2016 Christmas Wine—Tasting or Science? Maybe Both!

Christmas isn’t over, but we decided to open our Christmas bottles early. We actually opened two bottles. The first was a 1982 Chateau Cheval Blanc, a widely hailed great vintage from the Saint-Emilion 1st Grand Cru Classe house of the white horse. This bottle has been in my loving care since its release. There can be no issue of cellar abuse. I had wanted to save this great vintage for a very special occasion, but I could no longer ignore reports of its seeming decline. It was open it now or never experience it’s greatness. Alas, I was a bit too late. The 1982 was a wonderful drinkable wine that went superbly well with the fat rich rare prime New York strip streaks. But Cheval Blanc needed the food! It lacked the stand alone character that would make you just want to enjoy the wine—maybe with a little cheese or pâté.  Its fruits had faded when opened but rebounded after about an hour in the decanter; nevertheless, the 1982 bottle could have been any really good drinkable wine, maybe even a pinot or ,of course it’s true colors, a merlot.  “If you have them, smoke them.” There no reason to keep this any longer. It is not going to get any better.

The next bottle was an antique—a fifty year old Chateau Lafite Rothschild that had lived a questionable cellar life, at least from its outward appearance. Now this was interesting.  There is no question than the wine is well past its prime, but it still had a character all its own.  Unlike the 1982 that you just wanted to enjoy with the steak. You kept wanting to go back to the Lafite for another sip—another taste. What is the wine telling me now?  Some time old wine is more like a science experiment and maybe the Lafite was near that edge.  When first opened, you questioned its drinkability. Then things started to happen—but it was not the fruit, color, or nose of a young wine.  It was dried flowers. It was the taste of and nose of autumn.  Where the 1982 needed the food, the 1966 added something else to it but didn’t really need the food. It wasn’t part of the menu; the wine stood alone.  It was not a wine to drink—it was a wine to sip. The ‘66 Lafite was a wine to be taken in small doses with amble resting time between those taste. You wanted to observe its evolution once freed from its fifty-year imprisonment.

***

It is the next day and as you would expect there is nothing left of the 1982 Cheval Blanc, but there is still a little of the Lafite in the carafe, and I just repeated the experiment—another sip. The color was and still is very light-darker than a Rose but bourbon like. The point being that it’s color  has faded with age.  The taste is old but no tannins; it is leather and dried flowers—a walk in the woods.  But you know I still want another sip.  As for the 1982, I have done that and checked it off the list. However, I would love to try another ‘66 Lafite, just to see if that other bottle, maybe treated with better care, is any different. I’ll remember the ’66, and that is the difference character makes. It is unique. It is memorable. Where the 1982 gave you all its answers; left you with no questions. The ‘66 just may still be hiding something that another bottle might answer. 

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.

Published by I-65 North, Inc.

An Antique Wine for Christmas 2016

Soon we’ll celebrate another Christmas. And as our new tradition continues, we will enjoy another antique wine during the holidays. One I will tell you about when the season is over and that last drinkable sip has been drained leaving behind a little residue from the bottle’s years of resting in its cellar.

If you recall, it was an antique 1947 vintage of Chateau Cheval Blanc that was a central character in my book The Claret Murders. The ‘47 Cheval Blanc is considered by many to be the greatest wine every made.  I did have the great fortune of tasting a small share of this extraordinary wine at a tasting dinner several years ago.

In the animated hit Ratatouille, feared critic Anton Ego visits Gusteau's, the restaurant in which the movie is set, and orders a bottle of 1947 Château Cheval Blanc to go with his meal. The wine critic, Mike Steinberger, noted that the film which is full of delicious insider moments for foodies did so as wink to the wine lovers. He explained,

 “That's because the '47 Cheval is probably the most celebrated wine of the 20th century. It is the wine every grape nut wants to experience before he dies.”

Today, seventy years later, a single surviving bottle of the 1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc purchased, rather than retrieved from one’s cellar, can cost as much or more than $12,000.

Last year’s antique treasure got close but miss this greatest of all wine by just one year. We celebrated that Christmas with a 1948 Cheval Blanc.

Our 1948 bottle was very much alive—wonderful, but no longer a characteristic Claret. It smelled of plums and raisins with the taste of an exceptionally smooth port. We paired the wine with cheese and rich fat hamburgers that brought back the richness of the wine and showed its nobility as a great Claret from the house of the white horse.

