Davy Jones Dead of a Heart Attack at 66

Singer Davy Jones of the 60s singing group The Monkees has died of a heart attack at age 66. Here he is in 1967. 



As recently as June of 2011, Jones told The Palm Beach Post that after a routine stress test, a doctor said he had the heart of a 25-year-old. "The doctor says my heart's so good, the door's open to do any kind of exercise I want," he told the paper.


When we hear things like this from a doctor we are happy and of course do not mind paying the bill. We also will do what the doctor has said. If the doctor says slow down we slow down. If the doctor says do things we do things. 


Why do Christians pay heed to doctors but not to Jesus? Jesus is "the author and finisher of our faith." His Word tells us that "by His stripes we are healed." He is always right. Clearly Davy Jones doctor was not right. Yet people will continue to go to a fallible doctor and still ignore God's Word. 


David Sneed

Where is the Cowboy Safety Outline?

Good question.

We have been working on Cowboy Safety for a very long time. Implementation has been done in pieces in all types of businesses. The present goal is to end up with a simple approach that can be easily understood. No one needs another complex idea. "Buy low. Sell high." has been around for thousands of years and has worked in all cultures. Someone added to that "Collect early. Pay late." Cowboy Safety adds a few more. Maybe we can shorten it enough that it can be tweeted.

What we began to realize sometime back is that traditional business planning and business education is designed to make the first goal of a business be to make money for banks and government. There are many who attack the "high profits" of oil companies. Far more per gallon goes just for taxes even when the oil companies are losing money. The real owners of the oil companies are government and government is taking no risk.

Cowboy Safety starts before the application of "Buy low. Sell high." It says that the goal of a business is for the long-term benefit of the owners. I say long term because it becomes a business that has sustainable returns. Why invest elsewhere?

We all love the platitudes about customer service and need filling. Of course we have to do those. They should be done well and done better than anyone else. If the business, whether organized as a for-profit or non-profit, does not make a profit it will not last long, no matter how good it is. Cowboy Safety deals with the hazards to making a profit. Keeping workers comp costs down is only a small piece of that.

By starting the whole safety program while the business model and actual business operation is just a thought, it is possible to develop a sustainable and safe model that does not deplete the creative energy of the founders.

There are a few more discussions that will take place and a few more pieces to be implemented. We are actively doing those things. We will be publishing the protocols. If you can't wait go see the movie "The Cowboys" with John Wayne, "High Plains Drifter" with Clint Eastwood and "Moneyball." Most of those protocols are there. They just need technology updates.

If any reader wants to join the others and get more involved let me know. There is new terminology. What we will do is work on how to see results. Not a get rich scheme. Instead there are some pointed questions and pressure for you to make certain changes. We can do the work, You can do the work. Or you can hire the work elsewhere. No rocket science.

Those who are most in need are baby-boomers with insufficient retirement funds, new grads who cannot find a job, and business owners tired of paying interest. Those who believe that the market will go over 13,000 and keep going are not interested.

My direct phone number is 307-433-0557. Email is dsneed@lcrossranch.com

David Sneed

$189,000 Per Hour Pay

I just read today that the new CEO of Apple Inc has a starting pay of $378 million per year. That is $189,000 per hour. He probably does not get any overtime pay. Imagine what it costs the company for him to go to the men's room or to take a coffee break! If he was walking down the street in the Fall and the leaves were hundred dollar bills Apple could not afford for him to stop and pick them up. He would have to keep walking.

There are two things at play here. Ability relative to anyone else is not it. Knowledge is not it.

1. Apple has enough revenue that this pay as a percentage of revenue does not make much difference. On a per share basis the stockholders do not even see it. If what you are selling is a fixed cost item to your customer it can often be sold at a higher price. If you are selling packaging material you will be beat down unmercifully on price. If you are selling business cards or advertising material, made with the same type of equipment as the packaging material, you can get a much higher price. Remember this when you are the buyer.

2. This man's real ability is that he can make a deal like this. That ability may or may not translate into growth. He of course did not build Apple. He happened to come along at the right time. When we leave a job where we have built the business we see someone "enter into our labor" and maybe start at a higher salary than we were getting. This is why we should be the owner of the business and not an employee.

David Sneed

New Challenger Amateur Video has Surfaced

Here is a new video that has surfaced of the Challenger disaster. Basically what had happened was that the weather was too cold and there was a problem with a large o-ring. There had been warnings that the flight should have been postponed.

It is interesting that the people watching are not aware that something has gone wrong.

At the time this happened I was attending the White House Conference on Small Business. President Reagan sent a message to all the state meetings to please continue the work that day.

David Sneed

Who is a Candidate for a Cowboy Safety Program?

There are several things we know about a candidate for a Cowboy Safety program. It will be a business that either is or desires to be one or more of the following:

1. Owner operated.

2. Financially Independent. These businesses want to generate cash from internal resources to limit their dependence on loans and other credit. They want to be debt free as quickly as possible.

3. Family-based. At one time all business had family at the core. In many countries this is still true. It has almost become a truism that children now go on their own, get a job, and sell their time wholesale rather than keeping the production in the family. A creative family business can offer much better opportunity than going elsewhere for employment.

