Will My Guayabera Shirts Still Fit When I'm 64

I worry that my collection of Guayabera shirts - most of them Mexican Wedding shirts, some known as lounge / rockabilly shirts - won't fit me when I'm 64. I worry about being broke, bald and beer-bellied. If that happens, I wish I still can wear my Guayabera shirts. Medium size.

London Calling, Baby

The missus and I went to London the other week for work as well as pleasure. We both were fortunate to be sent their at the same time by our respective companies. Coincidence? I think not!

London - that's where we met, a cold Saturday in February 2001. Going back together brought back a lot of fond memories and created some new. I guess it also readjusted some and erased others. Funny how the mind works.

We visited our old stomping grounds: The Cod in Knightsbridge, The Wine Factory and Zucca in Notting Hill. The Cod (Admiral Codington) was Erin's local pub, just around the corner from her pad. The Wine Factory was the restaurant where we had our first real date and Zucca were we had our first lunch, that cold Saturday morning. Both around the corner from my old pad.

We spent the most of the weekend hanging out with my buddies - shopping, eating and drinking. The shopping in London is very different from most places in the US but that's another blog.

What I really like about London and the UK in general is their drinking culture. Spending a rainy Saturday with your friends, exchanging stories and drinking real beer (no light Bud crap) in front of the fireplace is not too bad (as the brits say). It's actually freakin' great.

So after several hours of walking and shopping the choice was clear - a pint at The Cod would make a great finish to a fun day. Or at least make the transition from afternoon into evening somewhat painless.

It's amazing how thirsty one can get when one is out shopping. Bloody hell! I think we had a few pints and shared a couple of bottles of wine before the darkness and hunger made it's presence known. Thank God they close the Pubs at 11 o'clock. Otherwise we might still have been there - chatting and drinking in front of the fire.

I couldn't agree more with Samuel Johnson's quote from Boswell's Life: "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."

Hip Behaving Badly

My left hip gets cranky once in a while and refuses to collaborate. It's Perthes fault. I don't know who he is but I got his desease. I've had it since I can remember. The earliest memories are from when I was watching the snowfall from the kitchen window but couldn't go out and play, only watch the other kids have fun.

Nowdays I move around as well as the next person. But occasionally the pain comes back and I rememeber the kids playing in the snow.

My Top 10 Favorite Travel Destinations

In the spirit of popular lists and travel magazines I'm here revealing my "secret" top 10 favorite travel destinations:

1. Sydney, Australia - What is all this 'down-under' hype about? We are going for Thankgiving to find out.
2. Rioja, Spain - The greatest wine-making region in the world. The combination of Rioja and Cordero Asado is killer.
3. Cuba - It's all cause of the cigars, the salsa, the food and the Guayabera-shirts.
4. Punta del Este, Uruguay - It's the riviera of South America. Tanned people, cool drinks and suave music. What else do you need?
5. Buenos Aires, Argentina - Only for the Tango and the excellent steaks.
6. Mozambique - To enjoy the cool beaches and the great dark African vibe.
7. Vietnam - The food, the culture and the mystique.
8. Isle of Islay, Scotland - 9 Malt Whiskey breweries in 3 days. And you think Napa can kick your ass?
9. Phuket, Thailand - I'd like to see where the James Bond-movie "The Man with the Golden Gun" was filmed and compare the original Thai-food to Churchill Arm's in London, England.
10. Morocco - Great rugs. Interesting food. New bacteria culture.

Home Alone

I'm home alone this week. Have actually been alone since the missus left for Salt Lake City and Puerto Rico last Tuesday.

One would assume that one would fall back into pre-maritial routines such as not shaving, not showering and only working, watching DVD's and single-team the wine fridge. One is very correct. That is pretty much what I have done the whole weekend.

Right now I'm watching "The Bridge on The River Kwai", drinking a Torres Mas la Plana from 1995 and drafting strategy plans for our business unit. One might think: "What a weird combination!".

I would strongly disagree and I am. The only thing I'm lacking is a cigar and that might happen sooner than one thinks. Non-Cuban, of course.

