Why is Everyone So Angry?

I guess "everyone" is an overstatement on my part, but it sure seems like there are a lot of angry people in the United States these days. The conservatives are angry that Obama's health care plan has been signed into law. Fourteen states are so angry that they have sued the government over the law. Conservatives like Rush Limbaugh are so angry about the health care plan that they have resorted to comparing Obama to Hitler. I don't see the comparison.

Obama and his liberal friends have tried to do something to help all of us, not just the wealthy people that the conservatives bow down to. Hitler just tried to help the elite that he identified at the expense of everyone else. Hitler killed people. Obama is trying to help people. How are they similar in any way?

Many people are also angry that they have to complete their census forms. They think that there is too much government involvement in their lives. They want to be free from government control. The only problem is that if you don't complete the census forms, you local government will lose out on federal funding for things such as infrastructure and education spending. This means that the pot holes in your local roads may not get fixed or that the school your children attend may be overcrowded. There are many implications that I don't even know about. Just complete the census and stop being selfish!

Joe Biden was caught on tape at the signing of the health care plan. He whispered to Obama, "This is a big f***ing deal!" This has made some people angry. They cannot believe that the vice president said this. Come on! Do you expect me to believe that none of the other politicians use swear words. Maybe the conservatives want us to believe that they are good God-fearing church goes who never use that type of language, but I don't believe it one bit. I guarantee that at least ninety percent of the politicians use colorful language at least once a week. After all, they are very powerful men who are used to having their way and saying whatever they want when they think they are behind closed doors.

Give it a rest. Learn to control your emotions and use your energy for something positive. There are enough problems in this world that we do not need to worry about the vice president dropping a F-bomb while whispering to the president. Besides, it was a big f***ing deal! I can't fault a guy for showing some emotion.

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Why US is Getting Fatter

Since everyone is focusing on health care with the passing of Obama's reform, I found an interesting article on the use of High-fructose Corn Syrup. I have known for some time that it is not healthy. I have even suspected that it is really, really bad for you to consume. Now I have proof.

Princeton University researchers have released a report that focuses on research that was performed on rats. Some rats were given access to high-fructose corn syrup and some were given access to regular table sugar. With equal caloric intake of the two sweeteners, the rats who consumed the high-fructose corn syrup gained more weight. Long-term consumption even led to the rats gaining more weight around their midsection and increased levels of triglycerides.

One quote from the report really stood out in my mind. "Animals with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained 48 percent more weight than those eating a normal diet. In humans, this would be equivalent to a 200-pound man gaining 96 pounds" Wow! That is eye-opening.

So where did high-fructose corn syrup come from? HFCS, as it is known, was introduced to processed foods and soft drinks in the US from about 1975 to 1985. Prior to that time, the US Government was looking for something that corn could be used for. Corn was, and still is a subsidized crop in the United States so it made sense to try to find something else that it could be used for. Sugar prices began to rise in the late nineteen-seventies and the fairly new HFCS became a cheap alternative to food and beverage manufacturers.

High-fructose corn syrup is now consumed in greater quantities than regular table sugar. In 2005, Americans consumed a per-person average of almost 63 pounds of sugar per year. It is an ingredient in most of the products sold in US grocery stores today.

A few years ago, I tried to eliminate it from my diet. I grew disheartened upon examining products at the grocery store. It would be very expensive and a total diet change to completely eliminate it. It would be very beneficial to American society if we could completely eliminate it from the packaged food and beverages available to us. I think that they only way to achieve this is for the government to step in and drop the subsidy for corn. This is controversial because most of the sugar we consume comes from outside of the United States.

Most sugar cane is grown in countries located around the equator. These growing regions tend to have weather fluctuations that affect the crops availability. They also tend to experience political change that affects the infrastructure that makes it available for export to countries like the US.

On one hand, I am glad that my assumptions have been proven correct, but on the other hand I am disappointed that nothing has yet been done to try to fix this major problem. As we get more and more overweight, our health problems increase putting a strain on our health care system. Eliminating HFCS from our diets would be one way to help reduce the cost of the health care plan that Obama just signed into law.

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What Happened?

I never thought this would happen. I actually did not even think about it happening while it was happening. The Queen and I have been sickened by people who act the way we are now acting. We love our puppy!

I don't know what is different about this dog as compared to the last dog we had. The only thing that I can think of is that this new dog is a puppy. We found out yesterday that she was born on January 11th, 2010. This makes her ten weeks old.

Cheeseball has really bonded with Cocoa Bean already and it has just been a little more than two days since we got her. This is interesting since she was really afraid of most dogs before this. She did not even want a dog for a pet. We really had to convince her that it would be great to get a puppy and let them grow up together. We think that this is the best way to get her over her fear.

She has been reading outside with Cocoa on her lap the last two days. We have also taken Cocoa on a walk to the mailbox the last two days. On Monday she refused to walk and one of the girls had to carry her. Yesterday she ran almost the whole way there and back. It is really funny to watch her run. Because she is so small she almost jumps when she runs, especially through the grass.

I scheduled a veterinary appointment for Cocoa yesterday. We are also going to start having the girls take her for training starting on Saturday. We are doing everything the right way when it comes to this puppy.

We have friends who treat their dogs like they are children. We have always thought that was silly. I just never thought that the entire family would feel this way about a puppy. Cocoa Bean has definitely won us over.

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Health Care Reform?

Obama signed the healthcare reform bill into law today. Before it even happened, the state attorney general from Virginia threatened to sue if it was signed into law. After Obama signed the bill, thirteen other states sued the U.S. departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor. The lawsuits focus on the "individual mandate" that requires most people to have insurance or pay a penalty.

I just don't understand this thinking. Why is it a bad thing to have every citizen in a country with health insurance. This takes the burden off of tax payers. As our system is currently designed, tax payers support the people who do not have health insurance that go to the emergency room when they have a cold. That is a burden in my opintion. When you look at the big picture, I believe that while health care reform is a radical concept for us to accept it will save us all money in the long run.

I have an open mind when it comes to Obama's health care bill. I can see that it can really accomplish some great things. I can also see that it could fail miserably and cost us all a lot of money. Every radical plan has both of those potential outcomes and that really depend on how they are managed. If the right person, or group, is in charge of the reform it will be the best thing that has ever happened to this country.

While I am on the reform topic, I would be remiss if I did not bring up law enforcement. Criminals currently get better health care while in prison than the correctional officers who keep them in line get. They have newer facilities and get guaranteed medication every day without fail. Nobody outside of prison is guaranteed to be able to afford their medications every time they need them. My family members have been prescribed medications before that our insurance plan did not cover and we did without them. Prisoners never have to make this sacrifice. In addition, they are transported to hospitals by helicopter or ambulance whenever the on-call doctor can not come in to the prison to treat them. All of this is at the taxpayers expense.

If we are willing to spend this much on healthcare for people who have broken the law, why are we not willing as a society to provide basic health care insurance to law abiding, productive citizens? I just don't understand how we think as a society. If we can afford to do it, why not? We pay some of the lowest taxes in the world and are still able to have a government that functions well most of the time and is able to provide necessary services to our people. Let's keep doing that!

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Our New Addition

We finally brought a new addition into our family. She is a beautiful young girl. Her name is Cocoa Bean.



I was not ready for another dog. I have really been enjoying my nice clean back yard with no holes or extra clean up work, but Cheeseball has been asking for a pet. My first suggestion was a fish. She told me that you cannot play with a fish so she didn't want one. She asked for a hamster. I said no. She asked for a cat. I said no. She asked for a rat. I said no.

The Queen told me about a co-worker whose dogs had puppies. She told me about the puppies and I said no. She told me that she wanted to go by her friend's house on Saturday and I agreed. I didn't even put together that this trip would be about the puppies. She showed them to us and The Queen fell in love with one of them. And I was smitten myself. We talked a little about it that night, but did not make a decision.

