So, I would love to claim that I haven't been ignoring my blog, but I have been.
If it makes anyone feel any better, I have been ignoring a lot of things in my life.
Last week my mother ended up having to have emergency surgery, and I flew down to their home. When I got back, everything did not seem to matter. My house, my car, my life, my blog... None of it. My friends mattered though, and I have spent a bunch of time around people, when I have had the time.
Mom is doing better now, but there were some rough patches. It was scary there for a while, and I was worried that I was going to lose her. I've only had 23 years, that's just not enough...
And for right now, a lot of my life seems like it's unimportant. All of the stuff that I worked so hard to get is, well... Just stuff... It's shit that, at the end of the day, doesn't mean a damn thing...
So I need to take some time to figure this all out. I'm busting my ass at work (4th of July coming up and all), I'm tired, and I just want to fly back to my parents house again. I don't know what the hell I am doing, but I know that I am finally running out of energy to do it.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Great Success
So the inaugural golf round of "DRIVING: With An Open Container" was a great success. We had a good time, everyone pretty much had average scores, and we all spent the day just enjoying life.
Golf tends to be one of those things that can be viewed so many different ways by the people that are playing it. Of course, the first thought is that you are playing everyone else, and that the best score wins. But there is so much more to it than that. I think that in our group, nobody gave a damn about having the best score. It was more a matter of seeing everyone have a good time, and wanting everyone to play well. So then it became more of a game where we were competing against ourselves. Trying to force a better performance from yourself on every hole...
This is why there are three more golf balls at the bottom of the lake on 16, one in the pond on 9, two in the woods off of the cliff on 15 (yes, 15's tee box is at the top of what can only be described as a cliff, with a 100+ foot drop), and thanks to TimmyTim, two in somebody's yard just off of 12.
Best shots of the day?
Adams had a beautiful drive on 3 that faded perfectly around the turn in the course. It could not have played any better.
TimmyTim was the only guy to clear the water on 16, and put the damn thing right on the green with his first shot. Adams and I had both already put a ball a piece into the water, and he steps up and just hits it perfect.
And Stormin? My tee shot on 12 was the most perfect shot I have ever hit in my entire life. A 3 iron, hit with a left to right cross wind. 210 yards, and I timed the shot with the wind so that it just started off left, and came back ever so slightly to the center of the fairway. One of those shots that keep you coming back because it was so fun.
We will be back to the course soon, and next time someone will remember a damn camera!
Golf tends to be one of those things that can be viewed so many different ways by the people that are playing it. Of course, the first thought is that you are playing everyone else, and that the best score wins. But there is so much more to it than that. I think that in our group, nobody gave a damn about having the best score. It was more a matter of seeing everyone have a good time, and wanting everyone to play well. So then it became more of a game where we were competing against ourselves. Trying to force a better performance from yourself on every hole...
This is why there are three more golf balls at the bottom of the lake on 16, one in the pond on 9, two in the woods off of the cliff on 15 (yes, 15's tee box is at the top of what can only be described as a cliff, with a 100+ foot drop), and thanks to TimmyTim, two in somebody's yard just off of 12.
Best shots of the day?
Adams had a beautiful drive on 3 that faded perfectly around the turn in the course. It could not have played any better.
TimmyTim was the only guy to clear the water on 16, and put the damn thing right on the green with his first shot. Adams and I had both already put a ball a piece into the water, and he steps up and just hits it perfect.
And Stormin? My tee shot on 12 was the most perfect shot I have ever hit in my entire life. A 3 iron, hit with a left to right cross wind. 210 yards, and I timed the shot with the wind so that it just started off left, and came back ever so slightly to the center of the fairway. One of those shots that keep you coming back because it was so fun.
We will be back to the course soon, and next time someone will remember a damn camera!
Friday, June 22, 2007
Long Time, No Post
DISCLAIMER: The laptop that I am typing this on has spell check disabled for some weird ass reason, and as such, I take no responsibility for errors in spelling. The joys associated with modern technology have made me dependant on the computer for pretty much everything, including things like spelling. Cope with it for me, just this once...
So it has been a while since my last post or blog visit. I haven't forgotten about this place, I just had the shit hit the fan all at once.
