10:31 – We’re doing science kit stuff all weekend. The top priority is getting a batch of FK01C forensic science kits built, not least to fill the half dozen backorders for it that we need to ship Monday. After that, we need to build batches of the CK01A and CK01B chemistry kits and the BK01A biology kits.
Saturday, 6 December 2014
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On the latest edition of “As The Cell Tower Turns”, our intrepid hero thought that he had a final contract negotiated with “Horizon” (name changed to protect the guilty). Instead, I got a rental contract from them that was about as one sided as I have ever seen. The two clauses that blew my mind were an option of first refusal for them to buy the property if I were ever to sell any portion of the property and a personal obligation to service the contract if I were ever to sell the property. I absolutely refuse to pre-sell my property without a fee of $100,000 and told them so. I also refuse to sign anything that obligates me personally to service anything if I do not own the underlying property. Both points are non-negotiable on my part and I am suspecting that the deal is dead.
I marked it all up and sent it back but they added both clauses back with the right of first refusal from them to be on just their 50 ft by 50 ft section. These big corporations just do not know the meaning of the word no. And, their little female negotiator just says that everyone signs their standard contract with no questions at all. Well, my answer was if everyone jumps off the cliff are you going to do it also?
Obama Gets CT Scan for Sore Throat
“… ‘The President’s symptoms are consistent with soft tissue inflammation related to acid reflux and will be treated accordingly,’ Jackson’s statement reads.”
Wonder if the good doctor Jackson is a bile specialist? 🙂
I forget who was looking for a component stereo system, but this one is damn good:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SONY-STR-D1011S-FM-STEREO-FM-AM-RECEIVER-AUDIO-VIDEO-CONTROL-CENTER-/281520655488
Probably hard to find a remote, but I don’t use mine much anyway.
Another fantastic stereo/amp combination is the Technics SA-GX series, in particular
Technics SA-GX500
Technics SA-GX700 <– my fav
I have remotes for those if anyone cares to find and buy one.
They should send the pres to the clinic where Joan Rivers had her endoscopy done…
Thanks, Jim`.
I got burned a couple of times years ago buying electronics on Ebay but may give it a whirl again, as I was able to successfully pick up some Cisco switches there last year.
Did my CPR/First Aid/First Responder certification training today. Next up for Lifelong Learning for OFD Project: ham radio license, FFL, Appleseed Project, and Civilian Marksmanship Program.
I typed in a comment about Obola’s “acid reflux” actually being goat syphilis, but I didn’t submit the comment because it was in poor taste and added nothing to the dialog.
But then I did a double-take. What was I thinking?! This is me we’re talking about! I’m all about poor taste and dragging the conversation down.
Goat syphilis probably does taste rather poorly but how would Dear Leader notice that having been used to what he’s been tasting around the White House for the last few years. Which I don’t wanna think about.
Two more years of this pos. Then we’ll get another pos. BFD.
It took us a month longer than the rest of the nation to toss out the trash, but as of tonight Mary Landrieu is officially a gone pecan!
Her Republican replacement will no doubt find unique and innovative ways to screw over the Louisiana electorate, but at least he’ll be a change.
OFD, I’ve got burned once, too. But the quality of either of those amps is magnificient (believe me, I check the specs) and for what they go for, well, you can afford to get burnt. I should mention the Technics SA-GX300 is another nice amp.
I always like to have a backup, and there’s some machine in the boot of my car which is probably damn fine. Let me know if you’re interested. Also have a pair of Klipsch KG 3.2, recently refinished (clear oak) which are wonderful and never over amped but a little heavy on bass for me. (I think my ears are losing high frequency sensitivity). I have some Meadowlark Swifts’s I’d like to replace them with, so if you want to dicker… (shipping would be high, the damn things are heavy!)
