Thursday, December 26, 2013

My Christmas Present part 2 The Reveal!!

BEFORE:
 
 

DURING:

AND...............
 
 
 
 
 
AFTER




Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, THIS IS MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!!!  

No, I'm not mad that I didn't get a diamond ring, or fancy perfume, or flowers or anything equally decadent. 

 No, my husband is NOT calling me fat.... or lazy, as he would NEVER EVER say that or even imply it.  

Yes, THIS is the Christmas Gift that I ASKED for.  So, beginning tomorrow, Watch US GO!!! 

My Christmas Present, Introduction

Later this evening I will be writing about the Christmas Present my loving hubby gave me.  We got it today and got it all set up.  Watch and Wait!!!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

I have a Title...Now What do I do with it?

Chief Financial Officer:

As we were continuing the process of building this new business, there were certain lines we had to fill in with information. 

Our Office Manager said that she was putting Jonathan down as CEO of the company, and asked if that was alright.  Of course it is alright as that is what he is.   Currently, he is CEO, Chief Transportation Manager,  Head of the Mechanics division and several other things. 

As Office Manager, Suzanne handles all billing, all bidding, and most things in between. 

I,  have struggled with finding "my place"  in all of this.  As far as this business is concerned, I have told people who asked that I sit around looking pretty, oh, and sign checks. 

But today, the questions on this form continued needing specific answers.  Suzanne asked, "Who should I put down as CFO.. and what IS CFO?   The answer?..... ME!!  Well, yes, I sign most of the checks around here to pay the bills so sure, call me that. 

But that got me to thinking, what IS a CFO?  The easy answer is Chief Financial Officer.  That lead me to beg the question, what does a CFO even DO?   My uncle, I believe is CFO of a banking company in Texas.  You see people on news programs and such labeled CFO.  Still, that really doesn't answer the question, so that is leading me on another search.  

So far this is what the internet has told me.  " Want to be a chief financial officer? Business experts and CFOs themselves say your first priority is to become a business strategist. You have to move from an accounting focus to see the borders of the big picture—and beyond. You have to understand all aspects of your business, from the sales goals to the marketing plan to your company’s position in the marketplace through to the strategic plan. You have to be familiar with distribution channels, public relations and all other functional silos. You have to understand the latest technology and be able to share your IT savvy with your colleagues. In other words, “You can’t rely on just knowing the ABCs of accounting,” explains Diane Albergo, manager of member career services at the Financial Executives Institute (FEI), a membership organization for CFOs and senior financial executives in Morristown, New Jersey. “You need a strong business sense.” "   (Taken from the Journal of Accountancy.com)

Oh boy do I have a LOT to learn.   Again.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Time to go back to school.... or something

.  I have decided that the best thing I can do for myself is to use this space to take notes on the things  I need to learn and am learning, so I can keep track of those things in the future.  This whole chapter in my life is very overwhelming for me on an every day basis.  I have come to the realization that no one else has to understand WHY this is overwhelming for me and in what ways it is overwhelming.  None of that matters to anyone else but me and that is quite all right.  I just have to find some ways to cope with the whole thing myself and to find calm in the midst of it all.  I just have to find ways to keep it all to myself, put a smile on my face and pretend everything is a bowl of cherries until I can make it so. That will be much easier for all around me to cope with ME.  

I have very limited experience in the area of hiring and firing.  Personally I have not even been in a job interview for myself in lets see.. over around 20 years.  Yep, a bit rusty I would say. Not to mention, as I tell people, MY degree is in Elementary Education with my major emphasis as Special Ed.  I do not have a business degree, I'm not a mechanic, I'm not proficient in logistics, no experience in HR.  Have I mentioned that I'm barely proficient in turning a computer on and off, much less could I be considered an IT specialist.  Oh yes,  Then there is the 3 inch binder sitting beside me here on the bed titled Fleet Safety Compliance Manual.   Nope, I'm not a safety specialist either. 

So, tonight, here I go.  I am starting my note taking and haphazard education with an article titled Finding & Keeping Drivers. 


