Long days, short nights

I was just thinking, why is it that 8 hours at work seem to last forever, while 8 hours of sleep seem to fly by -- both leaving one tired and ready for bed? It seems as if maybe it is a sign that we all (minus those 2nd and 3rd generation welfare mamas) work too much and need to spend more time sleeping or even doing things that one may consider relaxing. To tie in with this, I was thinking about the actual amount of time one truly spends working, versus being at work. I know that for the most part, I am a hard worker, but if you subtract all the "nonsense" things out of a work day, I may only be really doing 5-6 hours of work in an 8 hour day. Now, I am not saying that I am not doing work related things in regards to the "nonsense," but I think that most meetings have at least 20% overhead in them and then there is the time you spend speaking with your co-workers. I have to admit, I can be quite chatty, but I know that it is really the only way to really get the information one needs to do his job. In fact, I was thinking that I probably spend about 3 hours a week just chatting with my boss about things that may or may not directly relate to what we do. Then again, sometimes the best ideas are derived during open chit-chat. I guess that one can also learn a lot about their co-workers via this non-productive communication, which in the long run may enhance the team dynamic when decisions need to be made. Anyway, back to my original thought. Let's say that you were given two options.
1. You work 40 + hours a week but you get to have breaks.
2. You work 25 hours a week, but you do not take anything more than a bathroom break. You will also be expected to be productive during your shift.
Which would you choose?
I at first thought that I would take the 25 hours a week, but then I thought about it. I would hate going to work after the second week as I would become completly burned out by the intense need to compete tasks on a constant basis. Imagine having writers block, but being forced to complete something of quality in a limited time span. It would not happen. Crap would be produced and then the company would go down the drain. The weird thing about this whole concept is that it really brings me to see the inherent flaws with Unions, their leadership, as well as corporate leadership.
The above concept is really kind of like the ideal of the unions; Fixed time with set productivity. Humans are not like this. We are not machines. We need to have some flexibility in what we do, and how we think. If you look at the way that Unions have evolved, they actually have eliminated the human factor out of the work day (This in no way gives corporation’s excuses for the way that they treat their employees). Unions like communist want set production numbers, fixed jobs, and little flexibility in what the employer can do with their employees. The best example of this is seen in American manufacturing, especially up until a few years ago. they wanted no flexibility at the manufacturing level. It was a "we do what we do" mentality. American manufacturers realized that they would not be able to compete and did what they needed to do in order to survive. They moved the manufacturing out of the USA.
Now, I am a pro-American, buy American person, but I can really see where we lost our competitive edge. Pensions, unattainable healthcare for everyone, lack of flexibility, and the "it’s all about me" mentality has moved our jobs to other countries.
Yes, it is true that the costs of production is a lot cheaper in some of these countries, but think about the cost of shipping these items back here. That alone takes much of the competitive cost advantage out of the justification for moving things out of the US, but they also factor in the part about not having to deal with the selfish employee issues. Workers in other countries are happy to have jobs. They will work off shifts, learn new tasks -- even languages, and most of all, they are happy with what they have. now I can go on, and even talk about corporate greed and what-not, but remember much of what seems like corporate greed was really driven by the government over-legislating how business function, and not holding foreign manufacturers who sell products here in the good ole' US of A to the same standards, i.e. leather tanning is done in Central America where there are no environmental restrictions on the dyes, and then the dyed leather is shipped back to the US to be made into couches, chairs, and car seats.
OK, I think I really went off the far end on this one, and some may get angry with me, but I am beginning to see the light. I believe in the rights of employees, but only if they are truly in the right.

The Day After.

