Friends II

I haven't figured them out. Probably won't.

I haven't seen much of mine lately. I've been busy and so have they I guess. One thing I won't do is have people over for food and beer anytime soon. All the times I opened the house and threw impromptu parties I never asked for anything in return. Or offered to help my friends with anything, or never said no when help was asked of me.

Normally I wouldn't think about these things, but since I lost my job and haven't been working steady (these last two weeks are an exception) I figured I would get a call from someone wondering if there was something I needed or how I was doing. I know we're not the type of friends that would show up at somebody's house with a casserole, or anything. But come on, maybe an invite to come over for dinner or something. Even a half hearted phone call to ask how I was doing would be nice.

Ah well, I guess the only person I can really count on is myself.

Friends

Sometimes I wonder who they really are.

Chrome

I've been using Google's browser, Chrome, for the last couple days and so far I like it. There haven't been any pages that don't load, and I haven't had any Java issues.

I think I like, and will keep using it.

Energy

There have been many times I've thought about the price of oil and how its driven up by the false demand generated by speculative trading. I've talked with many friends about ethanol, corn versus saw grass versus cane, and the absurdity of the US not mass producing it. It becomes even more absured when you consider that many Latin American countries have been consuming it at a greater pace then gasoline for almost a decade. A simple search of The Christian Science Monitor pulls articles dating back to 1981 talking about the pros and cons of ethanol. And never mind the lack of coverage in the main stream media.

There is no doubt corn ethanol is cost prohibitive, but could it be argued that the money going into farm subsidies could be shifted to bring the cost down? Remember the rise in corn prices recently affecting nearly everything including milk? Partly, in my opinion, due to the lack of corn being grown because of the subsidies.

Anyway, I saw this article on MSNBC.com about energy from algea and it floored. I remember the NBC Nightly News clip it referenced and thinking at the time I saw it that it was amazing.

I can only imagine what is keeping this technology from advancing; Lobbyists for big oil, coal, and natural gas.

Lunch

I think I made the wrong decision...

I think I've had a lot of cars

1978 Blue Datsun 210
1979 Red Datsun 310 - "The Shit Bucket"
1980 Green Buick Century
1978 Black Mustang II Fastback
1983 Grey Chevy Cavalier - "Bob" which Ryan and I shared
1986 Hunter Green Olds 98
1978 White Mustang II Fastback
1984 Blue Buick LeSabre
1986 Champagne Olds Cutlass Supreme
1984 Black Toyota Celica - "Hector"
1984 Silver and Wood grain Buick LeSabre Electra Station Wagon - "Roger the Party Wagon"
1991 White Dodge Dynasty
1988 Green Chevy Caprice
1984 Grey Ford Crown Victoria
1991 Silver Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor
1991 Black GMC Sonoma S15
1979 Red Mustang
1984 Beige Crown Victoria
1988 Blue Crown Victoria
2003 Silver Ford Focus - Company Car
1992 Black Mazda MX6
1990 Silver Crown Victoria
1995 Champagne Lincoln Town Car
1981 Light Blue Chevy 3/4 Pick Up
2000 Sun Green Saab 93
1986 Blue K10 Chevy Blazer
2009 Green Mercury Milan - Company Car

I added another one...

1990 Red Ford F150

Work

Yesterday I bid a project at the University of Akron that was restoring some Terra Cotta and brick, replacing sealants and flashing, and cleaning and waterproofing some walls. Pretty straight forward stuff, but considering the building is large, there is a lot of work. Enough to warrant, so the architect thought, a budget of $695,000.00.

I looked at the plans, read the specs, got material and equipment pricing, and put all the information together. When my bid was $412,000 I thought I missed something, so I re-checked all my numbers and called some friends who were bidding it also. They were below the budget too, so I was comfortable with my number. After sitting down with the boss to review the bid, we ended up at $389,000 trying to be as competitive as we could to get the job.

When I was in the room for the bid opening and the results were being read, I almost fell out of my chair. There is a line between being competitive and being stupid, and I think the low number was stupid. Stupid enough that it should be carefully considered and reviewed by the owner and possibly rejected. The results are below, my bid is fourth.

1 – $257,700
2 – $303,000
3 – $325,500
4 – $389,000 My Bid
5 – $394,000
6 – $413,433
7 – $443,992
8 – $490,390
9 – $567,006