According to an American Trucking Assns white paper from last year, the United States currently is facing a shortage of 20,000 to 25,000 drivers in the for-hire truckload market and during the next ten years, could become over 200,000 if something is not done. 

Shortage Could Spread
I.  Currently shortages tend to be long-haul and over the road carriers
II.  Issues causing the problem
     A. relatively low pay
     B.  living on the road challenges
     C.  changes to hours of service
     D.  Changes to compliance, safety accountability program
     E.  industry growth
     F.  retirements and drivers leaving the industry
III.  Needs to fill slots
     A. on average 100,000 new drivers a year
     B.  slow job changes
IV.  Other exacerbating issues
     A. Generous unemployment benefits
     B. larger "underground economy" of tax free part time work
     C. stricter driver hiring criteria relating to health, safety record and substance abuse history
     D.  Intrusion of technology into the cab.  "big brother effect" 
     E.  Aging driver population not being replaced
     F.  Exansion of private smaller fleets
     G.  acute lack of "young blood"
     H.  Revolving door of hiring training and leaving the industry
V.  Solutions
     A.  No industry norm for solution
     B.  Companies who find solutions will win.
     C.  Increasing driver pay.
     D.  Expecting high qualifications
VI.  Changing Mindset. 
     A.  Find and treat quality people above the norm
          1.  Give quality the chance to demonstrate their competence and realiability
          2.  Communicate better with employees respect and value
          3.  Monthly tuition reimbursement payments for tuition loans for quality behavior
VII.  In house Candidates
     A.  SAIA combed its dockworkers o find employees with the right safety mindset and work ethic to start driving.
     B.  Finish training with seasoned drivers after employee goes to local driver training school if available.
     C.  Con-Way established its own truck driving school  
     D.  Investing in new attractive equipment.
VIII.  Driver wellness
     A.  Focusing on a drier health and wellness plan to reduce pour health
     B. Average lifespan of a trucker is 61 years
          1.  sleep apnea,
          2.  high blood pressure
          3.  obesity
     C.  Consider bonus pay for meeting health goals. 
IX.  Consider promotions
     A.  seasoned drivers becoming supervisor, trainer, dispatcher, or recruiter. 
     B.  inform drivers of these possibilities
X.  Summary
     A. recruitment
     B. qualifying, screening and orienting new employees
     C.  transition into the job
     D.  Periodic reviews, accountability and recognition
     E.  True career path



    

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Hows Retirement?

 
I keep running in to situations where people ask me variations on this question,  How's Retirement? 
The question may be "So, how is it having your husband around all the time?"  Or "Are you getting all the things done that he hasn't had time for the last few years?  You know, the retirement Honey Do List?"  And the most fun question to me seems to be, " Are you tired of him being underfoot yet?" 
 
I know that HE keeps getting questions about what its like to not have to get up every morning, and what its like to have "nuthin to do."  
 
So let me start with a picture from the official Retirement Party!!!
 
Then, let me continue by saying that retirement is a blast!!   Yep, he doesn't HAVE to get up at 6:00 every morning.  He has generally been waking up around 5:30 most mornings voluntarily.   As for sitting around, yes there has been some of that.  Sitting in his pickup truck on the way to Santa Fe, or Albuquerque to file for CRS Numbers, IFTA permits, HAZMAT Certificates, checking "load Boards".  Sitting around on the ground beside the tanker while learning how to change the breaks. 
 
The questions about me having him hanging around.  Boy, I couldn't even begin to keep up with the paperwork and the phone calls and just trying to get this show off the ground and organized if I DIDNT have him hanging around to show me what I was doing.  Just looking up from my desk and seeing him through the window in his office is wonderful.  Watching him walk in the back door from "the yard", hands greasy up to his elbows is a great sight.  Grabbing a quick lunch together before we head back to the office to start again.  Nope not tired of him hanging around at all. 
 
As for getting around to the things we haven't done in the last few years around home?  Who is home long enough to know?   Yes, there are items on the list that we are going to get to this year.  And I know that we will get to them to make this place the best "get away in this part of the world"  Just today is not that day. 
 
