A journey through discovery.
Extract from Thomas Jefferson to Lafayette, 11 April 1787 [Quote]
I am constantly roving about, to see what I have never seen before and shall never see again
5. Traveling. … when men of sober age travel, they gather knowledge which they may apply usefully for their country
Continue reading “Tom on Time, Temperament, and Travel”
One of my favorite George Strait songs in that title, but it was an early fall chill on that last Saturday when we worked the calves. They were rather large, and in a mood. There was more snorting and dirt pawing than ever. As usual the heifers were more cantankerous than the bull calves. They were zeroing in on everyone. Even though the majority were only being violated by a vaccine needle, they were still having none of it. Guess you could call ’em anti-vaxxers.
Continue reading “Chill Of An Early Fall”
OMG Folks. When did we lose our sense of reason? We were on vacation in Colorado. It was like watching from the Crazy Train. Everywhere you look there are signs: HELP WANTED. Along with those, there are others which proclaim: $15.00 MINIMUM WAGE at fast food joints. At one McDonalds there was even a sign: HOUSING AVAILABLE. We cam upon a sandwich shop that was only opened at the drive-thru window because they couldn’t get enough staff to open the dining room even though they were offering $15 an hour. These are entry level jobs. When did we equate “minimum wage” with “living wage?”
My first job, driving a grain truck – $2.00 an hour – of course I was just a teen. The corporate job that gave me the layoff – I started as an hourly employee for $3.35 in 1985. The Federal Minimum Wage was introduced in 1938 at 25 cents an hour. It took 23 years for it to break a dollar an hour, which was in 1961 when it went up to $1.15. In the first fifty years of its existence the minimum wage rose by $3.10. In 2009, the FMW reached $7.25 per hour, an increase of $3.90 in a twenty-eight year period. If the FMW were to go to $15 now as many are clamoring for, it would be a $7.75 increase over a twelve year period. Wages are the largest expense a business has, and rising wages, while initially helping employees, raises the cost of living for the very employees it is intended to help.
Continue reading “CRAZY TRAIN”
One of the hardest parts of business is getting and keeping good people. And what makes good people anyway? I used to think that people were just born with a good work ethic; something that came natural, but as time went by I realized that just isn’t the case. Some are instilled with a good work ethic when they are young and some have to learn it along the way.
Each of my kids began working when they were in junior high or high school. In fact, you might say they started earlier than that by doing odd jobs for relatives as early as second or third grade. They were taught by their parents; they were expected to put in their best effort no matter what they did. And we were fortunate that the people they worked for – farmers, ranchers, small business owners – expected the same thing from them. In most cases, they are still close to their former employers and, though three out of four (one still being in college and working) of them have moved on to become pretty successful at what they are doing, if they had need to return to their former places of employment they would be accepted with open arms.
Continue reading “Fix or Flee”