Thursday, July 29, 2010

Cali, Cali, Cali

So I am sorry to all my faithful readers for not updating this week. I have been staying in this posh resort and the only place they have free internet is the lobby. Needless to say I don't do well with men wearing capris, hearing french, or large groups of loud people consuming alcohol.

This week has been sweet. I came down a day early and spent Monday on the beach with some friends. It was awesome, the first time I ever went to the beach and swam in the ocean. It was cold but well worth it. I was even taught how to hunt sand crabs. It was a lot of fun. I stayed that night in Irvine, thanks Matt, at about 5 AM I woke up with the second worst tooth ache I have ever had. The number one was on my mission when I got an infection and I had to get my tooth pulled. I was ready to go get on a plane that morning and have been ready ever since. If they didn't want $300 to change my flight I would have hurried this trip right up and got home. So I have been living on IBprofen all week it has helped and I am doing alot better since then.

So I have been working down here this week and it has been fun. There has been a lot on my mind. A lot about my life, career, and future. I don't really know what I am going to do in the fall, where I am going to live or where I am going to work. It is kind of frustrating because I hate leaving things to the last second. I really want to get it taken care of in the next couple of weeks before work ends so I can go and enjoy my hunts.

So that has been on my mind. A LOT.

This week my hotel has been on the beach, to the East of our hotel are the Los Angeles docks in Long Beach. They load the big containers like on Gone in 60 Seconds. It is really cool to see the boats moving in and out and being loaded and unloaded. I love it here, and for some reason when I look at these machines I am inspired. I doubt when they built the docks down here they imagined such massive machines being used. I am a capitalist, and to me these machines represent hard work, a sharp mind, and a desire to become a more effective business.

I read Atlas Shrugged, (if you haven't I would recommend it, it is very applicable to our current economic and political climate) and in it the protagonists are hated by everyone in society for being driven by a profit. Yet they aren't driven so much by a profit as they are by the desire to create something better. Profits come because they used everything they have to make something better instead of just being content with mediocrity. Capitalism at its finest is a pursuit of something better. It isn't as much about the profits as it is about creating something better, more efficient, that makes people's life easier.

One closing thought. When I was on my mission there was a missionary who was half Italian and half Brazilian. Obviously we made fun of him for being so ignorant and stuck up. He had a unique accent also and there was a talk in General Conference by a Brazilian he knew and he use to always quote it. I remember it more for the accent than anything but I am glad I remember it. The quote is, "Life is good, if we live in such a way as to make it so."

Good night Cali I can't wait to go home tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Driving

Today I drove 6+ hours. I loved it other than the fact there was a stretch there were there wasn't any radio stations. That was abou tthe extent of my day. I am staying in a suite tonight because there weren't any other hotel rooms in all of LA. Nice.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Spirituality

Today was a very spiritual day. I visited the LDS temple in Baton Rouge and Cabelas in Gonzales Louisiana. Like I said very spiritual day. So I woke up this morning and drove two hours North to Baton Rouge. I checked out of that rip off hole and just figured I would ask the people in the office where I could stay. People hear audit and they just tense up, I kinda hate this because while it is a big deal and I do take it very serious I am a very laid back person. This is especially bad when it is your first one. Today's victim had been with the company since April 1. Which is funny because I audit Oct 1 - Mar 31. So yea not only is she new but she is getting judged on something she didn't even know was going on.

Needless to say she was a bundle of nerves.

I don't know what really happened but she went home early, her audit turned out fine.

I met two great managers. One was originally from Coleville Utah and the other from El Dorado Kansas. They both talked about how Savage has a motto of giving their employees experiences they can't get anywhere else. So they tend to move them a lot and move them fast. They both talked about how they ended up in Baton Rouge after visiting it on a "check this operation out" visit and then three weeks later they sold their old house and bought a new one. I don't know if I could do that. I know I couldn't, especially not to my kids. My dad always sacrificed so we didn't have to move. Growing up was hard enough, let alone if we had to move to a new school.

Life is good. Sorry still no pictures. I look the same that is all that matters ;)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Travel

Today was the first day in 6 years that I was on the clock on a Sunday, and the second time in my life that I was (excluding the paper route). It ws different and I miss my family. So last Friday I was suppose to get in at 2 pm to Salt Lake and I was really looking forward to a Friday night with friends. Delta had bigger plans, flights got delayed, I got bumped, computers got hacked, and yea I landed at my usual hour of 9 PM. It was a rough day in Detroit for me. So then when I had to leave Sunday afternoon it was double trouble. I get in late and leave early this weekend went by way too fast. I am currently in Downtown New Orleans. I don't like it. I had to pay $30 a day for my car to get parked. I am suppose to spend Mon - Thurs here but tomorrow I am checking out and going some place where I can park my own car for free.

