Biiig Diiiig Regular Shin-dig

In my opinion of course. I have a relative who is a geologist who is quite particular about his job. Several years ago he used to inspect materials and areas where major construction was to occur. If he identified substandard concrete or other materials he reported them to his company. Unfortunately those warnings were usually ignored and actually got him labeled as a "trouble-maker."

He reported it because it was IMPORTANT.

I'm sure this wasn't exactly the same situation, but this kind of slop goes on all the time. Some of the things he told me really made me mad...that the stuff they were using wouldn't stand up to pressure, etc. But HE was a "trouble-maker."

Why doesn't it matter until someone dies, or even more feared by them, sues.

Which brings me to another sore spot...

...The slow death of small business thanks to white-collar thieves. When I am late on a payment for something, I get a call from some slob in upper New York with personal anger management issues. And I find a way to get caught up. When a small business provides a service and the client doesn't pay on time, they get a call from the company. And then they ignore it. And then they NEVER PAY.

This is otherwise known as stealing.

And it happens all the time at my husband's company. They purchase services. They receive the services. They don't pay--for months and sometimes not at all.

Why? Because they know a small business won't have the money to sue.

Personally, I think these fuckers need to go to jail. It's one of the reasons why we struggled so hard financially while hubby was in training. In a 100 percent commission job, you have to get paid to eat. And they weren't paying. Fortunately, there are some other clients in the mix right now that get the cash flow going.

And that's what I'm worried about as I look "forward" to going part-time next month. A couple more good paychecks and my income drops by about 60 percent and my benefit cost triples (part-timers get screwed on benefits at our company). So, small-business-thieves can make our lives miserable.

Pay small businesses on-time, please! (Or I'll strangle you with yarn from my obscenely large stash that just-sits-there-because-I-don't-have-time-to-knit-anymore.)

But that's another post.