I went from a business simulation in Irvine to an ERP Project in Acuna Mexico in the space of 24 hours. I went from cool and comfortable, to hot and sweaty. It was at least 101 with 95% humidity yesterday, and hotter today. My first night at the hotel in Del Rio was scary – I was visited by a brown tarantula with a body the size of my thumb. I woke to find it crawling in my chest hair. I screamed like a little girl, and then proceeded to smash it into a brown pulp. The hotel staff assured me my room was spider free when I returned from dinner. However I was not really able to sleep for some reason. Hmmm, I might be afraid of spiders; especially big hairy brown ones!
Observations:
I ate at my first (and last) Sonic Burger on the road from San Antonio to Del Rio. The food was not very good at all.
I ate at my first (and last) Applebee’s. All I can say is, at least they have beer.
San Antonio is plastered with Go Spurs Go. What the hell is a Spur?
The road from San Antonio to Del Rio is a three hour speed trap – each town has its own shake down section. They will even pull you over if you are 3 miles over the posted limit. It is really a joke.
The inbound customs checkpoint in Mexico is unmanned. You just drive right through. It was most bizarre. Nobody cared that a car full of people just drove across the border and into Acuna. I am told that going back will be different. US Customs has been stopping people for up to an hour.
I had lunch at Johnny's Steakhouse in Acuna today. By American standards, it would not pass muster, but I loved the place. I had a nice t-bone and salad, with Diet Coke. My co-workers had similar meals. 6 of use ate for under $50 bucks. A funny moment occurred when our waitress tried to convince us that the ice in our glasses was “safe”. The meal ended 5 untouched glasses of ice. Alberto took a chance on lemonade, but he’s originally form Mexico so I think he’s immune.
More to follow with pictures tonight.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Business Policy Game - Day 2
It is Saturday morning. Day two of our business simulation is underway. We started with the news that a Tornado has hit area three and destroyed some of our distribution and sales facilities. We are partially covered, the losses will be significant.
I'll post our position soon...
Y5Q3 update @ 8:30
Stock price increased to $2 per share
We are firmly in 4th place and closing on 3rd
Team 1 continued its slide and may be going out of business
Noon update
We are going to loose - badly
3:00 update - Game over man
oh god, the stars....
stock price $1.83 (down from a high of $2.30)
our competitors:
Thank god this is over, I go now to embrace by "C" for taking last place. Scotch to follow....
Group meeting at 3:30 - at least the teachers did not rub it in - I leave frustrated and tired.
Update: 10:00 p.m. After a nap nap – a slice of pie and a few games of AoE.
I have to ask myself. Was this fun? Did I learn anything? Did it help me understand how to build a business?
No, it was not fun. It was incredibly stressful and frustrating. I’ve spent nearly every waking moment available to me over the last three week getting ready for the test only to find ALL OF THE WORK was useless. Nothing in our strategy plan worked, it was a failure.
I learned that logic and reason have no place in the Business policy game – let me explain. We were selling single use disposable cameras at the highest quality level and with the most options. For one or two quarters we made some money, then our main competitor moved out of our competitive zone by offering a camera with high quality but low options. They priced it higher than our model and took our entire market share. We were left with almost no market to work with. We thought – how is it possible that a higher priced model with fewer options could outsell us, that does not make sense, right? Of course the instructors just waved their hands and send we were not aligned with them market. On the next round we changed our strategy to match our key competitor – this time with a new model, high quality, and less features, and for a lower price. We lost whatever market share we had left. It did not make sense.
In the end I had to go to the teachers and tell them we were almost out of business and did not know how to dig ourselves out the of the hole we were in. They “found some cash” which is instructor talk for a massive bail out, and had us adjust our variables a little bit. On the next go around – we made money. The thing is, we had almost identical numbers in the last go around and were massively cutting expenses when the instructor came in to advise us to spend more in certain areas. In other words – they threw some money and market share at us just so we could not fail out of the simulation. It was so frustrating.
Did this help me understand how to build a business? – Well no, not really. I spent two very frustrating games digging a hole deeper and deeper. Our instructors encouraged us to stay the course on our strategy, which just made things worse. I do not get along with the Strategy course instructor who lead the simulation, he does not like to hear contrary points of views; I am often contrary. It is kind of like arguing with a liberal – it can be very frustrating. Anyway – my pet theory is that my team did quite a bit to screw things up on our own and was helped along on the path to failure by a teacher with an anti Mojoey point of view.
Parting thought – I have four papers to write for this class tomorrow, and then I hit the road on a business trip. I need a full week to get over my anger and frustration at the “learning” experience I was just subjected too. I mean really, I already know how to fail; I was hoping to learn how to win or at least understand how to win. Christ - all I really learned is that I can depend on my teammates through thick and thin. Thanks for a good run Pete, Cesar and Mike!
I'll post our position soon...
Y5Q3 update @ 8:30
Stock price increased to $2 per share
We are firmly in 4th place and closing on 3rd
Team 1 continued its slide and may be going out of business
Noon update
We are going to loose - badly
3:00 update - Game over man
oh god, the stars....
stock price $1.83 (down from a high of $2.30)
our competitors:
- $9.79
- $46.43 <-- The winner (Team 4)
- $32.76
- $8.50
- What did I learn? don't ever let Pete, Mike, Joe or Cesar run a business.
