Mid-January Already

It seems like just yesterday that I was packing my office and moving on with my life. Now, nearly three months later, it is difficult to assess what has transpired in the interim. The holidays just seemed to fly by and the Technology Summit is only five weeks away and I still don't have a definitive lead on a job although it would be fair to say that several things are incubating at the moment and anyone of them could pop relatively soon. American Idol is back and we have now had four hours of mindless auditions and more commercials that anyone could have imagined could be packed into two programs. My shoulder is killing me (I should have had that operation last year and it would be nearly healed by now) and to make matters just a little more complicated I managed to screw up my back yesterday while attending a Leadership Program at Georgia Tech. I find those auditorium seats most uncomfortable after about 4 hours and I was there from 7:00 a.m. to just after 6:00 p.m. Great program however and now I just want to go back to school. I suppose that is one of my strengths......I'm incredibly curious and have this passion for learning new things. I suppose one would describe me as a generalist. I'm not particularly skilled at any one thing, but my range of skills allow me to slot into any number of positions and at the end of the day that is how I've managed to survive all these years. My Dad used to say it was important to know something about everything and to never be afraid to get your hands dirty. He used to tell me to be open-minded, be curious, and be myself. Smart man, my Dad!

Hawks have won three in a row and are now 13 and 21 on the season. They aren't the worst team in the NBA, but they are certainly still in the cellar. But lots of games left this season and if they can get healthy they are going to surprise a lot of teams.

My weight loss program is moving along. My New Years goal was 25 pounds and I have lost 8 pounds as of this morning. I purchased a rice cooker and I'm doing a lot more stir fry's and curry's. I also made a commitment to stop drinking until I reach my goal. Seventeen days today and not a drop of red wine..........you know I really want to lose the weight if I'm willing to give up red wine!

Spent much of today re-writing my CV and will be writing a cover letter tomorrow morning. Lunch with an old colleague and then it's an afternoon of working on the Summit sponsorship drive followed by basketball practice. Life's good and I'm surrounded by a lot of love. I hope your life is equally cheerful.

A lovely view of the Virginia Mountains as I say Goodnight.

Oh, What a Night!

Just got back from the Hawks/New Orleans game and we got blown out, 96 to 77. Tough loss coming on the back of last nights game against Indiana (why did we trade Harrington again?). Oh well, it's official. We are having another rebuilding year and will probably get into some book of records for having the most rebuilding years in a single century. Gosh, they really looked bad tonight. Heck, even the Knicks looked better tonight.

Speaking of losers, I hear our beloved President was on the air tonight suggesting 21,000 more troops will fix the problem and our boys and girls will be home by Christmas. You notice he is starting to look more and more like Johnson and this conflict is beginning to look more and more like Vietnam? I'd have the conversation with Syria and get my troops out of Dodge City as soon as it could practically be accomplished. If I were a Democrat I would let Kerry lead the push to get out.......okay, he's has his own issues, but courage is not one of them. He had his ass in the grass with the rest of us and at least he has some credibility when he speaks about war and combat. The good Lord knows that neither Bush nor Kennedy know anything about courage or combat.

Anyway, had a delightful meeting earlier today with two incredibly bright chaps who have lots of great ideas for growing their business and just perhaps a number of businesses in the process. You know, I love the enthusiasm and fearlessness that young entrepreneurs bring to the game. I hope I can help them and I know I can learn from them............sweet!

Speaking of sweet, a pic of my Kate from the Christmas Holidays.

