But What Does It All Mean.....

A Theme....

2011-04-24T17:38:00.000-10:00

I have been very remiss in taking the time to write. In the past couple of weeks I have had at least a dozen different topics I write one. Some for public consumption others private. Yet I have not taken the time to put any of them down. I reflected today on why and came to realize it has to do with themes. Most of the blogs I read have a basic topic or theme. I really don't so I have felt I had no reason to contribute.

As I pondered this further I all of a sudden realized.....I AM THE THEME and the thoughts in my head are the topics. So its time to start putting it all down and sharing. Its really note about the "readership" but the therapy which comes from expressing yourself.

Le Sigh

2011-02-25T09:31:00.000-10:00

Just once in the past two years I need something to go right in my life. It seems though that each time something seems really positive another things drops in the way. I was one day away from closing on two pieces of property. It was no longer about making big money on them but about getting out of the debt and running my life differently. One deal was a pre-approved loan and I had even signed my part of the docs. The other was a cash deal and seemed a bit iffy. However I need both to happen more than badly.

Since I am working out of state they sent me the closing documents and I got them signed on the pre-approved deal and sent back Fedex. The other deal MIGHT or MIGHT NOT close in another 10 days and I was sweating it. However I felt great about the closing docs I just signed and sent back. What a relief......until I get a call from my agent this AM. The buyer has backed out! This seemed like the more sure of the two deals so I am sent reeling at a time when I need this the most.

10 minutes later I get another call from my agent. The other "iffy" cash deal wants to close on Monday! I was THIS CLOSE to being completely out of these debt obligations and moving again towards a more "free" life. Instead I trade one closing for another and now have no buyer for one of the properties. Of course this means I still have the debt and the monthly payments which needed to go away badly.

I know I didn't get into this one in a single swoop or event and I know I won't get out in a single day either. Right now I have ONE good thing going on in my life and I cannot mess that up. Yet everyday I seem worried I am going to. Openness is the only way to go and I will continue to do that even when bad things come up! It may hurt but it's the only way to live. I have erred and I pay for those every day lately it seems. I hope soon to truly be able to move past them all.

One Foot In Front Of The Other.

2011-01-03T10:57:00.000-10:00

On days like today even the thought of putting one foot in front of the other seems like a daunting task. I can own my mistakes but I wonder why it took me so long to do so. Its like this huge ball that building until it broke me. Once broken I see where it was all wrong and cannot fathom why I ever started down such a path.

I am totally clear on the fact I cannot fix others. Yet I tried for so long to do so when in reality I should have been working to fix myself first. How can you help anyone when you fail to help yourself? So now my endeavor in life is to work on (can we ever really be fixed as imperfect people) my issues. I also will strive to help my son to avoid acting the same manner as I have.

I have lots more on my mind but just putting some down into printed form is so helpful.

LOST...and not the TV show.

2010-02-19T08:25:00.000-10:00

Today is more rambling than anything. Probably because I cannot put a straight though together in my head.

I have so much to express and yet I seem fearful to do it. Is it because I am fearful of failing in general? That could be so. Well actually I have failed before. In a number of things. I have definitely learned a lot from it. Yet right now all this wonderful knowledge seems to be doing me squat.

Right now I have four houses yet I feel I have no home. Yes that's right FOUR! Right now that is four too many. I decided a while back this would be a year of simplification. That means getting rid of unnecessary things. I have already sold the Cobra and all of the properties are for sale....yet no takers or really even lookers. Why is it once you have a revelation about where you life should be heading the path to arrive there seems so marred it seems you will never attain it. This is currently how I feel. I want rid of everything! I could care less about making a dime on anything either. Just GO!

It's really just another product of freak out Wednesdays. For some reason on Wednesdays I just CRASH. I feel the world will crumble on top of me and everything is for naught. It's a very surreal and frustrating situation especially because I cannot seem to get a grip on it. Some Wednesdays are ok but most are my "freak out" days. The odds always seem insurmountable.

This blog is actually spanning a couple of days as I type but cannot seem to get it printed. Today I feel as if I am lost. I have zero control over myself in a number of avenue. I have some hunches about what keeps me on an even keel but no way to test or determine if I am correct. I feel out of control today. Maybe it's why I want to go to the loft his weekend. It was always been a place of solitude but now I wonder if it more of place of consternation for a number of reasons.

