From the Desk 5/16/2008

It's Friday! I'm really glad because my sinuses are really starting to bother me. I didn't sleep very well so that didn't help either. I got to work and began furiously working on the video for Dave's project. I got a lot accomplished at first, but then the work for The School Box took over for a while. I had a website committee meeting that lasted from 9:00 until 9:45 and then when we finished that, Mike and I headed out to the Graphics Solutions Group production facility. We met Nina, our rep, there at just after 10:00 and she proceeded to take us on a tour and meet everyone we came across. This was my first visit to a printing facility so when I saw the sizes of the 6-color presses I was amazed. (You can be too, just check out this picture of one of their press machines!) We got a quick lesson in how they do sorting, printing, mailing, and project management. I'm not sure if we will use them for a large part of our needs or not, but they would certainly be capable of handling our projects. Our tour ended and we headed back to the office around 10:50. I was able to edit about 5 more children's pictures before I was invited to go out to lunch with Carmen, Blair, Tausha, and Anna. We all piled in the family bus (Carmen's SUV) and headed to Willy's for some Mexican sustenance. I had the usual and we decided to eat outside since it wasn't very sunny or hot. We also figured we might disturb a few less people if we weren't actually inside the restaurant while laughing hysterically. We ate and then had to return to work far too soon. I focused solely on the project for Dave for the rest of the afternoon.

I finished up with the kids' pictures part of the DVD and then ran into a problem. iMovie doesn't have a way to create a DVD menu! I searched online and on my Mac to determine if I had the appropriate program to fix this problem. Thankfully I did. I had to export the show into the media browser and then import that into iDVD. iDVD allowed me to customize a main menu screen and then add the video clips to that project before burning the final copy. I realized that the project would not get done today and then Dave said that it would be best if we could meet on Sunday afternoon around 4:00. He would give me the music I needed to add to the program and then I could render the 2 slide shows and add them to iDVD and then finally burn it off as a hard copy for duplication. I wasn't really looking forward to coming in on Sunday, but I really didn't have anything else to do so I figured why not.

I left work a little early, as pretty much everyone did, because the entire office was sleepy and drained. I went home intending to go mow at Stacy's since it has rained the past couple of days, but when I got home I fell asleep on the couch for a couple of hours. I woke up feeling refreshed and decided to work on the video until going to bed. That proved to be a good idea, in theory, but I soon got bored and then watched one of the NBA playoff games that was on TV before going to bed at a decent hour (trying to not get a sinus infection).

Meditation for the day: Job 11:18 " You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety."

From the Desk 5/15/2008

Today I was supposed to go on a tour of the smaller stores with Vickie, which meant that I wouldn't be in the office for the majority of the day. I worked on the video project for Dave' kids' school until about 9:15. Vickie and I loaded up and then hit the road to our first stop at East Cobb. While there I took a few pictures and then made notes on what sign they needed and what signs I had already made that were too large to use effectively. The main purpose of this trip was to help me better market each location by observing the stores' surrounding areas and the size of their location. It was definitely and eye-opening experience. I had only see the 3 big stores so when I walked into East Cobb I was slightly taken aback at the small size of this location. When we left East Cobb and headed to Howell Mill near Buckhead in Atlanta my left contact started to really irritate my eye. Vickie stopped at a Walgreen's so I could buy a contact's case and I left it out for the rest of the day. This made my perspective a little off for the rest of our trip. We stopped off at the retail location for Lakeshore Learning Products near the Howell Mill location. Lakeshore Learning is a national company that is majority driven by its catalog business, but they also have many retail locations throughout the US. Their store was very neat and well organized. I also got some creative ideas from their displays and made mental notes on things we could use in our stores.

