Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080823 - Duncansville, PA
Plane, train or automobile: Matrix. This car sips gas - I got 37.3 mpg on this trip!
Mission: Management Training for 12 Store Managers.
The One with The Talker.
This was quite the talkative group. One manager liked to monopolize the conversation and say the same thing over and over. I was using all of my facilitator tricks to minimize his talk time without completely shutting him down, and this guy just kept talking! I spent the first break trying to figure out what else I could do, and was ready for my last ditch attempt when several participants came back early and said "Hey, we told XXXXX to cool it. He is wasting our time saying the same thing over and over and there is nothing that anybody here can do about it". Problem solved!
I had forgotten that groups will many times discipline themselves - I was glad that the correction came from them so that I could maintain his trust with me as a facilitator. In the end, it worked out well because he was great at summarizing the key talking points, which meant that one of their own was telling them how they could use the skills. Much more powerful that way!
Number of human interactions: 17. Had to include various waitresses, etc in the count.
State(s) visited: WV, MD (for about 100 yard), PA
City visited: Duncansville, PA
Interesting fact about this city: They have a Tijuana Flats! You may have figured out by now that I reeeeaaaaalllyy like burritos, and frequent Moes, Chipotle, etc. while on the road. Tijuana Flats is high on my list, and I thought that they were mainly in Central Florida. The founder is a UCF grad, so I have to support a fellow alum.
Halpert says: A little taste of Florida... in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania.
Mission: Management Training for 12 Store Managers.
The One with The Talker.
This was quite the talkative group. One manager liked to monopolize the conversation and say the same thing over and over. I was using all of my facilitator tricks to minimize his talk time without completely shutting him down, and this guy just kept talking! I spent the first break trying to figure out what else I could do, and was ready for my last ditch attempt when several participants came back early and said "Hey, we told XXXXX to cool it. He is wasting our time saying the same thing over and over and there is nothing that anybody here can do about it". Problem solved!
I had forgotten that groups will many times discipline themselves - I was glad that the correction came from them so that I could maintain his trust with me as a facilitator. In the end, it worked out well because he was great at summarizing the key talking points, which meant that one of their own was telling them how they could use the skills. Much more powerful that way!
Number of human interactions: 17. Had to include various waitresses, etc in the count.
State(s) visited: WV, MD (for about 100 yard), PA
City visited: Duncansville, PA
Interesting fact about this city: They have a Tijuana Flats! You may have figured out by now that I reeeeaaaaalllyy like burritos, and frequent Moes, Chipotle, etc. while on the road. Tijuana Flats is high on my list, and I thought that they were mainly in Central Florida. The founder is a UCF grad, so I have to support a fellow alum.
Halpert says: A little taste of Florida... in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
15 Years of Wedded Bliss
The Travel Wife and I celebrated 15 years of marriage on August 14th and decided to host a pool party / bbq with friends. We ended up with about 30 people hanging out on the back deck watching the Travel Kids and friends frolic in the pool while I worked the grill for about 3 hours straight. No one left hungry!
Travel Wife and I made it through 15 years for several reasons:
Travel Wife and I made it through 15 years for several reasons:
- I am good at starting something and she is good at finishing something. So I get us going and just about the time I am ready to call it quits, she pushes us to the finish.
- We both learned early on in our marriage that you should edify your spouse - especially to other people. When I worked in a store, the cashiers loved the fact that when my wife called I always said "Hi, Gorgeous". I still call her that to this day. Christmas time is a great time to work in my department because Travel Wife goes into "super baking mode" which means cookies and brownies almost daily for my coworkers. I tell people that my wife is like Michael Jordan (only not bald, or black, or particularly skilled at basketball) - just an all around awesome wife. I tell them that when in "super baking mode", she is like Michael Jordan in the playoffs - a seemingly impossible increase in greatness and ability.
- We enjoy the same TV shows, movies, books, etc. There is no "I want to watch my show..." fight - we just have to decide if we want to watch House, Chuck, Heroes, CSI, The Office, Sarah Connor Chronicles or Magic basketball.
- We share our money. None of this "my money pays for this, and your money pays for that" crap. Even though I have always supplied most of the income (and all of it for several years), we have always paid for everything out of one account. What's ours is ours.
- We don't use the D-word - divorce. We never use that as a threat to manipulate the other. It's not on the table.
- We have a strong faith. We study our faith and learn from each other all the time. I pray every day that God will help me be the husband she needs to follow His plan for her life.
- We just like being around each other. Some times, it's just sitting next to each other while we read and other times it takes a conscious effort to engage in that "hard" conversation about money or health or other life issues.
She has a blog where you can see actual photos from the ceremony. You will also learn more about my "Clark Kent" persona - who I am when I am not traveling the United States.
Now I have to get to work on the next 15 years....
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080816 - Williamsport, PA
Plane, train or automobile: Matrix. This car is awesome - we went to get a small refrigerator for a party we had planned and ended buying several other items as well. We got out to the Matrix and realized that the back cargo area had some bottled water, a case of Mike's Hard Lemonade and some stuff for my upcoming work trip in it. Here is what we squeezed into the Matrix:
- Travel Man
- Travel Wife
- Travel Kids (2)
- A 2.7 cubic foot refrigerator
- Two boxes containing training manuals
- Case of water
- Case of Mike's Hard Lemonade
- Small bag of grass seed
- Large back of seed mulch to put over the grass seed
- A large cast iron skillet and pan combo
Also on this trip, I cashed in my Moe's Passport and am now the proud owner of my very own Moes T-Shirt!
Mission: Management Training in Williamsport, PA
Number of human interactions: 15! Finally, a decent sized class! I was getting worried after The One with Two People.
State(s) visited: PA
City visited: Williamsport, PA
Interesting fact about this city: Home of the Little League World Series. It started the day after I left, so I was going out as most people were coming in.
I stayed at a quaint, cozy hotel in downtown Williamsport - the Genetti Hotel. Let me put the description into common terms for you: quaint = hasn't been updated for 50 years; cozy = the smallest hotel room I have ever been in. I opened the door to my room and noticed that the door juuuussst cleared the bed. To my right was a bed, dresser and TV. I had to turn sideways to get between the dresser and bed to get to the window air conditioner. To my left was a desk, closet, armchair and bathroom. I could put one foot in the bathroom and touch my bed at the same time. I could sit in the armchair and put my feet up on the bed (or on the desk, or reach the sink). Now in fairness to the Genetti, I did book the cheapest room they had and the map on the door indicated that the other 30 or so rooms per floor were much larger. You get what you pay for.
I also had the opportunity to try a sticky bun from Mr. Sticky's. If you have never had one, I would suggest not eating for several days before trying one (Michael Phelps would have trouble eating one in a single sitting, and he eats 12,000 calories a day). This delicious concoction weighs about 2 pounds and makes a dent in the plate if you drop it. Serious sticky bun!
Halpert says: I am still trying to finish my sticky bun - it is bigger than me!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080809 - Minneapolis Part II
Plane, train or automobile: I spent the weekend prior to this workshop in South Dakota visiting my family, so there is a flight involved (just not on SkyHigh Airlines). My rental car was a very appliance like Kia Spectra - 4 wheels, 4 doors, a seat and a steering wheel.
Mission: Mangement Training. Boy, did I make an assumption that came back to bite me! When we had originally booked this class, it was going to be a combination of two divisions with half of each division going one month and the other half of each division going the following month (this class). I assumed that both divisions were sending all their managers. The division managers wanted to make a change and have each division attend as a group - no problem for me as I had already booked both trips. Last month in Minneapolis, I had one full division and was looking forward to working with the second group. The first day of class arrived and I was all set up and ready to go. I was chatting with a couple of management Team Members when the DM asked if I wanted to get started. Lo and behold, it was 9 a.m.!
Me: "Where is everyone?" I was looking at the two (2) people sitting in the room.
Him: "This is it."
Me: "There's only two."
Him: "Yep."
Me: "You remember how this works, right? I need at least 3 people to form one skill practice group..."
Him: "I'll sit in."
Me: "Are you sure you want to do this? We could save some meeting room expense, lodging expense and rental car expense and let these two get back to their stores."
Him: "They made the commitment. Let's do it"
So my previous low of 7 participants has been eclipsed by this class - hereafter known as "The One with Two People" (extra bonus points if you can tell me what popular TV show named each episode "The One...." (Travel Wife should let both of my other readers have a chance to answer first)).
I learned a lot adapting the course to two participants, and ended up having a successful session.
I also had the opportunity to have dinner with the attendees and a spouse, after which we went to Starbucks (the spouse who joined us works at Starbucks, so we got a really good discount!). The locals like to head down to Lake Front Park, so we spent some time down there walking around and people watching. Overall, a very pleasant evening!
Number of human interactions: 4
State(s) visited: MN, WI. Wisconsin always brings a smile to my face. It is the 48th state that I have visited. I used to spend my summers on my dad's moving van traveling all over the United States moving people. I had been in 47 states, with Wisconsin being the only state in the Lower 48 that I had missed. It took until 2005 for me to get to Wisconsin. I was with some coworkers and as our car neared the border, I stuck my arms and legs straight out in front of me (I was not driving) and started yelling "Finally! Finally!". I had to explain my outburst before they sent off for a drug test.
City visited: Hudson, WI.
Interesting fact about this city: A nice little town on the St. Croix river.
Halpert says: Ha, it only took me 8 months to get to Wisconsin!
Mission: Mangement Training. Boy, did I make an assumption that came back to bite me! When we had originally booked this class, it was going to be a combination of two divisions with half of each division going one month and the other half of each division going the following month (this class). I assumed that both divisions were sending all their managers. The division managers wanted to make a change and have each division attend as a group - no problem for me as I had already booked both trips. Last month in Minneapolis, I had one full division and was looking forward to working with the second group. The first day of class arrived and I was all set up and ready to go. I was chatting with a couple of management Team Members when the DM asked if I wanted to get started. Lo and behold, it was 9 a.m.!
Me: "Where is everyone?" I was looking at the two (2) people sitting in the room.
Him: "This is it."
Me: "There's only two."
Him: "Yep."
Me: "You remember how this works, right? I need at least 3 people to form one skill practice group..."
Him: "I'll sit in."
Me: "Are you sure you want to do this? We could save some meeting room expense, lodging expense and rental car expense and let these two get back to their stores."
Him: "They made the commitment. Let's do it"
So my previous low of 7 participants has been eclipsed by this class - hereafter known as "The One with Two People" (extra bonus points if you can tell me what popular TV show named each episode "The One...." (Travel Wife should let both of my other readers have a chance to answer first)).
I learned a lot adapting the course to two participants, and ended up having a successful session.
