Employees Were The Big LosersThursday, December 29, 2005Was the "E" crooked?  Richard Causey was the accounting chief (boss) for Enron when the company collapsed after a shake up of top management in a securities scandal. In 2001 top management at Enron, including the founder and CEO were all implicated in a nasty deception, which ultimately caused financial distress for the employees.If you ever wonder if executive management of companies get what they deserve, they do. Bernie Ebbers, the former head of Worldcom ultimately got jail time for his part in the slightly problematic accounting issue to the tune of 14 billions dollars. However, Mr. Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years and guilty on all counts. He will be 85 if he leaves prison sans a victory in appeals court. He was at the helm during the biggest corporate fraud in U.S. history. Again, the employees and their 401Ks got hit the hardest. 20,000 of them lost their jobs.  Back to the big financial boss at Enron, Mr. Causey. Based on the longest sentence ever handed down to a top executive, the ex-execs from Enron have had some time to attend sentence reduction management classes with their attorneys. Mr. Causey decided not to support his former bosses, CEO, Jeff Skilling and founder, Ken Lay. They all face charges of conspiracy and fraud. He is going to cooperate with the government and pleaded guilty on just one of his charges. He was facing multiple counts of conspiracy and fraud just like the others. In exchange he gets 7 years, well actually 5 years in prison.He is expected to spill the beans about what his two bosses did at Enron in hopes that the government will have enough evidence to convict Skilling and Lay. We saw what kind of sentence Mr. Ebbers got. Mr. Causey's attorney said he will "tell the truth" about what he did at Enron. Well that is a bit of a stretch considering he is only pleading guilty to one count isn't it? So will he have to lie about the things he did concerning the other counts? The CFO, Andrew Fastow has already been sentenced to 10 years for pleading guilty on two counts for his damaging testimony against the founder and ex-CEO. Do any of these guys even think about the employees that were affected by this mess? First the employees get hit with job losses and investment losses and even loss of life savings. Mr. Causey claims to not have profited from his involvement, so he is thought to be a more credible witness than Mr. Fastow. Mr. Fastow and his wife were embroiled in their own financial scandal. Mr. Lay, the founder has built his case about not knowing about the wrongdoing in his company. Now Mr. Lay claims that Mr. Causey has pleased guilty to a crime he didn't commit because he did not have the money to defend himself and would face a potential 40 year sentence. "It's a sad day for due process," Mr. Lay said. Due process? What about the employees? Again I ask a simple question. Mr. Lay and Mr. Skilling did not bargain with the government. Enron filed for bankruptcy in December 2001. The company has been investigated and it is thought that Enron was using partnerships to hide more than $1 billion in debt to inflate profits and keep the market in the dark. Again 4,000 employees lost their jobs and life savings. Many investors lost billions of dollars. Bottom-line, the employees lost big time. Many Worldcom employees lost all their savings and college money for their kids. The day I heard Worldcom's ex-chief, Mr. Ebbers got sentenced on all counts and was going to jail for 25 years, I exclaimed, "Yes!" I heard it on the radio and I could not believe that such a high profile, highly successful man actually got a tough sentence. We should all learn from this national travesty. posted at 12/29/2005 07:37:00 AM | 8 comments links to this post |
No Hint Of Olive in This MerlotMonday, December 26, 2005 After filling 10 bags of wrapping paper ripped from gifts under the tree, I can safely say Christmas 2005 is over. It was a wonderful day for all in the Boehme Hoehme. The best part was watching the expressions of joy on each child's face as they discovered a new treasure. My oldest son looked into his biggest gift box and looked at me. "How? How did you buy this? I mean this is really expensive."He was talking about his new ride cymbal. He is a burgeoning drummer, who has so much natural ability. His teacher told me months ago that Jonathan really needed a ride cymbal. Jonathan has had his eye on a $200 Zildjian cymbal. I found a mint condition Zildjian Avedis medium ride cymbal for $82 on eBay. eBay came to the rescue once again!  For my daughters, they often get gifts in sets. So both got matching dresses for their American dolls and Barbie dresser sets, and... You get the picture. For my youngest son, he got a Pirate's ship that was selling for $80 at a local toy store. Target had the same thing for $29. I mean it was exactly the same thing! It pays to shop. He was thrilled with it! I got a round table for our sitting area in the master bed table. My wife and I had been shopping a month ago or so and I came across this cool table that would be perfect for our sitting area. Jill loved it too. We both agreed on a piece of furniture within minutes, so I thought it was a done deal. A week or so later I took her back to the store with a great coupon and found the last one and said lets get it. She said "Oh, it is not how I remembered it. Oh, I'm not sure I like it." I was dumbfounded. She loved the table just weeks ago. Now she was totally cold on it and I had this awesome coupon. I gave up. I had obviously misread her totally. Well, not exactly. She loved the table and bought it for me with the same coupon several days before. So she had to pretend she was not thrilled