Blogs in the age of Digital Marketing

Blogs in the age of digital marketing.  It's as good of a title as any for my first foray into reviving this blog.  As a manner of continuously refreshing content and providing that ever-important cross linakge (the lifeblood of SEO), I have decided to resurrect my blog and turn it's voice to my broadcast my musings on my passion: Digital Marketing.

So, it is my pleasure to introduce to you the renewed purpose of this blog: sharing my professional and personal findings for how to convert in the digital age -- and trying to do so without sounding buzzy or cliched...

And now for something completely relevant.  (note the "Monty Python" reference)

Not only can Customers be a highly mobile moving target, but so too is the manner in which we marketeers (again, see what I did there?) communicate with our audiences.  While somewhat ubiquitous, blogs remain a vital component of any digital marketing strategy.  Though, no longer is it enough to have a blog and update said blog regularly.  Nor is it even enough to cultivate a following of said blog.  But the focus has turned to converting your followers, commenters and even critics to related digital properties, products and services.

And converting means cross linkage, yes, but it also necessitates and increase in ad-spend.  Setting up the appropriate sign posts (banners, links, etc) to reach your target audience at the right place and at the right time to visit, view and ultimately purchase.


Case in point:  Check out this article on AdAge.com by Alexandra Bruell, published: December 02, 2012.

Enjoy and remember, as you go out there and develop plans for traffic generation and online media in 2013, remember that the best way to ensure your failure is to NOT invest any attention to social media spending.   Yep, I went there...

Cheers for now and I'd appreciate your comments on possible future topics or, of course, any questions (thoughts, pontifications and general chatter welcome too)

Follow me on Twitter ~ @Savvymix

The China Connection

At long last! The blog detailing .... memories from my two-week trip to Beijing, CHINA.

It's been months in the making, or at least in the thought pipeline. My trip began mid-December 2007 and ended shortly after Christmas. Cici flew over ahead of me as I still had work to finish up and limited vacation time to spend. And the vacation was time well spent. It was a great opportunity to get away from everything, literally!

About the only thing of note that happened before I landed actually happened before I even boarded the plane. Silly, honest and sometimes crazy naive guy that I am, I mistakenly thought it would be kosher to bring my own toothpaste and perhaps some mouthwash with me on the plane. Wrong! How anyone could MacGuyver something nefarious from these toiletries I will probably never know. But apparently the FAA is aware of something I'm not because these substances are BANNED! Punishable by forcibly trashing my goods. It would turn out to be a big deal on the mouthwash, because I rely on frequent gargling to avoid getting sick. My tonsils were removed when I was 9, so I need to keep my throat clean by other means. But I'm jumping ahead too far...

After a brief stopover in Tokyo (too bad I couldn't get out and look up some old friends) I landed at Beijing Airport in the evening and was quite ready for a shower and a good night's sleep. Cici and her parents met me at the airport and drove me back to their apartment. They were kind enough to leave the apt. to us while they stayed with relatives. I noticed right away that everything had a brownish tint and there was a kind of tinny smell in the air. This was the result of burning coal to heat the majority of residences across the megalopolis. And it was my first introduction to what I've termed the "bacterial soup" that enshrouds the city.

Also contributing to the 'bacterial' portion of said term, people let out loud, mucus-filled globs anywhere and everywhere. With weather as cold as it was, at or below freezing each day, its kind of understandable. Even the inside of apartments offer little relief. As I'd mentioned, coal is the primary source of heat. It's burned in central smokestacks and piped into surrounding apartment buildings. But even so, I found that I sweat profusely each night. Too many blankets, I suppose. So it came as a great shock to Cici's mom when I later asked for thinner blankets...

My second day in China was filled with rest and some photo ops. I'd been brought to meet the broader family, consisting of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Both of Cici's grandparents can speak English pretty well, but her grandmother was convinced it was unnecessary. I think the story goes that I appeared in a dream and conversed with her in fluent Mandarin. And I was much shorter in said appearance, which resulted in a few occasions where she commented, in Mandarin, that I was taller than she remembered.

Everyone was very kind and generous with food and, of course, beer. Cici's dad even broke out the good stuff --a bottle of Chivas Regal-- on one occasion. And other occasions found Cici's brother-like cousins trying to get me soused on a kind of Chinese wine. A kind of 56% alc. Chinese wine... that supposedly makes people hallucinate if over-imbibed... But I held tough. I drank what was poured, except for once when Cici's mom syphoned off some of my beverage when I got up to use the facilities.

So there were good times around the dinnertable. Breakfast and lunch were good too, though. On the way to the Great Wall --we'd left around 6am or so to beat traffic-- I ate a tofu soup that is one of Cici's favorite dishes. We'd even stopped for lunch at a Chinese McDonalds. It wasn't too different from the American version, but with a somewhat more ethnic menu. Chickity-China-The-Chinese-Chicken... But now I'm getting off topic.

Almost every day was another outing to someplace for shopping, photo ops, or hiking and often a mix of all three! We went to the Great Wall, The Forbidden City, some shopping mall the name of which I forgot... we also went to The Summer Palace, a place called Beihai Park and to KARAOKE! This karaoke place was not like any I'd been to before. They had an all-you-can-eat buffet style breakfast, lunch and dinner available and NO ALCOHOL! At least, none that I could find. This absence of booze would be utter sacrilege in Japan. But I didn't mind. Finally, a karaoke experience without drunken a**holes jumping on the couches and singing out of tune and off key to any and every song anyone chose whether or not they were familiar with it.

