Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall

Originally uploaded by bobevankc

Lights

Lights
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

When the lights go down in New York City...

Sunrise in Bastrop, TX

Good morning Bastrop!

I'm at a Leadership Meeting/Retreat in Bastrop, TX which is only about 1 hour from where I live in Cedar Park but it might as well be across the country. This is what this part of Texas looks like; a whole lot of trees and beautiful skies. Actually where I live has a lot of this too, but I'm just not home enough to really enjoy it. It requires me to drive a little bit in order to see stuff like this and I just have not done a great job of this but I will try and do better.  Anyway, today this was the sunrise in Bastrop and it was truly beautiful. Enjoy the shot.

Thanksgiving 2008

Well, Thanksgiving 2008 has come and gone. It was another great year at the Shaw house. We had plenty of great food, family was together and we have so much to be thankful for. It's been a tough year in many respects and sometimes all of that can overshadow all of the goodness we have. I started a new job with Chipotle this year and that's been challenging in many ways; not the physical job itself, that actually came pretty easy...it is the balancing it all with my responsibilities at home. That was the hard part. I don't do it very well, so I'm still working through some things but I expect 2009 will be much better in that regard. My kids are getting so big. Jake is 17, Jordan is about to turn 12 on 12/19, Joey is 9, Jamisyn is 6 (and quite a little lady) and Jentry is 3. Time is moving so fast...I'm not ready for that. I need to continue to stay focused on my family; they are my first priority and I need to ensure my actions reflect that and back up my words.

Evan's sister Colleen came to visit for a couple of days over the holiday and it was great to see her. I know Evan really enjoyed spending time with her but the kids really loved having her down. She played with them pretty much non-stop. It was really nice. 

We started the annual tradition of watching holiday movies (okay, we pretty much do that all year-round) and it was really fun to do. As I said we had some really good food; ham & turkey of course. We're still eating leftovers and I swear they are just as good.

Happy Thanksgiving.

24 Returns!

24 Fans, fear not. Sunday, November 23rd is just 2 days away and I cannot wait!!! This movie, 24: Redemption (previously titled 24: Exile) sets the stage for Season 7 which is starting up on January 11th and 12th. In this setup to the season Jack is working as a missionary in Africa when all hell breaks loose, as is usually the case where Jack Bauer is involved. The movie is also being released on DVD on Tuesday, November 25th as a Director's Cut with 10 minutes of additional footage. How sweet is that? I'll be in line to get it...alright, there might not be a line but it's not worth taking a chance.

Rock The Vote...Indeed

Rock The Vote...Indeed
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

Regardless of how you may have cast your ballot Tuesday the fact
people turned out in historic numbers is inspiring and makes me proud
to be an American.

We are so fortunate to live in the United States where we have this
kind of democracy. It may not be perfect but I wouldn't trade it for
anything.

Government should be for the people, by the people, and given to the
people. We have that here and for that I am forever grateful.

Sunrise

Sunrise
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

Took this photo this morning on the way to Atlanta. Very early this
morning...

First Chipotle in Jacksonville

First Chipotle in Jacksonville
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

I love it when we open new restaurants but nothing is cooler than
doing it in a new market. That's exactly what we did when we opened
Mandarin Riverplace in Jacksonville, Florida on Friday 10/17.

The opening went great and it was pretty exciting to see new customers
so happy that we were open. We have another one opening in J'Ville in
10 days.

Crack The Sky

Crack The Sky
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

Another very cool sky shot. I got this one while driving to work this
morning. I know I should not be doing this while I'm driving but I
can't resist when I see a great looking sky.

Enjoy.

Finally Going Home!

Finally Going Home!

Originally uploaded by bobevankc

One long night in Orlando... I am so glad to be going home! I guess one good thing that came out of it was I bought two new CD's at the airport this morning; the remaster of Kiss' Rock and Roll Over and The Very Best of Marc Cohn for my mellowed moods. (Where were you last night Marc!)

