A Positive Rhino Review

Over the past 23 ½ years the focus of my employment has been in that of both Employee and Client relations in multiple capacities. Starting in the Fall of 1989 I joined Rhino Arizona, following 6 ½ years of experience and education, employing people in the construction industry, as well as training other satellite offices in standard HR policies and procedures and the fair treatment of field employees.

My passion is people and over the course of my time in that industry I had seen workers taken advantage of in regard to pay / hours, job site accidents (including those resulting in death) from a consistent failure to adhere to standard PPE education / enforcement, and little to no instruction in regard to job skills or safety training.

As a person of conviction, with respect for life, to put it lightly, I had become increasingly dismayed with the practices and pay involved. I had barely begun looking elsewhere for work, hoping to work in some other capacity and in some other industry when I received a call from a friend of mine that worked for Rhino, with the invitation to work for Rhino in the same capacity. 

Given my experiences I was more than a little apprehensive, but took the job. 16 years later, I find myself happily working in that same capacity for Rhino Staging, as a company that is the very  antithesis of every source of my previous discontent.

As it turns out, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made as I have found Rhino to be the exception rather than the rule when it comes to raising the bar in regard to their respect and concern for employee treatment. This is clearly exemplified in the following:

• ·         Rhino’s mentoring practice for newer & less experienced employees helps to ensure guidance and consistency in best workplace practices.
• ·         Rhino’s Online & In Person Educational Courses are made available for anyone expressing the desire to develop and improve in their industry & skill development.
• ·         Safety Training is not isolated to safety specific courses but incorporated and emphasized within all of the Rhino courses.
• ·         The provision of PPE for use on the job, available to use for free and for purchase as well at a minimal cost and without the need for payment up front on most items.
• ·         The use of a point accumulation system as a guideline for employee assessment & reviews helps ensure that all employees are treated as fairly and equally as possible without personal bias. That said however, it is not so stringent and rigid in application that allowance for unusual or extenuating / emergency circumstances cannot be accommodated. Which bring me to the point of our…
• ·         Flexibility in Job Assignment & Acceptance  Rhino Arizona works with many employees to accommodate personal schedules by providing allowances, within reason, to accept or decline work without the concern that it may affect future opportunities if handled professionally. In fact we work closely with the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences to assist their student in meeting their required internship hours while being paid!

I could easily go on about the many ways that Rhino is continually striving to ensure their employees not only a living, but a longevity in our industry.

Allow me to close by saying this: Having worked with many people in a wide variety of circumstances in both a personal and professional capacity over the years, I know and understand that wherever there are people, even the happiest of people, there are bound to be discontent people as well. Such is the nature of people in general. The approach and resolve of these issues is the defining difference that elevates Rhino above many other companies within our industry.

I mention this only to say that I would never suggest that (here or anywhere) there is to be found an honest group of people that doesn’t have at least some discontent among them, which is necessarily a bad thing depending on the approach and source of it. The difference here at Rhino however is the collective and individual willingness to listen to the issues to find and understand the source of individual and collective discontent, in order to address and act on them to improve as a company for the benefit of all.

 David A Baker

Seventeen Ounces

I've seen and been through some stuff in my day, therapy played a part in helping me to at least get out from under what I couldn't get over.

To me, the most helpful aspect of therapy over the years wasn't the so much the good advice as much as the normalization of my own perspectives, and knowing that I wasn't alone in my personal brand of insanity.

I suppose for most people those would simply be called friends, and not paid professionals, but I don't understand most people and they don't seem to understand me.

It's confusing and frustrating most often, for both of us.

My oarents were no exception and it's been no great boost to my self esteem or sense of personal security to experience the comfort level of honesty people seem to feel when they tell me about myself from the outside view.

In many ways, on many levels even my best qualities aren't what I would consider to be good, although they have that potential. I am the sort of person that's much easier to endure in small doses here, than in every part of the process that gets me here...I know this much about myself, and I've come to accept it.

Honestly over the course of my life, I haven't known many (if any) people that are like me... I would say I haven't known any but given my inherent survival technique / ability of living in the here and now alone, and forgetting so much that is  behind me, I suppose I can't say for sure that I haven't.

I'm never quite sure what to make of those rare people who occassionaly seem to understand or relate to me on some level or another. Do I embrace them or run from them for being like me?

