Groveling Salesmen

Recently, I was put in charge of a small project at work. It involves getting custom binders to hold some training DVDs that we will be sending out to all of my company's retail locations. I came up with some artwork for it, and made a mock up for the Executive committee to look at. They decided what color they wanted, thickness and size of the binder etc. I then got price quotes from 4 different companies for this project.

Company A, was the cheapest. Very cut and dry to deal with.

Company B was very friendly, and even sent me some samples, but they were a nickel more per piece.

Company C gave me an odd feeling dealing with them. Their sales person didn't have his own email address. I had to send stuff to info@companyc.com, instead of salesguy@companyc.com. Weird. Plus they were 75 cents higher a piece.

Company D has a smooth, here's-my-card, 2 cell phone type of salesperson. He wanted to not only make the binders for us, but duplicate the DVDs, get the DVD sheets for the binders, and then Drop ship the whole thing to each of our locations. Impressive? Yes, but I just wanted a binder quote. Do good in this department, and we will talk about the rest. They came in $1.13 higher than Company A.

Well, I really liked Company B, and their price wasn't too far from Company A's price. I sent a quick e-mail, asking Company B to match Company A's price. They were more than happy to, and even beat them by a penny. Not much in the grand scheme of things, but they could have just matched it and been good.

I send out an e-mail to Company A, C, and D. Letting them know that we went with B. Not 2 minutes, LITERALLY, 2 MINUTES, after I sent that. Salesguy from D is calling me.

"Hey! If ya don't mind me askin', why did we lose this project?"
"Another company beat your price quote."
"Really? By how much if you don't mind me asking."
"By more than a dollar a piece."
"Well, we will match any written bid from another company."
"Sorry, the decision has been made."
*click*

I just hate that. DO YOU OWN HOMEWORK! Don't wait for me to call you and then say, "um sure... We can do it for that too." Then, why did you quote me so high??? Give me your lowest price to start with, and maybe I wouldn't have thrown your bid away the minute I got it, because you were almost 50% higher than the others. Just another reason why I couldn't make it in Sales.

Bullsh*t!

I love Penn and Teller. Last Christmas, my boss, bought me Season 2 of their show on Showtime "Bullshit". These guys really crack me up, and I love how they go after all of the "Experts" on this show. If you really want to see some eye opening stuff, I suggest the episodes on PETA, or recycling. Both are very good, and make some crazy good points. For example, in the recycling episode, they show that it is pretty much rediculous to recycle paper, plastic and glass. The only thing REALLY worth recycling is aluminum cans.

Thanks to Netflix, I have been enjoying Season 3. I just watched an episode about "The Best". Peoples facination with having the best. They interview one guy who, aparently, updates his PDA everytime a new "feature" is added. The "best" part to me though, is when they setup a make shift kitchen in an alley behind a fancy restaurant, and put hidden cameras all over this place. People sit down to what they think is a 5 star meal, with a fancy waiter and his 15 word descriptions for everything. When in fact, the meal they are getting is being prepared in this make shift kitchen, by a stage hand, with ingredients that were bought at the grocery store for under 20 bucks. The meal is very nice, on paper, Brushetta, Steak, Lobster, and a White chocolate mousse, all served with the "Most expensive wine in our cellar". The last part is true, because they had 2 bottles of wine, and one was $2, and the other was $1.50. The Steak part of the meal was actually a TV dinner that was pulled apart and replated with instant potatoes, and out of the can gravy. Very very funny stuff. All of the people were with a "friend" that was in on the joke, and when the moment came to let them off the hook, it was very uncomfortable.

If you have a few hours too kill, and nothing in your queue, I highly suggest this Show.

Ah, Christmas time....LOOKOUT!

This guy puts the Dashing in "Dashing through the snow."

Christmas Float DUI

Thanks, Jerry

One of the main news anchors at a local TV station announced that he was leaving his job to become a Field Medic over in Iraq. WOW... talk about stepping out of your comfort zone. I really admire him for it. I cannot imagine the battle he had to fight to make that decision, and I cannot even BEGIN to fathom the battle he is going to fight in Iraq. Be safe Mr. Jacob, and God bless you.