DC*B Letter sent for Remedy Tour to support local homeless shelters

                                                       (Click on image)
DC*B Letter sent for Remedy Tour to support local homeless shelters
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

This is so great...on the Remedy Club Tour Live DVD David Crowder
talks about what the band wanted to do in helping local shelters in
the cities where they played. It turned out the biggest needs were
towels and socks and people came out in droves to support it. Very cool.

Ground Stop in Orlando

Ground Stop in Orlando
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

Uhh, I don't believe I am going anywhere. I am fairly confident I will
be spending the night in Orlando. Great....

Bobby

Flight Delay...again

Flight Delay...again
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

Wow. I am the unluckiest guy in the world when it comes to flying.
Once again I'm stuck. This time I'm wrapping up a trip in Orlando and
I'm trying to get home to Austin, connecting in Houston. No dice. I'm
stuck and right now they're saying an hour. I'm not sure how realistic
that is. My connection in Houston will hold...for now. This flight
goes on to LA. Boy do I feel sorry for those people. Maybe this isn't
so bad...

Good times.

Orlando Sky

Orlando Sky
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

Here is another great sky shot, this time from Orlando, FL where I was at today. It rained really hard today and this afternoon the sky clouded back over pretty nicely. This shot was taken through the tinted upper front window but the I got three other ones that look great, untouched on Flickr.

Thunderhead

Thunderhead
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

Wow. I have a thing for skies that look like this. It seems lately
that the skies have really been talking, but we haven't gotten alot of
much needed rain. It sure is beautiful though.

Switchfoot in San Antonio

We went to San Antonio to see Switchfoot tonight. The entire night was amazing as we also got to see Jars Of Clay who are one of my favorite artists but I was able to take Jake & Evan to see Switchfoot which was co-headlining with Third Day. Switchfoot's set was absolutely amazing and included the following:

1. Stars

2. Oh Gravity!

3. Gone

4. Meant to Live

5. Dare You To Move

6. We Are One Tonight

7. The Shadow Proves the Sunshine

8. American Dream

9. Learning to Breathe

10. This is Your Life

These guys have quite a message and they do it so well. It was great getting to see them and as a bonus Jake & I got to meet the band and we got our picture taken with Jon Foreman, lead singer of the band.

Jars' Dan Haseltine autograph

Jars' Dan Haseltine autograph
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

I waited in line to get Dan Haseltine's autograph on the EP titled
Closer.

Bobby

Jars Of Clay in San Antonio

I'm in San Antonio tonight catching a show as a part of the Music
Builds Tour. Jars Of Clay is one of the artists performing and they
were amazing.

I'm long time fans of these guys and have everything they've ever
recorded. They played a 30 minute set and had the crowd really going.
I'm in line for a quick autograph and maybe a picture.

What a shiner...

What a shiner...
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

First game tonight. Played good. Lost bad. I have a battle scar to
show for it. Check out my noggin! If you look close you can see the
imprint of the stitches.

Bobby

Chipotle has left the building

Chipotle has left the building
Originally uploaded by bobevankc

After many years we have moved our home office in Denver, CO. It's
only about 1/2 a block away but still strange. I haven't seen the new
digs in person yet but I hear it's pretty sweet and state of the art.

Bobby

Hurricane Ike Does Its Damage

What a mess this was. I have been thinking about this post since last weekend. This was the storm no one wanted to see. I have never seen such intense media coverage of a hurricane since we've been living in Texas. I think that folks were suffering from what they call hurricane fatigue; there had been 2 or 3 other warnings this year that didn't amount to much but this one was different. The sucker was 700 miles wide, pretty much the entire width of the Gulf.

Many folks were like, "It's only a Category 2, and Katrina was 4". Jim Cantore, the best weather guy out there for storms like this was understandably frustrated with reasoning like this. Because it was such a big storm the Category didn't matter, when it hit it was going to do damage. Boy, did it ever. Galveston, where 40,000 knuckleheads opted to "ride out the storm" got lucky. The storm pretty much decimated Galveston Island but moved about 300 feet to the West sparing the island from being completely under water. Most people realized the error of their ways and hopefully will listen more closely next time. This was the storm we thought we were going to get three years ago with Hurricane Rita, but it missed us and hit Beaumont, TX and Port Arthur. It did plenty of damage there.

