mumike

The stream...

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:24:57 GMT

It's mid week, and I have a mixed bag here tonight. It's a random stream of thought. So, here goes:

- The weather is getting delightfully nice here. Highs today were in the 70s (below normal). My outdoor thermometer hit 47.5 last night. Wonderful! Incredible! I love it! It will warm into the mid to upper 80s this weekend, but we might be done with the 90s. Highs by Halloween will be in the upper 70s. The dreaded days of 100 degrees plus each and every day are gone. Delightful weather is coming to Southern Arizona! Great!

- This weekend doesn't look all that busy from a mystery shop standpoint. I don't want to guarantee that yet as there are still a couple days left this week to pick up an assignment. We'll see.

- As a result, I'm still planning what I will do this weekend as Patti will be busy with her friend Andrew in town. If all goes well, I'm going to work on something I need to do for our guests that are coming from out of town for the wedding . I just hope I can get to it. I don't want to make any promises or any guarantees.

- I hate airlines and what they do when you want to fly, especially on the Sundays of Spring Break. And this year, I really don't have a choice about travel days. Ugh. It frustrates me to no end. These fares have to come down. It can't be more expensive to get from Tucson to Dallas than it costs from Tucson to Romulus.

- The Entertainment book has saved Patti and I some nice cash on a rental car for her in Orlando. Great! Thanks to this one discount, I've got this book nearly half paid. Great!

- Southwest Airlines is picking up where American Airlines left off. Just as American Airlines gets ready to cut its St. Louis operations down to nothing, Southwest is going to add nine flights from St. Louis next May and become the airport's biggest carrier.

"Mike, I really don't care about that last point. Will you please stop?"

Okay - that's all for tonight. Have a great rest of the week!

Almost out

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:11:35 GMT

Well, I am almost out of here for a little Labor Day escape. Barring anything unplanned, it's then back here until Christmas. I'm so far behind tonight. No time to write. Time to get to work.

9/11

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:21:44 GMT

It’s not very original or innovative for me to write a journal entry about 9/11 on this day. But, this is – for better or worse – a day that will live in the minds of all Americans who were alive at the time. We will all remember where we were and what we were doing at the time. I have nothing that significant to share. And it’s probably selfish of me to add my “here’s where I was, etc.” Rather, 9/11 has made me realize how truly thankful I am for what I have and that horrible violence (or even minor crime) has not touched my life or those close to me.

I remember turning the clock back six years. I was living in Athens, GA, and had just completed my first year as Advertising Director of The Red & Black newspaper at the University of Georgia. It was also a Tuesday (just like today is). I had just bought a condo in a little development behind a Best Buy store in Bogart, GA. I remember the name of the 40 or so condo complex. It was called Allen’s Landing. It was all new construction, and I was excited to be moving into this (my second condo to own in two years).

When the tragedy struck, I was at the real estate attorney’s office signing my paperwork, closing on the condo and getting the keys. It was about 8:30 AM. I then drove to and go to my office late. I was so excited about being a homeowner again that I listened to a CD in my car on the way to the office. I didn’t have the radio on and didn’t discover what occurred until I got to the office.

From that point, everything was a whirlwind. I remember how quiet my office was. There was a career fair happening on campus the next day (we had put a special section together for it at the newspaper), and I remember getting calls from those who advertised asking if the Career Fair was still on. It was, and many employers could not make it due to the fact that they could not get flights to Atlanta. I remember that I could keep up with what was happening thanks to the high speed internet connection we had. That night, a couple students helped me move from my duplex to my new condo. It felt strange to be enjoying such luxuries (a new place in which to live) in a time of such tragedy. How lucky I truly was (and still am).

The nation never would be the same. I still remember how the weekend prior in 2001 my good friend from college, Shawn, came from Shreveport (where he was working at the time) to visit over Labor Day that year. I remember meeting him at the gate of his Delta flight in the Atlanta airport. Those days of non-passengers getting onto airline concourses are a memory from many years ago. Of course, only ticketed passengers can get past security now.

Of course, so much has changed since then, and I won’t detail all of that. But, I am mostly very appreciative for what so many gave on 9/11 (and for what some ultimately gave up). Sure, security is a little tighter than we’d sometimes like. But, it’s well worth it. The time has certainly passed very fast since 2001. I’m very grateful to live in and enjoy the freedoms of this great country: The United States of America.

What makes you buy?

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 04:32:32 GMT

Buying stuff is a fun process. I'm sure (even in spite of how much or little money we have) we all like to shop and buy something every once in a while.

