Buyer Beware...

There was an advertisement for an appliance store in today’s newspaper that read, "The biggest sale of the year...35% off on EVERYTHING*!!"

Now I’m not sure if you noticed, but there is a small asterisk after the word "everything" and the two exclamation points (it’s actually much smaller in the newspaper).

If you take the time to flip to the back of the ad, you’re find, in near microscopic fine print, a disclaimer that tells the astute reader that not everything is really on sale... and in fact... after reading the entire legal disclosure, it is very apparent that only a small amount of product is actually discounted.  Additionally, there seem to be requirements to purchase other goods and services in order to get the full advertised discounts.

Now it just happens that I am looking to purchase a new washer and dryer for my home (one of the reasons that this ad caught my attention in the first place I suppose).

After reading the full text of their ad, there is a higher probability that it will snow in Phoenix in August, than that I will purchase my new laundry equipment from this store.  It isn’t a matter of a misunderstanding between us.  No, they were willingly try to deceive me from the onset. 
  
I only do business with those people and companies that I trust.  I don’t like being lied to.  I don’t appreciate them trying to get me into their store under false pretense to try and sell me something else at a higher price or something I don’t want or need.

They had an opportunity to recruit me as a potential loyal customer, but they blew it by trying to be devious.

In this particular instance, I happened to see the small asterisk, but there are many other times, when I simply don’t have the time to read all of the legal fine print of a wordy contract. 

In these instances, I end up paying for the add-on parts, the early-termination charges, the required delivery costs, and/or mandatory resort fees assessed to each hotel patron regardless of whether or not one uses any of the hotel’s facilities.

I then vow never to do business with these companies and/or individuals again, but at this point it’s too late and I’ve been had. 

Even if I pledge never to do business with them again, it’s to no avail, as one person decision to end a relationship means very little to these companies who profit on deceit.  They’ll just recruit a new sheep to fleece through their mis-leading advertisements, over-promising sales people, and lengthy legal contracts.

All I want is for the company I’m doing business with to tell me the truth, provide me with quality goods and services, and stand behind their promises.  I want them to be dependable... not when things are going good... but when things go sideways.  I expect any business to make a profit but if they deliver value to me, then I don’t really care.

I want to know that if I have a problem with my new washer or dryer, will the company send a service person within a reasonable time to fix my problem... (i.e. do they stand behind what they sell regardless of what the law says that they can get away with?)

I want to know, in advance, if there will be several additional parts that are required (at a significant cost) in order to hook up my new washer and dryer.  Is there a delivery and set-up charge?  Do I need to set up a charge account with the store in order to get the advertised price?

I want to know if the picture in the advertisement is really of the model I’m looking to buy or a much more expensive model that I can’t afford.

I want to be able to trust the people and companies I do business with.
 

At our company, we do accept credit cards for payment, although most of our customers are on terms.  Our credit card customers are generally small and/or are new, therefore we end-up only processing a very few credit card payments each month and consequently we haven’t felt that we had the need to analyze our credit card processing fees.  

 

Recently I reviewed our most recent credit card processing statements and found that our processing company has been charging us an effective rate of nearly 15% (giving us only $0.85 for every $1.00 processed through this processing company).  Needless to say, I thought that this was a bit excessive and I called to inquire about the charges.

I was politely told that all of the various monthly service charges were in our modified service agreement (not the one we signed when we started the service but an agreement that was later amended to include new charges and fees). 
 
These new charges now included a "customer service fee" of $20 per month that allowed me the privilege to speak with a customer service representative should I ever question anything wrong with my bill.  I was also told that I was being assessed another charge because I didn’t sign a long-term agreement with the company and still another fee because I didn’t rent an expensive terminal from the company but rather used my own computer to process the credit card payments.

They managed to change the rules mid-game hoping that no one noticed.

