The Winds of Change are Blowing

Or if they are not quite blowing yet, they need to start soon. Out of the blue yesterday the owner of my company called a small meeting of some of the company managers together to discuss the performance of another manager. He had his mind made up before the meeting, he just wanted confirmation. I was in that meeting and brought up some key points about the manager in question. He did not fit our culture.

We do not have a well defined company culture, but this person just did not fit in with the rest of us. I would like to say that the rest of the managers in the company are team players. I would love to say that we work well together to implement change that affects our customers in a positive way. I would love to say that we have a clearly defined long term plan for the company. I would love to say that we are improving our product and the value we offer our customers. I would love to say that we have the best service in the industry.

We pretend that we have these things, but in reality our management team, including ownership, is just not committed to achieving them. I think these are the most important things that we as a company need to work on. We should be having weekly meetings on our status with each of those items on our hit list. We just don't.

I don't know how long we can go on without committing to these things and making our customers a priority. We, like many companies continue to pretend that the important things are important to us. We need to change that and make our customers a priority.

Read more...

My Story

I awoke this morning too late to exercise. I guess I am still feeling the affects of my sinus infection.

I laid in bed and my mind started going crazy. I remembered a dream that I had last night. In my dream I ran into my college room mate whom I have not seen for almost ten years. We were talking about life and our careers and he told me that he was thinking about going back to school to become a doctor. He started out as Pre-Med in college and then changed his major to business after taking Organic Chemistry.

In my dream we continued to talk about our lives and future opportunities. He kept talking about medical school. I told him that I would love to go back to school, but that I cannot afford it. I asked him how he would support his family if he did go back to school. He told me that it would not be that difficult for him since he would get a scholarship to attend. I told him that was great for him, but that I am still paying my student loans and am starting to pay my wife's student loans as well. He asked me if there was anyone who I could lean on for support and I told him that there was not. That is when I woke up.

I laid in bed for fifteen more minutes thinking about my life and how I got to the point I am at today. My life has been a struggle. Not in the traditional sense of struggling to stay alive or out of jail, but in a much different way. I have struggled my whole life to do what I am supposed to do. To do what other people think that I should do. I think about this almost every day. I am a very private person for this very reason. I only share the parts of my life that I feel are appropriate for my station in life. The things that I am expected to be experiencing.

I would absolutely love to go back to school. I want to be able to make a difference in the world. I want to make life better for people who are less fortunate. I would like to travel to Africa and help build a school for a village. I would like to travel to Mexico and teach life lessons to kids in a remote village. I would like to travel the world and learn from people of different cultures. I just cannot afford to do this. I don't have the time or the money.

I told The Queen this morning that I am thinking about writing my autobiography. I told her that my life has not been exciting, but that there are things that I have kept to myself my entire life that I feel like I am ready to share. She questioned me about those things and I told her that I did not want to burden her. She kept asking so I told her that I do not share my true feelings about how much things affect me. In particular, our financial situation weighs on me every single day. By American standards, we are in great shape financially. I am just not happy with where we are.

So Maybe I will start writing my autobiography today. Or maybe I won't. Who knows.

Read more...

Remember Grad Nite?

I was scratching my head trying to remember who played my Grad Nite when I was talking to Chels about her trip. I really struggled and the only musical act that I could come up with was Chaka Khan. I finally found a list and to my surprise, I was wrong. It was not Chaka Khan, but rather Midnight Star. I later remembered that Information Society may have played, but could not confirm it with anyone. Today I found that confirmation, so enjoy.

Here's a list of music acts that have played Disney's Grad Nite since 1972.

1972 — Duck, Saltwater Express, Crickett, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Stampeders, The Staple Singers

1973 — Danny Davis & The Nashville Brass, Ricky Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band, The New Seekers, Helen Reddy, The Spinners, Group Cassidy, Liberation

1974 — The Stylistics, Liberation, Canned Heat, Kool & The Gang, Brownsville Station

1975 — Kool & The Gang, Liberation, Sister Sledge, Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids, Hues Corporation

1976 — K.C. & The Sunshine Band, Natalie Cole, Ohio Players, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes

1977 — K.C. & The Sunshine Band, Starbuck, Hot, Flash Cadillac

1978 — Atlanta Rhythm Section, Sea Level, Hot, High Energy, Con Funk Shun, Solar Wind