Today was a special day for me. Three and a half years ago my uncle Gordy died while I was living in Connecticut serving a mission. I couldn't make it home for the funeral. Needless to say every memorial day I say I want to go to to his grave but I have yet to make it. I think it is because I truly feel his presence with me on a regular basis. I struggled with his death for the rest of my mission. I remember going to the temple in Boston 4 months later and just having the hardest time thinking about him and that I never got to say goodbye.

Fast forward two years, I am living in Provo it is winter and one day in church our leaders challenge us to do our family history. Now for Latter-day Saints this is a huge deal because I believe, as does the rest of our church, that we have to take our ancestors name's to the temple so they can be saved by Jesus Christ. We take their names and in proxy are baptized and other things similar to that, since they didn't have the opportunity to do this while they were alive. In LDS culture this is usually something for old people to do. You hear often, "oh my grandma has been retired for 20 years she has us done back to Noah." or other equally lazy statements. So I took the challenge and said I am going to find a name that needs their temple work done. So I started to search and like most people whose family comes from pioneers it was hard to find anyone. I was exploring back to the 1700's and found a name on my Dad's side. It was neat to think of this person and their life.

Now I will tie these together. As I explored I came across my Uncle's line, he has a different dad than my dad and so whoever worked on my dad's side didn't do my uncle's. I looked and it only went back 3 generations. It only had my uncle's grandpa up, there were quite a few names of Gordy's uncles and aunt that needed work done also. So I went, since then my mind has been drawn to this family. This morning it came back to me. I was getting ready for church and realized I needed to do more in this department. So i am rededicating myself to this cause.

I love the gospel. It gives life purpose. This morning I was texting a friend at 9ish to 10ish and I just said how crazy is it that we are up right now getting ready for church? Instead of just a day off? So crazy and I am so grateful to be here on this earth with such a wonderful family by my side.

This post was super personal but let's be honest, as much as I hope people I don't know read this, most people I do know don't so I got nothing to worry about.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Tampa

Today was great. I was really trying to focus on being more positive and it just made today awesome. Do you ever have those days that are just normal in every sense but you just end them on such a high? I had one of those today. Nothing too spectacular, 4 hours of work, 4 hours of driving, a nap and a visit to the spring home of 27 time world champion New York Yankees. I loved it. Today was awesome for no specific reason. I love traveling, it is fun and I enjoy the different people all around me. Sometimes I see people and I just want to talk to them and get their life story, how they got to where they are in life, lessons they learned. And so on. I love people, when I was in high school I would ride Trax a lot. I would love talking to the people on Trax. It was funny because I didn't really know how to talk to people, I still don't but I am getting better.

Life is good.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

California & Florida not for the faint of heart

So this week was very odd, usually I visit one location and am within a few hours of it the whole week. Not so much this week. I was emailing a coordinator trying to figure something out and she wasn't responding. Needless to say she is having some serious health problems and we don't know when she will be back. So I had to go down and meet with her replacement this week because the week I had scheduled the replacement was out of town. So yesterday I flew into LAX.

I got there and worked, her replacement is the lead coordinator and just filling in for the time being. One of the nicest ladies I have ever met. I usually get intimidated talking with adults especially one and one about myself and the conversation usually goes stale after about 20 minutes. She though was so nice and we talked about a lot of different things, we even went out to lunch and talked the whole time her and I. The more I work for Savage the more I wonder how the heck they found all these wonderful people. At all of the companies I have worked at there have been a few people who I have had to try to even have a working relationship with. I don't think it is me, because I can get along for at least 30 minutes with anyone. Savage just has rounded up some of the best of the best and it is a great working with such wonderful people.

So I finished up there at around 3 in the afternoon and wanted to do something other than just go to my hotel and sleep. I went to the LA temple. I was picturing the Oakland so it was funny when I got there I was kind of disappointed. That didn't last long, I got out of my car went for a walk around the temple and just relaxed. It was a nice way to unwind. So then I drove to my hotel, in San Pedro.

