Blizzard!

We have a real Blizzard! The NWS has upgraded the area to a real blizzard! All day long our NBC affiliate has been on the weather and only the weather. We have been in "near blizzard" and "blizzard like" conditions all day.

Now we have the real thing! Yes!

I went skiing at the local rope tow hill, the Ski Bowl, with my buddy Craig, "the Younger", and his two girls, ages two and four. It was nice on the lee side of the big dune that passes for the ski hill, but it was raging at the top of the back hill. Much snow was had by all.

I then proceeded to watch a PBS show on Winter in Yellowstone. The cathedral of the Gods. I want to go to there! We have a small federally designated wilderness area just north of her called Nordhouse Dunes. I will go there for a night or two this week. I need to find a way to get there. Herself says I cannot take the Subaru, she needs it. I am left with the Toyota Echo, a challenge in this weather in and of itself. Then I must find transportation over the ground. I have no back country skis nor snowshoes.

This will be the quest. All else is here and ready to go. This will be an adventure and pictures will follow.

Car Companies

I have been watching the "stuff" on TV about the car company big dogs going to DC with their hat in their hand. I am somewhat baffled by the differences is how the government coughs up billions for the financial institutions but is balking for companies that actually make things.

I have worked for auto parts suppliers for many years now. I never wanted to but I got sucked in by living in Michigan. I have now been "eliminated" by two of them. The latest action has relieved me of untold frustration and stress. I had direct contact with all of the "Big Three" in many of their domestic, Mexican and Canadian assembly plants. The relationships are adversarial, disrespectful, and for the most part just demands to satisfy egos.

Today there was a Detroit UAW local representative interviewed in connection with the government bail out. He mentioned they will be taking on the pension costs and they are thinking of eliminating the job bank. That was talked about as if these were new ideas. The former was already agreed upon in the last contract and the later never should have been implemented in the first place. To think that an assembly line operator can expect to be paid 95% of their pay if their jobs are eliminated is unbelievable.

I really think the market needs to decide what is going to happen to these companies. The management lives only in quarterly chunks of time and has no vision for the future. The market has been glutted by "luxury" trucks and SUV's that few really need. Then when the gas price goes up, the vehicle value drops and everyone wants to know why there are no small fuel efficient vehicles available. The market bought the vehicles and the car companies sucked in the profits.

Look at Honda's web site: they make cars, motorcycles, solar cells, jets, recreational power equipment, and marine engines. All leaders in their technology and innovation and in the markets.

Can GM, Ford, or Chrysler say that even about the cars and trucks they build?

Grand Haven

The Grand Haven State Park is just south of the mouth of the Grand River, where it flows out into Lake Michigan. The piers that are aids to navigation have been huge area attractions for years. This provides a boardwalk walking path from town to the tip of the pier several hundred yards out into the lake.

I have walked upon, ridden my bike and photographed this pier for the majority of my life. I have used it as a refuge, a source of risk, and inspiration. It is never the same for each visit.

The pier has a catwalk that was used many years ago to service the fog horn and the light during severe weather. Lights have been added to the catwalk that extend inland along the boardwalk.

Changes

I started this blog a long time ago. For some reason I never had anything I thought was worth putting out there.

The recent economic crises has enveloped me in its grasp. Living in Michigan I have worked in the automotive parts supply business for quite awhile. As of September 15th I have been eliminated along with 40 other people, in one day, from my latest employer. Over a course of about three months, the CEO was replaced, then many upper management positions were eliminated, and finally it came to the bottom of the barrel.

The company I was working for supplied trim parts to many of the North American automobile assemblers. This business was mostly in the truck and large SUV market. Most of the summer, many of the plants the parts were supplied to were shut down for a lack of sales.

So, now I am in the middle of some changes.

I am looking for a new job or source of income in an economy that is in a free fall. I did receive a severance package that runs out December 8th. My search has turned up some possible leads, that have since evaporated as the economic news goes from bad to worse.

Some of my search has lead me to other areas of the country, such as Arizona, where I have other family, and Montana, where I would love to live in the mountains. The search has also opened some questions as to how I could make a living doing something I love such as photography.

I hope I can resolve some of these issues and perhaps document them here.