The fourth of July is in two weeks (well, less than two weeks) and work is pilling up like no other. I think that the best part is that in two weeks it calms down for a little while. But as for right now it is just insanity. There is SO much beer to be delt with, and the weather isn't inspiring confidence in anyone right now. It is not cold or anything, but it sure as fuck isn't warm, and the sun has not really been out all that much. So people are nervous that this holiday isn't going to have that much of a draw, and that this is going to be (beer wise) the worst Independance Day this decade. I wish that I were kidding. I however, am more optomistic than that. Aside from the calendar screwing us with a Wednesday holiday, I think that fortune will bless us with a week of sunshine, and the beer will be flowing like no other. The holiday is a huge draw regaurdless of the weather, and people will be going in to work HUNG OVER the next day. So we are busting our asses to get all of this shit done.
I stumbled ass backwards into meeting a really charming young lady that I do a lot to spend time with. This isn't something that takes up a lot of my time, because she spends so much time at work that it's ridiculous. But I make the effort to hang out with her when she has the time. This translates into Stormin getting home from work yesterday, going out with her to the baseball game, and then going to the casino afterwards. She has the delightful ability to win playing slot machies, and quickly turned the thirty dollars she was playing with into $173.00... I was really blown away. I would not play the slots, but ended up playing $10 at minimum bet just to make sure that she wouldn't think that I was just sitting around waiting for her to be done (honestly, it was more fun for me just to watch her win, and know that she was having a great time). I won $3.00... B.F.D.
After the slot machines (when she won $120 on a jackpot, she decided to call that win the last) we played blackjack (my game... there was a post about this on my last trip to Reno) and I won $100. Then we went and played craps, and despite her protests that she was not good at craps, she won me $50 playing table minimum $5 bets. It was funny to have her talk about never winning, and then win a lot when I just told her to play my money. I won another $100, and then we went back to blackjack. Where we played until 3:30AM. I am not kidding. I ended up having a great night, and so did she. I ended up getting up a little later than normal for work, and dragging ass all day just to keep up. But a quick nap when I got home was necessary, because I am going out for a friends brothers birthday party tonight, and we'll be out late again.
Then tomorrow I have beer golf, which is going to be a great time. TimmyTim, a friend of his, and I are going to the golf course for a manly game of golf in which we have 5L mini keg of beer to drink during an 18 hole round, and we still have to manage to make it through the round. My golf bag has a cooler pocket built in (what kinda beer rep would I be without one right), and we have about 5 hours to finish it during the round. We even have a name for the game, that is going to evolve into a tournament:
DRIVING With An Open Container
Admit it, you all wish you had thought that one up.
So it has been a while since my last post or blog visit. I haven't forgotten about this place, I just had the shit hit the fan all at once.
The fourth of July is in two weeks (well, less than two weeks) and work is pilling up like no other. I think that the best part is that in two weeks it calms down for a little while. But as for right now it is just insanity. There is SO much beer to be delt with, and the weather isn't inspiring confidence in anyone right now. It is not cold or anything, but it sure as fuck isn't warm, and the sun has not really been out all that much. So people are nervous that this holiday isn't going to have that much of a draw, and that this is going to be (beer wise) the worst Independance Day this decade. I wish that I were kidding. I however, am more optomistic than that. Aside from the calendar screwing us with a Wednesday holiday, I think that fortune will bless us with a week of sunshine, and the beer will be flowing like no other. The holiday is a huge draw regaurdless of the weather, and people will be going in to work HUNG OVER the next day. So we are busting our asses to get all of this shit done.
I stumbled ass backwards into meeting a really charming young lady that I do a lot to spend time with. This isn't something that takes up a lot of my time, because she spends so much time at work that it's ridiculous. But I make the effort to hang out with her when she has the time. This translates into Stormin getting home from work yesterday, going out with her to the baseball game, and then going to the casino afterwards. She has the delightful ability to win playing slot machies, and quickly turned the thirty dollars she was playing with into $173.00... I was really blown away. I would not play the slots, but ended up playing $10 at minimum bet just to make sure that she wouldn't think that I was just sitting around waiting for her to be done (honestly, it was more fun for me just to watch her win, and know that she was having a great time). I won $3.00... B.F.D.