And then there was the bathhouse. Ah, a nice relaxing dip in a hot tub followed by all-you-can-eat buffet style dinner and sauna and a nice nap... I could live in a place like that. Very restful. An excellent way to combat jet lag. And a nice calm before the storm. Cici came down with a nasty, evil cold... or flu... or something. I found myself taking care of her the best I could and really wishing I had my blessed mouthwash. We got some there in Beijing, which was nice, but I don't think it had any alcohol. Or at least not as much as the stuff I usually get. But it helped. I didn't get sick until the day or maybe the day before we left for home.

It was then that I made my first and only outing alone! Armed with a few phrases I'd written in my Mandarin study booklet, I went out to a fast food restaurant from Japan called Yoshinoya. I was well familiar with the menu... in Japanese and English. But Mandarin was still kinda new to me. Anyway, I made it there and back without incident and returned with a light dinner for Cici and myself. Then I got hit with the worst when we arrived back in the states. Though, at home I was armed with mouthwash, orange juice, apples and a warm, comfy bed to hasten my recovery. All was well in the end.

And except for a mad dash in Tokyo's Narita airport to catch our connection back to Portland, the return went as smoothly as we could've hoped.

So that's about it for story-time. For more fun and information, check out our 400+ pics online at:

http://s253.photobucket.com/albums/hh75/dbsavoy/?albumview=slideshow

Zai Jian!

Winter Chill

Another two months have passed since my last entry. And I had been on a pace of one or two entries a month... Not to worry, though, my life has been boring enough so that my reader(s) won't miss much if I don't recap the past two months in great detail. My time has been spent working and planning for the Christmas break, when I will be travelling to Beijing, China to visit Cici's family.

So, since my life has been so boring, why do I bother posting now? Vacation next week! I'm finally getting some much needed time off and have no plans other than shuffling around my house and relaxing. This year it seems that every time I have a day or two off I have spent that time travelling or running errands. This time, it's all about having some chill time...

Now, here I am at work, on the Friday before my great sedentary escape, plotting out in my head the spots on my couch I will begin to sink into first and where to roll when my butt needs a fresh cushion. I have a nearly full case of beer in the fridge and plenty of healthy foods to munch on. Just because I'm lazy doesn't mean I want to become a fatass. I do plan to take some meandering journeys around my neighborhood to balance out my couch and computer surfing hours too. And suddenly a Simpsons episode comes to mind ...

Homer drives the ball up high, and he yells "Woo-hoo!" while itflies in the air, but it lands in the sand trap: "D'oh!" Burns adds, "Yes, you're in deep d'oh now."

Burns: Oh, quit cogitating, Steinmetz, and use an open-faced club. The sand wedge!

Homer: Mmm... open-faced club sandwich.

So that's that. I'm about to check out for awhile to come back fully refreshed and ready for the busy holiday business push. My next blog should include my hellishly busy first week of December - both forecasting and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt workshop - as well as stories from my trip to China!

Catchy'all on the downslide~

Moving Forward

So, another post... I haven't been keeping up with these as much as I used to. Work keeps me busier these days than it has before. Actually, that's the theme of this post: I have absolutely no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life. The only thing I am sure of is that there is no ONE thing I want to do. I want to do everything. And go everywhere. Always in motion.

So, I sit here at my desk thinking about where to go and what to do next. I've only been at this job a year, but I feel that I've been stuck in this situation much longer because of the two years I spent in grad school. And I am overdue for a change. A change of scenery and perhaps even another career change.

That last one isn't too likely unless I stay here, at my present job, a while longer. But I can definitely feel that urge beginning to pull me - not too different from when I was searching for something beyond banking and ended up living in Japan for nearly three years.

If I were to go overseas again, at this point I have no idea where I'd go. I've often thought about going back to Japan, though... It was enough like the U.S. to make me feel really comfortable there, but different enough to catch my interest.

India is another place I've thought about going, but I think the chances of getting a job there are pretty slim outside of teaching... <>

So, for now, I sit and contemplate my next move. It is both a good and bad feeling at the same time. I feel restless and uncomfortable in my current situation but also hopeful when I think of all the options and opportunities that lay ahead.

It all makes me think of a famous poem, The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost:

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

-Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

Stuck in a Box

I'm stuck. Who would notice if I weren't busying myself in some manner?

The sound of keystrokes and mouse-clicks with the occasional stretch and popping sound of joints stiffened by confinement within a tight, gray-felt-lined box . . .

Scurrying around the office searching for a purpose . . .

It really is that I'm just too fast at my work.  If only I could work from home... Dare to dream . . .

Work Changes

So, I met with the boss the other day to gather some advice on climbing the corporate ladder, how to position myself for better upward mobility and a general philosophy on the experience based on his tenure with the company. It went well, with me collecting a few homework assignments to get done over the next few months. And all is well. I am set to chart my course through the company waters.

Then I get back to my desk...

