Tiger Woods Was Doing What!?

Just a little background...

I don't claim to know all of the details about the Tiger Woods controversy. I simply hear bits and pieces here and there through my day.

But that didn't stop me from talking about the controversy after my mom asked me what I thought about it. Briefly into the conversation, my mom made a great point: Tiger Woods was crashed a Cadillac Escalade, not a Buick, the brand of vehicle he sponsors!


Cadillac Escalade, not a Buick Rendezvous!

Yet Tiger keeps his sponsors. If I were Buick, I'd be mad as hell. The Cadillac Escalade is already the ride that all the thugs and the gangstas want. Now that Tiger Woods is a playa, wannabes everywhere would be rushing out to get their hands on a Buick Rendezvous. But no, they still want an Escalade. I know that Buick and Cadillac are both GM brands, but pure Buick fans have to be upset too.

What I Want for Christmas

Megan and I were walking through Target when I saw the perfect gift idea for ME! The best thing is that it's currently on sale.

What is it, you ask? I will show you!



That's right, it's the Mr. Beer Home Beer Kit!

A mutual friend of mine and Megan's makes his own beer at home, and I was interested in dabbling in it a bit. Now, for around $30 (that's 30 American dollars), you can give the gift of homemade brew.

I Am A Wal-Mart Shopper Again

I never thought I'd say this, but I am a Wal-Mart shopper again. I say this after my wife and I went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart for the second weekend in a row. In the past, Wal-Mart angered me to no end. The stores are almost always packed with rushed and inconsiderate shoppers, and their customer service never really impressed me. Recently, I've been shopping mostly at Target and occasionally Tom Thumb and Central Market.

But lately, I've found myself back at Wal-Mart. And the reason? Wal-Mart is more vegetarian friendly than Target. At least that's how it is in Fort Worth. Wal-Mart carries more vegetarian brands and has more diverse vegetarian products. It seems that Wal-Mart is making a more conscious effort to offer vegetarian and organic foods, and I like what I see.

Also, I like the new image in the stores. I'm a fan of the little star symbol that now accompanies their name:



And the slogan Save money. Live better. doesn't scream cheap as Wal-Mart once did. Now, it sounds more like Wal-Mart is doing you a favor. We're not cheap. We're helping you save money so that you can spend it where you really need to spend it.

Target, you still hold a special place in my heart, and maybe one day I will return to you. But for now, I'll be at Wal-Mart on the weekends, stocking up on veggie burgers and fiblets.

Vegeterian Thanksgiving

So this was our first Thanksgiving as vegetarians. For a while, it seemed as if we weren't going to be able to have a main course. We thought that the only place that would sell Tofurky, our dish of choice, was in Arlington, and we were having one hell of a time making it there during business hours. In an act of desperation, we tried Central Market and were delighted to find that they sold Tofurky.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the Tofurky. Megan, not so much. Sure, it wasn't exactly like turkey. No, you probably couldn't give it to a meateater and expect him to be satisfied. But I enjoyed it, and that's all that matters!

This vegetarian thing has not been as hard as I thought it would be. It always helps when you make your mind up to do something. I haven't had any cravings for meat. The only problem has come when we've eaten out. I never realized how much fast food and gas station food contained meat. But I'm making it. And thanks to Central Market and Tofurky, I made it through Thanksgiving.

Do You Perceive Yourself Accurately?

We've all heard those cliche expressions before:

I'm a real hard-worker...

I don't like to gossip, I'm just sayin'...

I'm easy to get along with, I have a lot of friends...

Or something along those lines. And chances are that pretty often you roll your eyes and say yeah right and laugh to yourself. I know I do.

But that goes two ways.

Lately, people have been telling me that I have an inviting personality, that I'd be good for marketing. I laughed. Maybe you did too. But when more and more people comment on something, at some point you have to consider that it may be true.

It seems that lately none of my confidence is original. By that, I mean that I don't just wake up one day and think that I have certain skills or capabilities. Other people are telling me what they see. Little by little, I'm accepting the possibility that my perception of myself may be off.

A few years ago, I could not have seen myself in a management position. Recently, I've handled situations that would have made me want to crawl under a rock and hide from the world. But in some instances, people have been right about me. Or at least that's my perception right now.

How do you see yourself? How do you think others see you? Would you dare ask? Should you twist people's perception, or should you play into it? I think these are all very important questions that we should ask ourselves sometimes.

The Song For My Funeral

I am not a fan of Frank Sinatra (in all fairness, I never truly gave him much of a chance), but I've always thought that "My Way" was one of the most badass songs of all-time.



The song's got lyrics that we all hope we can relate to when we're at the end of our roads.

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention

And...

I've loved, I've laughed and cried,
I've had my fill - my share of losing.
But now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing.

If that doesn't strike you right in the heart...man...

There was a time when I wanted this song to be played at my funeral. But one day while listening to the radio, I heard that "My Way" was the song most often played at funerals outside of hymns. And so, feeling totally unoriginal, I gave up on that idea.

But I found my alternative, and it's a pretty compromise, I think.



Sometimes you just need a little punk in your life.

Everything Changes -- The Importance of Foresight

Hindsight is 20/20. Unfortunately, some people's foresight leaves them completely blind. The fact is that everything changes. You might be on top today, but there's always someone (or something) with a bullseye on you, looking to bring you down.

I knew this before the lesson was learned. When I first got into the oil and gas business, everyone said that the work in the Barnett Shale region would last forever -- about 20 years! Okay, so 20 years isn't forever, but when you're a 23-year-old kid still fresh out of college, 20 years is indeed forever away. There were all kinds of studies and statistics to support the claim. But there was one thing they forgot to include in their assessments: foresight. They were so stuck in the here and now that they forgot to have any foresight. And foresight should have told them that it was nonsense. I knew it was. It was too good to be true. That's why I saved my money up and got ready for the hard times. Nothing lasts forever. No market stays the same.

Sure, I can see why everyone thought that the boom would last forever. Gas prices were around $4.00 per gallon. We all know that once prices go up, they never go down. And then the bust happened. Some people got caught with their pants down. Some people really got hurt.

And now when you look around, everything in business is changing. The Internet is largely to blame. Everything is going online, just some things are doing so more slowly than others. Will anything ever replace the Internet? Right now it's so easy to say no.

Organization structures are getting smaller and more efficient. Communication is changing, things are becoming more intimate. Organizations are becoming more transparent to their customers now. When did this all happen?

Now, I'm always trying to look ahead. I admit that I have a hard time seeing things before they happen, but at least I'm trying. Are you?