One last post for tonight. Just a bunch of random crap.
I love my cats. I never thought I'd say that, but these animals of mine have added so much to my life. I think my fear of allergies kept me from considering the pet option for so long. Had I known that they wouldn't bother me at all, I would have had a cat YEARS ago. Living with allergies to my sisters cats in my late teens when my brother and I lived with her was bad, and I never thought I'd be able to live with a cat. Maybe I out grew it. I can remember trying to sleep at night, gasping for breath in what was basically allergic asthma. It sucked, and not something I ever want to repeat again.
My cats now are great. Magic, the older of the two, is my baby. She spends a lot of time with me at night, when she's at her nicest. She'll hang out with me on the couch, bug me for attention, and lay with me in the bed. She doesn't do this with Britt or Terri, and I think she gets closer to me than everyone else. She was a wild cat, and she's kinda skittish, very shy, and doesn't allow most people to even see her. But she's my buddy, and I love that cat.
Ping(y) is the younger cat, and she's just crazy and adorble and playful and curious and everything that a cute little cat can be. She's the family cat and spends time with everyone. But when she's in the mood for attention I like it when she comes to me. She also likes to chew on cords and one of these days she's going to get a big shock if she keeps chewing on my laptop power cord!
My father was a mover for as long as I can remember. He drove a truck, moved people all over the country. Lifted furniture, put stuff together, took it apart, etc. Everyday, day in and out. I think he liked the traveling and driving stuff better, but he still was pretty good at the rest. As a kid I always wanted to go with. When I actually got to as an adult, it sucked and I hated it. Not something I ever wanted to do with my life. I respected what he did, as I've come to respect people who work manually in all aspects of employment as I grow older. But I never wanted to move people.
This past week, I've worked for a customer of mine who does house staging. Basically gets an empty house ready to sell. Does rough interior improvements, paints, decorates, etc to make the house look nice to sell. Part of my job was to help assemble furniture and move stuff into this house for her. Almost a light version of what my dad did. After only doing it twice, it just reaffirms my belief that I'd never want to move poeple for a living. Ever. If I ever did drive a truck, it wouldn't be a moving van and I wouldn't get out of the cab for anything. Man that's tough work.
I love OnDemand from comcast. That, along with my high speed internet, is keeping me from getting dish programming. I'll never rent a movie ever again.
Speaking of that, I watched Invincible the other day. Great movie. I liked the way it was shot, very yellow and very similar to how I remember the 70s for some reason. Yellow, bad clothes, bad hair, and crappy times. The fact that guy Vince Papale actually walked on to the Eagles and played for 3 years is incredible, and probably the dream of any 20 something former athelete that wishes he could have done the same.
I got Wrestlemania 23 tickets. I was 15 when it came around Detroit the first time, when it set records for a sporting event indoors. That WM was a great show, with Hulk and Andre, all the other great matches. I hope this show is a great show as well. At Ford Field. It's going to be fun. I've been jonesin' on wrasslin' again as of late. I'm convinced I could have been a pro wrestler had I put my mind to it in my 20s instead of going to college. My loss. :D
It's been cold here the last week or two. This winter sucks. Very little snow, very cold. At least in December I could get some work done in my shop. Now my mower is half stripped apart, half painted, and it better be warm in March so I can put it back together before mid April.
Because I have been spending time working out, I have been noticing how dirty my basement is. The unfinished side, the walls and floor are dirty and there's lots of cobwebbs/spiderwebbs. Old paint and junk that's been piling up. Weds night I tore apart my workout area. Swept it out. Carted out a bunch of junk. Dumped some water on the floor with bleach, and cleaned that sucker up. It came out great, I almost choked out the whole house with the bleach and probably burned my brain with those fumes. I still need to do the other half of the unfinished side, but it's nice to get one of those long term projects out of the way. And now I won't be poking around trying to pick things up while working out as well. Now I need to recaulk the bath tub next week and start my taxes, and I'll feel a lot better.
Speaking of taxes, I hope that IDIOT that the rest of this State's IDIOTS voted for, Granholm, doesn't get her service tax passed. I'll be drafted into collecting taxes for the state and have to start keeping track of that bullshit then. Meanwhile, Jenny from the block keeps screwing the state up, promising more programs when she can't balance a budget, and sitting by while companies leave Michigan. Other businesses don't consider Michigan when searching for new sites, unemployment goes up, people move out, and Michigan still sucks ass economy wise versus the rest of the country. And the people of Michigan voted this dumbass back in office. The state is in worse shape than it was in the 80s. By the time things turn around, half the population will be gone, we'll lose not only our manufacturing base but also our power in the Federal Government, and be years behind the rest of the country. Even in Ann Arbor where things are sheltered from the rest of the state somewhat thanks to the 2 major U's and 3 major Hospitals, things suck.
