Car Tunes...

The last few weeks have been tough...

The shop has been busy. We had my wife's aunt staying with us. I finally managed to overcome my own personal nemesis and Achilles Tendon since childhood, Bronchitis - again. And, I haven't been able to work out - in the pool or otherwise, since the last time I wrote about it here.

All in all, this is not the optimum scenario for me or anyone else, for that matter.

I think that's why no one seemed to understand why I would wake up early... really, early... this past Sunday morning to drive the seventy-plus miles to Santa Barbara for a shop management seminar when that's the same kind of thing I've been presenting for more than twenty-five years.

I don't blame them! At first, I couldn't understand it myself. Nevertheless, I was driven - figuratively speaking, of course - to do exactly that!

So, after a quick stop at Java Johnny's - purveyor of the world's most exquisite (and, powerful) coffee -  for a "special" and a large coffee with a double-shot... Hey! It's a long drive and the Corvette isn't the only thing that requires "High Octane" fuel! - Bob Seger, Blues Traveler, Dave Matthews and John Mayer found ourselves on the "Old Road" to Highway 126, and then the 101 Freeway to the Fess Parker Inn to listen to my friend, Ken Brookings, hold forth.

It would be hard to describe just how beautiful it was taking the "Old Road" to Ventura and then heading North on the 101. So, I'm not going to try...

I'll show you instead. The picture quality isn't what I'd hoped it might be. But, then again, trying to achieve great picture quality while rocketing along at seventy-four or seventy-six mile per hour may not be a realistic goal. Especially, when you're the only one in the vehicle! And, I wasn't able to catch the waves crashing over the rocks on to the southbound lanes like I wanted to... So, you'll just have to take my word for it. But, it was magnificent, nevertheless!

Regardless, I made it to the seminar venue with just enough time to watch the para-gliders do their thing (Sorry, too busy watching and enjoying to think about more pictures...) and park myself for more than four hours of great information, stimulating conversation and a spectacular lunch.

It's interesting to see how others react to a morning spent like this: Why did you go? Didn't you have anything else to do? What in the world could possibly be worth that kind of a drive? Or, my personal favorite: I thought you already knew all that stuff!

The fact of the matter is: Information is power! There isn't anything I wanted to do more than I wanted to go and sit and learn that morning! Hanging out with smart people and listening to what they have to say was well worth the drive! And, yes: I do know all that stuff already! But, as you learn and grow, everything you read or hear or experience impacts you in new and different ways and on formerly unexplored levels based on all the new information you processed. Consequently, the morning was glorious!

Almost as glorious as the ride home listening to the car's tunes and thinking about all the great stuff I just learned for the first time all over again!

Teach A Man (Or, A Woman...) To Fish....

I wrote this for my other blog and finished it just a few minutes ago. After reading it through a second time I kind of think it belongs here to...  So, here it is.

I love to teach...

Well, that's not actually one hundred percent accurate. What I really love is to help people. And, the way I do that, and have done it in the past, is by sharing what I know and what I have learned over the years.

I do it at the service counter with our clients every day. Or, at least I try to.

I do it through the columns I contribute to the magazines I write for and through the books I've written... Or, at least I try to.

I do it in seminar work I've done and the keynotes I've delivered... And, yes, you guessed it: Or, at least I try to.

And, I've done it with just about everyone that's ever worked here. In fact, I don't think there is anyone who has ever worked here for either my father or myself who hasn't learned something: something about themselves, or something about their profession while in our care and custody.

Sharing what you've learned and what you know is powerful. The exchange that takes places changes both the teacher and the student for ever in profound and powerful ways neither is likely to understand. At least, not while it's happening. But, the foundation for those changes is poured when the first gift of knowledge is offered.

It's fascinating, really. One moment your content with everything you know. And, the next you are confronted with something new: something that can and will change you forever.

Why? How?

Because, no matter how hard you try or how much you resist, you really can't isolate yourself from experience or ideas if or when they are properly, or effectively, or dramatically, or passionately, presented. You can disagree. You can try to ignore what you have been exposed to. You can fight to remain static: unmoved. But, even the act of any of those actions (or,non-actions) is a direct result of the new knowledge you have gained.

The more 'new things' you've tried, the more experiences you've had, and the more mistakes you've made: the more you have to offer those around you. When you've been as successful as I have at any or all of the above, you have a lot to offer! And, offer it you must...

