Christmas Eve 2007

Last year, I asked everyone this question: "What are you doing reading a blog on Christmas Eve?"

Then I asked myself: "What sort of idiot would write a blog posting on Christmas Eve?"

The obvious answer then is the same one tonight: "Only you, Dave!"

Then I was reminded of these famous words:
"A week ago I'd have kicked your butt out of here. But you are absolutely right.

I'm not crazy. It's Christmas Eve. It's the one night when we all act a little nicer. We...we smile a little easier. We...we...share a little more. For a couple of hours we are the people we always hoped we would be. It's really a miracle because it happens every Christmas Eve. And if you waste that miracle, you're gonna burn for it. I know. You have to do something. You have to take a chance and get involved. There are people that don't have enough to eat and who are cold. You can go and greet these people. Take an old blanket out to them or make a sandwich and say, "Here."

"I get it now."

And if you give, then it can happen, the miracle can happen to you. Not just the poor and hungry, Everybody's gotta have this miracle! It can happen tonight for you all! If you believe in this pure thing, the miracle will happen and you'll want it again tomorrow! You won't say, "Christmas is once a year and it's a fraud." It's not! It can happen every day! You've just got to want that feeling! You'll want it every day! It can happen to you!
I believe in it now.
I believe it's gonna happen to me, now. I'm ready for it!
And it's great. It's a good feeling.
It's better than I've felt in a long time.
I'm ready."

Sound familiar? These are the greatest lines about what the true meaning of Christmas is, since Linus spoke those famous words on the stage of the Christmas show in Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown.

These words come from one of my top three Christmas Movies of All Time, SCROOGED starring Bill Murray as Frank Cross. I like to revisit that movie every year and those words at the end sum up how we feel and how we should be. So, dear readers....

Have a Merry Christmas, Everybody!

tags used here:Merry Christmas

Gift Giving (Tom Peters Style)

This morning, while sipping on some coffee, I started my daily rounds of the Blogs that I like. Always at the top of my list is the Tom Peters blog, it sets the pace for the rest of my day. This morning was no exception, in his blog post titled Christmas Giving: Not Too Late to Do Good Tom gives us an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and who doesn't like that? Giving those last minute gifts, if you are one of those procrastinators, or just to give for the sake of giving.

Tom talks about Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child program. There has been an ongoing program at OLPC where buying one gets you one. Not a bad deal, you buy one for a child in a developing nation (the original intent) and you get one for your child, thus impacting the lives of two children forever. Now that is a great gift.

Next Peters offers the BOGO Powerlight. It is a solar powered flashlight invented by Mark Bent (and happens to be a Texan). The BOGO (which stands for Buy One, Get One) Solar Powerlight is a great idea: a solar rechargeable flashlight, thus eliminating the need for changing batteries. The BOGO site has a deal going now: Buy a $25 BOGO Powerlight (for yourself) and the good people over at BOGO will send one Powerlight to an organization of your choice, such as:

• The Humanitarian Mission of Saboba's Hope is to support the Saboba Medical Centre, of Northern Ghana.
• Africa Island Mission - Pearl River, New York
• Direct Relief International - Santa Barbara, California
• Evangel Bible Translators - Rockwall, Texas
• Feed The Children - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Global Resource Alliance - Ojai, CA
• US Troops - Afghanistan - , Afghanistan
• US Troops - Iraq - , Iraq

So as you can see, not only are you getting an opportunity to get some really cool and cutting edge gear but you also get an opportunity to directly impact the lives of total strangers. Isn't that what the holiday season is all about?

Thanks again TOM PETERS for giving us a little something to do this season.

tags: Dave Guerra • Tom Peters • OLPC • One Laptop Per Child • BoGo Light • Nicholas Negroponte • Mark Bent • Solar Power •

Failing to Prepare (Part 3)

This is becoming a very disturbing trend. Tonight, I along with several million other people got to witness another shiny example of someone that failed to prepare. Before anyone says anything this is another NFL related story.

Yep, it was on Monday Night Football and the one who failed to prepare was Chicago 3rd String Quarterback Kyle Orton. At one point in the second half of the game, the announcers basically asked everyone to cut Orton some slack as it has been two years since his last start in the NFL. This guy is the 3rd String QB, if there is anybody that should be prepared to start in the NFL is this guy. If any team has to call on its 3rd String QB then he should know that something has gone horribly wrong and now the team is counting on him to be their saving grace. He, and all other 3rd String Quarterbacks in the NFL, should be prepared all the time, every time.

Yet, a professional football team took to the field and "expected" to win with a Quarterback that looked exactly like he has not played in over two years. What was this guy doing all this time? Sitting back, taking it easy, sipping Banana Daiquiris, while his teammates worked hard to take to the field and play a professional sport. Now don't get me wrong, any NFL Team worth its salt would not let just any schmuck onto the playing field, however, in this case I really think the Chicago Bears did. This guy was an embarrassment to the team and to himself.

I guess what I fail to understand is that this guy just flat out did not prepare to play, yet he went onto that field in Minnesota. For the record, Orton's stats were 22 completions out of 38 attempts, which comes out to a 58% success rate. That's right for almost every 3 attempts he got one right...hmmm, let's see in school 22 out of 38 is 58% and that was an "F" and I bet it still is.

However, in the business world, there are plenty of times that getting an "F" is like getting an "A". While it is true that it is the times that completions are made that matters. Unfortunately, what really matters is when you win, then you can miss 99% if all it takes is that 1% to win.

So this then begs the question: Can you afford to miss 99% of the time and hope that you can make it that 1%? or is it better to prepare now for when the time comes you can make 100% or real close to all your attempts being completions?

tags: Dave Guerra Kyle Orton Chicago Bears NFL MNF Failure to prepare lack of preparation Jeers Preparation observations

'Tis the season

Here we are RUNNING head first into the holiday season. By now you have been bombarded with holiday advertisement after holiday advertisement. Have you noticed that each ad claims that it is offering the biggest discounts of the season?

Tonight, for no less than four different times in an hour I saw the same TV ad for KOHLS declaring that this weekend's sales have the biggest discounts of the season. I can only imagine how much bigger next weekend's discounts will be, "bigger than the biggest discounts of the season" maybe?

Remember back on my Black Friday post when I mentioned that retail merchants will always make a profit, so this then begs the question: "How deep can those discounts go?"

I guess we'll find out next weekend.

tags used here: Dave Guerra, holidays, ads, commercials, observations

Time to Pull The Plug (on CompUSA)

CNN.com, last night (12/07/07), reported that CompUSA will be closing ALL its stores. It seems that the company has been struggling to stay afloat for almost the past 10 years, so this comes as no surprise. The report stated that CompUSA has already closed "more than half its stores this spring and got a cash infusion of $440 million to restructure" obviously this was not enough.

I take it that the company realized that the $440 million for restructuring was not enough. It is good that the company realized that things were not going the way they were expected and decided to bring things to a halt as opposed to dragging it out until it would eventually die off, all the while the internal stakeholders would start to get apathetic and it would create greater customer service problems, which would make the fall even that much more uglier.

