Rowdy Proud and... cutting back?

In life I've come to learn that I'm not an expert at much of anything but know a little about a lot of things. It seems I'm like a 'knowledge jack of all trades'... but my name isn't Jack. But I did realize that I have actually mastered this topic... the sports industry. That's right a shameless MBA plug there.

There are a few things that have happened lately in the sports world that have conjured up some thoughts in this scribe's mind. I have learned through my studies and real life experiences with the Mavericks that the sports industry is a very unique one. There are highly educated and creative people that make just enough to cut down their Ramen noodle dinners to 3-4 per week. All the while there are the inter-connected, less-educated, and totally less creative people that make more than they ever would in any other industry (and I'm not talking about the players... yet).

The sports industry has an odd dilemma on it's hands. Sports are cool, sports are fun, therefore sports teams and all the vendors that associate with the sports teams have no shortage of eager fresh faced 22 year olds coming out of college to take entry level jobs and "work their way up". This huge pool of talent provides teams the ability to decrease their pay rates because, "hey we'll just give their job to someone else". Now it seems as though this is a good business decision right? Keep your costs low and lose only an incremental amount of experience in the process, great let's do it!

Unfortunately there are some flaws to the process that creates only upper class and lower class incomes. Take a nations economy for example (other topic I know something about -- I'm an Economist), look at the top economies or the most stable economies in the world and you will quickly discover a trend. You will notice that those countries have stronger middle classes than the rest of the less stable economies in the world. When you create a workplace with low paid people who are intelligent and then hire only a handful of high paid people who have acquired their jobs due only to tenure, and have them oversee the operation, there are corporate mutinies, mental looting, and mind riots that take place in the battlegrounds known as Cube Farm USA. I decided (as have many other people who I have a lot of respect for their abilities) to leave the sports industry --hopefully to come back at a later date - for an industry that pays it's people for their direct worth to the company.

Now that you have a basic knowledge of how a sports franchise operates I will finally get to my point. Two weeks ago 9 people whom I call friends and several who I call close friends, were laid off by those same Mavericks that I worked for for 2 and a half years. Working in the staffing industry I know all to well that companies are cutting back, so I can understand the need to cut back on budget and all that good stuff. But yesterday the Mavericks decided to sign a 37 year old (ancient in professional sports years) Jason Kidd to a 3 year 25 million dollar contract. He will be 40 years old at the end of his contract. To put that in perspective the players drafted in his last year will probably have been born during his NBA career.

Three points of note on the signing of Jason Kidd:

1. Okay I understand that we don't want JJ Barea running the point 48 minutes a night, so keeping Kidd on the roster in light of not acquiring a point guard is not too bad of a move.

2. The Mavs have put themselves in this position due to waiting too long to break up a unit that hasn't and probably never will win a championship. They've done this with the outrageous contract of Erick Dampier and the buddy buddy relationships Mark Cuban creates with players preventing him from making basketball decisions and throwing emotion into the mix (only speculating on the later accusation).

3. Even with all this said why couldn't they have signed Kidd to a 3 year 24.5 million dollar contract and kept the front office staff they depend on so much to put on "the show" as Cuban calls it? Remember how I said that sports industry job didn't pay too well? Well I would bet a whole bunch on the fact that the $500,000 savings from that slight contract adjustment would be MORE than enough to cover the 9 salaries "saved" on two weeks ago.

It is a shame that in times of trouble and economic turmoil that we turn not to growing our business and finding ways to increase value to everyone around us but rather cut people who worked their hearts out, and give more money to someone who has more money than those 9 may ever see. I would hope that when and if I am in a position with a company as successful and popular as the Dallas Mavericks that I can call to my employees and fill them with a mission that they feel passionately about and in return offer them my loyalty as an employer. A loyalty not based on straight dollars but in value added to the lives that surround me and my organization.

Disclaimer: I am not fully aware of the contract negotiations with Jason Kidd nor the rules the Mavericks had to follow to make that contract. I know the Mavericks are over the alloted salary cap and they may have had to sign him for a certain dollar value to not violate any collective bargaining rules. If $25 million is the lowest they could have signed him for (and I'm not joking here, that's a possibility) I will come slightly closer to understanding the signing.

Aloha... or something

Aloha ladies and gentlemen!  I guess I need to tell you about the major thing that has happened since I posted last... Hawaii!

That's right I got to go to Hawaii for the first time and it was amazing.  It was a family vacation and it was so much fun.  We stayed right on Waikiki beach, the views are amazing just about wherever you are on the island though.  We spent a lot of time on the beach doing a whole lot of nothing, so that was perfect.  I needed some time to get away from the internet and phones and all that stuff to just lie on the beach and lather on the SPF 50... that's how I roll!  I also got to try surfing for the first time and I really enjoyed it.  It was hard to stand up at first but it is a lot like snowboarding in the sense that once you figure out where your balance point is, it's actually not too hard.  Of course I wasn't riding any waves that curled over my head or anything but none the less it was a blast.  

Oh yeah, AND I got a tattoo!  Me and my sister have been wanting to get tattoos for a while now and since we were both gonna be in the same place at the same time for a week we figured what better place than to do it in Hawaii.  So she put me to the task to come up with a tattoo idea.  After throwing around some ideas and several pages of paper I came up with a design that intertwines our two astrological symbols (aries and libra).  When we took the design to the tattoo artist she was able to make two versions of it so Carolyn could have a design that was more feminine and mine is big and manly.  So it's the same design just altered for each of us.   

It was a great trip and now I guess I'm getting "dragged" into a vegas trip.  Hopefully this one will include both my best friends from Dallas and Albuquerque and should be fun.  It hopefully turns out something like The Hangover, because that is an instant classic and will go down as one of my favorite movies of all time.  It is pure greatness and if you haven't seen it yet you must.  

