Steve's Sales and Marketing Blog

Positive Attitude

2012-02-01T07:21:00.003-06:00

Back to doing some public speaking this week and ran into a gentleman who attended one of my presentations on technology and change. He started the conversation with "That was great". He continued to tell me how he likes to try and understand all of technology yet it was very difficult for him to keep up. (I understand that)

He told me how he was 92 (Looked 65) and could remember his first 12 years with no electricity to his house (He lived in the country) He remembered going to someone's house to watch the World Series on TV and how amazing that was. He than told me how he could watch his grandson's games on his computer. He remarked "All in my lifetime"

What stories will I be able to tell? I remember a time before internet? Now I can enter a 3D world in which I can communicate with everyone on the planet? I bet that isn't even close, it will be way cooler than that.

Got a new phone.

2012-01-26T21:31:00.002-06:00

As you may recall, I had a HTC Desire (Android phone) and I really liked it. The only issue I really had was the lack of on board memory. You could not load any apps without running out of space.

I now have a Motorola Droid X2. It has 8GB of on board memory that solves the memory problem. One benefit is the reception. It is great. In speaking with Loren, I believe he summarized it best to say that Motorola has great radio's (Hey, they should)

I do miss some little things from the Desire. Like email notification icon and it is a bit large. Guess I will have to upgrade to Touchdown. (Email program)

Come on we have to have the technology.

2012-01-25T21:40:00.002-06:00

We will soon be on our third water heater in 6 years since we built the house. In checking on these heaters that instantly heat the water and are tankless. There are issues. (I am going to leave out the details)

So we are going to replace it with a standard gas and tank heater. You would think in some 30 years there would have been an improvement. Nope.

We have been told that the hard water is causing the problem. It is also related to clogged shower heads and other issues. Again, you would think that we could have a system that treated the entire town and would keep this from happening. Nope.

Well, with a lighter wallet, I will be able to have a car with less spots this spring...

How the Riat Family is going to help the Ravens and you should too!

2012-01-23T19:01:00.003-06:00

If you missed the end of the Ravens game on Sunday catch it HERE

First was the dropped pass then was the missed field goal. So tonight we had pass catching followed by practicing kicking field goals (The couch was the up rights)

Tomorrow we are going to have kick off return so we do not have to have this interview! We will practice getting out of the way of a kick off if we are not going to catch the ball then once we catch the ball how to hang on to the ball!

Lets face it, the Riat boys are more likely to be kickers than punt return men.

Just don't be last?

2012-01-22T15:52:00.003-06:00

Caden and I did our first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. We spent quite a lot of time cutting, sanding, painting and weighting.

When we were done, all I could think was don't make us last.

We finished in the middle of the pack.

Motives Matter

2012-01-19T19:57:00.002-06:00

Many times I have seen people who have alternative motives and it is obvious to everyone. Those people with alternative motives think they are pulling one over on those around them. However many times there can be wins for all involved if everyone was just honest about their motives.

In sales lets face it. Our job is to generate revenue. It is at some level that simple. However if we are doing our jobs right we can align customer value along with generating revenue. In other words helping people get what they want or need.

Be honest when that does not align. You will have a customer for life.

Get caught trying to put one over and lose a customer for life.

More from Carsen!

2012-01-17T18:21:00.002-06:00

He was sitting on the couch and I ask him if he was playing a certain game. His answer? Nope, I don't have that on my schedule. Maybe I will put it on my calendar tomorrow.

We were sitting at the dinner table and he tells us that one of his friends at school has a "Hot Girlfriend" This from a 5 year old. Jenifer ask him what that meant? Duh mom, she is good looking and cute!

Oh, I cannot wait till he is a teenager. This could be a challenge.

Adding value.

2012-01-15T20:37:00.003-06:00

Recently we had to switch Vets for Jersey. Our previous Vet closed her business to do other things. We needed to find a Vet prior to Christmas to Board Jersey and we selected this new Vet due to availability. (To be honest I have heard nothing but good things for all Vets in town)

My experience was good with this Vet. They took her in, gave her the shots that she was due and she was obviously happy. When I picked her up, they had some added value! Her nails were clipped and she was given a bath.

A week later I was sent a survey of the experience.

A little while later I was sent a User Name and PW for a website on animal health.

Last, in the mail I received a newsletter/magazine called Health Pet from the same Vet.

Now that is going the extra mile.

Too many turnovers in business?

2012-01-14T22:46:00.002-06:00

After watching my 49ers win today against the Saints, one point that could be suggested was the amount of turnovers the Saints had. Five.

In business we have turnovers. The difference is, most of the time we don't know that they happened. What does a turnover look like in business?

Phone calls not returned
Inaccuracy in information. (We don't sell that)
Taking too long.
Lack of honesty.
Poor performance.

Many of these are lack of communication. Internally or externally.

The good news is that the competition creates turnovers also. Just be prepared to take the ball and run with it.

What did you say?

2012-01-11T19:29:00.002-06:00

I pick the boys up tonight from Religion and Carsen jumps in the car and says

"We got to put our hands where the Babies get born!"

So I was pretty sure I did not hear that right. "What did you do?"

"We got to put our hands where the Babies get born!"

At this point I was thinking that Religion has changed since I went. After a few detailed questions I discovered that he got to put his hands in the baptismal.

Yep, I love it! And Tammy pay attention.

2012-01-10T20:07:00.004-06:00

One of my Christmas presents to myself was a Pioneer Receiver. HERE is the exact model. What do I love about this unit. A couple of major features.

1. It does all my HDMI switching. No more cable mess behind the TV. HDMI cable from the DVD/Blu Ray player and such and one cable to the TV that is it. Works great and sounds better.

2. 7.1 Surround sound. The middle speakers really make a difference. I mounted 6.5" speakers in the ceiling (Can be done surface mount, flush or just put them on a stand) It really makes the surround pop and adds a new dimension to sound!

3. Airplay. I can find something on the ipad and instantly put the sound on the receiver from anywhere on the network! Carsen has liked it even more.

As a side note the Harmony remote completed this package. The remote that came with the receiver was not great. It was ok.

OH YEA and Tammy, Gerard absolutely must have this before the Super Bowl. This way he can watch it in 3D and hear it in 3D. I will be over to inspect this is done by then.

Dreaming in Color and in stereo?

2012-01-09T20:15:00.002-06:00

Last night Jenifer and I both had dreams of snakes. That has to mean something to some body with an advanced degree. Jenifer even claims to have her dream in color.

Now I know what your thinking, we watched some TV show before going to bed. Nope. As far as I know I did not see anything with a snake all day.

Just make it easy.

2012-01-08T02:15:00.000-06:00

Recently I have had many many experiences in trying to purchase expensive items and even longer term contracts. However, I have discovered that if I just had a sales person that would call me back, do what they said they would do the companies would have had business!

Sales is many things. However customer service is one of the top priorities.

On the flip side I have seen many sales people fail due to the companies do not have products to sell! You say, sure they do. My question is are those products easily understood? Do they package their solutions in a way that gives options without confusing the end users? Do the sales reps have to spend way too long engineering solutions and meanwhile the competitors have already installed that solution?