We arrived at Howell Mill, which is our smallest store managed by my good friend Leslie. It is about 4,000 square feet and is located in an upscale shopping center just outside of Buckhead. It didn't take long to look over this store, but I did take lots of pictures as this store will be our most difficult one to market. We left from there and journeyed to Southlake to see a mid-sized store. While there I saw lots of signs that needed re-working and we ran into Anna, one of the regional managers. We chatted a lot about possible future promos and then it came time to move on to our next stop. We decided to grab a bite to eat before visiting the next store in Douglasville. We ate lunch at Truetts Grill, the birthplace of the modern day Chick-fil-A. It was set up like a diner with lots of chrome and a little train that ran around a track along the ceiling. I kind of reminded me of a mix between Swenson's and Bell Air Grille. I ordered the hot brown, which sounds pretty gross, I know. It is chicken pieces covered in a rich cream sauce and topped with cheese and bacon. It looked like cheese covered grits with toast and bacon, but it was delicious. It was very rich and I was unable to finish it since all the entrees were also served with a salad. We talked a lot over lunch about what my visions were for marketing and my life since I have moved down here. We finished eating and returned to the parking lot to find it raining again. (Yes, it actually rains down here!) The car that had pulled in next to Vickie's Honda SUV had pulled so close that Vickie could not get in the driver's side door. I could barely squeeze in, but managed to get inside and then Vickie suggested that I just drive to the next store. It wasn't very far, and I honestly had gotten so used to not having one contact in that I drove without really noticing the vision difference. It wasn't until we got out of the car at the McDonough store that I remembered and mentioned to Vickie that she is very trusting to have me drive without having both of my contacts in. She remarked, "Oh no! I completely forgot. Well, thanks for not killing us!" We spent about 45 minutes at McDonough, and I made even more notes on signs to make. All of the store managers I met (again, but on more of a one on one basis this time) were so nice and complimentary of my signs. It really shows how great of a company The School Box is to work for as most employees have been there for over 5 years, and most managers have been there for over 10 years. We left McDonough and traveled through the rain to Douglasville. We did the usual stuff there and then made our way to our last stop for the day, Austell. The size of the last three stores were about the same and the pictures I took gave me great ideas for some marketing in-store for each store. We left Austell around 5:40 and headed back to Town Center to call it a day.

I called Leslie and told her I would be a little late for our dinner meeting, but she had to cancel to help her mom with something at their church. This was fine with me as I was really tired and wanted to out my glasses on so I could see clearly again. I spent the majority of the evening re-writing my notes (legibly this time) so I could begin work on the new signs tomorrow. I ate some dinner and then worked on the wedding video very briefly after watching the new Grey's Anatomy at 9:00. I have been feeling a little stopped up in he evenings so I decided to go to bed early and try and give my body a chance to fight off whatever is trying to catch me.

Meditation for the day: Psalm 103:8 "The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love."

From the Desk 5/14/2008

Today I arrived at work optimistic about what I might learn today to help me have more things to do to fill up my days at the Box. I worked on some revisions of flyers for Vickie and Chris until about 10:30 when Mike and I were scheduled to get together for some exporting, mailing list work, and general Dreamweaver training. However, things got backed up as usual so we didn't actually meet until 11:45 after we scarfed down some take out from a nearby Japanese restaurant. We exported the mailing lists from each store and then I sorted the data by store to determine the number of members signed to our list in the month of April. I then compared that number with the total transactions that each store did to figure the sign-up to transaction percentage. The store with the highest percentage won the mailing list contest for the month of April. Douglasville won with 30.8% which was about 20 points higher than the second place store, Knoxville. I passed along all the info to Vickie so she could declare the winner and then pick up gas cards for all the employees in the winning store. Mike then had a meeting at 1:30pm that wasn't supposed to take long, but we decided to push the rest of the training back until Friday afternoon.

Dave brought me the images and names I needed to get started on the project for his son's school. I will create a slide show using three pictures for each student to show them as a baby, a young child, and then how they look currently. It will also display their names and be set to music. I figured out everything I needed to know in iMove, the program on the Mac, to complete this task. I worked on it for the remainder of the afternoon and then changed clothes so we could go on our hike.

This time Dave accompanied Carmen, Mike, and I around the 5.4 mile loop at Kennesaw Mountain. I was glad that Dave came along because once we got past the rocky parts and onto the smoother, gently rolling paths, Dave and I ran for a bit. This was good as it pushed me harder than I'm used to being pushed on our hikes and show me that I still have a long way to be at the level of fitness I'm aiming for. We did the 5.4 miles in about 1 hour and 15 minutes which was good because it was going on 7:25 when we got back to the cars and the park road closes at 7:30! Dave took me back to my car then I drove home quickly, showered, changed, and then left again. I had gotten a text from Leslie inviting me to join her and her friend Shannon for some dinner at Taco Mac. I hadn't planned on it, but it sounded like fun and I'm always up for some wings at Taco Mac. I arrived and they hadn't ordered yet. I met Shannon, who is going to be a junior at Old Miss, but was in town for a visit with family. We ate and drank and generally laughed over the strange happenings in our lives. We left there around 8:40 and I went to the apartment beginning to feel the effects of my hiking excursion from earlier. I worked on the video very briefly and then decided to relax for the rest of the night before falling asleep watching a movie. I no doubt will feel the impact of my run through the mountains tomorrow morning as I crawl out of bed, sore and tired.