As of today there are still hundred's of thousands of people without power in Houston, down from 2.9 million last Saturday morning. Several of my Chipotle restaurants are still without power and we're hoping they come back on soon.

I think the state government did a much better job of communicating to the public this time around (although not everyone listened) and started the evacuation process days, not hours, ahead of the storm. This was a welcome change to trying to evacuate 5 million people in Houston simultaneously like they did with Rita. More people died on the highways during the evacuation then from the actual storm.

The good news is last week was the peak of the storm season. Although there are two more storms they are keeping an eye on I hope that things start winding down.

One of these every three years is plenty.

Before You Know It

Let me first say, this isn't a mid-life crisis. At least I don't think it is. I am getting ready for a Regional Retreat next week at work and one of the things we're doing is getting old pictures of everyone to have some fun with on breaks. Myself and the other Regional Director are the main presenters so we are getting more pictures of ourselves to play before we speak and it has been quite a trip down memory lane for me. From this picture up here which must have been '71 or '72 (I was a handsome little guy wasn't I?) to my 7th grade picture where my hair is wet from gym class and parted on the side with full on geeky glasses and a yellow shirt with the biggest collar I (or you) have ever seen. I should say that I was never the "cool" kid in class although I did manage to blend in with other kids considered "normal" by my sophomore year. I am not sure what cool or normal really was (or is) today, and really I don't care. I am way past all that stuff.

I turned 40 this year and it has been quite a pivotal year for me. I do find myself thinking more about my own mortality, my kids, and life in general. Questions like "Is what I'm doing for a living making a difference?", "Am I there for my wife and kids enough?", "Am I making a difference with the way I live my life?" are all rolling through my now bald head. I hope so is the answer to all of those. I'm doing my best to make a difference but it does feel like sometimes I'm treading water.

Before you know it, life is whizzing by like a freight train and there is no stopping it. And would we really want to?

Maybe this is a mid-life crisis. I'll get through it though. Stay tuned.

24: Exile

Unconfirmed sources are saying that the new 24 movie will be out in November. You do not know how much I hope that is true. Not having to wait for January for 24 is like winning the lottery! I am posting the trailer in the "Stuff I Like" section of the blog down below. It's pretty good but I'm sure not half as good as the full movie. This acts as a prequel to the long awaited Season 7 premiering in January.

Viva Las Vegas

Hello from Vegas. We just finished up a conference for all of our General Managers at The Mirage in Las Vegas, NV. It was a great conference and I think the managers really got a lot out of it. It was inspiring and we heard some great information that should help our managers go back and run great restaurants which is pretty exciting. The Mirage is a big place and it's your typical Vegas hotel; loud and crazy with half naked people running around. I'm not a Vegas guy so this was pretty crazy for me.

The Chipotle logo in this post is actually a graphic being projected on the floor but when you walk over it there is a ripple like you're walking through water but it's really a mirage. Clever; a mirage in The Mirage.

Evernote

Evernote. Wow, is this application awesome. You can remember pretty much anything through a number of ways. You can do a web clipping which clips screen shots or entire web pages into Evernote so you can search and access it later from the internet, phone, etc. You can search by word and it even reads text in pictures and hand written text. The App is free for the iPhone at the App Store and you can also download the software for your PC or Mac; preferably Mac of course. Anyway, this is great stuff. I've used it a lot for work already and it's really helped me stay on top of stuff.

The Dark Knight

This movie is unbelieveable. I've seen it twice and will probably see it a third time with friends. It would not surprise me if this movie did $750M in the U.S. and well over a billion worldwide. If you haven't see it you need to.

Home Sweet Home

Home at last. We just returned from a two week vacation in Kansas City and although it was great to see family it was just too long. We missed our house and we missed our friends here in Cedar Park. I did get to see some old friends in KC and that was amazing. We saw a lot of Evan's family and we got to spend time with my brother Matt and his family which was also long overdue. We miss them alot. I wish they all lived closer. But there is alot to be said for home and we're glad to be back. We also came back with one additional kid; my son Jake has come home to live with us for at least this year, his junior year which was totally unexpected, and totally one of the best things that's ever happened to us. More to come on that.