Your might be wondering why this kid looks so laid back and comfortable. Well, it's nearly official. I signed the Articles of Incorporation today, paid all the filing fees, and shipped everything off to the appropriate Georgia State government office and by early next week I shall be the proud owner of my own company, Patrick D. Gaul, Inc. True, it's a rather small company at the moment with only one employee and two shareholders (Kate and I split the 1500 shares between us), but it is my company and all I can do is grow from here. I've got a couple of angles I'm working and I reckon if I do eight months of contract work this year and spend the other four focused on building my business I should be able to pay the bills and keep things running. Kate is very close to taking a position with the Atlanta History Museum as their Events Fundraising Manger and between the two of us we ought to be able to keep this family afloat. Wow! I can't believe I'm seriously considering not going back to corporate America and a nine to five gig..........well, actually I've never worked a nine to five job in my life, but you know what I mean. It is a huge decision and even though I had breakfast this morning with my favorite headhunter....sorry, executive recruiter, to discuss an opportunity, my mind is certainly pushing me towards an independent role. Guess the financials will really drive the final decision this year, but I like the fact that I'm gearing up for what eventually has to happen anyway given my age and the current job market.

I saw this afternoon that Teddy Kennedy is threatening to cut off the funds to President and in doing so prevent him from deploying more troops to the frontlines (are there any frontlines in Iraq?). Should result in a very interesting constitutional battle since Bush is the Commander-in-Chief and the initial troop deployment was approved by Congress, which means the Commander-in-Chief gets to determine where to deploy those troops and when. Of course, Teddy is such a hero himself....you know, swimming all those miles to save that poor drowing girl. Good thing he was able to get his support team in town before he visited the police station or he might just be getting out on parole instead of telling the country what we should do in Iraq. Lord, I hate that guy! I suspect the Democrats would have been better off letting another senator take the lead on this one. Teddy just raises too many issues with conservatives and detracts from the real conversation....or at least that is my opinion and we all know about opinions.

Anyway, off to AARP to sign-up for my senior discounts. I'll check in with you folks tomorrow.

Back on Air

Some pictures from the holiday for your viewing pleasure.

Happy New Year everyone and apologies for the extended holiday. I've been enjoying some wonderful time with family and friends and just didn't feel the urge to write or even read a heck of a lot if the truth be known. Father Joe joined us for Christmas and then my oldest son surprised me over this past weekend with a sudden appearance at our front door at 3 a.m. in the morning. He said he took a wrong turn and found himself in Atlanta and thought he might as well drop by and say hello. Given it's a ten hour drive from Northern Virginia to Atlanta I got to believe he at least thought a bit about it before jumping into his truck. Oh yeah, he also arrived with his new friend Colleen who turned out to be delightful and we loved every minute she was here. Bring her back soon!

So, from top to bottom we have: Father Joe with Joe and Ellie, Mom, Kate, Joe & Ellie, Patrick Jr., Joe and Mom, The family with all my kids, my kids again and finally Patrick & Colleen.

Today started my real efforts towards finding a new position. I met with a number of excellent recruiters during December and there are a few possibilities starting to incubate......nothing firm as yet, but there still isn't any hurry and I'm anxious to make a good decision, not one born out of necessity. I've still got a few months before that starts to become a driver.

Went to hear Jim Geiger speak this evening at the monthly meeting of the Holy Spirit Catholic Men's Club. Jim is the CEO of CBeyond and a member of the parish. He gave an inspirational talk filled with lots of humor and life's lessons. A very pleasant chap who unfortunately has quite a bit of disdain for old BellHeads, which obviously doesn't make me a candidate for his firm. While I certainly understand his bias having quite a bit of disdain for old BellHeads myself, it is unfortunate that I'm at the age where I now fall into that category..........23 years with the AT&T family is all most folks see even though many of those years were with relatively small elements of AT&T in far away countries helping to forge their global presence. Still, the label of AT&T reeks of big company and it is hard to get folks past labels sometimes.

Reading a new book by Don Tapscott (one of my favorite authors) and Anthony Williams entitled "Wikinomics". About a third of the way through and having a real problem putting it down. Fascinating stuff.........a must read for any tech enthusiast. It is about mass collaboration and how it is changing everything.

I promise to get back on track and start posting regularly now that the holidays are finished. By the way, did everyone see that article about "LinkedIn" in the December issue of Business 2.0?