Just For Lent?

A tv story is reporting that the Catholic church is suggesting that parishoners give up electronics for lent. Cell phones, i-pods, blackberries, and all portable distractions. This is to help promote individual thought and contemplation. If you read my blog "News of the Ultimate Outsourcing Or In This Case Insourcing" that I first posted on 12/2/08, you may wonder if the church is looking out for itself instead of its souls.

Did I Get It Wrong?

Much has been written in the paper lately about the Manatee County Commission listening to business. The new strategy of "We Are Listening" is completely geared towards listening to business, streamlining regulations and giving developers a bigger slice of our county. There has only been one purpose to comments made by Rex Jensen (president and chief executive officer of Schroeder Manatee Ranch Inc. in Lakewood Ranch), local developer Pat Neal, and several other developers. They have spoken out solely in order to chastise the Commission, and Joe McClash in particular, as to their uncooperative attitude toward business. Commissioner Larry Bustle is now going on record that he thinks the county regulations are too "overly restrictive." I would ask Mr. Bustle to remember that he was elected by the residents to represent them and not business. His opponent in the last election was removed from office not because she was against development, but because the people in East County perceived her as being pro development. During the election many pieces of undeveloped property had her election signs posted on them. Properties that were orange groves and had been sold to developers had her signs on them. A golf course that had been sold to a developer had her signs on it. Residential properties that had been sold to developers had her signs on them. Properties that were cleared of all vegetation and left abandoned had her signs on them. Properties that were cleared of all vegetation and had a few houses on them had her signs on them. When Mr. Bustle was elected, the voters hoped to elect a commissioner without ties to developers. The developers have not been prohibited from building especially in East County, but have been asked to somewhat restrict their development in terms of density, layout, etc. The people have asked to have a voice regarding what developments in their neighborhoods look like. The restrictions on the developers have had absolutely no effect on the economic downturn of Manatee County. There are many approved developments standing bare except for the paved streets and treeless lots. Giving developers approval for additional developements with few restrictions will not increase the economy of our county.

Taking The Positives From Our Economy

Another company is following in the footsteps of Circuit City. A while ago, the management at CC decided that they could save a lot of money if they laid off their longest term employees because they were the highest paid workers. What a plan! They didn't take into account that those employees were their best salespersons. They actually helped customers, they were familar with product, and worked their butts off. But they did get paid the most, so chop and they were gone. For a while, CC did have more profits, but shortly it became apparent that those left behind couldn't sell anything. And pretty soon, chop down went CC. It all seems so obvious and makes you wonder why management couldn't figure what would happen. I have heard of another company recently who has fired all of their Assistant Managers in all of their stores. They make more than the regular salespersons, but less than a manager. The brilliant idea is to run the store with one manager and a bunch of sales people. We are talking a major chain store and with what should be big sales and lots of stores. These Assistant Managers were offered positions as regular sales people of course. They could do the same work and now receive minimum wage. WTF! Of course they are now collecting unemployment because they earn more doing that than working at minimum wage. The company has to pay more into the unemployment fund because they have laid off so many workers. They never realized that the money could be used to pay those Assistant Managers. And now to why they are going the path of CC - the store (that I am familar with) where the Assistant Managers were laid off hasn't met goal since then. The positive is that maybe all these companies with incompetent management will go out of business and those left behind will be leaner and place more value on their employees.

Bad Boy (Previously Posted)

An article in our local paper was about Mr. X. He was pulled over by the police. He was ticketed for speeding and driving with a suspended license. His license had been suspended more than 20 times. He is 36 years old. Assuming he had been ticketed several times before his license was suspended, how many times has this idiot been pulled over. Why can't something be done about drivers like this. How about forfeiting his car or the person's car that he was driving. Is there nothing that can be done to him to prevent his getting in a car again?

Job Interview For The Elderly (Previously Posted)

I am pretty sure the interviews go like this:
Applicant: I would like a job. I am 65 (or 70), very slow moving but can still walk without a walker. I like talking to people and have lots of long stories to tell. Some consider my storytelling to be soporific and quite the benefit. I am not quite as sharp as I used to be. I have a little trouble remembering numbering. For instance 62, 63, 64... Oh, in 1965 I was still living in - oops sorry. I am quite fastidious. For example, if I am wrapping something, I make sure all the corners are exactly even and each fold perfectly smooth. If not, I start all over again and do it right. I even block out all sounds and voices to make sure I am doing my task correctly. I remember once I didn't even hear a fire siren when I had - oops sorry. I would like to apply for any job you have available for me. Thanks for your consideration. I am telling you those young people have no consideration these days. Last week I was driving down - oops sorry.
Employer: Thank you for coming. You are now employed in the deli department of Publix.

Too Easy (Previously Posted)

Our local paper is just making my amusement almost too easy. "119 pigs auctioned off at fair swine sale." Good thing they weren't auctioned off at the sheep sale. It took me a while to get this one. "House shot up overnight." I was thinking mushrooms and fungus or at the very least Habitat for Humanity. I finally realized bullets were involved. The victims were unable to provide information about the shooter or shooters to the police, but I am thinking they should have asked the house. It was a bad day to be a house in Manatee County. "Women vie for Strawberry queen." Don't really know why strawberry has a capital S, but I didn't make a mistake. I think they may be competing for the strawberry queen title though and not for the previous title holder. And I saved the best for last. "Iguanas fall from trees." Seems our cold spell puts the reptiles into hibernation and they loose their grip on trees and fall to the ground. I just have this image of a bunch of iguanas spread eagle all over the forest! It is good to start your day with a smile.

Baby, It's Cold Outside (Previously Posted)

As happens every so often here in Florida, cold weather slips in and plant protection becomes imperative. I have some small and two large mangos that are full of bloom and forming little green mangos that are especially cold sensitive. A couple of Jakfruit trees also require protection. Usually we just throw old blankets over them and hope for the best. Having grown more attached to these trees, we decided to design better protection for them. We designed a structure made of pvc piping that we had on hand. Our intention is to use these in future years on other cold sensitive plants as the protected ones grow. Four long pipes were buried in the ground about 1 foot deep. A top was constructed using pipe, elbows and tees. See photos 1 and 2. This has worked great and has proved to be extremely sturdy and durable. The plant we are protecting here is an alano sapodilla. This young plants are very tender and moderately expensive to replace. We also have a 250 watt flood light in the enclosure. The Haden mango and the jakfruit are pretty large trees and we needed much longer pvc piping than we had at home. After checking the price of pvc at our local Lowes and Home Depot, it became apparent we had to find another option. We also grow giant bamboo so we cut stalks to use as poles. See Photo 3. We made the top the same as the sapodilla enclosure with the pvc piping. The large bamboo poles were sunk 16 to 18 inches in the ground using a post hole digger. The poles were planted leaning in so that they were stressed to lean out when the top was applied. The top is not permanently attached to the bamboo poles. The Haden mango is 10 - 12 feet high. We will trim it every year to maintain this height. See Photo 4. If it grows much larger, we won't be able to cover it and fruit 20 feet in the air doesn't do us much good. The jakfruit is a seedling and is about 8 feet tall. See Photo 5. We will maintain it at the same height as the Haden mango.