While it might be more valiant to stick it out and fight through the problem and "hopefully" come out a big winner. However, at close to 10 years of trying, I would say bringing this to a close and declaring CompUSA "DOA" is a good thing for all concerned.

tags used here: Dave Guerra, CompUSA, store closure, Stakeholders, Customer Service

Happy Hanukkah

Happy Hanukkah (the third night)

Sunday Nights (cramming a weekend into a few hours)

Lately, Sundays around here have been brutal. By this I mean, that I have been trying to cram the last of the projects that I had planned for the weekend into those few precious hours after Sunday dinner and bed time.

Does this mean that I am not properly executing my plans or failing to plan properly? Yes and no. Yes in that I am not finishing projects earlier in the weekend and No, in that some projects are bigger than I think when I agree to begin them. Then there are those family commitments that have no choice but to get done. So where does that put me?

This is not a pity party. This is just an observation with a realization that I need to start saying NO to people and projects. While it is always difficult to pass up on paying projects just as it is difficult to pass up on those Pro Bono projects. Still they all have one thing in common, they take time.

While GTD may come into play here. I might just have to reconsider the fact that GTD on the weekends might sound like a plan, is just not for me. By this I mean that I really should not have to prioritize what is happening, especially when I like to reserve the weekends as spontaneous time with the kids. So what's a guy to do?

Throw GTD out the window, at least between 5:00pm Friday and 8:00am Monday. We'll continue this tomorrow. Right now I have a couple more things to do before hitting the hay

tags used: Dave Guerra, GTD, weekend

Failing to Prepare (Part 2)

It seems that people that fail to prepare are coming out of the woodwork. I guess they have always been there and I am just starting to see the trees in the forest. As we know the credit problems are affecting all parts of the country and my area is no exception. As a matter of fact, my next door neighbor recently turned his home of two years over to the bank as the ARM adjustment kept going up and up. Well, since he vacated the house, one of these "flippers" acquired the note and spent about two weeks of contractors making the house ready for sale.

Here is where the lack of preparation comes in. This "flipper" contracted with a two man house painting crew to paint the interior walls and the exterior trim and a guy to mow the yard. The lawn man comes over to the house and asks to borrow a broom to sweep the mess he made. I gave him one, after a couple of minutes he returns it. So I go out to the drive way to see his work, BAM!!! talk about an eye opener. This idiot did a great job of sweeping...he swept the stuff from the vacant house side an onto my driveway. I was livid...good thing for him, he was gone. Well, not five minutes pass and the jokers hired to paint show up and then knock on my door. The guy proceeds to tell me that he was hired to paint the house next door and would like to use some water and electricity while they are working. I asked him to repeat himself, I know he did not just ask me that. He did and I said no.

I found out who the new owner/"flipper" is and gave him a call. I identified myself and told him what happened. I told him that he is to tell the contractors not to ask for anything from anyone. Flipper starts to get mad at me and that I should tell the contractors and why am I bothering him. I fired back "Because you hired them to mow and paint, you did not hire me to provide water, electricity, or to sweep up the mess the lawn guy made" I had him at that point, he started to apologize, I told him that I was very interested in acquiring the house next door as a rental property but seeing how the new owner is so unprepared that I will have to look someplace else. This guy's tune change on a dime. He became Mr. Nice. He knew that in this market if you have a lead you don't lose it. To make a long story short this afternoon he came by and offered to give me a personal tour of the house so that I can see the modifications and upgrades he made. So as I walked over, I was impressed with not just the work on the house but what was in the back of his pickup truck; ice chest full of nothing but water and a portable electric generator. I think he learned a lesson, ensure that you hire the people that can do 100% of the job without collateral damage.

tags used: Dave Guerra, for sale, house, flipping, Contractor, Be Prepared

Coffee and Foxholes (a recollection)

This afternoon I came home from lunch and, as usual, I fired up the PC and logged onto Twitter. A new Online Friend Jennifer Navarrete, podcaster on The MorningBrewCast, had a Twit about an online video she saw. It was "a 24 second video from a guy who swears the best way to enjoy coffee is to do it outside in the cold." She then posted a link to the video and the following question: "So does it look like it was fun?"

I responded, "some of my best times with coffee have been in a cold wet foxhole." By now you know that I was an Infantryman in the U.S. Army. My first duty assignment took me to Germany. If you have ever been to Central Europe you know that the winters can get pretty brutal and being an Infantryman meant that you had to be out in the elements, no matter what. When others had the luxury of going inside when the first winds of winter blew across the German countryside, we dug in.

Yep, we dug foxholes or where local restrictions prevented digging we built above ground fortified fighting positions w/overhead cover. So nothing warms one up faster than digging a hole in the ground or filling hundreds, if not thousands, of sandbags to make the fortified fighting positions. However, at the end of a long cold winter day there was nothing better than a hot cup of joe...java...kaffee...coffee.

While the Army is not known for its gourmet coffee selection, well at least not in the mid 1980s. Coffee, back then, came in one flavor and one color: BLACK. Yes, the flavor and the color were the same, trust me. Anyway, there was nothing like leaning on the back wall of the foxhole or against the stack of sandbags as the wind blew across the treeline, the leaves blown across the Grunewald floor, bare tree branches scraping against one another, and sipping on a canteen cup full of piping hot coffee.

It wasn't that it was hot coffee on a cold day, but that it was a brief refuge from the Army. It was a moment that we had to ourselves. It allowed us to be civilians yet again it gave us a moment to reflect on our past while still being firmly rooted in our present. Well, fast forward to today, every once in a while I will pour a cup of coffee and walk out on the porch on a cold night or a rainy day and enjoy. For a few minutes I am back with the friends of my youth. Sometimes, I can almost hear my old roommate, Dan Braun, bitch about how we have to be in the woods while there is a perfectly dry and warm barracks room a few miles away, and on those exceptionally still nights, I can almost hear my Platoon Sergeant, Mel Huff, moving about in the forest and walking smack into a low hanging branch. It really happened (I won't write about the night he fell in a foxhole).

Excuse me, now it's time to brew a pot of coffee.

tags used: Dave Guerra, Coffee, Grunewald, Foxholes, Fighting Positions, Army, Jennifer Navarrete, Morning BrewCast

Preparation (or failure there of)

This evening I got a unique opportunity to see the preparation that people put in to be a success and I also saw the lack of preparation that people will use as an excuse for failure.

First the winner who prepared...The Dallas Cowboys. They played the Green Bay Packers in a decision making game for the top seed in the NFC. The Cowboys have obviously done their homework and were just a little too much for the Packers. The Pack used something called a 5-wideout set (5 wide receivers), in a way that appears as though 5 Wide Receivers are fanning out onto the playing field from one point of origin. The Cowboys gave up a couple of yards when the 5-wideout was used early in the game but that was it. From then, Dallas exploited everything that Green Bay was dishing out. In the end Dallas went to 11 - 1 and Green Bay goes back to Wisconsin with a 10 - 2 record. CHEERS TO DALLAS!!!

The one who failed to prepare...The Green Bay Packers. They traveled to Dallas only to get their back sides handed to them. QB Brett Favre must have thought that Dallas was a flash in the pan or something but he was wrong. Early in the first half, something must have spooked Favre because he could not get it together and was just heaving the ball to get rid of it. It cost him and the Packers, the only light at the end of the night was Aaron Rodgers (Backup BG QB) who stepped up and filled in nicely after Favre's "mysterious" elbow/arm injury. A little more experience and Rodgers will fit in nicely as Favre's replacement. Still the Packers came up way short and saw themselves seeing why failing to prepare sends one home with their tail tucked nicely between their legs. JEERS TO GREEN BAY!!!

