After morning run, taking in the early morning just as the sun starts rising…

I was driving up I-20 towards Lake Oconee for an office meeting this morning when I thought I saw an unique name of a town. But it went by very fast. Decided to turn around, took an exit 5 miles later and came around, drove back for 9 miles, took another exit and turned back again and then drove slowly till I could get the spot.

Sure enough! A town called Social Circle!!! Just when I thought here in Georgia, our innovation in naming places peaked when we named every street in Atlanta, “Peachtree”!!!

A hanky panky panty bar!!!! In the middle of Grand Central station? Oh! I was so close to walking up to this lady and asking “do you ever have any lady actually walk up to you and buypanties in front of literally millions of train riders milling around”?

One more unique experience…

Almost reached the starting point on the runway when the pilot just came on to the PA and declared “Our right engine seems to be getting hot. You will soon see us surrounded by fire trucks. They are here to inspect the engine. Nothing to worry about”!!!

Okay then!

Last time it was 72 hours of flight for 36 hours of stay in India.
Now, 20 hours of flight for one and a half hours of meeting in London 🙁

Took my team in DC to dinner. Guess who came and sat next to us? Can you recognize him thru those glasses?
Mike Shanahan!! Head coach Redskins!!

This evening I was sitting at Tyson’s Corner in the patio of a well renowned bar trying to hammer out a deal with a strategic partner. All the tables outside were filled with a lot of people with laptops opened up.
Occasionally, each table would erupt with boisterous yelling and high-fiving. For whatever reason, the women were yelling the most.
You have to be in the DC area on a Sep 30th to understand this all. Today is government financial year ending. All contracting has to be done today or else there is no guarantee for project money for next year. Everytime a table was hearing about a win, they would just burst out in joy.
It is like report card day for all government sales teams!
People who know me probably know that my the arc of my career has taken me from coding software to running services organization to leading marketing to leading sales to eventually being a general manager. Of all those, sales – is still to me – the job I respect the most. And the profession where the difference between the best and the not-so-good is so wide.
That is the job that has the clearest metric – you either got the dollars or you did not – and the least control of the variables – you are too dependent on external factors.
That is why winning a deal unleashes such a primal energy.
Sure, it comes with the cold slap across the face when you lose one. But over a larger horizon, if you are a good sales guy, you win out….
Love the energy. Respect the profession!!

Woke up at 4 am to catch a 6 am flight from Raleigh to Atlanta. Made it comfortably to the airport. Breezed thru TSA Pre. Sat in the plane. Got my coffee. All the passengers were boarded. And suddenly I got a notification from Delta on my iPhone that the flight has been delayed by 30 minutes.
The pilot came on to the PA and greeted us. I am like – does he even know that we are delayed? (I assumed ground control crew or weather issue).
Then he came on again and explained that a piece of equipment is not working. It is a third level backup though. But without it he is not allowed to fly in the dark or thru clouds!!!
So the mechanics are coming to see how quickly it can be fixed.
Except the mechanics are coming from Atlanta!!!!
And he canceled the flight!!!
As I was disembarking, Delta sent me another helpful message – the flight has been delayed by another 15 minutes!! Go figure.
Too sleepy to drive back to Atlanta, decided to take the next flight couple of hours later. Waiting in Skyclub now, tired and sleepy wondering what the the next adventure in the upcoming flight will be.

So this is what the ground crew does when they are not waving a plane in or out of the gate!!!