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It is hard being on the road over 200 nights a year...away from your family, isolated in many ways. It definitely isn't for everyone. This blogs represents the thoughts of just one such person. Read along and find out if the road is for you.
This is my new blogchalk:
United States, Georgia, Gainesville, Unity of Gainesville, English, John, Male, reading, RE Investing. :)
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Friday, August 23, 2002
These are the best of times…
I just had the best time last night. Who wouldn’t? I had three beautiful women (sans husbands/significant others) with me. I have had dinner with their husbands and I have always enjoyed their company almost as much as their wives. With their husbands there or not, you always have a great time with this group.
We started the evening at a local restaurant and got caught up on each other’s lives,
- Candee’s husband Dan has started a new company that she is both excited and worried about.
- Heidi is just hanging in there.
- Pamela was telling about the neighborhood she and her husband live in, along with each of their plans for the now vacant dining room (Chris wants a major foosball table and she wants a dining set)
- How the company where we originally met (they worked there, I consulted) was doing, along with their bosses oddities. (All bosses are good for a couple of laughs in that regard.)
- And me – weight loss, coffee shop and where I want to go for vacation when I grow up.
We finished up dinner and drinking there and they said I had to go to Bahama Breeze with them. I know we have them in the Atlanta area, but I had never been. That is a fun place (or was it the company and the 2.5 tumblers of margaritas I had consumed earlier?) to meet, greet, and hang out at.
I didn’t get back that late, but late enough that when I laid down to watch tv, my head said I had had a bit more than I should have. I hope they all got home safely.
I wish I could see these folks more often. I am not sure why, but I really don’t develop that close of a relationship with my clients.
I do have that with a limited number of clients. Ed in Sun Valley, Keith in New York, Cheryl in Birmingham and these folks here in Detroit pretty much sum it up. Everyone else is just a blur for the most part. Maybe I am not giving myself (or them) the opportunity. I know other consultants who do better at this than me. It is something I need to work on.
I think I am coming to the conclusion that St. Augustine is where I am going to land. I haven’t heard back from Eddie. There are no hard feelings if she can’t do the house/coffee house deal. But since I haven’t heard from her and Julie has seen her several times this week, my thoughts are she can’t find a way to make it work for her.
Oh well. Maybe the times I spend with friends and family ARE the best of times and I am not giving them their due. I will work on that this weekend as well.
posted by John Panico at 12:42 PM
Thursday, August 22, 2002
At least you are enjoying the ride…
Grateful Dead
Well, how am I doing? Kind of hard to say really.
All week long, I have been “observing” Mike train on our new NT product. I am bored to death. Not because I am not interested in what he is talking about. It is just the person that supposedly is the “knowledgable” one of us, isn’t.
Mike needs to improve his teaching skills as well as his product knowledge. In fairness to him, he has already indicated that today’s subject (accounting) is not his favorite topic. You can kind of here him wanting to get the customer’s consensus on issues, rather than confidently directing them on how the system actually works.
Mike isn’t a bad guy. I had dinner with him last night and enjoyed most of it. In fairness to him, it does take a lot of energy to teach systems all day. But talking and trying to learn more about Mike made me seem like a dentist…like I was pulling teeth.
Mike has told me that over the last month, he has spent two weeks at home. I have bitched to Mike several times this week how I have never had a whole week at home, never mind two. I would like to feel how a week at home would feel. I would visit friends, catch up on reports, and just work on my pool time. Who knows, maybe I could improve this blog??? Now, there’s an idea!
I feel like this is such a wasted week. Not that I don’t need to learn about the new product. If I don’t learn it, my earning power is going to be severely limited in the future. But more because, I am not getting the things I want to get done. But I can put it off till next week when I actually have a few weekdays at home.
I am really excited about tonight however. I am having dinner with Pamela, Candee and their husbands. I met them 2 years ago when I visited them here in Detroit. For reasons too long to mention here, Candee now works at another company.
