Here are some New Year’s resolutions for myself:

• Starting in mid 2008, I kind of became more business-focused, both in my personal writing and business demeanor. And it’s not making me happy - I feel like I’m not quite “me”. I will change that. Look for me to get a lot looser in tone / demeanor / what I write about / etc.
  
  
• As part of this change, I will probably post a little more here, but maybe some shorter posts, and not always try to say something meaningful (in a pure business sense, which is what I was trying to do.) I am also interested in personal / entrepreneurial / relationship / business success, and will talk about that a little more. I live a good, satisfying life here, and I can help others get there.
  
  
• I also like larger, macro-type issues, and I kind of struggle with this. I’m not a corporate guy, but I can help larger companies, too, because I see things they miss.  But I’m not a corporate guy… it’s a paradox. I don’t know if I can do much about this, but I’ll try.
  
  
• I should take up a sport… well, maybe not. I suspect the next time I actually run, it’ll be because someone larger than me is chasing me with a meat cleaver or something. Which, happily, isn’t the norm.
  
  
• We’re going on a cruise in May. This time, I will not get drunk on sail away… Silly resolution, but necessary. I do have an excuse for last time… see, it was our first cruise, it was festive, and six bottles for the price of five (after I already had a few) sounded good. But it was also rough seas that night, and being drunk and seasick is really, really unpleasant (trust me).  I was fine the next day (got my sea legs), but I’d rather not do that again.
  
  
• I will start another income stream. Right now, most of my income is tied to copywriting (books pay astonishingly little), and I want to change that to some degree. I have a few ideas, and one will surface.
  
  
• I have had trouble sleeping the last two years. But taking stuff to help me sleep is starting to bother me - I just know it’s not the optimum solution. So I will tackle this (I’m actually quite good at stuff like this - once I decide to do something, I almost always do it.) This is all in my head - when I go on vacation, I sleep fine with no help. 

Ok, that’s a good list - I can live with this.

Happy New Year, everyone.

I’m a Time Warner Cable customer, and I’m not happy with what I am reading.

First they fought with the NFL Network, and as of now, remain the only major cable provider who doesn’t offer the channel (a channel your humble author would really like.) Now they are getting into it with FOX. There’s a decent chance that FOX could go dark on 1/1 for all TWC customers (this means I might miss more football.)

Time Warner Cable’s argument is basically this: “we want to protect our subscribers from increasing fees”.

That’s a sappy sentiment, for sure, except that I don’t believe it for a second. Am I really to believe that TWC would stand alone on an island like they are to protect little old me??? I seriously, seriously doubt that. TWC wants to protect their profits, and wants the NFL Network and FOX to charge them less (and they hide behind “well, if NFL and FOX knuckle, we won’t have to raise fees. Aren’t we swell?”)

Now, this could be a nice “little guy stands up to the big guy” story, except for one little thing: Time Warner is in the business of providing me programming. They aren’t in the business of watching my wallet. Sooner or later, any choice for television comes down to channels/services provided. We’re probably talking less than $2 a month for subscribers. Believe me, nobody chooses cable TV providers for $2 a month. They choose based on other factors (channel lineup being king.) TWC is gambling we want our $2 instead. They are going to lose.

They are standing alone here, and it’s going to cost them. Don’t they understand that the public won’t see FOX (or whomever) as the villian here? People aren’t going to say “FOX abandoned Time Warner” - they are going to say “Time Warner isn’t getting me FOX“. And then they will switch to someone else.

I’m baffled how they can be so blind. But hey, even the insane guy thinks everyone else is insane.

Maybe this is a trick question, and maybe it isn’t.

Ok, real quick… which has more calories - a pint of skim milk, or a pint of Guinness Stout? Pretend it’s for a million bucks, and you have one second to answer. Again, maybe it’s a trick, and maybe it isn’t. Just go with your first impression for the mil… Which one?

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It was a trick. If you guessed the skim milk, you were wrong.

 mmmmm…. Guinness

Happy New Year!!

I don’t understand how companies can improve a product in one area, and break it in others. Because, you know, that isn’t an improvement at all.

Being a big movie fan (I have like 900+ DVD’s in my collection), I take an interest in news about the video business and the like. And I’ve been reading that Blu Ray sales are getting softer. It’s almost as if the public really doesn’t like them all that much. And executives are puzzled as to why.

Well, here’s my .02 - they aren’t that big a leap. And they are a significant downgrade in other areas. I have a Playstation 3 (which is supposedly one of the best Blu Ray players available) and I’ve bought more than my share of Blu Rays to play in it, so I feel qualified to talk about it (note: whether I feel qualified to discuss something usually never enters into it anyway… just thought you’d want to know that.)

