Tag Archives: business

Utah “Snow Job”

Posted on January 30, 2012 | 1 Comment

We were brought here under false pretenses, packed up everything and left our home, then found out that my husband was only on a two week trial. No-one bothered to tell us that my high-tech software geek of a husband who I dearly love was on the chopping block in two weeks. He didn’t know then, went on and was hired full-time but that soured us on the people who brought us in when all of his buddies commiserated.

Nearly three years later he was part of 1/4 of the IT staff that got canned nearly a month ago. Keep trying to get companies in here, Utah. Keep trying to get talent from other states and countries. But you let these companies hire then fire hordes of people and do nothing to keep talented, especially IT, people around for the other companies you’re bringing in. That’s a big mistake. Bring me in and I’ll tell you why.

You promise low taxes and all kinds of building subsidies but when companies have mass layoffs what do you do? Deny unemployment for those who never took a week of vacation in three years because they were too busy on a project. My husband and I have never taken more than two long weekends per year over three years and he even took the overnight shift for the holiday week last year, only to be fired the second day back.

Why the second day? Because the first day the chairman of the company waited for his minions to come up with a list of people to let go while he cashed in over $3 million in stock before it tanked as the layoffs were announced.

There are many talented people in UT who’ve been laid off and need work. No-one in Utah wants to help us stay here and now we’re being penalized for never taking a vacation. Even a little bit of what we’ve put in over many years would help now but we’re denied so we will have to leave the state and the income we bring to the state every year will go as well.

Also, you’re after us right now because of an error on our taxes and demanding payment immediately, nearly our entire refund from 2009, right after the layoff, Up ’til now I thought living in Utah was a blessing, now I’m thinking of it as a curse.

Sometimes in troubled times, a government has to look at other than bringing in business, and consider retaining talent. We are mobile, love it here but will go elsewhere in a heartbeat. You don’t know what you’re losing as your businesses decline and lay off many talented people. Not cheerily, Dee

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Airline Miles

Posted on December 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

Apparently Continental and United don’t have their act together so they’re trying to get their frequent flyers to consolidate their own miles between the airlines. Perhaps they don’t know that a software engineer could write a program to do that, but they don’t want us to consolidate our miles because then they may have to honor a flight. Aye, there’s the rub.

American is even worse. I even bought miles on AAdvantage to keep from losing them and they killed them. Now they’re sending me emails every other day saying how they respect my business and my few remaining miles, all while their holding company AMD has gone to “penny stock” categorization and will be dumped from NYSE next week.

Empty promises. My father-in-law raises cattle and he treats them better than most US employers treat their employees. There is no employer/employee loyalty, nor is there any loyalty to valued customers. Yes, even a one-time customer should be valued in a company’s eyes because that may lead to a repeat customer. That is my view.

There used to be a gold watch at the end of a storied career with a company. Now people are commodities. When one moves a family to a new job, and doesn’t know that it’s a two week “test” that if it doesn’t work it’s catastrophic to the family who pulled up stakes, but is also to the company that perpetrated the fraud because word gets around and their reputation will be tarnished.

Airline miles are just that, pie in the sky. The airlines don’t ever think you’ll accumulate enough miles or actually use them. So when people started doing so they made it impossible to get seats.

If you treat your people well, they’ll treat your clients/customers well. Just as certain things roll downhill, in the right situation the good will can go uphill and make a company thrive.

When the customers are left out in the cold without reason, one must assume that the employees have a much larger burden to bear, all because of mismanagement.

To American Airlines. I don’t expect much of the miles we accrued this Thanksgiving weekend when you filed Chapter 11. I did hope to take a trip on the miles you confiscated. Please stop sending condescending emails that our miles are safe. You never sent me emails to tell me they weren’t before they were deleted. Thanks, Dee

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Hey kid, get into politics

Posted on August 17, 2010 | Leave a comment

You can do whatever (and whoever) you want, flaunt the laws you pass, sell Senate seats and come out smiling in the end! All you have to do is start as dogcatcher or sewer commissioner and you’re on a roll.

I have worked over the years with a few leaders and good folks who take care of their constituents, even helped them get elected. But as I get older I grow more cynical about our representative democracy and the people who choose to run for these jobs we pay for. These used to be part-time jobs that teachers and others had in their communities. Now they’re all full-time.

It really doesn’t pay well, so there must be something inside the system, outside the system (illegal) or retirement benefits that lure candidates. As the health insurance package doesn’t apply to Congress I wouldn’t mind being voted in a term or two and serve my constituents well just so I have a pension and great health insurance my entire life.

So, if these people could be in business they’d be making money and couldn’t afford to run for office and lose that income. Lately, many rich people have financed their own campaigns so they could be their own person in office, yeah, right. Must one be a millionaire to run for office? Or a party hack who has paid the dues through HQ work, lit drops et al.

I’ve been in government, and unwillingly in politics and today I am not looking up at giants, but looking down at a field of players even I, as an eternal optimist, would not care to coach.

Can I do something about it? Run. Away, not for office. Or try to get other responsible people to run and vote. Always vote. Apathy is rampant in our country and smart people need to do more. Democrat or Republican, Green or Tea Party, we need to step up. We don’t have kids so it’s up to me in our family. My husband has to work for a living. Cheers, Dee

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