Bad Week at Work

I am having a pretty lousy week at work. For the last few months, we were in a bidding process for a huge contract which would double the size of our Company. Now it appears that we won't get the contract. My boss has decided in a very Dilbert-esqe manner to take his disappointment out on the senior management team - especially yours truly. The other day another manager and I were discussing the situation when she asked me if I had thought to ask myself why the Company had 5 Controllers in the last 5 years and why my 18-month tenure has been the longest of any Controller employed there this century. I had not.

What I am happy about is that through this situation, I have put my speech and fluency first. What I mean by that is that in the past it has been easier for me to monitor targets and be fluent when things are going well. However during times of adversity, my concentration drifts away from my targets and my fluency suffers. I am very excited that is not happening right now.

Enough of the old white people crowd shots

Let me start this by saying that I am a card carrying libertarian. I loved Reagan and Clinton for the inspiration they gave me. However, my political philosophy is that government should stay out of my life and be as unobtrusive as possible. Nobody is Washington to going to fix my life.

Mercifully, the Sarah Palin speech is over. Granted, she is a 40-something hottie, but the crowd shots of all of the old white people (combined with the recurring shot of the 1 black guy in the audience) was enough to make my head hurt.

IPOD Shuffle

I have accepted the fact that I have lost my beloved generation one IPOD shuffle.

The last time I remember having it was during my flight home from my PFSP Refresher in early June. On the flight, there was a couple (probably in their 50's) sitting next to me, who from the moment I heard them walking down the aisle were complaining about their flying experience. It sounded like they had not flown much in the post 9-11 era. Apparently, they were expecting much more luxury from their AirTran coach ticket (which I am sure cost them less than $200).

Ordinarily, right after a Refresher, I take the opportunity to talk with anyone who will listen to me so that I can work on my speech targets. However, in this case, I wanted no part of talking with these people. Nor, did I want to hear them complain about how much nicer it was to fly in the 70's. So I quickly pulled out my IPOD and put my ear buds in and had a peaceful flight back to Atlanta.

Financially, I can replace the shuffle for very little - I believe a new generation 2 goes for less than $50. However, this IPOD was very special to me as Staci and Charlotte gave it to me for my first Father's Day a few years ago.

Coulrophobia

As if stuttering has not always been enough of a pain in the ass, I am also coulrophobic. Coulrophobic, of course, is the fear of clowns. Everybody who knows me is well aware of issues with clowns. I won't get into my story about the girl I dated in college who I found out later was a clown, as many of my friends (and my wife) already know the story and love to remind me of it every chance they get. But, I have never gone so far as to join an anti-clown forum, or purchase merchandise which advertises my issues with clowns.

I never really knew why clowns freaked me out so much until last weekend. I was sitting in a theatre watching Health Ledger's awesome performance of the Joker in the Dark Knight and it hit me. When I was in the 1st grade, I would watch that lame 60's version of Batman starring Adam West. Cesar Romero played a very gay version of the Joker in the series. I went through a phase at that time where I would have a recurring dream that Cesar Romero's joker was holding me hostage in family's attic. Now I remember how and when my phobia of clowns started.

A few months ago, I picked Charlotte up from Waumba Land at our Church and she told me what she wanted to be when she grows up. Of course, she wants to be a clown. God has an excellent sense of humor.

Annie Glenn

Annie Glenn, wife of John Glenn, went through the program at Hollins many years ago. This is a good video of her and Senator Glenn discussing the program.

AirTran Financial Woes

Since their days flying under the ill-fated ValuJet name, I have always been a fan of AirTran. I don't travel a great deal - usually 1 trip up to Norfolk every year for a Refresher and 1 or 2 family vacations per year. However, I am very interested in the science of traveling as cheaply as possible. As I have mentioned before, I love Priceline and Bidding for Travel. The cheaper I can pay to travel somewhere, the more often I am able to travel.

During an investor conference call this morning, AirTran CFO Arne Haak disclosed plans to shrink the Atlanta hub and move their focus away from"lower-yielding leisure customer". This is unfortunate news for cheap travelers like myself, but it does make financial sense for AirTran. I spend less money now on a flight to the Newport News/Norfolk area for a Refresher than I did in 1995. Cheap AirTran flights out of Atlanta were a good thing while they lasted.

1995

1995 was a great year!

In October, David Justice hit a home run in game 6 of the World Series to give the Atlanta Braves their only World Series championship. As it looks to be a 3rd straight year of no postseason for the Braves, the memory of that season gets more special as time goes on.

August of '95 was when I went through the 3-week PFSP program at the Eastern Virginia Medical School. As I will often tell anyone who will listen (and has not heard me say it 1,000,000 times), those 3 weeks completely changed my life.

This morning I was in the middle of a very hectic day of work when I received a phone call from someone whom I had gone through the 3-week program with. We became very good friends during the program and stayed in touch for the next few years after that. However, this was probably the first conversation we have had in 9 years. We quickly caught each other up on what we had been doing since we had last spoke and then got on the subject of how our speech has been. We were both very happy with where we were in regards to our speech. She then said something that really made my day. She told me that "that 3 weeks was probably the best thing (she) had ever done for (herself)." I thought that was such a brilliant and concise statement. I have never been able to describe the experience better than that.

5 Years

I am kicking around the idea of a HUGE life change. This life change would require an initial time investment of about 5 years to get started. Yesterday, I was thinking about how long 5 years really is. Then it occurred to me, that 5 years ago this weekend was one of the most event-filled weekends of my life.

The weekend started on Thursday night as I was driving home from work and was involved in a major 3-car accident. Friday morning our beloved dog died. Saturday, my wife's grandmother died. Sunday, our daughter was conceived. It is hard to believe all of that happened 5 years ago.

How To Get Out Of A Family Christmas Party

Last weekend, my daughter and wife went to a family Christmas party in Birmingham while I got to stay home. Why was I not there?

Two years ago, we were at the same Christmas party (my wife's aunt) and as we were leaving, someone was doing something to my daughter (ticking her, maybe?) and my wife's aunt said "don't do that to her, she will start stuttering, too". Out of respect for my wife and her parents, I did not say a work and just continued to leave. Needless to say, I have avoided this annual event since then.

It never ceases to amaze me how stupid people can be at times.

120 Rule

In my last few posts I have discussed the series of interviews I have had recently with one company. My last interview for the position was today, as I met with their external CPA. From all indications, it sounds like I am their top candidate for the position. It appears they are ready to make a move and a job offer could be coming soon.

When I consider changing jobs, I have what I call my "120 Rule". The 120 Rule means that the new job needs to pay at least 120% of the current job in order for me to consider the move. In my career I have always had the fortune/misfortune of knowing the salaries of everyone in the Accounting/Finance area. This has usually been due to my job responsibilities (payroll, budgeting, etc.). I learned early on that salaries are more a function of when someone joins a company and how they negotiate salary when they join, as opposed to other factors.

Though the series of interviews have gone well, my speech has pretty much been lousy the past week. The worst was Friday afternoon as our department celebrated the filing of our 10-K by leaving work early and having a few drinks. I usually have more trouble with fluency in loud restaurants (I have trouble with the background noise), but this was the worse it had been in a while. I spent the weekend putting more focus and attention to my targets.