Stormbringer's Thunder

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Edited June 2, 2020 On this anniversary of my first weblog (began in 2007), I wanted to do something very personal that also including material that applies to many people in the workforce. Readers from The Company may wonder, "Is he talking about me?" For the most part, "you" will be a combination of people. The big business shall remain unnamed. Background image: Unsplash / Rupixen This article may get me fired or I could receive some other form of retaliation, but I am presenting the truth and the situation as I see it. Some people can't handle that . The Hazard of Hiring Humans It's problematic for  laissez-faire capitalism (see " Evolutionary Thinking and Human Capital ") that they have to employ people. Not automatons, not (as Mr. Gordons says) meat machines, but people. We are not baunistic. Mayhaps some bigwigs would like to completely automate, but even androids need maintenance. (What was that old ...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen There is an amazing amount of vitriol aimed at Donald Trump, his supporters, and Christians. There were many Christians who did not support him, or (like me) only did so reluctantly in hopes that he meant what he said about appointing Supreme Court judges that are pro-life [ 1 ], supporting religious freedom [ 2 ], and he promises to uphold the Constitution [ 3 ]. Whether or not appointed judges betray the values they claim to uphold (like some have done) remains to be seen. Also, there's that "down ticket thing", people running for other offices; it wasn't just a presidential election, you know. I'm cautiously optimistic, and hope he gets advisers who know what they're doing. Christians need to pray for him [ 4 ]. I'd like to recommend a Christian analysis of the election on Janet Mefferd's podcast [ 5 ]. For some interesting discussion from a secular source, I had a great time listening to analysis and callers on this p...

This steak still has marks from where the jockey was hitting it! — Rodney Dangerfield in "Caddyshack" I tried to tell people before, but did they listen? Noooooooo! What is it, really? morgueFile/MaxStraeten So I'll say it again, and appeal to the wallet instead of ethics: This is not the kind of economy for businesses to be cheap! There are reports of horse meat in various products [ 1 , 2 ] ("contanimated" is such a strong word...it's just not what people paid for) and speculation that the merchants are cutting corners. "Generic" or "store brand" items thaqt were formerly comparable (and sometimes superior) to their name-brand counterparts are getting less desirable ; t he name-brand products are often reducing quality themselves. Customer service? In many cases, fuggedaboudit! Little to no help. You have to learn how to work that gadget yourself. Restaurants that water down the soup? How cheap can you get?...

Buon giorno . It's time for another rant. Some people miss my rants. This one outta hold ya for a while! I don't get it. This Constitutional  Representative Republic were I live called the United States is getting weird. On one hand, we have people wanting total democracy. "Majority rule" is mob rule. Do not want. On the other hand, what we are supposed  to be living with is great, and it works. Or it used to. Special-interest groups spoil things for everybody. We have atheo-fascists like the " Freedom from Religion Foundation ", " Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers" ("freethinkers", that's a laugh based on a genetic fallacy)  and similar weasels protesting practically everything in public life that even resembles and "endorsement of religion". United States Marines put up a cross to honor the fallen. Losers have to protest it . Makes me believe we're devolving into lower life forms, capice? Want to o...

Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can't miss.   — Lee Iacocca Tweaked for clarity 3-26-2011. Buona sera. I have an attitude with thunder and lightning heading your way. You may have noticed that the title of this missive is the opposite of true intelligence. It constantly amazes me that so many companies seem to think that if their employees are not in a minor panic, sweating and frantic, that work is not getting done. Brace yourselves, this is Bluntness Day: They are too cheap to supply their employees with the proper tools to get the job done. Remember my buddy Neil? He works for a cheapskate Fortune 100 company. They are certainly not in the "100 Best Places to Work" list, but they cannot determine the cause. Spurious surveys to make themselves feel good, with faked results and continually contemptuous workers are the r...

Buona sera. I was able to catch some of the usual Christmas movies that I like to watch every year. Now, wait a minute! I am not going to be going on about Christmas, exactly, and then I'll drop it. I'm as glad the season is winding down as much as almost everyone else. So anyway. Hard-hearted and heavy-handed employers make labor burdensome. Labor, by its nature, is seldom a joy. But treating your employees poorly, or even neglecting opportunities to bring them a little joy, is a good part of what causes labor to be a burden. In National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Mr. Shirley suspended the Christmas bonuses. He was becoming a miser and was more interested in saving a few dollars than in the best interests of his employees. In this case, the Christm as bonus was expected every year, and they counted on it as part of their salaries. When he had to look at the Griswold family, he said, " Look, uh, sometimes things look good on paper, but lose their luster when y...

Buona sera . This article is taking a different approach, and I'm posting it in several places at once because it doesn't fit just one Weblog theme. I’m suspicious of AskMen.com. Instead of trying to help men be better men, it often has articles written by women that tell men how to please women. And they have those online surveys. These are nowhere near scientific (like the “Top 48 Most Influential Men of 2008” putting B. Hussein Obama ahead of many other tried and true contenders; it was obviously repeat voting done to influence the election). Their “ Top 99 Women ” can also be influenced by repeat voting, but the motive is fan based. “...Our 2009 Great Male Survey , a poll that drew over 50,000 participants and more than 2 million responses. We asked our male readers more than 100 questions about their love lives, their jobs, how they spend their leisure time, and their thoughts on current events. The final results paint a surprising picture of the modern man -- ...

"Don't get too high on a bottle, "Get right with the Man, son. "Fight your fights, find a grace, "And all the things that you can change, "And help somebody if you can. "And get right with the Man." — Van Zant, from Get Right with the Man Buona sera. No, I'm not going to go on about the passing of my father and my oldest brother again. Yes, I'm going to go on about how we're remembered. Some of the things I've been reading and hearing lately have been coming together. Naturally, because of my experiences in recent months, I've been thinking about how I hope I'm remembered. My crew will remember me as a strict disciplinarian, but I hope they know that I'm that way because I want them to survive. Also, I hope they've learned a few things from me that they can apply to their lives. And I hope they remember the jokes and fun times. With this thinking going on, my old buddy Neil has had some bad times lately. His father-...

Trust in the business world. In a word, fuggedaboudit. Or, to borrow from Tony Montana, "What, are you nuts?" I've learned from my own experiences, from the experiences of co-workers and from simply reading articles that trust is not something you give away freely. You have to be slow and sparing when you give trust in the worlds of government, espionage, counterespionage, organized crime and big business. All of these have elements in common in their organizational structures and interactions. Trust has to be earned, and it has to be earned slowly. I trust some members of my crew more than others. Some of them, I trust with my life. But guess what? I do not trust anyone one hundred percent! That is "thinking" with emotions, frankly. And in my businesses, you can't let emotions interfere. "Can I trust anyone at all, Uncle Bob?" It depends on how much you want to survive (literally or professionally). If you're not interested in friendship at th...

Buon giorno. I should have Neil write this because it's his story, but he's too busy trying to make money to pay the bills. As for me, I'm in a better mood because some money has come to me that I've been waiting a long time to receive. Neil works for a major American corporation. It's very big, and has international holdings. They complained that in their last quarter, they did not make as many tens of millions of dollars as they expected. Poor darlings! Neil says that this company is too big and too impersonal. I agree. The problem is, that's the way most of them get. His company does not care about its employees. They make a pretense at benefits because they could not get anyone to work there if they did not offer them (and their health benefits are laughable; many employees rely on their spouses for coverage). They cut out the overtime that many employees relied on to survive. Instead, they will have to learn the hard way that there is too much work, too li...