I have a number of great opportunities in front of me but no drive capture then. In reality I NEED these. I need them to move forward in life. Honestly I think one of them is the opportunity to move on in my life with a new business. How can I grasp it and see new light. I really need to dig deep and find out how to take hold of this golden opportunity. I really need support and help yet I don't know how to ask for it. I try to be so strong and yet feel weak.

More to come.....

Gym Time

2009-12-10T22:37:00.001-10:00

I have been struggling to get words out. Lots of things in my mind but struggling to allow myself to put them here.

I must say traveling around Hawaii you see a lot of people in shape. I think there are a number of reasons for this. For the natural Hawaiian'ss and Samoan's its a fairly natural thing. In addition they are active people. They work hard and play hard. They surf, paddle board, swim, kayak, hike into the mountains, etc. They live an active lifestyle for sure. In addition the island has a lot of military people and they are conditioned to be healthy and in shape.

The gym seems jammed all the time. I have been this week on Tues and today (Thursday) Both times I was there between 1:30 and 4:00 pm and the gym was not empty as you might expect.

On Tueseday I went in to do legs. After some warm up on the elliptical I went to the basketball court. I like to shoot and run myself silly for about 10 minutes. The machines are just too boring to warm up with. After that I was going to go downstairs and start lifting; Then I was invited to play basketball. I have been dying to play and decided to do so. I spent the next hour running full court! OMG I was totally exhausted after that and my legs hurt the rest of the night but it was a great workout.

I love to play basketball and with my size I am usually the tallest person on the court and play center. However I play more like a power forward with a push it down and grind it out game. I enjoy an in and out. Dump the ball to the big man and either cut to the bucket or wait for the double and kick the ball out to the open guard. I love to run a high pick and roll as well. Yet I seem to play with people who do not understand the game! Even when I played in a league they seemed to forget I was there until a rebound was needed. It becomes very frustrating.

On Tuesday I had to guys who came down the court one shared the ball and the other was "never around" The third guy shared and obviously understood the game, but he didn't get the ball much. The problem as usual was our "guard". He obvoiusly thought he was meant to shoot the ball everytime he touched it. Even if you are "Jordan" your team mates get upset if you keep hogging it. Let me tell you this guy was NOT JORDAN. I kept track and he was about 17% and NEVER PASSED. The problem is even if you are an unself sharing player when you are playing with a hog and you do get the ball you end up becoming more like them. Now that you have the rock you wanna do something with it. I will play again and be frustrated again but thats life.

Today I decided to lift. I have not done legs in a while and I LOVE LOWER BODY. I always have had a much stronger lower body than upper. Then when your lower just wants to work more....well you can get unbalanced. This is why I have worked hard on my upper and have a long ways to go.

Today I did hack squats, squats, and deadlifts. I starting squatting and working the weights up. I ended up doing 3 sets of 5 at 235. It felt GREAT! Deep squats like my mentor trained me. Not quite "paint buckets" but real close. As a side note here I was told when I got a trainer this year he didn't have another client who did such correct squats. I have only my mentor to thank for making sure I did them right...so thank you MULE. I ended up maxing out today at 315. I struggled to get it up and my knees were wobbly but ohhhh did it feel good!!

After that I did some deads which is my second favorite move. I did three sets of 8 at 150 and maxed out at 225. That was all I had left after the squats. After these I was so pumped. I wanted MORE. But getting back into a routine I decied not to push it. I completed some hack squats and did some ab work.

Z decided to go with me both days. this is the first time she has been to work out in over a year. I admit I was surprised at first. I am very happy she decided to go. This is the hardest part.....getting motived to get healthy. I am proud of her for making the effor and I hope she keeps it up. She is starting a new road with going back to school and can make this a new avenue to dovetail with it.

As of this writing my C4 and C5 hurt pretty good and my SI is tight but not hurting.......yet. We will really know in the morning when I wake up and see if I can walk or not. :)

The View

2009-11-24T21:36:00.000-10:00

Working in the Hawaii "office" can be a bit distracting for sure. The office is really the house we lease and it sits in the hills on the western side of the island. The view is back across downtown Honolulu and to Diamond Head. It is a spectacular view day or night.

You can click either and it will take you to the full image. You can imagine how easy it is to just sit here and day dream. Well I guess you don't day dream at night but the twinkle of the lights will just hold you staring. Sometimes its very hard to get anything done.