That's what we're doing right now at the shop. We're sharing what we - all of us - have learned over the years with two young entry-level people and it's more fun and more rewarding than ought to be legal. What makes it even better is the raw energy and enthusiasm they bring to the workplace - the curiosity and the questions - the constant attention they require - and the thought and consideration that has to go into every response.

Teaching makes the teacher(s) sharper: better, in almost every way, just for that reason... If you care.
When a new-hire asks you what you're doing or why you're doing it a certain way, you are forced to you to look at everything you do with a critical eye.

Why do we do this? Because, that's the way we've always done it?

Why do we do it this way and not that? Do we recognize the choices available to us, or are we lost in the subtle sameness and comfort of the familiar?

When asked about hiring practices an old friend would simply say: "Hire for attitude. Train for ability. You can train someone to deliver great customer service - But, you can't train them to want to!"

That kind of says it all, doesn't it.

Well, the two people we're working with are filled with attitude. Not the kind of edgy, in-your-face attitude that you see on the street or in the movies: the kind that makes you want to show up early so you don't miss anything! And, that kind of enthusiasm and attitude is contagious. It filled the shop today and had just about everyone smiling. I can't say that it will last. Or, how long everyone will be riding this 'high.' But, I can promise we'll do everything we can to keep it going because it just plain feels like the right thing to do!

It feels great to share that knowledge - and, in our shop that knowledge totals well over a hundred years! And, it feels better to watch the changes that are taking place: the changes I spoke about earlier, transform these kids.

It's the ultimate: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for one day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime!"

We're teaching a couple of young kids just starting out how to fish: we're teaching them how to fish smart, how to fish efficiently and how to fish intelligently. And, in the process, we are becoming better fishermen ourselves.

ARRRRGGGGGHHHH!

I hate to keep whining about traveling, but it’s been a while since I’ve found myself a prisoner of the airlines; my time and my life in the hands of a TSA agent who decided I appear to be more of a menace than the scowling, beady-eyed Mullah with no visible body hair going through the line just ahead of me. Maybe, I’ve lost it… Maybe, the blessed interval in between flying fifty to a hundred thousand miles a year and the more than a year and a half I took off was enough to dull the pain and allow the horrid memories to evaporate. But, it just seemed harder somehow this last trip.

Maybe, it was the early morning flight: one leaving, and this morning’s absurdly early flight home (Yes, I was the one who made the reservations so I really don't have anyone else to blame.). Or, it could have been the different nature of the engagements altogether. Who knows…

Normally, I fly on Fridays to present a six or seven hour seminar on Saturday (during the day), have dinner and then head home early Sunday morning. I know – I spend more time on the road, at the airport and in the air than wherever it is I’m working and for the most part, I was OK with that. It was the compromise I decided I could live with between helping other shop owners avoid the same mistakes I’ve made over all these many years and “sticking close to the knitting” with regard to my own automotive service business. And, for a very long time it proved to be a good model.

This time I flew out early Monday morning to be in the Greater Philadelphia area for an hour-long presentation Tuesday evening; repeated again the following night, a couple of hours down (Or, was it ‘up?’) the Interstate, in another community; followed by a long drive to the airport; and, a ‘first flight’ out this morning.

Normally, I wouldn’t complain. Especially, since both presentations were received very well by capacity crowds of shop owners who were dialed in and right there with me both nights! I was happy… REALLY happy! My host was happy… The shop owners seemed happy… Everyone was happy...

But, right now, I’m sitting here at forty thousand feet, traveling at over five hundred miles an hour, wondering why I did it and whether or not I should even consider doing it again.

It could have been all the “stuff” I left on my desk in the rush to get out Monday morning, like the laptop's charger and the USB tether for my Blackberry that I found myself searching for frantically Tuesday morning. All of which I had to replace almost instantly (Let's hear it for the Best Buy just down the road from the hotel!)!

That was the bad news. The good news is that after purchasing a universal assortment of each accessory I can now charge any… And, I mean any… laptop computer made by any manufacturer in the known universe and connect to and transfer data to or from any phone or PDA made today – If we’re traveling together the next time you’re out and you need either, just let me know!

It could have been finding the only Starbucks I have ever patronized that DIDN’T have WiFi available and then struggling to find a location that did.

It could have been the long drive back to the airport hotel, followed by a mid-night treasure hunt for someplace to purchase fuel Wednesday night instead of frantically searching for a gas station at 0:Dark:Thirty in the morning (translate 0:Dark:Thirty as in before 5:00 A.M.) which somehow led me to the Sports Complex five times no matter where I went or where I tried to go!

