Justin Germino Ramblings

We are a capitalistic society without a shadow of a doubt, and the reason why many people migrate to America is because here they have the potential to achieve anything without limits. What makes our nation great is the freedom that allows corporations to thrive and innovate and bring in and retain top talent from around the world.

This also leads to corporate abuse and other issues as well though, I can see why everyone things CEO and Board Member salaries should be slashed and capped, especially if a resulting company is failing or going downhill. But this would be like taking back the $20 million dollars a film studio paid for an actor because the movie flopped at the box office.

Salaries and bonuses are rendered based on “perceived” worth of someone’s job and performance on the job, what I do think is that bonuses, shares, and salaries should not be set by individuals but should be voted on by board members. I don’t think it should be capped or set by the government, but I think top shareholders should have a right to dictate salaries and compensation for all high end company positions, after all their investment in the company entitles them to help direct which direction the company goes.

I don’t mean to compare publicly traded companies to the entertainment industry, but it is very much comparable on this front. Sports figures get paid millions of dollars, should they perform poorly then their contracts get cut or they earn less in future contracts. Movie stars command premiums the same way, it is based on supply and demand when you think about it. Demand is the consumer which is the viewers, and the people are the supply.

Companies are no different and they meet the supply and demand of consumers as well as their own internal organization, companies will fall under if the continue to pay top execs more than they are “worth”.

The one exception to this rule is this:

Government Bailouts if taken by a company then gives the right for the Government to dictate how the money is used and what the company can do. If a company is desperate or foolish enough to accept government funds, then they don’t have the luxury of setting their own wages, bonuses for top execs. Our public tax dollars fund these companies and therefore everyone must take cuts until the government funds are repaid.

Minus that above rule, the government should not be involved in setting caps on salaries or wages for any company. I do think however that top exec pay should be voted upon by senior shareholders, not just board members, so that a greater number of stakeholders in the company have influence into what compensation the top execs make.

-Justin Germino

Woke up feeling just generally blah, but in the last hour have developed severe stomach pains and I have a migraines so bad that my vision is blurring staring at the screen. I have sixteen meetings at work today, so can’t really take a sick day and am going to trudge through. Times like this make me very glad I work from home as often as I do.

I suspect that my stomach problems are related to my eating lunch yesterday, I happened to have some spicy buffalo chicken crisper’s at Chili’s and my stomach can’t take spicy food anymore, when I was a teenager or in my early twenties, I can eat spicy without any problems, but now no matter what stomach acid reducers I take (none of them work) I just can’t eat spicy food anymore, it leaves me in stomach pains and agony for hours after and the next day.

You would think I would learn my lesson and eat healthier, but I am a glutton for punishment as they say, though I did have a healthy stir fry dinner my wife made up last night with just beef strips, broccoli, carrots, celery, bell pepper over white rice. But today I pay for eating a very delicious but ultimately painful lunch at Chili’s.

I really have to stop dining out so much, it is one of those bad habits that I do far to often. I mean seriously, I waste so much money on dining out its ridiculous. It’s a bad habit I have to break.

-Justin Germino

So when I went to see the new Star Trek movie on Friday we ate at a Sushi place here in Casa Grande called Ah-So Sushi, and I have to say we were not impressed in the slightest. From the moment we walked in the wait staff was not overly friendly and we waited almost eight minutes until our drink orders were taken.

A spider found at the restaurant questioned the cleanliness of the place, and top that off with my wife getting a fish scale in her mouth while eating some Ahi Tuna Sushi nearly made us wretch. The Tempura was a little bland, but I did think the Salmon Sushi (Sake) did taste pretty good.

Overall if you are looking for the best Sushi restaurant in Casa Grande you are better off going to Lucky Chinese and Sushi, which has far better quality food and better service.

Ah-So Sushi restaurant was So-So at best.

-Justin Germino

Opening the door to the front of the house this morning my wife came across the dead carcass of a freshly killed Jack Rabbit in our front lawn. The poor rabbit was still soft and rigor mortis had not set in yet which indicates it was killed just a short time ago, its throat was torn out and some stomach injuries appeared to be suffered.

The poor Jackrabbit was killed viciously, but didn’t appear to be eaten, as if the predator was taking Anoretix or on a diet or something. This leads me to believe it was a dog which would chase and maybe kill for sport, rather than a coyote or owl.

I had to get a garbage bag and a shovel and discard the poor bunny in the trash which gets picked up tomorrow, I used to have a Jack Rabbit as a pet (caught him when he was a baby from the wild) and its still a sad thing to see the dead rabbits on the road and killed by predator animals. Though we would be infested by rabbits if something didn’t hunt and eat them, so I know its all part of Nature’s balance.