with it. I had no idea what was in this huge box under the tree and I certainly could not have guessed that table in a million years. I bought a new digital SLR camera for the two of us. Again eBay came through. I found a great deal on a Nikon D70 with two Nikon lenses. I will be posting pictures soon! It was a great Christmas and the presents only played a part. Everyone was so excited to give their gifts and appreciated what they received. As a Dad I was proud of all of them, even Jill. Jill and I were so inspired by John Cleese's wine tips (see my previous post) that we found a great $15 bottle of Sebastiani 2001 Merlot. We both agreed that there were hints of cherries, chocolate and licorice. The bottle suggested a hint of olive on the finish. We both agreed that there was no trace of an olive. Enjoy the season! posted at 12/26/2005 08:43:00 PM | 8 comments links to this post |
Christmas EveSaturday, December 24, 2005 I love Christmas Eve. When I was a kid, the anticipation was almost excruciating. Now I see the same passionate, crazy look in my children's eyes. I kissed my youngest child at bedtime tonight, I began to walk away. Then I turned around sharply and yelled back at him, "What is tomorrow?" "Christmas Eve." He exclaimed. Then he went on a bit. "I can hardly believe it is Christmas Eve tomorrow. I love Christmas." He pulled his covers up under his chin quickly and looked at me with that piercing, wonderful smile. "Good night, Spencer" I said. "Good night Daddy", he replied. I walked into our family room to get ready to watch a movie with my wife and oldest son, when I found myself talking to myself audibly. "I love that little boy, he is so cool." My smile began to match his and I reminded myself that this is why life is so good.  My wife, Jonathan and I watched John Cleese talk about wine in his British, dry manner. John Cleese was a big part of Monty Python in the 70s and then produced and starred in "Fawlty Towers." He has done a lot of other movies, but tonight we watched him talk about the complexities of wines and what makes them so fascinating. My son hates wine and I am glad; he is 13. However he sat there riveted to the television as John spoke about the plum, smoky, slight hints of cherries and dark chocolaty attributes of the glass of Merlot he was drinking. My daughters were sleeping deeply already. They wore themselves out during the course of the day. Their level of excitement for today and ultimately tomorrow, Christmas drained every last bit of energy out of them. They are the quintessential representations of the ultimate dorks. They are in that prepubescent, blissfully ignorant stage where everything is funny. It is wonderful to see Maggie's dimples deepen as I kiss her cheek and say "Merry Christmas." Rachel snuggles up next to me and strokes my cheeks calling me "Mr. Prickles." This is the affectionate interpretation of a five o'clock shadow. It is Christmas Eve and all through our house are children just bursting with joy to see the faces of their siblings and parents opening the gifts that they bought. Everyone in our house is more excited about what they are giving than what they are getting. That is cool. It is the way Jill and I are. Tonight we will eat my gourmet pizza, drink eggnog and wipe out a few dozen cookies. Then all will go to bed and try to sleep at least several hours.  Christmas 2005 is just about here. posted at 12/24/2005 12:10:00 AM | 5 comments links to this post |
Amazon.com Delivers at the 11th HourWednesday, December 21, 2005 I just read an email from Amazon. They tell me that I can ship and still get the gift in time for Christmas. That is great if I am just starting to think about shopping for gifts. I have a wonderful wife and four kids, so thoughts about Christmas started back in the early fall - almost late summer.I do most of my Christmas shopping on eBay. You got it. I see things I like in the malls and then I am compelled to subtract sales tax, and the middle-man mark-up. I get deals on eBay and on Amazon as well. I just need a little preparation on the front end of the deal. I bought almost 75% of my gifts on eBay this year. It is about the same percentage as last year. The last minute stocking stuffers trip me up and send me to the mall. Ugggh! I hate malls, droves of crazed shoppers, the smell of urine, over-heated stores, people changing diapers on a bench, and last but not at all least - I hate roaming through racks that say "Up to 75% off." There is one shirt per rack that meets that criteria. I wrapped about two thirds of my gifts tonight and the other third will be finished tomorrow night. No need to take Amazon up on their offer. On Christmas Eve, I will be sitting on the sofa, by a warm wood fire, looking at the Christmas tree and drinking a glass of very fine wine. Merry Christmas! posted at 12/21/2005 11:47:00 PM | 1 comments links to this post |