I was thinking about this quite a bit Friday as I got a call from the agency for a national advertiser. We were talking about how running an ad in the newspaper is not enough (yikes). In fact, running a TV, radio and newspaper (plus online) ad is not enough either. The belief is that guerrilla or 360 marketing must be done. The product must be everywhere around you all the time. Imagine you are on a college campus. Advertisers believe they must see you and give you product samples and promotional materials in the student union, at football games and even in class. They want to hire street teams to get the product up close and personal. That is: Get it in your face.

I can't disagree. So many things are demanding our time and attention. I could go on and on forever here, but this topic really fascinates me. And I must ask: What has the greatest influence on you when you are buying a product? Let's forget about the stuff you'd buy normally (such as groceries). But, I am talking about something new. It could be a car; it could be a new brand of tissue you've never used before. A TV. A pair of headphones. A sandwich. The examples could go on and on. Granted, I realize what you reference when buying something will depend on the product you are buying. But, do people even use traditional media anymore? Is traditional media too cluttered?

This topic really fascinates me as it's very closely tied to my line of work. Now that I have the selfish reason out: I must admit that consumer usage of media and buying patterns really captivate my attention.

Well, let me leave it at that. Perhaps I am thinking of this because it's the weekend, and you just might be going out to buy something! :)

A Tribute to Father's Day - Part II

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:20:18 GMT

Happy Monday!

As a follow-up to my post from yesterday, I got a hold of the audio file of that recording I love (A Tribute to Father's Day recorded by the late Jack Buck).

I realize you might not like baseball, but if you are interested, I hope you will enjoy this. I'll try to embed this audio. Check the link at the end of this called "Listen Here." If this doesn't work, you can get to it the following way:

Go to: http://www.kmox.com/pages/66650.php?contentType=33&contentId=4203

Play the featured audio (first on the right top of the page) called "Jack Buck on Baseball"

As I said, I hope you will enjoy this. The file is 5:37, and the opening narration is by Bob Costas.

My special thanks to KMOX radio (the voice of St. Louis) for responding to my e-mail message asking about how I could find this. This is just great. I realize Father's Day has passed, but with today being the 5-year anniversary of Jack's death, I thought it would be appropriate to post this. That's when I first heard this audio - five years ago today. Have a great day.

PS - If you have any trouble getting the audio (either in this or on the web site), let me know as I can e-mail the MP3 file to you.

Listen Here!

A Tribute to Father's Day!

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 20:35:17 GMT

Well, the calendar tells us it's Father's Day. But before I go there: I must admit I can be cheap. I went walking near my office (had to pick up something there) in the dreaded heat. I had more than $1.50 in coins in my pocket. My intent was to buy the Sunday newspaper, which is a $1.50.

So, I went to a newspaper box by the Post Office. The daily newspaper (non-Sunday) price is $0.50. So, I put two quarters in and pulled the handle. Magic! It opened. That was just great! I love getting something that should be $1.50 for just $0.50. Okay - enough of that. The carrier must have forgotten to set the box so it charged more money for today's issue. :)

But as I said, it's Father's Day. I did call my dad and wish him a Happy Father's Day. But before I did that, I always stream KMOX radio, the voice of St. Louis, on my computer Sunday mornings. At 8 a.m. here (or 10 a.m. in St. Louis), they have a two hour show on the air to which I really enjoy listening. It's just called "Sports on a Sunday Morning". This show has been on KMOX for as long as I can remember.

Well, the first hour of the show is always about the St. Louis Cardinals. They haven't had a great season, but I have been a Cardinals fan for life. Despite growing up in Minnesota, my dad has been a Cardinal fan since he came to St. Louis in 1967.

For many years, KMOX had been the flagship station of the St. Louis Cardinals. That's not the case anymore. Today, Sports on a Sunday morning mentioned that tomorrow is the 5-year anniversary of the death of Jack Buck. Jack Buck was a legendary, hall of fame Cardinal broadcaster who had broadcast the team's games from the 1950s to his his death in 2002. You might not have known Jack, but you might know his son, Joe, who is a lead sports broadcaster on Fox.  I think they are each a class act.

I will never forget some of Jack's most famous calls as a Cardinal broadcaster. Perhaps the earliest one I can remember was in October, 1982, when I was six years old. I remember the night the Cardinals won the World Series against Milwaukee. I was sitting on my dad's lap when the game ended and the Cardinals won. Jack's call was:

"Sutter strikes him out, and that's a winner...a winner...a world series winner for the Cardinals!"

Jack was always famous for saying, "That's a winner" after each Cardinal victory.

The Cardinals would not win the World Series again until last year. I won't say who that win was against I realize some of you have ties to the area and the team. Nothing personal, I assure you.

Then, there was 1985 when Ozzie Smith delivered this winning home run in the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is perhaps Buck's most famous call:

"Smith corks one down the line. It may go. Go crazy folks! Go crazy! The Cardinals have just won the game 3-2 on a home run by the Wizard. Go crazy!"

