A Shrill And Distant Thunder

My, how the game has changed! Several months ago the GOP was spoiling for a fight, thinking that they had finally broken the back and spirit of President Barak Obama. The Senate lost their majority, the Tea Party was in full swing and Republicans were crowing about "taking back America". Now, the lines have blurred because ever since passage of the health care bill, Republicans have gone into a swoon. President Obama gave them a gift. He gave to green light for letting oil companies drill in areas of our coasts and Alaska. Environmentalists were outraged, but little did anyone realize that our President gave them a gift, a gift that will keep on giving in November and beyond. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could be larger than the one off the coast of Alaska in 1989. What's even more shocking is that the technology is not there to clean up this mess. All of a sudden, drill baby drill, doesn't sound so good. The slick is headed towards those conservative Southern states that let out the rebel yell to drill.

On the economic side, while unemployment is still high, people are going out and spending money again because they feel that the tide has turned. People still argue whether or not the stimulus worked, but at this point, who cares? The fact of the matter is that the recession is long over and people are confident to open their wallets again. I look for real job growth to occur towards the end of the year and flow strongly into 2011.

Even the illegal immigration issue, one that Republicans pride themselves on have left them in a quandary. States like Arizona are now taking the lead with disastrous results. While Tea Party people love this, state officials are now bracing for a backlash from foreign countries wanting to set up shop. Do they want to invest in a state where their foreign employees could be targets? What about foreign tourists and investors. The genie bottle has opened, with states not adopting these laws now leading the pack for foreign investment. Republicans sensing this, have now backed off what once looked like a slam dunk.

These are examples of incompetence in the 21st century. Republicans and conservative Democrats think that just because they enact a law or edict that people will have to abide by it. No sir, won't happen! People will adjust, adapt and move on, leaving those who made the laws and wrote the edicts holding the bag. What needs to be understood is that we now living in different times where you either adapt or die. People could give a snot nose about "conservative principles" or what the founding fathers thought they wrote. I have yet to meet in person an original signer of the Declaration of Independence. If you are living your life like it's 1776, 1876, 1976, 1986, 1996 or 2006 then you, my friend, are in big trouble. Republicans and conservatives have yet to learn that this is a new century and the winners of the previous one will be losers in this one if they don't change. For you whiners and complainers I have but one thing to say.....

CHANGE IS HERE SO GET USED TO IT!!

p

Momentum n. pl: impetus of a nonphysical idea or course of events.

In physics, momentum is represented by the symbol in the title, but in the nonphysical world, I'm stealing and making it mine. What we have in the last week is just that - momentum.

Before I left McGehee last week I used that word in talking with the District Manager and Account Rep that we needed to keep things going. I received a blank look from both, they were just trying to get a grip on what was going no at present, not the future. Me, I never let the past. present or future stray far. I knew we had something and I planted a seed based on that fact. I knew mill management we thinking in this direction before any of them had. We ran under their worst conditions and were in the beginning of meeting their targets. They hadn't kicked us out of there so I was getting confident that we might have something. I wanted them to start thinking downstream, "what if" was my line. I know that last week they did not take me seriously, now however, the flood gates have opened.

All of a sudden the question is not when will the trial end, it's when can we get another truckload, we need another truckload ASAP. What they thought was impossible had now become reality, they finally realized that they have a product that can take the business of a competitor, all of it.

We have momentum on our side and we need to get it going. Honestly, the customer does not want to switch because they have gone where they haven't gone before in production. We planted a seed and they momentum too. The bar has risen and now it's up to the competitor to catch up to us. Of course they're not going quietly in the night, in fact, they'll be kicking and screaming as both of us approach the finish line. However, we have the technology and momentum our our side.

The p is ours.

Beginnings

My old building in Atlanta as she was the day after the tornado in March 2008. My condo inside is a tomb, closed by me on 31 July 2009. I miss the place, but not enough to go back. She will be rented, hopefully by the end of June closing another chapter of my life there.

Last week was a slam dunk, the project could not have gone any smoother. Things that I saw on the bench translated out in the field and that is a rarity. But, now comes the dangerous season. As much as I wanted to celebrate I know that we are in a crucial phase because the stakes have gotten higher. We have to scale this product up to an even larger size minimizing the issues we saw in the previous batch. This one will be for all the marbles. If we can achieve anything close to what was done last week, the business is ours. This is why you play the game, having the chance to get it all.

There are so many questions about this product and I surely don't have the answers for them. All I know is that aging and concentration play key roles, other than that I'm clueless. One big accomplishment was getting the team to believe in me and the program. In fact, that was bigger than the product working because these were some skeptical and non-confident folks, but our foot is in the door and it's time to kick it in.

