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From what I recall, Trump cast doubt that Barack Obama was an American citizen and then blamed the Clinton's for starting the movement. All sorts of conspiracies arose from this. At the time, John McCain was running against Obama and steered clear because McCain was born in Panama... at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone. Since the Panama Canal was under U.S. control, he was granted a U.S. citizenship at the age of eleven months.

Who else came under the scrutiny of birth right and US citizenship by Trump?
I believe it was Ted Cruz who had dual-citizenship with Canada. All it took was signing a form to denounce his Canadian citizenship when he ran for the US presidency.

Trump is a racist who dislikes immigrants. He's stated that in public and used phrases like poisoning the blood of our country, yet his previous wife Ivana was born in Czechoslovakia. She was the mother of their 3 children. Donald Jr, Ivanka, Eric.

His current wife Melania was born in Yugoslavia (now Slovenia) and the mother of Barron.

Do you see where this is leading?

Vivek Ramaswamy, the son of Indian parents was born in Ohio, was also in words of Trump and his questionable candidates. Vivek dropped out of the race.

Now we're up to Nikki Haley who was born in South Carolina to immigrant parents from India. You guessed it... brown skin and a candidate for the 'poisoning the blood of our country'
Some say she's got no chance if he pulls the birther race card against her.

Republicans have a choice... the brown skin lady or the guy teetering on prison.

It seems like the whole world is on backorder. I was notified by the car dealer where I purchased a car 2 years ago to come see the new arrivals. I asked specifically about test driving a new model this year... Unfortunately, they haven't arrived yet and they told me "Those are on backorder and on a first come, first available basis."
"If I want to be on a list, come in and place a deposit."

I went to Guitar Center the other day looking for a left-handed bass guitar. Probably 125 bass guitars and 300 guitars in stock... not one of them were left-handed.
The salesman checked other stores and inquired on the manufacturer's website and can only estimate 4 to 6 months wait.

A group of us are waiting for model helicopter parts. Plastic and metal parts come in little-by-little but fiberglass canopies have been out of stock for months with no date when they will be available.

Back to cars... Since the demand is so great for a few models, dealers are now charging much more than sticker price. It's almost like real estate bidding wars. If you snooze, you lose.

This is a global concern and I'm glad my needs are small. I'm wondering what happens in the medical field where someone is waiting for a knee replacement surgery and kneecaps are on backorder...

Every 'dollar store' in America is filled with inferior products made in China. You can find forks... 2 for a dollar. With inflation they are now $1.25
Okay, they are machine stamped and not hand crafted, the tines differ in width.
I often use them as pry tools so it's not important if I bend one.

When the subject comes up about Chinese 'junk' I sometimes I speak about the reality. I've been known to say "What company in America ordered things to be brought here?"
They didn't magically appear on a boat, make it to the port, get shipped to stores without some intervention from American companies.

Terms were agreed on, what's to be made and what price they are to be bought and sold at. The American people didn't make that choice, it's what we've been fed.

Logically, if they can make cellular earphones for a buck and someone is making a profit, are they capable of making some high-quality devices? Yeah, but the buyers are bringing in the inferior stuff and not the good stuff... to a point.

IKEA sells sets of stainless steel flatware. Attractive, polished, smooth flawless curves. Prices as low as $20 for a 20 piece set. Unbeatable, if you're asking me.

Good stuff, good price... why did it take a generation to happen?

I was going to add a comment to my 'arrogant' blog but this story deserves a blog of it's own.

About 6 years ago, I did a job with a client who is the top of the list of a-holes.
He described to the salesman everything he wanted for his new kitchen.
Let's say it was $100,000 and he didn't to pay that much.
He told the salesman his budget was $50,000.