Finally, who else failed to prepare: Fast Eddie's Sports & Billiards...Two out-of-town work guest and myself found ourselves there for the big game. We arrived just after the start of the game. I kid you not, we were never visited by a waitress or waiter. While we saw a couple walking around plain and simple there were not enough to serve the crowd. We were there the entire game and left without ever order or buying an adult beverage or any beverage for that matter. How can an establishment know for a couple of weeks that Thursday November 29, 2007 was going to be a big night for NFL games and this establishment failed to prepare by having adequate staff coverage. I just cannot come up with a suitable explanation as to why any customer service based establishment would give its customers less, especially when they advertise that they will screening the biggest game in the 2007 NFL Season, next to the playoffs of course, and want everyone to come on down and enjoy what they have to offer while watching the game. Talk about a big disappointment. So, dear reader, if you want to settle for less and have minimal to no service, then may I recommend your next social event be held at Fast Eddie's Sports & Billiards and you will not be disappointed. I know that I will never repeat that mistake because now I know. JEERS TO FAST EDDIE'S SPORTS & BILLIARDS.

tags used here: Dave Guerra, Winners, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Losers, Preparation, Failure to prepare, Fast Eddies Sports and Billiards

Happy Holidays

Tonight, the annual A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS aired on ABC. Personally, I thought that it was just too early for that long standing holiday favorite to air on TV. Just like Luci mentions that January snowflakes are better than December Snowflakes or my personal dilemma Late December Egg Nog is 100 times better than Just After Thanksgiving Egg Nog, well airing A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS less than a week after Thanksgiving is insane, but then it all started to make sense. ABC is kicking off their CHRISTMAS VIEWING SEASON with the standard, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS. They feel it now and I'm liking ABC now.

So tomorrow night (Wednesday 11/28) they will keep the momentum going by airing what the new generation will certainly call a classic; SHREK THE HALLS with all the voices. This means that over the next couple of weeks things are going to be moving pretty fast so in case you have not heard it from me...Have Happy Holiday Season.

More from me later.

tags this blog post with:
Dave Guerra, Charlie Brown, ABC, Winter, Christmas, Holidays, Egg Nog, snowflakes, Shrek

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Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from me. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and an even better Black Friday, if you are not too sure what Black Friday is, well check out this Black Friday Ads website.

Now if today is not a holiday in your part of the world, then there is nothing wrong with giving thanks without the need of a formally declared day, so please give thanks your way.


Tags Used Here: Dave Guerra, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Happy Holidays,

Veterans Day 2007

Please pardon the interruption. Today is Veterans Day in the United States and I want to take a moment of your time to do a little reflecting.

It was a little more than 22 years ago that I stepped off the bus at Fort Benning, Georgia. There I was 18 years old fresh out of high school and about to embark on something that I thought I knew something about what I was getting myself into but in reality had no idea. See, my father was a career Army man and we traveled to bases over the eastern part of the U.S., so my brothers and I had the privileged life (if you can call it that) of being considered military dependents. Well, let me tell you being a Soldier and being a dependent of a Soldier are two different things. The two are like polar opposites. Still I knew from an early age that somewhere/sometime in my life the military was a career option. So I opted for the College Fund, which at time was going to payout almost $50K for college. Not a bad deal.

From July 1985 to October 1985, I was in the middle of the most humid place on the planet. Basic Training was conducted in what seemed like 1000 degree temperatures, always on the go, little to no sleep, and (I kid you not) even ate GREEN EGGS (yep, the same green eggs of Green Eggs and Ham fame). Well, in the end I was a certified PROFESSIONAL SOLDIER...I was an United States Army INFANTRYMAN, but I was not unique in the sense that I was the only Infantryman. On October 13, 1985, I acquired 114 more brothers and from that day on I feared no man on the planet except for another Infantryman, for I knew exactly what an Infantryman was capable of.

After graduating Basic and Advanced Infantry Training, my first assignment took me to the last divided city in the world. BERLIN, West Berlin to be exact. It was here that I was a member of the most unique unit in the history of the United States Army: the Berlin Brigade.

It was in the Berlin Brigade, that I served at the tip of the spear of the free world, as on a daily basis we stood toe-to-toe with our Cold War adversaries, the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact. In 1985 to 1987, if anything were to happen it would be in Berlin first. The running joke among the Allies (British, French, and U.S.) that if there was ever a war, a sign would be hung outside the Berlin Wall that read "Stalag Berlin" and the Warsaw Pact would bypass the city. However, the humor only went so far, it was in Berlin that I realized that should there be a war, it was these men that I was going to die next to, because we knew fully well that being 110 miles behind the Iron Curtain no one was going to relieve us in a time of war. Though there was never a war, some very great friends were lost. Friends like J.R. Morast (we were in the same Basic Training & AIT unit) who died coming off guard duty and Kenneth James Gibson, died coming home for Christmas on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, who unknowingly became one of the first casualties in the early days of what was to eventually become the War on Terror. Two others; Kenneth Ford and James Goins died in the La Belle Disco Bombing. Knowing they and too many others like them are in a better place now, we persevered and soldiered on. Those that knew them and served with them are honored to have called them Brothers, Brothers-in-Arms.

However, it was not all doom and gloom. In Berlin, I had the privilege of not only working and living among some of the finest soldiers in the United States Army, I also got to live and be among the citizens of Berlin, the finest people on the planet. I never met a citizen of Berlin, that did not appreciate the Freedoms, we (the Allies) helped give them so many years ago. No matter what their political opinions were, they were happy to be Free enough to voice those opinions. Just on the other side of the Berlin Wall, the citizens of East Berlin saw themselves as pawns in a game of politics and yearned for the day that they were able to have their voice heard without fear of intimidation or imprisonment. Little did any of us know, at the time, that the end of Berlin Wall was not that far off.

When my time to leave Berlin came, I was sad in the fact that a chapter in my life was coming to an end. I was sad of the people that I was leaving behind and sad for those that were never coming home. Still all-in-all, being in West Berlin in the 1980s was the greatest adventure a young soldier could ever undertake. It helped shape the path that the rest of my life was going to take. To this day, I still pay homage to the Professionalism that the Berlin Brigade instilled in everyone whoever served. Above all, everyday I am grateful to have served with the finest soldiers in the world in the most unique City on the planet during the most unique time in the history of the planet.

Thank you for your time and THANK A VETERAN,
David Guerra
U.S. Army Infantryman
Berlin Brigade, West Berlin 1985 - 1987

Happy Halloween (or The Holiday Season Starts NOW!!!)

Well here it is...Halloween evening and the ghosts, goblins, some Spidermen, about 23 dancing princesses and several not so scurvy pirates are out and about tonight. And how was your evening?

Now, we kick it into high gear. Over the next couple of days or so you will be bombarded with holiday commercial after holiday commercial. Sales, Must Have Toys, Jewelry, and of course the perfect holiday feast. Now is the time to see what we are made of.

