Year: 2009

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Thirty Days of Thanks – Opportunity

DSC02476
New York Stock Exchange

Two years ago I was just another college senior looking for a job when I got what seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime. I was offered a job at Accenture to do technology consulting. In Manhattan, NY. I had visited NYC twice and loved it both times. The bustling city was full of energy, and soon I would be there.

Flash forward to just a year ago. NYC had been hit hard by the financial crisis, and I was not immune. Suddenly there were many people at my level without a current project. There was no doubt that cutbacks were coming. And unfortunately for me, they were coming to my neck of the woods.

My employment at that company ended, and most jobs were on hold everywhere in NYC. This was actually a great opportunity to come home, but not under the best circumstances. I was now on a job hunt in a truly bad time to be looking for work. To top it off, I had little experience, and none whatsoever in my degree area (Mechanical Engineering).

I liked the internet. I had my JMO website and a Twitter and a Facebook. And I had the Aggie 100 as my main source for finding a small company for a new job. That’s when I found Schipul.

I interviewed over the phone, and my enthusiasm made up for my lack in experience. I quickly learned that I was probably out of my league. But, things worked out better than expected. I got another interview, and finally an offer. Through some miracle I had won the opportunity to work at the place I now call ‘my awesome job’. When I started, the entire staff could fit in a single conference room. From my previous experience at large multi-national corporations, I had never experienced anything like this. Working with a small group of people on projects we are passionate about has been a very welcome change.

Many people are still in a situation similar to mine a year ago. You can view a video of the unemployment rate over the last two years as it grows. I think this is very scary to most people (especially considering the colors used). To me, though, this is a unique time when great things are born. People are pushed to their limits of creativity and forced to think an create things like never before. Many of us are not comfortable, and this discomfort can be the driving factor in invention and creation.

Below is a list of companies you may be familiar with. If you have never heard of them, check them out. I’ve used products or services from all of them in the past couple of years. They are all in different fields and are scattered around the country.

  • Publix – Grocery stores in the South East. Over 1,000 stores as of October 2009.
  • Texas Instruments – Makers of many tech gadgets, but the calculators are the real deal.
  • Tyson Foods – Had chicken recently? It was probably from Tyson, the largest meat producer in the world.
  • Zippo – Fantastic lighters, great styles, and there is an app for that.
  • Steak-n-Shake – A childhood favorite restaurant of mine. They have one in Houston.
  • Meijer – The original hypermarket, and still a private company.
  • Penguin Books – I listen to most books now, and quite a few are Penguin Audio Books.
  • Morgan Stanley – The bank has had the opportunity for change recently.
  • 20th Century Fox – I love a good movie, and these guys make great movies.
  • GEICO – love the commercials, and I use them for insurance.
  • Altec Lansing – They make the speakers on my desk at work and at home.
  • Pepperidge Farm – The Chessmen cookies are so sweet and delicious.
  • Harrah’s Entertainment – Nothing like a game of No-Limit Texas Hold’em.
  • Dillard’s – The bookend to many malls around the country, it’s a great place to shop.
  • Academy – Sports and Outdoors equipment at decent prices.
  • Columbia Sportswear – Nothing like a fleece pullover to keep you warm in a Texas winter.
  • Hewlett-Packard – PC and printer maker. I see this brand around my home and office.
  • Marvel Comics – I’m not a huge comic book reader, but I love a good superhero movie.
  • Dollar General – What’s not to love about a store filled with things for a dollar?
  • Sara Lee – What started off small now sells food products in over 180 nations.

This may look like a fairly hodge-podge list, but all of these companies have something in common. They were all founded in the 1930’s. During a time in our country where jobs among other things were very rare, 20 different groups found an opportunity for a new business. Surely many of them never could foresee the reach and size of their companies today.

And now today we are presented with the same chance at being able to build something new. For me, it was a new career in a field I am very excited and passionate about. For you, it could be starting the next great service company or electric car manufacturer or inventing a new technology that will change our lives. I urge you not to fear the state of things now, but to instead see this as a blank canvas, ready to be transformed at your hand. Great things rarely come easy, and now is the perfect chance to let your passion push you in a new direction.

(photo taken by Meg Pickert on a recent trip to NYC)

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Thirty Days of Thanks – Health, Faith & Support Systems

Clip art created by Mark A. Hicks, illustrator.
Clip art created by Mark A. Hicks, illustrator.

There are so many things in life we take for granted. We all realize that from time to time. Lately I have been faced with the one thing that I think we all take the most for granted…Our health.  I am thankful not only for my own health but for the health of those whom I love around me. Our bodies are so complex and function in the most delicate of balances. We don’t realize how lucky we are until something goes wrong.