So within a few hours I managed to find a new processing company and called the original company to close my account.  The following day I saw where my bank account had been debited $50 by my former processing company... account closure fee was the item description... they just had to stick it to me one more time before they could move on to another mark.

I’m sure that my little stories of deceit, deception, and greed are not unique and in fact are quickly becoming the rule rather than the exception.  We all have been plagued at one time or another by charlatans, scammers, and/or dishonest corporations, political leaders, and swindlers.

We feel used and abused, stupid for allowing some one to take advantage of the trust we placed upon them, and angry at them and ourselves for doing such a thing.

It’s impossible to always read the fine print of products and services that we purchase.  In this more complicated world, we need to be able to trust that we are not being taken advantage of but it’s getting harder and harder.

There are still plenty of people and companies who display professional integrity and high moral fiber.  More than ever, we need to give our business to those we trust to do the right thing... all the time... without exception. 

We need to find a way to reward those people and companies who deal in truth and honesty and punish those who live by the adage of Caveat Emptor...

Buyer Beware...    

Thank you very much for your support of OptiFuse where our number one core value is to provide the highest integrity to our customers, suppliers, and team members.

Flexing Your Muscle (Car)...

"There never seems to be enough time to do it right... but somehow there always seem to be enough time to do it over."

~ Robin Stark, Software Engineer

A young friend of mine recently purchased a 1969 Ford Mustang Coupe. He really didn’t spend too much money to purchase the car... that’s probably because it isn’t drivable...
 
... yet 

This car is a project car. It’s a car that has a good engine, a rebuilt transmission and drive train, and a seemingly good frame. Other than that, this car is a complete rebuild. 

The car’s interior appears to have been burnt out in a fire (although it wasn’t really in a fire) so the head-liner, carpets, seats, seat belts, dashboard and arm-rests all need to be replaced. All of the rubber needs to be replaced including the tires, hoses and all of the seals around the car. The braking system need to be repaired. The suspension system and all of the bearings need to be replaced.

The wiring, gauges, and lighting need to be completely removed and a complete new electrical system needs to be installed.

Under the current paint, several areas of cancerous corrosion can be seen, so all of the car’s paint must be stripped, the corrosion ground out and repaired, and then the car must be repainted top to bottom.

Once all of these items have been addressed... all of the systems repaired... all of the parts replaced... then this car will be a beautiful classic show-car with years of enjoyment still to come.

Now the young man who purchased this particular car is not necessarily a man of financial means. He is also without any transportation at the moment.

Therefore an important decision will need to be made shortly as to which direction this restoration project will precede.

There are really only two possible choices - other than to abandon the project and try to sell the car as is: 

1. Do a complete restoration
2. Make only the necessary repairs in order to begin safely driving the car as soon as possible.

Complete Restoration - Choice 1

If the decision is to completely restore the car, then the engine and drive-train should be removed. The interior should be gutted. The other components should be removed, cleaned and/or repaired. The body panels need to be removed and stripped to the metal.

Starting just from the basic frame, the car should be rebuilt and restored with each layer being placed upon another. Perhaps start by rebuilding the engine and transmission, then rewiring the entire car, repairing and replacing the suspension system, reinstalling the drive-train, repairing/replacing the exhaust system and hoses and cables for the braking and cooling systems, completely redo the interior, repaint the body, replace the tires and rims, and finally add all of the chrome, rubber seals, lights and other "finish" parts.

Start from ground zero, and build up from there until the project is complete.

This option takes time, money and an extreme amount of patience but in the end you get a completely restored classic vehicle that its owner knows inside and out. Every nut every bolt...

Fix and Drive - Choice 2

The second option is to realize that the engine, transmission and drive train are generally sound so leave them alone. The time, money and efforts should be directed in making repairs to the car to make it drivable in the least amount of time for the least amount of money.

Once the car is running, then other repairs and restorations can be made on an "as needed" basis.