See, I told you so.

2012-01-07T22:10:00.001-06:00

I have been talking about these "Smart" Appliances. Finally, here they are

Even down to the re-fridge that tells you what is inside.

What are your priorities?

2012-01-04T19:38:00.002-06:00

Before we begin this Blog, let set the ground rules.

We are talking work today

I was recently talking with a business person about their work priorities. No, not what was on the task list or what needs to be done to get by. Rather, what are your priorities for your job?

After taking some time off during the holidays it became a bit more clear for me that focus on what matters most every day is more important than email, those distracting calls (Background noise) or the tasks that can be put off to down time. Only you can really set what your priorities are.

Driving revenue
Best customer service
Quick response time
Doing payroll
Measuring performance

The beginning of the year makes a great time to sit back and really define your priorities for 2012. Write them down and come up with a plan. I have mine.

Are you a Super Bouncy Ball, Pool Ball or a Bean Bag?

2012-01-03T19:24:00.002-06:00

How does this relate to Drama? When you see people creating or spreading drama how do you react?

1. Are you a Super Bouncy Ball? Take the drama, magnify it and make it twice as big?

2. Pool Ball (As in a Billiard Ball) You take it and pass it along to the next person. Maybe with a slightly different angle?

3. A Bean Bag that absorbs all the energy and does not bounce at all?

I recently have been finding myself avoiding more and more of the Bouncy Balls. You can't trust them, you can't expect to get the complete truth.

If I was going to suggest the type of ball that I want to be is a Baseball. It has a little bounce, it is hard and very difficult to get under its skin.

Why don't you believe me that it is changing?

2012-01-02T03:13:00.000-06:00

I have run into a couple of people who have had a chance to see me present the Velocity of Change presentation and they don't believe that technology change is going to affect them. So I have had a couple of weeks of down time and during these times my mind has a chance to wander and work on these challenges.

It came to me while I was doing some laundry. (OK lets face it, it is rare for me to do this.) What came to me was that during the first 30 years of my life (Or a bit more) the machines that wash and dry clothes have changed very little. Top load, capacity has changed a bit, water needs a bit. Then you see these new machines that are front load, steam, dry very fast, measure the dirt in the clothes and the dampness when drying. And of course the energy consumption has changed quite a bit. Most of this has changed in the last 10 years! Just one example of the speed of change.

Why have other devices not changed? If you have read this blog you know my problem with the Refrigerator. (While on this topic, why has the RF ID not taken off? RF ID would allow the checkouts to work by wanding your card and knowing what is in it. How many hours could be saved in the store if this technology was used. Better yet, then my re-fridge could know what was in it and do inventory for me suggesting my needs weekly?) Anyway also what about the dish washer. Just ask my parents that recently bought a new one and it takes over 2 hours to wash dishes. WHY?

One of the largest claims every year on insurance is water damage by these devices. From failed hoses, valves and more. Why not put these sensors on them and alert us? The sensors are low cost... Why not let them have wireless connections alerting me when they are done? They are so quiet you can't hear them. If you set off their buzzer then you wake the kids. Text me.

So progress is being made. I just read about a machine that you only add detergent every 6 months or so. ABOUT TIME! Now, time for the Dish Washer and others.

Another device that spent a lot of time not changing then changed fast. The TV. Remember the console? I guarantee my kids have no idea what that is. Anyway for the first 20 plus years of my life we had a console. It lasted forever, you called someone to repair it and it was a piece of furniture. Not any more. Most TV's are throw away after a few years and they change so fast you want the new one. Apps, Internet, Thinner, 3D, HDMI and more.

The question is for me is why buy one with all the apps when there is no standard for them. Every manufacturer has their own. Almost all Cable providers require their own box, You need game systems, receivers, streaming boxes and such and they are all low cost (OK Most) Why not give me a "Display" with a couple of HDMI ports and I will have the other devices (Google TV, Receiver and more) develop the content. This way I can upgrade my technology for $100 without changing the TV every 3 years.

I know, I got pretty wordy for the first of the year. However If I am going to give any projections for 2012 it will be change, Rapid Change.

More from Carsen

2012-01-01T09:10:00.000-06:00

Dad, that show says it was in 2010...That was a really long time ago.

Patching, Updating and Versioning OH MY!

2011-12-31T07:15:00.000-06:00

It feels like everything I have now requires an update of some sort. Like yesterdays post on the Harmony Remote. Yep, it had an update.

Lets make a short list of the things in my life that have updates;

Car (They have computers)
Remote
Game system (Wii, Sony, DS, Xbox)
PC
Access Point
Home Server
Synology
Printer
iPad
iPod
Phone (Multiple)
Apple TV
Alarm Clock
ATV
Camera
Video Camera
Sonos
Receiver

Can't we make these things all update automatically?

Harmony Remote Review

2011-12-30T19:06:00.002-06:00

It has been a few years ago that I bought my last universal remote (From Radioshack) However my TV downstairs has way too many remotes. Cable Box, Stereo receiver, Playstation, XBox, and of course the TV. Jenifer picked up a Harmony (From Logitech) from Radioshack. It is the model 600 and supports 5 devices.

It connects to your laptop and you use a GUI to setup. It is easy and works well. I have not been able to assign some colored buttons to different functions. I am sure it is just a matter of messing with it.

All in all I would recommend it.

Tired of Lego's

2011-12-29T19:34:00.002-06:00

I am wore out and I have at least 2 more Lego sets to put together. From putting it together to realize that I put one small piece together wrong somewhere 10 steps ago to searching the hundreds of pieces for that one square but in yellow. Then to get it all done and have to put the stickers on.

The reward? The kids to play with it 2 minutes and then take it apart.

Next time I am going to use super glue.

Merry Christmas Steve

Kids best Christmas

2011-12-27T09:45:00.002-06:00

As always, of all the things the kids get for Christmas the box was the best. OK to be honest our boys are getting past the box but here were the favorites.

Carsen and his MP3 player. Here is a boy that has an iPad yet the 2 GB MP3 player has been a hit.

Caden and his pool table. It is a small pool table about 18 inches by 12 inches. He has played pool with lots of people.

There is more Christmas to come this weekend with Jenifer's parents (When Jamie and Josh) make it home so I am sure we will see more favorites.

My favorite kid gift? The Airhog remote control flying helicopter. It works GREAT!. Shoots missiles (Plastic missiles) and the control is easy and it charges in about 15 minutes and flies for 5. I will update on some of the gifts I got later this week.

What Frosty can Teach me

2011-12-24T22:39:00.003-06:00

We were driving from Great Wolf Lodge to my parents house today for Christmas Eve and every one was excited after a great couple of days at the water park. (PS Jen that was a great idea) Anyway Frosty the Snow Man came on the radio and the kids were singing along. I was listening to the words when it came to me that the song could teach us all somehting. Imaging if you were born and given only one winter to live. Some would be mad at the world. Not Frosty. He was happy to thave the time that he was given and living life to the most. You might even say that when he came to the traffic cop a negative person it barely even phased him.

Make the most of your Christmas, Go laugh and play with the kids and live in the moment. Rarely do we have a chance to just celebrate together.

