Wednesday, August 11, 2004
In absolutely brilliant news I have learned that my good friend, vice presidential running mate, hardy soul and all around good egg Mike Fitzgerald has been blessed with his first child. It's a boy named Owen, which confirms my long held belief that Mike was joking when he told me that he would name his male child Phineas. It's a relief, I'm sure, to little Owen if no one else. Who would've thought that years ago when Mike and I would sit in the Palace smoking pot and writing crude jokes on our walls in black magic marker that we would eventually turn out to be responsible parents. I think we both would've shat ourselves laughing if someone had tried to convince us.
Work is settling down a bit. It's strange not having Lance around. He was a good guy, though I don't miss the Grateful Dead and Steve Kimok music. We're getting ready to raise our rates for the first time in 4 years. It seems crazy that it's been that long since we adjusted our pricing. I bet there isn't a retail establishment in the US that hasn't changed their pricing during that time. So we're due. However it doesn't take the edge off thinking about how clients will react. I'm fairly certain that we'll lose a small portion of our clientele in raising our rates. It's inevitable. I'm also confident that we'll be able to get new customers at the new rates to replace those who fall by the wayside. It's still stressful. I'm sure we'll be hearing from our largest and most valuable clients. Hopefully they'll be placated.
In other competely random news I absolutely love my new bike. The Retrotec rocks!! I put a new Marzocchi shock on it and went for a great group ride this Sunday. Fun, fun, fun, It had been a while since I rode with friends. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it. I laughed hard enough to fall of my bike a few times. My friend Dominc was riding a cross bike which had a rack on the back. I insisted (in lew of making fun of him for the entire ride) that he carry a log on his rack. He found a suitable downed tree, strapped it on and actually did the entire ride with the thing on his bike. Very impressive and hilarious if you're riding behind him. Good stuff.
I'm really disappointed in the US men's basketball team. I'm not disappointed in the players. They are without a doubt playing as hard as they can and doing everything within their abilities to win. However the composition of the team as selected by USA basketball is terrible. I know that many top flight players didn't want to play in the Olympics because of health or security reasons. However this doesn't excuse the players selected. Let's face it USA Basketball is a marketing arm of the NBA. It has little to do with fielding a proper team comprised of players that would play well togehter and bring a skill set to the court that would best enable the team to win. The current team has no true shooters. There's no one that can consistently knock down a 3 pointer or even an 18 footer. We're currently a team of athletes that are used to making swooping drives to the basket, dunking and generally flying over everyone. This doesn't work in international basketball. In I-ball you're allowed to clog the lane, campout, throw elbows, generally create a human wall in the middle. That prevents the US players from doing what they do best and forces them to do what they're worst at: shoot the ball from the outside. I think this USA team will be hard pressed to medal in these olympics. I'll be rooting for them the entire time but this year could be the wake up call to USA Basketball that they need to field a team with chemistry and balance, not a team made up of the NBA's next wave of stars.
Work is settling down a bit. It's strange not having Lance around. He was a good guy, though I don't miss the Grateful Dead and Steve Kimok music. We're getting ready to raise our rates for the first time in 4 years. It seems crazy that it's been that long since we adjusted our pricing. I bet there isn't a retail establishment in the US that hasn't changed their pricing during that time. So we're due. However it doesn't take the edge off thinking about how clients will react. I'm fairly certain that we'll lose a small portion of our clientele in raising our rates. It's inevitable. I'm also confident that we'll be able to get new customers at the new rates to replace those who fall by the wayside. It's still stressful. I'm sure we'll be hearing from our largest and most valuable clients. Hopefully they'll be placated.
In other competely random news I absolutely love my new bike. The Retrotec rocks!! I put a new Marzocchi shock on it and went for a great group ride this Sunday. Fun, fun, fun, It had been a while since I rode with friends. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it. I laughed hard enough to fall of my bike a few times. My friend Dominc was riding a cross bike which had a rack on the back. I insisted (in lew of making fun of him for the entire ride) that he carry a log on his rack. He found a suitable downed tree, strapped it on and actually did the entire ride with the thing on his bike. Very impressive and hilarious if you're riding behind him. Good stuff.
I'm really disappointed in the US men's basketball team. I'm not disappointed in the players. They are without a doubt playing as hard as they can and doing everything within their abilities to win. However the composition of the team as selected by USA basketball is terrible. I know that many top flight players didn't want to play in the Olympics because of health or security reasons. However this doesn't excuse the players selected. Let's face it USA Basketball is a marketing arm of the NBA. It has little to do with fielding a proper team comprised of players that would play well togehter and bring a skill set to the court that would best enable the team to win. The current team has no true shooters. There's no one that can consistently knock down a 3 pointer or even an 18 footer. We're currently a team of athletes that are used to making swooping drives to the basket, dunking and generally flying over everyone. This doesn't work in international basketball. In I-ball you're allowed to clog the lane, campout, throw elbows, generally create a human wall in the middle. That prevents the US players from doing what they do best and forces them to do what they're worst at: shoot the ball from the outside. I think this USA team will be hard pressed to medal in these olympics. I'll be rooting for them the entire time but this year could be the wake up call to USA Basketball that they need to field a team with chemistry and balance, not a team made up of the NBA's next wave of stars.
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