What makes the experience of an antique wine so exceptional is the realization that you are one of the last people on earth to have the opportunity to taste the wine—through the experience you time travel back in to its birth. It is the product of soil, weather, and the light hand of the wine maker at that precise place and time in history. Like a snowflake—it is unique and can never be repeated.

# # #

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

EMPLOYERS – WAIT, WAIT DON'T DO IT!

Qualifying for a Tennessee carry permit requires mandatory training and being tested on the firing range. In spite of the sustainable personal investment in time and expense, many Tennesseans have gone through the process becoming responsible gun owners. One of the things they learn during training is that firing a deadly weapon exposes them to civil and criminal prosecution regardless of the reason for doing so. The only justification for aiming a weapon at another human is that you believe you or someone else is at risk of being killed or suffering grave bodily harm. Their judgment as to that circumstance will be questioned. They will surely have to defend their decision in court. Responsible gun owners have a lot to lose and thus take their responsibility seriously. Based on experience, we have much to fear from criminals with guns and almost nothing to fear from the licensed individual. In fact, those licensed for conceal carry provide an additional level of security—security that could one day save your life or the life of someone close to you.

In spite of the potential benefit the licensed individual provides, fear of guns in anyone’s hand has led some businesses to adopt a no guns on the premises policy. However, a company’s right to bar guns has limits as Steve Collins humorously explains below:

“Hey, Harlan, I heard Louise has got a shiny Colt Detective 38 Special locked up in her trunk.  She's always pushing the rules.  There are no guns allowed on company property.  I've had it with Louise.  This is it.  I'm firing her."

Wait, wait don't do it.  In 2014 Tennessee passed Tennessee Code Annotated 39 17 1313, commonly referred to as the "guns in trunks law."

Since Louise has a proper Tennessee carry permit and since her Colt Detective 38 Special is locked up in her trunk, she is protected by the law.  The law allows Louise to transport and store her gun in her vehicle.  That law applies to the company parking lot.   All Louise has to do is be on the property legally, be parked legally, and her have her gun and ammunition 'kept from ordinary observation'.  A gun locked in the trunk is 'kept from ordinary observation'.
Also if Harlan does fire Louise she can bring a lawsuit against the company charging that her statutory right to have her gun locked in her trunk has been violated and she can in turn seek and receive damages from the employer including her attorney fees and litigation costs and she can get an injunction prohibiting her employer from violating that law and taking an adverse employment action against her.  These remedies for Louise are provided for in Tennessee Code Annotated 50-1-312. The result is that an employer of any size is now prohibited from discharging or taking an adverse employment action against its employee in Tennessee 'solely' for being in compliance with 'guns in trunks'.
Be aware and wait, wait don't do it.  Tennessee Code Annotated 50-1-312. Became effective July 1, 2015.

For more WAIT, WAIT DON'T DO IT advice to employers check other Steve Collins post at http"//spicefirm.com/news.html.

# # #

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
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Time Off to Vote—It is a Right!

With the election of our next President only days away, employees and employers need to start thinking about voting plans.  Imagine the following conversation between employee and employer:

“I need to take off to go vote today."
“Wait a minute Joe, you do that on your own time.”
“I’ve got to vote!”
“Well, if you leave work, no need to come back."

Steve Collins with the Knoxville law firm Spicer Rudstrom, PLLC says, “EMPLOYERS – WAIT, WAIT DON'T DO IT!” Tennessee Code Annotated 2-1-106 provides that the employee on the day of an election must be given "a reasonable period of time, not to exceed three (3) hours, necessary to vote during the time the polls are open in the county where the person is a resident.” The law also provides, however, that Joe has to make application for the time off at least before 12:00 noon on the day before the election. Further, the law provides that if the employee's work begins three or more hours after the polls have opened or ends three or more hours before the polls close in the county where the employee is a resident, then the employee is not entitled to the time off. The employee “may not be subjected to any penalty or reduction in pay for such absence.”

"Termination of an employee for a protected right, protected by a statute or regulation, can give rise to a retaliatory discharge lawsuit.  If Joe makes an application before lunchtime the day before the election and if Joe's work does not start three or more hours after the polls in his county open or his work does not end three or more hours before the polls close in his county, you better let him off to go vote."

"In the case of Hodges v. S.C. Toof & Co., 833 S.W.2d 896 (Tenn. 1992) a Tennessee jury returned a verdict of $575,000 for a plaintiff found to have been wrongfully discharged  for engaging in a protected activity (jury duty).  So, wait, wait don't do it!"

