Unemployment Rate

As of December 2011, the number 2 state for lowest unemployment rate would be Nebraska, who has a Right-To-Work law.  So, if a state that can boast an unemployment rate of just 4.1%, has a Right-to Work law, and 6 of the Top 10 States with the lowest unemployment rate are right-to-work, why not Indiana?  It’s not as detrimental to the economy as opponents would like you to believe.  At the same time, Indiana has twice the unemployment, setting at 9%, but can this be attributed even in part to a lack of right-to-work law?

Free Rider

Opponents to the Right-To-Work law insist that it will create a free rider problem, allowing employees to benefit from the unions negotiations, without contributing.  Such arguments even go so far as to insist that work conditions are lowered and a worker becomes endangered.  Unfortunately no statistics could be found that indicate such an accusation, which is prohibitive in any kind of intellectual conversation.  Perhaps this is a factor holding unions back from properly expressing their problems with passing a right-to-work law.

Factually speaking, one study did find that there are some negative effects to income levels and benefits in states that do not have a right-to-work law.  For example, the think tank Economic Policy Institute found that wages are on average 3.2% lower for full time employees.  In addition, there is a 2.6% lower chance that employers will offer health insurance benefits.  These are measurable figures, taken from 2009 and 2010 census reports, that can be found in a February 2011 EPI publication.

Higher Wages or Lower Unemployment

I argue that the decision to pass a Right-to-Work Law in Indiana should focus on whether it is more important for residents to have  slightly higher wages or a drastically lower unemployment rate?  Shouldn’t considerable time be spent educating the importance of a lower unemployment rate, rather than slightly improving our average salaries for full time employees?  In regards to benefits, doesn’t higher competition in the work force, through lower unemployment, stress that employers offer benefits to compete for jobs?

In closing, I stress and encourage the House to pass the Right-To-Work Bill in Indiana.  We all benefit from lowered unemployment and the proof can be found in any of the other 22 States that already have this protection in place.  Let’s not let the opposition hang their hat on uncertainties and accusations that cannot be proven.

For starters the only coverage I could find leading into the storm was on WFIE 14.  This would be fine, except for the fact that their studio was struck by lightning, which caused their audio to cut out every few seconds.  FOX wasn’t covering the severe weather, other than a ticker at the bottom of the screen.  My preference, Wayne Hart, couldn’t be found until the storm actually hit and the sirens sounded.

Once I found Wayne Hart, it looked like his budget had been cut so much that he could barely be seen on the TV, the quality was just awful.  Was it just me or did it look like a cardboard cut out standing in front of an 80′s console TV?

We need more choices in Evansville for severe weather coverage.  The door is open, someone please stand up.

P.S. WFIE 14, please, oh please change your graphic and depiction of windshear, it looked like the map was covered in blood.  Not the nicest way to communicate when people are freaked out over severe weather in Evansville.

The event will be open to the public and I would encourage everyone to attend.  It’s a unique opportunity to hear what our candidates have to say about accountability within an information age.  I am personally interested in how they intend to keep it a 2-way street and encourage feedback through tools like Facebook, Twitter, and others.  I don’t think that the election process ends at the polls, it continues through the elected officials term and can be shaped and molded through social media.  Accountability in office can only be attained by keeping the doors open and social media gives us that ability.

Evansville Mayoral Discussion Event – Register Now, it’s FREE.

Social Media Risks and Challenges

First Impression

It’s a small restaurant and not very accommodating for groups larger than 4, unless you get lucky and can push some tables together.  When ordering you can see into the kitchen area where the sandwiches are made and it looked very clean.  Like the kitchen, the tables and fountain drink areas were clean as well.  For nicer days there were a couple tables outside on the side walk.

The employee taking our order was knowledgeable when asking about specific sandwiches and welcoming as soon as we walked through the door.  Other employees walking around the restaurant delivering food and picking up empty plates were also friendly and made sure we were happy with our experience.

The Food

The Smiling Moose sandwiches and food offerings are comparable to Panera Bread.  Each sandwich comes with your choice of chips and a pickle on the side.  Servings were adequate, on par with what you would expect from a sub sandwich shop or any other delicatessen.