Make the most of this day.

Merry Christmas

Man things

2011-12-20T20:31:00.003-06:00

So if you didn't know we had quite a snow yesterday and this morning. This gave me the ability to do a few "Man Things" that I think every man should experience.

First is AWD (All Wheel Drive) or 4WD (4 Wheel Drive) To be able to bust through 3 foot snow drifts and keep on going there is just something manly about this. Watching other cars struggle at intersections, stuck in parking lots and maybe even unable to get out of the garage. Sure, Jenifer drives her Tahoe in 4WD and can easily make it to work. Yet she does not enjoy the fun that can be had with this power.

Second is the ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) In this particular case it is the fun of driving through the snow, blading off the driveway and of definitely pulling the kids on the sled.

If you need to experience either of these give me a call. My neighborhood has plenty of willing driveways and I will be glad to show you how to take the 4WD off road.

Maybe if your lucky I can show you a third later this week and you can take both of these in the MUD!

From 60 to Blizzard?

2011-12-19T07:19:00.000-06:00

I worked outside. It was in the upper 50's but the boys rode their four wheeler s and I vacuumed out the cars. It is forecast that we are going to have a blizzard today! Only in KS could this not only happen but almost be expected this time of year. Many times they have forecast the snow and none has come. We will see what happens.

More Carsenism's

2011-12-18T07:31:00.000-06:00

We were looking at this picture earlier and a little later he comes up to me and says that "It takes a lot of money!" I was confused. He continues "We need lots of money to eat and get me toys" I was clueless. "Dad, that is why you have the perfect job, you need to save us lots of money" OK "Yea, you are the money making super hero"

Well duh!

Innovating? Are you?

2011-12-17T19:10:00.002-06:00

I work in an industry that if you are not innovating then your going out of business (You may be the last one to know) So the question is how do you innovate? I have been trying to break this down lately.

1. Have creative ideas of new innovation (This comes easy to me)
2. Research the ideas for functionality (Many spend way too much time here and never get the innovation off the ground or they have people telling them that change is bad)
3. Implementation must be proactive, directed and measured.
4. Problems in launch are expected. If your 80% good you can fix the other 20%
5. Fail Fast

More on this later!

TV Repair update?

2011-12-16T05:44:00.000-06:00

Wow, I recently have been successful at repairing the Dishwasher and Ice maker. Can I make it 3 for 3?

Of course. Part came in, I took about 5 minutes to install it and perfect picture once again. And Jamie, I did not manage to electrocute myself. That is just a bonus. I think (Quietly knocking on wood) I have everything fixed around the house.

Carsen is cracking me up!

2011-12-15T20:41:00.002-06:00

We are sitting in the chair tonight listening to music and he gets real serious and says..."Dad, it is good to be a boy" Me "Why is that?" Carsen "You don't have to lay babies"

Can't argue with that logic.

Selling the value. First you must understand the value

2011-12-14T04:56:00.000-06:00

Many times I go back to the hammer. When you buy a hammer you don't really want a hammer, rather you want a nail pounded in. Really you don't want that nail pounded in you want a house built.

Many times in sales we focus on that product that we sell. How many times have you had a client come up to you and ask for a server. People do not want a server, they want to make their business run more efficiently. In both examples if you sell the value of building a house or making a business run more efficiently and you give people what they want this is where the value really is. Don't focus on the immediate question. Figure out what people really want and then you both win.

Only one more day of copying files from the Home Server

2011-12-13T19:49:00.002-06:00

It is amazing how long it takes copying almost 2 Terabytes of data. It looks like the data loss is minimal. However it has been painful messing with this. I do have backups that I can go back to however it has not been necessary.

Next time I will not rely on a RAID 5 system and go to simple RAID 1 (Mirroring) system. Faster in operation and easier to repair. Lesson learned.

Meanwhile my operation X-Mas lights has been a bit painful today. It has rained and caused my GFI to continuously trip. I can check in the next couple of days to see where the weak connection is. I feel a bit like Clark Griswald when it comes to finding that one loose connection.

Moving from Appliance Repair to TV Repair?

2011-12-12T20:38:00.003-06:00

A while back I bent the HDMI Port on my Big Screen. I have done everything I could but I think I broke the PC board behind the HDMI Port. This causes some lines that show up on the screen. I took out the tools a week ago and opened up the TV. Looks simple enough. Found what needed replaced and found a used part.

I will let you know how it goes. If no one hears from me for a while I probably electrocuted myself, come get me in the basement.

Update on the ICE maker. The part came in and 5 minutes later we were making ice. Whoo Hoo!

Home Server time to go?

2011-12-11T16:18:00.002-06:00

This weekend I had a Hard Drive fail on the home server. It is at least 4 or 5 years old and it is amazing how technology changes. I looked into updating to the must current version of Home Server. However when I checked into this there was very little that had changed and if anything they had removed some functionality. However it has been been serving well.

Now that I have to make an investment into at least one new HD I think it is time for a change. The Home Server has increasingly found itself less and less valuable. The PC backups it was doing are really not valuable anymore. The PCs are only running core and more and more I am running most apps in the cloud. As for basic storage, the Synology is much better and easier to use with the mobile apps. Apps for the iPad and Android phone. Plus the removes a piece of hardware that I have to deal with. The Synology does not require AV, maint and constant attention as it seems that the Server has needed.

More Xmas Lights

2011-12-09T14:16:00.003-06:00

MW Smith
Knocking on Heavens Door
Joy to the World

More coming soon

I think I should have been an appliance repair man.

2011-12-08T05:39:00.000-06:00

Or maybe I should wait till I get the latest attempt completed. A while back I repaired the dishwasher. It had stopped filling with water correctly. I found a valve that was worn out, got online and found the correct part and a few days later I was in business. Felt pretty good about that one.

Recently the ice maker has been dripping water down the freezer part of the refrigerator. I had seen the repair man remove it before and replace it in a few minutes a few years before. How hard could it be? 5 minutes later I had it out and discovered the problem. The coating on the ice tray was flaking off. (This explained some contaminants in the water) On line I went and hopefully in a few days we will be back with ice. I will let you know.

PS The dishwasher is still working great!

Christmas lights

2011-12-07T20:45:00.002-06:00

Register.com great marketing idea.

2011-12-06T01:20:00.000-06:00

I had Register.com give me a call this weekend. It is where I have SteveRiat.com and RiatFamily.com registered along with several other services. I was expecting them to want to renew one of the services that I have. Nope, they were offering to design a website for me for free and then do all the services to drive business to my site. Now I am not really interested in more people going to my site other than the ones that are looking to go there and I really am not wanting to have a professional site. However I had to figure out the details.

Like I figured, it was not free. They design it for free and will let you see it. However, you must pay for the service for it to be deployed. Hey, it got my interest.

Beyond them making this offer. The agent that called me had been to my sites and was familiar with the content on it. He went to explain how their service could be better than what I had. I appreciated that they did their homework.

I called that MJ would continue to make albums.

