The other day I was thinking about a friends website, http://www.anengineeringmind.com, (where he posts videos about engineering, it is very funny - if you are into that sort of thing.) Anyway, I mentioned to him earlier that day that I loved his site and that he was doing a great blah blah blah - he then said if you have any ideas I can cover let me know... So I was just getting ready to dose off and there it came, a thought for his website. Marketing Speak. I am thinking to myself he has to cover that that would be so great. (As a reference I did check and sure enough he had just posted one about marketing words - it is brilliant.)
When I say marketing speak, I mean words like 'Traction', 'Marketechture', 'Synergy', 'Best in Breed', 'Scope', 'Leading....' and my favorite 'Out of The Box'. I think that these terms are generally over-used. They actually make me quit listening because when hear them they are audio or visual clues that the presenter or speaker really has no clue what they are saying and are not going to give me anything of substance. I have to admit I have even used some of them when, A) When I was talking to some folks that were not following my technical jargon, and B) when I did not know what I was talking about. Sorry if you use them, but GOSH DANG they bug me... Keep in mind I have worked at some big marketing companies like IBM and Dell, which may be why I have an aversion to such speak.
But that is not the reason for this post, and I have to admit it was inspired by 'Out of The Box'. As I was thinking about all these words that one phrase rang true at that moment for me. Have you ever had one of those moments? Like all of a sudden a light comes on and the planets line up and something clicks in your heart. I had one of those moments about that phrase. Generally it is accepted that Out of The Box means thinking or doing something unconventional or creative.
I am not sure what the technical or phsycological term is but I will call it flow of consciousness, where my mind took off and all these thoughts came to me about that phrase. Basically I looked at my computer and realized it was a box, then I started thinking about the other boxes in my life and how we all should live 'Out of The Box'.
As stated above, the first thing that came to mind was my computer then then next logical was the T.V. I am especially guilty of this. I tend to come home sit in front of the T.V. with a laptop on my lap finishing up some work or surfing the net for that next cool thing or even watching my friend's videos. None of these things are inherently bad, just we (I) have been boxed by these things.
Another box is our cell phones. I can't leave the house without it, I look at it all the time. Chrissta is on hers all the time as well. What did we do before cell phones? Oh yeah we talked face to face and interacted at dinner. Kids are texting 100 people at a time and not interacting with others. I know a kid, very well, who burns over 14,000 messages a month think he is in a box?
Have you ever looked at your car? All they are are boxes with wheels. I have two cars, and two car payments. We need cars to get to work and stuff and we did just 'help the economy' and bought a Ford - but this is not your dad's Ford -its a Flex. Have you seen them? They are nice. It looks great, fantastic lines, dark windows alloy wheels, Satellite radio, Microsoft Sync, blue tooth - uh see what I mean? Its a fancy box.
What about work? The physical building is a box, how late do you stay in that box? What time do you leave there? How much time to do spend thinking about it when you are not there? How much does a bad day at the box effect your mood or interactions with your wife, kids, friends and or extended family?
I look in my wallet and there are a bunch of flat boxes called credit cards in there. Their physical shape is flat but for many the hidden part is not flat - they are huge. I am surprised that some still fit in my pocket. These too could be why some feel boxed at work.
Then I looked at the house I live in it is a box with a pitched roof. I talked to a friend today and they are looking for a new box. I used to think that living in a box was bad, but I just realized I do too. Who am I to judge others for living in boxes whatever or wherever they may be. But then there are those that have bought too big of a box and can't pay for it anymore.
I have another box that is an issue for me. The fridge actually the freezer that not so ironically has another box full of a creamy frozen treat. For others it may be the box of cigarettes other harmful substances that are sold in a box that may be an issue.
I told a co-worker about my ideas and he added church, which I thought was interesting and I liked the idea but I could not figure out why. Then this evening I picked the older kids up from youth group at the church and when I saw the church building I realised it is another box only it has a steeple. I was then hit between the eyes with a huge question? Do I worship or live my religion in that box only? or do I live outside the box? Thanks Page!
I am sure there are more. But I realized that I need to do better at living Out of the Box and maybe other do too. I am sure I will have more thoughts about this so stay tuned, and please share your thoughts about the boxes we all live in. Later!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Capital One
They called and said we are sorry.... its not like they were going to do anything for me but I did get the satisfaction of getting to say you guys suck and I am going to tell you all the reasons why.
Financial score:
The Man -100 Josh - 0
Moral score:
The Man - Josh 1
Financial score:
The Man -100 Josh - 0
Moral score:
The Man - Josh 1
Monday, March 9, 2009
Wow its been a while and I have much to discuss.
