Happy 4th Birthday Buddy
The reason I write in my blog is to connect with people. Not just from one segment of life, but from many. And as part of the thread of stories I try to share experiences and observations in leadership, volunteerism, wellness, as well as some stories that are simply personal experiences that fall in none [...]
Road Tour highlights video
It has been both a long and fast month, and the travel finally caught up with me as you can see from my missing blog entries for the past few weeks. But a few topics are screaming through my mind, from the current financial marketplace (and opp’s that it provides) and our future trends to [...]
Winding Down (the Road Tour, that is)
We left Jax early enough, around 8 a.m., and caught a 10 a.m. flight that had a layover in Philly. Now, when I kidded about foreshadowing in a previous post and how Stephen was forced to wolf down some rather unwholesome (but probably tasty) Bob Evans food due to scheduling problems, it probably was an [...]
From the Road: Behind the Scenes
(Video footage from the road)
Ten to Jax
Sunday was supposed to be our day of rest with no meetings this day. But that didn’t quite happen. We awoke around 7 a.m. and started to the airport a little after 8 a.m., spent most of the day in airports and on two flights and arrived in Knoxville, Tennessee around 4 p.m. After getting [...]
The Cowboys vs. the Longhorns
Oklahoma City had a great meeting last spring with over 200 people at a luncheon event. This week’s event was a little trickier: a Friday night at 7 p.m. during high school football season. And the Oklahoma State Cowboys were set to play the Texas Longhorns the following day. About 125 people still showed up [...]
From the Desert to the Rockies
I love the desert and the deep brown earthy soil of the Arizona landscape — perhaps odd to those who long for a bit more green, which is particularly abundant in the Northwest. So landing in Phoenix started my heart thumping a bit more vigorously. And walking off the airplane and feeling the dry warmth [...]
Sacramento to Orange County
Tuesday, we hit up both Sacramento and Orange County, Calif. — a luncheon and evening meeting, respectively. For some reason, visiting two cities in one day and giving two presentations leads to a very different flavor and level of emotional investment than if we had just one city per day. I like two-a-days, but they’re [...]
A Whirlwind of a Week–from Singapore to Reno
In the last week I feel I’ve been guilty of blogglect. It’s basically the neglect of a blog. A common condition not easily managed even with a superstar nutritional supplement like Xtra and often caused by busy schedules, lots of traveling, little sleep, much excitement, and quite a few meetings and phone calls with a [...]
M—– J-.’s Kickin’ it with us on the Road Tour!
By intention, I’ve not blogged about the financial markets this week. Maybe next week, but the news is evident enough. Once you incorporate partisan politics and media sensationalization, it gets a bit overdrawn despite it being among the most critical issues on the mind of not just America but most countries across the World. So [...]
The City of Broad Shoulders
Chicago…While often known as “The Windy City” in doing some reading I learned it used to also be referred to as the “City of Broad Shoulders”. The latter reference as a result of its strong industrial focus well into the early 1900′s and was referenced by a poem written by Carl Sandburg in 1916. Which, [...]
A Tale of Two Cities
First, I am sorry it’s taken me so long to update my blog. The Road Tour, work, and then family activities simply caught up with me…But I’ve missed writing, and am getting back in the groove as we progress through our Journey of Renewal together and finish up the final cities of the Univera Road [...]
The Drive up the Coast
Today we drove up the Coast, from New Jersey to Maine. A perfect day for a road trip, mid 70′s with clear and sunny skies. About a five hour drive, but it went quickly with the good conversation. When you get to know someone really well, they needn’t speak words to tell you how they’re [...]
My friend, “Stephen DVD”
Upon arriving in Newark, NJ Regan and I parted paths for a while, he headed up to the hotel and I went to have dinner with my parents. It was great to see them again; the last time was probably six months ago. I owe a lot to both of them. As a former New [...]
Welcome to the South
This evening we were welcomed to the South in Knoxville, TN. As a reminder, Stephen has made the trip home to Seattle so for the leg between Dallas and New Jersey it’s just Regan and me…But, we do have a Stephen DVD, which while isn’t a replacement for the real thing is still pretty good. [...]
Boiled Peanuts
Okay, it keeps getting better and better. It really does. That’s the beauty of momentum, and also the byproduct of great leadership and amazing people. And then sometimes you add these things together with all the other right dynamics that sometimes occur on occasion and you have a nearly perfect evening. Tonight’s meeting was among [...]
Dallas/FORT WORTH
I’ve capitalized Fort Worth because at this evening’s event Regan kept saying how great it was to be in Dallas. But, truly, we were actually having the meeting in Fort Worth. And, even truer still, in the scheme of things this is not a distinction that will make much difference in any of our lives. [...]
The Heartland, OKC
Today we flew from Denver into Oklahoma City, it was our first time here and OKC reminded me very much of my time living in the Midwest–Ohio and Indiana. It’s really a great city, such nice people. It was quite a comfortable, slightly humid and pleasantly warm late-Spring day. And to my amazement, when Regan [...]
Sunny Days in Denver
Denver has something like 364 days of sunshine a year. We came on day number 365. Okay, that’s a little hyperbole. Maybe it’s something like 310 days of sunshine a year. Regardless of the clouds and off/on snow in May, our brief time together in Denver was fantastic. Stephen came to Denver a day early, [...]
CherNINske in Phoenix
Friday morning I woke up early without a lot of sleep (the blogging generally happens very late at night!), granted I had the time to sleep a bit more but I was craving one more walk on the California coast before we departed. Regan and Stephen did the same thing, funny enough. Doesn’t it, in [...]
The Singing Telegram!
At last night’s fantastic (but not lavish) L.A. hotel the beds were really amazing, enough to mention in a blog. So we slept pretty well and hit the road around 9am for our drive down to San Diego. Now, in my writings I’ve only been able to share a fraction of the stories and events [...]
California Dreamin’
On Wednesday morning, at a reasonable hour and without alarm clocks (some of you will get this inside joke) we awoke in Emeryville to head over to breakfast in Berkeley at a crunchy, natural foods place. Food was fantastic, loved the ambiance. We sat outside in a rustic California-style courtyard with the sun pouring onto [...]