For more "Wait, wait don't do it!" advice from Steve Collins go to http"//spicefirm.com/news.html

# # #

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.

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Aunt Enie

Aunt Enie
April 21, 1920 - April 14, 2016

We said goodbye to Earline Rogers, a.k.a. Aunt Enie.  Actually, she wasn’t legally my aunt; she was everybody’s aunt. She passed away several months ago at 97 on April 1 4th, 2016.  On August 22nd at the Woman’s Club of Nashville, we celebrated her life—a life wonderful for everyone who knew her—a life of giving that will continue because she set up a trust to provide college scholarships for generations to come.

Aunt Enie will be remembered by all walks of life in the Nashville and Centerville area including her Juris, Inc. friends.

Aunt Enie was an honorary member of the Juris, Inc. team complete with logo jacket and a Juris business card with the title Official Executive Guest Chef and Expert Biscuit Maker.  For years Aunt Enie and Lee Ann’s Herron’s mother prepared a Christmas time breakfast-lunch for the Juris home office team members—Country Ham, Grits, Eggs and Aunt Enie’s Biscuits—with all the fixings.  If you were one of those Juris team members, you remember those world famous biscuits.  She left behind her recipe so that you can continue that Christmas tradition:

I can’t possibly detail all the credits she accumulated during her life, but let me remind you of just a few. Known for her unfailing smile, everyone she met became a friend. She was widely traveled. As a senior citizen she was a government courier for top secret documents. In her seventies, she went Heli-hiking in mountain terrain. She entertained sick children as a clown. She loved bridge and often played at what he called her second home, the Women’s Club. She was at home anywhere with anyone, but she always retained a little air of country about her. She became a lady of means and a generous one. As one family member said, “Aunt Enie believed in keeping money circulating.” She did and she enjoyed it!

# # #

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Surviving a Terrorist

What happened in Orlando is another reminder that all of us are at risk of becoming targets in this war against radical Islam. The odds are low that you, I, or family members will find themselves in the middle of an Orlando type attack.  But it could happen just as you could be a storm or earthquake victim, so you need to be prepared to take action to survive. Action is the key. Those who act in the first seconds are the survivors. Try to be aware of your surroundings. If for any reason you feel uncomfortable, get out. If you see something suspicious tell — call 911 or the authorities.  Enter the FBI as a contact in your phone. You can contact your nearest field office or use the national tip line, 202-324-3000.   It is a good idea to have the fire and local police numbers in your phone as well.

If you are in a public location, know where the exits, restrooms, stairs, and fire extinguishers are located. 

Most people will mentally try to rationalize a threat away—shots are probably just fireworks, screams are just teenagers acting up, etc.  Survivors think threat first. They quickly assess to grasp the situation and they act.  They run, hide, or fight.

Get out of harm’s way if you possibly can. Once out, contact the

authorities and give them as much information as you can. The best way you can help others is too first save yourself. Only if you are alive can you help save other lives by assisting authorities and later helping those hurt or wounded. 

If you cannot run, hide. Make yourself disappear or as small a target as possible. Put a barrier between you and the terrorist. Preferably one that both hides you as well as stops bullets or debris from an explosion—a closed off room, a concrete wall, behind equipment, furniture, etc.

Finally, if you can’t run and you can’t hide—try to find a way to fight back.  If it is a terrorist attack, they intend to kill you. At least fighting back provides some possibility of survival. Be ready for an opportunity – an opening such as a jammed gun, an empty ammunition clip, or a distraction. Recruit others if possible. Get a weapon if you can—a sharp object like a broken stick, glass or knife, a hard object like a beer or coke bottle. But your body may be the best weapon—your full weight and fury thrown at the terrorist with blood curling screams, hands ripping hair, knee slamming private parts, teeth tearing ears away, fingers gouging eyes. Separate the terrorist from his weapon.  Hopefully, others will join you and together you can take the terrorist down. 

Fighting is, however, the last option. Terrorists may be working as a team. Yours may be wearing an explosive vest. Your fight may save others but not you. 

# # #

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

World Peace?

This cartoon was drawn 112 years ago. The clothes we wear has changed more than national behaviors, and the cartoon is missing the new Goliath on the world stage—the Middle East and radical Islam.

   

World peace seems as illusive today as it did 1904 when the cartoonist depicted a helpless Uncle Sam that did little more than sat on the side lines watching the squabbles between nations, while he wished for world peace. Back then, we enjoyed the isolation- of oceans protecting the USA from nationalistic ambitions of adversaries. We could take sides and go to war, but war couldn’t effectively reach the U.S. homeland.

