Oily Fleecing.

Feeling the oily fleecing yet? I have voiced my opinion of the oil companies taking us for a ride. Blaming high prices on Katrina and other hurricanes as well as the war was just a bunch of bull to raise prices. Look at how, for example. just one of the oil companies reported the biggest ever profit in history. That's right, in history, in a time that is being told to us that they are being hurt by all that's going on. Exxon reported a $10.71 Billion profit in the fourth quarter alone for 2005. Strange isn't it that they kept spinning yarns about how the storms had cut into their ability to supply fuel and that they had to spend oh so much to keep us in fuel.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, A Democrat who criticized oil executives for appearing before congress back in November, called on the Bush administration and the Federal Trade commission to put an end to the price gouging. She then suggested that FTC stands for "Friend to Chevron."

Her FTC remark seems on target. But do you think that President Bush, who has a lot to gain from these huge profits, is actually going to do anything about it while he is in office? I think not.
I can see were the oil companies have a responsibility to the stock holders but as they say. But they do not have to beat the crap out of the rest of us in the process. Why should they worry about us, is their thinking. After all, when you own the well you can have all the heat for your home and fuel for your gas guzzling vehicle that you want. Sounds like a bigger fleecing than the ENRON scandal to me but huge money keeps huge mouths shut.

I have never forgot the Exxon Valdese. Have you?

New Job

Just wanted to say that I am enjoying my new job making Aircraft and Yacht parts. Of course we make other things as well but that is the bread and butter of the business. The hours are long, 50+ a week, but the overtime and pay is a God send. I don't even mind that I'm on the road two hours every day going to and fro. The pay is good and can only go up from here.
Going to get some debts paid off to some very helpful people who've helped me over this hump the last six months. After that, I'll finally be able to begin either the PanHead rebuild or just get another. Cool thing about working in a machine shop is that now I can make, bead blast and get old parts in shape. Been itching to get these old Pan Cases cleaned up and the one broken engine mount repaired.

Also, the magazine is coming along and we have five great writers on board. As soon as they get me their finished first articles it'll be time for some layout time. Just have to get out and get some great pictures to go into the new read.

Things seem to be looking up.

Be cautious

I went to visit an old friend yesterday evening. He has been a true friend as he knows all about me and still is my friend. I don't know about any of you but a really true friend is mighty tough to find these days. Someone that you do not have to pretend with or try to impress. A person that has wisdom and sound advice to offer you and, never tries to make you feel less of a person for being who you are. This man, who is legally blind now, can see things better than a person with perfect vision. If you ask his opinion be sure that you want his opinion because he's going to give it to you straight up. Not in a putting you down way but in a non- threatening way that makes you think. How we met and what he has been through is a long story that would be far to long to post here. I will say though that we worked together for many years and when he began to go blind---- I was there for him to help how I could.

Last night when I went to see him his sister and one of his brothers were there to visit. When he lived out in the country only his sister would come by regular to see him. Everyone felt that it was to far to go. During the last big ice storm we had here in North Carolina, I was worried that he was cut off. My feelings were well founded as his power was off and he had no heat and no way to get anywhere. When I arrived at his place he was inside freezing and in total darkness with little food. I tried to get him to come home with me but he wanted to go to his elderly fathers house in town. So with the heat cranking on high in my truck that is where I took him. I had no idea as to why his son or any of his brothers had not been out to get him and I didn't ask. I used to go and cut the grass around his place on the weekends in the summer as nobody else would. Got him out once in awhile to the store and fixed things around his place that I could. But that is all getting into the long story.

What I did find out last night was that a few days before, he was at home and it was getting late. He never heard a car pull up outside but someone was pounding on his door. He went to the door but did not open it and asked what they wanted. A black man was on his porch and didn't ask to use the phone but rather demanded that he open the door because he was GOING TO COME IN AND USE his phone. When asked why, the man said he was out of gas and to let him inside. My friend told him no several times and then called the police. When he hung up, the phone rang and it was one of the neighbors. Seems the neighbor just happened to be in the kitchen and saw this car driving slow down the street. The car then backed up and coasted down the hill and got out of the car quietly. The neighbor wanted to make sure my friend was alright when he called.
The man vanished into the night on foot before the police arrived fairly quickly. The tag on the car did not belong to that car and the police gave it a tow.
Turns out that the man had gone to another house and then another before someone let him in. He robbed the couple and got away---- for the moment anyway.

I'm just happy that my friend, who is still a fairly strong person body and soul, did not give in to this persons demanding stance. Had the man tried to come on in with force, he would have been beat with a baseball bat fore he knows not with whom he was dealing with. Though my friend is legally blind this does not mean that he can not see at all. If that fellow knew my friend for who he is and was, he would have never tried to use his forceful tactic on him. He knows not how lucky he is.

But it pays to be cautious these days when someone you don't know is at your door. Never let them in your home and don't open the door even a crack for them. It could be the last mistake you ever make. And never, never let them use the phone. That is your life line to the outside. This is most important if you are elderly or handicapped. Don't argue with them either but rather just call the police. Be cautious.

