My Favorite Things

Things I can't live without:

1.  My truck.  For many people, their vehicle or mode of transportation is simply that.  It is a way to get from point A to point B with a certain level of comfort.  Sometimes there are some other considerations like fuel economy, level of luxury, or simple functionality.  I spend almost every day using my truck.  For me, it is a snapshot or a small glimpse into my lifestyle.  Being a larger vehicle, it is physically similar to me.  It provides a commanding view of the road and has the ability to carry large amounts of cargo.  It is a four wheel drive truck that provides the opportunity to go places that do not necessarily have paved roads like isolated camping spots.  I think there is a level of freedom associated with that ability, even if 90% of my driving is on-highway driving.

2.  My phone.  Most people cannot go more than 15 minutes without using a smartphone.  I am no different.  It represents a convergence of functions that allow me to complete tasks that used to be quite difficult or time consuming.  In a very real sense, it connects me to current events, news, and my family.  I use it for email, and finding information.  Occasionally, I even make an actual phone call with it.  While this is all useful, the reason it is so important is that it allows me tiny snippets of family time during my day.  I could do without the information and digital leash.  In fact, sometimes I try to avoid having it.  I cannot do without the occasional picture of my daughter playing with the dog or of something my wife saw at work.  My phone provides the opportunity to get those pictures.

3.  My Stetson.  The Stetson Cavalry Hat is a tradition that has been in the US Army since the 1800s.  Robert Duval's character in Apocalypse Now and Greg Kinnear's character in We Were Soldiers wear the iconic hat.  For me, it is a representation of my service in the US Army as a combat helicopter pilot.  Plus…it looks really cool!

Things I care about:

1.  My motorcycle.  I bought my Harley Davidson motorcycle in 2005 when I was young and single.  I love riding it around the Central Texas twisties on cool days.  Since gaining a family, this has transitioned more to a hobby than a true passion as I have seen the dangers associated with a motorcycle and have so much more to lose now.  Nonetheless, it is still great to get out on a cool day and ride.

2.  My bed.  I have spent years, literally, sleeping in tents on a cot.  Now that I am out of the military, I take some things very seriously.  A comfortable bed is one of those things.  I spent more than most would on my bed because I figured that I owe it to myself to get as far away from a cot as possible.

3.  My TV.  I spend a considerable amount of time watching TV.  Much like my bed, I made an investment in my entertainment because I have had to go without for so long.  I watch my TV to get the morning and evening news, watch a few crime dramas and comedies, and sports on the weekends.  One of the things I most enjoy about the large, crisp display, is watching documentaries on aviation, nature, and space.

I get a majority of my news from watching the morning and evening local and national news stations. I read the Wall Street Journal online every morning before class to stay current on events that impact the business world.  Occasionally, I'll hear a news story on the radio or in class that prompts me to look online for the article.

I am a person that is dependent on routine.  I tend to change my daily schedule very little.  I wake each morning, watch the news, get ready for school and head to class, trying to beat traffic.  I usually pack a lunch and head home after class.  The evening is the best part of my day.  I get to spend time with my wife and our new baby.  We usually go for a walk, then I go to work out at the local gym.  We finish the evening with dinner and putting the baby to bed.  Most of my activity is based on convenience.  The news I watch is in my living room with little effort required on my part.  The worst part of my day is the hour and a half that I spend in traffic each day.

White Line Fever

Janet, a military officer in her late twenties, recently returned from a deployment to Afghanistan and was planning a trip to unwind and retrieve her primary mode of transportation four states away.  Her vision for the trip was to spend some time with several friends after being away for a year.  There was to be some catching up and a healthy bit of "letting their hair down".  Like other women in her situation, Janet would be considered upper middle class with additional income following a deployment.  She is young enough to get a little bit rowdy, but mature enough to draw the line long before anyone notices.

As someone that has planned complex military operations, involving unclear situations and short timelines, Janet thought planning the trip would be easy.  Little did she know, she was in for a surprise.

The diagram below shows how she went about planning the trip and the challenges she faced:

Janet is engaged to another military officer; one that is stationed at another military base in Georgia.  In preparation for her deployment, she placed all of her items in storage and sold her primary means of transportation.  It was getting old and she could use her fiance's car while he finished his deployment to take the time to shop for a good car deal.  With all the preparations made, she boarded a plane and started her trip to the mountains of Afghanistan.

She spent a little under a year in a very stressful and austere environment.  She had little access to things that we might take for granted like a certain kind of shampoo, or even a stable internet connection.  Though thankful for the experience, Janet was glad that her year was over and that it was time to come home.

After the usual activities necessary for a Soldier to reintegrate and get used to being back in the United States, Janet had to figure out how to get herself from point A to point B.  For her, this meant picking up her fiance's car from Georgia.  The trip would take at least four days to complete and the only time that she would have that much time available was during her post-deployment vacation of ten days.  She decided to combine the two trips and use the time to visit with friends and retrieve the car.

She started her planning.  The overall architecture of her trip was already set.  She had to get from Fort Hood, Texas to Fort Benning, Georgia to get the car.  She would then have to drive the car from there, 17 hours, back to her starting point.  The rest should have been easy.