2011-12-05T01:14:00.000-06:00

Titled appropriately Michael Jackson Immortal it is MJ's most recent album. Now really it is just a remix of some of his hits. However I have to tell you that it is good. I test drove that on Spottily. The boys liked it so I went to purchase it on Amazon. I had my first problem with downloading from Amazon so I put in a help request. It took a couple of minutes for a response and they enabled it so I could re-download the album. Jenifer and I are becoming fans of Amazon and more specific Amazon Prime (Free second day shipping, movies and more!) If we could not buy a Christmas gift locally than it is coming from Amazon.

I will be posting an update to my Xmas Lights this week

2011-12-04T20:00:00.004-06:00

We have had a few difficulties. Some Windows Exception Errors and the rain on Saturday morning caused some havoc with the Serial connection. All back and running. This is just a quick preview. I will post more later in the week.

If you think everything has been invented the just look at music.

2011-12-03T07:14:00.000-06:00

Recently I had heard a lot about Spotify what I was really thinking is what else could they bring that would be different from Pandora, LastFM, iCloud, Sirius, Slacker, iHeartRadio, Deezer, MOG and the other hundred of services that I don't even know. Well, I added the app to the iPad and to my Sonos and I love it. I test drove it using the new Michael Jackson album (I was right he will be like 2PAC. Anyway it has a good interface and the sound is great.

Take that another step further with all of these cloud storage services. First Amazon, then iCloud and now Google Music. Google Music is great!. Store up to 20,000 songs in your cloud for free, good apps and pin the music to your local device if you want to listen without connectivity to the cloud (Web) it is excellent. Now of course it can't be that easy. Google Music doesn't play well with my Apple device and iTunes does not play well with Android/Google. Each has good and bad points. So for now I utilize way too many of these options.

I do have to say back to my original point look at all of these new options you have for your music and playlists. As for now, it is all good all over.

Pepe Gomez is Kool?

2011-12-02T04:52:00.000-06:00

We were setting at the dinner table last night and I am not sure how the topic came up about cool people but Caden tells us all that no one is cool. Carsen immediately responds with "Pepe Gomez is" We had not been talking about Pepe or anything. I guess if a 5 year old says your cool you must be?

Pepe is the Larks Player that we had during the summer. We recently found out that he will be moving do Division 1 ball next year. Congrats Pepe.

Dad, are you a Republican or a Democrat?

2011-12-01T07:07:00.000-06:00

This from my 9 year old. So I ask him, what are you? He says a Republican. I inquire further, what is a Republican. A Republican works hard and is responsible.

Well, there you go. I can't make this stuff up.

Tired of fighting for bandwidth

2011-11-30T04:00:00.000-06:00

That is it, I am going to have to put in a QoS (Quality of Service)device to give me internet bandwidth priority at my own house. Until I get fiber and significantly more bandwidth, the current 6mb will not cut it with 2 boys streaming Netflix.

Who would have thought that two children under the age of 10 could eat up enough internet bandwidth to make me suffer.

Things have changed.

Apple TV

2011-11-29T05:18:00.000-06:00

I bought an Apple TV a while back. It is just what you would expect from Apple. Simple. A power cord and an HDMI cable (Well and an ethernet port however it is wireless) It was easy to set up and connected right up. Apple Air Play is the best. You can simply touch a button on the iPad and it displays whatever you have on the iPad screen (Via Wireless) on the TV screen along with audio.

This along with access to your iTunes, Netflix, put your pictures on the TV and much more. Pretty good value for less than $100.

Finally Got Blu-ray

2011-11-28T21:11:00.004-06:00

And I have to tell you I am a bit underwhelmed. I was expecting some amazing differences in the video, or some amazing features. However it is maybe a bit better than DVD which I never really had much of a problem with DVD.

Maybe I have not seen the right show on it. I will let you know if I find a real reason to upgrade. To be honest, I was expecting to skip Blu-ray and just go to streaming only (Lets face it, it is a matter of time till delivering the media is just old school)

Pumpkin Chunkin

2011-11-27T06:52:00.001-06:00

Is proof why you would not want to mess with America. Any country that would take this much time, money and effort to see who can sent a pumpkin almost a mile is a country you do not want to mess with.

I can't believe I spent an hour watching this on Discovery to see who wins.

Lighting Update

2011-11-26T18:20:00.002-06:00

Things are up and running this year. This year we did a significant update. I went from all enclosed solid state device to a Laptop running the sound and controls a remote switching unit (Via Serial connection through USB). With over 1,000 foot of extension cords, who knows how many lights and LED's it is quite a show. Stop by and tune your radio to 89.5. You will hear some Transiberian Orchestra, Charlie Brown, Knocking on Heavens Door, even some transitions from Christmas Vacation.

Enjoy.

My annual Thanksgiving Rant

2011-11-24T04:04:00.000-06:00

I have to post every year how the day after Thanksgiving still haunts me. It was a love and hate relationship. Go back some 13 plus years with me when I managed a Radioshack. I had to make sure I was back in town and be in the store at like 4 a.m. to put up the "Black Friday" deals. Not to worry, I was not alone. I tried to only have the minimum people before we actually opened. We were always swamped once the door opened. More people than we could help. Anyway, from this day till after the first of the year, 60 plus hours, tons of inventory and paperwork then to end it with inventory on January 1.

I read an artical about Target and an employee that was protesting having to come in at midnight. I understand his concern. However it was part of the job. That part of the job was one large piece of why I left retail.

My understanding of people who get up (Or don't go to bed) to get that super deal is gone. Perhapse I have more money than time.

Just remember that when you are out shopping during the holidays. Have some patience with those helping you. Remember that they gave up family time to help you and earn a living.

Garden City Dodge City

2011-11-23T05:47:00.000-06:00

Started early in Garden City. A large crowd for being before 8. The presentation went really well. The Interim Chamber Director stated that "She just wanted to follow me around the rest of the day and hear me talk" I would have to say this was unexpected and one of the best compliments I could have had.

Then Dodge City. The room was not quite as nice however the crowd really filled in. I did have a chance to listen into a sales person (Manager with her report sitting next to her) speak to a large customer right next to me. They had no idea who I was or that I even understood what they were talking about. I want to take a short break in speaking about the presentations and outline the mistakes that were made.

Understand that this was across the table over lunch being served (Large group and serving took a while) They were discussing services exceeding $1,000 per month. Probably one of the most political accounts in town.

1. It was not the right place to have this discussion. Make an appointment at the customer site or at your office. Not in front of others, especially when you do not know who is around

2. Take a moment and actually listen to the customer. All this customer wanted to do is understand what kind of contract they were in. (This was a new manager and not from the area) Explore options. Hey, he may end up purchasing other things if he understood what you did?

3. Don't tell the customer what you can'/won't do. (Especially if you don't listen to them)

4. Watch the attitude. Short and snobby answers won't get you anywhere.

5. Be professional. Choose your words.

I would have loved to lean over the their customer and tell him that there are options in the area other than these folks. (Hey, I might later, this was not the place)

Back to the presentation. I choose to not have them do introductions. I like to have the shock and awe factor. I had a full 40 minutes this time so I could give my full presentation on technology. This presentation went the best, knocked it out of the park. There were lots of people who came up afterwards and judging from the engagement of the crowd I had every one's attention from the beginning until the end. What a rush. Sounds like I will be going back with asks to do this a couple more times in front of other groups.

e-rate then to Garden City

2011-11-22T05:41:00.000-06:00

We gave a bit of a different presentation in Hays to a group of schools. I will leave the boring details out. Darren did his usual great job of presenting and Loren closed it out.