-Justin Germino

As a father who is married to the most wonderful woman I have ever met, I celebrate the fact that this girl whom I have known for thirteen years now has given me two beautiful boys in our life. Today is a day meant to celebrate the people who create life and bring them into this world, care for them, nurture them and raise them to be our future generation.

I may sound a little cheesy, but something in the quality of being a mother helps make you a better person in this world. Nothing can teach you more patience, love, understanding and joy then going through the range of life of raising another being. It is the hardest job on the world and the reward is measured more than gold, for what is money compared with seeing a healthy and successful child make his own way into the world in the future as a result of your hard work.

Congratulations to all you moms out there who struggle, work, raise one or many children and do your best for them. You all deserve to be appreciated for all that you do. I just hope my wife feels as special as she deserves to feel, not only today because it is Mother’s day, but every day for being a mother (and a good one) to our children.

-Justin Germino

I mentioned in a previous post we were having an “Over the Hill” party for our 8 year old Boston Terrier who turns 8 on Monday, but we decided to celebrate today.  Breaking out some balloons, Frosty Paws, Pigs Ears, and some cupcakes for the kids and adults we will be walking over the playground and having the party tonight for the dog.  Gouda has been a great family member and deserves some special recognition on this day, so Happy Birthday Gouda Emmenthaler Germino the Boston Terrier who is larger than life.

-Justin Germino

Having been rear ended a few months ago at a stop light, we are finally going to open a claim to get our Mercedes Benz taken into the body shop to have the rear bumper replaced and repaired. The repairs on these parts aren’t pretty but at least I don’t have to buy replacement Ferrari parts which I am sure would have cost much more.

I am going to wait until after my Cabo vacation to open the claim, so I won’t have to leave a rental car with my Mother in Law while she babysits the kids while my wife and I are in Cabo soaking up the sun and fishing for Mahi Mahi.

June 1st is growing closer and my vacation is right around the corner.

-Justin Germino

I can’t help it, I have been a big fan of Star Trek since I was ten years old and my father had us sit down and watch the original Star Trek: The Next Generation. I was hooked on Captain Picard and the rest of the cast, and since then I have gone back and watched every episode of the original classic Star Trek, most of Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and some of Star Trek Enterprise. I have seen all of the films and Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek IV – The Voyage Home and Star Trek: First Contact are my favorite three films so far.

The new Star Trek movie just looks exciting and I hope it breathes fresh life into the Star Trek series, just like George Lucas did with Star Wars with the prequels, Star Trek needs to invite in a younger audience and regain foothold as one of the best Sci-Fi genres out there. What I always liked about Star Trek was the scientific exploration approach that Star Fleet took on space and exploring the Galaxy.

Here was a future where all of mankind was no longer working just for money, money had become obsolete and people only did jobs that they wanted to do. With food being free thanks to replicators and such, everyone had the ability to do exactly what they wanted. The people who joined Starfleet wanted to become explorers, scientists and see what was “out there” in the universe. It is funny that decades after Star Trek some of the theoretical technologies in the show like Anti-matter are now proven to actually exist.

I am trying not to have high expectations of the new film, but I can’t help it. The entire genre is dependent on this film being a success, and I would like to see it become more prominent again.

-Justin Germino

Back when I lived in Mesa when my wife and I bought our first starter home we unknowingly moved next door to what can only be described as a mentally unstable person.  This person befriended us on moving day and was nice at first, quickly becoming bothering and then downright evil.  This person would harass our family for everything they could from trimming branches to fabricating stories, and it got so bad we had to take a restraining order out on this person.

The person only retaliated with a restraining order of their own and got it through a different court, we tried to fight it but lost as this person was a friend of the judge.  The neighbor proceeded to contact city council and complain our structure was not up to code and we had to deal with those issues.

I actually had to install my own wireless security system where I setup some wireless video camera’s monitoring my driveway and entrance just to video tape and see what was being done in front of my house. I caught them parking in front of my garbage can deliberately to block garbage pickup, then drive off after the pickup was missed in addition to them defacing the front of my property.

In the end we decided to sell our first starter home and move away, we barely broke even selling the house and we were lucky because this was before the housing market collapsed.  We sold a home and made nothing off of it just so we could get away from this person.

The lesson here is to try and learn something about your neighbors before you move into a community and purchase a home, take a moment to greet some neighbors and ask some questions about the neighborhood, don’t get trapped like we did.

-Justin Germino