Janet had several friends that lived along or very near the route she was taking back to Texas.  She had two friends in Georgia, three in Alabama, and two that were in Texas and were willing to take the trip with her.  She sent out a Facebook blast looking for volunteers.  Many welcomed her back and wished her luck, but had to decline for various reasons.  Her friends in Texas would have worked, but she had already seen them and wanted to take some of the vacation to see folks she hadn't seen in over a year.  It turned out that only one friend was able to make the trip.  Laurie would be able to ride from Alabama to Texas and fly back.  It was a one hour detour that was well worth it!

Janet decided that she would treat Laurie for her troubles and that they would make the most of the drive along I-10 by spending the night in one of the cities on a "girls' night".  Janet was met with her first obstacle.  She thought that it would be easy to choose what city to spend the night in.  She wanted one with great nightlife that was close to the highway and safe for two women.  She wanted it to be a large city to maximize the options.  This left her with Mobile, New Orleans, and Houston.  Should be easy to pick, right?  It turns out that it is hard to plan events in a city around a very specific travel time.  She figured that it would be easy to find something to do on a Saturday night, but there was nothing that was specific enough for the exact date she was going to be there.  Not being familiar with the cities also obscured the information that was available.  There was not as much information about safety as she would have liked.  She finally settled on New Orleans because it was about half way and had the most information available on the internet sites she visited.

With the city decided, Janet went about finding hotel accommodations.  After a year living in a tent, she wanted to splurge and spend the night in a high-end hotel.  She again went to the internet to quickly and easily book her lodging.  This time she was overloaded with a deluge of information.  Most of it was not even relevant to what she was looking for.  Her internet searches returned paid advertisements in areas outside of what she was looking for.  Others provided deals that were invalid during the one night she would be in town.  In some cases, multiple links led her back to the first website that wasn't helpful.  This part proved to be the biggest disappointment for Janet because she figured it would be easy to book a nice hotel in a location she wanted and it was one of the most important parts of her trip.  It was the part that was supposed to relax her.  This step was only frustrating her.

Finding activities was also more difficult than Janet predicted.  Again, the information was not relevant for what she was looking for.  Janet was not as concerned with activities as she was about the hotel.  She settled on a concert in a small venue that was close to the hotel mostly because of the proximity.  With this, she was glad to be done with her planning.

Janet and Laurie hit the road a little over two weeks later.  The trip was great and the they were able to spend some time relaxing and catching up.  The planning turned out to be the most stressful part of the trip.

The MBA that wasn't

Ashley looked and acted like all of the other MBA interns in town for the summer.  Professional, intelligent, and confident is how she came across.  She was rather unassuming until my first glimpse to her personality.  It was from an offhand comment she made about Guns N' Roses being before her time that clued me in.  She was actually ten years my junior and much different than my first impression suggested.

Her youth and spirit are at the forefront of her persona.  She recently finished her undergraduate studies and is at a point in her life where she finally feels that she can change the world for the better.  The responsibility to put a roof over her head tempers some of that ambition, leaving only a spark.  As such, she has a full time career and is very successful in terms of performance and potential.  She works hard to overcome a natural tendency to shy away from people and situations.  She is not completely closed off.  Rather, she resembles a secret Star Wars fan hiding the excitement and wonder of her true goals from those she works with.

She uses her environment to her advantage, blending in when she wants, and standing out when she is comfortable.  Her desk is a mosaic of her true personality.  Uncluttered with a few figurines and sayings on cards reveal her thoughts and goals.  Her friends are also extensions of her own thoughts, unique and what some would consider eccentric.  They characterize aspects of her hidden personality that she would express if she weren't as shy as she is.  She is always looking for ways to express personality traits without doing so explicitly.  Modest jewelry and accessories allow small glimpses to those that know what to look for.  Her music plays a big role in how she interacts with others and is one area that she is comfortable being herself in conversation.

In public, she is quiet and unnoticeable.  She likes the ability to interact with whom she chooses and would rather not be ambushed into conversation with a stranger.  Her dress is somewhat understated, with slight hints of expression like a colorful scarf or a t-shirt with a bold message under a mostly zipped up hoodie.  Again, she tries to control how much of her true self the world sees.

She isn't guarded in the traditional sense.  In fact, she is pleasant, polite, and unassuming in her interactions with others.  Coworkers and supervisors are thrilled with her performance.  She is mature for her age and able to handle complex tasks with confidence.  As happy as they are, they probably encourage her to be more outgoing at work.  Her friends see the true depth of her personality and are rewarded  with all the insight and ideas she has when she is free to express them.  Her friendship is hard earned and reserved only for the deserving few to whom she is fiercely loyal.

At the heart of her social circle is her family.  Her family has the most influence in her life and probably worked hard from modest means to get her set up for success.  Her drive and ambition in the workplace stem from a strong work ethic inherited from her parents.  Unfortunately, this also keeps her from pursuing her passion because she feels that she can't "waste" their sacrifice.

She fears the loss of her conviction, above all.  With so many cynics around her, she worries that she will become like so many that have given up on their goals.  She gets frustrated by others that do not share her passion for making positive change and will move something from the trash bin to the appropriate recycle bin if someone carelessly discards an item.  She will never openly confront anyone about her opinions, but hopes that her example influences others.

Her primary goal in life is to make a positive change in the world.  Something that she can tell her children that she did to help remove a burden from future generations.  She would be working for a non-profit organization if it weren't for her perceived need to be successful and save enough money to finally pursue her goals.  Time is really her biggest obstacle because she eventually wants a family and knows that providing for children can be expensive.  In this case, the book did not match the cover.