Man Cooks With FIRE
Director Mitch get grill. Grill good. Grill big. Cooks food with fire.



Director Mitch cook steak. Drink beer. Director Mitch happy.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 6:30 PM (Permalink)
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The Real Reason Some Canadians Dislike Bush
U.S. Unemployment
07/31
5.5%

Canadian Unemployment
07/31
7.2%

Source: Bloomberg

Hat Tip: Neophyte Pundit

posted by Director_Mitch @ 5:06 PM (Permalink)
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Time for: Who' My VP?
Welcome to Who's my VP?, the exciting game where contestants try to figure out their place in their organization!

MC: Thanks, Don Pardo. Our contestant today is a marketing director at a high-tech company whose CEO was just forced out, creating all sorts of organizational havoc just six months after he joined the company. Let's welcome Director Mitch!

(applause)

MC: Thanks for being here today.

Mitch: Can't say I'm glad to be here.

MC: Great! Okay let's start off with our first question: How many positions are you away from the CEO?

(clock ticks)

Mitch: Oh, that's easy. There's my boss, then the CEO, so that would be two.

(buzzer)

MC: Oh. Sorry, Mitch. With the new organizational changes in the last 24 hours you are now at least three spots away from the CEO, as your boss has been slotted under another VP's organization.

Mitch: (unintelligible)

MC: Great! Let's go to our next question: Is your new VP the Crochety Old Tech Guy or the Born Again Christian Dude?

(clock ticks)

Mitch: Well, from a product stand-point, it would make sense to be under Crochety Old Tech Guy

(buzzer)

MC: Oh, sorry, Mitch. Turns out that your Muslim boss and Born Again Christian Dude worked together for a long time and have a good working relationship, so your boss managed to get your group slotted under him. For now.

Mitch: Well, I'm glad that people of different religions can get along in business.

MC: Except Crochety Old Tech Guy is pissed that a group that should be under him wasn't placed there. I'm sure this will create no problems for you. Okay, time for your next question. Will your new VP have any problem with you working remotely out of SoCal?

(clock ticks)

Mitch: Uh...

MC: I am going to have to hold it there, Mitch, since that's all the time we have today. Everyone please come back for our next episode of Who's My VP?

posted by Director_Mitch @ 7:34 AM (Permalink)
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Glad I Let That Subscription Expire
Wired magazine used to be a somewhat interesting read on technology trends. It has morphed into a self-important political screed offering apologetics for left-wing causes and constant attacks on the political right.

In this month's (and thankfully my last) issue, it calls the far-left-wing, foaming-at-the-mouth wackos at move.on a "moderate, centrist" organization. It its interviews of the move.on founders there are no hard-hitting questions, all responses are presented at face value, and no investigations made into their far, far left-wing funding, presenting it as just a group of middle Americans (it mentions Soros, but paints him as a moderate contributor).

In the same issue, Dean's former campaign manager gets a page to gloat. In a separate article, they profile politicians - one is republican, five are democrats. With an evenly divided electorate, seems like they were just too lazy to (or partisan) to even try to make things balanced.

Even its puff-piece on Ahnold misses the point that his election was about removing a corrupt, left-wing governor with failed policies. Instead, they presented his election as some rush to the middle. I like Ahnold and am glad he was elected, but the article misses the bigger picture of Davis's corruption and the problems the very left-wing legislature has created for the Golden State. Ahnold's election is about the California electorate figuring out the left has failed them here, it isn't a "rush to the middle".

Peppered throughout these articles, as well as in previous months, there have been pretty constant little jibes at Bush's foreign policy in articles where neither Bush nor foreign policy were relevant (evidently their staff wishes for a return for Saddam and believes those poor, benighted Middle Easteners are just incapable of democracy).

Good riddance to that crap. Besides, with the Blogosphere, why in the hell do I need any magazine subscriptions?

posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:26 PM (Permalink)
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I Survive Another CEO - for Now
Here is the real email that was waiting for me when I got back from lunch today. I did a double - or triple - take since I have seen this exact email several times before in my career:

(My Old CEO) has made the decision to leave (My Company) to pursue new career opportunities. (My Old CEO) was instrumental in building the product group organization within (My Company). Through his tenure with the company, he has worked diligently to increase our product and business base, rising to become our President and COO. We thank (My Old CEO) for his nearly (long time) years of dedicated service to (My Company) and wish him success in the future.

