[ Originally posted as a blog on September 30th, but removed. Then Mark posted his about same John Nichols guy earlier this week. ]

It has come to my attention that some business or business owners rather are not worth fooling with. The owner of two such companies is one of those people. He cannot seem to pay for things he requested like the registration and hosting of a Catalyst X project, KnoxRhino.com, nor can he seem to honor the arrangement set up my one of his employees so they could have a photographic record of the work they produce in the shop.

Personally, I think I should have realized this earlier, by the way he treats his own son. On numerous occasions I have seen him demeaned. If I have seen it, the customers of these companies must have seen it. The following is an excerpt of electronic communication between the two of them, showing the true colors of this business owner:

I want to address several additional issues with you since we have not been able to sit down and have a conversation.

which was followed retorted with:

You say that I don’t trust you. The fact is you are correct and here are the reasons why:

This is a great way to start an e-mail to an employee… NOT! If you don’t trust them, why when Tennessee has an 8% unemployment rate would you hire them in the first place? In addition this employee/employer correspondence is between a father and son. I thought the only father and son e-mails like this exist only in Mark’s life. This is also unacceptable.

To top it all off, this man decided to string Mark and I along for several months.

In a meeting in his office at 6336 Clinton Highway, the site of the Mr. Transmission #337, Mr. Nichols requested services and quotes for said services. They were then promptly stated and followed up by e-mail. The first of these was regarding the hosting of www.knoxrhino.com, the “proof” he requested in order to demonstrate the abilities of Catalyst X. After he was billed, he refused to pay, even though he requested these things to be done saying to in a reply to his son “You do not have the authority to have this done.” This was only done per the owner’s request and registered under the son’s name and e-mail address for contact.

The second e-mail was regarding the graphic design for business cards and other marketing materials. Although the owner did not request it, a follow-up e-mail was sent since I had not received a response in a few months. Following this e-mail were several on-sites to discuss the design and an additional e-mail. Three weeks afterwards I received a forwarded e-mail from the son again requesting these quotes.

So after that I called this man. I said, “Owner, how many times must I send you a quote? I have sent this in e-mail twice and visited you multiple times.” It was as if this fell on deaf ears. Today I get a phone call from the son. The son says, “Dad says you shot yourself in the foot. You forgot your place since he is the customer.” I am sorry but over a six month time period and multiple quotes, if you don’t want my services, tell me. Most of all DO NOT slander my name in front of one of my best customers, your son. This is the kind of thing lawsuits are made of.

In conclusion, Mark, his son, and I do not seem to be the only ones who have problems with this man. It turns out the Better Business Bureau and several customers do as well. So if you would like an alternative to Transmission and Car Repair, please feel free to contact me at the blog. For truck bed linings or any other service that might require a polyurethane covering let me suggest Line X of Knoxville.

Good luck with your endeavors Mr. Business Owner.

I hope that some day soon you can be taken off the list of asshats, but until then I raise my glass to toast you.

Shortly after turning my own ass to fart in your general direction.

While the History Channel and CBS specials are showing on body language, I would like to offer a video which does not focus on political figures.  Rather it centers on actually reading body language in a much more informal setting.

(tip: Lilith Monkey)

So with this bit of information after watching the History Channel program you might say that during Richard Nixon’s “I Am Not a Crook” speech, his boom boom was unavailable.  Rather he was really trying to say please don’t rape me in my assholes, but if you must please use some lube.

It occurred to me today as I was looking for a place to plug up my laptop, how inconsiderate people can be when it comes to seating arrangement.  As I am just as entitled to a seat as they are.  But if you walk into a building at Pellissippi State Technical Community College,  you are more likely to find a seat in the floor than in a chair or bench.  For God(s) sake this is a not pre-civil rights issue, I am a citizen of the United States of America.  This is a terrible injustice and inconsiderate of others around you.

So students, staff and faculty should take note:

• Students:  A bench is not a bed… (So, don’t lay down there!  Go home!)
• All:  Everyone needs a seat… (I don’t bite or smell bad.  Get the @#$% over it!)
• All:  On a side note, I can’t get out to my services to check my e-mail.  (It’s not me looking at porn or contracting viruses.)
• All:  Also on this same note, why is the infrastructure for the password protected sections of the site so hard to use?  (I am relatively computer savvy,  I have issues using this… Maybe you should look into hiring Catalyst IT and Catalyst X, they work for me.  With that said they could probably help make the design appealing and functional.)
• Staff and Faculty:  I realize to purchase applicable materials is a necessary evil, but why do they have to cost so much? (Many of my friends and colleagues are quite successful using online sources to study our information when we have problems.  I realize that not all of this information is valid, but with some reasoning I am sure this can be resolved.)

