My Old Blog

I have a fair amount of vacation time this year. I’ll be honest, I can’t for the life of my think of anywhere I would like to go.

I can think of some places I would like to MOVE….but not just visit. Maybe I can sell my vacation time back to my company? They have a vacation day purchase program. I wonder if I can do the reverse?

I’ve looked into volunteer vacations in Latin America. They are, for the most part, MORE expensive than regular vacations. I guess you’re not just doing it for the money, but still…..something feels weird about paying to work when I know for the same amount of money I could be sitting on a beach chair drinking cocktails with paper umbrellas.

Maybe I can do an exercise vacation? Maybe I should go visit old friends I haven’t seen in a while? Maybe I should sleep, read and drink coffee for a week? Maybe I should try a new age trip where you don’t speak, talk to cacti, and wear robes? How about Mt. Kilimanjaro?

I guess it doesn’t really matter. Vacations are so expensive. I could just by a 60 inch plasma TV and be amazed by HD television for a week. I’d be amazed by any TV to be honest. Its been over a year now since I’ve had TV. I don’t really miss it, but I do like it when I see it.

Alas….my tennis team did not win the city championships. We had a great season and got beaten by a great team.

I won my match even though the team lost (it went 3 sets). I haven’t felt that kind of pressure in a long time. I was so stressed the whole match (my neck was killing me afterward). It is the city finals; my partner and I were the 1 line; and there were probably over 50 people sitting there watching everything we did, every time I missed, every mistake I made.

Nerves tend to snowball too. If you start playing badly, you think about it, which makes you more nervous, which makes you play worse. It is very hard to recover. Tennis is a precise sport too; very small variations in your swing can make you miss, and pressure produces those small variations.

Basketball was a bit easier. Effort does not decrease when you’re nervous. You can use the nerves to make you hustle even when you’re tired. Shooting does become hard though, since it is precise like a tennis swing.

I played pretty well….certainly not the best I’ve ever played, but I didn’t choke. I played about average, which in this situation was good enough. I watched all of our matches and just about everyone played a little worse than they usually do….which is sort of expected under those conditions.

I liked it to be honest. I enjoy the pressure. I don’t really get that anymore.

3 years living in Atlanta….that makes probably 10 or so Alta seasons?? Not sure. It doesn’t seem like that many, but it may well be. I’ve been to the playoffs a handful of times, and won the division a few times too.

My team is in the city championships this weekend for the first time. While it may seem small to get excited about…..I figure it is better than most things. All in all it is better to be champion that not right?

I met some new people tonight, listened to a lot of first time conversations, and had a few myself. Its so bizarre what people choose to talk about….I include myself in that.

Girls tend to smile and nod their head a lot. Guys tend to talk about themselves and try to sound smart and/or successful.

That is strange because it is actually women that talk more than guys once people get to know each other. Guys don’t talk all that much. Also, people (all people) tend to like people that listen to them, smile, and agree in some way or ask questions that show they’re paying attention.

That makes me wonder why men don’t just ask women a few questions to get them talking and then smile and nod…..like women do to men.

Anyway, it was nice, the pizza was good, and the bar was pretty cool too. I’d never been.

I guess not entirely, since other stuff did go on….some of which might interest people, some of which wouldn’t……but it doesn’t seem like much went on when I write it out like that.

I should go back and read 3 months of one of my travel journals. I guess that wouldn’t be very helpful though, huh?

One odd thing went on this week: I’ve had my resume posted on Monster.com for a little over 5 years and I never got one good lead, either by companies contacting me or me applying to other companies.

I’ve had 6 companies contact me in the past week….not just recruiters either. Three of them have produced initial interviews and are real, decent jobs.

One of them I said no to with Citigroup (even though I hadn’t of course been offered the job yet). It was a fairly decent gig making more money doing something similar in Jacksonville, FL.

The other two I’m considering going through all the interviews just to see what might happen (Workbrain and Bearing Point).

I bet I won’t do it no matter what. My job isn’t really that bad. On a similar note, in the an upcoming issue of nationally distributed business magazine the cover story will be the Top 20 Companies for Leaders. I’m participating in that research. Its sort of fun…and I certainly need that.

These are more or less in chronological order:

I went to an Atlanta Hawks game.

I didn’t get the job I wanted…very frustrated. They still have me “on hold” pending some work we are supposed to win in the March/April time frame.

I won’t hold my breath….good thing too, otherwise I’d be dead. I’ve been doing this job 3 years.