I never thought I'd say it, but I'm loving Chris Webber again. I've had issues with Chris going back to my days at UofM and the run-ins I had there with him. I've been a detractor since then, but his coming to the Pistons has been a great thing. The team is playing better, he is playing better. I think Chris has helped to bring them into the new NBA with emphasis on offense and not defense. They needed that after Ben left. His passing is great, he's a scoring threat. It has rubbed off on his teammates. Assists are up, and he's gotten Rasheed Wallace to play better. I'm excited to see this team in the playoffs.
My thoughts on the Red Wings: Who cares? Isn't there still like 1000 games to play before they finally count for something (playoffs). Hockey would be better with a preseason, a 2 month regular season, and a 3 month playoff season. Skip the rest of the monotony.
Spring training for the Tigers starts in a week. Thank GOD. Whether or not they do anything this year, I am excited for another long baseball season and living and dying with them during the summer again. It sure makes things more enjoyable to have a great bball team playing every night. I hope Moroth can get back in the lineup and I hope those young arms can repeat their performance from last year.
The Lions: spare me.
That's all for now. I hope to keep up on this thing, so check in soon.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Other Goals for 2007
Although it's been a very light snow year, I can take something positive out of this winter. My second snow clearing crew I set up this year has been doing great. We've gone out about 3 times, but the second crew kicks ass. I managed to get a very responsible fellow to drive the route with his truck, and one of my good employees from the lawn season is working with him. I have 45 plus snow accounts this winter, and I basically split the whole thing in two. I start them on the other side of town and have them work toward the center. I start in Ypsi and work toward the center from the other side. It has cut down our response time in 2, and taken a lot of stress off me. I actually enjoy doing snow, which is a miracle, and it has become less of a stressful, burdensome job. I know I won't be out for 12 hours, and I have a manageable amount of work to do. And despite the fact that I pay that crew pretty well, it's still incredibly profitable for me. I've even considered setting up two new crews next year to do snow, and for me just supervise the work.
So this has built a lot of confidence within me for moving on to more employees and adding a lawn crew in the near future. Other than the obvious capital expense, starting a second crew has always seemed like a headache for me. The success I've had with the snow, and the possibility of actually finding good responsible employees makes it less of a headache, I think. And seeing the business work for me instead of the other way around also makes me happy. The possibility of taking TJ's from basically a job for me, and making it into a business that actually works on its own and works for me is promising. For a while, especially after Joel quit, it seemed like it was not a possible task, and I had doubts I was up for it. That whole addage of success building confidence and confidence building success seems to be true.
Now, this might seem as a no brainer, but you've got to remember I never went into this whole TJ's thing as a business major or even someone who had a clue as to what I was doing. I've kinda stumbled on success, and done things unconventionally the whole way. Which was a good thing in some respects, but bad in others. Had I understood about growth I would have kept pushing forward instead of sitting on the success Joel and I had early on. Things stagnated, I was happy working my ass off for little gains, partly because I was consumed with the business and convinced things would get better on their own out of sheer hard work. That's how we started successfully, after all. Had we kept growing and taken the next step 6 years ago I think TJ's would be a lot bigger today and I'd be closer to getting out of the field.
Not that I'm blaming anyone. Like I said, I didn't know what I was doing. Even after Joel quit I resisted growth and didn't understand basic business principles. The E-Myth really helped me understand about growth and being an entreprenuer, not just a technician who created a job for himself.
Anyway, I digress. My goal for this year is to, at the very least, carry two part time employees the whole year and to utilize my time with them better. The problem I get into every year is right around mid summer things are going so well I think I can scale back on employees. Last season I was getting everything done and even managed a day off on Sundays. So I scaled back on payroll to save a buck, thinking I could just work 7 days and save some dough. Problem was I couldn't do that, ended up behind a lot, and I couldn't handle the strain on my body. When the slow down from mid summer ended and things picked up in the fall, I couldn't keep up and ended up losing out on a lot of money I could have made had I kept the employees. Didn't save on payroll, and wasn't happy in general.
This year I want to utilize the employees better, keep a better schedule, and stick to it. I know I can do it, I just have to want to do it, set aside time to make things work, and keep it up. As I get older, I have to recoginze I can't power my way through problems, and that I can't do the same things I used to on my own. I wouldn't mind a day off a week, and I've got to learn that having a day off doesn't mean I'm not being efficient. If things go well enough, I want to start acquiring the equipment for expansion to a part time second crew either later this year or by next year.