Okay, the salesman told him to get to that price, substitutions and value-engineered design changes would have to take place. For example, select cherry was no longer being used. Sequenced grain match to the doors and drawer fronts wouldn't be done either. He agreed to those terms. We went to contract and drawings with specifications was prepared. He picked apart every facet of the details and disputed what he was getting. For example he insisted on select, sequenced grain and the stain & glaze finish to the back side of the doors to be equal to the face.
Again, the salesman brought up his budget. If he wanted select and matching grain the price would be different and he would have to sign a change order. He declined and we proceeded to fabricate.
The job had delays in the flooring. He rejected the materials and installation and the floor contractor had to do the floor again.

We delivered and installed. I inspected the work and it was excellent. It was the kind of project someone would put into their portfolio. The complaints started. Mis-matched grain, stain color unacceptable, cabinets not installed level, seams on the crown moulding were visible. The list was several pages. I hadn't been on the project in a week... it was beautiful, what could have gone wrong?

The installer said "Man, you won't believe what they did with blue tape"

Normally, clients and contractors use small pieces of blue tape to make a few spots that needed touchup or in a bad case a damaged door that needed to be replaced. It's expected to see 3, 4 maybe 5 pieces of tape.

I walked in and a 'blue tape blizzard' of easily 50 spots marked unacceptable.

The client backed up his story with a letter from his attorney and a statement from the General Contractor that it was the worst job he has ever seen. Remove all the doors and mouldings and replace them or he would sue. We did and he rejected them again. He had a meeting with his attorney and the owner of the company I was working for.

They agreed the client would pay the difference from regular cherry doors to select grade and we went a third round of door replacements. Weeks had passed and the clock was running out as the client had a deadline to move in or we faced paying his rent on the apartment we was staying at during the construction.

They never asked for my opinion, I was told order the select doors. I did and again he rejected half of the doors. I stopped and told the owner 'This guy is out for blood. There is nothing we can do to satisfy him' and we should have given him his money back after he rejected the 2nd round of replacements.

It went to court. Despite our multiple attempts to make this right, to my surprise, the judge sided in with the client. They settled for giving him nearly all of his money back.

All that time wasted trying to appease the client was stealing valuable materials and factory time we could have been working on profitable jobs.


This week, I dropped off samples to the same design firm I did that project with.
The office manager remembered me and the company I was working for at the time.
We agreed the client was an a-hole and the design firm actually did another project with him.
No different, the manager said. I'm told he rejected more than half of the work in his house and ended up suing many of the sub-contractors.

For those who cannot wait for Black Friday sales, many retailers are already into Pre-Black Friday. I stopped at Walmart this morning and they are filling corridors with things for the holidays. Hurry, get your Pre-Black Friday shopping done before Black Friday arrives.

A generation ago, FM radio changed from analog to digital signals. What it did was improve the quality and add some sub signals used for additional broadcasts on the same frequency. The additional data is used for information like artist, song name and album photos. The additional data allowed the use of advertising along the bottom line of the information stream. Yes, they found a way to visually advertise at the same time they can send over audio advertisements.
Around here the biggest radio advertiser is a law firm who specialize in car accidents. I could changed between 10 local channels and find this law firm on all of them, Like no other law firm existed, they literally saturated the airwaves streaming advertisements day and night.
I got to thinking... if someone were in an accident and called these guys, would the person who hit them also be calling the same attorneys?
It would be a case of representing attorney's "Connor and Sloan vs. Connor and Sloan"
Probably, if it was realized, someone would have to drop out as they cannot use the same law firm to represent opposite sides. Yea?

From time-to-time I read or hear an unusual word or phrase from a group of people, often unrelated. This week, it's "Banana Republic!”
Why are so many saying it?
Because Trump said it.
“My great company, and myself, are being attacked from all sides," Trump added. "Banana Republic!”

He's testifying Wednesday (today) in a NY investigation.

I've always been a procrastinator. World class at that. I remember having school assignments with specific due dates and the night before, I would stay up late, often crashing but setting the clock for 4am and finishing the assignment with only a few minutes to shower and get to school. It amazed me (and my family) when I would get a really good grade for the work turned in.

