Back to Boston

Current Location: Amtrak Acela Express - en route to Boston

Quick update: I've been staffed on a project in Cambridge and am pumped to head back up to the homeland! Should be a good time, but I think I need to find an apartment to sublet while I am here. This week, however, I will be staying with Lex and Chris in Harvard Sq. Can't wait to get back on the river for a nice Autumn run.

Past weekend was fun, spent in NYC and Stamford. I am excited that the Phils are progressing well in the playoffs and both of my football fantasy teams won this past weekend (monster weeks from Forte, Harvin and the Bears D). I spent Sunday afternoon and Monday in Stamford with my parents where the weather ranked in the tpo 10 Autumn weather experiences.

Elaboration to take place on Thursday's train ride home.

Currently watching: Teen Mom finale tonight? Anyone?
Currently Reading: at least Lord Jim is back in the suitcase.
Currently looking forward to: Old friends in Boston, Being on a new project, Lexie and Chris

Ask for the Ticket

Current Location: Accenture Office - New York City

This week wraps up my stint as a New Joiner instructor - while my 19 students will soon depart, I don't think they leave without learning a little more than just the prescribed curriculum. Aside from a slew of "other" Accenture information that my co-instructor and I covered, we were able to convince our CEO to drop by for a pep talk.

The visit came about from a common encounter with an uncommon man: one of my male students walked back into our room from the bathroom and asked me if our CEO was in the office. I responded that I didn't know, but asked why he was asking. His response was "I ran into him in the bathroom - does he look like this?" and showed me a picture of him. I laughed, said yes, and shot Bill Green an email depicting this encounter - two hours later he stepped into our classroom.

Now, this may not seem that extraordinary to most people - most would assume a CEO address to a new class could be considered commonplace. My retort simply lies in the sheer size of our company - Accenture currently employs 204,000 people. Based in 2009 census estimates, that would place us at the 104th largest city in the United States. Now, this has no bearing on how powerful or important our CEO is - I am just driving home the point that our new joiner group consists of 19 people out of 204,000 - a mere .093% of our population. To have a direct address from the CEO, let alone to have the CEO in that office on that day, is quite lucky, regardless of what he has to say.

What is more interesting is that this is not the first time that this has happened - in fact, when was in this class and had first joined, the same CEO came and spoke to my start group (which consisted of 4 people). Bill Green happened to be in our home office that day and my instructor decided to email him requesting his presence for 30 minutes or so. He shot an email back saying that he would be in the room in a few minutes and Bill sat down and spoke to us for 30 minutes that day. What our small group conversed about wasn't anything out of the ordinary or even inspiring - we spoke about New England sports and politics. But the act of the conversation said something more - it was a true testament to Stewardship - a core value that Accenture takes pride in. Bill reiterated this point yesterday to my group of students after responding to my request via email once I had learned that he was in the office; although it only lasted for 15 minutes, I can be sure that the memory of being treated with respect and with pride from the top official in a behemoth of a company will live on with the students throughout their Accenture lifetime.

I received a piece of advice from Paul Greenberg about 7 years ago while at Penn when trying to raise money for our water projects in Honduras and Cameroon that has resonated loudly ever since: "Sometimes you just have to ask for the ticket". At the time, this meant "Throw away your pride and tact and just ask me for money; I'll give it to you and so will Doug Glanville sitting right next to you because this group of students are doing something great, something that I can't do even with millions of dollars". That meaning slowly began to break down to its inherent idea as I started to gain world experience. It may be simple, but sometimes you've just got to ask.

A few more notes about my weekend: Highlights: Spending part of Friday night at Click and drinking beers, Saturday's beautiful run in Central Park and the Iowa Game, Sunday's Bears' game (although the Bears got crushed).

Check out the new pictures, especially a few old ones from an album housed at my old home!

Currently reading: Still nothing. Need a book.

Great Quote: "Soon you'll have the badge and the gun and you'll have to go out there and have fun" - Bill Green discussing future responsibilities with New Joiners.

Recent People met: Matt and Alex (friends of Kruse), Chris and Will (Mark's Coworkers).