Last week was more stressful than this one, but the notch is being turned up higher because we have to prove ourselves all over again.

No rest for the weary.

Close To The Edge

The past several days in McGehee, AR has been one of reflection, angst, determination and pushing forward. The fact that we are still on and running these two products under extreme conditions gives me satisfaction, but not an end game. We are close to getting this business, but we must keep the momentum going. Frankly, I want them to stay on these products, not switching back to the competitor because I feel are superior in performance. But, I know all too well that performance can only get you so far. In this business, likability is one big factor and with that, we must institute a charm offensive. I did some of that over the past several days, but this is not my account and at the end of the day, the lead account manager and salesperson must deliver. I have gotten them to the one yard line and it's first and ten with 15 seconds left. We can win this thing, but we can also lose it if the right approaches are not taken.

I did what I was suppose to do, get them there. It's all up to them now. If anything I've given this once skeptical audience the possibilities of what can be done and accomplished with the right game plan and they must continue to execute that plane if they want to win this business.

The time to seize the moment is now.

Bridge Of Sighs

As I write this from my hotel room in McGehee, Arkansas, I can't but help think how far I've come in less than nine months. This picture of the fountains at Centennial Olympic Park is foreign now, I can't begin to relate to this. This picture looks decades old and in some ways it is because the person who shot it, me, is not the same human being.

Tomorrow marks a new beginning of the chapter. Of all the places I could have ended up for my first major product trial, this is the place chosen. In the middle of nowhere where rice is king, I must prove myself yet again to a doubtful audience. In the end we slogged to the finish line, there are so many questions and challenges ahead, but in this place, a lot of questions will be answered. Overall, I am confident this product will work well, maybe well enough for us to win this business. When I met Bill Horne in Memphis several months ago our nine lives had expired, but I was able to persuade him to give us another chance. Even will all of our efforts it comes down to this. Will this new technology work? I haven't a clue, but I have to convince a skeptical audience that it will.

The day I said goodbye to Atlanta I knew I was going into the void, the unknown. Now as I contemplate where this is headed I realize that I had to be here, to finish this. No matter what happens tomorrow I feel at peace that I have given everything I had to make this happen. It's out of my hands now and is placed into other capable hands - I hope. So, here I am in McGehee, a place I'd never thought I'd be....waiting.

In this place, the bridge of sighs.

Change Is Palin

"In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."-Sarah Palin, RNC Speech

I posted this quote by that right wing darlin sweetheart, Sarah Palin, to make a point. The point is don't listen to what someone says, follow what they are doing. As of right now this "siren of the lambs" is the biggest hypocrtie America has ever seen. She rants and mocks about Obama's hopey-change themes, claiming that it's all smoke and mirrors as she laughs her way to the bank, leaving her fans high and dry. It is reported that Palin is now worth more than $12MM USD between her book deals, speaking engagements and who knows what else. Seems like she has done more than well under President Obama. Just two years ago, no one but the most political of junkies knew who she was, until President Obama came along. So how can the media continue to let her get away with such nonsense. Change has helped her, whether she admits it or not. Her rabid fans however are too awe struck, stupid and blind to realize that she has capitalized on change, along with others within the GOP

What her audience needs to learn is to understand that opporunity is there for everyone if they open their minds to it. Sarah Palin however will never, ever tell her fans that because she has to keep the money gravy train flowing. She is using her flock as bait for the hook and switch. But they don't care because as long as an African-American is President they will continue to drink the Jim Jones laced Kool-Aid of loathing and hate. These people would rather be ripped off by Palin Inc. than to see another minority or themselves prosper.

Sarah Palin is not running for President because astute people within the GOP see her as a shill, hollow human being, but with her supposed chrisma, she will continue to use her folksy, gosh darn charm to scam simple minded Americans out of their money and votes.

Sarah Palin is the change suckers believe in.

What It Comes Down To

Today, as Tiger Woods looks to reclaim his dignity and respect a hostile golf course, I can't help but relate because several hours from now I face the same fate. Tonight we scale up my product to run in a field test trial next week. While a version has been scaled up in the pilot plant, we are going where no one in the company has gone before. Either way, this is there will be no turning back at this point, the die has been cast.

Wondering why I'm here matters none, this is it. The journey we're headed on will be full of bumps, bruises and roadblocks, but that is to be expected. What I focus on is the idea, the concept and this product is part of that. Everything I have learned and experienced has lead me to this place, this spot. Sometimes you have to go through hell to get to heaven and believe me I've been through plenty of the former. But, as I write this I realize that I'm still here, plugging away at it because frankly, that is all I know.

