Must Not Have Been the Powerbars

Well, I received the call from Adriana today - that woman that I chatted with briefly at HEB the other day. We agreed on a meeting place and time - Jasons Deli. Now this was of course flag number one to me, if this was a legitimate business why were we meeting in a deli? On the contrary it was a "new business", she told me that much.

Well I saw her in line and I proceeded to order my sandwich and went to sit down with her. She was very friendly, and had a positive attitude yet this is exactly what she needed to peddle what she needed. She starts off by telling me her history of business operations; this is flag two in my head and the reason for this is if these businesses were so successful why leave them? Well it turns out that they were based in Mexico City where she had previously lived. So there could have been some good reasons for leaving them if she wanted to pursue a life in the USA.

So she continues to chat about elementary business terms - like "S-Curves" and "operating in red & black areas". She was also quite quick with working numbers and calculating simple percentages. This charade continued, but I was like "what is this, what's the point of this, what is this alleged 'position' that you may or may not have for me?" Well that's exactly the catch - Quixtar is the name.

The job would be me opening one of these store fronts where customers of mine would log into a website that I opened using Quixtar's template. This site would then lead the consumer to their site to purchase "private label" products. BELLS go off in my head...after she talked up all these affiliations that this place had she was all too quick to start talking about the "private label products, which are often better than those that you can purchase in stores." The meeting ends shortly after this - and she hands me a CD by Greg Duncan, the "Tiger Woods of private franchising".

So I pop in the CD and do a quick google search on "The truth about quixtar", after I hear several items that appeared on the CD that Adriana mentioned verbatim. It was at this point that I found out that Quixtar was the "new online amway". After reading some of the articles on the news groups about this stuff, they mention how you are encouraged to attend meetings and such. She was very adamant about me attending a meeting which I wasn't going to attend anyways since I had already made plans for tomorrow evening.

So in conclusion she didn't see the powerbars in my hand, she saw a target on my chest because she would make money off of me had I any intention of joining this little sham of a business. Why not target students and new graduates looking for a job, easy money there - especially if they are young males and the representative is an attractive woman? If she dropped the whole franchise schtick, and wasn't engaged...well never mind that.

So beware the scams out there, but in retrospect all I did was have lunch with an attractive woman, and we talked mainly about business concepts. Call it a "lunch date" that didn't develop into anything more for me (assuming there was no ring, because I do respect that), and a failed sales pitch on her side.

Powerbar Goodness?

I went to HEB to pick up a couple of protein bars to eat at work, prior to going to the gym to work out. Upon looking at the selection, I select two, Cookies & Cream flavored and Peanutbutter and Chocolate. Needless to say the Cookies & Cream tasted neither like cookies, cream, or the combination. With a little luck the Peanutbutter and Chocolate bar will be better.

As I wait in line, I look at the two express check outs (This particular HEB did not have self check which is typically faster provided there isn't a line at them) and I move to the line with a female individual rather than a bunch of teenaged girls. So I am standing there with bars in hand and I notice she is looking right at me, I smile a bit and think nothing of it really.

Next thing I know she asks "so are you a student?" This catches me off guard, and I replied "yea, well I mean I was - I graduated." She asks me what I was doing now that I had graduated, to which I explained that I was looking for a job (career type job - I need out of where I am currently). She mentions that she is in business for her self, and I ask if she has a card. I gave her my number, and I received her card - which ironically is a "health product" business. So I can only assume that it was the Powerbars that I was holding drew her attention.

On the other hand, why she looking at what I was purchasing? I mean I glance and see what items others are picking up time to time - for example if you see a guy in his early to mid twenties picking up a suitcase of beer, some bacon and a pack of condoms one can only wonder. So what was it about Powerbars? We'll see if she calls back - and to answer a few possible lingering questions: yes she was somewhat attractive, and two yes she is married (quite the rock on the finger I may add too).

Oh and follow up to yesterdays rumor, T-Mac is a Rocket now. People are quick to crown them the new "Kobe & Shaq" tandem, although I don't think Jeff Van Gundy will allow T-Mac to play the way he did in Orlando, or really tolerate him being a cowboy as much.

Pulled a Fast One

So it looks like president Bush pulled a fast one on the public again. He transferred sovereignty two days before everyone else expected it. So last night while most of America slept, Paul Bremmer left, and Mr. Negroponte assumed his position. I guess this was an attempt to avoid any sort of uprising that may have been planned, possibly, in two days when it was scheduled to take place. So will the Iraqi people recognize this as a legit government, or just a group of people the country that invaded them with no probable cause?

Enough of that, I installed Mandrake Linux today - for training purposes if you will. I had FreeBSD 5.1 installed with everything working except a dialup connection. This was upsetting for obvious reasons, so I installed this to get better associated where configuration files are located, and how to fiddle with them. If that is successful then I will probably try FreeBSD again. Time will tell on that one...

I also must have just heard the worst version of REM's "Its the End of the World" on KISS' "Texas Tracks" - some sort of punked up concoction, terrible filth.

Orlando Magic finally dealing T-Mac?

Enough to Make You Choke

Yesterday at work I noticed that the facility manager was already there, but little did I know that he was waiting for a crew to clean the air ducts in the building. I had made a comment before in one of my previous ramblings about the air quality in the building, and could only think back to the terrible conditions that my alma mater let their dorms get to. That is another story though, and I did not have to suffer its wrath first hand.

Anyhow about three weeks ago I developed a chronic cough, not enough to think something was serious, but like it was due to allergies. So I walked into work yesterday and they have the duct cleaning crew in there – enough to make you think a little bit. Is there a link there, were other people showing the same symptoms I was? I also had them clean the vents in the area that I work, which has restricted access. You could see the mold coming out the vents in there, nasty to say the least. That’s all clean now, and I had them go over the additional ac unit in there too. We’ll see if the cough dissipates after this.

CD of the moment is Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”. This is the first time I am listening to it, and this is after all the acclaim that it received. The album itself has an interesting history, and if you have a chance should read about it on Rolling Stone’s website or some other source.

Ciao

Dawn of a New Age or Beginning of a Disaster?

So this is what it has come down to, I have started my own blog. Not that having a blog is strange in today’s world, in fact it is probably one of the more “trendy” things to have. I have been known to write down things in my life that have happened, irritated, or issues that I wanted to voice my opinion to, but they have been kept private for myself to reflect on, or for those select individuals that would actually spend time reading what I whipped up.

The topics that pop up on here will range in different areas: everyday events, politics, sports, and rambling. I should manage at least one post a day if not multiple posts. I don’t know how my current employer will view it since all traffic is now logged, but I am currently working on getting my arse outta there. With a little luck that will happen very soon.

Recently, there are about three blogs that I read on a daily basis; one was on what seemed life support with long periods of time between posts (I understand), the second was just created, and the third I heard the blogger on “The Majority Report”.

http://eightbitbastard.blogspot.com
http://www.foo-blah.blogspot.com
http://www.atrios.blogspot.com

Ciao!