1979 — Rose Royce, Starguard, Gary's Gang, Peaches & Herb, Solar Wind, The Races, Genes Cotton

1980 — K.C. & The Sunshine Band, Kool & The Gang, Robert John, Tantrum, Macar Brothers

1981 — Pure Prairie League, Sister Sledge, One Way Featuring Al Hudson, Terri Gibbs, Fantasy, Ricky & Tightrope

1982 — Pointer Sisters, Tommy Tutone, Bertie Higgins, Tierra, Michael Iceberg

1983 — Steel Breeze, Marshall Crenshaw, Dazz Band, Night Ranger, Burrito Brothers, Greg Kihn

1984 — Night Ranger, Dazz Band, Exile, Dwight Twilley, Weird Al Yankovich

1985 — Midnight Star, Shalamar, Teena Marie, Animotion, Run DMC, Shannon

1986 — Ready For The World, Rene & Angela, Animotion, Nu Shooz, Starpoint, Klymaxx, Miami Sound Machine, Sly Fox

1987 — Wang Chung, Glass Tiger, Ready For The World, Nancy Martinez, Oran Juice Jones, Bobby Brown

1988 — Expose, Run DMC, Force MDs, Michael Bolton, Club Nouveau

1989 — Samantha Fox, Information Society, Will to Power, Midnight Star, New Kids On The Block, Pasanda's, Surface

1990 — Jody Watley, Seduction, Stevie B., Skyy, Kevin Paige

1991 — Stevie B., Tara Kemp, En Vogue, Timmy T., C&C Music Factory

1992 — Shanice, RTZ, Restless Heart, Mint Condition, MC Lyte

1993 — Jon Secada, Shai, PM Dawn, Hi-Five, Classic Example, Boy Crazy

1994 — Hi Five, Mc Lyte, Zhane, Tag Team, Xscape

1995 — Shenandoah, Brandy, All-4-One, Changing Falls

1996 — The Rembrandts, Sammy Kershaw, Silk, Immature, Mickey Finn

1997 — Goo Goo Dolls, David Lee Murphy, Az Yet, Aaliyah

1998 — La Bouche, Backstreet Boys, Rhett Atkins, Allure, Reel Big Fish

1999 — Britney Spears, Reel Big Fish, Sister Hazel

2000 — Destiny's Child, Jessica Simpson, Youngstown, B.B. Mak

2001 — Tyrese, DJ Skribble, Nine Days, 3LW, Christina Milian, Tonya Mitchell

2002 — City High, DJ Skribble, Natural, Beki, Blaque, Christina Milian, Lil J., Petey Pablo

2003 — Mario, Daniel Beddingfield, Smilez & Southstar, Default, Nivea, New Found Glory

2004 — Monica, Simple Plan, Stacie Orrico

2005 — Yellow Card, Ciara, Ryan Cabrera, Kevin Lyttle\

2006 — Fall Out Boy, Omarion, Teddy Geiger, Simple Plan, Farnkie J, Fefe Dobson

2007 — Mario Vazquez, Cartel, The Fray, Cassie

2008 — Ne-Yo, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The Last Good Night

Read more...

I'm Back!

Well, almost anyway. I have been suffering through a sinus infection for the last week. I was exhausted all last week and it all came to a pinnacle on Friday. I left the office early and just crashed. I was supposed to go to a graduation that night, but backed out. The Queen attended without me. She called at about nine o'clock and told me that she had a sinus infection. She gets one every year, so she knows what they feel like. As soon as she said that, I knew that was what I was also fighting all week. We both went to urgent care on Saturday morning and we each got a prescription for a Z pack. We dropped Meg off at her cousins house and both just vegged all day.

It was great to get a medical confirmation that I was not just being lazy. I actually had something wrong with me that was zapping my energy and creating my writer's block. I was really starting to douby myself, so it was good to hear.

One positive thing that my sickness did for me was allow me to watch some movies for the first time in a long time. On Friday night I watched 13 Going on 30 with Meg. She really likes the movie and it is even enjoyable for me. I then watched another movie without her. After that we got back together and watched Up. I should say that she watched Up and I slept through most of it. What I saw of Up was good, but I just could not stay awake.