Rained out at The "K"

We were in the middle of the Royals-Tigers game in the top of the 7th inning when the clouds opened up with an unexpected torrential downpour. I predict a rainout.

Kaufmann Stadium

iPhone 3G is in my hand

After blogging last night against the way Apple has handled this whole 3G rollout I still feel that way this morning. Even though after a two hour wait in Leawood, KS I got one of the phones that came in this morning. Here is a brief timeline of the events leading up to my purchase; I arrived at the Apple Store, the first person I might add, at 8:21 a.m. The Apple Store opens at 9 here even though the website says 10 a.m. I patiently waited along with two other people and waited outside the door. A girl approached us at a little before 9 a.m. and said they were expecting a shipment although they didn't know when. I was not budging. There was no way I was going to leave and risk missing one. I did find the information curious though as the website said they would not have them today. Interestingly through some networking at the Apple Store I found out that they never say they have any in stock on the site and they purposely open earlier to avoid getting trampled on by eager customers. What is up with that crap? If you have them, say you have them...in my humble opinion as a consumer. We entered at 9 a.m. and were placed in a holding line next to the iMac display. At about 9:30 a.m. I noticed a Leawood police officer enter the building...I knew we were close.

There was a lady working the line (up to about 6 people now) prequalifying folks and they were not happy. It turns out that if you have a company AT&T line you're screwed. (As my good friend Ozzie had already informed me)  The only way I got one is I upgraded my wife's phone. We were inside the first two years of our agreement so I paid $499; totally worth it though. I felt sorry for the other people that could not even PURCHASE a phone. If they didn't meet the crazy criteria they were being sent to an AT&T store. 

I'm glad a got a phone so don't get me wrong. I'm not ungrateful. But the reality is this whole situation was jacked up from the get go. An Apple employee admitted they knew they botched this whole rollout. He said "they did not anticipate the interest". Are you kidding me? The biggest phone rollout in history and they didn't gauge the interest as being off the charts?

Steve Jobs, wherever you are there is probably a lesson here. I really thought Apple was better than how they handled this. This reeks of Microsoft Windows Vista and pretty much every rollout that has been done. I'm still an Apple lover but this has left a bad taste in my mouth for sure.

iPhone 3G - Out of Stock?? Could it be True?

Okay, first a disclaimer; I am one of Apple's biggest fans bar none. I have always thought Apple's product line to be superior to Microsoft's PC lineup. Once I was able to, I converted everything to a Mac -- and have never regretted it for a minute. The hardware is top notch, the software is intuitive, and it is just flat out rockin' when it comes to music production and movie editing.

I bought the first iPhone last year and was one of the knuckleheads that had to have it and I paid $599, yes I was that guy. I anxiously awaited and downloaded any update that came along. When the new iPhone (twice as fast, half the price) was announced I was ready to be that guy again and get it, no questions asked. I still am that guy but because of a short supply chain I have a snowball's chance of getting one anytime soon, and that is really, monumentally disappointing. How could this have happened to my beloved Apple? How could they have not known? By not allowing people to order the phone online they have set themselves up for a huge fall. I understand the reasoning (sort of). This was designed to keep folks from buying the phone and hacking into it and running it on T-Mobile, Verizon, etc. Unfortunately in their finite wisdom by making folks purchase and activate it at AT&T or the Apple Store they crashed their servers the first weekend it was on sale and with the supply shorted it was a complete disaster, at least in the eye of the majority of people who do not have the new iPhone. In fact at one point in the last few days less than 2% of the 188 Apple Retail outlets had any iPhones for sale.

That is simply unacceptable,  beyond words. Hopefully Apple will get this turned around and step in to make this right.