In consideration of these things, maybe atleast one person out there is listening.  That makes two, which won’t get us anywhere.  But if we could get three people to talk about these things, then they will know its a movement.  That’s what it is folks the Inconsiderate Insubordination movement, and you should sing it loud and proud if you want to make changes and stuff.

(Conclusion is loosely based from Alice’s Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie.)

666th post

  So I salute you Mark,  this beer is on you!

What Happens to a Dream Deferred?
Does it Shrivel Up like a Raisin in the Sun?
Or Fester like a Sore and then Run?
Does it Stink like Rotten Meat?
Or Crust and Sugar Over like a Syrupy Sweet?
Maybe It Just Sags like a Heavy Load.

–Or Does it Explode?

 –Langston Hughes

Read It!  Think about it!  Take notes! Most of all interact with it!

Reading is an act of giving.  An act of giving away control and lettiong your mind wander with the artist’s (author’s) direction.  You let the artist lead your hand through the interpretation with the guides they give you in the piece.  There is still plenty left for you to do in regard to your imagination.  I call this reading in the moment, you let yourself be aborbed into the time period, the location, and the description of the times and places the artist takes you to.  It is surrendering yourself to the will of another by faith.

In order to make reading worthwhile, you must feel the literature.  Live it as you read and the reading will have meaning.  Overtime your can begin to understand with your whole heart and your being.  Literature is a living art and should be treated as such.  Once you can be open, then you can respond to the message the artist has in mind.

This is a spin-off of an old e-mail that recently made its way back in my direction.

 Many people in this country have a job.  They receive payment for the work they do.  Then the government steps in a collects a portion of the proceeds they receive.  The government distributes this payment as they see fit.

 In order to get this paycheck, they submit a random urine test to their respective employer.  This is should not be an issue for any law abiding citizen.

 In reality what any citizen of this country should be concerned about are the people who receive a welfare check.  Welfare recipients do not have to pass a random urine test.  Since our government is supposed to be a system of checks and balances, why is there room for this discrepancy?  

 For the most part, United States citizens are quite giving with their money and don’t have a problem doing their part.  It should be no problem for the populous to help a few people back on their feet.

 On the other hand, there is a problem with the people that receive this money who choose to sit around, be unproductive and/or use drugs.  If they have enough money to indulge in these activities, they do not need any monetary assistance.

 The only thing not covered, is who pays for the testing?   Why not have it applied against the balance of the money the recipients of the welfare system receive.  Surely they shouldn’t mind since they are on the receiving end of the bread line anyway.

 Just think, with that money saved maybe we could funnel it into education.  Maybe we could balance the budget?  Who knows?  The possibilities are endless, and perhaps you could employ the people who failed to administer the testing.  Then they wouldn’t have a need for the assistance in the first place.

 The truth be told, this system is outdated.  It was a necessary evil at the time when it was enacted; however legislation is subject to change in order to fit the demands of the present day.  Something needs to be done.  It is only a matter of time till we will make a stand and take action.  Why not make it happen today.

Paul Simon: American Tune

(Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE3kKUEY5WU)

Jim Croce: Time in a Bottle

(Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILf-54Smv9M)

The phrase “Make it happen.”, is one of my well known business mantras.  This doesn’t mean to make it happen all the time.  I cannot function when I work all the time and neither should anyone else.  It is a wonderful practice to also make time for one’s self.  Finding the balance between the two is the key to success.

I was reminded by this while one of my colleagues was celebrating his birthday last Saturday.  While he and I speak about our business ventures to each other quite frequently, we both live our own lives and carry on through seperate lines of work outside of these other ventures.  This night in particular, we were both celebrating.  In the midst of the celebration he brought up some business I have known both of these people for a number of years.  Thankfully, they both took my advice and the celebrating continued.

While there are somethings that I may say to try to do all the time, there is a time and a place for everthing under the sun.

Sometimes its kind of interesting when I wake up with music stuck in my head.  I think I could get used to it again.  Heck, it beats not wanting to get out of bed.

This nifty little project involves you and/or your buddies and a sleepless weekend.  On the Friday, you’re the basics: character, prop, a line of dialogue, and then a genre in for your film.  Within the next 48 hours you movie must be complete and then will be shown in a week at a local theater.

The closest this project has come to home was Nashville, Tn.  The outcome of the project will be shown at the Belcourt Theatre. So without futher ado, here is a trailer of the film Cock.  A tale of drugs, cops, money, sex and lots of laughs along the way.

(Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8GmcSM-JdA)