Poets Day US

I interviewed with someone the other day and they mentioned they needed someone to be able to present to C-Level Executives, my reply was no worries at all. I actually wondered what the big deal was, I have been dealing with people in higher positions than mine most my life so it isn't really a big deal to me. I have been fortunate that I have worked with some small companies (and some huge ones) and have realized that if you show the correct respect to people then usually you are fine. Heck, according to the old chestnut regarding 5 (or 6) degree's of separation you probably are connected to the person anyway. On LinkedIn it seems like you are 3 degree's of separation from almost anyone. Here are some of my favorite degree's of separation that I have - this is not name dropping - I have not necessarily broken bread with these people - some I have. Paul Allen - A great family friend of our's son worked on his boat Octopus (Google it - well maybe Bing it as Allen is ...

So one of my favorite things to say when people make a comment about how direct I can be is "The truth will set you free" - yes I know I borrowed it from the bible and I probably use it out of context but hey, it works for me. I have had occasionally annoyed people in my life (no, you say), either by word, thought or deed (ok enough bible stuff - or is that one Monty Python - for the week) and sometimes I do not realize I have annoyed or offended them and may end up repeating that behavior. Sometimes the offense is minor enough that it is no big deal, written off as "oh, that is just the way he is". Sometimes however I need to be told to stop doing whatever it is, however most of the time people take so long to tell me the issue that they are fit to explode when they finally do. Last year a person I respect hugely got majorly annoyed with me, that could have been avoided if that person had told me earlier that my actions were pissing them off, instead we had to have...

With March Madness in full swing and the weather just too durn purty outside for me to pontificate in front of the computer this should be a brief posting. Here it is Saying please and thank you to people is not hard to do, does not take a lot of energy, as far as I know does not contribute to global warming, is not affected by the moons gravitational pull and might be enough to put a smile on someone's face, lighten their load, make them feel appreciated and is just common courtesy. Examples of use could be: Can I please have a Heineken Thank you for the Heineken Do you think you could open the Heineken for me please Thank you for making sure the Heineken was nice and cold Please get out of the way idiot, I am trying to watch the game Thank you for being such an ass hat Can you please stop creating an eclipse with that fat head of yours Thank you for wasting oxygen every time you breath Please sod off you pillock Thank you for disproving Darwin's theory of evolution Can I plea...

As I type this I am also watching a replay of the All Blacks beating Australia at rugby in the 2011 World Cup - no better way to start your day - even if it is a replay and you know the score. Once again the opinions expressed here are mine, therefore not based on fact and should be taken with a shot of Jack Daniels. Kiwi's are a different breed to Yanks, and yes, all Americans are Yanks to us. No insult intended - goes back to the World Wars. Kiwi's are not Aussie's, although Australia likes to steal/claim anything famous from New Zealand and make it theirs. A short list would include Phar Lap (race horse), Russel Crowe, Crowded House and the Lord of the Rings movies. Just a note, NZ was populated by farmers (insert sheep joke here) and Australia is just an oversized Alcatraz (still). So back to our differences and rugby. Rugby as a team sport is fundamentally different to American Football and this is a great example of where our cultures are different. In Rugby every man...

So I was going to write a post about political correctness and how much bs we have to put up with because of it but my brother sent me a post regarding the show he is doing in Chicago and in the article was the quote - apparently from Tennessee Williams - If you can’t be yourself, what’s the point of being at all? - and damn it I like that quote and it sort of fits perfectly with the being PC concept I was going to pontificate on (I think I will use pontificate in every post) anyway. Being PC at work means you have to fit into some stupid box that defines the way you are meant to behave. I did a personality test the other day and apparently I fit right in the "sales person" box. Screw that - most people's perception of sales people is that they get paid too much, play too much golf, think that the world revolves around them (well that one may be correct) and also are not sure if the operations team is outsourced to India or are those odd looking people hiding behind the 3...