Getting RechargedSaturday, December 17, 2005 The Christmas season is a time when many people take their vacations. Some travel around the globe visiting relatives, others have a houseful of guest that are too loud and stay too long. Even though people take vacation time and get away from the office, are they really getting a vacation?This is a time of the year where many families have obligatory traditions. There is no questioning the tradition of going to his parents on Christmas Eve and then her parents on Christmas morning and then to Aunt Annoying for Christmas afternoon - only to finish the day by heading back to his parents for desert. Christmas day has been an exhausting exercise in traditional torture - repeated year after year. Don't get me wrong. If it is enjoyable then it is counts as vacation time. These kinds of traditional runs are usually not relaxing or fun. They are exhausting and emotionally taxing. When you take vacation time, make sure most of it is doing something you enjoy or doing something different than the normal grind. If you are dreading your Christmas vacation, start doing something about it now. It is not too late. We need times to get recharged and break from our routines. For me, it takes a minimum of ten days to get recharged. For others it may be shorter or even longer. Vacation time is earned; it is a benefit. Use it. You would be surprised how many people let vacation time pile up until the employer stops adding time and you start losing time. Leverage vacation days, so you can get an extended time off and not use up all of your time. I know someone who will only have to take 4 vacation days and will get 11 days off. The way Christmas falls on a Sunday; some companies are giving Friday off for Christmas Eve and the Monday after for Christmas. The Monday after New Year day is a holiday because New Year falls on a Sunday as well. If you are taking vacation, make sure you really take vacation. You need it more than you might admit. posted at 12/17/2005 08:51:00 AM | 10 comments links to this post |
Salary HistoryTuesday, December 13, 2005I really hate it when HR asks a job candidate for their "salary history." It really is not relevant to the position the candidate is seeking with the company. I know HR managers who would challenge me on that, but that's okay. What if I interview for a job and I get asked this question? If I am making a lot less than I should (based on accurate comparable salaries) then I feel like I am trying to overshoot per se. I am being put in an untenable position. What if I am making more? I know that I am going to have accept a lower salary because I am taking in more than the market can bear currently. If I tell them I am making considerably more than the position is likely to pay I am not likely to get consideration. So what do you do? Turn the question around and make it a "statement." Be firm and make sure your request is realistic for your region, your skill set and the current market. Tell them your salary requirement is "x" annually. That's it - do not expound on it. State the fact. If they insist on asking what your current or previous earnings are, tell them. You have already told them what you expect, so the question becomes more irrelevant. Don't be afraid to ask for what you are worth. You can bet the hiring manager didn't undersell himself. posted at 12/13/2005 08:14:00 PM | 2 comments links to this post |
The Boss That Will Never Go AwaySunday, December 11, 2005 Yesterday our town celebrated what we call "Dickens of A Christmas" or something like that. Anyway, the streets of our historic town are closed down for the weekend and there is food, dancing, singing, shopping, and Dickens characters walking around. The first character I ran into was Marley. When I started to take his picture he freaked out and yelled "I am not dead! I roam the streets."I could see that and I caught it on film. Imagine an obnoxious and self-absorbed boss roaming the streets forever. Yikes! posted at 12/11/2005 01:47:00 PM | 1 comments links to this post |
All Work and No Play Made Me an Absent DadFriday, December 09, 2005 Balancing Work and Personal Life So many men I know have sacrificed too much of their personal life for the benefit of the company they work for. I am not talking about the occasional dinner missed due to a late meeting or a business trip from time to time. I am talking about substituting what should be time spent with your family or for yourself if you are single habitually. In fact, many men and women in the workplace are not even aware just how much they have given up in life. It happened all so gradually. Some escape from life by working – that is another topic completely. I worked for a large company for just about 2 years, and then right at the beginning of the Christmas season we all received a gift from the company. All of us in our satellite office were given severance (not much) and the doors were closed about 3 months later. During my two years at this company, I traveled every week on a plane to corporate headquarters. My job evolved into an internal sales position to get projects for our development teams. I had 35 people reporting to me back in my office as well. Some weeks I traveled twice a week. By the end of the two years I logged 53 round trips, earned 13 free tickets and two one year companion passes. If you are a road warrior, you are saying, “So what?” I will tell you what this did to me. Probably the worst thing was missing my youngest son’s 2nd and 3rd years of life. He did not know when I would be home and when I would be away, so he started to pull away from me and chanted, “I don’t like Daddy.” My heart was just about ripped out of my chest when I realized what this had done to him. The first Christmas I was traveling so much, sometimes 3 times a week that I no longer felt like I lived at home. My hotel and corporate city was feeling like home. I did all of my Christmas shopping there. I had to. It started to feel weird being back in my home city. It felt like I was just visiting. I had a geographical identity disorder, among many others. I sacrificed time with my two daughters and my oldest son and my wife. They all hated every time I headed towards the airport. I usually had to leave the house at 4:00 in the morning to catch the flight, so I could make 9:00 morning meetings at corporate headquarters. My days were filled with meetings and then dinners, and then more work back at the hotel. I gained 35 pounds in a year. I was determined to help make our group a success, but I was fighting an uphill battle that no amount of time would