race weekend in charlotte
sitting at Charlotte Douglas Airport (CLT) waiting to get back to Des Moines via Chicago. Business was a success on this trip. Everytime I put myself out there on the line..in terms of challenging my knowledge...I end up w/a list of things to learn more about. Then I do it. I guess that's what makes me do OK in life. I'm really not afraid to learn anything and 12 months ago, I would not have been able to tell you jack about a D9 or a cold planer or security systems and gps tracking solutions for tractors, etc. etc. This 4 day stint involved driving about 700 miles...since airline connections would typically take at least 4 hours to get 200 miles...I drove around a big loop starting in charlotte, then salem va, then raleigh, then back to charlotte. being here feels a lot like being in CA (except it's green and they have deep fried cheesecake). there's traffic here, heavily centered around charlotte, etc. but they have it. a guy told me that it takes him 30 minutes to go 8 miles home. forget it. charlotte is OUT. more from the patio in des moines.
on the road journal
next stop, charlotte (well not really)on the plane now from des moines to charlotte...only to land, spend the night, and drive to salem VA to go visit a potential client. Then driving to Raleigh, then back to Charlotte and to Des Moines to spend Memorial weekend with our friends.
My travel schedule has really ballooned...almost in direct proportion to my desire to move away from CA (see previous posts). Des Moines seems just as nice as any Midwest town that's slower, smaller, and more "real". Not to mention that we have fantastic friends there that have returned to their roots (after making money in the CA real estate market in 7 years).
Just picked up the Senheiser pcx250 noise cancelling head phones. Nice. I'd recommend them if you're in a silver tube as much as I am lately. This traveling thing is crazy. It goes against what I am...but the response from a visit from me increases the chances of good things happening at my company by at least 50%. I've given Steph the September 30 deadline for this madness. I'll have met my goals for the company and will have been thoroughly exhausted. At that time, I'll reevaluate what I can do to travel less and be home more. My gut tells me that moving is the best option.
I'm now Platinum on American and have reached all sorts of status levels w/the hotels now. I'd rather be typing this from my deck in the wooded back yard in Des Moines versus racking up the miles. I'm no "true road warrior" but I'm scared that I've done what I have.
Ahh, ginger ale and pretzels...the wonderful fare on american eagle. most of my flights these days seem to take me on the Embraer Regional Jets run by American Eagle. These are always crappy because I'm not a small man. Oh well. At least Platinum status gets me the single seat exit row.
As we got on this plane today, I've never seen more people confused over where they were sitting. A family of 4 got on and were convinced they had gotten on the wrong flight (nearly impossible these days if not totally). They were of course looking for the wrong ticket...while some other young people had actually sat in their seats since THEY TOO had looked at their NEXT leg's ticket to obtain their assignments. Jeezus Mother of God. Having just flown w/our 2 wonderful miracles, I picked up their boy and got him out of the way and tried to help. Amazing how your perspective changes when you have your own. I wouldn't care if the kid cried the whole flight...I'd simply try to help.
movin' on up (or out)
On moving:I'm going to put the plan into action when I get back from this monster trip or more likely when the 3rd quarter is done. I'll be doing even more now (just came up) toward the end of June and have a very full September already w/1 trip to Holland.
I'm still TORN between keeping the house in CA and renting it out. I'm pretty sure that we can get enough to come close to covering the P.I.T. (and gardener :). Steph's friend could lead the way with finding a room mate, etc. She said 2 bedroom apartments are about $1400 in corona. So could a 4 bedroom house fetch $1600??? You betcha. If I can make that work, I'll keep it. Otherwise, I'll probably have to wait another 7-10 years before I could sell the house for the $500k it would get now. Could be more for all I know. Crazy values, crazy people. I'd experience no "relaxing let down" from having a pile of cash, etc. but then again, it's all perspective. How many people do you know that own 2 houses...one of which is in the fastest growing county in the US (Riverside). I could manage. Something tells me that someday, I will appreciate having that house during a cold Iowa winter. After some period of time, I will pay it off w/someone elses help. Hey, at least I can buy 1 year of fairly stable rent from a friend of Steph's and she's repsonsible, etc.
Living in Des Moines, I could be 265 miles from business in Peoria (a 3 hour drive instead of a full 2 day adventure w/non-desireable flight times) 700 miles from my mom and dad. Decent distance to make it possible to drive to get together but far enough that we're not expecting to see each other every weekend, etc.
Working remotely would expose my business to a lot of new opportunities and really wouldn't change much. I would plan to visit CA for 4 days per month. Depart Des Moines on Saturday or Sunday, go into the office for Mon-Wed..possibly half day Thursday and head home. I actually think that this would FOCUS our company more since those days would have to be very structured to maximize efficiency and results. I will buy a house w/an office that could accommodate meetings w/clients. That may drive up the price but a good investment.
