $11.00, whatta deal!). Courtney was with me because she always sticks to my side when we go grocery shopping. Erica does the actual shopping while Court and I will go stir up trouble by playing catch in the aisles or doing anything else that relieves us of the boredom of glumly having to follow momma through the store. In fact, a few years ago when we still lived in Mobile, I even had her ride a bicycle thru a Target; she was about 5 years old at the time and absolutely loved it even if the store manager didn't. And don't ask why grocery shopping is a family affair with us, either, it just is.
Anyway, I picked a movie that is acknowledged as a classic from the early 80's. A movie that should be a part of any DVD collection. A movie that was so influential and so important that everybody who was alive back then saw it . . . except me, apparently. The movie is Diner starring the world's most overrated actor, Mickey Rourke. As usual, my daughter's taste was better. She picked a true classic from that period, not just one that was a favorite of teenage poseurs. Courtney, who for an 8 year-old has an insatiable appetite for horror movies, picked George Romero's Creepshow.
Now that's what I call a classic! I can't wait, after she and I watch it we'll both be going around the house yelling where's my cake?! to her mom. Daddy's girl, indeed.
Thought I should mention that while at Wal-Mart this past Sunday, I picked up 2 DVD's out of the bargain bin (2 for $11.00, whatta deal!). Courtney was with me because she always sticks to my side when we go grocery shopping. Erica does the actual shopping while Court and I will go stir up trouble by playing catch in the aisles or doing anything else that relieves us of the boredom of glumly having to follow momma through the store. In fact, a few years ago when we still lived in Mobile, I even had her ride a bicycle thru a Target; she was about 5 years old at the time and absolutely loved it even if the store manager didn't. And don't ask why grocery shopping is a family affair with us, either, it just is.
Anyway, I picked a movie that is acknowledged as a classic from the early 80's. A movie that should be a part of any DVD collection. A movie that was so influential and so important that everybody who was alive back then saw it . . . except me, apparently. The movie is Diner starring the world's most overrated actor, Mickey Rourke. As usual, my daughter's taste was better. She picked a true classic from that period, not just one that was a favorite of teenage poseurs. Courtney, who for an 8 year-old has an insatiable appetite for horror movies, picked George Romero's Creepshow.
Now that's what I call a classic! I can't wait, after she and I watch it we'll both be going around the house yelling where's my cake?! to her mom. Daddy's girl, indeed.
New Year's Hopes
I don't really have a lot to say so this will be a short one. I am beginning to rethink my decision to ignore my doctors' orders and skip physical therapy because I am getting sick and tired of my first thought upon waking up in the morning being goddamn, my shoulder hurts! The fucking thing has been killing me lately and I have to wonder if it'll be strong enough to handle weightlifting when I start my new 5 am routine (ugh) after the new year. I just hope my insurance covers a goodly portion of the cost of the PT though, because if it doesn't, the question of whether or not I'll go will be rendered quite moot.
Looks like we had another banner day in the stock market yesterday with the Dow coming up about 130 points. Job creation should follow in the market's wake so I'm hopeful of a good year for our business in 2004. One thing that I've learned over the past 3 years is that San Antonio, though large, has very much of a "poor city" mentality. I love Mexican culture (and, as demonstrated by my ever-expanding waistline, Mexican food) but I've found that the people here don't have nearly the entrepreneurial, wealth-creating mentality that you find is so common in more economically vibrant places like Houston, Dallas or Austin. People here are extremely conservative with their money and are typically reluctant to finance things like home repair costs, especially in times when they don't feel too secure about their job. I always tell people that SA is the first city in Texas to fall into a recession and the last to come out. The reasons for that are legion and maybe I'll write about it some day but not now.
I love Hispanic culture. I love the reverence people of Mexican heritage have for their families and for God (even though I'm a Southern Baptist white boy). And God knows, I love their work ethic. But there's a flip-side to every coin and one thing that I think weighs down hispanics is their view of money. I think a lot of them look at investing money as a juero (i.e., white boy) thing. Thus, what I think often happens when one comes into money (whether via a windfall or through the fruit of their own labor) and they need to do something like get their house re-roofed or have their foundation repaired is that they'll pay their brother in law or friend to do the work (typically for about 30% of what a professional like me would charge) and put the rest of their money in the mattress. These sort of tight-ass tendencies tend to be amplified about tenfold during a recession, too. Thus, my business (foundation repair) has had a rough go of things the past few years.
