At This Very Moment

One more troublesome issue out of the way: I signed a contract today with a professional employer organization (PEO) to replace the agreement I had with Gevity (which I hope goes out of business after its senior executives are imprisoned). It's costing us more than $6,000 per year more than the contract we had, but at least we'll have health insurance. With this $6,000 hike, coupled with the base line expense and the costs of health insurance, our PEO/insurance expenses for the next twelve months will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $36,000.

Another troublesome issues still pending: We still haven't signed a lease contract on new office space. We don't have a "final" offer on space yet from any of the final three or four spaces the commercial real estate broker has been looking. It's nerve-wracking, knowing that we have to be out of our current space August 31 (or risk paying double our current lease payment).

Welding Update: I learned (just enough to be dangerous) to use the plasma metal cutter in my welding class on Sunday. So, now I've experienced the stick welder, oxygen-acetylene torch, MIG welder, bench grinder, metal chop-saw, and other tools and odds & ends I might encounter in the metal-working shop. Next Sunday, I begin work on my "class project," which I have almost decided will be a fairly simple metal fence arbor. If I had the money and the time, I could have a wonderful time working with metal! It's fabulous!

The "Authorities" Suck: I cannot go into detail for a variety of reasons, but suffice it to say that I have very strong negative feelings about: 1) the local police; 2) the State Attorney General's office; 3) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 4) the Secret Service; 5) the Federal Trade Commission; and 6) Federal Express. Every one of them is, in my opinion, peopled by spineless people who are obsessed with keeping as far away as possible from potential litigation, regardless of the fact that their failure to act is harming many, many people. If you think any of the "law enforcement agencies" is really concerned about protecting the population, you'd better wake up and smell the coffee. Many of the people who work for them (I'd go so far as to say most) don't give a shit about anything but a paycheck. If you see a scam taking place, don't call the authorities. Get an axe handle and claim self-defense.

That's All I Have to Say at this Very Moment