From the Desk 5/13/2008

I woke up this morning with a little bit of a sore throat. My guess is that I can have my windows open for part of the day, but exposing myself to the airborne allergens all night long probably isn't a good idea. I once again had some hot tea and muffins for breakfast and then headed off to work. As I passed the Exxon station near work this morning I almost had a wreck when I looked at the gas sign. It has risen to $3.75 per gallon! Seriously, I will have to start bringing a change of clothes to work with me in my hiking pack and just walk to work each day as I would probably go broke if I continue driving!

I worked mostly on the Gov. Gift Card signs and flyers today. I also began playing around with potential sign bases for the back-to-school sale period. We have the signs printed on heavy card stock and then cut into 3" x 4" signs. We then print the product information (item#, sale price, regular price, etc.) on clear labels and have the stores stick them together to promote the sale items throughout the store. I have contemplated several different deigns, but I think I have narrowed it down to just two that I will present to Chris and Vickie and let them decide. I brought a DVD of That 70's Show to watch while I eat my lunch today. I would eat with my group, but I find it hard to eat at 11:00am and then not eat again until 5:30-6:00pm. I also don't want to take my lunch early and then have that much of the day left to endure without reprieve. I gladly go out with them at 11:00 when we go somewhere, but that is because it usually takes about 30 minutes to get our food so I'm not as hungry as early for dinner. I received an unusual email at my School Box email address. I probably received this because I left my email address (phillip@schoolbox.com) when I renewed our program involvement with Camp Twin Lakes, the camp that benefits challenged and handicapped children. Somehow, a beer fest to raise money for a camp for children doesn't seem to add up to me, but perhaps I am just sheltered. I ate the 3-cheese Ziti (Smart Ones brand) for lunch. It was delicious and combined with the smoothie I had been slowly working on throughout the day, filled me up sufficiently to help cut down on my weakness, snacking. I worked on odds and ins concerning the mailing lists and prize winners from customer appreciation week for the latter part of the day.

I left work and went home to change into some mowing clothes. I drove over to Stacy's and (using the key she left with me) I got the mower out of the garage and then proceeded to "beautify" her yard. (I put beautify in quotes as grass can only be so beautiful when it is deprived of rain on a consistent basis) It didn't take very long this time as the grass was much shorter than before. After finishing that I checked for mail and made sure everything was in order at her house before retreating to my apartment for some dinner. I worked more on the video tonight and got the first half of the ceremony done complete with effects and transitions. This wedding is coming together much faster than the last one. (Probably due to the fact that I didn't delay and wait a week to begin working on the production) I also took some time to go through boxes in my office closet to try and determine what might be able to be thrown away and save some space/eliminate clutter. I also got the memory card from Leslie's camera that had the pictures from La Parilla restaurant and Hemmingway's so I spent a few minutes updating my Facebook and Myspace pages with new pictures. I also have included some of those pictures here as well so all can see them. I went to bed earlier than the past few days to prepare for hiking the mountain tomorrow. Dave is coming with us this time so he and I will keep pace and run the back part of the trail while Mike, Tausha, and Carmen take things a little more leisurely pace.

Meditation for the day: Ecclesiatses 7:8 " The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride."

From the Desk 5/12/2008

I woke up this morning actually feeling cold. Apparently leaving the windows cracked last night cooled the apartment down very effectively. I had some hot tea and a couple of Stacy's muffins for breakfast. (I can't let free food go to waste) I got to work and began to schedule out my tasks for the week. Most of the high priority items on my plate need the help of Mike teaching me how to export the mailing lists, update sections of the website, and modify some items on the managers' page. We set a meeting for Wednesday where we could block out a couple of hours to cover the areas I need training to work on. I also worked on a smaller sign for the stores to use to highlight new products that aren't on the bookcases. I spent a bit of time before lunch learning some more about Adobe Illustrator and drew this orange juice carton from scratch including the sunny graphic and nutrition information.

After I got back from lunch I met with Chris about the next few weeks of preparation. Chris told me that she and Dave were going to be gone for a good part of June on vacations so we had to get as much done as possible before the Back-to-School rush hit so we wouldn't be scrambling when time was limited. We sketched out roughs of the flyers promoting The School Box as the experts on the Georgia Classroom Gift Card given to each teacher in the state of Georgia by Gov. Sonny Perdue. We will send flyers to the bookkeepers first to alert them to how we plan to help teachers out with our special offers (and save them money) and then will mail out to our teacher mailing list the specific details about when the cards are usable, our extended store hours, and other opportunities for discounts. I worked on these pieces for the remainder of the afternoon.