I could give you, my fans, a bunch of hooey about all the reasons why I have not posted in a quarter, but the truth is I am lazy. Thats , ironically, is the reason I started this thing in the first place.
Things have been going pretty well. I have been working out less regularly than I should but more than I was. I am working with my buddy Kyle who has totally rocked it and can call me on stuff others cant. Good to have. But I need to do more and add diet to this routine. So much for my physical health. My mental/emotional health has not been very good. I feel stuck - not progressing professionally or intellectually. This is not a good thing for me. I can not be pushed for a bit but if I am not learning and growing then I get board and jaded. I have recently realized that it is up to me to make sure I am growing and learning. To that end I have started to teach myself some programing languages. I am looking into C## and Java. I need to choose 1 to focus on so any input would be great. (I think I am leaning towards C## but can be persuaded other wise.)
Something else I have been thinking about is going back to school. Not sure what for exactly or if it would be worth the $$ just something I am thinking about it. I actually was thinking I should go back and continue a medical career, but then I woke up....
I had something reiterated to me this weekend and I actually feel funny admitting this due to the title of my blog. The point that I was reminded of is that I choose. I choose my mood. I choose to be angry. I choose to be jaded. It is ultimately up to me. From today on I choose...
Here is something I choose. To be really really really mad at Capital One Auto Finance. The Wife and I bought a new car a bout a month ago. We told the dealer we wanted our payment due after the 15th of the month. They said no problem - we signed the papers, and drove our new Ford Flex home.
A couple of days later we were looking over the contract and noticed that the due date was on the 2nd of the month. That was going to be an issue. So I called the dealer. They said that we would need to call the bank as they had already submitted the paper work. No problem right? I called the bank they said I needed to wait until I got my account, number. So I did. I called them back to move the payment. It was going to cost $35.00 - bummer but OK. Did the whole Check thing over the phone. This was the 24th of Feb. Thought we were done, but the check did not clear the bank. Chrissta called them on the 2nd of March, the due date. It did not go through for some reason or other. So we did it again, this time the money came right out, and they told her the new payment was due on the 17th - sweet, job done.
Tonight I get a call from Capital One Auto Finance telling me my payment is late. HUH????? a fight ensues where the bozo on the other end is telling me that I am late and there is nothing they can do, I tried to escalate and got a senor bozo that would not budge either and would not let me talk to anyone else. I tried logic - he had none. My argument points were:
Things have been going pretty well. I have been working out less regularly than I should but more than I was. I am working with my buddy Kyle who has totally rocked it and can call me on stuff others cant. Good to have. But I need to do more and add diet to this routine. So much for my physical health. My mental/emotional health has not been very good. I feel stuck - not progressing professionally or intellectually. This is not a good thing for me. I can not be pushed for a bit but if I am not learning and growing then I get board and jaded. I have recently realized that it is up to me to make sure I am growing and learning. To that end I have started to teach myself some programing languages. I am looking into C## and Java. I need to choose 1 to focus on so any input would be great. (I think I am leaning towards C## but can be persuaded other wise.)
Something else I have been thinking about is going back to school. Not sure what for exactly or if it would be worth the $$ just something I am thinking about it. I actually was thinking I should go back and continue a medical career, but then I woke up....
I had something reiterated to me this weekend and I actually feel funny admitting this due to the title of my blog. The point that I was reminded of is that I choose. I choose my mood. I choose to be angry. I choose to be jaded. It is ultimately up to me. From today on I choose...
Here is something I choose. To be really really really mad at Capital One Auto Finance. The Wife and I bought a new car a bout a month ago. We told the dealer we wanted our payment due after the 15th of the month. They said no problem - we signed the papers, and drove our new Ford Flex home.
A couple of days later we were looking over the contract and noticed that the due date was on the 2nd of the month. That was going to be an issue. So I called the dealer. They said that we would need to call the bank as they had already submitted the paper work. No problem right? I called the bank they said I needed to wait until I got my account, number. So I did. I called them back to move the payment. It was going to cost $35.00 - bummer but OK. Did the whole Check thing over the phone. This was the 24th of Feb. Thought we were done, but the check did not clear the bank. Chrissta called them on the 2nd of March, the due date. It did not go through for some reason or other. So we did it again, this time the money came right out, and they told her the new payment was due on the 17th - sweet, job done.
Tonight I get a call from Capital One Auto Finance telling me my payment is late. HUH????? a fight ensues where the bozo on the other end is telling me that I am late and there is nothing they can do, I tried to escalate and got a senor bozo that would not budge either and would not let me talk to anyone else. I tried logic - he had none. My argument points were:
- Why did the Customer Service Rep not tell Chrissta to make a payment on the 2nd when she moved the payment due date? - His reply was that it was not late yet, and they could not ask for a payment. HUH????????
