Best Wishes!

Happy Birthday, Andre Agassi! You made me wanna be a rebel from the second I picked up a rackett!

Thanks,
John McDonald
From the Treo

Top Three Things...

..that are currently ticking me off.
Alright. Haven't had a ton to report on lately, but didn't want to have nothing up here forever, so here we go.
Stuff that's currently ticking me off:
1. The fact that the Jaguars did not beat the Colts this past season. Screw the Superbowl, I just wanted to bring those bastards down!
2. The fact that Palm has yet to release ANY info on a new version of the world's greatest handheld, the Treo, that runs on the OS I want, and the carrier I want.
3. The fact that I am not independantly wealthy yet. That one just sucks.
In fact, let me expound on that one just a little. Now, I don't want to sound shallow, but having a certain amount of money in the bank would just make life easier. Imagine if you had the money to pursue the things that interest you full time. Imagine how much more enjoyable your life would be! Now, I enjoy my job, but only because over the years I've cultivated a fondness for it, born out of sheer need. The need to be happy in life, and not climb a clocktower with a high-powered assault rifle.
I have a friend who worked a similar job to mine, then came in to a very...comfortable sum of money. He seems to enjoy life, but whenever we get philisophical and start discussing life it makes it much more interesting to have someone there who's in the position you think you'd like to be in. See, he CLAIMS money DOES solve your problems, but also creates new ones. I usually scoff and ask him if he'd like to let me try those problems for awhile. He laughs. Seriously though. He's got a home theater room I'd kill for.
Screw you pal. I'll take those problems.

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent from the Treo

Easter Afternoon

So today after church and lunch at my parents (BBQ Ribs) me, my Dad, and my neice and nephew went out for a ride on the St. Marys river. It was nice. We put in at Temple Creek Landing, went east to the Hwy 17 bridge, and finally turned around at the I95 overpass. All in all a good way to spend Easter. Well, except for the part where I'm exhausted. Keeping those kids from falling out of the boat is hard work.

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent via Treo

Whew....

...I am tired. Long freakin' day, and a long week ahead. I will be so glad when things get back to normal. Between WFM (Don't ask) and stressing over Lorraine (double don't ask) I've just about had it. I'm going to bed ya'll. G'night.

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent from my Treo

Sharron...

..was very considerate of all our "conference call" needs and shoo-ed away several rowdy pigeons.

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent from my Treo

Monday Conference call

So, my boss is on vacation, but I've got a conference call today at 3:30. This prevents me from playing hooky, right? Wrong! Thanks to the miracle of Treo I can take it from the deck of Hooters at the Landing.
Sweet!

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent from my Treo

Wooo-whooo!

NOT stuck at work bell to bell after all. Mr. Brickwood was scheduled for Open House at the office tonight, but his wife has class tonight and that would leave the Brickwood terror twins alone for five hours! Unacceptable!!! Me to the rescue!!! Yes, I still have to "work" but it's a drive to Jacksonville with the top down on Jessica on a BEAUTIFUL Florida day, extra $$$ on this week's travel claim for driving down, and generally just a chance to get out of the store. Combine that with RRecruits meeting at the office tomorrow, and Select the Best interviews at the office Thursday, and I'm hardly gonna be here at all this week!

Suddenly things are looking up!

Wow.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Treo, but I have got to find me a digital camera that doesn't cost an arm and a leg for these trips. Number one, taking my Treo out into the wild isn't a great idea, insurance or not, and number two because those shots in the Okefenokee could have been so much better at even two or three megapixels. Not to mention optical zoom. Need optical zoom to see the teeth on the alligators! Gotta make that a priority before Cumberland Island Adventure.

Oh! And it needs to use SD so I can pop the card in my Treo and fire the pics of to the blog that way!

I keep borrowing one, but that's not gonna work for Cumberland.

And to cap it off...

..what could be more downhome than a baseball game being played as a train rolls lazily by?
A very good day.