Our planned trip to hike Kennesaw Mountain fell through as Mike and I were extremely tired from the weekend and Carmen woke up early this morning with a migraine. So I went home after work and took a nap to try and recover so I could spend some time on the video. I did sleep a little, but mostly just rested and relaxed. I received a call from the truck driver from ABF Freight Lines alerting me that he would be delivering the TV to my parents' house soon. Dad called me after he dropped it off to let me know that it had arrived safely. I ate some dinner and then worked on the video for a bit. I got the intro video and menus done on the ceremony video, which is what my goal for tonight was. I also did a couple of loads of laundry. I decided to knock that out at the beginning of the week so I didn't have to worry about it over the weekend. I once again had the window open to cool down the apartment, but I think I will stop off by the office tomorrow and ask them to have someone come out and check the air conditioner because it should be working more efficiently than it currently is. I went to sleep watching Disturbia (which probably isn't the best movie to relax and go to sleep to, but it didn't seem to phase me).

Meditation for the day: Psalm 33:22 " May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you."

From the Desk 5/11/2008

This morning I woke up having not slept very well. I got up and helped Dad move stuff around downstairs to make room for bringing the other table upstairs to allow for seating for all our guests for Mother's Day lunch. During that process I discovered that Tommy Campbell was still intending on having me film the graduate recognition service at CBCB this morning. I had not planned on this since he never returned my email, but I figured that I already had my equipment with me so I called Hickey and we made plans to meet at 9:00am to set up and film. I gathered up all my stuff and headed out to church. I got everything set up before Hickey arrived and even had a sign to post on one of my smaller cameras to notify people that it was a live camera and to please not touch it! The service went well with a balanced emphasis on the graduates and their mothers. There more people in attendance than I had expected so the balcony where I was filming was more crowded than usual. Immediately after the service we tried to make our way outside to capture the graduates getting a group picture made, but we were not fast enough to beat the crowd of parents. We did make it outside just after the sudden rainstorm with strong winds. Once the brief monsoon passed, the sky was littered with white clouds floating quickly over the now bright blue sky, which made for some excellent footage of the church steeple with a beautiful sky in the background. Hickey and I packed up the equipment and took it back to my car.

I left the church and headed back to my parents' house to prepare for the lunch crowd. Along the way I stopped at Weigel's to pick up some lemonade and ice. I also stopped to take a picture of the tree that had fallen across the main entrance into Spanish Trails on Friday night. I got back to my parents' house and had time to update my blog before being put to work in the kitchen washing utensils and dishes. I also was responsible for helping prepare the onions for grilling and putting the assorted vegetables on skewers for grilling. Slowly everyone began showing up for the exquisite meal. Mom, Dad, and I were eventually joined by Amy, Jon, Josi (Bob was out of town), Grandmother, G-mom, and Papa. We had a feast for lunch including chicken (basted in a mixture of lime juice, lemon pepper, butter, and salt), vegetables (squash, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and mushrooms marinated in balsamic vinaigrette dressing), rolls, grilled onions, and pasta salad. Josi had brought dessert to say thank you for our invitation to join us so we finished the meal dining on carrot cake and a Texas sheet cake (which basically has lots of chocolate and nuts in it. We did experience the effects of the blistering wind outside as the power went out half way through the meal and remained off for about half an hour. After eating we all agreed that taking a nap was the best thing to do, but none of actually did this as I needed to head home before the weather got any worse and the others had other activities planned for the ret of Mother's Day.

I headed back to Georgia after helping clean up a bit. Hickey and I had contemplated going to the Vols baseball game, but decided against it due to weather concerns. I felt the wind my entire drive home. Sometimes it felt like someone was just pushing suddenly on my car forcing it to veer to one side of the lane I was traveling in. I made it home safely and found out that G-mom and Papa's tree near their bedroom was no longer in top shape as it had split and part of it took out the fence between them and their neighbors and the other part knocked off part of the gutter on the side of their house. I spent the rest of the evening pulling video footage over to my computer. That activity took the rest of the evening, but at least now I can began to edit it and not fall too far behind. I have had all of my windows open in the apartment in an attempt to cool it down. So far it has dropped to 73 degrees inside, which is the coolest it has been indoors since February. I drifted off to sleep easily, not sweating as I usually do from the inescapable heat.

Meditation for the day: Genesis 3:20 " Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living."