On Saturday, we dropped Meg off with her cousins after our doctor's appointment and ended up renting Invictus from OnDemand. It was a pretty good movie. It was really the first movie The Queen and I have watched together in a long time. I cannot even remember the last movie we watched in a theater, but I know that it was one that Meg wanted to watch.

The Queen is a movie buff. She will watch the same movie over and over again. She will buy it on DVD and then watch it every time she comes across it on TV. A good example of that is Overboard. She didn't buy that one, but she watched it every time it was on TV for about two years and it was on a lot. She also likes to watch Dances with Wolves every time it is on TV.

I am not a big movie fan. I usually watch a movie once and can't ever watch it again. That even applies to the movies I really like. In this respect, I am all alone in our house. Both Meg and Chels love to watch movies over and over again just like their Mom.

Read more...

Writer's Block or Rough Week?

I don't know if I am experiencing writer's block or if I am just having a rough week. Whatever it is, it is affecting most aspects of my life. I am really struggling to get up in the morning and exercise. I am also struggling to write on this blog. I guess maybe I just need a kick in the pants.

I have been exercising regularly for the last three months. I really enjoy most of my workouts, but it is getting tough to wake up in time to work them into my day. Maybe my boredom is that I am still stuck on the same workout. I need to change to my new workout next week and maybe that will solve my problem.

As for the writer's block, I blame the weather. It is very obvious that we are experiencing global climate change. We have had more rain than normal this year and the temperature is unseasonably low. This weather change is really affecting a lot of people where I live. More people than normal have been sick and allergies really seem to be hitting people hard, including me. I am struggling to breathe through my nose because I am always congested. I am also sneezing many times per day.

Read more...

Judge Yourself

The most difficult thing to do is judge yourself. It is always pretty easy to judge those around you. I am not saying that your judgements about them are always correct, but it is easy to do. It is much more difficult to take a long hard look at yourself to see what you are made of.

We have all heard of people moving away for college or travelling in order to find themselves. I myself did this totally unintentionally. I decided that I wanted to move away from my home town in order to go to college. I was not smart enough at that time to decide that I wanted to do it to better myself. I just wanted to get out of my home town. For this reason, my college experience was not all that it could have been. If I was moving away for college today, I think I could get a lot more out of the experience.

Self-examination is necessary for self-improvement. You have to want to change if you are going to change. These two phrases are basically saying the same thing with different words, but they are very true. I come in contact with many different people in my work life. Most of those people are unwilling to change. They have not examined themselves. They have not found themselves. I am open to change, but I have not done as much self-examination as I think I should.

I learned a lot about myself as I went through all of the paperwork for FamiliesFirst. Many of the forms that I completed asked questions that I have never asked myself before. I learned some things about myself and my family, but not as much as I could have. I am a very private person. I am not in touch with my emotions. I hold things in. I don't like to talk about things with other people. I feel embarassment, shame, or that I am letting people down. I don't know if that is something that is just hard-wired into men or if it is just something I stuggle with.

I really need to take a look at myself and learn who I am. I need to learn what I like and dislike. What I truly like and dislike, not what I think I am supposed to like and dislike. I have been trying, but I have a long way to go.

Read more...

I Judge

I know that I am a very judgemental person and I know that it is wrong. So, how do I change that aspect of my personality?

I don't think I look down on people or consider people to be beneath me, buy I do constantly judge the people around me. For instance, I look at the jobs my coworkers do and judge whether they are doing more than I am to contribute to the company. I judge my friends in order to decide how much time I want to spend with them. I think some of this is healthy, but I may take it too far.

I really believe that you have to surround yourself with people who have traits that you respect and want to emulate. So, how do you do this if you do not judge people? That is the dilemma that I am facing. Where do I draw the line? How do I change so that I am less judgemental? I need to find these answers in order to make myself a better person.

Read more...

We Are Ready

We had our final in-home interview with FamiliesFirst last night. It went great. I did not have to answer very many questions, but the girls had to answer quite a few. The Queen and I just had to fill out some more paperwork while the girls were being interviewed.

Our social worker was trying hard to talk us out of being foster/adoptive parents. She was telling us horror stories. I think she was just trying to see what our reactions would be and I guess she was satisifed. I was making dinner and helping Meg with her homework, so I did not pay much attention while she was not talking to me.

