Archive for January, 2008

My time in the sun
Monday, January 28th, 2008

Today, a friend asked me for a good joke or a blog about sports. I’ll try to do better with the sport story than I did with the joke.
I played baseball and usually made the all star teams each year. The usual outcome for most young athletes is to ascend to new levels where the competition is stronger, and [...]

A good read or a good listen
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

My brother and I swapped books on CD. I gave him one by my favorite, still breathing author, James Lee Burke. He loaned me a CD that threw me: The Dog Whisperer. This is a strange choice since I don’t see what pet owners see in their pets and would rather not interact with others’ “best friends”. What [...]

The great ones make it look easy
Saturday, January 19th, 2008

There was this old guitar player on TV. His hands traveled the strings smoothly and effortlessly. I imagined the guitar was  somehow magical, and in my hands, it would look the same. A short reality check later, I realized this musican earned his status as a great one because he made a difficult task look easy.
As [...]

My cole slaw story
Saturday, January 12th, 2008

One of my jobs is to coordinate our contractors’ training seminars. They last just a day, but the preparation includes securing a location and getting a caterer. I’ve done it a hundred times and learned from each of them. One time I learned a bunch about the culture of others.
The location was deep country Bubba-land, Lorton, VA. The day started out well and [...]

Another Christmas story
Saturday, January 12th, 2008

Being a parent is a lifelong commitment. If you’re lucky, you’ll know what you’re doing just about the time the job concludes. It’s after this time when you get some real rewards. Having adult children is a real blast. They’re your children and interesting people merged as one.
One of the real preqs is the adult interaction [...]

My year overseas
Saturday, January 12th, 2008

That’s how I once referred to my tour of Army duty in Vietnam. I did this from the time I returned until my awakening as a Veteran.
At my first stateside duty station, the company was populated mostly by Soldiers who had not been to Vietnam yet. I arrived there with three other returning Vietnam Veterans. It [...]

Is tea the new coffee?
Friday, January 11th, 2008

I hope not. I like the being part of a small group of tea enthusiasts living in coffee-land.
Many years ago, I drank ten cups of coffee a day until my stomach sent me a warning. I switched to tea and had no more problems.
My beginnings as a tea snob really came during my China visit in 2002. Up [...]

10 good reasons to visit China.
Sunday, January 6th, 2008

http://information.travel.aol.com/galleries/china?ncid=AOLCOMMtravdynlprim0259
Hit this hot link to review the top ten cities of China.
In 2002, I heeded the call of my son, Adam to visit him in #5 Tianjin, China. We had a blast traveling the country. During our odyssey, we also visited #10 ChongQing and#3 Guanzhou. Other notable stops like Chungdu didn’t make the cut, but this [...]

Buying from the right people
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008

This posting is all about evaluating good sales people . It is no where near the definitive work on the subject. It’s more of an insider’s view of how to spot the good ones doing their jobs.
Follow the bouncing ball:
1. do they function as your agent even thought they are employed by the business where you plan [...]

How I met my wife.
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008

December 31 marks the day my wife and I met. The year was 1968.
At first, that day was going to hell quickly.
My beloved MGB roadster would not start let alone run. This was a common event since this model was meant more for fun drives on weekends than reliable transportation. I bummed a ride from an [...]