The next morning I told her I would like to talk to the girls about it. Before I went for a run I told the girls that I wanted to have a family meeting. When I got back I told them that I would be OK with getting a puppy if they promised me that they would take care of it. We told them that we would even pay for them to take the puppy for training. They agreed, so The Queen called her friend and told her.

We went to pick up the puppy on Sunday afternoon. The girls both fell in love with her. We took her to PetSmart to get food and supplies and to look into training. When we finally got home later last night, Cheeseball could not stand the fact that the puppy was whining. We convinced her to leave the puppy alone. She slept in a box in the laundry room.

This morning, The Queen needed to get some clothes out of the dryer at six o'clock. She went in and the puppy started whining. Cheeseball came right in to take care of the puppy. She took her outside and was very concerned that it was too cold for her. I tried to tell her she would be OK, but she was still worried.

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Happiness?

Does anyone really know what happiness is? Are you happy when you are just coasting through life without any challenges? Are you happy when you have little to no responsibility? Are you happy when you are in a relationship? What is happiness?

I work with some guys who are seriously defective when it comes to relationships and life. One of them has never been married, but was in a serious relationship for more than ten years. She left him and now he is bitter, grumpy and nearly cries whenever he talks about the past. He does not think clearly and is on the verge of hating all women.

He accepts that fact that he is a little bit crazy now and has read books about what happens when a relationship ends. What he has read has told him that it will still take him about three years to get over his ex-girldfriend. He is OK with that, but he is still very emotional. The good thing is that he knows what he is going through and has accepted it. The bad part of all this is that he is now very cynical.

Another co-worker was talking about how needy his girlfriend is. She has to be with him all of the time. He sounded like a sixteen year old boy. The only problem is that he is in hi fifties and his girlfriend is sixty. All he does is complain about their relationship. I think he is putting up a front, becuase maybe he feels like that is how men are supposed to act when they are in a relationship. I don't like that at all. Be a man and admit that you are happy in your relationship.

Yesterday, he was complaining again and started talking about his ex-girlfriend that he lived with for sixteen years or so. She had no problem going off and doing her own thing and he did the same. They would do things with their friends instead of eachother. I asked him where she was now. He totally missed what I was saying and told me that she was probably at home watching tv. I repeated my question and he just kind of froze like a deer in headlights. I told him that was why she left him. There was nothing keeping her in the relationship because she already had her own life.

The Queen was telling me about a conversation she had yesterday with a few of her friends. Two of them were talking about how happy they were and the third asked them how it felt to be happy. Then they talked about people who cheat and how it is unbelievable that their spouse is really in the dark and thinks they are happy. I told The Queen that it is because the spouse only thinks they are happy, but is so selfish that they have not asked the other party if they are happy. They probably do not even listen to them at all.

I think my comments caught her off guard. I then told her that she needs to stop working so much and have work-life balance. She is working had to try to get a permanent teaching contract and I appreciate that. We just need to keep working hard to make sure that we have a strong relationship with eachother and our children, especially if we finally get to add another child to our family.

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Free Speech in the Classroom

I heard a news report this morning about a local junior college "professor" that used the bible as fact and said that homosexuals were mentally ill. The ACLU is suing the school on behalf of some of his students who have complained about what he is teaching. The class that he made those remarks in is a health class.

I am all for professors having free speech. At a university, it is the job of the professor to not only teach classes but to also perform research in their field of expertise. They publish books and speak at events. They are used to formulating their own opinions and it is only natural that they would give their opinions in their classrooms and lecture halls.

This so called professor is teaching at a state junior college. There are no requirements for research at most of these colleges and most of the instructors are not even professors. Professors usually have a PhD or have completed a post-doctoral fellowship. This level of education is not required at most junior colleges because of the high salary requirements.

The problem I have with what this individual is saying in his classes is that he is teaching hate. He is singling out certain people as not normal and that is not acceptable in a higher learning environment. I also have a very big problem with god-fearing Christians hating people. You may think that the word hate is too strong, but I think that anytime that you talk about a group of people as not being normal or not being right, that you are using hate. I always thought that Christians were supposed to love all of God's creatures and hate just does not seem to align with those beliefs.