have helped me to win. Rather I lost so much time, so much of my identity, so much of my life. My intentions were good. I wanted to create a great place to work for the 35 people who I was responsible for. They appreciated the efforts for the most part. Some felt neglected because I was out of the office more than in the office. My vision was blurry, my priorities skewed and by the end of the 2 years I had become a corporate drone. Hindsight is 20/20, but I will take it! At least I was able to look back at my experience at this company and make one very important decision. Never again. It took me two years to get my youngest son back. I am finally his hero and he is my favorite little pirate. He knows I am going to be there now. The time with my children and wife are the most precious times I spend in life. So I traded in all of my free drink coupons for time with my family. I don’t get any more free tickets or companion passes. The tickets weren’t free and my companion never traveled with me. I was too busy. I used one of my free tickets to go to my father’s 65th birthday bash and see my best friend from High School. Three weeks later I used another ticket to go back and attend his (my best friend) funeral. He dropped dead on the ice playing his favorite game, hockey at 39. Boy did that start me thinking. If this resonates with any of you, I urge you to take a step back and think really hard about what you are doing. The Blogging Boss posted at 12/09/2005 05:50:00 PM | 7 comments links to this post |
The Towers Still StandWednesday, December 07, 2005 There will hopefully never be a more notorious set of office buildings. We knew them as the Trade Towers; the Twin Towers even the World Trade Center. There was a north tower and a south tower, both of which had over 50,000 workers moving about them on any given workday. Then on September 11, 2001, we all know the fate of the two large office buildings and about 3000 innocent and real people.They were part of corporate America as many of us are. Going into work and leaving everyday like we do. Some hated what they did, others it was a dream job. I grew up in the Northeast and when my friend Joel and I were in college, we used to take day trips to Manhattan to check out the music stores, listen to Jazz and escape from the hum drum of college life. New York is a great city. I was born there. I watched the Trade Towers being built back in the 70s. First the one tower went up and before it was finished, another started to grow. "Dad, there is another one now." I said. He explained that there would be two towers in the end. And.... They would be the largest buildings in the world! I was amazed. I could not comprehend how they could actually build something that high. How could they really stand? And worst of all I wondered if they would ever fall over. A kid's mind actively sorting out things much bigger than himself and his small world. When Joel and I visited the city, many times we would go up to the roof of the tower that had the outside observation deck. If the wind was not too strong, you could go outside and look out over the island lit up like magic. It was a wonderful view and almost too magnificent to put into words. You had to experience it. Yesterday morning, my youngest son built a paper version of the Trade Towers and once again he tried to work out in his mind what had really happened.  As unfathomable as it was for me to see them being built and standing, it must be even more so for him seeing them destroyed. In minutes they burned and dropped 10 stories into the ground - a lot for my kids to digest.My oldest also wrestled with this, back 4 short and long years ago. He built a model of the Trade Towers as well (picture at the top of the post). He also processed what he saw, remembering them collapse on television. His memories are still with as they are with me. He was actually up at the top of the one tower when he was five months old. So I told him he was at the top "once." The summer of 2001 I wanted to take the kids to see the Trade Towers, but we opted to take them to the ocean instead. After all we could go to the Trade Towers another time. There was no other time. Amazing how kids sort things out. I think I will save these two sets of towers forever. posted at 12/07/2005 08:19:00 PM | 6 comments links to this post |
looking for work just for funSaturday, December 03, 2005 I just came across this post on a forum I participate in regularly. Is this for real? Most people that post on this forum are extremely frustrated about job interviews not going well, or not hearing from hiring managers to being out of work for too long and being scared. "I come from a wealthy family and haven't worked at all since I graduated college in 2001. Ever since I graduated college I mainly pursued my own interests and traveled, been to Greece, Japan, Italy, among others. I am tired of having too much free time and having my days just go by. I just want to bring a small contribution to the world and bring some meaning to my life. Anyone have recommendations about someone in my situation? I am not looking for something too professional and demanding. What kind of work could you have so much fun at that it almost could be considered a hobby?" Well, I would recommend politics. It meets the following criteria listed: 1. Wealthy 2. Likes to travel 3. Pursues own interests 4. Wants to bring a SMALL contribution to the world 5. Not looking for something professional 6. Not looking for something demanding 7. Looking for something almost like a hobby I am sorry but I can't relate to this at any level. The Blogging Boss posted at 12/03/2005 09:53:00 PM | 10 comments links to this post |
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