The last time a credit card of mine was compromised it really did not bother me. I am all too familiar with the drill. Go online and disable it. Decline charges and all the other parts. At that point call the provider’s 800 number and press 6 for lost or stolen and deal with it.…

I have a dispatcher named Sam. Her real name is Samantha. Problem is her grandfather’s name was Sam and therefore she grew up being called Sam. What does this have to do with the sad state of the ground transportation Insurance industry. Probably nothing. Unless you factor in the case that my nickname as a…

I have a confession to make. Many years ago, on occasion, I had the tendency to act like the northbound end of a southbound mule. I was young. It was a phase, and I eventually grew out of it. I recall one episode during the depth of my depravity when my sister-in-law had an issue.…

Those who read my propaganda have probably realized that there is a recuring theme of comparisons or commonalities between the airline industry and the professional ground transportation industries. It is not only planes, trains and automobiles. There are obviously buses and of course cruise ships and soon to be rocket ships.   The airlines, in…

Two years ago, over on the BBC, news anchor Pam Caulfield was wrapping up her segment. Apparently, she had an extra few seconds to kill. Having nothing to say or do, she pretended to type on her keyboard as the credits rolled. If you can find the clip, it’s like she’s pantomiming tickling the ivories…

I suppose you can picture it this way. Boeing has been the primary passenger plane manufacturer for as long as we can remember. Basically, the market was theirs to lose. Then several years ago Airbus enters the fray and essentially applied a Seattle slap down to the home team. How can such a phenomenon happen.…

Many years ago, my precinct captain Denny drops in. He needed a favor. He was a regular in our office. In Chicago your precinct captain is your go-to guy. Usually, we would only see him during election season unless we needed something. He would drop off a handful of election posters. He would look me…

Part #5 Peripheral Vision In the big picture, a facilities manager wears many hats. Return to work processes and policies, maintenance and grounds management, and, most importantly, not only keeping the train running, but keeping the train running on time. Every company has an infrastructure. But making that infrastructure impervious to the elements is the…

Part #4 Let There Be Light I am a creature of habit. Every time I go to the office I hit the second-floor landing and there is the emergency light. In our city emergency lights and illuminated exit signs at key doors are in the building code. The emergency lights have a small test switch…

Part #3 The Midnight Train to Georgia I made my move. I was prepared to revolutionize back up power. Now one confession. This was many years ago and the Generac product was in its infancy as far as the consumer market was concerned. Also as previously mentioned I would have had to build a safe/secure…