What you might ask is taking up all of our newly retired time?????  
Here is a glimpse.  The two on the left are from the business that we already manage for my mom.  The two on the right are our new business.  There is one more semi tractor,  two tankers, three flat beds and an asphalt tanker in the mix.  
 
 
I enjoy photography anyway, but having new subjects to work with is a challenge and a half.  Here we have 909 and 606 looking away from the setting sun.
 
 
 
909. 606 "The Pee" and the International
playing around for me and just having some fun.
 
 

 
 
And the last but not least of my fun pictures,  Jonathan,  The Retired Guy!!! 


And just a fun shot closer up of two of the trucks. If you look closely you can see the company names on both of them.  What an amazing ride!!!!

So, just out of curiosity,  What does retirement mean in your world? 

Monday, October 14, 2013

Our New Venture

 
Under construction:  both business and blog.  Check back over the next couple days and there were be explainations
 
 
 
 
 
 





Thursday, August 15, 2013

Maybe this explains something

I am admittedly a strange mixture of characteristics.  For those who know me, they know I have what appears to be extensive and major trust issues.  (Which I do)  But, I also have this extensive and oddly contrasted faith in  the ability of people to come through when the chips are down. I am a died in the wool people pleaser, and yet very much a loner.  I have excellent "gut feelings"  about people and situations.... and yet continue to make decisions and choices that are seldom what those around me would have me do. 

So, you may ask, where is all of this conflict leading to? 
 Someone I know shared a piece written by J. Mary Luti.   
J. Mary Luti is Visiting Professor of Worship and Preaching at Andover Newton Theological School, and this from her bio is the some total of what I know about this person.  But her comments opened my eyes this morning in a way that I needed to see and hear.

Before we go on, let me mention that I am NOT a cat person, but I understand the anology presented here. 

The story began with the idea that from time to time she would unexpectedly drop in to visit her parents and her mother would always say, "Look what the CAT dragged in"  I grew up hearing the same phrase uttered by my own father.  He used it to explain almost any unexpected sighting of someone you had not seen in a while.  Usually, that person came to visit from "somewhere over yonder."  

This woman went on to detail that cats tend to do things like kill mice or birds and want more than anything to bring them to you as a good will offering of love and companionship.  My dogs have been known to do the same thing, as they know they will get a treat from me if they bring gross stuff to me instead of eating or rolling in it.  But cats also will bring wads of yarn, shiney things, gross batches of yuck that make us want to gag, but THEY are attatched to it. 

She then goes on to use this verse of scripture to tie things together.  "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near." - Ephesians 2:13 

This is to remind us that each of us who profess to be "in Christ" were are some point one of those bizzare and eclectic finds to Christ.  Maybe we weren't the half dead and bloody mouse, but surely we were each a balled up mess comepletely unable to untangle ourselves.
At some point in time, we were each picked up by the scruff of the neck and dropped into the lap of someone or someoneS who patched us back together or untangled us enough to be functional and productive. 

So, that brings me to ME in all of this.  If you were to find a way to watch a video tape of my family line back for all the generations I have actual word of mouth stories about, you find that somehow we cant help ourselves but to take on balls of twine to untangle.  And you know what the cold hard truth of life is?  You cant untangle a ball of twine, or patch up a broken and bloody bird without touching it.  There are a great number of people out there who don't see life the way I do.  They believe that either, people should just KNOW how to "fix themselves"  OR if you tell them they are a mess, they should just fix it.  That isn't the way it works.  That's why God made us in HIS image.  That's one of the reasons the Trinity exists in the fashion it does.  Relationship. 

What does that mean for me?  It means that sometimes I am going to get my hands dirty, my heart broken, my trust violated.  I can guarantee that to make some of the people around me happy, and to be able to streamline the business of my life, I would love to be different.  There are days I would LOVE to be able to look at the tired, down trodden and messed up people around me and just walk on by... but I know also that to be that person would ultimately not make those same people happy with me either. 

