July 2012
1 post
How I brought down a company using Twitter
Okay, so maybe that title is a bit of an exaggeration but I definitely didn’t help things and at least hastened its demise.
(By the way, all of the tweets in this post, which are all in “bold”, are copied from my timeline from December 7th-December 12th, 2011 from @themalonester)
Picture working for Google. Think of all of the perks like free food and video games and all of the cool stuff you hear...
April 2012
1 post
Another Great Job Interview
“If you wanted, you could be in charge of our 3D glasses distribution to the gay porn industry.”
The previous statement was said to me about 10 minutes into the job interview. And up until that point I had seriously considered the position.
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The largest 3D glasses manufacturer in the United States is located in my hometown of Memphis. I had a friend who had worked there as one of his first...
February 2012
1 post
I've Been Occupied
I was recently at a business convention in Austin, Texas. For lunch I decided to go for a walk, so I left the convention center and when I saw the Capital building a few blocks away, I headed in that direction.
I was in my typical business attire of slacks, dress shirt and loafers. Not wanting to look like too much of a “convention guy”, I took off my name tag that was on a lanyard around my neck...
December 2011
1 post
My amazing job interviewing skills
I’ve had a lot of job interviews over the years. Most of them are boring and uneventful. But some are so bizarre they deserve to be told. Here are the short versions of some of these stories:
I was 28 and had been out of high school for 10 years. The guy that was interviewing me was reading his questions off of a sheet of paper that he had obviously gotten from some human resources web site...
April 2011
3 posts
Warehouse: No songs but stories
(The title of this blog is my version of the name of a great Husker Du album. Also, this post is very long. Only read if you are really bored.)
At a few different times early in my career, I worked at a warehouse that was owned by the father of a friend if mine. He owned a few different warehouses, all located in the most crime-ridden areas of Memphis. It was hard to find good employees, even...
The Crazy Night I Just Had
This is not my typical story involving some business casual situation, but I just had to get this story out there because it was one of the strangest evenings I have ever had. I am writing this at midnight, after the events, while they are fresh on my mind. Also, I am on a business trip, so all of this kind of counts.
(Also, after reading this whole thing, I realize now that in my stream of...
Good Intentions Are Sometimes Stupid
I once worked for a small company and for an owner that wanted to sell his business to me one day. That was the intent when I first started there, so much of my hard work and passion that went into my job was because I knew that one day it would be mine. Also, for this reason, I tried to keep my expenses to a minimum, especially when I traveled. That’s how I got started going to nice hotels…and...
March 2011
1 post
Yankees
As someone who grew up in the South, I was constantly hearing about the rudeness of “Yankees.” I had always heard they were brash, arrogant, loud, unpleasant and down right mean. I would hear from adults that you would never want to meet them or especially to become friends with them. It was a form of racism, just as strong as what you would see against gays or African-Americans.
And then as I...
February 2011
1 post
Los Angeles: Beaches, Babes and Business Socks
On a recent business trip I had the opportunity to visit Los Angeles. I had never been there before so I was looking forward to doing some sightseeing. As usual with my trips I always try to pack as light as possible, meaning I never bring a bag to check so everything must fit in my laptop case and my carry-on bag. So, besides my “business casual” attire, I don’t have any room for other clothes. I...
January 2011
3 posts
Crashing a political rally
Author’s Note: I wrote this story for an older blog I once had that was associated with the award-winning, extremely popular podcast ‘Sup Cuz, that I co-hosted with my cousin. I decided to re-print it, because it had to do with being in a business casual-type awkward situation. Also, It was a lot easier than having to write something new.
About three years ago I was in Nashville for...
A weekend of being the unhippest guy in the room
(WARNING: I way overuse the terms “cool” and “hip” in the following story. I tried to edit it the best I could, but I am terrible with synonyms. Just thought you should be warned.)
A version of this story I have told so many times that my friends threaten to kill me if they overhear me trying to tell it to someone new. But it is by far the coolest thing that ever happened...
Accidental International Businessman
Living in Memphis, in the corner of Tennessee, and touching two other states, I have on occasion accidentally driven into Mississippi and Arkansas while lost. On both of those occasions I felt like an idiot. But I felt like a much bigger idiot when I recently wound up in another country by accident.
A couple of months ago I was on a business trip to Michigan and I was making my way through...