One thing that remains consistent is that it seems that when you present to schools you get almost no response from the crowd. If you would have ask me about how it went when I was done, I would have said that I really did not engage the crowd at all. However judging from the amount of people who hung around afterwards and spoke one on one with us I would say it was a success. Who knew.

Well, off to Garden City.

On the road again

2011-11-21T06:37:00.001-06:00

Back on the road on the road (yea, I am catching up) We had another busy week. (Realize that the last several posts were on delay) We had an e-rate event on Tuesday, traveled to Garden City Tuesday night, Up for a Chamber event at 7 in Garden City, then travel to Dodge City for Luch Chamber presentation then home. Thursday back on the road to Salina for the final e-rate meeting.

Day 7 IT Nation (And final Day)

2011-11-20T03:28:00.001-06:00

Up early to the airport. Unfortunately I had to go from Orlando to Houston to Denver then to Hays.

The Airport was as usual busy. However security went quickly and even the wait for the plane was quick. The trip to Houston was made eventful with Payne sitting next to me. Payne was sitting on her mothers lap and she was 8 months old. She was not happy about the flight. So 2 hours of consistent attention from the mother. The iPad kept her busy for a little while. Meanwhile the 3 year old behind me maintained kicking my chair for about an hour.

The trip from Houston to Denver was one of the roughest I have had in a larger plane. After landing two people rushed to the bathroom to empty their stomach contents.

Last was the flight to Hays which I was dreading due to the previous rough flight. This flight was about an hour delayed. However no turbulence. It was me and three pilots. I was surely covered.

GREAT to be home.

Day 6 IT Nation

2011-11-19T02:09:00.000-06:00

I am tired and ready to be home. Poor Jen being home all week making all that needs to happen at home get done. (I am told that Jersey has torn up part of my drip system so that is good to look forward to)

I have this great view out of my window however I have been outside a total of 20 minutes since getting here. I am told it has been in the 80's and nice.

I attended a forum on Mobility and it is clear that this is a game changer. The question is where do we fit. That is yet to see. However there is not doubt that we are only getting started. After seeing my dad get an Android phone and liking it that is will be huge.

I got a chance to catch up with Mike Fafinski from Syand It feels like it has been forever since we have really spoke. We have both been super busy and traveling.

So I started IT nation presenting at the first breakout and ended with the last. Still have a packed room and I have to admit I nailed it. Lots of great feedback and I have had tons of people connecting with me.

Day 5 IT Nation

2011-11-18T02:00:00.000-06:00

Had an incredible Keynote presentation from Daniel Burrus. He wrote Flash Foresight if your in the technology business or simply want to see what is ahead for technology this is a great book. I would suggest starting at page 41. (Yea, I am not all the way through the book, but have a good start with all the travel time) Daniel really gave an entertaining presentation and gave a great way of projecting what is coming. It is not guessing rather taking known information and applying it. It is a must read.

I then presented at 1:00 and had a full room. Many comments were made like "Best I have seen at IT Nation" and one of the marketing people from ConnectWise ask for my card and stated that they wanted to do something different next year and believed my unique content would be a great direction for that.

My sessions were recorded so once my good friend Aaron Booker from Varvid gets done producing the video I will post the link.

Then a good dinner and drinks (Maybe not in that order) with friends.

Day 4 Orlando

2011-11-17T01:53:00.000-06:00

Finished up the HTG3 group today. We went off agenda and instead of breaking up sales and the rest of the group we stayed all together. If I was to go back in time, I would not do this again. We had over 30 people in the room and this was way too many strong personalities. We did manage to have a productive meeting, I just feel that it could have been more productive (In fact double the productivity) if we would have had two rooms. Hey, live and learn.

Ended the evening with the NTS guys who recently lost their leader Scott suddenly. They are working to ensure they have the right mix of sales and products. I was involved in a SWOT of their company in 2010. I wish the best to them to build the future. This just shows the importance of a disaster plan for you personally.

We then went straight from HTG to IT Nation. That is the ConnectWise annual conference. They do CRM software for IT companies. I will be speaking at this conference over the next couple of days. What a great start to the meeting catching up with my friend Raja from London, Fuzzy from Australia and many others.

Someone is trying to tell me something?

2011-11-16T06:16:00.003-06:00

Really, 8 different signs? Note that they are trying to save the environment.

Day 3 in Orlando

2011-11-14T06:30:00.000-06:00

The first day of the new HTG 3-30 group. The meeting started tentative. New personalities and we spend most of the day getting to know everyone. By the end of the day things started to gel. While definitely not the synergy of the old group we definitely made progress.

We had a lunch presentation that was n impressive. Information that was repetitive, very basic and low in value.

Ending the day with a great dinner out

Day 2 in Orlando

2011-11-13T07:25:00.000-06:00

A full day of HTG Facilitation training. We really got some great training from Dr. Larry Little. From handling difficult situations to making people participate more. It was a full day. Plus I get to spend a day with some great guys that also facilitate.

I then got to spend time with SonicWall and an evening of fun with everyone at the bar.

Day 1 To Orlando

2011-11-12T14:20:00.000-06:00

Had a great flight (s) to Orlando for HTG3 and IT Nation (ConnectWise). Right out of the gate I ran into many of the IT people that I know. It was great to connect and have so many things in common.

The flight to Denver was not eventful. On time and quick.

Then Flight from Denver to Orlando is 3 and 1/2. The best part of that flight was that for $6 I got to watch the whole SF 49er game. (Another victory!)

A simple trip to the Hotel and then catching up with the guys I know until Late. It will make for a early morning to do Facilitation training.

I don't know enough to know what is best

2011-11-11T19:13:00.003-06:00

After spending lots of time looking at other businesses the one thing I feel confident of is that I don't have one thing! I have heard lots of presentations making recommendations that there is way too many assumptions to really give a professional opinion.

What I have come to realize is that if people are making mater of fact advice for you and do not have the knowledge about you specifically they are most likely trying to sell you something, not mature in their consulting career or simply too cocky.

Next time you hear that mater of fact advice. Do a check of the fact and make your own evaluation of the advice.

Doing a presentation about Sales today

2011-11-10T09:52:00.004-06:00

After spending many years in sales and more specifically IT sales I have found many things to be different from company to company. From product mix to management. However there are some trends when looking at sales.

Many times there are obstacles to selling that nobody realizes until it is too late

In IT many times we over engineer solutions. If we are 80% correct then we are more likely to make more money than engineering everything.

Process, Process, Process. You need a consist ant process yet allowing for employees to bring their own personality. If you can't name it and more importantly if your employee can not name it, it is broke.

Too much to sell! I know, that is opposite of what you usually sell. However you need to narrow the solutions so that focus can be brought.

These are just a few topics I will be speaking about. It will be fun, entertaining and of course have value.