After this experience I can tell you one thing for certain: there isn’t a hell of a lot going on at the Sports Complex at mid-night!

It could have been getting pulled out of the security line… again!

Whatever it was, it has gotten harder. It is more difficult. And, it isn’t as ‘pleasant:’ if pleasant is a term you could ever use to describe business travel, as it once was.

Nevertheless, despite all my bitching and moaning, I probably will do it again – maybe, not as much. And, maybe, not as often – but, I will find myself headed to the airport too early or coming home too late, or going back to work at the shop too tired, from a trip very much like this one because I love the teaching/sharing/interacting part of what I do. I love the shop owners I do it for as well. They are a very special group: another ‘endangered species’ on the verge of extinction that has no idea how much trouble they are in or the dangers they are facing.

What I really love and appreciate are the companies that host presentations like these regardless of who the presenters might be or what they might be presenting. They take profit dollars out of their own pocket to ensure their customers get the education and training they need even when those very same customers don’t necessarily understand how important it is or much they need it.   

I’ll probably do it again because I’m addicted to the sparkling moment of awareness that occurs every so often: the light that goes on in the eyes of someone sitting three rows in front of you on the right. Or, the guy on the left in the back that is struggling to get every word down on paper because he knows that there is something in there that has the potential to change his life. Or, the shop owner and his thirteen-year-old daughter who is desperately trying to figure out how to get the help he needs before he burns out, implodes or self-destructs.

How can you not go out when you feel you have something to offer?

Despite all the pain and inconvenience, I wouldn’t believe me if I said this was the last time. I know my wife won't. 

So, I guess the real question is why should anyone else believe me?

Setting The Table...

I just returned home from dinner at the end of what seems like a marathon Anniversary Weekend. Yesterday, we celebrated our 40th Wedding Anniversary with a very small group of our most intimate friends. It was a very special luncheon made even more special by our kids who put the whole thing together.

One of oldest and closest friends taught me that "Friends are the family you get to choose..." and this was a very special "family" occasion.

This evening, we had dinner with our kids and our daughters "young man." In a toast, my wife put it together better than I ever could... Here's what she said... "Yesterday afternoon we had lunch with the friends who have become our family... And, this evening we get to have dinner with our family - who have become friends!" Wow!

But, believe it or not, that isn't what I'm writing about.

I'm writing about this evening's dinner experience which was incredible in every respect. It was made even more special... at least, for me, because I am in the middle of Danny Meyer's, Setting The Table - a book about restaurants and what he likes to call, "gracious hospitality."

If you don't know who Danny Meyer is I'll do my best to help you understand. But, let's just say it would be worth a trip to New York and an evening or afternoon spent dining at one of his many restaurants to truly understand. I had the privilege of experiencing "gracious hospitality" at two of his restaurants and believe me, it's an experience you want to repeat!

It's really all about picking the right people: people who want to shine... people who want to create great art in the kitchen and deliver the gift of great service at the table.

We had a Danny Meyer experience in Westlake this evening at Tuscany. We had some of the best food we've had outside Manhattan and the best service we've ever had anywhere. It wasn't inexpensive - But, I didn't expect it to be inexpensive. However, it didn't leave you questioning the value of what was received either. Our server shared the menu with artful enthusiasm and actually persuaded my son NOT to have something on the menu because as he put it, "It's the worst thing on the menu!" The young man who helped my son select the wine was equally as honest and enthusiastic... They knew their products and they understood their clientele. The service was attentive without being overbearing. In other words, it was elegant!

What else can you say about a dinner at a restaurant like this other than that it was expensive... and, worth every penny! All you can say is that it helped make a special event even more special.

We have a service business that you would think has virtually nothing to do with serving fine food. We service and maintain automobiles and trucks. And, yet, there is a lot to be learned from a Danny Meyer experience regardless of where you experience it. There was a great deal of energy and effort apparent in the training invested in the staff. There was enthusiasm, pride and excitement. There was a definite desire to ensure a powerful and positive experience. And, it was obvious the goal was to have you return as soon as possible, and to have you share a great experience with your friends, family members and colleagues.

All I can say is that it worked! And, that I'll take this experience back to the shop with me and try to help our people understand the importance of understanding, practicing and delivering "gracious hospitality" in every interaction we have with our customers, clients and friends with the same powerful goals in mind...

An Un-Happy, Happy Ending...