Yesterday, was 2-22-2022 and I had a busy day planned. I read in a few places that it would be a good day for many.
Eye exam at 10:00 as one in the late afternoon (after 6 hours of computer work) failed.
My eyes couldn't focus then, but the exam in the morning was successful.
11:30 I met with a contractor to recheck a microwave/steam oven dimension that was in storage for a kitchen remodel I released to production.
Driving 30 miles for a 1:30 appointment, the client already tore out walls, kitchen and flooring. He was literally ready for cabinets. When I asked why he didn't call sooner, his response was the guy before me only gave him a 'chicken scratch' drawing of what he planned for the new layout. He's obviously not getting the job.
2:30 another appointment on the way back to the office to measure a wall unit. The client liked my suggestions along with photos of previous projects I completed.
4:00 meeting on the east side of Boca Raton and I walked in to a 7 million dollar home where a designer painted a dark wood kitchen all white. The client threw him off the job as he didn't sand and prep the old cabinet doors, failed to use a primer and instead of removing each door, he spray painted them in place! You could run a fingernail over the door and the paint will chip off! The client decided to have the entire kitchen replaced so we went over a new layout that I'll present to them in showroom.
6:00 back to the office to make notes for the appointments (while the details are still in my head) and head home at 7:30.

8:00 and my phone is nagging me Google has some new features that old phone didn't know about. Sheesh...

2-23-2022, enjoy your day.

Tag. | .that is Astro physics..

Another great church service in Philly last night
@ the world serious. Now it kinda becomes essential for Houston not to choke....to close the thing out with sum kind of bang...
Bee cuz yonder internet buzz is already buzzing with Tee shirt notions...and such.
Other Experts have weighed in...it's already the best world series { .in terms of McPhysics
.and full of plot twists..[ .hint. ) . because of Ego & money .. Houston let's it best pitcher [ s..
..sit on the pine until ..GAME 4 ..( McWhy ?!!?!!
..please Standby. ) ..

In the business world, if you want to know what the competition is doing, you can resort to some low level espionage by sending a person to go around to your competitors pretending to be a real customer.
They can check out their office, showroom, factory and see how their sales staff operate, get prices and find out what negotiations they are able to make to get the best price.

The person elected to do the job could be family or a friend, most importantly that person must be savvy to the business and know the differences what the competition is pricing.

That person is called a Mole.

A place I worked at a few years ago had lots of local competition and the boss was lucky enough to have communication with one person he lost a sale to. That helped him refine his sales pitch by educating prospective clients BEFORE they went shopping elsewhere and to be suspicious of 'low ball' bids. Some companies call that 'comparing apples to apples' in that, price means little if the lower bid isn't equal to the other bids.

The lost sale customer went back to tell my boss he was sorry for making a bad decision. He signed with the other company mostly on price and confidence it was their best deal. After paying a deposit and seeing the drawings, many of the items were left out. Adding all what my boss included, the other company considered them as upgrades, brought the price higher than the bid my boss gave.

I had a situation with a possible client last week. He recently bought a home near the Intracoastal Waterway, complete with a dock and it wouldn't surprise me if he's investing $300,000 in the renovation. He and his wife came to my showroom to see samples and discuss their wants. They loved the tour of the factory. Although, they knew what they wanted, they had been to see 2 other local suppliers and had prices. One had a shop but (for some reason) wasn't happy with them. The other had a retail showroom, but no factory. Since that company is in an upscale neighborhood, I expected their price to be around the same as mine.

The client did mention good quality at a good price. I represented the sale would be what he was asking for.

Expecting to be able to submit prices on Monday, I found time to meet with my estimator and was able to submit a proposal Friday.
The guy replied on Saturday to tell me I was the highest bid and he was going with another company. I asked how much and he said $38,000 to my $44,500.
Repeating our track record and quality would be a waste of time. Price was the attachment for him.

Thanking him for the comeback. Yes, it was a loss, but I consider it a reverse mole where he told me something important about another vendor.
We recently changed our logo and added 'Luxury Cabinetry' to it.
Hopefully, it will make a difference with my cost conscience clients.