JR in Geekland

So last time I wrote about having a great new job and the excitement that it brought. After a month here at Crexendo selling SEO and Web Marketing service I have found out that despite some of my better efforts to avoid being a geek, that is at the core exactly what I am. I get to talk each day to people in such a way as to simplify the internet. Now I am not talking about how to navigate through your favorite internet browser (mine is currently Firefox but Google Chrome is fast closing the gap) No I am talking about the GEEKY part of the internet. The parts that read 100110100110011100111000110001111100101010101 to the untrained eye. Now I am not geeky enough to exactly what that very large Binary number is, but there are a bevy of tools at my disposal to figure it out. (incendentally the above binary representation can be more recognizably written as 10,118,968) So I get to speak with the vast majority of folks who simply want their websites to both work and bring them money. Think of me as your internet Urim and Thummim. I know enough geek to communicate with the programmers and hard core geeks, but I also speak regular human and can therefor talk to any mom and pop who needs to sell something on the internet.

Bottom line is I have the coolest job on earth. I get to go to BYU Football and Jazz Basketball games AND GET PAID FOR IT. Yeah so for all of you that don't have as cool a job as I have I send my condolences. For any of you who need that crazy internet translated into non-geek please give me a call and we can talk. I'd love to help you make more money and make your life easier all at once.

New Job

It seems that since the beginning of 2010 I have been an employment Carousel. I lived off the government in the rank of the unemployed for a few weeks. I took a job selling Utility Bill Audit services for a company for a couple months. On my birthday (June 1st for those of you who forgot) I started working with a start-up software company that has a really neat Digital Catalog software. I was one of the first sales guys with them and really enjoyed both the products and the people that I worked with. As a sales guy I am always keeping an eye to the future and other opportunities. When Crexendo posted a listing on Linkedin I said "hey I might be interested in that". Turns out I was interested and even better they were interested in me. So now I work for a publicly held company that I think I will really like. Already I have some sales that are starting to come in and in all reality I've just barely started. I see great things ahead for the Future of my family and my career. If you or anyone you know needs help with Optimization of a website or General web marketing give me a holler or check out our Website at www.Crexendo.com

The End of the Best show on TV

Today are the final Hours of the final season of 24. More than 5 years ago A friend of mine introduced me to Jack Bauer and his penchant for getting himself into trouble, and the world out of it. Each year beginning in January Monday nights were set aside for 24. Now after saving the world a few times, losing his wife, being beaten by Russians, Americas, Mexican, Arabs, Africans, and the Chinese he is calling it quits. Will he live? maybe. If he does will he be in a whole heap of trouble? Definitely. The Bottom line is that Jack Bauer is the great American Bad-Ass. He does what needs to be done for his country. Like it or not out country needs Men like Jack. Sure he may be a fictional character, but there are men in this country just like him. They are Green Beret's, Navy Seals, Air Force PJ's, and Marines. They help project the general public from things so gruesome that we cannot imagine. I am thankful for my brothers in Arms and their service to our country. This wasn't going to be a "God Bless our Troops" post but it has morphed into that. The bottom line is this. If you have not seen 24 you should. Watch all 8 Seasons and you can thank me later.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart

Today is the Birthday of my sweet wife Heather. She is 29* and will forever be. She is the love of my life. My Rock in the storm of life. The mother of my children, And the most beautiful woman on the face of the Earth. I still to this day do not know how I fooled her into marrying me, but boy am I glad I did. In such a short time we have shared much and over the rest of eternity we plan to experience much much more. I love so many things about you that it is hard to know where to start. You truly are my best friend. You put up with some of my more entertaining intricacies. You laugh with me, let me vent when I need to, and let me help you when you need it. you are the light of my life. I can't think of anyone who I would rather spend eternity with. I love you Heather and I hope on this, your birthday, that you have an awesome day. I love you sweetheart.

An Open Letter to Jack Z.

Dear Jack,

We trust you we really do. We think your overall methodology of roster construction is sound. Pitching and Defense is a great way to build a ball club that plays half of its games at Safeco. But Jack we do have a gripe. To lose two games where the starting pitchers give up zero runs over 15 innings is simply unacceptable. Run prevention is not Run production. While a run saved is great it does no equate to a non zero number on our side of the scoreboard. Simply put we need a bat. The Huggable couple of Griffey and Sweeney are not cutting it. DH stands for "Designated HITTER". These two, while once great hitters in their own right, no longer qualify as such. We grew up with Griffey. Loved watching "The Kid" make amazing plays in center field and launch moonshots all over the place. But "The Kid" is no more. It is time for each of these ambassadors of the game to move on. WE NEED A BAT. And we need it yesterday. Burn up the phones, but find us someone who can actually hit a ball out of the park. Someone who will HIT in that DH role. Otherwise the gems turned in by our starting pitching will mostly go for naught. The rest of this season really does ride on who you can get in that DH slot.

Sincerely,

The Fans.