- Why was I charged $35.00 to move the payment? His reply was that the new due date was going to take effect in April.
- Why could not the CSR speak English? - No Comment.
- Why would a representative of their company tell me one thing and while they are telling me another? No answer again.
He also told me that I signed a contract to make the payment and that they offered me as a courtesy I could move my payment due date. I let him know that I was there when I signed it, and that as soon as the error was noticed, I tried to correct it. He let me know that it was a courtesy that they offered to let me make the change. I responded that it was not a courtesy or it would have been free and that this was a service that I paid for. - No comment by him.
He even reviewed the case and read where the guy told Chrissta that we could move the payment - but he still said it was late and there was nothing he could do and there was no-one else I could speak with.
After about 30 min of arguing with the brick wall I relented and made the payment. (Good thing for tax returns.) This is the best part - I hung up and Madison and Xander walk in with today's mail, I'll be damned if there was not letter from Capital One Auto Finance with the our next payment due date: March 17th 2009! signed by the Director of Customer Service, Michael Feeney. So I looked up the corporate office number found a company directory and called him. Unfortunately or fortunately he was not in, but I left him a voice mail. Not sure what good it will do but if you want the number I will give it to you.
Really this was not the guys fault - he was doing his job, but MAN follow the logic and help someone out. Sheesh. Oh and he did waive the $14.95 check by phone fee so there is one positive.Wednesday, December 17, 2008
I was just a kid...
Tonight is foggy. This does not not happen that often here where we are in Texas. There was a winter 17 years ago in Oregon that was super foggy. It seemed like every night along the Willamette River, on the road between Salem and Dallas (Oregon) it looked like tonight, foggy - have to drive by the lines foggy, foggy. This was a special time for me and perhaps the most important time for our family.
I had been dating this girl I had met a few weeks earlier and things were very serious. I will admit that things were moving much faster than I wanted or expected and now looking back it seems like I was operating outside my own body, and that I was a spectator in my own life. But there was something to this. Something special, something I did not feel I should stop, something I am not sure I could have stopped...
17 years later, 4 kids, half a country away, on a foggy night, I am still in it and loving every moment.
Any way there is something about the fog that makes me a little nostalgic. Good times.
I had been dating this girl I had met a few weeks earlier and things were very serious. I will admit that things were moving much faster than I wanted or expected and now looking back it seems like I was operating outside my own body, and that I was a spectator in my own life. But there was something to this. Something special, something I did not feel I should stop, something I am not sure I could have stopped...
17 years later, 4 kids, half a country away, on a foggy night, I am still in it and loving every moment.
Any way there is something about the fog that makes me a little nostalgic. Good times.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
WOW Time Flies....
I have been traveling a bit lately, and have had some time to read. I read this book called Into Thin Air, its about an expedition to Everest that ended poorly. It got me to thinking about goals. Some folks like to list things they want to do -loose 100 pounds, read the complete works of Leo Tolstoy, or learn to speak Chinese. Some folks may also have some things they would like to do - grow a Mohawk, get a tattoo - you get it. So as I was reading this book I thought I never want to climb Everest and it got me thinking about some sort of reverse goals, and I was wondering why people don't keep a list of things they don't want to do. That way if they get a wild hair and can't remember that they did not want to climb Mt. Everest, they wont spend 60k to do so. So here are a few of the things I don't want to do.
- Climb Everest
- Parachute
- Bungee Jump
- Play Professional Soccer
- Animate a Pixar film
- Race in the Iditerod
- Eat Dorian Fruit
- Hike Across Cambodia
- Become a Gynaecologist/Proctologist/Podiatrist/Dentist
- Sleep in a snow cave
- Swim across the English Channel
There are more I am sure but I am having hard time deciding.... What are some of yours?
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Let The Music Move You
First I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and regardless of your socioeconomic (I got to use it again) status you were able to take some time with family and or friends and celebrate all that you are thankful for.
So the other week, I went to a movie with a couple of friends, Jason, Sam and Stan. On the drive over we were discussing our top ten bands, songs etc. and it ties into a post I had been wanting to do for a while but could not seem to get it. I had been thinking about creating a sound track for my life Volume I, but as I started it was getting too long and there were just too many great songs to narrow down, so this seems to fit in quite nicely.