I went a Yoga class. I have been a few times….not much exercise, but very peaceful.

I’ve been on a few dates. I have never liked dating and still don’t. I guess I need to learn.

I went to a singles event to see what it is like. I don’t think I’ll be going to any others. If I ever get that desperate I think I’ll just join a monastery.

I watched Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure again and was remind what a totally excellent movie it is (cue air-guitar). San Dimas High School football rules!!

I played a lot of tennis. Why not? My team is in the semi-finals of the tournament……two weeks from now hopefully we’ll be city champs. Hey, you’ve got to look forward to something right?

Most of my floor at work moved to Ashford Dunwoody. I stayed in Smyrna. Its odd being mostly alone in a big office building.

I got to meet a guy that wrote one of the business books I’ve read.

Daniel (who owns the house I live in) moved out. Most everyone knows I live in a loft above the garage. Even though the whole house is now empty, I still never go in it.

A dog saved a man from a bear. I admit I got a little misty-eyed reading this. I love dogs.

This is too funny…it is billed as a “much-needed alternative to Wikipedia, which is increasingly anti-Christian and anti-American.” The site offers many great, “lesser-known” scientific insights….such as the fact that the Earth is only 6000 years old.

Some of you will have noticed that I haven’t said anything about why I haven’t written lately. I think it will have to stay that way for a while…don’t know how long yet.

One day I’ll look back and smile surely….right?

I will post again on March 1.

2007 is going to be the best year ever because I said so. If you do not think 2007 is going to shape up too well….then please don’t talk to me because I am only interested in having the best year ever.

I have made no resolutions this year other than that my life will be the best. I will get a new job this year, and buy a house. That means I will have to buy furniture…..but that’s OK, because the furniture will also be the best ever.

I had an awful hangover yesterday and went to see the new Rocky movie. It was not the best ever. It was pathetic; but it was still Rocky and he is awesome…even if he is now 164 years old.

I noticed that Rocky is alot like Forrest Gump…in that they are both dumb, but do really smart things. I think there is a lot to learn from the two of them. Such as hard work really pays off, and if you don’t believe in yourself, then you’ve got nothing.

There is also the age old lesson of know thyself. Rocky and Forrest Gump are well aware of their limitations and live within them at the same time stretching on the things they are good at.

Rocky and Forrest are also both generally nice to people. Its always the smart people who think they know enough to judge what is right and wrong…dumb people (at least the ones who are dumb but act smart like Forrest and Rocky) realize they don’t know enough and so tend to get confused or blame themselves when things go wrong. (Then there are the dumb people who think they are smart. I have no idea what to do about them.)

I am reminded of this book by A. E. Van Vogt I read in high school when I was really into science fiction. “The World of A” is about a race of super-humans who live in a world without government. Because they are so logical and intuitive they are always able to make the right decisions immediately without the heuristics we live by. So they always know what to do even though there are no rules. I really learned a lot reading all those sci-fi books….although it didn’t get me any women…I have to admit.

I think I might get a TV in 2007 too. I played trivia the other night and was totally clueless on a lot of the questions. TV plays a really big role in most people’s lives. If I want to participate in life…it appears I need a TV.

Happy New Year everybody!!

I got a new wallet for Christmas….so I had to clean out the old one.

I had a ticket stub from the Empire State Building (which I never remember visiting, but I guess I did. I did go to NYC a few times.) There is a receipt from when I visited Albert Einstein’s house in Bern, Switzerland: Entry fee 2 Swiss Francs.

“Alaska Employment – Fishing Industry. Earn up to $3,000 – $6,000+ per month. No experience necessary. Male/Female. Age 18 – 70. For information call: (206) 971 – 3512 ext. A53812.”

I remember putting it in my wallet at Clemson right when I was about to graduate. I must’ve called, because I wrote “talked to Linda” next to the number. I’ve since seen on TV a little about life on those fishing boats. I don’t think I missed out; however, I did talk to a guy once who did it and said the money is real and it was the best summer of his life.

I have the combination to the equipment locker of the Rockmont gym. That piece of paper is almost 10 years old. I used to go shoot basketball after all the kids were asleep and since the counselors locked up the balls after the day, I needed the combination.

I have tons of old phone numbers, the ink blurred by moisture and the paper mildewed. I bet none of those people live there anymore. It was before cell phones though, so I had to carry everyone’s info around in case I needed to call….which I rarely did.