And like The Hangover, I will end this post with a bunch of pictures... Enjoy!

Snorkel! 

Carolyn's tattoo

My tattoo

Surfin' USA

USS Arizona Memorial

Byodo Temple

View of Waikiki Beach from Diamond Head 

Some lighthouse... I guess this one didn't need a caption... oh well

Kick off your shoes and relax your feet

Sunset from Waikiki

Hmmmm...

Yeah... that's how cool I am!

We're on a boat!

Hand carved Tiki and the guy who made it.

Banyan tree... the branches reach down to the ground and become roots again

Waikiki from the plane

Hanuama bay, where we went snorkeling

Good bye paradise.  I'll be back.

Wow... what happened to me?

Apparently I haven't made a post in like 9 weeks!  I think that's the longest I've gone since I started this site over three years ago.  I was inspired to write something but I'll save that for later, I'm sure I have some things to mention since I've been out for such a long time.  

I'm also making some updates to the 100 in 1000 list so check it out!

*Uh oh Greg, this may be a long one so I know you're my boy and all but go ahead and flip back to your spanish lessons on tape*

So I'm 27 now... wow late 20's.  I don't feel old at all.  Sometimes I feel like I'm 19 still but when I think back even 4 or 5 years ago and remember what I thought 27 was gonna be like, boy was I wrong!

I went home for my birthday too.  It was great to go home and be able to go out and see everyone.  When I was home for xmas, I got sick and then did the family thing so I never had the chance to hang out with my peoples (Congrats Kevin and Amy!  Congrats Cassandra and Scott!).  It's interesting to see the different paths that we are all taking now.  Knowing what I know about some of these people it's amazing they're able to dress themselves in the mornings, let alone be productive members of society.

As for stuff around here, I'm doing lots of yard work trying to get the house the way I want it to be, and I'm slowly getting there, but for some reason the list doesn't get any smaller.  And Beau is basically the best dog ever, we are able to run a mile around the neighborhood now and he is completely off the leash and stays by my side (well except for today when he came from nowhere to tackle a cat in a puddle in the street... wow) 

Now on to the topic that motivated me to start writing again.  A couple nights ago I watched Michael Clayton a very interesting movie that came out awhile back but being that I'm not too big of a movie buff I just now got around to watching it.  To me, it was a movie about deceit, greed, delusions and illusions brought on by humans.  So I got to thinking, we are a pretty pathetic species aren't we?  I mean we do things in our everyday lives just to ruin someone else's day or to make sure that we have everything and they (whoever that may be at the time) has nothing.  As an economist -like to throw that in there every now and again- I was taught that "more is always better".  Mathematically and graphically... yes more is definitely better.  But is it better in everyday life?  Can't we just be happy with what we have?  What is it about how we are wired that makes us try to have more of everything.  For example, you can argue that athletes get paid too much, well stop going to the games then.  Because you want to watch more football, they get more money... and they should.  If you're willing to pay the price to watch them play then they deserve a piece of that... I digress.  I just seems like it is so hard for people to be genuinely happy in life.  And that's a shame.  

For the first time in my life I have been able to take my foot off the accelerator of life and, damn it feels good.  I just go to work and go to the gym (I'm doing Ab Ripper X, youtube it and do part 1 and 2... it's dirty!) then come home walk my dog and eat dinner and then relax.  And I'm the happiest I've been in a long time, if not ever.  I don't have a project or test to get done, I don't have another semester of school to worry about, I don't have the pressure of buying a home to worry about, I'm not searching for a job (even in this economy).  So I can just relax.  Now this doesn't mean that I don't push myself to be the best recruiter at work or that I don't push myself to have huge bulging muscles in the gym, one can hope right?  But in the overall scheme of life, I'm kind've content.  I hope that this doesn't lead to me limiting my progress or my future by this level of contentment, but for now I think it is quite refreshing.  I have some big events coming up in the near future and maybe that will spark some fire under me but until then, I'm chillin!

I leave you with these lyrics that popped into my head without hearing the song in years... must be a sign.  I'm just adding the chorus because that's the only part I knew anyway haha.

We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

Somewhere we live inside

Somewhere we live inside

We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

Somewhere we live inside

Lyrically challenged

I've updated some of the '100 in 1000' so take a look.

For today's post I think I'm just gonna throw in some of my favorite lyrics. I've been thinking about writing that song lately so I've had a lot of lyrics on my mind.

Enjoy...

"Empty parking lot half a cigarette, I got it off the ground so it's a little wet, I'm on the south side walking sideways, and I still miss someone, this is the last last time I beg the sun to shine"

"And if I am truly crazy, don't you know I like my life that way, and if I am goin' on out of my mind, won't you hop on board and make your get away"

"Don't you think life would be awfully boring, if the good times were all that we had"

"It's sitting by the overcoat, the second shelf, the note she wrote, that I can't bring myself to throw away, reach she said for no one else but you, cuz you won't turn away, when someone else is gone"

"I had a bag of shit I threw it in the sky when it came down it spelled out sigma chi!"

"There's a squeak down on the back gate, lets' us know if he comes around, I don't sleep that good anyway, If you've never heard the silence it's a god awful sound"

"Have you ever walked through a room, but it was more like a room passed around you, like there was a leash around your neck that pulled you through"

"Lord forgive he got those dark forces in him, but he also got a righteous cause for sinning"

"I've been riding all day long, through the wall of rain, in the shadow of the mountains, on the barren plains, to my angel in the village, where a lamplight glows, if the dogs there don't betray me, no one will know"

"God show me the way cause the devil's tryin' to break me down, the only thing that I pray is my feet don't fail me now, and I don't think there is nothing I can do now to right my wrongs, I want to talk to god but I'm afraid cause we ain't spoke in so long"

"There's no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard no song that I could sing but I could try for your heart"

"flatter than a table top, makes you wonder why they stopped here, wagon must have lost a wheel or lacked ambition one, on the great migration west, separated from the rest though they might have tried their best, they never caught the sun"

"I've got the streets memorized, I see the faces embedded in my mind, I can't keep fighting the urge to go, I've got nothing in common with this town I've come to know...I've got that truck all loaded down, I should have known how hard it'd be to leave this town"

"I can't sleep, I'm dreaming way too loud"


And of course...

