I Hate Shopping

Day 6 - Ikea
We haven't seen Begoña for two days. The last time was somewhere in housewares. She was looking at cheap plastic bowls when Jason and I became distracted by a blue light.

"This would look great in my room," Jason had said as we turned away from Begoña and moved towards the smooth lines of this futuristic looking reading lamp. It was a mistake, and we haven't seen Begoña since.

We're now starving and I fear for me son's life. Three days earlier, we found the cafeteria and were able to stuff ourselves with Swedish meatballs and roasted baby potatos. Unfortunately, we didn't stock up enough for the rest of the journey. I pulled the last meatball from my pocket this morning and gave it to Jason. He'll need his energy if we're ever to find our way out of here. We're now dehydrated, starving, and tired. I'm not sure we'll make it.

Somewhere around the couches, we came across the remains of another family. The skeletons reminded us of our pending fate if we don't find a way out of here soon. We prayed.

We've finally made it into the warehouse. I made us a camp for the night.

In the morning, we'll continue our journey towards to check-out stands. If we can make it that far, we'll make camp for another night and make our push towards the exit in the morning. I only hope we find some food and water along the way.

We still haven't found Begoña. She's probably been trapped by the 50% off sale items and their low everyday prices. Yeah...you pay way less here than at other furniture stores. But, then there's the insanity of putting it together later with instructions written in Swedish. Oh, we'll pay in the end!

Signing off for the day. Need to rest up for the remaining journey.

33 Percent

“An old boss of mine, years ago, said, ‘Never give 100%. Anyone can do that. Give 5% more and you’ll be twice as good as everyone else.’”
- Martin Avis

This little gem was place on our company’s notice board this morning. It made me think (Shut up! It happens!).

I won’t argue the math (105% is only 1.05 times better than 100%, not twice as good). So, right off the bat, the logic is already flawed.

The intent is to motivate everyone towards our company’s success. I get that.

But, how do you give 105% of something finite? My skills and energy are all finite; they don’t come without limits. So, when I reach my limit, how do I give 5% more?

If I reach my limit, dig down deep inside, and come up with 5% more, then I really didn’t reach my limit. I was holding back. I might even have 10% more held in reserve. That would make me a slacker by this person's logic.

As a sports coach and former athlete, I’m quite familiar with these expressions. “Come on team, you need to give me 110% out there on the field if you want to win!” 110% of what? I always wondered that.

And, really, can anyone ever truly give 100%? If I gave 100% of my energy to my job, what would be left for my family? What would be left for my friends? What would be left for God? What would be left for fun? Heck…what would be left for the drive home?

We should set more realistic expectations. I’m going to start asking for 33% from my team at work. Yeah, I know…it doesn’t have the same ring to it as asking for 105%. But, I think it’s more realistic.

Think about it. If everyone on my team (all eleven of them) gave 33% of everything they have to offer - their skills, talents, concern, mind, ideas, and energy - we’d be pretty darn successful. I’d be asking them to give a third of everything they are to the success of our company. That’s a lot to ask of anyone!

The typical employee works eight hours a day (a third of a day). So, if they give me a full third of everything they have during that time, they’d still have two thirds left for the remaining two thirds of the day. That’s good budgeting.

What does 33% look like? It means from the time they log in to the time they log out, they remain focused on the success of their territory, our team, and our company. For eight hours, they don't stop driving our success. They look for ways to improve, streamline, and create effectiveness. They focus on the tasks that need to get done and search out opportunities wherever and whenever they might arise.

So that's our new mantra on my team: Give me 33%.

I’ve even come up with an expression of my own. “Team, anyone can give me 33%. Give me 2% more, and you’ll be twice as good as the losers who only give me 33%.” Mathematically, it’s still not really correct. They’d really only be 1.06 times better than those who gave me 33%. But does truth really matter? After all, I’m the great motivator!

Ah...what do I know? Martin Avis is only a millionaire who built a multi-national business. Whatever. He can be wrong.

A Consolation Gift For Giants Fans

Far be it from me to rub things in. Okay...I will.

This broom is for you my Giants loving friends! Oh, how sweet it is now that the A's have traveled across the Bay and completed the sweep of the Giants on their own field.

Yes...it was a mighty fine day for baseball!

Stupid Church Signs

I don't normally like the cheesy sayings on these church signs. But, this one I had to post.

As a long-time Googlaholic, this one did get a smile out of me. So, I thought it was worth sharing with my friends.