The other thing I really want to get back to is doing things my way. Joel and I started this business not knowing how things worked with other lcos and just feeling our way through it. I think that helped to create a better company and service, and we didn't fall prey to the problems other companies do in this business. For a while I stopped doing that, and spent a lot of time listening to idiots on Lawn Site and trying to live up to other people's businesses. That stopped somewhat last year when I stopped spending so much time on that site. I am going back to listening to my gut and want to stop comparing TJ's to other companies. I don't care what other guys are doing, I'm going to do what's best for TJ's and me, focus on building a business that suits my needs instead of trying to keep up with the rest of the green industry pack.
So this has built a lot of confidence within me for moving on to more employees and adding a lawn crew in the near future. Other than the obvious capital expense, starting a second crew has always seemed like a headache for me. The success I've had with the snow, and the possibility of actually finding good responsible employees makes it less of a headache, I think. And seeing the business work for me instead of the other way around also makes me happy. The possibility of taking TJ's from basically a job for me, and making it into a business that actually works on its own and works for me is promising. For a while, especially after Joel quit, it seemed like it was not a possible task, and I had doubts I was up for it. That whole addage of success building confidence and confidence building success seems to be true.
Now, this might seem as a no brainer, but you've got to remember I never went into this whole TJ's thing as a business major or even someone who had a clue as to what I was doing. I've kinda stumbled on success, and done things unconventionally the whole way. Which was a good thing in some respects, but bad in others. Had I understood about growth I would have kept pushing forward instead of sitting on the success Joel and I had early on. Things stagnated, I was happy working my ass off for little gains, partly because I was consumed with the business and convinced things would get better on their own out of sheer hard work. That's how we started successfully, after all. Had we kept growing and taken the next step 6 years ago I think TJ's would be a lot bigger today and I'd be closer to getting out of the field.
Not that I'm blaming anyone. Like I said, I didn't know what I was doing. Even after Joel quit I resisted growth and didn't understand basic business principles. The E-Myth really helped me understand about growth and being an entreprenuer, not just a technician who created a job for himself.
Anyway, I digress. My goal for this year is to, at the very least, carry two part time employees the whole year and to utilize my time with them better. The problem I get into every year is right around mid summer things are going so well I think I can scale back on employees. Last season I was getting everything done and even managed a day off on Sundays. So I scaled back on payroll to save a buck, thinking I could just work 7 days and save some dough. Problem was I couldn't do that, ended up behind a lot, and I couldn't handle the strain on my body. When the slow down from mid summer ended and things picked up in the fall, I couldn't keep up and ended up losing out on a lot of money I could have made had I kept the employees. Didn't save on payroll, and wasn't happy in general.
This year I want to utilize the employees better, keep a better schedule, and stick to it. I know I can do it, I just have to want to do it, set aside time to make things work, and keep it up. As I get older, I have to recoginze I can't power my way through problems, and that I can't do the same things I used to on my own. I wouldn't mind a day off a week, and I've got to learn that having a day off doesn't mean I'm not being efficient. If things go well enough, I want to start acquiring the equipment for expansion to a part time second crew either later this year or by next year.
The other thing I really want to get back to is doing things my way. Joel and I started this business not knowing how things worked with other lcos and just feeling our way through it. I think that helped to create a better company and service, and we didn't fall prey to the problems other companies do in this business. For a while I stopped doing that, and spent a lot of time listening to idiots on Lawn Site and trying to live up to other people's businesses. That stopped somewhat last year when I stopped spending so much time on that site. I am going back to listening to my gut and want to stop comparing TJ's to other companies. I don't care what other guys are doing, I'm going to do what's best for TJ's and me, focus on building a business that suits my needs instead of trying to keep up with the rest of the green industry pack.
A Restart
It's been 2 years since I did anything with this thing, and frankly I can't believe it's still here. Although I doubt anyone ever really read it anyway. But the fact that this blog is still open seems to be a good omen, and I hate to see it go to waste.
There are a number of new quests in my life I am endeavoring to begin, so I figure what better way to document these than with a blog? Primarily, I am attempting to be healthier. IE eat better, exercise more, stop being such a fatass. I turned 35 this year, and although I don't think or act that way, suddenly my body is disagreeing with me. I worry about my overall health, want to dump a lot of the weight I'm carrying around. Things like diabetes and cholesterol and heart disease suddenly start to pop up into your head and you realize you can't act like you're an 18 year old kid anymore. Maybe I'm really, really late in realizing this, but I hope better late than never.