"The road goes on forever, and the party never ends"


I didn't add the artists names to their particular lyric because I wanted you to try and guess. But since I'm not one to partake in the hobby of copyright infringement here they are in no particular order; Kayne West, Robert Earl Keen Jr., Eli Young Band, Jack Johnson, Matchbox Twenty, Pat Green, Bleu Edmondson, Kyle Park, Jay-Z, The Offspring, and one good ole SAE song.

I'm sure I left some quality lyrics out. I'd love so see what your favorite lyrics are, leave me a comment with your favorites!

How free are you?

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances" -The 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights



For most people this amendment is known and followed and for some it is a way by which they live their lives. From civil rights movements, Roe v. Wade, KKK rallies all the way to your local city council and your child’s PTA meetings, this amendment is a part of every minute of every day in this country. Freedom of Speech, it's a noble concept. To not be prosecuted for the things you say or the ideals you preach to others, is a luxury that most of the 6 billion...ish people alive don't have. It is something that has turned 13 bright-eyed and bushy-tailed colonies into the most powerful nation on the planet and the largest democracy this world has ever seen.

Why then is it that the more people that I meet, the more groups I come in contact with, the more people who read this blog...the less and less free I feel I am to say whatever I want? In recent days I've had a few ideas of a posting for this site, but then I soon realized that person X or person Y reads this and I can't post that. Is it ironic or just fucked up that in the land of the free, on the information super highway, on my website, written on my computer, I can't type what I want? Now I don't have any real breaking news story or something that would put me in too bad of a place if I said it...but still. Now I am by no means claiming I’m famous (only about 100 people visit this site each time I post) but this must be what it feels like to be famous. The more you’re in the spotlight, the more influence you have, the more you are able to speak and possibly make a difference…the less you’re able to say. I feel like I have to be careful of what I say because I don’t know who reads this anymore, and I don’t want to offend anyone. Or actually I just want to avoid the drama (if it’s an opinion I have I really don’t care if I offend you) my life is fairly simple now and I just don’t want to complicate it with drama and having to defend myself anymore than I already do.

'Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me'...well at least until I'm an adult and I learn how to sue your ass for the things you said. That's how that childhood saying should really go. I'm pretty sure I don't have anything to say that would get me sued, but I have a lot to say that might piss off a person or two. Think of the groups of people that read this blog; my family, my best friends, people I've worked with in the past, people I currently work with, any of my "friends" on Facebook or MySpace, girls (ones I may like or have liked or maybe in the future would want to like). Now think of all the opinions you have about those same groups in your everyday life...go ahead I'll wait...now think what would happen if you started a blog and wrote COMPLETELY openly about anything and everything in your life. Chaos right? Yeah, total and incomprehensible chaos would ensue.

But my restrictions on what I can and can't say don't stop here on this site. In recent days, weeks and months, I've noticed that I can't say, text, or email things to people because of what might happen. If I'm so free to say what I want and "words will never hurt me" then why is it such a big deal if I drop an F bomb (see I'm even censoring myself) every now and again, or speak openly about something I feel? Or one of my favorite examples is the games we play when we're dating. For example well I called her last so she has to be the one to call me now...WTF?! If you want to talk to someone call them. If they don't like it or you didn't play the game the right way, guess what? It's probably not going to work anyway. Or how bout being censored by things that you MUST say. What would happen tomorrow if President Obama didn't end one of his speeches with "God bless you, and God bless America"? What if he just said "Thank you"? The media would come unglued talking about how he is a terrorist or that he doesn't have family values.

**Side note** What happened to the separation of church and state?

I don't know if this blog was spurred on by my actual frustration with censorship or the fact that I may just have a mild case of writers block. But tomorrow when you go to work or in your everyday dealings with people, take a second to think what if you just said what you thought. Yeah scary right? So how free are you? Yes you CAN say anything you want, but WILL you say anything you want...probably not. I sometimes wonder if it would be better in the end if we all just said everything without that mental filter. Sure it might send the planet spinning off on some crazy axis, but after we got all our minds cleared of the cluttered of lies and deceit...wouldn't it just be easier?

But until then, watch what you say.

p.s. I completely understand that I was able to post this blog about a topic that in some peoples mind may question things our government does or has done. For my ability to do that (freedom of speech) I am very thankful.

This post doesn't deserve a title

Happy second week of the New Year! Ya, Ya, Ya so I'm a little late...deal with it. I'm not too big on resolutions, I don't understand the concept of waiting for a certain day to better yourself (see the list on the right).

I just have some random thoughts for today...

If the world is going to end in 2012 like Nostradamus predicted, should I either get lots of credit cards and run them all up or become a fugitive of the law and run around like Billy the Kid? Cause it's one or the other people!

If you're on the equator you are actually moving 1038 MPH

It was 80 degrees yesterday...ain't global warming grand?

My dog eats tennis balls, not the whole ball just the fuzz, then spits out the rubber part. Apparently that part doesn't taste as good.

I'm excited to get back to work, but dreading answering the following questions 1 million times. "How was your Christmas?" "What did you do for New Years?" I mean if you're that nice of a person and really want to know, and you truly care about the people around you, then ask away. But if you're just asking me because you're supposed to, don't bother...I won't be offended I promise!

Myspace is starting to suck and Facebook is now way better.

I hate the following phrases. "To a man" What the hell does that even mean and when did we start saying that? "At the end of the day" Because apparently the beginning and middle of your day doesn't mean shit.