My fiancé and I have been spending most of our time in the Methodist Hospital CV ICU waiting room the last two weeks. A very close member of the family underwent a pretty intensive surgery called   esophagectomy .   The surgery was a success but due to other complications he is having a hard time recovering.

It has been very difficult for the entire family but through these hard times I have witnessed some amazing acts of faith and support. I often wondered how some people make it through what seem to be impossible hardships in their lives. Now I’ve seen it. It is through Faith and a great support system.  This support can come from your family, friends, manager and co-workers.   It can even come in small doses from a complete stranger in the hospital waiting room offering you homemade cookies. It all adds up and it does make a huge difference. Your support system can also give you Faith.   When things seem hopeless, it is through the faith of others that I sometimes find myself pulling through.  In the ICU waiting room, this is what I consistently see around me, Faith and support.

So here it is. I ask everyone to please think about how lucky you are to have your health, to think about how Faith has gotten you through life and to be thankful for your support system.

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Thirty Days of Thanks – Houston

I grew up in Houston, and as a little girl I couldn’t imagine ever living anywhere else. There was just so much here – why would I ever need or want to leave? And then of course I turned 18 and took off the moment it was legally acceptable; headed a few hours North for Austin and started college at the University of Texas. And like most people in Austin, I went for school and just didn’t leave. Fell in love, started a career; one thing led to another, and poof – thirteen years later and I was still there.

A year ago I was all set to move to California when fate intervened and changed my course, directing me back home. I came with my dog, knowing only a handful of people, and a job that I wasn’t really excited about but was grateful to have in this economy. And I came with the sense that there was going to be something really awesome for me here – I just didn’t quite know what it was yet.

Oh. Em. Gee. Y’all.

I’m thankful for so much in this town. For starters there’s the little coffee shop that was following me on Twitter while I was still living in Austin, which I thought was a little odd – I mean, why would @coffeegroundz be interested in little ole me hanging out in Austin? But, since I was visiting Houston a lot I followed back and made plans to drop in at some point. Which I did, shortly after I moved back, during the last big major TweetUp and met, oh, EVERYONE. And I do mean that – practically every person I am friends with today I can trace back a first meeting with to that day. We aren’t kidding when we talk about how influential Coffee Groundz is in the community. For me it was Groudz Zero.

And that just leads to the people. The amazing fantastic wonderful people. How lucky am I, huh? I get not one but TWO groups of rockstar folks in my life. I am blown away every day by how many talented artists, photographers, chefs, writers, designers, businessmen and women, and musicians we have in Houston – and that I call friends! And then there’s the knitters, the bakers, the cheesemakers, the crafty types that will knock your socks off with their skills (and then make you new ones!) – I am forever in awe of my friends, and honored by them. I’m thankful for each and every one of them, and so glad I have them in my life.

Finally, I’m so thankful for my awesome coworkers and the amazing work we’re doing at Schipul. Thanks to a corporate culture that allows us to have fun while working hard, pushing ourselves and each other. Thanks to great clients that trust us to make it happen for them. I’ve got to give a special shout-out to Fayza and Katie M for their parts in leading me on the path that got me here – this is really a very special place to be and I’m happy to a part of it, and thankful I’m able to contribute.

This past Monday I was lucky enough to join a dear friend on the front row 40-yard line for the Texans/Titans game. At halftime he remarked “I’m so glad to live in a major metropolitan area.” It’s the biggest thing I missed about Houston. The culture, the options, the variety. I’m thankful for the Medical Center that takes care of my mom. I’m thankful for the various stadiums that house all my favorite sport teams, no matter how often they break my heart. I’m thankful for 7-lane highways and drivers that view speed limits as minimums, not maximums. I’m thankful for the various cultures scattered about the city that give it a unique personality. Most of all, I’m thankful that you can go home again.

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Thirty Days of Thanks – Adventure Racing

Stick together, and always stay found.
Stick together, and always stay found.

It’s the eleventh hour.   Literally.   But you’ve been up and moving for far longer.   You find yourself on foot in the thick of a misty, foreboding forest of trees and blackness.   You have a tiny yet powerful lamp strapped to your forehead as your only source of illumination, ’cause the sun dipped below the horizon hours ago.   You can only hope the rustling leaves that perk up your ears are errant armadillos scurrying out of sight.   And not alligators.   Or bears.   Or the Loch Ness Monster.   The hair on the back of your neck stands on end.   Are you cold?   Are you scared?   You’re not sure.

Thankfully, you’re not alone, and you’re not completely lost.   You don’t think.   Your partner in crime carries a zippered plastic bag around his neck, complete with maps that you both have poked and prodded multiple times, Sharpies, a compass, and a plotting ruler.   Too bad these maps don’t have roads on them.   Too bad roads aren’t always the easiest way to get from Point A to Point B anyway.   And too bad the objective isn’t to get out of the forest completely unscathed or uninjured.   Don’t even get me started as to the myriad of gear that you’re carrying on your back, either.

