Category: Life

Is it Just Me?

Or is this a funny headline?  I thought I was on the Onion for a second.

In other news, beer makers predict that people will drink a lot of beer this summer, and umbrella makers predict a very wet year.

Max: a Holiday Tragedy Comes to the Court of Public Opinion

Our friends the Cohns have two little girls, Emma and Olivia, who are friends with Cassidy and Delaney.  The Cohns took Max, their family dog, to the local PetSmart just before Christmas to get him groomed for their holiday photos.  Somehow Max managed to escape from the grooming area, made it through a series of open doors and apparently tried to find his way home.  Tragically, he was hit by a car and killed before he made it.

I only met Max a few times, but from the first time I met him at one of Cassidy and Emma’s soccer games, I knew he was a cool dog.  He was one of those special dogs that you just know is good and loyal and gentle from the first minute you know him.  He was our friend, and we are saddened by his loss.  He was a member of the Cohns’ family.  The past few weeks have been really hard for Emma and Olivia.

When the Cohns contacted Petsmart to find out how Max managed to get away and what PetSmart intended to do about it, they found PetSmart’s answers very troubling:

“They said we looked up the value of your dog on the Internet, we want to give $600,” Keith Cohn told the local ABC station, who did a story on Max’s death.  He repeated that to me, and said he is having a hard time getting any substantive answers from PetSmart.  As a result, the Cohns have started a web page in memory of Max, and to speak out about this horrible incident.

max As is often the case, much of the best commentary and discussion can be found in the comments to the ABC story and the comments on the Cohns’ web site.  There are comments blaming and defending PetSmart.  There are comments by others who say they have had bad experiences at Petsmart and other groomers.  There are legal arguments, moral arguments and arguments just for the sake of arguing.  Amid all the hue and cry, however, remain two little girls who grieve for their dog.

Without question, this should not have happened.  The problem, of course, is that now that it has, what should be done about it?  Keith told me he wants PetSmart to enact and follow policies that will prevent this from happening to someone else.  He also wants PetSmart to pay monetary compensation, to his family and/or an animal shelter, to put a little bite in the policies and to ensure that such policies are followed.  PetSmart probably just wants all of this to go away and, perhaps, to avoid setting a precedent that might be be invoked by other aggrieved pet owners.

There will be no happy ending to this story.  Max is gone, and all the apologies and policies in the world won’t bring him back.  All that is left is to seek a solution that is acceptable to both parties.  Again, no one will walk away from this feeling good.  The trick will be to craft a resolution that makes it less bad.

For that to happen, the parties need to talk.  Not about legalities.  Not even about moralities.  About responsibility, reason and, ultimately, reconciliation.  Honor should be paid to Max’s memory and to the empty place his loss created in the Cohns’ house and in their hearts.  In my mind, it’s not about the money.  Money is simply, for better or worse, the stand-in for things taken that cannot be replaced. 

What is already an emotionally charged situation has been further complicated by a lack of direct, honest and sincere communication.  In my opinion, when PetSmart max2 offered the Cohns a paltry $600 for the loss of their family pet under such tragic, and preventable, circumstances, it almost guaranteed that the dispute, along with the emotions, would escalate.  Money is not going to bring Max back, but discounting his value after looking on the Internet for puppy prices is not my idea of reaching out.  One bad offer begets another, and the resolution gap begins to widen.

Unlike in days past, when an angry customer could only file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and hope, the Internet age allows anyone with a computer to bring their complaint to the court of public opinion.  Thomas Hawk did it when he had a bad experience with a camera store.  Jeff Jarvis took on Dell.  There have been others, and there will be more.

Now it may be PetSmart’s turn in the people’s court.    

I don’t know what ought to happen in this case.  Naturally, people will align along legal and moral grounds.  Perhaps that’s inevitable.  I just know that many people love their pets dearly and the loss of a pet is a tragic event that transcends legal and moral responsibility.

As an aside, while I am an animal rights supporter, I personally discount just about everything that originates from PETA, including the comments to the above pages that reference PETA.  In my opinion, PETA has become so radically bound to its philosophical position that it has lost the ability to convince the undecided.  I feel the same way about the political parties, but that’s a topic for another day.

There’s nothing anyone can do to bring Max back, but I believe the only chance to achieve any sort of closure and reconciliation is through open and honest communication.  Silence and posturing only amplify the problem when people need to hear from you.

People like two little girls who miss their dog.

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Merry Christmas

countrychristmas

Oh, come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant!
Oh, come ye, oh, come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him
Born the king of angels:
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.

Going to California

Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams,
Telling myself it’s not as hard, hard, hard as it seems.

I’m heading to San Francisco Monday to speak at a conference on Tuesday.  I’ll be there Monday and Tuesday nights.

On Monday night, I’m going to join Thomas Hawk and friends on a photo-walk.  On Tuesday night, I’m headed down to Mountain View to see the Guy Kawasaki and Dan Lyons Q&A.  I’m looking forward to meeting a bunch of folks I have blogged around with through the years.  If you’re a blogging pal and will be in San Francisco, drop me an email.

It should be a fun trip.

Halloween 2007

Halloween was big fun this year.  We went to a block party, and later some friends came over and the kids went trick or treating together.

We carved a jack-o-lantern, baked some pumpkin seeds and are having a pumpkin growing contest.  Delaney and I are a team, Raina and Luke are a team, and Cassidy and all the pets are a team.  Delaney and I are going to win.

Trick or Treat
Cassidy was a witch, and Delaney was Hannah Montana.

Buckaroo
Luke was a cowboy.

Everyone had a great time.

