I imagine playing basketball if I have trouble falling asleep. I envision the basketball rolling delicately off my fingertips while shooting a free throw. March is a wonderful month for me because the NCAA tournament is taking place and great basketball games erupt over three straight weekends. To add to the smorgasbord of games and commentary, this past week I saw an old documentary that went back to my high school days called GameChangers. It was about the 50th anniversary of one of Illinois’ most famous high school basketball games between New Trier, whose students were among the richest and…
Author: Lloyd Graff
It started as a pimple on the elbow. Today it has metastasized. Draftkings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and a dozen more have become a cancer which will kill the Cubs, the Bears – all the teams and sports I love. They will crush college sports too. And high school after that. But more devastating will be the misery for those whose lives have been taken over by the cancer of betting after they started with the harmless $5 bet, advertised incessantly on TV and radio. A few days ago, I read the betting biography of Allen Loeb in The Free Press online…
How My 80-Year-Old Business Started Yesterday, March 5, was my father Leonard’s birthday. He was born in 1917, the youngest of four–a younger brother had died at four years old. From everything he told me, it was a malfunctioning household. His dad, Louis, who I never met, told him often that his wedding day was the worst day of his life. Leonard’s mother, Ethel, suffered from mental illness and was in various institutions during his youth. But my dad told me his youth wasn’t that bad because he had a close-nit extended family that lived in the same neighborhood. He…
Do you know what President Trump’s basket of tariffs is supposed to accomplish? Do you think they will work for the country? Will they be good for you? How about for me? Well I have my doubts. So yesterday I tried to find out by talking to a few of Graff-Pinkert’s most successful customers, who happen to be some of the brightest folks in the machining world. The following is what I learned. Nobody is really sure about this tariff strategy. Twenty five percent of tariffs on a host of things from Canada and Mexico? Lumber and avocados will be…
About a dozen years ago, a very friendly Greek fellow opened a small grocery named Bizios in an affluent but poorly served location at the corner of two four lane streets, 3 minutes from our house. It was an odd business to start in a world of supermarkets, yet they have thrived through the years, despite a behemoth Meijer store selling oranges to Nikes opened 2 minutes further away. It has a Starbucks and a gas station in the parking lot. Meijer has done well too, but Bizios has won the bulk of our business though many of the small…
It was a chilly early fall day when we reached Lublin, Poland. The lights were shining brightly across an expansive park when our comfortable bus reached the empty parking lot of the CONCENTRATION CAMP. The rest of our group filed off, but I hung around. I took off my coat, a dress shirt, and undershirt and walked down the steps to feel the cold afternoon air on my bare chest. I put the shirt back on and walked into Majdanek, one of several killing factories in Germany and Poland where the Nazis were murdering Jews and other unworthies with the…
Every morning, I start my day reading The Free Press, The Times of Israel and news about the Chicago Cubs on my phone. The Cubs news, mostly rumors, is self-explanatory. But why the other two, which are absorbing in their own way. The Free Press is an internet publication started by Bari Weiss just three years ago and has now grown to almost 1 million paid subscribers. Bari Weiss is a 40-year-old woman who worked for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times for four years each. She calls herself a “left-wing centrist” and a committed Zionist. She…
We had an inquiry last Monday on an expensive CNC turning center from a machinery broker based in Chicago but representing a Chinese firm. Thinking of a potential profit if we sold it, I asked Noah to quote the machine. His response was, “Dad, we can’t sell it to them. We are at war.” I immediately knew he was correct. The parts made on this rare machine could be used in a missile or a drone that would threaten the United States or an ally like Taiwan. Our next president, Donald Trump, has threatened a trade war with China. We…
Friends and family have been calling for the last few days asking how my 80th birthday was. I’ve told them all that it was the best birthday I’ve ever had. They wanted to know what I got as a present. I told them it was the best gift I’ve ever gotten. It wasn’t a thing. It wasn’t stuff. It was a framed collection called “Dad’s Greatest Hits.” It listed the memories of my three children, which they read and presented to me with gusto. It has 43 thoughts and quotes. Allow me to give you a feel for it. It…
I have obsessed over my 80th birthday coming this December 16th. I’ve looked at the day with dread, wondering how I can reach it, yet wanting to celebrate it with the hope of sailing past it and moving into a state of happiness. Frankly, I am baffled that I can still tie my shoes and pick out a tasty apple. I have chosen to continue to lead Graff-Pinkert thanks to the brilliant efforts of Noah and Rex who have decided to continue to work with me and challenge my ideas without mocking me. Buying, selling, and brokering used machine tools…