Loaded Dice.

Had a guy come in who was looking at dice. He picked up one of the Big dice and said, (as his wife muttered 'You're crazy...') "Did you know that if you tilt this dice just a certain way, that you can feel this little weight inside it?"

"Really," I said. "Whatever...."

"Whatever?"

"Well, it's not as if we're playing for money...."

They laughed, and as they left, I said, "Don't play with any loaded dice!"

Really, though. What would be the point of me either buying or selling loaded dice? Like the manufacturer would just slip those by me?

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"Tax Breaks Could Be Bend's Way to Attract Business" Bulletin, 2/14/10.

One comment really caught my eye:

"Before the recession, Bend didn't need assistance in bringing business and jobs to the area, said City Manager Eric King."

I have to wonder about that. We got jobs, yes, in the minimum wage industries of tourism and retirement. And we got a ton of jobs in.......construction.

But did we really get the kind of long term, steady, well-paying jobs we needed?

Seems to me that we took for granted all the easy jobs, and over-reached for the higher end jobs by sinking all our efforts and money into Juniper Ridge with hopes of a 'high-tech' district and a 'four year college.'

In the article, Juniper Ridge is more or less dismissed as so stagnant that isn't worth including in the 'enterprise' zones.

In other words, we didn't do the middle part -- good, solid jobs that aren't sexy but also aren't minimum wage.

In my own business, I know that I can -- to some extent -- count on a certain level of business on what I would call the easy stuff; and I always have a category or two that looks like something I want to pursue. But it's the solid middle, which I'm careful to continually support, that I fall back on when times are tough.

We didn't pursue 'enterprise zones' when things were booming, but I'd submit that that's exactly when a prudent planner should have been looking at enterprise zones.

I've said before, I'm surprised that we weren't doing the basics when we had the chance.

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I feel McGrath's pain. Too much expansion, too fast, and on the foundation of an economic bubble. In a much smaller way, (four stores), I've been there. Later on, I applied the 'Peter Principle' to it: A owner will expand to his level of incompetence.

I'm talking about myself, here, and not making a judgment about McGrath's. Just saying to all new business owners that the temptation and the impulse is to keep growing, whether it's in your own best interest or not.

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"Web of Words, Red Flags." Bulletin, 2/14/10.

Here's the kind of in depth story that I can't imagine a blog doing. And why we still need local papers....

With reporters who are paid to dig up, and who have access to, the information needed in this kind of expose.

I'm going to free up some time to read it in full.

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