Warnings Ignored

Times aren't what they were in the construction biz. Slow starts, careful money, tight bids. It doesn't seem to phase some people. My company let a guy go yesterday, after some crazy hand wringing that went on for several weeks. I appreciate the fact that they don't take a decision like this lightly, it is someone's livelihood, but, it should have been done long ago. It was completely justified. That's just a sad fact.

This guy was given warning after warning about his lack of effort. He was warned repeatedly about being uncooperative & argumentative & about not following even simple instruction. I warned him myself many times - sometimes nicely - sometimes not. Didn't matter - he wouldn't change, wouldn't even try. The weird part is, it was an incredibly easy job. No pressure, no decisions, no working weekends or extra hours without extra pay. (I'm salaried - 40hrs or 80 it's always the same.)

The sad part is, he's not a youngster & it's going to be tough for him to get a new job that pays what he was paid, including full medical, vision & dental benefits, sick time, 401k, vacation & bonus. He had it made & HE blew it.

I feel bad about it. Feel bad for his family. If he had just tried, even a meager effort, the company would probably have carried him along through this slow period.

Now it's probably a matter of time until we hear there is some claim being made against us that he was let go without just cause. Guys like that - it's always someone else's fault & everyone owes them something. Some are determined to be victims of their own stupidity.

I hope he lands on his feet quickly & learns something from it all.

Vacation Accomplished

I need to get back to work so I can rest. The sod is down, muy perfecto. I finished about two thirds of my list of things to do & stuff I hadn't planned to do - like replacing bad irrigation heads (what a pain in the butt they were), planted flowers out the wazoo, powerwashed the brick patio out back, etc. The weather is going to be crappy late Saturday & all day Sunday. Tomorrow I have to dress up the mulch beds, plant a new grapefruit tree, scrub the soffits, clean the Durango & my truck & maybe the boat - hopefully all done by early afternoon. I won't get to paint the porch columns, maybe next weekend. No big deal - they look fine, but it's better to paint while everything looks fine than to wait 'til stuff 'needs' paint. We're too picky.

We never made it to the gulf coast as planned, but we did get a great day on the beach Wednesday. We went to Jacksonville today & bought a new chair for the living room. Being the dutiful husband that I am, I waited patiently in the mall parking lot with the sunroof open (& read) while Deb bought out Bath & Body - or whatever it's called. That was followed up by a visit to my favorite SeaSide stop, The South Beach Grill for a fantastic 'lunch' of pecan encrusted Mahi with a strawberry-mango-orange topping over a bed of rice (& a few cocktails). No oysters today - bummer.

My YA manuscript is ready to go. Amazon just announced last week that they will eliminate the 'buy' button for books not produced through BookSurge. I'm waiting to find out what's going to happen before forwarding my MS. I've decided that I don't want Amazon to make a dime from my work, so I need to see how this shakes out with the folks that I plan to use for publishing. If they cave in, I'm going elsewhere.

On another note (this is a windy post) - I usually write best in the wee hours of the morning. The other night I was set up on the back porch (me n' the cat). The porch is screened in, the chairs are comfortable & we have a large glass table, so I can spread out. Our property backs up to a nature preserve. Lots of critters roam through the palmettos & the haunted looking live oaks (& my back yard sometimes) & can sound pretty scary. Nubber (the cat) gets freaked out, for as long as he can stay awake anyway - usually no more than ninety seconds. So I started banging out a brand new story around 10PM. At 4AM I knocked off & started reading it. I couldn't believe it, the word count thingy said I had put down just under 9,000 words! It's a first draft but it just flowed. Tonight I'll pick up where I left off & see what happens. I don't work off of outlines, so I have no clue where this one is headed.

It's almost 11PM now - Time to make coffee.

Whining Pays Off - For Once

I whined my butt off about the last minute trip to Atlanta. It worked, but I don't know how. Who cares, I'm not going. The trip was dished off to someone else. Whew!!! The Rocky Theme is playing in my head again. The sod chore is back on (now I gotta rearrange delivery). Vacation starts with a smile Friday afternoon. I plan to get lots of writing done in the next several days. Getting psyched. A quick trip to Clearwater, a few days at our beach, a few days on the back porch beating the keys on another book. Sounds like a plan. Green Side Up Baby!!!