I try to catch up with them by email occasionally and whenever I am in town. They are fun folks and there will be copious amount of drinking and eating (these days for me, that’s not much) going on. Woohoo!!!!
Tomorrow is Friday! Double Woohoo!!!! I will follow up on tonight’s activities later. In the meantime, I guess I will enjoy this ride.
posted by John Panico at 1:05 PM
Wednesday, August 21, 2002
What am I thinking????
I seem to be doing an enormous amount of time pondering things regarding life and other issues. I have been thinking especially about all the hoopla that is surrounding 911.
I really don’t think that this is such a good thing. I think that people are going to be re-living that whole sad saga.
I know I have written my fair share of emails as I have traveled across the country. One in particular was to a columnist in Chicago regarding the statue of the folks raising the flag at Ground Zero.
I guess I have to start journaling what 911 is going to mean for me. Am I over it? Not nearly. On the other hand, I never had that, “Kill them all” mentality either. I felt Bush did a fair job initially, but has used (along with Ashcroft) 911 as the reason to do whatever. That I can’t agree with in any way, shape or form.
The last year has seen us lose many of our freedoms. Going to the airport is a bigger hassle than ever. I used to breeze through them. Now, your stomach starts to churn the closer you get to the security gate.
One of the reasons (the other being massive weight loss since my VBG surgery) I shaved my goatee was that I felt I was being profiled by security. Since becoming clean-shaven, I have been selected for security screening very few times.
Other things going on in my alledged mind?
The person I am here in Detroit (see Mike) doesn’t take me into account much. My company in their infinite wisdom of saving money asked if I could get by without a rental car. Big Mistake. He is at a different hotel and just drops me off and goes on his merry way. I was going to have dinner on Thursday night with some previous clients who have become friends. I asked Mike if he wanted to come to dinner with us. We will be drinking, eating, and just having a great time. I wanted him to know he was more than welcome to come. No, he would not be coming and wouldn’t even be able to let me use the car. Stay tuned.
The house buying issue is starting to crowd my thinking. The banker from Florida called yesterday and said I could get an even better deal than what she previously offered. I wish Eddie would make up her mind about the Georgia house.
More later, but I have to do some work.
posted by John Panico at 2:59 PM
Tuesday, August 20, 2002
Another day up in the air...
What does a guy have to do to catch a break? I spend 11 hours traveling yesterday. You would think that I would have enough time to do whatever I wanted. Yea..right. Since I was on my sojourn from hell (Sacramento to Phoenix and then on to Detroit) I would have some time to read, play around on the computer, and just think how screwed up this week is.
Nah...just wasn't meant to be. The morning started off pretty good after the news that I was going to have to make this trip. I spend some time fixing up my blog pages and conversing with another friend about her blog It is all about me. From there the day went downhill.
I left the hotel and had to head to the post office to send my dad a box of books and clothes. I was going to send it from Georgia, but when they told me how much, I almost fainted. (Am I coming from a sense of lack here? Or am I just cheap? It was going to cost about $40 to mail, so I brought it on the plane with me.) I was going to either scam the client into sending it (which is usually at no cost or very cheap), but couldn't do that under the circumstances.
I must have idiot labeled all across my face. I sat next to a woman and another guy who just about talked my head off on the first leg of the trip. Note to readers: if the person sitting next to you on the plane has the newspaper, a book and their computer out, it is probably an indication that they really don't want to talk! Get a clue people. I don't want to be rude, well maybe this once I do. Why do I feel obligated to continue the conversation. Maybe because the questions the guy was asking were directed to me because I had some experience in what he was going through (they have been growing their company and want to either take it public or sell out...both of which I have done) Or maybe I am looking that old lately that people think I should know at least something.