Ozark Mountains

Well, we made it to Branson today about 30 minutes ago. On the way down on Highway 65 Evan took a good shot of the Ozark Mountains. I miss it down here, I do, but it makes for a very long trip now that we live in Texas. We made this trip down from Kansas City on our vacation. We're staying with Evan's parents in Lenexa. We are here for a couple of days so hopefully we will have some fun and the kids will enjoy it for sure. The whole family is here and we're so glad to have Jacob with us. Evan's parents made the trip as well as Robert, Colleen, and Taylor.

Alone On The Highway

I took this shot on our drive to Kansas City last week. This was somewhere outside of Wichita. It felt like Evan (who was driving in front of me) and I were the only ones on the road. It was a little weird and very intriguing at the same time. It made me think about what if we were the only ones here...and I'm glad we're not of course but that's how it felt at the time. It was just one of those serene moments.

Easy Money

Tonight, on my 5th real day of vacation I had the opportunity to reconnect with some old friends after many years. I was able to have dinner with my old friends Robbie Robinson and Keith Snively tonight while I was in Kansas City. I cannot tell you how good it was to see those guys. I had not seen Rob or Keith for about 13 years. We all worked together at 291 & Gudgell McDonald's in 1988 and we really had something special there. It is not often that you are a part of a team as special as that one was with all three of us and some other really talented people working together. We had a synergy about us that was unmistakeable and it was contagious. It attracted better people and we had a better restaurant because of it. We were ahead of our time for sure; every restaurant company talks about this now but we were doing it then, before it was cool. Certainly the company I work for now does it better than anyone and I'm proud of that fact. My career has always been rooted in People Development and it has served me well. This chapter in my career was no exception and it was a lot of fun.

Oklahoma Skies & Interstate Travel

This has been a tough week for me at work; lots of highs and lots of lows. I just started vacation today and I am very glad. I am ready for some down time. I'm doing something I've never attempted to do before which is to take two weeks off in a row. We'll see, but so far so good. Our family is traveling back to Kansas City for a couple of weeks and everyone is excited about it. We have lots of plans to do some fun things that center around friends and family. We have a trip to Branson, MO planned in there as well, which we used to do every year with my in-law's. That will be a lot of fun, and a lot of work since we have 5 kids! I also reconnected with a couple of old friends I haven't seen for years and I am planning on seeing them over the next couple of weeks and it feels good to have set that up. I value friendship very much and I am looking to re-establish some connections. I need that in my life. I also hope to see two of my best friends that live in KC. They are a couple of reasons I really miss home.

I am also excited to be away from work and with my family. I have been very blessed with a great job with a great company but my family pays the price without question. This is something I continually work on and will probably always have to; how to balance home and work. Both are important and both are necessary for complete living but obviously relationships at home need to take precedence. I hope to re-establish those relationships this last two weeks of July.

We drove into Oklahoma tonight on our way home and it is the halfway point for us. On our way Joey and I saw a beautiful sunset and I shot it with my iPhone. It was very peaceful and serene and it felt right. Hopefully it was a preview of things to come on this vacation. I love driving the highways. There is something therapeutic about it. The sound of the wheels on the road, some great driving music, and time to think about your life; those moments are hard to beat. It was great having Joey sitting next to me for part of it. (We took two cars home this trip because of luggage issues) I'm reminded of a great song by Satellite Soul which is called "Interstate Travel". This song is just amazing. It really does speak to the fact that life is indeed a highway with various roadblocks and exit signs along the way and the chance to listen to God and stay on course, no matter what is going on around you. I find myself pulling off on exits that I probably should not be taking rather than staying on the open road. At least I'm more conscious of that now and I'm working on it.

Good night.

Bobby

Disappointing Dave's

As a post script to my blog on Customer Service yesterday here is one more great example of the declining level of customer service in our world. Once again I will not just offer gripes but I will offer a solution. Since moving to Texas 3 years ago we have been a fan of the pizza at Double Dave's (which will be mentioned from hereon out as Disappointing Dave's) mainly because of the whole wheat crust. We love the crust.

