Ewwwwwwwwwww…

In fact, the pulsating satanic blob monster is nothing more than a colony of tubifex worms. Ed Buchan, environmental coordinator at the Raleigh Public Utilities Department, explained to News 14 Carolina that the creatures frequent “sewage and pond sediment”, and elaborated: “They seem to respond to the light from the camera. That light is pretty hot.”

Buchan did, though, admit: “I’ve seen a lot of sewer TV before and I’ve never seen them. We were surprised. We didn’t know immediately what it was.”

Not sure if that’s better or worse…  Thanks to my big brother for the link (The Register)

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269No Comments »http://blog.nicholasnapp.com/2009/07/03/and-i-quote-satanic-blob-beast-menaces-north-carolina/And+I+quote%3A+%22Satanic+blob+beast+menaces+North+Carolina%222009-07-03+14%3A35%3A56NickN

So I’ve been in North Carolina for a few years now. I moved here from Arizona, which (as a State) has some issues, but at least they err on the side of staying out of my personal life choices. Yes, I’d argue that riding a motorbike without a helmet is silly, but in AZ, if that’s your thing, you go right ahead.

After I arrived here, I was shocked to find out that in the great state of NC, you can’t order a medium rare hamburger at most restaurants. The state mandates that unless the restaurant grinds their own beef, you can only order medium.

Why the legislature wasted time on such silliness is beyond me. But allegedly it’s for my own protection.

It’s nice to know they care.

Oh, except while it’s fine to jump in on irrelevant details of my health and well-being, they’re sure as heck not going to mess with any established monopolies that might like to rip money from my wallet without so much as a thank you.

For example, much of the area is exclusively serviced by Time Warner Cable. I pay more here than I ever did in Phoenix for service that is generally slower and definitely less reliable. But I can live with that…

A far worse example is the monopoly held by Progress Energy, our non-friendly local power company who are the sole provider for the area.

I’m currently in the process of applying LCLSMF to my life (less complications, less stress, more fun), as a result of which I’m moving. The new place will be half the size of my current one.

Progress will not connect the power at the new place without a $350 deposit, paid in full upfront. The deposit is regardless of credit history. They claim it’s based on 2 months of utils at the new property, but as I said, it’s half the size of my current place and I’ve pretty much never paid more than $170 for a month of electricity in my current home.

If I don’t pay, I don’t get electricity. If I don’t pay before I move in, they hit me with a reconnect fee too. There’s no assistance, no terms, nothing whatsoever in the way of help. They also won’t connect on a weekend, so I have to pay for extra days before I actually move in. And they hold the deposit for TWO YEARS.

Unbelievable.

Thanks NC. Great to know you’re looking out for the consumer in these difficult times.

P.s. Slow blogging lately as there’s been a lot going on. I have a bunch of things to talk about that hopefully I’ll get to in the coming weeks…

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2672 Comments »http://blog.nicholasnapp.com/2009/07/02/north-carolina-says-burgers-bad-dangerous-monopolies-good-encouraged/North+Carolina+says%3A+%22Burgers+Bad+%26+Dangerous.++Monopolies+Good+%26+Encouraged.%222009-07-02+19%3A19%3A05NickN

Taken at the Museum of Life & Science in Durham.  Possibly not ground zero for swine flu…

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262No Comments »http://blog.nicholasnapp.com/2009/05/22/got-to-love-some-good-old-fashioned-paranoia/Got+to+love+some+good+old+fashioned+paranoia...2009-05-22+21%3A52%3A03NickN

Jeez.  I guess December was my mental breakdown month.  Here’s another post that never actually got posted.

…

I have a lot of sympathy for those that would be impacted by the collapse of the big three automakers, but very little sympathy for the companies themselves.

Growing up in the UK when all the heavy industry was dying, I saw the government pump millions into failing industries that could no longer compete.  They collapsed anyway.  I’d hate to see that repeated here.

What’s particularly galling about the US auto industry is that it knows better.  Granted, some of the issues relate to the lifelong labor contracts they’ve been forced in to.  But still…

These guys know how to build cars efficiently.  They know how to develop new technology and they know how to make safer, more fuel efficient vehicles.

Don’t believe me?  10 points if you can correctly guess where Ford’s most technologically advanced assembly line is…

Did you guess “backwoods of rural Brazil”?  Spend some click power and go view this video. And then try and reconcile that with what you see in Ford’s US factories…

Categories: Old Posts
222No Comments »http://blog.nicholasnapp.com/2009/05/16/some-truth-about-the-big-3-automakers/Some+truth+about+the+Big+3+Automakers...2009-05-16+14%3A13%3A31NickN

I originally wrote this back in December, but I guess I never published it.  Still relevant given the ongoing carnage.  As Don Dodge noted recently:

“How bad is it? At the current rate of job loss, within two months, it will be worse than The Great Depression.  ”

So on with the post…

…

Lots of folks are being introduced to the dreaded “Reduction in Force” aka legalese that makes it easier for HR to do layoffs. Unless you have the best luck in the world and an impeccable hiring record, you will have to deal with layoffs at some point in your company’s life.

But what amazes me is how badly some companies handle this.  There are a ton of resources and case studies, not to mention that most companies have HR professionals who should be on top of this when it has to happen.  There’s simply no excuse for doing it badly.

A very good friend of mine has just been through a layoff.  The company announced that they would be downsizing about 8 weeks ago.  They are still deciding who goes and who stays.  Needless to say, the impact on morale has been huge.  The company’s best people are actively looking for new jobs and they’ll be left with those that are either unable to get new jobs or oblivious to what is going on.  Management’s indecision is placing the entire company’s future in jeopardy.

When it comes to downsizing, I’m a big fan of Jack Welch. The basic rules are (a) clear purpose, (b) quick execution and (c) deep enough cut the first time so business can go back to normal.

But inevitably, there are plenty of other suggestions on how to proceed in difficult times, and I’ve personally been through most of them.  The scenarios I seen include “lets all take a pay cut”, “volunteer to go”, “you all choose who should go” and “management decides”.

“Lets all take a pay cut” doesn’t solve the problem. People won’t stomach more than a 5-10% cut, and that’s usually not enough to solve the problem.

“Volunteer to go” only works if you have a greying workforce. In a typical company, relatively few people will volunteer to quit their jobs.

“You all choose” rapidly turns into a McCarthy-istic witch hunt. It pretends that there are no politics in the workplace, which in anything other than a 1 person company, is an absurd denial of reality.

So that leaves “Management Decides”. As a responsible executive, I think anything other than “management decides” is a cop out. If you have any kind of credible organizational structure (i.e. not 100 people reporting to once person) it’s really not that hard to rank team members. It may not be fun, but as a competent manager, you know who’s a star, who’s a good worker and who’s at the bottom of the pile.

So if you are faced with layoffs, do your job and do it right.  Your team deserve it.

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