Made You Look

Beemer Branding

I spent last weekend in Burlington Vermont at a family wedding.  The streets and hotels were filled with BMW motorcycle enthusiasts numbering close to 8000.  They had traveled from all over North America on their bikes to attend the annual BMW motorcycle convention.

This group is serious about the BMW brand and spends thousands on accessories for their pricey bikes.  No Harley chic worn by this group.  They have their own look of boots, rain gear, saddlebags and helmets.  A strict fashion code for riders and a devotion to their brand.

Found these stats about BMW motorcycle enthusiasts.

INCOME: The annual mean household income is more than $86,000.
EDUCATION: About 65 percent have a college degree; 41 percent have post-graduate degrees.
MARITAL STATUS: About 77 percent are married.
EXPERIENCE: About two-thirds of members have more than 20 years of riding experience.
MILEAGE: About 40 percent ride between 5,000 and 25,000 miles per year.
Source: Provided by the BMW MOA

Now, that is a well defined brand!

Simply Elegant

Watching the famous B-17 bomber "Memphis Belle" of WWII fame in flight at Geneseo, NY this past weekend made me think how a technically simple aircraft, compared to today's planes, could be so effective at getting the job done.

The B-17's are a formation of aluminum, rivets, 4 big engines, cable and analog gages. They could be repaired quickly with simple tools and made ready for the next run. It was not beyond possibility that a single man could understand and repair everything on board.

Capable of running on 1 engine or with wing or rudder sections missing, they were amazing aircraft flown by amazing crews.

Wouldn't it also be amazing if businesses today could be built and run as simply as the B-17, delivering the same out of impact?

It's about time...

Nothing new about this trick.  It's called beat the clock.  On your to-do list are several unpleasant, boring, mind numbing, frustrating or embarrassing things that need to get done.

Use your cell phone timer, a stopwatch, or the wall clock to set 10 minutes to start one of your nagging to-do list items.  Start, do as much as you can, then stop after 10 minutes.  If you feel like doing more, do another 10 minutes session and repeat until you've had enough.

As C. Northcote Parkinson said so well, " Work expands to fill the time available for its completion."

Ain't that the truth about you and me?

Nuts and Bolts-Don't get screwed.

A broken tractor part over the weekend led to hours of mechanical trauma for me. Extracting a siezed connecting pin turned into a half day project. I removed a fender to give my BFH (big hammer) more swinging room. Two 6'' long carriage bolts, slightly rusted, held the fender in place. Rather than reusing rusty bolts, I went to see tractor parts guy for two new bolts and a connecting pin. Connecting pin was $ 4.00. Two 5/8" X 6" carriage bolts: $ 15.23 each, including nuts and washer.

I don't get it, I told parts guy. Those are plain old carriage bolts that have been around for 150 years. No way they can cost that much.

I know, I know he said, but that's the price.

Pin in hand and bolts left on parts counter, a short trip to the local hardware store revealed they had the two bolts with nuts and washers. $ 4.86 for two, including sales tax.

Parts is parts, but price is not always fair.