Waiting in Memphis

Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touchdown in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain

Ok so I dont have any suede shoes and its not pouring rain... but it is misting out! And I am in Memphis airport waiting for my delayed flight back to Boston. This is my idea of a fun Friday night!

Well I just finished my first solo trip in the great town of Batesville, Arkansas. It is kind of nice to walk around as a "business traveler" but this also makes me laugh because I know I'm really just a kid. I'm learning the little tips about travel, and the whole process is really not as nerve-wracking as it was even 6 months ago.

I was quite nervous before my first meeting with my customers Thursday morning. I met with the CIO who asked me to sit in his office and speak with him for a few minutes. I felt like I was in an interview again except this time I was telling him the strengths and weaknesses of our software. Good thing they've already bought the software and they have no choice but to learn how to use it!

I finally met with the CFO and about 5 other members of the accounting staff to begin training. Of course our meeting was in a conference room with a temperature attained only by hell. So as I fought beads of sweat from my already glistening forehead I attempted to articulate all the things I've learned over the past 5 months. To help things, they wanted to know about some advanced functionality of our software that I really had no idea how it worked. I'm sure they kept thinking "who is this kid that they sent?" Overall things went well and I survived the pressure. The artificial appearance of confidence that I normally display to my customers was stripped from me several times and I was humbled as I replied "I don't know but I can find out for you."

On a much more positive note, the weather was gorgeous and I got to rent a new Mustang! Although there was nothing to do in this part of Arkansas (and I would imagine every other part of the state), I enjoyed a nice long cruise with the windows down, playing some old Black Crowes, and finding funny patterned cows. This is the best picture I have for right now before I get some off my digital camera:


Well thats the basic summary of my trip to Arkansas. In a few weeks I get to travel to San Antonio again which should be nice. I'll have to think of new conversation topics for my card rides with my 60 year old female coworker...

"So can you get us a seniors discount to some Spurs tickets?" ....

Getting Ready for Arkansas!

I'm leaving tomorrow for Little Rock, Arkansas on my first solo business trip. The best part is this great article I found about the area I'm visiting! The photo below is less than an hour away from the hospital I'm visiting.

Maybe I should bring some floaties!

clipped from abcnews.go.com Arkansas Prepares for Worst Flooding in 25 Years An aerial view of flooded farm land is seen, Friday, March 21, 2008 in Newport, Ark. In Arkansas, residents of the tiny prairie community of Georgetown along the White River were warned to leave the area Friday after forecasters said a backwater slough would cut off access by late evening and leave the them stranded well into next week. (Mike Wintroath/AP Photo) More Photos

you are what you do

This past Sunday I was pleasantly surprised when I heard there was a guest speaker for church. I thought this was a bit odd especially for a Palm Sunday, but I was excited once I heard who this individual was.

Thom Black, formerly an executive pastor of one of the largest churches in America (Willow Creek), has been in our area for almost a year. Thom is involved in the development of the new major motion-picture studio company that is already under way in my hometown of Plymouth, MA, appropriately named Plymouth Rock Studios. It has been said by some that this will become "Hollywood East Coast" because LA has become so overcrowded and expensive to support the entire film industry.

It is already great to be called "America's Hometown" here in Plymouth, but the idea of a full-blown "Hollywood" studio being built right down the street from us just blows my mind! The final details are being worked out between the studio development team and state committees, but its looking like this is a done deal. They even plan on creating a semi-fictional TV show about a studio execs trying to build a studio in Plymouth! How cool is that??

Wow I need to calm myself down....

Anyways, not only is Thom's participation in this project a reason to listen to him speak, but he also gave a captivating message. If you were looking for a very structured message that could be outlined with lots of scripture references, then you may have lost your mind... This may have been one reason why I was actually interested in what he had to say. He prefaced his sermon by saying this would be the one message he would give if he were told this was his last time at the pulpit.


[attempting to condense an hour message into a few paragraphs...]


The point of his message was "you are what you do." He pointed out that when asked the question "who are you?", most people answer "well I'm an engineer" or "I'm a cab driver" or "I am a high school teacher." But this isn't who we are... thats the job that we hold to earn money to continue living so we can be who we really are in our free time.

He gave the example of a small child. An average 4 year old in a good home does not wake up in the morning and worry if they will be fed. The only thing on a small child's mind is "what will I do today?" It isn't until a child begins to go to school that they are pressured to live the way other people tell them to live. After that, life is a vicious cycle of trying to fulfill other peoples expectations (teacher, boss, spouse, kids).

I'm not exactly sure how he tied all this in, but it clicked in my head somehow. Since I have started living in Newton and working full time, I have had so much free time on my hands. Nobody is telling me what to do and I don't have any commitments besides my job. My attempts to socialize with people in this area has just led me to frustration. I have spent countless hours watching tv lately and just wasting time.

What does this mean about me? Is this who I am? Am I just passing time while I wait for the "real" part of life to come around? Am I simply surviving and just going to work because "this is what people do"? Its hard to deny that there is a deep feeling of emptiness after joining the corporate world and entering adulthood. The phrase that keeps going through my head the past day continues to eat at my complacency and apathy towards life.

"You are what you do."

Becoming Domesticated

Last night I reached a major milestone in my bachelor life:

I successfully learned how to sew on three buttons to several dress shirts.

Next week maybe I can attempt to bake a cake or learn how to knit a sweater...