New Joiners

Current Location: Accenture Office in NYC

Still unstaffed (although that may be changing momentarily) and am teaching new hires at work. It's interesting having 19 minds that are new to Accenture to impress my corporate view on and at the same time foster their entry into the working world. I was exactly the same a few years ago, and it's enlightening to see how much I have changed.

Training will last another week, and then I should be off to another project. I checked into a hotel a few days ago and had been at a serious point of withdrawal. I'm not sure if it was more of being back in a hotel room or just having a room of my own and not staying at Kruse's or Stamford. I have a feeling it's more of the former - I have become quite a laid back traveler and seem to make myself a home wherever I am. I can't, however, speak for the people who take me in...I suppose some relationships wear down due to over exposure. In the past 4 months, I have seen both ends of the spectrum - under and over exposure during a specific amount of time with friends, and I have realized that a balance is definitely necessary no matter how difficult it is to maintain. I just hope that my living situation doesn't obstruct my desire to uphold the balance.

I've done quite a few things in the past couple of days in NYC too: Met up with Gary last Saturday who is always great to see, ran over to the 5th ave mile with him on Sunday and watched Solomon Lalou beat Bernard Lagat, then proceed to shake their hands at the finish line, saw the Pats take down the Bills (not as convincingly as I would have liked), then ate some of the finest cookies known to man (Kruse's - seriously amazing) and wrapped up the weekend with a little premier of Eastbound and Down (which was also a little disappointing, but I am glad Kenny Powers and the gang has returned - anyone notice Pedro as his neighbor?).

Well, I'll be sure to update when I know my next assignment, and until then, I will be living it up in NYC. Running has been pretty low key sadly; I think the long runs took a lot out of my legs and I need to rebuild to get back there.

Currently Reading: Nothing - damn shame too. The reading phase has passed I think, but I'll try to get back into it.
Currently looking forward to: Watching It's Always Sunny and the League tonight with fraternity brothers and attending the Bears vs. Giants Game on sunday night.
Notable people that I have met: New Joiner Class (19), Atiq Joardel (NJO co trainer), Monique and Fran (NYO VIPs), Tom Lehmann, Jennifer Craig, Patty Paulette.

Been a while...

Current Location: Stamford CT

It's been a while since I've posted and I'm sure the reason is lack of travel - I have been bouncing between Stamford and NYC each day for a little less than a month. I am between projects and working on proposals/training new joiners and will be doing so until the middle of October.

Needless to say, not nearly as exciting as my usual life - hence a lack of information on this post.

Ran 20 miles last weekend followed by a wedding with Kruse - I think we knew beforehand that a 20 miler prior to wedding-level partying is a bad idea, but the thought was reinforced on Saturday.

Sad news today: Jai Day's mother has gone missing in the Philippines. If anyone knows anything about Carole Day, please let us know. Here is a link to a facebook page with information: Carole Day

Currently reading: SDF training guides.

Currently looking forward to: Dinner on Friday night, Beer fest on saturday (hopefully) followed by a quasi Wallmania segment in Stamford, then getting back into a hotel on Monday morning in NYC.

Notable People: Giles from HBS, Julie and Rems (wedding),

16

Current location: metro north headed to Stamford (on phone so apologies for typos).

Past weekend was a good one- spent the entire time in NYC with a few of my buds. Started it off on Thursday night with the opening NFL game, then Friday was the mets - phils game with mark, kruse and erick ( who was in town for the weekend). The phils won and we got free Mets blankets that we ultimately handed off to LeRoy. Saturday introduced me to Opal and Iowa football followed by a stint at sutton place and ending with a hard food coma at kruse's which was not in the plan. Sunday was filled with football (pats looked good!) and a 16 Miler.

16 is the longest I have ever run and it's a completely different monster. I have hit 12 before and have felt tires at the end - the legs were sore and used to moving so the cool down was shocking, but my body could handle it. Each step was delicate but the legs still hand gusto and could fulfill their duty of carrying me. 16 was different. First, I ran with kruse who is used to this mileage. Second, I've only just gotten back to running each day hitting a total of 20 in the 5 days prior. Third, it was a constant drizzle and drab for the first 8, then it picked up to a rain for the next 5, then back down to barely anything for the last three. Usually I love running in those conditions, but after 8 your shirt sticks to you like an extra layer of skin and your shoes weigh an Extra 2 lbs, making each step a bit foreign.