Car Salesmen are Crooks

I am a sales guy. I have been a salesman since I was a teenager. The one category that I have never sold is Cars, and there is good reason for that. Car salesmen are scum. Now there are exceptions to every rule. I have a few friends and even a family member or two who have sold cars in the past. Used car salesmen are generally regarded as the pond scum of the sales world. But just to prove that ALL car salesmen (or companies in this case) General Motors has laid down a Duzzy. Maybe you have seen this commercial.



Now normally I would say, "paying off debt. THAT'S GREAT!!!" In fact I did think that when I heard it on a radio ad in the car. Then I read this article. Basically GM is robbing Peter to pay Paul. Paying off their Visa card with the MasterCard. What they have done is taken TARP (the bailout) monies to pay off a $6.7 Billion dollar government loan. Part of the comedy here is that the part of the commercial where they say "Paid IN FULL with INTEREST, 5 years ahead of schedule." This is sort of like me saying "I'm debt free" after paying off a $250 credit card while still carrying a student loan of $25,000. In fact it is a very similar situation as GM received a total of $52 Billion in bailout money.

Now I don't want to get into a political rant here. I just find it interesting that the government entrusted car salesmen with Billions of tax dollars (that they don't have) and expecting to EVER get it back. That's like trusting politicians with Billions of... oh, wait. Crap.

Well hopefully GM gets called on the carpet for the stunt, though with our ever so vigilant congress (this is my sarcastic voice) I doubt it.

Believe Big

Almost two weeks ago one of my favorite events of the year took place. Baseball's opening day for the 2010 season. As most people know (and if you didn't look slightly to the left) I am a big Seattle Mariners fan. I spend a lot of my day perusing the Seattle Times website looking for and absorbing anything from there that I can. Keep in mind I live in Salt Lake City. I spend time in the off season glued to the rumor wires for news of trades and free agent acquisitions (like Cliff Lee this past winter). During the season my geographical location makes my fanaticism a little more tough to deal with. My sweet wife Heather, bless her heart, bears the brunt of this burden. She simply doesn't understand why "a game" can be so important to me. She of course has to also deal with BYU football, of which I am also a huge fan (albeit ever so slightly less than my fanaticism of the M's)

It was recently brought to my attention that I spend WAY TOO MUCH time staring at my iPod Touch. I use this miracle of modern technology to keep up with the outside sporting world. whether its via Twitter (@jr_mckee), Facebook, or the ESPN app. I must admit I do look at it too often. Part of my problem is the awesomeness of Mariners Baseball. I like to know what is happening throughout the evening. Being in SLC I cannot get the game on the radio, and Paying $200 for the full season of TV broadcasts, while totally awesome when I was single, is simply no longer a wise capital expenditure (yeah I know I sound like an economist... deal with it, I have. :) ) So on account of my geographical disability I have resorted to staring at my iPod and in the process really ticked off my favorite person in the world. I am sorry sweetheart. I will do better at weaning myself from my toys.

All that being said, I don't see my Fan-dom dropping in intensity. I just need to be better about how I go about it. The Mariner motto as you can see above is "Believe Big", and that is just what I am doing. I believe that my team is going to be great this year, and I want to be a part of it. but I also know that there are things more important than the Mariner's record and seeing King Felix and his nasty nasty stuff. I love my wife and my family. I hope that they can Believe Big (in me)too.

Its been a long long Time

So looking at my blog today I realized that I have not written since Thanksgiving. Yeah that is WAY TOO LONG. So much has happened since the BYU/Utah game (which we won by the way) so I will have to catch y'all up.

In December we welcomed a new baby to our family. Maxwell George McKee was born December 8th, 2009 at 7lbs 10oz and 21.5 inches long. Max has been dearly loved by all his siblings, and has been a great addition to our family. He is a sweet little boy and apparently looks a whole lot like daddy. Poor Kid. Christmas found our family well and we welcomed some new toys into the family. Heather got me a 2001 Ski-Doo Summit 800 snow mobile. though she has questioned the purchase once or twice when her brother/dad/cousins or other freinds call me and want to hit the mountains for the day. I actually got about 8 days in on my sled this year, while only getting one day in on the slopes.

In January I found myself looking for a new job. The mortgage market was getting increasingly more difficult and the income in each loan was dwindling. I found myself without a job for all of February. This proved to give me some additional time at home to do things like clean the garage which now can be used in its full 4 car glory. I even have a work bench in the back where I can put tools and pretend to be manly.

In March I began a new job with Discovery Energy. We are a Utility bill audit firm and I work as a National Account Executive. I am a sales guy who prospects potential new clients for our audit services. It is a small company and I am working hard to overcome the learning curve and make some big sales. All in all I think it could turn out to be a great opportunity.

The Mariners started play early last week and I am again fully in tune with all of their goings ons. After trading for Cliff Lee (former Cy young winner) I like our chances this year.

I will be posting more frequently now that I have the hard "starting over" post done.