Sometimes dating seems tough...and sometimes, it's soo worth it!

New Mexico didn't even make it to their own bowl game...hahaha we suck at football.

I wish I would have taken bets on the Sugar Bowl...damn!

I hate doing laundry.

"5 dollar foot long"

I think this post may have wasted my time as well as yours. I could have probably used this time to work on that whole 100 in 1000 thing huh? Oh well.

Have a good week

Santa vs. Jimmy V

Isn't it weird how sometimes you have no new ideas then --WHAM-- two good ideas at once? Well that happened today. I haven't posted since the election and I couldn't think of what to talk about next, well I have two things so I'm gonna kind've combine them into this post.



This last week on ESPN it was Jimmy V week. For those of you that don't know who Jimmy V is, his name is actually Jim Valvano. He is a basketball coach that died of cancer...but to end his story there doesn't do him and his legacy any justice. He is most notably known for two moments in sports history; 1) he took a 6 seeded NC State basketball team that wasn't supposed to do anything to win a national championship over top seeded Houston at the buzzer. *Important side note* This happened in the greatest college basketball arena in the country...THE PIT. His player caught a pass and dunked the ball as time ran out, but the image that some of you may know very well is of Valvano running around the court with his arms wide open looking for someone...anyone to hug. 2) The second moment is less a sports moment and more a life moment. On March 4th, 1993 ( 10 years and 2 days after the tournament that won him a national championship started...he likes March huh?) he was awarded the Arthur Ashe award for courage (the inaugural issue of the award). He proceeded to give an incredibly funny, inspiring, real and moving speech. Whether by coincidence or not the past two years I've heard the speech played in it's entirety, last year it was on the radio as I drove to work and this year ESPN had it on all of their networks to kick off Jimmy V week (I think I may make it a tradition). Here's the link in case you would like to see it for yourself...or renew your memory of it.

http://www.jimmyv.org/remembering-jim/espy-awards-speech.html

Now if you don't watch it, I'd like to leave you with a few quotes from the speech that I think are the most fitting for everyday life.



"I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going"



"I know, I gotta go, I gotta go, and I got one last thing and I said it before, and I want to say it again. Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever."


Alright now that I've taken care of that...



Dear Santa, I think I've been a pretty good boy this year. I did ALL my school work, I made new friends, and I even adopted...a pet. So here is my list of things I want:

• A healthy family


• A winning lottery ticket


• One of your reindeer...but I'll settle for Rudolph's nose


• For the people that read this post to do something for someone who isn't expecting it that will put a wonderful end to their year.


• **Side not to above item** If you send me an email and tell me what you did I'd love to post them on here and I'll keep you anonymous.


• A Cowboys playoff berth


• Great success for my friends


• A frisbee dog...but I'll settle for Beau being able to play frisbee


• For everyone to; laugh, think and let their emotions go. Everyday...just like Jimmy V said


• For Obama to be as good of a President, as I think he can be.


• To be healthy enough to play soccer again...damn shins!


• For Emmitt Smith to be a better broadcaster...or to stop broadcasting. I love you Emmitt but c'mon dog


• A lady friend


• A kiss from Danny Granger


• For deck shoes to go out of style


• My student loans to go play and go @#$% yourself


• And last...to be just as happy next time I have to make this list.

Happy Holidays friends!

A night to cry over...

I must worn you I may ramble in this post.

Tonight I cried. I usually show my emotion in my posts and in the opinionated voice I give my friends. But tonight I showed my emotion in a way that is not as common to me. I am a 26 year old man and it is my stereotype that I cannot show emotion and that I should be this strong muscular rock of a man. Well I must apologize to you tonight. I am less a man than the stereotype allows me to be. I cried on three separate occasions tonight. I cried just a little bit when CNN(HD cause my TV is legit) announced that Obama had won the presidency. It was a moment that I knew was going to come. I've know that Obama was going to be the President of The United States of America in 2004 when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention. A lot of people said that a black man would never be President, but I knew in my heart, that man would be the next great leader of our country.

The next time I cried tonight was when John McCain gave his concession speech. Now you may think that I like this moment because I'm a democrat, wrong. I cried at this moment because I was so proud of John McCain, a man that against almost any other candidate I would have been behind. He gave the speech he needed to give, he gave a speech that I hope will begin the healing of our country.

At approximately 10:45pm central time I witnessed an event that will go down in American history as an event that will live in the annuals of "I have a dream", "this day will live forever in infamy", and "four score and seven years ago". I witnessed in my lifetime a man who brought a dream and a hope to this country that we hadn't seen in a long time. I witnessed the first black president in American history tonight. As he gave his acceptance speech I felt a pride I've never felt before, I felt emotions about my country that I didn't know were possible. Tonight I cried, I cried because the pride I felt exuded from my soul-my pours-more than it ever had before. I stood in a room with 2 other people of my age group and we openly let our tears run down our cheeks with heavy hearts and prideful minds. Tonight we elected a man that will change our country for the better, in a way that we haven't seen since FDR.

I'm sorry at this point I'm a little bit delirious, but I felt I needed to write. Tonight I'm proud to be in a country where this could happen, tonight I'm proud to be a democrat, but most importantly I'm proud to be an American!

Politics is neat!

100 in 1000 update:
Ummm...crap I gotta get on that stuff. Especially that whole book a month thing...only a few days left.


