Wal-Mart carries “American Greetings” – and, as the name suggests, I was expecting them to be quality cards Made in the USA.  After all, American Greetings has been around for quite a while – not quite as well-known as Hallmark, but still they carry quite a selection and variety.  Imagine my surprise when the cards all revealed they were “MADE IN CHINA”.

I was disgusted to say the least.  I looked over many cards – and every one of them was stamped “MADE IN CHINA” on the back.  I couldn’t believe it – how much money could they possibly be saving by printing cards in China versus America?  Whatever the savings were, they certainly wasn’t passing it on to the consumer – the cards were all $4.00 and up!

Determined I was not going to support a company that ships American jobs overseas I threw down the cards and left.  I then made a special trip to Hallmark in Columbia, MO and found plenty of cards still made here in the good old USA.  Sure, I spent more money in gas than I saved, but I stood by my principles.

The funny part is, the cards that were made in the USA – they were cheaper!  $2.50 versus $4.00 for “Made in China”.  So much for all that savings, huh?

How will the economy in this country ever get better if companies such American Greetings keep outsourcing every job they can?  And when they do outsource there is ZERO SAVINGS for the consumer – in fact, we end up paying more.  That money goes right into their corporate pockets.  They apparently never heard of this guy called Henry Ford who was famous for saying that he had to pay his workers a good wage, otherwise how would they ever be able to afford to buy his cars?

American Greetings, you’ve lost my business.  There is no way I will support a business that treats the American worker like they are just another “number”.

So here’s the scoop.  I ordered 300 of these wristbands for a website I was working on.  As things often happen, the name of the website changed.  Oops!  So now I have 300 wristbands that say “Get Motivated!” plus the name of the website that didn’t quite make it to prime-time, JoinOn.In.

I certainly don’t want to throw these away – and truth be told I wear one everyday because they do look good, and they are a great way to be fashionable and find some motivation at the same time.  I’m not kidding when I say these are high quality either; they are made of 100% silicone and are flexible and durable – not cheap rubber that can often irritate the skin and tear easily.

So how do you get your FREE stuff?  All it takes is an envelope and some stamps (Ok, so for the picky folks out there it will cost you $0.88 in postage – but hey, just think of it this way, you are doing your part to help support the post office and keep Saturday delivery alive!)

So get our those pens and envelopes and send a S.A.S.E. (Self-Address, Stamped Envelope) to:

Robert Stinnett
PO BOX 287
Boonville, MO 65233

For those of you who have never heard of the term S.A.S.E. before, it was popular back in the pre-Internet days when people actually used to have to write away for things!  Simply address your envelope back to you, put a stamp on it, fold it and put it inside another envelope addressed to me above.

Come on guys – I need help getting rid of these things!

Software Administrator

Overview:

The number of purchased and developed software tools continues to grow within Infrastructure as well as within the Data Center.  Software tools under the IS umbrella have increased to more than 90 products.  Some tools go without upgrades, roadmaps or plans to upgrade them.  This position will be to lead and manage the software upgrading process.  The goal is to improve infrastructure productivity by keeping these software tools current and maximizing their effectiveness.

The Software Administrator is responsible for researching, evaluating, developing, and administering programs and software in response to the identified needs of the CARFAX Data Center.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Conduct Software and Program Planning

• Consult with client groups to identify software needs
• Develop long range plans, programs and strategies
• Monitor software and services to ensure it meets stated goals
• Assist with software evaluations and updates to programs and services
• Act as a resource about software development and initiatives
• Interface with Vendors and Suppliers

2. Research and develop programs

• Review and adapt existing software as needed
• Research new software
• Make recommendations about software to meet unique needs
• Research training needs and options

3. Administer Programs

• Install and monitor all software and systems
• Patch and maintain systems as needed
• Provide high availability and performance
• Manage software licensing agreements

 KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• 5+ years of experience in Systems Administration
• 4+ years of experience in supporting applications
• Demonstrated experience in multiple operating systems including:  Microsoft Windows and Red Hat Linux
• Overall understanding of software and systems design
• Ability to recognize and respond to situations with the appropriate amount of urgency
• Must be willing to participate in an on-call rotation to provide 24×7 support
• Self-starter with the ability to manage multiple priorities and thrive in a fast-paced environment

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to lift and carry 60 pounds (workstations, servers, printers, etc.)
• Ability to stand, bend, reach, sit, and crawl (hardware installations, cabling, etc.)