We pulled up at 9.5 to have a drink of water and take in some calories, then continued on. I've been alternating between treadmill and outside running lately, so the freedom and the company made the first half fly by as fast as a 3 miler. At 13 I felt great aside from the poor conditions and the extra weight - I was even talking to myself about throwing 10 more on at the end to hit a full marathon. We had been hitting 8 minute miles or so the entire time, trying to keep an 830 pace because kruse has to pace the Chicago marathon in a few weeks to 4:00. I'd say a majority of the time was spent below 8:00 but we did out best to relax.

Then it hit me - a wrong step and a twinge in the hamstring. A cramp was right around the corner and we were about 2 miles from the finish. I've never cramped during a distance run - only after a tough workout or in a soccer game. I slowed quickly and kruse knew what was up - we slogged in the last mile and a half delicately do as not to trigger the demon. At one point we had to stop because of pedestrians clogging the sidewalk and the restart was painful. My legs didn't know what was going on - they wanted to buckle but I think they understood that we were 5 blocks away and determined to see it through.

The final stop was interesting - not as painful, more just unusual. Kruse and I were soaked standing underneath grand central - the endorphins were kicking in but it didn't really take away any pain. Kruse pulled out two of my soggy dollars and I bought a bottle of water- the vendor looked at me like I was crazy and was disgusted by my audacity to hand him wet currency, but that thought didn't come until after I took in the cold water. My knees started to lock up around the patellas, something not unfamiliar and generally not dangerous. Other than that, walking was tough but I was happy to hop on the subway. Aside from some small pains and allergies, kruse was fine.

Our route started at grand central, went down the east river, around the seaport to battery park, up the west side highway to 85th, then zig sagged back to grand central. Before running this, I thought if I were to ever jump into a marathon against kruse, my sheer competitiveness coupled with my current fitness would hold me long enough to finish close to her... Now I know that stepping up to these godly distances and churning out strong miles requires more discipline that I'm used to.

Currently looking forward to: finding out my next project.
Notable people met: Ryan Dewey, a few of mark's colleagues, bartender at opal who required my presence at the next Iowa game.

Peeg Roast

Current Location: Parents homemade kitchen table, Stamford, CT.

If you are ever in need of a party theme, starving for something new, different and exciting, pleaes turn towards our domesticated swine friends and the raucous celebration produced by its demise. NOTE: pictures are posted of this event, and there are more on facebook if you are curious.

This past weekend was spent outside of Baltimore, MD where a few of my old college friends gathered to roast a pig, smoke two turkeys, eat plenty of hot dogs and hamburgers, and be merry. Arriving on Friday evening, I spent the major portion of the night catching up with Jeff (one of the three masterminds behind the party) and Mark since most of the attendees were not arriving until the following day. The venue was a fairly sizeable house (there were three TVs on the wall in the living room) and an much larger backyard equipped with a hot tub and patio. We were aware that we needed our rest for the following day, so an early retirement was not farfetched by any means. A few minutes before our slumber, another one of the planners - Caleb - arrives with two of his friends. I have been known to be quick to judge, but my first impression of these two (I had already been acquainted with Caleb in the past) was very dismal. They seemed to be those guys who brought nothing to the party - no excitement, no enthusiasm, no unique qualities that made them stand out or differentiate them from the crowd. Great start.

The morning broke with a beautiful shine - the sun was high in the air and the temperature felt crisp - the start of Autumn had arrived. Perfect timing. Jeff and Caleb had risen around 7AM in order to procure the swine, cooker and keg; the rest of us were left to set up shop and start cooking. The arrival of the pig was a highlight - 60 pounds (small, yes) of light pink pork entered our timid saturday morning - I suppose we have traded saturday morning cartoons with pig roasts to get our weekend fixes at our age. The carving began, the stuffing went well, the turkeys were smoking, and the boys made our drinks.