Not too much has changed since the last time I posted so felt I would finally resort to the post that all of you knew was coming...a political post! {insert scary horror music...just in time for Halloween}

On Tuesday November 4th, 2008 this country will have an election that will change us forever. This is at least the most important election in a generation, and dare I say the most important or at the very least, the most significant election in this nations history. Barack Obama (please don't let me jinx this) looks like he will beat John McCain in the general election. At the age of 26 and growing up in a neutral state like New Mexico I never really experienced any outright racism. I was pretty sheltered to the racism that surrounded me although it probably wasn't too blatant in sleepy Rio Rancho. Going back only a few decades racial tensions and civil rights issues were at a peak. The middle of the 20th century was filled with civil rights issues and battles between races that we (well most of us sane individuals) see now as ridiculous. On April 7th, 2007 I posted a story about The Little Rock 9, it's a story about a school that was forcefully segregated. The reason I bring that post up is to look how far we've come as a nation. We've come from a country that discriminated against people because they had a different skin color. Now I'm not saying that racism is dead, by all means I am fully aware (especially since living in Texas) that racism is not dead. But the strides we've made to accept people of all walks of life, is what this country was founded on.

We are a diverse nation and we need to be represented in that way. So no matter who you vote for on Tuesday remember to take a second and admire the progress we've made as a country (unless your a racist bastard...well then your opinion doesn't really mean much to me anyhow). I will be watching the votes come in on Tuesday night and I'll be a proud American. I be watching a moment that this country is fundamentally founded upon. That moment will show us all that no matter what hand you're dealt, or the odds you're up against you truly can be whoever you want to be.
If you are a McCain supporter, please don't write to me and try to change my mind by telling me I'm a terrorist or socialist, or that Obama will let other countries take us over or whatever else. People who offer up those suggestions, make themselves and other republicans look like idiots. I am not completely to the left I'm actually more towards the center (I just truly believe in Obama). I welcome any comments about either candidate, but please for your own sake at least have sources or statistics that come from reputable places. You're not going to change my mind...but it's a free country speak your mind if it moves you to do so!

P.S. if you think Palin would be a great president hold your breath till I say when...

Virginia is NOT for lovers.

100 in 1000 update:
I have added a few new items to the list and have actually completed, or began to complete others, so check out how I'm doing. I still need more so keep the suggestions coming!

As some of you may know I spent the last week in Glen Allen, Virgina (suburb of Richmond). I was out there for a week of training with my new company Apex Systems. As with most travels I had some frustrating experiences, some great times and now need a good weekend of rest. So I had to leave on Sunday morning (company made the flights) and I missed the Cowboy game, so you can blame me for the Cowboys loss since they're undefeated with me in attendance this season. I go to check my bags and quickly learned that US Air charges for bags. Now think about this for a second...I'm traveling for a 5 day trip...I'm probably gonna need to bring some stuff with me right? I just don't understand why you would charge someone for something that is essential for their flight. Okay so once I pay for my checked bag I still have a carry on, but the plane we are flying on is apparently too small for carry on luggage so they make me leave it on the jet way and they go put it with all the other checked luggage. WTF! So I need to pay to check luggage but then you're going to end up checking my carry on anyway?! Seriously, what the hell? In addition to that, if I wanted something to drink on the plane-even water- I had to pay $2. That seems ridiculous to me. Just more reasons why Southwest is still the best airline.

Once in Virginia, I had a great time. Like my Dad said most training sessions are filled with non-sense and stuff that you already knew. This training session on the other had was great. I feel as though I learned a lot about the company, and how to do my job better. Although the days were long they were jam packed with necessary information. What made the days a bit longer were the nights...

Our group of 14 was made up of people from across the country. We all got along had a really great time doing it. We went out each night, and like my manager told me before I went, I didn't ever get too boozed up. On the other hand one girl did! She had too much to drink the night before and was throwing up at work the next day. If you want to be an adult, you should probably act like one. She didn't act like one so she didn't get treated like one, she had to call her manager and tell her why she was going to miss a day of training. Apparently she was too hung over to even stay at work...idiot.

So now I'm back and man am I tired. I get a couple days to rest and then back to work (in Dallas). But now the training wheels are off and I gotta start makin' that money! If you know any IT people in Dallas holla at ya boy!

100 in 1000

Alright check out this concept. Since Shaq can put a timeline on when he is going to retire, down to the day, I figured I'd do something similar. I've seen someone do this and I thought it was a good idea. On the right side of this page there will be a list of 100 things I want to accomplish in the next 1000 days. Right now there is only about 30 or so things, but I'll continually add to the list. There are so many things I want to do, so I figured why not make that part of the content on this blog? I'll notate when a task gets accomplished so you can keep up with my progress or motivate me to get other items done.

So what's going to be on this list?

I will put things that I want to do before 6/16/2011 (at would be 1000 days from 9/20/2008). I'll be 29 years old and nearing the end of my twenties. Wow kinda scary. There are things on this list that may be out of my control (depending on how superstitious you are) such as; watching the Cowboys in the Super Bowl, or watching the Mavs win a championship. For the obvious reason that if I suited up for either the Cowboys or the Mavs I'd be thoroughly embarrassed, I can only root on my teams and hope they do well. So all 100 items may not get accomplished but it will be a fun 3 plus years if they do. There will be things on the list that I may never know if I accomplished as well as I think such as; inspiring someone, or keeping touch with old friends. So not all of the items will be events or obvious milestones but more a goal for living my daily life.

What you can do:
You can suggest items for me to put on the list...I need 70ish more people!
You can have a part in helping me accomplish one of them, anyone want to go sky diving?
You can get on me when I stray from the list.
You can enjoy watching me knock these down-and hey maybe the person I inspire will be you...

Introducing Beau!

Apparently I drove by the animal humane society in Irivng one too many times and yesterda I finally cracked. I stopped just to look at the dogs...well that didn't work. I found one that caught my eye and now I have myself a dog. His name is Beau, he is a shepard mix and he is about 1 year old. Here's some pictures enjoy!

Dick's Mavs departure

Alright well it happened I sent a call out to the masses to pen the next chapter of my life. "someone out there needs to hurry up and get to writing, write the next chapter of my book dammit! I have an MBA you have to listen to me now! Write...oh yah and throw in a cute blonde girl somewhere...", this is a direct quotation from a post on Cinco de Mayo (really I was blogging on Cinco de Mayo? Man, I'm getting old). So yeah I wrote that about 4 and a half months ago. Guess what?! Someone picked up the damn pen!

