slacking has it's benefits

today was a very important meeting with some very high up folks and was the culmination of the past 2 months worth of effort. my responsibility was to understand the technical details and deliver a demonstration of the product. while i was changing from powerpoint to a desktop application, the background of my laptop was revealed. it was this picture. As it turns out, one of the very high-up folks is a recovering waterski junky. The other is a boating addict. I was complimented on the lean in my slalom and we discussed when the boats were going to hit the water next year. Is there really a better way to end a meeting? So my slacker summer of fine tuning my waterskiing ability was not without it's benefits afterall.

Tim, thanks for a great ego-satisfying photo.

the kinky twinkie

in spite of my bitch-fest of a previous post, this week was not without it's moments of entertainment. on friday, after work, i went to restaurant depot to pick up the ton-o-shit that i normally buy there. i had the loaner car, a ford edge, from the dealer. i filled it...completely. i shit you not. cargo hold, back seat, front seat, this thing was packed like timmy's butt wound (sorry tim, couldn't resist). when i returned to the dealer to pick up my now healed explorer, a light crowd of mechanics/desk jockeys gathered to watch the chocolate store version of the clown car as i loaded the escape. i had warned them that i may be picking up a few things...maybe i underestimated.

second moment of entertainment:
satuday at the store, two older women came in (45 years old it turns out). they were poking around asking about this that and the other thing when they came to the twinkies. now keep in mind that I was in rare form on saturday and damn near anything was coming out of my mouth. it has been a while since i've dealt with that many customers and i was on people-overload. the lady asked if the twinkies were any good. I smiled and nodded.
"really?"
"yea, i normally don't like twinkies" (bigger smile)
"that much huh?"
"for sure!" really big smile.
"did you get kinky with the twinkie?"
holding the really big smile: "no...but it sounds like a pretty good idea."
"oooh...my...(fanning herself)...is it hot in here?"
"yup." (it was 80 degrees...but i'm not sure that's what she was talking about)
"i'll take two."

the banter continued through the transaction and as she walked out, i ran to the back room to laugh my fool head off. now before you go and tell me that i'm all talk (i'm well aware, thank you), i did make the sale and upsold her by at least $10. and hey, an ego boost doesn't hurt anybody now does it?

how to turn your week on it's ear

this week has been a little bit hectic. it's christmas season and two of the store folks have left. that leaves me shorthanded and scrambling for coverage for a couple weeks.

to make things even more fun, I got committed to some last minute training which took me out of the office for two days that I really couldn't afford to lose. throw in the words "eight hundred million dollar contract" and everyone is clamoring to see what exactly my demo systems can do. it's kind of fun being the center of attention but it's hard to keep track of everything that's going on and still get work done. More fun: my transmission went wonky on me AGAIN on friday morning. I limped in to the dealer for a loaner so i could get on my way.

and finally, the trump card. today at the store our cash registers went down. normally, i can fix them...but right now, they're mega-fucked.