...and I learn of new responsibilities that I'll be taking on.  I get leverage to help myself squirt ahead in my career. Heh heh heh... 

So, now I can update my resume to include more STUFF!!! HA HA HA!!! No, I'm just going a little crazy right now, since I'm in the middle of the forecasting cycle.

Latest Developments

Well, I don't know exactly how long it has been since my last post. More than a few months, I suppose. But much has happened over that time and it this new blogging is well overdue.

I've ditched my old, green car in favor of a 2003 mustang that runs well but uses a bit more gas and seems to have had a problem with the fuel cap staying on tight. The gas usage is annoying, especially with the rise in prices lately. The fuel cap problem should be fixed now that I have bought and installed a new, locking gas cap. Other than that, the car looks nice and runs well. No worries.

Work has kept me busy. So has my yard. I've been busily gardening whenever I can muster the energy after work and have completely weeded my backyard! That was an amazing feeling once it was done. There were so many bush-like weeds growing back there that it seemed like I would never finish. And it took me a total of 5 1/2 hours to finally clear the backyard. Now I still have to do the sides and a patch in the front, but I will tackle that next week. I'm not putting it off because I'm lazy, but rather that I don't have any more space in my yard debris bin. My last foray into the backyard filled up the bin completely and that won't be picked up by the waste mgmt company until next Tuesday. So, I have a valid excuse to chill until then. I am really looking forward to clearing those weeds, though...

So, I mentioned that work was busy. And so it is, but I have been able to improve my performance through developing office relationships and through increasing my knowledge of the business. "It's been a long road... gettin' from there to here..." - Star Trek, Enterprise theme. That show kind of sucks because they didn't develop more than a few characters and even that not as deeply as the other Trek series have done. Anyway, I'm getting off track...

There isn't really much else to blog on about. Life is going well and I'm also looking forward to getting outside more now that the weather has finally come around from the Spring storms to generally sunny skies.

To wind things up here, I'll post some pics of the car and yard soon.

~D

Blue Monday

An alternate title for this post would be: Why today sucks, or: Parking lot bust, or: Dave's unlucky car.

I was backing out of a parking space this afternoon after a quick visit to Subway when a GIGANTIC truck tapped on my car... --> (\ /) __

A new dent now decorates the left side rear panel, just above and behind the wheel.

What a perfect way to start the week. Well, it could have been worse. My car is still driveable. But I am just too exhausted to deal with this right now. Need a new car anyway. The other guy's insurance claims adjuster is supposed to call and begin working things out. I really hope there are no hassles with this. He hit me, I'm all clear, need the funds to get 'er fixed... well, I suppose I don't really need to get the car fixed. I plan on getting a new one anyway... Maybe I can use those funds toward a new car... Hmm.... things to think about.

That's all I've the energy to write now. More later, perhaps.

A Bit of Advice

It has been awhile since the MBA days. Kind of seems both like just yesterday and long ago at the same time. I don't really miss it though. Getting a paycheck is much better than staying up until 4am with a beer in one hand and bong in the other while stressing about what topic I'll choose for that Marketing paper I have due the next day. Lol. Seriously, tho, Xerox is treating me well. Pays the bills with the potential for good upward mobility.

Anyway, if you're looking to get some experience abroad and make some $$$ at the same time then perhaps teaching in Japan is right for YOU! What you've got to do is choose an Eikaiwa (English Conversation School) and submit an application online. The three biggies in Japan are:
AEON http://www.aeonet.com/
Geos http://www.geoscareer.com/
and ECC http://www.japanbound.com/

Look them up and choose which one you like best. The employment situation, housing opportunities, wages and whatnot may have changed since I left, so just poke around their websites to get the latest info. Notice that I didn't mention NOVA http://www.teachinjapan.com/ as one of the top three. Its big, but they dont treat their employees well. They are forced into living with their coworkers and do not have regularly scheduled teaching hours. I never met a happy NOVA employee in my three years with AEON. AEON is pretty good, easy textbooks to teach from. It's less like teaching and more just guiding the students through the book material page by page. Pretty much. You may feel at times as if you're just putting on a performance for the students, but then I think you'd really dig it too.

Culture is pretty good,and fun. Hmmmm.... Oh, keep in mind that the Japanese drink A WHOLE LOT and regularly either pass out on the streets or run stark naked with their coworkers chasing close behind. That is, there is an alcoholism problem there. If you end up going, just be careful not to join the crowd too often. Just some friendly advice.

If you decide to go, you should think about what city or region to request being stationed in. Hokkaido is fucking cold as hell. Sorry, can't put that any other way. You will literally freeze your balls off there. But, if you like skiing, no place is better. Nagano would be nice, but its kind of remote. No big cities nearby. Been there. Not that you need a big city to meet people. Just do a bit of homework on that. About dating, tho, the thing to do is to ask for a chicks Keitai (pronounced: Kay-Tie, and means: carry-phone, or cell-phone) address. Most people text message there rather than calling. If you date a chick, you have to call. But to get her to the dating stage, you text. See?

