Just got a BBB notice in the mail advising of a complaint against us by a customer. We were supposed to send a crew to repair sheetrock cracks in her house but as usual, after I requested the crew to come down from Austin, the main Austin foreman began to put me off with excuses about how he couldn't spare them. I asked my Op manager to stay on top of this and she didn't. Now, I've got this damned complaint to deal with. Shit.
I hate it when I feel like I have to do all the thinking around here.
Thursday, February 05, 2004
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
After the Icebreaker
I gave my Icebreaker speech this morning to the Toastmasters group. I got a lot of really good feedback from them too. Good feedback as in positive feedback. Everybody went ooh and awww when I showed them the portrait of Megan and Courtney too. It was a pretty good speech too, and I don't mind saying so. The only criticisms I got were one from Mona, when she told me to watch my volume (implying that I was either too loud or too quiet, I don't know) and I think one from George when he told me to be careful not to turn my back to the audience. Dana reviewed the speech for me and was generally positive, which I really appreciate. I've seen her review others and I know that she's really detailed and not afraid to say it if someone does something wrong. All in all, I was really happy at how well I pulled it off. I was as nervous as a whore in church when I started but once I began, it all flowed automatically.
I talked with Bill afterward and he's really nervous about beginning the program. I told him that this is all about getting outside the box. About challenging himself to do things that may make him uncomfortable. About growth. I reassured him that, as good of a salesman as he is, that he'll be a natural speechmaker. He just needs a little self-confidence.
I talked with Bill afterward and he's really nervous about beginning the program. I told him that this is all about getting outside the box. About challenging himself to do things that may make him uncomfortable. About growth. I reassured him that, as good of a salesman as he is, that he'll be a natural speechmaker. He just needs a little self-confidence.
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Icebreaker
Good morning everyone.
This is my first speech, my “Icebreaker.” You know, every time I’m asked to talk about myself I tend to either get tongue-tied or to drone on endlessly. So I thought that the best way to give you all a snapshot of myself would be to talk about what motivates me, what makes me tick. And for me, that’s summed up in one word: DUTY.
Like all of us in this room, one of the main duties in my life is my career. I won’t bore you all with the ins and outs of foundation repair but just know that it isn’t a particularly easy or fun business to be in right now. Changes in economic conditions over the past four years have affected the market so profoundly that almost half of the contractors who bought ads in the 1998 yellow pages are no longer in business. I used to joke that business was so good back them that all any contractor had to do to make money was walk out of his office, hold out his hands and signed contracts would fall into his hands.
No more.
The market’s different now. Heck, the world’s different. Being that we were faced with two choices - adapt or die - we decided to adapt. The contractors who stuck up their noses at marketing for business went the way of the dinosaur. To stay competitive, we cut our prices and costs to the bone and sank every available dime into advertising. We run commercials and do cold calls. I knock on the doors of realtors, inspectors, builders and appraiser daily just to get the word out for the company. And it can be frustrating. Every time you knock on a door, you risk having that door slammed in your face. But it pays off over the long haul. It makes a difference and that is this: no one in this industry is living high right now. But whereas some of my competition – the ones who got really rich and lazy in the fat days of the late 90s – have enough business to run only 2 crews between here and Austin, I have 4 crews working San Antonio only. We run 12 crews in Austin. We are like blind men trying to feel our way in a dark room. We’re reinventing the market for foundation repair and I guarantee you all that Centex House Leveling will emerge on top once the new order shakes itself out.
But as much as I like to talk about work, ultimately that’s only how I make a buck. It’s not my most sacred duty; it doesn’t define me as a man. Let me show you what really makes my heart beat. Or rather, let me show you WHO makes my heart beat . . .
UNVEIL PORTRAIT OF MY GIRLS
Meet my daughters Megan and Courtney. This portrait is a few years old. Megan is now 17 years old and in the middle of her junior year at MacArthur High School and Courtney is 8 and in the middle of 3rd grade.
Megan was 5 when her mother and I met and 7 when we got married. Though I’m admittedly biased on this matter, I can say that she’s a good kid. No, she’s a great kid, better than I was and certainly better than I deserve. Though she’s not the greatest driver in the world (what teenager is?) she has a good and kind heart. Megan is golden. She excels in everything she does and is just one of those blessed types who seem to glide between the raindrops of life. May that always be so.