Making it worse (or better) for me is the fact this directly overlooks the Honolulu International Airport. We sit west of Runway 8 which is the main one used for incoming aircraft. All day long you can watch the majestic birds on approach. At night you can follow their beacon down to the runway. For me its fantastic....sitting watching 170,000 of metal gliding effortlessly through the air. Many times it appears they are just floating along and barely moving. In reality they are really going 180-200 knots. As quickly as one passes another is coming to follow.

All in all the view is what makes this place and being able to watch the planes land is the icing on the cake.

October 16, 1998

2009-11-21T20:25:00.001-10:00

This post will be pretty lengthy so you are fairly warned. This is about not just the events of October 16th but my friendship with George and how he has been on my mind a lot lately. I miss him dearly as he was my best friend; even if he was more than 20 years older than me. Age to him was merely a number and meant nothing about how he felt or what he wanted to do. Maybe that is what I want to emulate because honestly who wants to feel old?

First let me explain George. He was an easy going person who loved everybody and would do anything to help you. He had also done one of everything. Here are a few thing, pilot, helicopter pilot, raced (legally and illegally), ran illegal gambling out of his shop at night, been 135 mph in a jet boat, skydived......you get the idea? The list I just gave scraped the surface with him. He had fantastic stories and they will likely be woven into my blog as time goes on.

George and I were to fly that morning to San Angelo to inspect about 50 hail damaged vehicles. From there we were going to fly to Del Rio and inspect about 75 flood damaged vehicles. I had to handle the claims and he was interested in possibly purchasing some of the cars. George and I both have pilots licenses and he had a plane, a nice older Cessna 172H.

He kept the plane at a very small private airport. The airfield is only 2,500 feet long with tall tress on three sides. I have flown out of it a number of times with another friend but every trip in and out is definitely on the pucker meter.

We arrived before dawn and ran through the pre-flight on the plane. After getting her out of the hanger we pulled our vehicles into the hanger and locked it up (important later). We taxied down to the end of the runway and spun the plane around for takeoff. This strip has 100 feet of concrete and then it is grass. During our run up and test of all the instruments the windshield fogged over. This is because the dew point and temperature being so close together. I hopped out (as I was the passenger technically) and wiped down the windshield so it was clear. Once back in a buckled we held the brakes, revved the engine and off we went.

As we accelerated a noticed a slight deviation from straight but nothing to be alarmed about. As we hit V1 and rotate the windshield fogs again. Its no huge deal as we can just fly instruments up to about 1,000 feet and it should dissipate as the temperate drops (about 3 degrees every 1,000 ft you go up). Plus we could see clearly out the side windows.

As we continue to climb I notice the lights on the hanger are not just going straight down but AWAY from us. This means we are moving horizontally away from the hanger which is bad. I look out the left side window and see tree branches approaching the left wing tip. (A side note here the headsets were not working this morning so we had no noise canceling headphones to talk over where a normal conversation is easy, instead it was VERY LOUD in the cockpit). When flying and communication information, especially things important,you make it short and sweet. I leaned over and excitedly told George (he was flying) "TREES LEFT, TREES LEFT".

George and I were good enough friends and had flown enough together that we trusted each others judgment implicitly. This is very important in aviation as it could save your life by listening to your partner in the cockpit. On this occasion however it was bad. George misunderstood what I said. He thought I said "VEER LEFT". Trusting me he turned left........directly into the trees doing 65 knots and about 60 feet off the ground. This was the end result:

I remember hitting the trees, feeling the plane turn left and then down. I also remember vividly what we both said (and I will not repeat here). At impact we saw a spark in the dash and wanted out immediately for fear of a fire. In training you are instructed to tell passengers to pop their door before and emergency landing. I don't remember doing it put I popped my door. Sure enough George's was crushed into the fuselage.

I pulled myself up and out the door and stepped out (I am obviously in shock at this point). As I step off the door I fall and find I am hanging upside down by the back of my shoe caught on the door. I dislodge it and fall to the ground. I actually was laughing at myself for that stupid move. George exits the plane and his head is bleeding. He was bald and scraped it up pretty bad. The seat belts definitely saved our lives.

We stumble out of the wood and go back to the hanger. We had delusions of going to Montgomery County Airport and renting another plane to continue our trip (definitely in shock)! We go to enter the hanger and realize.......the keys to the hanger are in the plane. It took us 45 minutes to find the plane in the trees. Two reason behind that. 1.) The trees in around the airstrip are very dense and the plane is white and green blending in. 2.) and likely the bigger reason....we just crashed an airplane and walked away and were both still in shock!!

