Saturday Song Share: Black Joe Lewis - Come to My Party

Awesome shadows of James Brown:

These Breeks are Made for Walkin'

Every year, I wore traditional breeks to work on St. Patrick's Day to help celebrate the feast of my patron saint and to allow me to get to the bar without stopping at home to change clothes.  At every place that I worked, my regalia was welcomed and appreciated.

Not at the current gig.  That's not "our way."

There, we dress for success.  That means business casual every day.  Despite the fact that we work for a farm store.  And despite the fact that we work in a facility that is an abject dump.  One in which paying for spy cameras is a smart expense, but having clean urinals is not.

So now I'm leaving.  I could push it and wear the breeks anyway, and likely get perp-walked out of the building.  However, I only have a week to go, so I'll just head home after work, change clothes, and hit the bar with little delay.

However, I can promise you this: as sure as my thirst will be quenched by ample pints of Guinness this day, I will never, ever work at a place that won't appreciate my heritage, my breeks, and me.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone.

Bill Maher Talks to Charlie Rose on Islam

A liberal that gets it.  Enlightening stuff:

Rounding Third and Heading for Home

The Wisconsin experiment is over.  

The current gig started as a port in a storm.  It afforded us the chance to avoid a previous misstep and not uproot our lives.  Beyond that, it enabled me to get back into the outdoor industry; an area of deep passion and love for me.  

However, there was significant baggage that came along with the job in the form of a caustic culture that is almost impossible to accurately describe.  Paranoid.  Abusive.  Punitive.  I have stories that you won't be able to believe, and should we convene some day for an adult beverage or two, I'll regale you with some of the more egregious ones.  It will astonish you.

Due to this culture, I've had my eye on the West for a while now.  That being said, I will admit that there was definitely some Stockholm Syndrome that I was experiencing, and there were parts of my job I absolutely loved.  I believe that I did my best and most meaningful work of my career while there, and I was willing to gut it out to see if a payday might be in the offing.

Unfortunately, things turned for the worst these past two months, and reached a crescendo during my annual review which was ultimately used to "put me in my place."  In my entire life - work, school, whatever - I've never had a critique of my work that was so ignorant of my achievements (none of which were mentioned in an hour and twenty-minute review - not one) and so unfairly focused and obsessed on making an example of me and lecturing me on how much I suck.  It was sick.

Once that was delivered, I knew my time there was over.  I could no longer work for a company that had just frittered away the last remaining scraps of respect I had for it.

Fortunately for me at the time, I was engaged in a great dialog with a company that had a hell of a story.  They are on a massive growth trajectory, have low-hanging fruit all over the place, and need a guy like me.  And they're in Minnesota.  And they fit outside a massively broad non-compete agreement I was forced to sign as part of my hiring.   

Was the new opportunity perfect?  No, but then again, nothing is.  Regardless, I'm energized and so bullish on the new job.  I've already sat in on a meeting via WebEx, and damn near cried seeing how normal they were and how they treated each other.  Likewise, I've already made contributions that have been so welcomed and so appreciated and were accepted without the paranoia of how my contributions were screwing the company or were stupid.    

I formally start in a couple of weeks, and I can't wait to return to my beloved Minnesota.

We're coming home.

2017 Minnesota All Hockey Hair Team

This year's installment of an appreciation of all things flow:

Courage or Faith?

There come times in all of our lives in which we need to take a bold step.  With it comes discomfort, ambiguity, risk, or pain, but it is still a move that needs to be made.  We know it.  It's time.

When we're faced with this fork in the path, there are two ways we can take it - we can either buck up with courage that we're doing the right thing, or we can have faith that there is Someone that has our backs and will be making sure that things work out.  The prior requires a firm grip on the handles of the roller coaster and concentration on what is coming next on the tracks.  The latter affords us the ability to loosen our grip, and actually be able to look around and marvel at what is flashing past us.

While it is surely possible to have both courage and faith, it is also easier to do so if faith is steadfastly present.  Likewise, I'd argue that when one has faith, courage is actually replaced with confidence.

Courage or faith?  It's up to us to decide.  Ultimately, when we're at these tough spots, my wish for all of us that we have the courage to have faith.

Saturday Song Share: Rush - Time Stand Still

This is admittedly a really bad video, but it is an outstanding song from the mighty Rush (with some backing support from Aimee Mann):

Saturday Song Share: Peter Gabriel - San Jacinto

I believe this to be Gabriel's finest song, even including his Genesis days: