October 10, 2009.

A wonderful day repairing a rotten floor in Ashbury Heights, SF.  I should have taken before/during/after pictures ... something described as a tiny hole that the home owner pointed out "over there by the shower door" ... to the big area of rotten floor that needed to be removed and shored up.  Ready for the new floor!

Somebody asked... answer: Yes, i built this website.  It isn't perfect, and Rome wasn't built in a day...

That said.  Ever wonder why the top 1% of the American population in 1979 held 9% of the country's wealth.... and 30 years later:  Today, the top 1% of the population holds 26% of the nation's wealth.  Can we depend on the generosity of those folks to help out their fellow man (women and children, too) ?  Being the eternal optimist... i wish we could .

September 19, 2009

Idea #3265: Would our world/civilization/american society be better off by IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY... short answer is yes. 

Imagine how much more productive our citizens would be if they did not need to worry about losing their insurance?  Imagine people working at what they love to do!!  ideas abound, ideas sprouting like spring flowers.

So, lets reduce the stress our citizens have about access to healthcare by removing the middlemen (health insurance companies)... i know this cannot be done overnight, but we should start sooner than later.

August 18, 2009
I usually focus on building, but realize that sometimes we need to tear things down first... so with that in mind...

HEALTHCARE: Our elected officials are NOT doing their job by not making healthcare available to all americans.  The debate must include the inefficiencies and greed demonstrated by the health insurance industry.  We do not need insurance companies to rescind coverage, line their pockets with oodles of money, find loopholes to deny and cancel access to healthcare... and market their services.... lets get serious.  I have written to Feinstein and Lee, received watered down responses from both.

and lastly:

2008 Total CEO Compensation for leading insurance companies

• Aetna, Ronald A. Williams: $24,300,112
• Cigna, H. Edward Hanway: $12,236,740
• Coventry, Dale Wolf: $9,047,469
• Health Net, Jay Gellert: $4,425,355
• Humana, Michael McCallister: $4,764,309
• U. Health Group, Stephen J. Hemsley: $3,241,042
• Wellpoint, Angela Braly: $9,844,212

PS - though i really like godaddy, my web hosting service, their formatting tool is a bit flakey... as you can see here in the weird formatting of this page

July 16, 2009

 

Blessed with more good work in a down economy.  How great is that?  It's great!  Beautiful doors, working plumbing, low flow toilets, 16' redwood beams transported to my own home... and like the cobbler's kids that don't have shoes, a carpenter's house is never done.

I have been able to bring on regular skilled help, creating jobs one day at a time.  This has added complexity to running a small business, but is also very satisfying seeing other people doing work they enjoy... and expanding on the idea: "an idea shared is an idea squared."

 

April 10, 2009
Still blessed with work i love, while thinking of the next steps.  Reflecting that the world was built by many small steps, every day, with rare and occasional big leaps. Working all week with the wonderful master electrician & builder Rob Harold as he leads us in a kitchen wiring exercise. Installed my first LED ceiling lights, lots of light for a total of only 98 watts of power.

Speaking of power... why does PG&E get to keep the suplus power generated from home solar panels... this is an outrage and another failure of the imbalance of power (pun intended).  The issue: if somebody ends their year of solar generation with a surplus of electricity produced versus used by their own house consumption... PG&E gets to keep that extra power and pay the homeowner nothing.  This removes all incentives of property owners to add larger solar power generation equipment, thus limiting the environmental benefits of solar power adding to the grid.  Proposal: have PG&E write a check every year to the home owner that generates excess power for the grid, pricing to be worked out ...

February 2, 2009
reminder to self: kaizen, constant and continual improvement (thanks to Ned Johnson III for that lesson. 

and Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so go chop some more wood, or not.

January 28, 2009
CRAZY IDEA #214:  How about we stop all the leaf blowers on the Cal Berkeley campus and give out rakes!  We would solve two problems at once.. climate change and better distribution of our funds, putting some people to work!

 

January 28, 2009,

Can Our Local leaders manage?This morning I left a voice mail for Chris Lee Barbara Lee's Washington office, asking for an accounting of the TARP funds distribution.I understand Barbara Lee is on the finance committee and 'should' have this number.  If there is no accounting (even at the billion dollar granularity) then she should apologize to her constituents.

January 18, 2009,
From The Shawshank Redemption: hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

January 15, 2009,

I am still waiting for Barbara Lee to answer the question: Why give 100's of billions away without responsible accounting?

But hope prevails.  I am the eternal optimist.  People make mistakes and forgiveness is essential for a peaceful life.  Like a Treasury Secretary that forgot to pay his taxes.  Hmmm, as i prepare my accounting for year end i wonder what my life would be like if i "forgot" to pay $35,000 in taxes.  I have always happily paid my taxes for i have a "rich" life (in spiritual terms)... but personal responsibility is very important and a full accounting of his mistake needs to be settled immediately (before confirmation of his appointment).

I am also very concerned that our government officials are not spending wisely.  We must be efficient and find the right person for the right job.  This goes for my own business, there are some jobs that i am too expensive for.  I was watching two grown men driving a $30,000 Berkeley Public Works truck, they stopped to sweep leaves on a blustery morning this past Monday, a total waste of Berkeley Tax Dollars.  As the wind was whipping leaves all around them, it could have been dollars bills they were attempting to sweep up on this windy morning. 

But there is hope, competent leaders are emerging nationally.  We should work daily to make our world a better place. We should continue to strive for continuous improvement.  Just read The New Yorker article on Van Jones.  Great ideas, obviously it will be difficult to move our civilization to a more equitable one.  A society that goes beyond measuring success in monetary terms.  The econimists who deny that we can solve multiple problems with one policy are wrong.  The world is complicated and we will move forward, one step at a time.

December 7, 2008,

No answer yet from Barbara Lee's office on the question sent 11/28.  Our lawmakers' collective irresponsibility for not demanding excellence and not obtaining an asset for bailout money (i.e. an ownership stake, stock, warrants...??) for the taxpayers is an example of a failure to govern and fiscal  irresponsibility.  

And, then we learn that the accounting for the bailout money has been mismanaged.  Who gives away $100 billion with no strings and no detail accounting? yes Dr. Evil, that's billions!!  I am not a conspiracy theorist but this is weird.  I have read the analysis and yes, some of that capitalization was necessary to maintain confidence in the markets.  I now "hope" our elected officials start instilling some confidence in the average taxpayer.

ONWARD through the fog of maintaining our health:  What people really want is access to healthcare, not access to health insurance.  Our healthcare reform needs to focus on access to care and directing more of our health care dollar towards health services, education and research.  Less profits for the insurance companies and more yoga classes (this last comment is to see if you are reading... but that wouldn't be all bad... yoga classes for all)

November 28, 2008 - the letter below was sent to to Barbara Lee today

Dear Ms Lee,

Please forward to me a clear description and reasoning why we (the government and you) are giving bailouts to bankers that clearly have not managed their businesses properly.

  It may not be obvious from your perch that these bank managers are not competent to manage these institutions and the “free” money they have been given at taxpayer’s expense.  And why would you be ok with them keeping their exorbitant salaries?

  Why have you not demanded ownership stakes such as stock warrants; as well as demanding new management and access to seats on their corporate boards?

  This is very upsetting to “us” people earning our livelihood with no safety net.

  I have always supported you and Barney Frank (moved to Berkeley from MA) but it seems like you and he are not standing up and leading and demanding excellence from the people you have given money to.  (and B Frank does not accept emails from folks outside his constituency while managing national policy… what gives?)

  Please advise in a timely manner.

  Thanks for serving,

oren

Oct. 20, 2008
Responsibility, we have a responsibility to remember that financial measures are only one of many aspects of a wonderful life.

September 18, 2008
Too big to fail?  Rescuing the banks and insurance companies = privatize the profit, socialize the risk.  Something is wrong with this picture, so lets fix it moving forward.  It's complicated, the government should get something for their bailouts. 

Yet the over arching question remains:  Appropriate regulations and oversight is a good thing.  How do we decide when to trust human nature to do the right thing.  Human nature and greed got the country into this financial mess, it will certainly get us through it.  Back to basics: Personal Responsibility!

And … why are the captains of these misguided ships being rewarded with severance pay for their blunder? Maybe because they are well connected to?

September 11, 2008
Life is short, give hugs.  Work hard and take time away from work.  Enjoy your work, your life will be better. 

August 1, 2008
Meaningful work, lucky in my life to experience it.  Very interested in helping younger folks (post high school) find meaningful work.  Maybe start a foundation or an addition to myworkshed.net to promote and orchestrate this.  Most of the study i have seen is about more mature people finding meaningful work.  I do see good and satisfying work as the fourth leg of the stool, food, clothing and shelter being the three legged stool.

July 23, 2008
Onward through the fog.  Warm days and cool days, the seasons pass, adventures taken and never taken.  Sawdust on the path and under foot. As Allen Romano says: "Building for tomorrow"...  another carpenters pun, which i apply as: lets not build what we don't need, but build for a better world.

Greywater Systems... anybody interested? 

June 11, 2008
Built and installed a beautiful square window for a trapezoidal hole.  In the end it was beautiful.  There is yet another metaphor for making things work.  Like my door work, life is challenging enough, doors and doorways should be easy to go through for we never really know what is on the other side.

June 3, 2008
Another day in paradise.  Voting day, always nice to walk to the voting booth, barely 100 people voted at my poll station today, bummer.  Took the long way home, enjoying the community, neighbors, neighborhood.

May 21, 2008
Somebody asked: What do i get for $70 per hour?   ANSWER: For $70 per hour I come and fix your ____.  I travel with many tools and quite a few spare parts for all sorts of electric/ plumbing/ carpentry.  I do occasionally charge for time to procure supplies, depends on urgency and if the offending broken part is common or uncommon (i.e. I carry standard plumbing washers/ toilet valves... electric switches and plugs, etc.) 

May 1, 2008
May days present and past, good work, bad work, everyone "needs" to work, in only a sense they feel accomplishment.  The word "work" has a bad rap.  As Aristotle said, “We enjoy doing things we do well”

April 13, 2008
The buddha is sweeping today, organizing, paying taxes, cleaning the tools and vehicles.  Working with two clients at the moment with their larger projects.  Challenges with finding the right skills at the right price at the right time... just like in the software arena (a former life for me): time/ quality/ price... prioritize these requirements and be willing to let go and adjust your expectations.

April 6, 2008
Not too much time for philosophy, the physical world is of a higher priority this past few weeks.  Work proceeds on various fronts, kept clean today (Sunday) and caught up with some favorite clients.

I am seeking occasional assistance on jobs in SF and Berkeley environs. Let me know if you want to assist with some demo and installs.   Familiarity with basic safety and a willingness to learn.

March 17, 2008
There is no free lunch. But lets address the feeling of desperation of those that have missed an opportunity to build a decent life.  I am speaking of the ones that wasted their education on youthful indiscretion.  I am the eternal optimist and would like to discuss creating continuing opportunity on-ramps for those that missed their education the first time around.  My business has the potential to promote self-sufficiency for people that have curiosity with limited success in traditional learning.

If you or somebody you know is interested in helping me build these opportunity on-ramps, please contact me.

March 16, 2008
Personal Responsibility, the cornerstone of my life, business and philosophy.  After watching the John Adams, Join or Die story on HBO I am frustrated that our current governmental leaders do not heed the lessons of responsibility, freedoms and statement in our country's Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal.  Lets not be bailing out the greedy (reference to Bear Sterns debacle), and focus on creating opportunities through educating, sheltering and teaching the less fortunate to care for themselves.

Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr. signaled strong support This morning (Sunday) for the Fed’s role in supplying a lifeline to Bear Stearns before JP Morgan bought the firm for one tenth of it Friday close, this is actually less than 2% of Bear Sterns 52 week high of $170 per share.  Paulson, during the crisis negotiations, said that his "priority was to stabilize the financial system and to worry less right now about the problem of avoiding a moral hazard by bailing out errant institutions."  The "moral hazard" of greed must not be looked at in isolation!  Hold people accountable for their greed and greediness gone awry.


March 3, 2008
Building, Fixing an old victorian in SF, amazing how add-ons are so dangerous to long term structural integrity.  a beautiful day to be a carpenter.

February 18, 2008
Reminded again today how much i like my work... morning removing 40 year old kitchen cabinets... ikea here we come

Then of to SF to fix some plumbing leaks (one drain, one feed line) for another client who just moved into a new house (new to them), an early 1900 home .. oh to be a new home owner with the dreams and ideas bursting forth.


February 17, 2008
Doors and Gates:
Life is hardenough, doors and gates should operate easily.  There is somethingabout walking through a doorway and entering another space.  I willmake that transition a little bit easier with a smoothly operating door.

February 15, 2007
Launch website
I enjoy fixing things, i enjoy helping people.  I like using my brain and my hands simultaneously.   i have been  working as a handyman  for hire since 2005.

Work with me, or turn your project over to me.. either way we need to communicate to get you what you need, and hopefully what you want.