(My New CEO) has agreed to move into the position of CEO and is excited about the future of our company. His initial focus is articulating a clear direction...(yada, yada, yada)

Soon after this email went out, a new org chart went out shuffling some senior managers around. Right now I think things are okay with my group, but you never know when the new guy decides that Chainsaw Al was a paragon of corporate management.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 3:34 PM (Permalink)
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The Olympics: On the Other Hand...
I posted before about my ho-hum attitude about the Olympics. As predicted, due to the wife, I ended up watching a lot of the gymnastics, which was fairly interesting, but I think not as good as Olympics past.

The new thing I ended up watching due to the wife was women's beach volleyball, and I have to admit I enjoyed watching the U.S. women play for the gold last night. Yeah, there's the fact I am watching four nearly-naked, incredibly in-shape woman engage in a sport I know nothing about. But it was also heart warming to watch these two women's reactions during the awards ceremony. (Although women, I really thought of them as "girls")


It's funny. During, say, the '76 Olympics, I would think: maybe I'll win a medal one day. Watching these Olympics, I think: maybe my daughter will a medal one day.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 7:25 AM (Permalink)
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Did Russian Passengers Prevent a 9-11?
By now you have read about the two Russian passenger jets that crashed. At the time of this post the news is that at least one of them sent a "hijack" signal.

The thought running through my head: were these airliners destined for landmarks like the Kremlin? Did the passengers and crew, knowing about 9-11, prevent it by sacrificing themselves?

posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:58 PM (Permalink)
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Fortune 50 Companies Acting Like Impatient Children
My blogging pace has been off recently since my work load has increased dramatically. As a result of my trip to NY last week, I have a new customer. The bad news is that this multi-multi-multi billion dollar corporation acts like a whiny kid and wants almost hourly updates on their program.

This is in addition to another multi-national conglomerate who calls me almost hourly wondering if the schedule for their product has changed in the last 60 minutes. Add these two whiny children together ("Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Now, are we there?") and you can see why my blogging has suffered lately.

And the weekend, vacation days, and evenings are not an escape. I have gotten phone calls on all of these occasions, having to listen to guys (they're always guys) at the other end of the line wondering if they were there yet.

I am not complaining - these guys have the potential to drive lots and lots of business and it certainly beats the alternative of having no customers. I just forgot how needy giant corporations can be. And it requires a great amount of patience since you can't yell back at them - you have to patiently explain that the schedule hasn't changed in the last 60 minutes and invite them to call you again if they have any concerns.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 1:12 PM (Permalink)
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Hardscape Finished
Yeah, there's ass kicking going on in Iraq, ass kicking going on with Kerry, and there's various kick-ass economic and tech news going on, but dammit, I'm involved in an ass kicking home construction project so those other things just sort of fade into the background (sometimes my native tounge of Texan just comes out).

Three weeks into the Fabulous New Back Yard^TM project the hardscape (grill area, patio and anything else requiring rock or concrete) is pretty much done. The grill area is really the piece de resistance, as the whole neighborhood has been giving themselves tours of my yard - while I am away - to marvel at it. And I have to admit the contractor did a great job.



The grill, fridge, sink, etc. aren't in yet since the stainless steel items are the last things to go in so debris, dirt, etc. that are still being stirred up by construction doesn't mar them before they're even used. The access and storage doors - which are stainless - have a plastic covering on them since they had to go in before the inside walls were stuccoed.

The outside walls were done with the sandstone that is in the sidewalk and the tile from the bar top to bring everything together. The illegal aliens immigrant workers who did the work were really a talented bunch.




The landscaping is starting tomorrow, so next week instead of a bare fence in the background there will be trees, bushes and plants. Over the weekend the landscaper took us to a giant nursery where we pointed out plants and trees we liked and didn't like. Trust me when I say there are more decorative plants and trees out there than you ever imagined.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 6:46 PM (Permalink)
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Golfing to the Sound of the Ocean
Pebble Beach gets the most press on sea-side golfing in California, but I golfed Pelican Hill this weekend and it is a fantastic, beautiful course, and unlike Pebble Beach, not crowded.

The best man from my (second) wedding came into town, so I used a gift certificate for two rounds that I got from my wonderful wife on my birthday to take the two of us out.

It is a fantastic course, and there was absolutely no one in front of us or behind us, so it was like we had the course to ourselves (we weren't even paired with anyone else). The drink girl who came around every so often said that F-Sun are pretty slow, maybe since the fees are hiked those days, but it was pretty busy M-Th when a lot of "business" is done.

I only had my crummy cellcam to take pictures, so instead of pictures which look like this (which it really looks like):



I got pictures that look like this (that's my friend John with the incomplete backswing):



The budget won't allow me to make this outing very often, so if I have someone else paying for a round of golf in SoCal, like a client or something, I'll make sure they take me here.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 7:39 PM (Permalink)
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