I also had the opportunity to have dinner with the attendees and a spouse, after which we went to Starbucks (the spouse who joined us works at Starbucks, so we got a really good discount!). The locals like to head down to Lake Front Park, so we spent some time down there walking around and people watching. Overall, a very pleasant evening!
Number of human interactions: 4
State(s) visited: MN, WI. Wisconsin always brings a smile to my face. It is the 48th state that I have visited. I used to spend my summers on my dad's moving van traveling all over the United States moving people. I had been in 47 states, with Wisconsin being the only state in the Lower 48 that I had missed. It took until 2005 for me to get to Wisconsin. I was with some coworkers and as our car neared the border, I stuck my arms and legs straight out in front of me (I was not driving) and started yelling "Finally! Finally!". I had to explain my outburst before they sent off for a drug test.
City visited: Hudson, WI.
Interesting fact about this city: A nice little town on the St. Croix river.
Halpert says: Ha, it only took me 8 months to get to Wisconsin!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080803 - South Dakota
Plane, train or automobile: Unfortunately, I did not get to fly SkyHigh Airlines (we really need to get them signed up as the corporate airline). I flew Delta back up to Minneapolis and spent some time with my mom, cousins and grandparents.
Mission: Visit the family. My mom remembers almost everything that people ever say and she remembered part of a comment I had made two years ago when I visited by myself. I mentioned that I didn't draw a big crowd without the Travel Kids back then, so she made sure that I had plenty of adoring fans on this trip. My aunt and uncle, two of my cousins and their husbands (and kids!) were at my mom's house for Friday Night Pizza - on Saturday night.
We then went to see my grandparents on Sunday - they are both over 90 years old and still feisty! They had gone to a wedding the day before, at which my grandfather claims to have gotten a bruise on his hand from fighting off the girls. I hope that I can have that much fun 50 years from now!
Speaking of family, Travel Wife and I decided not to attend her cousin's wedding in September; mainly because they don't want any children present at the wedding. Travel Wife got the invitation with hotel information for New York City - the nuptial location. The cheapest hotel was $279 a night! Contrast this with my family in South Dakota - as my mom was discussing visiting the grandparents, she said that we would leave the Springs about 3 p.m. and my uncle and cousins all said "You can have dinner at Ruby Tuesdays in Mitchell!". When we arrived at my grandparents, we confirmed our departure time and my grandmother exclaimed "You can have dinner at Ruby Tuesdays in Mitchell!" My family treated that restaurant the same way I would treat Disney World, the Eiffel Tower or the Grand Canyon!
Number of human interactions: 11
State(s) visited: MN, SD
City visited: Yankton and Wessington Springs. My mom lives in Yankton and absolutely loves it there. My grandparents live in "the Springs". Check out the population on the Wessington Springs page
Interesting fact about this city: Anne Hathaway House and Shakespeare Gardens. My grandparents put a lot of time and effort as volunteers over the years making the Gardens what they are today. As recently as last year, my grandmother was still on the payroll.
Halpert says: Shakespeare... in South Dakota???
Mission: Visit the family. My mom remembers almost everything that people ever say and she remembered part of a comment I had made two years ago when I visited by myself. I mentioned that I didn't draw a big crowd without the Travel Kids back then, so she made sure that I had plenty of adoring fans on this trip. My aunt and uncle, two of my cousins and their husbands (and kids!) were at my mom's house for Friday Night Pizza - on Saturday night.
We then went to see my grandparents on Sunday - they are both over 90 years old and still feisty! They had gone to a wedding the day before, at which my grandfather claims to have gotten a bruise on his hand from fighting off the girls. I hope that I can have that much fun 50 years from now!
Speaking of family, Travel Wife and I decided not to attend her cousin's wedding in September; mainly because they don't want any children present at the wedding. Travel Wife got the invitation with hotel information for New York City - the nuptial location. The cheapest hotel was $279 a night! Contrast this with my family in South Dakota - as my mom was discussing visiting the grandparents, she said that we would leave the Springs about 3 p.m. and my uncle and cousins all said "You can have dinner at Ruby Tuesdays in Mitchell!". When we arrived at my grandparents, we confirmed our departure time and my grandmother exclaimed "You can have dinner at Ruby Tuesdays in Mitchell!" My family treated that restaurant the same way I would treat Disney World, the Eiffel Tower or the Grand Canyon!
Number of human interactions: 11
State(s) visited: MN, SD
City visited: Yankton and Wessington Springs. My mom lives in Yankton and absolutely loves it there. My grandparents live in "the Springs". Check out the population on the Wessington Springs page
Interesting fact about this city: Anne Hathaway House and Shakespeare Gardens. My grandparents put a lot of time and effort as volunteers over the years making the Gardens what they are today. As recently as last year, my grandmother was still on the payroll.
Halpert says: Shakespeare... in South Dakota???
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080802 - Certfication Plan
Plane, train or automobile: Matrix - car of choice of superheroes everywhere!
Mission: A little personal development this time. I spent some time with our Commercial Sales Team to learn about our DIFM (Do It For Me - repair shops) Acceleration strategy. Time well spent!
Number of human interactions: 2 plus a lot of visits to repair shops!
State(s) visited: NC
City visited: Charlotte
Interesting fact about this city: Charlotte is the Queen City of the South. I usually see Charlotte from the air, and from the inside of the airport.
Halpert says: I didn't even know there was stuff outside the Charlotte Airport!
Mission: A little personal development this time. I spent some time with our Commercial Sales Team to learn about our DIFM (Do It For Me - repair shops) Acceleration strategy. Time well spent!
Number of human interactions: 2 plus a lot of visits to repair shops!
State(s) visited: NC
City visited: Charlotte
Interesting fact about this city: Charlotte is the Queen City of the South. I usually see Charlotte from the air, and from the inside of the airport.
Halpert says: I didn't even know there was stuff outside the Charlotte Airport!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080726
Plane, train or automobile: Matrix
Mission: Management Training. I was originally going to be an observer/coach for one of our newly certified Trainers, so I was looking forward to watching the workshop rather than facilitating the workshop.
One of the key learning moments in the workshop is when the managers coach another manager through the conversation we are practicing. You see so much more about the effect of your words and the flow of the conversation when you are not the one talking! I was really looking forward to this viewpoint so I could improve my facilitation!
Alas, the other trainer had something come up so I ended up facilitating the group myself. We still had a great time and one of the managers really took the training to heart. He started using some of the skills on the first night and emailed me on Friday to let me know how he had used the skills to get through to a Team Member that he had previously struggled with. WIN!
Number of human interactions: 7. That's about the smallest number I would like to have in a workshop - it's hard to work in small groups if you start out as a small group.
State(s) visited: NC
City visited: Durham
Interesting fact about this city: Home to the Durham Bulls. They are a farm team for the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays.
Halpert says: Rays??? Rays??? You know Travel Wife is a Yankees fan... why do you want to rile her up?
Mission: Management Training. I was originally going to be an observer/coach for one of our newly certified Trainers, so I was looking forward to watching the workshop rather than facilitating the workshop.
One of the key learning moments in the workshop is when the managers coach another manager through the conversation we are practicing. You see so much more about the effect of your words and the flow of the conversation when you are not the one talking! I was really looking forward to this viewpoint so I could improve my facilitation!
Alas, the other trainer had something come up so I ended up facilitating the group myself. We still had a great time and one of the managers really took the training to heart. He started using some of the skills on the first night and emailed me on Friday to let me know how he had used the skills to get through to a Team Member that he had previously struggled with. WIN!
Number of human interactions: 7. That's about the smallest number I would like to have in a workshop - it's hard to work in small groups if you start out as a small group.
State(s) visited: NC
City visited: Durham
Interesting fact about this city: Home to the Durham Bulls. They are a farm team for the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays.
Halpert says: Rays??? Rays??? You know Travel Wife is a Yankees fan... why do you want to rile her up?
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080719
Plane, train or automobile: Jet City Woman by Queensryche is echoing through my head.
First time this year I have flown in back to back weeks. I flew on our preferred carrier, US Airways, which has recently changed their Dividend Miles program. I used to get a minimum of 500 miles for a Roanoke-Charlotte leg on a trip... but no more. Now I get actual mileage (155). So let's cut my miles earned by 2/3, cut out my in flight snack and start charging for the second bag. Give me less, charge me more - what a great business model!
SkyHigh Airlines still has the best frequent flyer program...
Mission: Management training for 14 store managers in Tuscaloosa, AL.
Number of human interactions: 23
State(s) visited: NC and AL
City visited: Tuscaloosa - Roll Tide! I am not an Alabama fan (sorry, Richie!), but I do know that it is one of the "name" schools that UCF has beaten in football. One good thing about college towns - they have Moe's!!!!
Interesting fact about this city: Other than Alabama football, I'm not sure.
Halpert says: What does "Roll Tide" have to do with elephants?
First time this year I have flown in back to back weeks. I flew on our preferred carrier, US Airways, which has recently changed their Dividend Miles program. I used to get a minimum of 500 miles for a Roanoke-Charlotte leg on a trip... but no more. Now I get actual mileage (155). So let's cut my miles earned by 2/3, cut out my in flight snack and start charging for the second bag. Give me less, charge me more - what a great business model!
SkyHigh Airlines still has the best frequent flyer program...
Mission: Management training for 14 store managers in Tuscaloosa, AL.
Number of human interactions: 23
State(s) visited: NC and AL
City visited: Tuscaloosa - Roll Tide! I am not an Alabama fan (sorry, Richie!), but I do know that it is one of the "name" schools that UCF has beaten in football. One good thing about college towns - they have Moe's!!!!
Interesting fact about this city: Other than Alabama football, I'm not sure.
Halpert says: What does "Roll Tide" have to do with elephants?
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080712 - Minneapolis Part I
Plane, train or automobile: Back in the air at last! I flew Delta airlines to Minneapolis and then hitched a ride with the Division Manager to the hotel. Our workshop was at the hotel, so I really didn't need to go anywhere. Why spend money on a car that is going to sit in the parking lot for two days?
Maybe next time I can travel on SkyHigh Airlines...
Mission: Management training for 11 store managers. This was a good group and I had the opportunity to spend a little extra time bonding with them - the Division Manager took us all out to dinner at the restaurant next door after the first day's session. When your division covers western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota, you take advantage of times when your Team is together.
Number of human interactions: 13. There was this absolutely delightful lady working in the hotel restaurant every morning. Extremely friendly, customer focused and wanted to make sure that everything was going smoothly for our group. One of the best hotel experiences I have had this year. I stayed here.
State(s) visited: OH (really KY since the Cincinnati Airport is in Kentucky) and MN.
City visited: Minneapolis and Elk River.