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent via Treo

Okee Adventures Part V

All in all, it was a wonderful day, well spent. Honestly, I really recommend taking the time to head out there. Its just beautiful, and if canoes and self-guided motor boats aren't your thing there are guided tours every hour or so.
Even still, actually camping out there is a rough proposition, and we don't think its exactly what we were looking for so we're going to look into Cumberland Island next!

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent via Treo

Okee Adventures Part IV

Also, for those of you that can't IMAGINE wanting to go out into the swamp, let me dispel a few myths.
1. "You'll be carried away by mosquitos."
-Depending on the time of year the bugs are almost non-existent. We encountered nothing more than GORGEOUS flies, both butter and dragon variaties.
2. "The place is so remote there is NO civilization."
-Simply not true. There were even "facilities", although none of us braved them.
3. "Swamps are ugly."
-So are you! No seriously, the swamp is one of the most majestic places on earth. In fact, not only can you see truly wild alligators, the swamp is the only place I've ever encountered Georgia Black bears, Bald Eagles, Giant Herons, AND one TRULY AMAZING Florida Panther (no, not this trip).
4. "Crazy people live in the swamp."
-NO, not anymore. Its federally protected. Now AROUND the swamp...

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent via Treo

Okee Adventures Part III

Of course, canoe or boat, you're GOING to encounter our fine friends of the swamp...

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent via Treo

Okee Adventure Part II

We were on a schedule (Connor had baseball practice that night) and we wanted to cover as much "ground" as possible so we opted for the motorboat, and for the side we went in on (Folkston) this was best. However, I HIGHLY recommend seeing the swamp in a canoe. There is nothing on earth like the feeling of complete and utter silence you get out in that place. The isolation is truly cathartic. Sure, you can stop the boat and shut the motor off for a bit, but there's always that chance it won't start again, and canoes are A LOT easier to paddle than swamp skiffs!

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent via Treo

Okee Adventures Part I

So, Wednesday was my day off, and I decided a little get away was needed, so Gene, myself, and John Ross headed out to the Okefenokee Swamp for a little "scouting" trip for a possible camping trip we'd like to take next month.

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent via Treo

Great Jehosaphat's Ghost!

Man! What a long, boring diatribe that last post was, huh? Friggin' A, son! What was I thinkin'? Could have just written "Jessica's my car. I won her in Vegas. The End", but nooooo! Got to get all "14 fragmented thoughts" and all that.
My apologies.
Anywho, so today I began to learn about the new automated scheduling program we're gonna roll out at work next month. Well, first off, I should have known something was wrong when it takes 6 HOURS of training for an "automated" scheduling program. I mean, what's to learn, right?
However, some of you know how dense I can be, so let's look at the next clue. If the training wasn't a dead give away, Mr. Brickwood should have been. You see, Mr. Brickwood tested this software last year, so when the time rolled around for me to learn it I figured "Hey! Go to the source!". I mean my boy's already done this. So I call up Mr. Brickwood, and within two minutes of launching our "Workbrain" conversation (Yes, the damn thing's called "Workbrain"! How stupid is that?) Mr. Brickwood, who's normally VERY composed, has devolved into monsyllabic non-sensical word salad with every question I ask.
Yup. Should have known it was gonna be a bad day, right then.

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent from my Treo

Jessica Drew

*Editor's Note. The two pics that AREN'T Jessica Drew are Daph and Mr. Brickwood "up close". Remember ladies, "mildly criminally insane"!!! Also, I was on the verge of sleep, DST screw's me up every year, when I wrote this. I've gone back and reviewed it, and I think I got every screwed up peice of sentax, but you never know. If I didn't, my apologies.