The little one here is my daughter Courtney. Courtney owns me.
There is no more sacred duty in the world than parenthood, and there is no greater blessing to a man than to have a daughter. I’ve always said that little girls are God’s most precious gifts and she is definitely mine. But in a lot of ways, she’s like night and day from her big sister. Whereas Megan really isn’t the athletic type, Courtney is always outside jumping on the trampoline or kicking a soccer ball around the yard. In fact, she’s about to begin her second soccer season this month and I can tell you that she’s almost as excited about it as her mom and I are.
These are my main duties in life, both merely important and sacred. In conclusion, I can say that though my pockets would be empty if I didn’t have my job, my soul would be empty without my wife and girls. They are my duty. They give my life purpose, direction and meaning. They are the reason I get out of bed early every morning, put my shoulder against the plow and push. They are the reason I work so hard to make my life and their lives better and they are ultimately the reason I am here talking to you this morning.
This is my first speech, my “Icebreaker.” You know, every time I’m asked to talk about myself I tend to either get tongue-tied or to drone on endlessly. So I thought that the best way to give you all a snapshot of myself would be to talk about what motivates me, what makes me tick. And for me, that’s summed up in one word: DUTY.
Like all of us in this room, one of the main duties in my life is my career. I won’t bore you all with the ins and outs of foundation repair but just know that it isn’t a particularly easy or fun business to be in right now. Changes in economic conditions over the past four years have affected the market so profoundly that almost half of the contractors who bought ads in the 1998 yellow pages are no longer in business. I used to joke that business was so good back them that all any contractor had to do to make money was walk out of his office, hold out his hands and signed contracts would fall into his hands.
No more.
The market’s different now. Heck, the world’s different. Being that we were faced with two choices - adapt or die - we decided to adapt. The contractors who stuck up their noses at marketing for business went the way of the dinosaur. To stay competitive, we cut our prices and costs to the bone and sank every available dime into advertising. We run commercials and do cold calls. I knock on the doors of realtors, inspectors, builders and appraiser daily just to get the word out for the company. And it can be frustrating. Every time you knock on a door, you risk having that door slammed in your face. But it pays off over the long haul. It makes a difference and that is this: no one in this industry is living high right now. But whereas some of my competition – the ones who got really rich and lazy in the fat days of the late 90s – have enough business to run only 2 crews between here and Austin, I have 4 crews working San Antonio only. We run 12 crews in Austin. We are like blind men trying to feel our way in a dark room. We’re reinventing the market for foundation repair and I guarantee you all that Centex House Leveling will emerge on top once the new order shakes itself out.
But as much as I like to talk about work, ultimately that’s only how I make a buck. It’s not my most sacred duty; it doesn’t define me as a man. Let me show you what really makes my heart beat. Or rather, let me show you WHO makes my heart beat . . .
UNVEIL PORTRAIT OF MY GIRLS
Meet my daughters Megan and Courtney. This portrait is a few years old. Megan is now 17 years old and in the middle of her junior year at MacArthur High School and Courtney is 8 and in the middle of 3rd grade.
Megan was 5 when her mother and I met and 7 when we got married. Though I’m admittedly biased on this matter, I can say that she’s a good kid. No, she’s a great kid, better than I was and certainly better than I deserve. Though she’s not the greatest driver in the world (what teenager is?) she has a good and kind heart. Megan is golden. She excels in everything she does and is just one of those blessed types who seem to glide between the raindrops of life. May that always be so.
The little one here is my daughter Courtney. Courtney owns me.
There is no more sacred duty in the world than parenthood, and there is no greater blessing to a man than to have a daughter. I’ve always said that little girls are God’s most precious gifts and she is definitely mine. But in a lot of ways, she’s like night and day from her big sister. Whereas Megan really isn’t the athletic type, Courtney is always outside jumping on the trampoline or kicking a soccer ball around the yard. In fact, she’s about to begin her second soccer season this month and I can tell you that she’s almost as excited about it as her mom and I are.