@Jim`
I will probably take a chance on that receiver, now that you mention it. For that price, yeah, I can probably afford to get burned again. I’m looking at a dual CD-cassette deck to go with, and the speakers may have to wait another week or two, when we are rolling in money again, LOL.
I have a possibility of another Linux sys admin job in the next county down, probably about 30 miles of mostly interstate, akin to my commute time back and forth to Big Blue until last year, and yet another possibility right here in town, a mixed Linux and Winblows environment and their Senior VP met Mrs. OFD on the plane back here from Philly and wants my info. They also wanna know if I’m hip to IT security. Either of these may suit me right down to the ground, but time will tell.
I can spring for the receiver without too much static here but I’d prefer to get the speakers when we have more viable funds floating around. Another week or two…
Oh man, to have Klipsch speakers!
It would be two separate media systems in the living room; one from Comcast that merges the tee-vee, sound bar and subwoofer with internet and phone; and the music system. I see no need to hook them all together when we’d just be using one at a time anyway. I can crank it up with a really good pair of headphones, and/or wait until the next-door neighbors are gone and go full boat and raise the rafters, with the most gorgeous choral and organ music ever. Of if the revenants across the street are making noise, Scottish bagpipes. Never fails to drive vermin back into their rat-holes.
“It took us a month longer than the rest of the nation to toss out the trash…”
I appreciate your sentiment and relief, but we are fah, fah from tossing out all the trash. Good riddance to bad rubbish with that fugly trollop, though. And she couldn’t just go with some dignity, could she? She hadda make a big mess all the way out and wax indignant and arrogant and whiny all the way, like most libturds when they don’t get their way.
We got us a long road ahead; given the power, I’d execute (after fair trials, of course), most of Congress, the WH group, State Department, DOD upper echelons (perfumed princes) and half of SCOTUS, and consign the rest to hard-labor re-education camps in Antarctica and Madagascar. Ditto most of the perfumed princes on Wall Street and at the top of the media and academic empires.
Until we exhibit the political courage to take drastic steps with our Lords Temporal, they will run roughshod over us and our children and laugh in utter contempt and loathing, which they’ve been very blatant about in recent years.
When Murkans have had enough, and I don’t know when or if that will ever be, we will truly clean house.
25 Christmas stocking gifts for the prepper:
http://graywolfsurvival.com/78708/25-brilliant-survival-gift-ideas-youll-love/
Nice! I love Swiss army knives, I’ve broken several tasking them way beyond their breaking points. They will give eventually but the failure point is admirable.
OFD’s comment about fair trials for politicians and bureaucrats makes me wonder: why should we give them fair trials? Some departments have operated for years on the presumption of guilty until proven innocent, with the bar for innocence changing on a whim. I’d say we should execute everyone who works for the IRS and BATF, at the very least, and probably more departments beyond those. And the Congress, which has failed to reign in the petit tyrants during the entire five decades I’ve been alive.
@Lynn: maybe I’m missing something, but what’s the problem with giving the cell-tower people the right of first refusal? IIRC that just means that, if you have an offer on your property, they have the right to buy the property at that price instead. If you aren’t selling, it will never come into play. If you are selling, why do you care who pays the purchase price? But maybe I’m missing something…
I was trying to be a nice guy, a reasonable guy, but Mr. SteveF is correct once again; they showed us little in the way of mercy and compassion over the past half-century and if anything were RUTHLESS in enforcing every little whim and demand disguised as valid legislation and “executive orders.” They grow more RUTHLESS, and the few-chuh don’t look very good in this regahd.
Whack them all. God will know his own.
(now where did I see that before….?)
Deus lo volt.
Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet. has been my email sig for a decade or more.
He will undoubtedly acknowledge it one way or the other. And we have Old Testament precedents.
Sunny day here so fah; MIL coming up to watch football games with us later and stay overnight. I will rustle up the grub.
Well, my answer was if everyone jumps off the cliff are you going to do it also?
Yes. See: http://xkcd.com/1170/
I hope that dude at xkcd makes good dough ’cause he sure has a lotta time on his hands. Just scanned through the “Whatif” scenarios.
I should gin up a web site with all my rants, ravings, bon mots and witticisms toot sweet if there’s money in it. Maybe that BA in English will finally pay off.
@Lynn: maybe I’m missing something, but what’s the problem with giving the cell-tower people the right of first refusal? IIRC that just means that, if you have an offer on your property, they have the right to buy the property at that price instead. If you aren’t selling, it will never come into play. If you are selling, why do you care who pays the purchase price? But maybe I’m missing something…
I can think of many scenarios with this issue:
1. I need some cash and my brother would like to partner with me in the property. Instead, my new partner is Horizon who does not have my interests in mind at all. My brother may not either but at least I can negotiate with him.
2. I want to sell the property for top cash but have to disclose during the negotiations that someone else has the right of first refusal. I can guarantee you that many interested parties will walk away at this point and my selling price will get depressed.
3. Why should Horizon get the same deal as anyone else? They at minimum should pay me a premium for the privilege of stepping in front of the line.
4. I want to sell the property to a holding corporation and split the stock between my kids. Horizon can bollix this up also.
Hmm. I agree with you that these are very burdensome new issues. That is not normal procedure for the tower situations I have been around. To bring it up after you have already agreed in principle to a deal is more than loathsome behavior.
And, their little female negotiator just says that everyone signs their standard contract with no questions at all.
This woman is evil, IMO. Suggesting that you intentionally legally disadvantage yourself, is the same as if she said you ought to shoot yourself, and here: let me give you the gun.
This is the point where — if it were me, I would turn my side of the matter over to a lawyer and let him negotiate. I guarantee you that she will not EVER suggest to your attorney that you should just sign whatever they present, because ‘that is what everybody else does’. GUARANTEE!
And the results of not questioning contracts is something my father and father in-law (both attorneys) complained about the most vociferously in people’s conduct. Many, many times somebody would contact them with a problem AFTER they signed a contract that was never reviewed by an attorney. The sad fact is that, in most cases, there is no way out of the problem that now presents itself to them. In my dad’s case, more than one person lost their entire lifetime’s accumulation of wealth. The time for protecting one’s self and their finances is not after a contract is signed, but before. Judges will not nullify a contract because one of the parties did not think of some situation which has now arisen, and threatens their well-being. Contracts do not work that way.
That woman has just slapped a face, and I would never deal with her personally again, if it were me. She DEFINITELY will not do that to a lawyer. And if they really do not want to negotiate to get that property, then you are better off without them and their money. What they want is yours, and they are trying to set you up so they can get what is yours with little or no effort on their part. Maybe these things do not phase hick farmers (who eventually will be contacting a lawyer when the bad day comes), but I very seriously doubt she is telling the truth — that most people sign without contesting or negotiating a fair contract. No well-run corporation would ever sign such a contract without their lawyer’s involvement, and in the case of really large corporations, lawyers are the only ones who negotiate their contracts. That time is now in your case, IMO. Do not deal personally with this woman again, is my advice. It is like dealing with the IRS: no lawyer will ever let you face them yourself. They can put you on the spot by asking questions while you are in their presence. Always let a third party deal with the IRS without you present, because then that representative can take the question back to you, and you have time to consider how to answer in a way that protects your interests. A quick response during an in-person interrogation or audit can really disadvantage you in a way you might never have dreamed possible. There ARE evil people in the world who could care less about your interests. Let experts deal with those people, is my advice — because this woman is one.
This is the point where — if it were me, I would turn my side of the matter over to a lawyer and let him negotiate. I guarantee you that she will not EVER suggest to your attorney that you should just sign whatever they present, because ‘that is what everybody else does’. GUARANTEE!
Thanks, my Dad’s advice also. But, at $200/hr for my lawyer, I can read (and will anyway) too. I actually struck six paragraphs from the agreement and many sentences. Many having to do with liability.