The second trip wasn't any better. I sat next to this college kid and his brother returning from San Francisco. People for some reason become intrigued when you tell them how much you travel. (Which city is the best? What do you do? Do you enjoy the travel? Do you ever feel used up? etc) Let's see...I don't know, I haven't been to all the cities, after you have put in a days travel and spend time at the client, not as much as you would think, if the travel bothers you, this isn't the job for you, and defnintely!) I am sure that these folks mean well, but yesterday wasn't the day for conversation.
Then as I land (around 10 PM), the lady with the house for sale calls as I am getting off the plane. She needs further explanation of what I want in regards to buying her house. I tell her it's simple.
- We will have the house appaised by 2 companies. We will take the average appaisal of the two as the selling price.
- I will finance through the bank $130,000
- She will hold the balance at a no interest note for 24 months
- She will invest $30,000 in my coffee house.
She doesn't know if she can swing it after all. I am not sure if she is playing me or what. I tell her if that can't be done, I am moving to St. Augustine. She asks where I will get the money. I tell her the biz plan is done, and I can find an investor for the funds I am lacking. She will get back to me.
It is always disheartening when things don't go the way you plan them. I was half way thinking that this was pretty much a done deal. And it still may be. But now it had become another thing to think and worry about. I don't know about you, but right now, my plate is full of things to think and worry about...relationships, work, travel, family. Hell, I could fill up pages of things I am thinking about.
The point, I tell myself is, "What are you going to do about them?"
posted by John Panico at 7:11 AM
Monday, August 19, 2002
It is going to be one of those....weeks!
I am trying to get better at my blogging discipline, but sometimes life gets in the way. I was traveling yesterday from Atlanta to Sacramento. I didn't start the trip off in a good frame of mind to begin with. Our corporate travel agent put me on this milk run flight on America Worst (er, I mean West). That was bad enough. But then this person in front of me reclined his head seemingly in my lap, so the layovers were the highlight of the trip.
Sometimes, I think I am spoiled. (Or maybe I am spoiled, whatever) I don't mind if I am not in first class. I get upgraded the majority of the time, so when I don't, I try not to bitch. I do get cranky when stupidity comes into play. Like when they book me on a "L" or "U" class of flight that can't be upgraded. The logic that comes back is "we have to save money. The client might complain". Screw that! What about the company's most precious asset?? The people who like myself leave home on holidays and get in at 1 in the morning and are at the clients at 8:30. If it is less than $100 difference, book me on the upgradeable flight.
What happened last night illustrates my point. I traveled 10 hours to save the company/client. I get in this morning and there is a change in the plans. The person who I am supposed to "observe" had a emergency and forgot to let me know. So, what am I doing today? I am traveling all day again (milk run city) to Detroit, where I will get in at 9:30. That more than any company BS will drive me out of this business.
And that day could be coming sooner than I thought. A lady at my church has been wanting me to buy her house. The house is worth what she is asking, but I haven't been sure that I wanted to stay in the area. My heart tells me I am at the beach in St. Augustine. But she may be making an offer I can't refuse. If I buy her house, she will invest in my coffee house. And she will hold a second mortgage at 2 years at no interest. Maybe, I am staying in Georgia after all. Stay tuned.
Sometimes, I wonder about this blog thing. Does the blog drive me or do I drive the blog?
I find myself thinking about what I will write, reminding myself to include things in the blog, etc.
I read other blogs and see that they have so much more emotion than I do. I wonder why my blog doesn't contain such things. Anyway, feedback on this is good. I think I will spend the rest of the morning working on the links to this blog and cleaning it up some.
posted by John Panico at 11:41 AM
Sunday, August 18, 2002
It Didn’t Have To Be That Way….
It is now Saturday afternoon and it seems like this is the first minute (check that, make that moment) that I have been able to come up for air. Yesterday, when it was all said and done, it turned out to be a lost day.
The only productive moment occurred a little after 11 pm when my head hit the pillow. It didn’t have any redeeming moments within the confines of the rest of it.