We finally get our stuff out of the plane and our cars out of the hanger. We agree to each head home and to call each other in a little while about continuing our trip (still delusional). I headed home and woke Z up to tell her. She was dazed and couldn't understand why I was home. I ended up heading back to the airstrip to be interviewed by the NTSB about the accident. Then I went to the office and worked as if nothing happened. Z and I ended up driving that night to San Angelo and then following day to Del Rio completing the work that needed to be done.

The shirt I wore that day still hangs in my closet. I doubt it fits anymore but I cannot seem to get rid of it. I can close my eyes and relive this event second by second as if it were yesterday. There are tons of tiny detail I did not include as this is long enough already.

George and I agreed to have a meal together every year on the anniversary of our crash. Sadly we only got to do that once. In the spring of 2000 George had a minor motorcycle accident. It messed his shoulder up. In July he had surgery to the shoulder and was released to go home and recuperate. He died of complications with his medication in the days that followed. I remember sitting in my office after returning from lunch at Luby's and being told he died. I was in shock. Not just my best friend but someone who had done so much and to end up dying of a drug complication. I often think of him. It's always about how vibrant he was and how much fun he was to be around. He was certainly larger than life.

Till the day he died we each blamed ourselves for the crash. I feel if i had said nothing within five more seconds we would have been clear the trees and on our way to Del Rio. George felt that he he had been paying better attention to the instruments and heard what I said accurately we would not have gone lumber-jacking with the prop. A few months prior he had a hard landing and bent one of the planes struts. Although it was repaired I believe that is what started us slightly off the runway center line as we started our takeoff roll and we kept on that angle after rotating.

By the way only 1/10th of 1% of people who crash ever crash again...so I am all done with that! I have flow again and the first time I had a few butterflies. Although not current I hope to get current next year. I do miss flying badly. This is little as peaceful as being in the air.

If you have any interest in reading the full NTSB Report you can click HERE. More in the days to follow! Again I know it was long but I hope it was enjoyable.

Some Catching Up!

2009-11-20T20:59:00.000-10:00

I had intended to post this on October 16th which is a significant date for me. However that date was beyond nightmarish. Lets Cover what happened that day first.

I went out and looked at a claim. While there I received a text asking me to call the office when I could. About 15 minutes later I received a frantic call from our claims manager that our phones were down as well as our internet. WONDERFUL!! I take her through a number of things to try and come to the conclusion that our firewall (manages all internet and telephone traffic) has failed. Just the week prior my IT guy and I had determined that the firewall was the cause of some other internal issues and I had decided to replace it....I guess I wasn't fast enough.

On the way back to the office I stop at Fry's Electronics. Its not likely they will have what I need, but if any retail store would they would. I get out and head inside. I remember stopping to lock my truck (I was also on the phone) but I don't recall hearing it lock.

I was inside about 30 minutes and finally found something I thought MIGHT work. I made the purchase and left and rushed straight to the office. It is now past 2 PM and I have not had anything to eat since 7:30. I get out and immediately start working to get everything up and running. Within about 15 minutes I realized I need some data off my laptop. I head back to the truck and open the back door........IT'S NOT THERE!!! I go back inside and ask if anyone saw me bring my back in.....nope. I text Z and ask if I left it at home. Although I am confident it was in my truck when I left my claim I felt I should double check. Of course it was not at home.

This only means it was stolen while at Fry's. I called them and their security claims in never had my truck in their cameras. It was of course sitting middle of the parking lot 3/4 way out how it would NOT be in their cameras is my question. My life was in that bag. Here are just a few items:

Work Backpack

Dell Laptop

250 GB back drive (taking it back to the office that day)

Passport (should not have been in there)

Various media components/cables (Ethernet, mini usb, etc).

The amazing this was they missed my camera bag right underneath my work bag which had my Sony HD video camera. I of course reported it to the police and filed and insurance claim. However the loss of your "work life" is such a pain. I had back up things twice (beyond the backup drive in the bag). However my most recent back was from July. A lot of data was also on our file server but some things were and they are gone. The cost of working without the proper equipment and the time to restore data is also mind numbing.

To top all this off......remember why I stopped at Fry's..... what I purchased did not fix the issue! If I had gone with my gut that even Fry's would not have the firewall needed I would have avoided a lot of issues. I am grateful to our fiber provider who called a "buddy" who had a spare firewall and let us borrow it for about three weeks. That got us up late that Friday and going since.

