Thy own vice

Thanks to Joaquin Simo at Death and Co., New York, I now am participating in once again, another expensive hobby. However, this is in no way something I would ever regret. Ahhhhh, how my eyes have opened for the first time to the wonderful world of mixology. I had no idea how complex cocktails could be, and once a perfectly prepared "Improved Rum" recipe touched my lips, I couldn't stop thinking about it ever since. I kept thinking, "How in the world did that drink taste so damn good." I then began to understand a history of ancient recipes that have become somewhat forgotten in my personal world. Influences of sweet undertones and bitters flood sensations if made right and tell a wonderful story to each drink. Come to realize that in SF, a great city where modern day society started, the art of mixology seemed to have lost it's way and yet has completely revamped itself to be on the forefront of San Francisco's latest bar culture.

When your pallet starts to yearn for more complex flavors, you start to realize that 75% of most bartenders really can't make a decent drink at all. When something so common as a Manhattan, is made to burn your throat, while hardly yielding enough coldness from the stir of good ice, you realize that paying $12.00 for drinks just won't suffice. You also start taking notice of how so many people in crowded bar, won't ever seize the moment to take advantage of a really good bartender. Ask those simple questions, and test your bartenders knowledge so that they can help you make the night end with a bang. I found that a really good bartender's ears will always perk up to more complex demanding drinks...."I'd like a Sazerac please..."

So, for the next drink....

be sure to add a little classiness to whatever you're sippin on...it will go a long way.

In your atmosphere

I remember the all nighters...when the sprinklers would come on at the crack of dawn. We'd still be running around the halls wondering who was up still. Smelling that fresh morning air that was comprised of fresh cut lawn and fresh sun rays. Raiding the fridge for bagel bites when they probably weren't ours. Making runs to Del Taco for know other reason than just pure munchies..."Yeah, I'd like 10 chicken soft tacos"

I remember the scent of the halls when folks would do their laundry and stuff 10 bounce sheets in their loads. Waking up to people calling me on the Nokia, and saying, "it's dinner time foo...pippins in 5 minutes."

The people, the faces, the feel of a new life that I had yet to know...became all so familiar, all too soon. We'd share one car, then two, then three...pretty soon we moved on to each have our own. The adventures we shared were endless! Traveling to secret gardens to escape the pressures of school. Roaming newport coast for the first time...life was good. Life was real good. I almost shed tears thinking about the socal sunshine. The warmth of friends that surrounded me every day. And though most days comprised of doing, "not much," every day was action packed.

Reminiscing about late night clubbing in LA...brand new scenes and tons of motivation(hot girls,lots of alchy,tons of herb) to drive for hours to the party. Coming back home to the pad and cooking a shit load of junk food for no reason...all made the night worth it. You'd really never know what to expect right? You'd never know if a roommate would be arrested, get into fights, or just bring new girls back. In any case, how could I forget any of those moments?

BBQ's in the backyard...laying out the table for the homies to play cards on while food is being grilled. 80 brews...count em and slug em down. How much nonsense was actually talked about? How many dreams were actually shared? How many dreams can we still share? I miss socal with all my heart...this song always puts me in the mood. Although it was sad to leave, it is worse to actually be away. Someone give me back those 8 years...

The take away, here -

"Why you need so many houses?"

"30 million dollar lottos don't make sense"

"Your house has 52 rooms in it and people are homeless"

"You own a plane, but people don't own pants"

Roast

Aaaaaah, Koi Palace. What a perfect place to eat Dim Sum. Me and Bug, joined my family in a nice feast. Among the best dishes were shark fin soup and roasted baby pig. Succulent and perfectly crispy. I swear this is one of the best places to get roast pork, but it's quite expensive. I just can't help ordering every time I'm at Koi's though. The table conversation ranged from property investment to poop of all different kinds, and I think Bug noticed that in every meal that we have, the topic of shit or yack comes up. Kind of weird.

Droppin Everything you know....