Today is Saturday, February 19, 2005, and it is day 2 of our sewer issue. One of the joys of this as some of you have experienced, is the complete trashing of the basement. In my case though, there was no loss of possessions, just the destruction of the raised floor and the vile stench of fermenting sewage.
Yesterday, I had a plumber come out and snake the line from the cleanout to the main line out to the sewer. It seemed to go well, but after he completed his task, he mentioned to me that the pipe itself may be rotted and have to be replaced. This is no small task mind you, as it requires digging up the basement floor to remove the old pipe, then putting in a new pipe. To validate this, the plumber, Scott, offered to use his high-tech video camera to check the line for only $250. Now, I know this is sewage and in reality $250 is not much, but he was way to eager to sell me this service. On top of this, he proceeded to tell me all the faults of the plumbing design in my house, and how he would fix them. Needless to say, I sent him on his way after paying him $125 for the work he had already performed. I don’t trust anyone who points out all the issues with ones house, especially when they are in an unsettling predicament.
With the plumber gone, I proceeded to contact the insurance adjuster to find out the next steps to deal with the sewage under the raised floor. After 4 calls and a lot of confusion, I was told to contact a company called Service Master. They are supposedly experts in dealing with situations such as this. So, I did, and scheduled them to come out a 2 PM – with Barbra bing the one to meet them at the house.
Barbra arrived home at 2PM to find Service Master already in the driveway waiting. I had high hopes for this company, but they were immediately dashed when they tried to only tear up the floor by the cleanout. They said that this was where the sewage was as they could see about a cup of water on the floor. Barbra called me and to make a long story short, I set them straight. It seems that they have a special device that detects water – even through floors and walls, yet it could not detect the sewage by the actual drain. I told them that I had seen water on the other side of the floor and that they needed to check further. Guess what? After tearing up the floor, they found a pile of sewage and water on the floor. You would think that the massive stench would have guided them to it initially, but apparently, it must take a high school graduate to figure this out (I don’t think either guy made it past the 6th grade). So these geniuses, continued their removal of debris out of the basement, and supposedly cleaned and disinfected the floor. They then put in fans and a dehumidifier to dry the area out (they claim that they need to run for 3 days to dry the area out). They were gone by 5:30 PM.
Later, Barbra and I joined my best friend John to go see Yankee Doodle Dandy at the Old Redford. It was a great movie – and the black face scene was not deleted as it normally is on TV. After this outing, we retuned home, to the wonderful stench that is sewage. Being too tired and irritated to deal with it I ignored it and went to bed.
Back to Saturday:
I woke up this morning and decide to go see if the stench had dissipated. It had not. Now mind you, this is not being caused by any backups anymore, it must have been just residual. Being the intuitive person that I am, I decided to remove the plastic covering over the affected area so that I could validate the cause for myself. What I found irritated me to no avail. The Service Master geniuses did not bother to really clean up the mess; they just sprayed it with their special disinfectant, creating a joyful mix of lemony fresh sewage. It was like the equivalent of squeezing lemon juice on a on a piece of shit. So, I went outside, got some garden tools and my shop vac and preceded to cleanup the mess myself. This also entailed using bleach and soapy water to disinfect the area. So, as of 3 PM, the stench is much reduced, although there is the nasty smell of their lemon disinfectant lingering in the air. I have also contacted another plumber and for $100 he will check my sewage pipes to see if I need to rip up my floor. He will be out Monday evening and I will also have him give me some quotes on some other plumbing tasks (He came highly recommended so I feel more comfortable).
A plus to this is that it is forcing me to move on my plans for the basement that include new water lines (I still have 50 year old galvanized pipes). I figure that why not since the place is torn up anyway.

One final note: The insurance adjuster will be out on Wednesday to “inspect the damage.” I find it humorous that the insurance companies only have people who only work Monday- Friday 8-4PM. G-d forbid that they want to resolve an issue quickly. Why don’t they have people who work at least on the weekends, and possibly evenings? It is almost like the city, who expects you to wait until you can get a permit to replace a water heater. I guess that this is just how it is.

Till next time…..

The Joy's of Home Ownership

I love owning a home. Then again do I really own it. Really, I am just an investor in it, at this point with about a 20% equity stake in the culver house corporation. Although I do not even have a 50% stake in the corporation, I still have to foot 100% of the bills for anything that occurs in the house. How is this? Shouldn't the maintenance be split by all stockholders in the Culver house? At this point, you may be asking, why is he ranting about this crap? Well, last night I cam home to the joys of clogged plumbing in my basement. Fortunately no possessions were lost in this, but I will have to rip up the raised floor to clean up the sewage. This should be a joy, as I will have to remove the carpeting (which did not get damaged), move it out of the way, then start the removal of the raised floor. After all of this, I will have the pleasure of cleaning the sewage, then replacing the floor. Oh joy. Just what I wanted to do this weekend. Did I mention that my insurance company is being really helpful? Sure, they jacked my rates up $100, then they tell me that I need to have the plumber tell them that there is sewage in my basement. I love them.

More to come later

The climbing Trip -- Red Rocks

Well friends, I have made it back from Sin City. I am not really sure why they call Las Vegas Sin City, as I think Detroit could more easily fit the profile. Sure, there is gambling and strip clubs, etc, but really Detroit is no better. Actually the worst thing about Vegas was that although the hotel rooms are inexpensive, everything else is really over priced. For example, one thirty second ride on the roller coaster at New York, New York was $12.50. Or a cab ride for a 5 minute ride to the Airport was around $15-20. Fortunately, the shuttle bus was only $4.75 plus tip. That is another thing, everyone expects tips in Vegas. When I checked in at the Excalibur Casio and Hotel using e-check-in, the girl who stood there got pissy when I did not tip her for her “assisting me” in my check in. Screw that. One more comment about the Vegas Strip… Cowboy hats, Mexicans, Mullets, gold lamiae, and fake breasts, Oh My!