 CARFAX is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  We offer an outstanding work environment, excellent benefits, competitive salary and bonus program and a casual but professional atmosphere.

One of the things about most workplaces, and where I work is no different, is that employees are never really allowed to recharge their batteries.  Sure, you get a few weeks vacation each year – but as anyone can tell you (and studies have proven) most employees come back to work feeling worse than before they left because all they can think about during the week or two they take off is work, and all the work waiting for them at work when they get back!

Some companies do it right and offer employees sabbaticals every so often.  For example, a few companies offer employees one or two months off to do whatever they want (in addition to their regular vacation) for every 5 years of employment.  The employees get to really relax and come back to work energized and refreshed and ready to really contribute to the team and the company.  They have enough time to completely decouple their lives from work and enjoy the down time.

Other companies take it a step further and have gotten rid of the notion of vacation time altogether.  Employees are encouraged to take as much time as they need, whenever they want to – as long as they meet their expectations, they are treated like adults who can manage their own lives.  What a concept – being measured on your contributions and results instead of your ‘butt in chair time’.

For me, though, its a rush to do a thousand things in 7 short days so I can jump back into the rat race.  At least, if nothing else, I hope to be able to enjoy a few good books – and let my imagination soar.

As someone who struggled for years to lose weight I finally just one day found my motivation – being young!  At 35 years of age I just felt too old.  I wanted to go shirtless at the pool and listen to hip-hop artists such as Black Eyed Peas and feel good about myself.  So I just decided to get off my butt and do it.

People soon began to tell me I should chronicle my journey and help others find the motivation they need.  I thought about it and one night while looking at domain names came across one that just sounded “right” – JoinOn.In.  So I decided that I’d invite others to “Join on in!” and find the motivation they needed to achieve their fitness goals.  I figured that together we all could be the motivator for each other.

So I’ve started working on the site and even hired a professional graphic designer to help come up with the logo – which I’m proud to debut for you all.  It’s simple, but I really like it – and it sums up what the site is going to be all about in one simple statement, “Get Motivated!”

Of course, I decided that I was going to do this right – and the marketer in me just started to have more and more ideas.  At work they recently handed our wrist bands for our new ad campaign and I thought “these are way cool” so off I went and ordered 300 wrist bands to get the site started – freebies that I plan on handing out to help people stay motivated! 

Of course now the fun part begins – creating the content and other materials that will actually make up the site.  I’m planning on doing both written and video content, but I’m going to be leaning heavy on the video content.  Probably around 60% video, versus 40% written content.  The reason?  We are living in a connected world, and video tells a story that text can’t.  Besides, I can talk in front of a camera all day and night long – so I might as well put that talent to use.

If all goes well the site should launch around the 2nd week of July.  I’m taking things slow because I want to make sure the launch is something I can be proud of.  No need to rush, and I’m still working with the behind-the-scenes stuff anyway.

Hopefully, if nothing else, the site will be a way for me to connect with others who need motivation and really do want to live a healthier life.  Hopefully together we’ll be able to encourage one another and reach out and form support groups no matter how far apart in real life we really area.

Together we’re going to Get Motivated!  So come on, JoinOn.In!

One of the “fun” parts of the trip was that my colleague and I went into the BMCtv studios and shot some video.  I did this before, about 3 years ago, and the video (here) has always garnered me name and face recognition whenever I bump into CONTROL-M folks.

This time around we were talking about BSM and the BMC support structure.  I snapped a shot of my colleague Jerry up on the monitors in the control room.  First, it’s amazing at all the gadgets and equipment they had in here – second this was all being filmed in high definition so the price tag for the equipment was pretty steep.  They were telling us one of the studio cameras cost over $100,000! 

I’m impressed with the quality of work they do – and it’s great to see a company like BMC that is willing to invest in this type of technology to help “get the word out” about the products and offerings. 

As I was walking down the hall at BMC up on one of their display walls they had my video from about 3 years ago playing for CONTROL-M.  I couldn’t help but grab a shot of myself!  I guess you could say that I finally got my “5 minutes of fame” – after all, how many people get to see themselves up on 6 different screens at the same time!