I'm not going to make the pool tomorrow morning and I'm bummed... Yep! Words I thought I'd never hear, let alone utter. But, it's the truth. I got a call from the accountant at a consulting/coaching company I work with and the only time we can 'meet:' he's in Maryland, is tomorrow morning at just about the time I would be climbing out of the pool... And, that stinks!

Not as much as the Tiger Balm... But, it still stinks!

Now, I've got to figure out how I'm going to get that time in the water back or what I can substitute that will make me feel as good when I'm done. I could go to Krav tomorrow night. That would certainly be a test of the shoulder/elbow issues I've been dealing with. But, I'm not sure I want to know how that particular test will be graded. And, besides, the last time I was in this kind of pain I worked too hard, injured myself too deeply and stayed away far too long.

The way things look right now, it's going to probably move in the direction of acupuncture and a good, deep tissue massage - great place in Simi for both, by the way.

It will almost certainly guarantee a 'happy ending.' But, it's just as certain it won't be the kind of 'happy ending' you're probably thinking of right now!

Now, it's a shower, a couple of pain relievers, a few hours sleep; only to wake up in order to drown myself in numbers instead of water...

Tiger Balmy...

Well, if you've been following this series of posts you know I've been struggling with my swimming and a reinforced, reinvigorated commitment to 'wellness'... not necessarily in that order. Despite the desire to do more or better, I've been dealing with a body that seems more interested in going home or to bed than in going to the next level.

I haven't let that or the aches and pains slow me down or stop me... At least, not yet. Instead, I dragged myself out of bed in what felt like the middle of the night to be in the water and ready to swim at 6:00 A.M. If the number of headlights and tail lights on the road at that hour are any indication of the number of people up and about, I can tell you with absolute certainty there aren't many people up and about at that hour!

Nevertheless, I was... And, I was in the water warming up before Jessica - the Master Class coach - arrived on the scene.

Again, that sounds easier than it was. As certain as I am that there were few others up and about, at or before 6:00 A.M., who were not coming home or heading to a workplace somewhere: I am equally as certain, the one place in the world your body does NOT want to be is submerged! I am also pretty sure the reason fish don't hate swimming as much as I do is because they don't have shoulders or elbows, hips or knees! Shoulders, hips, knees and elbows can and often do get sore...

Does anyone out there actually know if fish can get sore? It would be reassuring as hell to know!

I did six or eight laps of various different strokes before Jessica realized there was someone in the water she didn't know and a lot more after she did. I learned a lot for a first class. I learned that I have a 'natural' breast stroke (It was news to me too...). I learned that you can - with an emphasis on 'you' so far - swim while practicing "bi-lateral" breathing: you can alternate breathes from one side of your body to the other, which actually seemed to work better for me than breathing only on one side. I also learned you don't have to breathe once every three or four strokes: but, that you still have to breathe! I learned that I have no endurance, at least not yet. Which was disappointing. And, that I still get winded much too easily... Even more disappointing.

Did mention that I've only been in the water eight or ten times and that I'm terribly impatient; or, have you already figured that out.

The good news was finishing more laps and more different strokes than I have ever - emphasis on: ever - completed in my life and I didn't drown, as evidenced by my typing this message some twelve hours later!

I should be back in the water Wednesday morning... Maybe, even tomorrow morning depending upon when I get done tonight and how my right elbow and shoulder are feeling. If I don't go to the "Y" to swim tomorrow morning I'll probably return to Krav (Krav Maga) tomorrow night. My thinking is, as long as my shoulder and elbow hurt anyway; why not.

Oh... And, if you read the last post: applying Tiger Balm before you get into bed at night is something you really shouldn't do unless you're sleeping alone. If you aren't sleeping alone, it isn't something you ought to do without first asking your significant other if that would be OK. If you don't heed my advice, it is almost certain you will be back in the water again, a lot sooner than you thought you would... Not at the "Y" and in the pool, but back in your bathroom and in the shower!

If you're lucky, any remnant of the "Eau de Tiger Balm" will find its way down the drain. And, you may find your way off the couch!

Everyone Back In The Pool

I went back to the pool again late Saturday afternoon. It was wonderful!

Well, almost wonderful... I went to swim, and the pool was wonderful. In fact, with the exception of a few little ones and their respective parents, I had an Olympic-size pool just about all to myself.

The part that wasn't so wonderful was the 'getting older' part of working out. It's that; "Eighteen-Year-Old Brain: Sixty-Three Year-Old Body" stuff again.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I haven't been to the gym in a while and when I was going I wasn't swimming.