- When you think you've hit bottom, look again, because you've just bounced.
- I think we suck (at the game)
Thank god this is over, I go now to embrace by "C" for taking last place. Scotch to follow....
Group meeting at 3:30 - at least the teachers did not rub it in - I leave frustrated and tired.
Update: 10:00 p.m. After a nap nap – a slice of pie and a few games of AoE.
I have to ask myself. Was this fun? Did I learn anything? Did it help me understand how to build a business?
No, it was not fun. It was incredibly stressful and frustrating. I’ve spent nearly every waking moment available to me over the last three week getting ready for the test only to find ALL OF THE WORK was useless. Nothing in our strategy plan worked, it was a failure.
I learned that logic and reason have no place in the Business policy game – let me explain. We were selling single use disposable cameras at the highest quality level and with the most options. For one or two quarters we made some money, then our main competitor moved out of our competitive zone by offering a camera with high quality but low options. They priced it higher than our model and took our entire market share. We were left with almost no market to work with. We thought – how is it possible that a higher priced model with fewer options could outsell us, that does not make sense, right? Of course the instructors just waved their hands and send we were not aligned with them market. On the next round we changed our strategy to match our key competitor – this time with a new model, high quality, and less features, and for a lower price. We lost whatever market share we had left. It did not make sense.
In the end I had to go to the teachers and tell them we were almost out of business and did not know how to dig ourselves out the of the hole we were in. They “found some cash” which is instructor talk for a massive bail out, and had us adjust our variables a little bit. On the next go around – we made money. The thing is, we had almost identical numbers in the last go around and were massively cutting expenses when the instructor came in to advise us to spend more in certain areas. In other words – they threw some money and market share at us just so we could not fail out of the simulation. It was so frustrating.
Did this help me understand how to build a business? – Well no, not really. I spent two very frustrating games digging a hole deeper and deeper. Our instructors encouraged us to stay the course on our strategy, which just made things worse. I do not get along with the Strategy course instructor who lead the simulation, he does not like to hear contrary points of views; I am often contrary. It is kind of like arguing with a liberal – it can be very frustrating. Anyway – my pet theory is that my team did quite a bit to screw things up on our own and was helped along on the path to failure by a teacher with an anti Mojoey point of view.
Parting thought – I have four papers to write for this class tomorrow, and then I hit the road on a business trip. I need a full week to get over my anger and frustration at the “learning” experience I was just subjected too. I mean really, I already know how to fail; I was hoping to learn how to win or at least understand how to win. Christ - all I really learned is that I can depend on my teammates through thick and thin. Thanks for a good run Pete, Cesar and Mike!
Friday, June 24, 2005
It's gut check time
My business simulation starts in five minutes. It is a big part of my grade in Strategy, the capstone course for my MBA at Pepperdine. I am totally stressed; so is my team. We are in last place, our prospects suck, and we know that one team has already benefited from a little professor TLC.
Current stock price = .98
Current market share = 15%
More to follow:
***** Update at 8:00 ****
After 3 quarters
stock price $1.07 (second lowest)
Current market share = 15.2%
drop of 500K in cash reserves
Things are not looking good so far
***** Update at 11:00 ****
after 6 quarters
Stock price at $1.10 (tied for last)
up about 3000k in cash reserves
We are not in last place! and it does not look like the current last place team will not ever recover. Things are looking up.
We pick things up again at 8:00 a.m.
Current stock price = .98
Current market share = 15%
More to follow:
***** Update at 8:00 ****
After 3 quarters
stock price $1.07 (second lowest)
Current market share = 15.2%
drop of 500K in cash reserves
Things are not looking good so far
***** Update at 11:00 ****
after 6 quarters
Stock price at $1.10 (tied for last)
up about 3000k in cash reserves
We are not in last place! and it does not look like the current last place team will not ever recover. Things are looking up.
We pick things up again at 8:00 a.m.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Stencil Art - Carson
This showed up a few days ago in Carson. I saw one more a little farther up the street.
I think it could be some kind of Panda, a very ugly Panda, but a Panda nonetheless.
The picture is heavily cropped - sorry; I was using a wide-angle lens from about 50 feet away.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Gull on Pole
Wow - I actually had time to take a picture today. It's been what... a week now. All I do is go to work, go to school, study and sleep. Grad School is killing me.
I snapped this after a beer and some wings at Hooters in Long Beach this afternoon. Of course I'm posting this from study group...
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Jonathan and Wife
I am horrible with names. I met Jonathan's wife for the first time at his going away party last night at Game Works. Her name did not stick, not even the first letter. Oh, well... there is little chance I will see her again.
Jonathan is the latest friend to leave my place of employment. I am going to miss him. He is smart and was good with our systems. It is hard to loose people with his skills. It will be hard to replace him.
Good luck Jonathan!