A New Year Ahead

Maybe it’s the start of a new year or that each day we see daylight a bit longer but whatever it is I feel much better about my job and how to do it than I felt just a few weeks ago. I get the feeling that 2007 will be a great year in the life and times of Mr. Dave Savoy. Now, I don’t want to get all mushy here and glow about the prospects of my job and all because it’s been tough. And more than likely its been my continuing perseverance that has enabled my increasing level of comfort in doing what I do. I’ve still got a lot to learn here and a ways to go before I can move on to my next stage either here at Xerox or elsewhere; however, this time of year does give me cause to reflect on all that the previous year has brought and on my accomplishments during that time.
Before moving onward, I am just taking this moment to look back and praise God that I’ve been able to go from Japan back to school and from school out into the job market and into a position with great potential whether or not I decide to stay with the company. I say this not because I am looking to leave, but it does my mind some good to know that I have the option of leaving at some point. Obviously I’d like to stay here for at least a few years in order to build up a stable employment history. But beyond that I am pleased to say that I have not yet decided my plans. At this point my life is still unfolding and I am excited to be on the verge of something potentially really cool and with just about six months of Xerox under my belt I can begin to see the slope of the learning curve becoming less steep. It’s stable enough ground for me to take a glance over my shoulder and look at the monstrous hill I’ve just climbed and say to myself, “Self, that’s quite a slope you’ve just scaled.” Then turn back to the hill and keep climbing. I’ve come a long way. Still got a ways to go, but at least I can say that I’m making some pretty good progress.

Happy New Year!!!!

Christmas Politics -or- the Neverending Supply of Sweets

As we all know, the holiday season is filled with cakes, candies, puddings, fruit-pies, hot chocolate and a neverending assortment of other such cavity inducing treats. And, as it were, the workplace is a natural gathering place for these sweets. Contributing to the collective sweet tooth, I brought in a Christmas Stollen, which is a kind of German raisin bread. My reasons, though, are somewhat more complex than simply feeling the festive, holiday spirit flowing through. I have a kind of political motivation as well. Now, I need to pause here to diatribe about office politics. I cannot stand office politics. In fact, I try to avoid these pointless mind games like the plague. But it's not always possible to do so. And, from time to time, I find myself compelled to either participate or risk the stability of my continued employment ... or at least the sustainable enjoyment of my employment.

So this happy Monday I brought a Stollen Cake to tickle the collective sweet tooth of my coworkers and to show my boss that I'm not, as she puts it, 'Cube-i-izing' myself to the detriment of the forecast and my future career. What this means is that she believes I've been hanging out in my cube rather than getting out and socializing. Of course, this was spawned by nothing less than the sinister and cruel act of not saying, "Hello!" consistently each and every morning; "How's your day?" in the afternoons and "Drive safe," as the 5 o'clock hour approacheth.

It makes me envy my cube neighbor, whose boss works in New York and who has no teammates and few stakeholders (people who depend on the reports he creates on a regular basis) in Wilsonville. In fact, he works from home whenever he pleases and when he does decide to come in it is usually around 9:30am, with a 4:00pm departure. I've no doubt that he gets his work done. I attend a monthly meeting in which he makes a 15min. presentation. Looks pretty solid. But the real difference between us is that he gets to do his work without his boss hovering over him or the need to be caught in the dull 8 to 5 day-to-day.

Anyway, this true diatribe has a happy end! I presented the cake to the delight of my boss and coworkers and even managed to snag a couple of slices for my cubeish self. Lol! So, with that, I'll conclude by reciting my old mantra of,

"Whatever..."

Moving Time

I moved into my first house about a week ago, or at least most of my stuff did. I couldn't get settled into the place until the middle of last week --just in time for the holiday season to begin! And so I undertook the great experience of moving, cleaning and unpacking on top of getting ready to spend time with the fam. All of which was not too tiresome, but definitely made for a full week.

This past weekend my Ci had to go back to Eugene to work on her presentation. Although she should have gone back on Friday, she was willing to pull an all-nighter on Sunday and get only 4 1/2 hours of sleep on Monday in exchange for spending more time with me up in Hubbard / Wilsonville / Portland. I think it was kind of rough on her, but it was her decision so I just had to support that. What I do know is that even an hours worth of sleep can help a lot to clear one's mind and allow one to look at one's work with a fresh pair of eyes.

So, while she is JiaYou-ing (working hard) I drove to work in the snow and got here a bit early this morning. This was a very good thing since I had to leave a bit early yesterday and am still unsure of whether anyone noticed. In any case, I got here all right but saw a real traffic jam on I-5 in both directions! Not a usual thing this far from downtown P-town at this time of day on this day of the week. For as much precipitation as falls in this area, people consistently drive poorly under conditions such as today. Accidents scatter the road and drivers are as aggressive as ever even when snow and perhaps ice coat the roads. Scary stuff. Maybe its due to a large number of out-of-state folks flocking to the great N.W. in droves as companies such as Intel and HP flex their hiring muscles. Who knows? One thing is certain, though: TRUST NO ONE on the road when its snowing or even raining moderately. Yikes.

That's about all I've got time to write for now. Next time I'll post some pix of the house and talk about plans for the remainder of the year. Ah, how time does fly by...