Make wiring repairs to all of the head, tail, brake, and back-up lights, turn-signals, emergency flashers, dashboard instruments, and windshield wipers. Seats and seat belts need to be added. New brakes and tires need to be purchased and installed.

Performing these simple repairs will allow my friend to drive his new purchase in a safe manner. It may be in need of cosmetic repair, but it is relatively safe to drive and he has cool transportation (what 16-year old wouldn’t want to drive to school in a classic American muscle car?). Choice number 2 is quick, initially less costly, and relatively easy.

At some point in the future, he can invest in new carpeting, headliners, body work, and a quality paint job.

He undoubtedly will end up making needed repairs to the suspension, exhaust, cooling, and brake systems spending more money than he would have had he opted for choice 1 (due to the disassembly and removal of parts in order to reach the areas of the needed repairs).

Those are the trade-offs... drive the car now versus drive it later... spend less money today versus spend more money later... drive a beautifully restored classic versus driving an visually challanged vehicle...

The above story illustrates all of the choices that we make each day in our businesses, homes and relationships.

Do we labor with our current IT systems trying to keep them up and running well past their useful life? How much time is lost to unproductivity when our computers and/or phones go down? How much money does it cost us to have IT service providers constantly come to our facilities to make repairs? When do we say enough is enough and opt for a replacement instead of another "band-aid"?

Do we put off needed repairs to our homes, telling ourselves that our roof can make it through another winter? Instead of doing it right the first time, we economize by replacing a few shingles at a time. Then we are surprised to learn that we have leaks, extensive dry rot, or termite damage costing us several times more than what it would have cost us to do it right in the first place.

When do we take the time to call up an old friend? When we need something from them? We haven’t taken the time to properly maintain many of our friendships but now we need to ask a favor from them. Creating and maintaining friendships take time and effort.

Many times our most favorable rewards come from doing something right rather than doing it expediently or on the cheap.  Other times, it makes sense to make repairs instead of rebuilding from the ground up because resources are just simply not available at this time or because the overall system isn’t really that bad off.

I do understand the impetuous nature of a teenager wanting to drive his first car (a really cool car at that), so I suspect that he’ll be opting for decision number 2... however sometimes it might be better to have something great in the future rather than having something average in the present.

Thank you very much for your support of OptiFuse where we always try to do things right the first time.

I Hate My Boss...

"You’re not the boss of me" ~ Sarah Kalb - at the age of 4 to her parents 

Sometimes I believe that I have the worst boss ever.

To start with, the guy is a slave-driver. He often forces me to work 50-60 hours each week at the office.  He doesn’t pay very well but rather he insists that my big rewards will come after the company finds success.  He is constantly pushing me to do more and more with fewer and fewer resources.

Oh sure, I get the big office, but with the big office comes the responsibility of making sure that all of the other workers at the company are happy and productive, that our customers believe that we are doing our very best to satisfy their needs, and that we somehow find a way to remain profitable in these uncertain economic times.

In addition to driving me hard at the office, the SOB is constantly pushing his way into my personal life.  He actually forces me to exercise and watch what I eat.  He pushes me to go to the gym and/or long bike rides several times each week... even when I’m tired after a long day at work or wanting to sleep an extra hour on the weekends. Granted, I do feel better and a bit less lethargic after some vigorous exercise, but that’s not the point!   

He actually makes me mostly eat food that is somewhat bland and tasteless solely because it is purportedly healthy and nutritious. He demands that I go on a very strict diet each autumn in order to lose the few pounds that I usually put on each spring and summer.

Not satisfied with making sure that I’m financially healthy and physically healthy; he also imposes his will upon me by pressing me to learn new things each day.

I didn’t want to start taking Spanish lessons at the age of 50... but the megalomaniac that he is... made me do it. Personally, I’d rather be sitting in front of my TV just relaxing, drinking a beer, and watching the ball game. I don’t want to be doing homework.
I guess it wouldn’t be so bad if he at least let me enjoy some of my successes... but no... as soon as one goal is attained... the tyrant starts me down the path of yet another goal... he says hard work is good for my character... but personally I think that I have enough character at this point in my life... 