Yep, behind on my reading

2011-11-07T17:04:00.003-06:00

Thanks everyone for sending me books. I am not ignoring them, rather I am that behind on reading. Right now I am about 15 books backed up. I promise I will review the books you sent me when I get to them. With cooler weather and quite a lot of time off coming up, I am sure to start chewing through quite a few of them.

IT Nation top rated and new blog to check out.

2011-11-04T19:52:00.003-05:00

You must check out Ted Hulsy's blog and while you are there he gave me a great compliment of being his number one pick to see at IT Nation. Thanks Ted and I promise it is going to be fast paced, new and as always entertaining!

From 70's to Snow

2011-11-03T12:07:00.003-05:00

On Monday it was in the 70's here (And windy)
Tuesday a couple of inches of snow.

You have to love the weather in KS

Happy Birthday Jenny!

2011-11-02T11:09:00.003-05:00

Happy birthday to my wife Jenifer. Looking forward to celebrating many more with you.

She is such a pain to shop for. I cannot pick out clothing (Never a right answer). So this year she will get upgraded to a smart phone. (Hey I offered a year ago and she didn't want it until she saw what our neighbors were doing with theirs (Facebook Pictures mostly)

And a new exhaust fan in the bathroom. (Not due to me...) The old one made lots of noise. This one is much better)

And a few smaller things..

HB JEN

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T19:20:00.002-05:00

Captain America and a Foot Soldier visited many houses last night in Hays. They came home with about 3 gallons of candy. No way can these two eat that much candy by the end of the year. Well, ok they could eat that much, however they would be sick.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

I did see my first Christmas commercial a couple of weeks ago. Getting earlier and earlier each year. Maybe next year we can start in July!

Music Cloud?

2011-10-30T16:30:00.002-05:00

Everyone is creating the "Music Cloud"

Apple's iCloud
Amazon's Cloud Player
Google's Music Beta

These just to name a few. As usual the problem is none of my stuff wants to play together. I am buying my music from Amazon so their music solution make a good solution. However I have to use iTunes for the iPad. So iTunes is a must. Then of course the Android runs Google so good idea there to use their solution.

Currently I use DoubleTwist to sync my iTunes with my Droid. So, I guess I will stick with my MP3's and start to use the Synology for my "Private" cloud.

Anyone have a better solution?

Happy Birthday Caden

2011-10-29T07:49:00.000-05:00

Happy 9th Birthday Caden. He had a couple friends spend the night last night and was extra excited. Ice cream Cake, presents and good times!

9 Years ago I had no idea what I was getting into. Sometimes I still think I don't know yet.

Some good marketing by Google

2011-10-28T19:35:00.002-05:00

Just a couple of good TV commercials.

First the guy that sends emails to his daughter to her Google Mail account. See HERE

Next is the Baseball commercial telling the story of the guy who pitches the perfect game on the MLB Video game. I could not find that one on youtube yet. It tells the story of a Music Teacher who knew very little about baseball. But for a Million Dollar reward tries to pitch the perfect game (Video Game) He uses Google to find the hitters weaknesses.

These are great commercials because;

1. They tell an engaging story
2. You can relate to the people in them
3. They tell real stories
4. Have an emotional aspect to them.
5. Are simple
6. Have some type of personal reference.

Facebook killed www.riatfamily.com

2011-10-27T06:55:00.000-05:00

So when I created the site it was for sharing photos and such. Well, Facebook does that and so much more. So this weekend it will be going away. You may stay tuned however to see what shows up in its place!

As seen on TV

2011-10-26T05:50:00.000-05:00

They have that show (I believe it is with a guy called Holmes) where he goes in to help people who have been taken by bad contractors. You know, contractors that do not do work up to code, start and do not finish, wire an entire house to one breaker, pipe the sewage directly into the basement and such.

I love that show. He shows how much work it is to fix something done poorly in the first place where it probably would be easier to start new!

I figured that we need that type of show in the IT world. Pictures and such of IT work done poorly.

Wiring and cabling
Using home products in the corporate network (Think XP Home)
No backup (Or poor backup)
Telling people "That's just the way it works"
Printers at every desk, but the one on your desk is someone else's
Instead of recommending new equipment they keep fixing old the old stuff (One part at a time) and of course sending you a bill each time
Selling out of date equipment

Maybe this poor install and configuration just runs in business. Next time you need anything fixed.

Car
Appliances
Small motors
PC's
Roof
or anything else

Find a qualified, certified person. Not the cheapest!

Who would have thought 10 years ago.

2011-10-25T04:02:00.000-05:00

It was the recent 10 year anniversary of the iPod. Look at the changes that have happened. Sure the Internet was around. However it was mostly 56k dial up, or 1.5 mb at the fastest, single core processors, wireless existed but was not everywhere, no real such thing as smart phones.

Now?

My smart phone has replaced;
Camera
Internet (On the go)
IM (Instant messaging)
planner (Or at least the calendar)
Remote control (House alarm, audio system and more)
Facebook (What is that ten years ago)
GPS

This is just a short list. Not to mention that my phone has more storage and processing power than my home computer had 10 years ago!

What will this technology look like when Caden reaches 18? It could be amazing. What a great industry to be working in. I look forward to the change everyday. Or even every hour. I cant wait to see what is next!

A great fall so far!

2011-10-24T04:56:00.000-05:00

It has been a great fall so far. What does that mean? Mild temperatures, a little moisture, late freeze and all around good weather. In Kansas it can be almost any weather this time of year. I remember when Caden was born on October 29th there was an inch or so of snow on the ground. Hard to think about this when I am still cutting grass each week due to the mild temperatures.

I am always sad to see the warmth go. It means being confined to indoors, putting the Corvette away for the winter (Not to worry, I will get it out several times) frost on the windows of the car in the morning and everything goes dormant.

However with that comes Thanksgiving, Christmas and a New Year. It all goes so fast once you get to mid November.

Latest Book Review of It's Not About You

2011-10-22T06:40:00.000-05:00

Another great book by Bob Burg and John David Mann. Bob Burg was the author of Go Giver and Go Givers Sell More. Two of my most favorite reads. This latest release is is my most favorite of them all. I have to quote from page 85;

"You can lead only as far as you grow. And you will grow only as far as you let yourself"

"I write to find out what I think."

"I think we live to find out who we are"

"Character is what happens when life scratches itself onto your soul"

"Words are the footprints of God"

All of these great quotes come from 2 back to back pages.

You will have to go buy the book to get the whole value and I highly recommend buying this one!

The bonus morning in Greenville SC

2011-10-20T06:06:00.000-05:00

It was up early to go to BMW driving school. To be honest, I was expecting lots of classroom and little in the car. It ended up with no classroom and all car.

Never have I been handed the keys to a $50,000 car on a track and told to give them the best track time. It is a bit scary when you approach the first corner at 60 MPH and have no idea how this car is going to grip the road.

What a great day. Driving 11 different types of BMW's. From convertibles to SUV's and everything else in between. Best part is that the least amount of horse power was 338. They were all fast and fun.

Check it all out here!