How long is "a while?" Let's just leave it at "a while," and move on. You can fill in the blank if necessary. However long it's been, it's been too long and now I'm doing something I've never done before and my body is crying, "Foul!" as a result.

So, tomorrow morning I'll be at the "Y" before it opens to take a class. What kind of a class? A swimming class so I can move from something that must look almost like drowning, to something that looks almost like swimming. I've decided I have to become more comfortable in the water... which is hard to do when the water is one of those places you are the most uncomfortable. I'm going because Saturday's sojourn at the pool was a definite improvement over my previous attempts at drowning. And, it was an improvement because I stopped trying to muscle my way through the swimming and slowed everything down to a "crawl," if you'll pardon the pun.

I focused on the obvious skills: floating, breathing, relaxing in a foreign environment and just moving through the water. Instead of trying to cover as much distance as quickly as I could, I keep things under control and focused on 'smooth' instead: no thrashing, no splashing, no gasping and no trying to breathe water! And, to tell you the truth, it actually worked... a little. I didn't run out of air as often. I didn't get as tired. My heart didn't try to explode out of my chest, and as a result I felt a hell of a lot better when it was time to get out of the pool.

Why swimming, if it's so uncomfortable; so unnatural?

Because...

Because it is uncomfortable and unnatural; at least it is to me. I'm doing it because I don't want to do it. And, because I know the results will be more than worth the effort if I prevail. If I can manage to stay with it, my endurance and stamina will increase as well as my overall fitness. I know this to be true because I can see the difference it's made in my son's Tri training and the training he is doing for the Iron Man he's enrolled to participate in.

All I have to do is work my way through the injuries, the pain and the discomfort. That takes a lot of positive self-talk and the encouragement of friends and family: and, a healthy sense of humor. I'm working on the self-talk and my son is both a great example and a wonderful cheerleader. The sense of humor part seems to be taking care of itself and we'll have to wait and see how or if the rest of the family signs on.

In the meantime, I've got to get ready for tomorrow morning and that means a hot shower, ice on my elbow and shoulder, followed by a little Tiger Balm on both.

I'm not exactly sure how the Tiger Balm rub down is going to go, however. It may turn out to be part of the sense of humor and the being able to laugh at yourself you really need to get through something like this, especially after a long absence.

I was applying some Tiger Balm in the locker room after my shower and before I got dressed on Saturday when one of those 'little ones' I referred to a minute ago, turned in my direction and said, "Yuch! What is that, and why does it smell so bad? That stuff is really strong! "

I told him it was Tiger Balm... And, that I was using it because I was sore.

Do you know what happened next? He looked at his Dad, and then at me, and said, "Mister, I been to the Zoo and I seen the Tigers... And, know what! None of 'em smelled anything like that!"

I'm going to shut down, take a shower and apply some Tiger Balm to my elbow and shoulder before I go to bed... and, and wait to hear what my wife has to say about the stuff. I'm not sure, but I'll bet it won't be as funny!

Drowning In Your Sorrows...

If you ever want to know just how out of shape you are just head for the pool. I don't mean one of those rinky-dink pools in a backyard somewhere. I'm talking about a serious pool. One of those fifteen or twenty-five-yarders! Then, dement yourself into believing you can actually do laps: as in more than one.

If you really want to torment yourself, meet one of your clients there... someone you've known for decades, someone who can swim laps until you get tired of watching, and then get in the water with him! Oh, and then break your glasses just to add insult to injury.

That's what I did this morning and despite the fact that I am sore: my body, and bruised: my ego, I'll probably do it again tomorrow morning because I'm certain there can be only one of two possible outcomes. Either I will drown and have nothing to worry about. Or, I will eventually build up enough stamina (and, wind) to get better. Now, before I go any further, I don't have any illusions about what 'better' means. To me, it means just a hair better than today. No unrealistic expectations here, just a profound respect for my son who managed to swim intervals for twenty-five hundred yards the other day.

I'll do it because I really liked the way I felt after I got out of the pool. Particularly, the fact that no one had to pull me off the bottom. Although, my body was sore and my lungs were burning - I felt pretty good: good because the endorphins were lying to my central nervous system and good because I actually dragged myself out of bed at 0:Dark:30 in the morning and was at the "Y" at 5:50 A.M., ten minutes before they opened. Now, all I've got to do is create a string of mornings like this.

My attitude is simple... If the kid can do it: I can do it. And, if it isn't this it will be something else. In fact, I think I'll go home and change and head for Krav tonight just to see if I can survive that... again!