Poets Day US

    I was chatting to a friend the other day about different management techniques and I commented that some people will crash a boat 10 times then blame the iceberg. We both found that amusing (as we have experienced that in our many combined years of working in Corporate wherever) but also found it a little disconcerting that it was so true. Surely we have evolved enough as humans to realize that sometimes the best way is to ask for guidance or help, otherwise we will run out of orchestras and Leo DiCaprio's (not necessarily a bad thing). Someone has to steer the ship but there needs to be collaboration. The person on the helm (really getting into this ship analogy right now) needs input from the Navigator, Engineering and the Radar Operator. Back in the olden days they had lookouts posted on the bow and up the mast, now we have radar, sonar and GPS to help plot the route. Without those external inputs the person on the helm might miss the iceberg but chances of getting you ...

It is a little known fact that today is Australia History Month Day. I have decided to share some of the most important things about Australia that you may not be aware of on this historical Poets Day. Now some of you may know that I am a huge fan of all things Australian, like Phar Lap, Pavlova, Crowded House, Russell Crowe and of course the Lord of the Rings movies. What has this to do with Poets Day you may ask. Well many of the people that emigrated to Australia had to work hard all week (mainly because they were convicts) and unfortunately could not really Piss Off as they were in shackles. Actually, nothing to do with Poets Day at all really I just felt like sharing this historic occasion with y'all and also these little known Australian facts: A boomerang that won't come back is called a stick The Great Sandy desert is in fact a great big sandy desert People with Red hair are called Blue, People with Blue hair are called Ethel or Grandma The aboriginal word for...

I love my Suburban - I call it the beast - it is just like me. Thing has almost 200,000 miles on it, dodgy transmission, a door that doesn't lock automatically, speakers that crackle and fuzz when they work, dim headlights and sometimes it is hard to start in the mornings. I make sure the oil is topped up, get it serviced every now and again, change out dead bulbs and have replaced the door handles a couple of times on the driver side. It has given me concerns, cost me a couple of dollars in maintenance but it keeps on going. I don't want to ever replace it. I need to install new shocks, replace the transmission and fix the stereo but there is no need to replace the beast. Sure there area few dings and dents and miles on the beast but we have driven in snow, ice, up mountains, across paddocks and along beaches. We have had fun. So how does that compare to me. Well I have a lot more than 200,000 miles wear and tear on me without question, however in other ways we are very si...

I have been traveling a bit recently which may sound to some like fun but in reality it is a pain in the buttocks. Particularly nasty was a 3 night Austin, 3 night Dallas, 3 night Salt Lake City trip especially after night 5 when my liver just got up and buggered off - still trying to tempt it back with google search results for a liver cleansing diet. Once I get it back I am going to teach it to mess with me - Mr Daniels is going to help me there :) And no I do not have a drinking problem Mum/Guido/etc. Anyway landing back here after my fun little 9 night trip I had a young Dad with his daughter behind me on the flight and they were talking about New Zealand. I happened to have my All Black shirt on and happen to know a little about NZ. Although I haven't been there in a while NZ will never leave me - actually have now lived over 1/2 my life away from home - in reality wherever I lay my hat, that's my home (song now stuck in head damn it) I really need to write this crap...

It's been a while but time for me to pontificate again :) So I had to ask myself how exactly do you celebrate Poets Day when you work from home (I am finally out of freaking transition) and I realized that the location of where you work does not affect celebrating Poets Day. It is a lot easier to 'Piss Off Early' when all that entails is getting up from the computer, it's not like there is some jack wad clock watcher seeing you walk out a bit earlier on Friday when you work from home - although is this day in age and with some of the stuff I sell/have on my PC in theory someone could. The thing is when you work from home you can be a lot more efficient with your work time as long as you set your mind too it. Sure it can be tough not talking about the latest song/movie/score (sport or otherwise) around the water cooler but sometimes that can be a good thing. I miss not hearing the bubble gum popping, hunt and peck typing, loud ass that I used to share the office with...

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...