Interesting fact about this city: One interesting fact - the Mall of America. I didn't get a chance to visit this time, but I have a return trip coming up in a few weeks and will have some time to visit MOA.
So the Mall of America and... two interesting facts!
The Minnesota Vikings. I was a fan while Daunte Culpepper was the QB - us UCF boys have to stick together. We drove right by their practice facility and I saw many Vikings stickers, license plates, shirts, etc. while I was in town.
So the Mall of America, the Minnesota Vikings and... three interesting facts!
In Advance Auto Parts news, our new CEO Darren Jackson got the Roanoke media all fired up when he decided to continue living in Minneapolis. Darren was the CFO for Best Buy and has a lot of business ties to the community. Originally, we were supposed to have a small office for about 10 executives in Minnesota and everyone else would remain in Roanoke. While on this trip, AAP announced that the Front Room merchandising Team would be based in Minneapolis. As you can imagine, the local media in Roanoke is having a conniption!
Halpert says: The water slide was totally awesome! I wish Travel Kids had come along!
Maybe next time I can travel on SkyHigh Airlines...
Mission: Management training for 11 store managers. This was a good group and I had the opportunity to spend a little extra time bonding with them - the Division Manager took us all out to dinner at the restaurant next door after the first day's session. When your division covers western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota, you take advantage of times when your Team is together.
Number of human interactions: 13. There was this absolutely delightful lady working in the hotel restaurant every morning. Extremely friendly, customer focused and wanted to make sure that everything was going smoothly for our group. One of the best hotel experiences I have had this year. I stayed here.
State(s) visited: OH (really KY since the Cincinnati Airport is in Kentucky) and MN.
City visited: Minneapolis and Elk River.
Interesting fact about this city: One interesting fact - the Mall of America. I didn't get a chance to visit this time, but I have a return trip coming up in a few weeks and will have some time to visit MOA.
So the Mall of America and... two interesting facts!
The Minnesota Vikings. I was a fan while Daunte Culpepper was the QB - us UCF boys have to stick together. We drove right by their practice facility and I saw many Vikings stickers, license plates, shirts, etc. while I was in town.
So the Mall of America, the Minnesota Vikings and... three interesting facts!
In Advance Auto Parts news, our new CEO Darren Jackson got the Roanoke media all fired up when he decided to continue living in Minneapolis. Darren was the CFO for Best Buy and has a lot of business ties to the community. Originally, we were supposed to have a small office for about 10 executives in Minnesota and everyone else would remain in Roanoke. While on this trip, AAP announced that the Front Room merchandising Team would be based in Minneapolis. As you can imagine, the local media in Roanoke is having a conniption!
Halpert says: The water slide was totally awesome! I wish Travel Kids had come along!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080704 HAPPY 4TH!!
Plane, train or automobile: Matrix.
Mission: Slightly different this week. I am working through a company certification program for my own development and because our Team will most likely begin running this program soon, I need to be familiar with how it works. I met with one of our HR managers and one of our Division Managers of the Year to review business related topics. Both did a great job of covering the material - I learned some things that will help me in the classroom and I learned how the process is used by the real-word facilitators. In between, I met our Operations Training Manager at a new store that he had opened the week before. This store was rocking and rolling - selling more parts and having more fun - and the manager had been through one of my workshops back in June. I'd like to say that his being in my class led to the strong sales, and I know that there are MANY factors that contribute to on the job performace - but I can dream, right?
Number of human interactions: 10
State(s) visited: NC.
City visited: Lexington / Durham
Interesting fact about this city: Lexington, NC is the barbecue capital of the world. And what did I do for lunch there???? I made myself a ham sandwich at the Regional Office - the Admin Assistant there keeps the fridge stocked so the staff doesn't have to leave the building. I am SO checking out the BBQ next time I visit!
Halpert says: Does Moes have a BBQ burrito?
Mission: Slightly different this week. I am working through a company certification program for my own development and because our Team will most likely begin running this program soon, I need to be familiar with how it works. I met with one of our HR managers and one of our Division Managers of the Year to review business related topics. Both did a great job of covering the material - I learned some things that will help me in the classroom and I learned how the process is used by the real-word facilitators. In between, I met our Operations Training Manager at a new store that he had opened the week before. This store was rocking and rolling - selling more parts and having more fun - and the manager had been through one of my workshops back in June. I'd like to say that his being in my class led to the strong sales, and I know that there are MANY factors that contribute to on the job performace - but I can dream, right?
Number of human interactions: 10
State(s) visited: NC.
City visited: Lexington / Durham
Interesting fact about this city: Lexington, NC is the barbecue capital of the world. And what did I do for lunch there???? I made myself a ham sandwich at the Regional Office - the Admin Assistant there keeps the fridge stocked so the staff doesn't have to leave the building. I am SO checking out the BBQ next time I visit!
Halpert says: Does Moes have a BBQ burrito?
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080628
Plane, train or automobile: Matrix. The iPod jack is the best feature in this car - you can drive for hours and never have to touch the radio.
Mission: Management Training, plus required participation for two of our Trainers who just became certified to teach the course I teach. They took lots of notes so they could facilitate this workshop in the future. There is always a little extra pressure when other Trainers are observing - we can be so critical of classroom management!
I also spent a day visiting stores with one of our Regional Vice Presidents. I learn so much from seeing the store through their eyes, plus we get some windshield time between stores.
Mission: Management Training, plus required participation for two of our Trainers who just became certified to teach the course I teach. They took lots of notes so they could facilitate this workshop in the future. There is always a little extra pressure when other Trainers are observing - we can be so critical of classroom management!
I also spent a day visiting stores with one of our Regional Vice Presidents. I learn so much from seeing the store through their eyes, plus we get some windshield time between stores.
I stayed at the same hotel on both visits, but I won't be staying there again. I got back to my room the last night about 8 p.m. and no one had touched my room all day. Bed unmade, towel hanging in the same place, you get the picture. Isn't that one of the benefits of staying in a hotel room - someone else does all the housework? The front desk gave me a reduced rate for the trouble, but I won't be going back. They are now dead to me. They bypassed being on notice.
Number of human interactions: 12
State(s) visited: WV, MD and PA
City visited: Back to Norristown, PA, near the King of Prussia Mall. And a Moes in Shippensburg, PA.
Interesting fact about this city: I took the other Trainers to the Mall with me, and I think it grew some more! This place is gigantic - we had to stop for a snack on our way to a restaurant for dinner, and then stop again for dessert on the way out.
Halpert says: If only I was a service dog, then I could have gone in the mall, too.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080621
Plane, train or automobile: Matrix. This car seems to be developing hidden capabilities. The running joke with one of my coworkers is that the Matrix can do anything - need to tow a 27 foot travel trailer? Matrix. Need to haul 3 3-drawer lateral file cabinets home? Matrix. This car rocks.
Mission: Our department is expermenting with "Work From Home" days. We want to see if we can maintain productivity and reduce travel costs by 20%. I have a company car, so I don't think the 30 miles that I didn't drive saved us much ($4 for 1 gallon), but I know that several people with longer commutes saved about $10 and still got everything done. I tried this on Wednesday and it worked out well. We can forward our desk phones to a land/cell number - I did this and was able to converse with an out of town colleague without them knowing I wasn't at my desk.
Number of human interactions: 57. The four days I was in the office reminded me of how friendly our Team Members are - you can't walk down the hall without being greeted or chatted with.
State(s) visited: VA
City visited: My kitchen on "Work From Home Day"
Interesting fact about this city: I got all the free coffee I wanted all day long!
Halpert says: Dude, this is two weeks in a row at home! I need to stretch my legs!
Mission: Our department is expermenting with "Work From Home" days. We want to see if we can maintain productivity and reduce travel costs by 20%. I have a company car, so I don't think the 30 miles that I didn't drive saved us much ($4 for 1 gallon), but I know that several people with longer commutes saved about $10 and still got everything done. I tried this on Wednesday and it worked out well. We can forward our desk phones to a land/cell number - I did this and was able to converse with an out of town colleague without them knowing I wasn't at my desk.
Number of human interactions: 57. The four days I was in the office reminded me of how friendly our Team Members are - you can't walk down the hall without being greeted or chatted with.
State(s) visited: VA
City visited: My kitchen on "Work From Home Day"
Interesting fact about this city: I got all the free coffee I wanted all day long!
Halpert says: Dude, this is two weeks in a row at home! I need to stretch my legs!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080614
Plane, train or automobile: Matrix. This one was easy - it was right here in town. I could sleep in my own bed, eat dinner with my own family and relax in my own recliner!
Mission: Management Training for 18 store managers. If you have been following AAP news (and who doesn't???), you'll see that we have some new Senior Vice Presidents. I had a chance to meet one of them, and I must tell you that I was impressed. He met this group of managers for the first time and spent about 30 minutes telling them who he was and why he was looking forward to the challenge of leading them. He was very humble and very Team focused - might be his Starbucks upbringing!
Number of human interactions: 21, plus my family!
State(s) visited: 1
City visited: Roanoke, VA
Interesting fact about this city: Home to the Texas Tavern. Any restaurant that only seats 10 people has to be interesting, right?
Halpert says: I got to play with the Travel Kids for a few days. Wow, do they have energy!!
Mission: Management Training for 18 store managers. If you have been following AAP news (and who doesn't???), you'll see that we have some new Senior Vice Presidents. I had a chance to meet one of them, and I must tell you that I was impressed. He met this group of managers for the first time and spent about 30 minutes telling them who he was and why he was looking forward to the challenge of leading them. He was very humble and very Team focused - might be his Starbucks upbringing!
Number of human interactions: 21, plus my family!
State(s) visited: 1
City visited: Roanoke, VA
Interesting fact about this city: Home to the Texas Tavern. Any restaurant that only seats 10 people has to be interesting, right?
Halpert says: I got to play with the Travel Kids for a few days. Wow, do they have energy!!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080607
Plane, train or automobile: The Matrix - what other type of transportation is there?
Mission: Management Training
Number of human interactions: 17
State(s) visited: WV, MD and PA
City visited: King of Prussia, PA
Interesting fact about this city: The King of Prussia Mall. This mall is enormous - there are 18 restaurants in / around the mall PLUS 3 different Food Courts!!
The Regional Office where I conducted the training is in Norristown,PA. Lot's of gorgeous old homes - Travel Wife would love to see the architecture.
Halpert says: I never knew that a mall could be that big. It looks like a mall that ate another mall (plus a shopping center)...
Mission: Management Training
Number of human interactions: 17
State(s) visited: WV, MD and PA
City visited: King of Prussia, PA
Interesting fact about this city: The King of Prussia Mall. This mall is enormous - there are 18 restaurants in / around the mall PLUS 3 different Food Courts!!