Do we succumb to the marketing assault over the next two months or do we repel the assault on our senses and pocketbooks? While many of us will start strong. However, some of us will declare defeat a little after the first commercial for the Sounds of Christmas CD has plastered its 1-800 number across the screen and we have our credit card in hand. So a word of encouragement as you venture into this holiday season; be strong, be brave, and above all be afraid...be very afraid, because it will take everything you got to survive the holiday season without going into a debt greater than the Gross Domestic Debt of any small Caribbean Nation.

Other than that, let me be the first to wish you the best this holiday season.

Is it Dialogue or just Monologue vs. Monologue

Is it Dialogue or just Monologue vs. Monologue? Have you ever been in a conversation where you feel that it isn't a dialogue between people (chiefly two people) but eventually turns into Monologue vs. Monologue? What does one do when this happens?

Is it right to get frustrated and end the conversation or is it time to take a new tactic and work at getting back to a dialogue?

I would say that the answer to this is split 50/50. The answer isn't right or wrong. The answer isn't good or bad.

The answer to returning to 100% DIALOGUE is for both parties to recognize that they are monologuing. Just like in those 12 steps programs, recognizing that there is a problem is the first step. The only drawback is that there will always be a few people that will fail to recognize they have a problem of engaging in monologue instead of creating and maintaining dialogue.

How do you create and maintain dialogue?

Rhythm is the Power

Over the past weekend I participated in an event that rocketed an author up the Books Bestseller chart over at Amazon.com. It was interesting to see that through a little grassroots undertaking one man can make his move up the charts from a 1034 ranking to a 26th place rank in one day. Talk about a world of free advertising and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Joseph Jaffe is the author and his new book "Join the Conversation" was the book that was bum rushed up the charts. In the New Marketing community Jaffe has become a brand and he has crossed his brand over to other sectors of business. As an Information Technologist, I came across Jaffe sort of by accident, still there was something about him that had me hooked from the start.

This weekend I saw the CNBC show "The Billionaire Inside" with Donald Trump. In the show he was asked as how he became "The Donald" and he stated that he had the vision to look beyond what was in front of him. He told the story of how he purchased a high rise for $1 million and sold it for $60 million. He also added that people recognize the quality he has given his name because of transactions like that $60 million dollar deal. He said that because it was Trump people just associated a higher standard with it.

This afternoon I saw the new Duran Duran music video for their new song "Falling Down". While it is no RIO or HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF, it is solidly Duran Duran. It is a song that fans have come to expect from DD. These guys have been around since 1978 and continue to reinvent themselves with every album they put out. Their name alone continues to evoke the spirit of 80's music but it also now stands as a brand name that was built with the quality music and videos that they were the first to deliver. Though there are others that continue today from their beginnings in the 80's, none however have delivered with such ferocity and audacity to persevere through their lineup changes and still deliver a product that is worthy of besting the previous product.

So what do Joseph Jaffe, The Donald, and Duran Duran have in common? Rhythm. They got a rhythm that is "uniform and a well-coordinated action", they keep things moving, they don't let anything get stale (they wouldn't allow it). After all, it is their name that has been recognized, it is their name that gets people to buy their books, gets people to pay outrageous prices for their buildings, gets people to keep wanting to hear their music for almost 30 years. Do you have the rhythm? Because in the end, RHYTHM IS THE POWER.

Tags: Joseph Jaffe, Duran Duran, Donald Trump, Red Carpet Massacre, Join the Conversation, Trump Towers, The Donald, bumrush the charts, Falling Down, Billionaire Inside, Rhythm is the Power, brand, branding

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Bad, Bad Marketing Ploy: CLERK HAS RECEIPT

    Before I get started, when I wrote "bad, bad" in the title I mean as in VERY BAD and not the good bad as in that was "bad @zz" but more like "man that was the worst thing I have ever experienced." OK, on with the show.
    Picture the scene, its FRIDAY afternoon, just before 6pm, 92 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny, not a cloud in the sky, 92% humidity, and it's the start of the weekend. Before you can start it you gotta fill up on gas. This was me a little more than 12 hours ago. So the little yellow fill'er up light goes on, and 10 miles later I find a gas station/ convenience store and proceeded to fill it.
    I "pay at the pump" as I really don't need anything from inside, I am a few miles from home, so I can wait. I proceed to fill up and when I finish, the LCD display asks if I want a receipt. You bet I do. About 30 seconds after pressing the YES button, the display reads CLERK HAS RECEIPT.
    I guess business must be so bad inside that they have to force people into the store for some impulse shopping while enroute to pick up the receipt. This has got to be the most lame attempt at making people buy something. Not being amused I made the trek into the store for my receipt. Sure enough there they were, all the impulse items, cold drinks, candies, snack food, ALL wanting my attention. Also, as usual in situations like this there was only ONE cashier ringing people and two other employees standing around as a line of customers formed. It was my lucky day, the guy behind the counter wore a name tag that announced that he was the Assistant Manager.
    Now, not being privy to the command structure of the modern retail industry, this guy could have been Assistant Manager in charge of restocking Chips and Condiments for all I know. Still, I took the Assistant Manager title as one that held a position of perceived authority within the STRIPES (formerly Valero) organization. Taking my turn in line I told the young man that I needed my receipt from the gas pump I was at, he gave it to me, and asked if that was all. I told him "No". In a nice but steady tone I told him that I will not be buying gasoline or anything else from any STRIPES until they stop forcing people inside the store." The guy looked at me like I had just stepped on the bible and burned the US flag (both of which I would never do). I was not going to explain anything more to him, so I took my receipt and promptly left the store.
    Is this a marketing scheme that is played out all over the country or just in parts of the country where people are willing to accept this kind of behavior from any organization?

Tags: bad marketing, scheme, retail, pay at the pump, STRIPES, Valero, gasoline, fill up

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What to write about?

    There have been many changes since the last time I wrote that I am not too sure what to write about? So why not a recap? uh NO!!! I'll leave that for others. Surely there has to be something that I can write about. While I can say that the book is coming along nice, but for some strange reason I have writer's block. Block has been around since last Tuesday.
    So what's a guy to do? Maybe I can ramble about and say something witty and something inspiring? uh NO!!! I'll leave that for those that truly believe that the sun rises and sets around them.
    Should I write about some new marketing gimmick that's even better than sliced bread? uh NO!!! I'll leave that for those marketing pundits that believe their own press releases.
    Maybe a quip or two about some new technology in the business place? uh NO!!! That I leave for a later time.
    So now that I single handedly offended those that needed offending, and not a single word of inspiration has been born. Therefore, I think Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce (M*A*S*H) said it best when he said, "If I can't get the girl, at least give me more money."

Tags: writer's block, marketing, press release, inspiration, witty, Hawkeye, MASH

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Back to School Software

Folks, its back to school time all across the country. In these first few days you or your kids will find out that the home computer will need to have Word or Excel or PowerPoint or Access (all from Microsoft) installed (if its not already). Then about a day or so later you get a great shock. STICKER SHOCK that is.

Over at Office Depot, you head over to, you find Microsoft® Office Home And Student 2007 edition for $149.99. For some of you that might just be a big chunk of change. So what are you to do?