Outsource Humor

I recently made a purchase from Overstock.com through a gift certificate I received at work. I went online to choose my items and ultimately went to check out. I need to mention that I'd bought a voice recorder for my iPod that turned out to be incompatible with my version of iPod. So I returned it and expected the amount to be put back onto my gift certificate. Instead I was given "in-store credit", which amounts to another, separate gift certificate. When I went to check out with my latest purchases, I was unable to do so because only one coupon may be used for each purchase.

And here's where the fun starts: I contacted Overstock's online live customer support through and IM window and... well, just see for yourself.

Welcome to Overstock.com's Customer Service Live Chat! You will be joined with a chat representative momentarily. Welcome to Overstock.com Customer Service, you are now chatting with Pamela. Pamela: Thanks for visiting Overstock.com, this is Pamela, how can I help you? you: Hi Pamela, my name is David. I'm trying to make a purchase using a gift certificate. But when I get to the checkout screen, I get the error message that something is wrong with my credit card info. I've called the credit card company and they found nothing wrong. I tried to use another card and got the same error. What's going on? Pamela: I'm sorry to hear that you are unable to place the order using gift certificate as a mode of payment. Pamela: I apologize for any inconvenience caused to you in this regards. Pamela: I'll check and will help you with that information. you: Thanks, Pamela.

So far so good...

Pamela: On reviewing your order history, I see that you have placed the orders through gift card as a mode of payment and still now has not used the credit card as a mode of payment. Pamela: I request you to contact bank and once again verify the error caused to you. Pamela: I hope this information is helpful to you. you: Not really. I've used two different cards from two different banks and received the same error message on Overstock.Com. The problem must be with the order page. Pamela: Do you have further questions for me today? you: Can you place the order for me, please? Pamela: Sure, I can help you by placing the order for you. you: Excellent! Thank you.

And here's where things got hairy...

Pamela: I'd like to let you know that for this order either the gift card amount of $xx.xx or $xx.xx will apply. Pamela: For the rest of the amount for the order you will have to use credit card as a mode of payment. you: I can't use both? Pamela: I'd like to let you know that for one order two discounts cannot be used. Since you have a split of $xx.xx and $xx.xx they will get applied as discounts during the check out process and only one amount can be applied.

Just when I was about to pop a vein...

Pamela: Please stay online, while I check whether I can combine both the amounts to your account. you: That would be great! Thank you. Pamela: Thank you for staying online. Pamela: I got permission to combine both the amounts. Pamela: May I go ahead and place the order for you by entering the necessary data required. Pamela: *? you: Yes, please. Pamela: Thank you for the confirmation. Please stay online while I do the needful to you.

Did she just say what I think she said??? ( ?)?)

Pamela: Thank you for staying online. you: My pleasure. Pamela: Did I explain the return instructions and the shipping time frame clearly to you? you: Yes. Thanks. Pamela: May I go ahead and submit the order for you? you: Yes. Pamela: Thank you for the confirmation. Pamela: Please stay online, while I submit the order and provide you the invoice number for this purchase. Pamela: Thank you for staying online. Pamela: I have successfully completed the check out process and have placed the order for you.

Good grief, how BORING!!! And she took forever in between those displays of appreciation.

Pamela: Do you have further questions for me today? you: No. Thank you for doing the needful to me. It was very nice. :) Pamela: You're welcome.

I'm such an ass sometimes.

Pamela: Was I able to resolve your issue today? you: Yes. Pamela: You're welcome. I appreciate your co-operation and patience. Pamela: Thanks for shopping with us. Upon closing this window, a survey will display. Your feedback is important, please complete this survey. It takes less than one minute. Pamela: Bye and take care. It was my pleasure chatting with you.

I'll bet it was, too! And I didn't even have to pay the 1-976 fees.


I think we've all learned a valuable lesson here about the dangers of outsourcing customer service jobs overseas.

Nuff for now.

Workday Life

Life at the office is pretty much the same as it ever was: sporatic periods of random business interrupted by longer periods of spacing out while staring at whatever few websites the company web filter allows through. I can't even check gmail or yahoo from here. But that's another story altogether.

The weather has turned for the better this afternoon and, being Thursday, I am pleased that the weekend is just around the corner. One bit of good news is that my Ci is coming up to visit this weekend. School begins next week for her so this is her last best opportunity to get out of Eugene. I remember saying those exact same words about my trip to Seattle when I was on the verge of starting this new job. Ah, the memories.... wait, what was I talking about? Oh, I forget. Let's just move on. (:-)-

I'm managing to keep myself busy although I feel kindof bad because I'm not doing something too difficult, which makes me feel as if I should be more, like "proactive" or something. As if I could just stand up and start dictating changes around the office towards greater productivity 'n shizz. Naw, I think I'll just sit back and collect my paycheck in every two weeks. Maybe get a new car... definitely get cracking on searching for a home. I've contacted a new real estate agent and this one seems to know her shtuff more than the last one. Heck, I've even considered requesting info on and sitting for the MENSA entrance exam. But I don't know. I'm actually rather lazy after work. And with the weather being so gray and rainy all the time I can't even get outside as much as I'd like. I love to go on day hikes and take in the fresh air. Ah, but alas...

Ok. End random babble. Laters!

The James Bond of Xerox

Tuesday, September 12th, 2006.