Alright, so its time to talk about Jessica! My favorite subject. Well, here goes the story. Its long, so go get a beverage, use the facilities. Go ahead, I'll wait.
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..
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Ok! Comfy? Good. Ten years ago this summer Radioshack and Sprint got together and decided to hold the sales contest to end all sales contests. It would be called "Sprint to Vegas" and the winners would receive, yup, a trip to beautiful Las Vegas Nevada. All expenses paid, week long, on the company vacation for you and a guest. Now, what made this contest so special was that each district (23-30 stores on average) would have a winner sent. DM's could also compete with each other, and so on, up the company ladder. And so, a summertime RS tradition was born.
By the time yours truly had become a manager three contests had come and gone, and the winners had always been out of mall stores. You see, while the rules of the contest were designed to give everyone a level playing field, traditionally mall stores had more wireless traffic, which meant more wireless sales, which usually meant they won. My first three contests, I placed second. It was becoming a HUGE frustration, because no matter what we rallied and did, one of the malls would inevitably come from behind and beat us in the last few days of the contest!
Then I was promoted to a mall. It wasn't the biggest mall in the city, but I knew it could be, and with the help of several really good employees, including Mr. Brickwood for a time, we set about building that store into what I knew it could be. And we did. Finally, one year, by the skin of my teeth, I won!
It was great! That first trip was probably the most amazing because it was all new and exciting! I hadn't been to Las Vegas in a long time. Unfortunately, Stacie doesn't fly, so I took a buddy. I remember thinking what a great time it would have been if she'd come with me instead, but alas, it was not to be.
The end of that year saw a load of changes at my store. Five of my associates had been promoted to manager within the year (including Mr. Brickwood) and I hadn't planned for that, like I should have. Therefore, I was left with a staff that wasn't able to keep up with what we'd done before, and the store started losing. Big time.
I should pause here to explain that there is NOTHING worse as a RS manager than to lose. Not only do you make no bonus, you feel like a failure and it puts you in a bad mood. Is it possible to win all the time? No, but with the right staff you can win 90% of the time, which is close enough.
Anyway, so we're losing. I'm just getting angrier and angrier about it all the time, and honestly becoming something of an ass for my staff to work for. In fact, that Christmas I lost all but TWO associates simply because people didn't want to work for me if it meant putting up with my BS! By three weeks before Christmas I had three employees left. Richard Ames (One of the aforementioned ones who'd been promoted, spent six months on the job and realized it wasn't right for him, and left. He came back and worked for me every subsequent Christmas, but he could only work weekends and Tuesday nights), Suzanne Rinebarger( who had stepped up to be my assistant after Mr. Brickwood left, but then got pregnant, and was having such bad morning sickness she couldn't really work and went home everyday), and Daphne Ferrin.
Ah, Daphne. Let me tell you something about Daphne. She busted her ASS for me that Christmas. You see, Daph had been my waitress at the Applebee's where Mr. Brickwood and I ate lunch every Monday afternoon. I had asked her to come work for me shortly after meeting her (a few weeks) and she'd laughed it off and acted a little weirded out, so I didn't bring it up again. Then, about five months later she plopped herself down at our table (as she often did, we were beyond normal waitress/customer relations at this point), and declared how much she HATED her job! I made a big joke of saying something along the lines of "Well damn! I asked you to come work for me five months ago!" to which she said something about thinking I was joking. So, a few weeks later Daph was working for me, and she was very good at her job! In fact, and I've got no problem saying this, I love Daphne Ferrin, and I always will. If she were to ever need me I would be there, no questions asked. She was that important
Now, back to Christmas. Daph had been hired part-time as she was still in college. Now, she could have very easily worked PT hours, but she didn't! She worked over 100 hours a week, for three weeks straight, just so I wouldn't have to be alone. As a result Daph and I got very close, and still are to this day, five years later. She went on to work for me for three years before requesting a transfer to another store (Something we both joked was akin to "breaking up" with someone you love, but know you've got to leave. Daph cried if I remember correctly, and I don't think I did, but I damn sure wanted to.) that she thought would be better for her. Radioshack has been known to cause "burnout" in a great deal of associates (and managers) and a change of scenery can help.