I also have a problem with a well-educated man using the bible or any other religious book as fact. It is generally accepted that these books are not fact, but rather parable. These books are meant to tell a story and teach a lesson. They are not fact and accepting them as such can get you into trouble. There is, for instance, scientific proof that evolution is a fact. The moment you dismiss this fact and inject your religious beliefs into the argument is the moment that you lose all credibility.

It is not the job of a public junior college instructor to inject his religion into his teaching. I think a really good example would be if a Muslim instructor started teaching the Qur’an as fact in a city with a predominately Christian population. The people in that community would call for the firing of that instructor and would not rest until it happened. The instructor that caused this lawsuit happens to teach in a very conservative, predominantly Christian area. For this reason, most of the people in the community support him. That does not make what he is doing right and the ACLU is standing up for the little guy in this situation. I support them for that, but I am not sure that I want to censor professor's speech. This is a very tricky topic.

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Productivity Improvement

I have been reading a lot about how to improve my productivity. I really need to focus a lot of attention on this task so I can be more efficient. I manage my time pretty well, but I do get buried by the less important tasks quite often. I am not usually late on my projects, unless there is a legitimate reason.

I see real value in becoming more productive. After all, that is the only way to effectively increase your income. I plan to start my own business on the side while I am still employed full time. In order to accomplish this task, I will need to be much more organized. I will also need to learn to prioritize items much better than I currently due. I am starting to see that the secret to business success is organization. It doesn't matter whether you pay someone to keep you organized or you do it yourself, but it has to be done.

I read some advice from one blogger that recommended that you hand write your task list. Her feeling was that if the task is important enough to be written by hand that it is important enough to be on your task list. I agree with this to a certain extent. I can see more shuffling and moving of items on an electronic task list. I also don't know if I want to have access to my task list at all times. If I keep my list in a nice Moleskine notebook, which I already have, it will take on more importance for me. I really like these notebooks a lot because they have an archival feel to them. They feel like something you need to hang on to because it will be important in the future.

I may give this a try, since I know I have to do something. My only problem with a hand written task list is that I make fun of one of my coworkers for walking around with a small yellow note pad in his back pocket. I guess I can still look down my nose at him if my task list is in a Moleskine notebook.

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Americans Killed in Mexico

I saw on the news this morning that a couple of Americans were gunned down by a drug cartel in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico over the weekend. An American consulate worker and her husband were shot while driving in their car. Their seven-month-old daughter was in the car with them and was not shot. This is just the latest drug cartel related killing of Americans in Mexico.

This is a social issue, not a law-enforcement issue. The people of Mexico are afraid of the drug cartels and they are worried that if they step forward to try to stop them they will be targeted. This is the problem in most developing countries that have crime problems. It will continue until the people stop accepting the criminal activity and stand together to put a stop to it. The police and other law enforcement departments can only do so much to try to stop them. The biggest problem is that these governmental agencies typically have limited funds and manpower when compared to the criminal groups.

The Mexican government has realized that this is a social issue and has begun focusing on changing the social issues in Ciudad Juarez. The United States has continued to provide monetary support to the Mexican government allowing agencies to purchase x-ray machines and even helicopters. The FBI and DEA continue to provide support for investigations when American citizens are involved in the drug cartel violence.

My biggest problem with all of this is that if Mexico really wants to change, the people will need to be the leaders of that change. They cannot sit back and wait for the Mexican government to make the change happen, which is what they typically prefer to do. Mexico is not known for major social change happening organically at the hands of the people anymore. In the past they have had change happen in this manner, but it seems like the people have become more accepting and less active in recent history.

I personally love to visit Mexico. I find the culture and people very interesting. There is a lot of history to explore. My wife's grandfather still lives in a small mountain village in central Mexico. We have visited him there twice and have really enjoyed the trips. The village is in Michoacan, which has had a lot of drug cartel violence recently. We have been talking about going back, but I don't know if this year will be a good time with all of the violence that is happening.