The Best Laid Plans (or sod)

We busted our tails this past weekend to save ourselves from busting them during future weekends. Our house has lots of landscaping & this includes huge mulch beds with plenty of 'stuff'. The problem is, mulch beds have to be weeded. Very time consuming, not to mention back breaking. One 'bed' the size of some yards, runs from a point in the front yard, wraps around down the side of the house & widens between the neighbor's fence & our brick patio. Emptied that bed - at least 200 loads of mulch, cut out roots, transplanted 'stuff', raked & loosened soils. It's READY now for sod. I ordered the sod for delivery Thursday or Friday of this week. I scheduled a week off so we could get the work done & then spend some much needed time away for a few days. Everything is set to go. Getting myself mentally prepared. Rocky Theme is playing in my head..... & then... I got an email at 6PM that may screw it all up.

My project is essentially finished - which justifies a vacation. Everything tied up in a neat little bow. Did I mention I got an email that may screw everything up?

The email says that the company needs me to be in Atlanta Wednesday night to fill in on another project through - get this - Saturday. Saturday! I only work Saturdays when absofreakinlutely necessary - rarely in other words. This arrangement may mean I won't get home until Sunday. That means I'll have a bunch of sod sitting in the driveway for at least a few days before I can start. It also means, that without mulch, weeds will grow in the beds, leading to a duplication of prep work effort. It also means that the 'vacation' will get off to a totally crappy start. Instead of driving home with a smile on Friday afternoon looking forward to 9 consecutive days of no work, I'll be in the air feeling shortchanged. Vacation time for me ranks right up there with OXYGEN. Work hard - play hard - enjoy life - give n' take. The idea is always to sandwich 5 vacation days between 2 weekends.

I fired off an email suggesting they (my company) try to make arrangements for someone else to pinch hit, explaining my great plans & intentions (all totally true). It probably won't get me anywhere. Maybe I'll postpone my vacation so I get my 9 days & just pay somebody to put the damn sod down. The hard part is done.

Tee-Ball

I coached baseball for a long time & enjoyed it thoroughly. One year I coached 4 teams simultaneously, that wasn't so fun. My oldest son Michael sent me a message on myspace today that brought back some good memories. Jack (my grandson) started Tee Ball. He's a bit young, won't be 5 until the season is over & is competing with some kids who have been playing for a few years. Michael, being the proud Papa that he is (& should be) explained that Jack is doing well hitting the ball, as good as the some & better than most. (You should see the little bugger hit a golf ball.) Mike proceeds to comment that Jack is a little slower as a runner (he's only 4 Mike!!) prompting me to remind Michael that his nickname was refrigerator back - because he ran the bases like he was carrying a refrigerator. I, by the way, did not give him that nickname. If Jack can hit, throw & catch half as well as his dad & Uncle Chris - he'll be terrific. You don't have to be fast when the ball is "outta there".

Mike - If you ever read this - Think a bit about why you & your brother played catcher. Center field just wasn't in the cards.

So it all starts again. My kid watching his kid play ball. I hope Mike & Christine enjoy it as much as Deb & I did.

I Had To Post This

I received this from a friend via email & decided to include it here. The formatting doesn't quite work, but the story deserves the space - properly formatted or not.

It's called - Will you give this to my Daddy?

As a Company, Southwest Airlines is going to support 'Red Fridays.'

Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the
airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.

When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me I'm not alone. I'm not theonly red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.

Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who
are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of ourservice men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi.'

The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.

The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and thenkissed him on the cheek.

The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As themom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the
young soldier began to tear up.

When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.

After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney,
bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you. He thenhugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Hefinished by saying 'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more thananything and he is coming home very soon.'

The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6feet away from this entire event.

As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.

We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank
God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.

'Just Do It'

I like to take advantage of certain TV nights (American Idol? gimme a break!) & write or edit. I started the night with the best of intentions but allowed myself to be drawn into visiting some of my favorite blog sites. Now it's almost 10PM & I've accomplished nothing. The whole day was one of those kind of blah, torturously long, boring days - nothin' much goin' on. To start with, I overslept. Only a handful of guys showed up at the job, no visitors, felt lousy this afternoon. I was stressed out for absolutely no reason & kinda crashed when I got home (OK I DID read for an hour). Maybe I'm just getting lazy (or old). My book (the title keeps changing - another source of annoyance) is soooooo damn close to being 110% but I can't seem to make that last push to wrap up my part of the editing. It's been like that for 2 weeks.

Guess I'll have to lock myself away for 2 days &, as Mr Nike would say, 'Just Do It'.