So what is your goal? To do whatever it takes – on foot, by land, via bike, through water, up cliffs, over uncompromising terrain – to find as many points as possible before the end. Whether the end is three hours, six hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, or even 30 hours away is up to you.   All while “staying found.”

The shorter name for what some may call voluntary insanity?   Adventure racing.   And by golly, I am incredibly and almost inexplicably grateful for its existence, and its presence in my life.

Me. Before adventure racing.
Life before adventure racing.

I joined Houston Fit Adventure Racing in May 2009 on somewhat of a lark. I hadn’t done anything active since June 2008, when I ran a half-marathon in Alaska, and even that was an anomaly.   I’d never been much of an athlete, although I’d always liked being active. Mostly because I’m always on some sort of genetic crack.   Call me lucky; it’s natural.   But post-high school, no activity ever held my attention long enough for me to call myself a runner or to declare my love for yoga, for example.   I just wasn’t feelin’ the monotony of any of it.

Then something happened.   I fell in love.   Hopelessly, madly in love.   With the possibilities that were adventure racing. The variety of disciplines. The fickleness of the races. The fact that you knew you would start, and you knew you would finish, but you didn’t quite know what would happen in the middle.   Would you and your partner be in one piece?   How hard would you run?   How difficult would those mountain bike trails be?   What would the current be like in the Bayou as you two paddled upstream?   Would an alligator gar snap at your paddles and try to eat you both?

Sure, adventure racing is full of rules, and if you know me, you know I hate laws rules with a passion.   But adventure racing’s rules never quite impeded how a race unraveled.   We adventure racers know this.   In the span of time between the starter whistle and exhausted crossing of the finish line, anything can happen.   Top teams get flat tires, Texas novice teams handle the extreme humidity levels on ranches better than killer teams from Colorado.   And because of this, one of the sayings you hear most often is, “That’s adventure racing!”   ‘Cause that’s exactly what it is – a capricious crapshoot of a sport.   You can’t predict an adventure.   And it’s that elusive nature that makes you thirsty for more.

But wait. Was I actually – gasp! – exercising? On a regular basis? Heck, I couldn’t tell.   I was having way too much fun.

houston-fit-adventure-racing
Me & some of my Houston Fit Adventure Racing teammates. We really dig spandex.

If adventure racing was a male suitor, I would gladly offer my hand in marriage.   Nah, I actually would’ve done it already.   Without regrets, misgivings, or a second thought that it was “too soon.”   Because of adventure racing, my body is strong.   Because of adventure racing, my will is even stronger.   Because of adventure racing, I have met some of the most inspiring, multifaceted individuals I’ve ever known.   Because of adventure racing, I’ve learned how to trust people more than myself.   Because of adventure racing, I look arguably decent in spandex.   Because of adventure racing, I’m broke and I love it.   Because of adventure racing, weekends that were once consumed with intoxication and exorbitant bar tabs are now filled with trips to bike trail havens in the hill country and surrounding environs.   And guess what?   I don’t miss the boozin’, one little bit.   Which is quite a revelation for a former sorority broad that was voted Biggest Party Girl in her heyday.

Poison oak, sprained ankles, bruised ribs, broken collarbones, legs scratched like constellations in the sky, canoe flu, and every injury in between?   It sounds like complete madness, but it makes complete sense to me. ‘Cause nothing in the world has done more for me than adventure racing has. And for that, I am nothing short of thankful.

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Thirty Days of Thanks – Resilience

He-Man & She-RaIt’s almost the end of the day and a combination of code just finished owning me in the worst way.   It’s one of those days where you hope you’re not losing brain cells and you remember being much smarter in college.

I spent the majority of the day working on one of those projects that could best be referred to as “cake.” Yes, I said cake; no you’re not hungry, now focus.

Or at least that’s what you referred to it as in your head   while you non-nonchalantly strut to the so-called challenge.

You walk up to this “cake” and realize it’s a not as nice as it looked from far away.   Before you know it, you’re close enough to realize you bit off more than you can chew and the only thing you have left to do is to continue chewing until the pieces are small enough to swallow.

I have a few of these a month.   Then of course I come back the next day with a new way of thinking and a fresh coat of deodorant and tackle what once seemed impossible.   It’s at these times that I am happy I went through the whole ordeal only because I feel that much smarter/stronger/what-have-you.

I am thankful for so many things but if I had to point out one thing I’m thankful for at this very moment it would be resilience.   It’s the thing that every child has an over-abundance of, it’s the thing that keeps us going, it’s the thing makes us all look like He-man or She-ra.