   

No more! Wishing for world peace won’t cut it. Nuclear and space age weapons, global communications, air travel, cross boarder commerce, and porous borders have bridged our ocean moats.

###

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Immigration—It Is Just The Same Old Thing or Is It?

The Puck cartoon pictured above is over 100 years old. Those already here resented each new arriving wave of immigants until they melted into the United States “pot”.  Initially, new immigrats stuck together, and their increasing numbers seemed to threathened our existing culture.  Over time their children and their children’s children spread out into the general population.  Some of their culture, especially their food, became Americanized and  added to the richness of the US. A lot of their old ways were,however,  left behind as the intelopers themself became Americanized.

However, what we are dealing with today is different. We have a large and growing number of undocumented people who stole their way into our country. And they did it at a time of heightened war time security. That is right, we are at war—at war over drugs and with radical religious elements out to do us harm. These undocumented persons are off the grid. We don’t know who they are or where they are.  And the existence of undocumented millions in our midst has become an intolerable risk.

Building a wall will not remove that risk.  At best, it merely keeps the risk from increasing. To eliminate it, we must either remove the illegal people or document them. It seems to me that documenting the undocumented is the logical course.  And, we don’t need to solve the “hotly contested” citizenship issue to do that. Documenting these immigrates is no more complicated than issuing a driver’s license.

We can provide illegals already here with a renewable work permit along with a Non-U.S. Citizen ID Card provided they meet certain conditions and register before a specified dead- line. Registration has to include securing identifying information including finger prints, photo and personal history. The permit would terminate if  the required conditions are violated -- for example, a subsequent felony conviction. This documentation process provides no path to citizenship; nor does it prevent providing one at some future time.

Those who fail to register or fail the requirments for registration must be taken into custody and deported when they surface, and they will.

There are many who feel that doing the above will simply stimulate a fresh flood of illegal immigration. That is why a majority of US citizens wanted the border problem solved first. Unfortunately, the risk of not knowing who they are and where they are has grown to great to wait. 

# # #

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

WE ARE BACK

We ran away to Florida for a few days to get away from the cold and snow.
We left things looking like this:

Unfortunately, southwest Florida was having a cold wave of its own and had been hit with the “red tide” which can kill fish and make it hard to breathe. So - when sunny, we spent our time on the beach bundled up against a cold  wind.
















And, - avoiding dead fish and other sea life that had washed ashore as a feast for the pelicans.

All things are relative, however. The food was great and the gulf sure beat the snow and freezing weather at home.

# # #

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

The best port I ever had was a 1948 Claret!

Another wonderful Christmas gift was enjoyed with my son in Austin over the holidays—a 1948 Chateau Cheval Blanc, a Premier Grand Cru Bordeaux from the Saint-Émilion region of France.

If you recall it was the 1947 vintage of this wine that was a central character in my book The Claret Murders. Unlike the 1947 vintage considered by many to be the greatest wine every made, the 1948 was considered atypical when young—very tannic with a high 13.5% alcohol content. The 48 was the ugly duckling that had to spend years resting in dark cellars before securing its place among the sought after vintages of Cheval Blanc.

Today, nearly 70 years later, a single surviving bottle of the 1948 Chateau Cheval Blanc purchased, rather than  retrieved from one’s cellar, cost between $3000 and $5000.

Our 1948 bottle was very much alive—wonderful, but no longer a characteristic Claret. It smelled of plums and raisins with the taste of an exceptionally smooth port. We paired the wine with cheese and rich fat hamburgers that brought back the richness of the wine and showed its nobility as a great Claret from the house of the white horse.

What makes the experience of an antique wine so exceptional is the realization that you are one of the last people on earth to have the opportunity to taste the wine—through the experience you time travel back in to its birth. It is the product of soil, weather, and the light hand of the wine maker at that precise place and time in history. Like a snowflake—it is unique and can never be repeated. 

# # #

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Big Government 2500 Years Ago and Today!

The more things change the more things remain fundamentally the same with respect to the human condition as evidenced by Socrates’s comments defending himself from charges of corrupting the young:

"The State is like a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am that gadfly which God has given the State and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you."

Socrates’s quote appears in Plato’s Apology retelling Socrates’s unsuccessful efforts to defend himself from charges brought by the state.

I was reminded of Socrates’s comments by a November 8, 2015 article in The Tennessean newspaper reporting on the misguided attempts of the City of Franklin Tennessee to intimidate what the city called environmental gadflies.

Present 2015 political currents evidence that the problems inherent with big government continue to this day. Big government (in Socrates’s time it was Athens) is not only “tardy in its motions”; the untended negative consequences of its actions often far outnumber its accomplishments.

Our country was created to be different—to be a country of the people and for the people. But, given time Jerry Pournell’s The Iron Law of Bureaucracy proves inviolable. The fact that the inmates have taken control is the only explanation for the chaos in our policies, lack of policies, actions and inactions.

Is government broken? Yep! How do we fix it?  The only effective treatment for “tardy motions” is a smaller more agile and attentive government. It was true almost 2500 years ago and it is true today.

Rather than “more,”- the preservation of the American Way requires “less.”- Great leaders diligently simplify and eliminate.  It is that trait, to constantly simplify and eliminate, that we sorely need in the next President of the United States of America.

# # #

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

The Machines are Here

Is the future a future of the “Machines” and are the machines 3D printers?

While 3D printing is not a kitchen table topic in American homes, it is evolving to change the world as we know it. 3D printing is creating a new horizon of possibilities. But, will it prepare us for an exploding population or necessitate a smaller, but more leisurely one?

What happens when anything we want or can dream up is printed for us? Think I am exaggerating? The industrial military complex has successfully printed an eighty-six foot rocket complete with an engine that can put a 250 satellite into orbit. Amsterdam is using massive 3D printers to build a bridge in place that seems to defy gravity.

3D printing is being used to build replacement

organs for humans, and with continued innovation, we are going to routinely use 3D printers used for the production of virtually all good and products.

3D printing will undoubtedly lead to the development of things never dreamed possible. However, when food, apparel, appliances, vehicles, and structures can be printed what happens to the people who grew and prepared the food, tailored the apparel, manufactured appliances, or built bridges and other structures. What do humans do, when the machines do everything?

Wait, you say -- humans will build the machines.

Somewhere, some young engineer is already working on a machine that will print its own off springs—the Mother Machine.

Now what? 

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

My List of Good Products and Services

Updated November 3, 2015

Bad service and poor qualiy has become so common place that its time to fight back by reconizing the exceptions--the good guys who do it right. 

• Mosquito Squad: For years we had to retreat to our screened in porch. Not anymore! To find out more go to their website at www.mosquitosquad.com.

• Closets by Design: The installer arrived when promised. The installation was professional and the finished product was exactly what we expected—Good quality, fair price, nice people. Go to www.closetsbydesgn.com.

• Turfcare Landscapes: We use them to maintain our current landscape including mowing, rose care, mulching, debris removal, roundup and insecticide treatment as needed, aeration, reseeding, trimming and pruning.  It is like our lawn and landscaped areas are on autopilot. They just take care of things—we don’t have to tell them what to do. They see what is needed and they take care of it—that’s all folks and it is great! Go to http://www.turfcareofnashville.com.

• Chris Doubler, Art Handler & Designer: We had some really large paintings that needed to be hung in high and difficult locations.  Finding the names of people who do that work wasn’t easy, but I finally came up with three recommendations. Two never returned my calls.  The third finally did, but he explained that what I needed was beyond his job grade; however, he gave me the name of someone who could do what I wanted. That someone was Chris Doubler. Chris called me back almost immediately. He quoted a fair hourly rate, and we agreed on the day and time for the work. He arrived as promised with all the equipment, tools, and helpers needed for the job.  He installed eight large pieces in a little less than two hours. The workmanship was first rate. You can reach Chris by phone at 615/423-5763. Services include installation, packing, consultations, and transportation of art.
• Elon's Ornamental Iron: After remodeling our stone deck and patio, we needed to add wrought Iron stair rails and refinish older existing wrought iron railing. Owner Kenneth Morrison meet with us;help us pick the design and gave us a reasonable estimate and timeline for completing the job. They delivered as promised and on time. You can reach Elon's by calling 615/403-6372. 

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

“They’re Stupid!”

Where have you heard that lately? People are saying that Mr. Trump’s “they’re stupid” mantra has turned political correctness on its head. But, he may be on to something. A friend of mine reminded me of Carlo Maria Cipolla’s study of human stupidity which he reported in an essay titled The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity. Cipolla identified five fundamental laws of stupidity:

1. Always and inevitably each of us underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
2. The probability that a given person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic possessed by that person.
3. A person is stupid if they cause damage to another person or group of people without experiencing personal gain, or even worse causing damage to themselves in the process.
4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the harmful potential of stupid people; they constantly forget that at any time anywhere, and in any circumstance, dealing with or associating themselves with stupid individuals invariably constitutes a costly error.
5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person there is.

You ignore Cipolla’s five laws at your peril, especially #5.

As a business owner and executive, I didn’t use the word stupid, but like any good executive or manager, I understood the dangers stupid people presented.

My team at Juris, Inc. called them “unconscious incompetents.” They are people who are not yet competent for the position they are in and do not know they are incompetent. Few people, including the President of the United States, go into a position fully competent on day one. Conscious incompetent people know their limitations and compensate. They seek advice, take advantage of training opportunities, they self study, etc. — all in an effort to learn and gain experience that increases their level of competency. The process from incompetent to competent is explained by the authority triangle in my book The Language of Excellence.

The unconscious incompetent without hesitation makes decisions for which they are not qualified. As employees they expose an organization to undue risk and thus when identified they are driven out—terminated. The risk to society of unconscious incompetent political figures and bureaucrats is even greater, and unfortunately, they are seldom driven out, and prior to Mr. Trump, there was often no attempt to identify them. Who are unconscious incompetents: “They are the dangerous people—Trump’s “STUPID!” people.”

Now....consider this. Do you think Mr. Trump is ready, fully competent, for the job of President of the United States? If not, do you think he knows that? ...And if he doesn’t, wouldn’t that make him, I don’t know... “STUPID!”

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For signed copies of The Language of Excellence and other books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Every once a while, someone really comes through!  These are the Good people and Good products. The Good people do what they promised when they promised to do it, and they do it at the price they promised. Likewise, you occasionally get your hands on Good products.  They are priced right, built right, and do exactly what you expected them to.
 
Unfortunately, Good no longer seems to be the norm. More likely than not, you will not get what you paid for. I am really getting tired of poor service, shoddy products or poor workmanship, and failures to deliver (or show up) on time as promised. Those are the Bad people and products.  And it can only get worse from there. The Ugly are those situations where you feel you were cheated, intentionally mislead, or the product or service causes more harm than good. Since the Good is so rare today, I want to start sharing the identity of services and products that really stand out as Good—at least in my experience. I hope this list grows, because it is disappointingly short.
 

My List of Good Products and Services

• Mosquito Squad: For years we had to retreat to our screened in porch. Not anymore! To find out more go to their website at www.mosquitosquad.com.

• Closets by Design: The installer arrived when promised. The installation was professional and the finished product was exactly what we expected—Good quality, fair price, nice people. Go to www.closetsbydesgn.com.

• Turfcare Landscapes: We use them to maintain our current landscape including mowing, rose care, mulching, debris removal, roundup and insecticide treatment as needed, aeration, reseeding, trimming and pruning.  It is like our lawn and landscaped areas are on autopilot. They just take care of things—we don’t have to tell them what to do. They see what is needed and they take care of it—that’s all folks and it is great! Go to http://www.turfcareofnashville.com.

• Chris Doubler, Art Handler & Designer: We had some really large paintings that needed to be hung in high and difficult locations.  Finding the names of people who do that work wasn’t easy, but I finally came up with three recommendations. Two never returned my calls.  The third finally did, but he explained that what I needed was beyond his job grade; however, he gave me the name of someone who could do what I wanted. That someone was Chris Doubler. Chris called me back almost immediately. He quoted a fair hourly rate, and we agreed on the day and time for the work. He arrived as promised with all the equipment, tools, and helpers needed for the job.  He installed eight large pieces in a little less than two hours. The workmanship was first rate. You can reach Chris by phone at 615/423-5763. Services include installation, packing, consultations, and transportation of art. 

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

We Were Robbed!

Once we moved, we told the contractor, “Thank you but we will take it from here.”

Since our plan was downsizing, we didn’t expect to spend a lot of time on the second floor. Nevertheless, we realized that those upstairs bedrooms depended mainly on lamps for illumination. So being “contractorless,” we called an electrical subcontractor and told them we would like to have recessed lights installed in the three upstairs bedrooms. It seems everyone in the construction business is super busy in the Nashville area these days. Home construction may be down but mega apartment buildings are going up everywhere. The subcontractor “worked us in” to their schedule sending over two workers on a Saturday.

  

The electrical company has done work for us many times over the years and has done a great job. They have often worked in the current and prior residences when neither we nor anyone else was in the house. We trusted them completely. I admit, however, that this time we were not familiar with every member of the crew doing the recessed light work. My wife and I needed to run an errand, and we left the men alone to complete their work with instructions about securing the house if they should finish before we returned. We were gone a couple of hours.