That's right folks someone has decided to start freakin' writing. Last Tuesday I was offered and accepted a job as an IT (information technologies) Recruiter for a staffing firm right here in Irving. So what do I know about IT? Not a damn thing. But what do I know about kickin' ass and taking names? Well not much of that either. But I'm a good employee, and a hard worker. This job is a great opportunity with no cap on how much I can make and where this can take me. I have never done a job that has a commission, but I thought I'd give it a try because I've always busted my butt at work (plus it has a base salary so I'm not screwed if I suck) and I think it's about time I get paid as such. So sure I've never done anything in the staffing industry or with IT before but that doesn't matter. A friend from one of my classes at UD is the one who refereed me to the position. He came in with the same experience or lack thereof and now 3 years later he is running his own branch. I'm not saying I'm going to take the staffing world by storm but I'm very confident in the fact that I will have success at whatever I'm doing.

So now for the cute blonde girl part, seriously people if you're gonna write a story doesn't there always have to be a hot fling in there somewhere? Don't you know anything about writing? I guess not...

Olympic fever

Alright let's be real here...before last weekend when was the last time you watched, cared for, or even gave a second thought to competitive swimming? Now Since last weekend have you either watched, talked about, or discussed swimming strategy? Why is it that once the Olympics start we instantly become attached to sports that we would normally not care for? We even become temporary experts.

I love the Olympics. I've been drawn in by the Michael Phelps craze just like I'm sure most you, most of the country and most of the planet. Even with the advancements of technology and training facilities, it still took someone 30 some odd years to beat Spitz's record for gold medals in a single Olympic games. But after next weekends closing ceremonies I will forget all about swimming, I'll forget about the men's water polo team, I'll forget all about synchronized diving, and I'll definitely forget all about women's handball (seriously how is that an Olympic sport?). But in 4 years I'll once again be glued to my TV watching the London games.

So what is it about the Olympics that draws us in and takes a hold of us for 2 weeks? I'm not sure what it is, it could be the patriotism in us, it could be the drama of high level sporting events, it could be us watching and waiting for that moment that sends chills down your spine and makes your eyes well up. Or it could be a little bit of all of that all mixed together, at least that's why I watch. As a sports fan I love seeing athletes at the top of their game compete and push themselves to the limit...even if it is just diving. Then every now and again you get a moment like the relay comeback last week where the USA beat the trash talking french team in an event they weren't supposed to win.

So for now let's enjoy the Olympic games and get ready for the Michael Phelps Wheaties box.

Put me on a cool river...

...take my worries from me, fly me high into the big blue sky well there's no one here but me.

Oh how wise of Mr. Pat Green.

This last weekend I took a road trip down to New Braunfels, TX to 'float the river'. Ryan spoke of this event like it was the coolest thing he'd ever done. My sister was in town for the weekend and it seemed like an easy way to have an action packed weekend. So I packed up all my stuff (1 pair of underwear, tooth brush, cargo shorts, an extra t shirt, and as much SPF 60 as I could carry out the door) and we headed out for the weekend. This whole floatin' the river business is just that it is A BUSINESS, I was amazed that putting tubes in water seemed to be a very successful industry. We were supposed to meet some people at one of the many tube rental places but of course Stanny (Adam Stanford's new nickname) missed the turn for the right parking lot. Well that ended up being one of the best mistakes ever, we had to go down the road and turn around in the next parking lot. While we were in that parking lot there was a sign saying that Pat Green was going to be there that night (I'm not gonna lie a little bit of pee came out of me). But we had to go get our float on so we concerned ourselves with the tube rental process.

It was a surely a sight to see. When you stand on the bridge above the river you can look down and all you see is tubes and people slowly moving down the river with the speed of a fat guy climbing stadium stairs. It was an amazing sight to see. This picture is just a google image (not from our trip) but is of the same place we were at.
Once in the river, it was completely relaxing. From the hustle and bustle of city life, it just felt nice to not have to do anything for 5 hours. I didn't have my cell phone, I didn't have email, I just sat in a tube and floated...that's it. Now I know that some of you might think that, that sounds boring but it was actually quite nice. So nice in fact that apparently I ended up falling asleep for about 30 minutes of the float.

So for me the pinnacle of the trip was yet to occur. We went to check out the Pat Green concert to see if I was dreaming or if it was real. IT WAS REAL. Yes that's right folks we pretty much stumbled upon my favorite artist, I was super pumped. We got there right before he started and he put on a great show. One of the best things about the show is that Pat came out on stage in a blue t shirt, basketball shorts and barefoot. How many Nashville guys can put on a great show dressed like that? It's show like that, that add to my love for his music, he truly is just a "regular" guy. The reason he was dressed like that? It's cause he too was out on the river just floatin' with the rest of the people.

A great show, a great weekend, I got to see my sister, and Pat F!#$ing Green. My only complaint is he didn't sing the perfect river song...A Guy Like Me

Hearts and flowers, forget love letters

Pain and anger, forget forgiveness

Love ain't waiting for a guy like me

Debutantes and champagne, diamonds and cocaine

I ain't the son of outrageous fortune

Cash ain't status for a guy like me

Put me on a cool river

Take my worries from me

Fly me high into the big blue sky

Well, there's no one here but me, just me

Long black limousine, pictures in magazines

All night parties, beautiful people

No super model for a guy like me

I'm just a good man, I work with my hands

I get the picture, I heard the message

Hell ain't waiting for a guy like me

Put me on a cool river

Take my sins from me

Fly me high into the big blue sky

Well, there's no one here but me

Your move Burt!