I ordered The Bambino, which was a concoction of Pastrami, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and spicy mustard.  The sandwich was fantastic, but nothing that would put the Moose ahead of it’s competitors.  Furthermore, the basic offering of pick-your-chips and get a pickle is boring.  I can buy the same bag of chips at the gas station, nothing new to see here.  I’d love to see a restaurant start making their own chips or add some sort of flavor to a side item with a sandwich.

The Smiling Moose also offers a number of menu items that can be prepared gluten free.  The gluten-free diet is the only treatment for people who suffer from celiac disease.  Therefore, if you are not one of the very small percentage of people with this disease, the gluten free offerings may not appeal to you.

Cost

Very reasonably priced menu and when coupled with coupons, I would consider it a deal.  Right now you can head over to the Smiling Moose website and print off a coupon for a free kids meal, with the purchase of a sandwich, chip and drink.  This coupon allowed my family of 3 to eat for $16, which is difficult to do even at McDonalds.

Visit the Smiling Moose Deli on Wednesdays and get a free cookie!  I got a Macadamia Nut Cookie, which was hot and fresh out the kitchen.

Short and Sweet

The Smiling Moose offers good food at a fair price, but not at a level that would keep me from choosing a competitor.  The seating is truly awful and a reason to avoid the restaurant if you are in a group of more than 4, parties need not apply.  I feel to garner more business they will need to come up with a hook, because as it’s offered now, they are not doing anything better than their competitors.

Smiling Moose Facts

• Located at 724 N. Burkhardt
• Get a Free Kids Meal Coupon
• Smiling Moose Deli Official Website
• Free Cookie on Wednesdays
• Yelp Reviews of Smiling Moose

Animals, animals, and more animals!  Even though I grew up on a farm with cows, pigs, and goats, I still love seeing all the unique animals on display at the 4H Fair.  I’m not the only one, my daughter squeals at the sight of a fluffy bunny, curious goats, and horses.  Although she claims that the cows are her favorite farm animal.

The little guy above caught my eye while walking between the displays.  I can only imagine how hot he felt, luckily all the animals were being cooled with huge fans and plenty of water.  As for fluffymcfluffsalot above, I’d call him Snowball.  He even won a ribbon, but got a little hungry.

At the risk of being spit on we braved the Alpaca and Llama exhibits.  For the life of me, I know they aren’t stupid creatures, but they look derp to me.

My wife and daughter lose interest with the equipment pretty fast, but this HUGE tractor certainly got their attention.  Lord knows the cost of the thing, but it looked BA with the huge TRAX instead of tires.

We could have spent all day simply walking through all the animal exhibits and talking with their owners.  Everyone was so proud of their pets and/or livestock, it really was an enjoyable experience.  We felt like the gawking geese below, too much to look at!

After walking around for a little while we started getting very hot, so we went inside to check out all the blue ribbon winners.  Specifically we were looking over the vegetables and arts and crafts.  There was one ‘craft’ blue ribbon winner among the model cars that caught my eye.

The guillotine model made above was done by an 8th Grader.  Teachers, please keep an eye on this kid.  Also inside was rat and reptile exhibits and the reptiles sure knew how to do interior decorating.

My family and I also took time to look at all the horses and pony’s getting ready for the costume contest.  We even witnessed one pony being painted from head to toe in PINK!  Being the father of a 3 year old I know it had to be Pinkiepie.

Because we went so early in the morning we didn’t have time to see any of the events going on, like the demolition derby or tractor pulls.  To be honest, I’d have been hard pressed to get my wife and daughter to set still long enough to enjoy those attractions.  Oh well, there is always next year.

What: 2011 Vanderburgh 4H Fair

Where: Evansville, IN

For more of the pictures that I took, please view my 2011 Vanderburgh County 4H Fair Flickr Set.

-Stearman’s (Bi-Plane) 1:00-1:05pm
-US Coast Guard Search and Rescue
Demonstration 1:05-1:25pm
-T-6′s 1:25-1:35pm
-KC-135 Flyover 1:35-1:55pm
-Billy Werth’s Grayout Aerobatics
-1:55-2:15pm
-Red Star and The Dragon 2:15-2:35pm
-B-2 Stealth Bomber 2:50-2:55pm
-F-15 Strike Eagle 3:00-3:20pm


The Stealth Bomber still holds so much mystery and amusement to me, it’ll probably be the highlight for me.  Although you’ll want to be downtown and paying attention, because it’ll be here and gone before you know it!

