Air Travel

Almost missed connection tonight. Why? Because the first plane needed a jump start. Not kidding.

Guy next to me yawned. 4 people died from the overwhelming odor.

Airport bartender carded me (and everyone) and then used my name when speaking to me! Of course it would have been nice to have been able to get a second beer during the 95 minutes I was there. Fortunately loud Mexican country music was playing. Shoo boy that helped my disposition. Nothing against either Mexican or country music... unless its in an airport, loud and bad.

Positive thoughts: Allow tipping for flight attendants. Surely a little extra money might help them force themselves to be mildly civil.

Give TSA personnel some type of gun. Come on, how else are they going to stop anybody. Most of them couldn't run 2 feet. Even Barney got one bullet.

Find a way that I don't have to walk seven miles from the terminal to where my rental car is "conveniently located".

On the subject of business meetings:

1. Have an agenda.
2. Stick to the agenda.
3. See 1 above.

Oh, and by the way, if you're a nasty person, let it all hang out. Trying to be a decent human being when you're from the planet Butthead doesn't really work out all that well. You're miserable and you aren't fooling anybody.

If Only I Had a Really Good (and cheap) Editor

Well, Skully's book, "Me and Wahoo" is nearing completion. The draft will be done July 15th (I know that because it's now in writing). The only missing ingredient is a really good/cheap editor to take the drivel and make it something great. Oh, how I wish I knew a really good/cheap editor.

People Lie

Quick lesson tonight. Some people will lie. Don't be shocked when they do. That is all.

Don't Know Whether to Laugh or Cry

Skully caught a part of the news (closed caption) from the gym. As a side note, when are they going to start serving drinks to pirates like me stuck on treadmills? Seriously, why not a little cocktail service while I sweat? Anyway, back to the point.

The news dude was on the topic of "torture" that has been allowed during terrorist interrogations in the past. Here is the closed caption... you are going to love it...

"Crime is in the eyes of the beholder". Seriously! Sure, the sound bite lacks some context but either A) Either a news person B) Government spokesperson or C) Expert made the comment.

Next UP: Wolf Blitzer interview Jack the Ripper on whether what he did was a crime. Jack's remark, "Not in my eyes". Case dismissed. Ok - I made that one up.

Humor is all around us... even if the tear it brings to the eye is from pain.

I Shouldn't Poke Fun... But I Am Going To

Ok, a lot of people are more interested than ever in finding some financial security. Even Skully is beginning to think that maybe he needs to reconsider some of his spending patterns. And in this mentality of "financial sanity", he turns to Dave Ramsey. OK, so I did at least look at his website. He has gained a "fame" status in recent times.

So... his products to help me figure out how to take back control of my spending, debt, etc. appear pretty good and quite honestly, reasonably priced. "Financial Peace University" looks pretty good!

Just as I was getting ready to click, my eye (yes, eye - remember, I am a pirate) was drawn to:

"Designer" coupon and envelope organizers. Yes, "designer". I guess you can't make serious financial headway with cheap ol envelopes.

All kidding aside, this is really a great program for anybody looking for some help with the money side of life.

Dave Ramsey Financial University

Ex Ron White Fan

Skully has been a big fan of Ron White since the first time he saw the original Blue Comedy Tour. And I mean a BIG FAN! Until last night. Saw his latest show on Comedy Central. Bleck. Hey, Ron! You have "bottomed out". If you start off with your best stuff and that's jokes about your butt and toilets, maybe it's time to retire. Either that or do us all a favor - get some better material because you CAN be a funny guy... but not if all you want to talk about is your "can".

Maybe that's the whole problem with a lot of stuff. We feel pressure to always be coming up with something new. A new sales tactic. A new product line. A new "whatever". By itself, coming up with something new is good and often times necessary. Just don't stray too far from giving the people, who helped support your success in the first place, the things they value. Stray too far and you end up one of those mangy dogs in the alley, a "stray". Come to think of it, Ron looked a lot like that in his show. Maybe I am onto something here.

Questions Looking for Answers

A quick list of things to think about if you are in sales (biz owner or any other humanoid surviving on some type of revenue based compensation package). The questions are going out to hundreds of salespeople around the globe. Feel free to chime in, comment, ignore. Even better, add some!

How are the current economic conditions impacting your business?

What are you doing to grow sales in what some find to be a difficult economic period?

A common complaint is, “not enough time to prospect” (or some other important activity) . Is this reality or an excuse?

Ways to organize your day for maximum effectiveness.

Do you use a “sales process” or “selling system”?

Crackberry addiction: How many hours a day are you truly accessible to customers?

Sales Managers: What are some of the ways you are motivating sales reps to counteract the “doom and gloom” media exposure?

Sales Reps: What are reasonable expectations for number of hours worked?

Sales Managers: What are reasonable expectations for the number of hours your reps work each week?

It's Over When It's Over... And That Aint Yet

Lots more doom in the news today. Some seriously bad stuff. Swine flu. Earthquakes. And the list goes on. Wrote about getting "stuck in the mud" the other day and it got me thinking. Mud attracts more mud. Bad crud attracts more bad crud. Talking about bad crud attracts more bad talk. Even Jimmy couldn't seem to help but get caught up in it.




See what I mean? Sure, it's funny. Sort of...

Now, I love Jimmy, but I'm running thin on whining (especially when I am stuck in the Midwest while he's hanging out in Tiki Bars - yes, it's called, "jealously".

Then again, I am choosing to stay focused on the good stuff... on the long run... I refuse to get stuck in the mud of crud (why I have no idea how my 101k is doing). If you want some encouragement, check this out. It's a good reminder that we are all in this thing for the long run and it aint over.

I say, FINISH STRONG!

Speaking of "finishing strong" now might be a good time to freshen up that single malt.