Let's play a game called Guess What This Is

64 Squares, 32 players, many directions being pulled, thousands of possible moves, black and white, slow and strategic, and definitely with a time limit.

If you said a game of chess you are correct but boring...c'mon be more creative than that. Okay well how bout this?

Life!

Yes, that's right I think life or at least mine of late is like a big game of chess. A novice chess player, I know a bit about the game and last night started thinking that all these decisions and moves I have to make are so similar to those a game of chess would contain. I'm not too sure at what point in the game I am (part of the problem), but what I do know and fully understand is that it is my move.

You've heard of master chess players that will play like a hundred people at one time and just go up and down the line moving their pieces, you've heard of that right? Well imagine you're that chess player.

The whistle blows and you start with your first game, easy right? You move a pawn forward or a knight up and in, something basic. You probably do a similar move in the next 99 games. Now you're back at the first game and the opponent has countered your opening move, like you, they probably just moved a pawn or something like that. These simple moves continue for oh, maybe like the first 4, 5, 6 moves. In life this equates to the simple decisions; when to eat, when to sleep, going to grade school, you know the stuff everyone does.

Then the time comes when you need to start deciding which pieces to attack. In chess it's simple taking their rook when they're going to kill one of your pawns no big deal right? Making an aggressive attack up the middle, while your opponent just moves his knight in funny 'L' shapes along the sides. Who cares if that crazy 'L' shape ends up taking your queen or worse...(insert scary music here) THE KING! It's chess they are just pieces, so what. Unfortunately in life who knows you may need that pawn later on down the line.

Alright now you're at move 20, the room is smokey, your brain is throbbing at the intense focus needed to maintain these 100 separate games at the same time. The clocks are ticking the seconds away waiting for your move, the man across the table from you has the most ridiculous Burt Reynolds mustache you've ever seen (didn't see that one coming did you?). Your hand grabs the piece, you've got your move, the perfect one, wham you set the piece down and grin confidently at the Reynolds impersonator. As you turn your back and head to the next table to make your move there, you see the guy at the last table immediately counter your move and take a key piece. You go back to look--of course why didn't you think of that? You're supposed to think a few moves ahead of the current one right? So you continue on, but now you second guess your decisions, the clock's tick seems to echo in your ears, when at a particular table you are constantly thinking back five, or six tables ago...was the move the right one, has he already countered? Now the boards are getting confused in your head and it all begins to unravel. Luckily enough you are a skilled chessmen (I assume that's what a chess player is called) so as you may have lost some of the games you still have plenty left, and plenty that you've already won.

Now I think this is the point I'm at. I've won several games, lost several, but the majority of them are laid out in this big ominous line that seems to give me tunnel vision every time I look down it. As the rounds progress each move is riskier, each thought is more complicated, and each mustache is bigger and darker than the last (I'm in tears making myself laugh about these mustaches). So what's my next move, the pawn, the rook, the knight, ooohh how bout a castle with my rook and king? Who knows all I know is that I'm up and this damn clock keeps ticking in my ear, so I gotta make my move before my timer runs out.

It's not all bad though right? I mean how complex can my life be if I make mustache jokes in my blog? So I guess I'll continue to grab the pieces and make moves, not knowing if they're the right ones or not. Who knows maybe next year you can call me a chessmen!

I will leave you with a song I made up while making my sandwich for dinner tonight.

My bologna has a first name,
it's K-R-O-G-E-R
My bologna has a second name,
it's V-A-L-U-E
Oh I love to eat it everyday,
And if you ask me why I'll say,
Cause Kroger Value has a way with C-H-E-A-PEEEE!

A book really?

So last time I was asking for the writing of a new chapter. Well little did I know I'd be not only wanting one but reading one! Yeah for those of you who know me, I'm not that big of a reader...okay well I haven't read a book since Christopher Robin was the star of the show. But I went to Chicago this weekend and I had some long lay overs and flights ahead of me in the following days. So I figured I'd try to do something to keep my mind occupied. Lately I've been doing a lot of things to keep my mind occupied but a book...never! I couldn't believe it but as I trolled through the bookstore at Love Field looking for something to wet my whistle, I didn't find any magazines that did it for me. The crosswords weren't moving me at the time. It was actually a book! So I did it, I bought A Post American World. I'm not a terrorist or anything like that now, trust me. I may be that bad word New Gingrich loves "liberal" but I'm by no means, not a patriotic person. I thought the premise of the book was quite interesting. I saw the author talk about the book on The Daily Show with John Stewart, and it sounded interesting. It is less a book about the fall of the United States and more about the rise of the rest of the world. For decades we've been preaching democracy and free trade and the like to the entire world...the author thinks it finally set in. You know like when you tell your teenager that school is important and then they don't do their homework but then in 10 years they're flipping burgers...well the rest of the world just got tired of flipping burgers. Now I'm only 80 some odd pages in but I'm actually excited to finish this book. I will keep the masses updated and...give (look of pain on my face) a book report or something later.


Oh yeah and I learned this song in the bleachers at Wrigley and you didn't HAHA!
Go Cubs Go, Go Cubs Go, Hey Chicago what do ya say? Cubs are gonna win today!

Can someone write the next chapter please?

Told you I did some neat stuff, check this link
http://www.udallas.edu/advancement/pr.cfm?NewsArticleID=3374&Cat=FA



So umm, what am I supposed to talk about now? Uh geez. So I came out here I bought a house and now I'm done with school , yeah what else am I supposed to do again?

I'm sure I've talked about "the next chapter" type stuff (if I haven't just humor me). I'm always like all "yea I get to turn the page to a new chapter of my life...it's gonna be so exciting, hooray!" What the F$CK was I thinking?