Ciudad Juarez is located just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the world with a current population of about 1.5 million people. Juarez and El Paso make up one of the largest binational metropolitan areas in the world with a combined population of about 2.4 million people. The Juarez-El Paso border crossing is one of the busiest US-Mexico border crossings with more than 600,000 people crossing every day.

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Daylight Saving Time and New Exercise Routine

I hate Daylight Saving Time. I lose more than an hour when the time changes. I get so tired this time of year. I think it may be due to allergies, the time change, and the weather change all together. I usually struggle to wake up and get to work at my normal time for a few weeks. This year I wanted to change this.

I decided that I was going to start doing my exercises in the morning. The only problem is that this change was going to coincide with the time change. I decided to press forward and use it as a way to let the time change affect me less.

I woke up yesterday at about three o'clock and could not go back to sleep. I just laid in bed until my alarm went off at four o'clock. I finally got out of bed about five minutes later and got ready to exercise. It was tough to wake up this early and be ready to exercise, but I struggled through. I yawned almost the entire hour.

I felt good after I was done, but I was tired most of the day. I started getting groggy around ten in the morning. It was a real struggle to make it through the day. I picked up Cheeseball at her after school program and headed for home. I thought I might fall asleep and even asked her to wake me in time to make dinner if I nodded off. It didn't happen even though I was very tired. I made dinner and had every intention of doing some abdominal exercises, but I got tied up paying bills and doing some financial work.

Today is day two of my new exercise plan, and I must say that I am extremely tired. I woke up this morning at about a quarter after four. I felt more tired than yesterday, but I did not yawn through my exercise. I guess this means that I will be able to stick to my routine.

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The iPad

I am not sold on the iPad. I think it is too large and just does not fit into a well defined nitch. I think there is some very cool technology in the device, but I just don't think I will be purchasing one.

I like the size of the Kindle better and I like the fact that you don't need to pay for internet access to download a book from Amazon.com. I like that it has a paper-like display which will make it much easier to read books on. I don't like the navigation. I don't like that the screen is so much smaller than the overall device. I don't like that you cannot go into a store and touch one and try it out. I am impressed that it is the best selling item on Amazon.com.

When it comes to the iPad, I like that it has a color screen which will make it great for viewing magazines and browsing the web. I like the navigation because it is very intuitive. I like the fact that the screen dominates the device. I like the fact that it uses Wi-Fi. As I said before, I don't like the size of the device. I don't like the price tag. I am very impressed that they sold 51,000 preorders for the iPad in the first two hours it was available.

I am not in the market for one of these devices yet. I am going to wait and see how things shake out. I think Apple has a better idea of how it should work because they have experience with the iPod and iPhone and iTunes. Their system will be much easier to use and will be a much better experience. They just have years of experience with user interface design which Amazon.com is lacking. At this point I would lean toward the iPad, but I saw another reader in Popular Science magazine that had a paper-like display on one side and a color screen on the other. It opens like a book with one on each side. Now that is a great idea.

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Long Flight Home

I had a lot of time on my long flight back to Los Angeles from Puerto Rico. I read What the Dog Saw for quite a while. I read some magazine articles. I listened to the audio book Tribal Leadership. I even slept for a while. There are not many things to do when you are stuck in a seat for nine hours.

I found the free download link for Tribal Leadership on the Zappos website. I have been interested in Zappos and their CEO Tony Hsieh for some time. I think the he and the company do things differently and it works great. I would love to work for a company with a culture like theirs. Because they offered the free download link, I decided to give it a listen. It does not disappoint.