She told us that she has not learned anything from us that would prevent us from being foster/adoptive parents. She said that she would go back to her office and work on getting us certified. We really have no idea when they will call with a child or children. Toward the end of our interview, she got a phone call about some children that were being taken away from their mother. The children were five, three, one and a newborn. We all just kind of watched her in amazement as she was saying the kid's ages.

It is really hard for us to believe that there are people out there who either do now want to take care of their children or who are not capable of taking care of them. I know there are probably more than we think out there. It is all very sad.

One new piece of information she gave us is that a child will not be able to be adopted until they are placed in a stable home. For this reason, we may need to allow the child(ren) placed in our home visits with their family until the adoption is finalized. I thought all along that the child(ren) placed in our home would already be separated from their family and that we would not have to deal with their birth parents. I was wrong, but I think we can work through that without any issues.

Read more...

Long Weekend

Last Tuesday we were told by our social worker that we needed to have our spare bedroom ready for a child by today. The Queen and I talked about it and decided that our best option for a bed and dresser was to make the long trip to Ikea. The Queen and I both really like to shop at Ikea and they have good prices. I knew Unk Timmers was going to be in town, so I asked him to go with us. He agreed.

We had dinner with the fam on Friday night after Meg's track meet and we decided that we were going to leave at nine o'clock on Saturday morning. Saturday morning, The Queen decided that she needed to go to her classroom to get some things done so we cancelled the trip. After getting out of the shower, she decided the trip was back on. We ended up leaving at about ten thirty.

The trip to Burbank ended up taking us around three hours. It was the first time Unk Timmers shopped at an Ikea, so before we entered I told him he needed to prepare himself mentally. He had no plans to spend any money. He was just along for the ride.

As we walked through the showroom portion of the store he mentioned that he needed to buy a sectional soon. He started looking at them and ended up finding one that he liked. He said he might order it later.

We made our way to the bedroom furniture and found a bed, matress and dresser rather quickly. We made our way through the rest of the store much more slowly as The Queen was looking at every little thing trying to find items for her secret pal at work. We finally made it downstairs and picked up everything in the warehouse portion of the store. The Queen dissappeared and when I finally found her she had picked out a table and chairs for the patio. They were priced great, so I agreed to get them. Of course they were all sold out of the chairs so we found some alternatives and checked out.

Ikea was a mad house. The vehicle loading area was packed with people. It took me a while to get the truck parked there. We loaded up and hit the road. The trip home ended up taking us less than three hours.

Once home we began to put everything together. Unk Timmers was surprised at how easily everything went together and at the quality after it was built. I must say that Ikea has put a lot of thought into how their furniture is put together to make it the easiest and strongest. I am never dissappointed with my purchases from there. Granted, their stuff has the feel of a college dorm, but it is perfect for kid's rooms. Overall it was a great trip.

Read more...

Final Track Meet

Meg had her final track meet on Friday night. We invited my parents, my sister and neices and Unk Timmers to the meet. They all made it and were very supportive of Meg. I was scheduled to help time events.

Meg did not act like she was into her event very much before the meet. She did not ask me any questions. I gave her some advice and she was not very receptive. The one thing I told her that she paid attention to was to not let the tall girl from her school pull away from her again like she did the last race. That really sunk in.

I ended up having to time her race. For some of the races each timer took a lane and for the other races we took a finishing place. For Meg's race we ended up taking a finishing place because there were so many boys and girls running. I ended up timing for the fourth place girl.

Meg got off to a pretty rough start to the race. I did not see the actual start, but by the time I looked for her she was kind of lurching back because there was such a crowd around her. She struggled for ten seconds or so and then started to run her race. She has always run her eight hundred meter race at a good pace. It shows me that she has really practiced well.

She ran a really good race and as she got to the final straight section of the tack she really picked up her pace. She finished strong and ened up passing another girl to move into fourth place. She was almost sprinting as she crossed the finish line. I ended up being the one who timed her race. I met her and gave her the time for her race and told her that she finished in fourth place. I told her that she ran a great race and told her I was proud of her.

I had to keep timing races, so I did not get to spend much time with the fam. I texted them all her results. I never heard the announcement of the results for her race. We all went out to dinner when I was done timing. At dinner the fam told me that they announced that Meg got third place. I told them that she actually got fourth, but the person timing the second place finisher did not time them. It was a real mess trying to figure everything out. We don't know what ribbon she will end up receiving. I guess we will just have to wait until tomorrow to see what she brings home.