Well you could spend the $149.99 or you could use OpenOffice v2.2.1 for a whopping sum of $000.00 (that's right FREE). Head on over to OpenOffice.org and download the latest version. This application has a word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database applications wrapped in a 97megabyte download.

OpenOffice is "a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute." The program is easy to install and use. The best thing is that the user can save any word processing file as a Word document...and that my friends a whole lot cheaper than $150.  So give it a shot.

Tags: Dave Guerra, openoffice, word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation

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Twitter Rants

If you have been following me along on Twitter, you have undoubtedly noticed my rantings about email and how long to wait for a response. Well here is the story.

Approximately, two months ago I stumbled across someone who wrote "Would you like some help...? Need an **** or a ********* ***** for your *******?" It sounded like a great offer so I thought I would take him up on his offer and request some info to use the service he is still providing.

In my email dated July 23, I wrote "I visited your website and read that if people were interested then to contact you, well I am interested." I even included a reference to paying him for his service "Also we would need to begin dialogue on the cost for the..." All in all, the email was about 100 words long, straight and to the point.

Well two months have now passed and I have yet to hear an response to my simple request to initiate in some internet commerce. So my question has been how long do I have to wait?

Do I stop waiting and move on?
You bet!!! That individual has ceased to be authentic (I think he and the company he works for is supposed to be that), he ceased to be genuine (I think that he and the company he works for are attempting to make the world see them that way), and lastly he failed to deliver, in a timely manner, on his promise (I bet he and the company he works for would NEVER tolerate that from anyone). So why would I? Should I tolerate it from him? I understand that he was attempting to provide a solo service but he still is an ambassador of his organization. Therefore, what he does is a direct reflection of his company. Gee, I wonder what his partners think about that?

Well what did I expect?
What I expected was a timely response saying one of two things: "Thanks for your email Dave. Let's make something happen and it will cost you this much" or "You know Dave, I am extremely busy right not and will be a long while before I can get to this." Instead, I got nothing.

So what will I do?
I will move on. This blog post will be the last word on this subject with this individual. I will, however, not forget and when the time comes, I will remember that in some cases there are people that demand nothing less than perfection from others, but when they deliver less than perfection, it would not be allowed to hold them accountable. And that my friends is a crying shame.

GET TO KNOW ME (version 1.1)

I was thumbing through Tom Peter's recent PowerPoint slides on his website and something caught my eye. In one slide he includes some personal information about who he is and what his likes are. So I got to thinking and thought that it was a great idea, to put himself out there like that. He showed those marketing folks exactly who he is and what he stands for. Taking that attitude, I decided to do the same thing. As I was making my entries I noticed that what is being marketed to me is not what I needed or want, with possibly a few exceptions, but for the most part there are a lot of gray areas that need to be addressed. Then I made another realization...

From a brand marketer's point of view, I would say that you don't know me, as well. You might think you know me because of my last name. You think you know me because I live in Texas. You think you know me because I am just another face in the 17 to 44 crowd. Face it dear Marketers, the plain and simple truth is: you don't know me at all.

So, here for the first time is your opportunity to get to know me and just maybe you can see that everyone IS DIFFERENT and even more important: I am not a stereotype, I am UNIQUE.

Beer: Bud to Berliner Kindl to German Bier to Michelob to Fat Tire to My HomeBrew
Car: Ford to Chevrolet to HMMWV to anything by Hyundai (love the warranty)
Biz Clothes: Levis to any thing Italian to Brooks
Biz: Big (U.S. Army) to Small (self-employed)
Sports clothes: Misc-cheap (EastBay) to Eddie Bauer to L.L. Bean
Spouse: “Sexy broad” (wife #1) to Best friend/Brainy (+sexy) (wife #1)
School: UT to UOP (Go Mighty Mousepads!)
Pens: Bic to Staedtler to Cross
Food: Safeway to Winn-Dixie to HEB
Music: Beatles to Duran Duran to Sir Simon Rattle's Brahms German Requiem
Home Furnishings: Broyhill to Lane to King Ranch to IKEA
Home: New York/New Jersey to Washington, D.C. to Alabama to Houston to Deep South Texas
Favorite sport: Football to Mountaineering to Mountain Biking to Hiking
Favorite MLB, NFL: Orioles-Cowboys to Astros-Seahawks
Favorite magazine: Stern to HBR to Foreign Affairs
Favorite media: Print to Radio to Web (and back again)
Favorite airline: Pan American to Lufthansa to Continental
Home: Old World to Wild West
Vacations: Poconos to Germany/Central Europe to New Orleans
Price: Cheap to Varied (Wal*Mart to KaDeWe)
Hotel: Holiday Inns to Hilton to InterContinental
Restaurants: Emerils’(Nah'leans) to Gus's Drive in & Restaurant(Columbus, Ga)
Stores: Sharper Image to Little shops (Le Petit' Soldier Shop 528 Royal Street, NOLA)
Loyalty: I will be the biggest PROPONENT you will ever have. However, the moment you discount me and take my loyalty for granted, I will be your biggest OPPONENT. IT DOES GOES BOTH WAYS!!!


P.S. Thank Tom Peters for the inspiration.

The Best Years of Our Lives

Tonight I saw that Post World War II classic "The Best Years of Our Lives" and in it was a scene where the sailor (Homer) has his moment of truth. His fiancé tells him that her parents want her to move away. He is not sure if he wants her to stay as his fiancé...he's sure that he does not want her to leave. See he thinks that his disability is everyone's disability: that of not looking at what is left instead of what is gone (in this case both his hands). So, thinking she is not going to like what he sees he puts her to the test. Well she doesn't flinch and needless to say his attitude changed.

At the end of the movie he married her. Also at the end we see that given a little time and a change of attitude as well as latitude even the most battle-hardened veteran can make a better life for himself and those that believe in him.

Theme of the Week

Last week on Twitter I started something, I declared the theme of the week. Last week it was to ENGAGE. Go out there and engage someone one (friend, family member, or even still a customer). It didn't matter who just ENGAGE.

This week I continued the theme of the week and declared that this week's theme is to EVOLVE. To become the person you always wanted to be. So how does one evolve? Well, first off, people do it all the time. They do it subconsciously, they know after one time of touching a hot stove that the next time will certainly involve burning flesh. Thus they have evolved. While most evolution is not that blatant, some have taken hundreds of thousands of years, unfortunately we don't have that much time.

So what's a normal human being to do? Simple; achieve consciousness, wake up and get to know who you are. Know that you define yourself and not others. Know that at the end of the day its you that you are going to be with. Know that when you look in the mirror, you know exactly who you are looking at.

With that being said, once you know who you are, you should know who you want to be. In order to achieve that you then have to recognize the challenges and opportunities that will encounter along the way. Along that way you will then start to identify your capabilities and the benefits that those capabilities inherently bring. Then the unknown.

The unknown then comes at a price. That price is waiting. Waiting for something that may or may not come is the price you pay. However, something almost magical happens while waiting for the unknown; you grow, you mature, you have evolved into the person you always wanted to be.

Pipedream? I don't think so. While I was vague in my description but that was for a reason. I wrote that you define yourself and not others, and that means that I recognize that we are all different, what might work for me might not you. Therefore, for me to sit here and say this is the path you must take to become the person you always wanted to be would be downright rude. Therefore, my only advice to you is to know who you are and do something about it. That's truly the only way you can evolve and become that person.