There is no prevailing theme for this post, just a bunch of stuff I've decided to write for no reason other than I've got some free time and I figured that my Ci would like to read something new. So, my Ci is back from Beijing and staying with me for awhile before going back to Eugene and back to school. She'll be in school for another couple of years. I think it's okay though because I'm still really busy during the week and wouldn't be very entertaining to be around anyway. As well, I'm searching for a new home and need to get a new-used car and blah blah blah. So, things are pretty unsettled on my end. I don't think it will take two years for me to get these matters situated but my feeling is that I don't want to rush into buying a house just to buy one. I'd rather take a bit more time and find one that fits my price range and that works for me in terms of location and commute and all that.

About work, I feel better about my job and how to handle various issues as they arise. Things are going well. The forecast period for September is winding down and the company hasn't blown up... not yet, anyway... But seriously, even when the job throws me a curve-ball, I've been able to handle it pretty well. Like yesterday for example. I came in to the office at about 7:50am and logged into my email. After the PC booted up, my MS Outlook calendar displayed the message, "You have a meeting in _5_ minutes." WTH? I looked more closely and it turned out to be another major forecast meeting that I was driving. D'oh! So I quickly printed off some documents and rushed off to the conference room, totally unsure of how this meeting would go. When I got there, I found the room empty. Rather than question myself, I rushed into setting up the PC and getting the forecast docs on screen. As it turned out, only one person joined me in the meeting room and two others on the conference call. We talked about a couple of issues and I did my best to be pithy and direct during the presentation and we ended up finishing about an hour and a half early because the forecast was pretty much on the money. Niiiice.

Today presented its own issues, like I need to get in touch with Europe to amend their forecast based on our conversation last week. And, oh by the way, it needs to be done today and, oh by the way, they've finished their workday already. So I've done all that can be done on my end and may have to make some adjustments to their forecast on my own, which would be kind of weird... Dave Savoy - International Forecast Guru. Sounds like an office worker's James Bond title or something.

The boss has been out of the office on vacation since the beginning of the month and is due back in tomorrow. I think she'll be getting some pretty good reports on how I've handled things here, but we'll just keep on and see how things go.

Peace out!

Bumbershoot and the Calm Before the Storm

This past weekend was for many people a three-day weekend since Labor Day allieviated work on Monday. Though, for me, the weekend was not so long. I work in a critical position at my office and the first week or two of each month is rather busy. On top of that, I'm still new and ramping up into the post. Oh, yes, and my manager is out this week so that means I'm more or less on my own to get things done and meetings held and information disseminated. I was in on Saturday to get things ready for the week and take a bit of pressure off the otherwise stressful week.

And then I went to meet some friends at Bumbershoot, in Seattle.

SATURDAY

I had a hard time focusing at work on Saturday (who wouldn't?) and ended up leaving around 3pm. One of my best friends called up to ask for help in moving... at the last minute. But with plans already made, I couldn't do it. So, I went over to his place and hung out for an hour or two before hitting the highway up north.

I got to Seattle around 9:30pm and all was well. I went to hang with Andy, who was kind enough to let me crash at his place. After some deliberation on where to go and with whom we would meet up, we went downtown to Belltown and to a bar called Ohana's. It's supposed to be a Japanese bar, I think, but I'm pretty sure the owners are Hawaiian or something. So, we hung out and drank some hot sake. Ah, that brought back memories... A couple of Andy's friends brought some Korean girl with them. I'm not sure which guy she was dating, but they both seemed to be clustered around this girl. I forget her name, but she told everyone to call her "Kee". Anyway, she drank way too much and kept falling down. Then she lost her jacket at some bar somewhere, I guess and cried and nearly threw up in Andy's car. Not fun. And at some point she got all pissed off that I had lived in Japan. The topic came up after we were at the Japanese bar that I'd been there. She was so uncool. I wish my Cici were there to slap her around. Hei hei hei... Afterwards, Andy and I went to hang out at Mario's place and didn't leave until 5am. Oh, yes, I was a tired Dawei.

SUNDAY

After I woke up at around noon, I went off to get some breakfast. Andy, of course, was still asleep and not even up by the time I'd returned to his place after breakfast. So, I waited for him to get moving and then we headed out to Bumbershoot. Sometime later that afternoon, we arrived at the Seattle Center and met with some other folks I know up there. We listened to the music and went to the beer gardens and just floated around while waiting for the mainstage show to begin at 8pm. I played one of the carnival games and won a couple of stuffed animals for my Cici. My friends made fun of me for carrying around the dolls, but I did it for my Ci. Eventually, I put them in Andy's car and thought about how much Cici will like them. Hei hei hei...

Later on, we saw Kanye West, which was pretty good then went back to Andy's place and crashed. Dawei was a tired Dawei once again. Andy and I stayed up, though, about an hour before crashing to watch TV. Then Dawei slept for the next 10 1/2 hours. Zzzzzz....

MONDAY

Another late day getting moving. I woke up pretty late, around 12 or so and headed out to meet with James for a bit before making the drive back to Portland. See, James likes Everclear (the liquor) and Everclear is illegal in Washington. It is not, however, illegal in Oregon. You get the idea.

After a nice 3 hour drive back to Portland, I really missed my Cici but was so tired that I just went to bed because I knew that this week would be rather full at work.