I have Gloria’s phone number from Holland. Pete told me she is still playing music in a band in Lexington. I have Anne Marie’s phone number from Spain. I wonder where she is? Last I heard she called off her wedding and was doing investment banking in Germany.

I have a contact number for St. Barts in Charleston. They are a boat delivery service. I thought I wanted to be a sailor. That was before the Mediterranean, before I learned about salt water and sea sickness.

I have the first few lines of a poem I penned the weekend I graduated from Clemson over at the lake. They are so faded I can barely read them now. I did sort of fancy myself a poet for a while. I wasn’t very good though.

I have the email of Brendon Jones, a philosophy major from Oxford I spent a little time with in Morocco. I wrote about him once in this post. I just wrote him an email. We’ll see if the address is still valid and/or if he remembers.

I have Peter’s address when he lived at the chateau in France:
30570 Valleraugue
Gard, France
ph: 4 67 82 25 12

I remember I tried to call him and the message said some crap in French I couldn’t understand. The girl I was living with at the time in Taiwan (Merrilyn) happened to speak French and told me the message said “the number you are trying to reach has been changed”.

The new number was:
04 67 82 26 33

I have this poem too….which I certainly did not write:

The raindrop whispered to the Jasmine, “keep me in your heart forever”.

The Jasmine sighed, “Alas,” and dropped to the ground.

You see……the raindrop landed on the jasmine, but the raindrop was too heavy for the delicate flower.

That is sad.

Perhaps the most frustrating, subtle, and brilliant strategy ever devised in human relations is the “The Aiken Solution”. Everyone uses it, but few realize how powerful and universally applicable it really is.

George Aiken was an old-school, state’s rights, conservative Republican from Vermont. He counseled both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon on Vietnam, but they never listened. “Declare victory and get out,” he said.

Declare victory and get out. The simplicity is astounding. You can’t argue with it because of its illogic.

It does not have to be a lie….though it is certainly a reshaping of the truth. It can snatch victory from defeat, except unlike REALLY snatching victory from defeat…..in this case you are INVENTING victory from defeat.

To use a sports analogy…..if you win the Super Bowl on a last second field goal after an unlikely interception, then you snatched victory from defeat. You celebrate big: uncork the champagne, smoke the cigar, have the parade, get the trophy, etc. etc.

But what if you missed the last second field goal after an unlikely interception? And you celebrate big: uncork the champagne, smoke the cigar, have the parade, get the trophy, etc. etc.

The two paragraphs read similar. You still had the parade. You still drank the champagne. You still have the trophy. In a few years, who will remember that the score seemed unfavorable at the time? All that matters is that you won!! You’re a champion baby!

If that was slightly confusing to read, that’s why the Aiken Solution is so brilliant. But you think, “Who is dumb enough to buy that strategy? Everyone knows what the score was right??”

No. In real life there is no score. Often success is subjective, the outcomes distant and the evidence hard to verify. Then you really can declare victory.

I watch companies do it every quarter when they release earnings. No matter what numbers they release….whether above or below expectations, they will paint a positive picture of the previous quarter while outlining the challenges, and say that the business is sound, and the next quarter will be even better. They won….simply because they said so.

People don’t know what to make of the Aiken Solution, so, if nothing else, you can throw up a smokescreen to buy yourself some time. It takes a while to catch on to.

Bush used it well in Iraq. “Iraq is linked to Al Qaeda.” It turned out it wasn’t…so he used the strategy, ignored his defeat and declared an unsubstantiated victory instead, “Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.” They didn’t…..so he just declared a different victory. “We are bringing freedom to Iraq.” They haven’t done that either since Iraq is all but at civil war….so he might literally declare victory and get out this time. That’s what the Baker Report should’ve suggested.

So the point is that it took most people years to figure out what Bush was doing. Some knew sooner, some later….but all the same: the strategy works and people use it all the time.

Start watching….you’ll notice it. Anytime anyone just blatantly disregards reality and declares it something else…..they’re using it. Sometimes we don’t even know we’re doing it.

I read a study the other day that asked why people lie. One of the their primary, and very interesting, theories was that lying developed not to manipulate other people…..but to manipulate ourselves. We tell ourselves what we need to hear to get through the day…..and the brain gets so used doing it that the practice spills over to what we say to other people.

Not sure how true that is…..but is interesting….and I just won the Super Bowl!! You can too if you like.

Drinking a moderate amount of alcohol