In that uncertainty I've found it best to reserve the judgement I would wish to be withheld to just let people be what they are and then let them see me for what I am.

History always repeats however, so I know that inevitably, eventually, one of us will leave if only in the interest of self preservation.
It simply is what it is.

But, if there's one us there must be many more, somewhere. Therapy and observation have shown me that much.

Perhaps one day we will find each other and learn what normal must feel like to everyone else.

Until then, you'll have a blog to read right here.

Solo Cristo Salva
db

It's True

I can't stand sitting down!

I Mean if You REALLY Think About It

All American flags are white flags.

A Facebook Response

I didn't write this, I only offer it for thought and thoughtful response

I say this with sincere love to my many friends who are passionate fundamentalist Christians who believe that the SCOTUS’s decision yesterday on marriage equality is an abomination to themselves and to God: As a lawyer, I need to attempt to set the record straight. 

Our country was created by our founding fathers very deliberately to prevent the establishment of a national religion from our governance. The Church - Catholic or Anglican - was central to almost every other country in the world historically, especially England from which our founding fathers separated. It was critical to our founding fathers that one central religion NOT be declared and NOT be incorporated into our Constitution or governance. They understood that an establishment of a national religion would ultimately abridge the very rights they believed were fundamental and were meant to be recognized and protected by the Bill of Rights and ultimately the Constitution. 

Religion-based loss of basic rights had been their experience in England and they wanted to prevent that here.

The fact is that this decision yesterday was a LEGAL decision about the scope of our Constitutional rights as humans and US citizens. It was not about religion, religious beliefs or religious freedom. It is about equal rights, just as the decisions to give women the vote and the decision to abolish slavery were about equal rights. 

Rights are not and should not be up for a popular vote or up to the states to determine. Rights are absolute and cannot be dependent upon anything other than the fact that the person is a human being and is a citizen of the US. If those two conditions are met, YOUR belief system about what is MORALLY or spiritually right or wrong does not matter and should not. You should be glad that is the case, because it would be just as easy for another religion to take over and curtail your rights as a Christian (something that has happened throughout history).

In fact, one religious party believing they know the truth for all humans is how terrible oppression starts - that is how Naziism started, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, the Klu Klux Klan, Al-Qaeda and now ISIS - the most destructive, hateful, murderous periods of human history have arisen directly out of one religious group (ironically, most of these examples were lead by Christians) believing their religion and religious beliefs were THE truth, and therefore they had the right to take away the rights (and lives) of those who lived or believed differently than them. 

Our founding fathers wanted to prevent that outcome. So does our current Supreme Court. THAT is the law of the land and I could not be more grateful to be an American than when human rights are protected. I don’t have to agree with you to believe with all my heart and soul that YOUR rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness should be protected against oppression or prejudice. LGBT US citizens deserve exactly the same treatment. God Bless America.

p.s. Those railing against the decision of marriage equality as a basic constitutional right are confusing the idea of constitutional (i.e human) rights with certain types of behavior (the stuff they call "sin"). But human rights are inherent in all human beings and US citizens - not doled out based on who is behaving "well" and who isn't. All US citizens should have the equal right to pursue life, liberty and happiness, regardless of the "sins" they commit. The only behavior that should curtail your constitutional rights is if you commit a crime (a felony) and are convicted. But even then, criminals can still marry, have kids, own property, work and live in our communities. The only things they can't do is vote and carry firearms. If committing a sin was a barrier to receiving basic constitutional rights in this country, we would all be in big trouble, not just the LGBT community

King George Explained

So I posted this:

Life is like an all you can eat buffet with sporadic business hours.

Then I was asked to explain it.
So here you go...

I was just thinking how some people spend time filling their plate, arranging their food, figuring how much food they can carry, and when closing time comes, there they are, all that food & still hungry.

And now you know.

It's Always About Money

The Confederate flag became a symbol of hate when it was used by General Lee in the civil war.

A war, from the perspective of the South, about the economic impact the South would be forced to endure by losing the free labor of slaves or more simply put money, and the perspective of the North human rights. (Not to suggest that the North was much further along in their views.)

It was never accepted or used as a flag of the collective South until well after the failure of their secession. (Note that even General Lee declined this or any flag be flown at his on funeral) Later, during the Civil Right movement, angry white trash supremists started thinking they needed to shift the blame of their inferior social and financial well being from their mental inferiority to a racial issue and boo hoo about victim status. 

