Posted on 08/30/2017 8:42:01 PM PDT by Rockitz
My daughter lives in Crosby, Texas, a little outside of the 1.5 mile evacuation zone from the chemical plant. Yesterday she took in a family, Mom, Dad, 2 young children and their dog and cat. They’d been turned away from the shelters because of the pets.
I would think the military would have a few high-power generators that could be brought on site.
My company wanted a join venture with a company in India. They sent me out to evaluate candidates. I was inspecting the communications links and backup power systems of one company (which ended up being our second choice).
Their CEO showed me the three diesel generators on the roof of their 3 or 4 story building. "We have one generator for backup power & lighting and TWO to backup the A/C. It is no good having lights and computers if it is too hot for anyone to work!"
They were not selected only because we found a company who had done a project almost identical to the special requirements of our project. The comments of prior customers were all of highest praise (verified). These included the US Social Security Administration, the Navy Bureau of Ships and several large public utility companies. They were COMPETENT but also demonstrated attention to detail, foresight and INTEGRITY.
Your daughter is a kind soul for taking that family in.
As a youngster, I worked in the payroll department at a major regional bank. When we changed our computer system, it changed the way that numbers were rounded, and so some VP got exactly $0.01 less than usual. He got in a huff about it, and demanded that we cut him an extra check for $0.01, every 2 weeks, forevermore. We did... but the time and expense and salary and even materials involved in getting him that penny each pay cycle probably cost the bank about $1.50... 150 times as much.
Being the young smartass that I was, when I delivered that first $0.01 check to his office, I left a quarter, out of my own pocket, on top of his desk as well. I could have done that once per year (on his birthday maybe), and he would be a penny AHEAD each year (plus the float time that could have the quarter earning another penny or more over the course of the year!!), AND I would be saving the bank about $36 per year.
As you note: it IS astonishing how those whose duty is to protect the assets of the company care more about their own first... thankfully not one single solitary of our Congresspersons in our history have ever been like that with the $4,000,000,000,000 they get their hands on each year!
I know. I posted that. ;o)
Ever read “In Search of Excellence”? A must read classic of the eighties that points out that when executives focus on profit, loss will result.
Profit is a metric of how well you are treating people. Specifically, 2 groups:
#1 focus must be not on CUSTOMERS - but EMPLOYEES. Why? Because it is employees who interface with and represent your company to your CUSTOMERS. Selecting the best employees must be a company’s top priority, then treating them well - and this is not mean a focus on salaries & benefits - but relationships.
#2: The goal of #1 is of course that CUSTOMERS are treated superbly. How you treat them will determine your profitability. But to treat them well, you must hire and retain only the best employees. Satisfied customers always bring new business.
Yes, you need good bean-counters and good financial management - but that goes back to #1.
former corporate CEO......
The word “unprecedented” was never used. Standing water hinders normal plant operations. No refinery or chemical plant is designed based on the idea that equipment will be standing in a few inches of water depth.
From the article:
Easy to say, after the fact. I think that if you had been the contractor installing the emergency generators, and told the company you wanted to mount a generator at least 6 feet off the ground, and what it would cost to do that, they would have laughed at you.
How many plants in Texas that need emergency generators had them mounted six feet above the ground ?
I don’t know, but I do know that every coal mine in W.Va. would have emergency power to run their pumps and fans for 2 weeks even if the apocalypse began this evening.
Are their emergency generators located inside the coal mines ?
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