The Regional Office where I conducted the training is in Norristown,PA. Lot's of gorgeous old homes - Travel Wife would love to see the architecture.
Halpert says: I never knew that a mall could be that big. It looks like a mall that ate another mall (plus a shopping center)...
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080531
Plane, train or automobile: Matrix!!! This car is great for traveling - sips gas, rides well, carries stuff and it has an iPod jack - no more changing CDs or seeking good radio stations!
Little Girl had a dance recital today. She is in ballet and tap, so she appeared in two numbers. Her favorite role was in the ballet group - they danced to a song about chocolate chip cookies out of reach on a shelf. She was picked to exit the stage last, which means she got to run back and grab the cookies at the end of the number. She was so excited! She is so beautiful when she dances and you can tell that she truly loves dancing.
Mission: Management Training in Atlanta
Number of human interactions: 16
State(s) visited: NC, SC and GA
City visited: Buford, GA
Interesting fact about this city: It has a huge mall and a Firestone (the Matrix got it's first oil change at the ripe old age of 3 weeks!)
Halpert says: There was a Moe's next to the Firestone - does it get any better than this??
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080524
Plane, train or automobile: None
Mission: Function as a Subject Matter Expert for the eLearning system we are implementing.
Number of human interactions: Many
State(s) visited: None
City visited: Roanoke
Interesting fact about this city: See earlier post
Halpert says: It's nice to have a week at home after that LOOOOOONG Texas trip.
Mission: Function as a Subject Matter Expert for the eLearning system we are implementing.
Number of human interactions: Many
State(s) visited: None
City visited: Roanoke
Interesting fact about this city: See earlier post
Halpert says: It's nice to have a week at home after that LOOOOOONG Texas trip.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Eight states, seven nights, seven beds... one woman.
Plane, train or automobile: The maiden voyage for the Matrix was a doozy. We had a death in the family, and we were off to Texas. Here is the timeline for the trip:
Tuesday 05/13 - Travel Man is teaching a management workshop in Columbus, OH. The BoysenBerry alerts me to a message from Mrs. Travel Man at lunch time that her aunt has passed (we were expecting this after a 10 month battle with cancer). Travel Man arranges for a substitute to conduct the workshop for the next two days. He and I meet in Charleston, WV for dinner and head in opposite directions. Arrive home at 11pm and help Mrs. Travel Man pack and get ready for the trip. Bed = my home. Miles = 300.
Wednesday 05/14 - Travel Family (there are two Travel Kids... more on them later) drives to Jackson, MS. Arrive at the hotel @ 10 p.m. Bed = Sleep Inn, Jackson, MS. Miles = 750.
City visited: See list above!
Interesting fact about this city: Too many to mention!
Halpert says: I spent more time in the Matrix in a week than I did in a month in the Exploder.
Tuesday 05/13 - Travel Man is teaching a management workshop in Columbus, OH. The BoysenBerry alerts me to a message from Mrs. Travel Man at lunch time that her aunt has passed (we were expecting this after a 10 month battle with cancer). Travel Man arranges for a substitute to conduct the workshop for the next two days. He and I meet in Charleston, WV for dinner and head in opposite directions. Arrive home at 11pm and help Mrs. Travel Man pack and get ready for the trip. Bed = my home. Miles = 300.
Wednesday 05/14 - Travel Family (there are two Travel Kids... more on them later) drives to Jackson, MS. Arrive at the hotel @ 10 p.m. Bed = Sleep Inn, Jackson, MS. Miles = 750.
Thursday 05/15 - We roll into Bryan, TX at 5 p.m. We check in, change clothes and get to the viewing just in time for the 6:30 Rosary. Eat dinner with family and back to the hotel @ 10:30 p.m. Bed = Quality Inn, College Station, TX. Miles = 450
Friday 05/16 - Visit family at uncle's house. Bigger Travel Kid is roughed up by the family dog, which means we have to go look for a new outfit for her since her skirt bore the brunt of the attack (and a small wound on her leg... "merely a flesh wound!") Funeral Mass @ 2:00, burial at 3:30, reception at church at 4:30 and then on the road. We arrive in Shreveport, LA about 11:00 p.m. Bed = Comfort Suites, Shreveport, LA. Miles = 250 (with a start time of 6 p.m.)Saturday 05/17 - This is a long day. We have to drop the kids off in Edisto Island, SC for their annual Grandma and PaPa vacation, we head east. We end our day in Madison, GA. at about 11:00 p.m. Bed = Comfort Inn, Madison, GA. Miles = 650.
Sunday 05/18 - Off to Mass in a mission parish by Lake Oconee, and then to Edisto Island, SC. My in-laws are owners with Wyndham Resorts and reserved a gorgeous 4 bedroom unit a few blocks from the beach. We met up with them about 6 p.m. Bed = Edisto Island, SC. Miles = 250.
Monday 05/19 - Back home for Mrs. Travel Man and me. Brief stop in Charlotte, NC for my wife's business and home for dinner. Bed = my own!! Miles = 410.
All told, we put about 2800 miles on the Matrix during the trip (not counting the mileage to get back home on Tuesday) with an average fuel economy of about 34 miles per gallon. I cashed in LOTS of hotel points (one benefit of being Travel Man) and supported my wife and family in a time of mourning (isn't that what being a super hero is all about?) Travel Kids (girls ages 9 and 6) were great - no complaints, no messes. They watched movies, read books, colored, played the alphabet game and even got into a cow counting contest (first one to 1,000 wins!)
State(s) visited: TN, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, SC, NC.City visited: See list above!
Interesting fact about this city: Too many to mention!
Halpert says: I spent more time in the Matrix in a week than I did in a month in the Exploder.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080510
Plane, train or automobile: The final trip for the trusty Exploder - the new Matrix is here! This is almost exactly what my car looks like:
I don't have the cool nav system (I got to select the colors, other than that we get the base version + power package + cruise control).
Mission: Managment Training for select store managers in one of our Regions. The Division Manager for the area attended as well and was so impressed with the workshop and the participant's reactions that he scheduled two more workshop immediately and plans to schedule several more later in the year. I also visited a store with 3 new management team members to cover our in store training program. We have a commercial specialist at this store that generates a lot of business and I spent part of my time watching/interviewing him. He works at about 100 mph, with gusts to 150! He never lost track of where his drivers were or where they be going. He yelled "Focus, focus, focus!!!" if the phone lines had overwhelmed him for a few minutes, but he always recovered and didn't miss a beat the hour and a half I spent with him.
Number of human interactions: 15 - 9 in class and 6 at the store.
State(s) visited: North Carolina
City visited: Durham, NC
Interesting fact about this city: Home to Duke University, the Durham Bulls and very close to the Flying Burrito. Unfortunately, the Flying Burrito was closed when I got there, so I found a Moe's to satisfy my burrito craving.
Halpert says: How come I never get an Alpo burrito??
I don't have the cool nav system (I got to select the colors, other than that we get the base version + power package + cruise control).
Mission: Managment Training for select store managers in one of our Regions. The Division Manager for the area attended as well and was so impressed with the workshop and the participant's reactions that he scheduled two more workshop immediately and plans to schedule several more later in the year. I also visited a store with 3 new management team members to cover our in store training program. We have a commercial specialist at this store that generates a lot of business and I spent part of my time watching/interviewing him. He works at about 100 mph, with gusts to 150! He never lost track of where his drivers were or where they be going. He yelled "Focus, focus, focus!!!" if the phone lines had overwhelmed him for a few minutes, but he always recovered and didn't miss a beat the hour and a half I spent with him.
Number of human interactions: 15 - 9 in class and 6 at the store.
State(s) visited: North Carolina
City visited: Durham, NC
Interesting fact about this city: Home to Duke University, the Durham Bulls and very close to the Flying Burrito. Unfortunately, the Flying Burrito was closed when I got there, so I found a Moe's to satisfy my burrito craving.
Halpert says: How come I never get an Alpo burrito??
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080426
Plane, train or automobile: Yes, all of them! Okay, I didn't go on a train, but I did fly for the second time this year and had a lovely Toyotoa RAV4 as a rental car.
Mission: Management training in two divisions.
Number of human interactions: 33. Both Division Managers were present, and I had one of our field trainers attend as part of his development plan.
State(s) visited: MI, PA, NY
City visited: Detroit Airport, Erie PA and Buffalo NY. My last post was all about Niagara Falls and the DTW airport, so I won't bore both of my readers with those details again. Erie has a 6 month old Moes, so guess where I went for dinner. Our field trainer went as well, and he said it was a good burrito. Good burrito?!?!? He got to pick all the fillings, the chips are made on site and he picked his own drink! Maybe he chose poorly...
New Indy movie coming out, so I figured I would rekindle that swashbuckling spirit!
Interesting fact about this city: I stayed at a hotel that connected to the Splash Lagoon Water Park. I was, unfortunately, on the same side of the property as all the families with soggy, screaming children. When my girls are soggy and screaming, I like it - other people's kids... No.
Halpert says: No Dogs Allowed???? What kind of family fun park is that?
Mission: Management training in two divisions.
Number of human interactions: 33. Both Division Managers were present, and I had one of our field trainers attend as part of his development plan.
State(s) visited: MI, PA, NY
City visited: Detroit Airport, Erie PA and Buffalo NY. My last post was all about Niagara Falls and the DTW airport, so I won't bore both of my readers with those details again. Erie has a 6 month old Moes, so guess where I went for dinner. Our field trainer went as well, and he said it was a good burrito. Good burrito?!?!? He got to pick all the fillings, the chips are made on site and he picked his own drink! Maybe he chose poorly...
New Indy movie coming out, so I figured I would rekindle that swashbuckling spirit!
Interesting fact about this city: I stayed at a hotel that connected to the Splash Lagoon Water Park. I was, unfortunately, on the same side of the property as all the families with soggy, screaming children. When my girls are soggy and screaming, I like it - other people's kids... No.
Halpert says: No Dogs Allowed???? What kind of family fun park is that?
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080503
Plane, train or automobile: The trusty Explorer.
Mission: ASE Prep Workshop. We support ASE Parts Specialist Certification for our Team Members and with the test coming up on May 8th, a lot of our Teams have prep workshops so that we can increase our passing rate and put more knowledgeable Team Members face to face with our customers every day. It was fun, and a nice break from the classes I normally teach.
More importantly, my lovely wife celebrated her birthday this week. I'll just take a moment to tell you that I thank God every day for her. I have been truly blessed to have such an intelligent, caring, loving, beautiful, funny, sensous, fun-loving woman in my life. Happy Birthday, sweetie!!
Number of human interactions: 23. Two Division Managers present and our eLearning Manager.