4. Diversified in concept even if not in products and services. They can view their business from the stand point of the problems they solve rather than the products and services they sell. They can adapt to new things as conditions change.

5. User of technology.

6. Faith-based. This is not for everyone but Cowboy Safety programs can include a spiritual dimension. LeTourneau Technologies, the manufacturer of large earth moving equipment, was completely faith-based as long as R G Letourneau was involved. There are many other examples.

David Sneed

Future Peception

There is a quote I like from Marilee Zdenek who has written on right brain thinking.

She said "The minute you alter your perception of yourself and your future, both you and your future begin to change.

This is especially meaningful to Christians. We are told in the Bible in Romans 12:2 to "be ye transformed by the renewing of our minds."

Whether one selects a Cowboy Safety type business this is a relevant concept. It is a certainty that without a vision we will be in bondage.

Our future as Christians should start with seeking Jesus and to seek to have the faith of God.

David Sneed

Shipping Overcharges

I received a book, a fairly costly one, that I had ordered from a certain publisher. When I got the bill, I was appalled at the shipping and insurance charge. It was $16.68. My shipping department determined that the real shipping cost and insurance was $6.34. The shipper may view that they should amortize handling costs. If so maybe they should prorate the CEO salary and other fixed costs and add that on. A Cowboy Safety program deals with the whole issue of pricing in some refreshingly unique ways based solely on variable costs.

That publisher, like so many other firms, makes a profit on the shipping. The pill ads on the radio offer free 30 day supplies and then charge high shipping and handling. The so-called retail price may well be phony. They profit more than amply just from shipping and handling.

A Cowboy Safety firm, with a desire to be honest and sustainable, does not do that. When something is offered free it is free. When an item is priced it is a fair price though it will be value-based rather than cost-based.

Here's what is going on. The firms with the gimmicks are setting profit goals first before anything else. In the long run that is not sustainable. Even in the short run it can cause them to have to start shortcutting every thing they do. They become high risk and every possible problem can and often does occur. Non-profits are often the biggest violators of putting profit before sustainability.

The first element of a plan of any for-profit or non-profit should relate to it's real goal. I don't want to say mission because mission statements have reached the point of absurdity. No one believes them or practices them. Often they are written by a clerk in the Human Resources Department. The real goal should be what they are really aiming to accomplish. Putting that in writing can help bring out truth. If the goals are totally selfish then it will be clear. The owners, organizers,or whomever is in charge will not be able to fool themselves. The real goal does not have to be altruistic or customer-focused. For true sustainability it should be. In an imperfect world there can be other goals.

Once a goal is established policies of behavior are easy to establish. An example immediately comes to mind. There are many places where warning tickets are never given by the police. Their main goal is revenue. Yes the people stopped are violators. They will say that the police are enforcing the law. In practice revenue is the real goal. Texas is different. When a State trooper in Texas stops someone they will usually get a warning ticket. And it is not like other warning tickets. It will not show up on a driving record. Years ago one of my sons was stopped on I-10 near Fort Stockton. The State trooper told him that not only would it not go on his record but that if he was stopped 30 minutes later the next officer would not know that he had already been stopped. The goal in Texas is to encourage safe driving and safe driving attitudes. Texas takes the approach that a stop by the police should be a good way to encourage people to evaluate how they are driving. No it does not always work. Neither do big fines. Think through this concept of how the statement of the real and truthful goals guides policies. And think through how shipping overcharges can come to be.

I won't lengthen this with all the other steps. Basically it is all mainstream planning. Right up to day to day planning the real goal and the policies will have a significant impact that can result in sustainability, profit for the firm, and value for the customers.

David Sneed

Old Vinyl Tarps

Freitag from Switzerland has developed some good sustainable ideas. They take old vinyl truck tarps and make handbags and computer bags. This year their estimated sales are $32 million (in US currency.)

Freitag is a good example of safety through quality.

It is interesting from an historical standpoint that from the outset they were focused on getting the job done not on the methods used. They washed the tarps in their bathtubs at home. Anything capital intensive was approached from actual labor savings and not from some kind of best practices that required large initial funding. Management grew not from a business plan hierarchy but from actual need when it was needed. Too often businesses build a management team before building product.

1. No advertising. Word of mouth.
2. No lifestyle change as business grows. Modest salaries for owners.
3. Minimal loans. They started with $2,500 from savings for an industrial sewing machine.
4. Niche market. Urban professionals in the creative industry.
5. Experience marketed: "People seem to appreciate the patina of wear and feel good about buying something recycled."
6. Old rented facility
7. The market allows labor-intensive products with high cost Swiss labor.
8. They do not own most of their retail distribution though they do have nine stores.
9. Biggest barrier: access to raw material. They have three people always looking that includes hanging around truck stops.
10. The two owners are also the Board.
11. One owner focused on business;the other on concept.

David Sneed

Forgiveness - An Expanded Definition

I was on the road most of this week and did hear something of special interest. Mostly because it is something quite obvious.

