Business and Industrial

June 7, 2009

     I have worked in the business and industrial fields many times in my life, and quite frankly, didn’t care much for it. It tends to be cold and impersonal for the most part, striving towards “efficiency” and “cost-productive procedures”. Sure, I use products that they make. But maybe they could just be a bit nicer to the people who work to make those products for them, instead of sitting in their conference rooms in their suits ordering in lunch before heading to the tanning salon in their newest Lamborghini while the poor schmucks drag their tired bodies into the break room for a Spam sandwich (Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fried Spam sandwich, just for your information.) before heading back onto the factory floor to churn out more widgets before plopping into their hoopty cars and wheezing their way home to their families and a night of cable tv.

    Not saying that all the workers are dedicated, tireless individuals who actually earn their wages, though. I was once fired from a factory, believe it or not. And have to admit that I could understand why the management felt that they were justified in firing me, as well. A fine example of the statement “And the truth shall set you free.” In my case, it did set me free… unemployed could be construed as being free, right? Just because I told a guy who I was supervising that he “was the laziest bastard I have ever seen.” Well, it was just a fact.

    I worked in a factory when I was fresh out of high school. My dad had worked there for as long as I could remember, so I would give it a try. I decided quickly that being a worker in a factory environment was not for me. Perhaps it is all right for others, I don’t know. All I did was pick up two small boards, stick them in a machine, step on a pedal that automatically finger-jointed the ends and applied glue, then reverse the pieces, step on the pedal, then put the two pieces on a conveyor belt next to me. When I got enough pieces jointed and glued together, I went to the end and used a saw to cut them to (I think) an 8 foot long ‘board’. These were put on a pallet, and when it was full, another worker appeared out of nowhere to haul it away. I walked out at lunch break… and went home.

    Another job had me taking bins full of freshly made pliers and inspecting them. I was to look at them and see if the handles and jaws were straight. If they weren’t, I put them in a vise and bent the offending piece until it was aligned. After each bin, I would stop and spend about ten minutes with the factory-furnished tweezers pulling all the metal slivers out of my hands. I believe I worked there for a couple of weeks before deciding there must be more to life and moving on.

     I am sure that there are factory workers everywhere who are happy with their jobs. Well, maybe I’m not really sure… but I would like to think that not all of them are miserable, anyway.

    I suppose that business and industrial junk is needed… I just wish that elves and little gnomes did it at night while we slept… and that they were all ecstatic that they were able to help out.

 

 

 

 

Books

June 4, 2009


     Books are treasures. Books are friends for rainy days and summer afternoons. Books are ideas, and thoughts, and heartfelt feelings and fantasies all squished into little letters and smooshed onto dead trees. Writing these books, on the other hand… is a labor of love. It starts out fun… while the ideas are flowing and you are creating a world of your own, your characters coming to life in your mind, then onto the paper. Then… the work starts. Commas… perio...


Continue reading...
 

Babies

June 3, 2009


 

     What’s not to love about babies? I especially like other people’s babies. You can play with them, tickle them, toss them into the air… well, maybe not the last, just ask Michael Jackson about that one. But nonetheless, you can have fun with the little tykes. Then when they get fussy and start bawling or stinking… you can just hand them back to their parents and go on about your business. That is the best kind of baby… at times.

    Then th...


Continue reading...
 

Art

June 2, 2009


     Mass produced art is tasteless and devoid of all character and serves only one purpose… to make your wall fit in exactly with everyone else’s who bought that same lithograph of some woodland scene, beachfront sunset, or dog’s playing poker. While the last is momentarily amusing, after about the first day it simply becomes annoying. Art is an expression of an artist at a particular moment in time. If you copy it, you demean it and lessen its worth. Give me a...


Continue reading...
 

Antiques

May 30, 2009

Antiques-

     Antiques are mostly dust catchers- good for little else other than requiring periodic dusting and cleaning. There are exceptions that I do enjoy, though, either for their aesthetic appeal or because of their history. Some token that my children gave me for example, or an item that belonged to an ancestor of mine. A pellet-rifle that was made in Czechoslovakia that belonged to my grandfather, who died before I was born, would fit into this category, as w...


Continue reading...
 

Things that Fathers should know

May 29, 2009
Going through some stuff on some of my older hard drives, I stumbled upon this priceless work, not sure where I got it, so difficult to give credit where credit is due. But most of these are pretty accurate...

Things a Man Should Know: About Fatherhood

1. Don't worry, your dad didn't know what he was doing, either.

2. No, no--not that Spock!

3. Second thought, maybe you should worry.

4. Never tell anybody that you and your wife are "trying." We really don't ne...


Continue reading...
 

Killing off good Characters

May 28, 2009
     The art of writing can be described by numerous adjectives, usually dependent upon where the author is in a particular piece of work as well as their overall outlook on whether they are still writing because they truly want to, or the craft has jaded them to the point where they feel that they have to. All I can describe is how it feels to me, I am sure that everyone that writes will not agree, but... this is my blog, not theirs!
    An idea pops into my head, usually not fully formed, so...

Continue reading...
 