These are my main duties in life, both merely important and sacred. In conclusion, I can say that though my pockets would be empty if I didn’t have my job, my soul would be empty without my wife and girls. They are my duty. They give my life purpose, direction and meaning. They are the reason I get out of bed early every morning, put my shoulder against the plow and push. They are the reason I work so hard to make my life and their lives better and they are ultimately the reason I am here talking to you this morning.
Time for a post
It's not that there's nothing going on, it's just that I haven't felt like writing lately. Especially after the pity party I threw myself last week. still, it's long past time that I post something so . . . lessee what's going on? Work's slower than hell right now, no surprise for the beginning of February. Bill's in his office right now calling all people he's given estimates to over the past year. It's just tough to sell this time of year.
Erica and her sister are in a big fight about her mother. Erica herself has had more than a few issues with her mom over the years so she knows where Eloiza comes from when she bitches about her. But, whenever Erica had a problem with her, she'd come out and say it to her. This has led to some rather touchy situations in times past, but the storms always blew over and, by and large, we have a good relationship with her. Eloiza on the other hand, is the quiet martyr type. If she's unhappy, she won't say anything about it. She'll just bite it down and grouse about it later. She vents to Erica via email obsessively about her mom (mostly invented complaints like "how dare she complain about her diabetes when she doesn't give a damn about my strained back!" and shit like that). After listening to her "pity poor me, mom ruined my life" from her big sister for about the thousandth time, Erica bit back. I've always told her that her mom deserves to be defended and this time Erica did. She's afraid that she's ruined her relationship with her sister but I don't think it will. She just said some things that everyone else in the family has been thinking for the past few years.
I'm still with the religion of dieting and working out. I haven't missed any workout or cardio days either. My diet's going well and I lost 2 lbs last week so now I'm down to 296. It's testament to what a fat bastard I am to say that I'm "down" to just a hair under 300. This process will take a long time so I'm trying not to get too impatient. Plus, I'm within shouting distance of 40 so it's not like the weight's going to just up and fly off me like it would when I was 20 years younger. From our mutual workout blog, it sounds like Robbie's losing focus with regard to the dieting, though he's training hard in the gym. Oh well, he didn't need to lose as much weight as I did.
I am so bored today that I'm looking at photos of homes for sale in my old neighborhood in Mobile, Alabama on the internet. I am Texan born and bred but I loved Alabama. I always tell people that I'd go back tomorrow if I could find a way to make a buck there.
Erica and her sister are in a big fight about her mother. Erica herself has had more than a few issues with her mom over the years so she knows where Eloiza comes from when she bitches about her. But, whenever Erica had a problem with her, she'd come out and say it to her. This has led to some rather touchy situations in times past, but the storms always blew over and, by and large, we have a good relationship with her. Eloiza on the other hand, is the quiet martyr type. If she's unhappy, she won't say anything about it. She'll just bite it down and grouse about it later. She vents to Erica via email obsessively about her mom (mostly invented complaints like "how dare she complain about her diabetes when she doesn't give a damn about my strained back!" and shit like that). After listening to her "pity poor me, mom ruined my life" from her big sister for about the thousandth time, Erica bit back. I've always told her that her mom deserves to be defended and this time Erica did. She's afraid that she's ruined her relationship with her sister but I don't think it will. She just said some things that everyone else in the family has been thinking for the past few years.
I'm still with the religion of dieting and working out. I haven't missed any workout or cardio days either. My diet's going well and I lost 2 lbs last week so now I'm down to 296. It's testament to what a fat bastard I am to say that I'm "down" to just a hair under 300. This process will take a long time so I'm trying not to get too impatient. Plus, I'm within shouting distance of 40 so it's not like the weight's going to just up and fly off me like it would when I was 20 years younger. From our mutual workout blog, it sounds like Robbie's losing focus with regard to the dieting, though he's training hard in the gym. Oh well, he didn't need to lose as much weight as I did.
I am so bored today that I'm looking at photos of homes for sale in my old neighborhood in Mobile, Alabama on the internet. I am Texan born and bred but I loved Alabama. I always tell people that I'd go back tomorrow if I could find a way to make a buck there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)