Friday, June 17, 2005
Groups Unite Against Military Recruiters
This article seems dumb to me, the article Groups unite against military recruiters is highly deceptive. The premise behind the arguments of those interviewed in the article is that recruiters are targeting kids who are not likely to go to college after graduation from High School. Those interviewed promote the idea that recruiting for the military is part is some kind reprehensible, racial motivated conspiracy to ensnare the less fortunate. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those who are not going on to college after graduation need a leg up or else they will enter a long cycle of working for Burger King until they realize it takes more than a High school diploma to make it in life. The Armed Services offer that leg up to hundreds of thousands of young men and women each year (just like they did to me many years ago). The real story here is that Representative McDermott (D) is actively against the war in Iraq and will do anything, including sabotaging recruitment efforts, to achieve his objective. Wake up America. People like McDermott play for the other team. Of course, the news media could try to provide some balance in their reporting on issues like this, but they are against the war too.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Another Friggen Earthquake!
A 5.3 Earthquake hit a few minutes ago. It looks like it was centered in the Riverside area. Here is a link to the US Geological survey info.
It's always great to be around newbies - I heard "it's the big one". Come on - 5.3 is like having somebody shake a table.
***Update***
They downgraded the earthquake from a 5.3 to a 4.9 using a different scale.
I was thinking about the earthquake and my behavior this afternoon. I was alone in a conference room when the earthquake happened. After the initial movement, which felt like the a sudden movement of the ground forward about a foot and then a rapid spring like recovery back to the original position, I pushed my chair back from the table. I was planning to dive under the table if the next jolt qualified as an oh-my-god the world is ending type violent jolt (which you must experience yourself to understand). Instead, there was light shaking couple with a few small jolts. I played it cool…
I have been in a few bad earthquakes. It is fun to laugh at the small ones, but the big quakes are indescribably terrifying. The worst one I experience was not the strongest one I have ever been in, but is was the scariest. The 5.9 Whittier Narrows earthquake of 1987 is my personal benchmark. I was in a 100-year-old wood converted frame building known as the Nash Automobile building in El Segundo. When the earthquake shook, the ground moved violently, five adults tried to fit in one doorframe; the shaking was violent and continued for a long time. The lights went out, people started to scream, we smelt smoke… 20 minutes later, I made my way out of the building by following the walls with my hands while using a pen light. People were crying hysterically, some were calling for help. The building is massive; the size of a city block, some people remained missing in the building for up to an hour. A friend at the top of a 10-story earthquake safe building across the street was thrown 8 feet through the air as the building she was in rolled with the initial punch. The whole experience was humbling and scary. For a few brief moments, I thought I was going to die...
It's always great to be around newbies - I heard "it's the big one". Come on - 5.3 is like having somebody shake a table.
***Update***
They downgraded the earthquake from a 5.3 to a 4.9 using a different scale.
I was thinking about the earthquake and my behavior this afternoon. I was alone in a conference room when the earthquake happened. After the initial movement, which felt like the a sudden movement of the ground forward about a foot and then a rapid spring like recovery back to the original position, I pushed my chair back from the table. I was planning to dive under the table if the next jolt qualified as an oh-my-god the world is ending type violent jolt (which you must experience yourself to understand). Instead, there was light shaking couple with a few small jolts. I played it cool…
I have been in a few bad earthquakes. It is fun to laugh at the small ones, but the big quakes are indescribably terrifying. The worst one I experience was not the strongest one I have ever been in, but is was the scariest. The 5.9 Whittier Narrows earthquake of 1987 is my personal benchmark. I was in a 100-year-old wood converted frame building known as the Nash Automobile building in El Segundo. When the earthquake shook, the ground moved violently, five adults tried to fit in one doorframe; the shaking was violent and continued for a long time. The lights went out, people started to scream, we smelt smoke… 20 minutes later, I made my way out of the building by following the walls with my hands while using a pen light. People were crying hysterically, some were calling for help. The building is massive; the size of a city block, some people remained missing in the building for up to an hour. A friend at the top of a 10-story earthquake safe building across the street was thrown 8 feet through the air as the building she was in rolled with the initial punch. The whole experience was humbling and scary. For a few brief moments, I thought I was going to die...
Romanizations and Translations of Japanese Songs
This great blog - Hillbilly Sings - provides translations of Japanese Songs. I have been meaning to write about it for weeks now, but have not found the time. The blog really is a hoot. I know Leslie Hillbilly. Besides being incredibly smart and interesting personally, she is exceptionally beautiful. Although you won't see that come across in her blog because she does not post pictures - only sweetly translated words.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Insomnia
Once I turn my brain on, only alcohol can really turn it off. Sleep should come by 3:00 a.m. if I really try hard.
I walk around in the dark
looking for something to shoot
Then I post it
A Wall of Trucks
I drove up the 91 to the 710 freeway this morning because the traffic was supposed to be light. Once on the 710 I hit a wall of trucks. The picture does not do the situation justice. The line up container trucks stretched several miles as they line up to go into the port of Long Beach. It is no wonder the 710 is suppose to be the most dangerous freeway in LA. With this kind of truck traffic, one slip and you end up Bantha fodder.
My buddy John had best stay off this freeway.
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