For me, it boils down to this woman's last sentence.  "Having been brought like this from the outside in, how ungrateful we would be to curl up smugly and dream our dreams, while out there so many weird and wonderful treasures wait to be discovered, to be cherished, to be carried proudly home."

If I can make one difference.  Through Christ All Things are Possible. 




Thursday, August 8, 2013

Today:

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

With a new day comes new strength and new thoughts     Eleanor Roosevelt

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Independence Day 2013

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/c
The link takes you to a readable version of our Declaration of Independence for the United States of America.   My personal belief is that every American Citizen and those living here under our flag for what ever reason that are NOT full fledged citizens of this Great Nation should, today of all days, read this document.  I believe that every parent should sit their children down and read this document out loud To their children and then, while enjoying that Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness, should discuss what its meaning was and is and will be to come.  I believe that every extend family and friend gathering today should include the reading and discussion of this document.  This is important stuff, folks.  Many of us have neglected the basics for way too long.  Those who are seeking "Change" in this nation know what This Document and The Constitution SAY...
Do you?.......
                                                                REALLY????????? 








We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-- 

 So, now, on a lighter note, excerpting this portion of the document, I share with you my morning.  These photos are some of the highlights of our Independence Day Parade.  










Sunday, June 30, 2013

Grief is an interesting thing

     Grief is an interesting thing.  Thanks to research by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in the 1960s  we understand that while everyone does not grieve in exactly the same methods, we do all go through the same stages.  We also understand now that grieving over the loss of a person is not the only thing we grieve.  It can be the loss of a pet, a relationship, a thing, like the loss of a house if it burns.  You can grieve the loss of your feeling of safety, they say. 
     I have watched many people around me go through loss and have observed the way they have maneuvered through this forest.  Everyone seems to "do it" differently, even when you can observe familial patterns, cultural patterns, and individual patterns tied to personal experiences.  I pretty much know what my familial/cultural patterns are, so there aren't many surprises in this to me, however oddly no one else around me seems to be noticing.
     Some how, I have gotten through the loss of the people in my life that have left.  I say that part of that is because I started out learning that people leave you when I was 2 years old and my sister died.  I also have made it through most of the people I have lost because I know that I will get to see them again in the here after. 
     About 4 years ago we found out that my dad had lung cancer.  He and my mom went to Albuquerque for his treatment and thanks to the help of some friends they were able to stay up there for 3 months.  During that time, my nephew injured his back and was off work for 6 months.  That started about a month in to my dads treatment.  My mom and dad got home just in time for Thanksgiving then immediately after that my husband left for 3 months on a work detail.  In the middle of that time, my dad was told his treatment had worked well. My husband came back home to work, and my nephew got to come back to work.  Needless to say during this time, I spent a great deal of time alone, in more ways than one, which actually gave me the time to come to terms with a lot of things.  In July of that same year my dads checkup went south and we were told the cancer had come back with a vengeance and was now in his bones and because he decided against any further treatment he was given about 6 months.  He passed away in September.  Then the race began to try to keep everything together for everyone left.  
      I got through most of this time by talking to my brother on the phone.  He didn't live near by and was not able to get here to help me out but he could talk to me on the phone on almost a daily basis.  He could offer suggestions, remind me of times when we were together, tell me things he had been through, and generally listen to my frustration.  he wasn't there to hug me but I couldn't have gotten through that time with out him. 
     Then, the end of July, we got a phone call telling us to rush to Albuquerque to see him because the doctors did not expect him to live through the night.  He had developed an infection in his one good kidney and they couldn't get ahead of it.  We got to see him for a couple of hours before he passed. 
So,there I was again. 
     There was so much to do.  We were in the middle of fire season.  Life went on no matter how badly I missed him or how badly I needed someone to just talk to about all my weird stuff who just listened, never judged but did offer advice from time to time. I have to say he also had the capacity to not hold anything I might say against me or against the people I was frustrated with. 
     Life went from there in to a very difficult winter as well.  Things were beginning to get better.
    
