Category Archives: Business

News from Work

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These are exciting days at old Southwestern Airways. I’m pretty much limited to discussing publicly available or personal information (no company secrets), but here’s an overview of what’s going on in my work world:

  • Our purchase of AirTran is moving along nicely. Yesterday the AirTran (AAI) shareholders voted to allow the sale with 98.6 percent approval. Since we’re paying a significant premium for AirTran, the shareholders were widely expected to approve the sale, but it’s still a crucial milestone. Now we just need approval from the regulators, which is also expected. Then we can close sometime in the second quarter. The two companies will continue to operate separately for at least a year or two while we integrate our computer systems, operational plans, employee groups, and numerous other details. Combining two airlines takes a huge amount of work.
  • I’ve worked the day shift from Monday through Thursday this week. The first three days provided my annual recurrent training. Today I worked a West Coast desk. It’s almost like living a “normal” life. I wake up around 5am and leave for work before 6:30am. Jenny stays home with the boys. Then I come home in the afternoon. Weird.
  • I might be switching to the day shift for quite a while if I get chosen for a special project. If I do, I’ll post details later this month.
  • Our union has been negotiating a new contract since December 2009. Last week the company decided to request a mediator to help move the negotiations along. In theory, the mediator should help speed things up, but only time will tell. I’m not involved in the negotiations and know very little about what’s actually going on. I have plenty of thoughts on the topic, but for obvious reasons, we’ll have to discuss them in private.
  • My department is hiring again, which is always good news. Four new guys start in early April, and we just posted the position externally for a few more that will start this summer. Right now I’m #103 of 149 on the Dispatcher seniority list. It’s hard to believe we’ve grown that much, and I’ve moved up that much, in just six years.

Netflix

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I shouldn’t have been surprised when I saw the “STORE CLOSING” signs at our neighborhood Blockbuster, but I was.

Back when Jenny and I first got married in 2003 and lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Euless, we paid many visits to that Blockbuster store for DVDs and PS2 games. Pizza and a $5 movie or game rental made a perfect date night. Blu-Ray hadn’t been released yet. I don’t think the whole streaming-video thing was popular yet. (for context, I also didn’t text, Cingular – remember them? – was our cell phone provider, and I still hard-coded my blog in HTML) We spent a lot of time in that Blockbuster trying to decide what to rent.

Even though we never went there anymore, it’s still weird to think the store will soon be gone. But times change, and Blockbuster didn’t keep up.

As a society, our movie watching preferences have changed significantly. After completely taking over the video-rental market not too many years ago, Blockbuster is currently in bankruptcy protection and looking for a buyer. The Blockbuster model of large neighborhood video and game rental stores is dying out, made obsolete by two new models. One is RedBox, the movie vending machines you can find at Wal-Mart, gas stations, and other locations. For $1/day, you can pick up a movie while doing another errand and then keep it as long as you please. I’ve never tried RedBox, but Jenny’s parents really like it.

The other model is Netflix, a hybrid of mail-order and streaming media. It began by shipping out movies and TV shows on DVD. As bandwidth became cheaper and high-speed internet connections because common, it added the ability to stream video to a computer or advanced gaming system such as a Wii or Playstation 3. Blockbuster tried to catch up to Netflix with its own mail-order service called Blockbuster Online, but Netflix just did it better. Its operating costs are lower, largely due to its lack of stores, its website is better, and the service is more reliable.

We used Blockbuster Online for a while and switched to Netflix perhaps two years ago. Now that we have kids, we mainly stream cartoons through the Wii to keep Brenden still during his breathing treatments. It works extremely well. Sometimes we stream movies for ourselves as well as workout videos or TV shows. We also get 1 DVD at a time through the mail, which I generally watch at night while the family is asleep. One thing Netflix doesn’t offer is game rentals, but the rest of the service is so great, I’ll give them a pass. For us, it’s about $10/month, the cost of two old-school Blockbuster rentals with much less hassle. If you’re on the fence, I strongly recommend giving it a try.

Any of you use Netflix?

Yogurt Story

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As a treat for ourselves the boys, we took them to a frozen yogurt store called Yogurt Story. I can’t explain the name. Just go with it. Its business is delightfully simple: about a dozen flavors of self-serve frozen yogurt and sorbet, a huge variety of toppings, and a scale. The customer picks some flavors and toppings, sets the cup on the scale, and pays 35 cents per ounce. (The lone sign behind the counter says “.35c”, but I decided not to press the issue by offering a dime as payment)

It’s good yogurt. My favorite flavors were NY Cheesecake, Snickerdoodle, and Strawberry. I think I tried eight or nine different flavors before we left. Not nearly the sugar addict that his parents are, Brenden took a few bites and then preferred to wander around the store. Because I am a good daddy, I volunteered to finish his.

A steady stream of customers came through, mostly couples and families. Jonathan flirted with some 18-month-old twin girls. One family came through straight from the son’s first baseball game of the season, the son still in uniform. Someday we hope to do the same.

Underpaid?

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I’m young, and I’m underpaid / I’m tired but I’m working, yeah – Alanis Morissette

Last year I blogged about the monetary value of one’s work and a few different ways to measure it. Now I want to know more about people who think their jobs don’t pay appropriately.

I was intrigued by the results to my current poll about whether people feel they are paid appropriately for their work. It’s no surprise that “underpaid” was the most popular answer, but I wasn’t expecting such a landslide victory. So far one person claimed to be overpaid, and not one person claimed to be paid appropriately.

