I was sad to hear that an old friend and mentor, Jeff Edman, passed away recently. Jeff was the CEO of PC World Magazine, but was head of sales when I met him. I interviewed with him in his office one day for a role with his sales team. It was the standard set of questions, but then out of nowhere, he pulled a list out of his desk and started reading it to me. It was a list of the 10 reasons why I could be fired on the spot, without any questions. His reading of the list…
2020 plans for the Bubbler
Happy new year, everyone. 2019 was a great year. Gave us a chance to get our feet wet here at the Bubbler. Also, I think we’re set up for an exciting 2020. This year, we are committed to launching our podcast, with a block of at least 8 first season episodes, as well as publishing our first book. We’re also hoping to start contributing as a writer for at least one of our favorite online publications – perhaps American Greatness. And by the end of the year, we’d like to have made at least one speaking appearance. We’re also…
The protein powder commitment
It’s almost 2020, and time for this year’s batch of resolutions. Instead of joining a gym that I’ll never use, I thought I’d simplify the sunk cost a bit and, instead, just buy 70 pounds of protein powder. Whenever I see protein powder, it seems like you can only find it in vats of 50 pounds or more. It helps me see the connection between spending money on a gym and spending money on protein powder. In both cases, you have to commit to about a year’s worth, and after a few tries, it’ll just sit there are remind…
Is racism harder than acceptance?
Racism is an extremely dynamic concept that we vastly over-simplify. Racism lives in a person’s head and in their heart. And no one knows what lies in another person’s head or heart. Yet, we so quickly and casually throw the word “racist” at one another that, at this point, it has entirely lost its meaning. There’s no way to know, but I just don’t believe there is anywhere near as much racism in the world as some would have you believe. Call me optimistic. For one thing, it’s got to be very difficult to be a racist. There’s always…
The problem with telling people how to live
There’s no shortage of politicians, mostly liberal, who want to save us from ourselves. They want to ban soda so we don’t get fat. They want to ban plastic bags so we don’t kill dolphins. They want to ban trans fat because we can’t monitor our own weight. They want us to cut back our energy usage. They want us to eat vegan. They want us to ride our bikes. The list is endless. The problem with telling people how they should live their lives is that the people are going to start paying attention to how you live…
You’ll know your career path when it’s over
Kids these days… I’m not sure if it’s always been this way, but over the past five or so years, I’ve noticed that the younger people in the work force are really anxious to have their career arc completely mapped out. I’ve been managing people for more than 20 years, but only recently have I noticed members of my team needing a very deliberate and specific career path. They want to see where their current position fits into the organization and what the next five steps would be. They want to know, very specifically, what they need to do…
A tip for naming your child
Certainly, you’ve heard of Les Schwab. The tire shop. So many people just take it for granted that the name is French. But it’s actually the name of the guy who started the company: Lester Schwab. Obviously, he shortened it to Les Schwab. Having heard this, my first thought was the breaking of one of the most well-known rules of naming your child: Never give your child a first name in which the sound at the end of that name is the same sound as the beginning of your last name. Like Les Schwab. When you do that, people…
The magic of Christmas
Christmas represents a lot of amazing things to a lot of people. There’s obviously the religious significance. There’s the joy and warmth. There’s the charity. The kids. Gift-giving. Gift-receiving. But to me, it’s the closest the West, if not the world, gets to a true feeling of unity. It’s the one day of the year when we level the playing field. Everything shuts down. Everyone tries to find time with friends and family. It’s the truest experience of peace we see over a span of 365 days. Or so it used to be… This morning, I went for an…
The move toward thoughtlessness
Christmas is here once again, and people all over are struggling with both what to get their friends and family, but also telling their friends and family what they’d like to receive. By my observation, there used to be a much higher bar around being thoughtful with a gift. Sure, everyone has people for whom they just get something because they are at a complete loss, or just don’t have the time to give it the thought they want. But the bulk of the gifts we end up giving go to people we know fairly well. So there should…
Closing the sneezing loophole
I finally got ordained so when people sneeze, I’m truly qualified to bless them. For the longest time, I was having a hard time living with myself knowing that when I was blessing the sneezers, I was actually leaving them vulnerable to the devil going right up their nose after a sneeze. Now, everyone can rest easy.