Vento Motorcycle


Have you seen the Vento Motorcycle that is being advertised at some of the Harley dealers?
Me neither but I want to go and take a peek at one. Their V-Thunder model makes a nice looking cruiser in the ads and the price is a low $3499.00. But I'd never even heard of one until a few months ago. These are Chinese made bikes from a company trying to get in on the American motorcycle market. They also make scooters, dirt bikes, ATV's which looks like where they started. A network of dealers is being worked up for ease of obtaining parts needed to service these vehicles.

Checking on the web I have found others asking the same questions as to the reliability stand point and whether or not anyone has done a review on them. Most people are saying to stay away from them because they are so new and wonder just how well built the bikes may be. Let us not forget though that the Japanese couldn't build a reliable bike at all until Harley made a deal to let them tool up and make bikes at a state of the art factory for the day. The Japanese had no idea how to design and build a reliable motorcycle until they came and toured the factory making Japanese Harley's under license from the US company before the war. Many of these bikes kept being built and used by the Japanese military after war broke out. Honda, for one, then took what they learned and saw and you see what happened there.

So let's not count these Chinese made bikes out just yet.

Camping last night was Terrific

I had great news to tell him when I got home that the wife hadn't told him of. This was something that he was pulling hard for me on. I had been on an interview with a company that makes mainly parts for the aircraft industry back in December. They needed someone to set up and organize their warehousing as this is an area they are lacking in. They called me to come back for another interview on Thursday and on Friday I was informed that I had the job. So I start on the 23rd of January.
Plus they will be training me on their CNC operations and other areas to. All of these are right up my alley and an area of interest for me. I've even touched on Powder Coating with them and hopefully this is something that will be added to the business. Currently they send everything out for anodizing and finish. With the planned addition to the building this is a very viable option.

So this made for our campout to be that much better with the good news.

My son and I were able to enjoy our campout last night with high spirits. We began our night as soon as I came home from work. He was more than ready when I walked in the door with lots to do. First off we had omelets for dinner and sat around cutting up. Why, I even let down my guard and ripped a good one at the table. ( A Camping have to that only guys can have fun with.) That accomplished we made our way to the VCR to watch the movie "Catch me if you Can" with Tom Hanks and Leonardo De Caprio. Based on a true story about a teenager who becomes a con artist pretending to be an Airline Pilot, Doctor, Lawyer and how he eluded capture for so long making tons of money. Yes we had a huge bowl of popcorn to boot.

Then it was off to the game room to play on the Xbox for hours. He had rented a couple of games and we played until after midnight. We were even able to talk about things going on with him and his girlfriend of the month. I went down to the basement and retrieved our sleeping bags which we put on the floor of the game room before watching Mash. Of course we had the wrestling match and joke session as well.

This morning I awoke half uncovered from my unzipped sleeping bag because our Springer Spaniel had made her way inbetween us and the result was her pulling the bag to suit her. When we began to move around she thought that meant playtime and she started rolling around and pinching us like she does when she plays. You can't be in the floor without her taking that as an invitation to play. After we got her to settle down, my son went to fetch me a cup of coffee to wake me up.
We were Hungary so we made our way to the BiscuitVille in our PJs. The drive through line around the building was long and the place was packed. Not wanting to go inside anyway because of our attire, we drove across town to the other one and retrieved our food quickly for he, his mother and I. Biscuitville is a very big deal around here and the biscuits are made fresh on the spot each day. You can even watch them making them from scratch when your inside. None of that pre-made frozen stuff for them. No siree buddy. Biscuitville is just about as good as Martins Biscuits in Georgia which is my home state. Martins biscuits are the size of a cup saucer and they to are made fresh on the spot. I always loved their tender steak biscuits they serve using real steak.
After getting home with the breakfast and chowing down with the good food, the boy and his mother played some games together. We didn't want to leave her completely out of it but I bet she was glad to have the night before to herself for a change. That is, after we had all watched the movie together.
So she said that a good campout needs a good hike and she had an idea. We all gathered up and got dressed to go see this movie about these kids who find a game in the basement of the old house their father just bought. Its called something like Shumara or something as the spelling of the name escapes me at the moment. But it was a good fun adventure over at the old Graham theatre. Free refills on popcorn as well and that is a plus for all of us for sure. We are all popcorn addicts.

It was just a great time and something we all enjoyed and needed.

The Largest State Park

With all the Mill Industries and Tobacco and other companies leaving North Carolina every day, not to mention the Taxes that keep going deeper into already thread bare pockets, pretty soon North Carolina will be the Largest State Park in history. I mean, just how many can afford to earn a decent living here anymore. There are twenty middle class homes on the market in less than a square mile of my home. Many have been through more than one realty company with no luck. Others are foreclosed and still others just sit vacant because people without jobs can not afford to buy a home or keep one. I know of four people who have lost their jobs just since December and more business closings are still to come. And then the President of the US of A comes to visit just one company doing well at the moment and tells us all the economy is growing stronger. Who's he kidding with his story telling? That's like going to the desert and stopping at the only store for a 500 mile radius and calling it a boom town. Bush didn't bother to go and see all the large closed Plants and shuttered business's in the area. Sure a tractor company or a differential company can keep pumping out their products and stock pile hundreds of thousands of them. But when there is no one to sell them too they'll be another boarded up vacant property. Then I guess the President will come back and stop at the last remaining Mini-Mart next to the closed Industries and proclaim:
"See the economy is growing and doing great in North Carolina. Look how the shelves are fully stocked up."