So, thank you resilience for reminding me that everyday is a new day and a chance to make things right.

Take us out Will.i.am.

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Better than TV? WEG brings the magic to your monitor

Web Entertainment Guide

Congrats to Schipul client Web Entertainment Guide on their recent Drupal-powered site launch.

Our team are huge fans of WEG not just because we had a great time working on building their site and strategizing on Internet series world domination <bwahahaha>, but because we are nerds that love to be entertained via the Internet and the WEG exists to help us do just that.

Here are some of our favorite Web series that we think you too should know and love:

Leave us a comment and let us know what YOUR favorite Web series are!

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Thirty Days of Thanks – Imagination

Wonka (blu-raystats.com)
“There is no, life I know, to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you’ll be free. If you truly wish to be.”

That line is from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory, one of my favorite movies of all time. I first watched this movie when I was real young after borrowing it from a neighbor and went on to watch it so many times that I wore out the tracking on the VHS (yes… VHS).

That was probably the first instance I would say I was really influenced by the power of imagination and I believe it has had an effect on who I am today. I have now come to place great value on imagination and creativity and the   uniqueness it brings to the world. On Colin Cowherd’s radio show, he frequently talks about the importance of being interesting and the value it brings and I completely agree.

We have the ability to use our imagination to solve basic problems or fill certain needs, but we also use our imagination to go further and answer “What if…”. Imagination can take us beyond what just has to be done to “Yeah we can do that but wouldn’t it be cool if…”. Imagination drives us to do new things, fills our need to create and keeps the world interesting.

The Internet provides a great outlet for people to unleash their imagination and share with the world. Sometimes it is entertaining (Pearl the landlord) and other times it is helpful (how to carve a turkey maybe). Sometimes it is a cool t-shirt, a new website like Twetches that allows you to further use your imagination, and sometimes it is just cats playing keyboards. However it is expressed, imagination keeps things fresh and interesting and often leads to bigger things.

Because of people’s imagination, really amazing things are brought to life. World changing events and inventions come from questions like:

  • “Imagine if we got in a rocket and actually shot ourselves into outer space?”
  • “Imagine if we could just pick up some object and speak through it, with the ability for someone on the other side of the world to hear us?”
  • “Imagine if there were a group of people that could travel around the universe, moving objects with their minds and fought battles with swords. But not just swords, light sabers!”

Maybe life would go on without Star Wars but if no one ever imagined the possibilities in “What if”, we wouldn’t have the telephone and we wouldn’t have ever walked on the moon. Imagine that.

Got something that has triggered your imagination? Some great example of imagination at work you really dig? Let’s hear about it!

Derek Key
@derekskey
www.flickr.com/photos/derekskey

Photo from the film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory“
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30 Days of Thanks – THE Dallas Cowboys

AikmanYou know that moment you fall in love…

Everything becomes a little brighter. There’s a little ‘pep in your step” if you will. Your heart putters, patters, hiccups, hell it does something cool. Basically, your life has been changed forever…

The year was 1994 and I was at the ripe age of 9 when I fell in love with THE Dallas Cowboys. It was a cool autumn evening, November 7th to be exact, when my dad drove the family to Texas Stadium to watch the Cowboys take on the Giants. I remember the magnitude of it all; the fans, the noise, the cheerleaders…the feeling of being a part of something bigger than I could imagine. Unfortunately, I also remember being jealous of my brother’s Dallas Cowboys Starter jacket…it was the 90’s. Needless to say, I was there. I was there to watch Aikman throwing bullets to Irvin, Thomas Everett knocking dudes out, Emmitt Smith becoming this unstoppable train and more importantly, the Cowboys 38-10 victory.

Since that first game I have been hooked on America’s team. I realize that not a lot of people care for the Cowboys.   Some say it is the equivalent to being a Jonas brothers groupie…but if you are a diehard fan of any team, you understand that football is much more than just a game which is why I’m giving thanks.

I am thankful for the The Dallas Cowboys because….

  1. They are the reason Sunday Funday is actually fun.
  2. They can make me madder than hell, but can turn right around and crush, I don’t know…the Eagles.
  3. My high fives have become awesome.
  4. I have no outside worries when watching a Dallas Cowboys game.
  5. I truly believe the Dallas Cowboys will provide me with my future husband, Jason Witten.
  6. They play on Thanksgiving’ that is self explanatory.
  7. You will always become friends with that one other drunk Cowboys fan at the bar.
  8. They are like your child…win or lose, you will always love them.
  9. Because they are nothing like the Philadephia Eagles.
  10. I have a feeling the Dallas Cowboys love me too. I will even venture to say they are thankful for me as well.

I want to also give a little thanks to my Pops, Ol’ Russ. You are the one that took me to my first game after all. For that…you pretty much rock.