Top Ten American Bands/Artists:
1 - The Ramones
2- Blondie
3- REM
4- Nirvana
5 - Social Distortion
6 - Prince
7 - Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker
8 - No Doubt/ Gwen Stephani
9 - Sublime
10 - B-52's
Top 10 Eur Asian Bands/ Artists:
1 - Billy Idol
2 -The Clash
3 - U2
4 - The Sex Pistols
5 - Joy Division/ New Order
6 - INXS
7 - Pink Floyd
8 - The Cure
9 - Depeche Mode/Erasure
10 - The Cult
Top 10 Songs of all time: (Can not be an artist from the above lists, that would be too easy and I am trying to diversify)
1 - What is Love - Howard Jones
2 - Creep - RadioHead
3 - Turbo Lover - Judas Priest
4 - Family Tradition - Hank Williams Jr.
5 - Fire Maple Song - Ever Clear
6 - Jeremy - Pearl Jam
7 - Baba O'Reilly - The Who
8 - Imagine - John Lennon
9 - Enter Sandman - Metallica
10 - Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven
Which Leads to my top 10 albums (no best of, but live albums are OK)
1 - Electric - The Cult
2 - Never Mind - Nirvana
3 - Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
4 - Live on St Patricks Day - Drop Kick Murphy's
5 - Joshua Tree - U2
6 - 1999 - Prince
7 - 101 - Depeche Mode
8 - Mixed Up - The Cure
9 - License to Ill - Beastie Boys
10 - Legend - Bob Marley (I know I broke my rule, but how do you leave that one off)
I am sure there are many that I missed and this was fun to do and to think about. What are some of yours?
So the other week, I went to a movie with a couple of friends, Jason, Sam and Stan. On the drive over we were discussing our top ten bands, songs etc. and it ties into a post I had been wanting to do for a while but could not seem to get it. I had been thinking about creating a sound track for my life Volume I, but as I started it was getting too long and there were just too many great songs to narrow down, so this seems to fit in quite nicely.
Top Ten American Bands/Artists:
1 - The Ramones
2- Blondie
3- REM
4- Nirvana
5 - Social Distortion
6 - Prince
7 - Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker
8 - No Doubt/ Gwen Stephani
9 - Sublime
10 - B-52's
Top 10 Eur Asian Bands/ Artists:
1 - Billy Idol
2 -The Clash
3 - U2
4 - The Sex Pistols
5 - Joy Division/ New Order
6 - INXS
7 - Pink Floyd
8 - The Cure
9 - Depeche Mode/Erasure
10 - The Cult
Top 10 Songs of all time: (Can not be an artist from the above lists, that would be too easy and I am trying to diversify)
1 - What is Love - Howard Jones
2 - Creep - RadioHead
3 - Turbo Lover - Judas Priest
4 - Family Tradition - Hank Williams Jr.
5 - Fire Maple Song - Ever Clear
6 - Jeremy - Pearl Jam
7 - Baba O'Reilly - The Who
8 - Imagine - John Lennon
9 - Enter Sandman - Metallica
10 - Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven
Which Leads to my top 10 albums (no best of, but live albums are OK)
1 - Electric - The Cult
2 - Never Mind - Nirvana
3 - Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
4 - Live on St Patricks Day - Drop Kick Murphy's
5 - Joshua Tree - U2
6 - 1999 - Prince
7 - 101 - Depeche Mode
8 - Mixed Up - The Cure
9 - License to Ill - Beastie Boys
10 - Legend - Bob Marley (I know I broke my rule, but how do you leave that one off)
I am sure there are many that I missed and this was fun to do and to think about. What are some of yours?
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
It has been a while
So this has been an interesting year. I am not sure if its been cause of my age, socioeconomic status, (I really don't think it has anything to do with that I just wanted to see if I could spell it), or all the kids being out of the house or what. But life is weird isn't it. I seem to be battling against my self. The inner ying and yang thing is driving me crazy. It seems like when ever anything positive happens I have to go ruin it for myself. Example, I worked out then I ate meatloaf and then Captain Crunch (Huge Bowl or two). This sort of behavior is counter productive Why can't I let good things be? Ah well I guess I will just need to keep on trying.
So that was some election eh? I was impressed by both candidates speeches I thought that John McCain was very gracious and very statesmanlike. I was also very impressed by Obama's speech. It was very positive and I thought, inspiring. I was at Byron and Tara's when they announced Obama had won. Byron was away on business but he called Tara and said now I can tell my boys they can be anything they want. This really put it in perspective for me as have not been personally affected by race. I am optimistic about the future of our nation. I hope that he can do what he says. Should be an interesting couple of terms.
So that was some election eh? I was impressed by both candidates speeches I thought that John McCain was very gracious and very statesmanlike. I was also very impressed by Obama's speech. It was very positive and I thought, inspiring. I was at Byron and Tara's when they announced Obama had won. Byron was away on business but he called Tara and said now I can tell my boys they can be anything they want. This really put it in perspective for me as have not been personally affected by race. I am optimistic about the future of our nation. I hope that he can do what he says. Should be an interesting couple of terms.
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