Other decision to make revolves around setting up another corporation (a DSI sister company) or joint venture between me and DSI or me setting up my own company and working as a "rep firm" that pays DSI a commission. Not sure about the structure and would have to work out w/the owner of my company. I'd probably set up a company either way.
the greatest gift god can give
kids. wow. one can't really explain the joys and the miracle bestowed upon steph and I with our two little ones. it's truly overwhelming. (prelude)
begin flight from orange county airport (SNA) to Chicago (ORD) en route to Des Moines (DSM). 15 minutes into the flight, gavin pulls out the binky from his mouth, let's out a short cry, and proceeds to vomit profusely all over himself, the seat, the dvd player, etc. shocked, i scramble to "catch it" w/my hands and in sort of a slow motion handicapped kind of way...i begin to wipe. steph yells "blanket" or something and about 5 minutes later, it's done.
oh god help me. my son has made a puke fest out of row 33. shit shit shit shit. what to do. next thing i know, baby 2 is in someone else's hands, and steph's in the bathroom taking off boys clothes, and washing them. he's traumitized and the only worse trauma is mine.
they come back, he's in a diaper only. and for the next 8 hours, he remains that way, in airports, cars, etc. poor guy. had a fever for 2 days after so not sure if it was motion sickness or a flu bug.
i will never be the same...but this episode simply reinforces that i would literally die to take away the pain of my kids. i felt so bad for him, and would have done ANYTHING to bring back my spirited little trouble maker who worships the ground i walk on and waits anxiously every day for me to return from work to play on the pillows or outside. someday, i'll be telling him about how i held him in one arm, cleaned his poop, and how he was so cute when he said his own name for the first time.
what a gift.
corn fed white bread
took some time before my stint in NC to visit our best friends from CA. They are originally from here and moved back to be nearer to family and escape the CA rat race. They came to Des Moines (DM from here on out) due to a job landed by Tom, the man of the house.
Wow, what a nice place. The author fully realizes that humidity and winters come into play. But, 1 acre and about 2200sq.ft + 1400sq.ft walkout basement for 200k is enough for me. 5 min from airport and 10 from downtown. Gorgeous neighborhoods. The newer neighborhoods remind me of CA which is BAD. Really, housing design has fallen apart. In an effort to grow more quickly and keep prices down, I guess builders have homogenized to the detriment of the US psyche.
All in all however, the houses and neighborhoods are very different, beautiful, and give u the sense that you're "in the country". Funny for us from CA...no one puts up fences and walls really between yards (can u say crap on the neighbors yard fido). Yikes! That actually makes me nervous. Can you tell I'm a CA native? I'm nervous about the level of interaction between neighbors. I'll get over it at the first backyard bbq.
Tom and Gina have 1 acre. You can't see the roads, houses, or anything behind them. Feels like being at a cabin in Big Bear w/o actually driving 1.5 hours from Corona.
More later. I can and probably will move here.
little rock international airport
sitting at the bar for the last 2 hours. when i got here, a guy was chatting about "2nd cousins and it depends on how they look". Run Luke.
Anyway, meeting lasted about 2 hours and was very prosperous. Now, killing time. Too tired to do real work. IM'ing and BLOG'ing are easier. Wont get home to family until 10PM tonight barring issues at DFW.
Got the word that Villaregosa is mayor of LA and that his speech was a bit inflamatory. I'm moving....tomorrow.
Live from Little Rock, DM
Chillin' in the Hamptons (Inn)
Sitting here in at the Hampton Inn in Little Rock AR. Landed at 2PM but couldn't muster the energy to go to the Clinton Library. Ironically, I did find the energy to hit the local Cracker Barrell and eat a plate of Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy. Kind of ironic that like Clinton, I often find the time to eat greasy food instead of doing the more productive thing. However unlike Clinton, I'm not cavorting with interns or being deposed by a grand jury.
Everyone is nice is AR so far. They all say "yessir" and "yesmaam". That's nice and I want my kids to do that so I shall make it so.
I drove around and checked out the University. Airport was really small and for some reason, all cars in Little Rock are gone. I couldn't reserve one, so I got off the plane and went down the row, "got a car?" "bet you don't have a car". At National, which I called and check online 5x yesterday, the nice lady said, "I have a mini-van". I accepted and $100 later, I'm on the road feeling like a man with something to prove. Stretching every bit of those 6 cyclinders to their limit in an effort to not feel like a soccer mom.
About to begin a massive stretch of travel over the next 20 days or so. At least 10 days of it are with the family. After that, it's not. I hate being away but this stretch is really building momentum for our solution. Everyone I touch will become a lifelong customer of ours. (But I'm NOT in sales). "I tell people about our solution, and they buy it...there's no selling involved".
Just remember, being a nice guy that knows what he's talking about only goes so far. You need a bunch of asshole sales reps too. The kind that like getting kicked in the Jimmie 20 times so they get a big fat check.
Well, it's just me, a vending machine, and the history channel. Bye from Little Rock.
Great blog - moving to utah?
http://www.nataliercollins.com/weblog/2005/03/should-non-mormon-move-to-utah.html
here's my comment.
I'm considering moving ANYWHERE other than CA. I love the new DayBreak Community going in, in South Jordan UT(the planned community thing makes me feel more at home like the nicer neighborhoods here in Orange County). But, I have this nagging...twisting...burning...sort of odd feeling that I'm going to be happeier somewhere where I'm not subject to the general "tone" that you've described here. I can easily see how everyone starts off friendly (possible convert) and then logically...why WOULD they bother with you when they know you've decided to have the big BBQ, crack open a few New Castles, and watch NASCAR on Fox on Sunday? I can easily overcome this "pressure" and I think I'd actually find it fun for a while at least. I'm sure my kids would be safer, etc. I'm just not sure that I'd like to be going through these issues when my kids are a bit older. Mormons are not bad people...but it's really not that common to have this kind of hegemonsim..and I don't think I'm ready to waste the time on dealing with it...when I can sacrifice some climate for the religious "diversity" that I seek, ie not being crammed at all junctures. If it was going to be crammed however, I'd prefer to be in the majority (honest).