Tags: evolve, evolution, self-aware, personal growth, maturity, you, capabilities

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What are CDOs and why should you be worried?

In case you didn't know, there is something called a CDO (Collateralized Debt Obligation) and if your retirement system, investment firm, or even you own them, you better start worrying.

First, a CDO is an "investment-grade security backed by a pool of bonds, loans and other assets."(investopedia.com) In this case, the CDO is one way for the issuer to relieve themselves of the debt by selling off the assets in the form of small manageable segments. Should there be a default on the original note, the loss to the individual segment holders will be negligible. So what's the big deal?

The big deal is that the original owner, in order to lessen the load/burden of carrying a note(s) that has the potential of failure, sell off the note or a pool of notes to someone who is not looking at the potential for loss but the confidence that the obligation will be met and the return will be more than what they paid for.

The issuers are able to sell the pool that has been broken down into manageable units. As mentioned, that way they can sell to multiple parties and the load is diminished that a loss on the original note will not be felt as much as someone who is carrying the entire note. The allure of a return, by the new owner, is backed by the fact that the original issuer is selling the note at the current value and not at its Net Future Value (without discounted cash flow). The NFV then becomes the selling point and people buy.

What they are buying is "an investment in the future" but isn't that what U.S. Savings bonds are? However, they also believe that if they buy a little piece of a big pie their loss is almost not important, it is a risk that they are willing to take. A risk? but a who's expense?

So who is buying the CDOs?
Unfortunately, many people are buying. The mystique of a little bit has them looking at buying a lot. Let's see who's buying; Bllomberg reports "The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the nation's largest public pension fund, has invested $140 million in such unrated CDO portions", while the Teachers Retirement System of Texas purchased just "$62.8 million" of the CDOs, and the New Mexico State Investment Council, which funds education and government services for children, has purchased $222.5 million and recently acquired another $300 million. That is a lot of money dumped into the riskiest of investments, and that's a lot of people that will be out something they were expecting to get, something they believed their retirement program was going to give them, especially after contributing all these years.

So what happens if they default?
A lot. Aside from organizations being out millions the confidence of those organizations to make sound investment decisions in the future will be questioned every step of the way, by not just the people that were hoping to use the returns for their golden years, but you can bet your bottom dollar the government will be knocking on someone's door. But it does not stop there.

The word will get out and across the board two things will happen...
One, under increased scrutiny financial lending institutions will restrict any form of subprime lending (thus creating the risky investments) and re-do the lending structure for prime lending. This will then shift the borrower status. Those that were considered Prime, but on the fringe, are now definitely considered Sub-Prime.

Two: consumer confidence in the value of any financial organization will be considerably low. This is especially so, in those that made the decisions to buy those risky (and unrated) CDOs. Additionally, the consumer confidence of the lending institution will be lower as well. This is because they will be perceived as the root of all this evil. They are the ones who created the bad/risky debt then pawned it off on someone else.

While the investing confidence of an individual will not be lost, in fact it will be strengthened as the individual will start to realize that if they can control their own financial future then they can blame no one but themselves. Therefore, this will then launch a new era of the "consumer-investor" They will not only invest on their own but do the homework to get the better deal.

A BETTER FUTURE?
Will this happen again? You bet it will. If there is a risk, someone will take it. As Deloitte & Touche Internal Auditor Eric Hespenheid and Rick Funsten recently said in a Deloitte Insights Podcast that Risk is the foundation of the entrepreneurial spirit. Knowing this does not excuse the actions of those that make bad decisions. I am not saying that if an investment goes south it was a bad one. This means that if there is too much of an inherent risk and steps aren't taken to minimize the risk then you get what you got coming.

Go into any deal with the knowledge that one day it will end, whether through default or the note is paid in full, it will end. Preparing for both will minimize the risk should something bad happening. Lastly, understanding that in this day and age stakeholders rule. They will drive what happens to their interests. However, there is no greater stake than cold hard cash, especially the cash that they plan to live off in retirement and if it is not there when they need it, they will not be happy campers.

So dear reader, why wait until something bad happens? Do something now, be aware of the consequences of what could happen to your money. Get informed NOW and not when it is too late. It is your money and you do have a right to do something about it.

KNOW WHAT INVESTMENTS YOUR FUTURE IS IN!!!



Reference:
Investopedia.com
Bloomberg.com

Sprint Logic

Over the past few days I have been picking up more and more chatter about the dismissal of 1,000 Sprint customers for "excessive" customer support calls and the couple hundred U.S. Army Soldiers that are being cutoff for "excessive" roaming. Yet these guys have been courting new business all over the media: TV, Print, and Internet. So they want new business and but not if you are going to make waves.

What kind of business sense is that?
I understand that there are times that customers have to be fired, I have done that on occasion. However, I have talked to the customers and let them know why the end of the road is fast approaching. I ended the business not because they were excessive callers or that they used the free services in an excessive manner, I ended the business relationship because I could no longer support them. However, I did leave things open such as if they ever needed my services, they would get it at the same price we parted ways at. I still call them to see how they are doing and they are still on my Christmas Card list, just to let them know that even though I don't see them as much as I have, I still value them.

Now, I am not asking Sprint to start handwriting Christmas cards. What I am asking is for them to be civil. What I am asking is for them to ensure that those they cut-off be given an opportunity to return, provided they learned their lesson of "excessive" support calls. However as for the SOLDIERS.

Talk about shooting yourselves in the foot. In case you didn't know SOLDIERS ROAM! That's what Soldiers do and you cannot change that. So, if you cannot deal with that fact, then you are right in cutting them loose. Just be sure you let them port their numbers when they take their money to the competition.

Do you think its best to so dramatically get rid of customers while you are courting new customers? The logic behind this action (or inaction) completely escapes me.

One Bad Organic Apple or One Bad Organic Narcissist

Yesterday on CNBC, I heard about the CEO of "Whole Foods Market posted messages on a Yahoo! chat forum under an alias for years, talking up his own company while predicting a bleak future for Wild Oats Markets, the rival it has since sought to acquire." (CNBC.com, 2007)

It seems that this guy took a play on his wife's name and made it his screen name. Then he proceeded to rip apart Wild Oats Markets while under that other persona.

What was this guy thinking?
He had a great thing going on at Whole Foods and he shot himself in the foot. Seems like some people are not happy unless they are stirring the pot. I personally LIVE for the stirring the pot. However, I do it when it has to be done and not for the sake of just doing it.

Moving on, so you ask how did he shoot himself in the foot?
Well it seems that he wants Whole Foods Market to acquire Wild Oats Markets. OK, so what's the big deal one company wants another company? The big deal is that this guy got caught making statements about a company that he wants to acquire. Why? To drive down the value thus drive down the price.

Isn't this the American way?
It may have been in your father's day but in a post- Enron world you can bet your ass it ain't the American Way. The American Way is to be open, transparent, and be above board with everything you do. Failing to do that, as John Mackey is finding out will lead him down a difficult path. The FTC has sued to prevent the acquisition from going through. Whole Foods Markets stakeholders, both internal and external, are wondering if his actions were illegal because they most certainly were unethical.