Letting my Geek colors fly

Ok, ok, ok... I play World of Warcraft. Just like 7 million other people. But, last night, I know 7 million other people didn't hit Level 70, and get their Epic flying mount. I did. And it is AWESOME! And only for the low, low price of 5400G (180g for mount, 720g for flying lessons, and 4500g for Epic flying lessons)

The game is completely different now. Besides the fact that I can fly directly to anywhere I need to go. The level 70 upgrades to my Shots ( I am a Dwarf Hunter, btw) is KA-Razy! Let me demonstrate. Lvl 60 is Aimed Shot 6 (+600 damage), this has allowed me a 2500+ crits. Lvl 70 brings Aimed Shot 7 (+1199 damage), I hit a lvl 69 demon last night with a 3700pt crit. Add in the 20% bonus from "Rapid Killing", and that could have been a 4400pt crit! Damn. Another hunter in my guild has recorded 4500+ crits. But he has a better gun and bullets. Which is my next goal.

So, with my new found power and speed, I feel I can go out on a high note with the Beta. I have to go now, and see what is involved with getting the Tier 4 Set started... WOOT!

My new favorite thing

I have found a thing that will bring a smile to my face, and warm my heart everytime. It is a sound, and I really need to record it. It is the sound of my very tired daughter saying "Goodnight, Daddy." Last night, I was at my computer, and my beautiful bride, and my daughter were watching TV on our bed. About an hour after her bedtime, she decides to go to her bed. Instead of going just right across the hall to her room. She walks down the hall, and down 2 flights of stairs, just to give me a hug and a kiss, and to say those now magic words. She then, in a sleepy stupor, stumbles back up the stairs and off to bed. I watch her go the entire way just smiling.

Grr...

Well its 9am, and the only thing we got at our house is 12 hours of rain. However, all of the towns West and Northwest of us are losing power and cancelled school. Maybe we will get some Snow (or Ice) this afternoon.

Bring it on

The weather forcast for tonight and tomorrow is for Ice and Snow. Some "weatherman" on the radio reported up to 6-12 inches possible. I have two words about this...

HELZ, YEAH!

I love Snow. I grew up in KC, and it just seemed to snow alot more than it does here. Frequency and Accumulation. I know I am 3 hours farther south, but would that make THAT much difference? I can't wait to take my daughter sledding, and build her first REAL snow man. We built one last winter, but it was the 3 foot tall Grass covered kind. I want her to see a 6 footer like my dad would build for us in KC.

When I was a kid, we lived on a U-shaped street. The connecting point of the 2 streets was at the bottom of each street. One street was about two times longer than the other, so its slope wasnt very good for sledding. But the other... Oh man.. nice, steep and straight. Plus, the snow plow would push all the snow from both streets to a paved part of the bottom of the hills where no houses were. All the kids in the neighborhood could sled down the steep hill, and then crash in to the GIANT pile of snow at the bottom. We would dig tunnels and ramps into the pile and try to go through it or jump over the pile. And sometimes, the dad that lived at the bottom of the hill, in the house closest to the pile, would listen to see if school was cancelled, and if it were he would take a giant wrench, and open the fire hydrant at the TOP of the steep hill, at about 6 am. The street would flood, and then ice. It was Sledding Heaven. The people that lived on that street didn't seem to mind going around the other way. Everyone ( kids and parents) would sled until dark. Races, Dog piles on many sleds, all sorts of fun... No wonder I love snow.

I am off to find a giant wrench...

Crazy Holidays

Thanksgiving was good. Went to my Mother-in-Law's house for lunch, and had alot of Ham. Very yummy. Then we watched Babe.

That night we had some friends over and had alot of snacks. Very fun. Then we watched Football.

Black Friday, we bought alot of gifts. Very Crazy! Then we watched Four Rooms.

Saturday we went to Great-Grandmother's house, and had alot of Turkey. Very filling. Then we watched Curious George.

Sunday, we had alot of chores, and played outside. Very relaxing. Then we wactched everyone turn on their Christmas Lights.

Damn... I knew I would forget to do something.

Problem Passat Parker

Today, the left tires of the Passat were completely out of the parking spot.

Just thought I would share.

Pet Peeves

I am a pretty easy going person. However, there are things that just drive me crazy. They are mindless, stupid things that other people might not notice or mind.

The biggest one lately, is the person driving the speed limit in the left lane, with no one around them for 500 ft in either direction. I drive faster than I should, usually Speed Limit + 10, on the highway. So, when I see one of these people coming up I just shake my head, and pass them on the right, along with the 2 cars in front of me and the 5 cars behind me. After all of us have passed, they still don't move over. Back before I had my daughter, and if my beautiful bride wasn't in the car, I would just sit about 10 feet off these people's bumper until they got the hint. Morons. Also in the topic of driving is the person that drives Speed Limit +15. While I have no problem with them driving this fast, it is when they fly up next to me and want to cut in front of me to get to their exit, that is less than 300 feet away. It's not that I would mind them cutting in, but lately they do it when there is no one behind me for a quarter mile. Apparently, that extra car length will get them home 3 seconds earlier.

