Here's to the Crazy Ones

Here's to the crazy ones.

The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They're not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine.
They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,
are the ones who do.

I owe my open thinking to the innovations of Steve Jobs today.  I am sad like others of his passing but sad and concerned if we are able  as a society to keep raising the bar in innovation and upward thinking towards the way we live today.  I am not a young college student with my life ahead.  As a 48 year old, I still yearn to leave some sort of legacy.  May not be as world like legacy as Jobs did, but one my son and friends  would be proud of and I owe that to leaders like Steve Jobs. 

Apple 4s announcements and What Do We Do Now?

 So watching todays live blog coverage of the new apple iPhone announcement brought some excitement, confusion and disappointment all in one.  I felt Apple spent 90% of the presentation is a repeat of the last event describing IOS5.  It also took apple over 20 minutes to give updates on sales and numbers.  They did spend the last 30 minutes of the 90+ minute event describing "Siri" app describing a voice activated command app.  Many of these apps and software is out and all not 100% effective unless you practice your voice in it and use it often or it will lose the pattern and tone of your voice if not used actively like all other voice command software.  Not really hearing people ask or demand for voice activated assistance to help with everyday tasks.   I was a bit confused about why Apple is making a big deal about it.  But we all know that Apple can bring a unique solid design device and will be a stable operating device.  I still don't think Apple needs to rest on their competition.  Speaking of that, I noticed that CEO Tim Cook compared the IOS and the phone comparing to the "Android"  operation in which the past events have always mention to "the competition".    So bottom line, a Free iPhone 3g, a $99 Iphone4 and $199 iPhone 4s are still affordable prices that gives a whole lot of phone.  Again, as much as an Apple fan and user I am, they do not need to sit back because "competition"  is sneaking up on them to share more percentages of the market in all devices.  

Amazon.com Working Conditions News Articles

So in the last few weeks, news articles have been sprouting up about harsh working conditions in Amazon warehouse facilities (fulfillment centers).  This past summer, the whole country witnessed more than usual high temperatures.  Now let me give you a picture of a warehouse.  They are around a million square feet with ceilings heights of I'm guessing a 100 feet at least.  The whole building made of concrete and steel and machinery, storage racks and bins everywhere. packing stations, receiving and shipping docks, and 60 - 70 miles of conveyor belts everywhere all in a chaotic organized way.  Yes in the summer the temperatures does get sometimes above 110 degrees and yes the pay is $4 - $5 per hour more than fast food or Wal-Mart.   When getting hired. one would work for a local temp agency then after meeting certain guidelines then may be converted to become an Amazon.Com associate that are blessed with benefits I've not seen or heard of any other company for entry warehouse workers.  The main guideline to become an Amazon associate is attendance and being at work on time.  That is the top reason an temp worker does not get converted. 2nd reason is not able to meet required times on tasks.( which are I feel minimum standards to meet if one wants a job.) 


 I am coming up on my 2nd year as an associate.   Amazon.com in ALL their work places provided ice cold water bottles in ice chests @ 1 every 75-100 feet in the facilities.  20 minute breaks in air conditioned break rooms @ every 2 hours.  gatorade, fresh fruit and popsicles were provided starting June 1st.  Clear water bottles are allowed on the work floor with associates.  Work out stretching was enforced before the shift and after returning from lunch.  Heat weather tips and education were distributed daily  from the corporate safety department on how to treat your body during the heat.  Safety associates were on hand in all departments.  The work consists of many different tasks performed to get the packages to the customers.  The beginning is stowing or stocking the items in 10 - 20 million "bin locations" throughout the warehouse.  The other would be Picking the items through miles and miles of bins (sort of like walking down library isles of shelving and bins)  to send items to the packaging department.  This job  is compared to shopping at like Wal-Mart in a brisk - not quite a speed walking walk,  filling your cart with items that appear on your order scanner.  A "quota" time is required to pick and that equals out to 1 1/2 items per minute.  Next time you go shopping see how many items you pick up in a minute.  And yes, you may be putting in to sometimes 6-8 miles of walking per shift and during holiday season can go up to 10-12 miles per shift.   The other jobs include putting an item in a box, sealing it and placing on a conveyor belt.  


 I am 48 years old, 250+ lbs male and had no heat issues.  Uncomfortable at times?  yes but bearable.   We soon had a "portable "air condition system installed in July to cut down the humidity.  We have always had fans at least every 20-30 feet in each facility where possible.  I am a proud employee of Amazon.com and plan on being there forever.  I received bonuses in 2010 and receiving them this year because of production and keeping operational costs minimum where many companies did not issue bonuses.  


The reports and news articles I have been seeing on this issue were reporters interviewing temp workers that would rather stay home, collect their unemployment and play video games.  Toughen up America.