Once we sat down, people started to come and the drinks started to blurr together. 11AM->3pm forecast was sunburns with splashes of Dark and Stormy's. Beruit soon kicked in with Mark and I on the table. Our other Penn friends arrived around this time - Spencer from LA along with Tyler and Hillary from DC. Immediate jubilation ensued followed by hugging, dogpiling and frolicking (courtesy of Ty and Jeff). when 6pm hit, we weren't certain what to think, but the food was done, and it turned into a carniverous, primal attack lead by Jeff and Caleb, mainly using only hands as our weapons. 25 people gathered around a long table and devoured our unfortunatey guests within minutes - leaving small scraps and bones to be picked at for the remaining party hours. I suppose (hazy memory at this point) that I decided to retire around 8:30pm; I know this because of text message proof and the fact that I woke up around 10 to a game of survivor flip cup in which I participated in for one session, then immediately retreated back to the bed.

At 11:15 I woke with a vengeance! Knowing that I had just lost a few hours of quality party time, I headed back outside and rallied. Unfortunately at this point, many people had left. However, the quality members (mainly the Penn kids) were still roaring and ready to ride the rally train with me. 11AM turned into 5AM with rants of "Coffee and Liquor", detonation (where a person smashes a beer can in an effort to open in and upon success receives very little beer since it spews out and a very large bruise on their forehead - something I do not participate in), bird feeding, voodoo dancing and pants switching.

We woke that morning to a frenzy of flies inside the house and a swarm of bees outside eating away at the pig as well as the left over drinks. Ian - one of the strangest human specimens I have ever met who could literally scream for hours - proclaimed that it is a known fact that Bees are attracted to pork and sugar. Normally that would be a strange statement, but after the night we had, we took it in stride.

Clean up sucked.

I decided to follow my friends to DC for another evening and in the morning I trained it back on up to Stamford for the work week. What a ride.

Currently waiting on: the final fantasy football draft of this season.
Currently wishing: that my cough would magically disappear over night.
Currently reading/writing: a Point of View for Accenture on Supply Chain Security.

Attractiveness

Note - this was written a few days ago and I am just getting around to posting it.

Current Location: Amtrak from NYC to Baltimore.

Attraction is an interesting quality that is perceived by men and women differently, similar to many other qualities.

I was talking with Kruse (who is female) yesterday about attraction and her theory is spot on – Men primarily use attraction as a qualifier for conversation – females do not. Let’s use examples to quickly expand on this: A man encounters to females on the street. The first female is attractive, the second is not attractive. They both come up to him to talk to him (let's say they ask him for directions). As they approach, the man (generally) will only consider talking to the attractive one; the unattractive one is pretty much SOL to steal any of his attention. The reason is that the man immediately thinks about talent and future potential– the attractive female would be a solid pick up in the male’s life (slightly barring married men or any equivalent). Switching the genders in this situation, Kruse (and I) would argue that the unattractive man would have a closer-to-even chance of obtaining the females attention than an attractive one (barring the extremes such as giant facial moles with hair, warts, any sort of blatant disfigurement and missing/rotten/crooked teeth). The reason being that the female will not be as quick to judge the males based on their outward qualities.

I am perfectly content with this theory – what I am more curious about is why this occurs. If I were walking down the street and saw two girls, randomly, I have no real reason to assume that I would be sleeping with either of them in the future, right? I would argue that it’s actually an instinct that pushes forth the human population. We know that in the animal kingdom, mates are attracted to each other based on a better genetic disposition – a disposition defined differently between species. For male humans, that disposition has been thought to be increased based on specific qualities (which, mind you, are greatly affected by media and social opinion) that are generally visual. This attractiveness will naturally push males to talk to specific females, regardless of their setting and potentiality, and favor more attractive ones.

I suppose a similar argument could then be made for females –the qualities that they value or consider attractive are not necessarily visual – perhaps it’s intelligence, wit, humor, etc. What does that say about females? I think many would come to the conclusion that females are more kind and accepting. Perhaps that is the case. However, one could also come to the conclusion that males may initially disregard those inward qualities because those inward qualities in their mate will be unlikely to advance their progenies genetic disposition as much as the outward qualities...

I suppose, then, finding that balance between these qualities between two people truly drives them together during that first encounter.

Currently listening to: Jeff Buckley (Grace) and some old Matchbox 20.

Currently excited about: Pig roast tomorrow in Baltimore (random old friends from CT will be there independently of my attendance).