I have two at work that just make me bonkers as well. Every morning when I get to work there is a VW Passat parked in the one of the front row spots. This is all well and good, but this person is completely oblivious to the size of their vehicle. I say this, because on any given day, they are 6 inches outside of the parking spot, away from the other parking spots. Imagine a line of parking spots, the left most spot is the first one, with the rest spreading to the right. To the left of the parking spots is the "driving" area for getting to the spots. This is where the 6 inches of their car sits. And not only is it too far to the left, but too far forward, into the "facing" parking spot. I should start taking pictures of it everyday and post them... Or measure how far out they are and plot it over time. They get to work early enough to get the same spot every day as well, maybe they just have no other cars to reference while they park. If I noticed I were outside the lines of the spot when I got out of my car, I would a) move it, b) make note to be more careful tomorrow. Nope, not this person. I think they know I judge their parking skills everyday, and are doing it out of spite now. Because it is all about ME!

The other one at work, is just people being lazy. We have Handicap Assisted Doors on our building. Which means, you push this button, and the doors open up for you. Not just one, but a set of double doors. After that is another set of double doors, operated by another button that will open them. I don't know why, but the people that use the button to open the doors ( except for people with a need for them, or people that are carrying sooo much stuff, that just bumping the button is easier... I let them slide, a bit) drive me crazy! I mean are you so lazy that pulling/pushing a door open is that strenuous on your body, that you have actually take more time to get through the doors, than if you just opened it manually? The doors take a couple of seconds to open when you push the button. They will actually just stand there while the doors opens, and WAIT, until their weak, lazy bodies will fit through the opening. I have noticed that it is a certain group of people that do this... they are the same people that take the elevator from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor, instead of walking DOWN the stairs. That is just exhausting.

I am sure there are things that I do that drive people crazy. Like using 3 periods to end a thought, or the fact I dip my french fries in my choclate shakes, or put my foot in my mouth over and over...

Death Cat

I love puzzles. Any kind of puzzle. Math puzzles, logic puzzles, wood puzzles, etc. In a recent puzzle search, I came across an Anagram generator . I typed in my name and it revealed a bit about me.

Apparently I should have been a Data Tech. Don't play games with me because I Cheat a Tad. I also tend to get Attached to things. I should have gone into the Military and used my Cadet Hat. Or started my own talk show with Dr. Phil : Date Chat.

If I throw my middle name in the mix, apparently am a mad, ethical cheat, with the chemical data and that medical ache. But I hate medical chat. Perhaps, I should have starred in my own mystery/thriller "The Matilda Cache".

Oh well, back to work.... I have to analyze my Hi-Tech Camel Data.

I am a fair presenter.

Last night finished up this semester of my teaching at the local technical college. Granted, I only taught 2 classes, but the second class was much better than the first. I had 5 people in the Dreamweaver Level 1 class, and 4 people in the Flash Level 1 class. The thing that bugged me the most about the first class, were the "Student Feedback" sheets. The students rate the class, instructor, and expirience on a "Exceptional, Good, Fair, Poor" scale. I received a few fair marks under presentation for the Dreamweaver class, and took it kind of rough. I chalked that up to first class nervousness, and the fact that I "use" Dreamweaver, I don't "KNOW" Dreamweaver. The Flash class went much better, I answered a ton of questions, and fixed alot of problems people were having.

There was one student that attended both of my classes. He was one that gave me "fair" marks in the Dreamweaver class, and stated that the class did not meet expectations. After collecting the feedback sheets last night, I noticed that he had marked "fair" again under instructors Presentation skills, Preparation of Materials, and that the class did not meet expectations. Everyone else in the class marked "Exceptional", and wrote comments on how helpful the examples were and that I did well.

// Begin Rant

I don't know what the hell this guy expects from a 6-hour Introduction Course in the Continuing Education program of a Local Community Technical College on a program as powerful and diverse as FLASH!

I have been to Week long classes, taught by Macromedia, on Flash AND actionscripting, and still don't consider myself "well versed" in all it can do. If he thinks taking all 3 levels of Flash (18 hours total) will make him a Flash Animator, developer, programmer. He is sorely mistaken.


This is the same guy that "watched" the Cardinals game on ESPN.com during the Dreamweaver class, and Managed his Fantasy football team during the Flash class.