So where is the narcissism?
This guy really thought he would not get caught. Now that he is caught he acts like the FTC trapped him, was out to get him, and he should not be held accountable for the something he wrote in private. He event as far as saying "posted on Yahoo! under a pseudonym because I had fun doing it. Many people post on bulletin boards using pseudonyms."(CNBC.com, 2007) Sounds like he truly believes he has done nothing more than have a little fun. Meanwhile, this just proves that one bad ORGANIC apple does spoil the whole bunch.

Nice try buddy, next time how about recruiting some of the competition's customers and let them sink that ship, if it is as bad as you say.

You can check out the story at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/19700361

NEWSFLASH: DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE SIGNED

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

---

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton

=========
courtesy: http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/declaration_transcript.html

Protecting Your Data (an Intro)

I would like to take this time to introduce you to something that people talk about as important but only truly worry about when its gone. Data Protection/Data Integrity/Data Security. In the coming weeks, I will be posting to this blog, uploading some PDF files and even creating a PodCast or two talking about this subject. I will cover topics such as what you can do to protect your data on you PC, Laptop, UFD (Universal Flash Drive), and other data storage devices as well as ensuring that your data is safe and available every time you need it.

So get your thinking caps on because Summer School is in session. No, its not going to be that bad but we will be talking about some serious stuff so it might get a little sticky but nothing dangerous.

Talk to you soon,
Dave

Two Hotels, One Month, One Owner

Within the course of three weeks I have stayed in two hotels in two different cities both owned by the same company. The company happens to share the same name as that media hog (omit the letter g) that is FINALLY doing time for violating probation. Like all good criminals she is paying her debt to society, like it or not SHE IS A CRIMINAL, but I digress.

One stay was strictly for pleasure (well I thought it was for pleasure) the other was strictly for business.

The month of June started with the family and I hitting the Texas Highways to San Antonio for some R & R & R (Rest, Relaxation, and Recreating). Well that was the intent. Of ALL THE HOTELS that SAN ANTONIO has to offer to its visitors, we picked the HAMPTON INN. It, like others in the area, offered easy access to the Interstate (I-410) and proximity to the sites. Well, upon arrival (DAY 1) we were placed on the 5th floor. If there could be a smaller room it would have been appreciated. Don't get me wrong I must commend them for oh so delicately cramming two double beds in that room. Well not more than a few hours in, it happened. Someone had to use the bath room. Yep, you guessed it, it backed up. Well I called the front desk and told them our dilemma. The young man that answered said and I quote "I will try to find you a plunger so you can fix it." WHAT THE F**K???? OK, I did not say that but you can assured, dear reader, that was exactly what my mind was screaming.

We pressed on and went to dinner (Marie Callender's). Two hours later we came back and still no resolution. I called again to the front desk, I asked if he had found the plunger. He said that a guest had taken it and has not brought it back. I asked him if there was only ONE PLUNGER for the entire hotel? He said yes and that he would really try to find one for us. I asked him if he could get maintenance on it (I understood that maintenance was gone for the day) he said yes.

Well the next morning (start of DAY 2), after and VERY GOOD BREAKFAST the hotel offered (and by VERY GOOD I mean it was actually VERY GOOD and the lady running the breakfast show was TOP NOTCH, she took time from what she was doing to ask if we OK?, did we need anything, and wished us a good day) I called the front desk as to when Maintenance would be there to fix the toilet? The response was that he did not know there was a problem. I explained to him the previous evening's communication with the overnight front desk staff. The person I was talking to said that he would get Maintenance up there ASAP. Well within the hour the Maint Tech was there and solved the issue. We were happy campers, or so we thought.

DAY 2: Evening: The day found us at SEAWORLD SAN ANTONIO. That place ROCKS! A quality place, quality shows, quality rides, and nothing but quality people. Well it was back to the hotel for some freshing up and then dinner. Surprise nothing wrong, so far.

DAY 3: No problem...funny thing though the Maintenance guy saw me in the Hallway and said that he would be by to fix the toilet. I told him nothing is wrong. He said that he had a call from someone on the 5th floor that their toilet was not flushing properly. FINALLY we are not alone in this.

DAY 4: Yep its back, backed up again. Called Maintenance, this guy was patient and got it resolved.

DAY 5: Morning: Yep it did it again, we called to complain once again. It got fixed. However this time it did not last by dinner it was backed up again.

DAY 6: We left and they still had a backed up toilet.

Please, note that they did offer to move us to another room. However as we met up with out of state family there it was convenient to have adjoining rooms so we opted out of the move. The offer came on DAY 2 and not the first night.

The takeaway from this is simple. Being a hotel that primarily caters to tourists they should try hard than what they did. Mind you the only individual that needs to brush up on his CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS is that night clerk, it sounded like the customer's toilet backed up was an inconvenience to him. I gotta tell you those 5 NIGHTS and 6 DAYS we spent approximately $700 dollars in hotel room alone and anyone would expect a little more for a hotel that wants a part of the tourist dollars that San Antonio, Texas brings in.

As aside from the toilet troubles this guy ruined the entire trip. His lack of attention to detail (by not entering the Maintenance Request) and trying to find a plunger for us to fix the toilet really signified a ROCK BOTTOM approach to TAKING CARE OF THE CUSTOMER. Then again, that might be why this guy was working the overnight shift.

Now let's fast forward to this week. I found myself in CORPUS CHRISTI, TX on official business. I took another chance at a HILTON hotel: EMBASSY SUITES. Talk about DAY and NIGHT. From the moment I entered the building, the guy at the reception desk greeted me and seemed genuinely happy that I was at his hotel. He told me about the Manager's Reception, breakfast. This guy was sharp.

DAY 1: EVENING: I walk into the room and am I surprised. Everything that was mentioned on the webpage was available. They got it right. I slept like a log that night. It was a great night's sleep.

DAY 2: MORNING & CHECKOUT: HOT WATER!!! No waiting...I sure hated getting out. The shower head ROCK. Ingenious how they put their 1-800 number on it, just in case you want one. Well I do want one but I can't remember the number. BREAKFAST: Was HOT and best of all COOKED TO ORDER. While it was not the best Ham, Mushroom, and Cheese omelette, it was the best one I have had all month. It was fantastic. Coffee was hot and the best part of the entire stay was when the HOTEL MANAGER stopped by my table and asked me how was everything then (it gets better) dove right in and started busing tables. They had plenty of staff to do that. This manager had no problem picking up half empty bowls of cereal. BRAVO!!!! That act alone convinced me that Hilton Hotels are not just about the money but they want to do right by the customer. This manager is a shining example of that.


SIDE NOTE: INTERNET SERVICE. Both hotels offered in-room WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS. What I find strange is that at the HAMPTON INN the access is FREE. However, at the EMBASSY SUITES the access was $10 for 24hours, which by the way did not let me access after 10 hours. This makes no sense...no sense at all. It should be FREE AT ALL HILTON LOCATIONS or its NOT AVAILABLE. Mixing the services will definitely lead to building many different brands and NOT one unified brand: Hilton Family hotels.

A Few Choice Words from about the House

I spoke at and hosted my first Business Luncheon and Work session today. It was with a company that I have been working with for over 10 years. It was the first time that I had anything remotely social with any of my clients. From the first view out, I would have to say that everyone had a great time, enjoyed the food, and were able to open up when we went into the work portion of the afternoon.

