Mixed Messages

(Yes I am really behind on posting. Sorry!)

So on the forth of July I saw something really confusing. It was a Hummer, but it was flying an American flag. Maybe it was an attempt at humour, or maybe it was to make people stop and think (or blog as the case might be). To me though it just seemed like a mixed message. If you are driving a Hummer, shouldn't you really be flying an Al-Qaeda flag*? Now that would help reinforce who your allegiance.

This leads into an article in The Washington Post about a man who had his Hummer trashed by some group of people. (oddly enough someone labeled those who damaged the vehicle as eco-terrorists, when it is fairly obvious that it is the other way around. It is the morons who drive Hummers that are terrorizing the ecosystem). The article pointed out that the owner wanted it part because the company he is starting is "image based". Another article then goes on to say that rather than learning from this experience that this might not be such a great image, he is going to fix it up and move out of the District.

-- Andy

* It seems that there is a flag of Jihad, which I guess is the closest thing to an Al Qadea flag. From what I can tell they did not waste money on consultants for their logo or colours, or fonts. there are a lot of groups that could learn a thing or two from that.

Addendum

I want to follow up on a prior post

I went out to lunch with a number of co-workers to celebrate my anniversary. It was good to see that someone recognized that food and spending time with great co-workers is meaningful to me. I greatly appreciated this lunch.

Again, I don't want to suggest that I am not appreciative of the cash card gift, but rather show others that there are other ways show appreciation.

Thanks

-- Andy

Why Even Bother

Yes, it has been a long time since I posted. Of course since you are using an RSS reader, it doesn't really matter, because it alerts you to my new posts.

Anyway, I wanted to comment on my July 4 experience. After being kicked off the National Mall (technically not allowed on the Mall) for a rain storm (a grand 0.1 inch (0.25 cm)), I headed home to make dinner rather than spend it at one of the regional offerings on the Mall (yes, I am sure the vendors were just as pleased as I was to be kicked off the Mall).

I came back to the Mall for the fireworks. But what caught my attention more than the fireworks were the cell phones. Yes, rather than watch the main attraction there were people yakking away on their phones.

I don't own one of these infernal devices, so I just don't get it. It seems that people are more connected to their phones and therefore totally disconnected to the world around them. I know that we all have times when we want to not pay attention to the world going around us, but I have never seen it manifested as well as when I see someone jabbering away at their phone. I can not figure out what could be so important to talk about that you would need to disconnect from friends or family around you to attend to your cell phone.

Even worse is the idea of traveling somewhere for a specific event (such as the fireworks) only to not pay attention to it.

It's Not About the Money

You can forget everything they teach you about in business school that says it is about the money -- it isn't.

Case in point. I just received a very generous gift from my employer for my anniversary with the company, in the form of a money gift card. It was very nice, and I do appreciate it. I certainly don't want to give the impression that I am some spoiled brat who is complaining about a gift (I don't want to be compared to this girl)

But I also got a wonderful gift for the same reason from an individual who recently left the company. A smaller dollar value was spent, but it was a care package which showed how much the person knows me. It really was much more meaningful and it really brightened my day.

Horridscope - Predicted

This one goes out to a regular reader of the blog who has been telling me this for a long time (but here it was in the horridscope section of the paper today):

"You're working hard, but those who don't understand your work won't think so."