The pain of Unpreparedness20 minutes until a client call. Client is a minimal fish. Quarterly funding, Quarterly reviews. Totalling about 5-10 hours a week of work tops. Unfortunately I’m about quarterly informed on the inner workings and history of the program. You try to dig through history you look at statistical data but it doesn’t give the full picture.
The resolution? Well I’m just going to make it up as I go and hope that the others around the table will pick up my slack.
A better resolution? And the method I used. I simply gave the client a call the day before and had a nice lengthy chat. Suddenly I’m in the pre-meeting and I’m calling out needs and expected desires. We hit the meeting and suddenly I look completely punched in. Clearly I understand the views of my client and have the foresight to anticipate and act on needs. Bosses are satisfied. The client is happy. I have blog fodder.
The lesson learned: Good contact with your client can do more for you than simply lengthening your to do list.
Summer and the damage done
This warm weather is a poison to the heart of those who strive to be hardworking. I find myself almost too often looking out the windows to the gently bowing trees. Thoughts of golf and baseball must be quickly stricken from the mental record.
Speaking of Baseball the Sox put a whuppin on our “rivals” the Tigers. Panic has indeed crept its pointy head into the faithfuls backside. Suddenly people are forgetting the immense scope of a full season and the fact that the Sox have a better team and track record to show that they can weather a storm. Detroit has been playing with the big boys lately and have found themselves to date not worthy. The media is panic prone. Look at us comparatively against last year and you’ll see that were doing fine.
Sexy Side Action
All is quiet on the music front. Frustration abounds on my end as I am fairly motivated to get the movings on. Yesterdays thoughts of closure were dashed when it was found that we were not alone in our thoughts. Stupid hardcore band. Way to take our emo name. Yet we strive on.
The Guy Code
For probably 90% of the straight male American population there exists an unspoken selection of rules that may make sense. Simple truths such as your buddies girl is off limits, your buddies Mom is off limits most of which tends to roll around the terms of not taking what another man has specifically in the female relationship department.
There are other subsets that exist such as if one man buys another a drink it’s impolite to not return the favor within 30 days. One very interesting subset of rules places itself in the realm of honor. I would call it the “bite the bullet” clause. In this once you are busted by any form of authority you do not drag other people’s names into the mess. You bite your tongue hold tough and face the consequences.
You and your buddies went fishing, road trip, binging, strippers, when you told your wives that you were going to help at a habitat for humanity shelter? Well if you get pinched by a wife’s keen sense smell identifying salmon and hooker sweat and her perceptive eyes that noticed your fishing gear was absent from the home, you stand alone.
You used your friend’s good and gracious deed to be exploited for your own selfish gains. You could only wish that you were the type of standup man that your friends are and vow to join them on there next act of heroism. Was anyone else there? No! Actions completely done on a whim, it was viewed and acted upon by a singular selfish repentant fool who just realized that his wife deserves a new car.
Most recently in baseball an active player broke the code when FBI agents raided his house and found copious amounts of performance enhancing products. To break off some of his well earned legal heat this active major league baseball player started bringing the goods. Giving lists and names and contacts. Names of active players and active franchise employees. He ratted out his friends.
The reaction from many baseball players mirrored my initial thoughts. The thought line goes and rightfully so that he threw his buddies under a buss. The question of the day is whether or not throwing your buddies under the bus is incorrect.
Bite the bullet the phrase was started in World War 1 when field doctors would often use shell casing as a mudguard for patients when they had to perform on the spot surgery such as amputation. It later became linked to a stoic nature that must be upheld when captured by enemies. In these war time situations the choice of remaining firm and not giving up your buddies was a life and death choice that could have unknown implications.
However holding to this honorable code has stuck its face into very dishonorable practices. In the era of heavy mob and cartels once captured cronies would deny the very existence of any sort of organized function. Even refuting the knowledge of family names. To give information in the criminal world is seen as a signature on a death contract. Is this the type of behavior we want to see emulated by our sports heros?
The issue here is that what is taking place is a crime. Steroid use is illegal. Should the ball player be looked at as a coward for giving up names or should he be praised for helping to make a national past time a clean game for once?
Clearly this man is no hero. He did not volunteer this information. It was only given once his back was pinned to a wall. Do you judge the man by his heart or by his actions? His actions will bring good but his heart was not in a proper place.
The answers don’t come easily. I think in a big picture perspective he has done a good thing. There was no honor to maintain when he was involved in dishonorable practices.
Would we honor a molester for not ratting out other molesters? Would we think his actions good because he honored the guy code and did not rat out his friends? Obviously an extreme example but what is crime is crime.
To judge this mans actions as a poor choice only gives credence to the idea that we are willing to allow any actions to take place unless it directly affects us. No matter how wrong it may be we don’t care as long as it doesn’t disrupt our affairs. When it does we call them a traitor.
We should look at the parts in our lives that we need to throw under the bus.
Boom Shake Shake Shake the room!
For once we actually have some good news regarding the war on Islamic terrorism. As a major Taliban leader was killed in Iraq. I strolled over to a few politically themed website in expectation of seeing virtual champagne flowing freely. Instead I find pessimism. A quick point counter point from my perspective.
Optimist: Cheers!! This is great news for the world and great news for morale of the troops who are involved in this war.
Pessimist: Great, just great. Now we have a martyr. Get ready for the next great round of attacks. How would we respond if our President was assassinated? We would be out for blood! These people are no different.
Optimist: This man was out for our blood. He was a leader and a strategist and their operations will be slowed by his passing. This will be a golden opportunity to drive out militants and capture some key areas.
Pessimist: Slay the dragon and another arises. This will only heat militant outrage.
Moderation: The difficulty with our actions is that the war is being waged on an ambiguous and undefeatable enemy. A war on “terror” is useless as a term. However, this is not a peaceful man. He was a man who coordinated attacks upon multiple types of hostile and civilian targets and the world is a better and safer place with his passing.
More Good News
The fight against my arch-enemy cholesterol has produced the grand affect of 17 pounds of weight loss.
Another 9 – 19 pounds: I am back in band “rock & roll shape”
Another 20-30 punds: I am back in drug addict shape.
It’s good to have goals.
Spammer Poetry
Excellence Shampoo by Lionel Lynn (ujckgrmlit@szdfl.com)
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unity, with hors d'oeuvre trader as inadvisable, but as
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Happy Thursday.
