Gottaluvit's Blog

All of My Valued Employees,

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company and, more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this:

The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job, however, is the changing political landscape in this country. That being said, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.

First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big home at last year's Christmas party. I'm sure all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life. However, what you don't see is the back story.

I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company -- which, by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business, to hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the discount store extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, some day, I too will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.

So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don't. There is no "off" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have that freedom. I eat, sleep and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations -- and never realize the back story and the sacrifices I've made.

Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail out all the people who didn't. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.

Yes, business ownership has is benefits, but the price I've paid is steep and not without wounds. Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business, or the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child by the fourth father waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country.

The fact is, if I deducted (or stole) 50 percent of your paycheck you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to get rewarded for only 50 percent of their hard work?

Well, I agree, and that is why your job is in jeopardy. Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.

So where am I going with all this? It's quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple.

I fire you. I fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more. Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

So, if you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the Constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about.

Regards,
Your Boss I did not write this. I read this and I feel it must be passed along. This is so true.

How about those Lions?  I knew that with a little effort they could pull this one off and they finally made football history! I used to live right up the road from the old Silverdome. I saw the place being built. Now with a new crib they can live up th their name. "The Lions:

My wife used to give out Lions tickets to her sales customers and they would say " what did I do wrong? I thought we were friends." Now they can look back with pride and say THEY DID IT! The lost every game this season.

The lions made history, Texans won, Titans lost, Dallas lost. Life is good!

Mr Obama took time this morning to cast his vote. Lots of time...almost 20 minutes. I don't know if it was just another photo op (might be his last for a while), Free camera time!
Wait .......I know what took him so long......he couldn't find the "PRESENT" button.

WATERFORD, Mich. -- A Michigan woman has posted a $500 reward for information leading to return of her 30-pound African spurred tortoise named Oscaretta.

Angie Budnick set her pet of eight years in an outdoor pen on Sept. 23, and when she returned, the brown-patterned shell creature was gone, reported WDIV-TV in Detroit.

Budnick has posted fliers around the neighborhood, and she has asked all her neighbors to comb their yards, look under mulch piles and burrows under their decks for her four-legged friend.

The tortoise was first thought to be a male when Budnick got her in 1997. After she learned it was a female, she changed her name to Oscaretta.

The tortoise has a small scar on the center nub of the three nubs on top of her shell. She is also missing some horns on her front legs.

Budnick has stressed the tortoise is not a water turtle, and since she is cold-blooded she cannot handle temperatures below 60 degrees.

The tortoise is expensive to maintain. Budnick told the Daily Tribune that she spends between $70 and $90 a month on food, supplements, heating pads and annual vet visits.

Anyone with information can call Pupeluv, Budnick's nonprofit dog rescue service.

One Question: How do you lose a tortoise? What? Could'nt keep up? Drop a few LBS and you might catch up with her.
If she shows up here in Texas we will call you. It might take 8 or 10 years for her to make the trip though. We can send out a "Budnick alert" ...There she is on the 610 SQUISH! ...never mind. Turtle soup anyone?

I hope everyone's doing well. We just went through a tough one. This is where we see the best in almost everyone. I say almost everyone. Most of us pulled together and I applaud you all for that. We are a great bunch of people and when things get tough we really pull together and that is what makes me proud to be a TEXAN. With friends like this we can make it through anything. NOW the few at the bottom of the food chain. You know who you are although you probably are not smart to read this, someone might have to read this to you. Sunday afternoon I waited in line for TWO HOURS to fill my gas cans. (yes GOD has blessed me with a generator) and some were there for THREE hours in the heat waiting for their turn. All good citizens doing the right thing and WAITING in line to fill up. Here's where it goes bad.  Some jackass in a grey Dodge Magnum station wagon license number JBB995 passes every car on the street (3 blocks) and pulls right in to the pumps as someone was leaving the pump.  We were on that guy like ants on a sugar cube. What did he say? "Who's gonna stop me?" with a smirk on his face. I told him THE COPS are going to stop him and he just laughed at me. Just my luck and many thanks to "can you hear me now?" Vorizon I could not get  a call out. Many of us went into the station and told the manager NOT to sell this slimeball a drop of gas but he did. That's when I called for a boycott of that Valero station on North Mason at Provincal in Katy. By then there were about 50 very mad people at the station. This Jackass just kept smiling and said "who's big enough to stop me?"  Believe me it would have been well worth the trip to the jail house if I has a Louisville slugger. I would have took out every wiondow in his car and then went after him! NOW see if the cops show up!  This shows that there still guys out there that refuse to play by the rules and God will soon have a word with him.

