The problem with the turns in life is that, even when you see the curve in the road, you never know for sure whats on the other side.

I’m having one of those days. Due to the fact that I can’t be positive who reads my blog, I can’t reveal details right now. I hope to know something firm next week. Until then, please just pray for wisdom for both Ann and I as we make some tough decisions. I think this will turn out to be a positive experience for us, but I want to be sure we remain in the center of God’s will.

So, Ann and I managed to get away to the beach this weekend (Much love to our parents and our sister for keeping Micah). We are visiting Destin Florida and having a great time.

My writing is disjointed. Let me explain why:

I just ate the BEST meal I have ever eaten. We visited a restaurant called “The Melting Pot”, which is a fondue joint that, while pricey, does not disappoint. We went with the 4 course option, which actually turned out to be way too much food, but the best value by far. A cheddar cheese fondue appetizer followed by a great salad, and a fondue pot with the cooking medium of your choice (everything from citrus based carribean flavoring to deep fat fry) We chose Mojo (that’s mo-ho) which blended well with the Pork, Jerk Sirloin, Vanilla Rum Chicken, shrimp, butternut squash ravioli and Filet Mingion. Yep… it comes with all of that, plus veggies and 7 different types of sauces and it was all raw when it arrived at the table ready for us to cook.

The white chocolate amaretto fondue to top it off was served with Strawberries, marshmellows rolled in either graham cracker or oreo cookie crumbs, banannas, pound cake, fudge brownies, cheesecake and rice krispie treat.

One warning, save up your money. The tab for this little excursion came to over $100 for 2 people after tip.

It was fantastic, well worth the money and the 2.5 hours it took to do it. (Yep, we ate for 2.5 hours… it was glorious)

Unless you A) Make minimum wage or B) Your boss comes by today to tell you about your new $.70/hour raise, I would like to wish you happy pay cut day!

This is the day that our wonderful government decided that all of us mean, selfish people who don’t make minimum wage just keep sticking it to these poor underpaid people and decided to take money from us. Don’t get me wrong, this is just one of the many ways our fine representatives have helped us out.

I’ll explain this principle again, and I am certain it won’t be the last time: When you increase the price it costs to make and sell goods, the prices you pay go up. Businesses will NOT take a loss because the minimum wage goes up. They pass that cost increase right on through on every cheeseburger, sack of potatoes or shirt you buy. This means I have less purchasing power for the dollar I make, and the people on minimum wage who we purport to help are back in the same situation within 6 months because they have to buy the same goods at the same prices as everyone else.

So, happy pay-cut day! I hope everyone enjoys it!

For some time now, I have been dealing with a work dilemma. The problem is simple: My focus is on producing results quantified by uptime, availability and data security while trying to balance user friendliness and helping users get work done with the least hassle. Sounds great, right? The problem is that doing that for a growing company means that I don’t have time for PR or office politics and it becomes really easy to hide in my office and get my work done. Then, because nothing is going wrong and I am not flying from office to office in my IT Superman cape, the perception is that I’m sitting in my office writing blogs (Ok… maybe there is SOME validity to that, but you look back through and see how often I post, I’m obviously not doing a whole lot of that) or I am not friendly or “customer service oriented”. (As an aside, that term makes me insane.)

So my dilemma is this: How do I mold my co-worker’s perceptions? Here are some ideas, and why I have disqualified them:

• Write an IT Newsletter: This one has some merit. It’s a great way to put out a one-sheet on a regular basis that details new features, upcoming projects and maybe a fun article on some area of life other than work. The problems? 1) Finding the time to actually write the articles given the situation listed in the first paragraph 2) Compelling content is hard to write. Most people want to turn on their computer and just do their work. They don’t care about this great new feature that patches their machine and keeps it secure or how the new spam filter is catching 3-4,000 messages a day that they don’t have to hassle with. 3) Not coming across as arrogant or “tooting my own horn”, even though in reality that’s what I’m trying to do.
• Get out in the hallway and talk it up: I have had some limited success with this method, but the time constraints make it prohibitive. There is also the balance between making small talk and getting involved in the constant office drama that every business deals with.
• Morning rounds - Basically, I walk around to each person’s office and make myself visible, make sure things are going smoothly and update them on anything I’m doing that is relevant to their interests. This is also a good time to fix small annoyance issues they may be having. Overall, this is the method I have had the most success with. This method is pretty good in the fall and winter, but during the spring and summer so many people are on vacation that my morning rounds don’t actually make that much contact. The downside is similar to the hallway solution: getting involved in drama.

So, there is a window into my ever-running mind this morning. That’s what I have swirling in my head today.

Just a quick note to my readers that I am in an odd musical mood.

I’m listening to old Randy Travis (On the Other Hand, Diggin Up Bones, etc.)

This has been your Musical ADD warning.