So close & yet so far to go

Still here people....stay tuned. Life to re-commence in 3......2.......1.......

hello...is this thing on?

Wow

February 25th…I suck…plain and simple I suck.

There’s no excuses for not having posted in that length of time and I won’t bore you with the details. The economy sucks, which translates into more work for me in an effort to generate business and retain my job, plain and simple. So that by the time I get home from my job I have absolutely no desire to take on anything else but sitting on my fat butt and attempting to decompress.

I did finish up a couple of tables for my parents that they had asked for. It seems they’re in the midst of a bedroom makeover and decided they needed something new. So my time away wasn’t a total loss. It gave me a chance to try out some new techniques, mainly the Kane Tsugi joint…I’ll post some pictures in a few days.

Wife and I also made an offer on a house based off of Utah’s “Home Run Grant” which would give the buyer $6000.00 towards the purchase of a new construction home. We were lucky enough to have found one through the company that owns the brokerage that she works with and got that process rolling. The down side to this entire deal was being forced to use a mortgage company owned by the same company that owns her brokerage (yeah…how’s that legal). Well it turns out that they are still just as crooked and underhanded as they were a few month/years ago. At the very start one of the office workers who seemed to have a soul raised a red flag on an item, we questioned whether it was a problem and if so, did we need to shop different lenders? That’s when the mighty mortgage broker stepped in and told us nooooo this isn’t an issue and we’ll push it through, trust me…well guess what, after wasting 3 weeks of our lives and taking so much time that it is now no longer a realistic attempt at the grant, we’ve been turned down unless we incur MORE debt right now and turn in one of our vehicle leases 5 months early. How does that make sense? I’ve had a mortgage for several years in the past, always paid on time along with every other loan, lease, credit card etc that we’ve had…and yet we’re told too bad you’re a risk. I don’t care who you are, but the financial markets aren’t improving…if they were Wife and I wouldn’t have had this problem. It seems that good credit, a stable payment history, a stable work history and liquid cash in savings still isn’t enough to achieve the American dream and now makes you a “risk”.

So thanks Obama…thanks for giving away my hard earned tax dollar to bail out these companies that refuse to assist the little guy as they had said they would. So glad to see you’re holding their feet to the fire and making them make good on their word…good job…jackass….

But it’s not so much as being told no…it’s how we were told no. This issue that has us hung up could have been addressed 3 weeks ago and been properly handled before we got to this point. Yet what does the mortgage company care, they’ve got my check for 450 bucks to cover their complete Bull Shit processing and application fees. They got their money so why should they work any harder to make this a reality. And then on top of that to have the broker imply that it’s our fault because we’re unwilling to turn one of our vehicles in early is unfathomable.

So that’s fine…we’ve decided to get back to our original plan and keep on saving so we do this on our terms and not the banks or mortgage companies terms. We hadn’t really planned on jumping back into the game this soon anyhow and that’s fine…but it doesn’t make the sting of having to work with certain companies and people that should have learned from their past mistakes and should be grateful that they still have jobs and aren’t in jail from their money grubbing ways.

So whatever…emortgage can suck it, I know I’ll never send anyone their way and will be more than happy to relay the less than desirable way we were treated to anyone who will listen.

Time

A precious commodity it seems lately…one of which I don’t seem to have enough of. Between work piling it on and the volunteer board activity that I mentioned in an earlier post I haven’t had much time to myself. I’ve been trying to work in the shop a little more now that it’s starting to warm up a little. I’ve got a few furniture projects out there as well as a couple in the back of my mind that I’m hoping to get up and running soon. I’ve also got a couple of boxes that have been lying around that I really need to finish up. It looks like we’re going to be getting the business webiste up and running with a slick new version that should help bring us a little more online attention.

It’s not all doom and gloom though…the weather the past couple of days has been absolutely gorgeous. You can’t beat 70 degree weather and blue skies. Especially after a week of rain and 30 degrees. I just don’t understand the winter weather in Southern Utah. One minute it’s absolutely gorgeous and the next it’s freezing cold and raining. Now I just need to find a little time to go play some golf…that would be sweet!

And it Begins!