Last day at conference

2011-10-19T05:00:00.001-05:00

Ended with a great day. It started with a former Blue Angel pilot. He told specific stories of flying in Top Gun, going to Russia during the cold war and shaking down an aircraft. (Sounds like it would end with a sack for me)

Then I had many meetings with a couple of VP's of the company and more. Lots of good information. Ended the day with a good dinner and a concert from the Bare Naked Ladies. Not exactly my type of music, however I can appreciate good musicians.

It is all in the presentation (Again)

2011-10-18T05:40:00.000-05:00

As I had a chance to sit in on many breakouts, it continues to amaze me that many of the manufacturers pay people lots of $'s and yet they have some of the worst presentations. An example is when I sat in a breakout having to do with security (Think firewalls). There were three different manufacturers (Competitors) which is different, usually each manufacturer has their own breakout. This was good, I figured that they would point out their differences. I was wrong. Each of the three got up and basically did the same presentation. Security is important, we are the best, we are here for you and you can make money.

Well people, after listening to all three, I could not tell you one thing that was different other than each company had different graphics designers (Their slides looked different but said the same thing.

You would think the last presenter of three would get up and ditch their canned presentation and give their product differences. Hey, even if it was tech speak, at least it was different!

If I was going to make one of these presentations, I would do the following;

1. Start with the differentiators.
2. Provide specific success stories with VAR's
3. Show how existing VAR's have made and continue making money with my product
4. Have one of those VAR's give a testamonial.
5. Quick and to the point
6. Specific follow up items for those who are interested. Have people in the room to capture information, sign dealers up then, make business happen.
7. Make this all informational and entertaining!
8. Do not continue speaking if you have said everything you have. Just end.

The Synnex annual conference

2011-10-17T05:36:00.000-05:00

Was in Greenville South Carolina which was a beautiful town. It is around 600 thousand people with nice trees, water and mountains. One of the features of the town is BMW's manufacturing plant (More later this week on that). I had a chance to catch up with many vendors, manufacturers and such. Clearly the cloud is still on every one's mind with mostly a lack of what to do about it. There is starting to be some offerings from many areas on different cloud solutions. We will have to see what shakes out.

Indy Car series closes the season with a shock

2011-10-16T17:31:00.002-05:00

When driving a car over 200 Mph every one knows there are risks. Dan Wheldon paid the ultimate price.

As a fan of the series and Wheldon you lose sight of the dangers of racing. Next year Indy releases a new, safer car.

Hunter Really?

2011-10-12T07:21:00.002-05:00

One of our Ceiling Fan / Lights went out and so off to Home Depot I go. Put the fan up in no time and worked great. It came with a "Limited Lifetime" warranty which we all know is more limited than lifetime. Went to fill out the warranty card to send in and it was the above picture. Included;

Household income
Age
Sex
Which room it was installed in
Other like products I may have...

Really? It was "Required" information.

Why?

Face to face meetings.

2011-10-11T03:10:00.000-05:00

I recently had a chance to meet several vendors that I usually do business with on the phone. Even with video conferencing, email and many hours on the phone, the face to face meeting still bonds much better. I even had a chance to see many present and while presentation skills are still important, it is obvious who puts together presentations with effort versus others who simply hid slides from the "Corporate" deck.

Every one knows when it is a canned presentation.

If you want to close the deal, get in the car/airplane and make it happen!

Had a great day golfing with Dad.

2011-10-10T03:05:00.000-05:00

I think he was standing in the water to make that shot!

We had a great time playing at Lake Perry.

Eastern KS is definitely dry, however the course did manage to have a few water hazards.

I am the best Pitcher ever!

2011-10-09T14:59:00.002-05:00

OK that one got your attention. Really I am talking about Pepe Gomez. More specifically his self image.

Happy birthday Jose "Pepe" Gomez. Happy 21st.

Keep your head high, fast ball under control and remember to take an extra dozen balls to the golf course. Your going to need them

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-08T10:55:00.002-05:00

Was a bit disappointing this year. Caden did enjoy the zip line, Carsen the maze. It was bad packaging on the part of the people running the Patch. You had to pay $2 to enter at the beginning. Then immediately as soon as you walk 80 feet into the actual area that is the beginning you are then ask to pay for the activities $5 each. Why not offer the package at the beginning. It felt like we were going to be ask to pay for every little thing. Charge $6 each and you get everything?

Then you go to pick your pumpkins and of course you had to pay for those also. Sure I get that part because it is by the pound.

Anyway it is amazing how packaging makes the user experience change so much.

Why didn't I think of that!

2011-09-30T07:34:00.003-05:00

So this summer we had the baseball player (Pepe Gomez, which has wanted a shout out and he will get it on his birthday with all the pictures that I have been saving for a special occasion). Well a week or so ago when Carsen went to a Football game he stated that he wanted to take home a cheerleader for the winter.

Genius.

I will be starting a fall program for this next year!

Thanks Carsen.

Political rhetoric

2011-09-29T19:58:00.002-05:00

I know, avoid politics but not this time. I recently had a chance to hear a political leader speak with a room full of other political figures and it took me back to my Political Science roots.

The speech was dead on from a what to do right. You know
Have to cut spending. (However this won't effect you)
Have to raise Taxes (Not yours)
Need more jobs (Other countries are stealing, it is not the government forcing those out)
Education needs help (Needs more money)
It is the other party standing in the way (Not our party)
This year has been the worst in (Insert term) for natural disasters

Ahh Rhetoric.

First impressions of Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet

2011-09-24T21:07:00.003-05:00

First of all it has micro USB charging and standard cable. Thank you! For the good. Reasonable weight, good screen and very fast. As for its ports;
USB (Full Size0
3 in 1 Flash card reader
Dock connector
HDMI and more!

They got all of this right!

It is a bit thick, however for the ports I see the need to be this size. It does have a bunch of junk programs pre installed. Easy to get rid of.

I have two complains. The on board memory of 16 GB. Should be 32 or 64 with my experience of the other tablets. With music, documents and video you will use this. Now the nice thing is you can use the ports for more memory.

THE PEN. This tablet accepts a pen and it can store on-board. Has a nice slot for it. To my surprise it was empty? Come on, now you have to order a $35 pen (Plus shipping) Just build it in.

Otherwise. It is not the most thin. However it has the best configuration and expandability.

How good is Sonos?

2011-09-23T20:41:00.001-05:00

(Sonos - My whole home audio system)

It is so good that when I play music recorded live it messes with the dog. It got to the point that I had to put her out because she barked, wandered around looking for people and went into security mode.

Now that is clear music.

Lets get Serious Sirius

2011-09-22T06:24:00.002-05:00

I was speaking to Loren the other day about Satellite Radio and he suggested this blog. So in dedication here it goes.

Loren a long time Sirius subscriber recently wanted to add a new car to his subscription. He called and they could not add the radio due to it being an XM Satellite Radio instead of a Sirius. Now if you did not know this, they are the same company! See here!

They told Loren he would have to open a new XM account. Well it cost them the business. Maybe they will some day learn about customer service (I doubt it)

If you remember some years ago I dropped my Sirius because the rates continued to go up and then they removed services (In my particular case I wanted the online streaming and it had been removed. It was additional)

Now I get emails from Sirius asking me to come back for rates like $5 for 6 months with no commitment past that. Well if you would have just had the online streaming in my $20 a month rate I would have kept your service and you would have made way more money.

