I think that I’m good at circumspection, but I always wonder whether or not I deliver the goods. And there is no way of ever knowing, is there? Self delusion is a tricky thing. To some extent it’s like pneumonia for a person living in a pensioner’s home. You will die of congestive heart failure long before the dementia allows you to recall what congestive heart failure is. 

The morning began just after 7 am with a battle with bureaucrats at the Federal Aviation Administration. I am convinced that if I throw enough money at the problem, I’ll prevail. Lawyers, time, court, fighting city hall — never a good idea. My parting phone shot was, “who do you think you are,  the IRS?” If you have ever dealt with FAA, you’ll know that they’re even more narcissistic than the EPA.
I spend a lot of my life immobile in traffic talking hands free on the phone – what a life. Not as fun as snapping necks and cashing checks.
During the course of the day I thought about writing another fictional short story. Before I do that, I need to finish reading The Grey Man – Payback (a novel in the works from fellow blogger Old NFO). Then I thought on the industrial aircraft that my company is finalizing. We’re doing some finishing work on the fuselage.
Below is a cross section of the aircraft. You can see the ducts fan engine lay-out (electrically powered jet engines – sort of).
It’s fun to build flying things but it’s not fun to have to make payroll. That’s the rub when you’re finally the one calling the shots. With big pay comes big responsibility. If the company goes public, cha-ching. If you roll with the odds, it will fail because companies have a very difficult time becoming real. I suspect that the fact that people are investing in the company means that they believe in it achieving something – since they invest millions. Breaking news, CFO just called and has a commitment from a billionaire to dump another $325K into the company (on favorable terms to the billionaire) by wire transfer in the morning. Selling stock isn’t as easy as it sounds, though we’ve sold quite a bit and raised money pre-revenue to staff up the high tech company in the shadow of Cal Tech.
I think that I’ll go out and get a hamburger and read on my Kindle. I’m re-reading Children of Dune.  When I get back home, there will be time for The Grey Man. This will go live on the blog tomorrow at 3:30 am. 

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25 COMMENTS

  4. I imagine snapping necks gave you the nerves required to deal with that much money. Or maybe you already had the nerves. Regardless… can we say STRESS? Hope you enjoyed your down time!

  8. "I spend a lot of my life immobile in traffic."

    You seriously need to get out of California, or at least off the 405 parking lot.

  13. Snapping necks and cashing cheques! That doesn't sound very circumspect to me, nor does the new role. Risky business but sounds like a winner with big investments like that.
    What an interesting glimpse into – a day in the life of Larry.

  15. I've heard tell of Biblical style plagues there: locust, mosquitoes the size of Messerschmidts, tornadoes and obnoxious Bible thumpers.

  16. Starting a new business is like driving in the dark at 100 mph without headlights on a moonless night.

  19. It's a roller coaster no matter who you are. I think that they're comfortable with what we're doing, with the patents that we have and the whole program, but the reality is that sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug.

  20. In the past ten years I have folded two Type S corporations. It ain't fun esp. when dealing with NYS taxes and the IRS over BS.
    Now just a paycheck guy for maybe another year, then … gotta find a hobby. Lot easier on the stomach.
    Best of luck with your corporate endeavor and your future move!

  22. Until you've done it, you don't understand it. I think that we will do well. I have about fifty employees and things are moving along. But as so many people learned in the shadow of Obama, the economy can crash.

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