The company is a Medical Records Billing organization. They have two locations right now and are looking to expand their operations. Having worked with them for over 10 year I have a warm spot for them—they were my first "major" client, until then the were some hit and miss operations but for the most part none have lasted this long. They face enormous challenges—as every aspect of medical records services becomes more and more stringent when it comes to security. These guys are on top of the security issue but could always stand to do more. That was what today was all about: Make their application an all encompassing app that is built according to the stakeholder specifications.

While it is great to be at home. It is even better to wake up, have breakfast, move the backyard, then fire up the Barbecue pit and then have a Business Meeting with a bunch of great people. As Tom Peters said, "One can push and prod far more effectively in one's own culture." Nothing could be more spot on. I was in my groove today. Everyone opened up, everyone shared, everyone was happy. We meet again at the end of the month.

Tip #3

Hurricane Tip #3: EVACUATIONS.

If the word to evacuate is given do you know where you are going? When should you evacuate?

Don't wait until the word is given to come up with the answer. Plan your escape route and tell someone. Know where you are going and how your are going to get there.

Use Mapquest.com to plot out all the gasoline stations and dining facilities along the way.

Remember, make a copy of the route and information to put in your car, the other to a family member or friend out of your area.

Lastly, when it comes time to go...stick to your planned ROUTE. Do NOT deviate from it unless you tell the person who you sent a copy to first. That way everyone knows what the latest is.

Be careful if you have to leave. Remember to pack what you essentially need to include all your important papers.

Hurricane Season Tip #2

Tip #2: Get your survival kit ready (if you are staying home).

• Battery Operated or Hand Crank Radio/TV
  
• Flashlights (w/spare batteries)
• Emergency Candles (and lanterns for candles)
• 2 Weeks supply of food (you chance to try that Astronaut Ice Cream)
  
• Water 1 gallon per person per day x 2 weeks (1 person = 14 gallons, 2 people = 28 gallons, you get the picture)
• Charcoal (only for OUTDOOR USE) & GRILL (excuse to buy a new one)
• Lighter Fluid (4 uses per plastic can)
• Fill bathtub with water to use to fill the toilet tank ONLY!!! should the municipal water pressure be low.
• Anything that makes you feel comfortable (i.e., a blankee, a book, iPod)
  

another post soon.

Are You Prepared? It's that time of year, again.

Hurricane season is set to begin next week and are you prepared? Everyone has seen what the weather has been so far this year: Late Winter Blizzards, Tornadoes everywhere (even in places they normally aren't supposed to be that bad: Del Rio, Texas & Enterprise, Alabama), Flooding Rain, and today 3 inches of snow in Butte, Montana. Well if that is any indication of what is yet to come, then we got a long summer ahead.

So, now is the time to get ready. Throughout the holiday weekend I will be posting some helpful tips for everyone to get ready for the start of the Hurricane Season. I will start this off with the first tip.

Tip #1: Back up all your data. That's right, go into the season knowing that your data has been backed up. No matter, how you do it, just do it. If you need help on how to do it, drop me a note I will help.

the dip (an update)

Well, I picked up my copy of The Dip by Seth Godin this past Monday night. I put off reading it for a day as I was going on a day trip today. The plan was for me to drive 2.5 hrs to our destination and a friend would drive the 2.5 back. It was then that I was going to read. Well plans change, it ended up with me driving all 5 hours. However, when I got home I did manage to read the first 13 pages. So my update will be on those first 13 pages.

WOW!!!

Seriously, Godin starts off with a body slam and a DDT to the mat with his latest writing. He shook me to the core when he slammed my favorite all time NFL Head Coach Vince Lombardi. He starts of by telling us that the famous quote "Quitter never win and winners never quits" is bad advice. OK, Seth you got my attention with that one. He sets up the book nicely, but on page 13 he gave me fuel for my fire in what I feel is the most powerful line so far of his book, "If you're not going to put in the effort to be my best possible choice, why bother?"

This is going to be a GREAT BOOK. More reports from the frontline to follow.

Egg of the Phoenix

Christina Baldwin, educator and public speaker, said "Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix."

Can she be anymore right? Change is most definitely an opportunity for something new. It is the time for a personal change. A time to seize the opportunity and become someone else, that someone you always wanted to be. Now I could sit here all day and night and mutter something cheesy, yet profound. But I won't, I will just leave you thinking about that awesome quote. It sings.

Till next time.

Mergers and Acquisitions breeds Mediocrity

Sometime over the past week, I either heard in a podcast or read it somewhere about how when companies merge or acquire one another, one of the companies takes on the other's rules, policies, and procedures. That's a great idea, that way everyone is on the same sheet of music.

Well there is a problem, there are organizations that are not undergoing an M&A but for the sake of change or even to make an already bad situation better start to take on the look and feel of other companies/organizations. While this may appear to be a good thing, it actually ends up doing nothing for the organization that wanted the change or needed to get out of a bad situation.

This is because they are not changing anything. They are not being innovative or creative, they are only doing what the other guy is doing and to the other guy, its the same old thing that they have always been doing. Therefore, this means that while it may work in an M&A situation, it won't in a critical change situation in fact it just means trading in old mediocrity for new mediocrity and is that a good thing?

Seth Godin does it again

This week, world famous interrupter, Seth Godin publishes his next book, The Dip. It is probably his first true self-help book. The 800CEORead.com website states, "Every new project (or career or relationship) starts out exciting and fun. Then it gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low point - really hard, really not fun. At that point, you might be in a Dip (which will get better if you keep pushing) or a Cul-de-sac (which will never get better, no matter how hard you try). The hard part is knowing the difference and acting on it."

It goes on to say about the book, "The Dip is a short, fun-to-read book in the tradition of Fish, packed with powerful ideas and a graph that changes everything. It will forever alter the way people think about quitting - and success."

This sounds great and who knows it might just work with me. If this book is anything like what Fish offered, then we have a sensation. However, we'll now have to wait and see if the proof is in the pudding. I will post a review after I get my copy.

What is my name?

I just got a phone call. You know those phone calls, solictors. Even though I am on the NATIONAL DO NOT CALL LIST, they still call. When I tell them that my number is on the DO NOT CALL LIST they tell me that they are exempt because they are raising funds and not selling something. Always a loophole...Well, not today.

The home phone rang and I answered by saying "Hello" twice there was a silence, that should have tipped me off. That silence is the voice recognition system deciding whether you are you or your answering machine. Well some male voice comes on and starts to ask if he can speak to Mr. GER-ABALDA (what was that?). It was at this point that I told him as politely as I could, "If you cannot say my name right then you do not need to speak to me, good bye" *CLICK*

ATTENTION EVERYONE:

• if you can't say a name then don't make the call.
  
• If think you are going to have problems a name ask for help
• If there is no one that can help then make the call but say you are going to spell the name of the person you are asking for, it won't make you sound weak to spell a name.
• You will sound weak of you can't say a name properly.

How about showing a little respect, you might have had a chance to say your script before I would have hung up on you.

Where have I been?

Its like I have got to stop disappearing like this. It is April 17, are your tax returns in?