After the slot machines (when she won $120 on a jackpot, she decided to call that win the last) we played blackjack (my game... there was a post about this on my last trip to Reno) and I won $100. Then we went and played craps, and despite her protests that she was not good at craps, she won me $50 playing table minimum $5 bets. It was funny to have her talk about never winning, and then win a lot when I just told her to play my money. I won another $100, and then we went back to blackjack. Where we played until 3:30AM. I am not kidding. I ended up having a great night, and so did she. I ended up getting up a little later than normal for work, and dragging ass all day just to keep up. But a quick nap when I got home was necessary, because I am going out for a friends brothers birthday party tonight, and we'll be out late again.
Then tomorrow I have beer golf, which is going to be a great time. TimmyTim, a friend of his, and I are going to the golf course for a manly game of golf in which we have 5L mini keg of beer to drink during an 18 hole round, and we still have to manage to make it through the round. My golf bag has a cooler pocket built in (what kinda beer rep would I be without one right), and we have about 5 hours to finish it during the round. We even have a name for the game, that is going to evolve into a tournament:
DRIVING With An Open Container
Admit it, you all wish you had thought that one up.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Hamilton Does It AGAIN...
The US Grand Prix was today, and McLaren-Mercedes rookie Lewis Hamilton has won his second race!
He led from the start, and for the second week in a row he looked just unbeatable.
I can not believe how good this kid is.
He led from the start, and for the second week in a row he looked just unbeatable.
I can not believe how good this kid is.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Cheap Beer
So one of the cheapest beers we have at work is offering a huge growth incentive within our market.
The incentive is pretty much them giving us $125,000 and saying that we can divide it up as we see fit. Which means that my team is going to average a $1,500 bonus on this one brand (in the month of June), and that I get 1.375 times the average of my team...
This is a beer that sells for $8.00 a twelve pack. And they're practically telling us that we can print money by promoting the stuff.
I can't get enough of it.
Normally we have lucrative incentives on high dollar brands. There was a wine goal recently that we had to hit, and EVERYONE got $750 if we hit it (matching the winery's BEST MONTH EVER). So of course, an extra $750 in a month is a nice bit of change to have rattling around in the pocket, and we all busted our asses to make sure that our company beat their best month. We did, and we all enjoyed our money (I think I blew mine all on Coke and Strippers... Or maybe I bought a PS3... It was one of those two). But that was on a wine that sold for $187 a case (wholesale). This beer incentive is on a beer that costs $12.00 a case (again, cost to me, not the common man).
And there are differences in volume that are VAST (we sell a lot more cheap beer than we do moderately priced wine), but at the end of the day the dollars work out the same. We may sell 15 times as much beer as we do wine, but 12.00*15=180... So the money is the SAME and this brewery is going to give away double the dollars for a goal that doesn't even match their best month ever. It just puts them firmly in the #1 position in the category (cases and dollars sold).
Which makes me wonder if they are selling out. Traditionally there will be a big push before the owners of a brand sell the company to someone else... They want to make the company look good the the new buyers and investors, and so they will cheat the system a bit and offer very good incentives for growth, even if the dollars don't make sense given the money they make on the product. Not that it matters either way to me, we represent a ton of beer in this area, and the new owners would probably be more than happy to stay at the company that put them in that #1 position in the market.
So if next month the "largest" cheap beer brewery in America is for sale, you heard it here first!
The incentive is pretty much them giving us $125,000 and saying that we can divide it up as we see fit. Which means that my team is going to average a $1,500 bonus on this one brand (in the month of June), and that I get 1.375 times the average of my team...
This is a beer that sells for $8.00 a twelve pack. And they're practically telling us that we can print money by promoting the stuff.
I can't get enough of it.
Normally we have lucrative incentives on high dollar brands. There was a wine goal recently that we had to hit, and EVERYONE got $750 if we hit it (matching the winery's BEST MONTH EVER). So of course, an extra $750 in a month is a nice bit of change to have rattling around in the pocket, and we all busted our asses to make sure that our company beat their best month. We did, and we all enjoyed our money (I think I blew mine all on Coke and Strippers... Or maybe I bought a PS3... It was one of those two). But that was on a wine that sold for $187 a case (wholesale). This beer incentive is on a beer that costs $12.00 a case (again, cost to me, not the common man).
And there are differences in volume that are VAST (we sell a lot more cheap beer than we do moderately priced wine), but at the end of the day the dollars work out the same. We may sell 15 times as much beer as we do wine, but 12.00*15=180... So the money is the SAME and this brewery is going to give away double the dollars for a goal that doesn't even match their best month ever. It just puts them firmly in the #1 position in the category (cases and dollars sold).