Ozzie Smith's nickname was the "wizard."

The 1980s were great!

I'm not doing any of these calls justice because you have to listen to them to appreciate how signficant they were.

And then, of course, there were Buck's great calls as Mark McGuire chased the single-season home run record in 1998.

It was really great to grow up in St. Louis. I love baseball, and I will never lose my love for the St. Louis Cardinals. The team has a following like no other. It's too bad their season is not going well.

But, the point all of this is that KMOX played today a poem that Jack record in the early 1990s. They play this each Father's Day, and I love it. Jack did not actually write it; it was written by a gentleman named Bill Gainey, who was an advertising account executive for the station. Jack loved it and recorded it. It's called a "Tribute to Father's Day." I won't reprint the poem here because I can't find it anywhere. The poem is about a father interacting with a child and playing catch. The poem also talks about how baseball creates unity and brings a family together. The poem is stirring and is set to different music that is so neat.

If I could get the poem or a recording of it (as well as Buck's calls), I would post them. If you love baseball (or the St. Louis Cardinals), I'd say you have to listen to these. You can go to: www.jackbuckbook.com and listen to the call from 1985. It will load automatically when pull up the page.

I realize many of you might not care about baseball. But, I really thought this was neat, especially on Father's Day. Even though we live quite a distance apart, I am thankful my dad is still on this earth and that we could share going to games when I was a kid. And for those out there whose father's have left the earth, the end of this poem will stir memories and emotion. Jack Buck's "A Tribute to Father's Day," ends with this:

"And to my dad..if he was still here...I only would have one wish: That we could go outside and play catch just one more time." (in the background, a little boy is heard saying, "Catch...catch...dad, let's go play catch.")

Again, have a great Father's Day!

Airline fun

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 02:22:43 GMT

After the inaugural "here I am entry", I will write something a bit shorter today and will make it public. I got to work today and Fred, our production manager of more than 20 years, returned from a 2.5 week vacation. I had not seen Fred since May 24th (the day I left on a long weekend; he's been off since May 29th). In any case, he traveled with his wife and 8-year old grandson to North Carolina for vacation. They were flying on American Airlines from Tucson to Charlotte. I had promised Fred before he left I would e-mail him instructions on how to print your boarding pass at the airport, but I just didn't get too it in time due to problems I had flying on American Airlines from Phoenix to St. Louis on May 24th. I won't get into that story, but Patti gives a short version of it on her blog (see the St. Louis trip entry).

So, to make a long story short, Fred's outbound flight on May 29th from Tucson to Dallas got canceled due to bad weather in Dallas (I had a similar problem getting to Dallas from Phoenix on 5/24). American Airlines put Fred, his wife and grandson on a US Airways flight from Tucson to Phoenix, which connected to a red eye from Phoenix to Charlotte.  Then, American Airlines only checked their family's baggage to Dallas on the way back. Fred had to ask why the baggage wasn't checked to Tucson. Apparently, American Airlines had canceled by mistake their flights back to Tucson. As a result, they got on a flight back to Tucson, but had to sit in the very last row on the plane; Fred's poor grandson couldn't see anything out the window.

I fly more than Fred, so I know problems will happen with flights. But, we had a great conversation where we each complained about how terrible airline customer service is. I was shocked American put Fred and his family on another airline. I am guessing they wouldn't do that for me a few weeks back because my ticket was purchased on Hotwire.

Well, in any case, we each agreed that airlines have a terrible "customer no service" philosophy. Yes, I realize airlines can't control the weather, but what about the arrangements Fred made for a rental car (booked on Hotwire - which was prepaid) and a hotel room once he got there? He lost the money. Not to mention how your sleep schedule gets badly messed up! The red eye flights aren't fun or great for an 8-year old (or anyone else).

I must say that an airline passenger bill of rights is long overdue. I don't hate American Airlines; I've flown them several times and have had a very good experience But, thinking about my experience on 5/24 and Fred's experience made me think an airline just can't hide behind weather and not provide anything more than a flight that's not convenient for you or will cause you to lose money because you can't get a refund for hotels, cars or events you previously booked but cannot attend because your flights were so delayed. Is getting there days later really fair? I know those in the airline industry will disagree and inform me why they can't just wave a magic wand to create new flights. I understand that, but the system has to change. With flights being so overbooked, just how can anyone get on a new flight when your previous one was canceled? As I said, its not fair to have to change your entire plans and miss something important because of this.

Well, enough of this. But, if you agree and want more info on this, here's a link:

http://www.thetravelinsider.info/2005/draftpassengerbillofrights.htm

Have a great Friday!