I is for…. I

I am tired
I am frustrated
I am beat down
I am angered
I wish I could re-do the last 2 weeks
I am behind
I dislike other opinions
I hate drama
I know I am right
I know they are wrong
I want more time
I am glad I’m a child or God or else
I would cry and feel the false weight of my state


I am writing this entry on a train on my way back from Philadelphia. I arranged a meeting to discuss an insurance matter. It was somewhat exciting to arrange a meeting myself where I had to bring people in from Philly, Harrisburg, Chicago, and Atlanta. I set the agenda and tried to lead the meeting. This meeting included people with titles like partner, treasurer, director, and CFO. Despite the excitement of this meeting, I don’t think it went very well. It went as expected I suppose, but I wish it would have gone better. We are arguing over business forecasts with our insurance company for a claim that could bring in as much as $5.5 million for our company. So far they only want to give us $2.5. 2.5 is a nice chunk of change, don’t get me wrong, but their arguments for giving us less just make me want to slap someone in the face with a glove and challenge them to a duel.
“Here’s something that… if you don’t want your dad to think you are a silly f***, don’t hit another man in the face with a glove. Because if you do, that is exactly what he will think. Unless you are a nobleman, or something out of the 18th century.”

If you have never seen the movie “The Weatherman” I recommend you go see it. Try to ignore the profanity and just enjoy the excellent subtle humor.

Anyway, as you can tell I am a little frustrated and angered about the results of the meeting. But why am I so tired you may ask? Because it is Thursday and I have already worked a total of 46 hours, most of which was some of the most stressful work I have ever had to do. I had people getting very upset looking for number and results right that instant. Running multiple scenarios and what-if analyses across Excel models that span over 50+ tabs is not an easy task. You would think that running numbers through a model would not be a stressful event, after all, they are just numbers. But the pressure would surprise you. Hours of changes and need to be made to the model in a matter of 20 mins. The information is needed that soon because we have a call in 20 mins to the CEO. He wants a group of changes to be made in the following 20 mins so he can have a call with our lenders where the numbers will be used to help them to decide whether or not to liquidate our business. I could go on, but it just gets depressing. I am really tired and just need a good break, but instead I need to go in early tomorrow to prepare for another all day meeting with a different group of people. Yikes. I can not wait until the weekend. Get some rest, hang out with some family, and get some good father and son time in with Wes. To follow all of that up, I am taking my motorcycle license test on Sunday. Then I can hit the open rode and celebrate freedom and realize why I do all of this crazy work.

Thanks for reading.

H is for Hummus

As per reader request… H is for Hummus. I was intrigued by this challenge of suggested writing topics. This was especially true of hummus as I had never actually tried hummus before. I thought this might be a challenge since I would have to go somewhere to buy some or try to make it myself. As it turned out, I was invited to a dinner party where hummus was served as an appetizer. I am very fortunate to have a boss who is Greek and loves to have guests and make ridiculously good food. The hummus was ridiculously garlicy and was served with pita bread. With Ali in mind, I dove right in. To my surprise, the hummus was actually quite tasty. I might even try it again sometime. Probably won’t make it, but if someone else does, I won’t avoid it like I have in the past.

Thank you for your suggestion and challenging me to expand my horizons.