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 Let me say this about that.

I have always found it interesting how people earn their living.  There are great jobs, crappy jobs, well paid jobs, volunteer jobs, temporary jobs, illegal jobs, any number of ways an average person can ‘pay-the-rent’.  So, in the interest of keeping the LMSTAT readership current on some of the more interesting new jobs, I conducted a series of interviews with your co-readers to keep you informed about the latest thing in the job market.

Wallpaper Peeler:  “That’s right, Shambo, I earn a living as a wallpaper peeler.  You know, some lady wants to replace that old wallpaper in her living room that was put up during the Harding Administration, but first, the old stuff has to come down.  And, it’s no easy task, I assure you.”

Shambo:  “I wouldn’t imagine it would be, with all that old glue and such.  Just how do you get the stuff off the walls?”

Wallpaper Peeler:  “It’s a proprietary process I developed myself.  Since I have a patent, I can disclose my trade secrets.”

Shambo:  “I’m all a-twitter.  Please go on.”

Wallpaper Peeler:  “Well, the first thing I do is make me up a big pot of heavely seasoned ‘goat-meat chili’ and drink a…    (more…)

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Let me say this about that.

Last week, I wrote a blog about fine wines that cost under $20.  I included the  ‘under $20′ metric because the wine industry is rife with product intended to create the illusion of quality through inflated price.  In truth, it is rare that a wine costing $20 has a noticeable difference in taste to a layman, from a wine costing $120.  But, since wine distributors offer their libations at a ridiculously wide range of prices, no discussion of wine quality can be conducted without the biasing adjectives of ‘price’.  Sad, really.

Not so for beer.

Beer.  Nectar of the gods.  Libation to the masses.  Barf-inducing barley-pop.  Getting fat guys laid for 500 years. 

On a hot day, there is simply nothing better than a cold beer.  On a hot date, there is simply nothing more effective on teenage girls.  During a hotly contested athletic event, nothing beats a cold brewski to celebrate victory, or drown the agony of defeat.  While eating a hot dog,…    (more…)

Top 5 wines under $20

Let me say this about that.

I will be the first to admit that the subject matter in the LMSTAT blogs are, at best, eclectic, and at worst, worthless mental regurgitations of a retired baby boomer with too much time on his hands.  When one reaches his sixties, two things happen.  1) Not much embarrasses you.  And 2) You don’t really care if the general population listens to what you have to say or not.  Please don’t think that these comments are the dark summations of a down-trodden old man.  Quite the contrary.  This attitude is what gives old men credibility.

You want the truth.  Ask an old man.

Old men have pretty much seen it all.  They have heard the best bullshit proffered by professionals.  Simply put – old men are…    (more…)

Charlie Weis

Let me say this about that.

On the whole, I believe many of America’s workers are under paid – based on the value they add, based on the profit they generate for their employer, based on the results they achieve.  Conversely, I believe many Americans are grossly overpaid, based on the same criteria.  If you want to go straight to the heart of “Overpaid Land”, you don’t have to go much further that the field of sports and entertainment.

In the old days, it was just the athletes that were burdened with bag loads of cash.  But over the last decade, coaches have begun to command super-sized salaries and bonuses.  This is especially true of college football coaches.  I don’t begrudge college football coaches their huge compensation packages – except in two cases.  1) Where the university is a public institution and these gargantuan salaries are made up of taxpayer funds.  And, 2) When they are not based on performance. 

Gather a list of the top ten highest paid football coaches.  Lay it beside the USA Today’s weekly list of the top college football teams in the country (last week, 42 teams received votes).  Pour yourself a stiff drink and…    (more…)

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Let me say this about that.

I reached my sixtieth year before I had one of the greatest epiphanies of my life.  To wit: It is the life’s work of every man’s wife to discover creative ways to piss-away money.  OK - OK, I have, in just two short sentences, succeeded in alienating every woman reading this article.  But, I’ll bet the testosterone-bearing crowd is smiling and secretly  muttering under their breadth …. “Shambo, you’re probably going to die a painful death at the hands of Mrs. Shambo very soon, but we’ve got to give you a big AMEN on this one !!”

To continue digging the hole I have already dug for myself, I must…    (more…)

Ribbed Condoms

Let me say this about that.

It seems to me that there is nothing more un-American than something or someone that is given credit for excellence that is not based on actual performance.  It’s unjust.  It’s inequitable.  It’s prejudicial.  It’s malodorous.  It’s abhorrent.  And, it just pisses me off. 

Back last June, I wrote an article about the most overrated figure in professional sports – Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Earnhardt, Jr drives a stock car for, arguably the best team in NASCAR racing, Hendricks Motor Sports.  They have the best engineering, the best engine builders, the most lucrative corporate sponsors, and the top 3 drivers in the current point standings.  Of the 67 drivers that have started a NASCAR race in 2009, Hendricks Motorsports drivers own the top 3 positions in points - an incredible achievement.  Their fourth driver owns the 23rd spot.  That would be Dale Earnhardt, Jr.  In the last five years, 13 drivers have won more races than Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – a lot more.  To be charitable, he is simply…    (more…)

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Let me say this about.

There are many things in this life that I don’t care for.  Things that have absolutely no redeeming value.  Things that do not contribute to the advancement of society and actively degrade the human experience.  Things that are irritating, exasperating and vexatious.  Things like athlete’s foot, car alarms, pressing #1 if I want English, ‘reality’ shows, and  irritable bowel syndrome.  However, all these tormenting, aggravating, and odious conditions pale when compared to the most demonic and diabolical scourge ever unleashed upon the human race ….. New Yorkers. 

“Why are there New Yorkers?” …… can be answered by a series of additional questions.  For example:  Why is there cancer?  Why is there al Qaeda?   Why is there Paris Hilton?  Why is there irritable bowel syndrome?  The answer is the same for all …… I just don’t know what it is.

New Yorkers all have a common trait, which makes them easy to identify………….  If it’s talking, it’s a New Yorker.

New Yorkers simply cannot shut up.  They don’t  know diddly-squat about…    (more…)

Lunar Rover

Let me say this about that.

I received sad news a few days ago.  Professor Cecil G. Johnson, World War II bomber pilot,  Georgia Tech engineering professor extraordinaire, and my mentor passed away last Sunday.  To characterize Prof. Johnson as as an educator would be like saying Mohammad Ali was merely a boxer.  Cecil Johnson was a giant among men when it came to creating engineers.  He is credited with transforming over 10,000 young men and women into engineers – and I am proud to be one of them.

Prof. Johnson taught an engineering  “Case Studies” course.  This senior level course was originally created to be taught  in a fashion similiar to the Harvard Graduate School of Business case studies.  The student is presented with…    (more…)

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Let me say this about that.

What is it that makes a good manager?  Better question ……. what makes a great manager?  In my fourty years in the work place, I have worked for a few good ones, one or two great ones and a boat load of crappy ones.  Most Americans believe that management can be taught as a skill.  “Management” is taught in most universities, and in a few, the program is the platform of the entire university – like Harvard, for example.  If you have a MBA from Harvard, most people would have you characterized as a person very likely to be a…    (more…)