A new “The Fine Print”
Archive for March, 2010
What Lurks Within
Monday, March 29th, 2010A Weird Vindication
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010A couple of years ago, I was contacted by a local motel owner who needed a structural engineer. One of his buildings had been condemned, and he needed a structural engineer to evaluate it and make recommendations on how to fix the problems.
When I first saw the building, my first advice was that he should rip it down and start from scratch. It was a two story, and the second floor deck was concrete and was in imminent danger of collapse. Since the deck supported the roof, the roof was also in danger. The wood columns holding up the balcony were old and rotted and warped, and couldn’t hold up the weight. As the owner wanted to salvage the property, I came up with an appropriate design.
I replaced the concrete deck with a wooden one to lighten the load. I also added additional columns between the existing ones for redundancy and strength. Finally, I added a buttress directly from the ground to the roof and firewall so that if the structural integrity of the second floor happened to be compromised, the building would not fall.
Along the way, the owner, in an attempt to save a few dollars, requested that I “tone down” the design, and I refused. I repeatedly told him that as the engineer it falls on me if the structure falls, and I will not ever compromise safety to save a few pennies. Having received my engineering education in Missouri, the lessons of the Hyatt Regency were pounded into my head (as well as the heads of every other structural engineer in the state). My reluctance to budge might have been a bit prophetic, as the building caught fire Sunday night, thanks to a clandestine meth lab in one of the first floor rooms.
(Photo by TULSA WORLD)
As you can see from the photo, my conservatism has been vindicated, as the structure is still standing. Was the fire a disaster for my former client? Absolutely. Could it have been worse? Absolutely? Imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t hired an honest and ethical structural engineer, and shortcuts had been taken that compromised strength to save a few dollars. Imagine the catastrophe if the building had collapsed with others still in it.
For twenty years, I have tried in vain to convince people that it is better to spend a few thousand dollars more to hire a professional structural engineer up front and do it right than to be cheap and not hire one. The results of trying to save a few dollars could be fatal.
Holy Cow! I Agree With Tom DeLay!
Monday, March 8th, 2010It’s not very often I’ve agreed with “The Hammer”; in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever agreed with him. When I was living in Texas I viewed DeLay as a pompous horse’s patoot and an embarrassment to the state. After I moved to Oklahoma, I was glad to see him fall.
That being said, I am in 100 percent agreement with him about unemployment being bad for the economy because it encourages people to not work. For every person I know who is unemployed that is diligently looking for work is another who is goosing the system and isn’t. I know a single, unattached person who has been unemployed since December and hasn’t even been able to get a fast food job and has even bragged about how she is covered by unemployment until December!
Before you give me that “Oh, you don’t understand, you’ve never been there” malarkey, I have been there. Before I landed my current job, I was unemployed for 10 weeks, and let me just say that it was the most humiliating 10 weeks of my adult life. I did not like being unemployed, and in those 10 weeks, I sent out 100 resumes and job applications. Unfortunately, there are a ,lot of people out there who do not feel embarrassed about being unemployed, and rather enjoy the fact that they receive an income without working!
Here are DeLay’s thoughts from an article from the Huffington Post.
Tom Delay: People Are Unemployed Because They Want To Be
Sam Stein – Sun Mar 7, 11:06 am ET
Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay called Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) “brave” on Sunday for launching a one-man filibuster of unemployment benefits, arguing that they dissuaded people from going out and finding work.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” the Texas Republican said that Bunning’s fiscal responsibility was commendable, even if his shenanigans (refusing to allow unemployment benefits to be considered by unanimous consent) nearly brought the Senate to a halt.
“Nothing would have happened if the Democrats had just paid for [the benefits],” Delay said. “People would have gotten their unemployment compensation. I think Bunning was brave in standing up there and taking it on by himself.”
Asked whether it was bad strategy to make a budget stand on a $10 billion extension of unemployment (as opposed to, say, the Bush’s $720 billion prescription drugpackage), Delay insisted that if the PR had been done right, Bunning would have been applauded. Helping the unemployed with federal assistance, he said, was unsound policy.
“You know,” Delay said, “there is an argument to be made that these extensions, the unemployment benefits keeps people from going and finding jobs. In fact there are some studies that have been done that show people stay on unemployment compensation and they don’t look for a job until two or three weeks before they know the benefits are going to run out.
Host Candy Crowley: Congressman, that’s a hard sell, isn’t it?