Most strategies are designed to win or protect and derives from thousands of years of war strategy practices. A lot of the terminology used in the business world today are military terms: overtake, conquer, defeat, surrender, guerilla, hostage et cetera. The military metaphors have become a common way to illustrate strategies or desirable results in todays business life.

The ability to create strategies and think strategic is powerful but nothing beats a shower and a shave when the missus returns.

I, Glass Collector

I did not know that I was going to be such a world-class glass collector when I got married. It's my missus that has brought out this talent.

We have developed an excellent team work. She places glasses in the most interesting areas across our pad and I collect them and return them to their origin.

An untrained eye would argue that the glasses are just casually put down when either empty or when the phone rings. I would disagree. They are thoughfully placed in all parts of the apartment: bathroom, bedroom, living room, dining room and kitchen. They are mostly placed, or at least found, close to the edge of a sink or a table. Sometimes half-full and sometimes completely empty.

The content differs as well which always tickles my fancy. Mostly wine, orange juice and coffee. But I have to admit that I have found glasses with water - both still and sparkling - as well.

This glass ritual has evolved to be the perfect analogy for a strong marriage: We are here for each other and build on our strengths. Not weaknesses. I'm an excellent, neurotic passiv-aggressive European and the missus is a very easy-loving, care-free American hedonist. The best of both worlds!

Papa Got a Brand New Bed

I feeeel good. Dobedobedobido. Like I should. Bodebodibodibop. Sooooo good. Bobop. So Good. Bobop. Bobodibodibop.

Finally - we got my act together and went down to Mattress Discounters on Van Ness to get ourselves a brand new bed. I had never bought a bed before and felt a little lost. Probably the main reason for the procastination that had been going on in my mind. The last bed I had - my pre-maritial bed as I now prefer to call it - I got from my parents 10 years ago when I moved into my first house.

In London I slept on a Futon for years which sucked. I don't care what people say - a Futon is not made for humans with self-respect and / or self-love.

In San Francisco I slept in Erin's bed which was a full size. Not big enough for a man like me. I need to roll around, stretch (the manly exercise of moaning and grunting while stretching your body as far and wide as possible) and have enough space for my physical delight as well as ego.

So we bought a king size Sealy Posturepedic and had it delivered within 48 hours. I have to say that the whole process - from decision-making to delivery really impressed me. I've always seen these "Discount" shops with a very sceptical eye - promising big to make you sign but once done delivering small. In this case they exceeded my expectations. The salesman promised that the delivery guys would call the same day to give us the 4-hour window for delivery. They did. The sales man then promised that the delivery guys would call 1-hour before delivery. They did.

The first thing they did when they came was to ask me where I wanted the bed, if the should dump the old bed et cetera. It wasn't just dump and go. I felt that they really cared about my needs and their business. The delivery guys had the bed unpacked, assembled and our old bed taken-away within 15 minutes. You could tell that these guys had done this before and had the whole process nailed down in detail. These guys where focused and on a mission. They were so damned impressive that I'm writing about it in my blog.

The bed itself is fantstic. It's like a newborn cloud floating around in the sky with the only mission to please it's master. I'm actually writing this story from this soft, warm, comforting.... Zzzzzzzzzzzz.........

Finding Credo

"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" - I wish that was my credo. But fortunately AC/DC nicked it for their 1981 album with the same name. So my search for a powerful credo goes on.

The credo I'm looking for is very much like a motto but stronger and with more oumpfh. Motto is what Boy Scouts have ("Be Prepared."), Olympians ("Citius, Altius, Fortius" => Faster, Higher, Braver), James Bond ("The World Is Not Enough") or Obelix ("Ils sont fous ces Romains!" => These Romans are crazy!).

A motto is a simple statement to live by while credo is a statement to die for. A motte is more generous while a credo is definite. A credo is a strong personal mission statement in just a few simple words.

Nike's "Just Do It!" is a great credo. Powerful. Genial. Probably the best one out there. I'm looking for something like that but with a tad more arrogance.

END - Part I.

WFH [working from home] - riiiight...

