BE's Weekly Observation: It seems that most of us don't want to be informed. We want to be entertained. News shows seem to be better-received if the talking heads are attractive. Real news takes a back seat to whatever Britney/Lindsay/Paris has done most recently.

And now, Obama's campaign seems to be getting its biggest boost from Oprah. I'm for the guy, and I can't argue with the need to give the public what it wants.

I just wish it hadn't been necessary.


It was a decent week for me, but a bit irritating. Dozens of little details I had let hang for the Minneapolis project had to be attended. Then my wife had to work quite late Friday.

I thought, "Oh, well. I'll just spend some quality time on SG."

*Sigh*

Otherwise, I'm doing well.

How are you fine folks doing?

BE's Weekly Observation: What Yogi Berra said about baseball is true of life. "Ninety percent of this game is half mental."


This was a difficult, yet rewarding week. I did some grumbling here several weeks ago about the break-neck trip I had to make to Minneapolis. Today, finally, we reached agreement with all three of the buildings we were trying to land with that trip.

The negotiations were intense and problematic, but they never produced animosity. I'm pretty sure neither of us left anything on the table. The lawyer on the other side whom I worked with kept his cool, and we hammered out the last semi-colon.

I agreed to several things we've never accepted before in contracts with buildings. But after conferring with the department heads, I came to the conclusion we could do them. I'm fairly sure the boss won't mind the compromises I made. I kind of forgot to mention them to him.

Hope everyone is well. I would love to know how you're doing.

BE's weekly observation: Principles are hard. Rationalization is easy. The need to stick by principles is most important when doing so is the least convenient.


This was not a quiet week. The tug of war in machine shop I'm involved in reached critical mass this afternoon. I told the manager and the foreman yesterday that we needed to have a meeting. I warned them up front that at the end of it they wouldn't like me much - but that I could live with that.

Over the past 2-1/2 years, the machine shop has been a significant cash drain. Between my boss (who's doing fairly well now) and the two companies for which I serve as VP and general counsel, the machine shop has run up a debt of ~$700K.

At the meeting, I revealed to them for the first time that I have T's general power of attorney. I can exercise all of his authority, and he is the majority owner. Then we got into it.

The foreman has had the manager buffaloed for some time. For whatever reason, no one has been willing to stand up to the guy. In truth, he would be difficult to replace - but not impossible.

About five minutes into the session, he and I got into a shouting match. At one point, he got up and said he was quitting. I told him not to let the door hit him in the ass. He sat back down, and we had a fairly productive conversation thereafter.

Bottom line, they now know exactly what they need to do, if they expect us to keep the shop afloat. I may need to shop around for a body guard.

But damn, that was fun!

Hope everyone is well.

BE's weekly observation: There seems to be an unexplored law of physics or something about knowledge and opinion. The less knowledge someone has, the more willing he or she seems to be to make up the difference with opinion.


It's been a relatively quiet week. My boss seems to be getting stronger. His PET (whatever that is) scan is set for a few weeks from now. I again thank those of you who have expressed kind wishes for him.

I'm way behind on my self-imposed schedule for writing. It would be more accurate to say "editing," actually, as most of the effort has been directed at reducing what I have to manageable size.

If I can discipline myself (historically iffy), I may be able to get caught up. This unfortunately will cut into my time here on the site.

My family and I are well. We aren't looking forward to cold weather, but that's the way it goes. I've laid in a good supply of aspirin.

Hope you're all well.

BE's weekly observation: The way things are going, it does seem like we're headed toward the final showdown between good and evil. And all those people who claim to know what God wants - guess which side they're on.


It's been a decent week. My boss seems to be getting past the effects of the radiation treatments. In my darker moments, I suspect that all he's done is to buy some time. I won't let on to him, of course.

The big confrontation didn't happen. The character who had been unwilling to comply with the terms of his contract with the machine shop basically capitulated. I'll confess having a slight disappointment, but it's for the best. He's the shop's biggest customer, and an all-out war would likely have shut the shop down.

In the company I actually draw a salary from, I finally got a contract extension executed with the owner of our biggest site. After six months of haggling and carrying on, we signed a one-page document that simply continued the existing contract on the same terms. Go figure.

On an unrelated note, my membership renewal comes up soon. Had it come up 10 days ago, I'm pretty sure I would have passed. I've gotten past most of my anger and disappointment, but I'm still not sure. If I do decide not to renew, it won't have anything to do with money - so please don't anyone renew for me. Anyway, should I decide to leave, I'll try to exchange e-mail addresses with some of the wonderful people with whom I love conversing before I go dark.

So how did your week go?

BE's observation for this week: At some point in the future, we'll think of these as the good old days. Try not to let it bother you.


It's been a tough week. We've learned that the IRS wants another $10k or so for 2005. Not an audit, a case where a financial institution was instructed to withhold taxes and didn't. It took a day or so for my wife to quit hyperventilating. Not so much the money as her having a phobia of the IRS. The accountant got her to calm down; she's fine.

Today is her birthday, btw. We celebrated only a bit tonight; she chose tomorrow for her birthday dinner. And I won't tell you her age - don't ask.

The tax deal was the least of the challenges for the week. My boss, T, has now completed his cyber-knife treatments, and we're crossing our fingers. My thanks again to those of you who have expressed kind thoughts.

I got into a pretty good row with the manager of a religious station that uses one of our sites. He was whining about some of our charges, them being a not-for-profit and all. I held my tongue fairly well, but it was difficult. I wanted very badly to tell him he could save some money by not using fancy, gold-embossed stationary. (Really!)

The machine shop is at a critical point. We're in a tiff with our biggest customer. Essentially, he's refusing to honor part of our contract. T has delegated his authority with respect to the machine shop (and the other companies, but that's another story) to me. If we can't get this resolved, the machine shop will probably close very soon.

There's a showdown-type confrontation next week, and I'll be at bat. I can't wait. This is what I live for.

Hope you're all well.