I just reread what I wrote above and I must confess that it sounds borderline racist. It's not. Different cultures look at the world differently, that's all. And Lord knows, I wrote the book on being a tightass, too. I drive a company owned GMC pickup that's about 6 years old and has 170,000 miles on it. And, as I type this, my mechanic is installing it's second transmission in 7 months, too. The reason I drive this thing is obvious, that I can't afford to buy a new one. My wife drives a little used Mazda that we bought last year and Megan drives a complete piece of shit Cavalier that we bought from my step-sister. That's life. In a recession, you do without the things you can do without (like new cars and nice vacations, etc.) and make do. It's not fun, but you do what you gotta do.
I have faith that good times will come again and I'm hopeful that all the good news emanating from Wall Street heralds just that.
I don't really have a lot to say so this will be a short one. I am beginning to rethink my decision to ignore my doctors' orders and skip physical therapy because I am getting sick and tired of my first thought upon waking up in the morning being goddamn, my shoulder hurts! The fucking thing has been killing me lately and I have to wonder if it'll be strong enough to handle weightlifting when I start my new 5 am routine (ugh) after the new year. I just hope my insurance covers a goodly portion of the cost of the PT though, because if it doesn't, the question of whether or not I'll go will be rendered quite moot.
Looks like we had another banner day in the stock market yesterday with the Dow coming up about 130 points. Job creation should follow in the market's wake so I'm hopeful of a good year for our business in 2004. One thing that I've learned over the past 3 years is that San Antonio, though large, has very much of a "poor city" mentality. I love Mexican culture (and, as demonstrated by my ever-expanding waistline, Mexican food) but I've found that the people here don't have nearly the entrepreneurial, wealth-creating mentality that you find is so common in more economically vibrant places like Houston, Dallas or Austin. People here are extremely conservative with their money and are typically reluctant to finance things like home repair costs, especially in times when they don't feel too secure about their job. I always tell people that SA is the first city in Texas to fall into a recession and the last to come out. The reasons for that are legion and maybe I'll write about it some day but not now.
I love Hispanic culture. I love the reverence people of Mexican heritage have for their families and for God (even though I'm a Southern Baptist white boy). And God knows, I love their work ethic. But there's a flip-side to every coin and one thing that I think weighs down hispanics is their view of money. I think a lot of them look at investing money as a juero (i.e., white boy) thing. Thus, what I think often happens when one comes into money (whether via a windfall or through the fruit of their own labor) and they need to do something like get their house re-roofed or have their foundation repaired is that they'll pay their brother in law or friend to do the work (typically for about 30% of what a professional like me would charge) and put the rest of their money in the mattress. These sort of tight-ass tendencies tend to be amplified about tenfold during a recession, too. Thus, my business (foundation repair) has had a rough go of things the past few years.
I just reread what I wrote above and I must confess that it sounds borderline racist. It's not. Different cultures look at the world differently, that's all. And Lord knows, I wrote the book on being a tightass, too. I drive a company owned GMC pickup that's about 6 years old and has 170,000 miles on it. And, as I type this, my mechanic is installing it's second transmission in 7 months, too. The reason I drive this thing is obvious, that I can't afford to buy a new one. My wife drives a little used Mazda that we bought last year and Megan drives a complete piece of shit Cavalier that we bought from my step-sister. That's life. In a recession, you do without the things you can do without (like new cars and nice vacations, etc.) and make do. It's not fun, but you do what you gotta do.
I have faith that good times will come again and I'm hopeful that all the good news emanating from Wall Street heralds just that.
Monday, December 29, 2003
Christmas Reading
With so many good books out there to choose from this holiday season, what did I buy to distract me during the long dull hours? I have at least a half dozen real-estate themed books for work that are still unread. Did I pick up any of them? Nope. I've had Fukuyama's latest, The Great Disruption staring at me unread from my bookshelf for the past three years. Did I pick it and blow the dust off it? No.
I picked Prey by Michael Crichton.
Jeez, why do I do this to myself? Picking this book is like being at Ruth's Chris and telling the waiter that you'd like a Big Mac combo meal instead of the prime rib. I devoured the book in two days and threw it across the room when I was done with it. It was complete crap of course, but it was the kind of compulsive crap that you can't stop reading once you begin. I think Crichton's a worse writer than even Dean Koontz now; he's totally predictable with all of his novels pivoting on a theme of science (tainted by capitalism of course) run amok. Uh, excuse me Mike, but unless I'm wrong, capitalism and science have proven to be a pretty good combination for you, being that you're a doctor and all and that you have made an awful lot of money by writing about science instead of doing or creating it. Not that there's anything wrong with writing, mind you, but it just seems a bit ungrateful for you to always bite the hand that feeds you, so to speak.