Have you ever heard people who will say that God has forgiven them but they cannot forgive themselves? That obviously means that they have a higher standard than God. If God has forgiven then we also should forgive. Either ourselves or others.

What is forgiven? We tend to think the answer is sin. What about sorrows? What about successes from the past? If we dwell on forgiven sin, sorrows, and successes we cannot have joy today. And we may go to an early grave.

I'm still meditating on all of this.

David Sneed

Cowboy Safety Choices

This photo was taken during the snowstorm in Lincoln, Nebraska on February 4, 2012. Up to 20 inches of snow fell. There were many vehicle crashes. Smart drivers stayed off the road.

Is a bicycle a valid transportation alternative in a snow storm? I really wish the photographer. Jacob Hannah of the Journal Star had gotten the rest of the story about this bicyclist.

I suppose that ideally we should watch weather reports. If a snow storm is coming we should plan how we could avoid being out in the storm at all.

David Sneed

Cowboy Safety Pensions

A practitioner of Cowboy Safety is skeptical of the future of social security, 401Ks, 403Bs, and any other pension plan. Long term odds for any of them are not good. For years the equities markets have been bid up, not just by inflation, increased earnings, and increased cash flow but by pension money. Pension money coming into the market has forced the sale and resale of existing stock shares at ever increasing ratios to earnings. I can remember when the average stock sold at 5 times earnings and high flyers at 20 times. Amazon is now at 115 even with the possibility that it has peaked and is burning through cash reserves. For the next 17 years or so 10,000 baby boomers a day will be retiring. Instead of paying into taxes and capital the boomers will begin taking out government benefits and capital. The hypothetical retirement plan is to have enough of a capital fund to withdraw 4% a year and still have capital growth with investment earnings. For most baby boomers, 4% will not go far. Neither will 25%. Problems are on the horizon as there are only so many jobs bagging groceries and only so many Wal-Mart greeters.

According to an article today in the Moneyland section of Time.com, last year 1,425 fully funded pension plans were terminated. AMR Corp, the parent company of American Airlines, said this week it will shut down its underfunded pension plan.

The Federal government backup, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp (PBGC), last year took over 134 underfunded plans covering 57,000 workers. PBGC has liabilities of $107 billion and assets of $81 billion. PBGC can cover the short run yet is as underfunded as the plans it has taken over.

Municipalities such as Prichard Alabama and Central Falls Rhode Island simply quit paying pensions.

The School Board in Baltimore found out suddenly last year that pensions are now current budget as all of the reserves are gone. The question becomes do they pay current teachers or retired teachers?

Within the idea of Cowboy Safety there are retirement solutions with new viewpoints, using old and proven practices. There are ways to have sustainable businesses. There are ways to make secure pension plans inside those businesses using some completely legal tax and other loopholes. There are ways to create deferred income by creation of new forms of money. While it is good to plan in advance the problem is the uncertainty of what can happen to money over time. A Cowboy Safety pension plan can start at age 65 after someone finds that the pension they expected will be zero or will be reduced by PBGC rules. Ideally future workers, with new understanding, will not put anything into a plan they cannot control.

David Sneed

Keys, Tattoos and Social Security

Today I exchanged an empty propane tank for a full one at the grocery store. I noticed two major things.

First, the request caused a problem at the register and outside. The exchange business model has been around for a while. Why are there still service wrinkles?

Second, and here is the whole story with some really scary observations. The man's name was Dakota and he had an abundance of tattoos at least on the visible parts of his arms, hands, and neck. Yes I had an immediate appearance reaction. Just wait. There is more. Now I'm not judging his parents or his right to express himself with art. I am possibly saying that, because of what happened next, this man may well be a victim of misplaced priorities and possible bad decisions involving his parents, himself, the education system, and his company management. So hang on. Maybe I am not biased. I first saw the name tag and the tattoos. Then I saw that Dakota was friendly and service-minded. He had a good attitude. For what happened next he needed a good attitude. He had a large collection of keys. The keys he brought out mostly had tags with words on them. None of them said propane. One said coin machine. Many of the keys had no tags. Many of them, labelled or not, clearly would not be the right key because of their size and shape. After trying all of the keys he went back inside and found some more keys. In that group an unmarked key worked. I think he expected the lock to work like a padlock. After some struggle he discovered that he had to remove the lock insert with the key attached.

Being a cynic, I kept thinking that I am expecting to collect social security from the tax payments of this young man and so many others like him. And then a worse thought came to mind. This man has a job and is empowered by this large grocery chain to solve a problem and to be the direct customer contact. What about the non-smoking, non-tattooed, college graduates with names like John and Susan yet with no jobs and no ability or desire to figure out how to take care of themselves? Dakota should get a bonus and a free tattoo for being at work and for getting around the MBAs, with good jobs, sitting in an office somewhere, who could not design a workable service model so that he could come out with one labelled key and know how the lock works.

What is the point here for Cowboy Safety? Design your life, your business and your future  around simplification and an expectation that service problems and employee problems can consume your capital and limit your earnings.

David Sneed