Goble Properties Archives - Page 5 of 8

Little Bob

I was a teenager working in the wrecking yard when I first heard somebody refer to “Little Bob.” He was a new employee, and though not really small he was shorter than another Bob who already worked for us. This was 40 years ago.

Little Bob worked all kinds of jobs in the wrecking yard. He pulled parts, of course, but he also handled the huge forklift, ran deliveries, and drove the tow truck. This was a time of transition in the wrecking yard, so Bob bounced from working for my Dad to my brother to finally my uncle. Working …

Ember

My son has always been a tinkerer. We still laugh about his childhood dream of wanting to build an airplane in our backyard. I pointed out we had no tires for the plane to land with and he said, “They sell tires at Costco.” I pointed out we had no engine, which stumped him for a little while, and then he said, “We have one in Mom’s car.”

Stubborn, focused, no problem was too large to solve … he had the perfect internal hard wiring to be an inventor. And tinker he did, from Legos to woodshop to photography to …

Goble Properties Giving Fund

We’re doing something new at Goble Properties this year. It should be fun to see how this works because it could be a dynamic way to engage people this holiday season. Below is the email we sent out. Let me know what you think!
——
We’re excited to share with you a new endeavor to help increase the positive exposure of your business while helping you make a positive impact in your local – and global – community. We’re calling it the Goble Properties Giving Fund and we’ll be matching dollar for dollar any contribution you make to it before …

What Not to do Before Taking a Vacation

I’ve been home from vacation for a couple of weeks now, and I am pretty much caught up at work. Thankfully there are no big surprises.

That hasn’t always been the case. The most difficult post-vacation challenge I faced was arriving home to learn we sold one of our properties, twice. Yes, one property, two buyers, each holding a signed deal. Oops!

Here’s the story. Before my vacation I negotiated to sell one of our properties. The buyer made a very good offer, and with the knowledge of my father/partner I signed a Letter of Intent. Then I flew …

The Goble Properties Why

Goble Properties is doing more with it’s website these days, and a recent post on the blog was fun to write. Thought I’d share it here. If you are interested in getting Goble Properties updates, just drop me a note or comment here and I’ll get your email added to the list.

Have you ever thought about why your business exists? Most people answer profits, but profit is really just the method of measuring results. You can seek profits in a lot of ways: why choose the particular way you have?

A few years ago the Goble Properties team was …

Twenty Five Books That Influenced My Life – #6

It was 1999 when my father gave me the book Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company by legendary Intel CEO Andrew Grove. Dad’s comment to me was, “This is suppose to be good. The title sounds like something I’d say. Read it and let me know.”

I laughed and said “sure” like a good son/employee. Dad knew I would read the book faster than he would.

Only the Paranoid Survive is one of those books you either love or consider a lightweight. It makes a lot of best ever business book lists. …

Taking Stock

Junkyard Wisdom is 4-years old now. Topics have bounced from leadership ideas to wine reviews, from PathLight updates to family stories, and a wide range beyond all that. All of it has reflected my range of interests and ideas.

After four years of this, it’s time to again ask what you have enjoyed most. I can easily look at the data and see what posts were the most popular, but sometimes popularity isn’t the same as having an impact. A quick example: the most visited post of all time was a book review, but that’s mostly because the author promoted …

An Amazing Month

I seldom think of a particular month as “amazing”, but November seems to qualify. A lot of good things happened this month and I’m deeply thankful for them. It began with the racing day at Sonoma Raceway, followed by a fun day with the SF Westmont Urban students at our home. There was the incredible D’Oliva harvest, and then we got an offer on a property we’ve tried to sell for over a year (and it closed within 3-weeks). In the middle of the month I had lunch with a new friend, and within a week he had …