Delay: it’s the truth.
Crowley: People are unemployed because they want to be?
Delay: well, it is the truth. and people in the real world know it. And they have friends and they know it. Sure, we ought to be helping people that are unemployed find a job, but we also have budget considerations that are incredibly important, especially now that Obama is spending monies that we don’t have.
Nothing Comes Between Me And My Chicken!
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010(FROM THE TULSA WORLD)
Behavior at crime scene denounced
Witnesses to the shooting walked over the victim’s body and yelled at first-responders.
By JARREL WADE World Staff Writer
Published: 3/2/2010 2:28 AM
Last Modified: 3/2/2010 4:42 AM
The actions of a crowd that hindered officials’ efforts to investigate and help a shooting victim early Sunday were “unacceptable,” an EMSA spokeswoman said Monday.
Valentino Verner, 27, was shot several times outside the Chicken Hut, 1500 E. Apache St., just before 3 a.m.
He died from his injuries.
About 100 patrons were at the late-night, walk-up restaurant, and some were walking over the man’s body to get their food, EMSA spokeswoman Tina Wells said.
“It’s very upsetting,” Wells said Monday. “It’s just absolutely unacceptable.”
EMSA paramedics were impeded while attending to the patient and had to rush the patient away from the area for his protection and theirs, Wells said.
Paramedics were at the scene for only seven minutes before they had to leave, she said.
“There were many irate bystanders yelling at the (EMSA) crew, Tulsa police and Tulsa firefighters,” Wells said.
Police Capt. Karen Tipler said Sunday that many of the patrons witnessed the shooting but were uncooperative with authorities.
She said witnesses were aggressive and angry toward the police when they tried to help Verner.
Verner was taken to St. John Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Tipler said.
No suspects have been arrested in connection with the homicide, and police have said they don’t know a motive for the shooting.
The killing was the city’s ninth homicide of the year.
An interesting side-note. I know the owners of the place, as me and an associate of mine had contracted to design a remodel on another building that they owned. Right after paying us the retainer, my ever-cautious associate cashed the check at the bank it was drawn on, just in case one of “her people” decided to put a stop payment on it. My associate knew “her people” a bit to well, as that is exactly what they tried to do – and then sued my associate for cashing the check before they could!
Happy Belated Birthday, Number 6!
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010There has been quite a bit of drama and turmoil in the house this past week, and throw in the fact that I basically don’t have easy Internet access anymore, it’s no wonder why I failed to acknowledge a birthday that passed. Despite the distractions and hardships, I feel like crud about it, and I am sorry. Number 6 turned 6 last week, exactly one week ago. The Missus made him a cake, and he got presents to go with his cake and ice cream, and a good time was had by all….
In case I don’t get the opportunity, Number 7 turns 2 at the end of this month, and we have three birthdays in a two week period in April – I turn 44, Number 4 1/2 turns 11, and Number 2 turns 17…..
Goodbye, Bruce!
Friday, March 5th, 2010I am a talk radio junkie. I start my morning with local personality Pat Campbell on KFAQ, then at 9 AM it’s a channel change to KRMG and Neal Boortz, at noon it’s Rush Limbaugh, then at 3 is Sean Hannity. At 4 PM, I change channels once again, back to KFAQ and local personality Elvis Polo. At 6, it’s KGGF out of Coffeyville, Kansas, for the Bruce Williams show. Today will be the last day for KGGF, as it’s the last day for Bruce Williams, who is hanging up the microphone after 35 years on the air.
I have been listening to Bruce pretty much every evening on my drive home for the better part of five years now. Unlike the other talkers, he does not dwell on politics, but talks about a variety of issues, ranging from buying a home to traffic signals. His motto is – “If it’s important to you, we’ll talk about it!” He was a refreshing alternative to the typical talk-radio fare.
Now, I am left with two alternatives – Michael Savage or Mark Levin. I am not fond of either, although I like Savage better. Or, I can listen to music. Always an option, but music on the radio has grown stale – not enough variety as each station has become a “niche”. I don’t know about you, but I have a wide musical taste, and see no problem listening to Nirvana, AC/DC, Frank Sinatra, Hank Jr., and Barry Manilow back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back without having to switch stations. But that is just me.
Or, the other alternative is that I move my work schedule up an hour so that I am home at the end of the “Elvis Polo Show” at 6. Hmm. Not a bad idea!
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