When we returned, the house was locked, fully secured, and the men were gone. I had to go out again, so I looked for some cash that I had left in a basket on the kitchen counter.  [I have to be very careful here not to mention names. In America, you are innocent until proven guilty, and proving guilt isn’t easy without the help or stupidity of the thief.] Oops, the money was gone. So were three of my wife’s rings that were also in that basket including her 53 year old wedding band. Now getting nervous, I checked where I kept my watches and rings. Two very special rings were gone—a 22ct gold David Yurman piece with the image of a horse in black jade and a second gold ring with a carnelian carved by the German artist, Manfred Wild.

  

The sheriff is on the case—so is Mark Rollins because whoever the culprit is, this probably wasn’t his first robbery, and unless we catch him and put him away, it probably will not be his last. “Mariko, get your Beretta—the game is afoot.”

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For more about the move and its trails and tribulations go to the prior post titled Our Next House.

For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Our Next House

My email, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts have been filled today with well wishes. My thanks to each you for touching base on my birthday. I thought I would use the occasion to give you an update on our physical move. It is only about three miles from the old homestead, which is now in the hands of my daughter and her family.

We are figuratively ‘bruised and bloodied’ but finally in our next house. I’m not calling it home yet because there is still a lot to do before it feels that way.

The plan had been to down size, but I think something went wrong with that plan. The house was previously owned by a professional hockey player. And I have been told the house was frequently an after game hang out, so it has taken some wear and tear. Thus, we decided to remodel and - renew the house before occupying it.

Our three month remodeling plan took about eight months, and there are still odds and ends that have to be done.  We had five destructive water events during the remolding. The first was an overflowing drip pan of an air handler installed in the attic. Then during a severe cold snap, we had an ice damn that damaged the ceiling and floors of the breakfast room. Both events did a lot of damage but were nothing compared to what we experienced during the water heater saga. It started when a traditional water heater also installed in the attic died of old age. Its tank burst sending water crashing through the ceiling and flowing down the walls of the living room and master bedroom suite. The contractor talked me into a tankless replacement so that I would never have that kind of problem ever again. Not so! After the drywall and other damage from the first water heater had been repaired, the tankless water heater froze and burst. It was déjà vu. Then the contractor recommended that I build a insulated room around the next replacement to prevent such a thing from ever happening again. Confident that the insulated room eliminated all risk of another frozen water heater, we went ahead with the installation of  new subflooring and carpet. The temperature outside dropped. The replacement of the replacement of the replacement froze and burst despite its protective new insulated room. In came the big fans again. Freshly painted dry wall was removed along with light fixtures, portions of the carpet, and subflooring. All had to be replaced, restored, and repainted. It déjà vu all over again!

This time I remembered the old saying “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” It turned out the tankless water heaters were installed in such a way that when the lights in the attic were turned off so was the power to the water heater. Which I later learned later, if installed properly, would remain unfrozen even at 30 degrees below zero.

That was the last straw when it came to a water heater in the attic. You see we already had a second traditional water heater in the garage. The only thing the one in the attic did was serve the master bedroom bath. “Guys, we are downsizing! Why in the world would two people need two water heaters?  I wish the contractor had thought of that instead of “an insulated” room. We rerouted the plumbing of the master bath to connect to that already existing other water heater—and finally I can say “We will never have to deal with that kind of problem ever again!”

We did get something out of this that most people don’t have—a nice insulated room in the attic. It is empty. The tankless water heater that once called it home is only a bad memory.

More to come—We were robbed!

The Cake Angel

I’m a cancer survivor—one who beat the odds. So far, to do so has meant three major operations, chemo, and radiation. After the first operation, I remember waking up in the hospital to listen to the surgeon tell me that he had been unable to remove all of the offending tumor. I should go home and put my affairs in order. I had two years to live, maybe. The team at Tennessee Oncology took over and thanks to them I am cancer free, at least for now.   The Oncology team is determined to keep it that way monitoring my health closely. That means regular visits to the clinic and my little slice of cake from the Cake Angel.

Everyone at Tennessee Oncology has been visited by the Cake Angel.  I don’t know her name or her story, but I would like to know both.  What I do know is that every day this nice lady brings a basket of freshly baked cakes to the clinic for the patients. She calls her goodies bread—Zucchini bread, banana, chocolate chip, cinnamon nut, butter pecan, etc. What an unselfish act.