I can just see the sign for the park now: " North Carolina State Park. The largest ghost town in American History." Heck, it might even be named "George Bush State Park."

Big oil and Big Government make Poor People

Big oil is using the excuse of large storms and anything else they can find to justify rising costs at the pumps and for heating homes. I never believed a word of it and neither should you. The largest companies are reporting the biggest profits ever. To date they have pulled in a combined profit of $254 Billion since Bush was elected in 2001. The company with the largest profit in history is Exxon/Mobile. They have had $89 billion which includes $9.92 billion in just the third quarter profits alone.

Shell comes in at $60.7 billion

BP with $53 billion

Chevron/Texaco has $31 billion and

Conoco/Phillips has $20 billion.

Did you know that $220 million energy money has been given to the Republican party since 1994 (www.opensecrets.org)

With those two working together with their hands in each others pockets, do you think the prices will ever come down?
Its killing the Airlines, Trucking and Industry and everyone else too. When it all boils down to it and companies keep moving away and shutting down, then who will be able to afford to live. It just won't matter which stores have the best prices in town when nobody is left with a job to buy anything. And don't count on the Police, Ambulance service or the Fire Departments showing up. A lot of Cities and Towns are already in a bind fuel wise that they just can't give us the travel coverage they used to.
What good are Government regulations when the Oil Companies and the Government are in the same bed together? The results are a Covernment child ( Corporate-Government ) from the marriage.

Walmart former Vice Chairman to plead guilty to Federal wire fraud and Tax evasion.

Thomas Coughlin, who was Walmarts vice chairman and number two man, is going to plead guilty to the fraud and Tax evasion charges . Coughlin left Walmart in 2005 after accusations surfaced after an investigation that he stole as much as $500,000 from the Monster chain which includes Sams Club.
He joined the company 25 years ago as head of security. His start was specialized in the area of loss prevention.

You would think that a number two man would earn enough to not have to steal. But what better way to cover your tracks than to be on every board you can and be head of security. If I were he and had held that position with his pay, I would have treated the company as if it were my own.
At past jobs I have been trusted with and watched out for things as such in my area. In fact, at one company in Atlanta, I was given the job of finding and weeding out and correcting issues related to company theft. It was not an easy task as some of these people I had worked with for years and never in my wildest dreams would have believed a couple of them to be thieves. They had violated my trust in them and had taken advantage of me by earning my respect and trust only to be sneaking around stealing.
In the end though, I came up with a way to track such things and kept a close eye on it. Our inventory at tax time looked the best it had in years I was told. It even took less time to complete. The new crew of old and new employees and their attitudes were better and a happier work place resulted. Unlike previous managers, I actually took time to talk with each of them on a dailey basis. I did things that I had always said, when I was just a order puller, that I would do different if I was the boss. Later when given the job after working my way up, they the employees could come to me and talk, whether it was work related or personal, with the strictest of confidence. Each was treated with respect as I had always felt was missing before. One thing that had been said to me many times was that you need to keep yourself fairly removed from the employees or they will have no respect for you. Well, I found that being involved with them on a human level actually was much better for me, them and the company. My reward at the end of each year was a bonus that I shared with each of them. To me they had earned it just as well as I and if not for the employees I never would have received a bonus.
I've been approached with bribes in the past to overlook certain things that I knew were wrong. I never accepted any and if I was suspicious of activity that someone else was I reported it and made note of it. Although all this looking out for the companies and their well being was over looked. They knew I was honest and could be trusted. But neither of them were appreciative enough to reward my efforts with better wages. Even so I did what was right. Guess that is why I'll never be a rich man and make good wages or gain corporate status. Honest workers are the ones that are paid the least and taken advantage of in the old way of management.

To this day I still have two letters of recommendation from my former bosses at that company. They tell of the tough task that I had been given to overhaul the warehousing and trucking. I left them with a team that worked well together in all aspects

Camping out with the Boy. Tomorrow is just another crappy day at the day job but I can't wait until tomorrow night.

My young son and I are going to go camping. We won't be going anywhere far. Nope! Not at all. We will be going to the far corners of his room and make a tent out of blankets. Play some games and just generally be goofing around. Hopefully we'll make his momma mad and have her yelling for us to go to sleep. This is going to be some great fun. I'm looking forward to it and can't wait until I get home from the crap hole.
We have not done anything like this in a long time and we both need it badly.

Ouch!! Now that hurt. It's true that cars and bikes don't mix well.

Ahhhh, sweet Victory.

These bikes just keep getting better and better all the time. Finally some good looking rides from the Polaris guys and gals.