With an unprecedented estimated cost of over 150 million, yesterday’s inauguration will triple the costs of any other in history. This, in the deepest recession since the great depression. We’re handing out money to irresponsible businesses, wall street and executives while the rest of us foot the bill and will continue to do so for generations to come. Our children, their children and their children will continue to foot this bill.  And yet we’re so blinded by a man who can give a speech, that we over look this fact. We over look the fact that he himself states that our current financial instabilities are out, “of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some.” Well Mr. Obama, you, yourself have just perpetuated yourself as one of those irresponsible and greedy “some” by throwing yourself the biggest bullshit party the American people have ever seen. “Change” is definitely in the wind and that change is one of a depression bigger than anything we have ever seen with this kind of fiscal irresponsibility at the helm. Change, bullshit…the only thing that is going to change is the amount of debt we’re in and the divide between Mr. Obama, his rich friends and the rest of the American people. God help us all because this ride is about to get a whole lot worse.

And before those of you that are totally blindsided by your absurd love for this man get on my case for calling him Mr. Obama, I will call him President when and only when he puts a stop to the train wreck that is our government financial spending. And those of you that have a problem with this should really take a second look at that 150 million plus, and ask yourself why? Could the pomp and circumstance not have occurred at 1million? Could it not have happened at 500 thousand? could it not have occurred at 10 thousand? Could this ceremony really not have happened in the oval office via televised broadcast? It seems to me that there really only needs to be a certain few in attendance to swear the new president into office. So you ask yourself, if he really is about change then why did he allow this obscene amount of money to be spent so he could place his hand on a bible and take the oath of office…you ask yourself that and when you do I hope you wake up just a little and begin to demand some accountability from your messiah.

Draggin Ass!

So much for those New Years resolutions. Yeah, I suck! What happened to posting here more and keeping the growth of this site a priority? What happened to going to the gym? What happened to working more in the shop and growing the business? hmmm…guess I’m just too lazy, what can I say?

In my defense I can say that work has pretty much kept me on the run. Between cutting budget and staff and then having to travel for this meeting or that meeting I’ve been pretty damn busy.

I just got back from a board meeting in Atlanta that was pretty interesting. I was a little apprehensive going into it that I had made a mistake by accepting the position but I’m glad that I did. Where else would I get to rub elbows with the CEO of a multimillion dollar a year software company and get pissed drunk with him? You tell me…

Don’t believe me? Well take a look at the picture below. This was taken after a cooking demo/class that we participated in. I’d tell you the CEO’s name but that would be bad form as I really attempt to keep this site personal and out of my business affairs. Why then would I post his picture, well because it was just that cool of an experience. It’s not often that someone at my level gets to say that a CEO of a huge company knows my name and will remember me. That’s why…

Aside from this there’s not much else going on in my life. Christmas was good. Wife had a meltdown and gave me that PlayStation 3 that she vowed to never give me, but she’s a good wife and knew that it was pretty much all I wanted. I’m a firm believer that Christmas is for fun…for those things that you would never really buy for yourself. I know that many of you are saying that I would totally have bought myself the PS3 or an XBox, but honestly I doubt that I would have. I probably would have taken that money and spent it on new tools etc for the business and been responsible with it. But I’m glad that Wife didn’t…it’s proven to be a great time waster, de-stresser, and who doesn’t love the blu-ray capabilities? I mean really…have you seen porn on it? It’s just so much better…once you go there you won’t go back. It’s like riding in first class.

Schuyler Fisk: From Where I’m Standing

A great folkish song by Schuyler Fisk. Take a look at her website and listen to the 4 or 5 songs she’s got up there…worth your time…would I lie to you?

Wife and I saw her open for Kenny Wayne Shepherd last summer in Utah and really liked her. The video is from the local PC tv station and the audio isn’t great, but you’ll get the picture.

Recession? What Recession?

I haven’t really posted anything in a few days because I’ve been avoiding as much real thought as possible. It seems that the recession is finally hitting me in the work place. The one thing I’ve never been able to really handle about being a manager is having to cut someones hours. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any issue with cutting someone loose due to performance or the lack there of. But when I have to cut someone back due to the lack of business that’s where I run into trouble. I just have trouble looking at someone and having to explain that your position is no more…sorry…
Thankfully I have only ever run into that position a few times, but every time is just as difficult as the first. I’m telling someone that hasn’t done anything wrong, that is in good standing with the company and by all accounts shouldn’t be in that situation that as of X date you’re no longer receiving a pay check…
Maybe it’s tougher this time because it’s all of 3 days before Christmas…maybe…probably not…