Tide Clocks

Archive for January, 2007

Summing Up the Last Few Months in 26 LettersAlabama’s next coach. As unrealistic as their yearly expectations are, you have to admire the administration’s determination to get a big-name coach. Apparently, when the Crimson Tide are concerned, no name is off limits. After Rich Rodriguez turned them down, they set their sights on  the already handsomely paid Nick Saban. Countless denials later, he found himself in Tuscaloosa. Saban will have them playing for SEC titles within three years. Unfortunately, he will leave them with another coaching search within six years. Boise State. Their win over Oklahoma was cute. However, one game does not prove that mid-major conferences can compete with the BCS big boys. It certainly does not prove that they deserve to compete with the BCS big boys. Nevertheless, they gave us one of the most exciting finishes in recent memory. Think Dan Hawkins enjoyed the Fiesta Bowl from his mansion in Boulder?Cupcakes. Expanding the schedule to 12 games got fans dreaming of marquee cross-sectional match-ups. Back in the real world, however, it made Athletic Directors salivate over the prospect of an additional home game. Ohio State-Texas is the exception. Florida-West Carolina is the rule. Just another example of who college football’s ultimate governing body is: money. DVRs. This was the first season with a digital video recorder at my disposal. All I can say is “wow.” There was not a single Saturday that I was not up until 4:00 AM watching my taped games. Sometimes, it would be later (depending on the timing of the re-broadcast). A DVR is essential for any sports fan. You have my guarantee that it will revolutionize the way you watch television.El Nino. Personally, I do not believe there is such a thing. I suspect that the meteorologists were sick of being wrong all the time, so they came up with some bogus weather theory to save their jobs. Well, whatever the reason, I cannot remember a wetter Penn State season. Everybody, please watch An Inconvenient Truth, and let’s start working towards better weather patterns next season.

I am a corporate refugee. I served five years in two different medium size companies. In my first go round in the business world I advanced fairly rapidly into middle management and then transferred into a newly created marketing department as a copywriter and web designer.  In short order my company merged with another and I was laid off with several others. I then went to an internet startup as a copywriter. From all accounts I produced good work and soon advanced into the role of producer. This was a rather amorphous position involving design, usability and generally providing for ease of use to our visitors in order to convert them to customers at an ever higher rate. Again, I performed well, but when the company imploded with most of the other startups of the era, I decided to leave the company rather than move with them to another city. I have learned some things about how to get ahead in corporate America, mostly through my own very bad mistakes. I found out after leaving my second company that I had topped out promotionwise. It turns out I wasn’t nearly so well liked as I had thought and in fact was actively disliked by those in control of my career. After much soul searching I have come up with the five biggest mistakes that I made during my career. I offer them to you in the hopes they may be of use. 1. Don’t eat lunch alone - A common misconception is that lunch is about eating. It isn’t, I know because that’s the mistake I made. Lunch is about accepting every invitation you receive and making contacts. These lunch partners will not become your friends, but down the road they may become your allies. It is far easier to support someone you’ve shared a meal with than that weird guy that goes off by himself at 11:30 every day.

Chapter One: The Party”Put down that phone and come help me,” her mother yelled from the kitchen. She cupped the phone with her hand and replied, “I’ll be there in a minute.” Andrea walked out of her bedroom where she spent most of her time when she was at home. She walked down the long dark hallway. With every step of her bare feet, she could feel the smooth cold marble on her toes. She wandered why her mother wanted the nicest things; never mind how  practical they were. When they first moved into this house, there was wall-to-wall carpeting and every aspect of the home was similar to the other houses in the neighborhood. It was not even three weeks after they moved in that her mother started changing things and beginning new projects. She had the entire house repainted; each room coordinated with a different “motif.” The majority of the house was in a “Roman Royalty” theme as she called it. The sandstone cathedral ceilings and marble pillars and floors made the house seem so elegant. The furniture was genuine Italian leather in a champagne color with the slight hues of sand coloring. It was very breath taking upon its first gaze. As she ended the hall and walked through the formal sitting area, she could see the fireplace that her mother wanted so much still was not turned on. It was not a fireplace used for heating; its purpose was for decoration. It was not an ordinary fireplace. For one thing, wood did not go in it. It had a remote control a basic on and off concept. It was almost as tall as the eighteen-foot ceiling and was as wide as the wall that it was built on. “Andrea, are you still coming?” Her mother yelled.”Yes mother.” She finally entered into the parquet floor and cherry wood kitchen. Her mother was carrying groceries into the kitchen from the garage. “I’m here now. What do you need?”"Would you be a dear and grab some of those bags for me? My shoes are killing me.” She gazed down at her new pumps that were just bought within the past hours. “Do you like them dear?”"Yeah, but why did you buy them if they hurt your feet?” “I didn’t know that they were going to hurt my feet, but they look so cute so that’s ok I guess.”