Ace-Garageguy

Think of driving along the southern coast of France, say Cannes to Monaco, in a Bentley S2 Continental, in the late 1960s.

Yesterday I had more turkey left over than I do today, and after tonight, it'll just be a fond memory.

What the hell? I answered it right on the 20th. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/messenger/112575/?tab=comments#comment-561958

Which goes a long way to explain the commonly bloated ranks of do-nothing middle management. On the other hand, productivity drives lots of businesses. Lawyers bill hourly, and associates are judged on how effective they are at generating billables. Doctors in their own practices bill for services performed on an individual basis, as do hospitals. Competent architectural and engineering firms rarely tolerate deadwood. My own old engineering-consulting and product-prototyping company billed by the hour, as our "consulting" work evolved primarily into patent research for law firms who hadn't the technical expertise on-staff to get it right the first time...and they had no problem with me billing for hours actually burned. I paid my people based on hours they worked and results, as having done a fair bit of technical research and writing myself, I pretty well knew when a timesheet was being padded. We never did product development or prototyping to contract or bid; we billed for hours burned, and made it clear up front there was simply no way to know what it would take to do something that had never been done (exactly) before...and my people on that work were paid an industry-leading rate per hour in the shop. Again, as I'd done similar work, I had a good idea of what one element of a project should take, and slackers were shown the door. Of course, I was almost always on-site, and had my fingers in every pie, so I knew who was doing what, when, and why. But a company where the upper management isn't actively involved (and competent) in the daily operations isn't much of a company in my opinion, tends to lard-up in the middle with people who do more "delegating" than actual work, and is, unfortunately, more the rule now than the exception.

Of course, anyone with a modicum of internet knowledge, common sense, and a little healthy distrust (and who pays attention to details) can easily spot a spoofed address. But of course, I'm also aware those qualifications weed out most everyone.

Stellar work, as always from you.

"Up" is a relative concept.

Merry Christmas

Care when dealing with small things is akin to "the devil's in the details".

"Loner" is often used as a pejorative.

Greece has never had much of a native car industry, with Namco making trucks and Jeep-like vehicles using bought-in mechanical components, and MAVA building thinly disguised Renaults; recently the Keraboss Super K, a limited-production off-road vehicle, has been announced as "the first car manufactured entirely in Greece" (though there have been a few interesting microcars produced over the years).

Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss was used as a major theme in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Hmmmm...I've almost always worked in businesses...including the ones I've owned...where an individual's pay was based almost totally on his productivity, and I still do. No billable hours, no money, no exceptions, no excuses. That kinda tends to weed out the slackers and the incompetent (like the guys who can't diagnose, or have to do a job several times to get it reasonably right) pretty effectively.

Room lighting can have profound effects on mood and productivity.

Recipe-following is apparently, for some, beyond the ken.

I'm sure most of you know enough to read the sender line and not respond to this stuff...but just in case you don't, another round has started up, trying to get people panicked who're buying Christmas gifts online. It's an attempt to steal your personal and account info. DON'T FALL FOR IT The logo looks legit, and the email starts off: ?? ?????? ? ????????? ???? ?? ???? ??????? ??? ?? ? ??????? ?????. ??? ?? ? ??????? ???? ???? ???? , ?? ???? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ???? ????. ?? ???????? ???? ???????, ??? ??? ????? ?????? ????? ??? ??????? ???? ???????? ???????????? ?? ????? ???? ?? ?? ???? ???????.

Heal quick.

The day after Thanksgiving. You can have the sales. I like the fact I can have a plate piled high with turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy without having to cook half the day...and turkey sandwiches.

Today is the last day of the first of your life.

I wouldn't deal with it at all. Frankly, I think the horizontal bar would look vastly better than the almost inevitable hacked and bodged mess that would result from any of the other suggested methods.

Ex-wives who want to "try again" years later (after learning there are much bigger jerks in the world than you) can be humored, but never allowed back in the door.

Mission objectives are sometimes poorly defined and thought-out by military "leaders" who lack skill or talent or training in tactical and strategic thought.

Orion, NASA's current manned-exploration spacecraft, just sent back photos of the Earth and the Moon during an unmanned test flight.

Dpate's suggested PE replacement is the hot setup if you want a really nice job....unless you're really really good working with riffler files and micro tools under magnification.