Meg's principal was in charge of receiving all of the times for the races and recording them. He was a somewhat passive person, which really surprised me. That was the first time I had any interaction with him and he was not what I expected. I guess I am used to take charge people in the business world and maybe the leaders in the education world are just not that way. Or maybe it was his first time performing that job at a track meet and he was just a little over his head. Either way, I was surprised.

Read more...

Walt Was Right!

Walt Disney was a brilliant man. Here are seven life lessons from him:

1. Keep Things in Perspective
2. Competition is Good
3. Do What You Love
4. Do the Impossible
5. Action Always Trumps Inaction
6. It Takes a Village
7. Get Better Daily

I must say that I cannot argue with any of these items. I think it is a short list that is right on. Read more about the list.

Read more...

I Solve Problems

I have always considered myself more of an idea man. I can think of solutions, I am just not as good at implementation. That is a weakness that I really need to work on. But I guess my coworkers think I am good at both.

I tend to be a counselor and this past week my schedule has been busy. I had our sales secretary come to me early in the week and talk to me about her review that is long overdue. She told me that her boss just has not given it to her and it is starting to concern her. She wanted me to give her my own review so she would be prepared for his. I told her I could not do that, but I would give her my own thoughts. I told her the honest truth, which was a little difficult for me to do. I think she appreciated it.

Yesterday morning I was paged to our accounting department. I thought they were going to give me some money, but I was very wrong. I walked in to the entire accounting department sitting there with our service manager. They all started telling me that our system was flawed. They said that we are not billing our customers correctly because the proper information is not being communicated from the sales department. I sympathized with them because I believe that communication is the biggest problem in our company. I agreed to try to solve their problem.

Yesterday afternoon our assembly manager came to me and told me that he had to vent. He said that the owner of the company came to him and told him that the assembly floor needed to be cleaned because we were having customers visit today. The owner then told our machine shop manager to make sure that the assembly floor was cleaned and the machine shop manager promptly told the assembly manager that he had to make sure it was done.

Today I was blind-sided by the owner of the company. He told me that some representatives from a manufacturer in Japan have been offering to buy our company for about four years. He kept telling them that the business is not for sale, so they want to partner with us now. He told me that they were our visitors today and that he wants to have me in the meeting with him and our vice president. I agreed and sat in the meeting. What they manufacturer really wants is to bring their equipment up to the level of our equipment. They want to learn from us. I don't really see much of a benefit for our company, but we will see. My boss left without us talking about the meeting so it will have to wait until next week.

I am done counseling for the week. I just need to enjoy my very busy weekend.

Read more...

I Am Very Lucky

We had our first in-home interview with a social worker from FamiliesFirst last night. She was a little late because she got lost. They really do not work very much in the south valley. When she arrived she apologized for not meeting us before showing up at our house and asking us personal questions. She said that she usually does not work that way.

She asked a lot of questions that really made me think. She asked both The Queen and me a lot of questions about our child hood. She asked a question about dealing with loss or a difficult time. She asked about school and about college. I really had a chance to think a lot about my life and I can say that I have been very lucky.

I had a pretty happy childhood. I did not have a lot of responsibility, so I got to be a kid. I never had pressure on me to do well in school, maybe becuase I always did well. My parents supported me in everything I chose to do. They got involved in everything.

All of this was great, but what really made me realize how lucky I am is when she asked Meg and Chels what kind of person I was. I don't know if they were just laying it on thick to make me look good or not, but they both said some really great things about me. I know I am not the easiest person to live with, but I guess they both appreciate me for the positive things I do for them. I heard words like "loving" and "fun" and phrases like, "I can talk to him about anything."

It is great to hear these things, because I am constantly questioning myself when it comes to my parenting skills.

Read more...

I Just Don't Understand People

This is one of those situations where I will use codenames to protect the innocent, or guilty. It is a story that I cannot believe really happened, but as I think about it more it is not really that surprising.

A family I know who goes to either Las Vegas or Disneyland every chance they get pulled their kids out of school on Friday and went to Disneyland for the weekend. This was not surprising because they go their so often and becuase they always seem to pull their kids out of school from one lame reason or another.

