Big Red Car here on a slightly dark day. But, hey, who cares? Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!
So, Amazon (talking Amazon Prime, y’all) bought Whole Foods.
Whole Foods had just entered into a deal with Instacart to deliver groceries from Whole Foods to their customers.
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Of course, Amazon is in the delivery business themselves, so there was a conflict brewing. Right?
So, the Big Red Car was over getting some work done at the garage and who did he run into? Santa Claus.
Santa was having the runners waxed and trying to correct a shimmy in the front end at 186 knots (TAS – true airspeed).
When we finished our work, we had a chance to chat over an adult beverage as he took the old sleigh for a test ride.
Santa’s sled on the wheel base getting worked on. The Jag on the wall is what Santa drives during the summers in Winter Park, Florida.
Here’s how it went.
Big Red Car here on a day with brilliant sunshine, bit of a chill, and off to church to pray for all of us. Glorious Sunday!
So, the other day we were talking with some overcaffeinated CEOs about hiring.
One point that was left off was the utilization of recruiting as a part of the hiring mindset.
This is you with a candidate in recruiting mode. You are a beast, the King of the Jungle. But, hey, you knew that, right?
When the lion lays down with the lamb, the lamb is not going to get much sleep. Recruitment, back on topic.
Stop — recruiting is different than hiring.
Big Red Car here on a gray, cold day in the ATX. Brrr, it’s 47F (feels like 42F), the start of the next Ice Age — please send some global warming, talking to you, Al Gore.
Recently, the Big Red Car was talking to a gaggle of CEOs (gaggle is 4 or more for CEOs) and the subject was hiring. Hiring of top people in an organization which was out of the cradle and able to walk.
You know like: crawl, walk, run.
These CEOs were running shops which are going to make it. The question is exactly where. Some of them will be “long balls with men on base.” LBWMOB
So, here’s what we came away with.
So, dear readers, you have probably learned by now that President Trump/Grinch has cancelled the 2018 Christmas party that the White House usually throws for the media — two parties, actually, one for the print media and one for the broadcast media.
“Donald, you cancelled the media Christmas parties?” “Yes, honey, I did. Gosh this feels great.”
The media has enjoyed these parties which provide a taxpayer funded feast, tours of the White House decorations, and interminable pictures with POTUS and FLOTUS in front of the Christmas tree.
Admit it, you would go and send that pic to your mother and the third grade English teacher who told you you were a loser.
Big Red Car feeling cheeky with announcement that Apple has decided to go long on Austin By God Texas by building a new corporate campus to cost more than $1,000,000,000 and create more than 15,000 jobs.
Of course, they did this in the shadow of the Amazon pig fest. Bravo, Apple.
Apple, which has been in Austin for more than a quarter of a century, and Austin have had a “starter” relationship with their first campus which employs 6,200 Austinites. This was already their largest operation outside Cupertino (a fact I am quite skeptical about).
The campus will be built on a 133 acre site, employing 5,000 out of the chute followed by 10,000 more making Apple Austin’s largest private employer. All power will be “renewable.” You knew that would be the way they rolled, right?
Functionally, the Austin campus will focus on research and development, finance, sales, and customer service. They also make the MacBook Air in Austin.
Apple had announced a plan to build $30,000,000,000 of new facilities and to create 20,000 US jobs by 2023, so the Austin project is a huge part of their national efforts.
Much of this new US development was driven by recent US Tax Code changes which made it more difficult for companies like Apple to hide profits overseas thereby bringing business back to the US. [This is how those jobs are going to come home, y’all.]
Apple employs 90,000 workers in the US and is beginning to make more of its products in the US and stationing headquarters elements here also. The company added 6,000 jobs in the US in 2018.
Welcome, again, Apple, and let’s get to work.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car. Be good to yourself. Merry Christmas.
Somewhere in the world, there are young Americans standing a watch, flying a patrol, getting ready to take out a combat patrol, defending a position, making us and the world safe.
They were not with their families on Thanksgiving and they will not be with them on Christmas.
But, they will be with all of us whether we acknowledge them or not.
They issue forth from places like Virginia Military Institute and they are the “rough” men (and women) that George Orwell spoke of thusly:
“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
To those Americans who perform that duty, I say, “Thank you from all of us. Merry Christmas. Be safe and know that a grateful nation appreciates your service.”
To those veterans who served before them, we salute your service.
From those of us who were privileged to have been educated at Virginia Military Institute, know that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John will be there with you.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John — combat veterans of the Civil War and the Mexican War — standing ready to fight tonight under any conditions. Aimed down the parade ground of Virginia Military Institute. Merry Christmas, guns!
Ready to fight tonight.
Merry Christmas.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.
Big Red Car here on a glorious, cold ATX day, y’all.
In Tehran, three days ago, there was a conference about fighting terrorism — yes, you read that correct. In the capital of the nation which is the largest state sponsor of terrorism there was a conference on fighting terrorism.
Amongst the participants — six nation invitees — were Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, China, and Russia.
One could fairly single out Iran and Turkey as being cesspools of terror support. Pakistan is up there.
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