What a fiasco. Tomorrow I plan on writing about the topic my October 16th blog was supposed to be. October 16th was an anniversary for me. Anniversary of the day I almost died. My best friend who was with me that day has been on my mind a lot and I is the reason I wanted to blog about it. Tue in tomorrow for what happened that day along with photos of the carnage. From there on I hope to post every day or two.

The Presidential Campaign Heats Up.....

2008-08-29T13:06:00.000-10:00

Well I am going to give this a try with a few links and maybe a photo this time. We will see how it goes so bear with me.

Ok here is where you think I am going to go off about which candidate is the best and why. WRONG! This blog is about the system we have in place and whats wrong with it.

First of all we do not live in a true democracy. We live in a democratic republic. Your vote for the the president does not count! For those of you that need refresher on our Electoral College you can click on the link to it. The wikipedia article i linked to raises a lot of questions.

In fact this season an episode of Boston Legal tacked a similar question taken down to the leval of the acutal parties. In the episode Shirley Schmidt's (Candice Bergen) nephew is a super delegate to the DNC. He outwardly states that he will not vote for the candidate those in his district vote for. Alan Shore (James Spader) tries the case against the DNC. (Sidebar: I just LOVE how neurotic Alan Shore is....) In the end the the DNC wins becasue as a private organization they can do whatever they want. The Republicans are the exact same way. This is perfect proof of how messed up the system is and this episode was only dealing with the candidates within a single party not the election as a whole.

So now your vote for a candidate in a party or for the president just does not matter. They can still do what they want. It is sad how many people will waste their time to go to the polls just so the media can hype who is winning the popular vote...and none of it matters! If we truly lived in a democracy your vote would elect the president. Further we would vote on all issues and a majority would rule. Instead we elect people to speak for us in the Senate and House. How many of them actually do what your will really is?.......honestly now??

Our system is truly flawed. In a House Commons speech on November 11, 1947 Winston Churchill said : "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." That is really how I feel at this moment. There is not another form of government I would want to live under (ie, no China, North Korea, etc) but I do not want to be in this one either.

The worst part about the system being flawed is the fact the ones that are in place to change it won't. Why not...becasue they would no longer have jobs and make the money they are. In 1887 Lord Action of Britain said "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." AMEN to that. Those in power to change will not do it and this quote sumes up why!

In the end I am brought to an old movie I love. It is Brewsters Millions. In the movie he is a minor league baseball player. Unknown to him, he had a (recently deceased) rich relative. In order to test if Brewster knows the value of money, he is given the task of disposing of $30m in 30 days. Brewster isn't allowed to have any assets to show for the $30m or waste the money in any way. If successful, Brewster gets to inherit $300m. The biggest problem of all however, is that Brewster can't tell anyone what he's doing, so everyone thinks he's crazy. Add to this the fact that if he fails, two scheming trustees will get their hands on the money.

In the end to go through the money he enters the mayoral election for the city of Chicago. The other two men running are sleazy scumbags. But Monty doesn't want to win, just campaign to spend the millions (really some satire on campaign spending as well). He ends up with the best campaign slogan even : VOTE NONE OF THE ABOVE! What a refreshing slogan. If all candidates could be this honest we would be so much better off.

Yes vote none of the above is how I feel about our elections this year and most years in fact. Our candidates try to make themselves appeal to the common American. Tell me the last presidential candidate that was not a millionaire?

I read today where both parties have raised in excess of $500 MILLION! All for a job that pays $400k. No come on which of you cannot find something wrong with this picture. In fact I am sure all of you could think of much better uses than this.

Well I guess I am done with my soapbox for a while. I hope you enjoyed the post today. I will try to make it a more regular thing.

Times Goes By...

2008-05-22T18:18:00.000-10:00

Time continues to go by and of course we all know there is nothing we can do about it. i turned 31 today. Usually people "freak out" or have problems on what are deemed to be milestone years like 30, 40, etc. Last year turning 30 I don't think I had much issue. Z seems to think it bothered me some but I didn't seem to notice.

This year is different and it didn't hit me until today. It really is bothering me. Nothing has technically been bad, but I certainly do feel good. My stomach is in knots and I can't sleep. My heart beat is elevated for no particular reason and my stress level is higher than normal. Really I just wish there was an answer to what it really is.