I woke up at 5am, got into work at 6:15am....it's Tuesday, so we have to go in early to prepare to grab leads for the weak. Basically, a feeding frenzy but you really have no choice. I hop onto the muni at 5:45am exactly. Half asleep on the train, I know I can't fall completely asleep otherwise my mind will take an additional 20 minutes to wake up (Time I just don't have). So, to avoid sleep I stand up and walk through language scenarios of what objections clients may give to NOT buy from me. Getting out of the subway and feeling the cold air hit me, I zip up and pop my collar while walking fast to the usual Pete's Coffee on 3rd and Mission. Grabbing a Medium cup of coffee and loading it up with sugar, I walk to my building across the street prepared for the days work. Sitting down at my desk and noticing what I left uncovered, I turn on my screen with all my internet tabs open and prepared from the previous late night at the office. It is time....today, not only do I have to grab leads at 7am, but I also must make a presentation to a client at 6:30am. Throw on my headset while taking another fast sip of coffee...my fingers don't hesitate for a second to dial. Hesitating is for weaker sales people, scared of what they can become. The other end picks up and so I begin another day on the grind....

Making 80-100 calls per day and obtaining 3.5 hour talk times that are recorded...well, that's a serious task. I'm not sure there are many that can work to meet those goals daily. I think I've realized something today staring at the score boards for all the other reps out there and wondering why my score was so low. Well, it's not how much time you put in, but how smart you work. Hard work is definitely a plus, but understanding how to get more done faster is the ultimate key. Looking back on this month, I've realized that I wasn't really focused on working towards my number, even though I'm telling myself the number I Want to hit. I realized that this month, I've been focused on getting my style down..including my language, my tone, my thought process and taking the lead on any conversation I had during the day. I realized that in order to do this, you really have to drop every single thing you thought you knew about your sales style and start from scratch. It really didn't mater that I had 4 years of sales already. It really didn't matter that this 23-24 year old who's worked in this position longer than I had was giving me criticism and feedback. I took everything I knew from my past experience, and threw it out, because it was just a waste of space. Then I took everything I could gain (and still gaining at that) and saved that instead. It seems like my quota, my target, my revenue numbers just don't matter deep inside, but moreso perfecting my art of conversation faster than I've ever done. The faster I can perfect it, the faster I can bring home consistent results...

Now, of course, I stress the fuck out knowing that I have a number to obtain...but shit, ain't that just life in general? Might as well just make the best of it so you can get to that number faster.

CR-Z

Ok, I might be off on a whim here, but I've been eying this bad boy for the longest time. "Hurry up Honda, make the damn thang already!" It's been about 4-5 years since they've introduced the new generation CRX. Am I getting one? Bet on it! This new Honda is no longer in its concept phase and is expected to sell late 2010!! That gives me a year to save up 25K. Damn. Good investment? Well, let's see...hybrid car, sick ass LED front lights, stock 19 inch wheels. I'd say, perfect city car for the classy individual. Sicker than an NSX? hell naw...but I think this puppy will retain its value like most Honda's do.

Augmented Reality

I'd like to share with you some interesting new technology that is going to soon take america by storm - http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/ar-contact-lens/

Augmented reality is already used in Yelp's new i-phone application for 3GS's (and the first company to utilize that technology I must add). Turns out that behind the scenes, there's a world of studying being done to bring augmented reality right to our eyes. Want to check your vital signs, just look right. Want to get the scoop for hot dining spots immediately in front of your eyes? Look no further. This shit is crazy. They are developing these contacts for our troops to use on the battle fields as well. I mean, this just doesn't get any better, or does it? Seems like mankind is on a path to have technology destroy it, but I have to admit, augmented reality in the eyes is pretty freakin ill. I'm sure they'll frame it as pure technology that will soon save the lives of million, but until then...i'm interested to see how people will react to this.

I'm also wondering how many features I'll soon be able to see! If I'm walking through the mall, and I'm looking at an article of clothing or a pair of fresh new kicks, will I have the price blinking in red while I make my buying decision from my eyeball? I can't wait for the future, but looking at what lies beyond the future, well...I don't even wanna know.