Why you ask?? Maybe it was the week I led. Maybe it was karma coming back to bite me, I really don’t know.
I tried to convince the client earlier in the week not to have me come back. I really was looking out for them as I was trying to save them money and I know right now they are short of it. Besides, the travel to get there is a real pain. I thought it would be a win/win deal to refer it to one of our more local consultants. Needless to say, they said they would only have me back in the future. It didn’t have to be that way…
Then on to Birmingham and my favorite client. At my suggestion, they had actually bought some additional time for this month. That was money that probably could have been used better on wine, women (or men if that is your preference) and song than having me actually get something done.
I had scheduled to be with the system admin person on Wednesday. She has been shortchanged the last few months I have been there and it was beginning to make her feel unloved. So this trip, we planned to begin with her right out of the box and then we wouldn’t run out of time with other issues as had previously happened. Great plan…. poor execution. Turns out, an electrical surge blew out their switches and she spend the morning doing damage control. So we changed the schedule and made her on Friday. What a mistake!
Wednesday evening actually went well. I had dinner with the George (the owner) and Cheryl (VP of Operations). It was probably the most productive time of the entire trip. And the most enjoyable! I get to do my “touchy feely” (Cheryl’s description of what I do “off system”) stuff and have an opportunity to make real changes in the business. They do most everything I ask or suggest and the results to date have been good.
But I digress.
Friday, oh yeah, the day from hell. There were a total of 4 things on the agenda. You would think that routine things should go relatively easy (or should I say I thought they would). Two were slam-dunk things that I have done numerous times and the other two weren’t that difficult in theory. The first item on the agenda was a prognosis for things to come. These folks had bought a new bar code printer that they hadn’t used since they originally bought it 4 years ago. After 4 hours, we determined that the printer was broken out of the box. That was half the day gone. It didn’t have to be that way….
Next, was importing items into the database. I brag to my clients that I can get 100,000 items in the system in 15 minutes. I have done this countless times. Guess what? I couldn’t get 1 item imported in the system! A problem with the file. It didn’t have to be that way.
The other agenda items went the same as the first two. I left the client feeling bad. Cheryl was happy with the effort and even some of the results. I was less than satisfied. Like I said, it didn’t have to be that way…
But it was that way. Certainly all day Friday. And it seemed like most of the week as well.
And today was only a little bit better. I got up at 6 this morning because of Artemus (the best kitty in the whole world) wanting to go out. Not a problem really. I had to get up anyhow for an 8 AM meeting with men from my church. This group just started up last month and they indicated they would like my participation. In fact, the facilitator asked me to lead this meeting, since he was not going to be there. I had taken notes of the initial meeting and I had to make sure I had enough copies for everyone.
Only a few of the guys showed up, but it was still a nice social event over breakfast. The food was actually pretty good and very cheap. I had one egg and a sausage patty with a drink for $2.50. Not that I could eat it all, but what I had tasted wonderful.
Getting back home found Julie heading out the door to meet with her friends. She is amusing to me in that regard. All week long, she professes how much she misses me and wishes I wasn’t away from home. I get home and she goes out with her friends. Go figure.
In this case, I actually enjoyed the time alone. I had a chance to just be by myself around the house and listen to music on the stereo. I pretty much lazed around while doing expense reports and working on getting another friend’s blog some additional web pages.
Around 4:30, I decided that since Julie wasn’t home, I would go to the local coffee shop and work on my blog. I toted my computer with me to the coffee house. Just two years ago, this place was rated one of the top 10 coffee roasters in the country. That still may be, but the coffee itself and the service/ambiance aren’t up to my standards. (Am I too hard on what my expectations of a coffee house too high? These folks are making money, but I am confident that I could do so much better.)
At 5:15, Julie calls me and wonders where I am. I tell her and although not making an outright comment, indicates that she would like me to be at home with her.
I get home and she decides to take a nap.
You know…I said to myself, “It didn’t have to be that way.”
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