[He raises his hand emphatically] "ooh ooh call on me!"
[The blogger looks confused that someone has a questions for him] "Yes Ricky what would you like to say?"
"Um yeah I take back this whole 'getting my own life stuff', lol, I want to be 14 years old and only have soccer tryouts and geometry (the math class way way way before calculus)"
"Sorry Ricky you're --well for lack of a better word -- you're screwed!"


Sorry for the dialogue that was really just an internal monologue...confused yet? Good cause I am too. Sure all that writing a new chapter in your life stuff is true I'd love to see what my book of life has in store for me, but I just wish I was a faster reader, haha. I think I wanted a few blank pages in between school and whatever else there was in store for me. Well once again I've proved myself wrong. That whole 'nothing to do is awesome' bit was nice for a week or two, but I'm like "Shit there's nothing to do!"

It's not that I'm bored it's more like I feel stagnant. When I told my parents in late 2005 that I was going to go to Dallas "to get an education, buy a house, and work for a professional sports team" My parents seemed taken back, but in only two years I did just that. Okay great but what am I supposed to do now! Now I'm not talking about putting up rain gutters at my house (which look great, good job Ricky), or painting a room, I'm talking about big stuff. What's my next big goal?

So how bout this...I'll just sit here blogging and realizing even though I watch sports center 3 to 4 times a day I don't know anything about sports (Direct Ricky quote from a few weeks ago "It doesn't matter what seed you are this year in the playoffs everyone is so close that it's gonna be a crap shoot" -- What actually happened? 1-4 seeds advance to second round in both conferences...Screw Chris Paul). While that happens someone out there needs to hurry up and get to writing, write the next chapter of my book dammit! I have an MBA you have to listen to me now! Write...oh yah and throw in a cute blonde girl somewhere...

p.s. When did they make the weights heavier at the gym? Damn those guys!

The next 10

Well just to let any of you know that haven't been able to physically see me since the last post...I chickened out and never got a haircut. Oh well I look much faster now.


The next week and a half are gonna get pretty crazy, loose itinerary to follow:

Thursday April 10th: My last class I will ever have to attend. No tests or papers or anything like that just a group meeting to prepare for our raffle drawing on Saturday.

Friday April 11th: It's opening day at Lone Star park (horse track). Run ponies, run!

Saturday April 12th: Raffle drawing at UD and the last academic obligation I will probably ever have! Post raffle party with group. Post party party with friends.

Sunday April 13th: Hanging my TV on the wall, moving my prehistoric stove that came with the new house, and other various domesticated chores...home depot, bed bath and beyond, I don't know if there will be time!

Tuesday April 15th: Mom comes back into Dallas for some much needed help to finish off some projects around the house.

Wednesday April 16th: Work and final regular season Mavs game with Mom

Thursday April 17th: Dad and Sister get in.

Friday April 17th: Chris, Greg, Kevin, Tyler, Preston, and Cassandra get in. Holy shit...It's actually gonna happen. On this day at 7:30pm I will walk across the stage at the University of Dallas, they will proceed to give me a Masters degree and the rest of my life will soon follow.

Saturday April 18th: 4pm-Party-my house.

Sunday April 19th: a deep breath...

Wow what a ride my time in Dallas has been! 26 months ago I came here with nothing, only wanting to acquire this MBA thing I'd heard so much about. Now in 9 days I'll have that. Not only will I have the degree I came here for, but I have a home, great friends and a sense of my own fresh start. I'm sure I'll tear up a bit (that's what guys call crying) when I get my diploma or soon thereafter, but I don't think it's because I'll be sad, happy or any of the normal "crying emotions" I think I'll be exhausted. I've been on such a crash course pace for the last two years that I wouldn't be surprised if my body just gave way and I collapsed from exhaustion the second after they hand me my diploma. The feeling of relief will be overwhelming and I'm not sure how I'll handle it...but just remember I won't cry...my eyes be a bit watery or I may "tear up" but cry-NEVER! (me man, me tough)

To cut or not to cut?

Well it's been a little over a month and a lot has happened...but I'll fill you in at the end of this post. There is a more pressing issue at hand.

I am in dire need of a good hair cut and need some help with this situation. It has been roughly a month since my last dome shave and I have been presented with a "situation". Matt has also gone a long while between clippings and thinks we should have a competition to see who can go the longest without cutting their hair. I think it would be highly entertaining, and aren't chicks into the whole long hair thing now anyway?

So what do I need from you the faithful rickysroost reader? I need suggestions. If there is gonna be a bet there needs to be a loser and if there is gonna be a loser that loser needs to do something ridiculous so that everyone knows they lost. Some of the preliminary suggestions I've recieved are all something along the lines of the loser taking on a ridiculous hairstyle. Well you must realize that by "losing" me or Matt will have already cut their hair (that's how we lose) so I need something else.

Email me or post on here your suggestions and I'll take the top 3 and let the masses vote. If there aren't any worth "playing" for by Saturday, I'm off to get a haircut...so make em' good!

So what have I done in the last month...oh boy!
I just moved into my new house and I love it, this week both my bathrooms are being remodled, thanks to my very generous father.
I only have 38 more days till I graduate and I'm, for better or worse, on cruise control in school.
There is however something else you could help me with. As part of my last class at UD, my group must develop and implement an actual project for a real client. Our client is the University of Dallas' Athletic department. We are doing a fundraiser to raise money for the various things an athletic department needs. We are raffling off an ATV and a street legal scooter. I would really appreicate it if you could spare a measly $10 and help me out by buying one of our raffle tickets. If you live out of the Dallas area, the manufacturer will actually ship the merchandise to you for FREE! You can buy your tickets online at www.crusadeofdreams.org (you will need a password to access the site. Username: UD Password UD...simple but we need it that way for legal purposes). If you can however, buy the tickets from me because that makes me look a little bit better:) . If you have any other questions please call me or email me...if you don't know my cell phone number or email address, you're probably not buying a ticket anyway so I'm not posting those on here.

Love you guys, Peace!