State(s) visited: Just Virginia
City visited: UCLA (Upper Corner of Lower Abingdon). Abingdon, VA
Interesting fact about this city: Not much, really.
Halpert says: I didn't even bother to get out of the car... except to have some birthday cake.
Mission: ASE Prep Workshop. We support ASE Parts Specialist Certification for our Team Members and with the test coming up on May 8th, a lot of our Teams have prep workshops so that we can increase our passing rate and put more knowledgeable Team Members face to face with our customers every day. It was fun, and a nice break from the classes I normally teach.
More importantly, my lovely wife celebrated her birthday this week. I'll just take a moment to tell you that I thank God every day for her. I have been truly blessed to have such an intelligent, caring, loving, beautiful, funny, sensous, fun-loving woman in my life. Happy Birthday, sweetie!!
Number of human interactions: 23. Two Division Managers present and our eLearning Manager.
State(s) visited: Just Virginia
City visited: UCLA (Upper Corner of Lower Abingdon). Abingdon, VA
Interesting fact about this city: Not much, really.
Halpert says: I didn't even bother to get out of the car... except to have some birthday cake.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080421
Plane, train or automobile: All three!
Mission: Travel to Buffalo, NY. Being the good company soldier that I am, I took an obscenely early flight on a Sunday to save us $400. This means that I flew from ROA at 6:10 a.m. What I didn't realize was that I would be experiencing the Detroit Airport for the first time. If you have not been to DTW, I highly recommend it.
Here's why:
And now the monorail:
Here are some still shots of the monorail:
The American Falls are very impressive however:
I definitely plan on coming back with the Girls sometime. I might even pay to park closer, or (gasp) get passports so we can see everything from the Canadian side.
Number of human interactions: 0
State(s) visited: MI, NY
City visited: Detroit, Niagara Falls
Interesting fact about this city: Um, did you see the vids and pics above?
Halpert says: Most. water. ever.
Mission: Travel to Buffalo, NY. Being the good company soldier that I am, I took an obscenely early flight on a Sunday to save us $400. This means that I flew from ROA at 6:10 a.m. What I didn't realize was that I would be experiencing the Detroit Airport for the first time. If you have not been to DTW, I highly recommend it.
Here's why:
And now the monorail:
Here are some still shots of the monorail:
From DTW, I headed to Buffalo, NY. Since I got there at noon (and didn't have to be at my destination until 5 p.m.) I decided to visit Niagara Falls. Bear in mind that I am very frugal (or cheap), so rather than pay $10 to park for an hour, I walked in from a side street and down towards the Falls along the American Rapids:
Being cheap also means that I don't have a passport (does Travel Man need a passport? Does Superman file a flight plan with the FAA?) so all of these pics are from the American side. The "big" part of the Falls is the Horseshoe Falls, which is not nearly as impressive from the USA side:
The American Falls are very impressive however:
I definitely plan on coming back with the Girls sometime. I might even pay to park closer, or (gasp) get passports so we can see everything from the Canadian side.Number of human interactions: 0
State(s) visited: MI, NY
City visited: Detroit, Niagara Falls
Interesting fact about this city: Um, did you see the vids and pics above?
Halpert says: Most. water. ever.
Travel Log - Star date 20080419
Plane, train or automobile: None. I had a planned week at home this week.
Mission: I had a very quick and vital mission dropped in my lap Wednesday morning. We did an internal Talent Search to assess some Division Manager candidates this week. I figured this would keep my supervisors busy and I could get some catch up work done, and do a little pre-emptive work. WRONG!
I was asked to "grade" some assessments from an activity that each candidate went through. The grading consisted of deciphering the candidates responses and mapping those responses to success factors required for the job they were interested in. There were approximately 60 items on each assessment that took me about 45 - 60 seconds EACH to sort and record. My quick math skills tell me that this meant about 45 - 60 minutes to complete one report. Guess how many I had to do??? 22 of them - in two days. I got about 7-8 done the first day, took 5 home with me that night, and did about 8-9 more the second day. Needless to say, I didn't get much else done. An analyst in our department thought the real purpose of the exercise was to test my knowledge of what behaviors fell into which success factors. I think she was right!
Number of human interactions: 22. On paper. In two days.
State(s) visited: Numbness??
City visited: None
Interesting fact about this city: Looking at roughly 1300 lines of data makes any city fact interesting - pick one!
Halpert says: Keep me away from that stuff!
Mission: I had a very quick and vital mission dropped in my lap Wednesday morning. We did an internal Talent Search to assess some Division Manager candidates this week. I figured this would keep my supervisors busy and I could get some catch up work done, and do a little pre-emptive work. WRONG!
I was asked to "grade" some assessments from an activity that each candidate went through. The grading consisted of deciphering the candidates responses and mapping those responses to success factors required for the job they were interested in. There were approximately 60 items on each assessment that took me about 45 - 60 seconds EACH to sort and record. My quick math skills tell me that this meant about 45 - 60 minutes to complete one report. Guess how many I had to do??? 22 of them - in two days. I got about 7-8 done the first day, took 5 home with me that night, and did about 8-9 more the second day. Needless to say, I didn't get much else done. An analyst in our department thought the real purpose of the exercise was to test my knowledge of what behaviors fell into which success factors. I think she was right!
Number of human interactions: 22. On paper. In two days.
State(s) visited: Numbness??
City visited: None
Interesting fact about this city: Looking at roughly 1300 lines of data makes any city fact interesting - pick one!
Halpert says: Keep me away from that stuff!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080412
Plane, train or automobile: None, actually.
Mission: Was supposed to be management training workshop. Workshop cancelled by higher ups. I spent some time in the office for once! We have been really busy lately - we have a new CEO and Executive Team, so there is no such thing as business as usual right now. I really like our new CEO - he spent some time with the son of our founder to learn about our core values and he is driving change back to those values. Our new CFO, Mike Norona (not to be confused with the song "My Sharona" by the Knack) is not your typical numbers guy. If you listen to him for 15 minutes, you want to rush home and balance your check book! He is that entertaining and funny.
Number of human interactions: 12
State(s) visited: Nada, zip, zero.
City visited: Salem, VA and Roanoke, VA
Interesting fact about this city: Salem was founded in 8000 BC, making it way cooler than Jamestown, VA (1607) or St. Augustine, FL (1529).
Halpert says: I was looking forward to visiting West Virginia again. Oh, well.
Mission: Was supposed to be management training workshop. Workshop cancelled by higher ups. I spent some time in the office for once! We have been really busy lately - we have a new CEO and Executive Team, so there is no such thing as business as usual right now. I really like our new CEO - he spent some time with the son of our founder to learn about our core values and he is driving change back to those values. Our new CFO, Mike Norona (not to be confused with the song "My Sharona" by the Knack) is not your typical numbers guy. If you listen to him for 15 minutes, you want to rush home and balance your check book! He is that entertaining and funny.
Number of human interactions: 12
State(s) visited: Nada, zip, zero.
City visited: Salem, VA and Roanoke, VA
Interesting fact about this city: Salem was founded in 8000 BC, making it way cooler than Jamestown, VA (1607) or St. Augustine, FL (1529).
Halpert says: I was looking forward to visiting West Virginia again. Oh, well.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080405
Plane, train or automobile: An airplane (or 4 if you want to get specific) and a rental Camcord (Camry / Accord). This was actually the Toyota version - a decent ride.
What a day on Friday!
Original plan - leave JAX at 6:10 pm, stop in Atlanta, arrive ROA at 9:30 pm.
Actual events - board plane in JAX at 7:20 pm. This group of guys in their early 20s is seated behind me and the one guy in the group that has traveled before is trying to impress his companions with his knowledge. He is going on about how we are on an Airbus, when one of the guys asks "Then why is the safety card for a Boeing 757?" He was much quieter after that.
There is a ground delay in Atlanta, but our pilot pushes away from the gate so that we can be first in line to leave when the ground delay is lifted. We sit for about an hour when we are informed that the delay might go until 9:30 pm. The pilot informs us that we are going to head back to the gate if people need to make other plans. This seems to be taking a while when the captain comes back on to tell us that the tug the pulls the plane in broke, so we have to wait for another tug to come over. We get back to the gate about 9 pm, at which time the ground delay is lifted, so we taxi out and are wheels up about 9:15 pm.
We get to Atlanta about 10:30 and I check the Delta flight schedules on the Raspberry. My flight to ROA is delayed until 11:45 - I will still get home tonight! Several delays and gate changes later, it is 11:41 pm. The information board at the gate shows a new departure time of 12:25 am with an arrival time of 11:40 pm. (I'll let that sink in...) The woman next to me sees the new departure time, sighs, then notices that something is not right with the departure time. I lean over and say "The good news is that we arrive one minute ago." She quickly moves to another seat.
We finally leave @ 1 am, and are wheels down in ROA at 2:05 am.
Mission: Leadership Skills training for 40 people.
Number of human interactions: Upwards of 50
State(s) visited: Florida ("Long have I yearned to return to the land of my birth...")
City visited: Jacksonville. This is one of my favorite places to visit.
Great climate.
Pro Football Team.
Great Regional Operations Team.
The hotel that I typically stay at is a new Hampton Inn and Suites with a gazillion restaurants within walking distance. I actually ate at Kokopellis two nights and Moe's only once - same type of food, only more veggies at Kokopellis.
Interesting fact about this city: Hosted Super Bowl XXXIX
Halpert says: My first time on a plane! I love the bag of peanuts - just the right size for me!
What a day on Friday!
Original plan - leave JAX at 6:10 pm, stop in Atlanta, arrive ROA at 9:30 pm.
Actual events - board plane in JAX at 7:20 pm. This group of guys in their early 20s is seated behind me and the one guy in the group that has traveled before is trying to impress his companions with his knowledge. He is going on about how we are on an Airbus, when one of the guys asks "Then why is the safety card for a Boeing 757?" He was much quieter after that.
There is a ground delay in Atlanta, but our pilot pushes away from the gate so that we can be first in line to leave when the ground delay is lifted. We sit for about an hour when we are informed that the delay might go until 9:30 pm. The pilot informs us that we are going to head back to the gate if people need to make other plans. This seems to be taking a while when the captain comes back on to tell us that the tug the pulls the plane in broke, so we have to wait for another tug to come over. We get back to the gate about 9 pm, at which time the ground delay is lifted, so we taxi out and are wheels up about 9:15 pm.
We get to Atlanta about 10:30 and I check the Delta flight schedules on the Raspberry. My flight to ROA is delayed until 11:45 - I will still get home tonight! Several delays and gate changes later, it is 11:41 pm. The information board at the gate shows a new departure time of 12:25 am with an arrival time of 11:40 pm. (I'll let that sink in...) The woman next to me sees the new departure time, sighs, then notices that something is not right with the departure time. I lean over and say "The good news is that we arrive one minute ago." She quickly moves to another seat.
