Paris

I've always been in love with Paris. It's such a magical and enchanting city, or at least it's that way in my head, that I've often wanted to pack my bags and leave. I regret not going some years ago when I had the chance through college. Fortunately, my lovely wife has also a deep affection for the City of Light. Our dream is to go soon, and perhaps, one day live there for a while. Who knows?

Right now, I'm learning French. Through Podcast and books, I'm teaching myself French. So far so good. Of course, I'm only in the very beginning of my self-taught studies. I can greet you, ask how you are doing, and wish you a good day. Oh, I can also ask where you're from. It's a bit tricky, since the Podcast is completely separate from the lessons found in the book, so while I may know how to pronounce and ask certain things, I don't know how to spell them yet. Yet, being the key word.

I don't know why I love Paris so much. I think it has to do a lot because I'm a writer, because I have the soul of a poet, because I'm a romantic at the core. Recently, my wife and I discovered a lovely café in the middle of Coral Gables. We plan on going there once and a week. As I learn more French and feel more confident, I shall practice with the owners Torres Loïc et Dorothée, mes amis.

For now, in this random and personal blog, I may muse about my travels to this little part of France in the heart of Coral Gables.

Au revoir!

How to always outbid others on eBay

I know, I haven't written on here in a bit. But here's something. Isn't it pretty cool when you outbid someone on eBay? After being outbid once, I decided that the next time I saw that iPod I liked, I was going to take it! So later on the same night, I closely watched an auction as it came near its end.

I already had the highest bid for most of the night, but with about a minute left, someone came in with a higher bid. Oh, I didn't panic, okay, maybe just a little, but I planned my strategy well. Having learned from my previous experience, I waited until about 14 seconds were left on the timer. Knowing that other potential bidders were doing the same thing, instead of just entering a dollar more (like most people would) I went for the win, I entered about 3 dollars more. And just like that, when none of those other people expected it, I got my iPod.

"I won!!" I yelled to my wife, who lovingly cheered me on.

It was awesome.

Michael Scott on Taking Chances

"What is the most important thing for a company? Is it the cash flow? Is it the inventory? Nuh-uh. It's the people. The people. My proudest moment here was not when I increased profits by 17% or when I cut expenses without losing a single employee. No, no, no, no, no. It was a young Guatemalan guy. First job in the country, barely spoke English. He came to me, and said, "Mr. Scott, would you be the godfather of my child?" Wow. Wow. Didn't work out in the end. We had to let him go. He sucked." - Michael Scott

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You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, and you shouldn't judge a person based solely on their skills. Michael Scott took a chance with the young Guatemalan guy. And yes, this was a bad move, but at least he gave the young guy a chance.

Also, Michael ended up being the godfather of the man's child. So that's the main benefit of giving chances to unskilled people. You may end up firing them, and they may hate you forever, but at least you'll be forever linked by a child. It's kind of like a bad marriage.

How many godchildren do you have?

Michael Scott on how to encourage employees

"If Dwight fails, then that is strike two, and good for me for, ah, for giving him a second chance. And if he succeeds, then, you know, no one will be prouder than I am. I groomed him. I made him what he is today. Unless he fails, and we've talked about that already." - Michael Scott
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It's always good to give people second chances when they mess up. If they succeed, then you'll take the credit. You were the merciful one, you were their Mr. Myagi, their Yoda or more aptly put, their Michael Scott.

Of course, if your Dwight fails, then he's in trouble. That's strike two. You know, like that songs says, "Cause it's one, two...two strikes you're out..." You can't tolerate that kind of failure in your workplace. The only known remedy is to shun that person for three years. Ironically, I learned that from Dwight K. Schrute.

Michael Scott on Coffee in the Office

Hi there. Welcome to a series of things that Michael Gary Scott has taught me. Yes, the main character from The Office.

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"Coffee is the great incentivizer in the office. It's a drug. It is quite literally a drug that speeds people up. It's not the only drug that speeds people up. You hear stories about Dunder Mifflin in the eighties before everybody knew how bad cocaine was. Guh. Man, did they move paper!" - Michael Scott

I'm Cuban by birth, so my veins are filled with sugar and coffee. Oh, and also with hatred for Communism. Café con leche, or coffee and milk is something that I'm used to drinking. Granted, I haven't had that awesome combination of substances in a bit, but I still love it.

I'm also used to having a "Colada," which is a shot of coffee. Of course, such shot of coffee is sweet. Cubans take their coffee sweet. I'm not a big fan of American coffee because it just tastes like boiling water to me. Sorry, honey, but you know that I love my sugar. Also honey, you are my sugar.

So what have I learned from Michael Scott? Well, it's a good idea to keep coffee around in the workplace. If someones' productivity is slowing down because they are tired, then some coffee, Cuban or American, will most certainly wake them up. You can also just splash their faces with coffee. It'll wake them up for sure.

Has Michael Scott taught you anything?

FAIL

Okay, so the big idea won't be happening soon. Sorry, I know the whole world was anxiously expecting to read this. I'm really busy right now. I'm writing so many things at the same time and the big idea was only going to add stress to my life. I didn't need that. But don't worry, sometime soon I plan on retaking those plans.

For now, you'll be happy to know that I'll be writing on here more regularly.

Awesome idea update

So, I know it's January and I haven't told you about the awesome idea that I have. But don't worry, that will be happening very soon. Hopefully sometime next week. I shall keep you posted. I probably don't even have to write this, since the only person who reads this blog is my lovely wife (thank you honey), but still, I am informing you. In the meantime, I may write a post or two to keep us all entertained.

 

Thank you!