Yeah, I guess even Google has its worldly limitations. I hate to admit that.

A Beautiful Day For Golf

What a great Sunday! Had a little church, went and got something to eat, and took the boys out to knock a few off the tee at the driving range. What else could a man ask for?

It was the first time for both kids. And, although I didn't see any sparks of Tiger Woods, they both seemed to have fun and wanted to come back another day.

One thing I learned is that we need to find a golf pro to go over some of the finer points with us. I don't have the patience to teach the fundamentals.

"Jason! Keep your head down. Aaron! Don't lift your shoulder." The poor kids probably got tired of me.

Still, it was encouraging. Going out again on a Sunday afternoon to walk 18 with my son sounds like a winner to me! I'm looking forward to more!

'Roid Rage

Okay...maybe I was a little hard on Barry in my last post. It was late, I was in one of those moods, I don't like the Giants...yeah, all the above. Truth is, I don't have any proof Barry has taken any illegal substances in an attempt to boost his performance on the field and he's innocent until proven guilty(my lawyers said I should say that).


That being said, I'd be interested in hearing other sports fans views on the use of steroids in sports. Baseball, football, the Olympics, the Tour de France...people are juicing to get ahead all the time. I heard one sports analyst describe the Tour de France as the greatest drug testing program in the world.


Cyclists are tested well before the race several times, during the race, and after. Samples of urine are taken along with spare samples. What does that say about the sport of cycling when more is spent on drug testing (that's a lot of doctors) than on the purse for the winner?

And why do we as fans tolerate it? Do we really want our teams to win so badly that we're willing to pretend it's not an issue? I can remember as a kid my mom would tell me to drink my Ovaltine so I would grow up to be like Joe DiMaggio (yeah...I'm that old). It didn't work. Maybe she should have pushed The Clear, The Cream, or some Deca-Durabolin instead. Silly mom.

What should the penalty be for those who get caught cheating? Pete Rose has a little gambling issue and we ban him from baseball for life and won't let him into the Hall of Fame. Shouldn't someone who taints the game and the record books through the use of illegal substance get the same?

Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Benito Santiago, Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi...they've all either admitted using steroids or have been implicated (and the list is much longer). Should we really support them continuing in the sport and possible induction to the Hall of Fame? And what's the lesson for our children?

Me personally...I think players who test positive for any illegal substance should be banned from the game for life. After all, we - the fans - pay these guys millions of dollars to play a game. We should demand they play it within the boundaries of the rules. But...that's just me.

Juicing Giants Can't Keep Up With Awesome A's

Healthy living, a good work out routine, and some chemical enhancements, and you can show personal growth like Barry too. Maybe at 42, there's still a shot for me in the Big Leagues!

All the steroids in the world couldn’t save the Giants today, as the A’s applied the whooping principle and won 6 to 0 off a 16-hit outing. It had to leave Giants fans wondering if they’re getting their money’s worth out of Barry Zito. He was gone after only four innings and throwing 106 pitches. Ouch…that’s gotta hurt!

As I listened to the game on the radio, I wondered if Barry Bonds will ever achieve the record he was willing to sacrifice everything to get. Those home runs are getting fewer and far between now that the chemical enhancement is wearing off.

Yeah, yeah…I’ve heard the arguments. Steroids don’t help you make contact with the baseball. That takes skill. Ugh…I think I might vomit.

You gotta read GAME OF SHADOWS by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams. I’m a data person. And the data is stacked against Bonds.

By 34 years of age, Barry was putting up numbers that would surely put him in the Hall of Fame on their own merit. But, that wasn’t good enough. It’s reported that Bonds began using steroids in 1999. So, in the years when most players are winding down their careers, Barry becomes the bomber at 35. In fact, four of Bonds’ best seasons came after age 35, including a record year of 73 homeruns in 2001 at age 36.

Yeah…steroids don’t help you hit homeruns. Whatever.

So, in order for Bonds to get his record-with-an-asterisk, the Giants brought him back for one more year. The commissioner won’t be there. Hank Aaron won’t be there. So…really…who cares? And, at the pace he’s currently on, he may not even get it. Early projections suggested he might get it in July. Now they’re saying August. I say wouldn’t it be cool if he fell one short?

Anyway...I digress. The A’s are awesome. The Giants are juicers. And all is right with the world!

Oh...and don't get me started on what we did to the Red Sox!