I know that today I realized how much more loyal my regular employees are in than ones who are relatives. That is a very sad statement but very true. I think that will cause a parting of ways but honestly its a good thing! The worst part is I recently had to let a great workmate and friend go who has been loyal and worked their backside off for me. To have to do that and then be hung out to dry by family...well it brings sorrow.

In the end it goes back to being happy. I have always loved insurance and most days it is truly a challenge.....and a challenge is what I need. Mundane just makes me bored. So how do you make yourself happy in your work. Well you surround yourself by great people who enjoy what they do and all working as a team. Well all those spices are in place maybe they just need to be mixed up again.

That's enough for tonight. I am determined to be better at getting things out there.

The Americanization of Cancun Sucks....

2008-03-03T09:01:00.000-10:00

As you may or may not know by now Z and I went to Cancun for a four day weekend. It started out with an 1.5 hour delay on the ground in Houston due to an mechanic issue on the plane. The entire reason we choose Cancun was to maximize our “beach time” since Continental has more flights there and we could leave earlier. The flight itself was fine.

We then get to Cancun (late obviously) and head outside to find our pre scheduled ride. We wonder around for a few minutes to no avail. At this point Z is quite irate at me. I found an AMEX representative and they in the end helped me find the proper person to get us to Le Meridien. With a fifteen minute drive we arrive at the hotel. It is a pretty property, but rather small in comparison to the others. At this point Z just wants to lay down and take a nap and doesn’t feel good. Of course our room is not ready! (are they ever when they are supposed to be). So we go eat in the restaurant which has no A/C and is about 85 degrees. They also were going to put us in a room with no balcony and two double beds. However they offered to move us to this other resort for the night and then back to Le Meriden with private transportation. After some talk we agreed. We would get to see another property and a king in both places. We also decided that if it appeared to be a dump we would not even get out of the vehicle.

Off we go to a resort named Aqua. Well when we get there it is immediately obvious that this resort is nicer than Le Meriden (as evidenced by the two Rolls Royce Phantoms outside they use to drive guests around). This property is absolutely gorgeous. It is concrete, steel, and glass with a very Asian theme to it. I took a bunch of photos of it and will post them. We received a nice room near the top in the center of the hotel. Z collapsed and slept and I went for a run on the beach and a swim. Then I read until dark. That evening we actually had a very nice dinner…....at a mall that makes the Galleria in Houston look cheap and old (Cartier, Luis Vuitton, etc.) This is just not the Mexican culture I was looking for.

We go back to Le Meridien the next day and it is ok. The property is small and cramped. The pools are ok. I will now take a moment to go off one poolside etiquette. Due to the size of the property the seats around the pool will fill up quickly. HOWEVER…running down there at 8.30 in the morning to throw a towel on two chairs and then not returning till the afternoon is NOT reserving a chair! These childish games drive me nuts. If you want to use the chair go sit your happy but in it….not throw a towel on it to “save your place” for the next five hours while the rest of us wander around looking for somewhere to sit. So when you come down and find me “in your chair” tough luck! On top of this poolside service was very poor. We would usually have to wait 30 + minutes to order a drink and on average it took 25minutes to get it back. They ask for your name and room number up front so they know where to charge. They will disappear and you won’t see them for huge amounts of time. YET, the moment you get up to leave without signing they will run your ass down. Yes they need that tip for the drink it took them 55 minutes total to get to you. Last I checked that was not top notch service. I looked at the guy when this happened and said you have the room number just charge the room….and he looked at me like he didn’t know what to do.

I am so-so on the all inclusive thing. It is nice mainly for the meals. Yet doing it for the alcohol is just a waste. I guess I am too picky but when I have done all inclusive before all you get is CRAP liquor. Maybe I am just an alcohol snob. I don’t want vodka or whiskey I have never heard of.

On Sunday we decided to go snorkeling and it was fine. I LOVE the water so just being in it makes me happy. We saw some fish and I saw two turtles. However I think a lot of the coral in this area is still trying to redevelop from the Hurricanes in 2005. On the way back from snorkeling we stopped at a Chinese restaurant. It was the best food and most reasonably priced we had the entire time there.

