Wyoming as a Case Study

In the Bible we find that God took a small group of people, starting with Abraham, and created a case study for us to learn about him. The Jews were a brand new culture to be descended from Abraham who came from Ur of the Chaldees. God even had them start out fresh in a new location in the desert. Abraham had a chance to  set up in the developed area near the Dead Sea yet he gave that to Lot.

The Old Testament provides a history of where the Jews did right and where they did wrong. All aspects of human nature are covered. Over several thousand years we can see cause and effect of obeying or of disobeying God's laws, many of which are vital to sustainable business.

Since sustainable business is a goal of Cowboy Safety, the Laws of God are fundamentals.

Wyoming is a case study on its own. The history of Wyoming includes cowboys, indians, ranchers, miners, mountain men and travelers along the trails, the railroads and today the highways. The population even today is low and the land area is huge.

While the Wyoming story is not in the Bible, it has a good start in  Owen Wister's book The Virginian. If you have seen the movie or the tv shows you have seen the wrong story. By all means read the book. It is the quintessential book on equality and on the good and evil in mankind. I won an contest in High School for an essay titled "What Makes a Man the Best?" based on the character of the nameless black cowboy called The Virginian. Wyoming has the distinction of being the first government in the world to allow women to vote.  At the time of Wyoming statehood, that distinction was not an asset.

J C Penney started his first store in Kemmerer Wyoming. The old Jay Em ranch was a model for how business should be run for efficiency. The smallest population county in the state, with 2,200 population yet with a land area bigger than Delaware and Rhode Island put together, has developed an excellent on-line K-12 education program. In the next few months the world's largest computer will be functional just outside of Cheyenne near a wind farm and a Wal-Mart distribution center. That computer center is in Wyoming because of cheap reliable electricity, fiber optics and a state government that can make an investment to create new high-paying jobs and to attract ancillary businesses.

The list is long of people who have from the early days come to Wyoming for a fresh start. The frontier is still open for opportunity in Wyoming. Energy companies try out new ideas in Wyoming before doing it elsewhere. Cowboy Safety draws from real things happening in Wyoming whether retail, customer service, manufacturing, distribution or agriculture.

Cowboy Safety not only develops applications but has customized tours of firms in Wyoming doing those very things.

David Sneed

The Great Bicycle-Airplane Race of 2011

In a race between an airplane and bicyclists, the bicycles won!

The 405 in Los Angeles was closed the weekend of July 15, 2011 for the demolition of a bridge overpass. What was described as Carmageddon turned out to not be so bad. People had plenty of notice to plan their weekend travel needs.

Jet Blue had a great PR idea for the weekend. They had four flights between Burbank CA and Long Beach CA for a fare of $4.00 with an upgrade for $1.00 to give more leg room. The distance is just under 40 miles. The 600 seats were sold out in two hours.

Some bicyclists proposed a race.  The start point was an intersection in North Hollywood close to the Burbank airport. The end point was the Aquarium in Long Beach. The bicyclists made it in an hour and thirty-four minutes.

Flying is not just air time. The man who was to fly had to drive from the intersection in North Hollywood to the airport, arrive the required hour in advance, fly, then get from the airport to the aquarium.

There are other elements to flying than airtime. I learned to fly with the idea of getting an airplane. It made sense financially and for improved time for my travels. What finally killed the idea was (1) what will I do when I land especially at small airports at night and (2) what about thunderstorms affecting my plans?

One time I did a the car part of a car-airplane race and almost won. A friend of mine needed a car brought back from Newport Rhode Island to his home in Gloucester Massachusetts. We flew in his V Tail Bonanza to Newport and went to lunch with the man who had been using the car. I dropped my friend off at the airport and on my own decided that I would try to beat him back. He would have to walk to his airplane and go through the pre-trip and FAA procedure to be able to take off. At the other end he would have to land at Beverly, the closest airport, tie down, and then drive the remaining distance home. When I got to his home, he was sitting in the living room with a beer looking as if he had been there all afternoon. Later his wife told me that he had just come into the house when I came into the driveway.

I have found that on a flight of less than 900 miles I can  get there quicker by driving. Kansas City for sure because of the distance into the city from the airport. Even more time is gained when there is the consideration of schedules and advance ticket purchases. Driving also allows more flexibility in leaving and return times and dates.