Oh, I’ve threatened to quit... but the jerk will have none of that talk... and doubles my work load for even bringing up the subject.

Why can’t my boss be like other people’s bosses? Their bosses are easy on them. They let them do whatever they want... whenever they want to...

Oh sure... I suspect that the quality of their life deteriorates quite a bit in the end... but who says I’ll even live that long... maybe I’m being forced to do all this stuff for no real reason at all...

There’s an easy way and a hard way... why is my boss always insisting that I do it the hard way?... why can’t I take shortcuts like other people? 

I suppose that I need to remember that deep down; my boss is not really pushing me to better himself, but rather he is looking after my own best interests.  He persists because he wants me to become a better person... the person we know that I can be if I try hard enough.

My boss conveys to me that respect and character are earned not bought. He explains to me that one must lead from the front, not push from behind in order to guide people forward.

Be a true friend without judgment... be a resource without the need of reciprocity... deliver kindness to others solely because it is the right thing to do... never break the trust others have placed upon you...

He constantly reminds me that I am not an island unto myself. I need to look around, be observant, and determine what it is that I can do to make the world a bit better each day... each month... each year...

My boss describes friendship as a retail venture, spending actual time with real people. Doing it in this way helps to build shared memories and long-lasting relationship. Friendship is not a virtual race to build personal network second-tier acquaintances.

My boss reminds me to live each day in the "here and now" present. Oh sure, he’ll bring up my past mistakes just to keep me humble and so I don’t consider repeating them... and he does drive me to think about the future, just so I’m ready and prepared for whatever may come my way. 

I can’t change the past... or accurately predict the future... today is the only thing that is within my limited control... 
  
Even if I do all the things that the boss tells me to do... success is still not guaranteed... there will be obstacles... setbacks... and bad outcomes to good decisions and deeds. Bad things happen to good people every day... that’s just the way it happens sometimes.

He tells me that I can’t get too high or too low... because the only sure thing about luck is that it’ll change.

The boss tells me not to get discouraged... that I need to get up and keep going. There is another battle to fight tomorrow... if you are so lucky to have a tomorrow.

I really hate my boss sometimes... but I’m glad that he’s there...

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse where we recognize that our customers are the reason we have jobs...

The World is All Right...

I was having a conversation with a friend last week when the topic of high school school drop-outs came up.

She immediately threw her hand to her head ...shouting "Losers!"...

I look at her in bewilderment...and then started to laugh out loud...

In her zeal to declare high school drop-outs "losers"... she had mistakenly put her left hand to her forehead... creating a "J" rather than the intended "L".

I asked her if the "J" was subliminally referring to me...

Suddenly realizing what she had done, she immediately started laughing with me...

"It’s not fair!", she exclaimed, "the world is biased against left-handers... and I just proved it".

She went on to list the many "right-handed" items that she’s forced to endure being left-handed...

"Can-openers, scissors, all-types of doors, wrist-watches, coffee cups, left-to-right writing, and computer keyboards and mice are all made to make life difficult for left-handed people."

And I added... and of course the letter "L" on one’s forehead as they mock "losers"...

Several studies show that although left-handers only represent approximately 12% of the world’s population they are over-represented when it comes to premier athletics (43%), Mensa membership (21%), and artists (57%) so being left handed does have its advantages, I suppose.

So what causes a person to become right or left handed and are there other significant differences between "righties" and "lefties"?

The Brain

The human brain is made up of three distinct parts, the forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain.
The forebrain consists of the cerebrum, thalamus, and the hypothalamus.

The midbrain contains the tectum, and tegmentum.

The hindbrain consists of the cerebellum, pons and medulla.   

In the forebrain , the cerebrum or cortex is the largest part of the brain and is associated with all higher brain functions such as thought, memory, and motor skills.