We finally leave @ 1 am, and are wheels down in ROA at 2:05 am.
Mission: Leadership Skills training for 40 people.
Number of human interactions: Upwards of 50
State(s) visited: Florida ("Long have I yearned to return to the land of my birth...")
City visited: Jacksonville. This is one of my favorite places to visit.
Great climate.
Pro Football Team.
Great Regional Operations Team.
The hotel that I typically stay at is a new Hampton Inn and Suites with a gazillion restaurants within walking distance. I actually ate at Kokopellis two nights and Moe's only once - same type of food, only more veggies at Kokopellis.
Interesting fact about this city: Hosted Super Bowl XXXIX
Halpert says: My first time on a plane! I love the bag of peanuts - just the right size for me!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080329
This trip didn't start well for me. Leaving my family on Easter Sunday never sounds like a good idea. Plus, you'll recall from my last post that I have been on the road almost continuously in March. I get into town with my heart set on eating at a Chipotle, which is good enough if there is no Moe's around. God bless those folks at Chipotle - they were closed for Easter (or Equinox (the sign said both)). My Easter dinner was a new Angus Burger at McDonalds.
Plane, train or automobile: Yup, Ol' Faithful. The Exploder got rewarded for many years of service with a brand new set of tires. The lease company was reluctant to replace the tires at the 104K service, but a screw in the right rear tire in the middle of Ohio pushed them over the edge.
Mission: Leadership Skills training for two divisions in Central Ohio. My week got better... I had one of the most humorous groups I have ever had in a workshop and we had a great two days. I always let the group pick a Break Manager to call and manage breaks because I might be setting up for the next segment and lose track of time. I had put these yellow star shaped Post-It notes on the tables without any real idea how to use them. The newly appointed break manager scribbled something on one and stuck it to his shirt. I wandered over to his table to see that he had written "Break Deputy" on the star. We get cranking through the content (maintaing self-esteem, focusing on specific behavior, reinforcement techniques, etc) when I notice the manager next to him also had a star. She really liked the idea of focusing on specific behaviors and had named herself the "Specific Sheriff". Another manager across the room kept going back to the concept of one bad apple spoiling the bunch and she kept using the words "contaminate" and "quarantine". The Break Deputy made a badge for her and she was the newly appointed "EPA Marshall".
At the end of the week, I got an email from the Break Deputy:
You are the "AYATOLLAH of INFORMATION”, the" POTENTATE of PRODUCTIVITY” and the "DUKE of DEVELOPMENT'
FEEL FREE TO GIVE YOURSELF 3 GOLD STARS
What a great group!
Number of human interactions: 30 plus
State(s) visited: West Virginia and Ohio
City visited: Reynoldsburg, OH
Interesting fact about this city: Birthplace of the Tomato!! I had no idea that I was in the stomping grounds of that juicy, lycopene filled fruit... Yes, tomatos are a fruit.
Halpert says: What's a tomato??
Plane, train or automobile: Yup, Ol' Faithful. The Exploder got rewarded for many years of service with a brand new set of tires. The lease company was reluctant to replace the tires at the 104K service, but a screw in the right rear tire in the middle of Ohio pushed them over the edge.
Mission: Leadership Skills training for two divisions in Central Ohio. My week got better... I had one of the most humorous groups I have ever had in a workshop and we had a great two days. I always let the group pick a Break Manager to call and manage breaks because I might be setting up for the next segment and lose track of time. I had put these yellow star shaped Post-It notes on the tables without any real idea how to use them. The newly appointed break manager scribbled something on one and stuck it to his shirt. I wandered over to his table to see that he had written "Break Deputy" on the star. We get cranking through the content (maintaing self-esteem, focusing on specific behavior, reinforcement techniques, etc) when I notice the manager next to him also had a star. She really liked the idea of focusing on specific behaviors and had named herself the "Specific Sheriff". Another manager across the room kept going back to the concept of one bad apple spoiling the bunch and she kept using the words "contaminate" and "quarantine". The Break Deputy made a badge for her and she was the newly appointed "EPA Marshall".
At the end of the week, I got an email from the Break Deputy:
You are the "AYATOLLAH of INFORMATION”, the" POTENTATE of PRODUCTIVITY” and the "DUKE of DEVELOPMENT'
FEEL FREE TO GIVE YOURSELF 3 GOLD STARS
What a great group!
Number of human interactions: 30 plus
State(s) visited: West Virginia and Ohio
City visited: Reynoldsburg, OH
Interesting fact about this city: Birthplace of the Tomato!! I had no idea that I was in the stomping grounds of that juicy, lycopene filled fruit... Yes, tomatos are a fruit.
Halpert says: What's a tomato??
Monday, March 24, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080322
Plane, train or automobile: The Exploder rides again! This time I got to haul stuff and had a co-pilot!
Mission: This one was a doozy! A few members of our staff that are certified to deliver the leadership training that I do every week were asked to assist at our National Leadership Conference in Nashville, TN. Here is my schedule:
Saturday 15th - Drive to Nashville. Unload and set up registration
Sunday 16th - Church (Palm Sunday!). Run registration booth for @ 300 participants
Monday 17th - Co-facilitate with HR Directors in four breakout sessions
Tuesday 18th - Co-facilitate with outside training firm for 30 DMs
Mission: This one was a doozy! A few members of our staff that are certified to deliver the leadership training that I do every week were asked to assist at our National Leadership Conference in Nashville, TN. Here is my schedule:
Saturday 15th - Drive to Nashville. Unload and set up registration
Sunday 16th - Church (Palm Sunday!). Run registration booth for @ 300 participants
Monday 17th - Co-facilitate with HR Directors in four breakout sessions
Tuesday 18th - Co-facilitate with outside training firm for 30 DMs
Wednesday 19th - Co-facilitate with outside training firm for 30 DMs (same group)
Thursday 20th - Drive home!
Number of human interactions: Well over 300
State(s) visited: TN
City visited: Nashville
Interesting fact about this city: The Gaylord Opryland Hotel is ginormous and a great place to host an event.
Number of human interactions: Well over 300
State(s) visited: TN
City visited: Nashville
Interesting fact about this city: The Gaylord Opryland Hotel is ginormous and a great place to host an event.
Halpert says: I LOVE the Opryland Hotel!! Check out my TV and the size of my bed (yes, that's me in the middle of the pillows down there)!!
Travel Log - Star date 20080315
Plane, train or automobile: Racking up the miles on the Exploder!
Mission: A lot on this trip... a two-day leadership workshop, then two days of visiting new management Team Members in two different divisions. Oh, and did I mention that I got home at 9 p.m. on Friday and left at 7 a.m. on Saturday for a leadership conference in Nashville, TN?
Number of human interactions: About 20
State(s) visited: GA, SC
City visited: Atlanta, GA; Anderson, SC; Greenville, SC
Interesting fact about this city:
Atlanta, GA - I actually stayed near Stone Mountain. I'd like to bring the girls down with me on a trip so they could see it. I don't do much sight seeing on my trips - I have work to do!
Anderson, SC has a great little downtown area. My mom is thinking of moving south (and leave balmy South Dakota??) and I think this area would be great for her.
Halpert says: Wow, 5 different beds in 5 nights!!! Maybe he really is Travel Man!
Mission: A lot on this trip... a two-day leadership workshop, then two days of visiting new management Team Members in two different divisions. Oh, and did I mention that I got home at 9 p.m. on Friday and left at 7 a.m. on Saturday for a leadership conference in Nashville, TN?
Number of human interactions: About 20
State(s) visited: GA, SC
City visited: Atlanta, GA; Anderson, SC; Greenville, SC
Interesting fact about this city:
Atlanta, GA - I actually stayed near Stone Mountain. I'd like to bring the girls down with me on a trip so they could see it. I don't do much sight seeing on my trips - I have work to do!
Anderson, SC has a great little downtown area. My mom is thinking of moving south (and leave balmy South Dakota??) and I think this area would be great for her.
Halpert says: Wow, 5 different beds in 5 nights!!! Maybe he really is Travel Man!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080308
Plane, train or automobile: The mighty Exploder!!!
Mission: Two two-day leadership workshops. This is a region that I have not worked with before, so the pressure is on to deliver high quality workshops!
Number of human interactions: 30 Team Members total
State(s) visited: OH, WV
City visited: Morgantown, WV
Interesting fact about this city:
If you are not expecting to see this building, you suddenly think that Close Encounters of the Third Kind is happening!
Mission: Two two-day leadership workshops. This is a region that I have not worked with before, so the pressure is on to deliver high quality workshops!
Number of human interactions: 30 Team Members total
State(s) visited: OH, WV
City visited: Morgantown, WV
Interesting fact about this city:
If you are not expecting to see this building, you suddenly think that Close Encounters of the Third Kind is happening!Halpert says: Man, that was some good Mexican food at the Rio Grande!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Champions!
I have been assistant coaching my daughter's 9-12 year old basketball team the past few months and thoroughly enjoyed my foray into coaching. We ended up as the number one seed in the playoffs by playing the best defense in the league (11 points a game) and scoring the second highest number of points (17.9 points a game).
We had a bye week during the first round of the playoffs and learned that we would be playing the only Team that beat us in the championship game. What an opportunity!
We arrived at the gym during half time of the consolation game being played before ours so that we would be ready to warm up as soon as that game ended. The kids all looked so excited that they might throw up! The game before ours ended and we quickly took the court to practice our free throws and rebounding - our usual pre-game warm up.
Our league starts the "B" Team in the first quarter and also allows each player to shoot one free throw - that might be the only chance some of the kids get to score some points. Our head coach noticed that one of the boys on the team ("K") had a bloody ear and we had to send him to the bathroom to get cleaned up and ready to play. We were a player down and we hadn't even started the game yet. My Big Girl (the smallest kid on the team) calmly stepped to the line and sank her free throw! She averages less than a point a game and already she was on the board! Three of her teammates followed suit and we had a 4-1 lead before the jump ball.
Our "B" Team played good defense and took several shots, and ended the first quarter locked at the 4-1 score. The second quarter starts with free throws for the "A" Team and they added a point to our total. The coach's son typically brings the ball up the court for the "A" Team and as he came across mid-court, we could see him holding up his index finger as if he was signaling for an offensive set. I leaned over to Coach and said "I don't even know what #1 means, do you think any of the kids know what that means? "The "A" Team usually has the 11-12 year olds, so the level of play elevates and we played our best quarter of basketball all season, going in to halftime with a 12-1 lead. Soccer Mom was sitting in the middle of a group of parents from the other team and they were all commenting on how well our team passed the ball and hustled for every loose ball.