The real shocker to me was that just two weeks ago, one of the parents was telling everyone that they don't eat fruit and vegetables very often any more because they can't afford them. I found that statement shocking when I heard it becuase they didn't seem to have cut back in any other areas of their life. The kids still seem to have a soda in their hands everytime I see them and they have not cut back on their consumption of beer.

I undestand that fruit and vegetables are expensive. I often have an internal struggle when I am at the grocery store as to wether or not I should be buying the fruit and vegetables that I buy. I just can't understand why they are so expensive given that so many of them are grown right here in my back yard. For the most part, transportation costs should be very minimal, yet they continue to be expensive.

The last time we went to Disneyland, we ended up spending more than a thousand dollars for the trip. We did not stay at a fancy hotel. We did not even splurge on anything. The two-day park hopper passes for the four of us was the single largets expense. Given this, I know that this family spent a lot more than us. They have one additional child and they really love to eat. They alwayst talk about going to Downtown Disney to eat nice dinners when they are there. And on this trip their second youngest child ordered salmon for dinner one night so I know they were not operating on a shoe string budget.

I just don't understand why they would take a trip like this if they cannot even afford healthy food for their children to eat at home. They must have charged this trip on their credit cards which makes it even worse. Why do people do this? I think it goes back to parents trying to buy the love of their children.

These parents don't really spend a lot of time with their kids. I played catch with their second youngest child one day and the mother said that she was glad that someone was finally playing catch with him. That made me feel sorry for the kids, but also made me angry at the parents. I will admit that I am not the best parent, but how do you not play catch with your child from time to time?

This past summer, while they were still struggling for money they took several trips. They went to Disneyland. They went to Knott's Berry Farm. They went to Great America. Then in December, they went to Disneyland again. I just don't understand how a family who is struggling with money can make three trips to Disneyland in less than a year. How can you justify that? I guess this is just what most families do now which is why their have been so many home foreclosures. People have just gotten irresponsible. They just do whatever they want without thinking about how they will pay for it. It all just makes me mad when I think about it.

Read more...

Track Meet

Before I get started, I want to announce a change I am making. I am tired of referring to people in my life with code names, so unless there is a real reason to protect identities I am dropping them. The one exception is that I will probably continue to refer to Tina as The Queen.

Meg had her second track meet this past Friday night. On Thursday night she asked me how she could get faster. I told her that she has done everything she could possibly do at that point because she has been practicing. I told her that the only thing left was to keep telling herself that she was not tired. That she could run faster. That she could pass the girl in front of her. She said that she would try that.

On Friday night, Meg was her typical self. She was full of energy and could not sit still. When they announced her even, the 800M, her and a friend told the coach that they needed to go to the restroom. I don't even think she heard her event announced. By the time they got back the announcer had already given the second call for the runners. I rushed down to her and her friend and told the coach that I would take them to the even. We hurried down to the infield.

The school track coach was just letting the runners do whatever they wanted to do while they waited for the even to start. Meg and her friends were stretching some, doing jumping jacks, doing jump kicks and doing shoulder rolls. Not at all what I would consider the proper warm-up activities. I was just hoping that she was not going to wear herself out before her event.

She had quite a long wait for her event, but the announcer finally called the runners to the starting line. Meg lined up about five runners in from the outside of the track. She got a decent start and made her way to the inside of the track. I thought she was running a great race. She held her pace pretty steady for the entire length. When she was coming around the last turn, she caught up to one of the other runners from her school. They spoke to each other briefly and then that girl picked up her pace and pulled away from Meg.

Meg finished the race in sixth place. I think she was probably the first third grader to finish the race, unfortunately the race is for both third and fourth graders. I am curious to see if she improved her time from the first track meet. It really appeared to me that she ran better this time, even though she finished two places later than her first race. She did a great job.

Read more...

Oil is Natural

Rush Limbaugh made a totally ridiculous statement about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He said, "The ocean will take care of this on its own if it was left alone and left out there. It's natural. It's as natural as the ocean water is." What an idiot. He does not understand what he is talking about and is therefore a dangerous person. He has a lot of listeners who just believe what he says is the gospel. They don't research the topics on their own. After all, he calls them ditto heads?

Read more...