I now understand why I had to go from point A to Point Z in order to get to point B. All of this was a test, one where failure was not an option. I had to overcome my fears to understand me. I had to fail in order to persevere. Now, here I am on the cusp, in less than year I have gone where some have never set foot.

I'm ready for this challenge, that is why I'm here. One year ago, I was in another city pondering my future, now here I am again, doing the same thing, only this time, it is on my terms, my turf.

Ladies and gentlemen, let the show begin!

The Things We Fear

If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.
Martin Luther King, Jr., speech, Detroit, Michigan, June 23, 1963.

The surreal experience is one where you put yourself in a place where others have previously been and ask yourself that if you were there, what would your contribution be.

I put myself in that place today and came away with a feeling of knowing and not knowing, feeling and not feeling. To walk the streets of Memphis today was one of the most surreal and intriguing journeys I've ever been on. My recent trip to China is not even close. Around this time forty-two years ago, Dr King was giving his last speech to his flock at Mason Temple COGIC here in Memphis. I was nine years old on that fateful evening, one where Dr. King would cease to be living less than 24 hours later.

For me, a stranger, to have lived in the cities of Dr King's birth and death is surreal in itself. Here I am, a transplant from Charleston, SC setting my feelings on paper where one of our most treasured citizens perished. What am I doing here? Is this a part of my fate? All these questions swirling around in my head. A higher power has summoned me, guiding me to this place where a man, a movement perished almost a half century ago.

I stood on main street today chatting with a white man and woman, the latter owing an art shop in the middle of downtown and I could help but pause and revel in how far we've come. Forty-two years ago all three of us would have be targeted for destruction just for communicating with one another. But alas, this was Dr. King's dream that I could go to a Chinese establishment and be served a hot meal, like a regular human being and then commiserate with fellow citizens of another persuasion, culture and race. This was the dream, a dream fulfilled, a dream still in progress, a dream to form a more perfect union.

The picture of my Father also speaks volumes. It was taken a year after Dr. Kings death in his original burial place at South View cemetery in Atlanta, Ga. Ironically, this would be my first visit to Atlanta, one that foreshadowed years later what was to come.

My God brought me here because I was impartial, not to hate or forgive , but to see progress, letting me be the judge. Needless to say a tear came to my eye more than once. Why? Because I wished Dr. King could see, see his dream in progress. I know he's up there pleased, but still prodding that more needs to be done.

What racists tried to kill on April 4, 1968 was the dreamer. But Martin knew all along that this was not about him, this has always been about us, our nation. Forty-two years later the boy from 43 Line Street understands why he's here. My mission is to continue the dream of forming that more perfect union - to the end.

Time Waits For No One

This week I interviewed two women for an open, full time position with my company. Since my employment almost 8 months there we have hired at least a dozen people with more on the way. Our business model is such now that we don't ask if there are opportunities out there, but can we get them all. Today, the Labor Dept reported the largest job growth rate in 3 years. Finally, this economy is moving, giving our hard working President some good news to chew on.

The road is still long, and will be for some time to come. There are regions of our nation that will still suffer, but all is not the gloom and doom Republicans so desperately try to paint. We have come a long way since 2007 and have a long, long way to go. Our President, while euphoric, will not sit on his laurels because he has much more to do.

The news however, is a bad one for the GOP. Their linch pin has been to delay and delay, hoping that the bad news would stretch until November, but it won't. In fact, I detect that things now will accelerate even faster, giving our economy the sea legs it needs to prosper.

What I do find interesting is that the tone of Republicans on various blogs have changed. The same people who ranted about "lazy people" not working are now saying that these jobs aren't real, that most of them were census jobs. Now they are criticizing people for working! Yes, some of these jobs were for the census, about 30,000, but the rest are real jobs, at least at where the company I work.

Our latest yearly report showed that we had a good year, at least by this economy's standards. Sales were down, but profits were up significantly, so much so that my 1Q bonus check is set to arrive in 2 weeks. I met all my goals, even surpassed some of them. Funny my previous employer could never seem to find me that raise or bonus, there always was one excuse or another. Well, I can see why they're still in dire straits and will continue to be.

But for me, their problems are but a distraction. I'm focusing on the future, no looking back for me, and I suggest everyone else should do the same. Republicans keep asking President Obama where the jobs are.

From the looks of things they better start worrying about their own.