That evening we decided to go to Coco Bongo. It was recommended to us. So we took a taxi down there and got some Starbucks (ok ok the one good Americanized thing there), and walked around and talked. We found out that the show didn’t start till 10:30 pm. Swimming had drained us both so we decided to skip it. We walked around the shops. We walked into a cigar shop and they average $22/a piece. I have seen the same ones here for $6.50. We finally decided to get some Jack Daniels go back to Le Meriden and have a couple of drinks and just relax. We went into a store and found a 1/5 of Jack for $55.00!! I quickly decided I did not need a drink that badly.

We adjourned for the night and slept hard because of swimming so much (the current was strong in one area and wiped us both out). It was the first decent sleep I had the pillows were quite poor.

On Monday we went back to the pool and read for a bit before leaving. We departed for the airport and breezed thru check-in and went to security. The line was short and we breezed by. Interestingly we did not remove our shoes. This is now the 2^nd country I have been in that I have not had to removed my shoes. However the real brilliance of Cancun showed past security. Once you get past you MUST go thru the 25,000 square foot duty free store. So for grins I had to go find the Jack Daniels……the same 1/5 was now $22.00!! I was furious.

In the end I could have gone to Florida or a number of other places here in the US for less money and better service. I don’t go to another country to experience my own culture! I cannot understand why you go to another country just to have it feel “like home”. Are Americans so narrow minded that need that to be comfortable. How about trying out something new and different.

When we travel we strive NOT to eat at any restaurant that is a chain. Give me the West Coast of Mexico ANY DAY. It cost 30% less, the people are nicer, more laid back and you get a true feel for the Mexican culture (that I love).

Not to make it all that horrible here are a few things which was good.

Aqua resort was gorgeous!

I love to read and read 1.5 books (Ludlum novels, not light reads).

I got to swim everyday and wish I could do that at home.

That’s about it for the positives. I lot more occurred (on the negative side) but that is enough for now.

A Little About Life & Some About My Wife

2007-11-12T17:27:00.000-10:00

Well it has been a while and I have had a number of topics to write about but just haven't taken the time to sit down and JUST DO IT!

As young people most of us aspire to have "money" and be well off. Yet we all have to learn the hard way there is no such thing as financial security in this world. In addition even if you are fortunate to be financially well off (for today) that in no way will bring you any happiness.

For a number of years now my wonderful wife has worked in an around our company business. In addition for the last three + years she has also had her hands full with our son. She has always been helpful but at her own admission BORED. This is probably because our business is just not that interesting to her and I get that.

For the past couple of years she has been in a self admitted funk about "what to do now". School, work, hobby, etc. and just could not decide. Well recently she finally decided she wanted "a real job" and to do something different. Her passion (and one of mine) is cooking so she applied online at a kitchen specialty store. After a week NO RESPONSE. So she went by the store and they asked her to fill out an application in person. She did that as well. After another week NO RESPONSE. So then she called to follow up and was essentially blown off!

Well there is another store location but it is about an hour away. So on the way to Galveston a couple of weeks ago we went by this other location and she again filled out an application. After about a two minute conversation with the manager she told her it would be a few days but she likely had the job. Sure enough a few days later she got a call and sure enough SHE HAS A NEW JOB!!

She was quite afraid to start a job because of our little boy who is three. He is just now in daycare two days a week. I promised here that I would be there to support her and help with him in any way I could so he could get this job. Well I am officially eating crow. Today was her first day at work and I am over a thousand miles away working! I FEEL LIKE I FAILED HER, and such a heel! She has assured me that it is ok but I don't feel that way. So for that I apologize.

In the end I am SO PROUD OF HER! She found a passion, something she really wanted to do and went after it. It's not about the money (in fact the pay isn't that great). Even after getting rebuffed at the first location she didn't give up. In fact proud is not a strong enough statement. I cannot put into words how I really feel inside. You make me appreciative to be your husband and partner. Now if only I can find my passion.......

Friends......How Do You Make Them.....

2007-10-10T17:48:00.000-10:00

First of all let me say I have not played with all the setting enough so I don't have any fancy links to other blogs or website or photos...but give me a little time and I will get it down. Now on to my thoughts for today.....

This is kinda hard for me to talk about but something I need to find a way to express. As a child I was taught not to be biased about anything, especially about people. Unfortunately we live in a society were racism still exists. I have (or have had) friends of all different nationalities. At the same time I will also say there are good and trashy in ever race. Ok enough about that...more to the topic at hand.