Cancer is scary. Hours in a chemo chair with poison dripping in your veins is hard. It is a little less scary and chemo is just a little easier because of the Cake Angel.

A good person might do something nice once in a while. What elevates this lady to Angel status is that she does her nice thing every single day. That kind of dedication to a task she has created for herself can only be an act of love. Knowing that we have caring people like the Cake Angel in this world is sweeter that the daily slice of bread she offers to each of us.

Me on Chemo

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Two spaces after a period is just wrong!

I learned to type in high school. It was 1958, so, of course, my typing was done on a manual typewriter. At the time, I had no idea just how valuable typing skill would become to me as a computer user. But I also picked up one almost unshakable bad habit—the “two space” error.

As Farhad Manjoo explains in Slate, “you should never, ever use two spaces after a period.” In spite of the fact that every major style guide prescribes the single space rule, people of my generation can’t seem to stop putting that extra space into everything they type including e-mails.

Farhad notes that “the people who study and design the typewritten word decided long ago that we should use one space, not two, between sentences.” So when and why did some of us start adding an extra space?

It seems that the misguided two spaces are a product of those old manual typewriters I used in high school. We were taught to put two spaces after periods by our typing teachers to accommodate the shortcomings of manual typewriters. With those outdated obsolete machines used mono-spaced type, every character occupied an equal amount of horizontal space on the sheet. Putting an extra space after a sentence made text easier to read. With today’s electronics, nearly every font is proportional. With proportional fonts, the two space exception to the long established one space tradition was no longer needed. With proportional fonts, typographers say the extra space diminishes rather than enhances readability.

The problem for people of my generation is that the muscle memory in our fingers that allows us to type without looking or thinking about the keys also automatically adds the extra space. While we know right from wrong, our fingers have a mind of their own.

P.S.: After originally typing the above, I edited the text to eliminate all the extra spaces my independently thinking fingers had added. There were nine.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

πόλλ' οἶδ' ἀλώπηξ, ἀλλ' ἐχῖνος ἓν μέγα

The above ancient Greek text translates as "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing."  A surprising number of fables and modern stories have been inspired by this bit of text attributed to Archilochus.  Jim Collins even included a version of one in his book Good to Great. Collins explains it this way:

“Picture two animals: a fox and a hedgehog. Which are you? An ancient Greek parable distinguishes between foxes, which know many small things, and hedgehogs, which know one big thing. All good-to-great leaders, it turns out, are hedgehogs. They know how to simplify a complex world into a single, organizing idea—the kind of basic principle that unifies, organizes, and guides all decisions. That’s not to say hedgehogs are simplistic. Like great thinkers, who take complexities and boil them down into simple, yet profound, ideas (Adam Smith and the invisible hand, Darwin and evolution), leaders of good-to-great companies develop a Hedgehog Concept that is simple but that reflects penetrating insight and deep understanding.”

The wily fox in chase or being chased uses a complex web of tactics and strategies to counter obstacles or challenges. Sometimes he succeeds and sometimes he doesn’t. The determined hedgehog, on the other hand, has one superior advantage in the world, his spiny needles. His goal may appear simple, with his superior advantage he perseveres against every foe. The fox is an opportunist and pounces from opportunity to opportunity—never gaining the clarifying advantage of superiority.

A good friend of mine, Tom Trebing, and a mentor to fresh entrepreneurs, tells (or re-tells) the story this way:

“A fox and a hedgehog were strolling through a country path.  Periodically, they were threatened by hungry wolves.  The fox — being blessed with smarts, speed, and agility — would lead packs of wolves on a wild chase through the fields and over hill and dale. Eventually the fox would return to the path, breathless but having lost the wolves and continue walking. The hedgehog, being endowed with a coat of spikes, simply hunkered down on its haunches when menaced by the wolves and fended them off without moving. When they gave up, he would return to his stroll unperturbed. The crafty cunning fox devises many strategies. The persistent hedgehog knows one effective strategy—i.e.—the fox knows many things but the hedgehog knows one GREAT thing.”  

Let me try expanding concept using The Language of Excellence. The essence of excellence in leadership is the concept of Management Candy, M&M’s—doing the main things with the minimum resources necessary to achieve the objective. Great companies succeed because they practice Management Candy. They also have clarity of a mission.  In the choice between the Doing the Right Thing and Doing Things Right they have chosen the Right Thing.

Simply put, great companies have chosen the right thing (their superior advantage), and they have stuck to it like glue!

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.