About Me

B.L. Robinson
Smalltown Mo

Business and Industrial

June 7, 2009

     I have worked in the business and industrial fields many times in my life, and quite frankly, didn’t care much for it. It tends to be cold and impersonal for the most part, striving towards “efficiency” and “cost-productive procedures”. Sure, I use products that they make. But maybe they could just be a bit nicer to the people who work to make those products for them, instead of sitting in their conference rooms in their suits ordering in lunch before heading to the tanning salon in their newest Lamborghini while the poor schmucks drag their tired bodies into the break room for a Spam sandwich (Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fried Spam sandwich, just for your information.) before heading back onto the factory floor to churn out more widgets before plopping into their hoopty cars and wheezing their way home to their families and a night of cable tv.

    Not saying that all the workers are dedicated, tireless individuals who actually earn their wages, though. I was once fired from a factory, believe it or not. And have to admit that I could understand why the management felt that they were justified in firing me, as well. A fine example of the statement “And the truth shall set you free.” In my case, it did set me free… unemployed could be construed as being free, right? Just because I told a guy who I was supervising that he “was the laziest bastard I have ever seen.” Well, it was just a fact.

    I worked in a factory when I was fresh out of high school. My dad had worked there for as long as I could remember, so I would give it a try. I decided quickly that being a worker in a factory environment was not for me. Perhaps it is all right for others, I don’t know. All I did was pick up two small boards, stick them in a machine, step on a pedal that automatically finger-jointed the ends and applied glue, then reverse the pieces, step on the pedal, then put the two pieces on a conveyor belt next to me. When I got enough pieces jointed and glued together, I went to the end and used a saw to cut them to (I think) an 8 foot long ‘board’. These were put on a pallet, and when it was full, another worker appeared out of nowhere to haul it away. I walked out at lunch break… and went home.

    Another job had me taking bins full of freshly made pliers and inspecting them. I was to look at them and see if the handles and jaws were straight. If they weren’t, I put them in a vise and bent the offending piece until it was aligned. After each bin, I would stop and spend about ten minutes with the factory-furnished tweezers pulling all the metal slivers out of my hands. I believe I worked there for a couple of weeks before deciding there must be more to life and moving on.

     I am sure that there are factory workers everywhere who are happy with their jobs. Well, maybe I’m not really sure… but I would like to think that not all of them are miserable, anyway.

    I suppose that business and industrial junk is needed… I just wish that elves and little gnomes did it at night while we slept… and that they were all ecstatic that they were able to help out.

 

 

 

 

Books

June 4, 2009


     Books are treasures. Books are friends for rainy days and summer afternoons. Books are ideas, and thoughts, and heartfelt feelings and fantasies all squished into little letters and smooshed onto dead trees. Writing these books, on the other hand… is a labor of love. It starts out fun… while the ideas are flowing and you are creating a world of your own, your characters coming to life in your mind, then onto the paper. Then… the work starts. Commas… perio...


Continue reading...
 

Babies

June 3, 2009


 

     What’s not to love about babies? I especially like other people’s babies. You can play with them, tickle them, toss them into the air… well, maybe not the last, just ask Michael Jackson about that one. But nonetheless, you can have fun with the little tykes. Then when they get fussy and start bawling or stinking… you can just hand them back to their parents and go on about your business. That is the best kind of baby… at times.

    Then th...


Continue reading...
 

Art

June 2, 2009


     Mass produced art is tasteless and devoid of all character and serves only one purpose… to make your wall fit in exactly with everyone else’s who bought that same lithograph of some woodland scene, beachfront sunset, or dog’s playing poker. While the last is momentarily amusing, after about the first day it simply becomes annoying. Art is an expression of an artist at a particular moment in time. If you copy it, you demean it and lessen its worth. Give me a...


Continue reading...
 

Antiques

May 30, 2009

Antiques-

     Antiques are mostly dust catchers- good for little else other than requiring periodic dusting and cleaning. There are exceptions that I do enjoy, though, either for their aesthetic appeal or because of their history. Some token that my children gave me for example, or an item that belonged to an ancestor of mine. A pellet-rifle that was made in Czechoslovakia that belonged to my grandfather, who died before I was born, would fit into this category, as w...


Continue reading...
 

Things that Fathers should know

May 29, 2009
Going through some stuff on some of my older hard drives, I stumbled upon this priceless work, not sure where I got it, so difficult to give credit where credit is due. But most of these are pretty accurate...

Things a Man Should Know: About Fatherhood

1. Don't worry, your dad didn't know what he was doing, either.

2. No, no--not that Spock!

3. Second thought, maybe you should worry.

4. Never tell anybody that you and your wife are "trying." We really don't ne...


Continue reading...
 

Killing off good Characters

May 28, 2009
     The art of writing can be described by numerous adjectives, usually dependent upon where the author is in a particular piece of work as well as their overall outlook on whether they are still writing because they truly want to, or the craft has jaded them to the point where they feel that they have to. All I can describe is how it feels to me, I am sure that everyone that writes will not agree, but... this is my blog, not theirs!
    An idea pops into my head, usually not fully formed, so...

Continue reading...
 


 
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