I got all the way through chapter seven on my flight. It was very interesting information. The authors of the book define 5 tribal stages:

Stage 1 is reserved for criminals or those who exhibit criminal or violent behavior.
Stage 2 is for people who believe that "my lief stinks." This is the dominant culture in twenty-five percent of organizations according to the authors.
Stage 3 is for people who believe "I’m great, and you’re not." An organization that has this stage as the dominant culture is a group of individuals who do not want to share information with coworkers and are out for themselves. It is not all bad though, because these people will out work their competitors. Salesmen are usually stuck in this stage.
Stage 4 is for the people who shift their focus to the group instead of themselves. They no longer believe that "I'm better." They now believe that "we’re better" and that "life is great." This is a big shift and is what makes an organization a great place to work.
Stage 5 is when people believe that "we can make a global impact." The authors of the book say that only two percent of organizations reach this stage and that they often oscillate back-and-forth between stages four and five. Companies that reach stage five are truly great organization.

As I was listening to the description of these stages, I began to identify which departments in my company are at which stage. I think some of the departments are in a mix of two different stages. I even think that you can break it down further and find out which stage each employee is in. I know that there are several people in my company who are stuck in stage three, but the majority of people are in stage two. I think of the people in stage three as being hoarders of information and people who have not necessarily earned respect. They try to do things their own way, but when they need something from you they expect you to drop everything and give them what they need. They are dysfunctional. I think we have a long way to go if we want to be a great company and I don't know if we have the commitment and leadership to change our culture.

I don't know when I am going to have time to finish listening to the audio book, but I need to make time. I even want to buy the book after I am done listening to it. I am also thinking about passing along the audio book to people in my company who I think are ready to listen, learn and try to take us to the next stage. There are only a few that I think are ready.

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Obamacare and the Tea Party

I was watching the morning news this morning as I was getting ready for work. There was a segment about Obama's health care reform plan. I missed part of it, but I think it was talking about people who report medical fraud. It showed a very excited Obama talking about the real opportunity of his health care plan passing. It also showed health care plan supporters protesting somewhere.

The next shots were the Tea Party and the person they were showing called the health care plan Obamacare. Wow, that is very witty. This group seems to be all about fear, hate and clever word play. I have not heard any valid arguments from them as to why the health care plan is a bad thing. They are not original at all.

They chose their name to appear to be patriotic, referring to the Boston Tea Party. That protest happened because the colonies were being taxed heavily and were not represented in the British government. To protest this, they sneaked onto the British ships in Boston Harbor and dumped the tea overboard. They were patriots and were protesting something that was affecting everyone in the colonies in a negative way. The British were taxing the colonies in order to support the government.

This new Tea Party group stole their name from these original patriots and are using the name to try to give their cause some credibility. Groups love to latch onto names and words that give their silly cause credibility. Whenever I hear about groups doing this, I instantly become skeptical of their cause. If there was a reason to be concerned, the group would not need to resort to these tactics.

I don't know why people are against health care reform anyway. Health care costs go up considerably every single year, even when the economy is struggling. The insurance companies increase their plan costs or co-pays and don't increase the service or the items they cover in the plan. That seems to be something similar to taxation without representation if you ask me. That is what the Tea Party should really be concerned with.

Anyone who has spent any time at all going to doctor's offices or hospitals knows that our system is broken. People go to the emergency room all the time for colds and other basic sicknesses because they do not have health insurance. This forces all of us to wait for long periods of time in the emergency room to get care when we have real emergencies. It costs all of us money because the government is left to pay the bill for these uninsured people. This is actually costing us more than reform ever would.

The other problem is the doctors know what the insurance plans will and won't pay for. So they will just run test after test or prescribe medicine in efforts to "try" to solve the issue you are visiting them for. They don't really try to diagnose the problem and come up with a treatment. Instead they just try things until they find something that works. For instance, my Dad was having seizures. His doctor just kept experimenting with medications until he found something that worked. The problem was that my Dad had to go to the hospital several times because the medications were causing him to have really bad seizures. So this medical practice cost the insurance company more money than it should have if the doctor would have just done his job the first time.

Doctors also refuse to communicate with each other. So if your primary doctor refers you to a specialist, many times the specialist will have duplicate tests run on you. This happens either because the doctors are not communicating or because the specialist knows that the insurance will pay for the test to be run again, so they just do it. They are taking advantage of the insurance system for their own personal gain.