However that is where the experience goes south. No matter how good the pizza is if the service is not where it should be than the entire experience is damaged and my friends that is exactly what has happened here, time and time again. So much so that I am just going to write about it and tell everyone I know not to go to Disappointing Dave's anymore. They simply can't handle it. Take for instance the picture in this blog. This is the buffet today on Sunday July 6th at 1:20 p.m. It's the same story every time we go. I've even talked to the manager which I hate to do because I try and show compassion for folks in the restaurant industry since that has been my field of employment since I was 16 years old but I can no longer hold this in.

How in the world could a pizza company not be prepared for a buffet rush any day of the week, let alone Sundays when they know they are going to get rocked from churchgoers. Are you kidding me? Come on. That is worse than unacceptable performance. Worse yet there are two Disappointing Dave's in the Austin/Cedar Park area and they are both equally bad. Today there were literally 10-15 people waiting on pizza. Instead of putting what they KNOW people are going to eat they put out SPECIALTY stuff no one cares about. Again I ask the question, why in the world would you do that? Pepperoni, Cheese, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough dessert pizza...is that too much to ask? Clearly it is and it has been for a long time. Our kids and the kids of many others waited entirely too long today for pizza. When I asked about Pepperoni I was told there was no more in the oven but they had a Pepperoni/Mushroom coming out. What? On what planet would you not have a string of cheese and pepperoni pizzas coming out during the buffet?

I've done pizza before when I worked for Godfather's and there is an easy fix here. LOAD THE OVENS BEFORE YOUR RUSH AND HAVE PIZZA BACKUPS DURING YOUR PEAK TIMES. That isn't too much to ask is it? I don't think so. There is also a lack of management of this restaurant. We have high school kids who couldn't give a flip making the pies and let you know they don't give a flip by their attitude. Worse than that I can never find or SEE A MANAGER to save my life. In the numerous times we've gone there I can count on one hand when I have seen a manager. Typically the manager is either not there, nowhere near the front or just hiding out. This is such an easy problem to fix. Hire great people, train them, and ensure that you plan for your rush by having the appropriate amount of food ready to go for your rush. Timing is key and someone needs to be running the ovens who knows what is going on. I am about two seconds away from jumping back there to show them how to do it.

There are many elements to running a great restaurant. Proper sales projections, ordering, prepping, and cooking are key to the operation and that is all driven by the manager and what that manager does to set the restaurant, day, and shift up for success...and again it starts with hiring the right people.

These are basic concepts that unfortunately Disappointing Dave's has not figured out. At least not this franchisee...but that's another story for another blog.

Love 146

Hi everyone. Last week I was on the website of one of my favorite bands Ten Shekel Shirt and saw they had a new album coming out on 8/19/08 but I also saw what Lamont Hiebert the lead singer has been up to the last few years. He co-founded an organization called Love146.org which fights the exploitation of children, specifically those held captive in child sex slavery rings around the world.

Following is text from the love146.org site and should be credited to them. This gives you more detail and I encourage you to get on the site and get more information. I read about this last week and it has been weighing on my heart ever since. I am figuring out how I want to get more involved with this important organization to fight this horrible injustice.

From the love146.org site:

Supply and Demand
The "demand" of the multi-billion dollar global sex industry puts children throughout the world at-risk of becoming the “supply.” Criminal gangs, pimps and pornographers seek to profit from this demand by enslaving and abusing children, preying on those made most vulnerable by poverty, lack of education, minority status, gender bias and homelessness. 

Often, captors will threaten, beat and starve new recruits to condition them for the fate that awaits: sex with multiple customers every day. Eventually this abuse “breaks” the children. They learn to force a smile for the pedophiles, sex tourists and others that frequent their establishments.

The Effects
Sexual exploitation and abuse have grave consequences on any person’s well being, especially a child’s. Unprotected sex, gang rapes, forced abortions and manipulation can cause severe psychological and physical damage, including HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases or conditions.

What is Child Trafficking? 
According to the UN ODCCP Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, child trafficking is: the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of deception, of the abuse of power or of position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

Most countries in the world are involved – they may be a source of vulnerable children, a place they pass through, or a destination for trafficked children. Unfortunately, even the United States plays it’s part when U.S. “sex tourists” visit countries like Thailand or Cambodia and have sex with children, including those trafficked into the sex industry. 