I like the service, it worked well. However I do not see me going back.

To you Facebook Whiners (Jenifer this is you!)

2011-09-21T17:36:00.003-05:00

I am told that Facebook has changed its view. To be honest I didn't even notice. I use the app. However, this is called progress. You cannot live in your old ways. (While I am on the subject of upgrades, you people who are using Word Perfect, just give up and go back to your typewriter (Which by the way they have upgraded to MS Office 2010!))

Anyway I have a few things for you whiners of the new Facebook look.

Me in Education Again?

2011-09-20T07:26:00.002-05:00

If you have read my blog before you probably know about my questionable past with Education. I was constantly fighting the system. Few teachers challenged me (Other than giving me those less than perfect grades). I wanted more out of education and felt like I was given less.

Now that I have moved on from High School and College I continue to read quite a bit. From books to magazines and of course the Kindle app. Constantly trying to learn more.

Anyway, I recently learned that I was posted on BCC (Barton Community Colleges) web site. I have been part of this group for a couple of years. Click here to see!

Guess you cannot complain about a system unless you are willing to help change it.

This one took me back.

2011-09-18T21:50:00.000-05:00

http://www.nextechclassifieds.com/listings/view/194357/

Stay Tuned for after Thanksgiving

2011-09-15T20:24:00.002-05:00

Got an early start on the Christmas lights (Did he say Christmas lights) Yep. Really upgrading this year. Multi-core server processing, 1 Terrabyte of storage, more than a dozen channels of lighting pleasure and this would not be complete with out stereo sound.

It is guaranteed to annoy the neighbors (Just a bonus), shock the crowd and wow the children.

Stop by and take a gander after Thanksgiving.

If I get enough comments I may even add a piece for our "Fly Hays" crowd from the sky.

America, The Greatest Country Ever

2011-09-12T22:01:00.002-05:00

It feels like everywhere I look or listen you hear how we are spending the country into a third world and how bad things are. However it came through to me this weekend at the Chiefs game that the one thing that people tend to overlook in looking at these details are the people. The Americans. We are what make this country great. Standing up for what is right, defending the poor, weak and taking a stand for human rights. Beyond that we are a people that are willing to do what is needed to get the job done. From building the infrastructure to inventing the next thing. Time and time again we show the world that we are first.

So feel free to copy us. We will stay ahead.
Feel free to say we are not leaders. We will show we are leaders.
Feel free to call us bullies. We will be the first you call when you need help.
You may take sucker punches. We may get a bruise. We will knock you out.

We have the greatest game on earth. Football.

As for the Chiefs. There is always next year.

Are you ready for some Football?

2011-09-11T04:48:00.002-05:00

I am! Up at 4am to head to the Chiefs game.

Insert NFL theme song here....

Learning from a Dog?

2011-09-08T06:28:00.002-05:00

Last night Carsen made a good observation. Jersey (Our dog) is always happy.

He is right, she is always happy to see us even if she has been in the trash. Sure, she knows punishment is coming, however the joy of seeing us out weighs the punishment. If you think about it, dogs are most happy when they are working (Playing fetch, rolling around or simply following me when I am mowing)

I remember Molly when she was getting old and things were much harder to do. The vet made a statement like "Dogs do not know or care they are getting old. They just want to do" We could all could benefit from that attitude.

How many depressed dogs have you seen? Dogs with ADD (They own it).

Tablet update

2011-09-06T18:29:00.002-05:00

So I have had hands on experience with the
Toshiba Thrive
Samsung Galaxy 10"
Lenovo K1
Archos 101
iPad one and two
Viewpad 7"
HP Tablet
HP Slate

So to compare in order of least favorite to most favorite.

The Viewpad 7" It had Android 2.2. First of all any tablet should have 3.1 or better and the form factor of 7" is wrong. Was slow, wireless was terrible, no GPS. Would not buy this for no price.

The HP Slate. Expensive Windows 7 device with small screen. Worked well, however Windows 7 is not made for the touch screen interface. Again, the device is fine. Windows 7 on this, not so good.

HP Tablet. It WAS good. Lets face it, HP killed the OS and with that it has no future no matter what the price.

Archos 101. Great price and decent interface. However same problem with 2.2 Android as the Viewpad. If it would upgrade to 3.1 it may be ok. However I am betting that it would be slow and need more memory/processor.

From here on, I think that you would like these. There are variations of good.

Lenovo K1. It is running 3.2, has Netflix and other benefits. So first a couple of complaints in general with most of these tablets. Why do they all have some propitiatory connector to charge. Why not use USB Micro connector? (This tablet has that pin thing) They why do many of them not have flash memory slot (This one does not) Anyway on to the specifics of this unit. It is thick. Almost 1/2 inch. It is missing all other types of ports, (Although it has HDMI Mini) feels heavier than most even though it is not. I did the update out of the box to the most current version. It is slow. Does not compare to other tablets. The shell it has from the factory is poor and slow. Lenovo specific store? Why.

Toshiba Thrive and the Samsung tie in my mind even though they are very different. First the Thrive. It is thick, however feels right when you carry it. It has USB, Flash, HDMI (Full size) and decent camera's. It is fast and the cost is one of the best in the bunch.

Samsung. Major difference is it is thin. Still has that funky plug thing and no other ports. Feels good and well built. It is fast and has great interface.

iPad. I would say that even the iPad 1 is good in comparison to the rest. The 2 is in my opinion the best. It has the same port problem. Now we are coming down to the Android versus Apple discussion.

Apple;
Larger more complete store
All apps seam to start as Apple then become Android.
Stable

Android.
Not as stable
Playing catch up
Will get better.

Just my view. I know we have some followers that have played with these, maybe they have some input!

Puppy update

2011-09-05T19:57:00.002-05:00

So I have had some questions on how Jersey is coming. Her official nick name is JZ. She is learning slowly. After having Molly around and already trained it is difficult to find the patience of training the new puppy.

She really is coming along quite well. She has not destroyed anything of significance, only limited digging in the back yard and she has learned the basic commands. (Sit, come, stay and such)

I took her on a walk tonight without a leash and she stuck by me pretty well. She knows her yard and does really well in not leaving.

So far, so good.

Debit or Credit?

2011-08-30T17:31:00.002-05:00

Every time I use the Debit card they ask me this. What difference does it make other than I have to enter my PIN when I say Debit. I assume that Credit means that the company taking my payment has to pay a small percent to the bank. Do they pay both ways?

I don't care so stop asking me. I have to pay both ways unless someone has figured that out also.

(PS I am sure that Jenifer will tell me the difference once she reads this post. I will update everyone.)

Must trim back to grow.

2011-08-28T15:40:00.002-05:00

A few years ago when we landscaped our yard, I remember the landscaper telling me about how to trim the bushes and trees. You have to trim these back for them to grow properly. Usually after trimming the bushes will look poor for a few days, then they will sprout new leaves and look much better in the end.

Careers may be the same way. I know that I have taken set backs many times. However after each one of these setbacks, I have learned important lessons and then come back stronger than ever.

Don't quit, grow back better!