TUESDAY

I'm here in my cubicle, typing this journal for my Ci and thinking it's about time for me to get back to work. So, to my Ci: I'll talk to you on Wed (your Thurs).

Jiayou, and me too!

House Hunting

I'm not really sure if now is the right time to be off house hunting, but here I go. We've all heard about the housing bubble and how it's supposed to burst any time now, but who knows? Here's an example: I just saw a house yesterday that my real estate agent alerted me about. I drove past it and thought it was in just a perfect little neighborhood and in great condition. My plan is to take a look at the interior after work today. If I like it, I'll make an offer. Actually, there's already another party showing interest in the place and, as I understand it, he/she/they have already made an offer. But, their offer is below the asking price. Thus, if I'm willing to pay the asking price, then I'll get myself a nice new little house. It might just be worth it... I'll have to take a look at it and see. My agent says that the selling agent is willing to wait for me to look at the house to see if I'll offer more than the other party, so I've got that goin' for me... which is good. I mean, at least I've still got a shot at this cool little house. And if it doesn't work out, then I can still hope for this housing bubble to deflate, right?

I'll be posting pics of the place in my yahoo photo album. Actually, I've got some new pics up there now if y'all wanna look: Savvys Albums be here.

Summer Day-Z in the Sun

Oddly enough, this set of sunny summer days occurred in Seattle. I went up on Friday, a few hours after work, to see the crew and show off my new dj stuff. Yeah, I've been mixing again and made a demo tape. Not too bad, not exceptional, but good stuff. So anyway, I drove up and planted myself on Mario & Sean's couch for what would become the remains of the day.

Friday night
How I conned the peeps into sticking around their house while I was on the freeway was kinda silly. When I was still about 10 miles south of Chehalis, Sean called me and asked where the heck I was and how soon before I arrived. Knowing that Chehalis is aboiut 100 miles south of Seattle, I told him I wasn't far and I'd be there in 30 minutes. I was doing about a steady 90mph, but even so I wouldn't arrive in Seattle for another hour-fifteen. Well, thirty minutes and about 45+ miles later, I get another call. Sean was just so pleasantly inquiring as to when I'd be there since the crew wanted to go out to a bar or club or something. I said that I had been stuck in some nasty traffic, maybe behind an accident or something, and was still in Federal Way (20 miles south of Seattle). Sean told the crew it would be another 20-30 minutes before I arrived and told me to call him when I'd entered Seattle. Um Hmm. So, after traversing Tacoma, Federal Way and Sea-Tac I called Andy rather than Sean to tell them I'd entered Seattle. I was pretty close anyway, but not quite there. By that time, I figured, if they hadn't left the house they probably weren't going anywhere. Good news. Eventually, I arrived and sat on the couch and sipped my beer smiling serenely.

Saturday
Next day, I met up with the friends again and went to a birthday/house warming party for a friend of a friend. It was a'ight, we played kickball and a bit of football, non-tackle of course. I mean, I like active, physical games and all but I was dog tired after about 30 minutes of it. My mouth felt as dry and full of cotton as if I had just been chewing on a stuffed animal.

Somewhere in that time period, I spotted a meth-head scoping out my car, which had my overnight bag in plain view. I stealthfully watched him and then he approached me. He asked for some tools to help repair his motorcycle. With no other ideas in my head, I went to my friend's friend's (the birthday/house warming party person) place to ask if they had some tools in the basement or something. Nope. But I got that dude to follow me there and alerted the whole party to his attention. Now everyone knew there was a meth-head sketching around... Then I went back and moved my car to a spot in front of the house. Andy was saying he wanted to check out a party at this place called Belltown Billiards because a friend of ours was deejay-ing (DJ Elad) and we could get in free. A'ight.. a'ight..

So, long story short, we ended up going to a club where Andy wanted to meet some chica that someone said had a crush on him. It didn't pan out for him, unfortunately, but he did manage to leave me stranded downtown. Oh what fun! He ran off to an after hours club, chasing that girl, and another friend offered me a ride back to where I'd left my car --about 15 miles across town. I went back to the car and drove off in search of a place to get some sleep. I drove to Golden Gardens park in search of a quiet spot by the Sound (Puget Sound) at which to crash land my tired mind. Not too bad, except that I heard some girl(s?) and maybe her boyfriend getting mugged by three dudes. I saw nothing, only heard parts of an argument and possible fight. Then the police came and took care of whatever it was that had happened. I heard no ambulance, though, so I assume there were no serious injuries or ill shiznit that went down besides someone getting punched a few times and then having his/her/their wallet(s?) stolen. And that's alls I knows 'bout that.

Sunday
I had drank too much. I wasn't able to sleep well and my back hurt from my lumpy car seat. I was not a happy, frolicking Dawei. So, I just took care of some business. I went shopping to buy a new pair of sunglasses I'd lost mysteriously on Saturday. Don't really care though; they were broken anyway. And my new ones look more like my old favorite pair. All was going well. Some breakfast at Cyndi's Pancake place where I remember eating with my Ci the last time we visited Sea-town. Hei hei hei... And then I met up with Andy, who drove us out to Alki beach and talked the whole time about how he had just ended a relationship he'd been in for the past 3 years. Personally, I think the guy just needs a woman he can think of as a close friend instead of thinking of a dating relationship as something separate and independent of friendship.