Another Slime ball? OK....Velaro station at 1546 Westgreen and I-10 Katy TX. You fill up a SIX gallon gas can and the pump reads SEVEN gallons. You fill the second SIX gallon can and the pump says 14 gallons! That's 12 gallons of gas for the price of 14! Nice mark up! I know that my cans only hold six because I just filled them on Sunday where the Idiot cut in line, .  I told the manager and all 40 people at the station that I am on to this and big brother is watching. Next time you fill a gas can check and see if a gallon is evaporating from the can, I Don't think so. Watch out for the scum of the earth. They all come out when we get a disaster.     

This bothers me.  Have we lost our manners as a nation?

Twice in a row this week I was shopping at HEB and BOTH times when I got to the checkout there were 2 ladies together paying for their purchases. When they gathered up the bags they simply left the shopping cart right at the checkout like it was NOT their problem and someone else "like me" would push it out of the way.  I am seeing this more and more all the time. Please ...if you use a cart, push it back outside or at least ask the bagger to move it for you.  They will.

When did holding the door open for someone agitate them?

I was always taught to Open the door for others and I do it with a smile. I always will. For some reason they give me a dirty look like I expect something back.

I am not going to change my ways. I just feel like people have gotten just too busy to smell the roses.

If I hold the door open for you or let you in, in traffic I want nothing in return.  Just lighten up. Life is too short.

What's copper worth you? To the scrap yards it's around $3.25 per pound. I guess it's worth a lot more than that to a Dallas man.

I turn on the Fox local news in Dallas and They are getting this guy down from the top of a power pole.

He is alive and nobody can figure out why. He wanted some "free" copper so he climbed to the top of a utility pole.  A BIG one with 3 transformers on it. 7000 volts later he is 50% covered with 3rd degree burns and under arrest.  "Dude....if it's on a pole and going into a transformer.........dont try to steal it. it will kill you!"

They say when he get's out of the hospital he will be CHARGED........Hasn't he been "charged" enough?

They are going to charge him with copper theft.

I would tack on "Terminal stupidity"  

Maybe he should go into stealing gasoline from tanks with a cutting torch.

He just may be the winner of the Darwin award!

 

LONDON -- Athletes looking for a performance boost appear to be turning to a little blue pill usually taken for its off-the-field benefits: Viagra. But experts are divided over whether it actually offers athletes an edge. Some sports authorities say the drug is now finding a following among athletes. It isn't clear how many might be taking it in hopes of improving athletic performance.

It might work well in "pushups" and "pole vaulting"

I think it would work against the swimmers though.

Hockey players could really take a beating on the ice.

Dodge ball and soccor are out.  What are your thoughts?

Houston police said a driver slammed into the Shipley Do-Nuts in the 8800 block of Stella Link Road near Linkwood Drive shortly after 7 a.m.

 

The entire car went inside the store, investigators said.

GOD was watching over out men in blue this morning.

If it wasn't for that police chase on US-59, how many HPD officers could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time?

After seeing the high speed chase this morning that ended on US-59 I have to wonder, What could be so bad that you would take a chance of losing your life or taking someone elses life?

They always run. When Sky Fox is over head they might as well give up. (Nice job guys) The cops are in a catch 22. If they hold back and he kills someone it's  "why didn't they take him out" and if they ram him they are being too aggressive. This one ended very well. Props to HPD and Sky Fox.

My question here is : Would you run?  What could be so bad in your life?

Another question: Do you think you can really get away? MOST DON'T!

My advice: Pull over and face the music. 

Maybe someday this crazy driver will look back on this and laugh...

NOT!