These damn books of his (Jurassic Park, Timeline, Prey, et al.) all read like screenplays which is of course what they really are. Thus, we should look for Prey to hit the big screen sometime in 2004 or 2005, maybe with Vin Diesel or whomever Hollywood's flavor of the month actor is by then.
Maybe I should resolve not to read any more pulp novels in 2004.
With so many good books out there to choose from this holiday season, what did I buy to distract me during the long dull hours? I have at least a half dozen real-estate themed books for work that are still unread. Did I pick up any of them? Nope. I've had Fukuyama's latest, The Great Disruption staring at me unread from my bookshelf for the past three years. Did I pick it and blow the dust off it? No.
I picked Prey by Michael Crichton.
Jeez, why do I do this to myself? Picking this book is like being at Ruth's Chris and telling the waiter that you'd like a Big Mac combo meal instead of the prime rib. I devoured the book in two days and threw it across the room when I was done with it. It was complete crap of course, but it was the kind of compulsive crap that you can't stop reading once you begin. I think Crichton's a worse writer than even Dean Koontz now; he's totally predictable with all of his novels pivoting on a theme of science (tainted by capitalism of course) run amok. Uh, excuse me Mike, but unless I'm wrong, capitalism and science have proven to be a pretty good combination for you, being that you're a doctor and all and that you have made an awful lot of money by writing about science instead of doing or creating it. Not that there's anything wrong with writing, mind you, but it just seems a bit ungrateful for you to always bite the hand that feeds you, so to speak.
These damn books of his (Jurassic Park, Timeline, Prey, et al.) all read like screenplays which is of course what they really are. Thus, we should look for Prey to hit the big screen sometime in 2004 or 2005, maybe with Vin Diesel or whomever Hollywood's flavor of the month actor is by then.
Maybe I should resolve not to read any more pulp novels in 2004.
This Morning's Classic Rock Fix
Heard a great one on the way into the office this morning, AC/DC's "Rock-n-Roll Ain't Noise Pollution." Man, I love this group and I loved this album! I remember being a high school freshman, going out with my friend Eric and getting drunk (beer was easily obtained with the drinking age being 18 back then) then coming back to his house to listen to "Back in Black." We absolutely wore the grooves of that album listening to it and to this day it remains one of my favorites.
I tell ya, to get your blood going on a cold morning when you really don't want to go back to work after such a nice long break, it just doesn't get much better than this:
I took a peek inside your bedroom door
You looked so good lying in your bed.
When I asked you if you wanted any rhythm in ya
You said you wanna rock-n-roll instead!
And to think this band almost died back then after Bon Scott bought it. Thank God for Brian Johnson! "Back in Black" was both a fitting tribute to Scott and also it took AC/DC to a level that I don't think they would have reached with him. Johnson took a very good band and made them great.
Now I've got to get to work. Duty calls . . .
Heard a great one on the way into the office this morning, AC/DC's "Rock-n-Roll Ain't Noise Pollution." Man, I love this group and I loved this album! I remember being a high school freshman, going out with my friend Eric and getting drunk (beer was easily obtained with the drinking age being 18 back then) then coming back to his house to listen to "Back in Black." We absolutely wore the grooves of that album listening to it and to this day it remains one of my favorites.
I tell ya, to get your blood going on a cold morning when you really don't want to go back to work after such a nice long break, it just doesn't get much better than this:
I took a peek inside your bedroom door
You looked so good lying in your bed.
When I asked you if you wanted any rhythm in ya
You said you wanna rock-n-roll instead!
And to think this band almost died back then after Bon Scott bought it. Thank God for Brian Johnson! "Back in Black" was both a fitting tribute to Scott and also it took AC/DC to a level that I don't think they would have reached with him. Johnson took a very good band and made them great.
Now I've got to get to work. Duty calls . . .
Sunday, December 28, 2003
Talking 'Bout My Resolutions
It's Sunday morning, about 9:30. Just found out that the in-laws are coming out today from Houston, so that'll take of dinner plans for us. Last time we went to dinner with them, I reached for a salad fork and felt an awful stab of pain in my right shoulder. That was about 3 weeks ago and, though it's not as painful now, it still really hasn't healed. I even went to the doctor last week (something I don't do casually) and he thinks I may have a torn rotator cuff. Great. And the damned thing is is that I've probably had this for 20 years or so. I remember being a kid playing touch football and flinging the ball so hard my arm would literally be numb afterward. Maybe I did it then. Oh well, it's moot when I did it. It's never been a problem until recently though. Even last year when I was working out all the time and had my bench press to almost 400 lbs. it never gave me any problems. So why would a dinner fork at some crappy Mexican restaurant do this to me? Hell if I know. Probably because I haven't dragged my fat ass into a gym in over a month and haven't been on any sort of regular workout routine in over a year.
The problem with working out is always time. To go to the gym, I would have to either sacrifice time from work (working out in the middle of the day) or from the family (if I went after dinner). Last year when I was such a fanatic about it, I went to the gym in the middle of the day because work was so slow. However, a few people at work grumbled about it and dad ended up getting really pissed off at me, saying that I was setting a bad example for the other employees by treating the job so casually. As usual, he was probably right . . . the bastard. And I don't like to go after dinner either because it takes away from family time too much. There are certain parenting chores like sitting with Courtney while she either reads or does her homework that if I miss out on now, I'll regret forever. Plus, the gym's too crowded and my energy level is just too low at 7:00 pm.
I've always told people that I could almost bench press a Volkswagen but couldn't toss a softball farther than my little girl. Well, that's doubly true now. Nevertheless, I have got to get back in the gym. I have always been a big guy but the other day in the doctors' office, I weighed 313 lbs. Granted, that was with my clothes and boots on but still, it's 30 lbs. heavier than the last time I checked my weight last year. Gotta fix that.
I quit the cigarettes this past June when I bought a term life policy and now it's time for me to peel my weight back down. So . . . the only thing for me to do is to do what Robbie recommended. He gets up and is in the gym at 5:30 in the morning. Man, I'm an early bird by nature but that . . . that's damned early even for me. Nevertheless I gotta do it.
So there it is, my new years resolution. That's probably about the fifteenth time I've made that particular resolution but hey, who's counting? Until then, I'll eat salad tonight and be careful lifting my fork.
It's Sunday morning, about 9:30. Just found out that the in-laws are coming out today from Houston, so that'll take of dinner plans for us. Last time we went to dinner with them, I reached for a salad fork and felt an awful stab of pain in my right shoulder. That was about 3 weeks ago and, though it's not as painful now, it still really hasn't healed. I even went to the doctor last week (something I don't do casually) and he thinks I may have a torn rotator cuff. Great. And the damned thing is is that I've probably had this for 20 years or so. I remember being a kid playing touch football and flinging the ball so hard my arm would literally be numb afterward. Maybe I did it then. Oh well, it's moot when I did it. It's never been a problem until recently though. Even last year when I was working out all the time and had my bench press to almost 400 lbs. it never gave me any problems. So why would a dinner fork at some crappy Mexican restaurant do this to me? Hell if I know. Probably because I haven't dragged my fat ass into a gym in over a month and haven't been on any sort of regular workout routine in over a year.
The problem with working out is always time. To go to the gym, I would have to either sacrifice time from work (working out in the middle of the day) or from the family (if I went after dinner). Last year when I was such a fanatic about it, I went to the gym in the middle of the day because work was so slow. However, a few people at work grumbled about it and dad ended up getting really pissed off at me, saying that I was setting a bad example for the other employees by treating the job so casually. As usual, he was probably right . . . the bastard. And I don't like to go after dinner either because it takes away from family time too much. There are certain parenting chores like sitting with Courtney while she either reads or does her homework that if I miss out on now, I'll regret forever. Plus, the gym's too crowded and my energy level is just too low at 7:00 pm.
I've always told people that I could almost bench press a Volkswagen but couldn't toss a softball farther than my little girl. Well, that's doubly true now. Nevertheless, I have got to get back in the gym. I have always been a big guy but the other day in the doctors' office, I weighed 313 lbs. Granted, that was with my clothes and boots on but still, it's 30 lbs. heavier than the last time I checked my weight last year. Gotta fix that.
I quit the cigarettes this past June when I bought a term life policy and now it's time for me to peel my weight back down. So . . . the only thing for me to do is to do what Robbie recommended. He gets up and is in the gym at 5:30 in the morning. Man, I'm an early bird by nature but that . . . that's damned early even for me. Nevertheless I gotta do it.
So there it is, my new years resolution. That's probably about the fifteenth time I've made that particular resolution but hey, who's counting? Until then, I'll eat salad tonight and be careful lifting my fork.
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