We just hung out and eventually saw a movie: The Descent. It was a pretty freaky movie, but had a really contrived plot with very little depth. The storyline was pretty transparent and the characters were never well-developed. But the cave scenes were kinda scary. I didn't quite understand the ending, but I can guess that the main character must've been psychic or something to see ghosts like she does. But I won't spoil the plot here...

After that, Andy and I watched The A-Team for an hour or so. I crashed on the couch.

Monday
I have today off due to the kindness of my boss and my shrewdness in picking just the right time and manner in which to request it. I mean, I've only been there for three weeks and I've already scored a day off. It's because I worked a lot of overtime recently and the boss is just appreciating a dedicated effort. All to the good!

I left Seattle around 11am, after a nice IHOP breakfast, and got home around three. I checked email, sat in the hot tub and just spaced out a bit. Now, here I am winding up this story and journal of the past weekend. And, oh what a weekend it was! This one was one for the books! I exercised, took a few pictures, displayed my deejay talents and caught up with some folks I'd not hung out with in awhile.

But the night grows on toward bedtime and I'm thinking about calling it a day. More laters.

Reportz on da Life

With the first two weeks of the month behind me and a total of three weeks experience in the office I'm feeling pretty confident about my job moving forward. It was quite busy at times during the first nine business days of August, with dozens of spreadsheets folded within about a hundred messages coming in while I was sending out analyses in files so big that I had to put them in .zip files before I could get them out. And the documentation I've been working on has passed the 20 page mark. I should actually be working on that now, but just can't bring myself to be productive. It's Friday. I'm tired. And I've got myself a nice little three-day-weekend coming up.

My plan for said time off is to rock on up to Seattle sometime either tonight or early Saturday morning, depending on whether or not I can get anyone to meet up with me tonight. Friday is generally not a big party day among my friends. We all work during the week, so Friday is more about hanging at home and slothing around from the computer to the beer fridge to the T.V. and back to the computer. So it may just be that I go to bed early and rock it up north at 7 or 8am tomorrow. We'll see.

My hunnie is in Beijing and I miss her but she's with her family and it's a good thing. I'll try to keep my finicky camera working while I'm on vacation this weekend so I can make vids and pics to show the Ci (and my blog audience as well) just how relaxed I get this weekend.

Keep on keepin on and chizzill and all dat.

A Bee in the Water

The other day, I found a bee stuck in the pool. He had gotten himself --I call it a "he" because isn't that the gender of all drone worker bees? Toiling away for the queen, who sits in the nest giving commands and eating the flesh of other, would-be queens?-- into the center of the pool. I watched him work himself around in circles, never making much progress in any one direction, as he scrambled his black, stick-like legs in a frenzy. I stood there for awhile just watching adn contemplating the apparent metaphor of this bee in the water. "How much am I like that bee," I wondered, "And isnt this just a perfect illustration of the situation of all humans? Spinning around on the Earth." At times, I considered jumping in to save this bee, but never could bring myself to do it. After all, I had just gotten out and showered and dried off and.... So I decided to kick water at the bee with no really good reason for why I was doing so. I splashed the bee and thought I had seen him sink. I kicked again. He hadn't sunk so much as been knocked about by the tiny ripples the droplets made on impact. This poor bee. Then I noticed something different. He was then closer to the pool's edge than he had been before. I kicked again. He floated closer, surfing the waves as they were towards closer to the edge. I continued to kick water just behind this bee to push him to where I could reach in and scoop out this water-logged bee.

Before too long I had this bee near the edge. I stared at him kicking around for a while as I thought about what might happen if I scooped him out. Would he sting me? Would he bite? Would he just die? I wouldn't take the risk so I found an old t-shirt someone had left by the pool and scooped the bee. He crawled on the shirt a bit to make me think he had more spunk in him than he actually possessed and I flung the shirt to the ground so that he could recover in peace. But the shirt, unfolding in the light breeze, twisted and rotated about so that the bee hit the ground first and this wet, black t-shirt piled on top. Would this be a tragic turn to an otherwise happy ending? Would this bee live to see dry land again? I darted at the shirt to flip it and check the bee. At first, no movement. But then he walked an inch and stopped. I could see his wings move a slight gesture. He survived!

I gathered my things and prepared to go back to my apartment, stopping on the way out to look at this bee who really should be dead. He sat on this wet, black, leaking pile of cloth upon which he had just ridden to salvation as he dried off his wings and appeared to be licking his legs. I began to wonder what the long-term effects of the chlorine would be on him but then, he's just a bee. Probably wouldn't have lived that long anyway, right? So, I stood up and headed back to my apartment. Now I think back to the moment I saved a bee and wonder if I'd have been fortunate enough to have someone save me if I'd been in his position. Thoughts of Jesus' death on the cross came to mind and I realize that I have been. We all have been as fortunate; because the true metaphor of this story is that mankind is the bee in the water just waiting to die. But Jesus came to our aid (admittedly, he's saved us with more style and honor than I when I pondered just letting the little bugger die) and rescued us from alienation from God and certain death.

I thank God every day for what he has given me and seek to share knowledge of that gift with others.