The other issue is being in better shape when the season starts in April. Last season, because of the weather I think, I never got that initial weight loss. Usually I get a nice weight drop in the spring as I start doing more physical work. Last spring was slow, a lot of rain, and it kinda continued on an off through the year. I don't think I ever dropped a lot of weight and it really slowed me down, affected my work. I want to start the season in better shape and ready to go. The last time I really got a good start to the year was in 2002 when I worked out a lot in the winter and was in great shape to start the season. I would like to recapture that.
This year I'm doing my New Year's resolution of no fast food. It's been a few years since I tried this, and my addiction to fast food had gotten out of control at the end of 2006. No fast food like McD's, Wendy's, BK, Taco Bell, etc. Pizza is okay as a meal, not a snack and in moderation. Subway is okay, and Quizno's is on the menu as well, in moderation. In general I want to stop buying lunches or minimeals and eat more self made food. I'm also trying to cut cholesterol, and getting rid of that fast food is a great start. So far I've made it through the past 6 weeks no problem. It was tough the first few weeks, very much like a drug and withdrawls. But I'm doing well with temptation and sticking to it now.
And I've gone back to working out again. Bought an exercise bike, cleaned off the weights and got back at them. Really since I smashed my toe when I dropped a 25 lb plate I've shied away from working out and that's bad. I want to keep at it during the season and get down there at least 3 times a week. There's a new powerhouse gym opening up by us as well, I might sign on there to get access to equipment I don't have, do exercises I can't at home. I really enjoy working out with my stuff, and as long as I keep the distractions to a minimum I'll be fine. I've had my weights and bench for 15 years now and I am still glad I bought those.
So I think I'll keep an informal running journal on here of what I'm doing and learning and hopefully gains I'll make. I'd really like to drop 50 lbs as a realistic goal, even if it takes all year. I'd REALLY like to drop 100 lbs, but I haven't been there since before 1993 and that's asking a bit too much imo. Getting lighter, building my muscles and endurance back, being healthier is the real goal.
There are a number of new quests in my life I am endeavoring to begin, so I figure what better way to document these than with a blog? Primarily, I am attempting to be healthier. IE eat better, exercise more, stop being such a fatass. I turned 35 this year, and although I don't think or act that way, suddenly my body is disagreeing with me. I worry about my overall health, want to dump a lot of the weight I'm carrying around. Things like diabetes and cholesterol and heart disease suddenly start to pop up into your head and you realize you can't act like you're an 18 year old kid anymore. Maybe I'm really, really late in realizing this, but I hope better late than never.
The other issue is being in better shape when the season starts in April. Last season, because of the weather I think, I never got that initial weight loss. Usually I get a nice weight drop in the spring as I start doing more physical work. Last spring was slow, a lot of rain, and it kinda continued on an off through the year. I don't think I ever dropped a lot of weight and it really slowed me down, affected my work. I want to start the season in better shape and ready to go. The last time I really got a good start to the year was in 2002 when I worked out a lot in the winter and was in great shape to start the season. I would like to recapture that.
This year I'm doing my New Year's resolution of no fast food. It's been a few years since I tried this, and my addiction to fast food had gotten out of control at the end of 2006. No fast food like McD's, Wendy's, BK, Taco Bell, etc. Pizza is okay as a meal, not a snack and in moderation. Subway is okay, and Quizno's is on the menu as well, in moderation. In general I want to stop buying lunches or minimeals and eat more self made food. I'm also trying to cut cholesterol, and getting rid of that fast food is a great start. So far I've made it through the past 6 weeks no problem. It was tough the first few weeks, very much like a drug and withdrawls. But I'm doing well with temptation and sticking to it now.
And I've gone back to working out again. Bought an exercise bike, cleaned off the weights and got back at them. Really since I smashed my toe when I dropped a 25 lb plate I've shied away from working out and that's bad. I want to keep at it during the season and get down there at least 3 times a week. There's a new powerhouse gym opening up by us as well, I might sign on there to get access to equipment I don't have, do exercises I can't at home. I really enjoy working out with my stuff, and as long as I keep the distractions to a minimum I'll be fine. I've had my weights and bench for 15 years now and I am still glad I bought those.
So I think I'll keep an informal running journal on here of what I'm doing and learning and hopefully gains I'll make. I'd really like to drop 50 lbs as a realistic goal, even if it takes all year. I'd REALLY like to drop 100 lbs, but I haven't been there since before 1993 and that's asking a bit too much imo. Getting lighter, building my muscles and endurance back, being healthier is the real goal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