Ok, back to Blu-Ray. Here are the strengths: The picture looks a little better (and in some cases, a lot better.) And some of the new online type features are neat. Those are largely what they are selling you with Blu-Ray.

But there are three annoyances that make me pause when reaching for a Blu-Ray:

Blu-Ray Annoyance #1 - It doesn’t remember where I stopped- Ok, I usually like to watch a movie the whole way through. But it’s not always possible. So I hit stop, and will come back to it later. 9 out of 10 Blu Ray discs have to start over. Seemingly every DVD in my collection can remember where I left off - even after a year or two!! Why can’t Blu-Ray? I honestly don’t care what the reason is - this is a massive fail. 

Blu-Ray Annoyance #2 - Blu-Ray’s have VERY inconsistent sound -The explosions (etc) are very loud on most Blu-Rays. And the dialog is painfully low. I have to constantly see-saw the volume level, unless I want to wake up Maryellen (I don’t). This happens regardless of equipment used and/or sound settings. Again, massive fail.

Blu-Ray Annoyance #3 - Too much pre-movie crap- DVD’s used to do this as well, but Blu-Ray’s have taken it to an entirely new level. Can I please just watch the friggen movie???? 

I can’t believe that untold millions were spent on making Blu-Ray the chosen format of the future, and they missed/ignored these painfully simple things. Things that an inferior technology handled with ease. It’s a marketing/design goof that I would have pointed out in an afternoon.

Well, two service people (one clerk, and one waiter.)

Yesterday, Maryellen and I went to the diner. We love the local diner here - really good food, very reasonable, and usually good service.

Tonight we go in, get seated and then… nothing. We had menus, and were ready to order, but a server never came. I guess the person who handled our section just wasn’t on the ball. I could see three waitresses talking, and I made eye contact, but nobody came. 5 minutes or so go by, and I’m ready to leave (I never complain about stuff like this - I just leave.)

The waiter handling the next table notices me reaching for my coat, and he says “nobody helped you?” to which I reply “no”. He sighed, looked over at the group of waitresses, and then said “nevermind, I’ll handle you guys”.

And he did - superbly. I tipped him $10 for a $20 check.

Part of the reason I tipped him so was because I really like that in any worker, in any profession. It’s how I am personally in any job I ever had. He saw a problem, and instead of passing it off, he took ownership of it. He didn’t worry about “they don’t pay me enough” or “that’s not my area” or whatever. He saw a problem that was solvable by him, and he solved it. People like that will go far in life.

Then today, I had the exact opposite experience.

I go to Lowes (a home improvement store for those that don’t know.) I needed a new shop-vac for the garage. I go to the display, and figure the 12 Gallon one would suffice. But there aren’t any there… there’s a hole where the boxes for this model should be. I look up, and waaaay on the top shelf (a good 20-30′ up) I see a bunch of them. In the next aisle, there’s one of those movable stairway/ladder type things that can be used to get these down. All I need is a clerk…

There are three within 20′ of me, all hanging out and talking. I approach and ask if someone could get me a shop vac down. They said they’d get someone. They call on the phone. 5 minutes go by, and nobody comes. I go back to the three, and ask again. One guy says “well, I called someone”, as if telling me that should satisfy me (it didn’t).  Finally, I said “screw it” and went to the ladder myself and started to bring it over to the shop vac aisle - I’ll do this myself.

One of the three (the guy who “called” someone) sees what I am doing and runs over yelling “hey hey… don’t touch that” to which I said “well, I’m not waiting anymore - I’ll do it myself”. Clearly annoyed, he says “fine! I’ll do it” and grudgingly wheels the ladder over and gets me a shop vac.

So he brings it down and I say “why didn’t you just do that five minutes ago?” He just gives me “the look” and walks away, pissed because… I dunno. Because he had to work?  

The contrast between these two service experiences is telling. One guy saw a problem and fixed it. The other got annoyed and essentially said “not my job”. I’ll bet almost anything that, regardless of where they end up, the waiter out-earns the Lowes guy ten times over during the next thirty years.  People who solve problems are always in demand. People who hide are the first to get laid off.

Now, if you know me, you know I have had my problems with companies, etc. And I don’t advocate just doing all the work or staying late for the company, etc. But, despite how I’ve always felt about companies, I was also always a problem solver, and I admire that trait in others.

To me, this is a character issue, and is not something that can be taught - you either think this way, or you don’t.