“The Rules” of social etiquette and keeping one’s job might prevent me from learning why you all feel as you do, but I hope some will feel brave enough to explain. I suppose it’s obvious why someone who feels overpaid would keep that job, but I wonder why so many of you feel underpaid and yet stay where you are. Keep in mind that you can enter anything you want as your name and email address. Really the only person who must use discretion on my site is me since my real name is at the top of the page.

Do “underpaid” people think they are paid less than they are worth, or simply less than they want to earn? Are they paid less than another person in a similar position with similar qualifications, either within the same company or elsewhere? Are they paid less than the prevailing rate for their job in the area?

Why do “underpaid” workers stay put? Are there no other acceptable jobs? Is their current position universally underpaid, making it pointless to look elsewhere? Is the job search process not worth the trouble? Are they paying their dues and hoping to move up within the company someday?

And for you “overpaid” people, what makes you think you are overpaid?

Leaving College for the Pros

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Imagine you’re a junior in college with a year left until graduation. You’ve met lots of friends, studied hard, and excelled in your major. School has been great, and the end is in sight. You also happen to be a college athlete. But not just any athlete – the kind that NFL analysts and scouts praise as one of the best prospects ever, the kind that get offered ten-figure contracts. What are you going to do next year?

This was the question for Stanford quarterback and 2010 Heisman Trophy runner-up Andrew Luck after winning the final game of his junior year: spend his senior year at Stanford and graduate, or drop out and enter the NFL. The NFL team that will have the number one pick in the 2011 draft, Carolina, had already said they would pick him. His contract would have give him more than enough money to sustain him and his family for a lifetime, as high as $80 million by some estimates.

But Luck said no. He chose to return to Stanford this fall and finish his degree in architectural design, presumably entering the NFL draft next spring.

As some critics have pointed out, Luck is taking a big chance by postponing the NFL to finish his degree:

  1. Luck risks getting injured during his final year at Stanford, potentially reducing his draft position or even ending his career. (sure, things have worked out OK for former Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford after his season-ending shoulder injury in 2009, but still…)
  2. Luck risks having a less successful season next year, which could also reduce his draft position and potential income.
  3. Luck risks losing millions of dollars due to the proposed rookie salary cap that could be in effect by the 2012-2013 season.

Obviously, all three of those arguments ride on money. Luck apparently values other things more highly. Surely he understands that one day his football career will end and the rest of his life will begin. Perhaps he really enjoys his major or the college atmosphere. Perhaps he wants to work in architecture someday and understands how difficult it could be to return to Stanford later to finish his degree if he takes a break now. Sure, the extra millions Luck would make by going pro this year would eliminate the need to work ever again, but he decided it was worth it to stay in school. Or perhaps he simply wants the satisfaction of completing his degree and thinks a Stanford diploma would look good on his wall.

Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, who left the University of Florida for the NFL in 1990 after his junior year, returned to Florida during the offseasons to finish. It took him six years. One of the main reasons he even went back was a promise he made to his mother that he wouldn’t buy a house until he finished his degree.

Do you agree with Luck’s choice? Is finishing college that important, even for someone who could make tens of millions guaranteed in the NFL? Or is Luck making a bad decision? What would you do in his situation?

Although I definitely respect Luck’s decision and dedication, I would probably take the money and run to the pros, promising my parents that I would go back and finish like Emmitt did. Sorry, Mom!

Convenience Care Clinics are Convenient

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After enduring a couple of weeks of being sick with a mild sinus infection that refused to go away on its own, I finally waved the white flag on Wednesday and sought professional help. Losing most of my voice finally pushed me over the edge. I knew it was a sinus infection and knew the solution was antibiotics. Instead of calling my primary care physician (PCP), who I assumed was booked solid with sick patients just like me, I tried something new: the MinuteClinic at CVS.

So-called convenience care clinics (CCCs) like MinuteClinic are a new trend in medicine. They offer a limited menu of services in exchange for the convenience of coming in without an appointment and, in many cases, lower costs. Staffed mostly by nurse practitioners or physician’s assistants, they are available in retail stores such as CVS or Wal-Mart and keep much longer hours than those of a typical PCP office. They can’t treat your brain tumor or deliver your baby, but they can be a great option for simple illnesses like sinus infections or UTIs, vaccinations, or routine physicals. Our insurance company is creating a special reduced copay of $15 for CCC visits starting in 2011.

Jenny and I both went separately to MinuteClinic on Wednesday. One person was ahead of me. After entering some basic new-patient information (into a real computer instead of an archaic paper form), I waited for maybe five minutes before seeing the PA. She entered all my symptoms into a computer, checked my vitals, and gave me a prescription plus some printed info about my condition. From arrival to completion took maybe 20 minutes. She sent my prescription to the in-store pharmacy, and I walked out with my amoxicillin.

The whole experience was very fast, relatively cheap, and extremely convenient. For minor illnesses in the future, I plan to return to MinuteClinic. My only complaint was a lack of warmth and friendliness by the PA. She was very businesslike and spent most of her time looking at her computer. But maybe she was just shy, or her native culture (she sounded African, but I’m not sure about the specific country) doesn’t include friendliness toward patients. But to me, that’s a pretty minor thing. I walked in with an illness and no appointment, and maybe half an hour later, I walked out with the medicine I needed. That’s hard to beat.

Have any of you tried a convenience care clinic? If so, how was your experience?