The second half was Coach's choice as to who to play and we kept our "A" Team in to start. "K", the boy with the bloody ear earlier, is known for his enthusiasm and tendency to lose focus. Coach did a brilliant job of subbing him in for a minute at a time and he grabbed several rebounds and had several shot attempts. He came off the court yelling "That was best few minutes of the whole season!". If only the rest of the team had played that well - we got a little sloppy and we let the other team close to within 1 point - it was 14-13 with about 4 minutes to go.
In my regular job I teach "soft skills" to store managers and one of the topics in our session is setting goals. We discuss that team members will put in extra effort if they see that they are close to the goal. I saw a text book example of that from our coach's daughter. She is our best shooter and for the entire season had set up on the wing to spot up for her favorite shot. The other team inbounded the ball and had to go the full length of the court. Coach's daughter hung back on defense against their best player and stole the ball! She drove down the court for a layup! I lived in Orlando for many years and one of my favorite Orlando Magic highlights is from the 1995 playoffs when Nick Anderson stole the ball from Michael Jordan - "Nick Anderson stole the ball! Nick Anderson stole the ball!" (Click here to see it - it is #4 at about the 3:20 mark) Her steal was every bit as exciting and game changing!
The other team took the ball out of bounds again and she stole the ball again! They recovered much faster, but the damage was done. We held on to win the game 16-13. My Big Girl has a gold medal with her name engraved on it and I have wonderful memories of winning that championship with her as her coach.
We had a bye week during the first round of the playoffs and learned that we would be playing the only Team that beat us in the championship game. What an opportunity!
We arrived at the gym during half time of the consolation game being played before ours so that we would be ready to warm up as soon as that game ended. The kids all looked so excited that they might throw up! The game before ours ended and we quickly took the court to practice our free throws and rebounding - our usual pre-game warm up.
Our league starts the "B" Team in the first quarter and also allows each player to shoot one free throw - that might be the only chance some of the kids get to score some points. Our head coach noticed that one of the boys on the team ("K") had a bloody ear and we had to send him to the bathroom to get cleaned up and ready to play. We were a player down and we hadn't even started the game yet. My Big Girl (the smallest kid on the team) calmly stepped to the line and sank her free throw! She averages less than a point a game and already she was on the board! Three of her teammates followed suit and we had a 4-1 lead before the jump ball.
Our "B" Team played good defense and took several shots, and ended the first quarter locked at the 4-1 score. The second quarter starts with free throws for the "A" Team and they added a point to our total. The coach's son typically brings the ball up the court for the "A" Team and as he came across mid-court, we could see him holding up his index finger as if he was signaling for an offensive set. I leaned over to Coach and said "I don't even know what #1 means, do you think any of the kids know what that means? "The "A" Team usually has the 11-12 year olds, so the level of play elevates and we played our best quarter of basketball all season, going in to halftime with a 12-1 lead. Soccer Mom was sitting in the middle of a group of parents from the other team and they were all commenting on how well our team passed the ball and hustled for every loose ball.
The second half was Coach's choice as to who to play and we kept our "A" Team in to start. "K", the boy with the bloody ear earlier, is known for his enthusiasm and tendency to lose focus. Coach did a brilliant job of subbing him in for a minute at a time and he grabbed several rebounds and had several shot attempts. He came off the court yelling "That was best few minutes of the whole season!". If only the rest of the team had played that well - we got a little sloppy and we let the other team close to within 1 point - it was 14-13 with about 4 minutes to go.
In my regular job I teach "soft skills" to store managers and one of the topics in our session is setting goals. We discuss that team members will put in extra effort if they see that they are close to the goal. I saw a text book example of that from our coach's daughter. She is our best shooter and for the entire season had set up on the wing to spot up for her favorite shot. The other team inbounded the ball and had to go the full length of the court. Coach's daughter hung back on defense against their best player and stole the ball! She drove down the court for a layup! I lived in Orlando for many years and one of my favorite Orlando Magic highlights is from the 1995 playoffs when Nick Anderson stole the ball from Michael Jordan - "Nick Anderson stole the ball! Nick Anderson stole the ball!" (Click here to see it - it is #4 at about the 3:20 mark) Her steal was every bit as exciting and game changing!
The other team took the ball out of bounds again and she stole the ball again! They recovered much faster, but the damage was done. We held on to win the game 16-13. My Big Girl has a gold medal with her name engraved on it and I have wonderful memories of winning that championship with her as her coach.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080223
This was an off week for the entire league that Big Girl plays in, so stay tuned for championship game highlights!
Plane, train or automobile: The trusty old Exploder
Mission: Visit new management trainees with the Division Manager. This was my first planned visit with the DM and his presence really paid off. He looked at things from a slightly different point of view and helped drive home the importance of following our program. He incorporated the information into his next managers meeting and I am seeing more Team Members in the program in his division after two days than I do in some divisions that I visited a month ago.
Number of human interactions: 8-10 at the store level.
State(s) visited: 2 - VA and a brief trip into North Carolina
Cities visited: South Boston and Danville, VA and Yanceyville, NC
Interesting fact about this city: South Boston has no Starbucks - not uncommon in rural towns. I think the residents of South Boston would be in for sticker shock if Starbucks comes in - I stopped at a coffee shop next to our store and was able to buy a LARGE cup of coffee for 69 cents. 69 cents!!!
Halpert says: How come I didn't get any of that coffee?
Plane, train or automobile: The trusty old Exploder
Mission: Visit new management trainees with the Division Manager. This was my first planned visit with the DM and his presence really paid off. He looked at things from a slightly different point of view and helped drive home the importance of following our program. He incorporated the information into his next managers meeting and I am seeing more Team Members in the program in his division after two days than I do in some divisions that I visited a month ago.
Number of human interactions: 8-10 at the store level.
State(s) visited: 2 - VA and a brief trip into North Carolina
Cities visited: South Boston and Danville, VA and Yanceyville, NC
Interesting fact about this city: South Boston has no Starbucks - not uncommon in rural towns. I think the residents of South Boston would be in for sticker shock if Starbucks comes in - I stopped at a coffee shop next to our store and was able to buy a LARGE cup of coffee for 69 cents. 69 cents!!!
Halpert says: How come I didn't get any of that coffee?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Customer "service"
This post is not related to the normal travel stuff that I bore both my readers with...
I use a BlackBerry for work. I am on the road so much, and having email on my phone makes my life much easier and gives me more time with my family when I am home. I have come to rely on the "insert name of a berry here"Berry (my girls call it the RaspBerry, the LingonBerry, the DingleBerry, etc.).
So you can imagine my frustration as I saw my battery life grow shorter and shorter over the past few weeks. BlackBerrys are known for great battery life, and for almost a year I have had no complaints. Now, I get about 8 hours off of a full charge - way down from the 30-36 hours I would get before.
On my lunch break, I rolled over the store I purchased the phone last March, expecting to swap the battery for a new one. This store is not a "service" store and I need to go across town to the "service" store. The next morning, I wait patiently for the "service" store to open. I flashed my phone to the man behind the counter and barely got the words "I need a batter...." out when he said "Don't have a battery for that phone". ???
I have an 8700 model, which was sold by every carrier you ever heard of and was advertised heavily in early 2007. There must be millions of these phones out there. Here is a transcript of the rest of our conversation:
Me: "Um... where can I get this replaced?"
Him: "You have to order it from the manufacturer."
Me: "Aren't you the service store for XXXXX?" The service I use had their logo displayed in 4,358 places in the store.
Him: "Yeah, but we are ZZZZ ZZZ. We are just an authorized dealer."
Me: "But not authorized to carry batteries for them."
Him: "There aren't that many phones like that out there. You could check out the new battery store over at the mall, they might have it."
Me: "But that wouldn't be covered under my service plan."
Him: "The battery is not covered under the service plan. The phone is, but batteries are an accessory, and accessories aren't covered."
Me: "Don't accessories enhance the use of a product?"
Him: "...yeah..."
Me: "I can use the phone without the headset, I can use the phone without the holder, but I can't use the phone without a battery. I would say the battery is not an accessory."
Him: "Your plan doesn't cover batteries."
What you can't see from this dialogue is the body language of the man behind the counter. He was ready for me to leave as soon as he saw my phone. So I obliged.
I went to the new battery store. They don't open until 10 a.m. and it is only 9:15. I head back to the office and tell my dear wife what is going on. She goes to XXXXX's website and is informed that they can't communicate with customers until their customer service upgrade is complete. ??? A communications company can't communicate with me? Call me crazy, but I would think that a phone company could figure out a way to have their people talk to me even if they worked off a two day old database.
My dear wife found a battery at eforcity.com and promptly ordered it.
Guess what I am going to do when XXXXX's customer service upgrade is done?
I use a BlackBerry for work. I am on the road so much, and having email on my phone makes my life much easier and gives me more time with my family when I am home. I have come to rely on the "insert name of a berry here"Berry (my girls call it the RaspBerry, the LingonBerry, the DingleBerry, etc.).
So you can imagine my frustration as I saw my battery life grow shorter and shorter over the past few weeks. BlackBerrys are known for great battery life, and for almost a year I have had no complaints. Now, I get about 8 hours off of a full charge - way down from the 30-36 hours I would get before.
On my lunch break, I rolled over the store I purchased the phone last March, expecting to swap the battery for a new one. This store is not a "service" store and I need to go across town to the "service" store. The next morning, I wait patiently for the "service" store to open. I flashed my phone to the man behind the counter and barely got the words "I need a batter...." out when he said "Don't have a battery for that phone". ???
I have an 8700 model, which was sold by every carrier you ever heard of and was advertised heavily in early 2007. There must be millions of these phones out there. Here is a transcript of the rest of our conversation:
Me: "Um... where can I get this replaced?"
Him: "You have to order it from the manufacturer."
Me: "Aren't you the service store for XXXXX?" The service I use had their logo displayed in 4,358 places in the store.
Him: "Yeah, but we are ZZZZ ZZZ. We are just an authorized dealer."
Me: "But not authorized to carry batteries for them."
Him: "There aren't that many phones like that out there. You could check out the new battery store over at the mall, they might have it."
Me: "But that wouldn't be covered under my service plan."
Him: "The battery is not covered under the service plan. The phone is, but batteries are an accessory, and accessories aren't covered."
Me: "Don't accessories enhance the use of a product?"
Him: "...yeah..."
Me: "I can use the phone without the headset, I can use the phone without the holder, but I can't use the phone without a battery. I would say the battery is not an accessory."
Him: "Your plan doesn't cover batteries."
What you can't see from this dialogue is the body language of the man behind the counter. He was ready for me to leave as soon as he saw my phone. So I obliged.
