weidemannia one

I happened across this recent comment posted on a Fox news forum asking if the readers felt they deserved a bailout from the government based on their financial situation. What struck me is that I know the guy that posted this, and knowing that he was heavily involved in the mortgage business at its peak, he appears to be recovering from his fall. I honestly wish he and his family all the best.

November 24th, 2008 at 12:17 pm

Look, all of the decisions that I have made throughout my life have ultimately led me to this point. I don’t blame you or the government. I don’t need welfare, food-stamps or the peoples money. Presently, my wife and four kids live with my in-laws (1 month now). We like many have lost everything. Business, homes, jobs, financial life savings. All…..because of our decisions. Not yours! We are back in school finishing our degrees. Only 2 of the kids can go to school now, which by any standards is sub-par at best (thanks to our public school systems). The twins cannot go to the pre-K program because of our move. We lost the cars and now have something functional for our situation. There were no big birthday parties and there will be no real gifts for Christmas. There is no Starbucks coffee or trip for our anniversary. There are no real luxuries. I pick up trash in the neighborhood because I can’t stand seeing it. Presently, my wife and I are leaning on each other….we are leaning on our parents until we land on our feet again. It really stinks but I believe in myself and my family….This will not last forever.. But Hey..Who really is to blame? I can only blame myself. Bad decisions in life, coupled with my lack of foresight created our new reality. The church has helped us, our friends and family…not the government. We don’t believe in becoming STATISTICS!

There comes a point when you have to stay true to yourself, in spite of what you are being told or paid to do. While Mika’s noble effort to purge the news of another irrelevant story may get her ass fired, I applaud her position.

Thanks, Mika.

As I was reading the lastest issue of Forbes, I came across a few quotes that seemed particularly relevant.

Ralph Hake

Sources: Maytag Corp. history, Maytag Collectors Club, Jasper County Historical Museum, Leonard Hadley.

Another nice guy leaving a legacy to be proud of. Dweeb.

“Our goal is to make sure corporateness is woven into the fabric of our company - into all our processes, into day-to-day business practices, creating a mindset within every employee and manager that will allow them to consciously think about corporate massiveness in everything that they do. No other organization can outperform us at what we do best: being not just another massive corporation, but the one and only Massive Corporation.”

Austin law firm Lawrence Arenella & Satija LLP secured a $12.5 million settlement against Fluor Corp. on behalf of Cosby Coleman, a 15-year employee who worked in the company’s Sugar Land government contracting office.

The settlement, entered in federal court in Santa Ana, Calif., goes to the federal government and the whistleblower. Coleman and his attorney will receive $2.75 million of the whistleblower’s share of the settlement, plus Fluor will pay legal fees.

The suit alleges that, from 1995 to 1998, Fluor knowingly overbilled the government under several contracts held by its Fluor Daniel subsidiary (now known as Fluor Enterprises) with the U.S. Energy and Defense departments.

“This has been an incredible David versus Goliath battle for both Cosby Coleman and our firm,” says Paul Lawrence, a partner with Lawrence Arenella & Satija.

Fluor (NYSE: FLR - News) provides engineering, procurement, construction, operations, maintenance and project management services. The company is based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., but is moving its headquarters to the Dallas area.

Lawrence filed Coleman’s whistleblower case in California in March 2000, alleging Fluor Daniel used a fictitious accounting entity, Fluor Daniel Federal Operations, to recover corporate overhead costs that weren’t proper under the government’s cost accounting standards.

The costs disputed by Coleman included multimillion-dollar bonuses paid to Fluor’s management, $13.2 million invested in raw land, $7.3 million for improvements to office buildings Fluor leased to other companies, $2.6 million for construction of a parking garage Fluor leased to another company, $410,000 spent for luxury condos in Palm Springs, Calif., $1.8 million for a fine art collection, $75,000 for Mercedes-Benz convertible driven by the company’s president and $20,000 for an antique Chippendale chair.

Coleman alleges he made numerous attempts to point out the violations to senior management, but no action was taken.

Fluor’s general counsel, Larry Fisher, says the settlement “avoids substantial further litigation costs in what could have been a lengthy and complex legal proceeding.”

He says he thinks the company ultimately would have prevailed in the case.

“After careful management consideration and review, it was determined that a settlement without admitting any wrongdoing would allow the company to focus on current and future operations without further distraction,” Fisher says.

FYI - monthly income for August 2005 (new career) surpassed my monthly income for May 2004 (previous career). The new road looks promising, the ride is quite smooth, the fog is lifting, and the car is running like a swiss watch. Looking forward to a continuing pleasant journey - although the weather outside the car appears threatening.

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR - News) announced today that it will donate $100,000 to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts supervised by the American Red Cross and United Way. This gift will be supplemented by contributions from Fluor employees worldwide. The company will match employee contributions at the rate of 50 cents to the dollar.

They say its the thought that counts - but what really matters is the size of the thought. I personally would have thought that one of the world’s most admired engineering firms in the world - who stands to make substantial financial gains from insurance monies for repairing the damage, would have 1) contributed a larger portion, and 2) increased the size of their matching donation. Hell, an L.A.-based used record store is matching donations from customers “dollar for dollar”.

Sorry, guys. I’m not impressed, not that it matters. Enjoy the trip to Dallas.

…always an asshole.