Now, about the real reason I went to Las Vegas or in reality Red Rocks, NV. First off, Red Rock Canyon is gorgeous. Red Rocks is layers of petrified sandstone and limestone layers. These mountains look like rainbows with different color layers. It is a desert, but they have had so much rain that it was actually pretty green. The weather was perfect for climbing too, starting out around 50 degrees and topping off around 65-70 degrees. It only was bad on Friday when it rained, but we worked through it.

I have to say that my guide/ instructor, Jason Martin, was awesome. He works for the American Alpine Institute, one of the top rated guide services by Climbing Magazine. He is the kind of person who you want to learn from. He was very personable, positive, laid back, and had this way of motivating you without ever coming close to being pushy. I personally think that he would fit perfectly into my circle of friends, as he is into cultural endeavors. Did I mention that he was also a writer who has done some screenplays? He also does freelance writing, such as movie and book reviews. It was cool that although we were climbing, we had a lot of other things to talk about. Everyday went by too fast. He is off to Ecuador on Tuesday to guide another group of people on a mountaineering trip.

Back to stuff about me.
On Tuesday Jason taught me how to build proper anchors, proper lead climbing, how to clean anchors, and proper repelling techniques. It was a fun day, but mentally tiring. I went to sleep at 8 PM. Wednesday we climbed Olive Oil, a multi-pitch trad route. It was a blast, although I have to admit that it does take some time to get used to hanging belays. One of the best parts was climbing the chimney, which confused me at first, but once I got moving, it was so fun (except when the gear on my harness or my back-pack that I hat to dangle below my feet would get caught). To best explain how one climbs this section is to imagine trying to climb a doorframe using your legs and back to scoot up the distance. I can’t wait to do it again. Thursday was the most challenging day for me, both physically and mentally. This was the day where I would learn how to properly place gear for Trad climbing and then do some trad lead climbing. You can learn more about trad climbing here. Friday was another fun day, although it was cloudy and raining. This was the day that Jason taught me climbing rescue techniques. This was the day I considered the most important and really fun. It is also a topic that many climbers do not take the time to learn, even though it could save a life, or eliminate the need to be rescued at all. I personally think that it should be a topic that is learned prior to doing any multi-pitch climbs, but that is my opinion. I know that I will be practicing this so that I will not forget it. One last high note of Red Rocks was that on our hike out, we got to see a big horn sheep. Too bad I left my camera in the car (It was raining pretty well and I did not want to get it soaked). That was by climbing adventure cliff note style. You can see some pictures here.

See ya!

A post for a friend

A friend of the family is trying to do a half marathon (13.5 miles) in Anchorage, Alaska in June for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In order to do this, she needs to raise $4500. If you would like to help out and get a nice tax deduction for 2005, go here:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntmi/tntmiDGershu

Where have I been? Where am I going?

I guess it has been awhile since I last blogged. I just do not have the discipline that some other bloggers have. Then again, maybe I am just busy. Work has been totally crazy this year. We have a bunch of projects going on, as well as some new contracts in the wings that I am reviewing. This limits my free time to do personal stuff on the computer, along with the fact that we now are monitoring and blocking most non-business web sites. That is OK by me as it helps me focus more on the many tasks at hand during my work day. SO, the last time I wrote, I spoke of my Lasik surgery. I have to say that things went quite well and I am 20/15 in both eyes. I also went snowboarding the following week after the surgery without any issues. I am very happy that I did this. Life without glasses is very enjoyable. I really like waking up and being able to see things in the morning, such as my wife. It is a real simple pleasure for me.
So, in other news, I am getting ready for a week-long trip Las Vegas. Yes, that is right, Sin City. Yet, I doubt that there will be any major gambling in my plans. I am actually going to spend 4 days climbing at Red Rocks with a personal instructor. I will be learning things such as trad climbing, which is where you actually place anchors as you climb, lead climbing, and other advanced climbing techniques. the best thing of all is that my awesome wife actually suggested that I go without her. Yes, she actually suggested it as she is so busy with work and school, on top of the fact that I have 4 weeks of vacation time left before April 1. This is one of the many reasons why I love my wife. So, back to Vegas, I will be staying at the Excalibur Resort and Casino on the strip and climbing from 8am to 6pm-ish every day. Now you say that this leaves a lot of free time, but after a day outside hiking and climbing, a shower and dinner will be the extent of my activities. It should be an awesome trip.
Now, about the Oscars, I am not one for award shows, as I feel that they are often rigged, but I hope that Jamey Foxx wins for "Ray." This was an awesome movie and one where I really believed i was watching Ray Charles. That does not happen to me very often, but it did with this film. For this reason, I hope he wins.

Got to go....