Although I was raised not to be biased/racist I was taught to only associate with people who had similar religious beliefs. This was taught as a protection as those people would have similar interested and be more wholesome for association. This means at school and other places I had "friends" in that fact of other kids my age I associated with at school ONLY and for projects. This means any other friend I had outside of there was in the same religion. To make it worse I NEVER had a friend (one I was allowed to have) in the same school with me. It made things a bit lonely.

As I recently turned 30 I have began to realize many things. One of those is that by only have friends of similar religious teachings is also to be biased towards everyone else. Where has this left me? Well it has left me with very few true friends. The ones I did "have" (religious) were just that...fair weather friends who would spend time and pretend they liked you while you "did what you were supposed to". So now I have but only a very few good friends. Ones I ENJOY spending time with, have similar interests etc. One of them is my beautiful wife! Of course I also love spending time with my son. If your family isn't your friend...well you have bigger issues.

However as humans we need more contact that just our immediately family. Time to do other things and pursue different interests (ones they don't necessarily have). So this draws me to the question....HOW DO YOU MAKE NEW FRIENDS?? Truly I am looking for an answer. When you don't have "life long" friends for the reasons described above what is the next step. I will even complicate things further. I own my own business. I do have friends there. One of them even got me blogging (thanks Michael). I do consider Michael a great friend but distance precludes of from doing more things together. One of my other best friends lives in Baton Rouge...again DISTANCE. Finally some employees can only be "friendly" at work because they cannot make a separate between employer/employee relationship and friendship.

Well I have rambled enough and if you have made it this far maybe you can provide me some insight......I could really use it!

Moving Is Such Sweet Sorrow......

2007-09-26T16:09:00.000-10:00

Ok ok, I do realize that is not exactly Shakespeare's' quote. This weekend we will be moving our office for the third time in just over three years! The current move is the second in nine months. None of this was really planned this way. Here is a little run down of how we got here.

We were in an older office building and occupying about 1400 SF. We were growing at the time and needed more room. A nicer office as well. That building was older and it showed. We moved into about 2700 SF and everyone sighed a little relief as we all had some privacy and some "room to breathe". We were in this location for 15 months. The last six months we had no hot water in our suite, the bathrooms in the commons needed help, light ballasts needed replacement, and on and on.........

Fortunate for us we found an office to move into. It was a shell and we had to build it out. Our vet (who was moving) needed to rent or sell the property so we agreed to rent the building. We built out about 3500 SF and moved in. FINALLY...somewhere we are wanted and have our own space, no having to share bathrooms with other companies.........Well all this was short lived as well. We quickly had more problems then the last location. Since then the land was foreclosed on and sold which means we no longer have a valid lease and must move again.

I mean come on.....why does this keep happening! So do you wanna guess where we are moving to this weekend? BACK TO THE ORIGINAL 1400SF SPACE! Why?? Becasue it is all we can get on short notice in our area.

Well now that you have the history you can see why I am quickly becoming a pro at moving. Something I really do not want to be a professional at! Further to be fully honest we have hired movers each time. HOWEVER, that doesn't make it difficult. We can still have to box everything up, arrange the order of the move, and put things back in place. Further I just don't trust anyone to handle the electronic. Thus all of the computer equipment I move personally. Sure I could pay for that too but I just do not trust the movers.

As I do not plan to spend all that long as this current location I will again soon be working on my professional mover designation. In all of this I have learned a valuable lesson. If you have not unpacked it since the last move either TRASH IT OR EBAY IT....YOU DO NOT NEED IT ANYMORE. Of course the likely hood of that actually happening.....Well we will see after this weekend. I hope I can do more than learn this lesson but actually apply it.

Which is mightier......

2007-06-13T18:49:00.000-10:00

We have all heard the quote that "the pen is mightier than the sword". While that may be true I think we can take it one further. I think that "The Tongue Conquers All."

Think about how words can affect (or effect) us in our daily lives. We can be cut to the quick or do the same to others. Many times it can be out of impulse and we may never know the damage that we have caused.

No to take it even further.........The tongue can be just as powerful WHEN ITS IS NOT USED. Many times our message is more clean when we hear nothing. Let me give you a good example. Recently I attended our corporate offices national meeting. The CEO, CFO, and VP of operations hardly spoke to me even though we are the largest contributor to the company. I felt as if a large message was being sent. Should I have been more aggressive in confronting them? Well that cannot be changed, its in the past. The bigger question is what to take from it and where to go from here.

Thats it for now.....I took a couple of trips recently and really need to post some info on them.....hopefully in the next couple out days.

PEACE!