Don't get me wrong, I think the good doctors earn their money. I don't believe they are over payed at all. Medical school is a big investment and they deserve to make a lot of money. That is not the problem here at all. The real problem is that the insurance system is broken in a way that does us, the patients, a disservice. We deserve more and that is why I support health care reform.

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Small Stakes at All Pro Pizza

I rushed straight from the airport to All Pro Pizza on Saturday night to catch my brother-in-law's new band, Small Stakes, play their first show in town. They have played other shows out of town on Sunday nights, so this was the first one that we could catch. It was an all ages show, so the whole family went. They played a mix of some of the songs from his previous band and some new songs.

The Queen and I really enjoyed his shows when he was playing with his previous band, The Everyday Theory. I helped them out by making show fliers, taking photos at their shows, producing some of their demo songs, building a band website and designing the packaging for their CD. I had a lot of fun doing this stuff, so I was looking forward to hearing the new band play live.

I have to be honest, I was exhausted. My flight from Puerto Rico was delayed so I ended up getting home about two hours later than I expected. I rushed back to town and went straight to the show without even going home first. The good thing was that pizza and beer were waiting for me there. The show was good and because I travel with my camera, I offered to take some photos. I was really experimenting and had a few shots that turned out great. I made prints and gave them to my brother-in-law's girlfriend last night.

I think the music was too loud for Cheeseball. She kept plugging her ears. There was also a weird older lady dancing and hugging everyone. She kept trying to talk to me, Cheeseball and The Queen all night, but I for one could not understand a word she was saying. She was drunk and might have also been on some harder stuff as well. All in all it was a good night.

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Last Thoughts From Puerto Rico

It was hot and humid. It rained very hard last night and has been drizzling so far this morning. I was told the weather is better in December.

Old San Juan has some history. It is the second oldest city in the Western Hemisphere according to a tour guide. I have not done the research, so I will have to believe her for the time being.

Old San Juan is a tourist trap. Prices for everything are high. They know they can charge the cruise ship passengers high prices. My hotel was not in Old San Juan, but sunscreen was more than eighteen dollars in the hotel store. Food was also very expensive in the hotel restaurants. It cost between fifteen and twenty dollars, including tip, to go anywhere in a taxi.

From talking to my friends in Puerto Rico and observing at the show, the people here will wait in line for hours for free food and drinks. They will do anything to get a deal. Bargaining is a part of their culture just like in Mexico.

And did I tell you how much they love music, drinking and partying? Let's just say they like it some and leave it at that.

I need to come back a few more times.

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And The Party Continued

The second day of the show was an exagerated version of the first. The party started even earlier on day two and did not even stop when the show ended.

At one point today I looked around the show and most people had a drink in their hand. I thought that must have been what it was like to do business in the 1950s and 1960s. At leAst according to what I see on Mad Men.

I can say for sure that Puerto Ricans love to party. They love music and they love to drink. They love to dance and love to have a good time.

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Puerto Rico is a Party

I arrived in Puerto Rico late last night and didn't have time to do anything but eat dinner. I thought I would wake up early this morning and see some sites. That didn't happen.

I got out of the hotel room really late. I went to old San Juan. The weather was horrible. It was about 89 degrees and extremely humid. I walked around the fort and then down a street or two. I was drenched. I had to take a quick shower and head to the show.

The trade show was very slow. They had a Latin/Caribbean themed opening ceremony to kick things off.

We brought out mojitos and sangria at about four o'clock and they were a hit. That is about the same time everyone else brought out the alcohol as well. It really turned into a big party. Everyone was drinking and the music was loud in most booths.

The show ended with a closing parade, which led to the opening night reception. There was entertainment and food, but it was just too busy to stick around.

One thing I learned today is that Puerto Ricans like to party and have fun. I guess I will see if it is any different tomorrow.

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Big Guy with a Booming Voice

I just got out of a meeting with a potential customer. The owner of the company was a big guy with a booming voice. He was not loud and obnoxious, but his voice commanded attention.

