11/11/18

Send Me

Big Red Car here on a rainy Austin By God Texas day, a Veterans Day.

Today in church, the minister asked veterans to rise and he had some kind words for all of us veterans.

It brought to mind Isaiah 6:8:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

Then I said, “Here I am. Send me!”

The veteran is the man (or woman) who upon hearing the voice of the nation asking the same question, says, “Send me. Send me to do what is necessary to protect freedom, to vanquish evil, to free the oppressed. Send me.”

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11/7/18

Voter Turnout in Texas

Big Red Car here in the post election aftermath taking a look at some numbers. One of the most interesting numbers is voter turnout in Texas in regard to l’affaire Beto (Robert Francis O’Rourke of El Paso, Dem candidate for Senate v Teddy Cruz, Rep candidate).

This is the race that the entire country was throwing money at the Dem candidate to the tune of $72MM. Ted Cruz raised $40MM, but the story today is what happened to the turnout. What did all that money buy as it relates to turnout?

Image result for images beto o'rourke

“I raised a lot of money and came in a solid second in the Texas Senate race. Maybe I should build on my success and run for President?”

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10/26/18

Typical CEO Coaching Process

CEO coaching, Big Red Car?

Big Red Car here on a grayish morning. I wonder if the guy who has been praying for rain is happy yet?

Hey, stop praying for rain.

So, the Big Red Car gets a longish email from a pal who gives him a hard time about his subject matter on The Musings of the Big Red Car. Says he wants to hear what a typical coaching process looks like.

To get rid of him, I promise to do that.

I hang out a shingle under the name of The Wisdom of the Campfire because I like the picture of sitting next to a campfire and absorbing wisdom from others gathered next to it. It’s an easy picture as I lived it in places like the DMZ in South Korea or Grafenwohr in Bavaria when I was a young Army officer.

The Wisdom of the Campfire is the imagery of what I do. I want to be that guy at the edge of the campfire, with 33 years of CEO-ing, who can talk you through the process based not on theory, but on real world experience.

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10/25/18

Bombmakers and Baloney Bombs

Having been a combat engineer and dealing with explosives of all types, the making of improvised explosive devices is something with which I have some familiarity.

We used to receive training and give training on the use of conventional explosives — to blow up bridges, fortifications, airfields, buildings as part of the mission to aid the mobility of the friendlies and to impede the mobility of the enemy. Typical combat engineer stuff.

We also used to receive and give training on the construction of “improvised” explosive devices.

We used to learn all about the explosive chain :

 1. The charge (the explosive);

 2. The initiator (the fuse or blasting cap);

 3. The activator (what activates the initiator);

 4. The power source (what activates the activator); and,

 5. The container (what contains the finished assembly)

In addition, you may add something to the device, such as nails or bolts, to injure the victims.

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10/24/18

Canadian Softwood Lumber Tariff Revisited

Canadian Softwood Lumber Tariff — what ever happened?

Big Red Car here on a drippy and rainy gray ATX day. It has been raining for almost a month.

Today, we talk about what really happened by the imposition of the Canadian Softwood Lumber 20.8% tariff back in May 2017.

Of course, the Canadians and the Americans – National Association of Home Builders – immediately began to cry foul predicting that the price of a US home would go up by $9000.

The business press said “Trump is an idiot. This will cause a huge trade war.”

Now, of course, we have some firm evidence as to what did happen. In fact, after hitting a peak of $653 per thousand board feet, the current price of lumber is $313.40/thousand board feet.

That’s right lumber has gone DOWN after the imposition of the tariff. Here is the price of a thousand board feet of lumber from the inception of the tariff until today.

Chart

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10/22/18

America – Go Upcountry

Big Red Car here on a gloomy Monday in America (haha, Texas, really). The rains stopped and yesterday was sunny, but it’s gray today. Getting cold (58F).

Today, the country feels divided. Divided by things political and a number of important issues. We have mid-term elections in a couple of weeks and, today, early voting starts in Texas.

Image result for american images

Are we really divided? I don’t want to answer that question, but I do want to suggest that part of the solution is to go take a look at our country. Not your city, your neighborhood — the country.

If you live in a big state like Texas (On Earth as it is in Texas, y’all) then go around your state. If you live in a tiny state like Maryland, then you have to go to other states. Discover America.

How do you do it?

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10/21/18

Jeff Bezos on Decisionmaking

Big Red Car here with the skies clear and the sun shining. Let’s see how long that holds. We need to dry out here in the ATX and the Texas Hill Country.

So, your Big Red Car has always been keen on the science of making decisions. This is a topic first explored when in the Army and watching the decisionmaking techniques and practices of battalions, brigades, and divisions. Only once was I exposed to how a corps (3-5 divisions) makes decisions.

Today, we discuss the wisdom of the Bezos Style of Decisionmaking. He is a wildly successful founder and executive, so we should pay attention to how he suggests things might be done.

Image result for images jeff bezos

Jeff Bezos has strong and “different” views on the subject.

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