From the Desk 5/29/2008

Today I woke up (always a good start to each day) and gathered up all my video stuff to lug to work. It was lightly misting which meant that traffic was terrible getting to work because we Georgians aren’t used to seeing rain and have forgotten how to drive when we see it. (though I’m not entirely sure that people knew how to before the drought either) I arrived at the same time as Stacy and Blair, which was good because they were able to help me carry everything inside. (Just for reference, I’m not a pansy…I was lugging my camera case, my sound equipment bag, a tripod bag, my work messenger bag, and a backpack with a change of clothes for hiking) I left all my extra equipment in Mike’s office until it was needed. I did some last minute research on loyalty programs and then added a cover page to my proposal to present to Dave. I had Aimee and Mike look over it first since I had sought their input with some of the details before I approached Chris and Dave about implementing this program. Aimee couldn’t say enough kind things about my efforts. In fact, she sent me an email later in the day to once again express her excitement about this finally being brought up. Mike said it was ready to present and I should do it when Dave and Chris get back from vacation.

I set up my filming stuff to video Dave giving his speech for the Summer Training Seminar class that will be taught by the regional managers. Aimee assisted us as she held the cue cards for our medieval teleprompter. It only took a couple of takes before we got everything we needed to finish the filming part of the project. I then ate my leftovers from Marietta Diner for lunch. I also decided that I would throw away the remaining leftovers as they were approaching the week old status and would probably be a good substitute for a science fair project. I ended up spending a good deal of time on the phone throughout the afternoon as it was time for media reps to call back and try to sell me spots for Back-To-School. I graciously told them that they could feel free to send me information and a media kit, but that we were already planned through this quarter and had spent our budget. I entered a few names into our customer mailing list database while Taylor, a young lady that Chris had brought in for extra hours, sat out at a computer on the retail floor entering as fast as she could. We probably have about 3,000 left to enter so there is no rush, as it will just take time to manually enter. Before Mike left early, he, Stacy, and I confirmed our hiking plans for after work.

I left work and Stacy followed me to my apartment where we dropped off my car. We then headed up to Cartersville to meet Mike and his 2 dogs for a hike on Pine Mountain. We arrived slightly before Mike, which gave me time to stretch before our trek. (something I didn’t do on Monday and regretted it the next day) Mike arrived with his dogs, Cheyenne and Bruno. We had already met Cheyenne and were glad to see her again as she was gentle and very intelligent as far as dogs go. Bruno, on the other hand, quickly established himself as the “special” dog of the two as he could be likened to the cartoon character that always said, “Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?”. Suffice it to say, not the brightest crayon in the box, but a heart of gold nonetheless. We hiked the 3.2 mile trail in 1 hour 15 minutes which was about 15 minutes less than last time so we felt like we had accomplished enough for one day. Stacy drove me home and I ate some dinner while watching an episode of Two and a Half Men on TV. I decided to get as much prep-work done as possible for my trip to Knoxville this weekend, and put the reception video on hold for a night. I did laundry, changed all the batteries in my wireless mics , and charged the batteries for my camcorders to be ready for the wedding on Saturday. I also packed my garment bag with my “formal attire” for the wedding and church on Sunday. By the time that was done, I decided to try and catch some extra sleep and went to bed while watching the Lakers battle with the Spurs in the NBA Western Conference Finals. I hope the extra sleep will carry over into Saturday so I’m not so drained after the wedding.

Meditation for the day: Psalm 56:4 “In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?”