// End Rant

That last comment was a cheap shot, I should really play "fair".

Fred and Barney

I was watching Spongebob with my daughter the other day, and a commercial for "Fruity Pebbles" comes on. You know the one where Barney tries to trick Fred in to giving him some of his Fruity Pebbles.... ya that one. It occurred to me, that anyone born after 1980ish, thinks that these 2 guys only sell cereal. I know my daughter has NEVER seen the Flintstones. She has no idea who these two guys are. I think it is kind of interesting that they haven't gone away. Are they selling THAT much cereal?

By the way, I love cereal... but I am sure you have gathered that from this and the last post. I think I now hold the world record for "Number of times 'Fruity Pebbles' has been typed in an hour". Call Guinness.

Heaven in Snack form

Rice Krispy Treats are happiness in a pan. I love em. I would eat them all the time if my beautiful bride wouldn't mind me ballooning up to 500 lbs. Butter, Marshmallows, and Cereal. Who would have thought that such a simple list of items could make such a wonderful treat. If you are ever want to experience what life is like at the speed of light, make your next batch of Rice Krispy treats with Fruity Pebbles. That, my friends, is a powerful thing.

Teaching in a tornado

I recently started teaching some Web Development classes at a local Technical College. The idea really appealed to me, and I thought what the heck. I turned in my "Application" on a Tuesday. The next Tuesday I had an "interview" with the continuing education managers, and they said they would love to have me lead some classes. Well, they assigned me to 4 classes, the first of which started on the FOLLOWING Tuesday! Yikes. The worst part was the class that was to teach is the weakest of the subjects I agreed too.

So, with 1 week of prep time, I show up to my first class a nervous wreck. I had 5 students, covering a wide variety of... variety, i guess. I had an 18-year- old that did nothing but stare at the ceiling, a 30 something that was more interested in the terms of things than using things, a 55 year old that was very eager to learn anything I had to say, a 45 year old professional woman who was obviously sent there by her company, and was in way over her head. And the last was a woman in her late 30s/ early 40s that had taken a ton of classes but didnt remember any of them. Her job pays for them to attend classes, and she was getting every class she could out of the deal.

I did OK teaching. I found myself jumping from subject to subject and hitting a tangent here, and sometimes not coming back to the original topic. But the second night of classes seemed to go much better, and I was not nearly as nervous. I have another class next week, and we will see what that brings.

I knew this would happen...

I have been so concerned over what to add to this blog, that Nothing gets added. I need to just use it and put down whatever thoughts come to mind.

I need more time...

If some one could invent a pill I could take that would allow me to only sleep 1 hour a day, but feel as if I had gotten 8 hours, please let me know. I just need more time in my days. I want to play with my daughter more, I want to watch movies with my beautiful bride more, I want to play my computer games more. So much to do, so little time.

Saying Goodbye

Last month, I made a decision that still haunts me today. After 10 years, I traded in my Mustang Convertable. I loved that car, I still do. I have to drive by the dealership that I traded it into on my way to work. I see her just sitting there, and I feel like I have betrayed my best friend.

I was 25, single, and just got a new job at a TV station. Coming home one day, the dealership had 4 Mustang Convertables on their used car lot. A red one with a white top, blue with black top, white with a black top, and a Silver on with a Black top and Red interior. They were all program cars, and still in great shape. I test drove the Silver one, and fell in love instantly. Traded in my Ford Tempo, and never looked back. I remember seeing people's heads turn as I drove by. Just a V-6, but still pretty powerful. I joined the local Mustang Club, and did some parades. Went to some Car shows, and won a couple of Trophies. It was great. I got some personalized plates "S1LV3R", added a couple of cosmetic things to her: roll bar, speedster cover. She looked great. Got her up to 100mph with the top down one day, and 115 in the middle of the night, on a nice stretch of downhill road, she didn't even break a sweat.

But after 10 years, and 190,000 miles, she was starting to show her age. The engine was still in good shape. I took care of her very well. But the paint, and the seats were starting to wear out. Doors didnt quite shut all the way, the convertable top had a hole here and there. My baby was starting to fall apart.

Driving home from the store one day with my beautiful bride, and daughter, we noticed an older car in the lot of the dealership. We go to check it out, a 1966 Ford Fairlane 500. It was very cool, and in pretty good shape. As we are getting ready to leave we decide to drive around a bit, and I see a PT Cruiser in the used lot. I have always liked the way they look, and my wife and I really enjoyed a rented one when we went to Vegas The price was good, and with another baby on the way, the Mustang just isn't a practical family car. The next thing I know I am trading in the best car I have ever owned.

Driving the Mustang from the bank back to the dealership, it hits me that this will be the last time I get to driver her. So, I pull off on a nice curvey back road, and put her through her paces one last time. She does great, and we find ourselves at the top of a hill with no one in sight. I smile quietly to myself, and gun it. Hitting 90 in no time, we run out of visible clear highway, and I shut her down.

Those last 10 miles were as great as the first 10, with the other 189,980 coming in at 3rd.

Goodbye old friend.

The wonders of a 3-year old.

My daughter never ceases to amaze me. Just when I have settled into thinking I have everything under control, she throws a wonderful surprise my way. Most of these surprises are in the form of a question. They come out of left field, and ALWAYS catch me off guard.

A good one came when she was upstairs laying in bed trying to go to sleep. Suddenly, she comes downstairs, and asks "What do Robots eat?". My beautiful bride told her "Gas and oil, just like the car." This seemed to satisfy her, but it was the urgency in which she asked that made it great. As if there were a stray robot about to expire in her bedroom.

A biggie was "Who made the Sun?" Granted, this is a fairly easy question to answer, but the thing that leaves me bewildered is how did she get TO that question. What was she contemplating? Better yet, was she contemplating??

Getting her ready for a bath one day, and she asks me to take a bath with her. I accept her challenge. We are splashing each other and playing with squirt guns, when my wife checks in on us and asked me, "Why are you wearing your bathing suit?"

There are some questions that I just don't want to answer right now...

A Nice Crazy Weekend

The Good:
My family and I had a nice weekend, thanks for asking. Satuday was spent in the garage, cleaning and organizing. Sunday was housework, and going to see my parents. Which turned into dinner, which is always nice, and greatly appreciated. Sunday night was spent playing games on the computer, which is always nice, and greatly appreciated. Monday was housework, and laundry, which my beautiful bride thought was nice, and greatly appreciated. We went to her Mom's and met the new puppy. My daughter enjoyed playing with the dogs, and that was nice. The wife and I watch a semi-funny movie, and then had a nice long talk about problems some friends are having. She thanked me for being so nice, and told me I was appreciated.


The Bad:
My brother's (ex)wife is crazy, and obviously cares about nothing but herself. My wife's Step-Grandfather had a stroke and fell. He was rushed to the hospital, the doctors worked like crazy, but he passed away the next evening. My Wife's work has been crazy, and my daughter isn't helping the situation. Some good friends are going through a VERY crazy time in their relationship. This is driving my wife crazy.

Where to start

Well, I have been sitting here for about 20 minutes trying to decide what I want to start my blog career off with. I don't want to do the "standard" I am blah blah years old, I have blah blah, and enjoy blahing. What do I want this blog to be? Should I post about stuff I like? Things I think are funny? who knows? I will just start posting like I have been doing this for years...

I can't stop thinking about old video games. I really want to build a MAME Cabinet, so I can play all the old classics the way they were (kinda) meant to be played. For my birthday, my beautiful bride took me to an arcade here in town called "1984". $5 at the door, lets you play all you want. All games are free play, except for pinball which is only a quarter to help keep them maintained. I was 14 years old again. I walked around the place first, just laughing, pointing, and saying "Oh, man! (Insert Video Game Title here)!". Asteroids, Ms. Pac-Man, Battlezone, DigDug, Pole Position, Tempest, Gorf, and many more. I decided to check out the High Score board, to see what was in reach. Asteroids - 26,000. "I can beat that!", I think to myself. Started the game, and was transported back to the Bowling Alley I grew up next to in Kansas City. The arcade in that bowling alley is the thing I remember most about playing games. Dark room, music playing overhead, and the sounds of all the machines. It all came back to me in a rush. The controls were lower than I remembered, and I kept bumping my head on the Marquee. But the sounds, the music, the flashing screens... Heaven. I spent the next 3 hours, just giggling. With a stupid grin on my face, that didn't go away for days.

I did beat the Asteroids High Score, nearly doubled it. I got a free pass, and a button stating " I beat your High Score - 1984 Hall of Fame". I talked to one of the owners, and found out that the high score board had recently been "reset". So, my accomplishment wasn't that great after hearing the previous score was in the 300,o00 range.

Oh well, for one night, I was king of the Bowling Alley again.

Welcome to the Show

Hello Bandwagon... my name is Chad