The cerebrum is divided into four sections or lobes each performing certain functions:

Frontal Lobe: Reasoning, logic, speech, movement, emotions, and problem-solving

Parietal Lobe: Orientation, recognition, perception of stimuli

Occipital Lobe: Visual Processing

Temporal Lobe: Perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory and speech

The cerebrum is divided into two very distinct cerebral cortex hemispheres connected by the corpus callosum.

These cerebral hemispheres appear to be symmetrical, each containing the four lobes described above, yet scientists have discovered that the left and right sides of the brain actually process information very differently.

The Left Brain

The left side of the brain is associated with logic, analysis, and sequential processing. It helps us to understand mathematics, complex problems, and language. The left brain helps us to retain facts, figures and the words to songs. It allows us to do computations, follow instructions, and understand cause and affect relationships.

The left brain is strategic and logical.

Mr. Spock is, without a doubt, left brained.

Right-handed individuals tend to be more left-brain dominated.

The Right Brain

The right side of the brain is associated with creativity, imagination, and visual thinking. It allows us to draw a picture on a blank piece of paper, dance to the beat of a song, or day dream. The right side is about feelings and intuition. It allows us to remember the melody and rhythm of a song, close our eyes and draw mental pictures, and create fantasies.
The right brain controls feeling and emotion.

Captain Kirk is definitely right brained dominated.

Left-handed individuals tend to be more right-brain dominated.

And not or

For many of us, we show significant characteristics of both right and left brains (which is good... since we typically all have both halves working). We aren’t left brained or right brained... we are simply left brained and right brained. This is what keeps us balanced.

Some of the best engineers are dreamers and artists but can also do the complex calculations and computations needed to create and analyze new designs. 

Some of the most talented musicians are incredible technicians who have mastered their instrument through hours of practice and hard work.

I recently had the opportunity to see an incredible TED Talks presentation by neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor who talks about her harrowing brain experience.  I was completely enthralled as she, as a neurologist, decribes in detail, what happened to her as her brain stopped working.

Now myself, I seem have an aptitude for calculating numbers in my head or unscrambling letters to make known words (Jumble).

I can do mental mathematics because I can visualize the numbers in my head as if they were written on a piece of paper and then mentally perform the addition, subtraction, multiplication or division by virtually performing the various mathematical steps in my head as though I were using a piece of paper and pencil.

I also excel at Jumble because I visualize the letters being on a small "scrabble-like" tile in mind. I will continue to shuffle the tiles mentally until I get a 5 or 6-letter word match.
The talent, in these examples, might be my ability to visualize the numbers or letter, however it takes also takes a great deal of sequential processing to actually perform the mathematics or shuffling of letter tiles until a word match is found.

Here I described talents that sound incredibly right brained - highly defined visual thinking... but anyone who knows me well... will tell you that I am one of the most left brained individuals that they know.

I hardly think of myself as an aberration as a human being. I believe, in fact, that most people have similar talents whereas they can use the different parts of the brain to think, calculate, feel, visualize, process, reason, sense, communicate, and/or retain information.
Whether or not we are right-handed or left-handed, we all have the capabilities to be someone special if we use our brain to its fullest capacity.

Many studies have shown that we need to fully exercise our brains on a regular basis in order to keep it healthy and strong (just as we also need to exercise our bodies).

In the same way that we wouldn’t just exercise only one-half of our bodies, we should try to find ways to exercise both sides of our brains in ways to add creativity, non-linear thinking, analytics, dreaming, logic, laughter/humor, visualizations, and/or problem solver.

Keeping our bodies and minds well exercised and nourished will help us live long and productive lives...

...lives worth living...

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse where we visualize the greatness in all of us...  

The Olympic Spirit...

Due to the 8-hour time difference between London and California, I already know the results of the of day’s Olympic Games.  Add to that fact, that as rule, I don’t generally watch a great deal of television.