How? Strom Thurman used it during his campaign for presidency as a unifying symbol for people who stood for racial segragation.

There's no way around it though, unlike the Nazi's adoption of the swastika which had been used throughout history in various cultures and languages to mean a myriad of other things, the "Confederate" flag was always meant to represent slavery and racial division/hate.

All that said, the support of its display as being based in any sort of historical context only further exemplifies the ignorance that perpetuates hate.

Good Company

Walk closely and in good company, you will be less likely to get lost for long and more likely to get through it if you do. db

Inspiration From Unlikely Sources

Sometimes when I feel discouraged or defeated, I reflect back on the kind words of a stranger that I met during the mayhem of Superbowl scheduling.

I had not met him previous, nor have I spoken to him since, but I will remember his passing words to me during ome phone call for a very long time I imagine, and they were this:

You and me Dave. We're going to beat this mother f*****.

The passing words of a stranger to a stranger can mean more in the future than either would imagine at the time.

Be good to yourselves,  but of far greater importance, be good to each other.

Solo Cristo Salva
db

King George

Life is like an all you can eat buffet with sporadic business hours.

Failure in the Victory Garden

Giving up...

...in many respects, it is the catalyst in releasing the weight of unnecessary burdens and it can be a very large step toward freedom from so many unrealistic expectations, both of you and by you.

You can learn a good deal about those around you in that process and if you do it right, you'll learn a whole shitload, about yourself. The good, the bad and the ugly and it can get very uncomfortably ugly.

Face it.
Accept it.
Embrace it.
Grow from it.

But I think people get confused in their understanding about it.
Giving up is NOT quitting.

It's also not (though it can be a part of) surrendering, which in my opinion and in a very spiritual sense, makes all the difference in what that giving up process ultimately winds up looking like because it detwrmines how it's approached.

It's a huge perspective changer.

When you stop to think about it (and you should) perspective is the only real difference between success and failure...
We don't know the whole picture.

It's quite litterally the whole premise of my blog...

Failure in the Victory Garden

Irony

Food comes wrapped in garbage.

Love is All You Need

Close your eyes.
Relax.
Forget the world you know.

Now... Imagine a secret, paitient and powerful enemy.

An enemy so capable of terror that the mere knowledge of its existence to most people would be enough to eradicate all hope and ensure certain surrender from despair.

Imagine that it attacks daily because it is not overcome in a single blow.
Death and destruction are all that will satisfy it and with each infliction of damage, an infection that slowly drains the life of its victim is sure to follow.

It is relentless.
It is tireless.
It is merciless.
It is covert.

It can look like nothing.
It can look like anything and everything.

Everywhere and nowhere.
It is unseen and unknown by most.

As with all great enemies, it works dilligently to be seen as anything but.
Even those that do see, dismiss it as nothing, perhaps even friendly.

At times your roles will be viewed as reversed by those who do not know.
You as the mighty enemy, and it the powerless victim.

But you know otherwise.
You know the danger of affording it a single ounce of sympathy, or showing a single crack in the armor.

There can be no whim of weakness, no measure of mercy, no hint of hospitality.

Now, imagine that you alone have been entrusted to defeat it.

Secretly
Silently
Without alarm or even the slightest hint of the battle to anyone around you.

No one knowing you had done and continued to do so.
All day
Every day

You are the protector.
You are the provider.
There can be no victory celebrations or even comfort from seemingly certain defeat.

There is you and there is it.
That is all.

You must fight with all your might.
There is no rest from the battle against an enemy that does not rest.

And at the end of it all, you must be able to say without reservation, that you fought with all your might for the preservation of ones you love.

You have now imagined what it is like to be a man, a father.

It is a greater task than those who, are not either, can possibly fathom.

Don't Care Bears

A Good Day

They say that any day above ground is a good day, and sometimes I say that too.

If wishes were fishes...

Empower a person with a renewable marine food resource and that person will be nourished for a day, but educate a potential fisher to the full capability of that fisher as measured by predetermined global standards and that fisher will deplete the local ecosystem of that previously stable population of marine creature for the fisher's selfish beneft to the susequent detriment of others deserving the same nourishment.

He was kidding right?

1) Be perfect.

2) If you love me keep my commandments.

Well, it looks like no one loves Jesus.