Which makes me wonder if they are selling out. Traditionally there will be a big push before the owners of a brand sell the company to someone else... They want to make the company look good the the new buyers and investors, and so they will cheat the system a bit and offer very good incentives for growth, even if the dollars don't make sense given the money they make on the product. Not that it matters either way to me, we represent a ton of beer in this area, and the new owners would probably be more than happy to stay at the company that put them in that #1 position in the market.
So if next month the "largest" cheap beer brewery in America is for sale, you heard it here first!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Not Ignoring My Blog
So I totally need to be better about not ignoring my blog when I get something new...
Monday I picked up a Zune, because I just can't support Apple. I wish I could, but I'm sorry, $600 for an 8GB iPhone and that's with Cingular eating a few hundred dollars a unit, give me a break... I can get an 8GB memory card for my Treo that holds photos, music, and video. And not in a proprietary format that nothing else can read (meaning that I can't share the stuff with people at work).
If they had come correct, it would be a 10GB for $500, and a 20GB for $600. But they don't want to compete with the sales of their base iPod.
And yes, I do know that MS is doing a Zune phone, but their estimated retail is $200 cheaper for a 10GB microdrive based phone. Microsoft filled a patent for a 4G filesharing/communication device, and Sprint conveniently announced the roll out of the 4G network in the US (Feb '07). So the phone is obviously going to be a 4G CDMA on the Sprint/Nextel Network. Other cool shit includes; WiMax file sharing (sending entire MP3's like a text message), and a Touch Screen. It's not available for another 5 months (my guess is day after Thanksgiving, and I'll put money on that), but for less money and on a better network I think it will do better.
And then I got a KTF EV-K100... It's the thinnest cell phone in the world. This thing makes my Treo look like a beast (and I still had to keep the Treo for work). It's really cool, but it only works on Sprint's network after one of our IT guys at work fiddled with it for me. I bought it for it's capabilities as a world phone, as I found out that I am going to Belgium and Germany this year for work (2 seperate trips). I figured that I needed a phone that would work anywhere, and I'm sure that work has no problem paying a minor upgrade fee to be able to keep in touch with me when I'm away.
(Pics of these things coming soon. I can't find my digital camera... That's what I get for buying the small one.)
Monday I picked up a Zune, because I just can't support Apple. I wish I could, but I'm sorry, $600 for an 8GB iPhone and that's with Cingular eating a few hundred dollars a unit, give me a break... I can get an 8GB memory card for my Treo that holds photos, music, and video. And not in a proprietary format that nothing else can read (meaning that I can't share the stuff with people at work).
If they had come correct, it would be a 10GB for $500, and a 20GB for $600. But they don't want to compete with the sales of their base iPod.
And yes, I do know that MS is doing a Zune phone, but their estimated retail is $200 cheaper for a 10GB microdrive based phone. Microsoft filled a patent for a 4G filesharing/communication device, and Sprint conveniently announced the roll out of the 4G network in the US (Feb '07). So the phone is obviously going to be a 4G CDMA on the Sprint/Nextel Network. Other cool shit includes; WiMax file sharing (sending entire MP3's like a text message), and a Touch Screen. It's not available for another 5 months (my guess is day after Thanksgiving, and I'll put money on that), but for less money and on a better network I think it will do better.
And then I got a KTF EV-K100... It's the thinnest cell phone in the world. This thing makes my Treo look like a beast (and I still had to keep the Treo for work). It's really cool, but it only works on Sprint's network after one of our IT guys at work fiddled with it for me. I bought it for it's capabilities as a world phone, as I found out that I am going to Belgium and Germany this year for work (2 seperate trips). I figured that I needed a phone that would work anywhere, and I'm sure that work has no problem paying a minor upgrade fee to be able to keep in touch with me when I'm away.
(Pics of these things coming soon. I can't find my digital camera... That's what I get for buying the small one.)
Monday, June 11, 2007
Part Two
So read the post below... This is just an update that I sent from my phone because I forgot to blog about something.
MY BABY IS HOME!!!!
Car was finished Saturday, $6100 in parts and labor but, everything was under warranty and the rental was complimentary. I'd have paid the bill to have her back...
MY BABY IS HOME!!!!
Car was finished Saturday, $6100 in parts and labor but, everything was under warranty and the rental was complimentary. I'd have paid the bill to have her back...
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