2007 Fantasy Football Draft

We held our fantasy football draft last night for our league’s 5th season.  Here’s the draft update from 2005, which has a summary of our rules (the only material change since then being that we now allow teams to spend up to 150 points in salary cap, with a luxury tax of $7 per point for each point over 100).  My draft was so bad last year, I didn’t even write about it.  I had to pull off two blockbuster trades around the middle of the season to put things right.

mrLast year, after 4 years of being the best team in the league during the regular season and then choking horribly in the playoffs, I managed to switch it up.  I had a less than mediocre 7-6 regular season record, but rolled through the playoffs to my first league championship.  The trophy hangs on my wall for a year, and I used my $1500 in winnings to invest in a stock that’s currently up 35%- which gives me more opportunity to irritate my colleagues every other lunch or so.  All in all a good year.

But this is a new year.  Here’s the skinny on this year’s draft.

Through one of my trades last year, I got Laurence Maroney and Ronnie Brown at low salaries.  I franchised both of them.  I designated Marc Bulger, Javon Walker and Antonio Gates as my match players.  I matched the first two, but Gates went for 40 or so- too rich for my blood, so I let him go.  I covered a little by getting Tony Gonzales for a much lower salary.  Here’s my entire roster (again, it’s a 10-team league, 14 roster spots and we had to draft a rookie).

QB: Marc Bulger, Brady Quinn (R).
RB: Laurence Maroney, Ronnie Brown, Chester Taylor, Fred Taylor
WR: Larry Fitzgerald, Javon Walker, Plaxico Burress, Donte Stallworth, Santana Moss
TE: Tony Gonzales
K: Neil Rackers
Defense: Ravens

Each week we start 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE, 1 Defense, 1 K and, if we want to, a coach (+10 for a win, -5 for a loss).  I generally don’t start a coach, preferring the have an extra bench slot to bank players.

All in all, I think it’s a pretty good, but not great, team.  I need to trade some of my average WRs for a bookend to go with Fitzgerald.

The drama began early when some of the other owners hurriedly voted in a rule change placing the rookie draft in front of the regular draft, which is not the way the detailed league rules were written, when they realized I was going to bid up some rookies during the regular draft.  That messed up my Calvin Johnson plan, but such is life.

Here are my predictions for the league.

North Division:

Hawkeyes (lower overall salary):  Paid a boatload for Chad Johnson.  A pretty solid team, particularly for the price.  Howard won’t win, but he’ll be competitive.

Prostates (lower overall salary):  Last year Emmett went long on Bears.  This year it’s the Steelers.  He matched away Marques Colston (who was my targeted bookend for Fitzgerald) from me.  My pick for the cellar in the North.

Longhorns (high overall salary):  Earl is a past league winner.  Good team, with Steve Smith and Terrell Owens at WR, Vince Young and Tony Romo at QB.  If one of Floyd’s RBs gets hurt, Earl will battle Goober for the North.

Capacitators (high overall salary):  Floyd franchised both LT and Shaun Alexander for a total of 89 points.  He rode them to a championship a couple of years ago.  But if one of them gets hurt, he’s toast.

Young Guns (medium overall salary):  Goober has Steven Jackson at a very low salary.   That allowed him to pay a ton for Peyton Manning.  He also has Rudi Johnson and pretty decent WRs.  The favorite in the North.

South Division:

Buckeyes (high overall salary) : Barney has Larry Johnson and Frank Gore for next to nothing in salary.  He also has both Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison at WR.  Carson Palmer at QB.  Antonio Gates at TE.  Maybe the best fantasy football team ever assembled.  If he doesn’t win this year, it will be an Appalachian State level upset.

Whackjobs (lowest overall salary):  Just to prove how frugal he is, Andy ended up with a salary cap way under 100.  Of course the minimum entry fee bought him 100 points.  So basically he paid for cap he didn’t use.  The only team that pays no luxury tax.  He has a good player or two, but basically he’s a spectator this year.

NYSE (medium overall salary):  Because of (a) the rules change coup I talked about above and (b) utterly insane early drafting by other owners, Alchris Lallodavis got Calvin Johnson at the 4th pick in the rookie draft.  Unbelievable.  Alchris had some roster problems that worked against him, but he still put together a decent team.  In 2 years when he has the best WR in football at 11 points, it will all seem worth it.

CBB (replaced the Wolverines in the league 2 years ago; new owner this year) (medium overall salary):  I thought this dude was having a bad draft while it was going on, but when I saw his roster later, I realized I was wrong.  He put together a good, reasonably priced team, led by Tom Brady and Joseph Addai.  Will be in the hunt, but is no match for the juggernaut Buckeyes.

Ramblers (high overall salary):  As mentioned above, pretty good team.  Weak bench, and great potential to start the wrong 2nd WR.  I think I’ll make the playoffs, but I’ll get creamed by the Buckeyes in the playoffs.

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Checking In

willreturnMany, many thanks to those who have wondered where I’ve been and if I’m OK.  The comments, blog posts and emails are very much appreciated.  It really demonstrates the depth and importance of the friendships and community we build in the blogosphere.

I’m fine.  Just pre-occupied with life’s responsibilities.

I’ve been really busy at work the past few weeks.  Add to that the fact that I started a new job on Monday, and you end up with two or three chaotic and stressful weeks.  Things will settle down shortly and as soon as they do, I’ll eagerly resume normal blogging activity.

In the meantime, thanks again for checking on me.

Hill Country Getaway

We just got home from a weekend at the Hill Country Hyatt in San Antonio.  I spoke at a conference there yesterday, so we went up Friday and made a weekend out of it.

It’s one of our favorite nearby vacation spots.  Highly recommended for families.

Delaney and Cassidy by the pool

Behind the pool is a large, circular river, called appropriately the lazy river, where you can tube in a circle for hours on end.  We did.  It’s impossible to overstate how cool and fun the lazy river is.


Delaney in the hot tub


Hanging out by the pool

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