Needless to say, by the beginning of the next year we were beat. Exhausted. Both sick of losing, and not seeing an end in sight!
Then, as we rolled through January losing our shirts again, I got a phone call. It was from my boss. He had a transfer request from Gainesville from a guy I'd heard of before. A guy named Eric Maimo.
Now, for Eric. I don't have a picture of Eric surprisingly. I almost got one at PEAK, but I wasn't quick enough and he doesn't "pose". So, my boss tells me Eric wants to transfer and that he (my boss) thinks he's perfect for our store. Now, I knew this kid was supposed to be the salesman to end all salesmen, and I figured he was GOOD, but I also figured some of it had to do with his old RS being right across the street from the University of Florida. I mean, c'mon, that's 20,000 new customers a semester.
I figured he'd do well, but not what he'd done at his old store. I was right. You see, right as Eric came onboard I couldn't take anymore! I needed a vacation, and so on his first day I was on my first day of vacation. When I left we were at a 12% loss. Seven days later when I come back we were winning by $20,000!!!! This kid was, in Daph's words, "like magic fairy pixie dust! He just waves his hands and they buy!!"
"Like a Jedi?" I asked.
"Yes. Just like a Jedi!" was Daph's response! I immediately pulled him in the back and said "Just promise me one thing Eric..."
"What's that?"
"Win me Vegas!"
"Oh. That all? Done."
And he did. I went to Las Vegas on RS in 2004. Had a great time, again. Took the same buddy, again.
You see, I was right about Eric because he didn't perform the way he had in Gainesville. He blew those numbers out of the water and became the number one associate in the nation in wireless!!! All in all its a great little break just before Christmas to clear your head and get your gameface on for what is basically retail's Superbowl, the month and a half after Thanksgiving.
Well, during that year I had been training to become a DM. It was one of my MAIN reasons for getting into that store in the first place, and after many events, not the least of which was flubbing my interview because I was "too honest" about how I felt about some company policies (something which, I know, made Mr. Quigley* immensely proud), I had decided that store was no longer right for me. So, in 2005 I let my boss know that there was no rush, but that if he had a move in mind that would get me to Fernandina Beach, I'd take it.
Everyone thought I was crazy! Fernandina was a hole in the wall store that didn't do HALF of what my current store did, which meant a $15,000-$20,000 paycut. You know what? Money's not everything. So in June I made the move, and I couldn't be happier!
So shortly after I got there "Sprint to Vegas" (now renamed "Viva Las Vegas" because BOTH wireless partners sponsor it) started. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE figured the new manager at my old store was a shoe-in! I mean, he had the best associate in the NATION working for him! Who could beat that?
Well, I could. I fired up my team, and we managed to beat the mall and send me back to Vegas! I think we won by one phone and 2% or something insanely close like that! Only this time, while I was out there, I drew the lucky key and won the car they give away every year!
So, three weeks after the contest I drove to a dealership to pick out my car. I sat down inside, turned the key, and she roared to life and introduced herself. Her name is Jessica Drew, and no one EVER loved their car as much as I love her! Period! She is great!

*Regarding Mr. Quigley. I will get into that at another time. Suffice it to say he's my mentor. My Obi-won Kenobi. Except he's crazy.

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent from my Treo

Quiet night.

No drinking or going out. No phone calls. Just me and the tv. Damn! Was that all I needed?

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent from my Treo

Geez...

Everyone is pissed off today. Everyone. Stacie. Ex-employees. My boss. Everyone. I'm not much better either. I just haven't been in a very good mood all week (for a myriad of reasons) and no matter how hard I try I can't shake it. Sometimes you really have to question your life and wonder what the hell it is your doing? I've used the word "melancholy" an awful lot lately, but it fits. Someone recently accused me of "liking" drama. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I abhor it, and it puts me in the worst of moods. All I want to do is get in the car and drive. Maybe I need a vacation? The Keys are always nice this time of year. Get in the boat, head down the coast and around the peninsula?
Man, wouldn't that be nice?

Thanks,
John McDonald
Sent from my Treo