With everything we do, both program and process, we need to consider all factors. We may think of like cycles of products but we need to consider use cycles. Just with hand tools how many times do we misuse tools when we do not have the correct one at hand?

For the great bicycle race, did we establish the viability of bikes in LA or the non-viability of flights of short distance? Or both?

David Sneed

A Car Insurance Claim Problem

In Cheyenne WY there was a severe hail storm on July 12, 2011. There was roof and window damage on homes and other buildings. Vehicles and airplanes had body damage.

I knew that there would be trouble getting through by phone so I went to my agent's office to make a claim. For the vehicle claim I was told to go get an estimate. I did so. When I returned to the agent's office I was told to keep it until the adjuster called. "We have a lot of claims and we could lose the estimate." In some further questioning I learned that the procedure they were using would be:

1. Get an estimate.
2. Wait for adjuster to call. Telephone tag will be involved for sure.
3. The adjuster will need to have the estimate on the computer.
4. I will have to take the estimate to the agent's office.
5. The estimate will be entered to the computer.
6. The adjuster will have to later go look for the estimate.
7. The adjuster will call after he sees the estimate. Telephone tag will be involved for sure.

For customer service and for minimizing claim handling cost the agent's office should be able to keep a  file of claims and a file of estimates. An unintended consequence of their procedure is that the policyholder will subconsciously wonder if documentation is frequently lost and that requested policy changes and other activity might also be lost. At renewal time there may be a move to another carrier.

I will stay with that carrier and agent for my personal vehicles. Yes there is this claim pain  that I wish was not there but my overall value is worth it.

My company vehicles are with an insurer that can handle a claim anywhere in the country quickly. Since those vehicles could be anywhere that is an important factor. That carrier does not require estimates. Their adjusters do the estimates, issue a check that day and if there should be a problem with actual cost they can deal with it separately. From all that I have read they actually end up paying  a little more than the actual cost. That carrier costs more for coverage but their emphasis is on a good claims experience.

David Sneed

Barbershop Lifesaver

In the movie High Plains Drifter Clint Eastwood plays the nameless cowboy who is one of the origins of the term Cowboy Safety.

He has arrived in town and goes to the saloon. Local residents at the bar do not welcome this newcomer. Who he is and what he knows are of no value to them.

He goes to the barber shop for a shave. He is in the chair and shaving cream is on his face. The men at the bar come in with evil intentions. The nameless cowboy is saved because he has a loaded handgun in his lap and he knows how to use it.

We wonder today why we have so many safety and security lapses when we spend large amounts of money and time on "safety." What is it spent on? To provide repetitive and     redundant "safety training."

If the High Plains Drifter based his safety on that he would have died in the barber shop. A stack of training cards from classes given by people with no experience would not have saved him.

David Sneed

Slow Speed Crash

On Wednesday June 29, 2011, my son Joshua was driving a Salvation Army mini-van at about 23 mph on a three lane one way street in San Diego. Speed limit 25 mph. He was passing a vehicle in the middle lane that was from South Dakota that was traveling about 15 mph. Behind that vehicle was a police car.

The driver of the vehicle he was passing, the one in the middle lane, decided to make a left turn. A crash occurred. It was a fender bender. Both vehicles could drive from the scene. My son received a bruise from his seat belt and has twice been to the Emergency room with back pains. He has been given some palliative care but not much can be done as a cure. It will require six or more weeks of natural healing. An X ray determined no spinal damage.

The other driver immediately claimed fault. He had thought it was a two way street and with nothing coming felt he could make a left turn.

There are several points here to consider.

1. Slow speed may make us careless about what could happen.

2. An out of state plate could be a clue to someone becoming disoriented.

3. The slow speed of the other vehicle could be a clue of disorientation.

4. When passing there are blind spots that must be cleared. Although in this case the other driver was only thinking of oncoming traffic.

5. I don't know the cost of his hospital and doctor visits. Many, if not most, policies only have $5,000 per person for medical care. These days who knows what the emergency room visits can cost. In his case workers' comp comes into effect since he was on duty in a company vehicle.

6. Back pain for even six weeks is not so much fun. Yet slow speed crashes can cause injury. 23 miles per hour is 35 feet per second. Imagine the sudden stop from even that speed.

David Sneed