Savage has corporate rates with quite a few hotels. The one in Southern California is a Double Tree, and right on the water. You can tell the deals they work at some places are for more than just business. Most of the time I stay in very businessy hotels, not this one. (the reason I didn't blog last night is because they only have internet in the lobby to encourage eating at the restraunt and bar) It was amazing right on the bay, about 1000 sailboats anchored and just a great place.

I woke up at 3:30 and got to LAX at 4 and flew to ATL. It took 4 hours, 3 of which I slept. I then flew to Jacksonville. Which is where I am at today. So that is the physical recap of my journey.

The past two days I have been thinking a lot about my life and the path I am on. In everything, my personal life and my career choice. I realized tonight I can sit and worry and try and figure out about my life and make as many plans as I want, but like every plan I have made to date I have to be ready for it to be changed. Take Sunday for example. I was asked to speak on church and planned a good talk when during the opening song I felt I should take the talk in another direction. This is hard for me to deal with. I love to plan, I like to have all my ducks in a row for as far out as I can see. Sometimes I need to just relax and realize I have made it this far with plenty of help from people all around me, I will be able to make it a little farther.

Life is good. Sorry no pictures, I have them on my phone but I am tired of uploading pictures on here it is too hard. I just like writing.

PS - one thought: 2010 Wild Cow Milking Repeat.....nuff said

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Galveston

So today I worked in Galveston. For those of you who don't know Galveston is right near the beach. It actually boasts the best beach in Texas. So I worked down here at one of the docks. They load sulphur onto the boats. So it smelt like burnt up fireworks the whole day.

It is funny, my job requires me to look for mistakes. So when I find a mistake it means I am doing my job and it is something I take pride in. Which is kind of backwards, I know I am doing my job when I find people making mistakes...I thought about it more today. Savage is trusting me to correct thier employees. The people I meet aren't young by any means, I think the youngest coordinator was 29 and the youngest manager was around 40. These are people who aren't new to their jobs either. That put a little pressure on me and renewed my committment to do my best. I am the type of person that responds to added pressure. The more pressure I feel the better job I do.

So after I got done working I went to my hotel, I kept getting closer and closer to the beach. When I pick hotels I basically just throw a dart at a Hampton Inn board. As long as it is in the same town I am fine. Little did I realize I would be at one on the boardwalk across from the ocean. It is really nice, other than the fact a tropical storm/hurricane is suppose to hit land tomorrow or Friday. So yea nice waves, lots of wind, and cloud bursts here and there.

Life is good, tomorrow hopefully will work out with me getting to Corpus Christi and finishing up all my work here. I love my job.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Houston Part II

So it has been forever since I posted because I haven't been on the road since the 22nd of June. Crazy! I know right? Anyways, so the past two weeks I haven't been just sitting around I have been working in Utah and it was nice being home for so long. Made me forget what it was like to travel. Anyways, this morning I came back to Houston. I was suppose to be working in Galveston today but last week I got two surprises that both involved me returning to the Houston office. It was nice and is nice to be back in Houston, other than the fact there is a tropical storm blowing in this weekend. Let's hope I can make it back in time for Saturday night because I have to defend my title. That is right I am doing wild cow milking again. Last year was such a success my team got together for another go (lets not talk about our little adventure to Idaho.) We are expecting a minimum eight-peat. It should be spectacular, considering only my immediate family and Gini read this..I don't think I need to give too many details.

Anyways this morning I flew to Houston, on the plane sitting directly behind me was none other than Rulon Gardner, the same Rulon Gardner who won Olympic gold in Greco-Roman wrestling, the same Rulon Gardner who got lost in Wyoming and walked out losing most of his toes to frostbite, and the same Rulon Gardner that opened a gym in Logan. He was super friendly and talking to anyone he could. I was sitting in front of him and listening to him talk to the guy next to him. Much to my surprise the guy next to him had no idea who Rulon Gardner was. It was funny, because how do you modestly say you won Gold in the Olympics in a sport dominated by Russians, basically how do you say you are the Rocky of wrestling. He was so nice.

Life is good, if there is one thing I am excited about being back in Houston is the food. There is one place I have been craving since I left and I plan on hitting it up tonight for dinner. Wish me luck. Love my job, it is getting easier. It is like I only see in nerd now, I look at papers and I just am drawn to the thing that I need to audit. I can at least talk to Mallory now about what seeing the world in nerd is like.