What are the Hadi Shrine Fest Events for Saturday?

Just a reminder that the Fest is absolutely free to the public.  However, there is a Bierstube available to the adults which has a $5 admission.  If you have any pictures of the event, please send them to me, I’ll be happy to get them posted.

Today’s updated blog header picture was taken by trainchaser and is entitled Evansville River Front 05 May 2011.

First, I was surprised that their pricing was extremely reasonable.  I swore Five Guys in Indianapolis was more expensive, but pricing was right on spot.  The small burgers were plenty big, more than enough for my 3 year old offspring.  Also, one regular bag of fries allowed us to gorge ourselves and then have enough left over for my wife to gorge on when she got off work.

The location seems a bit off to me, Five Guys is located in the same strip mall as Fox and the Hound and Gander Mountain.  Having a college type atmosphere I assumed it would be better located on the west side of Evansville.  Weird location or not, for a Tuesday night the place was absolutely packed.  All but just a few of the tables were full, no less than 8 people were standing waiting on a to-go order, and the line waiting to order stretched from the registers to the entrance doors.

Five Guys really shined, thanks to professionalism and their employees abilities to absolutely blow through the customers.  At any given time there were 8-10 employees standing behind the counter, flipping burgers, taking orders, calling out orders, or just cleaning up.  The entire time I was there I never saw one employee standing around with nothing to do, everyone hustled.  Because of the hustle I managed to make my way from the front doors, place my order, get my order and walk out with a smile on my face in less than 25 mins.

Once home the burgers and fries tasted just as I had remembered.  Delicious.  I find that Five Guys burgers are the closest thing to my own back yard grilled burgers.  No dried out meat, plenty thick, and they haven’t had the taste smushed out of them.  The toppings go a long way to blowing other burgers out of the joint.  What good is a tasty burger if they have brown lettuce and thin pickles?  Five Guys piles the veggies high and careful of asking to have it ran through the garden, it’s like having a side salad with burger patties in the middle.

There is something to be said about a fast food restaurant that doesn’t even have a freezer on location.  Furthermore, the line to the cash register is lined with bags of potatoes, waiting to be cut up and deep fried into the perfect french fry.  Everything is fresh!  Fresh food, cooked right, and employees that look you in the eye and smile when you approach.  I’m sold and will be returning again, probably more frequently than my waste line would appreciate.

Get your shit together!?  I am tired of hearing local businesses pitch the ‘buy local’, ‘support small business’, and ‘family owned’, only to have them turn around and purchase B2B (business to business) type items off the internet or from out of state.  Again, I know who you are, I deal with you every day whether you know it or not and it makes me sick.  Hey you big time movie man in Evansville, think those jerks you purchased that equipment from in New York will come down and buy a soda and popcorn?  NO!?  If it’s available local and even marginally close on price you should be spending locally.

It’s not just the big guys, it’s the little guys who rely on the normal you and me coming in to buy sandwiches, buy beer, or just use your services, whatever you may offer.  Tired of losing business to internet competitors or out of state contractors, how about spending money with your own local businesses and contractors where possible.  Ignorance is no longer an excuse.  If it’s good for the goose it’s good for the gander.

I’ve watched multiple businesses purchase product from an out of state vendor to save $10.  I’ve stood by while profits erode for everyone and then the business owner speaks out the side of their mouth.  I have officially STOPPED patronizing local businesses that refuse to purchase locally where applicable.  It’s no different expecting your business purchases to be kept local, than to expect your end users to use your products and services locally.

I would encourage everyone to do the same, speak up if someone insists on making purchasing decisions for a very marginal savings.  I’m not against saving money, but I am at the cost of giving business away to the lowest bidder, despite future costs and local support.  Post on Twitter, make a facebook update, create a blog post, tell someone about bad purchasing decisions.  Shame on you and you know who you are.