Trying to defend WFH [working from home] is such a cliché. Well, viewing things as clichés is such a cliché. Anyway...

I was dialing in to all these conf calls the other day. From home I might add. One after the other and suddenly I realized - that I wasn't going to beat early morning traffic. So I shot an email to my manager explaining my dilemma and suggested being in by noon. He approved. This is around 9am in the morning and I have already been on two conf calls from 7am. At around 1pm I realize that a) I'm still at home, b) it's 1pm and c) I haven't had lunch and I'm hungry like a wolf. So I shot my second email, arguing the above and suggested staying at home. He approved - again. So I kept working.

At around 3pm in the afternoon - after 8 hours of straight work with no food I'm about to pass out. I have kicked ass and they day is not yet over but I need lunch.

I cook a quick pasta, eat in my home office and keep working until 5:30pm when I realize I should enjoy the benefits of working from home and run down to the bank, the flower shop and to the cobblers to knock things of the household to-do-list.

Okay, let's step back for a moment and give this some thought. Working 7am to 5:30pm is ambitious. Doing it undisturbed and focused is more than a miracle. In my eyes I delivered very high productivity in the comfort of my own home. It comes down to that I alone am my toughest boss. I dreamed about morning and afternoon walks with a latte taped to my hand. Maybe drop by the local International Magazine Store. Even a quick stop at the wine cellar would have made this whole equation heavenly. But nooo - pushing the envelope is all you can think of you over-achiever.

The cool thing was to be able to stop at 5:30pm and be home by 5:30pm. It didn't give me a lot of time to decompress but on the other had I didn't have to commute or chase other people's agendas. I gotta say that my stress level was closer to zero than one.

But the true benefit was that by 5:31pm I had a Cohiba Siglo II lit between my lips and a glas of Muga Gran Reserva '95 in my hand. That is worth all the diss for defending WFH as a win-win for you and your company. In the end of the day - who is going to believe you - slacker!

The Art Of Global Travels

I've just spend the past 2-3 weeks travelling around our globe; making pitstops in places such as Oxford, Beijing, Taipei, Chicago, Napa Valley, London, Kowloon and Hong Kong. I've travelled by fot, by air, by cab, by bus, by train and by tube / subway. I've had dumplings, thai, all kinds of chinese, japanese, italian, british, french and american food. I've met old friends and made some new.

Travelling this fast and far gives you access to a new dimension. The time to reflect is very limited - it all comes down to first impressions and instinct. You don't have time to give people the benefit of the doubt. If something is broken it needs to be fixed. Solutions become more important than the problems.

Language plays a huge roll in understanding a culture. Communication in English only opens up the door, makes the connection, creates the contact. It all comes down to how your counterpart is 'translating' his thoughts into English. That process can be very different in his / hers mother tongue. The thought / output relationship is very seldom 1:1. It takes patience and a lot of follow-up questions to understand the core content. This creates a challenge in cultures that asking 'too many' questions could be percieved as rude or prawling.

Assumptions drives behaviour and is always a good starting point. I've yet to develop the global managers 5-minute guide to assumption analysis. But a lot of understanding can be achieved in a relatively short period of time. I'm using coffee breaks, lunch and dinners to raise 'softer' issues, to make the human connection that brings people from a corporate mindframe to just being themselves. It's all about building TRUST, to associate your brand with truth, influence and deliverance.

My Top 5 Favorite Travel Accessories:
1. Blazer - Enough pockets to keep phones, keys, passports and tickets organized and makes you look good even after 20 hours on a plane.
2. Treo 600 - Outstanding gadget that puts Address Book, Voice, IM, SMS / MMS and Emails in the palm of your hand. Necessary to stay in contact with HQ.
3. iPOD - 20GB of music that makes you rock in the air or in your hotel room.
4. Bose Headphones - This noise-cancelling headset reduces the jetlag by filtering out irritating noice as well as creating your own high quality audio system.
5. DVD's - I usually bring 10-20 DVD's so I can watch my own favorite movies while travelling. The airline's choice of movies is to mainstream.