Children who are desperately poor are especially at risk of being trafficked. Trafficked children may be exploited by being used in prostitution or pornography, and labor in domestic, factory or agricultural work. In some countries, they are forced to risk their lives as soldiers. Some action is being taken to directly address trafficking by governments and non-profit organizations, but much more needs to be done. 

Where is the problem? 
Every year at least 1.2 million children are estimated to be trafficked around the world and that number is growing. Child trafficking is not limited to developing countries; the U.S. and Europe deal with domestic trafficking issues and also serve as destinations for trafficked children from abroad. Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa are also becoming hot spots for child trafficking. Today, the situation is dire in the Asian region, in countries such as: Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. 

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) 
ECPAT defines CSEC as the following: A Fundamental violation of children’s rights. It comprises sexual abuse by the adult and remuneration in cash or kind to the child or a third person or persons. The child is treated as a sexual object and as a commercial object. The commercial sexual exploitation of children constitutes a form of coercion and violence against children, and amounts to forced labor and a contemporary form of slavery. (ECPAT, Questions and Answers about CSEC) The primary factors of CSEC are prostitution, pornography, trafficking and sex tourism of persons under the age of 18. Under the age of 18 is an internationally recognized definition of child in numerous international treaties and conventions. 

There is an endless amount of books, videos, web sites, reports and opinions on the subject of forced child prostitution. Click on the following links to download recommended readings and films. 
Key Texts (PDF Download)
Sex Trafficking and CSEC Film list (PDF Download)

Check out the Love146 links page for additional resources to read articles or talk to people involved in social justice. 

What happened to Customer Service?

This is a blog I've been intending to write for about 2 years, and I'm not kidding. Some friends of ours from Kansas City came to visit during Spring Break in March 2006 and we got into a pretty spirited conversation about the deterioration of customer service as a whole. Well, it hasn't gotten any better and I'm fired up enough now to write about it. Someone give us a break. When did eye rolling, finger shaking, murmuring under the breath, and blowing off a customer become acceptable? It didn't and that's what I am so upset about. If you are reading this and do not know who I am you may wonder why I am qualified to write about such a thing. Well, my 24 years in this business working my way up from an hourly crew employee to a senior executive with a major company in the fast casual segment of the restaurant business qualifies me. I am tired of poor customer service as I'm sure that anyone who's reading this is. Just today I went to get my wife an Iced Tea from McDonald's in Cedar Park and they no longer carry fresh lemon. What? How can it be possible that the largest food service company on the planet no longer carries fresh lemons for Iced Tea in the middle of the hottest summer Central Texas has seen in 154 years? Really? Is it possible? Yep, it is possible and it's happening. And with no apologies or explanations by the way. The list goes on and on. Ever see Lethal Weapon 2 and Joe Pesci's theory on what happens when you go through a Drive Thru? He's right. Don't go through a Drive Thru under any circumstances. You will be missing something and if you catch it you will get an attitude from the person at the window before you get it.

So how do we fix this? What are we going to do in order to feel like when we hand over our hard earned money for services that it is appreciated? I would say loud and clear in this blog that it starts with hiring the right people first and removing low performers. This cannot be overstated. Mediocrity in any service field is unacceptable yet people hire mediocre (or worse) people everyday and put them in positions where they will interact face to face with paying customers. The worst part of it is that many of these "employees" could care less about the company they work for which is why it is up to us as employers of great companies to make sure we hire only the best people for any positions. Even more importantly than that it is incumbent on us to develop the great people that are already working in an organization and help them further their career goals. There are so many outstanding people working in companies today that largely go ignored and undeveloped. Instead companies will allow people to stay in position based on seniority, politics, etc. who are uninspiring, unenlightened, and unwilling to change with the times.

Until other companies in every area of the service industry make changes in the way they hire, train, and develop people Customer Service will continue to decline and customers who care will begin to care much less. Thankfully the company I work for has figured this out and they are a leader in developing great people and foster an environment where top performers can excel. Hopefully other companies will do a gut check and get on this bandwagon.