Then why is it that I am compelled each evening to endure seemingly endless commercials in order to watch a taped-delayed Olympic sporting event that I already know the results?

Perhaps it’s not really about the competition at all.  Perhaps it’s really about the human drama... stories of dreams, perseverance, patience, overcoming adversity, triumphs and disappointment...

Let’s face it, the Olympics could be considered television’s ultimate reality show...

There will be medal winners in each competition... the odds-on favorites who make winning look easy... the hard-fought battles of strategy, might, agility, speed, and will, and of course the upsets where the underdogs come from nowhere to take their places in history.

We have a tendency to focus our attentions on the medal winners... but there will also be the many more athletes that won’t bring home a medal than do. 

There are multitudes who came to the London Games to just represent... their countries... their sports... their spirit.

The athletes of the Olympics have dedicated their lives to preparing themselves for competition.  They worked endless hours training in their sport.  They poured their heart and soul and energy into something that they believe in... but on that particular day... at that moment in time... they fell short of gold, silver or bronze.

They may not have been medalists at these Olympic Games, but you can never call them losers... they are indeed winners.

If a person has a goal... and they do everything in their power to achieve their goal but ended up, in the end, with a poor result... this person is not a loser... rather this person is a winner...

They are a winner because they came and gave it their best shot. 

The real loser is the person who never tried... failure isn’t coming up short but never doing something in the first place.
 
It’s not trying to do the best of your abilities and talents.  It’s not having the willingness to take on new challenges, climbing new mountains, stretching yourself to the limits and focusing on becoming a little better each day than you were the day before...

There are several people today who want to do away with competition altogether (especially among children) because losing is a bad thing.  Losing is only a bad thing. 

The reason why failure is considered by many to be a negative thing is because they look at losing as the end result rather than a small part of the overall process.

When we first learned to walk... we tried... we fell down... we got up... and we tried again... getting better and better along the way until we mastered the skill...

Success and failure go hand-in-hand... the Yin and the Yang.
    
There are many different studies that show that many of the world’s greatest achievers aren’t necessarily those who failed the least but rather those individuals that tried the most.  Winners are those individuals who are not afraid of failure because they know that failure is just a stepping stone to success. 

Winners focus their energies on the end goal... sometimes taking two steps forward and one step back... knowing that in the end they are still one step ahead as they work their way toward their goal...

I spend a lot of time with people who are much older than me.  I enjoy learning from their wisdom of age and they enjoy the company.

One question that I will often ask a person of advanced age is, "if you could go back and do one thing over again in your life... what would it be?"

At first, I invariably receive one of two answers:

The most popular answer from them is always, "I wished I would have spent less time working and more time with my kids/family". 

The second most popular answer is, "I wish I would have taken better care of my health".

After hearing one of those two answers (or typically both)... then I try to probe a little deeper.

"Okay, beyond those two things, what else would you 'might have done', 'not done', or 'changed' about your life?"

After a bit of reflection, stories begin to flow. They tell me about getting marrying too early... bad investments that they’ve made... about someone who broke their trust... starting bad habits such as smoking or drinking... dropping out of school to start working... and/or staying in a bad relationship...

They tell me about hardships that they’ve overcome...

They typically follow up their narratives by saying that even though they made mistakes they would not have changed a thing about their lives.  They speak proudly about how adversity made them a stronger person in the end.  The only things that they regretted were those things that they never tried...

Sure life sometimes knocked them down... but they got up, brushed themselves off, and kept on going... and they’re still here ready to live another day...

There are lessons to be learned from people with many years of life experience... those who perhaps have made some bad decisions, had some bad outcomes, and/or have failed to achieve all of the goals that they set out to complete...

We need to remember that winning isn’t an event but rather it’s a process...

... and those who failed to try are the only ones who have regrets in the end...

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse where we hope to use our failures to make us a better company in the end.