I went to the new battery store. They don't open until 10 a.m. and it is only 9:15. I head back to the office and tell my dear wife what is going on. She goes to XXXXX's website and is informed that they can't communicate with customers until their customer service upgrade is complete. ??? A communications company can't communicate with me? Call me crazy, but I would think that a phone company could figure out a way to have their people talk to me even if they worked off a two day old database.
My dear wife found a battery at eforcity.com and promptly ordered it.
Guess what I am going to do when XXXXX's customer service upgrade is done?
Travel Log - Star Date 20080216
Big Girl's basketball team earned a first round bye in the playoffs, so we spent Saturday scouting the other teams. We'll have a tough match up against the winner of the game we saw!
Plane, train or automobile: The trusty Exploder
Mission: In-Store Management Training visits. These were local, so no chance to find a Moe's or rack up some hotel points.
Number of human interactions: 4. Great time with the new management team members and the division manager was very responsive to the program.
State(s) visited: Virginia
City visited: Madison Heights
Interesting fact about this city: Um, it's between Lynchburg and Amherst?
Halpert says: Why did you make me sit in the car? Don't you know that dogs' brains can melt in the heat? Oh yeah... it was 40 degrees.
Plane, train or automobile: The trusty Exploder
Mission: In-Store Management Training visits. These were local, so no chance to find a Moe's or rack up some hotel points.
Number of human interactions: 4. Great time with the new management team members and the division manager was very responsive to the program.
State(s) visited: Virginia
City visited: Madison Heights
Interesting fact about this city: Um, it's between Lynchburg and Amherst?
Halpert says: Why did you make me sit in the car? Don't you know that dogs' brains can melt in the heat? Oh yeah... it was 40 degrees.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Travel Log - Star Date 20080209
I have had two incredibly busy weekends in a row. I belong to the Knights of Columbus and am the committee chair for Civic Center volunteering. This means I coordinate all the volunteers for working a concession stand at the local civic center. We had two big events the past two weekends and I had to make sure we had about 30 shifts covered! Lot's of phone calls, emails and prayers - and we got them all covered. I put in about 20 hours of volunteer work on the two weekends - in addition to being on the road three days each week.
Plane, train or automobile: Still in the trusty old Exploder!
Mission: In-Store management training.
Number of human interactions: 5
State(s) visited: 2
City visited: Charlotte, NC.
Interesting fact about this city: The little town of Harrisburg outside of Charlotte is planning their layout very carefully and will resemble a quaint downtown area when complete. They have shops (hardware store!), boutiques, restaurants and even an auto parts store! I enjoyed lunch there and then visited one of the cleanest Advance Auto Parts that you will ever find.
Halpert says: Why did you leave me all alone at the hotel when you went to work with a new 3rd shift manager at the 24 hour store?
Plane, train or automobile: Still in the trusty old Exploder!
Mission: In-Store management training.
Number of human interactions: 5
State(s) visited: 2
City visited: Charlotte, NC.
Interesting fact about this city: The little town of Harrisburg outside of Charlotte is planning their layout very carefully and will resemble a quaint downtown area when complete. They have shops (hardware store!), boutiques, restaurants and even an auto parts store! I enjoyed lunch there and then visited one of the cleanest Advance Auto Parts that you will ever find.
Halpert says: Why did you leave me all alone at the hotel when you went to work with a new 3rd shift manager at the 24 hour store?
Travel Log - Star Date 20080202
Big Girl scored!! My Big Girl grabbed a rebound and made a shot - not bad for being the littlest kid on the floor! Her team won 31-21 and is now 3 and 1 heading into an off week. Let's see how the playoff seeding shapes up!
Plane, train or automobile: Automobile
Mission: In-Store Training for Management Team Members. My big focus this year will be encouraging the use of our In-Store Training program. I'll get the chance to work with dozens of new management Team Members this year!
Number of human interactions: 6 plus 2 for dinner with a friend of mine and his wife. They moved to Wilmington last year and this was the first chance I had to see them.
State(s) visited: 2
City visited: Wilmington, NC
Interesting fact about this city: Not far from Camp Lejeune. I was so thrilled to see all the "Welcome Home" banners attached to the fences around the Main Entrance. My personal favorite was the one that simply said "DADDY DADDY DADDY". Thank God for our brave soldiers!
Halpert says: um... Halpert missed this trip. Seems he was playing around the house and forgot to jump into my back pack. Ooops!!
Plane, train or automobile: Automobile
Mission: In-Store Training for Management Team Members. My big focus this year will be encouraging the use of our In-Store Training program. I'll get the chance to work with dozens of new management Team Members this year!
Number of human interactions: 6 plus 2 for dinner with a friend of mine and his wife. They moved to Wilmington last year and this was the first chance I had to see them.
State(s) visited: 2
City visited: Wilmington, NC
Interesting fact about this city: Not far from Camp Lejeune. I was so thrilled to see all the "Welcome Home" banners attached to the fences around the Main Entrance. My personal favorite was the one that simply said "DADDY DADDY DADDY". Thank God for our brave soldiers!
Halpert says: um... Halpert missed this trip. Seems he was playing around the house and forgot to jump into my back pack. Ooops!!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080126
This week was spent at home at the corporate mothership. Our department focuses on helping our store Team Members execute our key initiatives. My ASE certification served me well on several occasions, and I had a chance to use my selling skills twice to move the business forward.
Big Girl's basketball team improved to 2-1 with a 13-2 victory. Big Girl, the smallest kid on either team, grabbed a rebound and did a good job of bringing the ball up the court and finding her teammates.
Plane, train or automobile: None.
Mission: Sell more parts, have more fun.
Number of human interactions: Too numerous to count. There is a core group of 4 of us that bring our lunch everyday and soup seemed to be the meal of the week with temperatures getting into the 40s only one day.
State(s) visited: Virginia
City visited: Roanoke
Interesting fact about this city: See a previous post for details.
Halpert says: 1 week out of 4 so far... Why do they call you Travel Man?
Big Girl's basketball team improved to 2-1 with a 13-2 victory. Big Girl, the smallest kid on either team, grabbed a rebound and did a good job of bringing the ball up the court and finding her teammates.
Plane, train or automobile: None.
Mission: Sell more parts, have more fun.
Number of human interactions: Too numerous to count. There is a core group of 4 of us that bring our lunch everyday and soup seemed to be the meal of the week with temperatures getting into the 40s only one day.
State(s) visited: Virginia
City visited: Roanoke
Interesting fact about this city: See a previous post for details.
Halpert says: 1 week out of 4 so far... Why do they call you Travel Man?
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080119
Plane, train or automobile: Drove the trusty company vehicle through slush, sleet and snow. Mission: Special Task Force for the company. About 15 of us had to visit 60 stores within two weeks to collect information and interview Team Members.
Number of human interactions: 3 Store Managers. I know that on the job performance is 70-80% environment, and these store visits bore that out. All the managers knew what to do, and one of them had the resources to do it. The other two either lacked the resources or had other initiatives prioritized ahead of the purpose of this visit.
State(s) visited: Tennessee and Georgia
City visited: Knoxville DMA and Chattanooga DMA
Interesting fact about this city: Chattanooga has a TON of stuff to do for families (Lookout Mountain, Rock City, Incline Railway, Ruby Falls, Riverwalk, Tennessee Aquarium, etc)
Halpert says: Glad to finally be on the road!
State(s) visited: Tennessee and Georgia
City visited: Knoxville DMA and Chattanooga DMA
Interesting fact about this city: Chattanooga has a TON of stuff to do for families (Lookout Mountain, Rock City, Incline Railway, Ruby Falls, Riverwalk, Tennessee Aquarium, etc)
Halpert says: Glad to finally be on the road! Big Girl's basketball team is now 1 - 1. The first game was a victory for Big Girl's team (16-7). This week, my head coaching debut resulted in a loss (11-14) - I guess my philosophy of defense and taking care of the ball hasn't gotten through.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080112
This week, all the trainers came into the corporate mothership for a meeting. I played chauffeur and dinner host when we weren't meeting to learn how to help our store teams perform at an even higher level.
A little more football (Yay - LSU; Sad - beloved Buccaneers)
Plane, train or automobile: Lot's o' shuttle duty in the Exploder
Mission: Win at go karts! We had an activity night at a local go kart track. I actually won two races and held the fastest lap time of the night until the very end when a trainer with a 60 pound weight advantage managed to get my car.
Number of human interactions: 30 just in the department, 4 with VP and above level.
State(s) visited: Virginny
City visited: Roanoke - the Star City of the South
Mission: Win at go karts! We had an activity night at a local go kart track. I actually won two races and held the fastest lap time of the night until the very end when a trainer with a 60 pound weight advantage managed to get my car.
Number of human interactions: 30 just in the department, 4 with VP and above level.
State(s) visited: Virginny
City visited: Roanoke - the Star City of the South
Interesting fact about this city: Learn about the Star.
Halpert says: I thought you said you traveled a lot?!?!?!?!
Halpert says: I thought you said you traveled a lot?!?!?!?!
Travel Log - Star date 20080105
This week was all about watching football... several BCS games (personal favorite - watching the Jayhawks pound the Hokies). No travel.
Big Girl had her first basketball practice in the 9-12 year old league. She is the smallest kid on the team, but has the biggest heart and will play hard when she gets a chance.
Little Girl mastered her Heelys and is now gliding everywhere she goes.
Here is the template I will use for my posts; there may be additions later, but all the salient points are covered below.
Plane, train or automobile: None
Mission: Watch football
Number of human interactions: 3 at home, 12 at Bible study, too many to mention at the office
State(s) visited: Virginny
City visited: Just my own
Interesting fact about this city: Home to Roanoke College
Halpert says: I'm ready to get on the road!
Big Girl had her first basketball practice in the 9-12 year old league. She is the smallest kid on the team, but has the biggest heart and will play hard when she gets a chance.
Little Girl mastered her Heelys and is now gliding everywhere she goes.
Here is the template I will use for my posts; there may be additions later, but all the salient points are covered below.
Plane, train or automobile: None
Mission: Watch football
Number of human interactions: 3 at home, 12 at Bible study, too many to mention at the office
State(s) visited: Virginny
City visited: Just my own
Interesting fact about this city: Home to Roanoke College
Halpert says: I'm ready to get on the road!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Sorry for my first post this year being so late. I have not traveled, so no need to invoke my super powers.
I'd like to introduce my sidekick - Halpert. Santa brought him so that I would have a buddy on my trips and it took me several days to learn his name. Just so happens we were watching a rerun of "The Office" and ...
Halpert says: This section will include observations from Halpert's point of view. He has mostly been running around the house learning the lay of the land.
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