The Dark Knight

July 18th can't come soon enough. There have been few movies I have been so excited to see as the new Batman movie. I keep hearing how amazing Heath Ledger is in the movie so I'm sure his performance won't disappoint but I am equally looking forward to the fleshing out of the other characters, including Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.

I may have to see this one several times to fully digest it all but that shouldn't be a problem.

Hanging out with Jordan

One of my goals this year is to take my girls out for a date as often as I can. So for I've taken Jamisyn and Jordan out for some special time. Today's was Jordan's and we went to see Kit Kittredge, American Girl. It was actually a great movie and we got to enjoy it together. On the way we listened to some music and had a great time just being together. Jordan is 11 years old and at that awkward age which I think runs from around 10 to 35! She is a beautiful girl with all kinds of promise. That is one smart girl! I love her very much and we have our struggles but I can't imagine things without her. She is my American Girl! 

I am looking forward to doing more of this with my kids. Nothing is more important than ensuring I meet the needs of my family and I am not always the best at doing that and balancing work, but I am making it more of a priority.

What Does It All Mean?

So I started this blog back in February and did exactly absolutely nothing with it. I'm not sure why because I love to write. I guess I didn't know how to start. Well yesterday I posted two entries and since that is 100% more than I had done I figured I better keep it going. You may be wondering what in the world the name of this blog means. Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts? Absolutely. I was somewhat disappointed to find someone had actually registered that domain. I really didn't know that there were any other hardcore Magnum, P.I. fans in the world. Actually that's not true. There is a killer Magnum, P.I. fan site that I'll put in the Favorite Links section of the blog later. Anyway, why the name? Something about this really resonates with me and it might be the fact that time really doesn't have anything to do with anything, especially infinity. We all have a certain amount of time on this rock and it is important to do the right things for the right reasons and make the most of it. I think it speaks to the innate human desire to want to do more, be more and live more. It might have to do with the feeling that we can do anything we set our minds to and nothing can stop us. It's a dangerous attitude but one that keeps us living our life to the fullest so it is also a necessary attitude.  Once time is up, it has nothing to do with Infinity or Jelly Doughnuts. Why the name? Right...okay in the first episode of Season 8 of Magnum, P.I. there is a seen between Lt. McReynolds (already dead from Season 3) and Magnum while he's in coma during an out of body experience. There is a great line in there where Mac has been trying to get Magnum to let go and move on and keeps talking about "time" moving on and Magnum throws down the line "time has little do with Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts" which for the time being silences Mac. A little later Magnum bribes him with a tray of Napoleons. Classic 80's TV, you gotta love it.

So remember, no matter what is going on in your life, live your life to the fullest, be balanced, live well, love well and time won't have this thing hanging over your head. Because, well time has little to do with Infinity or Jelly Doughnuts.

Peace.

iPhone 3G

This phone is going to be the coolest phone on the planet. I wonder how many people are camped out right now ready to get it...I will be buying one for me and one for my wife. Apple technology is just too darn good and it's addicting like crack or Chipotle food.

July 4th

Well, it's July 3rd. Tomorrow is the 4th and this year I am feeling more patriotic than usual, and usually I feel pretty patriotic. Maybe it's the election year and everyone's attention is focused on what is happening in this country more than ever; maybe it's because gas is over $4.00 a gallon for the first time in my lifetime; maybe it's because people are looking for more hope than ever before, or maybe it's just because I turned 40 this year and I am starting to think about the back half of my life and am having a mini mid-life crisis. I don't think so though...anyway tomorrow is Independence Day and it is really important. Being a country is a big deal for sure. We do it pretty well too. We have our problems (the aforementioned gas prices, dishonesty in government, a justice system out of wack, etc.) but we have some good things going too. Freedom of Speech, the right to worship, and good public education systems in most places, just to name a few. Maybe tomorrow for just a minute we can all be thankful for what we've got, where we are, and what the future holds. Maybe, just maybe if we can do that then July 5th will be a good day too.