And in other tower news, the following article is very disturbing for land owners that have towers on their property, “Ag Plane Crash Leads to $6.7 Million Wrongful Death Verdict”:
http://www.flyingmag.com/news/ag-plane-crash-leads-67-million-wrongful-death-verdict
Basically, the land owner got tagged for two million of the judgement even though the tower met the legal requirements. Before I sign any agreement, I am going to have to totally be sure that Horizon totally indemnifies me if someone hits the tower. But, I will wait for that analysis until we agree on the land purchase issue.
Now that’s a strange case. The tower meets all legal requirements, and the wrongful death suit still collected. But that’s the US tort system at work…
The tower meets all legal requirements
What does meeting legal requirements have to do with filing, and winning a lawsuit? Have you not heard of many cases in this country where lawyers are lining their pockets over stupid cases? Getting a clueless jury is the key to victory, not legal requirements.
The pilot hitting the tower is his fault. Before a low flying duster is supposed to use the area they are supposed to have the area physically checked for hazards. Just because they dusted the field six months ago does not remove the responsibility from the pilot of checking out the area before dusting the area. Of course the jury probably did not know this and the idiot defense attorney failed to bring it up.
Ray, I get it. As I said, that’s the US tort system at work. What I find sad is the FlyerMag.com thinks winning the lawsuit was a good thing, when it plainly wasn’t. Claiming that the tower was somehow semi-illegal, because it was 198 feet high, and markings are required beginning at 200 feet; turn it around, and that just means that they were being careful to obey the law, and not build an unmarked tower over 200 feet.
Pilot error, plain and simple. A tearful family vs. a faceless corporation and a “rich” landowner – that’s all that mattered to the jury.
There are a ton of those skinny towers in the middle of farm fields around me here in central Indiana. I have never known if they are weather-related or ag-related, but assume from reading this that they must have something to do with assessing wind generation, which is becoming a big deal around here.
Personally, I think all towers should be painted and conventionally lit (no strobes), no matter how short, if they are over 6 stories or 60 feet tall. And this change of not requiring painting of towers if they have strobe lights on them is dangerous, too. The grey of steel towers becomes invisible in the daytime. Just try to find an unpainted tower in a Google satellite photo. Pilots are not seeing it any differently.
Thanks, my Dad’s advice also. But, at $200/hr for my lawyer, I can read (and will anyway) too.
Yeah, I understand. But I have definitely seen with my own eyes that an ordinary individual is not taken seriously, whereas attorneys are. Not only in the case of others, but for myself — especially in negotiation situations. I, myself, once had a situation with the phone company regarding them getting both the business name and the number wrong in the phone books for a business line. After going round after round, both on the telephone and in half-a-dozen letters, my Dad offered to intercede. ONE LETTER from him with “Attorney at Law” at the top, resolved the issue instantly. They actually offered a complete refund of all charges during the period that the number was wrong in the book, whereas they only offered me about one-quarter of that amount.
There is no way an individual has the impact an attorney has. Plus, attorneys are experienced negotiators. That is just about all they do, all day long, day after day: negotiate settlements — even a court trial is a negotiation. My dad had about 15 years of business experience before he became a lawyer. A client of his who was a 40-year owner of a meat distributorship, had tried to negotiate the purchase of a business from a franchiser, to whom the business up for sale had defaulted following the death of the prior owner. After several trips to the corporate headquarters to get it resolved, he hired my dad to intercede. One trip by my dad to the franchiser’s office and the sale went through like greased lightning. Lawyers really are capable of keeping people from messing with you, which most people cannot do for themselves unless they are an attorney and the other side knows that.
Even though I am an attorneys son, and I work for and around attorneys, I am clear that I cannot accomplish what they can, no matter that I know more about legal issues than the average person. They are the guys with the power and leverage, and the other side knows that.