     How ever, I have realized that I am currently going through the grief process due to another loss that is coming up.  The loss of something that has just always been there, through out my whole life.  Even knowing that it is time for this "thing" to die, doesn't make it better at the moment. 

So I started to examine where I am at today as I have really had a hard time not crying today.  After looking at the stages of grief today, I realize that I have made it through most of them.. and with this particular case it has pretty much taken me 2 years or so for various reasons.  I have also realized that sometimes other people tend to jump in to "help you out" in some of the various stages.  There are those who are more than willing to help you bargain, feel guilty, get angry with you... Which I believe leads to the depression part.  Its like the acceptance and hope part though, I'm not really sure those same people want you to feel. 

So, I am at the point of depression at the moment, at least for today.  Tomorrow, I have to get back to work, but today, just because of something stupid like my washer dumping water all over the floor and soaking my laundry room floor and everything in it was just the last straw for me.  I haven't been able to stop crying for longer than a few minutes at a time. 

     I know that for some people that know me, they will find this interesting because I don't have these emotions..

The seven emotional stages of grief are shock or disbelief, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression, and acceptance/hope.

http://www.caring.com/articles/stages-of-grief

How will I know when I'm done grieving?


Every person who experiences a death or other loss must complete a four-step grieving process:
  • Accept the loss.
  • Work through and feel the physical and emotional pain of grief.
  • Adjust to living in a world without the person or item lost.
  • Move on with life. The grieving process is over only when a person completes the four steps.
I am trying to figure out how to do step 3... adjust to a world with out this item in it. Even though, on the surface most people won't even know there is an issue.  I just need to give me some time. 
And everyone else needs to figure out that even *I* get depressed sometimes. 

Monday, June 24, 2013

Inside my head

So, today was just another day for me.  It was Monday, started out running a little late, as usual, and was worried that the appointment I had was going to be there waiting on me.  Got to work, my contractor drove up to give me the invoice on the project he was working on for me and explain what had been done to this point and when the rest would be done.  I was excited that this was getting on a roll finally. 

Answered the phone to find out the appointment I had was running later than I was so it gave me about 2 hours to get other things going.  Took care of a couple errands I needed someone else to run for me and got that person dispatched.  Got another employee dispatched to finish repacking a trailer that is part of our fire equipment.  Scrubbed a 100 foot hose.  Checked out how much progress my hubby was making on our mechanic shop area, which was a LOT of work!!!!!

Appointment showed up to do the training for us for our newest endeavor,  worked in a very hot room a our swamp cooler doesn't work very well and the temp was over 100 degrees outside.  Part of our training also had to take place outside in the sun.  Answered the phone to take orders for the trucking business.   First customer was late showing up to pick up his equipment so we had to wait till after the store actually closed and we should have been on the way home.  But we got through doing the paperwork all on our own with out our trainer to help us.  (which incidentally was something that made me very proud to get through since I panicked completely at the beginning and couldn't remember a THING we were supposed to do. 

In the middle of this I have answered any number of phone calls from my family asking questions of how to cook things for their dinners from Fort Worth to Las Cruces NM and here in town as well.

Then we went home.  Hubby decided to take me out to dinner to cool off and we left all the kids here to eat the dinner they had cooked.  Came back home and sat down to talk to the not kids... the young adults that we are working with to make the leap into true adulthood. 

Suddenly, almost in the middle of the conversation, I realize that what to me  everything that has gone on all day is just another day, just part of the job as it were. But it has become overwhelming to literally everyone else that had been in our circle and suddenly, here I am, sitting all alone.  They have all had to go somewhere else to regroup and I don't know, unwind?
I'm really not sure what it is about me and my world that makes others run and hide.   And if I could figure it out, Im not sure I could stop doing it.  I guess that's part of the reason I have pretty much always been "a loner".  Other people can only take so much. 

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Time to Vote:

Our county fair is coming up sooner than I planned for.  I am going through the photographs that I have taken this year to see what I am going to enter this year.  I cant decide this year so I am going to put it out there for help.  Please take a look at the ones I am considering at this point and vote for what you think might be worth entering.  Thank you for your help. 
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