Why does it seem like so many business owners fit this description? Are these guys taken more seriously and respected more, or are they just smart? Do they have the commanding voice and then get the opportunity, or are they intelligent then develop the commanding voice?

I don't know for sure, but there does seem to be a correlation. I have seen research that suggests that both tall people and good looking people have more earning potential. I think the same applies to those with a commanding voice.

Unfortunately, I am short and have a very weak voice. I don't command much attention. Maybe I need to look into learning to command attention.

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Some People Really Do Change

I am sitting in the DFW airport waiting for a connecting flight to Des Moines, Iowa. There is a very loud man talking, or yelling, into his Bluetooth headset in a Texas accent. He is being rude and obnoxious as he speaks to an insurance company customer service agent. He repeats over and over again that, "you took money out of my escrow account and are going to jack up my mortgage payment." hearing him talk somehow reminded me of a conversation I had with The Queen on Sunday.

We got a phone call that she answered. After hanging up she told me that it was a friend of ours who we had not spoken to for some time. She invited us to a birthday party for her husband. He is turning forty. She told The Queen that they don't drink in front of their kids, so kids aren't invited to the party. That was a shock!

I had to think about that statement for a while. I just had to let it sink in. I then told The Queen that we must be horrible parents. I thought some more, then asked, "Why do some people get so conservative when they get older?" I made a comment that we are modeling good adult behavior by always being in control of our drinking. Who knows how their kids will end up after not having drinking models while growing up. They could become alcoholics.

I have been seriously thinking about that last question since that day. Why do people feel like they need to become conservative as they grow up. People think that you have to be conservative to be an adult or a good parent. I disagree. I am a little more serious than I used to be, but I am much more liberal now then when I was young.

Growing up I would say that I was on the conservative side. Even through college I voted Republican. But as I have aged I have realized that most conservatives only think about themselves while liberals think about how what they do affects other people. I would say that I am fiscally conservative and have considered myself socially liberal. As I have grown, I am thinking more about disadvantaged people and how my actions can affect them.

I believe that I need to think more about how my actions affect other people and even the world. I also think that people who do not ever think about this are selfish, which most Americans are. Most people in the US are just concerned about accumulating stuff. They are concerned with keeping up with the Joneses. They are much less concerned with doing something good for other people. I would put most conservatives in this category.

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From The 4-Hour Workweek to What the Dog Saw

I am still on track with my goal of reading 12 books this year. I finished reading The 4-Hour Workweek yesterday on the last day of the month of February. The book was not an easy read for me because some of the information is presented in a get rich quick type of voice. I don't particularly like reading this type of material, so whenever it started sounding like it was heading in that direction I started to lose interest.

Overall, there is a lot of good information in this book. There are a lot of things that I can put into place that will help me achieve my goals. I have started dream lining in my head and have also started to think about a muse. My dream line includes being free to travel the world within the next five years. In order to achieve this goal, I need to find a muse quickly.

Until I find my muse, I can start putting some of the other ideas in the book to use in my current job. I am really thinking hard about trying to reduce the number of times per day I check my email. It is going to be really difficult for me to change this aspect of my day. I really pride myself in getting back to people as soon as I possibly can. I need to realize that it is not always necessary and I need to train people to expect a delayed response from me.

I also need to start developing check lists that I can pass off to other people so that they can do some of my daily tasks. I am not in a position to outsource my work to a virtual assistant in another country such as India, but I can start passing tasks off to other people in my company. This could potentially free up a lot of my time for more important tasks.

Although I have finished reading the book, I know that I will continue to reference portions of the book as I move forward on the task to meeting my goals. I will start to use the book as a guidebook on my path to dream line realization.

I started my next book at lunch today. I am reading What the Dog Sawby Malcolm Gladwell. I have really enjoyed reading his other books, so I am looking forward to this one. I am practicing the speed reading technique that Tim Ferriss wrote about in The 4-Hour Workweekand am already reading faster. I will give some mini reviews of What the Dog Sawas I get through it.

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